Chapter 1231: Two Forms of Genetic Energy

Zhang Lie clapped. "Very well done. Your application of gold-attuned genetic energy has improved significantly. However, I think there are still a few important areas of improvement."

"Please give me some pointers, Captain," Sun Xiaowu requested politely.

Zhang Lie was Sun Xiaowu's idol, and he was far stronger than Sun Xiaowu himself. From Sun Xiaowu's perspective, Zhang Lie naturally had the qualifications to advise him.

"It's easier for me to simply show you."

Sun Xiaowu was shocked. Zhang Lie was going to demonstrate an application of gold-attuned genetic energy? But wasn't Zhang Lie's framework water-attuned? Could a genetic hunter use two different types of genetic energy?

"[Ninecarp Transformation: Golden Tiger]!"

The image of a golden tiger appeared behind Zhang Lie's back, and its roar echoed through the air. A golden aura suffused Zhang Lie. A mountain of blades rested atop the tiger's back, and Zhang Lie's body itself underwent a transformation. His hair turned silvery-white, until they became akin to silver needles.

His genetic energy likewise became more honed. Silvery-white genetic energy gathered over his body, and tigers' stripes appeared on his arms. His eyes became those of a tiger's, and steely sharpness erupted from every pore.

Everyone was shocked.

Zhang Lie's genetic energy had turned sturdy and steely, the exact qualities of gold-attuned genetic energy.

Although Zhang Lie had used this sort of transmuted genetic energy before within the halls of chaos, the environment had been saturated with chaotic energy, and it wasn't obvious what Zhang Lie had done. Only now did the members of Team Zenith realize that Zhang Lie somehow had command of multiple elements.

A genetic hunter could only possess genetic energy of one element; this was a known fact from decades of research from the Milky Way.

Just like how a person could only have a single soul, a genetic hunter could only command a single type of genetic energy, one engraved into the hunter's very genes.

Somehow, Zhang Lie had broken this principle.

"[Fists of the Silent Sea: Fade]!"

Genetic energy gathered in concentrated bursts into sharp spikes of crystal. Blades shot out and tore apart Sun Xiaowu's golden mechas, leaving the barest streak of blood on Sun Xiaowu's face. Only when warm blood started to drip down did Sun Xiaowu return to his senses.

Zhang Lie shook his head. "Don't get distracted in battle. If I had tried to kill you then..."

Sun Xiaowu asked curiously, "Captain, can you really control two different types of genetic energy?"

This was fundamentally at odds with everything he knew!

"If you want to know, find out in battle,"

Zhang Lie called out, with a mysterious laugh. A crystal wall appeared behind Zhang Lie, reflecting light in five colors, so dazzling it dazed any who looked at it, so beautiful it sparked their desire.

"[Fists of the Silent Sea: Fade]!"

As Zhang Lie manipulated space, that crystalline genetic energy shot out of the wall behind him in the form of sharp daggers, combining water-attuned genetic energy and spatial fluctuations into potent silver beams that could pierce through anything.

Sun Xiaowu's clones were pierced clean through.

"[Goldenscale Palm: Qilin]!"

The golden mechas exploded with golden radiance. Their forms dissipated into motes of golden light, which shot toward Sun Xiaowu's own mecha and augmented it.

It was as large as the falling sun. It bent its arms as golden energy shone from its body and illuminated the heavens. Tens of thousands of clones merged into Sun Xiaowu's main body, and the countless activated copies of the technique merged into one.

Golden scales covered up Sun Xiaowu's arm as it grew thicker and thicker, and the image of a golden qilin appeared behind him.

In his mecha form, augmented by his thousand clones all stacked atop each other, the might of his golden qilin grew by at least fifty times, if not a hundred.

As Sun Xiaowu swung his fists forward, the golden qilin soared into the air.

The qilin's scales were radiant and shining with golden light, each like a miniature sun. It looked like a god descending from the heavens, its long whiskers floating in the void, surrounded by golden clouds, looking like a sculpture of gold.

In Sun Xiaowu's mecha form, the golden qilin he released grew to a staggering fifty thousand meters in height. The golden qilin radiated light, and was so large that it almost filled up the entire pocket dimension.

It withstood the barrage of silver spikes as it rushed forward.

As Zhang Lie activated his blood ant and dragonwolf soulshards, he transformed into a dragonwolf with russet fur and limbs covered with dragons' scales. His aura became magnified as a hurricane of blood spawned around him.

The entire pocket dimension filled with golden light. Zhu immediately reinforced the pocket space so that it didn't explode and affect the newly unified world. The members of Team Zenith invoked their defenses once more.

Black flame wrapped around Sun Mengmeng in a wall of flames. Silvery-white light shrouded Li Feng. An arclight dragon coiled around him and soared into the sky.

Li Feng radiated silver light, and illusory silver dragons coiled around the members of Team Zenith.

Zhang Hanxiang released a chilly frost, adding a layer of ice as a barrier against Fang Yi's attack.

Zhou Ying's long hair fluttered in the wind, the color of crystalline jade. It gave off motes of vitality. She was so beautiful no one could take their eyes away, and golden leaves whirled around her. The tips of her hair produced gray fog.

Concentrated natural energy and vitality flowed through her fingertips.

"[Avatar of the Fae: Dance of the Earth Dragon]!"

Zhou Ying released all her stored vitality at once, causing the ground to quake as thousands of jade-green wood dragons rushed out of the earth, surrounding the gathered hunters.

Because Fang Yi and Yang Ze had yet to recover from their wounds, they were unable to help.

"[Syzygy]!"

Hong Xi's eyes glowed. Her left eye morphed into a black sun, and her right eye into a silver moon. To her back, a pitch-black sun and a silver moon rose into the air. Their light illuminated the sky. The black sun and silver moon were linked by a golden thread, which brought them into proximity with each other.

The black sun and silver moon began to merge. The black sun turned a deep red, and the silver moon a rusty red. The two celestial bodies overlapped, the silver moon taking on a blue sheen. As they overlapped perfectly, the moon absorbed the black sunlight and transformed into a fully realized pale blue moon.