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Chapter 674: A Treasure in Hand

If Jin Yu\'s defense consumed a lake\'s worth of genetic energy, then Zhang Lie\'s attack was an entire sea\'s worth—all compressed into a thin, slender blade of energy.

Just the compression required was unimaginable; it was only natural that the resulting attack would be able to penetrate through anything and everything. Getting punched by a fist would hurt, but if all that energy was compressed to the size of a needle, it could pierce you through.

Jin Yu might have been able to muster a strong defense, but it was spread out over too wide an area and lacked the compression that Zhang Lie\'s techniques possessed. Zhang Lie\'s needle-like beam of sword energy easily penetrated Jin Yu\'s defenses.

This knowledge had come at far too high a price—Jin Yu\'s life.

As the beam of sword energy landed on Jin Yu, it burst in an explosion of light so intense that Jin Yu was reduced to atoms.

Jin Yu had learned his lesson too late. If he had another opportunity to relive the last few minutes, he wouldn\'t have dared to bar Zhang Lie\'s way. Running away would have been the smart move. Not only that, he had even been so foolish as to think he could kill Zhang Lie.

Zhang Lie shook his head in exasperation. "Is this what amounts to 90th on the warlord leaderboard?"

That leaderboard was a measure of the strongest third-realm hunters, and the ranking was recognized by even the world federation itself. Before his death, Musi Yu had been one of those warlords on the last decade of the leaderboard.

In his past life, Zhang Lie had thought the warlords far superior to his lowly self. He had stayed in the third realm long enough to finish maxing out his mutated gene fragments, then moved on to the fourth realm as nothing more than cannon fodder.

He hadn\'t expected to encounter a warlord so quickly in the third realm. In his subconscious, he continued thinking of them as far removed from ordinary hunters, and it was only after this fight that he re-evaluated his perspective.

Now that he had maxed out his superior gene fragments and obtained more than half his peak gene fragments, it was surprisingly trivial for him to deal with even warlord-class fighters. Disaster-grade lifeforms were truly powerful, after all.

Once Zhang Lie had the time to finish maxing out his peak gene fragments, he doubted he would be able to find a rival in all of the third realm.

Even after killing Jin Yu, Zhang Lie didn\'t rush into the imperial treasury. He stood quietly outside, even going as far as to retrieve a stool and table from his soulspace. He brewed a cup of tea as he waited.

Those Jindao who had rushed into the imperial treasury finally emerged, only to see Zhang Lie waiting for them.

He beckoned them over. "Would you like to sit down for some tea? This might be your last opportunity to drink any."

The Jindao grew alarmed. "What happened to Warlord Jin Yu?"

Zhang Lie cocked his head and smiled. "I\'m sitting right here brewing tea. What do you think happened?"

The Jindao reared back in shock. "Impossible—he\'s a warlord!"

Zhang Lie\'s gaze landed on the treasures that the Jindao were holding, and his smile deepened. "I can\'t be bothered to waste time on the likes of you. Hand over the treasures."

The Jindao clutched the boxes tighter toward themselves and took a step back.

Just then, a purple beam suddenly emerged from the ruins. A figure had lain hidden, waiting for the Jindao to emerge.

"Ha! I\'ve been waiting for you for quite some time."

However, Zhang Lie was completely unsurprised. He strode before the Jindao and summoned the blade Guicang, then struck forward with a technique.

The two beams of energy intersected in a brilliant explosion, as though the sun had crashed into the earth. The explosion of light overwhelmed the entire capital; in a matter of moments, Zhang Lie and his mysterious opponent had struck each other hundreds of times.

By the time the light finally receded, the ground was a mess. The doors to the treasury were knocked off their hinges, and the ground was pitted and cracked.

Zhang Lie held two boxes in his hands, and his mysterious opponent was whizzing through the skies. As he glanced at the crystallized limb that lay on the ground, as well as the corpses of the Jindao strewn over the ground, Zhang Lie\'s eyes turned cold.

Just then, the king of the realm rushed over. Zhang Lie slid the boxes into his extradimensional space. "What\'s going on by the border?" he asked smoothly.

"I\'ve dealt with the incursion," the king of the realm replied. He turned to the palace in growing anger. "Just what happened here?"

"There was a man skulking around, and I was almost caught unawares." Zhang Lie pointed at the crystalline limb on the ground. "The assailant was stronger than I expected, and I only managed to divest him of an arm."

The king of the realm\'s frown deepened as he turned to the wide-open hole in front of the treasury where its doors had once stood. "And the treasures they stole?"

Zhang Lie shook his head. "I was unable to retrieve what my assailant took. He guarded whatever he had taken with his body; if I see him again, I\'ll rip him to pieces."

The king of the realm\'s lips pressed firmly together as he glanced at the Jindao corpses on the ground. There was no trail to follow now.

"The opponent deliberately targeted the Jindao as he fled. He\'s very strong—on par with a warlord, I\'d say. It\'s all my fault. I wasn\'t able to catch him!"

Zhang Lie sent his genetic energy roiling until a trickle of blood crept out of his mouth.

Upon seeing that Zhang Lie was injured, the king of the realm hurriedly reassured him, "Master Hong, you\'ve done more than I could have expected. It\'s clear that our opponents have been planning for this assault for quite some time."

Zhang Lie might have been sighing outwardly, but he was snickering to himself inwardly.

Most of what he had told the king of the realm was the truth—the mystery assailant was warlord-level in strength, and he had deliberately killed the Jindao. However, Zhang Lie hadn\'t expected him to be willing to risk severe injuries to get at the treasures that the Jindao had claimed.

Otherwise, Zhang Lie wouldn\'t have let him take even a single treasure from his grasp.

However, the opponent had paid a steep price for what he had taken. He hadn\'t only lost an arm—Zhang Lie thought that there was a good chance that he might never see the mystery assailant again.

At the very least, Zhang Lie had claimed the primordial starflower, which was now safely in his soulspace, and he had managed to push the blame for this robbery onto the mystery assailant.

Even if the king of the realm suspected him of anything, he could hardly prove it. He released a long sigh. "As fate wills."

All the Jindao within the treasury were dead, but all those who had remained by the imperial palace hadn\'t managed to escape from the capital. The king of the realm caught them all. At the very least, he was able to preserve a fragment of his honor. Subsequently, he began to restore order to the capital.

Not long afterwards, the eight princes returned with their remnant forces. They all sighed in relief when they saw that the capital was still standing, but the destruction that had been wreaked in the aftermath made them wince.

The capital would be the princes\' burden now. With everything resolved for the moment, Zhang Lie asked the crown prince where his peak-grade carcasses were being stored, then snuck off for a feast while the princes deliberated on the capital\'s reconstruction...