Chapter 880: Stowaways

Chapter 880: StowawaysZhang Hanxiang nodded, though she still seemed a little confused by the big picture.

Yun Bing asked, "Don't you think what your brother's doing in the third realm is quite familiar?"

"Is it?"

"He's gathering his strength now. He combined the strength of the human hunters there with the strongest warlords of the Milky Way, and he's starting to invade other neighboring worlds. It's precisely what he did in the second realm when founding the kingdom of Limit.

"I suspect that Zhang Lie is planning to construct a new kingdom of Limit in the third realm, and as prime minister of the second-realm kingdom, how could I not be present for the formation of the new third-realm kingdom?" Yun Bing asked passionately.

She continued, "I've already had a discussion with Chu Feng. He plans on ascending simultaneously. Thanks to your brother's disaster-grade farm, along with the authority of the kingdom of Limit, we've both maxed out our disaster gene fragments as well. Now is surely the best time to ascend."

Zhang Hanxiang smiled. "Very well. I do look forward to the surprise on Brother's face when he sees the two of us!"

"I've delegated all my responsibilities to Hong Xi—though it may be an inconvenience for her to have to stand guard here in the second realm for a while longer." Yun Bing patted Zhang Hanxiang on the head.

Zhang Hanxiang seemed reasonably optimistic. "It's not a problem. Hong Xiao and the others will arrive in the second realm and develop rapidly—I don't expect it'll take Hong Xi any longer than three or four months to ascend, and possibly even two."

Yun Bing asked, "Do you really intend to bring the aliens with you?"

Zhang Hanxiang nodded seriously. "Of course! They're loyal to my brother, and he might need their support. I'll be taking the disaster-grade dragonwhale soulshard as well."

"Let's hope there are no incidents in the meantime, then."

After seeing Xing Ying and Ren Kunjing off, over the next few days, Zhang Lie had the superior- and peak-grade lifeforms duel each other in hopes that more would ascend to disaster-grade.

The thirty disaster-grade lifeforms also began to spar with Red Comet. It was fortunate that they were doing all this in deserted land, because what they left behind after each battle was desolation.

After Red Comet killed ten disaster-grade lifeforms and devoured them all, it finally seemed to reach the threshold between disaster-grade and what lay beyond.

Chen Fan warped over to Zhang Lie's location with the help of the draconian sage, only to witness Red Comet fending off a large number of disaster-grade lifeforms by itself. The scene of the battlefield was shocking; it was as though there were twenty kings of the realm duking it out in the middle of nowhere.

Chen Fan couldn't help but tremble—if he were to even draw close to the battlefield, he would likely die within a matter of seconds.

Zhang Lie had been paying attention to the battlefield, and he knew who was approaching even though he didn't look in his direction.

"Warlord Chen Fan, what are you doing here?"

"Can't I come over just to have a chat?"

Zhang Lie turned and glanced at him, and Chen Fan understood his meaning wordlessly: What sort of relationship do we have that you would come over to find me for no reason?

Chen Fan shrugged. "A group of humans ascended from the second realm today."

Zhang Lie nodded. As he leaned back on a comfortable chair, he had a sip of tea.

Although it wasn't daily that hunters arrived from the second realm, ever since the founding of the kingdom of Limit, humans had been able to develop far more quickly in the second realm. Ascension was expected and had become commonplace.

Things weren't the same in his past life. For a second-realm hunter to ascend to the third realm was an occasion worthy of celebration, and Zhang Lie had indeed received one such.

Before his regression, the situation in the second realm had been particularly harrowing because of the presence of the sura. Not only did the humans have to fend off the sura, they also had to be wary of other alien races—all the while killing genetic lifeforms in order to advance.

The second realm had been a crucible, but Zhang Lie had resolved the problems there neatly after taking care of the sura and founding the kingdom of Limit. A stable path to ascension had developed as a result.

Chen Fan replied, "You know these hunters, so I thought I'd come over to share the good news with you."

"I know these hunters?"

Zhang Lie knew quite a lot of the hunters in the second realm, so Chen Fan's words weren't as revealing as he might have hoped.

"One is Yun Bing, and the other is Chu Feng."

"Ah, those two!" Zhang Lie beamed.

Chen Fan mirrored his smile. "There's another hunter, one I think you'd very much like to see."

"That I'd very much like to see?"

When Chen Fan revealed the name of the third hunter, Zhang Lie was elated. He waved a hand to Chen Fan, shattered space, and teleported back to the human city in the draconian world.

Upon doing so and sensing a familiar aura, he shattered space once more, arriving right behind Yun Bing, Chu Feng, and the third hunter. Yun Bing and Chu Feng jumped up in fright, but upon seeing who had shown up, they sighed in relief.

"Hanxiang!" Zhang Lie shouted, drawing her in for a hug.

"Brother!" Zhang Hanxiang hugged her brother earnestly.

Naturally, the third hunter that Chen Fan had mentioned was Zhang Hanxiang.

Zhang Hanxiang grinned. "Well, Brother? Aren't you surprised to see me here?"

"It's a very pleasant surprise. Welcome to the third realm."

Zhang Hanxiang smiled. "Did you miss me, Brother?"

"Quite a bit," Zhang Lie replied honestly.

After all, Zhang Hanxiang was his only relative remaining in the world.

"How are Sun Mengmeng and the others?"

.

Zhang Lie shrugged. "They're all away on conquest."

Zhang Hanxiang cocked her head. "As the rumors suggested, you really are building a kingdom of Limit in the third realm, aren't you, Brother?"

"More or less."

"In that case, what I brought up from the second realm will surely be able to help you." Sᴇaʀᴄh the NʘvᴇlFire.nᴇt website on Gøøglᴇ to access chapters of nøvels early and in the highest quality.

Zhang Lie was curious as to just what sort of help his sister was referring to.

With a smile on her face, Zhang Hanxiang called out, "Brother, can you find a secluded region free from people?"

Zhang Lie grabbed her hand, shattered space, and appeared in the wilderness—in a patch of land that Zhang Lie was using to rear the superior- and peak-grade lifeforms he had brought back with him. It was land originally owned by the Mengtai.

"Just what did you bring back from the second realm?"

Zhang Hanxiang smirked. She turned around and was rapidly surrounded by water as a dragonwhale appeared by her side.

Spatial fluctuations rippled through the air as a number of aliens appeared in sight.

Zhang Lie was amazed. "Zhu, the Yeluo chieftain—you've all come to the third realm as well?"

Zhang Hanxiang had brought quite a number of aliens with her up to the third realm.

The moment Zhu saw Zhang Lie, she began to cry. Her eyes honed in on Zhang Lie, until Zhang Lie felt a pang of guilt—but surely there was nothing to feel guilty about?

Zhang Hanxiang called out, "Well, Brother? Aren't I amazing?"

Zhang Lie shook his head incredulously. "To have brought a number of aliens along with you..."

Zhang Lie realized what Zhang Hanxiang had done.

In general, an alien could only ascend to a higher realm by growing so strong that even the world couldn't tolerate its presence any longer. Such an alien would be able to enter a higher-dimensional world through the void.The asura of the second realm had done just that.

This was no easy feat. Any alien who ascended through the void would have to face heavenly trials, just like in xianxia novels.

These aliens would have to survive the energy of a higher-dimensional realm, but once they did so, their status would evolve. There were quite a few examples of aliens who hadn't been strong enough to breach this barrier and died during the ascension.

The fact that the ascension process was so similar to that described in xianxia novels had even sparked some research regarding a possible link between China and the dimensional realm. In the end, the researcher who had suggested such a ludicrous claim was laughed at by the entire galaxy.

Earth was a small, insignificant existence in the Milky Way galaxy, and China was little more than an atom at such large scales. How could an atom have anything to do with the dimensional realm?

It was as though the researcher were suggesting a connection between a pebble in a river and a vein of gold half the world away.

Aliens had a very hard time ascending to a higher realm, but the hunters of the Milky Way faced no such challenge. As soon as they maxed out their gene fragments, they were able to ascend, and would even be granted the world's energy during the ascension process to acclimatize themselves to a higher-dimensional realm.

It was almost as though the native inhabitants of the realm and the hunters of the Milky Way had their positions reversed. If not for the fact that only the native inhabitants of the third realm could become kings of the realm, the members of the Milky Way might have thought themselves completely superior.

The Yeluo chieftain and the Yeluo warriors didn't have the ability to ascend on their own; instead, Zhang Hanxiang had packed them up in her dragonwhale soulshard before ascending to the third realm, then releasing them in the third realm after she arrived.

Zhang Lie scolded her. "If the will of the world found out about this, what would you have done?"

Zhang Hanxiang lowered her head. "I just wanted to help you, Brother!"

The Yeluo chieftain smiled and strode forward. "Your majesty, if there's anyone to blame, it should be us. We suggested that the princess bring us along. There's nothing for us to do in the kingdom of Limit any longer. We've finished our research in the second realm after making use of Limit's resources to collect a large number of strange herbs and plants."

Zhang Lie glared at him. "Don't try to shoulder the blame for this!"

Zhang Hanxiang was Zhang Lie's only sister, only relative. How could he bear to see her hurt? His own affairs paled compared to his sister's safety.

Zhu's eyes filled with tears again. "Do you not welcome us here, then? You heartless man! Did you think I wouldn't catch up to you?"

Zhang Lie was speechless. "Zhu, your words seem to be implying something..."

Zhu hmphed. "And should I not? You've done that with me, so you have to take responsibility!"

Zhang Hanxiang's eyes widened. She clutched her mouth in shock as she looked toward Zhang Lie.

"Brother, no wonder Zhu insisted on following you! I can't believe you're actually—I respected you so much, but you... I was wrong, Brother!"

The Yeluo chieftain sucked in a deep breath and slowly stepped back.?Better not to meddle in his majesty's affairs...