Despite working together, the six of them couldn't hold back the tendrils for long. The tendrils continued spawning at a rapid rate, and the six of them wouldn't be able to keep holding them off without consuming their reserves of genetic energy.
"Retreat!" Sun Mengmeng shouted.
The hunters didn't know from how far away the tendrils could target them, but retreating was surely a safe choice. The black tendrils were less an enemy they had to face and more a disaster for the entire realm at large.
As the Renhuang forces regained their senses, the leaders of the four prime races and Zhou Liao immediately began directing the evacuation.
The members of Team Zenith and the four leaders stayed at the very back to ensure that the forces of Renhuang could evacuate, fighting off the dark tendrils all the while. They were all approximately of equal strength; Xing Bai and the others had been among the top ten competitors of the Void Cup.
Even without having consumed any limit-breaking potions, Xing Bia, Lianna, Hong Yu, and Pu Kui all had strength comparable to that of a sura king.
Working together, they were able to fend off the black tendrils for long enough for their subordinates to evacuate.
The members of Team Zenith glanced at Zhang Lie, who was embroiled in his own fight in mid-air. "You can do it, Captain!"
"[Blades, Extinguish]!" Spiritual energy condensed into shining waves. Like a tsunami, the waves rushed toward the mass of inky darkness and drenched it whole. The silvery-white waves, infused with Zhang Lie's spiritual energy, proved particularly damaging.
A huge hole was torn in the mass of black tendrils, and the monstrosity's mouths began to scream in unison. The screams were so shrill that they seemed to strike at the very soul. Even from afar, the forces of Renhuang clutched their ears in pain.
The black tendrils snaked toward Zhang Lie in denser throngs than before, as though he had been marked as an enemy to get rid of at any cost.
Zhang Lie sliced off tendril after tendril, but more grew out of the pulsating mass. No matter how quickly he slashed, there seemed to be more and more replacement tendrils surrounding him. Once again, he was trapped in a cage of tendrils, with no salvation to be seen.
The hunters watching the fight sucked in a deep breath. Zhang Lie, who had defeated even the monarch of stars, seemed to be struggling…
Suddenly, from within that cage emerged a few thumps, as though the cage had suddenly developed a heartbeat. Soon enough, the tendrils were no longer able to contain the energy within, and brilliant flames emerged.
The flames were so bright that the entire sky dulled in comparison. The monster's eyes were forced closed, and even Renhuang's forces had to avert their gaze.
The tendrils that tried to trap Zhang Lie disintegrated into nothing but ash. Golden flames crept up the tendrils all the way to the monstrosity's main body.
Zhang Lie himself had transformed. His body was covered by dark golden scales, and a dragon's helm enclosed his head.
Golden flames burned all around him, releasing a holy aura. The black sun to his back and bloody moon beneath his feet made him look like a god that had descended from the heavens.
This was the power of the fifth form of Zhang Lie's [Ninecarp Transformation], his strongest to date. The qilin's energy circulated throughout Zhang Lie's body, and he felt energized as he never had before.
The mass of black tendrils, unknowing of the change to Zhang Lie's body and unintelligent enough to understand him, attacked him furiously with tendril after tendril, so many they seemed to cover the skies.
Zhang Lie ignored the tendrils. He murmured to himself, "With this much genetic energy, I should be able to use that attack… [Ninesoul Dragonblade—Third Form: Separating Earth and Sky]!"
Zhang Lie's blade made a horizontal slash. Dark golden genetic energy shone radiantly, turning all that it touched to dust. The void of outer space seemed to be visible through the cut, and it swallowed up the black mass.
However, the black mass didn't give up. Countless tendrils poked through from the other side of Zhang Lie's cut, but it was to no avail. As Zhang Lie turned around and the gap in the void closed up, everything seemed to return to normal. The void seemed never to have existed. If not for the tendrils that spasmed and twitched on the ground where they had been cut off, Zhang Lie could almost believe that everything he had just seen was an illusion.
Whether the unusual space that [Separating Earth and Sky] had uncovered was truly a portal to the void, Zhang Lie didn't know. The universe was too large for all its mysteries to have been uncovered, and Zhang Lie didn't feel confident delving into such arcane concepts as yet.
With a casual wave of his sword, the remaining black tendrils disintegrated into ash. The scales retreated from his body, and Zhang Lie returned to where the forces of Renhuang awaited him.
Moments later, cheers erupted from the crowd.
"Zhang Lie is invincible! Renhuang will not fall!"
"Zhang Lie is invincible! Renhuang will not fall!"
"Zhang Lie is invincible! Renhuang will not fall!" contemporary romance
The monarch of stars' demise caused the morale of Renhuang's forces to soar instantly.
The representatives of the four prime races glanced at Zhang Lie with a complex mix of feelings, as though they were yet unable to accept the truth that Zhang Lie had killed the monarch of stars. They were certain that they wouldn't be able to achieve the same feat even if they were in his shoes, even if they had access to these limit-breaking potions.
The forces of Renhuang stared at Zhang Lie with pride, because Zhang Lie was a human.
No human had ever defeated a sura king; Zhang Lie had done it.
No alien had ever defeated a sura monarch; Zhang Lie had done it.
No one had ever defeated the monarch of stars; Zhang Lie had done it.
Zhang Lie was writing his own legend, his own epic, one step at a time.
After the end of the battle, the forces of Renhuang had a short rest before setting off toward the three million sura that the monarch of stars had dispatched their way.
The sura army was making its way toward Renhuang, unaware of what had happened to the empire of stars or to its monarch.
"Do these humans really think that they can stand against us sura just because they've enlisted the help of a few alien races?"
"So what if they've defeated the forces from the seven-kingdom coalition? We're the army from the empire of stars itself!"
"This is a farce. We'd better take them down quickly so we can return home!"
The army of the empire of stars was prideful and arrogant, and it believed that Renhuang would be a simple target to crush.
The general of the forces stared at Renhuang's troops and laughed coldly. "What, they only have that few people?"
Renhuang's troops numbered barely a hundred thousand, whereas there were three million sura lying in wait for them.
Each Renhuang fighter would have to take down thirty sura on average. From the sura general's perspective, his fighters would dominate over the enemy's in a one-on-one melee, let alone thirty-on-one. The outcome was obvious.
One general laughed. "How did this ragtag army beat the seven-kingdom coalition?"
Beside him, another general shrugged. "Did we really all have to mobilize for this? Surely a fraction of the monarch's forces would have been sufficient to destroy them all."
"The monarch of stars must have gone crazy after hearing that all nine of his godsons had been killed!"
In truth, the monarch of stars simply wanted to preserve his empire's combat strength, and sending all his troops away would prevent them from being sacrificed for his compass.
The commander of the forces called out, somewhat lazily, "Troops, charge! Slaughter our enemy to the last!"
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