245: Xuanwu Suppresses Evil

Longxing City Training Ground

The super Training Ground dedicated to Longxing City was a circular arena with a diameter of over four hundred meters, resembling a futuristic version of the ancient Roman Colosseum. It was constructed entirely from high-strength concrete and special alloy steel shimmering with a metallic luster, possessing a strength sufficient to withstand a direct hit from a low-yield nuclear weapon—indestructible, majestic, and heavy.

On the viewing platforms on both sides of the Training Ground, it was already crowded with people. High-ranking officers of the Red Alert Legion who had not yet gone out on campaign, the newly commissioned Lu Qinian, Yao Ke, Tang Qi, and others, as well as the accompanying personnel from the Eastern Military Region brought by Xiang Wantian, all held their breath, their gazes focused on the center of the field. The air was thick with tension and anticipation.

In the arena, Zhang Lei and Xiang Wantian stood a hundred meters apart, facing each other from a distance.

Xiang Wantian knew his opponent was powerful and did not dare to be the slightest bit arrogant. He was the first to activate the surging Superpower within his body! A roar that seemed to come from an ancient battlefield sounded, and a massive phantom, eight meters tall and as solid as substance, suddenly appeared behind him!

That phantom was clad in ancient and heavy dark-gold coiled-dragon battle armor, holding an Overlord Spear that emanated an endless aura of slaughter. Its face was majestic, and within its pair of double-pupils, there seemed to be terrifying scenes of stars collapsing and mountains and rivers overturning. Its fierce light was so cold that one did not dare to look directly at it! It was none other than the West Chu Overlord—the Heroic Soul of Xiang Yu!

What was even more shocking was that with the appearance of Xiang Yu's Heroic Soul, the clouds above Xiang Wantian's head seemed to be stirred by an invisible force, and a massive, complex, and shimmering ancient magic circle appeared out of thin air! Within the circle, war drums beat and horns blared. Eight hundred Heroic Soul soldiers, dressed in Chu army armor and holding long pikes, stepped out as if from the long river of history, instantly forming a solemn and stern military formation! The soaring killing intent and battle will condensed into a substantive blood-colored smoke, shooting straight into the sky!

At the very front of the military formation, two fierce generals stood tall. One held a long halberd, and the other gripped a war blade. They were the fierce generals under the Overlord—the Heroic Souls of Ji Bu and Long Ju!

"Overlord Xiang—!!!" the two fierce generals roared in unison, their voices shaking the fields!

"Roar! Roar! Roar!" The eight hundred Heroic Souls behind them simultaneously raised their pikes and struck the ground, letting out a mountain-toppling and sea-draining war cry that caused the entire Training Ground to tremble slightly in the sound waves!

Xiang Wantian, wearing a smaller version of the same dark-gold battle armor as the Heroic Soul, was now connected in aura with the Overlord's Heroic Soul. He raised the replica Overlord Spear in his hand high, pointed it at Zhang Lei, and shouted, "Zhang Lei! Come!" The eight hundred Heroic Souls behind him followed with an even more violent war cry, the sound waves nearly tearing the sky apart!

"He indeed has some tricks up his sleeve." Zhang Lei's heart chilled slightly. The power Xiang Wantian displayed after using his full strength was indeed comparable to Lü Yan's level in Kyoto, especially this Heroic Soul military formation, which was enough to trap and kill an ordinary third-tier. But Zhang Lei had long since stepped onto a higher level through countless life-and-death battles and Divine Fire Body Tempering!

Facing the overwhelming battle intent, Zhang Lei's eyes remained calm as he slowly held his hands out in front of him. In an instant, the void behind him vibrated, and a massive Taiji Duality Diagram with a radius of over forty meters appeared out of thin air! One half was a sea of crimson-gold fire that burned and incinerated all things, and the other half was a surging deep-blue ice ocean! The two extremely opposite energies were not static but rotated and intersected slowly like living things, forming a grand scroll that contained the ultimate principles of heaven and earth!

"Roar—!!!" A majestic and auspicious roar came from the Taiji eye at the center of the sea of fire! A Fire Qilin, its entire body burning with crimson-gold divine flames and its feet treading on seven-colored auspicious clouds, leaped out! Its scales were distinct, its eyes like lava, and it emanated a noble and powerful aura originating from the primordial wilderness. The scorching heat wave made those far away on the viewing platform feel parched.

Almost at the same time!

"Ang—!!!" A deeper, more ancient long cry that seemed to come from the Nine Netherworlds rang out from the Taiji eye at the center of the ice ocean!

A beast with an even more massive body, entirely black, with a dragon's head, a snake's tail, a tortoise's back, and elephant's feet, stepped out slowly, carrying a dark-green giant python that was flickering its tongue!

It was one of the Four Symbols of heaven and earth that governed the north and commanded water—the divine beast Xuanwu!

As soon as this Xuanwu appeared, the world suddenly changed color! Dark clouds instantly gathered over the Training Ground, lightning snakes danced wildly, and the sky became as dark as ink! A thin, cold drizzle fell without warning, and when the rain touched the skin, it actually carried a bone-chilling coldness and suppressive force!

Xuanwu let out a dull but soul-piercing roar toward the sky. The eight hundred Heroic Soul military formation behind Xiang Wantian, which originally had soaring killing intent, was actually seized by an invisible fear. The soldiers' arms holding the pikes began to tremble uncontrollably, and the formation showed signs of commotion! Even the people on the viewing platform felt as if their hearts were being gripped by a cold giant hand. Those with weaker strength, like Governor Wu Changming and Lu Qinian, turned pale, their hearts beating like drums!

"Xuan... Xuanwu?! Doesn't he only have the Fire Qilin?!" This unbelievable question exploded like a thunderclap simultaneously in the hearts of Xiang Wantian and all the spectators!

Xiang Wantian's expression changed drastically. Knowing he could no longer wait, he pointed the Overlord Spear forward and ordered sternly, "Ji Bu! Long Ju! Charge! Crush him!"

"Kill—!!!" Ji Bu and Long Ju, the two Heroic Soul generals, let out earth-shaking roars and led the eight hundred Chu army Heroic Souls in a battle formation. Like a bursting black tide with a tragic momentum that could crush everything, they launched a group charge toward Zhang Lei! Iron hooves trampled the ground, pikes and halberds were like a forest, and killing intent condensed into a substantive blood-colored edge, as if to tear everything in front of them into pieces!

However, Zhang Lei still floated in mid-air, his figure as steady as Mount Tai, not even the corners of his clothes fluttering. He merely moved a thought. The Fire Qilin let out a roar, clouds rising from its four hooves, and carrying the divine fire that could burn the heavens and boil the seas, it was the first to charge into the Heroic Soul military formation. Wherever it passed, the Heroic Souls let out silent wails in the flames and vaporized and dissipated one after another!

And that massive Xuanwu, its dragon head held high, let fall endless Black Mysterious Water from the sky, transforming into a black water curtain that blotted out the sun, instantly enveloping more than half of the Heroic Soul military formation along with Ji Bu and Long Ju! Outside the water curtain, the crowd could only hear the dense clashing of weapons, dull impacts, and the shrill screams of the Heroic Souls before they dissipated, but they could not see a single thing inside.

In just a few short minutes, the massive black water curtain receded as if being withdrawn by an invisible hand. The originally aggressive eight hundred Heroic Souls, along with the two majestic Chu general Heroic Souls, had disappeared without a trace, as if they had never existed, leaving only a bit of black mist about to dissipate and a cold deathly silence in the air.

"Im... Impossible!!" Xiang Wantian's pupils shrank, and for the first time, a look of near-desperate shock and disbelief appeared on his face. Those eight hundred Heroic Souls each had the strength of the peak of the first tier, and their power multiplied after forming a formation. Ji Bu and Long Ju were even fierce general Heroic Souls at the peak of the second tier. With the three combined, even if he personally fell into the formation, he would have to fight a hard battle to escape. How could they be... slaughtered like cutting melons and vegetables by the opponent's two summoned beasts in such a short time?!

"Xiang Wantian," Zhang Lei's voice rang out calmly, yet with unquestionable power, clearly spreading across the entire Training Ground, "There is always someone better than you. That little bit of reliance you have is vulnerable in the face of true power. You had better put away that nonsensical arrogance of yours as soon as possible."

These words pierced into Xiang Wantian's proud heart like a sharp knife. His eyes were instantly bloodshot, and shame and rage completely consumed his reason!

"Zhang Lei—!!! Don't be so arrogant! If you can take my final move, I, Xiang, will be thoroughly convinced!!!" He let out a beast-like roar. The Xiang Yu Heroic Soul behind him seemed to feel its master's extreme rage, and its figure swelled again, reaching a terrifying height of fifteen meters! Within those double-pupils, brilliant light exploded like two miniature suns!

"Breaking the Cauldrons and Sinking the Boats—Overlord's Wrath!!!" Xiang Wantian poured out all his Superpower, merging into one with the Overlord's Heroic Soul. The Overlord Spear in his hand danced like a violent wind and rain, stirring the surrounding airflow to form a tornado! He and the Heroic Soul simultaneously raised the long spears in their hands high, and then, carrying the determined will to destroy mountains and rivers and overturn the state, they heavily thrust the Overlord Spear into the specially made ground of the Training Ground!

"Boom—!!!" Where the spear tip touched the ground, the earth surged and cracked like waves! At the same time, from the Overlord Heroic Soul's double-pupils, two beams of destructive light as thick as a child's arm and condensed to the extreme shot out. Accompanied by an Overlord's roar that seemed to come from the Nine Netherworlds and was enough to shatter souls, the three combined into one, transforming into a terrifying shockwave that distorted space and swallowed light, sweeping toward Zhang Lei like a roaring world-destroying dragon! Wherever it passed, even light was swallowed, leaving a vacuum trail!

"Well done! Let me show you what the power of heaven and earth is!" A hint of seriousness finally flashed in Zhang Lei's eyes, and he gave a loud shout: "Xuanwu—Suppression of Evil!"

Following his command, the majestic Fire Qilin let out a light, low cry and transformed into a stream of light, plunging back into the sea of fire eye in the Duality Diagram.

And that massive divine beast Xuanwu once again let out that primordial dragon roar! A thick, blue-black pillar of Black Mysterious Water gushed out from its dragon mouth, shooting straight into the dark cloud-covered sky!

In the next second, the celestial phenomenon changed drastically!

The original thin rain instantly transformed into a torrential downpour! This rain was no ordinary water, but Black Mysterious Water containing extreme ice and suppression power! The rainstorm covered an area of several miles, and its core completely enveloped the entire Training Ground!

Xiang Wantian, at the center of the rainstorm, only felt his Superpower being completely suppressed by a primitive and ancient will, its operation becoming sluggish to the extreme! The cold rain hit his dark-gold battle armor, actually making a "hissing" sound. The light on the surface of the armor dimmed rapidly, and it even began to emit wisps of black smoke as if being purified!

The massive Xiang Yu Heroic Soul behind him also became illusory and transparent under the wash of the rainstorm, as if it would dissipate at any moment! In this domain of Xuanwu's Suppression of Evil, all energy was washed away, purified, and suppressed! Zhang Lei stood tall at the center of the rainstorm, his black hair flying and his eyes indifferent, like a god in charge of heavenly punishment!

The shockwave of the Overlord's Wrath was rapidly weakened and decomposed in the rainstorm domain. At a distance of less than ten meters from Zhang Lei, it was annihilated, failing to stir even a single ripple.

"Puff—" Xiang Wantian could no longer hold on and suddenly spat out a mouthful of blood, kneeling on one knee. The Overlord Spear in his hand was deeply inserted into the ground, supporting him so that he did not completely collapse. The Xiang Yu Heroic Soul behind him let out an unwilling sigh and finally dissipated completely in the rain filling the sky.

Victory and defeat were decided.

The entire Training Ground was as silent as death. Only the pitter-patter of cold raindrops hitting the alloy ground could be heard.

On the viewing platform, everyone was as if under a freezing spell, staring wide-eyed and slack-jawed at the figure in the arena who was still floating in the air like a deity.

Whether it was the Red Alert officers, the people from the Eastern Military Region, or the newly joined leaders like Lu Qinian and Yao Ke, a massive wave was stirred in their hearts!

Both were third-tier, yet the gap could be so vast? Zhang Lei's final Xuanwu Suppression of Evil was like drawing upon the might of heaven and earth. That Black Mysterious rainstorm covering several miles had already completely exceeded their understanding of "human power"! The might of the ice fire divine lord was simply like that of a celestial god!