Chapter 1298: Annoyances Persist  

After chatting with Li Qianlin and depositing a number of material resources for her, Zhang Lie left the dragonwhale again.

He walked back where he had come, in search of the Jadeite hunter to ask about whether there were other hunting grounds nearby. magic

As he saw the hunter heading his way with a group of people, his eyes lit up. "Hey, I was just about to search for you!"

"Boss, it's this fellow over here!" the Jadeite hunter shouted, pointing at Zhang Lie.

A few hunters of the Milky Way were making their way over with unfriendly looks on their faces.

"I heard you've been stealing our potions, lad."

"Give them over, or we'll take them by force."

Zhang Lie blinked. "So this is what you're trying, is it?"

The leader of the Milky Way hunters had a bull's head. "Do you know who I am? I'm Flamin, the one in charge of this gathering point. All affairs here are under my jurisdiction."

Another genetic hunter, this one in black armor, stepped forward. "I'm the strongest hunter in this gathering point, and my name's Black Armor. Hand over the potions you stole—we won't let you leave with them."

Zhang Lie looked at the Jadeite hunter. "You tried the potion, then?"

The Jadeite hunter gave him a thumbs up. "It was excellent."

"How much are they paying you?"

The Jadeite hunter smirked. "Quite a bit."

It was evident what had happened.

The Jadeite hunter had tested the potion. The efficacy of Zhou Ying's Restorative #3, developed by the Yeluo chieftain himself, was nothing short of wondrous. Even the members of Team Zenith, at the peak of the third realm, praised these potions. The unified world's blessing had created a preponderance of spiritual herbs and plants, and the Yeluo chieftain had brewed this batch of potions with the best ingredients, prioritizing efficiency over cost.

After all, this batch was meant for Zhang Lie, and the Yeluo chieftain had brewed it with the best ingredients he could.

After the Jadeite hunter tested the potion and was shocked by its efficacy, he passed the information on to the de facto leader of the gathering point, who came prepared to snatch his entire stock.

Flamin thundered, "I'm talking to you!"

"I know. So what?"

"If you don't want to die, hand over the potions!"

Zhang Lie sighed. "It's precisely because of people like you that this gathering point's such a mess."

Flamin sneered. "It looks like you'll be needing some incentive, hmm? It's been a while since anyone dared talk to me like this. You're an interesting newbie, aren't you?"

Black Armor scoffed. "What does he know? He's just ascended!"

Flamin pointed toward the ground. "You might have been lauded as a genius in the third realm, but up here? You're trash."

Black Armor shouted, "Kneel on the ground and hand over your belongings!"

Flamin laughed. "Do you think you're safe just because they're in your extradimensional storage? You think that your potions will be safe because your soulshards will shatter when you die, that the potions will be ejected straight out into the void, don't you?"

Black Armor added, "In an emergency, you can even shatter the soulshards yourself, leaving us with nothing and making you not worth extorting."

Flamin narrowed his eyes. "We might not be able to kill you, but we have a thousand ways of making you beg for death."

The Jadeite hunter suggested, "You had better take out your stock of potions. No one here can defend against the two of them."

Zhang Lie stretched his arms and legs. "I was able to kill those regular-grade lifeforms instantly, so I can't even test out my newfound strength. It's good of the two of you to be willing to help me out."

Flamin sneered. "You won't give up without a fight, then."

Zhang Lie curled a finger at him. "Come take them from me if you can."

"You're in for it now!" Flamin struck immediately. From the fluctuations in his aura, it seemed that he had at least maxed out his mutated gene fragments and was halfway finished with his superior gene fragments—but that was meaningless against Zhang Lie.

He punched forward with a burst of genetic energy, sending Flamin flying into a nearby wall. His body caved in the wall, and despite his lackeys attempting to pull him out, they weren't able to succeed no matter how hard they tried.

The onlookers were shocked. Was this truly a rookie who had just ascended?

Flamin was respectably strong even among the top hunters of the gathering point.

Flamin shouted, "What are all of you standing there for? Attack him!"

Genetic energy surged underneath Zhang Lie's feet, rippling out like waves and sending the hunters approaching him flying.

"[The Boundless Blade: Yawning Wave]!"

Zhang Lie extended his pointer finger like a sword, and water-attuned genetic energy gathered around it. As he waved his finger, sword energy erupted like a wave, flinging the Milky Way hunters back.

A giant shark surfed on the waves and opened its bloodthirsty maw wide. Flamin's face was pale; he barely avoided peeing out of fear.

A fist obliterated the shark, turning the pale blue water-attuned genetic energy into ripples of water.

Zhang Lie was surprised to see a hunter of rather passable strength among this substandard crew. Black Armor had blocked the attack aimed at Flamin with a heavy fist.

Flamin's eyes widened in delight. "You really are reliable when I'm in need!"

Just then, however, Black Armor spat out a mouthful of blood. His eponymous black armor cracked, and he staggered to the ground, propping himself up with a single knee. His breathing had turned ragged, the sound like that of a broken bellows.

"What's wrong, Black Armor?!"

Zhang Lie laughed coldly. "If you can take [The Boundless Blade: Yawning Wave] at 30% of its maximum strength, you must not be too weak."

Upon hearing Zhang Lie's words, Black Armor spat out an even larger mouthful of blood.

The genetic hunters that accompanied Flamin turned tail and tried to run.

Zhang Lie narrowed his eyes, sharp as a viper's. "When did I allow you to leave?"

Black genetic energy poured from his body, surrounding him like thick, dense clouds.

"[Ninecarp Transformation]!"

A black serpent materialized behind Zhang Lie, by now so large and so developed that it resembled the world-swallowing serpent Jormungandr. It let out a threatening hiss as its scales clicked together.

The black energy shot toward the fleeing hunters with incredible corrosive strength. The hunters fell to the ground, staring at shock at their feet, which were now flesh and bone. Their bones sizzled as the genetic energy continued to corrupt their bodies.

The hunters knelt on the ground and pleaded for mercy.

"Please, let us go! We won't do it again!"

"We were forced into it!"

"Sir, please forgive us! Have mercy!"