Chapter 850: The Four Great Lords

Li Qianlin flushed crimson. "Father!"

The success of the merger of the two worlds made Li Zongming very pleased. "You deserve at least half the merit—no, three quarters!—for facilitating the process. Without your help, the two worlds couldn't have merged, and we would all have suffered a terrible calamity."

Now that the calamity was over, new life would flourish, and the world of the east, now the Zongming world, would grow even stronger than before.

Zhang Lie asked, "What do you plan to do about the xuluo?"

Li Zongming had been intending to grant Zhang Lie a prize or award, but it seemed that Zhang Lie didn't much care for anything that Li Zongming could provide him.

Zhang Lie continued, "The xuluo belong to a superior world, and it's not likely that they would give up on trying to claim this one for themselves. The next time they come, their numbers will be even larger than before."

Zhang Lie's words struck Li Zongming like a bucket of cold water, depleting him of his excitement.

Li Zongming shook his head. "I can't think of any other approach but to resist them head-on."

The Zongming world was a new superior world, and it hardly had the reserves that an ancient world like the xuluo world did.

The eastern elites had perished almost the moment they encountered the xuluo troops; heaven's might was too potent a power, and they had no defenses against it.

If not for Zhang Lie, the two worlds wouldn't have been able to combine and evolve, and he, Li Zongming, would have perished. In some sense, his life was beholden to Zhang Lie.

"I have never intended to give up. Even if they come at me with all their strength, I shall live and die with the world itself." Li Zongming took a deep breath. "You don't need to do the same. Leave with Qianlin, please."

Li Qianlin's eyes widened. "Father—!"

𝐟𝕣𝗲𝕖𝕨𝗲𝐛𝗻𝗼𝐯𝗲𝚕.𝗰𝚘𝐦

Li Zongming raised an arm, preventing Li Qianlin from speaking further.

Zhang Lie shook his head. "It would be a pity for this newly minted superior world to be annihilated. I may have a solution."

"What solution?"

"The xuluo king was able to create a wormhole linking the xuluo world to this one. Are you able to do the same?"

Li Zongming mulled it over for a moment, and then his eyes lit up. "Before the evolution, definitely not. Now, however, I have this authority. When the xuluo king forcibly opened a wormhole to this world, it left the coordinates to the xuluo world behind: when you look into the abyss, the abyss looks back at you."

Zhang Lie nodded. "It'll be easy, then. I'll head over and kill the xuluo king!"

Li Zongming sucked in a deep breath. "Can you do it?" The opponent was none other than a king of a superior world!

Zhang Lie smiled. "I'm not sure, but given my current strength, even if I can't kill the king, I doubt he'd be able to trap me there."

Li Zongming nodded. "Give me some time to familiarize myself with my authority first."

"Very well!"

Within the xuluo world, the sea of blood frothed.

"Why have you sought me out? I was enjoying my sleep," a humongous black figure spoke. The sea of blood frothed and shook with every word. Blood-red lightning flashed through the bloody skies. The black figure drew near; its appearance would have made anyone gasp. It was large and tall, so tall its head seemed to broach the sky.

Its name was Qiantuo, one of the four great xuluo lords like Pozhi.

Another xuluo approached, with four eyes and four arms, carrying four suns and moons in its four palms. It strode above the surface of the water, a long dragon's tail behind it. The blood-red suns and moons caused the sea of blood to shine in eerie red light. Flames raged on its head, and horns grew out of it. This was the xuluo lord Luohou.

Just then, the sea began to surge once more. Another massive figure appeared, the size of a continent. It had nine heads, each wreathed with blood-colored flowers whose petals gave off a rotting stench. The flowers shook, revealing the sharp teeth hidden in the bud at their centers. Some sort of clear, viscous liquid dripped from those buds.

Each of its nine heads had thousands of eyes, and it had eight spidery appendages. Nine hundred and ninety-nine hands grew haphazardly out of its body, giving it a frightening appearance. The spiderlike creature stood up, making it apparent that it was at least four times the size of Qiantuo and Luohou.

"Vemacitrin." Qiantuo and Luohou both bowed down toward the nine-headed spider, the oldest of the four xuluo lords. Although they were all great lords in title, Vemacitrin had another identity: the son of heaven's might.

Three of the four great lords had assembled.

Vemacitrin glanced around itself, flames shooting out of its mouth as it spoke. "Where's Pozhi? He's never been late before."

The sea of blood roiled as Feitian emerged from the depths of the sea. Qiantuo and Luohou immediaely knelt, and even Vemacitrin lowered its nine heads. "Forefather!"

Feitian's words stunned the three lords. "Pozhi is dead."

"What?!" Vemacitrin cried out, "Impossible! We are in no conflict with the other superior worlds. The death spirits' war is still a decade away."

Feitian continued, "Recently, a world evolved into a superior world."

"A new superior world!" Vemacitrin, Qiantuo, and Luohou's eyes shone with greed.

"Forefather, you mean that Pozhi was killed by the defenders of this world?" Vemacitrin's voice was like peals of thunder. As it spoke, lightning flashed in the sky.

Feitian nodded.

Luohou frowned. "A new superior world—how could it boast the strength to kill Pozhi?"

Vemacitrin nodded. "Among us four, weak and young though he might be, Pozhi is at least as strong as the king of a large world. It would be trivial for him to deal with a newly ascended superior king with heaven's might."

One of the four lords had recently perished in the frontlines, and Pozhi had been his replacement. There were large gradations in strength even among the four heavenly lords, and Pozhi was far removed from the other three.

Pozhi called Feitian "your highness", whereas Qiantuo and Luohou called him "forefather." This was because Qiantuo and Luohou were related to Feitian by blood and within ten generations; Pozhi, on the other hand, was far too many generations away from Feitian to count.

"An accident must have occurred during the xuluo invasion. Qiantuo and Luohou, the two of you will head to this new superior world and claim it for the xuluo. The death of Pozhi leaves an opening among the four great lords. I think Fuzhang has had enough time to rest, by this point."

Vemacitrin's eyes brightened. "Is Fuzhang returning?"

"I've summoned him back already."