Chapter 2317: Audience With the Lord

Even though they had never seen the Monster Lord before, the women had heard too many terrifying rumors surrounding him. Someone who could become the king in this savage and ruthless Monster World definitely excelled in both strength and intelligence.

Additionally, this was the monsters’ world, so there were no world laws suppressing their cultivation. Even though big brother Zu was strong, it wasn’t enough to contend against the Monster Lord. If they met directly and something unexpected happened, big brother Zu wouldn't necessarily be able to return alive.

What was even more worrying was the question of why the Monster Lord had suddenly sought him out. Could it be that he had already deduced Zu An's real identity?

When he sensed the women's alarm and heard them telling him not to go, Zu An said with a smile, “I’ve troubled the palace emissary in in coming all the way here to invite me, so I will leave immediately after sorting out my belongings.”

The palace emissary’s expression eased a bit and he said, “Be quick; do not make the lord wait for too long.”

“But of course!” Zu An replied. After reentering the cave, he set up a sound barrier.

The women finally couldn't help but speak up.

“Ah Zu, you absolutely cannot go!”

“It’s too dangerous!”

“How about we join together to try and kill the palace emissary?”

They all gave him various kind sof advice.

Jiang Luofu finally couldn't hold herself back and said, “That’s right. We’ll just rely on Miss Salamay afterward if we need to. I believe she has the ability to protect us for now. After she gives us the materials needed for the formation, we can bring her back to the Cultivation World. Once we’re back in our own home territory, we won’t need to fear them anymore.” Her way of thinking was much more composed than that of the other young ladies, who were speaking purely out of concern. She immediately came up with a very plausible plan.

Zu An shook his head slightly. “That would put us in too passive of a position. It would be difficult for us to do much if we were completely under Salamay’s control. Don’t worry, the Monster Lord most likely hasn't seen through my identity yet. It shouldn’t be too dangerous to meet him.”

He had considerable confidence in the Myriad Transformations skill. No matter how powerful the Monster Lord was, there was no way he would know what had happened in the Cultivation World.

“But we can't ignore the smallest possibility that something might go wrong!” Pei Mianman had confidence in Zu An, but she was still really nervous.

“If the situation is unfavorable, I'll run.” Zu An chuckled and said, "You're the ones who have to take good care of yourselves in the meantime.”

Xie Daoyun said, “I’ve already set up a lot of defensive formations. That should be enough to protect us for a short amount of time.”

Zu An nodded. He reminded them of a few more things before going back out to where the palace emissary was again. He couldn't make that person wait for too long.

When they saw him leave, the women all felt powerless and frustrated.

Pei Mianman was the first to say, “It’s useless even if we're nervous. It would be best to learn the monster language as quickly as possible. That way, we might be able to help him in this Monster World.”

The other women nodded. They took turns observing the surroundings for activity so they would be ready to coordinate with Zu An at any time. Meanwhile, the others would focus on learning the monster language.

Xie Daoyun couldn't help but give Pei Mianman a look. She admired her a lot. They had been fellow students in Brightmoon Academy, where they had been equal in beauty and talent. Back then, she hadn’t even really accepted Pei Mianman, thinking she was usually a bit too flirtatious. Now, though, Xie Daoyun she couldn't help but feel admiration. Mianman was still able to remain so cool-headed in this kind of situation, and her calm appearance and bearing was just like that of a mature woman…

Ah, just what kind of nonsense am I thinking?

Meanwhile, Zu An left the cave. and said, “I’ve made the esteemed emissary wait.”

The palace emissary grunted, then turned around to lead the way. A while later, he gave the great elder a look, saying, “The lord only wants to meet Donaire alone.”

The great elder had an awkward expression as he said, “Then I won’t be accompanying you, young master.” At the same time, he secretly reminded Zu An, “Young master, you absolutely cannot offend the Monster Lord!”

“Don’t worry,” Zu An replied. He knew Donaire was in high demand right now among the True Demon race, and they were also relying on him to bring resources from the Cultivation World. They naturally didn’t want anything bad to happen to him.

…

Zu An followed the emissary toward the underground city’s tallest castle. Along the way, he asked, “Esteemed emissary, may I ask what the Monster Lord wishes to meet with me about?”

He briefly considered sliding some high-level ki stones over to the emissary, but when he thought about how the world’s resources were all under strict management, he figured it was best if he didn’t rashly give these kinds of things out before he had a good idea of the emissary's temper. Otherwise, he could end up revealing a weakness to exploit.

“You’ll know once you’re there.” The palace emissary frowned, seemingly not interested in talking with him at all.

Zu An gave up on his plans to chat with the emissary, and focused his thoughts inward instead. He thought about the possible situations that could play out.

The deeper in they went, the fewer monsters there were. It was clear that the Monster Lord’s residence wasn’t a place normal monsters could approach.

Along the way, Zu An observed the place. There were all sorts of defensive and alarm formations that filled the area with an indescribable pressure. There were many formations that were so incredible that he couldn't even understand them. He felt more and more amazed at the formation knowledge of this world.

However, as he secretly analyzed those formations in his mind, he gradually had a strange feeling.

There’s something wrong with these formations!

There were many that were just there to look menacing and couldn't actually be used. He thought about the state of this world, and quickly realized that there weren’t enough ki stones to maintain the operation of all these formations. In other words, the unusable ones were actually just here as a bluff.

Of course, if he hadn't studied the Baopu Sutra and gained a lot of knowledge about formations, he wouldn't have been able to see through the flaws.

The Monster World is already at the end of its rope after all. Even the Monster Lord’s personal palace can't continue to maintain the formations around it.

But there were some monster guards along the way. They all had various different appearances, and their strength made even Zu An feel some fear. Fortunately, with the palace emissary leading the way, no one stopped them along the way.

They quickly arrived in front of a castle. Zu An paid special attention when he was entering, because the gate was especially large. The only thing that could compare to it was the great tomb’s entrance when he was inside the Baopu Sutra's secret dungeon. He could more or less guess the reason for it, though. Many monsters were quite large, so a normal door wouldn’t fit them at all.

He saw all sorts of sculptures on the walls along the way, but it really was a bit difficult for him to appreciate the monsters’ tastes. They were all sinister and evil-looking statues that looked as if they could jump out of the walls at any time to devour anyone passing by.

Soon after, he saw a flight of stairs ahead that seemed to extend upward forever. Flames blazed at either side of the steps. Under the dim lighting of the flames, the sculptures on the walls looked like ten thousand dancing devils.

Zu An suddenly noticed that there was someone standing at the bottom of the stairs. That person's entire body was covered in pitch-black scales, and he looked a bit like a mutated lizard. His pupils were especially deep and mysterious. There was a voluminous, brightly-colored scarf around his neck that gave him a faintly majestic aura, resembling a crown. But upon closer inspection, it was actually a frill made from his own skin, edged with extremely sharp spikes. Judging from their pitch-black appearance, being pricked by them would definitely result in bad consequences.

At first, Zu An thought this was the Monster Lord, but he quickly gave up on that idea. Even though the monster was really strong, his aura was only a bit stronger than Zu An's own. It wasn’t all that terrifyingly different. More importantly, he was standing there with a slightly bowed stance. His entire body was shaking slightly, as if he was scared of something.

The palace emissary said to Zu An, “Line up here and wait. It will be your turn after the lord finishes his meeting with the Green Iguana King.”

Zu An thought to himself that this creature was most likely the Green Iguana King.

But the brightly-colored frill around his neck isn’t green…

Suddenly, another palace emissary appeared on the tall platform. It said in a clear voice, “The lord will meet with the Green Iguana King now.”

The Green Iguana King couldn't help but ask, “The Mad King has already finished his conversation? Why didn’t he come out?”

The palace emissary at the top of the stairs coldly replied, “There is no need for him to come back out.”

The Green Iguana King was stunned at first, but then he understood what the emissary meant. If there was no need for the Mad King to come out, that meant he had already died inside.

Zu An finally understood why this creature was called the Green Iguana King. The brightly-colored frill instantly turned a wretched green.