Chapter 613: Swords of Light

Zhang Lie's punch sent a wave of roiling black energy toward Sun Xiaowu, destroying everything in sight.

𝙛𝒓𝒆𝙚𝒘𝒆𝓫𝙣𝓸𝙫𝓮𝒍.𝒄𝒐𝓶

"Captain, don't get so serious!" Sun Xiaowu jumped back in shock; this attack would be quite dangerous if it landed.

"Xiaowu!" Sun Mengmeng cried out in worry. She trusted Zhang Lie, of course, but she couldn't help but see her beloved brother in danger.

Under stress, Sun Xiaowu's latent potential sparked to life. Golden radiance emanated from his body as the runes surrounding him began to swivel and rotate at their maximum speed.

"[Goldenscale Palm: Explode]!" Layers of dense golden scales appeared on Sun Xiaowu's arms, and his right arm glowed with resplendent light. As Sun Xiaowu attacked, so too did the golden giant, bringing the strength of his attack to a new level entirely.

Sun Xiaowu punched forward with immense force and surprising speed toward the black serpent's body, but no matter how he attacked, the energy from his golden fists was corroded away the moment it touched the serpent's body.

Even so, Sun Xiaowu's [Goldenscale Palm] was indeed sapping away at Zhang Lie's strength, one small drop at a time.

As Zhang Lie's destructive aura drew closer and closer, Sun Xiaowu launched a blazing finisher.

"[Adamantine Aegis: Martial God]!" Sun Xiaowu's body flared with golden light so intense that everyone was forced to cover their eyes. He was surrounded by a storm of golden runes. The golden giant had grown to three times its size, with an even more imposing aura.

For some reason, the golden giant looked a little like Zhang Lie.

Zhang Lie nodded to himself. The hunter with the most latent potential among those gathered here wasn't the skilled illusionist Yang Ze, nor the straightforward and direct spearmaster Fang Yi, but rather she who possessed the [Avatar of the Fae], Zhou Ying.

In terms of fighting potential, however, that honor went to Sun Xiaowu. Without pressuring him a little, it would be impossible to identify the limits of that strength.

"[Goldenscale Palm: Qilin]!" Golden light basked the entire land as a golden qilin emerged from Sun Xiaowu's palms.

The qilin was wreathed in a dazzling array of golden runes that made it look like a miniature sun. When it clashed against Zhang Lie's destructive strength, it... won out. The world regained its color. Sun Xiaowu lay weakly on the ground panting, his head raised toward the sky. He had squeezed out all his strength and energy, and he was too weak to even move his fingers now.

Sun Mengmeng released a deep breath.

Zhang Lie clapped. "Very well done, Sun Xiaowu. That was an excellent punch at the end."

That he was able to summon the qilin without relying on the strength of his clones represented a massive advancement.

Sun Xiaowu was one of those hunters who grew in battle; the more difficult the battle, the faster he advanced. Zhang Lie would have to keep pushing him so that he could discover his limits.

"However, I think you can make your attacks even more forceful. You may want to work on combining your [Blinding Flash] with your [Adamantine Aegis: Martial God]—I think that combination has a lot of potential."

Sun Xiaowu asked, "Captain, how strong was that punch of yours at the very end?"

"Perhaps... a hundredth of my maximum strength?" Zhang Lie had to think about his response for quite some time.

Sun Xiaowu chuckled bitterly to himself. There he was, dead to the world, and Zhang Lie had barely used his strength at all!

"As you know, if I attack at full force, I'll damage the integrity of the second realm permanently, so I can hardly use more than that." Zhang Lie turned to Li Feng. "I believe it's your turn."

"Here I come, Captain!"

"Very well. Show me how you've improved in the past few months."

Li Feng thrust his sword toward Zhang Lie and sent a silver dragon surging toward him. It was far stronger an attack than Zhang Lie had anticipated, but Zhang Lie dissipated it in the blink of an eye. Li Feng stumbled back in the resulting explosion.

"Not bad—you're as fast as expected for a light-attuned hunter."

"As fast as expected? Captain, I didn't even see your attack!" Li Feng might be outmatched, but he wasn't about to give up just yet. "[Light Dragon's Remnants]!"

Li Feng marshaled his genetic energy into the form of a few white dragons, which he shot toward Zhang Lie.

"Very good!" Zhang Lie scattered the dragons with a wave of his left arm as Li Feng morphed into a beam of light and shot toward him.

"[Dance of the Incandescent Wyrm]!" Li Feng summoned dozens of serpents, flaring with blinding light.

However, the same thing happened again. The dozens of serpents were torn to shreds before they could touch Zhang Lie. How could it be? He had attacked at close range! Li Feng suspected that Zhang Lie had used some trick or another—for example, splintering space around him into a flurry of shards, which would dispel any attack directed toward him, or making use of his water-attuned genetic energy to form a series of formless blades that would serve as his shield.

Frowning, he asked, "Captain, just what are you doing?"

"Would your opponents tell you what they're doing?" Zhang Lie rolled his eyes. "If they do, they're surely misdirecting you. Would you like to make this a mental battle, too?"

Li Feng shook his head earnestly. Fighting with Yang Ze was hard enough, but Zhang Lie was even more wily.

"[Birth of the Holy Dragon]!" Li Feng leapt high into the air and landed on the dragon's head, his sword gleaming brightly as though it had been dipped in liquid light. As he raised the sword to the skies, it glowed and expanded, morphing into a huge blade of light.

"Not bad!" Zhang Lie smiled. His palm clenched into a fist, which he struck at the beam of light descending from above.

With an explosion of black mist, a black serpent swallowed the dragon whole as the sword of light descended from Li Feng's hands.

Zhang Lie grabbed the sword with his bare hands. Compared to the gigantic blade, his palms were infinitesimally small, but his grip alone was able to halt its advance. As Zhang Lie squeezed the blade, it dissipated into motes of energy in mid-air...