Chapter 226 - Powerful
A draconic roar blasted through the air.
The moment the lightning bird met with the wheel of swords, an azure dragon’s form manifested. Its figure complemented that of the blue lightning bird as the two acted in concert.
Long Huantian arrived at Zhang Zhenpeng’s side. Although the two were rivals, they were still old friends. It was natural to assist one another in times of crisis.
During the event, an ear-piercing alarm thundered through the background. Considering the scale of the Skysea Alliance Tournament, few would dare cause a ruckus and pit themselves against the entire Skysea Alliance.
Nine booms rumbled in succession, each followed by an engulfing wave of frost spreading out to all four corners of the stadium. The remaining spectators shivered in this cold. For a hairbreadth of a moment, a strange luster gripped the sky, elemental energy fluctuating chaotically in the stadium.
So powerful!
All of the spectators were dumbstruck as they watched the scene unfold. This was a clash between three powerhouses, each with six rings! Calling it ‘incredible’ would be an understatement.
Wu Zhangkong stood steadfast as he observed the clash before him with calm eyes. He was unmoved as the elemental shockwaves sent his robes billowing.
Long Huantian and Zhan Zhenpeng both retreated ten steps, their expressions as dark as stormy skies. While the former was slightly pale, traces of blood painted the latter’s mouth red.
Long Huantian roared in indignation, “Where did you come from? How dare you cause trouble at the Skysea Alliance Tournament!”
Wu Zhangkong stared at them without speaking a word, his gaze cold enough to freeze. The Skyfrost Sword shined brilliantly in his hands while a ferocious aura exploded from his form. All six of his soul rings lit up.
Although the three soul masters each had six rings, Long Huantian and Zhang Zhenpeng felt suppressed with Wu Zhangkong facing against them. Their bodies stiffened; their soul power circulation became erratic.
The two were overwhelmed with horror. Wu Zhangkong had yet to breach thirty years of age, yet he had two black soul rings. Their expressions soured at the thought of battling him.
Two people had been paying attention to this match since the start—Xu Lizhi and Ye Xinglan. Xu Lizhi’s voice wavered with anxiety. “Tang Wulin should be fine, right? Yeah, he’s fine. Big sis Xinglan, he’s fine, right?”
Ye Xinglan’s eyes were dull. She had come to watch class zero’s match today in order to scout out Gu Yue in preparation for their promised battle. After all, only by knowing both one’s self and one's enemy could one emerge victorious.
However, she had never expected the battle to play out this way. As a spectator, she had been able to see Tang Wulin shield Gu Yue in the final moments of the Forest of Ice, with his own body nonetheless. He never released her even as the branches penetrated him.
That scene touched her heart. They were young boys and girls, so such pure actions in that time of crisis moved her easily.
In that instant, all her grudges against Tang Wulin were vanquished, his position elevating in her heart.
This was the first time she had seen someone sacrificing so much for another.
His body was riddled with holes. Any of those injuries could be fatal. He was also wounded severely in our battle a few days ago! Maybe he is…
Ye Xinglan didn’t answer Xu Lizhi. She herself didn’t know what sort of answer to give.
She sighed within her heart. There was nothing that she could do. That man with the blue sword should be his teacher.
Wu Zhangkong did not press his assault. While utilizing his domineering aura to stifle Long Huantian and Zhang Zhenpeng, he descended to Tang Wulin and Gu Yue’s side. He examined their state, a frown soon crossing his face.
Life emanated from the golden cocoon. He could not determine what was happening within, but Wu Zhangkong could sense two life forces—proof that the two survived in tact.
All of a sudden, giant figures swooped down from the sky.
Upon sight of these figures, Long Huantian let out a breath of relief.
Xie Xie looked up at the new arrivals, shock spreading gradually across his face. A squadron of twenty mechas, each ten meters in height, appeared.
The lead mecha was painted a regal purple, its entire body emanating strength. At its posterior trailed four yellow mechas, with fifteen white ones following behind those.
Despite the similar size of all the mechas, the energy fluctuations they emitted were of entirely different scales. The combined strengths of the mechas at the rear couldn’t hold a candle to the purple one’s might.
Mechas were classified the same way as soul rings and spirit souls are.
White mechas were the the most basic. As such, they were used for training. They had limited movement capabilities coupled with a minimal energy pool, giving rise to short operation times. Furthermore, they could not be operated with soul power or spirit souls, and were controlled manually. These units filled the ranks of city guards. They were essential for maintaining public order and even ordinary people could handle them.
The military’s standard model were yellow mechas. Its mobility surpassed the white model and it had a decent energy pool to operate on. It could run on both energy and soul power, with the option to utilize spirit souls. Like white mechas, they were also controlled by manually.
Near the top of the hierarchy were the high-performance and custom purple mechas. These were designed and crafted with the future pilot’s martial soul in mind. Therefore, its mobility was incredible, the mecha more in tune with its pilot. At this level, the fusion between the mecha and the martial soul went deep. For these reasons, this model was known as a personal mecha. That being said, even at this level, they were operated manually.
Black mechas were also called super mechas and were in a league of their own. They were made of special materials, had unique designs, and were crafted through difficult methods. At this level, the fusion between the spirit soul and the mecha was perfect; such an integration created an illusion as though the mecha was an extension of one’s body. Each super mecha was paired with a single pilot. If the pilot died, then the mecha would forever stay unoperated. In order to pilot a super mecha, one needed to be at least a Soul Emperor. Their spiritual power must also be at the Sprit Sea realm. These mechas could be controlled by the mind to an extent, but they required more skill to operate.
Finally, red mechas were the cream of the crop, considered to be at the divine level. For its successful creation, these mechas had to be crafted personally. Apart from using top-grade materials forged by a first-rate blacksmith, one’s essence and martial soul had to fuse with the materials perfectly. The result was an existence that could be deemed one thing: alive. A mecha could only be judged as of the divine level if it possessed a degree of sentience. With such a godly machine, the spirit soul could dissolve into it practically.
Only with a red mecha could a mecha pilot fight on equal terms with a battle armor master. However, creating a red mecha was as difficult as crafting battle armor. Thus, red mechas were rarer than battle armor masters.
Naturally, when facing a powerful battle armor master, not even a red mecha could close the gap.
The twenty mechas surrounded Wu Zhangkong. The white mechas were all equipped with three-meter-long soul cannons, aimed right at his body. The purple mecha flew over to him.
Beside matching a Soul Emperor in combat strength, a purple mecha also had a larger energy reserve. One of these machines was more than enough to suppress a Soul Emperor.
Seeing the arrival of these mechas, Long Huantian was convinced that the situation would be brought under control.
Yet, not everyone was of the same opinion; Shen Yi, who had arrived but chose to stay off-stage, was a prime example.