Chapter 1289: Jiuxiao's Strength

Despite the relative languidity of his actions, Zhang Lie's technique struck Jun Jiuxiao first. He flicked aside the barrier of wind and storm with his fingers, sending the sword careening out of Jun Jiuxiao's reach.

Jun Jiuxiao blanched, but recovered and reacted quickly.

"[Stormwind Kick]!" He kicked forward, his legs imbued with wind and storm. Even so, he remained unable to pose a threat to Zhang Lie.

"[Floating Clouds]!" It looked as though Jun Jiuxiao had morphed into lightning itself. Storms rose up all around him, and he left a flurry of afterimages behind.

Zhang Lie prodded at a certain spot with his finger, causing Jun Jiuxiao to shoot away from the point of impact like a cannonball.

He fell to the ground rolling, his sword making a few turns into the air before sticking into the ground blade-first.

Zhang Lie clasped both hands behind his back. "Did you intuit something?"

Jun Jiuxiao struggled to stand. "I think I can understand everyone's despair now."

Upon sensing the battle intent in Jun Jiuxiao's eyes, Zhang Lie motioned him forth. "If you don't intend to give up, let's continue."

He retrieved another sword from his dimensional storage. Wind howled and lightning flashed. Purple lightning flickered through the air.

"If I were alone, I would long since have surrendered, but I'm not fighting by myself right now. Fang Yi expects great things of me, and I'm fighting with everyone's hopes on the line! [Heaven's Judgment]!"

Wind and lightning twined around Jun Jiuxiao's sword as he thrust forward. The combination of wind and lightning generated a frightening force that seemed to be able to penetrate space.

Jun Jiuxiao's sword attack was very much like Fang Yi's spear attack.

Zhang Lie extended one lone finger, which nevertheless boasted enough strength to break through the barrier of wind and storm. Like an immovable mountain, the finger stood firm against the sword. Jun Jiuxiao sucked in a deep breath and pushed, but was unable to cause the finger to move by even a fraction.

Jun Jiuxiao howled, "I might not be an opponent for you, but if I lose so easily, how will I face Fang Yi? He's taught me far too much, and I can't let all his effort go to waste!"

𝗳𝗿𝐞𝕖𝘄𝗲𝕓𝗻𝚘𝚟𝕖𝐥.𝚌𝕠𝕞

"[Floating Clouds]!" The wind and lightning formed a loop around his body. Wind and storm surged throughout the loop, providing explosive strength that pushed back Zhang Lie's finger.

Zhang Lie nodded as though affirming his hard work. "You've improved tremendously, and this proves your dedication and effort. However, it's not enough."

Zhang Lie's finger rippled with energy. Like a river, like a dragon, Jun Jiuxiao was pushed away with such force that he was sent flying. He tumbled across the ground before barely stabilizing himself.

Wretched, he stood up arduously once more.

Zhang Lie raised a hand to stop him. "That's enough. I know roughly how much you can withstand now, and there's no need to keep going."

Jun Jiuxiao wobbled on his feet. Even just standing was difficult.

"No, I can't! Fang Yi has spent too much time with me over the course of our training for me to give up now. I don't want to let him down!"

"Enough!" This time, it wasn't Zhang Lie who shouted, but rather Fang Yi. "That's enough. I've seen everything. You didn't disappoint me—the fact that you can still fight at this level against Zhang Lie is more than sufficient."

Zhang Lie praised, "You really have done very well. The members of Team Zenith have far more practical experience, so you won't compare to them, but you're doing almost as well as Zhang Hanxiang."

They had only been training vigorously for a month, and Jun Jiuxiao had yet to master Fang Yi's strongest ability—mastery over time.

If Jun Jiuxiao had control over time, he might have been able to continue the fight, or even to force Zhang Lie to use a tenth of his true strength.

However, a month was insufficient for Jun Jiuxiao to access that power.

After all, temporal manipulation was a rare and arcane technique which not everyone could learn. Within Team Zenith, only Fang Yi and Zhang Lie could do it, and all the members of Team Zenith were at the peak of the third realm. It was evident that temporal manipulation was a rare and difficult ability to obtain.

Jun Jiuxiao, who likewise commanded the forces of wind and storm, might not be a match for Fang Yi in terms of temporal manipulation.

Zhang Hanxiang was very dissatisfied upon hearing her brother's words. "Brother, what do you mean? I'm not weaker than Jun Jiuxiao!"

Zhang Lie rolled his eyes. "How long has it been since you ascended to the third realm, and how long has it been for Jun Jiuxiao? If he ascended at the same time you did, do you think you could beat him?"

Zhang Hanxiang faltered and went silent.

Zhang Lie continued, "You should be spending more time on your cultivation. Otherwise, Jun Jiuxiao and the other members of the Zenith Dojo might catch up to you."

A Zenith Dojo tier list of individual strength might have Zhang Lie as a T0 individual, no one in T1, and the others of Team Zenith in T2. [1]

The reason that there was no one in T1 was because no one could bridge the gulf in strength between Zhang Lie and the members of Team Zenith; the difference spanned two whole tiers. Hong Xi was in T2.5, and Zhang Hanxiang in T3. There was now a T4 for Jun Jiuxiao as well.

Zhang Hanxiang pursed her lips. "I've already been working hard!"

Zhang Lie turned to Jun Jiuxiao. "It's good to emulate others, but Fang Yi's skills aren't easy to learn. There are so many members of Team Zenith who use a sword, so why learn spear techniques?"

Jun Jiuxiao replied, "Only I and Fang Yi have a wind- and storm-oriented framework."

"Elemental attunement isn't everything. Water-attuned genetic energy can possess qualities of gold, of earth, and even of fire and thunder."

Zhang Lie demonstrated, extending water-attuned genetic energy beyond his fingertips, turning it silvery-white with sharpness and strength, then a dull mud-yellow, then transforming it into flames dancing between his fingertips, which exploded into crackling lightning.

"Fang Yi's techniques aren't particularly interesting besides [Heaven's Judgment]. His true strength is in combining all sorts of different energies together to unleash a massive blow. However, you don't have access to temporal manipulation, nor to his ability to combine disparate energy sources, and you've only learned the superficial instead. Even if you can grow stronger this way, your path will be limited."

Fang Yi seemed quite dissatisfied. "Captain, my other techniques aren't bad!"

Zhang Lie countered, "Perhaps not compared to the ordinary hunter, but what about the members of Team Zenith?"

Fang Yi was speechless. Could he compare to the other members of Team Zenith?

Team Zenith was filled with ridiculously strong hunters. Yang Ze had dimensional manipulation and karmic evasion, Sun Xiaowu had his mechas and Echo of Origin, and Li Feng's abilities channeled divinity itself.

Each member of Team Zenith was at the peak of the third realm; no one could beat them at their respective expertise.

"There are quite a few members of Team Zenith who use swords—Yang Ze or Li Feng, for example. Wouldn't it be better to learn sword techniques from them than spear techniques from Fang Yi that you then have to adapt for the sword?"

1. T as in tier. ?