If Zhang Lie wanted to take over the worlds of east and west, no one would be able to stop him. There was simply no need for him to manufacture such a ploy; it was a needless waste of time for all involved.
Li Zongming now understood very well that Zhang Lie wasn't interested in becoming king of the realm. Otherwise, with his strength, he would be able to take over hundreds of large worlds, let alone just these two.
Zhang Lie said, "My plans with Qianqian depend on what she wants with me. I will respect her wishes, but I'd like to keep her by my side if possible."
Without the life-and-death situations they faced together, there was no means by which their deep-seated love for each other could blossom.
Nevertheless, Zhang Lie didn't intend to give up. He wanted to keep Li Qianlin by his side so that they could develop their feelings for each other over time, but Zhang Lie didn't intend to force her to agree. If Li Qianlin wanted to leave, Zhang Lie would accompany her, instead.
Now that he was in the third realm and had saved Li Qianlin from a terrible fate, there was nothing urgent that he had to do. Why not relax and spend some time with her instead?
Li Zongming sighed. "I won't meddle in the affairs of the young. Qianlin has grown of age, and it's past time I granted her her freedom."
A hatchling had to leave its nest at some point, after all.
Li Zongming sighed. His voice was gentle, perhaps somewhat lonely, as though he had suddenly grown old. "Qianlin's an adult now, one with her own desires, her own life, and her own freedom. I shouldn't have forced her into what I thought was the best life for her. To be honest, it likely wouldn't have gone as I planned. With you at her side, I can relax."
Zhang Lie was very surprised by Li Zongming's change of heart. "What made you change your mind?"
"Ever since her mother died, I've been too overprotective of Qianlin. I keep wanting to give her the very best, as though I'm trying to compensate for something. I wanted to steer her toward the best future for her. With her mother gone, I had to put in twice as much effort to make sure she grew up well—but what I thought best almost destroyed her life."
By now, Li Zongming had found out what had almost happened to Li Qianlin before her wedding, and what Duan Gen had attempted in her rooms.
The king of the realm had the authority to play back a recording of the past in a certain region of space to understand the truth of what happened there, unless that ability was blocked by someone of the same level of strength.
Zhang Lie possessed that ability, but why would he try to hide Duan Gen's ignoble deeds?
Li Zongming was shocked beyond measure upon seeing what had happened. To think that Duan Gen was such a bastard—and that he hadn't noticed! If not for Zhang Lie's appearance, his daughter's life would have been irrevocably ruined—and he would be responsible.
The more he investigated Duan Gen, the more shocked he became. Duan Gen was far more vile than he seemed even at first glance—he was filth, utter trash, the worst of human scum. The moment Li Qianlin was betrothed to him, he had raped and killed her personal attendant right in the palace itself, ignoring any semblance of his authority.
He shuddered to think what might have happened to his daughter.
Li Zongming sighed. "I leave my daughter in your hands. Please apologize to her on my behalf."
"Why don't you apologize to her yourself?"
"I can't bear to speak to her. I'm far too ashamed of myself," Li Zongming replied, seemingly growing even older in an instant.
"But she's already here."
As Zhang Lie spoke, the teary-eyed Li Qianlin deactivated the soulshard Zhang Lie had given her.
Li Zongming stared at her in surprise. "Ah, this—"
Li Qianlin rushed forward and pulled her father into a deep embrace.
The father and daughter ended up chatting for the entire afternoon before Li Zongming found Zhang Lie in a secluded corner of the palace. "I truly have to thank you. It's been far too long since my daughter and I had a heartfelt conversation, and I understand her plans now. I heard my daughter mention that you were searching for these unusual fragments."
Li Zongming sent a box floating toward Zhang Lie.
Zhang Lie opened it to find tattered pieces of the map he was reconstituting—ten pieces in all.
This was the largest haul Zhang Lie had had since he started collecting these scraps.
Li Zongming explained, "I tried to collect these fragments when I was young, thinking that I might be able to uncover their secret once I amassed enough of them."
Although Li Zongming didn't know of the provenance of these scraps or what they represented, the material alone was noteworthy.
Even a king of the realm was unable to destroy these fragments or view their past history; they were made with a power eclipsing even these kings.
"However, after spending so much time and effort collecting just ten fragments to no avail, I gave up."
Who knew how many more fragments were out there—ten thousand, a hundred thousand, a million? Li Zongming had turned over what seemed like the entire world for those ten scraps, and he couldn't fathom how much harder it would be to collect more.
"At any rate, these fragments are useless to me, so I might as well hand them over to you. If you manage to collect them all, I hope you'll let me know just what they signify."
Zhang Lie knew the secret behind these scraps, but he didn't reveal it. It was a secret he would keep.
"Of course."
Li Zongming asked directly, "That said, would you like a new wedding between you and my daughter?
You might already have a marriage mark, and your marriage was recognized by the will of the world, but..."
Li Zongming couldn't help but smile faintly at the thought of the wedding. No one could have expected that Zhang Lie would appear in such a dramatic fashion, nor that he would be able to properly establish the vows with Li Qianlin.
He was even more gratified to see that the marriage mark hadn't been annulled.
As long as both parties were willing, that mark could be dissolved at any point.
With the mark present, neither of the couple would be able to betray the other. While they remained in the world of the east, they would be punished by five strikes of lightning if they tried to do so; just the thought of betrayal would lead to a warning from the will of the world.
Given Zhang Lie's strength, however, he didn't think such punishment would do anything against him, though he was a little worried that Zhang Lie would take advantage of his daughter as a result.
"With regards to the wedding, I'm willing to defer to Qianqian. If she wants another wedding, I certainly won't object."
"Who wants to marry you?! That's not something I've settled on yet," Li Qianlin interrupted their conversation. contemporary romance
Zhang Lie turned around to see that she had packed up. "Really? Where do you intend to go now, Qianqian?"
"I'm leaving with you, of course! Don't misunderstand me—I'm not interested in being your companion, just in the manifold worlds at large. I heard that you were planning to leave for a human settlement a few worlds away, and I'm interested in going there too. We're just traveling in the same direction, you hear?"
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