Ultragenic Warlord

Chapter 601: Meritorious Evaluation

"Shall we call you Princess Lingxiang, then?" Zhang Lie asked his sister.

"I do like that name, Brother—yes, I'll be Princess Lingxiang!"

Zhang Lie laughed. "Very well. There are quite a few peak-grade lifeforms in the city, so pick one you'd like. Furthermore, I'll have a few peak-grade lifeforms serve as your bodyguards and escort."

Zhang Lie controlled a large number of peak-grade lifeforms through his mistmeld clam soulshard, which could serve as troops for Renhuang as necessary, or as gene fragments for Zhang Hanxiang and the like.

He continued, "I'll pick out a few good hunters from Renhuang's forces to join your guard as well. I don't need any guards, but you do."

Zhang Hanxiang shook her head and raised a tiny fist. "I don't need any—I'm not weak!"

Zhang Lie smiled as he gripped his sister's fist. "I know you're not weak, but as a princess, you'll need your own set of guards. Otherwise, how could you be a princess?"

"Is that so?"

"Under ordinary circumstances, yes."

"Can I have Mengmeng, then? Please? We're good friends!"

Zhang Lie chuckled wearily. "Unfortunately, Sun Mengmeng has a lot of work on her plate. She's the first female general of our kingdom, and she doesn't have time to serve as your bodyguard."

The six members of Team Zenith were all going to be playing important roles in the kingdom.

Zhang Hanxiang nodded obediently.

"Don't worry—I'll choose the best hunters to be your guards," Zhang Lie promised.

"Will you take a stroll with me through the city?" Zhang Hanxiang suddenly asked.

Zhang Lie thought about it for a moment before agreeing.

The Baimei were still in awe of the ceremony they had witnessed. "Priest, wasn't the man who was just crowned king... the god we devoted ourselves to?"

The priest nodded sagely. "That is indeed the case."

"How did he become the king of Limit?"

The priest replied, "Clearly, this is the kingdom of god. He arrived from the heavens in order to kill our false deity and lead us all to sanctuary."

"So that's how it is!" The Baimei all nodded happily.

A Baimei youth said, "Since we've found our god again, priest, when will we be able to meet him?"

"It's not yet time."

The Baimei seemed to be taken aback. "After all that effort? Didn't we come here so we could witness the god again?"

The priest shook his head. "It won't be as easy to meet our god as we'd like, and he won't make himself available just because we want an audience with him. It's clear that he has a lot on his mind at the moment considering the ceremony, so we should start by establishing ourselves here first."

"How?"

"We need to establish a church for our god and spread our religion."

"Yes, Priest!"

What the Baimei didn't know was that, at that moment, their supposed deity wasn't busy at all. He was being pulled from place to place amidst the bustling kingdom by his earnest sister.

Zhang Lie's eyes glimmered with rainbow mist, shrouding himself in an illusion so that he wasn't recognizable.

The day after Zhang Lie's crowning ceremony, politics began in earnest.

The four prime races would each form subordinate kingdoms on the four sides of Renhuang, protecting and guarding it from external threats.

As planned, Hong Xi became the captain of the imperial guards and was tasked to set up a garrison. She was being groomed to become the commander of Renhuang's forces once Sun Mengmeng and the other members of Team Zenith ascended to the third realm, but Hong Xi herself didn't want such a responsibility. Instead, she wanted to ascend with everyone else.

The Yeluo chieftain, who was once the rector of Renhuang's academy, now became the much more impressive-sounding rector of the imperial academy.

The shaman of the wood spirits became the minister of agriculture, and the race of wood spirits were in charge of the forests, woodland, and farmland all throughout the kingdom. They were very grateful to Zhang Lie. As the head of one of the first clans who had joined Renhuang, they weren't disappointed by the choice they made. Even now, they could hardly believe that the humans who had approached them would one day be able to take down the sura and take over the entire realm.

The rock spirits obtained the rights to huge quarries filled with rare and precious veins. They would be responsible for developing mineral supplies for the kingdom, for which they would receive a tithe of what they managed to produce.

The newly established kingdom would need all these resources for infrastructure, and Zhang Lie could no longer allow the rock spirits to consume all the rocks they found.

Even so, given how large the kingdom of Limit was, the rock spirits wouldn't have to worry about food for centuries at least—and if they were to run out of food, Zhang Lie would declare war on his surroundings until the rock spirits had enough to eat.

The second realm was extremely large, far more so than the kingdom of Limit. Limit only took up a third of the original sura territory, and the alien races who had worked together with Zhang Lie retained the other two-thirds.

Zhang Lie had no intention in ruling the entire realm, but playing a game of conquest every now and then wasn't too bad. After all, at the moment, there was no force in the second realm comparable to the kingdom of Limit.

Yun Bing became the grand chancellor of Limit, and Chu Feng the chief architect and minister of land. He would be responsible for resolving territorial disputes between alien races.

Su Hong worked in tandem with Hong Xi as the captain of Renhuang's guard. Over ten times as many troops were under his control than in his previous position.

As a crowd watched on, Zhang Lie put a crown on his sister's head, titling her the Princess Lingxiang. Except for Zhang Lie, she would be the only member of royalty in the kingdom of Limit.

Once Zhang Lie had delegated his work to a team of hunters he trusted and crowned Zhang Hanxiang a princess, the ceremony concluded. Everyone left the palace except for Zhang Lie and Yun Bing.

"Congratulations on becoming the first grand chancellor of Limit, as well as the first female grand chancellor."

It was evident that Yun Bing was the best fit for the role; she had taken on a similar responsibility back in Renhuang, after all.

Yun Bing clutched her forehead. "Oh, don't joke with me! I'm going to become even busier than before. You should help me out if you have the free time."

There was more to accomplish with every passing minute, and Yun Bing felt as though she was falling behind already. She was in the middle of securing new assistants, but the rate at which she did so was overwhelmed by the rate at which more work arrived.

Zhang Lie shrugged. "As you know, I'm terrible with all this."

"At least sound more upset about it!" Yun Bing complained.

Zhang Lie snapped his fingers. "Ah, how about this? I'll make you the prime minister as well."

Yun Bing's jaws dropped. "You're giving me more responsibility?! Doesn't that mean I have to work harder?"

Zhang Lie shook his head. "Now that you have more authority, you can delegate responsibilities to the various committee members too. That should increase your efficiency."

Yun Bing clutched her face. "Don't forget that we're a monarchy, not a republic."

"Well, when I ascend to the third realm, who do you think is going to be responsible for this kingdom?"

Yun Bing blinked.

"You have to consider this question. I can't remain in the second realm for life, and I'll have to ascend sooner or later. Who would take my position?"

"How about Hanxiang?"

Zhang Lie frowned. "My sister isn't suited for the role. She's a princess, and she'll remain a princess—never queen."

Zhang Lie knew very well how demanding the role of a monarch was.