Ultragene Warlord

Chapter 1442: A Young Girl in Truth

"Give it a try, then." The woman smiled. Her limbs glowed with light. A giant figure materialized behind her, a hundred meters tall, with branches smooth and shining, or covered with soft down. Leaves grew from the branches, narrow and needle-like, each one several meters long and tapering off to a jagged tip. The flower that bloomed near the top of the figure was large and beautiful, pink dappled with shades of white, red, and purple.

It looked like a phoenix with wings unfurled, preparing for flight. A deific air surrounded it; it glowed with light and gave off an alluring scent.

Zhang Lie roughly understood why the woman had become so upset when he said she was poisonous. She likely was related to some sort of plant matter; unlike the Solarvines, who were in fact plants, she probably just had some plant DNA in her genes.

That was why Feng Xian had been so irritated when Zhang Lie claimed her to be a weed, to be poisonous, and to have a noxious stench.

"If you're that confident, then let's begin!"

Starlight surrounded Zhang Lie. Countless stars whizzed away from his body. His pitch-black genetic energy seemed like the astral void, with shining stars scattered throughout.

"[Fists of the Silent Sea: Fade]!"

His genetic energy condensed into a black dragon, whose scales were each a star.

The stars inlaid in its body formed a long stellar river.

Zhang Lie's monarch-grade limitless universe soulshard was changing the very nature of his genetic energy, from pitch-black to dotted with starlight, as though it were a sample from the galaxy.

The galactic genetic energy shone with twinkling stars, which transformed into dragons that shot out alongside Zhang Lie's punch.

"What? Who are you? !" the woman cried out. She retreated quickly, shock written in every line of her features. Zhang Lie's appearance frightened her, and she faltered while attempting to execute her technique.

A frightening burst of energy emanated from her body. Her forehead pulsed with such potent fluctuations that even Zhang Lie was amazed.

However, it was too late. Before her technique could be released in full, Zhang Lie's stellar dragon had reached her.

Within moments, a wave of annihilation exploded around the dragon. Pitch-black energy swallowed everything in the vicinity like a storm at sea, covering up the sky.

The explosion was like a black hole that sucked up everything in sight, land, sea, and sky alike.

"This doesn't count. I wasn't ready! Fight me again !" she shouted, fleeing from the pitch-black storm of energy.

"What? You already agreed to the terms of the fight. Now that you've lost, are you going to wait until I enter this so-called Starbright Academy and find you?" Zhang Lie pressed.

Feng Xian scowled. Despite her disheveled appearance from being forced to flee, her beauty remained. She was cursing in anger at what had happened.

Zhang Lie unleashed his dragonturtle transformation.

The image of a dragonturtle manifested behind Zhang Lie, and his water-attuned genetic energy turned heavy, sluggish, and a dark yellow color. Ripples of genetic energy spread out all around him like mud. Feng Xian ended up stuck in the mud, and her actions slowed down tremendously.

Before she could react, Zhang Lie launched another technique.

"[Rune: Quell]!"

Zhang Lie raised a hand high into the air as the image of a dragonturtle appeared before him. Black tablets hovered above Feng Xian's head. Runes of unknown provenance appeared from the tablets, then floated down and surrounded Feng Xian.

"What is this?!" Feng Xian's energy was quickly being drained. Suppressed by the dragonturtle's runic tablets, she found it hard to gather even a shred of energy.

Zhang Lie leapt forward and picked Feng Xian up as though she were a kitten.

"Help!" Feng Xian kicked and bit at Zhang Lie as she attempted to free herself.

By then, her genteel facade had vanished entirely. She seemed more like a beast in miniature.

"This is unfair. You're a young divinity of some major force, but you launched a sneak attack at me! You don't have any of the pride or bearing of a strong foe. In a proper fight, I'd take you down easily!" Feng Xian shouted, clawing at her captor.

The veil had fallen off her face in the frenzy of battle, revealing exquisite features. She was smaller than Zhang Lie had expected and was perhaps only in her teens. It was apparent that she would become a beauty of legends in adulthood. She pouted, her pert nose scrunched up in anger, as she glared at him with large eyes.

"Admit defeat. Keep your word," Zhang Lie said, smiling.

"You caught me off guard!" Feng Xian shouted. "Fight me fairly if you dare. I'd take you down within three moves. Otherwise, I'll admit defeat!" Zhang Lie didn't know whether she was intentionally provoking him or actually that confident.

Zhang Lie laughed. "Aren't you going to call me a swindler for mounting a sneak attack on a teenage girl like you?"

"Oh, I will! You're a swindler, a thief! You're some young divinity whose identity has been kept secret by one of the major forces, but you're here participating in the Galactic Rising Stars Cup as though you're really a newbie! Don't you have any ethics, any morals? What kind of master would produce a disciple like you?!"

Zhang Lie laughed again. "But I'm not a young divinity, and no major force is my backer."

Feng Xian roared in outrage and continued swiping at him. "Then you must be from an ancient race, or the successor of an ancient inheritance! I was wondering just how that Solarvine managed to lose to a nameless challenger like you. So these are your true colors! Pretending to be a nameless race in order to bully us poor folk."

"Doesn't your conscience throb when you say something like that?"

"That's what I should be asking you!"

Zhang Lie scoffed. "I wasn't the one who challenged you to a confrontation. You were the one sneaking up on me to begin with."

"Fight me fairly if you dare!"

Zhang Lie smiled. "You really are extraordinary, aren't you? That glowing forehead of yours unleashed tremendous energy. Do all the challengers like you possess some sort of tremendous talent?"

"Dare you fight me? I'll give you the advantage and seal away one of my hands. I promise I'll beat you within three moves!" Feng Xian shouted again, her porcelain-like features full of provocation.

"Provoking me won't work, I'm afraid." Zhang Lie flicked her forehead with a finger.

"Ouch! We're not done here!" Feng Xian clutched her forehead in pain as she screamed again.

Zhang Lie laughed. This genius girl from, what was it, the Starbright Academy was truly a breath of fresh air. Her genteel appearance out of battle, fierce and confident disposition within it, and this wild-child-like behavior now...

"I'll remember you!" Feng Xian shouted, her eyes shining with anger.