Chapter 614: Do You Understand?

"[Arclight Dragon's Imprint]!" Li Feng waved his left arm, around which a torrent of light-attuned genetic energy was gathering. It took the form of a gigantic dragon's claw, bearing down on Zhang Lie like a beam of light.

Struck by the dazzling light, the onlookers had to shield their eyes.

"Come!" Zhang Lie's black serpent rushed forward and devoured the pillar of light, sending Li Feng flying into the distance. Li Feng clutched his palm in pain, sucking in air as he dealt with the backlash from the blow.

"Ah, sorry, I got too excited!"

"I can continue, Captain!" Li Feng's eyes grew resolute.

Zhang Lie nodded approvingly. "Let's do so, then."

Li Feng replied, "I've emulated one of your techniques with my own, Captain, and I'd like to get your opinion of it."

"Very well."

Li Feng's aura grew to its peak. Wrapped up in shining light, an arclight dragon emerged from his body and circled upwards.

"[Light's Bulwark: Hundred Dragons Soaring]!" Li Feng shouted. As he punched upward into the sky, all his genetic energy condensed in his fists, launching dozens of dragons into the sky.

The dragons' cries sounded like peals of thunder as they swooped through the air before diving toward the ground.

Li Feng's [Light's Bulwark: Hundred Dragons Soaring] mirrored his own variant of [Fists of the Silent Sea], except his black dragons had transformed into Li Feng's white ones. The quality and quantity of these dragons were ?incomparable to his, but they bore Li Feng's distinctive mark.

"[Fists of the Silent Sea: Dragon's Wrath]!" Zhang Lie punched forward, his genetic energy materializing in the form of the head of a bloody dragon, one that devoured Li Feng's dragons whole. The frightening energy shook the skies and splintered the heavens.

Just as the dragon was about to smash into Li Feng's body, Zhang Lie waved a hand and dispelled his attack.

Li Feng's body was drenched with sweat. He sank to the ground, whereupon Zhang Lie called out, "Are you alright?"

"I'm fine, I'm fine. Captain, I simply can't believe your strength!"

"Did you intuit something from that last technique?"

Li Feng mulled things over for a moment. "Captain, your skill was too amazing. I simply can't absorb it all at the moment."

"Think about it some more, then try to test out what you understand from it." Zhang Lie patted him on the back.

The members of Team Zenith fell into deep thought. Hong Xi nodded as though she had understood something. Sun Xiaowu looked as though he had gleamed some inspiration, but lost it the next moment. Zhang Hanxiang turned to her brother and asked, "Brother, why do you have to be so mysterious?"

Yang Ze explained, "What our captain means is that we can learn from his techniques, from his behavior and philosophy, from his combat, but we can't emulate him completely. If we do so, we'd be ruining our own futures."

Zhang Lie nodded firmly at Yang Ze.

Of the four hunters he had tested, Sun Xiaowu and Li Feng had both been influenced by his skills, whereas Fang Yi persisted down his own path. As yet, however, Yang Ze was the only one who had developed something entirely his own.

That said, Zhang Lie didn't necessarily think that Yang Ze was doing the best of all the members of Team Zenith. Every hunter had their own strengths and weaknesses, and their paths to glory would be different.

In terms of combat ability, Sun Xiaowu took the lead. Yang Ze's finesse and thoughtfulness with his techniques were unparalleled, and Fang Yi's devotion to his path would surely bear fruit.

It remained to test the four females.

"Let me go first." Sun Mengmeng strode forward, her garuda bow materializing in her hands.

"[Lunarflame Shot]!" Three arrows, brimming with purple flame, flew toward her opponent.

With a wave of his hand, Zhang Lie caused the three flaming arrows to explode in mid-air.

"[Lunarflame Shot]!" Fire-attuned genetic energy burst from Sun Mengmeng's body as her body erupted in flames. She pulled her greatbow taut. Sun Mengmeng's right hand blurred as countless arrows of purple flame shot out of her bow like a meteor shower that tinted the air purple and gave the battlefield a phantasmagorical appearance. The air turned dry and arid, as though a cataclysm was nigh.

Under the brilliant purple sky, everything began to burn, drowned in a sea of purple flame. However, the flaming arrows seemed to avoid Zhang Lie entirely; even the purple flames spreading across the ground did the same.

Sun Mengmeng frowned. She loosed arrows more and more quickly, until her hands blurred. Purple arrows struck the ground like raindrops in a storm, drowning out Zhang Lie's figure. When her arrows exploded, they formed pillars of flame over ten meters high.

For an entire minute, Sun Mengmeng continued launching arrows through the battlefield. She panted for breath; her fingertips trembled. All she could see was purple flame.

"Is this all you've got?" Zhang Lie's voice sounded from amidst those flames. With a snap of his finger, ripples of energy spread out from Zhang Lie, warping the space around him. The flames were easily extinguished by his spatial manipulation.

"[Baptism of Hellfire: Full Moon]!" Sun Mengmeng whirled her daggers all around her as a black moon rose into the air, blocking the pulse of energy from Zhang Lie's attack.

As the full moon rose, Sun Mengmeng leapt off the ground, then rushed forward with her daggers in hand.

The ground exploded. Flames burst into the sky. Cracks of lava spread across the ground.

The black moon behind her, the wind her wings, Sun Mengmeng rocketed herself forward, trailed by a streak of purple flame. She glowed with such brilliance that the spectators all stared at her agape.

With the barest hissing, she unsheathed a long dark-red dagger. As she thrust forward, Zhang Lie swiveled his body to the side to avoid her blade, grabbed ahold of her by the waist, and pirouetted on one leg to dissipate her forward momentum.

Sun Mengmeng's eyes shone with passion and scorching flame, as though she were trying to light Zhang Lie ablaze. Zhang Lie gazed directly back at Sun Mengmeng as he spun more and more rapidly. Sun Mengmeng closed her eyes and leaned forward—

Zhang Lie suddenly let go of Sun Mengmeng, sending her flying into the distance like a javelin. She flew higher and higher into the air, higher still, until she finally landed by the side of a mountain with so much momentum that her body was half-stuck in place.

The members of Team Zenith winced.

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

Hong Xi turned aside, unable to watch the scene any further.

Zhang Hanxiang chided, "Brother, if you keep this up, you'll be alone for the rest of your life!"