Chapter 963: Filled Coffers

The decaying king had promised fifty-to-one odds because he expected the king of keys to pay up on the extremely slim chance that the Zongming world would win—he had no intention of coughing up the world's energy himself.

The solar king sighed.

As expected.?After their unexpected loss, he knew that the king of keys wasn't about to pay thirty superior worlds' worth of energy on their behalf—and they were dragged into the mess involuntarily.

The solar king had been unwilling to admit to the terms of the bet not just because he disliked Li Zongming and envied his ultimate victory, but also because he knew he would end up taking responsibility for the bet.

The solar king, the decaying king, the ice queen, and the king of black fog were all annoyed with the outcome to varying extents, but what could they do?

The king of keys was the most ancient of the superior kings, and it was doubtful that even the four of them working together would be able to overcome the king of keys.

The king of keys suggested, "The Zongming world's bet is worth roughly thirty superior worlds' worth of energy. I'll pay fifteen, and the five of you will pay three each. What say you?"

The solar king sighed glumly as he looked at the king of keys.

"Your majesty—"

The solar king, the decaying king, and the ice queen barely stopped themselves from spitting blood. Three superior worlds' worth of energy—this would be a difficult burden to bear indeed.

Zhang Lie nodded with a smile. "I'll naturally accept your suggestion, king of keys."

The king of keys continued, "However, it'll be difficult for these kings to pay you the full amount immediately. If they do so, their worlds will be severely degraded, and their strength will fall. This won't serve us well for the upcoming battle."

The solar king, the decaying king, and the ice queen each nodded immediately.

The king of keys continued, "I propose that the superior energy they owe be taken from the death spirits."

Zhang Lie clarified, "You mean—"

The king of keys explained, "The spoils of war we claim from the death spirits after the end of the war, including our share of their superior world's energy, shall be used to defray this debt."

"And if it's insufficient?" Zhang Lie asked.

The king of keys smiled. "Do not underestimate the death spirits. The world of the blood king, which they've now captured, is a world that has existed since antiquity. It alone possesses six superior worlds' worth of energy, and the death spirits themselves have at least twelve superior worlds' worth of energy to their name. That's eighteen in all—and I'll handle whatever's still lacking."

The solar king, the decaying king, the ice queen, and the king of black fog might have been dissatisfied with this conclusion, but there was nothing they could do about it, and they were willing to defer to the king of keys.

"In that case, I'm satisfied."

Zhang Lie had never expected that the superior kings would be so generous as to hand over the superior world's energy immediately.

The king of keys continued, "Now that the Zongming world's challenge is over, it's time for us to discuss the main topic of the meeting.

"The death spirits have the ability to convert warriors that fall in battle to death spirits and black spirits. It would be far too devastating for our worlds alone to resist the death spirits' incursion. The death spirits intend to take over the third realm as a whole, and the entire realm should be responsible for defending against the death spirits."

The solar king nodded. "Quite so, your majesty! We superior worlds certainly shouldn't have to serve as vanguards alone while the large, medium-sized, and small worlds relax and do nothing."

The decaying king sneered. "These worlds might even stab us in the back while we're fighting against the death spirits."

The king of keys nodded. "As such, I intend to mobilize all large and medium-sized worlds in the third realm as well. Each world will prepare a fighting force commensurate with their status and participate in the offensive against the death spirits."

The solar king added seriously, "The death spirits are enemies to the whole of the third realm. Any worlds they invade are stripped of all life, and we're all responsible for stopping them."

Zhang Lie and Li Zongming did not comment on the matter. They had expected that the superior kings would try to do something of this nature.

The other superior kings all approved of the king of keys' plan. Li Zongming asked, "What if a world refuses the order?"

The solar king smiled with his teeth. "Then we'll make an example of that world."

.

With the meeting concluded, the various kings turned to leave. Before they did so, Li Zongming felt an acute pain in his back. He whirled around to see five superior kings standing before their exits from this world, each of whom were glaring daggers at Li Zongming.

The solar king's eyes were as blinding as rays of sunlight. Solar flares swirled into existence around him, and the ten suns of this world emitted a blinding glow. If not for the fact that they had to face the death spirits in the immediate future, the solar king might already have attacked him.

The ice queen's eyes were chilling and filled with frost. A blizzard gathered around her, and her eyes were so severe that it seemed as though she wanted to freeze Li Zongming solid with nothing but her gaze.

The decaying king's body writhed. The king of black fog was still surrounded by mysterious black fog, but it seemed as though there were a piercing gaze coming from within.

Eyes grew out of the gray fluid that formed the king of evil's body. As one, they all turned toward Li Zongming, causing the hairs on his body to rise. The king of evil squirmed as gray matter in the form of malformed creatures split off from its body before being devoured again. Limbs without bodies, rolling heads, struggling kidney-shaped objects with gills, and other such monstrosities shrieked in Li Zongming's direction.

Li Zongming walked off hastily as he handed over his winnings to Zhang Lie. "You won all this energy, whereas I did nothing. Take it all—once the war against the death spirits is over, we'll be rich."

Li Zongming could afford to be generous in light of his future fortune.

Zhang Lie smirked. "Do you really think we can obtain all that energy?"

Li Zongming frowned. "You think the king of keys will cheat us?"

Zhang Lie shook his head. "The king of keys would never stoop to such a level. His plans are never so vulgar."

Li Zongming frowned. "What do you mean?"

"If we do make it out of the offensive against the death spirits alive, we'll likely be able to claim all that superior world's energy—but there's a problem."

"What's that?" Li Zongming asked.

"You've seen how much the kings who lost the bet hate us, haven't you?"

Li Zongming recalled the gazes of those five kings as he walked out of the meeting room. It was evident they wanted to dismember his body, skin him, slice his flesh up into thin strips, add garlic, ginger, and onion, fry him over intense heat, and swallow him whole.

Zhang Lie smiled at Li Zongming. "Well?"

Li Zongming clarified, "You mean that the king of keys is trying to incite a fight between us and the other superior kings?"