Ultragene Warlord

Chapter 452: Topping Up Gene Fragments

Zhang Lie didn't know of the contentious debate surrounding the impending invasion; he was still hunting down peak-grade lifeforms with the rest of Team Zenith.

Within the cave, Sun Mengmeng glanced at the diary in her hands.
“Within the cave are three peak-grade lifeforms, a frostward wolf, thundershine lion, and windwrath tiger.
These three lifeforms are extremely intelligent.
Not only do they not fight with each other, they even counter each other's deficiencies.
Any intruder will have to deal with the three of them simultaneously, so no one has dared fight with them to date.”

The cave was cold and damp, and gusts of wind blew into their faces.
Thunder seemed to crackle in the distance.
The cave was filled with tunnels, and it was impossible to identify in which direction to proceed.

Zhang Lie twisted his head and asked Sun Mengmeng, “Do you know the route?””

She shook her head.
“It's not recorded in the diary.”

“Let me see, then.” Zhang Lie's eyes morphed into a dragon's pupils as he activated his peak-grade dragonsoul soulshard.

Amidst the pale blue glow that suffused his vision, Zhang Lie found three souls, as bright as a lantern in the night.
One was covered in frost, another in lightning, and the other in wind.
It was straightforward to determine which was which.

“Follow me.” Zhang Lie took the lead.

“You know the path, Captain?” Sun Mengmeng asked.

“Roughly.”

As Zhang Lie beckoned them forward, they found the number of bones littered along the path starting to increase.
The souls felt closer and closer.
Zhang Lie whispered, “I'll attack directly.
Remain in stealth, all of you! Rock spirit, stand still by the wall and be prepared to intercept the other two peak-grade lifeforms rushing in.
You'll take care of one, and the members of Team Zenith of the other.”

Everyone nodded.

“You just need to hold on for a moment or two.
I'm confident that I'll be able to take one down quickly.” A sword materialized in Zhang Lie's hand as he flapped his wings and dashed forward.
The moment he approached, the lifeforms reacted.

Zhang Lie's first target was the peak-grade thundershine lion.

It was resting in its lair.
Its fur was a glossy dark purple, and two antlers grew out of its head.
Lightning crackled between them.

Upon noticing Zhang Lie's arrival, the lion stood up and roared.
A beam of lightning shot out of its mouth, filling the air with the tang of ozone.
Zhang Lie dodged to the side.
A sliver of lightning brushed against his skin, sending a prickling sensation up his body.

“[Rune: Control]!”

Zhang Lie raised both his arms into the sky, and the image of a dragonturtle appeared behind him.
The two gravity-controlling tablets smashed into the ground.
They began to resonate as one, emanating ripples and forming an absolute domain over all things within.

Under the influence of the warped space, the thundershine lion found itself incapable of controlling its lightning.

“[Fists of the Silent Sea: Quake]!” Zhang Lie smashed his fist down on the lion's brain, causing space to warp in its vicinity.
A bright flash of genetic energy exploded on impact, causing the lion to bleed from all its orifices.

Behind them ignited another furious battle.
Wind raged around them; a wolf howled as a tiger roared.
Zhang Lie immediately used his trump card before the lion could retaliate.

“[Rune: Resonate]!” The image of a dragonturtle appeared before Zhang Lie as four runic tablets crashed down around the lion, forming a black formation around him.

Zhang Lie punched the lion with both his fists, sending ripples of energy crashing against its head.
The defenseless lion bled, bled, and bled some more.
Even before its skull cracked, its brain turned to mush.
Its eyes rolled back in its head as part of its skull caved in.

[You successfully killed a peak-grade thundershine lion.
By consuming the flesh of the peak-grade thundershine lion, you may receive one to ten peak gene fragments.]

Zhang Lie turned around immediately after vanquishing his foe.
When he saw Team Zenith's performance, he was rather impressed.

The members of Team Zenith and the leader of the rock spirits working together were actually able to suppress both peak-grade lifeforms.

The peak-grade frostward wolf's fur was covered in a layer of icy armor, whereas the windwrath tiger was surrounded by a barrier of wind.
Both the lifeforms were being suppressed by what seemed like an endless chain of attacks from the members of Team Zenith, a barrage so intense that they weren't able to use any of their abilities at all.

Zhang Lie was astounded by the strength that the members of Team Zenith were demonstrating.

Yang Ze made the familiar motions of [The Boundless Blade], causing sword energy to envelope him and disperse his barrier of wind.

Li Feng used [Dragon's Triumph], the greatsword in his hands emitting such blinding light that neither lifeform could open their eyes.
The light morphed into a white dragon which knocked the frostward wolf aside, forcing it against a wall.
Its icy armor shattered. 

Fang Yi struck at the dazed wolf with his signature [Heaven's Judgment], piercing its body and causing fresh blood to leak from the wound.

The peak-grade windwrath tiger tried to rescue its companion, but Sun Xiaowu blocked its path with his body.
His polearm turned a shining gold as he slashed at it with [Golden Divide].

With [Wind's Spirit] propelling himself forward, Fang Yi gripped his spear tightly to stabilize himself and broke the frostward wolf's neck with a kick.

As it witnessed its companion's death, the windwrath tiger roared in rage.
A huge cyclone descended around its body.
Sun Mengmeng shot a fiery arrow into the center of the cyclone, causing it to explode upon impact with the tiger's body.

“[Storm of Leaves]!” Zhou Ying rushed forward, using her shortsword to slice at the tiger's body.
The tiger tried to claw at it, but Zhou Ying darted back agilely.
The tiger discovered that the wound was slowly corroding its body.

Hong Xi struck with a [Fists of the Silent Sea], a direct hit on its nose, causing it to stumble backward in a daze and begin to bleed.

Sun Mengmeng fired her second arrow, which morphed into a firebird that exploded upon striking the tiger's head, quickly followed by a third, a fourth, and a fifth.
The tiger's head was charred and smoking by the time it fell to the floor.

Zhang Lie clapped his hands.
“Well done, well done! You've all grown to an impressive extent.”

Zhang Lie's praise made the members of Team Zenith all jubilant.

Sun Mengmeng and Fang Yi made to hand over the soulshards they had obtained from the kill, but Zhang Lie refused them.
He sighed at their luck—he'd gone over a dozen peak-grade lifeforms without anything, but they were two for two! “This is your kill, and the soulshard belongs to you.”