Chapter 969: An Oration of War

Zhang Lie patted Li Qianlin. "Don't worry. I'm not so weak that I'd lose to these death spirits. We'll surely win this war—but let's not talk about the war for today."

After chatting with Li Qianlin for a while, Zhang Lie returned to the palace.

"How's the attendance so far?" he asked Li Zongming.

"Roughly 70% of all worlds have already sent their troops over. Have the draconian world's forces arrived yet?"

Zhang Lie looked toward the outskirts of the palace. "I think it's about time."

Li Zongming ?walked outside the palace. "It feels as though a massive army is making their way here."

A hubbub rang out from a nearby wormhole as a huge army arrived. Each warrior was mounted on a genetic lifeform, and the number of warriors present shocked all the other aliens who had gathered.

Zhang Lie's gaze landed on the disaster-grade multicolored dragon as he smiled. "Here they are."

Li Zongming glanced at them. "Very good. The main forces have a flair and panache that wouldn't lose out to a superior world's forces."

The draconian world's army proceeded to the staging area, guided by representatives from the Zongming world.

"Aren't you going to meet with them?" Li Zongming asked.

Zhang Lie shook his head. "The war's about to start. There's no need."

Even more troops arrived from another wormhole. Li Zongming remarked with surprise, "It looks like you're not the only world bringing so many troops."

A huge army poured out from that wormhole, each fighter's eyes burning with hatred. Zhang Lie recognized that that army came from the scaleman world.

A boggling number of fighters had gathered in the Zongming world. Even if each world only supplied a thousand fighters, Li Zongming's jurisdiction extended over three hundred worlds—giving rise to a massive army of 300,000.

Li Zongming hadn't established a quota for the number of fighters to be supplied by each world, but it looked as though the worlds had supplied an average of three thousand fighters each. In other words, Li Zongming had gathered an army almost a million strong.

When the flow of fighters into the world slowed to a trickle, Li Zongming stepped forward and ascended into the air. He hovered above the staging area, his voice echoing and resounding through the whole of the Zongming world.

"I believe all of you are familiar with the enemy we face in this war: demons who are attempting to take over the realm. One world's strength alone is insufficient to stop these demons, and we have to work together to prevent them from taking over and destroying our worlds. We have to fight together, to resist the incursion of the death spirits..."

Li Zongming had prepared a passionate speech that dramatically raised the fighters' morale.

"We cannot allow the death spirit king to realize his ambitions. The realm consists of three thousand worlds, of millions and billions of lifeforms—all of whom will perish if the death spirit king succeeds. He'll devour the wills of our worlds, converting all of us into black spirits, a fate worse than death. We have to prevent this tragedy from unfolding."

The most passionate among the fighters were undoubtedly those that had come from the scaleman world. Many of the fighters had been victims of the black spirits' invasion, and they had personally experienced the destruction the death spirit king planned to wreak.

"Destroy the death spirits! Kill the death spirit king!" the scaleman fighters shouted.

The other aliens, roused by the atmosphere, echoed, "Destroy the death spirits! Kill the death spirit king!"

"Destroy the death spirits! Kill the death spirit king!"

Their voices echoed through the sky.

Li Zongming clasped both hands behind his back. As the fighters' emotions soared, he waved a hand and invoked his authority as the king to establish a wide passage.

Zhang Lie appeared behind Li Zongming and shouted, "Warlords, gather!"

"Yes, Captain!" The warlords of the draconian world stepped forward.

Li Zongming nodded. "Forces of the Zongming world, gather!"

As Li Zongming's voice echoed through the air, tens of thousands of forces from the Zongming world gathered. Zhang Lie glanced at them. Although they had suffered greatly during the xuluo invasion, they had recovered and grown stronger in the two years since.

Li Zongming declared, "In the upcoming war, you'll listen to Zhang Lie's commands and fight alongside his warlords. If he commands you to die, you die without any hesitation. Do you understand?"

"Yes, your majesty!" the Zongming world's fighters chorused.

They had personally witnessed Zhang Lie defending the Zongming world, and many of the fighters treated him like an idol.

Li Zongming patted Zhang Lie's shoulder. "Be careful on the battlefield."

Zhang Lie rolled his eyes. "Don't worry, I'm stronger than you are. Nothing will happen to me."

Li Zongming was like a father watching his son go to war. "Be careful of the death spirits and death spirit king—but be even more careful of our supposed 'allies'. None of the other superior worlds are trustworthy. Betray them if you find an opportunity, but above all, make sure you come back safely."

"I understand," Zhang Lie replied. It was he who had emphasized to Li Zongming once and again that the death spirits' enemies weren't necessarily allies.

"In that case," Li Zongming replied, turning and shouting toward the gathered forces, "we set off immediately!"

With a wave of his hand, the forces began marching toward the wormhole.

"Warlords and troops of the Zongming world, follow me!" Zhang Lie was the first to step into the wormhole, followed swiftly by the warlords and Zongming forces. The aliens followed in a long trail behind them.

The huge wormhole that appeared before their eyes would lead them straight from the Zongming world to the frontlines of the battlefield.

The captain of the Zongming forces walked up to Zhang Lie. "Prince Consort, would you be willing to give me an autograph! I'm a fan of yours, and I'm very grateful you protected our world on our behalf. Without you, the Zongming world would have been destroyed."

Zhang Lie nodded. "Prince consort—who told you to call me that?"

The Zongming captain replied, "His majesty told us to. Do you dislike the term, Commander?"

"Ah—I suppose it's alright. Where do you want the autograph?"

The Zongming captain puffed up his chest. "On my armor, please!"

Zhang Lie extended a finger. With his genetic energy, he engraved his name on the armor.

"Us too, us too!" The other Zongming warriors, seeing that Zhang Lie was down to earth and perfectly willing to interact with lowly fighters like them, immediately badgered him for an autograph as well.

By the time Zhang Lie finished giving everyone an autograph, they were at the exit to the wormhole.

Zhang Lie was initially surprised that the exit of the wormhole led to another world. When he drew closer, he realized that it was instead the remnants of a shattered battlefield.

Huge chunks of rock and stone floated in the void like debris. Forests and rivers had been destroyed, and countless battered weapons were scattered through the space. There were clear signs that a battle had taken place, but no corpses to be found in sight.

The shattered battlefield before them couldn't have been formed by the annihilation of one or two worlds—there had to be at least three to five in the vicinity that had all been destroyed. This battlefield might even be the ruins of Blood Heaven, the world of the blood king, who had fallen to the death spirits...