Ultragenic Warlord

Chapter 723: Shaking Both Worlds

"Well, I suppose I'll let the two of them duke it out for now..."

Li Zongming made up his mind, waved to Dong Mingxing, and vanished from the spot.

In the western king's palace, the king of the west, seated on his draconic throne, suddenly opened his eyes and spat out a mouthful of blood. In rage, he roared, "You wretched couple! I'll tear both your corpses to pieces!"

Thunder and lightning crackled over the entire western sky.

To be frank, Zhang Lie's sudden appearance and disruption of the wedding led to no smaller a ruckus than when he had revealed the existence of disaster gene fragments and disaster-grade lifeforms.

Both in the third realm and in the real world, the news made headlines, but Zhang Lie cared not for such trivial affairs. He returned to the accommodations that the Jinghun had set up for him in the world of the east.

Zhang Lie had commanded Ren Kunjing to lead him to the Jinghun representatives present in the world before he controlled them all with his disaster-grade soulshard.

On the surface, it seemed as though Zhang Lie were cooperating with the Jinghun, but in truth, Zhang Lie was controlling them all. Whenever he encountered a Jinghun not under his control, he would use his soulshard on them.

As though she were protecting herself, Li Qianlin folded her arms across her chest. "Just what are you trying to do?"

Zhang Lie rolled his eyes. "What do you think I'm trying to do?"

Li Qianlin replied, "I understand your intentions now! You want to gift the world of the west to my father, then formally marry me so that you can control both the worlds of east and west!"

Zhang Lie stilled.

Li Qianlin, glancing at his face, smiled. "Haha, I've guessed right, haven't I?"

Zhang Lie looked at her with a grimace. "Just who do you think I am? That's what your father assumed, too—but not everyone wants to be the king of the realm, and I'm hardly interested. I'm here for you!"

Li Qianlin snorted. "For me? Do you really think me such a naive maiden? We've never met before. How could you stand to offend two kings of the realm for me? Should I consider you a hero, then? I hardly believe that you would be so infatuated with my beauty!"

Zhang Lie knew that Li Qianlin didn't have any of her memories from her past life, and he wasn't mad at her. He reached out a finger and tugged on Li Qianlin's lower jaw. "I fell in love with you at first sight. From then on, I was certain that you would become my woman, and only my woman!"

Zhang Lie's domineering aura caused Li Qianlin to flush. Despite her misgivings, she was charmed. Li Qianlin did feel a certain sense of liking for this mysterious man who had appeared in front of her, not to mention how he had saved her from a traumatic life.

Perhaps this truly was love at first sight?

"Really?" Li Qianlin asked.

Zhang Lie continued, "At that time, I was hardly deserving of you, so I worked harder and harder to become a man who would be your equal. When I finally grew strong, strong enough that I was willing to try for your hand in marriage, I learned that you were already betrothed.

"That was a tremendous blow to me, as though my heart had been scooped out of my chest. Despite all that, as long as you were happy, I would have left you be. I snuck into the wedding to see if the groom was a man worthy of you, only to find that he was nothing but trash. As a result, I had no choice but to take you away, even if I had to rouse the ire of two kings of the realm."

Li Qianlin's eyes gleamed. That was a romantic story, indeed—as long as it were true. Wary, she turned her head. "That's a nice story, but how can I be sure of its authenticity?"

This was a story worthy of a daydream, but Li Qianlin couldn't afford to be so naive. As the daughter of the king, she rationally and logically couldn't believe that there would be a man who was willing to go against the entire world for her.

Zhang Lie reached out to Li Qianlin's petite, delicate hand and placed it on his chest. "Touch my scorching heart and sense the truth it reveals."

Zhang Lie did, surprisingly, have some experience at picking up women. After missing out on Li Qianlin in his past life, he had worked quite hard at developing such skills.

Li Qianlin flushed red and lowered her head, but Zhang Lie tilted her head upwards so that their gazes met.

As Li Qianlin's eyes dilated, Zhang Lie leaned closer and closer—before he was interrupted by a voice from outside. "Zhang Lie, you're back!"

It was Ren Kunjing.

Li Qianlin suddenly came to her senses and pushed Zhang Lie aside.

"Ren, Kun, Jing!" Zhang Lie roared, rushing out of the door and punching Ren Kunjing straight through two or three houses before he came to a halt, his body slumping against a wall.

He fell to the ground in an abused heap of crystal. "What did I do wrong, Zhang Lie?"

Zhang Lie brandished his fists and cracked his knuckles. "Nothing. Did I say that you did something wrong? I'm just practicing my punches. You don't mind, do you?"

Even before Ren Kunjing could speak, Zhang Lie had already begun to punch him. His arms blurred, moving so quickly all Ren Kunjing saw was a blur of shadow.

By the time he finished venting his anger, Ren Kunjing's body had become a patchwork of cracked and shattered crystal.

When Zhang Lie stomped away, some of the Jinghun timidly crept forward to tend to Ren Kunjing's injuries.

Subsequently, Zhang Lie commanded, "We head for the world of the west!"

He, Li Qianlin, and the Jinghun gathered by the wormhole between east and west.

Because both worlds were large worlds, the connecting wormhole was also abnormally wide, and there was a very high chance of spatial rifts being formed. Traveling between the worlds of east and west thus required a wormhole shuttle.

Fortunately, Zhang Lie had obtained a shuttle from the scalemen world, and he didn't need to purchase one of his own. Otherwise, given how exorbitant these shuttles were, Zhang Lie and the Jinghun would have had a big headache.

By the wormhole, everyone was talking about what had happened between Zhang Lie and Li Qianlin, as though they were the protagonists of the entire world.

"You didn't see it, did you? During the wedding, the daughter of the eastern king looked like a fairy descending from the heavens. Just as the marriage was about to take place, a bolt of lightning shot down from the skies, taking on the form of a man.

"The man cried out passionately, 'I've always loved you, forever and ever!' The eastern king's daughter, her eyes tearing up, retorted, 'In that case, why did you get together with her?!' With bloodshot eyes, the man replied, 'It's all a misunderstanding! I loved you, and I wanted to see you happy—but I'm far too weak to give you any such happiness.'

"The eastern princess pulled up her gown and leapt down from the stage on crystal heels. She hugged the man tightly and began to cry. 'I've never found more happiness from anyone but you.'

"The western prince inclined his head to the skies and laughed in hurt and bitter betrayal. 'Ha! Ha! I gave you everything you ever wanted, everything you will ever want—but you're still going to leave with him?'

"The eastern princess hugged the man tightly as she replied, 'I'm sorry. You are a good man, and there are far better women than me.'

"The western prince begged, 'I can give you anything, even my heart! Please, don't desert me!'

"The eastern princess replied, shaking her head, 'I will only love one man in my entire life: him.'"

The surprising reveal that Zhang Lie had dreamt up had somehow become a love triangle on the level of a soap opera.

The entire world of the east was abuzz at the fiasco that the wedding had become.

In the world of the west, it was treated like a ludicrous joke.

Many famous people regretted that they had not been in attendance. Because no one truly understood what had happened, the rumors that ended up spreading to the public were filled with all sorts of make-believe.

In its retelling, the story had gained all sorts of disparate versions—a jilted boyfriend, a former girlfriend, a rival of the western prince, reincarnation… Some enterprising fellows had even turned the entire debacle into a romantic musical that was already appearing on stages around the world—one of which was right beside them.

A man and a woman stood on stage, one in a white gown, the other in a rainbow-colored outfit.

The male actor shouted, "You're heartless, unreasonable, and cruel!"

The female actor retorted, "And are you not heartless, unreasonable, or cruel yourself?!"

Zhang Lie: ? ? ?

The man: "How am I heartless, unreasonable, or cruel?!"

The woman: "When have you ever not been heartless, unreasonable, or cruel?!"

The man: "No matter how heartless, unreasonable, or cruel I am, I'm no more so than you!"

The woman: "Me?! ? No, you're the most heartless, unreasonable, and cruel person I've ever met!"

Zhang Lie: …

Beside him, however, Li Qianlin seemed very interested in the performance, and she even laughed out loud.