Chapter 924: A Problem Resolved

The gravely wounded kings of the realm all looked toward the king of Chiyan, who was the strongest remaining king. The king of Chiyan himself wanted to flee, but he knew very well that if he tried to do so, he would be killed in a matter of moments.

"[Ninecarp Transformation]!" Zhang Lie activated his signature technique. Black genetic energy gushed out from beneath his feet.

A black serpent materialized from behind Zhang Lie's back, its genetic energy so condensed and concentrated it looked almost alive. It hissed at the gathered kings, causing their faces to turn ashen.

The king of Chiyan forced a smile. "You're indeed quite strong. I wonder how you compare to the fellow I defeated?

I've grown even stronger since, and I'm certain I won't lose out even to you!"

The king of Chiyan forced himself to think of Zhang Lie as an opponent he could defeat. Only then could he keep a tight rein on his emotions and prevent himself from panicking. If he were to ponder just how strong Zhang Lie really was, his mental state would immediately collapse.

He sent out another field of fiery waves, which covered the sky and seemed to be charged with strength.

Unlike before, however, hordes of sharks swam amidst the sea of fire.

Zhang Lie frowned. This technique that the king of Chiyan had demonstrated seemed somehow familiar—like Yang Ze's technique, or more accurately, an enhanced version of Yang Ze's technique that was subsequently adapted to the king of Chiyan's own framework.

It looked as though the king of Chiyan's fight with Yang Ze had been particularly influential in his development as a fighter.

"[Fists of the Silent Sea: Fade]!" Zhang Lie punched forward. The black serpent behind him shot forth toward the hordes of fiery sharks.

As it breached the waves, countless red sharks pounced toward its body, reviving from the flames after their death the same way that Yang Ze's sharks did.

The king of Chiyan even added his own flair to the attack.

After the flaming sharks tore off part of the serpent's body and consumed the mass of black genetic energy, they would explode, causing a second wave of damage to the serpent. Subsequently, the sharks would reform from the sea of flames.

The repeated explosions caused the serpent to writhe in pain, but the corrosive genetic energy that it possessed wasn't easy for the king of Chiyan to deal with, either. That corrosive energy was slowly but surely sapping away at the sea of flames; neither the black serpent nor the red sharks were truly winning the confrontation.

To augment his strength even further, Zhang Lie activated his dragonwolf soulshard. A hurricane of blood spawned around him.

The next moment, Zhang Lie charged through the sea of flames in a blood-red beam, destroying the sea whole and appearing in front of the king of Chiyan. With a single punch, he blew the king of Chiyan away—only to see that king morph into a bundle of flames.

Zhang Lie was very surprised, but it was evident that the king he had struck was no more than a clone made of flames.

The king of Chiyan had, by then, moved far away. He held his arms high above his head as scarlet flames wrapped around his body and turned him into a scarlet sun, one which dyed the entire sky a lurid red.

The scarlet sun morphed into a huge dragonwhale, which swallowed up Zhang Lie.

Subsequently, the scarlet sun exploded, sending flames roaring into the sky. The entire battlefield was consumed by the flames; surely no one could survive the attack.

Before the king of Chiyan could be gratified by his success, however, a voice came from behind.

"Aren't you going to celebrate after killing one of my clones?"

The voice sounded nightmarish to the king of Chiyan. He turned immediately, but just as he reacted, a claw pierced through his chest.

The king of Chiyan's eyes bulged. He had seen his attack swallow Zhang Lie whole! How had Zhang Lie made a reappearance?

Zhang Lie smiled coldly. "Do you really think I would be incapable of identifying the mirage hidden behind your sea of flames?"

As fresh blood dyed the king of Chiyan's chest red, Zhang Lie continued, "Ah, I forgot to tell you, didn't I? I taught Yang Ze most of his techniques."

Zhang Lie had fought against Yang Ze countless times, and he was intimately familiar with the mirages that Yang Ze would create with his water-attuned genetic energy. It was laughable that the king of Chiyan would dare to try similar techniques on him, but he was happy to play along with the king of Chiyan for a bit.

Scarlet flames erupted from the king of Chiyan's body, but Zhang Lie stood amidst the flames as though they weren't present, as though he was immune to their heart.

The king of Chiyan shouted, "What are all of you doing? We can't back down now. The tumors and viruses are already invading our worlds—they won't let us go even if we surrender or flee!"

The kings of the realm, realizing the truth of the king of Chiyan's words, pounced toward Zhang Lie.

Zhang Lie shook his head. "It's all useless! Gold Comet, I'll leave the rest to you."

A golden beam shot through the air, leaving lines of red across the necks of many a king of the realm.

The next moment, their heads fell off their bodies—even to their death, they were unaware of what had happened to them. Their bodies continued to rush forward for brief moments before their momentum drained away.

Gold Comet waved its scythes, boredom showing through its gaze. It was rather dissatisfied with its first battle after its ascension—its opponents were too weak.

The warlords stared at Gold Comet in shock. None of them had noticed its arrival because Zhang Lie was so eye-catching. Everyone's attention had focused on Zhang Lie, not realizing that Gold Comet was almost as strong as Zhang Lie himself.

There were at least a dozen kings of large worlds before them, and a few dozen kings of medium-sized worlds. Gold Comet had slaughtered them all in less than a second, so fast the warlords hadn't been able to catch its movements.

Gold Comet found these kings of the realm far too weak to be worth fighting against, but to the warlords, the coalition force had been a burdensome enemy. All of them working together had barely been able to hold the warlords back, but Gold Comet had dispatched them all in less than a second. It boasted tremendous attack power and overwhelming speed.

Xing Ying was the first to react. "Could that be what the champion of mankind once told us about...? A post-disaster-grade lifeform...?"

Upon hearing Xing Ying's shocked murmurs, the warlords present at the scene were even more surprised. They stared at Gold Comet with awe.

The fact that a post-disaster-grade lifeform had made an appearance meant that there were surely corresponding gene fragments to be obtained. They hadn't yet finished acquiring their disaster gene fragments, and now there was already another evolution beyond that...

The warlords didn't know what to think anymore with regards to Zhang Lie. The disparity between them and Zhang Lie was simply too large. No one present was a match for Gold Comet; they had to finish collecting disaster gene fragments before worrying about anything beyond that.

Upon witnessing the slaughter of the kings of his coalition, the king of Chiyan's eyes turned flaming red. He howled in anger, "Just what have we done? Why do you insist on killing us all?!"

Zhang Lie didn't dress his words. "Weakness is tantamount to original sin. Either submit or die—I'll allow you to choose that much, at least."

"I'll kill you!" The king of Chiyan had gone mad from anger. Power burst from his body—he tried to self-destruct and bring Zhang Lie down with him.

"No, I don't think so." Before the king of Chiyan could completely self-destruct, Zhang Lie beheaded him.