Ultragenic Warlord

Chapter 1088: Nature of Black Fog

As the black hole grew larger and larger as it absorbed the black fog, Zhang Lie took advantage of the distraction to escape from the king of black fog's clutches.

From beyond the outskirts of the world, he could see a huge black spot appear from amidst a hazy black fog. The black spot seemed to be at the center of a whirlpool, growing larger at a rate visible to the naked eye, as black fog swirled in toward it.

Zhang Lie's energy of annihilation alone wouldn't be sufficient to destroy a superior world. The superior kings of antiquity were seasoned warriors; if the king of black fog were this easy to deal with, he wouldn't have been able to become a superior king of antiquity.

He would long since have been replaced by stronger, more ambitious superior kings in the millennia past.

The king of black fog certainly wasn't about to go down so easily.

He stopped trying to suppress the energy of annihilation. Instead, he separated the fog from the mess, then used spatial force to isolate the energy of annihilation, and finally invoked his authority as a superior king to toss the ball of annihilation beyond the reaches of his world.

Of course, isolating the energy of annihilation with spatial force wasn't a strategy that would work long-term, since the energy of annihilation could feed on spatial force as well.

However, the rate at which it did so was slow enough that the king of black fog was able to manipulate it and transport it away.

The black fog reverted to its original shape, although its volume had shrunk by at least a third.

The black fog formed a human face. Zhang Lie chuckled. "Are you finally ready to talk with me?"

The king of black fog said, "Zhang Lie, aren't you afraid that the Zongming world will be destroyed in your absence?"

"As long as I kill you, the Zongming world will have one fewer threat to contend with."

Zhang Lie's body flared with blood-colored genetic energy, like a boundless tsunami.

The king of black fog chuckled again. "And yet, by the time you kill me, your Zongming world might already be done for."

"We'll see, won't we?"

Zhang Lie replied. The blood-colored genetic energy around him formed a bloody ocean, as though there were hundreds, thousands of dragons within his body. Each muscle formed a dragon. "[Fists of the Silent Sea: Hundred Dragons Soaring]!"

A horde of over a hundred blood dragons launched out of Zhang Lie's left arm as he expended half his genetic energy in one supercharged attack. Howling with the force of thunder, a horde of over a hundred blood dragons flew toward the king of black fog, directed by Zhang Lie's punch.

They were fierce and domineering, and all hundred of them boasted the power of annihilation.

The king of black fog could sense the strength of Zhang Lie's attack. It couldn't afford to maintain its human face any longer. A single blood dragon had caused the black fog to shrink by a third its size. How much damage would a hundred blood dragons do? All the black fog would be destroyed!

The world of black fog burst apart into countless dragons of smoke, which attempted to hold the horde of blood dragons back.

The dragons of smoke and blood challenged each other in the outskirts of the world of black fog, but the dragons of smoke were no match for their bloody brethren. They dispersed in just one hit.

Nevertheless, there were countless dragons of smoke, which continued pouring out from the core of the world of black fog.

The world of black fog reformed the king of black fog's face. It looked almost as though the king of black fog was spitting out large numbers of black hairy balls to stave off the advance of the blood dragons.

The king of black fog laughed. "It's useless. You can't kill me!"

Zhang Lie smirked. "All existences will someday perish—and now I understand what you are, king of black fog."

The king of black fog frowned. He didn't believe that Zhang Lie had such incredible skills of analysis as to be able to discern that secret in one go.

Zhang Lie continued, "The king of black fog is nothing more than an offshoot of the world of black fog."

The king of black fog's eyes widened.

"Rather impressive that you've been able to tell," he grudgingly admitted.

Countless enemies had entered the world of black fog, a whole battalion of troops, or even combatants on the level of superior kings, but no more than ten had ever escaped from the world, and none of the ten had seen through the fundamental truth of the king of black fog. The last person who had glimpsed that truth was none other than the king of chaos.

The king of black fog felt as though he should be very shocked, but he didn't even know if he could sense that feeling.

Zhang Lie continued, "I have to thank the king of keys for this."

The king of black fog stilled. Why was Zhang Lie mentioning the king of keys now?

Zhang Lie continued, "When I first encountered the king of keys, someone beside me explained what his situation was, and hazarded a guess as to his true form—that he was a will of the world made manifest, or that he had merged his will with that of his world. I used that same guess on you."

"So it was the king of keys—hold on, your analysis was just a guess? I shouldn't have admitted it so easily, then."

Zhang Lie continued curiously, "Now I am rather curious as to whether you were originally the will of the world, or the will of a superior king."

The king of black fog snorted. "This isn't important. you know too much, now, and I'll have to kill you!"

The world of black fog exploded.

As black fog swamped their surroundings, the blood dragons burst apart in the void, spreading the energy of annihilation all around.

Even so, the king of black fog ignored how much black fog was being destroyed.

Zhang Lie unsheathed Guicang, cutting apart the black fog right before him. "It's natural that you're panicking. After all, I can kill you—by exhausting your supply of black fog, or by destroying the world of black fog outright. That's why you have to kill me now to hide this secret, to preserve the mystery that hangs around you, to make others believe that you're unkillable."

The king of black fog couldn't have Zhang Lie run away now.

"Actually, there's no need for you to be so worried."

Zhang Lie extended his arm horizontally before him. Black water-attuned genetic energy curled around it, and the serpent wrapped around his sword-wielding arm.

The king of black fog frowned. "Surely you're not as naive as to think that I'll believe you'll keep my secret?"

"What I mean is, there's no need for you to worry, because no matter what, you'll perish here today. The secrets of the dead are meaningless."

Genetic energy gushed out of Zhang Lie as sword energy soared into the sky, shaking the heavens. The air turned colder. "[The Boundless Blade: the River Lethe]!"

Zhang Lie struck once more. An underworld river materialized in space, one so vast the entire world could see it. Everything turned cold, and the temperature dipped below freezing.