Chapter 666: Worldbreaker
The disaster-grade lifeform seemed to be a golden tortoise, one carrying a mountain on its back. It was massive, and they could see it lumbering toward them from a distance.
Zhang Lie's eyes lit up. If such a lifeform were to produce a soulshard, it would clearly be a high-grade defensive one.
Just then, however, the king of the realm told Zhang Lie, "I'll take care of the fifth-level beast—I leave my son's fate in your hands."
"On what grounds?" Zhang Lie was rather unhappy at having this prize be taken away from him.
"I'll thank you lavishly afterwards."
Before Zhang Lie could accept or reject this offer, the king of the realm flew off toward the disaster-grade lifeform.
"Wait! Let me touch it first!" Zhang Lie shot a blade of sword energy toward the disaster-grade lifeform from afar, then sighed as he trudged toward the two fighting princes, ready to take on the role of a nanny.
He activated his stealth, walked up to the second prince, then downed him with a single punch.
The crown prince coughed out blood with every gasp, and his armor had turned a lurid red. "Why were you hiding your strength? I almost died!"
Zhang Lie frowned. "Well, you clearly haven't died completely."
The crown prince: ...
Zhang Lie was likely the only person he had met who had dared to be so rude to his face.
The crown prince clutched the wound on his chest, ignoring Zhang Lie's acerbic tone—he didn't have the strength to care, after all. "Quick! I'm about to die!"
Zhang Lie replied confidently, "Don't worry, I'll save you when you're on your last breath. Your father had me come over, so I guarantee you won't die."
If the crown prince had already died, then Zhang Lie would have walked away without any fear of reprisal, but with the crown prince still alive, the king of the realm would clearly be angered with Zhang Lie if Zhang Lie didn't save him.
Zhang Lie wasn't afraid of trouble, but he did want the lavish rewards the king of the realm had promised. Furthermore, if he didn't save the crown prince, the king of the realm might disfavor the ninth prince because of him.
"Why do you need to wait until I'm at death's door? Can't you save me now?"
"No, of course not. Otherwise, how could I prove my importance—how could I be deserving of my promised 'lavish reward'?"
"You—!" The crown prince, drawn to anger, spat out another mouthful of fresh blood
Only then did Zhang Lie finally, unwillingly, slap a palm on the crown prince's chest and marshal his genetic energy to subdue the foreign energy rampaging in his wounds. Subsequently, he retrieved two Yeluo restoration vials and poured them into the wound on the crown prince's chest, causing the flesh to regenerate at a rate visible to the naked eye.
When the crown prince woke from his sudden unconsciousness, he cried out in surprise, "What miraculous potion is this?!"
Zhang Lie had easily saved him from life-threatening danger.
He ignored the crown prince's question until the crown prince added, "Do you have any additional vials? I'd like to distribute them among the soldiers!"
Zhang Lie's eyes gleamed. "I do. What can you afford to trade for them?"
Beside him, one of the crown prince's royal guards called out, "For you to donate your potions to us valiant fighters is an honor—argh!"
Before he could finish his words, Zhang Lie had slapped him aside. He flew out into the distance like a bullet.
Zhang Lie smiled. "Someone just got knocked away by a peak-grade lifeform. Did you all see that?"
The crown prince glanced in the direction in which his guard had vanished, swallowed a gulp of saliva, and nodded.
Zhang Lie next headed in the direction in which the king of the realm and the disaster-grade lifeform were facing off. The king of the realm had the upper hand; he was able to make use of the strength of the realm, so his upper limit was naturally above disaster-grade.
Even Zhang Lie, who had yet to finish acquiring his peak limit fragments, might not be a match for the king of the realm.
After all, Zhang Lie had recently ascended to the third realm. He might be able to defend against the world's formless will, but he hadn't yet amassed so much strength as to ignore it entirely like in the second realm.
However, the disaster-grade lifeform the king of the realm was facing was rather unusual in its own right. It had ridiculous defense and a rampaging ability that allowed it to grow stronger in combat.
Given its humongous size, a drawn-out fight would surely disfavor the king of the realm.
The crown prince offered, "As long as you're willing to give me those potions, I'll agree to any request that's not unreasonable!"
"What counts as unreasonable?"
"Telling me to die or to give up my position as successor to the throne, for example..."
"Remember what you promised, then!"
Zhang Lie tossed him a pouch of vials. "Have the guards collect all the peak-grade carcasses on the battlefield for me."
"You want them all?" The crown prince was shocked—these carcasses would be a wealth of treasure.
Zhang Lie shook his head. "Just a fraction, preferably the ones that would be easier to cook and consume. I have a great need for them."
Given the extent of the stampede, there had to be at least a thousand or so peak-grade carcasses strewn over the hunting grounds. Zhang Lie couldn't be certain which ones he had killed and which ones he hadn't, so he had simply asked for them all. That would save him considerable effort.
By then, the disaster-grade lifeform had been dealt a serious blow by the king of the realm, and the mountain on its back was crumbling away.
Even so, a disaster-grade lifeform was no joke. Sensing that its life was in danger, it fought at full strength. It charged up a beam of golden light from its mouth and shot it into the distance with frightening strength.
The beam was headed straight toward the crown prince. Without even stopping to think, the king of the realm caught the beam with his own body, crying out as he was sent flying from the impact.
.
In order to protect his son, the king of the realm had no choice—and the disaster-grade lifeform had successfully turned the tables on him.
If the king of the realm had been at full strength, he might still have found the disaster-grade lifeform a challenge, though certainly not such a threatening one. Unfortunately, in his old age, he was barely able to use 70% of his peak strength.
Sensing that the king of the realm was in danger, Zhang Lie launched a punch at the disaster-grade lifeform.
Zhang Lie's fists rippled with water-attuned genetic energy imbued with spatial force. The streams of water revolved more and more quickly around his wrist, augmented by the two streams of energy, sending a whirlwind gusting through the entire battlefield.
The guards all around him had to thrust their weapons into the ground lest they be blown away themselves.
The attack seemed to have drawn the attention of even the will of the world. As Zhang Lie infused more energy into his arm, the entire world seemed to shake. Finally, as the energy Zhang Lie gathered up reached a critical threshold, he released it in one fell swoop. A sea of energy flooded everything in sight, roaring as it headed straight for the disaster-grade lifeform, crushing the mountain on its back.
The disaster-grade lifeform let out a cry that shook the skies as it fell to the ground...
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