36: The battle between fire and earth

Early the next morning

Barracks Training Grounds

The vast training grounds were bathed in the morning light, the air thick with the scent of earth and sweat. In the center of the field, two figures with vastly different auras stood facing each other, drawing the rapt attention of over a hundred soldiers watching from the periphery. On the left was Zhang Lei, wearing a set of military-green tight-fitting combat gear that perfectly outlined his smooth yet explosive muscle lines. Continuously tempering his body with the fire element had pushed his physique to a startling level. As he channeled his Superpower, molten lava seemed to flow deep within the pupil of his left eye, dancing with golden-red flames; meanwhile, his right eye resembled a deep, frigid pool reflecting an ice-blue ocean—mysterious and powerful, looking like a protagonist stepping out of myth and legend.

On the right was Li Wei. He was still wearing his iconic black polymer composite armor, but the shield in his hand had been completely renewed after his promotion to a Hero unit—the surface of the Magnetic Alloy Shield was wreathed in faint blue electric arcs, exuding a powerful defensive aura. In his hand, he tightly gripped the Black Dragon Alloy Saber; its slender, pitch-black blade held a restrained cold light that nonetheless inspired awe and fear.

Zhang Lei was the first to strike! He exerted force through his feet, instantly treading a shallow pit into the hard training ground as he transformed into a blurry green afterimage. He moved so fast that he tore a sharp whistle through the air! He suddenly leaped, his body rotating at an incredible high speed in mid-air like a spinning top or a soaring falcon! Then, the rotational kinetic energy converted into forward momentum as he shot forward like an arrow from a bow. With a force that seemed to rip the air apart, his right leg swept toward Li Wei like a steel whip as he bellowed, "Blazing Kick!"

"Whoosh—!"

Zhang Lei's right foot was instantly enveloped in a layer of golden-red flames condensed to the extreme! The fire didn't burn haphazardly; instead, it clung to his leg like liquid lava, emitting terrifyingly high temperatures! Even from two or three meters away, the scorching heat wave rushed over, causing Li Wei's armor to make a faint "sizzling" sound as if it were about to melt!

Facing this violent strike, Li Wei's pupils constricted slightly, not daring to be the least bit negligent! He sank into a low horse stance, lowering his center of gravity, and growled, "Rock Wall!" Simultaneously, he slammed his left-hand shield into the ground!

"Rumble!"

A wall half a meter thick, instantly condensed from hard earth and stone, rose from the ground, standing between the two of them! The stone wall's surface was rough and craggy, emanating the heavy solidity of the earth.

However!

"Boom-crack—!"

Zhang Lei's Blazing Kick was like a falling meteorite, smashing violently into the stone wall! Under the kick, which contained terrifying kinetic energy and extreme heat, the hard rock held out for less than three seconds before letting out an overwhelmed wail and exploding! Countless stone fragments flew in all directions like cannonballs!

The moment the stone wall shattered, Li Wei's Magnetic Alloy Shield was already prepared! The muscles in his arms bulged as he held the shield steadily in front of him, the blue electric arcs on the shield's surface instantly becoming blindingly bright!

"Bang—!!!"

A deafening roar of metal clashing rang out!

Zhang Lei's burning right leg kicked hard into the center of the shield! The immense impact caused Li Wei's feet to plow two deep furrows into the ground, and his body slid back uncontrollably for five or six steps before he managed to steady himself! Dazzling electric sparks erupted from the shield, and a powerful current instantly surged through Zhang Lei's entire body via his right leg!

"Ugh!" Zhang Lei let out a muffled groan, feeling a wave of intense numbness sweep over him as his muscles instantly stiffened! He reacted extremely quickly, using the counter-shock force to twist his waist violently in mid-air, completing a 360-degree aerial rotation with startling flexibility! Simultaneously, his left foot glowed with a bone-chilling ice-blue light, kicking out with the centrifugal force of the rotation!

"Ice Fall!"

Following his movement, a massive ice sphere a full meter in diameter instantly condensed in the air! The surface of the ice sphere was covered in sharp ice spikes, emitting a grim coldness like a miniature iceberg. With a whistling wind, it smashed down toward Li Wei, who had just steadied himself!

A flash of surprise crossed Li Wei's eyes, but his movements were lightning-fast! The Black Dragon saber in his right hand let out a low hum, as if dark currents were surging within the pitch-black blade! Facing the massive ice sphere falling from the sky, he advanced rather than retreated. With a low roar, he gripped the saber with both hands and delivered a fierce upward slash!

"Break!"

A condensed black blade light, like a bolt of lightning tearing through the night, struck the exact center of the ice sphere with absolute precision!

"Crack—!!!"

A crisp sound of shattering rang out! The massive ice sphere was split in two, exploding violently to both sides, as countless ice shards reflected the colors of the rainbow under the sunlight!

The offensive wasn't over! The moment Zhang Lei landed, his hands rapidly overlapped and pulled apart in front of his chest. A flame dragon, more solid than before, five meters long and lifelike, instantly took shape and roared toward Li Wei!

"Flame Dragon Break!"

Li Wei's eyes narrowed. He used his left shield to protect his vitals and stabbed his right-hand saber into the ground, fully activating his Superpower: "Sandstorm!"

A gale suddenly erupted in the center of the training ground! Countless grains of sand appeared out of thin air, forming a high-speed rotating, vision-obscuring Sandstorm tornado that met the roaring fire dragon!

"Rumble—!"

Fire and sand collided violently! Scorching air currents and wild sand tore at and swallowed each other! However, Zhang Lei's fire dragon was clearly superior; it violently tore through the obstruction of the Sandstorm. Although it shrank in size, its momentum remained undiminished as it slammed hard into the magnetic shield Li Wei had raised!

"Thud!"

Li Wei was once again knocked back several steps. Scorched marks were left on the shield, and the smell of singed hair filled the air. Most noticeably, a small patch of his eyebrow had completely disappeared under the high temperature.

Li Wei lowered his shield and touched the bare spot on his brow bone, then looked at the scorch marks on the shield with a wry expression: "Officer Zhang, my eyebrow... you have to compensate me for this!"

Zhang Lei dispelled the Superpowers around him, and the phenomena of fire and ice vanished. He scratched his head, looking at Li Wei's comical "half-brow" look, and smiled somewhat sheepishly: "Cough, Brother Li, look at what you're saying... it's just a spar, it's hard to avoid... a slip-up, a slip-up! It was purely an accident!"

"Hahahahaha!"

"Officer Li's eyebrow!"

"Officer Zhang is mighty!"

The watching soldiers could no longer hold it in and burst into a roar of laughter. The tense and fierce atmosphere of the battle was instantly diluted by this comical scene.

"Brilliant! Simply brilliant!" Jiang Xin clapped and walked out of the crowd with a smile. He approached the two and slapped Zhang Lei hard on the shoulder. "Brother Lei, your use of Superpowers is truly becoming more and more masterful! You control it with your heart, combining hardness and softness!"

Zhang Lei blushed slightly at the praise and quickly pointed at Li Wei, saying, "It's all because Brother Li is such a good sparring partner! Without a 'hard stone' like Brother Li to grind against, this 'blade' of mine wouldn't have sharpened so quickly!" His gaze toward Li Wei was full of sincere gratitude and the camaraderie of brothers-in-arms. The battle just now had been hearty and satisfying, deepening his understanding of his own power.