Ultragene Warlord

After slaughtering the two monarch-grade lifeforms in the farm on the draconian world, Zhang Lie returned to his residence just in time to see an envoy arrive from the Zongming world.

The envoy announced to the entire world, "The third realm has seen the appearance of a frightening demon who's trying to devour the three thousand worlds. To date, over five hundred have been implicated, and even a superior world has been invaded. Allowing this demon to continue growing in the third realm will only lead to doom and destruction. The superior worlds have convened a meeting and decided to combine the forces of all worlds to resist this demon!"

The draconian sage teleported right before the envoy. The envoy requested, "King of the draconian world, please respond to the superior worlds' summons and gather in the draconian world. These are the world's coordinates."

The draconian sage peered at the scroll that the envoy proffered him, on which the coordinates for the Zongming world were recorded. The draconian sage nodded and asked, "And if I don't respond to the summons?"

The envoy chuckled nervously. "Please don't make life more difficult for me, your highness. Our world has no choice, either—the superior worlds uniformly decided on this approach to counter the impending threat."

The draconian sage promised, "I'll respond to the summons. I'm simply curious."

The envoy grimaced. "Those who fail to respond to the summons will be dealt with using extreme methods."

The draconian sage more or less had an understanding of such 'extreme methods'. He nodded and said, "I'll gather my forces and set off after three days."

"Please assemble in the Zongming world as quickly as possible. The superior king whose jurisdiction we lie within is an impatient man. The other superior kings have already assembled their forces, and it would do us no good to be the slowest."

Although the envoy's words were polite, his tone brooked no argument. He turned to leave as the draconian sage sighed. "They came, after all. What do you think?"

Zhang Lie shattered space, appearing beside the draconian sage. He had seen the entire exchange. "Not long from now, there'll be more such unwelcome guests. You had better prepare."

The draconian sage nodded.

Zhang Lie returned to his residence to find Zhang Hanxiang waiting for him.

"I thought you'd be here, Brother!"

"What's the matter? Why have you been trying to find me?"

Zhang Hanxiang replied, "Uncle Hong Tianqi's looking for you."

"He's free enough to be looking for me personally?"

"He asked the hunters of the third realm to find me and Sun Mengmeng to have us pass the message to you."

Zhang Lie asked curiously, "What's the matter?"

Zhang Hanxiang shrugged. "He wants to know what's going on within the third realm of late."

"As the highest authority of the united world federation, how can he not know what's happening? I'll head back to Earth and talk to him personally." Zhang Lie returned to Earth and contacted Hong Tianqi, who picked up immediately as the call went through.

"I've been waiting for you to contact me. What's been happening in the third realm? Who are the death spirits, and what are these superior worlds up to?"

"You know what's been happening?"

"Of course I do! All worlds in the third realm have received summons from the superior worlds."

It looked as though the superior kings had all worked particularly quickly.

"Why do you think I'd know anything about what's happening?"

Hong Tianqi rolled his eyes. "You're a magnet for trouble. Nothing ever happens without your having dabbled in it."

Zhang Lie placed his palms over his heart. "You slander me! I wasn't the culprit this time—someone else was."

"So you do know important information about what's going on, don't you?"

Zhang Lie shrugged. "How much do you know about the death spirits and the superior worlds?"

Hong Tianqi had passed through the third realm himself, and he should have learned quite a bit during his time there.

"I know that a particularly strong race, known as the death spirits, have been barricaded and kept under heavy guard by the other superior worlds, but I've never interacted with them.

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"These superior worlds are superior to even large worlds, and they're unassailable existences that have persisted since antiquity. No one dares to provoke them—or rather, those who do have all died. There are ten such worlds in the third realm."

Zhang Lie laughed. "Unassailable? I think not. That's just something the superior worlds made up. As far as I'm aware, two superior worlds have perished recently."

"At your hand?"

"Why do you think so?"

Hong Tianqi replied, "Because you're responsible for everything!"

Zhang Lie sighed theatrically. "Alright, alright, I'll admit it. I got rid of one of the superior worlds, and the death spirits got rid of another."

Hong Tianqi asked, "So just what are these death spirits, and why do the superior worlds need to work together to stop them?"

"The death spirits originally represented one of the ten superior worlds. Subsequently, the death spirit king tried to grow stronger by absorbing the wills of each world. He started by swallowing up the will of his own world, and then those of his surroundings.

"His ambition grew so wild that he tried to devour the whole of the third realm. The other superior worlds discovered his ploys and combined forces to stop him."

Hong Tianqi was visibly alarmed. "A demon, then."

"A demon indeed, but the other superior worlds aren't necessarily personifications of justice themselves."

Hong Tianqi asked, "What else is there that you're not telling me?"

"Nothing major. Don't worry—I won't let the events transpiring in the third realm affect us humans. Believe in me and let me handle this crisis. 

"Ever since the other superior worlds stopped them, the death spirits have been laying the groundwork for a total conquest of the third realm. They've recently broken through the barricade, and the superior worlds are preparing to mobilize the whole of the third realm to wage a war the likes of which have never been seen."

Hong Tianqi wanted to spit out blood. "And you call that 'nothing major?!' This is a world war—no, a realm war!

If news of what's going on were to be released and disseminated, the entire Milky Way will be in an uproar. Only someone like you would consider this 'nothing major'—the rest of us would be shocked stiff!"

Zhang Lie mulled over Hong Tianqi's words. Indeed, this might be a big affair for others, but for Zhang Lie, who was aware of the outcome of the death spirits, it didn't seem like anything major.

Given what had happened in his past life, the death spirits were doomed to failure. If they were destined to be destroyed by the superior worlds, what was there to fear?

Zhang Lie spread his arms. "It's a matter for the third realm to deal with. It's not as if you can do anything about it, can you?"

Hong Tianqi reluctantly nodded. There was little he could do directly, and Zhang Lie was his best pawn indirectly.

"You're certain you can control the situation?" he reiterated.

"Not entirely, but I expect I'll be able to curtail it if it gets out of hand. What are you hoping to accomplish during this war?"

Hong Tianqi glanced at Zhang Lie thoughtfully. "Nothing, really—I just don't want the Milky Way to suffer huge casualties."

"I won't be able to promise anything with regards to other races, but it won't impact humans much. In fact, we can benefit from it." Witnessing a mythical war in the third realm would only serve to strengthen the human hunters there. "As for other races, well, there's not much I can do."