Chapter 1267: Too Many Clowns
The golden-armored warriors leapt down from their peak-grade mounts, surrounding Li Zongming and Zhang Lie.
Elder Sun pointed at them all. "Do you see these soldiers? They're the elites of the military, all of whom have returned from the war against the death spirits. The ones in the lead are notable figures in the military—and they've all erected statues of Zhang Lie in their homes and pray to him daily."
The warriors and soldiers who returned safe and sound from the war against the death spirits had had their eyes opened to the reality of the third realm and to true power. They ascended through the ranks quickly and became high-ranking officials in the Zongming army.
The nouveau riche blinked. "That's impressive, but what does it have to do with the merging of the three thousand worlds and the birth of this unified one?"
"You might not be aware of this, but I've heard His Majesty occasionally give something away a few times. The crisis in the third realm wasn't a result of the unification process—that's just an excuse for the public so they don't start to panic.
"In truth, the crisis was a result of the three thousand worlds, the realm itself, being near collapse. The person who unified the worlds and saved the realm is exactly that person—the strongest hunter in the three thousand worlds.
"You didn't attend our princess' wedding, did you? She was even more beautiful then, so much so that I'm having trouble expressing it in words. Even a celestial maiden wouldn't have been fit to do more than be one of her attendants." The middle-aged man smiled as though recalling a happy memory.
"You're exaggerating, aren't you?"
The middle-aged man couldn't help but laugh again. "Oh, you don't know how many of our descendants fell prey to her beauty then..."
Even Elder Sun grinned weakly. "The kings of east and west were brokering an alliance—but Zhang Lie snatched her away from under their noses. Tales of that heist are still spreading around the kingdom."
The former king of the realm gaped. "Snatching away the bride on her wedding day? Why doesn't His Majesty do anything about it?"
"His Majesty can't beat him. What could he do?"
The former king of the realm was disgruntled. "But His Majesty's a superior king!"
The middle-aged man shook his head. "Not at that point. To be frank, it was Zhang Lie again who allowed His Majesty to become a superior king. He invaded the world of the west and slaughtered its king as a wedding gift, allowing the worlds of east and west to merge together to form the Zongming world."
Elder Sun continued, "If not for his defending us against the superior kings of antiquity, we wouldn't have survived as a superior world either. This is why no one dares to fight against this powerful man who has lifted us all up to glory. In strength and reputation alike, none are his equal."
The middle-aged man affirmed, "From the bottom of our hearts, we thank this hunter for what he has done in service to our kingdom."
However, the middle-aged man and Elder Sun found belatedly that the nouveau riche hadn't been paying attention to them. Rather, he was walking out of the venue. The middle-aged man called out, "What are you doing?!"
The former king of the realm replied, "I'm trying to follow the young men who have left to go up the mountain. I'm accompanying them there."
Elder Sun and the middle-aged man looked at each other before smiling wryly as they shook their heads.
The reason the former king of the world hadn't headed off earlier was because he thought that his status as a former king gave him some level of competitiveness against Zhang Lie, but upon realizing just how incredible Zhang Lie was, the former king knew that he had no hope of competing against him.
Like the other young men before him, he was about to choose asceticism.
Zhang Lie had saved the Zongming kingdom and the entire realm; he had spurred the Zongming kingdom's growth into a superior world; he had led the soldiers of the Zongming world against the death spirits; he was hailed as the strongest hunter of the third realm.
How could the former king compare to someone so overwhelming in all aspects?
Better that he get used to his new life as quickly as possible.
The golden-armored guards from before lined up and brought Li Qianlin and Li Zongming to the podium. Zhang Lie stepped forward and was right about to step up on stage when he passed by Mei'er.
Mei'er's appearance had grown unkempt in just a few minutes. Her hair was in disarray, and her spirits dejected. The once-proud beauty almost looked like a madwoman, and no one dared to approach her.
The elder standing beside her rebuked her, "How could you be so thoughtless as to harm yourself like this? What would your parents think?"
Her elder didn't dare speak ill of the princess.
Zhang Lie tossed her a Zhou Ying restorative.
"This potion will work wonders and restore her beauty. What a pity it is to ruin herself because of a moment's folly."
The elder beside her picked up the potion and looked at Zhang Lie with gratitude. Mei'er raised her head. "You think I'm pretty?"
From a human's perspective, Mei'er was certainly more dazzling than the average woman. Of course, she couldn't hope to compare with Li Qianlin after the latter had put on makeup, and she was slightly worse than Sun Mengmeng and Zhang Hanxiang. Perhaps at best, she would be comparable to Dong Mingxing.
Beauty was very much in the eye of the beholder; Zhang Lie himself thought most movie stars looked the same, that all beautiful women looked roughly equivalent.
Mei'er's tears continued to fall. "So what if I restore my beauty? I don't even have a thousandth of the princess' beauty. I might as well be ruined!"
"Your looks are one thing—but it looks like you had better treat your head first. This is a restorative for the body, not the mind." Zhang Lie had no intention of wasting his time on this fool.
To be frank, the fact that these women were ruining their own beauty and jumping off mountains just because they weren't beautiful enough—Zhang Lie couldn't help but feel as though there was something wrong with their heads.
The newcomers weren't originally from the Zongming kingdom, were they?
Yes, that had to be the case. The Zongming kingdom hadn't entertained such fools in the past, so these must be newcomers. A portion of them must have joined the Zongming kingdom recently. Zhang Lie was very curious as to where they had come from.
He was just about to step forward when a few words suddenly came to mind.
He stopped short and spoke again. "A few parting words from my homeland: a beautiful appearance is a dime a dozen; a beautiful soul is once in a blue moon."
Zhang Lie stepped up on stage.
Mei'er glanced at the back of the strongest hunter of the third realm, her face flushed. She murmured to herself, "A beautiful appearance is a dime a dozen; a beautiful soul is once in a blue moon. Is it because you don't care for appearances that you've managed to grow so strong?"
The elder beside her urged, "Mei'er, drink the potion. The top hunter of the realm is correct. Physical beauty isn't what matters most, so let's not focus on it, alright?"
Another elder added, "What the top hunter meant was that, perhaps you might not be able to best the princess in terms of appearance, but you can focus on other strengths instead. There's no need to compete based on pure appearance alone."
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