Chapter 908: Unexpected Powers

"[Born of Lightning, Swallowed by the Wind]!" As Fang Yi shouted, his spear traced a half-moon in the air, surrounded by an aura of time. Light and shadow flashed by its tip, just like the wind and lightning that made up the core of Fang Yi's techniques.

The spear pierced space abruptly, spawning a rift that turned its surroundings gray. All movement was locked in time. The wind, the disciples of the Zenith Dojo, the humanoid bugs—everything had frozen.

The only one who could move in this world of gray was Fang Yi. The spear penetrated through the humanoid bug's chest before the gray receded. Time began to move again.

"It's too late to be learning how to use genetic energy now, don't you think?" Fang Yi smiled coldly.

It was arrogant beyond belief for the bugs really thought they could use something they had just picked up to defeat the humans, who had been cultivating genetic energy for centuries.

Fang Yi was already able to break the confines of time with genetic energy; could the bugs, who were simply emulating humans, do any better than the original thing?

Although Fang Yi's long spear pierced the mutated bug's chest, the bug didn't die. It suddenly reached out, gripped Fang Yi's spear, and sent a punch straight toward his face.

Beside him, Yang Ze was also being attacked by a mutated bug. The mutated bug careened toward the ground like a meteor, expelling all mist in the vicinity, exploding all sharks, and leaving a huge crater in the ground.

"As expected, these bugs aren't so easy to take down… [The Boundless Blade: Shark Frenzy]!"

Waves suddenly appeared in the sky, shimmering like a mirage. Spatial fluctuations rippled as Yang Ze activated [Mirrored Refraction].

The mutated bug punched forward, exploding yet another horde of sharks.

Behind those sharks, Yang Ze was ready. He shot forward, [Mirrored Refraction] hiding his true location. By the time the mutated bug noticed him, it was already too late. Yang Ze's blade slashed across its throat and sent golden-yellow ichor flying through the air.

Yang Ze flicked his blade to clean it of the vile fluid. "Is this all you've got?"

Suddenly, he felt a presence behind him. A black figure stood to his back, having appeared there out of nowhere. It was standing there silently, as though waiting for a signal.

Despite what seemed to be a life-threatening injury, the mutated bug whose throat Yang Ze had slashed appeared not to care about its injuries. Even as ichor fountained out of the wound, the bug remained expressionless.

A few disciples from the Zenith Dojo noticed what was behind Yang Ze. "Be careful!" they yelled, but it was already too late.

The bug behind Yang Ze clapped its palms together right where Yang Ze's head was, making a wet squelch like a watermelon being crushed.

Liquid covered the mutated bug's palms as its face fell slack. A sword had pierced through its chest. Yang Ze was standing behind the bug. "As I said, you're all just inferior copies of us."

Yang Ze certainly had no intention of being careless on this battlefield. The body whose head the mutated bug had crushed was none other than one of his illusions.

The mutated bug suddenly kicked at its back as Yang Ze hurriedly stepped back. Because of the intensity of the bug's motions, the wound on its neck widened. Half its head hung off its neck, connected by only a layer of skin. The mutated bug lifted up its head, put it in proper position, and then applied a layer of genetic energy to seal the wound.

Yang Ze frowned. "What ridiculous vitality for you not to die even with such a wound. Are you a zombie or a cockroach?"

Answering his own question, Yang Ze surmised, "As a bug, you have to be a cockroach, I suppose. On Earth, the cockroaches in the south are far more threatening than in the north. Not only are they about the size of your palm, they can even fly. It looks like the cockroaches on Mars are even more annoying to deal with!"

The mutated bug rushed forward like a rocket, cocking its arm and throwing a punch at Yang Ze. Yang Ze didn't dodge. He allowed the fist to land on his face—but it thrust through it without any resistance instead.

"Do you bugs just have enhanced physical strength? Is that it?"

Even though his head should have been flattened by the bug's fist, Yang Ze continued to talk as though he had sustained no injuries at all.

The mutated bug looked at its own chest once more. Yang Ze's sword had penetrated it again, sending a steady stream of ichor leaking from the wound.

Based on physical strength alone, these mutated bugs were stronger than even a third-realm hunter with maxed out gene fragments. They would be at warlord-level simply based on their physical strength.

The hunters of Team Zenith, who had maxed disaster gene fragments from the second realm and limit fragments besides, nonetheless found themselves unable to compete with the mutated bugs in terms of physical capabilities—and this was despite the fact that they were physically stronger than just about any warlord in the third realm.

Only Zhang Lie could beat the mutated bugs in a contest of brute strength.

"Even so, physical strength is only one dimension of strength. If you're lacking any understanding of space and time, you're nothing more than a baby."

Fights in the third realm were determined by such abstract concepts more than with physical strength alone, and Yang Ze had gained a deeper understanding of space after having fought with so many kings of the realm.

"Half the warlords on the warlord leaderboard would be able to defeat you easily, even with your grossly superior physical abilities." Yang Ze's blade cut a long slash through the mutated bug's chest with another spray of ichor.

Rather than tending to its injuries, the mutated bug punched forward again and again. Its impressive physical abilities made its flurry of punches seem like a black storm, the impact of which shattered the ground and sent boulders flying through the air.

Even so, no matter the force with which the bug punched forward, Yang Ze was like a reflection in a mirror—immune to the bug's attacks.

"Remember the name of my technique: [Reflected Sight, Refracted Vision]." Yang Ze bisected the mutated bug with a slash to its waist. Subsequently, he bisected its body again vertically, cutting the bug into four pieces.

The bug's quarter-bodies struggled intensely, but they were ultimately unable to combine.

Meanwhile, Fang Yi was so surprised by the fact that the mutated bug hadn't perished that he gave up on retrieving his spear and distanced himself from the bug instead.

The expressionless bug pulled the spear out of its chest and was just about to toss it at Fang Yi when Fang Yi reached forward. The spear vanished from the bug's hand and returned to Fang Yi.

The bug looked at its hand a few times and flexed experimentally, not understanding what had just happened.

.

Fang Yi laughed dryly. "Shocked, aren't you? This is what we call a soulshard. [Tiger's Howl, Dragon's Bellow]!"

Fang Yi's spear took on the aspect of a dragon of the winds and a storm tiger as he charged forward. A thunderstorm raged toward the mutated bug, but it defended against the attack with its thick, sludge-like genetic energy.

Subsequently, with a low shout, Fang Yi dashed forward with his spear in hand...