Chapter 394: Another Elder Slain

The sura elder thundered, "Those other races were right, you humans truly need to be taught a lesson. How dare you make us wait! If you aren't willing to hand Zhang Lie over, we'll head into the city ourselves and drag him out!"

The sura began to laugh.

"I really don't know what gave you weaklings the courage to try to stand up to us."

"We would be able to destroy your city with a flick of our fingers!"

Glancing at the sura king still hanging on the city wall, the sura fighters could hardly wait to charge forward and slaughter their fill of the humans within.

"Your majesty, please, command us to level this city!" an elder exhorted.

"No, I don't think I will. Wouldn't it be boring to level it? I like the look of this city, so I think I'll keep it as a vacation spot."

The elder gaped at the sura king. "But—"

Just then, a black streak of light flashed across the sky. "Who's looking for me?"

The sura glanced up at the man in the sky as the elder frowned and asked, "Who are you?"

"You wanted to find me despite not knowing what I look like?"

"You're Zhang Lie?"

"Indeed, I am!"

"Come down here. Our king has summoned you to an audience!"

"Have him come up here and meet me, then!"

"You—insolence! How dare you disrespect our king!"

"We humans are hardly subjects of the sura."

The elder narrowed his eyes. "I've heard about you from the other races. It looks like you're truly as arrogant as they claim!"

"So what if I am?"

"Then I'll knock you down your pedestal!" the elder cried out. A scepter materialized in his hand as a bloody mist began to fill the air.

The sura fighters began to laugh.

"Haha, the elder's going to destroy this foolish man! Doesn't he know of the disparity between human and sura? He won't get away with saying those kinds of things to us!"

"There are a few sura like him, aren't there? They're arrogant despite being weaklings themselves, so it's not surprising that we'll find their like among the humans."

"Does he really think he can take us on because he managed to take down these other races? He thinks far too highly of himself!"

Just then, Zhang Lie struck. He limited himself to two quick actions: drawing his sword, then sheathing it again. A flash of sword energy speared through the mist and bisected the scepter in the elder's hand, along with the elder's body itself.

The sura fell silent.

In a gigantic caravan following the fighters' procession, a voice boomed, "I've seen the technique you used before—it's nothing interesting!"

The speaker of the voice recognized another sura elder which had been bisected in a similar manner. A sura outfitted in black armor, his features stern and cold, with the aura of a peerless fighter, stepped out of the caravan.

One look was sufficient for Zhang Lie to be certain that this was yet another sura king, one that very well could be stronger than the sura king Zhang Lie had defeated.

Zhang Lie frowned. "For what reason have you come, sura king?"

Zhang Lie didn't think a sura king would deign to make an appearance just to crush a human city. The incident with the previous sura king had been a fluke, and Zhang Lie certainly didn't want a repeat of what had happened.

"I'm here to claim you for myself, of course," the sura king replied.

Zhang Lie: ? ? ?

"You were the one who caught the sura king hanging on the wall, weren't you?"

"Yes, I was. Why? Do you want to try it for yourself?" Zhang Lie retorted.

Zhang Lie knew that trussing up the sura king would bring reprisal from the sura, but that was part of his plan.

"And you were the one who claimed all the enemy races' neighboring territories for Qi, weren't you?"

"Yes, of course," Zhang Lie replied. "So what?"

"In that case, I want you."

Zhang Lie: ! ! !

Zhang Lie folded his arms. "You want to claim me as a concubine?"

The sura surrounding the king howled in outrage, "What?! How dare you! Who do you think you are to deserve to be one of the sura king's concubines? Even if he were to choose a concubine, it would be a sura female—never a human male!"

Zhang Lie sighed in relief, but the sura king's gaze swept up and down Zhang Lie's body. "Actually, I wouldn't mind."

Zhang Lie: ! ! !

"I would," Zhang Lie clarified.

The sura king spread his arms. "Fortunately, my main purpose was to recruit you as my subordinate."

Zhang Lie grimaced. "Why would I ever accept?"

A sura guard yelled out, "Are you looking down on our liege? He's personally come out here in an attempt to recruit you—you should consider yourself lucky!"

"Right, aren't you thankful? If not for the king refusing to command us to attack the city, we would have leveled it long ago!"

"Can you even imagine how much your status will rise going from a lowly human to the subordinate of our highness himself? You must be addled in the head to not take advantage of this opportunity!"

The sura king continued, "If you're willing to become my subordinate, I will place Qi under my protection, and none shall be able to invade. If you refuse, on the other hand..."

"No one has the qualifications to make me their subordinate," Zhang Lie refused flatly.

The sura king raised his head to the skies and began to laugh. "Haha, it's been quite a few years since anyone dared to speak to me in that manner. You're a very interesting fellow, but unfortunately, as a member of the sura, I can't countenance the fact that you've hung a sura king on your city wall. I'll give you one last chance: become my subordinate."

Zhang Lie refused once again. "Scram!"

The sura king's eyes gleamed coldly as he waved an arm. "Very well. Men, get ready to strike. Level this city to the ground!"

The sura fighters began to laugh. "Haha, you ignorant fool! Let the ruins of this city be your grave!"