Chapter 2318: Interrogation of the Soul

The Green Iguana King swallowed with difficulty. His body started trembling even more. He even secretly gave the entrance a look, as if he was considering whether to run or not.

Just then, the palace emissary who had brought Zu An here coldly said, “Green Iguana King, hurry and meet with the lord. There are still others waiting after you.”

The Green Iguana King could only give up on any thoughts of escape. He looked at Zu An as if they were fellow sufferers. His mouth moved slightly. He considered allying with Zu An in secret to risk it all, but when he gave the glowering palace emissary a look and thought about the Monster Lord’s terrifying power, he ended up giving up on that thought. He hung his head and started to walk up the stairs.

As Zu An looked at his back, he almost felt as if the Green Iguana King wasn’t going up a flight of stairs, but rather was walking to his own execution.

Zu An looked around the area. There were some guards standing off to either side in the distance. They were a bit similar to the palace emissary, but they didn’t have wings. The energies their bodies gave off were much weaker too. Because of the stairs, Zu An couldn't see what was beyond them.

He wanted to send out his divine sense to find out what was going on inside, but he was worried that he would be found out by the Monster Lord and offend him. After all, with his strength, the Monster Lord would definitely be able to sense such a thing. As a result, Zu An decided to just quietly stand in place. He began to think about what to do later.

Roughly fifteen minutes later, the palace emissary in front of the stairs appeared again. “Donaire, the lord will now meet you.”

Zu An was stunned. He couldn't help but ask the same question the Green Iguana King had asked. “The Green Iguana King hasn’t come out yet?”

“There is no need for him to come back out,” said the palace emissary indifferently, as if he was saying something extremely trivial and commonplace.

Zu An was speechless.

This mortality rate seems to be a bit high...

At first, he had been quite calm about this matter, feeling that the Monster Lord definitely hadn't been able to see through his disguise and probably just had some other reason for wanting to meet with him. And yet, the two people who had lined up before him were killed one after another. He was now actually a bit uncertain.

He couldn't help but give the entrance a look. He thought about his chances of escape, just like the Green Iguana King. But unlike the Green Iguana King, he had a high chance of succeeding. A single palace emissary couldn't stop him.

However, in the end, he gave up on that thought. He'd come to the Monster World to solve the problem at its root, so how could he just run away? He calmed down considerably when he realized that and went up the stairs.

As he walked, he was amazed by the airs this Monster Lord put on. The latter had made this long staircase on purpose to make himself seem more important. The people meeting him from below would thus always feel as if they were meeting some deity.

Under the palace emissary’s lead, Zu An quickly arrived at the inner hall, which was extremely spacious.

The most eye-catching thing inside it was a giant three-headed bird. But even though it resembled a bird, it didn’t have any feathers. The three strange heads were eagerly ripping apart a corpse. Judging from its ruined flesh and the green crest on the ground, Zu An was able to tell that this was none other than the Green Iguana King he had just seen.

There was also a thick tail off to the side. Its ash-gray fur clearly didn’t belong to the strange bird. That was most likely from the Mad King that had been mentioned earlier. He'd actually been eaten until only a tail remained!

When he sensed the primal viciousness of the strange three-headed bird, Zu An shivered.

This is probably the Monster Lord’s mount, right? Did he really have to feed it the subjects he executed? The Monster World really is savage, as expected.

His eyes shifted to the humanoid figure in front of the strange bird. Rather than a human form, the figure was just vaguely human-shaped, and fine, pitch-black scales covered his entire body. The Green Lizard King had also been covered in scales, but these were entirely different. They gave off a cold metallic luster that actually made them resemble a fine suit of armor. It gave the being a unique aesthetic.

But the most eye-catching detail was the being's head, which was in the shape of a four-pointed star. In that instant, Zu An suddenly thought about the summoning stones of a certain gacha game.

“I greet the Monster Lord!” Zu An reacted quickly. He didn’t show any negligence in his courtesy.

The Monster Lord's head had two shining yellow lights for eyes, with two strange vertical pupils vaguely visible within them. He gave Zu An a look before asking, “Do you know why I called you here?”

His mouth was oriented vertically, opening to reveal a row of terrifying teeth inside. If not for Zu An’s multitude of experience, perhaps he would have been scared out of his wits after seeing such a thing.

“This subordinate doesn’t know.” Zu An was secretly on guard. He'd discovered that he couldn't accurately sense the other party’s cultivation. That meant either the Monster Lord's cultivation method was much more profound than his own, or he was just that much stronger.

Zu An had all sorts of incredible abilities, and even the Keyboard System only collected techniques through its F1-F12 keys. He refused to believe that this Monster Lord’s cultivation method was that much more profound than his own. That could only mean the Monster Lord's strength and cultivation rank were much higher.

When he realized that, Zu An couldn't help but reminisce about the moment when he had merged with the will of the world. Back then, he really had felt as if he was completely invincible. Now that he was in this world, he could no longer use the power of the Cultivation World, so he was now much weaker.

Even so, he didn’t panic. Often, strength alone didn’t decide victory or defeat. He had faced too many powerful enemies over the years, and yet he was always the one who laughed last in the end. As long as he used his skills well, he still had a fighting chance.

The Monster Lord gave him a look before asking, “How did your trip to the Cultivation World go?”

Zu An felt a weight drop in his stomach. The Monster Lord knew about his visit to the Cultivation World after all. Judging from his tone, it sounded as if the Monster Lord had given Donaire quite a few missions.

This really is a headache.

Salamay had also given him a mission, and he'd only barely managed to survive that ordeal. But he'd had one for the Monster Lord too! Furthermore, the Monster Lord didn’t seem to be as easy to deal with as Salamay.

“There were some detours...” Zu An said ambiguously, trying to figure out what the mission was.

“Did you meet that regent?” the Monster Lord suddenly asked.

Zu An voiced his agreement. “I was almost exposed by him.”

“Tell me about that regent.” The Monster Lord immediately became interested. “My three great armies were all defeated by him. He really is quite the talent.”

“The regent looks handsome, like a jade tree facing the wind; he is confident and at ease...” Zu An sighed inwardly in relief. Now that it involved his world’s affairs, he could talk a bit more without giving his real identity away.

The Monster Lord was very interested in Zu An’s cultivation and assorted abilities. It actually made Zu An feel really strange. With the Monster Lord praising him so much, he couldn't make himself seem too weak, and yet couldn't describe himself as being too ridiculously strong. He couldn't really give all of his secrets away either. It was a bit difficult to find the right balance.

The Monster Lord nodded and remarked, “The fact that you were able to keep your life against someone like that is already quite impressive.”

Zu An quickly said, “I didn’t actually meet him face to face; it’s rather that I was on guard against him and hurried back as soon as I received the news. That is why I have been unable to accomplish many things.”

That wasn’t a lie, technically. Regardless of what it was that Donaire had been trying to do, he clearly hadn’t finished his tasks.

“You’ve already done well enough.” The Monster Lord grinned. Then, he changed the topic. He pointed at the Green Iguana King’s corpse and asked, “Do you know why I needed to kill them?”

“I don’t.” Zu An immediately had an ominous feeling.

“It is because they took their benefits here, but sided with the outsider Salamay,” the Monster Lord said with a cold snort. “I’ve treated them quite well over the years, and yet they dared to betray me! Not even death can erase their crimes.”

Zu An was speechless.

Just then, the Monster Lord gave Zu An a look. His eyes narrowed and he asked, “Did you complete the mission Salamay gave you?”