Ultragene Warlord

Chapter 1507: Another Illusion

Countless others were having arguments all around him.

"To have killed your own companions—are you truly human?"

"Your companions went through life-and-death struggles with you! How could you kill them just like that?"

"You scumbag, you human trash! How could you kill your own companions? Go die!"

Li Qianlin stood before him. "Don't ever appear in front of me again."

Sun Mengmeng and Sun Xiaowu walked out from the darkness. "You don't deserve to be our captain. I'm going to take revenge for the four hunters. Your life is forfeit!"

A chilly beam cut apart all that lay before him. Zhang Lie's eyes were ice-cold. "Are you quite done?!"

Zhang Lie clenched his fists tightly as blue genetic energy gathered around him in the form of a tempest. The skies darkened, and a giant whale appeared to his back. It opened its maws wide as huge waves exploded through the air.

Ripples of energy spread out from Zhang Lie like rampaging dragons, infused with Zhang Lie's anger.

As the waves burst apart, the air filled with echoes of Zhang Lie's signature genetic energy, shattering space and swallowing up all life in its vicinity. The world distorted and shattered as the rubble of a fox statue appeared before him.

Zhang Lie snorted. "Another illusion."

Despite Zhang Lie's disdainful tone, that illusion had been somewhat more dangerous.

Zhang Lie looked toward the blade on the ground, with a keen edge. If he hadn't broken out of the illusion in time and fell prey to self-doubt and loathing, he might well have committed suicide.

From the rubble of the statue and the blade on the ground, it seemed clear that the illusion had been caused by the fox statue before him. The moment Zhang Lie fell prey to the illusion, it would have shot out the blade and killed Zhang Lie in a single strike.

Zhang Lie breathed out in relief.

He hadn't quite expected an illusion within an illusion, just like a dream within a dream. Although the first layer was easy enough to break, he would have ended up in a second layer rather than reality.

Fortunately, the first layer of illusions was easy to see through. If he had been negatively impacted by the first illusion and fallen into rage, he could easily have developed a mistaken sense of time and space. The second illusion would then seem to follow a logical pattern.

No matter how resolute his will, with circumstantial evidence at play, even if Zhang Lie were to discover the flaw in the illusion, he might end up falling prey to the logical conundrum and be killed by a sneak attack from the statue regardless.

The door of light's trial of illusions was deftly designed.

After falling prey to agitation, sorrow, and self-loathing, it would be very easy to make an error in judgment that would leave him snared by the illusion.

Even the second layer had a few obvious mistakes. The first was the deaths of his comrades. If Zhang Lie had really killed them, their corpses would never have been left behind. Even if Zhang Lie had really ended up going crazy, the appearance of Li Qianlin was eminently ridiculous.

It was clearly designed to pull Zhang Lie deeper into an abyss of desperation, but it was an incredible leap of logic.

Of course, Zhang Lie didn't discover the flaw through application of logic. Under emotional duress, it would be very easy to lose his sense of judgment and discover these flaws in the illusion. Zhang Lie identified that this was an illusion through a simple principle: trust and faith.

Zhang Lie had once fought against all the hunters of Team Zenith in the fourth realm, and he was well aware of their combat abilities. If he really went crazy, he might have been able to kill one of them, but certainly not all. For one thing, Yang Ze would hardly be an easy target.

Zhou Ying's regenerative ability and stubborn vitality would keep her death at bay, as well.

Zhang Lie had fallen prey to temporary self-loathing and panic, but he quickly evaluated his situation and discovered the corresponding flaw.

Zhang Lie walked on past the statue and up the stairs that came into view to find a nine-tailed fox before him.

A nine-tailed fox?

Its nine tails were curled up; its fur looked soft and downy.

The moment Zhang Lie stepped up toward the end of the stairs, the nine-tailed fox slowly raised one tail up high. Pale blue flames formed at the end of its tail. As it swung it about, the flames flared and shot toward Zhang Lie like will-o-the-wisps.

Zhang Lie countered with a punch, causing the flames to explode, but they stuck to his hands.

Pale blue genetic energy rippled about Zhang Lie's arms. He flicked his wrists, causing a frightening aura to descend on the world. The sky began to darken, and a fish the size of a whale materialized in the air.

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

A howling gale swept over the arena. As more and more genetic energy gathered around Zhang Lie's arms, it looked as though he were at the heart of a whirlpool.

Ripples of energy spread out from Zhang Lie, warping the space around him. The towering waves looked like enraged black dragons, flooding the area.

The nine-tailed fox wasn't as relaxed as it had been. It was so startled that its fur stood on end. Its second tail stood erect. As it waved its tail, a stark-white bolt of lightning shot down.

As the waves burst apart, the air filled with echoes of Zhang Lie's signature genetic energy, shattering space and swallowing up all life in its vicinity.

The whole fox was plastered to the ground, its vitality drained. Within moments, however, as one of its tails fell, it regained its health and even seemed to grow stronger than before.

The nine-tailed fox struck with another tail, this one imbued with bright red flames.

The bright red flames were like malevolent demons that shot toward Zhang Lie.

"[The Boundless Blade: Yawning Wave]!"

As Zhang Lie waved his pointer finger, a beam of sword energy cleaved the demons' faces as a raging shark swam forth.

The nine-tailed fox moved surprisingly rapidly, dodging the raging shark as it looped around Zhang Lie, leaving dost of pale blue and bright red flames behind to hinder the shark.

The shark bit at everything it encountered, fox or flame. The pale blue and bright red flames exploded in its mouth, hindering its mobility.

As the nine-tailed fox dashed behind Zhang Lie, it raised another tail, this one with stark white flames.

"[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.

The serpent crashed into the fox and snuffed out its flames. A bone talisman appeared before him, as did a portal of light leading out.