Chapter 1192: Piecing Together the Puzzle
As for Li Zongming… well, Li Zongming could be convinced. He was intelligent and oriented toward the big picture, after all.
"We'll be able to discuss matters with the draconian sage right away."
Zhang Lie shattered space and created a portal leading back to the draconian world.
As they stepped into the draconian world, the draconian sage hurriedly teleported to their side. He asked, "There was a terrible commotion just now. Were you all the ones who caused it?"
Zhang Lie rolled his eyes. "For you to have appeared before us the moment we returned... even if we were to claim ignorance, you wouldn't believe us, would you?"
The draconian sage pressed, "Just what happened?"
Zhang Lie replied seriously, "Unfortunately, we really weren't responsible this time."
The draconian sage cried out, "Don't joke around like this! Just what happened?"
Zhang Lie grumbled, "Why do you blame us for everything that happens in the realm? It's not our fault!"
"The three thousand worlds have had more things happen over the last decade than the last few centuries. How many of those events were ones that none of you were responsible for?"
Zhang Lie couldn't help but go silent.
He had been very active in the third realm these last few years, and had caused a large number of events as a result. Indeed, he did seem to be... responsible... for essentially all that had happened.
Was the death spirit king's sudden invasion unrelated to Zhang Lie? Of course not.
The death spirit king had pushed his plans forward because the black spirits' outposts were slowly being taken over; he anticipated that some of the superior worlds had seen through his plans.
In other words, all those events really were connected to Zhang Lie in some fashion.
The draconian sage continued, "I would believe it if you said that you killed the king of chaos and incited this whole series of explosions, but if you were to claim that none of that was related to your actions, well, I won't believe it."
Zhang Lie sighed. "Unfortunately, I'm not strong enough to defeat the king of chaos, and we really weren't responsible for this series of affairs. The explosion was caused by the king of chaos ascending to a higher realm with the halls of chaos, and we were simply spectators for the show."
The draconian sage seemed to be making an odd expression. "You were only a spectator for the show?"
Zhang Lie scowled. "That doesn't seem to be what you should be focusing on—the important point is that the king of chaos has ascended!"
The draconian sage didn't allow Zhang Lie to change the topic. "You haven't answered my question. You were only a spectator during all this?"
Zhang Lie nodded in confirmation. "Exactly."
The draconian sage opined, "It's not unusual for the king of chaos to ascend with the rest of his crew, is it? After all, he's the strongest superior king."
"Within the halls of chaos were another group of entities as strong as superior kings—about a few dozen of them."
The draconian sage blinked. "The king of chaos ascended with a few dozen others?"
"Exactly so."
The draconian sage experienced a brief moment of shock before he replied calmly, "No wonder there was such a huge disturbance."
"You don't seem to be too surprised?"
The draconian sage shrugged. "I don't know much about ascension, and neither am I interested. All I know is that it's an arduous task. Now that I understand why the entire realm was shaking, I'll bid you farewell now."
Zhang Lie told him, "A while later, I'll be summoning you, Li Zongming, and the scaleman king for another discussion. I have very important news to share."
The draconian sage turned toward him and pursed his lips. "The fact that you have such an earnest expression... I'm feeling a sense of unease."
Zhang Lie didn't respond. Instead, he stretched lazily. "I'll be heading back to rest for now, then. I fought with the Null Source and three of the king of chaos' clones."
The draconian sage's eyes widened. "What? What happened?"
Li Feng turned to leave. "I'll be resting as well."
Yang Ze rolled his eyes. "You're off to find your mammoth girlfriend, aren't you?"
Li Feng chuckled as he waved a hand.
The draconian sage called them back. "Hold on, hold on! What are these halls of chaos, and what happened to the world of primordial chaos?"
Zhang Hanxiang stated, "I'll hand over the hundred superior worlds' worth of energy to Zhu."
The draconian sage's eyes widened. "Hanxiang, what did you say? A hundred superior worlds' worth?"
Zhang Hanxiang nodded. "It was a gift from the king of chaos."
The draconian sage was shocked. "Truly? He gave you a gift just like that?"
Fang Yi gave the draconian sage a thumbs up. The king of chaos was very generous. He forged me a spear stronger than even a disaster-grade weapon."
Fang Yi retrieved the spear of Chaos.
Zhang Lie briefly recounted the series of events that had occurred during the king of chaos' night banquet. Afterwards, he left before the draconian sage could ask him any more questions, heading straight for Li Qianlin.
He informed Li Qianlin of what had happened during his journeys. Li Qianlin responded calmly, but her eyes showed a wealth of emotions.
Subsequently, Zhang Lie headed off to rest.
After that, with a thudding heart, he spread out the map fragments he had received from the king of chaos.
His hands seemed to slap the void as a titanic burst of energy appeared around him. The map fragments rose into the air. Zhang Lie's gaze swept across the fragments and he pieced them together mentally, connecting the physical fragments together as he did so.
The map was swiftly being assembled, but there were so many fragments that it nevertheless took the entire day and night. Zhang Lie never left his room; Li Qianlin and Sun Mengmeng both tried to visit him, but when they saw the room charged with genetic energy, map fragments covering every possible surface, they were both stunned.
Zhang Lie was sweating profusely as manipulated hundreds of such fragments, murmuring to himself, "No, this piece must have been misplaced..."
Li Qianlin and Sun Mengmeng were partially so shocked because he was sweating profusely—his constitution was such that he could kill a few superior kings without even breaking a sweat.
Clearly, completing a puzzle of this magnitude was far more taxing to Zhang Lie than simple-minded slaughter, and it was less about physical stamina than mental stamina.
It took Zhang Lie quite a while to notice their entrance. He raised his head and asked, "What are the two of you doing here?"
All his attention was devoted to the map—even with his overwhelming strength, he hadn't sensed their approach until they were in the same room as he was.
Sun Mengmeng began, "When I realized you hadn't come out of your rooms for the entire day, Captain, I came over to see what you were working on."
Zhang Lie blinked. "It's already been a day and a night?"
In the past, he had frequently heard that a puzzle of 20,000 pieces could easily take a person three to five days to piece together. He always thought it an exaggeration, but now...
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