Chapter 1044: Unafraid of TroubleAs bright light illuminated the room, the temperature of the meeting room soared.
"You claim to be serious? You're seriously joking, aren't you?"
The ice queen also began to laugh. A blizzard formed in the meeting room, countering the radiant sunlight that the solar king gave off.
The king of keys shook his head in exasperation. "King of Zongming, you should know better than anyone that no superior king would be willing to submit to another. You've already missed the best opportunity to claim these superior worlds!"
A face appeared within the black fog. "The best opportunity is while these worlds are evolving.
Once you miss that opportunity, your success rate will dip dramatically, and you'll even have to sacrifice your own troops to reclaim the worlds." Sᴇaʀᴄh thᴇ ɴovᴇlꜰirᴇ.nᴇt website on Gøøglᴇ to access chapters of nøvels early and in the highest quality.
Li Zongming replied, "I had no choice. I'm the king of a newly evolved superior world, after all!
While they were in the process of evolving, Zhang Lie wasn't around. He was participating in the war against the death spirits, and I have no other fighters at the same level on hand."
The solar king continued, "So you were foolish enough not to strike, and now intend to persuade them to surrender to you?"
Li Zongming explained, "If I were to leave the Zongming world, who knows what might happen? My only choice was to wait for Zhang Lie to return before attempting to persuade them to surrender."
The king of keys smirked. "What do you think your success rate will be?"
Li Zongming shrugged. "It won't matter even if I fail. At worst, I'll destroy the two worlds."
The solar king asked, "As a new superior king yourself, are you certain you'll be able to claim both those superior worlds?"
The other superior kings were very envious of the two superior worlds that had appeared.
They cursed that the superior worlds hadn't appeared within their own jurisdictions, but rather that of the Zongming world, a newly evolved superior world. If they had appeared in their own jurisdiction, they wouldn't have missed the best opportunity to strike like that idiot, Li Zongming.
Who knew what was going on within what was once xuluo territory? In general, a new superior world only appeared once every few centuries or so, but the three superior worlds that had just appeared—including the Zongming world—had done so within just a few years.
Furthermore, it had given birth to an entity as frightening as Zhang Lie, who could kill superior kings without being one himself.
No one had heard of such a frightening existence before this event. How was the xuluo jurisdiction so fertile?
The ice queen said, "As you said, as a new superior world, you don't have the resources and strength to do anything. Two superior worlds is too much for you to handle, and you don't want to incur losses, either. Why don't you split one with us?"
Li Zongming shrugged. "Very well. Give me the equivalent of a superior world's worth of energy."
The solar king frowned. "Aren't you being a bit ridiculous?"
Destroying a superior world would reward a superior world's worth of energy. The fact that Li Zongming was asking for a superior world's worth of energy as the price indicated that he had no intention of giving it up.
The ice queen complained, "Don't you see that we're helping you? Why are you intending to charge us?"
A human face appeared amidst the black fog. "Weren't you the one who claimed to be a superior world that had just newly evolved, without strength or resources, who didn't want to incur too many losses?"
The solar king shook his head. "Don't be too greedy."
The ice queen warned, "Two newly evolved superior worlds is too much for you. Be wary of indigestion."
A human face appeared amidst the black fog. "Since two such worlds appeared in your jurisdiction, it isn't too much to ask for you to give one up."
The solar king added, "None of us want to see a new superior world emerge. It'll affect our ability to govern the three thousand worlds—each one will suck away a portion of our authority. You certainly don't want to see large numbers of superior worlds around, do you?"
Li Zongming raised his head to gaze at the ceiling. Didn't he? It was hard to say.
The superior worlds of antiquity were a huge problem, and adding more to the mix didn't seem like it would make much of a difference. Furthermore, what if the problems could counteract each other?
When Li Zongming ascended, there were quite a few superior worlds around who tried to extract his superior world's energy from him.
To Li Zongming, he really didn't care how many superior worlds were around.
The most important factor was that the two newly evolved superior worlds were both related to Zhang Lie, and they would be able to form an alliance with the Zongming world to counter the superior worlds of antiquity.
From a long-term perspective, Li Zongming would much rather preserve the two new superior worlds—and he had promised Zhang Lie to do that, as well.
The ice queen complained, "We're doing this for the good of the three thousand worlds! We're sufficient—there's no need for more superior worlds around. If dozens of superior worlds were to simultaneously exist, we'd end up mired in conflict like the large worlds of the realm."
Zhang Lie shrugged. "The death spirit king was once a superior king..."
The solar king glared at Zhang Lie, his eyes luminous and golden like the sun."
The ice queen spread her arms. "As you said, the death spirit king is an exception. His appearance is an accident, one that no one could have imagined—and in the end, we dealt with the death spirit king."
Li Zongming said, "After a cataclysmic war that dragged in the entirety of the third realm."
The solar king cried out, "Regardless, I'm sure none of us present want to see the appearance of countless superior worlds!"
The ice queen's voice also rose. "Since you can't guarantee that you can deal with both these newly evolved superior worlds, there doesn't seem to be a problem with us taking one of them!"
A face appeared within the black fog. "You've already obtained more than sufficient reward from the meeting—seven superior worlds' worth of energy, and a crystal of energy beyond that of a superior world! There's no need to vie for even more rewards."
The solar king nodded. "Digest your gains first. You'll surpass us soon enough—it won't do to be too greedy."
Li Zongming frowned. "Your tone makes it sound as though what I obtained was from your charity, that I should share my spoils with you."
The solar king spread his arms. "We've never said that, but you can interpret it in that way."
Li Zongming cried out, "All that I obtained during this meeting, Zhang Lie fought for with his life. What does it have to do with any of you?"
Furthermore, the two newly evolved superior worlds had a link with Zhang Lie as well. Even if they didn't, Li Zongming certainly wasn't going to give in regarding this...