Ultragenic Warlord

Chapter 709: One More Departure

Despite the cataclysm brewing above him, the king of the realm didn't regret informing Zhang Lie where the disaster-grade lifeform was, because he knew he would have been unable to defend against the attack Zhang Lie had just displayed.

If he really were to fight against Zhang Lie, he wouldn't even have a twenty percent chance of winning.

Even if the volcano were ruined, it was just a patch of land. The king of the realm could clean it up readily with his powers. On the other hand, if he were to fight against Zhang Lie, he would surely die.

The choice between a patch of land and his life was obvious.

Moments later, Zhang Lie pulled out the disaster-grade core and waved farewell to the king of the realm, who sighed. Didn't the stranger know how to clean up his own messes?

Zhang Lie left the world without a second thought. He returned to the world of the scalemen, to the mountain which he had destroyed by absorbing a disaster-grade core there. He sat now in its remains as he began absorbing his second core.

Zhang Lie cut his palm with his sword, then dripped blood onto the core. The moment it touched the lava-red 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. The heat felt as though it were receding from the core; the core now responded to his touch.

Zhang Lie opened his wounds again and again until the core became perfectly transparent. 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, within which lava seemed to creep, he felt some unusual sense of kinship with it. Once he felt such a sensation, Zhang Lie couldn't resist his impulses any longer, and he swallowed the core whole.

The next moment, his body turned fire-red, as though he were molten steel. His blood boiled, his body swelled, and the earth beneath him started to melt. A pillar of flame burst into the air as 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 bursts of flame.

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.

The temperature of Zhang Lie's body grew to a shocking degree. The earth beneath him had melted almost completely, and lava now pooled underneath him.

The king of the realm was speechless. An entire mountain had vanished from sight the first time Zhang Lie absorbed disaster gene fragments there; now, even its remnants were going to be eradicated too.

Half a month ago, a mountain had dotted the landscape there; now, it seemed like there would be nothing left.

Flames roared out of Zhang Lie's eyes and mouth, and a vortex of hot wind formed around him. The air surrounding Zhang Lie spontaneously combusted. He was wreathed in flame and cocooned in lava. As black light speared the cocoon, a huge wave of energy poured out and dyed the skies red.

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, 150; Disaster, 40

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

Half a month later, the large number of lifeforms Zhang Lie stole from various worlds finally led to the birth of another disaster-grade lifeform.

After absorbing this lifeform's core, Zhang Lie reached a grand total of fifty disaster gene fragments. He was very lucky that the lifeform had even condensed a soulshard—the disaster-grade lifeform was a phantasmagorical desert fox, and its soulshard was a gown of gauzy fabric.

The gown was what resulted from distilling the night sky seen from the desert into a garment. It was breathtaking and striking beyond words, but unfortunately, it didn't seem like something a man could wear.

"Well, I do need to prepare a gift for that lass..."

Glancing at the skies, the king of the realm sighed. "Master, must you leave?"

After Zhang Lie told the king of the realm that he was about to leave, the king of the realm sought out Zhang Lie for an audience.

Zhang Lie downed a cup of wine. "I have my own affairs to take care of, and no time to waste."

Zhang Lie didn't want to leave so quickly, either. He hadn't finished acquiring all his disaster gene fragments, but the incident in the future was about to happen. Zhang Lie couldn't afford to stay here any longer; if he couldn't prevent this incident this time around, he would regret it for the rest of his life.

The king of the realm was very curious as to just what his master was thinking about. He knew how strong his master was; what could be so important for him to behave in such an urgent fashion?

"What's the matter, Master?"

"Nothing. I'm just off to hunt down a wife, to do something I never managed to do before!"

Thanks to the world map that the Jinghun had provided, Zhang Lie had confirmed the location of the world he would have to head towards. He had expected that it would be a journey requiring him to pass through multiple worlds, but in truth, he was right next to the world in question.

This time around, he couldn't leave any regrets behind!

"Hunting down... a wife?"

"More or less," Zhang Lie replied.

"Do you need my help?"

"You're trapped in this world as the king of the realm. You can't leave now!"

The king of the realm asked, "Can't you stay just a little while longer?"

Zhang Lie had almost forgotten that the king of the realm, despite having inherited his position already, was only a teenager.

He placed a hand atop the king of the realm's head. "Don't forget, you're a king of the realm now. You're no longer the youth who needed me to survive—this world belongs to you, and you need to learn to be independent now!"

The king of the realm sighed. "Master, will we ever meet again?"

"If you work hard enough, I expect we will. We'll have plenty of time in the future."

The king of the realm nodded. "Take care, Master."

"You too." Now that the youth had become king, it was past time for Zhang Lie to take his leave…