Chapter 456: The Invincible Governor

"Oh?" Shouta eyed his opponent scornfully. "I'll make you wish you were never born."

Renhuang was the result of everyone's hard work. Even when they raided Xuechi, few of the forces from Renhuang had been injured, and none were killed. This fellow had, however, caused the first casualties to the city.

𝑓𝘳𝘦𝑒𝑤𝑒𝘣𝘯ℴ𝘷𝘦𝓁.𝑐𝑜𝑚

Zhang Lie taunted, "You really have an elevated opinion of your abilities, don't you?"

He clenched his fists tightly. Now that he had capped his peak gene fragments, he was curious about the extent of his strength, and this opponent seemed like he could put up something of a fight.

"Let's see, shall we?" Shouta slashed down toward him, the edge of his blade gleaming with a blood-red glow.

Zhang Lie dodged to the side, ripples emanating from his fists and smashing apart the sword energy from Shouta's strike. As though he were taking a leisurely stroll, Zhang Lie made to move toward Shouta.

Shouta's face turned serious; he found that he had underestimated Zhang Lie. His blade moved so quickly that few would see it and even fewer would be able to react, but the moment he struck, Zhang Lie leapt up into the air. He easily dodged Shouta's blow with another flap of his wings, then darted toward him once more.

"[Fists of the Silent Sea: Fade]!" A punch, filled with boundless energy, so strong it seemed to warp space all around it, broke all the bones in Shouta's chest. He was only able to remain standing thanks to his frightening constitution.

With a murderous roar, he swung his blade in a flurry, but Zhang Lie again dodged each strike with ease. With another punch, he struck Shouta in the face, causing it to cave in.

"Looks like you're nothing impressive without your blade."

Shouta clenched his face in pain, his eyes revealing shock and disbelief. How could a human become so strong? He was just a human, but Shouta found himself unable to counter him at all—and Shouta was the best of the monarch of stars' nine godchildren!

Shouta was finally certain that the man in front of him was the killer of his fifth and seventh brothers, but the price of learning the truth might well be his life.

"Die!" Regardless, despite knowing that he was no match for Zhang Lie, Shouta gritted his teeth, picked up his sword again, and rushed over.

Unfortunately for him, Zhang Lie was far too overwhelming.

He dodged Shouta's blade easily. Strong though it might be, it was nothing more than a weapon.

Shouta seemed like a little child who was unable to use his blade to its full potential. He had overwhelmed his past foes with dominating physical strength, so when faced with an opponent that was even stronger, his lack of finesse became a debilitating weakness. He either targeted the neck or the head, never any other part of the body, and it was trivial to see through his attack.

The reason Su Hong and the others had fared so poorly against him was because of fear—the defenders had been so overwhelmed that they hadn't taken the time to study their opponent closely.

Given their lacking physical strength, they also wouldn't have had the ability to respond and counterattack even if they understood Shouta's style of attack.

Against Zhang Lie, however, Shouta was little more than a mobile punching bag.

Shouta had realized this point too. Rather than attack Zhang Lie, his blade was directed at the members of Team Zenith, who stood behind Zhang Lie; perhaps he sought to take advantage of any weakness that Zhang Lie would show when trying to rescue his comrades, but upon seeing the reactions of the members of Team Zenith, he felt as though he had to re-evaluate his understanding of all of mankind.

[Mirrored Refraction]!

[Daybreak]!

[Floating Clouds]!

[Blinding Flash]!

[Willow's Caress]!

[Tempest Dance]!

[The Elusive Moon]!

Each member of Team Zenith used a footwork technique to adroitly evade Shouta's attack.

Shouta was clearly taken aback. Zhang Lie might be strong, but why were all his teammates so strong too? When had the humans become so strong that they could easily evade his attacks?

He was a sura king, the first son of the monarch of stars! How could he be incapable of dealing with any of the humans here?!

In truth, he wasn't to blame. The members of Team Zenith were all incredibly strong hunters; after all, they had each finished capping their peak gene fragments. Most importantly, the hunters had all consumed Potion #3, and their strength was far beyond that of an ordinary human hunter. At this moment, they each had strength comparable to that of a sura king, or even beyond that of a sura king.

"In the end, you only have a few tricks up your sleeve." Zhang Lie looked at Shouta and shook his head in disappointment. He had thought the sura king would be a worthy foe, but he was nothing more than a fool!

He hadn't even used a tenth of his full strength to take down Shouta.

With a wave of his hand, he sent Shouta flying out, skidding for over a hundred meters over the ground before he came to a stop.

It wasn't that he was weak; on the other hand, Shouta was one of the strongest sura kings. However, Zhang Lie was so strong that he was on a different level entirely, and his victory shouldn't have been a surprise.

Seeing that Zhang Lie had taken revenge for him, Su Hong whooped in excitement. "Kill him, Governor, kill him!"

Having watched the entire display, the other hunters and Yeluo fighters glanced at Zhang Lie with admiration in their eyes. "Victory to our governor! Renhuang will never fall!"

"Victory to our governor! Renhuang will never fall!"

"Victory to our governor! Renhuang will never fall!"

Shouta's face burned red with pain and shame. Perhaps intentionally or otherwise, Zhang Lie's blows had all been directed at his face. He could have killed him with one blow, but none of his blows had been lethal. Suddenly, he thought back to what Zhang Lie had said.

"I'll make you regret being born..."

Shouta's eyes filled with fear as a talisman materialized in his palm. "Elites, kill everything in sight!"

Shouta crushed the talisman, and a group of sura appeared before him. The chains fell off their bodies as their dazed expressions turned crazed. They screamed like beasts and pounced on any lifeform around them that they could see.

Shouta began to laugh as he stood up. "Say goodbye to your Renhuang. These are my elite troops, and they'll never stop until all their energy has been depleted! They'll kill every hunter in sight, so you only have two options: either let me leave, or wait until they destroy all that you love and value."

Shouta wasn't a fool; knowing that he was no match for Zhang Le, he didn't intend to fight to the death.

"I'll choose neither option!"

Zhang Lie grabbed Shouta by the neck and shouted, "Let's have a look at how your elite troops are faring, shall we?"

"[Avatar of the Fae: Earthbound Prison]!"

Zhou Ying stomped on the ground, her feet seemingly becoming rooted. The patch of ground beneath and all around her began to glow green, and hundreds of jade-green roots flew into the air, rushing forward into the distance.

They each wrapped around one of Shouta's so-called elites, trapping their movement.

Shouta laughed coldly. "It's useless."

His elites were strong; despite the roots being resilient, they were slowly freeing themselves.

"Allow me to assist you, Zhou Ying!" The shaman of the wood spirits flew gracefully toward her as their bodies melded together...