Chapter 931: A Sumptuous Feast
With the black spirits' main cruiser—and the black spirit king within—destroyed, there was no reason for Zhang Lie to remain on this ruined world. He returned to the palace on the multicolored dragon's back, then flew off into the distance.
At the heart of another ruined world was a huge pyramid. If the black spirits' main cruiser was the size of a small city, then the black pyramid that stood at the heart of the world was the size of a province.
The immense pyramid had been constructed in the center of a number of dead worlds, and was surrounded by a large number of black pyramids—like a sun and the planets that orbited it. These pyramids were what the other nine superior worlds feared, and which they had dedicated enormous amounts of resources toward to barricade them away.
The superior world that had once been home to the death spirits had been devoured and drained of its world's energy, leaving a ruined mess behind.
The death spirit king had built pyramids atop these ruins—or rather, a fleet of battleships. The black pyramids that floated in the air were octahedral in shape, the combination of a pyramid with its inverted counterpart, joined at their base.
Deep within the immense pyramid was a coffin of similarly astounding size. Engraved on the coffin were abstruse diagrams and figures, wreathed in purple flame.
"A shipment of the world's energy has gone missing..."
The death spirit king was making use of a special technique that he had devised himself to communicate with his subordinates via a spiritual link.
Crazed though the death spirit king was, overflowing with ambition and desire though he was, one had to admit that he had the ability to make his ambitions come true.
Of all those aliens who strived to become strong, the death spirit king was notable for his unique and innovative discoveries—in particular his research with the spirit. These discoveries were supported by his complete lack of humanity and unconscionable experiments.
He had created the black spirit and void spirit race; he had been the first to come up with the idea, and then the practice, of converting lifeforms and corpses into black and void spirits.
Among his discoveries was the ability to communicate via a soul link, much like the transceivers that were used within the Milky Way.
The fact that modern electronics didn't work in the dimensional realm meant that this research on the soul was immensely valuable, allowing for swift and efficient communication between even far-flung regions of the realm.
If the king of the death spirits weren't such a madman, he would likely have been venerated throughout the realm.
"The signal in Cluster #23 has vanished. We have reason to believe that our outpost in Cluster #23 has been destroyed," a death spirit reported from within yet another black pyramid.
"This is the third destroyed outpost within two years—equal to the number that was destroyed during the past fifty. Recall all outposts immediately."
"Your majesty, it's too early to wage war! This is far beyond our predictions."
The reason the black spirits had acted so outlandishly was because the death spirits were about to launch their full-scale invasion into the third realm.
After destroying countless small, medium-sized, and large worlds within the third realm, they had amassed copious amounts of world's energy, which they would use to create even more of the black spirits.
Simultaneously, they were whittling away at the forces which would turn against them the moment their ambitious plans were revealed.
"The destruction of Outpost #23 was no coincidence. It's clear that someone has discovered our plans. In order to prevent any more accidents, striking now is the most prudent decision."
"Yes, your majesty!"
The death spirit king's will was conveyed to all his subordinates.
Zhang Lie returned to the scaleman world, whereupon the new king looked expectantly at Zhang Lie.
"How did it go, Master?"
Zhang Lie sniffed. "When have you ever seen me fail at a task?"
The new king was instantly overjoyed—the dark clouds that had covered up the world, the impending threat of the black spirits, those were all gone. This crisis could have overwhelmed his world—but Zhang Lie had saved the day once more.
The new king shouted in excitement, "I'll share the news with everyone immediately!"
"Did you succeed in the task I gave you?"
The king didn't disappoint Zhang Lie. Following the information that Zhang Lie had provided him with, he managed to recover the map fragments that Hong Tianqi had squirreled away. Now, Zhang Lie had a grand total of 13,068 map fragments.
"Master, I'll be going, then." The new king bowed and left with a spring in his step, then used his authority as king of the realm to transmit the news to the entire populace. "The enemies that have invaded our land have been killed! We've successfully defended the world!"
The new king announced a sumptuous banquet, one attended by all the hundred officials of his court. At the banquet, the ninth prince lavishly rewarded the soldiers who had participated in the defense.
The soldiers were ultimately responsible for being able to defend against the onslaught of the black spirits; otherwise, the world wouldn't have lasted until Zhang Lie's return.
Zhang Lie had no choice but to accept his disciple's ardent invitation.
"Please, Master, sit right here!" The new king motioned to his own throne.
Zhang Lie discovered a number of new faces whom he hadn't seen before, clearly officials that the new king had raised to prominence himself.
Upon witnessing that the king had given this stranger the seat of honor, these new officials murmured to each other in hushed voices. The experienced ones sighed, as though recalling what had happened years ago.
A younger official asked, "Uncle, just who is this man?"
The older official beside him replied, "His majesty promoted you only a year ago, so it's normal that you wouldn't know."
"Uncle, who is he? Why would the king grant him the seat of honor?"
The older official sighed. "It's the king's master," he replied, without explaining further.
"His master? But even so—no, that can't be appropriate! No matter how much his majesty respects his master, this subverts the king's authority. Who does this master think he is?! No, I have to say something!"
The older official laughed and shook his head. "If you want to die, go right ahead. Don't say I didn't warn you."
The younger official asked curiously, "Does his majesty respect his teacher that much?"
The older official downed a few cups of wine before shaking his head, his cheeks flushed. "At this point, it's not respect anymore. His majesty venerates his master over all else, even the past king. As long as you don't insult the past king within earshot, his majesty will ignore you—and even if he were to hear it, as long as it's incidental, he'll let the matter slide with no more than a few caustic remarks."
The official downed another cup of wine. "But any who dare to insult his master will be put to death, regardless of status or position, without any chance of defending themselves."
The younger official's eyes widened. "But that..."
The older official lowered his head and downed another cup of wine.
An official by his other side jumped in. "Hah, there's no need to worry about your uncle! He was able to survive two tumultuous reigns spanning over fifty years. He survived the transition of power and subsequently the invasion of the black spirits. Don't you worry, he'll be fine. We've had a miraculous victory today, and there's no way his majesty would sentence anyone to death on such a joyous occasion."
The older official shook his head. "You're quite mistaken. He might not kill anyone today, but he'll remember the matter in his heart. When an opportunity arises, he'll find something or another to justify beheading you."
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