Chapter 818: A Single Punch

If Zhang Lie were around, he wouldn't have to think of a way out of this conundrum at all. Even if the king of the realm possessed authority over space, so too did Zhang Lie, and Zhang Lie would be able to wall off the king of the realm and prevent him from teleporting away easily.

However, Zhou Ying wasn't Zhang Lie. She might not be able to stop the king of the realm so cleanly or easily, but she still wanted to give it a try.

"I surely can't give up without trying. That's not how we hunters of Team Zenith operate!"

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Having made up her mind, Zhou Ying summoned a large number of vines to suck up and purify the poison, depleting the swamp bit by bit. However, the poison was so toxic that the vines would dissolve almost immediately, and Zhou Ying had to come up with a new strategy.

With a snap of her fingers, she animated the nearby trees and made them into treemen, who began to dig up the mud forming the poisonous sea and transporting it elsewhere.

Ordinary treemen succumbed easily to the poison and began to wilt rapidly, but the plan was bearing fruit: the sea of poison was diminishing in volume slowly with every passing second. Zhou Ying stood right by the border, closing her eyes and pushing at the edges of her sensory perception.

Wind blew across the forest and caressed her face, sweeping up errant leaves. Zhou Ying, who stood at the edge of the forest, seemed to have become one with the land.

By the time the sea of poison was at half its former height, the primordial demon couldn't remain still any longer. It began to activate its teleportation routine to run away.

The moment Zhou Ying sensed the fluctuations in space, she opened her eyes. "I've finally found you! [Storm of Leaves: Void Cut]!"

She cut forward with her shortsword, sending a silver beam of light forward that split the sea of poison in two.

The teleportation circle that the primordial demon was constructing had likewise been cut apart. The primordial demon glared, unable to believe that Zhou Ying had managed to sense it through thick layers of poison and detritus.

Zhou Ying had sent the vines into the sea of poison despite the fact that they would rapidly corrode not just to suck away the mud and poison, but also as a probe for her senses.

With her vines, she would be able to sense any changes in the sea of poison below her, no matter how minute. Her [Void Cut] split the primordial demon in two, so quickly and cleanly that it died without being able to evade or defend against the blow.

The will of the world mourned the passing of another king as a rain of blood fell from the skies.

Zhou Ying had succeeded in her goal, but even though the king was dead, she had no clue where its proof of kingship was. As a result, she was forced to search the entire world for any hint of its existence.

𝗳𝚛𝗲𝕖𝕨𝕖𝗯𝚗𝚘𝕧𝕖𝗹.𝗰𝗼𝕞

Meanwhile, Zhang Lie had reached the other end of his wormhole as well. He entered a forest of black Chinese parasol trees. An unusual black sun hung in the air.

Zhang Lie stretched his limbs, wondering how to smoke the king of the realm out, when he suddenly noticed a formless will studying him. The moment he stepped into the world, the Blackwind king had sensed his presence.

A black firebird had appeared above him, with an immense wingspan that seemed almost to blot out the sky.

"Human, what are you doing here?"

In truth, the Blackwind king was rather perplexed. He had just sent his kin over to the draconian world, so how did a human make it through the wormhole so shortly afterwards? What had happened to the Blackwind warriors?

The Blackwind king's body flared with flames as he snarled, "Tell me, or I'll burn you to a crisp!"

"The Blackwind race will perish today," Zhang Lie intoned, clenching his fists tightly as blue genetic energy gathered around him. Ripples of genetic energy emanated from his arms. As he flicked his wrists, a frightening aura descended on the world, and the skies began to darken. A fish the size of a whale materialized in the air.

"[Fists of the Silent Sea: Soar]!" Ripples of energy spread out from Zhang Lie, warping the space around him and launching shockwaves toward the Blackwind race sounding like peals of thunder, like stampeding hooves.

A huge wave soared into the air. As Zhang Lie punched forward, the fish slammed its huge tail on the ground and sent a torrent of water surging in the king's direction.

The shockwaves and water-attuned genetic energy exploded, releasing a huge burst of energy that swallowed up the nearby lifeforms like a rampaging beast.

The Blackwind who were hovering in the sky were immediately annihilated, and the resulting aftermath of the attack spawned a cyclone that ravaged the remaining Blackwind forces.

The black Chinese parasol trees were uprooted whole, transforming what had once been a forest into flat land.

The flames on the Blackwind king were all but snuffed out; he looked like a dim candle as he floated in the air.

Zhang Lie seemed rather surprised. "Oh? You're not dead yet even after a direct hit from me? That's impressive."

The Blackwind king invoked the authority of the king to connect to the black sun in the sky. Solar flames fell toward him, infusing him with their strength and healing his injuries rapidly.

He shouted, "My people, your king needs your assistance!"

Huge flocks of the Blackwind emerged from the forests, surrounding the Blackwind king and flying toward him like moths toward a flame, converting their bodies and lifeforce into his strength.

Zhang Lie was taken aback by the fact that the Blackwind king was sacrificing his people so easily just to bolster himself.

In the span of just a few breaths, after linking up with the black sun in the sky and restoring himself with his clan's vitality, the Blackwind king transformed into a gigantic sun, one so hot it lit the forest aflame just by being close to it.

After his evolution, the Blackwind king was in high spirits once more. "Human, I'll acknowledge your strength. It's little wonder why the Blackwind soldiers haven't yet returned—but now that I've transformed fully into a black sun, you have no chance of victory. On account of your strength, if you kneel on the ground and decide to become a slave to the Blackwind clan, I might consider sparing your life."

"You're finished with your grandstanding now, aren't you?"

Zhang Lie had had the opportunity to take down the Blackwind king with another well-timed blow, but he chose not to do so.

He wanted to wait for the Blackwind king to reach the peak of his strength, then crush him then—to make him sense the deepest of despair.

The Blackwind king went silent. As far as he could recall, any of his enemies who witnessed him in this ascended state fell into despair; who could fight a force of nature like the sun?

However, Zhang Lie didn't seem to be perturbed by his transformation at all.

The Blackwind king called out, "Human, you're far too arrogant for your own good. Feel the difference in our strength!"

Zhang Lie laughed. "Well, if you're done, you can die now. [The Boundless Blade: Yawning Wave]!"

Water-attuned genetic energy wrapped around his finger. As he pointed his finger like a sword, a black serpent shot forward with the aura of [The Boundless Blade], causing the entire world to quake with its motion.

In one bite, the serpent swallowed up half the black sun that composed the Blackwind king's new form.

"You dare!" The Blackwind king roared in outrage. Solar flares emerged on its surface as it summoned a solar storm. Ions and plasma shot out from the sun in a blast, sending thunder and lightning crackling through the skies.

"[Ninecarp Transformation]!" The black serpent materialized anew behind Zhang Lie, by now so large and so developed that it resembled the world-swallowing serpent Jormungandr. Though it was a construct of genetic energy, it looked just like a physical being. It was unfazed by the Blackwind king's attack.

"[Fists of the Silent Sea: Fade]!" The black serpent charged into the sky like a current of darkness, throwing its bulk directly into the solar storm with a sizzle. It opened its maw wide, planning to swallow up the sun, as the black sun began to burn even more violently. The two opposing forces clashed against each other with a violent explosion.

Zhang Lie clenched his palm more and more tightly as the black serpent's form condensed and began to absorb the black sun into itself...