Chapter 1059: Stalling for TimeThe draconian sage began to laugh. "I have to thank the solar king for underestimating me, then. It'll make the rest of my job far easier."
The draconian sage let out a loud roar and transformed into a multicolored dragon. His body was so huge that it spread out across the void. Upon sensing the aura of a superior king, the warriors from the world quaked and trembled.
A similar situation was taking place at the same time in the scaleman world.
Troops forged of ice and snow appeared over the horizon, forming a long river of frozen ice as they stepped into the scaleman world. A blizzard surrounded them, snow pouring through the skies. The temperature around these troops dropped dramatically as sleet began to fall.
The invading forces numbered, shockingly, dozens of times more than were present for the death spirits' invasion.
Leading these troops was the frost spirit commander, whom Zhang Lie would recognize immediately.
It was evident that the ice queen was impressed by her commander's ability to survive during the death spirits' war, and she had sent him on another expedition.
The frost spirit commander shouted, "Inhabitants of this newly evolved superior world! Are you aware of your crimes?"
Just like the draconian sage, the scaleman king was unable to find any combatant on the level of a superior king among the enemy forces.
Despite the poor relationship between the solar king and the ice queen, the fact that they had ended up enemies meant that they thought alike in some sense.
Just like the solar king, the ice queen believed that it wasn't worth sending any combatants on the level of superior kings against newly evolved superior worlds.
From the perspective of the superior worlds of antiquity, combatants on this level were the equivalent of starbreak annihilators in the Milky Way, who wouldn't be mobilized unless absolutely necessary. For Li Zongming to keep someone like Zhang Lie by his side all this time made him look like a fool who had won the lottery to the eyes of the superior kings.
To the superior kings of antiquity, combatants on the level of superior kings were a resource to be jealously hoarded, as well as a threat.
The scaleman king rose into the air, shielding the scaleman world behind him, as he faced the ice queen's troops.
The frost spirit commander called out, "You have destroyed the equilibrium among the three thousand worlds. Today, on behalf of the white world, you'll face divine punishment!"
The scaleman king laughed. "And what right do you have to speak for the divine?" sᴇaʀᴄh thᴇ N0ᴠᴇFɪre.nᴇt website on Gøøglᴇ to access chapters of nøvels early and in the highest quality.
"We are the divine!" the frost spirit commander retorted.
The scaleman king taunted, "Save it. Send your strongest combatant over—I don't want to have to deal with the rest of you trash."
The frost spirit commander's face turned dark. "Do you refuse to acknowledge your wrongdoing? Your existence violates the law and order of the three thousand worlds. None of you can be spared."
The scaleman king snorted. "Ha! Your so-called "law and order" is nothing more than might makes right!"
"It's not too late to repent. Kneel now!"
The scaleman king refused to give in. "Say that over my dead body."
The frost spirit commander waved a hand. "Troops, march forward!"
Back in the Zongming world, Li Zongming had found a group of people to research the death spirits' battleships.
"The cannons can be activated with the black metal as the fuel, but the battleships themselves are in such poor condition that they'd likely fall apart after one burst."
Li Zongming and the researchers of the Zongming world had tried to activate one of the death spirits' cannons. A one-time use would be rather wasteful, but it could be a trump card in times of need.
Suddenly, he felt a superior king's aura coming from afar. Li Zongming raised his head. "They've come."
A golden pillar of light rose into the air. As a monarch-grade lifeform, Gold Comet's senses were particularly sharp. It had sensed the opponent's arrival before even the Zongming king.
With a spatial teleport, Li Zongming vanished from the spot. The next moment, he appeared beyond the Zongming world.
He arrived barely before Gold Comet did, only to find black fog filling the void. Within the black fog were countless figures.
Li Zongming frowned. "To think the king of black fog himself has come. Welcome, welcome."
A human face condensed out of the fog. "King of Zongming, I'd like to borrow something from you."
"And what might that be?" Li Zongming asked.
"A newly evolved superior world."
Li Zongming frowned, clearly displeased.
The king of black fog continued, "You have two, after all. Giving one up is no trouble."
Li Zongming countered, "King of black fog, have you heard of a joke that we inhabitants of the Zongming world tell among ourselves?"
The king of black fog replied imperiously, "I didn't come over to listen to one of your jokes."
Li Zongming ignored him. "You have two kidneys, don't you? Surely it's no big deal for you to sell one."
The king of black fog understood his intent. "You're unwilling, then?"
"Isn't that obvious?"
The king of black fog cried out, "Are you aware of your crimes?!"
"I have committed no crime."
"You've destroyed the harmony among the three thousand worlds, as well as the rules set out by the superior worlds, by attempting to ally with these newly evolved superior worlds."
Li Zongming laughed coldly. "If I remember correctly, according to the rules established by the superior kings, I can do whatever I want to the superior worlds that appear in my domain.
Both newly evolved superior worlds are in my domain, and what to do with them is my concern and mine alone. I explained during the meeting that my intention was to persuade them to combine with mine."
The king of black fog replied, "But you don't seem to have made a move."
Li Zongming shrugged. "Persuasion isn't something that can be carried out so quickly. You need to give me time."
In truth, both parties were stalling for time.
The king of black fog was waiting for news that the scaleman world and the draconian world had been successfully claimed by one of the other superior kings, whereas Li Zongming was waiting for Zhang Lie and the members of Team Zenith to finish off the superior worlds. Both kings were stalling because of their confidence in their allies.
To the king of black fog, the two newly evolved superior worlds would be easy prey.
Four superior worlds of antiquity were attacking simultaneously; their strength wasn't something the newly evolved superior worlds could match.
Unlike the Zongming world, which had evolved and rapidly ascended through the ranks thanks to the death spirits' war, the newly evolved superior worlds had no reserves at all to speak of. Even the king of black fog alone could easily take on both worlds and come out on top.
With four superior worlds in the fray, the outcome was obvious.
On the other hand, to Li Zongming, no one could overcome the might of Zhang Lie and the members of Team Zenith. He harbored absolute confidence in Zhang Lie, and knew that the members of Team Zenith were each as strong as superior kings in their own right...