Chapter 1144: A Matter of Familiarity
Li Feng told Hong Tianqi, "The world of blazing sun was a superior world over which a hundred golden suns hovered in the sky, and veins of lava flowed under the surface. However, the entire world was surprisingly stable despite the heat. The lava veins never erupted or went haywire, thanks to the presence of a golden tree in the world, a golden mulberry tree."
Zhou Ying added, "The golden mulberry tree regulated the subterranean lava veins and ensured that they were at equilibrium."
Fang Yi jumped in. "The solar king was a frightening existence, one covered in golden flames. Ten suns circled behind him, forming a ring of suns. With a single wave of his hand, he could manifest a thousand suns in the sky, which would fall toward his opponents like a meteor shower, and he could even regenerate ten times..."
Hong Tianqi asked, "How did all of you manage to defeat him?"
Li Feng replied, "Zhou Ying managed to absorb the energy of the golden mulberry tree. That, combined with Fang Yi's ultimate technique, was enough to slay the solar king once and for all."
Fang Yi continued, "The solar king even made use of his proof of kingship to create an undead monstrosity with a furnace on its back, taking a leaf from the king of keys' and the king of black fog's special characteristics. While the world of blazing sun remained whole, the monstrosity would continue regenerating indefinitely..."
After recording the relevant information about the world of blazing sun, Hong Tianqi continued, "What about the other superior worlds?"
His gaze landed on Zhang Lie, as if wordlessly prodding him to talk.
Hong Tianqi was very curious as to what sort of worlds Zhang Lie had encountered.
Zhang Lie began, "The first superior world I destroyed was the xuluo world."
Hong Tianqi asked, "The xuluo world and the third realm have the same character 须 in their name. Is there a relationship?" [1]
Zhang Lie shrugged. "I have no idea. Only the superior king of the xuluo world would know—he chose the name himself, after all. All superior kings are free to rename their own worlds."
Hong Tianqi nodded. "Let's continue, then."
Zhang Lie recounted the story of his travels in the xuluo world.
"The xuluo world had four great lords, each with the strength of a newly ascended superior king. The world itself was covered by a sea of blood. The name of its superior king was Feitian, a huge grub-like creature, with a son known as Potian, likewise a bug. There's otherwise nothing interesting about the xuluo world, but they do control an interesting power."
Hong Tianqi asked, "What's interesting about it?"
"The power they manifest is known as heaven's might, a power related to karma and fate."
Hong Tianqi commented thoughtfully, "A higher-order power... I wouldn't have expected it to appear in the third realm."
Sun Xiaowu asked, "Authority, are you aware of this power?"
Hong Tianqi rolled his eyes. "Are you looking down on me? Even before Zhang Lie appeared, I was one of the leading hunters of humanity! When I was a third-realm hunter, I might not be as strong as Zhang Lie is now, but I do have a wealth of experience! I've encountered karmic power too."
Sun Mengmeng rolled his eyes. "Brother, have you forgotten that the kindly uncle you're speaking with was known as a Heavenly Monarch, one of the strongest hunters of the Milky Way?"
Sun Xiaowu scratched his head in embarrassment. Hong Tianqi was so easy to speak with that Sun Xiaowu had all but forgotten that Hong Tianqi was his idol as a youth, Heavenly Monarch Hong Tianqi!
The reason that Sun Xiaowu had specified 'as a youth' was because his current idol was Zhang Lie, who was seated by his side.
Hong Tianqi emphasized, "Please omit 'was known'—I'm still the Heavenly Monarch Hong Tianqi."
Yang Ze asked, "Authority, did you end up fighting against any entities who wielded karmic power in the third realm?"
Zhang Lie wasn't particularly surprised—after all, every member of the xuluo could access heaven's might.
"No," Hong Tianqi replied. "Not in the third realm. I encountered such enemies in the fourth realm, many of whom have access to higher-order energies."
Not everyone was as ridiculous as Zhang Lie, to have faced such foes—and taken them down!—in the third realm.
Zhang Lie continued, "The other superior world I destroyed was the world of black fog. It's a world that's surrounded by black fog—the physical form of the king of black fog's body. The king of black fog had melded with the will of his world to form the world of black fog..."
After hearing Zhang Lie recount his experiences in the two superior worlds, Hong Tianqi sighed. "To have melded his own body with the entire world... these superior worlds really are incredible."
Yang Ze went next. "The unclean world was filled with abyssal trenches that emanated noxious fumes. An ordinary lifeform would quickly die if exposed to the fumes. The superior king of the unclean world was the king of evil, a frightening king whose body radiated a disgusting stench, formed of an amorphous mass of gray fluid."
Zhang Lie added, "The gray fluid kept birthing deformed monstrosities, which would emerge from the surface before being swallowed back into the main body and digested..."
Yang Ze and Zhang Lie took turns informing Hong Tianqi of the unclean world. Finally, Hong Tianqi asked, "What about the king of keys?"
Zhang Lie replied, "The king of keys was formed from the cores of myriad worlds. His body was itself a miniature universe, in which worlds were continuously birthed and annihilated."
Hong Tianqi raised his eyebrows. "Did I hear you correctly? His body is a universe?"
Zhang Lie nodded. "That's right."
"Can he be considered biological life, then?" Hong Tianqi asked.
"No, not at all. He was meant as a trump card for the will of the third realm before it was shattered to form the three thousand worlds."
"Only you could win against such a foe..."
"Well, I'm relatively strong."
Sun Mengmeng boasted, "Our captain's far too modest. Near the end of the fight, the king of keys transformed into an existence beyond natural law and mathematical logic—and our captain slew him anyway."
Hong Tianqi asked, "And what of this last world, the world of primordial chaos?"
Zhang Lie shook his head. "I'm sorry, but I don't know much about it myself."
Hong Tianqi was shocked. There was something that even Zhang Lie didn't know about? Zhang Lie's understanding of the third realm was beyond anyone else's in the Milky Way—but to think that even he had gaps in his knowledge!
Zhang Lie nodded. "Actually, I've never been to the world of primordial chaos. I've met the king of chaos a few times, and I know he has a number of clones scattered all over the third realm. He's so strong that even I can't see through him. I can't get a grasp of his personality, either. His actions seem aimless—as his name suggests, he's like the personification of chaos."
Hong Tianqi replied, "It looks like you hold him high in your estimation..."
Zhang Lie nodded. "I've seen his clones strike a few times. The Shining Trapezohedron that he possesses is an extremely strong spatial artifact."
1. The third realm is known as the 须弥 (xumi) realm. 👈
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