Chapter 728: Conquering the West

Chapter 728: Conquering the WestZhang Lie accepted the alien races' help with grace. "Supporting forces? Very well—I accept your help. However, all of you have to listen to my command at all times, or I won't be responsible for your deaths!"

"Of course!" Warlord Xing Ying replied, pumping a fist in the air. "Anyone who disobeys you will have to get through me, first."

"Very good. In that case, let's set off."

Regardless of whether or not there were any dissenters in their midst, Zhang Lie had absolute strength and his mistmeld clam soulshard—there would be nothing to fear from these aliens.

Dong Mingxing asked, "Is this part of the plan you concocted?"

Li Qianlin cried out in surprise, "To think you alien races were all working in cahoots!"

Xing Ying bowed. "Your highness, we've gathered in the champion of mankind's, Zhang Lie's, name."

Everyone was curious about the identity of this indigenous princess that Zhang Lie had captured.

"Oh? It looks like this demon king is quite famous in the Milky Way..."

Xing Ying nodded. "It would be difficult to find someone who hasn't heard of Zhang Lie where we're from."

"Can you tell me more?" Li Qianlin asked curiously. sᴇaʀᴄh thᴇ Nʘvᴇl(F)ire.nᴇt website on Gøøglᴇ to access chapters of nøvels early and in the highest quality.

Zhang Lie broke their conversation off. "I have a question for you all."

Xing Ying's eyes flashed. "What's the matter, Zhang Lie?"

Zhang Lie took out the tattered scraps of a map that he had been collecting. "Have you seen the likes of these before?"

Xing Ying fell deep in thought. "I feel like I may have, but I can't be certain. I believe some among the clan had started collecting these scraps. I'll make a few inquiries on your behalf when I return."

One of the nightdemons called out, "We've seen these scraps a few times! No one knows their purpose, but these scraps are indestructible."

The winged: "Some of us have tried to search for these scraps hoping to make armor out of them, but we found the search surprisingly difficult. Even the winged haven't managed to collect more than a few pieces, far from enough to make armor out of."

The other races all gathered around, quite a few of whom mentioned that they had seen such a few scraps before. Those representatives didn't realize that a rainbow gleam filled their eyes as Zhang Lie caught their attention.

"See if you can retrieve them. I'm very interested in such scraps, and I'm willing to exchange them for alcohol that, when imbibed, will generate superior gene fragments."

He didn't intend to purchase them for too high a price, or that would reveal his desire for them and the true worth of these scraps. If that were to happen, there would surely be some unscrupulous merchants hoping to rip Zhang Lie off.

Xing Ying patted his chest. "There's no need for anything in trade. The starbeasts will fully support your plans, champion of mankind!"

The nightdemon representatives added, "These scraps aren't worth anything to us, either. We'll send over whatever we have."

The other representatives agreed.

Li Qianlin glanced at the scraps curiously. "I believe my father has a few of those lying around, too."

Zhang Lie was quite surprised. His intention had been to obtain these scraps from the alien races, but he had overlooked the indigenous peoples as well.

Li Qianlin continued, "I've seen my father try to inspect their origin, but he never succeeded."

Only a rare few knew of the true use of these scraps; Zhang Lie would have to try to get them from the eastern king at some point.

The invasion quickly began in earnest.

Zhang Lie's strategy was simple: superior- and peak-grade lifeforms would stampede through contested territory, Zhang Lie would control whoever he encountered with his mistmeld clam soulshard, and the races of the Milky Way would take down any stragglers.

They advanced at such a breakneck speed that Li Qianlin and Dong Mingxing were shocked. To think that the people of the western world would be so helpless in front of Zhang Lie!

If Zhang Lie were to attack the eastern world, they doubted it would fare much better. With Red Comet and the disaster-grade lifeform that Zhang Lie had compelled away from the king of the west, no army could stop his advance.

However, Zhang Lie knew very well that it didn't matter just how many cities he took down. He would need to deal with the western king once and for all.

In fact, he had barely touched the cities and towns that he had conquered, knowing that the only ones who lived there were ordinary people unrelated to his goal.

Zhang Lie knew that the western king surely wouldn't hide from him. This was one of the reasons the races of the Milky Way were willing to throw in their support—not only did Zhang Lie possess the strength needed to kill the king, he had even successfully roused the king's anger by crippling his son and stealing his son's bride. The king of the west bore Zhang Lie a crippling grudge, and only one of them would be alive by the end of the conflict.

As Zhang Lie expected, the king of the west himself showed up to oppose him. He quickly gathered his elites and made his way over to where Zhang Lie was situated, with a massive force so large that he had to have been cultivating it for years.

With the king of the west were all manner of superior- and peak-grade lifeforms, the strongest of the forces the king could marshal.

Thunder and lightning crackled through the skies. The king of the west, Duan Zisuan, stood in the midst of all that lightning. He shouted, "Knave, step forward and face your death!"

Zhang Lie soared into the air and stood opposite the king of the realm. "Duan Zisuan, have you finally decided to face me in battle?"

Duan Zisuan's actual body was far larger than those of his clones. His clones were only two meters tall, whereas his true body was five meters tall. His claws were sharp and long, and he bared his ferocious teeth. His mane waved in the stormy air, his eyes were filled with bloodlust, and the air of a tyrant exuded from his every pore. He felt like the master of the world.

Duan Zisuan called out, "Surrender with your subordinates. Come to the palace with me and treat my son's wounds, and I can give you a fast death."

Zhang Lie's lips curled up. "If you surrender to me now, I'll give you a fast death as well."

Duan Zisuan narrowed his eyes. "You'll turn down my offer, then?"

Zhang Lie snorted. "We haven't started fighting, have we? Who can say who the victor will be?"

Duan Zisuan morphed into a bolt of lightning and shot toward Zhang Lie.

He was far faster than his clone, and if his true body had been present during the conflict with the king of the east, he might really have been able to cause Zhang Lie some damage, but Zhang Lie was perfectly capable of dealing with the western king alone without any distractions around. Duan Zisuan's sharp claws glinted with lightning. "I'll be claiming your head!"

"No one alive has that power!" Zhang Lie retaliated with a fist.

As lightning crackled through the sky, water-attuned genetic energy distorted the space around Zhang Lie and exploded in mid-air, dissolving Duan Zisuan's claw attack. Zhang Lie charged up another punch with his other fist.

Ripples of air formed around Zhang Lie's arm, growing more and more intense as Zhang Lie combined spatial force with his water-attuned genetic energy. Whatever lightning Duan Zisuan sent his way was easily countered by the warped space around Zhang Lie...