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Chapter 871: A Purported Alliance

Li Zongming dipped his head to the envoy. "Please don\'t mind Zhang Lie, envoy. We\'ve just had to deal with a superior world that tried to invade us, the xuluo world, and everyone\'s emotions are still rather heated."

Zhang Lie and Li Zongming naturally fell into a good cop, bad cop routine.

The envoy waved a hand. "There\'s no problem at all. My arrival was terribly abrupt, and I understand it might be an inconvenience."

From beside Zhang Lie, Li Qianlin murmured, "This envoy is really polite! Did he really come from one of the superior worlds?"

Li Qianlin thought of the superior worlds as ancient, majestic existences, which looked down on the inhabitants of other worlds due to their wealth and power.

The envoy\'s hearing was apparently excellent, because he had overheard Li Qianlin\'s words. "This is..."

Li Zongming hastily introduced his daughter. "This is the princess of the Zongming world, and beside her, my son-in-law, our strongest warrior."

The envoy bowed in greeting.

"No need for such courtesies, please! We\'re very interested to know why you\'ve come to our world so suddenly."

The envoy smiled. "I believe the conflict between the Zongming and xuluo worlds may have soured your perception of the other superior worlds. We\'re not devils, regardless of the rumors that have spread about us among the three thousand worlds."

Zhang Lie replied curtly, "We\'ve never thought of you as devils. Compared to you, devils are far more kind and civil."

Despite Zhang Lie\'s provocation, the envoy didn\'t get mad. His head tilted slightly as he laughed. "Haha, you really overestimate us, warrior!"

"Am I mistaken?" Zhang Lie had no intention of lowering himself in front of such an envoy; no, the Zongming world couldn\'t afford to do so. The Zongming world had managed to win in a conflict against another superior world, and there was no reason it should defer to envoys from other superior worlds.

If the representatives of the Zongming world were to lower themselves in front of a superior envoy, that would suggest that the Zongming world had won because of a fluke, that it was still somehow lower in status—but that wasn\'t the case. The Zongming world had the strength to take down any of the superior worlds of antiquity.

The envoy smiled again. "That\'s a terrible misunderstanding. Every superior world is different, just as every large world is different. We superior worlds largely fall into two different camps, those that welcome newly evolved superior worlds, and those that don\'t. The xuluo world is unusual among the superior worlds; the others are far more friendly toward newcomers to our rank."

Who would believe such nonsense?

"So that\'s how it is!" Li Zongming nodded as though in understanding— not because the envoy\'s words had suddenly convinced him of their truth, but rather because he now knew the envoy\'s motive. "Are you here in search of allies, then?"

If the envoy\'s world was going to attack the Zongming world, it wouldn\'t have needed to send an envoy. The fact that the envoy was being so polite and respectful meant that the superior world he represented wouldn\'t be sending troops—or rather, didn\'t dare to send troops.

The envoy nodded. "More or less. Going back to the question of the xuluo world: now that the xuluo has been taken down, they\'re leaving behind a huge swathe of territory."

The remaining nine superior worlds had all engaged in a heated debate in hopes of claiming all that land for themselves.

"After countless days and nights, we were unable to decide how to best split the territory. In the end, we finally agreed to give the rights to that territory to you, the Zongming world," the envoy explained.

Li Qianlin nodded in understanding. "In other words, since we were the ones who vanquished the xuluo world, we\'ll get control of their territory?"

"Exactly, princess," the envoy replied. "We of the superior worlds are excited to welcome the Zongming world to join our alliance—a great honor, I\'m sure."

Zhang Lie questioned, "And what if we don\'t agree with the stance of the alliance?"

The envoy narrowed his eyes. "Haha! This is a rare opportunity, one that I would strongly urge the Zongming world not to miss out on. After all, the offer will only be extended once."

The envoy\'s eyes glinted with frost.

Zhang Lie snapped his fingers. "I understand. If we don\'t join your alliance, you\'ll target us with force."

The envoy nodded. "We don\'t need superior worlds that are uncooperative and unwilling to join our alliance. There\'s already one such world around, and it causes us enough of a headache already. After all, maintaining the stability of the three thousand worlds is an objective that we all share, isn\'t it?"

Li Zongming pointed out the crux of the issue. "If we join the alliance, we won\'t be enemies, and we won\'t be targeted by the other superior worlds. This is certainly a benefit, but there\'s no such thing as a free lunch. What do we have to pay to access that benefit? What\'s the cost of joining this alliance?"

"There\'s no huge cost," the envoy replied. "Are you aware of the demon king that resides in this realm, hoping to swallow it all up for himself?"

Zhang Lie nodded. "You speak of the king of the death spirits?"

The envoy\'s eyes widened fractionally. He had thought that the inhabitants of the Zongming world were nothing more than country bumpkins who had somehow managed to take down the xuluo world with some fluke of luck after their world evolved.

"You\'ve heard of the king of the death spirits?"

Li Zongming frowned. He didn\'t know who that was, but as the king of the realm, he would lose face to profess ignorance here.

Li Qianlin, who had noticed the changes in her father\'s expression, took over. She had heard about the death spirits from Zhang Lie. With a smile, she began, "Of course we know of the king of the death spirits! The death spirits are host to one of the superior worlds, but they view this realm differently."