Chapter 500: Arrival of the Monarch of Stars

The monarch of stars had given it all, had become crazed from his efforts, had raged at the world—but everything he did seemed to magnify the difference between the ant that he was and the mountain he couldn't become.

And thus, the monarch of stars took a step along a forbidden path.

The monarch of stars gazed at the scarlet sun in the air and found it rapturing to behold.

If he couldn't become a mountain by himself, then he would become a force that could destroy that mountain.

Humans couldn't grow as large as mountains, of course, but they could destroy those mountains with dynamite. He found it ironic that he had gotten this inspiration from a lifeform he had considered beneath him—he had learned from a human that humans were able to create dynamite, interstellar spaceships, bombs with the ability to destroy heaven and earth. Even if they were hardly as strong as he was, they had the ability to destroy something even stronger.

The monarch of stars turned to research. After countless years, he slowly began to understand the soul, the spiritual matter that made up all lifeforms. His status as a sura king prolonged his life, and he spent those countless years studying, learning, and experimenting.

And once he understood the power of the soul, he came up with a new idea: to extract the soul and blood from the sura and to create a weapon with it. To accomplish that objective would require immense quantities of blood and spiritual matter, but that didn't dissuade the monarch of stars. The sura realm was full of life, after all.

Thus began his monstrous plan: to sacrifice all the sura living in three sura empires to create a weapon never before seen in the second realm.

With that weapon, he would be able to conquer the entirety of the sura—no, the entirety of the world!

He had heard from a human that there were realms beyond the sura realm. Once the sura realm was entirely his, once he had sacrificed everything within for the pursuit of his own power, he would advance into that realm and claim it as his own.

Wasn't he truly a genius? He might not be able to become a mountain, but he could claim the land as his own and destroy that mountain.

The monarch of stars walked out of the palace and welcomed the crimson sky. His gaze landed on the statue of the asura carved within the capital. He murmured, "Have I approached your stature?"

"We greet his majesty!" the kneeling officials cried out.

The monarch of stars nodded.

One elder cautiously raised his head. "Your majesty, the outcome—"

The monarch of stars revealed the compass in his hand, on which a scarlet sun shone. It burned with such flame, with such energy, that it seemed as though an entire galaxy was contained within.

The sura officials hailed their monarch. "His majesty is undefeatable! His majesty shall rule earth and sky!"

The monarch of stars stored the compass securely as he turned to face his officials. "I heard that there was a city that dared to provoke the empire of stars, that killed my nine sons."

"It's the human city of Renhuang, your majesty," one elder replied.

The monarch of stars nodded. "Good. Shall we test out this weapon on that city, then?"

The elder's eyes widened. "Your majesty, surely this isn't—"

As the monarch of stars whirled toward the elder with a glare, the elder immediately stopped short.

The monarch of stars began to smile. "I hope this so-called Renhuang isn't too weak, or this won't be interesting at all."

By that time, Renhuang had finished preparing for battle.

The Yeluo clan had produced as much poison as they could for the upcoming battle, and much of the clan had been working tirelessly for days on end. The hundreds of chests in front of them were the results of their labor.

Neither the Yeluo nor the wood spirits would participate in the battle, considering that their specialty was in production and manufacturing. ? Instead, they would have to continuously supply the fighters with shipments of potions and poison throughout the battle.

It had been some time since the empire of stars launched an invasion force against Renhuang, so Renhuang was surely mobilizing by now.

"In that case, I'll forestall them halfway and kill Renhuang's forces there."

Renhuang's troops would be an excellent testing ground for his new weapon. The monarch of stars grinned. "If they could kill my nine godsons, they clearly have some strength of their own."

As weak as his nine godsons might be, they had received his personal tutelage and skills. Although they would be no match for other sura monarchs, they were far stronger than ordinary sura kings.

When the monarch of stars destroyed Renhuang's forces in one fell swoop, the sura would tremble upon hearing his name, and everyone else would kneel.

Back on Earth, a group of people were slowly making their way toward the entrance to the Zenith Dojo. They were dressed in black and wore masks to conceal their identity.

"You're certain that Zhang Lie's sister is within the dojo?"

"Yes, I've confirmed it multiple times!"

"Let's wait until we receive news from the second realm. Once Zhang Lie's forces begin the fight, we'll act."

As Renhuang's forces marched toward the empire of stars, Zhang Lie suddenly felt a particularly dangerous aura around him. He raised an arm and motioned for the forces to halt.

Beside him, Sun Mengmeng asked, "What's going on, Captain?"

Zhang Lie stared up at the sky without speaking, perceiving a figure in the distance.

Suddenly, everything around them began to quake as a bloody beam of light descended on Renhuang's forces.

Zhang Lie flicked his wrist, ripples of energy spreading up his arm and condensing on his fist. "[Fists of the Silent Sea: Quake]!"

His technique clashed against the bloody light, causing a huge explosion in mid-air above Renhuang's forces.

"An enemy assault!" the hunters cried out, getting into defensive positions immediately.

"Hmm. You're the only interesting human among these forces."

The figure who had appeared out of thin air kept his gaze on Zhang Lie, who shot into the air and stared levelly back at him.

The middle-aged sura before him was wreathed in bloody light, casting his face in a malevolent tint. He had the aura and arrogance of the strong. The horns on his forehead marked him as a sura.

"If I'm not mistaken, you must be the monarch of stars," Zhang Lie surmised

The sura sighed and shook his head. "And you must be Renhuang's Zhang Lie. To be frank, I'm a little disappointed. I expected that the man who killed nine of my godsons would be more interesting, but are you really this weak?"

Zhang Lie laughed mockingly. "Ha! You baldy might not be all that strong, but you certainly have a big mouth."

"What?!" The monarch of stars brooked no disrespect, and he had never, in his entire life, been called a baldy. "You dare, human trash? Face your death!"

"All forces, retreat a hundred kilometers!" Zhang Lie's command rang out amidst a huge explosion of genetic energy.

"Yes, Captain!" Sun Mengmeng complied immediately, waving an arm as she guided the troops' evacuation. Their target wasn't the monarch of stars, and they would hardly be able to contribute in such a high-level fight. It would be pointless for them to remain...