Chapter 585: Against the AsuraWithin his office, Amurong cackled when he learned of the news of Hong Tianqi's impending actions. "Are you sure that Hong Tianqi's about to make a move?"
His secretary replied, "Yes, sir."
"I knew it! I knew Hong Tianqi would do something—he surely wouldn't leave matters be in the second realm. Ha, he's too weak!"
The secretary smiled. "Perhaps you're the only one who dares say something like that in the entirety of the Milky Way, sir."
Amurong waved the glass of red wine in his hand. "I've mentioned it before, haven't I? Hong Tianqi might be strong, but he's not vicious enough to accomplish anything truly great."
The secretary asked, "What should we do next, sir?"
"Once Hong Tianqi enters the second realm, initiate a full-scale battle against Earth. We'll capture all their humans in one fell swoop!"
Three days passed in the blink of an eye as everyone awaited Zhang Lie's appearance. Nevertheless, even when the asura appeared above the skies of Renhuang once more, Zhang Lie was nowhere to be seen.
The asura sighed and slowly raised an arm...
On the hunters' forums, countless messages denigrated Zhang Lie. "Zhang Lie, you coward! It's clear you're unwilling to take responsibility for your actions!"
"And here I thought he was an honorable man! He's no hero—champion of mankind? Feh!"
"Coward, sniveling little coward!"
Hong Tianqi stood by the teleportation apparatus, ready to use a special technique to break through the boundaries between realms.
Just then, across the blue skies of the second realm, a black streak fell from the skies above Renhuang like a meteor. The streak of light left a long scar in the sky. It moved so rapidly that it appeared in front of the gathered crowd almost immediately as it appeared in sight.
The black streak struck the asura, leaving the five monarchs standing agape. They were unable to react in time; almost as the streak appeared, the asura fell from the skies and smashed into the ground.
A man stood hovering in the air, genetic energy shining from him more radiantly than the sun.
"You've all worked hard in my absence."
Even the members of Team Zenith were astounded by the man hovering in front of them.
"You're... Zhang Lie?!"
In his absence, Zhang Lie had grown unusually ravishing, and there was a depth and breadth to his aura that had previously been lacking. He bore the intensity of the sun itself.
"I'm back now. Leave everything to me!" Zhang Lie extended an arm in the direction of Renhuang, where his water-attuned genetic energy extinguished the blood-red flames within.
Yun Bing stared at him in shock. Just how strong, how immense of a reservoir of genetic energy did Zhang Lie have to have to accomplish such a feat? Being able to extinguish fire with water-attuned genetic energy was trivial, of course, but for Zhang Lie to be able to engulf the entire city with his energy was anything but.
Zhang Lie's face was calm and unperturbed, as though he had done something entirely ordinary. Given the magnitude of his energy reserves, he could even spawn an ocean out of thin air, let alone quash a burning fire.
"You must be the governor of Renhuang, Zhang Lie!" the monarch of the sun shouted, stepping forward.
"Scram!" Zhang Lie replied, his eyes blazing with fury. No one saw how he struck, but the next moment, the five monarchs found themselves bleeding out of all their orifices.
A cloud of dust mushroomed from the ground as the asura emerged unscathed.
"Hah! Interesting. I hadn't expected that anyone else would be able to achieve a level of strength comparable to mine. You must be Zhang Lie, then."
"And you an asura? At least you've saved me the effort of having to hunt you down."
Zhang Lie glanced at the three-headed, six-armed nightmare whose aura marked him as an existence even stronger than disaster-grade with surprising casualness. A thorn grew out of each of his elbows.
"Oh? I'm a little curious—why would you want to find me?"
"I need an asura's thorn. Enough talking—[Fists of the Silent Sea: Quake]!" Zhang Lie seized the initiative, striking at the asura with a rapid blow that was nothing more than a blur to the onlookers below.
Water surged beneath them. As a frightening gust of genetic energy emanated from Zhang Lie, the five sura monarchs were sent flying. S~ᴇaʀᴄh the N0ᴠᴇFɪre.nᴇt website on Gøøglᴇ to access chapters of nøvels early and in the highest quality.
"Oh? It looks like I'm being underestimated."
The asura likewise unleashed his strength. Space warped around him. The ground split as giant boulders took to the air. The illusion of a sea of blood manifested behind the asura's back, and overwhelming energy corroded at the foundation of the realm, turning his surroundings to void.
The asura and Zhang Lie exchanged blows at a pace so frenetic that the spectators were only able to see their afterimages. Where they collided, space shattered like glass.
A storm raged outside the borders of Renhuang as Zhang Lie and the asura destroyed the entire world around them. Their fight was in another dimension of strength entirely.
The five sura monarchs were certain that, were they participants in the fight, they would be defeated in the blink of an eye. The tempo of their battle was intense; it wasn't merely a matter of speed and strength.
Recognizing that Renhuang might fall if he were to keep fighting around its borders, Zhang Lie tried to lure the asura away from the city. The asura recognized this point, but he immediately followed suit.
The two of them clashed with fist and leg, arm and foot. A frightening battle ensued in the air, causing all the spectators to quail. The weaker among them, buffeted by the energy released in the aftermath of their attacks, were sent flying.
The space around them was cracked and torn, oozing with void and the ravages of outer space. Their power went beyond what the realm could handle.
The asura sighed. "This realm's too weak for the two of us. It's impressive enough that you're able to match my pace to this extent."
"What a coincidence—I think the same."
The sunlight paled in contrast to the energy that radiated from Zhang Lie, causing the realm's stability to deteriorate even further.
By this time, he had capped out his disaster gene fragments, and thanks to a series of unexpected events, he had evolved into a disaster-grade lifeform in his own right.
The asura gave him a smile that showed off his teeth. "Excellent."
As they left the confines of Renhuang, Zhang Lie began to muster his full force. "[Fists of the Silent Sea: Soar]!"
A wave of genetic energy swamped the asura, drowning him alive...