Chapter 1235: Indefinite Cloning
Chapter 1235: Indefinite Cloning
Golden runes revolved around Sun Xiaowu's skin and blocked Zhang Lie's sword slash, reducing the force of the impact with which he smashed into the barriers of the pocket dimension.
"[Adamantine Aegis]!"
Sun Xiaowu's aura grew stronger and stronger. As the golden runes merged with his genetic energy, Sun Xiaowu transformed into a mecha over a hundred meters tall. The golden runes surrounded Sun Xiaowu, turning him into a burning sun.
"Haven't you given up yet?" Zhang Lie continued waving the sword in his hands like a whip, lashing at Sun Xiaowu's body.
Sun Xiaowu's golden runes continued shining; even as his mecha form dissipated, Sun Xiaowu summoned it again.
Zhang Lie's each and every blow smashed apart a golden rune, but without harming Sun Xiaowu's body itself.
Yang Ze couldn't help but shake his head. "How cruel..."
Fang Yi muttered, "He's just drawing it out."
Zhang Hanxiang seemed rather confused. "What are all of you talking about?"
Yang Ze replied, "Our captain's likely afraid of harming Sun Xiaowu, so he's going easy on him. However, this sort of relentless attack is particularly draining. Personally, I'd rather take a serious blow that I need a week or two to recuperate from than this."
Fang Yi sighed. "This is torture."
Sun Mengmeng shook her head. "No, you're both mistaken. This is hardly cruel."
Li Feng explained, "Our captain's using his attacks like a form of training. He's forcing Sun Xiaowu to practice concentrating his genetic energy around an area rapidly."
Fang Yi scrutinized the match carefully. "You're right."
Sun Mengmeng continued, "Our captain has always been training us through battle."
Sun Xiaowu roared out. The golden mecha shone with light, turning brighter than even a blazing sun, illuminating the entire pocket dimension. All that light began to concentrate, so much so that it formed an outline that almost overlapped with Sun Xiaowu's body.
"[Blinding Flash: Hundred Thousandfold Echo]!"
Sun Xiaowu split into a hundred thousand clones, each of which summoned a golden mecha. The clones were so great in number that they took up half the pocket dimension by themselves, an entire army of himself.
Thanks to the combination of his newly acquired monarch gene fragments and Zhang Lie's targeted training, Sun Xiaowu was finally able to control a hundred thousand clones.
Zhang Lie swung Guicang in a horizontal slash, then drew Hanguang and swung that as well. The two strikes seemed to merge into one.
"[Golden Divide: the Radiant Sun]!"
Hundreds of thousands of clones raised their palms simultaneously as light flooded the sky. Golden radiance, bright and dense as an ocean, fell toward Zhang Lie as the palms descended. A golden flood clashed against Zhang Lie's twin blades.
Zhang Lie slashed forward with his swords again and again, countering the momentum of the light.
He alone blocked a hundred thousand blades.
"Numbers aren't indicative of strength, you know."
A pitch-black sun appeared behind Zhang Lie, and a blood moon by his feet. His aura was magnified tenfold, and a halo of black sun appeared above his forehead. Natural law seemed to warp around him.
Runes likewise appeared on the bloody moon by his feet, forming an intricate array.
"[Syzygy]!"
Struck by the bloody moonlight, the golden clones' radiance grew dim. Under the black sun, the fluctuations in Zhang Lie's genetic energy were enhanced.
Zhang Lie crossed his twin blades. The blood moon resonated with the blade in his left hand, and the black sun with the blade in his right. He simultaneously slashed forward with both blades, forming a huge celestial web.
Zhang Lie slashed forward with his twin blades, carving away at the ranks filled with a hundred thousand golden clones.
"[Adamantine Aegis: Invincible Martial God]! [Blinding Flash: Echo of Origins]!"
The remaining golden clones all swirled toward Sun Xiaowu in a wave of golden light, as though they had suddenly turned into meteors.
With a low shout, the clones overlapped with Sun Xiaowu. A dense layer of golden runes appeared over his skin with a bright burst of genetic energy. The figure of a mecha behind Sun Xiaowu grew larger and larger. Runes decorated his body, glowing behind his back like a burning sun.
A hundred, two hundred, three hundred... a thousand, two thousand, three thousand meters—Sun Xiaowu's growth showed no sign of stopping. As the mecha grew, so too did Sun Xiaowu's own strength.
Ten thousand, twenty thousand, thirty thousand meters—everyone spectating watched Sun Xiaowu in awe.
This time, Sun Xiaowu gathered even more golden light, and the combined mecha grew far larger than before. Its head struck the ceiling of even the expanded pocket dimension.
Exasperated, Zhu could only expand the pocket dimension once again.
The huge mecha seemed to materialize physically. Its body was the size of a planet, and its face looked a little like Zhang Lie's. Its armor gleaming a resplendent gold. It looked like a sun of titanic proportions.
"[Blade of the Heavens: the Sea Swells]!"
Energy poured out of Zhang Lie in waves, honing the edge of his blade. The pulses of energy struck the sea like a tsunami, devouring everything within.
Sun Xiaowu punched forward in a burst of golden light.
Despite blocking Zhang Lie's blades, he was still forced back quite some distance by sheer momentum.
"[Blinding Flash: Hundredfold Echo]!" Sun Xiaowu generated a hundred clones, each in the form of a golden mecha.
Zhang Lie frowned. "Haven't you already tried this last time?"
"I wouldn't use the same technique again on you, Captain. This is a stronger version—I'm not even sure if I can control it myself."
Sun Xiaowu howled and emitted golden light all around him.
The hundred golden giants glowed brightly like burning suns.
Yang Ze cried out in shock, "What's Sun Xiaowu intending to do?"
Li Feng glanced at Fang Yi, who was beside him.
"He's not intending to play with explosions like someone over here, is he?"
Fang Yi retorted, "What I do can't be considered explosions!"
Zhou Ying frowned. "He's Mengmeng's brother, if nothing else. I think we have to be careful."
Hong Xi had already invoked her blue moon domain. "Do we need to layer our defenses?"
"[Adamantine Aegis: Ultimate Martial God]! [Blinding Flash: Echo of Origins]!"
Sun Xiaowu transformed into a thick pillar of light that rose into the air. The pocket dimension's barrier, unable to withstand the pressure of the attack, began to crack. Hundreds of golden mechas morphed into golden suns that spun around Sun Xiaowu as they closed in on him.
The clones merged into the pillar of light that formed Sun Xiaowu. A dense layer of golden runes appeared over the pillar with a bright burst of genetic energy. The figure of a mecha behind Sun Xiaowu grew larger and larger. Runes glowed around the pillar like a burning sun.
The mecha broke through the top of the pocket dimension as it continued to grow larger...