Chapter 1016: Core of Black Rain

Chapter 1016: Core of Black RainZhang Lie and Li Qianlin hugged each other in mid-air. The moment Li Qianlin had learned of the news of Zhang Lie's return, she had flown into the air immediately—but she didn't know what to say now that they were right in front of each other.

She had prepared lots of complaints for Zhang Lie, but she didn't know how to start addressing them. In the end, it was Zhang Lie who first smiled and said, "I'm back."

Li Qianlin smiled as well. "Welcome back."

The two of them paused for a moment before Li Qianlin continued, "Are you hurt anywhere?"

Zhang Lie shook his head.

He asked, "Did you miss me?"

Li Qianlin folded her arms. "As if! Who would miss a fellow like you?"

"My dear daughter spent all day looking at the skies, awaiting your return—but now that you're standing right in front of her, she doesn't want to admit it."

Li Zongming had, at some point, appeared behind her.

Li Qianlin blushed. "Father!"

Li Zongming smiled. "Embarrassed, aren't you? Sorry to be a bother—I can leave now if you'd like to spend some more time together."

Zhang Lie laughed. "You must have something urgent to tell us if you're here now, your majesty."

"No, no, none of that. Call me Father, or Father-in-Law."

Zhang Lie dipped his head. "Very well, Father-in-Law."

Li Qianlin's face blushed as red as an apple.

Li Zongming smiled, pleased. "I don't want to disturb the two of you lovebirds—it's been quite some time since you last saw each other, after all. However, I'd very much like to learn about what happened during the war against the death spirits, and there's important business that I need to discuss with you. I also have to speak with you before the meeting of the superior worlds, so if you're both fine with it..."

As they walked to Li Zongming's chambers, Li Zongming inquired about the details of the war, which Zhang Lie quickly recounted.

Li Zongming gasped. "Blood Heaven, destroyed by the traitorous blood lord? He even laid an ambush for you after betraying the blood king… It must have been difficult for you and the others to survive."

Zhang Lie shrugged. "I alone likely wouldn't have been able to protect the Zongming forces. It's thanks to the king of chaos' clone that I was able to focus fully on the fighting. Without Nightdemon, I would only have been able to protect a fraction of the fighters, and the allied forces would have suffered greatly."

Li Zongming sighed. "For a new death spirit king to have appeared on the battlefield after the old one was slain, and then a sneak attack by the decaying king... A lot of things have happened."

The enemies' strength hadn't been the biggest factor—it was his purported allies' actions that had caused several emergencies.

Zhang Lie sighed. "That said, in the end, it was our victory."

Li Zongming lowered his head. "I'm truly thankful for your help."

Zhang Lie waved his hands. "No, there's no need for that! I volunteered to participate."

Li Zongming replied seriously, "Regardless, I have to thank you for bringing so many fighters back, safe and sound."

"I also received two spoils of war from killing the death spirit king and the decaying king," Zhang Lie told Li Zongming.

He first handed over the crystal that he had obtained from killing the death spirit king. The moment the rainbow-colored crystal was exposed to the air, the entire Zongming world trembled. The will of the Zongming world made clear its desire for that crystal.

Li Zongming sucked in a deep breath. "This is astounding. If the Zongming world were able to absorb the world's energy in this crystal, it would surely be elevated significantly."

Zhang Lie rolled his eyes. "This is the biggest reward from the war. It'll have to be brought to the superior worlds' meeting, then split up accordingly."

Li Zongming blinked. "Is there such an agreement?"

"Did no one tell you?"

"Who would tell me?" Li Zongming was the king of a newly evolved superior world, and the other superior kings didn't think much of him. They would be happier to witness his downfall than not—why would they inform him of any such obligations?

Zhang Lie replied, "The king of chaos' clone told me about it, so I'm confident of its veracity."

After seeing Zhang Lie present the first spoils of war, Li Zongming was very curious about the second.

"And the second?" he asked. Sᴇaʀch* Thᴇ N0vᴇlFirᴇ.ɴet website on Gøøglᴇ to access chapters of nøvels early and in the highest quality.

Zhang Lie replied, "The second is ours. It doesn't have to be shared with the other superior kings."

Li Zongming grew even more eager to see exactly what it was.

Zhang Lie retrieved the beating golden heart that he had obtained from the world of black rain. Upon witnessing the multicolored shine over its surface, Li Zongming felt a sense of budding familiarity with it. He recognized it instantly.

"Isn't this a proof of kingship?"

Zhang Lie nodded. "Exactly so. It's a proof of kingship of a superior world."

Li Zongming recalled what Zhang Lie had told him about the decaying king's sneak attack, and how Zhang Lie had killed him in retaliation.

"This is the proof of kingship of the world of black rain?"

"Indeed." Zhang Lie proffered the beating golden heart to Li Zongming, who swallowed a gulp of saliva. "You want to merge the Zongming world with the world of black rain?"

Zhang Lie countered, "You don't want to?"

"I couldn't possibly..." Even so, Li Zongming didn't refuse the offer. He accepted it immediately. Zhang Lie wouldn't be able to do anything with it, but he would gain an immense benefit.

Li Zongming asked, "When do you think would be the best time to do so?"

"After the superior worlds' meeting. If you want to merge the world of black rain with the draconian world, you'll have to summon it over, and that will take some time."

The two worlds would have to be connected to be merged.

There was quite a bit of distance between the Zongming world and the world of black rain, a distance of hundreds of worlds. It would take significant effort to move and then subsequently combine them.

This was why the superior worlds of antiquity chose to extract the world's energy from newly evolved superior worlds, rather than to combine with them—doing so was a significantly more complex endeavor.