Ultragene Warlord

Fang Yi broke out of the cocoon, a golden spear manifesting in his hand, combining gold-attuned genetic energy and lightning. He thrust the spear toward the void in a huge wave of genetic energy.

The spear thrust generated boundless strength, enough to pierce through the veil of the realm and leave it in tatters. It possessed both the sharpness of steel and destructiveness of lightning, and seemed to be able to destroy anything in its way.

Then, Fang Yi sat down calmly and sat cross-legged on the ground, his spear gone.

He was struck by inspiration—this pinnacle of control, of mastery, over gold-attuned energy that would allow him to defeat all foes lying before him.

Wind and storm merged into a cohesive whole, forming another cocoon around him that made him look extraordinary. Wisps of chaos surrounded him.

Fang Yi continued his metamorphosis. He had made tremendous gains, especially in the domain of lightning.

Fluid gushed down around Fang Yi, a pale-blue, crystal-clear liquid in which fishes swam. It was filled with vitality, bubbling and vivacious.

Incredibly, this wasn't actually water, but liquid lightning.

How could this be? Transforming lightning into a liquid, a form so obviously unnatural, required a perfect understanding of the element, a mastery of its core principles and in particular the ones associated with both lightning and water.

More of the blue fluid emerged, forming a stream, a river. Fang Yi sat in the middle of the river and allowed it to rush past him.

Then, within the sky appeared a waterfall. Rapids rushed out of the void and over his physical body.

The river and waterfall together formed an expanding lake. The entire sky turned into a glittering blue ocean, possessed of uncommon beauty.

As Fang Yi pointed a finger forward, all that blue fluid suddenly began to bubble, coursing where his finger directed it.

This was a frightening strength, the fourth transformation of lightning after fire, nature, and metal—fluid.

When Zhang Lie saw this scene, he too was amazed. Fang Yi had managed to reach this pinnacle of understanding all by himself, transforming lightning into four separate and distinct states. Although Zhang Lie was likewise able to transform his genetic energy into mud, superheated steam, crystal, and even corrosion, this was largely a byproduct of his understanding of his framework, [Ninecarp Transformation].

On the other hand, Fang Yi had reached this stage with nothing more than his own intuition.

Reaching such mastery of lightning was an incredible feat, one that many cultivators far above Fang Yi would never be able to achieve in their lifetimes.

Fang Yi's understanding and intuition were on the level of a genius.

Yang Ze was displaying a strange phenomenon of his own. Divine fog surrounded him.

Greenery sprung up where he lay, glowing and glittering with light. A sea surged, crystalline and swarming with fish. It was filled with vitality, bubbling and vivacious. Space tore apart a rift like a cross-section of glass.

Yang Ze was filled with vitality, but the phenomena around him were far less frightening than those around Fang Yi.

On the other hand, what was happening to Li Feng was comparable to Fang Yi.

Around Li Feng was divine fog, and by his side grew bountiful greenery in white and silver and gold, all formed of light. The greenery didn't exist in reality; it was formed of light-attuned genetic energy. He too had intuited a form of vitality.

Li Feng's transformation wasn't limited to his mind. The vitality resonated with his light-attuned framework, which governed vitality in its own right. However, Li Feng hadn't emphasized this portion of his framework in his development. Thanks to the silver-dragon lotuses, he was able to intuit light-based healing and regeneration practices.

This surprising development was unexpected to Zhang Lie, and even to Li Feng himself. That his framework could be extended in this direction was incredible.

Without these silver-dragon lotuses outlining such a path forward, Li Feng might never have been able to unlock this portion of his potential.

As far as the hunters of the Milky Way were aware, light was composed of photons.

How could photons possess any such regenerative ability? Laser skin care?

How could light-attuned genetic energy heal skin and muscles? 3D printing?

The regenerative ability of light-attuned genetic energy was based on conceptual ideas that associated light with regeneration and healing, not science.

The ability of lightning to nurture and transform matter was similar as well. Neither of these new powers boasted a scientific origin, but even so, the silver-dragon lotuses had endowed Fang Yi and Li Feng with such powers.

Zhang Lie intended to interrogate the two hunters carefully about the process they had undergone.

Perhaps this 'divine plant' was more special than he had anticipated. Not only was it able to elevate one's mind, it even had hidden abilities that Zhang Lie was unaware of.

Zhang Lie had been planning to wait for the three hunters' metamorphoses to be over, but he could sense other competitors drawing near.

The three cultivators had caused such a commotion that competitors nearby were heading toward the source of the disturbance.

Zhang Lie flashed over to where the nearest cultivators were and blocked their path. "The way forward is blocked."

"It's you?!" The cultivator glanced coldly at Zhang Lie. He wore black; a chilling aura surrounded him. A huge sickle rested on his shoulder, and a tattered cloak to his back.

Zhang Lie frowned. "Do I know you?"

His opponent's aura was very familiar. It was thick, cloying, and reeked of death—he seemed to have encountered it before.

"Just about every cultivator in the tournament knows who you are now."

Zhang Lie touched his face. "It looks like we are famous, aren't we? But I don't know who you are."

"Have you heard of the death gods of Netherworld?"

"It sounds frightening."

Zhang Lie belatedly realized why the enemy cultivator had such a familiar aura. It was because he had fought someone from Netherworld before.

The death god of Netherworld brandished his scythe. "Looks like you've gotten quite a few treasures. Your companions are undergoing some sort of critical period where they can't be disturbed, clearly. Hand over the silver-dragon lotuses and the bone talisman you obtained, and I'll pretend I haven't seen anything."

"I've killed a fair few competitors from Netherworld," Zhang Lie replied.

The death god replied pridefully, "I'm aware, but I'm different from those pieces of trash."

"Not to me!"

"I've been curious about just how strong you stellar hunters are. Let's see if your arrogance is warranted."

His body began to glow with umbral light as his black armor turned crystalline. He struck with his scythe, a blow of intense strength that distorted the void as it headed for Zhang Lie.

The attack was bolstered by what felt like a whole sea of blades, shocking the gathered cultivators.

The blade energy transformed into a phoenix, a suanni, a dragon, and all sorts of mythical creatures besides.