Chapter 1261: Suave and Dashing

Mu asked delightedly, "Have you met the grandmaster, Zhang Lie?"

Zhang Lie thought for a moment. "I suppose I have..."

Mu asked, "What is he like? Some people say that the grandmaster has ridiculous skill, that he managed to destroy thousands of troops and horses with a snap of his fingers, that when alien races from beyond this realm assassinated the old scaleman king and took over the capital, the grandmaster appeared and destroyed them all. Subsequently, when the black spirits invaded, the grandmaster appeared again and took care of the invading forces by himself."

Li Qianlin turned toward Zhang Lie. "I didn't know this grandmaster was so impressive!"

"Right? The black spirits that managed to devour world after world were nothing more than ants to the grandmaster!"

The aliens around Mu, hearing that he was praising the grandmaster, added their own takes to his legend.

"No, the grandmaster is His Majesty's teacher. How can he be a mere warrior who only knows how to fight? He has to be a scholar of unbelievable wit! I have a relative serving as a guard in the capital. When the aliens took over the capital, even the crown prince was flustered, and his army of tens of thousands of troops suffered massive losses and was forced to retreat. However, the grandmaster easily resolved the situation."

Li Qianlin asked, "How did the grandmaster do it?"

The alien drank another swig of alcohol. He was red all the way to his neck and was clearly drunk. "The grandmaster didn't even have to move his fingers at all! All he had to do was propose a plan to His Majesty, and the aliens quickly began to quarrel among themselves. He easily secured victory without having to fight—this is true strength."

His companion added, "The grandmaster is truly amazing. Everyone thought that the crown prince would win the battle for succession, but when the grandmaster spoke, even the crown prince had to move aside. How many worlds did they say the black spirits destroyed?"

The first alien swallowed another swig of alcohol. "No other world could do anything about it, and even ours was in danger. The grandmaster, who had gone into seclusion, showed himself once more and extinguished the black spirits in the blink of an eye."

His companion cried out, "I heard that the warriors from every world were drafted by the superior worlds to face the death spirits—the leaders of the black spirits, who struck fear into us all! To think that those black spirits were mere subordinates, and that there were at least ten times more death spirits... We were saved all thanks to our grandmaster, who led the charge against the death spirits and destroyed them all, shocking the entire realm."

Li Qianlin glanced toward Zhang Lie, a playful expression on her face.

"So the grandmaster is an excellent strategist as well..."

Another guest walked over with a flask of alcohol. "What do you mean, strategist? One of my brothers was in the capital as a royal guard, and he witnessed the grandmaster fight against the aliens himself! That day, a storm suddenly manifested by the capital walls, sending clouds of dust into the capital. A flood tore apart the sky."

The guest drained his cup, as though witnessing the scene for himself. His eyes filled with fear at just a brief reminder of that day.

"Are all of you aware of the capital walls?"

Everyone nodded.

The guest let out a long breath. "Then you all know how majestic our capital walls are—thousands of meters tall, witnessing millennia of history. How many enemies had the wall stopped? How much invaders' blood had the wall absorbed? For all that it represented, the wall crumbled to just one punch."

The guest caressed the scar on his face, as though it were a badge of glory and reminiscence.

"Ripples of spatial energy surged toward the aliens, sounding like peals of thunder, like stampeding hooves. Waves rose up in a cataclysmic explosion that shook the earth, causing a section of the wall to explode.

"Everything happened far too quickly. By the time I came to my senses, the walls had begun to crumble, but that wasn't the end of it. Pulses of energy spread from the point of impact. It seemed almost as if a disaster-grade lifeform had gone on a rampage within the capital, summoning wind and rain so strong that some of the guards were blown straight off the walls.

"The storm swallowed up all the infrastructure and buildings close to the city walls, turning them into a pile of ruin and rubble. The whole palace were uprooted and sent flying. Pillars of shattered stone and balconies of wood whipped through the air, and even the palace infrastructure became unstable."

Li Qianlin whispered to Zhang Lie, "Was this one of the guards present on the wall at the time?"

Zhang Lie rolled his eyes at her. "How many soldiers and guards do you think were present? How could I remember them all?"

"During that fight, during that attack, I felt my lack of strength more keenly than ever before, as though I were merely an ant in the face of true power. Rubble was sent flying through the air, smashing into the ground like meteors. Countless houses were shattered, and countless people died from the attack. That could have been none other than a blow from the heavens themselves—the grandmaster has to be a god!"

The guest's eyes filled with wild reverence.

Li Qianlin rolled his eyes. "Look at him! He clearly thinks of you like a god, but you can't even remember his appearance?"

Zhang Lie rolled his eyes back at her. "You know there are countless people across the galaxy who venerate me—how could I remember them all? They think of me as the pioneer of genetic hunters, the champion of humanity. If I truly were to remember all their names, I'd drop dead of tiredness!"

Mu asked Zhang Lie curiously, "You've seen the grandmaster, Zhang Lie, haven't you? Just what kind of person is he? An amazing swordsman and fighter, or a tactician and master strategist?"

"As I said, he's an amazing fighter, who can summon wind and storm with just a finger!"

"The grandmaster is a tactician, one able to destroy a city with words alone!"

"How could the grandmaster be a mere tactician? He must be physically strong!"

"So what if he's a tactician? Could he become a grandmaster with brute strength alone?"

While the guests of the tavern naturally split up into two camps, Zhang Lie suddenly said, "Actually, you're both right. The grandmaster boasts impressive physical abilities and peerless intelligence, the quintessential combination of both aspects of humanity."

Upon hearing Zhang Lie's words, the crowd quieted down.

Zhang Lie continued, "If I had to describe him with a few adjectives... well, I found him particularly suave and dashing."