The genetic lifeform had almost reached the point of condensing a disaster-grade core, and it was only one step away.
The moment that core condensed fully, the lifeform would ascend into disaster-grade.
This genetic lifeform was particularly interesting. It existed simultaneously aboveground and belowground—but the part aboveground was a disguise for that belowground. Zhang Lie had initially been tricked by the disguise.
With its core exposed, the genetic lifeform instantly began to panic. It waved its feelers around in an explosion of lightning.
"[Shadow and Light]!"
Zhang Lie whirled around. Time suddenly sped up in his vicinity.
His sword slashes struck so quickly they could barely be seen, slicing off countless roots. Even before the lightning attack finished, Guicang had struck the lifeform's core, causing an explosion of lightning as the lifeform roared.
Zhang Lie next struck with Hanguang, tearing apart the last remnants of the roots and hence the core.
The will of the realm's voice rang out in Zhang Lie's head.
[You successfully killed a peak-grade lightning snake octopus. By consuming the flesh of the peak-grade lightning snake octopus, you may receive one to ten peak gene fragments.]
The other genetic lifeforms, trembling from Zhang Lie's might, all fled in fear. The hunters cheered.
"[Syzygy]!"
A pitch-black sun appeared behind Zhang Lie, and a blood moon by his feet. His aura was magnified tenfold, and a halo of black sun appeared above his forehead. Natural law seemed to warp around him. Runes likewise appeared on the bloody moon by his feet, forming an intricate array.
Struck by the bloody moonlight, the outskirts of the city grew dim. The genetic lifeforms slowed down dramatically. Under the black sun, the fluctuations in Zhang Lie's genetic energy were enhanced.
Zhang Lie crossed his twin blades. The blood moon resonated with the blade in his left hand, and the black sun with the blade in his right. He simultaneously slashed forward with both blades, forming a huge celestial web and snaring the fleeing lifeforms.
[You successfully killed a superior-grade inkrune tiger. By consuming the flesh of the superior-grade inkrune tiger, you may receive one to ten superior gene fragments.]
[You successfully killed a superior-grade blackscale leopard. By consuming the flesh of the superior-grade blackscale leopard, you may receive one to ten superior gene fragments.]
[You successfully killed a superior-grade madhowl lion. By consuming the flesh of the superior-grade madhowl lion, you may receive one to ten superior gene fragments.]
The genetic hunters within the city, understanding Zhang Lie's intent, rushed out of the city to attack the retreating lifeforms.
From afar, Zhang Lie had seen that the city was clearly constructed in the architectural style of the Milky Way, and it was therefore an ally.
Lin Lingfeng walked up to Zhang Lie with her subordinates. She bowed and said respectfully, "Greetings, Senior. Thank you for your assistance. Otherwise, this city would have suffered a terrible fate."
Zhang Lie asked, "Are you the leader of this gathering point?"
"I am, Senior." Lin Lingfeng bowed again.
Her companion began, "Senior, you—I feel as though I've seen you somewhere before."
Lin Lingfeng turned to her companion in surprise. "You know each other?"
Zhang Lie shook his head. "I just ascended to the fourth realm, and wouldn't know any hunters within."
Lin Lingfeng's companion suddenly gasped, clutching her mouth in shock. "I know who you are now! You're the Heavenly Monarch Zhang Lie!"
"The Heavenly Monarch Zhang Lie?!" Lin Lingfeng exclaimed.
The nearby genetic hunters, overhearing their conversation, began to murmur to each other.
Zhang Lie corrected, "I'm Zhang Lie, not some Heavenly Monarch or what have you."
Lin Lingfeng's companion smiled. "Heavenly Monarch is a title that those hunters of the Milky Way use to refer to you, in addition to, say, Zenith King, Champion of Humanity, King Zenith, the Limit King, and so on. There are all sorts of nicknames, but I personally prefer Heavenly Monarch."
The other hunters were shocked.
"It really is the Heavenly Monarch Zhang Lie!"
"What Heavenly Monarch?"
"Haven't you been back to the Milky Way recently? You don't even know of Zhang Lie! He's the one who discovered how to absorb disaster-grade cores and who came up with limit-breaking potions!"
"So our savior's a hunter, not an alien?"
"I thought it was an alien myself—when did we hunters grow so strong?"
"Ha! The aliens would rather see us all dead. Why would they bother saving us?"
Zhang Lie said, "If I'm not mistaken, all emperor-related titles are afforded only to fifth-realm hunters."
For instance, Hong Tianqi's title of Martial Sage was only widely recognized after he had ascended to the fifth realm. Whether this title came from the united world federation, from public concordance, or from the dimensional realm itself—that Zhang Lie didn't know.
Information about the fifth realm remained top secret, and no ordinary hunter would be able to access it. Zhang Lie himself had only ended up in the fourth realm in his past life.
Lin Lingfeng's companion patted Zhang Lie's shoulder. "It's only a matter of time before you ascend to the fifth realm. We've just been discussing it in advance!"
Lin Lingfeng frowned. "Qing Lingxue, don't be so forward with Mr. Zhang. He's the savior who saved our city."
Qing Lingxue lowered her head.
Lin Lingfeng frowned. "As far as I know, Mr. Zhang, you should still be in the third realm. How did you end up in the fourth?"
"I just ascended."
Lin Lingfeng gasped. "If I'm not mistaken, you haven't even been in the third realm for two Earth months!"
Zhang Lie shrugged. "But that already corresponds to a few years by the standards of the third realm. It's been plenty of time."
Lin Lingfeng would have doubted anyone else who made such a rash claim, but considering the strength Zhang Lie had just demonstrated, she could hardly say anything. However, she suddenly thought of a problem.
"You've just ascended?"
"That's right. I'm still amassing my basic gene fragments at this point."
Zhang Lie only had about 50 basic gene fragments, but thanks to the stampede, he anticipated that he would be able to max out at least his basic gene fragments in no time.
Lin Lingfeng was stunned once again. Zhang Lie was able to slaughter peak-grade fourth-realm lifeforms without even maxing out his basic gene fragments? Just how strong was he?!
Upon learning of Zhang Lie's identity, the hunters hadn't stopped discussing him.
"Zhang Lie's far too strong! Even the strongest hunters in the city were unable to take down that peak-grade lifeform together, but Zhang Lie killed it himself!"
"Zhang Lie's a legend. He's far too different from the likes of us!"
"He's seen a meteoric rise in the Milky Way. Even the previous highest authority of the united world federation was unable to suppress him—no, he even made Zhang Lie shine brighter! I heard that he ended up in a mental institution after trying to take Zhang Lie down."
"Allegedly, Zhang Lie's even discovered peak limit fragments and Potion #4, but because it's too hard to mass produce, he hasn't shared the recipe with the public."
To be precise, Zhang Lie even had disaster limit fragments after successfully researching Potion #5.
There were quite a few genetic hunters in the fourth realm who revered Zhang Lie.
"He's a legend, a veritable legend! He transformed humanity's place in the second realm. We're no longer prey for the xuluo there, but the lords of the realm! He even constructed a kingdom there.
"Then, he rescued the third realm from a crisis that would have destroyed it all, unifying the three thousand worlds in the process, and creating a new world order. Whenever Zhang Lie ascends, he transforms the realm for good."
Zhang Lie frowned. "There must be something unusual about the city that would tempt a stampede consisting of over a dozen different races to target it. Your best hunters are only around peak-grade, aren't they?"
Peak-grade hunters were actually above average by fourth-realm standards.
After all, fourth-realm hunters hadn't had the benefit of absorbing disaster-grade lifeforms until Zhang Lie appeared on the scene. Although there were countless disaster-grade lifeforms in the fourth realm, they had never tried to take one down.
As a result, in the past, peak-grade hunters were essentially at the apex of strength, which was partially what contributed to humanity's struggles in the fourth realm. When Zhang Lie revealed how to absorb disaster-grade cores, this precarious balance changed.
This was why he had been hailed as a hero of the dimensional realm.
Generally speaking, even if there were a stampede, it shouldn't have been so large. It was implausible that ten different races would gather together to attack a city for no reason—or, in other words, there was definitely a secret within this city. contemporary romance
Lin Linfeng sucked in a breath. "I'm not too sure about this, but please follow me."
Lin Lingfeng led them down a secret passageway underground.
"This was a passageway that we created as a means of escaping the city in times of need, but not long ago, this popped up."
In the center of the tunnel were three huge flower buds, as beautiful as white jade, emanating glowing green light and filled with a concentrated aura of vitality.
Zhang Lie recognized the plants instantly. "Reindeer moss," he announced.
Lin Lingfeng was shocked. "You know what these are, Sir?"
Zhang Lie nodded. "More or less. I've read about them before. They're a prize for superior- and peak-grade lifeforms, allowing them to undergo a metamorphosis—perhaps even allowing them to evolve straight into disaster-grade lifeforms. However, their effect on genetic hunters is significantly reduced, and they need to be consumed with some supplementary herbs to be of any use."
The reason Lin Lingfeng hadn't given the moss directly to the genetic lifeforms was because these lifeforms were yet too weak to have developed anything beyond the most rudimentary intelligence. The failures of countless genetic hunters in the past had informed future hunters that genetic lifeforms couldn't be reasoned with.
Many had tried to negotiate with them—only to end up being additional food themselves.
There were ten different races of lifeforms in the area, but only three buds of moss. The lifeforms would certainly exhaust each other out by fighting for these prizes—and, after they got hungry, feast on the genetic hunters in the city as a snack.
Lin Lingfeng gave him a thumbs up. "As expected of the creator of limit-breaking potions, you're able to identify herbs and plants that no one in the city even knows about! It's useless to us, so why don't you take it, Sir? At least treat it as our thanks for saving us all. I know it's not much in the grand scheme of things, but please don't refuse us."
"Well, I suppose I can."
Leaving the moss in the city would only cause further trouble.
The city had already been battered, and part of the walls destroyed, thanks to the stampede. It wouldn't be able to withstand another such attack.
After Zhang Lie kept the moss, Lin Lingfeng asked, "Did you come here for a reason, Sir?"
"I'd like to borrow your teleportation apparatus to get back to the Milky Way," Zhang Lie replied.
"Of course! That's not a problem."
After the crisis, the city was a mess, and there was much that Lin Lingfeng would have to deal with. She couldn't remain by Zhang Lie's side. After informing him of the location of the apparatus, she left to direct the cleanup with other hunters.
Beast stampedes were a disaster for genetic hunters, but also a crisis from which they could rapidly grow.
Blood accompanied treasure. The stampedes of the fourth realm were like trials. The penalty for failure was death; the reward for success was rapid growth thanks to both combat experience and the flesh that they left behind.
Zhang Lie had mused that the dimensional realm was like a huge training ground, and the fourth realm one specially designed for trials in the form of beast stampedes.
After the countless battles of the first and third realms, all genetic hunters were veterans that would hardly submit or die so easily to the beast stampedes of the fourth realm. Instead, the stampedes would allow them to hone their strength to the best of their ability.
Rather than rush back to the Milky Way, Zhang Lie first stepped into his disaster-grade dragonwhale soulshard and dealt with all the carcasses he had accumulated.
Li Qianlin demonstrated her consummate skill, preparing dish after sumptuous dish for both of them.
[For consuming the flesh of a regular-grade roc, you received one basic gene fragment. Current total: 51]
[For consuming the flesh of a regular-grade roc, you received one basic gene fragment. Current total: 52]
[For consuming the flesh of a regular-grade banewind ape, you received one basic gene fragment. Current total: 53]
[For consuming the flesh of a regular-grade banewind ape, you received one basic gene fragment. Current total: 54]
[For consuming the flesh of a regular-grade pigeon of rains, you received one basic gene fragment. Current total: 55]
[For consuming the flesh of a mutated-grade mosswind tiger, you received one mutated gene fragment. Current total: 31]
[For consuming the flesh of a mutated-grade mosswind tiger, you received one mutated gene fragment. Current total: 32]
[For consuming the flesh of a mutated-grade haunted vulture, you received one mutated gene fragment. Current total: 33]
[For consuming the flesh of a mutated-grade haunted vulture, you received one mutated gene fragment. Current total: 34]
[For consuming the flesh of a mutated-grade inkscale leopard, you received one mutated gene fragment. Current total: 35]
[For consuming the flesh of a superior-grade inkrune tiger, you received one superior gene fragment. Current total: 1]
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