Ultragenic Warlord

Chapter 689: A Massive Improvement

The disaster-grade core was golden. It gave off light as bright as a radiant sun, with so much energy gathered near its surface that Zhang Lie felt his palms pricking with pain just by getting close to it.

Zhang Lie bowed. "Thank you, your majesty!"

"You've now done the kingdom another great service by getting the Jindao to talk. What other reward would you like?"

The official responsible for interrogation suggested, "Master Hong has a unique technique for dealing with such criminals and suspects. If Master Hong doesn't mind, how about obtaining a court position working with me?"

Zhang Lie shook his head. "I'm too used to my freedom by now."

The official sighed. "It's a pity."

Despite having observed and overseen the entire interrogation, the official still couldn't make heads or tails of what Zhang Lie had done. He was surely very accomplished in the field, with an incredible talent for interrogation.

The king of the realm nodded. "If you don't have any ideas at the moment, I can wait. Let me know when you've decided what you want."

"Very well."

Zhang Lie left the king's quarters and returned to the ninth prince's quarters, where the ninth prince badgered him about what the king of the realm had wanted.

"Nothing much, just a few details about the Jindao. In the next few days, I'm going to be in closed cultivation. Unless something major happens, don't disturb me."

The ninth prince nodded.

When Zhang Lie returned to his room and retrieved the disaster-grade lifeform's golden core, the radiant brightness shone through even the walls of the estate.

Zhang Lie cut his palm with his sword, then dripped blood onto the core. The moment it touched the radiant golden core, the blood was quickly absorbed into its interior. It sucked up more and more of Zhang Lie's blood until it turned blood-red.

Zhang Lie had to reopen the wound a few times before the transformation was complete. Then, he closed his eyes and began pouring concentrated rainbow-colored genetic energy from his body into the core.

It took him an entire hour before he felt the core start to soften. After another ten minutes or so, the entire core had softened completely.

As Zhang Lie clutched the crystalline orb, he felt some unusual sense of kinship with it, as though it was already part of his body. Once he felt such a sensation, Zhang Lie couldn't resist his impulses any longer, and he swallowed the core whole.

As the core slid down his throat, Zhang Lie felt as though he were swallowing a flurry of metal shards which penetrated his throat and exploded in his genetic core.

Zhang Lie couldn't help but suck in a prolonged breath, his face turning pale. Subsequently, almost immediately, Zhang Lie took on the color of a boiled prawn. Disaster-grade energy swirled around his body, and his blood began to froth and steam.

Zhang Lie's blood boiled. Energy ran rampant throughout his body, causing blood to seep out of his pores and boil in the air. A haze of white steam surrounded him.

The pain was unimaginable, but Zhang Lie's pain tolerance had been rising sharply. After all, in the second realm alone, he had suffered such pain ten times before.

Closing his eyes, Zhang Lie began to circulate genetic energy through his body. As his blood boiled, his body began to glow. It gave off a radiant golden light, dyeing the entirety of the ninth prince's quarters gold.

The king of the realm frowned as he turned toward the source of the disturbance. "Have the ninth prince's quarters be sealed off."

Zhang Lie's body seemed to have as much energy as a supernova. A frightening current of energy seemed poised to tear Zhang Lie to shreds, then rebuild him from whatever remained. The disaster gene fragments reformed his body from the inside out.

Genetic energy circulated through his framework, faster and faster. As he assimilated the disaster gene fragments into his body, Zhang Lie gave off stronger and stronger beams of light.

Circulating genetic energy through his body now took just over half a minute, an incredible and previously unimaginable speed, and his evolution was spurred further and further onward by the energy of the disaster-grade core.

His body creaked and ached as it reached its breaking point, his bones breaking and regrowing time and again, his capillaries bursting before coming back thicker and thicker. Golden light burst out of his eyes, mouth, nose, and ears, singeing his eyeballs and tongue. He shone like a miniature sun. He felt as though a tremendous pressure weighed him down, like a mountain was balanced atop his head.

A golden pillar of light rose into the skies at the eve of his transformation, dyeing the entire capital a shade of gold. Some said that a deity from the heavens was paying the king of the realm a visit; others, that the king of the realm had made a breakthrough; and yet others, that this was the prelude to disaster.

Even when the beam of light dissipated, the discussion going on within the capital didn't cease.

By then, Zhang Lie had reined in the light and concluded his first third-realm disaster gene fragment absorption.

Zhang Lie: a disaster-grade lifeform

Framework: Foundation, Lv. MAX; Ninecarp Transformation, Sixth Form: River Dragon Techniques: Rippling Walk (pinnacle), Three-Wave Crescendo (pinnacle), Calm Waters (pinnacle), Fists of the Silent Sea (pinnacle), The Boundless Blade (pinnacle), Eclipse (pinnacle), Syzygy (pinnacle), ?Ninesoul Dragonblade (advanced), Blade of the Heavens (intermediate)

Genes: Basic, 160; Mutated, 150; Superior, 150; Peak, 40; Disaster, 10

Soulshards: White Grub (superior), Blood Ant (superior), Potbellied Toad (mutated), Eternalspring Cocoon (superior), Dragonwolf (superior), Moonlight Wyrm (peak), Golden Roc (peak), Mistmeld Clam (disaster)

Now that he finally had disaster gene fragments again, Zhang Lie's strength had increased by leaps and bounds.

As he stepped outside his chambers, the ninth prince bowed. "Congratulations on your success, Master."

Zhang Lie nodded. "I'm a little hungry. Can you prepare some food for me?"

"Yes, Master. The third prince is also requesting an audience."

Zhang Lie nodded again. "Have him come dine with us, then."

The three of them sat together at a table, the third prince staring angrily at Zhang Lie.

"You're leaving the capital?" The third prince was here to discuss the ninth prince's choice of reward from the king of the realm.

"There's no reason to stay in the capital—why not leave beforehand?"

The third prince pressed, "What happened to cooperating with me?"

"We can do so from beyond the capital."

"It seems like I've erred in my judgment. You don't have any ambition at all, do you?" The third prince slapped a palm on the table, then whirled around and left.

Zhang Lie continued sipping leisurely at his tea, as though the third prince had never appeared.