Chapter 615: An Immense Blow

Yang Ze shook his head. "I was always very curious why our captain didn't have a girlfriend despite his personality and strength, and now I know..."

Zhang Hanxiang chided, "Brother, can't you read the room?!"

Zhang Lie rolled his eyes at her. "What are all of you thinking? We're here to train—or do all of you want to run a few hundred laps around the borders of Limit?"

Yang Ze hurriedly shouted back, "Well done, Captain, well done!"

Hong Xi murmured, "There's a lot to learn from that interaction, I think."

𝕗𝕣𝐞𝐞𝘄𝐞𝚋𝚗𝗼𝘃𝗲𝗹.𝚌𝕠𝚖

Zhang Hanxiang nodded. "Mengmeng's techniques were very good. She wrapped genetic energy around herself like a robe, bolstering her offense and defense—and she looked good while doing it, too. If not for the fact that she was fighting against my brother, she would surely have won."

Sun Mengmeng climbed out of the ground, her face gray with dust and caked with mud. She howled, "Zhang Lie!"

Her body burned with purplish-black flame so intense that it dyed the heavens the same color.

Zhang Lie nodded. "Very good! This is exactly the attitude you should bring to training, but I think you can magnify your aura some more—imagine, for example, that I were your father's killer. Did you manage to intuit something from our bout?"

"Intuit—you bastard!" Sun Mengmeng materialized her garuda bow, which instantly lit up with flame so hot it could burn the very air itself. Even from afar, the members of Team Zenith could sense the sudden change in temperature, and the scorching heat pricked their skin.

Zhang Hanxiang raised both her arms and called out, "Mengmeng, please don't open fire recklessly! We're innocent!"

Sun Xiaowu's mouth spasmed. "It looks like my sister's really angry."

Hong Xi rolled her eyes. "I would be, too. What a romantic scene—and she was tossed off into the distance just like that! I'd ignore my master for the rest of my life if he did that to me."

Fang Yi folded his arms. "I can understand what the captain's thinking. We're in the middle of training, and he's trying to help Sun Mengmeng, but she—"

Hong Xi narrowed her eyes at him. "That's why you and my master's love lives will never go anywhere. If my master ever wanted a woman, I guarantee you a flock would rush to his bed, but as for you..."

Hong Xi shot a glance at the spear in Fang Yi's hand. "All you'll have is your spear."

By now, Hong Xi was all but a member of Team Zenith, having survived battle after battle with them, and they were able to joke with each other easily.

Sun Mengmeng cast [Black Sun], forming a cordon of purplish-black flame around her. She activated her most impactful soulshards for battle, transforming from a young woman to a fierce warrior with a chitinous carapace, wreathed in black flame.

Her flames were so intense that the armor-type soulshard actually began to crack and split. Black flame seeped through those cracks, and the ground beneath her feet turned a glowing red.

By then, Sun Mengmeng had transformed into a fearsome warrior of hell. Black flame flared from her bow, transforming into an undead phoenix.

"Are you strengthening your fire manipulation by making use of your anger?" Zhang Lie nodded approvingly. "It's a natural and effective idea. By combining the force of your emotions with your fire-attuned genetic energy, you can improve the strength and temperature of your flames."

The flames around Sun Mengmeng's body grew even taller and hotter.

Zhang Hanxiang clutched her forehead. "Brother, stop provoking Mengmeng!"

Zhang Lie turned to her. "What do you mean, provoking? I'm commenting on her strategy and praising her!"

Zhang Hanxiang sighed. "Poor Mengmeng."

"[Netherworld's Torrential Flame]!" Hundreds of arrows, like beams of moonlight, shot toward Zhang Lie. Their flames felt as though they could destroy everything they touched.

Zhang Lie lifted his hand and deflected the stream of arrows as he turned to his sister again. "Exactly what do you mean? Be clearer!"

Zhang Hanxiang shrugged. "I don't know how to explain it better. Deal with it yourself!"

"[The Nine Moons of the Underworld]!" Nine flaming moons appeared in the sky. They overshadowed the sun's radiance as they fell toward the ground. Zhang Lie sent a flurry of punches into the sky, causing the moons to explode in mid-air in a flurry of arrows.

Zhang Lie's face turned serious. Sun Mengmeng's wrath had elevated her strength and unlocked her potential; she was over ten times as strong as she normally was.

"[Fists of the Silent Sea: Dragon's Wrath]!" Zhang Lie sent a dragon of blood howling into the air. Space cracked; the arrows all above him were sucked into the void.

Sun Mengmeng continued loosing arrows in his direction. Her entire bow was blazing. Sacrificing all her remaining arrows, she created a glowing black moon in the sky, which exploded into rays of moonlight. Zhang Lie caused those rays to dissipate with a single punch, then shouted, "Come on, keep going! Expel all your rage and anger!"

The flames surrounding Sun Mengmeng erupted like a volcano, distorting space in a huge area around her.

The members of Team Zenith could easily sense how strong her genetic energy had become in her rage. Their faces turned wary—Sun Mengmeng's flames were simply too domineering. None of them would be able to approach her in this state, not even Fang Yi and Sun Xiaowu, who were best at close combat.

Even their strongest attacks might not be able to defeat the flames surrounding Sun Mengmeng.

Yang Ze's mouth spasmed. "We'd better avoid angering Sun Mengmeng in the future."

His illusions would instantly vaporize in her heat. He was a water-attuned hunter, and should have had the advantage over a fire-attuned one—in theory. If he met Sun Mengmeng in this state, however, he would immediately run away.

"How frightening a woman in love can be..." Hong Xi murmured.

The others nodded hastily. Everyone was a little scared of Sun Mengmeng now.

However, Zhang Lie didn't seem to feel the intensity of the heat at all. He strolled through the flames as though he were appreciating flowers in his garden. As he clasped his hands behind his back, he shook his head. "Keep going, Sun Mengmeng! Your flames can get even stronger, I'm sure of it!"

In truth, he was already very satisfied with her performance. Sun Mengmeng's flames had reached an intensity that bordered his own strength in the past—at this very moment, she was comparable to a disaster-grade existence. In other words, she had obtained the qualifications to fight against a disaster-grade lifeform...