Chapter 1188: The Soaring Halls of Chaos
With its wings surrounded by a black current and flames, the double-headed bat called out, "I went to over a hundred worlds to collect my assigned fragments."
The tyrannical black armor commented, "You really had to make a bothersome wish..."
Zhang Lie bowed. "Thank you for your help, everyone."
The king of chaos asked again, "Zhang Lie, let me extend you an invitation once again. Won't you join the halls of chaos?"
Zhang Lie shook his head. "King of chaos, you already have many excellent subordinates. I would hardly contribute much; there's no need to insist upon having me."
The king of chaos sighed. "The three thousand worlds are now yours." He seemed to have no qualms whatsoever about handing over such an overwhelming prize.
The king of chaos retrieved the proof of kingship.
Zhang Lie had seen many such proofs, but that for the world of primordial chaos was undoubtedly the most unique. It had no solid form, and was instead a ball of chaotic energy.
The king of chaos sent the ball of energy floating toward Zhang Lie, but Zhang Lie didn't dare to touch it with his bare hands.
"Isn't this your wish?" the king of chaos asked.
Zhang Lie replied, "Are you really willing to cede control of the three thousand worlds, and even the halls of chaos, to me?"
The king of chaos replied, "The halls of chaos won't become anyone's possessions. From today onwards, the halls of chaos will no longer exist among the three thousand worlds."
Zhang Lie blinked in shock. "You're going to disband the halls of chaos?"
The king of chaos replied, "No, of course not! I'm simply bringing the halls of chaos beyond this realm."
"All of it?"
The king of chaos nodded. "I'll be ascending alongside the halls of chaos."
Zhang Lie was astounded. "Ascending—no, with the entire halls of chaos?!"
The king of chaos certainly had the ability to ascend to the fourth realm and become a lifeform there.
Just like Zhang Lie, he would be a high-ranked fourth-realm existence from the very beginning, rather than having to start from the very bottom of the food chain.
In addition, alongside the many strong entities of the halls of chaos, the king of chaos would be the leader of an extremely strong force even in the fourth realm. With a little investment and work, the king of chaos could easily reach the same status in the fourth realm as he boasted in the third.
But would all the members of the halls of chaos possess the qualification to ascend?
Perhaps half did, but the other half didn't.
For the king of chaos to ascend with the entirety of the halls of chaos would be an extremely arduous task, and the realm itself would place obstacle after obstacle in their way. Those entities who weren't qualified to ascend but who forcibly tried to do so anyway would receive retaliation from the will of the realm.
Unlike genetic hunters, who weren't indigenous, who could advance by filling up their mutated gene fragments, and who could experience a refinement process upon ascension, the indigenous aliens were treated very differently.
It seemed that the dimensional realm was very favorable toward visitors, and some researchers from the Milky Way had even hypothesized that the existence of the realm itself was as a training ground for genetic hunters. Many among the Milky Way agreed with this hypothesis.
This hypothesis was born from the assumption that the Milky Way was the protagonist of the dimensional realm, but whether that was true remained to be validated. One crucial piece of evidence against that assumption was the fact that kings of the realm in the first through third realms had to be indigenous.
Perhaps this rule was to promote ascension rather than stagnation, to incentivize hunters to access ever higher realms.
From this perspective, genetic hunters were like players in a game, while the indigenous peoples of the dimensional realm were like NPCs. For these NPCs to advance to higher realms would require near-constant cultivation, training, and tribulation administered by the will of the realm.
The king of chaos himself would easily pass through the tribulation, and he had the ability to bring a few dozen people along with him as well. To bring the entire halls of chaos, however... that would spike the difficulty of the tribulation a hundredfold at least.
Despite the fact that Zhang Lie thought this a foolhardy idea, he had to admit that the king of chaos was a bold and visionary leader.
"If you don't want to become my subordinate, you don't have to go as far as to run to a higher realm with your companions..."
Zhang Lie was joking, of course. This plan could not have been conceived of idle fancy alone. He must have been preparing for the ascension to the fourth realm for quite some time, and Zhang Lie's wish of unification wasn't at odds with his intentions.
Once he ascended to the fourth realm, the third realm would have no one to hinder Zhang Lie any longer.
The king of chaos had suggested the three matches knowing this information.
From the very beginning, he had been intending to use this trick to recruit Zhang Lie—though Zhang Lie had proven very difficult to trap.
The king of chaos asked, "Are you willing to accompany me through this tribulation?"
Zhang Lie shook his head. "I apologize. I'm very interested in the path you take, king of chaos, but I'm a human hunter, and we have our own route to ascension."
If he were to set off with the king of chaos, he would be viewed as an indigenous himself, and he would have to suffer tribulation by lightning.
That would lose him an opportunity through the refinement process, which would be a tremendous loss. He couldn't accept the king of chaos' offer.
The king of chaos sighed. "What a pity. Let's meet in the higher realms, then."
The king of chaos was certain that Zhang Lie would be able to ascend.
"In the fourth realm, then."
The king of chaos suggested, "In that case, all of you had better step outside now. From the outside, witness my last hurrah and determine whether I'm a crazed fool or a visionary."
Zhang Lie laughed. "So this was the true purpose of the invitation?"
The king of chaos joined in his laughter. "No matter how magnificent my legend, my history, my accomplishments, it would be pointless if no one knew of them."
Zhang Lie inclined his head. "You can't brag unless there's someone to brag to."
"That's right," the king of chaos agreed. "Among all the inhabitants of the three thousand worlds, I believe only you are qualified to observe my ascension."
Zhang Lie asked, "Have you considered the possibility of failure?"
The king of chaos raised his head to the sky and laughed. "If I fail, let my corpse remain here as a record of my madness."
The king of chaos was about to undertake a heroic feat, one that was only possible in the third realm because of the fragmented will of the third realm and the limited power it retained.
The entire hall of chaos shook as the king of chaos' slumbering main body entered the fray.
Space split open as endless waves of chaotic energy were emitted from the cracks, like an abyss leading deep into a stellar core, a limitless and liminal space in which all things were blasphemed...
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