Chapter 719: Father-in-Law

"Undefeatable? I think not!" Ripples of air formed around Zhang Lie's arm, growing more and more intense as Zhang Lie combined spatial force with his water-attuned genetic energy.

Zhang Lie's aura rose rapidly. The water-attuned genetic energy swirling around him condensed around his arm, kneading space as though it were nothing more than paper. summoning what seemed to be a massive whirlwind.

The king of the west's guards were the first to leap forward. As they did so, a flood of genetic energy overwhelmed them, propelling them into the distance as Mt. Yun shook violently.

A frightening wave of energy erupted from the collision, annihilating the king of the west's guards. Even the ones that were further away fell from the skies and landed among hordes of superior- and peak-grade lifeforms, and they were unlikely to make it out alive.

The rest of Zhang Lie's attack struck at the top of Mt. Yun, sending flower petals and gold foil scattering through the air. Buildings of wood and stone collapsed, and the stage, a gigantic red heart, tore in two.

Li Qianlin's gown glowed with radiance, shielding her from the attack—anything less would be an insult to a disaster-grade defensive-type soulshard, after all.

"Do you know what you're doing?!" Li Zongming shouted, diverting the flood with one arm. As his palm formed a fist, he continued, "You're making the entire world your enemy."

"[Fists of the Silent Sea: Quake]! The entire world, you say? Hah! For her, it'd be a shame not to do that much!"

Zhang Lie's eyes sparkled with his pronouncement. Waves of water erupted from him, shaking heaven and earth. His punch met Li Zongming's head-on, shattering space around them.

𝗳𝗿𝐞𝕖𝘄𝗲𝕓𝗻𝚘𝚟𝕖𝐥.𝚌𝕠𝕞

"[Rune: Control]!" Zhang Lie raised an arm into the air and sent the gravity and anti-gravity tablets crashing down by the king of the east's side. Black ripples emanated from the two gravity-altering tablets, forming a localized region of distorted gravity.

Li Zongming, sensing the shift in gravity, corrected it with the wave of an arm, but just as he defended against Zhang Lie's move, Zhang Lie struck once more.

"[Fists of the Silent Sea: Soar]!" Zhang Lie's technique possessed such strength it made the very air warp. Ripples of energy spread out all around him, forming a sea of chaos.

Li Zongming slashed forward with his palm like a blade, tearing apart Zhang Lie's technique.

"[Rune: Resonate]!" Zhang Lie raised an arm into the air and sent the two sealing tablets crashing down. The tablets began to resonate at the same time. Golden script appeared on their surfaces, sending ripples out around them that restricted the flow of energies both physical and mental.

Li Zongming's control over the world suddenly weakened, and the sea of chaos Zhang Lie marshaled came roaring back at full force.

"[Fists of the Silent Sea: Fade]!" Zhang Lie summoned a serpent, thousands of meters long, with a massive infusion of genetic energy, one whose body was so long its head was up in the clouds.

Li Zongming leapt up with a fist, punching the serpent's lower jaw. The serpent retaliated with a sweep of its long tail as Li Zongming vanished from where he stood and appeared behind Zhang Lie in the very next moment.

As though he had predicted it, Zhang Lie was waiting for him with Guicang unsheathed. "The spatial fluctuations in the air betrayed your presence."

Li Zongming clearly hadn't expected that Zhang Lie would be able to see through his teleportation ability, and he allowed Zhang Lie to get a clean hit in through the armor on his shoulder.

As the king of the east and a superlative fighter, this was a clear blow to his reputation.

"Father!" Li Qianlin shouted in worry.

Ignoring the blow, Li Zongming punched Zhang Lie with a thump that resounded through the skies, but Zhang Lie took not a single step back. Just like Li Zongming, he allowed the hit to land as he slashed forward with his blade.

"[The Boundless Blade: Yawning Wave]!" The sword strike was dull and plain, but Li Zongming felt an overwhelming sense of danger. He immediately retreated, but it was too late.

Overwhelming energy, as vast as the sea, swallowed him up, crushing space around him. Li Zongming was unable to make a move before he was overwhelmed.

Time stilled for a moment. Then, a golden ball of energy formed where the king of the realm stood, a golden sun that shone so brightly it tore apart the sea of power surrounding Zhang Lie. The entire sea turned golden and was cut apart by the beams of light.

The skies were all dyed golden.

As a king of the realm—and of a large world at that—Li Zongming could hardly fall so easily to a simple attack from Zhang Lie. Mere moments before the blow landed, he protected himself by drawing on the power of the world.

Even so, he was unable to negate the force of the attack completely. His carefully styled hair for his daughter's wedding had become a mess, and blood seeped out of a corner of his mouth.

Li Qianlin was extremely surprised to see her father injured. In her memories, her father was invincible. Even against the king of the west, Duan Zisuan, he rarely sported an injury—and he had never been injured on his own territory, the world of the east.

Li Zongming reined in his disdain for the aliens of the Milky Way. His face turned serious. "I respect your strength, and you are indeed stronger than the aliens I've had to put down to date, but even so, I'm the king of the realm!"

The golden sun brightened to a painstaking degree. As though a god were descending from the heavens, the air turned scorching hot, and the rays of sunlight broke through the cloud cover like blades.

"Hah! If you weren't my father-in-law, I would have put even more force into the attack." Zhang Lie didn't fear anything the king of the realm could throw at him. An underworld river materialized in the sky, one so vast the entire world could see it.

As though the gates to hell had been opened and all sorts of vile ghouls and spirits were rushing out, the atmosphere darkened and a chilly wind swept past them all.

The rays of sunlight attempted to penetrate the river, but the river absorbed all that sunlight and only grew larger instead.

Li Zongming howled. A hundred thousand rays of sunlight materialized into a saber of light that struck the river directly. Half the sky was shining; the other half was pitch-black.

Neither side seemed about to back down.

The guests gathered atop Mt. Yun were shocked by the scale of the battle. How could this mysterious stranger who had stolen the bride of the wedding be able to fight the king of the realm on equal footing on his homeworld?

"You seem to be able to control the natural law of this world to some extent, but those are all puny tricks in comparison to what I can do as the king of the realm!"

While Li Zongming and Zhang Lie were facing off, Li Zongming activated his authority as the king of the realm, warping gravity and space around Zhang Lie...