Chapter 139: An Unexpected Breakthrough

Chapter 139: A Flying Stone Breaks the Deadlock

Time elapsed in the instance: 352 hours.

A line of white, translucent text appeared before Xia Zheng’s eyes—the instance’s notification.

“Less than half the time remains. I originally thought I could seize military authority and take control of Evernight City. I never expected Song Ze’s death to directly result in the Eternal District falling, turning all my efforts into smoke. Damn it.”

Facing Song Ze, who had transformed into a member of the Blood Clan, and the Blood Clan general Ironnis, who stood nearby with ill intent, Xia Zheng sighed.

Fortunately, he had already sent Luo Bing away. His other comrades had sacrificed themselves, and Liu Chuxing and the others had not been seen either. They had probably died as well.

“General Song, I know becoming a member of the Blood Clan was not your intention. You would never betray the Federation. I will help you find peace.”

Xia Zheng released a vast amount of spiritual awareness from his mind, forming shield after shield that hovered around his body. He took out the last few Spiritual Thought Beads, stuffed them into his mouth, and held them beneath his tongue while nocking an arrow and drawing his bow.

“Attack!”

Ironnis’s expression changed the instant he saw this. He immediately waved his hand, ordering the hundreds of high-ranking Blood Clan members beneath him to strike.

Xia Zheng focused on two tasks at once. While manipulating his spiritual power to deal with the Blood Clan members rushing toward him, he began performing a combined technique.

Song Ze, standing on the ground, sensed the danger as well. He crossed his arms before his body and let out a long howl. He could not fly, but he began charging toward Xia Zheng, apparently intending to leap into the air.

The Blood Clan members were repeatedly blocked by the moving shields. The impact of those shields was immense, causing the attackers to spit blood again and again, yet none could break through Xia Zheng’s defenses.

At last, Song Ze leaped high into the air, rising more than twenty meters—high enough to reach Xia Zheng’s altitude. One fist was clenched at his waist, while the other was held before him. His entire body was wrapped in scarlet energy, and the surrounding air hummed violently.

“Ha!”

Xia Zheng no longer hesitated. He released the arrow, and the ice-blue projectile shot toward Song Ze like a falling star.

Bang!

Song Ze punched forward. His fist, wrapped in scarlet energy, smashed into the ice-blue arrow. The two energies collided and erupted in wave after wave of shock. The Blood Clan members who failed to dodge in time were swallowed by the blast.

The Blazing Ice Sword failed to strike Song Ze and suddenly burst apart. Ice spikes scattered through the surrounding space, and every Blood Clan member who approached was instantly frozen into lumps of ice. They fell to the ground and shattered, only to be engulfed by blue flames a moment later.

Ironnis had no choice but to retreat. He had already suffered from this technique once before and had been forced to dispel his Myriad Phenomena Domain. Otherwise, he might have been frozen into an icicle as well.

Song Ze, briefly enveloped in icy power, began to descend. After dropping ten meters, however, he forcibly broke free. He was then swallowed by another wave of blue, high-temperature flames, but the white bone armor covering his body left him completely unafraid of the fire. He fell straight to the ground with a heavy crash.

Xia Zheng curled his tongue around one Spiritual Thought Bead in his mouth and instantly drained the spiritual power within it. The spiritual energy in his sea of consciousness immediately recovered by a considerable amount.

“Dripping Water Sword!”

Xia Zheng controlled a sword formation composed of ice swords and repeatedly struck at Song Ze. Unfortunately, despite the continuous clanging, Song Ze remained completely unharmed. His defenses were outrageously powerful.

In the distance, Ironnis laughed. “Benson Wood, stop wasting your effort. He has been transformed by our royal bloodline. He is far stronger than your human genetic warriors. His defense is invincible. Your attacks are useless against him.”

Xia Zheng glanced back at him and smiled. “Thanks for the advice.”

Since the villain had said so, it meant that the modified Song Ze was immune to the magical attacks Xia Zheng excelled at. In that case, he could only use physical attacks.

Hearing Xia Zheng thank him, Ironnis froze for a moment. Then, as though he had been insulted, he cursed, “You bastard! Song Ze, kill him! All of you, attack! Wear him down to death! If my strength had not been severely depleted, I could cast the Myriad Phenomena Domain again, and you would certainly die!”

Xia Zheng continued manipulating the floating shields to block the Blood Clan members. At the same time, a bolt of divine lightning struck down, instantly killing several of the nearest attackers and filling the others with terror.

Like sunlight, lightning possessed a natural power that restrained the Blood Clan.

On the ground, Song Ze began picking up rocks, trees, and even his own Blood Clan subordinates, hurling them at Xia Zheng like cannonballs. They flew at tremendous speed, and their power was not to be underestimated.

Although the floating shields could block them, doing so placed a heavy burden on Xia Zheng and rapidly depleted his spiritual power. He had no choice but to drain another bead. Only two remained in his mouth. He could not afford to hesitate any longer.

“Then I’ll use you to test this technique.”

As he spoke, an image began to emerge in Xia Zheng’s mind—the Flying Stone.

At that moment, the sky above suddenly darkened, carrying the ominous feeling of a storm about to break.

Ironnis sensed that something was wrong. He immediately sent out every elite Blood Clan member around him, then took a cup of blood from one of his subordinates and drank it dry before beginning to gather strength.

Several thousand Blood Clan members surrounded and attacked Xia Zheng. The floating shields began to suffer damage, but Xia Zheng’s spiritual power was abundant at that moment. He continuously replenished the shields, stubbornly maintaining a ten-meter radius around himself like an impassable barrier.

Song Ze now lifted a gigantic boulder, one as large as a small hill, raising it slowly. If he threw it, Xia Zheng would have no choice but to cancel the spell he was casting.

The sky continued to darken, growing increasingly oppressive. Something seemed ready to burst forth from within the clouds.

Following the cultivation method contained in the visualization diagram, Xia Zheng’s spiritual power drained rapidly from his mind. Before long, he had to drain the power from another bead. Nearly three seconds had passed.

“The spiritual consumption of this visualization diagram is truly terrifying. In less than ten seconds, it has already drained all the spiritual power in my sea of consciousness.”

Fortunately, the Spiritual Thought Beads and the Moonlight Bracer replenished his strength, preventing his spiritual power from running dry.

When the fifth second arrived, a crack tore open across the sky, accompanied by a tremendous roar. Countless Blood Clan members sensed the danger and wanted to retreat, but Ironnis had issued a death order: no one was permitted to withdraw. They had to stop Xia Zheng from completing the spell.

Thus, the Blood Clan members were forced to fight desperately. Some, with no other choice, even detonated themselves, causing the floating shields to vanish one after another. Xia Zheng’s safe distance steadily shrank.

Nine meters…

Eight meters…

Seven meters…

Six meters…

Five meters…

Yet Xia Zheng paid no attention to the situation outside himself. He simply continued completing the visualization diagram. Six seconds had already passed.

“Flying stones break through the sky—”

As he spoke, a shadow descended from the heavens. At first it was not very large, but it rapidly expanded until it resembled a mountain range.

Roaring furiously, Song Ze also hurled the small hill he had been holding. Its momentum was astonishing, but before the meteor from beyond the heavens, it was like comparing a novice to a master.

“Retreat!”

Ironnis realized in despair that they had no way to withstand the flying stone Xia Zheng had summoned. It was terrifying beyond measure.

But it was too late.

He and the other Blood Clan members fled with all their strength, yet none could escape the shadow of the falling stone.

“Coming to claim your lives!”

Xia Zheng completed the spell. As the second half of his incantation fell, the mountain-sized flying stone passed directly through his body without harming him. Every other hostile target, however, was ground into dust beneath it.

The small hill was crushed the instant it encountered the flying stone. It could not withstand the force in the slightest.

The Blood Clan power within Song Ze instinctively tried to flee, but it could not escape either. He stretched out both hands in desperation, his entire body dyed scarlet by surging energy, attempting to halt the world-shattering stone.

Crack!

His arms were crushed without suspense, reduced to dust beneath the flying stone. Then came his chest, his neck, and his head, followed by the rest of his body, his thighs, and finally every last fragment of him.

Xia Zheng had taken roughly six or seven seconds to complete the Flying Stone spell. He was not particularly satisfied with that speed. After all, if the enemy had begun fleeing from the start, they might have escaped beyond the stone’s range.

The flying stone struck the earth, flattening everything within a five-hundred-meter radius. With Xia Zheng’s spiritual power no longer supporting it, the stone soon vanished, leaving behind only a ground covered in dust—red, white, and other colors.

A familiar force expelled Xia Zheng from the instance and returned him to the front of the four great banners.