Chapter 1217: Shattering the World

The air that Zhang Lie inhaled took on the form of dragons. As he exhaled, those dragons coiled around his body and transformed into genetic energy. Behind Zhang Lie appeared swimming pale blue fish, an ink-black serpent, a resplendent golden tiger, a heavyset dragonturtle, a flaming hed lion, and an electrified wyrm.

These unusual manifestations and concentrated aura of genetic energy surrounding Zhang Lie made him seem mysterious indeed. The transformation of his physical body fused his flesh, organs, and bones together, combining them into a single entity.

After half a month passed by, Zhang Lie slowly opened his eyes. His pupils were bright and filled with vital energy, with a spiritual glow that made him look like a supernatural entity.

It was obvious that he had broken through and elevated himself to an entirely new level of strength.

Spirituality illuminated him from within and without. He sat cross-legged like a deity, with a luminous haze surrounding him and seeping into his body.

The membranes that surrounded his bones and organs had vanished, absorbed into his body and replaced by the essence of divinity.

Zhang Lie: a disaster-grade lifeform

Techniques: Rippling Walk (pinnacle), Three-Wave Crescendo (pinnacle), Calm Waters (pinnacle), Fists of the Silent Sea (pinnacle), The Boundless Blade (pinnacle), Eclipse (pinnacle), Syzygy (pinnacle), Ninesoul Dragonblade (pinnacle), Blade of the Heavens (pinnacle)

Genes: Basic, 160; Mutated, 150; Superior, 150; Peak, 150; Disaster, 100; Monarch, 100

Soulshards: White Grub (superior), Blood Ant (superior), Potbellied Toad (mutated), Eternalspring Cocoon (superior), Dragonwolf (superior), Moonlight Wyrm (peak), Golden Roc (peak), Dragonwhale (disaster), Mistmeld Clam (disaster)

Zhang Lie felt stronger than he had ever been.

The image of a dragonturtle manifested behind Zhang Lie, and his water-attuned genetic energy turned heavy and sluggish. Genetic energy rippled around him like the tides, or a swamp of darkness.

The four runic tablets appeared around the dragonturtle. The black tablets had been inscribed with runes from the Keys of the Elder Gods, which were slowly revolving. An ancient, holy hymn seemed to suffuse them with spirituality.

Somehow, Zhang Lie thought he could vaguely sense the form of a priest who was endowing the runes with strength amidst the worship of tens of thousands of citizens.

Zhang Lie was shocked that, upon maxing out his monarch gene fragments, his dragonturtle transformation seemed to be evolving.

The four runic tablets were vibrating in resonance with Zhang Lie's body.

The runic text, abstruse and incomprehensible, floated out from the tablets and surrounded Zhang Lie. The runes imprinted themselves on Zhang Lie's flesh—without the scorching pain of branding, but with an itching sensation all over.

No ordinary hunter would be able to withstand this process; their physical bodies would collapse.

Zhang Lie himself wouldn't have been able to withstand the process if not for having maxed out his monarch gene fragments in advance.

His cells seemed to come to life, basking in the runic radiance and absorbing the runes directly into themselves.

Zhang Lie recalled what had happened to Ubbo, and the slime-like beings that surrounded his body. The runes were endowing Zhang Lie's cells with some sort of rudimentary spirituality that allowed them to act independently and bud off from his flesh.

"I had better take the lead, then..." Zhang Lie murmured. He nudged the runes all over his body and marshaled them into streams of genetic energy, forming a net-like lattice.

His limbs glowed with light, as though possessed of some unearthly intelligence.

With his genetic energy, Zhang Lie guided and arranged rune and cell. Each cell was a planet, each rune a satellite. Zhang Lie carefully reordered them all.

The structure of his body had changed. The runes and cells, in conjunction, formed solar systems of their own, and multiple solar systems formed a galaxy. A moment's thought merged them with blood and bone, flesh and organ.

In that instant, Zhang Lie felt as though his strength had improved by leaps and bounds. The runes that he had integrated into his body filled him with boundless, mysterious strength, as though he had an everburning furnace within his body providing him with vital energy.

Zhang Lie couldn't help but stand up and punch forward. The pocket dimension that Zhu had woven was unable to withstand the sudden surge of energy, and it began to crack apart. The unified world quivered; the humans and aliens were shocked by the sudden disturbance, and they thought that something had happened to the third realm again.

𝙧𝙚𝙚𝔀𝒆𝓫𝓷𝙤𝓿𝒆𝙡.𝒄𝙤𝓶

Zhu herself stepped in to quell the disturbance.

As the unified world quaked, the draconian sage, the scaleman king, Li Zongming, and Yun Bing, who were discussing law and order in the new world, felt sweat beading their foreheads.

The draconian sage cried, "This has to be Zhang Lie's fault!"

The others present all agreed.

Only Zhang Lie could have caused such a massive disturbance so quickly.

"[Energy has exceeded maximum threshold. Activating third-realm transferral routine.]

A familiar voice rang out in his mind.

"[Energy has exceeded maximum threshold. Activating third-realm...]

[Energy has...]

The will of the realm's announcement rang out urgently. The next moment, multicolored light wrapped around Zhang Lie like a cocoon.

"I don't intend to ascend yet!"

Zhang Lie punched his way out of the cocoon in a burst of strength.

The will of the realm manifested as a multicolored dragon scale. Zhu hurriedly stepped forward. "Will, Zhang Lie doesn't intend to ascend yet. Can he temporarily remain in the realm?"

The scale glanced at Zhu, then at Zhang Lie, before dematerializing once again.

Luckily, Zhu had interceded in time, or Zhang Lie would have wreaked extreme devastation.

Rather than grumble at him, however, Zhu hugged him tightly.

"Congratulations, Zhang Lie!"

Zhang Lie smiled. "There's nothing to be so excited about. Instead, I have to apologize. I didn't affect the unified world's foundations, did I?"

Zhu shook her head. "No, no, it's no problem at all! Even if you were to destroy the third realm, it would be fine."

Zhang Lie rolled his eyes. "You're the ruler of the realm!" This isn't the sort of thing you should be saying.

Zhu didn't mind at all. "Zhang Lie, the will told me that you can stay in the third realm as long as you want, but you can't use your full power while you're here. You're far too strong now, and you could cause irreparable damage to the realm if you did so."