Chapter 1226: Lining Up for a Beating
"Again?" Upon sensing another burst of frightening energy from Fang Yi, Yang Ze couldn't help but grumble, though the members of Team Zenith all reacted instantly.
They certainly didn't want to be struck by the shockwaves that resulted from the aftermath of this attack. Fang Yi's fated spear was the advanced form of his sevenfold strike—or rather, its completed form.
Hong Xi's pale blue moonlight shone down on them all. Sun Mengmeng manifested another black firewall. Sun Xiaowu's body flared with golden light, and golden runes appeared over his body. He used [Adamantine Aegis] immediately.
"[Blinding Flash: Thousandfold Echo]!"
Sun Xiaowu's body split into hundreds of clones, each bearing resplendent golden runes. They gathered around the members of Team Zenith, forming a human barricade.
Sun Mengmeng waved a hand before her, adding a ring of flame to the barrier.
Li Feng radiated silver light, and illusory silver dragons coiled around the members of Team Zenith.
Refracted light shone around Yang Ze, who waved a hand and isolated the members of Team Zenith from the pocket dimension.
Zhang Hanxiang released a chilly frost, adding a layer of ice as a barrier against Fang Yi's attack.
"[Avatar of the Fae: Earthbound Prison]!"
Zhou Ying released all her stored vitality at once, causing the ground to quake as thousands of jade-green wood dragons rushed out of the earth.
The members of Team Zenith were wrapped up by layer after layer of dragons.
Hong Xi manifested a fan of feathers, which she waved to conjure a windwall around them.
Fang Yi's fated spear was stronger than his sevenfold strike, and the members of Team Zenith took it more seriously as a result. They layered their defenses more solidly and comprehensively than before.
Jun Jiuxiao and Ye Xianchen knew that they were comparatively far weaker, but they contributed as well.
Jun Jiuxiao conjured a field of wind and storm, while Ye Xianchen released an aura of ghosts and shadows.
Zhang Lie likewise turned serious.
"[Ninecarp Transformation]!"
A black serpent materialized behind Zhang Lie, by now so large and so developed that it resembled the world-swallowing serpent Jormungandr. It let out a threatening hiss as its scales clicked together.
Dragon-like lightning, tiger-like storm, formless time, timeless space—those four disparate energies combined into a cohesive whole, tied together by a dark gold thread. The energies revolved around each other, destroying even natural law with their combined might.
Space and time cracked, and unusual pitch-black thorn-like protrusions spiked into the pocket space.
The pocket space itself was cracking from the inside out. Even Zhu's earlier reinforcement was insufficient to block Fang Yi's fated spear.
Black, formless chains surrounded Zhang Lie's body as he felt a powerful energy lock in on him.
A howling storm, void lightning, mysterious temporal charge, the wind of ages—the mishmash of elements exploded.
The three outermost layers of defenses set up by the members of Team Zenith vanished in an instant.
"[Godbane Strike]!"
The nine different energies formed a huge vortex. Fang Yi tried to steer the energies into the shape of a spear, but the combination was far too wild for him to execute such fine control. The hurricane-like vortex shot straight at Zhang Lie.
"[Fists of the Silent Sea: Fade]!" Zhang Lie punched forward, and the black serpent behind him shot forth.
A massive burst of energy condensed around Zhang Lie.
The black serpent punched through the hurricane and dissipated it all in one go. When the smoke cleared, Fang Yi was revealed slumped on the ground and panting weakly. "I can't keep going! I don't have the strength to continue. Captain, you've trounced me!"
The hurricane left a mess behind as it dissipated: the ground had turned to sand, and the pocket dimension was close to collapsing. The members of Team Zenith took a deep breath. The shockwaves from Fang Yi's technique had almost been strong enough to affect them all despite their reinforced barriers.
Zhu again invoked the authority of the realm to restore the pocket space.
Zhang Lie asked, "Did you intuit something?"
Fang Yi replied, "I still have lots of deficiencies, and my will isn't resolute enough!"
"And?"
"In the face of your absolute strength, Captain, everything is useless."
Zhang Lie immediately marched forward and kneaded Fang Yi's face with his boot.
Fang Yi struggled and groaned, "What did I say wrong, Captain?"
Zhang Lie replied, "If you fear someone else's strength, you'll never be able to improve. You might not be able to beat them now, but you still have to make them your target, to work toward that goal with all your heart..."
Fang Yi caught Zhang Lie's ankle and raised it up. "Don't worry, Captain. I won't discourage myself anymore. It looks like I haven't worked enough in the past, and I'll work even harder in the future."
Zhang Lie continued, "Furthermore, you have insufficient control over your strength. My [Fists of the Silent Sea: Fade] shouldn't be strong enough to break your ninefold strike, but your control over the manifold energies was too weak. Your strike's physically very impressive, but it's still too easy to counter with skill."
Fang Yi sighed with some exasperation. "That's because you're too strong, Captain. What ordinary person could do what you did?"
Zhang Lie snorted and began kneading Fang Yi's face with his boot again.
"I don't need you to flatter me. When we finish here, you need to go back to the fundamentals and familiarize yourself with your spear and chaotic energy. Then, make sure you get a better grasp of your sixfold strike, sevenfold strike, fated spear, and so on."
Zhang Lie had to admit that Fang Yi had already made significant headway down his own path, and there was little specific advice he could give. In the past, Zhang Lie had thought that Fang Yi's path was too focused on brute force, that it would be too inflexible, and advised that he focus on speed instead.
Fang Yi did do so, but his attacks became even stronger and fiercer as a result.
It was true that an emphasis on brute force might be inflexible, but when Fang Yi reached the apex of force, who else but Zhang Lie could break him?
Zhang Lie continued, "Focusing on strength isn't bad, but sometimes you might prefer flexibility. Combining both aspects is plausible as well—storm is violent, and wind gentle. Both elements do lend themselves to strength, and wind can be strong in terms of howling gales, but I still hope you'll consider working on other aspects of your elements as well."
Fang Yi asked, "What if I end up veering off my path?"
"It's just some minor experimentation, nothing more."
Fang Yi nodded. "I'll do my best, Captain."
Zhang Lie grabbed Fang Yi like a little chick and threw him toward the members of Team Zenith.
"Based on the order we did this in the second realm, you're up next."
"Me?" Yang Ze walked forward unwillingly. "Captain, can the others go first?"
Zhang Lie grumbled, "Don't talk nonsense!"
Yang Ze didn't say anything more. White fog surrounded him; in the blink of an eye, the entire pocket dimension had been filled with fog.
Zhang Lie nodded. "You've grown faster than before, and you've worked hard on your control of water-attuned genetic energy. It's just that..."
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