Chapter 159: The Vicious Zhang Lie  

Chu Feng and Yun Bing didn't dare continue imagining what would have happened if they had been enemies of Zhang Lie.

"Young Master Chu, Miss Yun!" Zhang Lie welcomed them and their delegations with a smile. He was glad that they had come to support him, even if that help turned out to be unnecessary.

"Ah, here I thought I'd be of use! But it seems as though I've come all this way for nothing," Chu Feng muttered, a tinge of disappointment in his tone.

"Zhang Lie's growing far stronger than both of us, indeed," Yun Bing acknowledged. He was a miracle that they'd seen develop over the course of just a few months, a miracle that had budded from the weeds of the slums.

"You overpraise me, Miss Yun. Give me a moment and let me handle this pile of trash first. We'll talk later!" Zhang Lie smiled. He turned toward Long Sheng and the others.

As he watched Zhang Lie draw closer, Long Sheng found his mind and body in turmoil: Zhang Lie's gaze was filled with killing intent.

"Well, Long Sheng? What happened to your domineering attitude?"

Long Sheng didn't speak, but his twisted features turned even more twisted.

"Oh, you're not speaking? It looks like you have some backbone. In that case, I'll start with you!"

Zhang Lie summoned Venombane to his hand.

"What do you intend on doing? Surely you aren't going to kill us all?" Long Sheng shouted.

Many of the hunters still alive were from large clans, and if Zhang Lie were to kill them all, he would make countless enemies. He was certain that any clear-headed hunter wouldn't be willing to rouse so much ire from so many factions at once.

"Zhang Lie, I'm the young master of the Long clan!"

"I'm a disciple from the Thunderous Stomp Dojo!"

"I'm from the—"

The hunters all reported their identities in hopes that their background would shield them from certain death. If Zhang Lie were to kill them all, he would surely anger the various factions from which they came. Even the major clans of the capital would have to think twice before considering such an attack, but Zhang Lie didn't even frown.

"Do you think I'll let you leave without paying a toll, regardless of your background?" Zhang Lie smiled thinly, but those who lay paralyzed on the ground shuddered to see it. Nevertheless, they calmed down, because they could sense a hint of greed in his eyes.

In truth, what they were worried about was Zhang Lie wanting their lives, not their wealth.

"What do you want?" Long Sheng asked.

He was expecting that Zhang Lie would ask for them to drop the matter and stop targeting him, and then to hand over a large quantity of points, but Zhang Lie's icy tone shook him to his core. "Hand over all your soulshards!"

Soulshards! He wanted their soulshards?! Indeed, a hunter would prize soulshards over everything but gene fragments, frameworks, and techniques, which was why soulshards were such a hard thing for these defeated hunters to give up. If they were to hand them all over, then their strength would drop tremendously. They wouldn't be able to do well during the upcoming Void Cup, and their position in their respective clan or dojo would drop as well.

"You have ten seconds to make a decision."

Zhang Lie glanced at his subordinates, who had already drawn their weapons and were prepared to kill any of the downed hunters at any time.

"Zhang Lie, you—" Long Sheng's face flushed red. Would he have to barter for his life at the expense of his soulshards?

"Time's ticking," Zhang Lie murmured lazily. The hunters of Team Zenith approached a few nearby hunters.

By that time, Long Sheng's arms had lost any sensation, and the violet venom from Zhang Lie's attack was quickly approaching his shoulders. He knew that he had lost, that he had lost completely. As the young master of the Long clan, he was the best hope for the Long clan in his generation, and the soulshards and resources he had in his possession were the best of the best.

It was hard for him to give it all up.

On the other hand, beside him, Li Sheng sucked in a deep breath. Gritting his teeth, he cried out, "I'll hand them over!"

Zhang Lie's words were clear: if he handed his soulshards over, he might be able to avoid death, but if he didn't, he surely wouldn't! His life was far more precious than any material possession he owned.

Li Sheng extracted all the soulshards from his soulspace, over thirty glittering gems in all. Of those thirty, most were superior-grade soulshards.

"As expected of the new young head of the Li clan—what a shocking amount of resources!"

"If Li Sheng alone has this many soulshards, I wonder just what the haul from Young Master Long would look like?"

"Don't you know just how wealthy the Long clan is? I'm sure Young Master Long would have far more, and of even higher quality!"

The spectators watching the affair from a distance began chatting away again, glad that they hadn't been so foolish as to join in the fight. A few of the Chu and Yun hunters glanced at Zhang Lie with envy.

"I'll hand mine over as well!" Following Li Sheng, the paralyzed elites on the ground each did the same, having come to the same conclusion regarding how precious their lives were. More and more soulshards began to glitter on the ground. Just about everyone chose their lives over their material possessions, with Young Master Long being the only holdout.

"Young Master Long, your life's more important than your wealth," Li Sheng advised, as Zhang Lie looked toward Long Sheng again.

Long Sheng's body shook. His pride and arrogance were slowly being eaten away. Was he to hand over his soulshards, or not?

"It looks like you're not very interested in your life!" Zhang Lie walked closer, as if to pressure him into making a decision.

Everyone turned toward him.

"I-I-I'll hand them over!"

As he looked death in the eye, even Long Sheng backed down. Light shone so brightly by his prone body that the other hunters blinked their eyes in surprise.

"Damn, they're all superior-grade soulshards! "No wonder Long Sheng was undefeated in the Godspath settlement!"

"Zhang Lie's really made a fortune, hasn't he?"

"So what if he's got a fortune? He still needs to be alive to use it all up—the Long clan will surely make him suffer for what he's done!"

"Hah! That's what you said when he offended the Qin, Wang, and Li clans, and look at what happened to them!"

The crowd was of two minds about Zhang Lie's sudden wealth.

If Long Sheng were still able to sense his two arms, he would surely be clenching his fists tightly. This was the gravest insult he had suffered his whole life, and his self-confidence had been grievously wounded.

Of course, Zhang Lie didn't care for any of that—regardless of whether it was the Li clan or the Long clan, he hadn't provoked the other party first.

"Not bad, not bad, Young Master Long! The quantity and quality of your soulshards really are commensurate with your position."

The hunters of Team Zenith rushed over and scooped them all up.

From the distance, Chu Feng swallowed a gulp of saliva as he whispered to Yun Bing. Despite knowing Zhang Lie for quite a while, he hadn't yet seen any of Zhang Lie's enemies live after being defeated by him. "Do you think Zhang Lie will let him go?"

Yun Bing laughed lightly at him. "Is this your first day interacting with Zhang Lie? Don't you understand his personality by now?"

Yun Bing viewed Zhang Lie as a decisive, vicious man. In truth, she admired his personality—regardless of whether he killed hunters or stole their soulshards today, neither the Long nor the Li clan's stance toward him would change, and they would surely remain enemies.

Li Sheng and Long Sheng felt a pang of pain as they saw their soulshards being stored by the hunters of Team Zenith.

"Zhang Lie, can you hand us the antidote to this poison now?" Long Sheng asked.

"Antidote? Have I ever agreed to that?" Zhang Lie tilted his head.

The gathered hunters all froze. Was Zhang Lie going to take their possessions and leave them all to die?!

Chu Feng made an 'ahh' sound as Yun Bing nudged him.

"Y-You, you've broken your promise!" Long Sheng cried out, glaring at Zhang Lie.

Li Sheng's face turned pale. Zhang Lie wasn't going to spare any of them, and it didn't seem as though he cared about their background at all. In truth, if their positions were swapped, he would likely do the same.

"What do you mean, Young Master Long? I'm as trustworthy as I claim to be. I've let you go, but I'm not the only hunter you've tried to target, am I?"

The hunters of Team Zenith, understanding their captain's intent, immediately raised their weapons.

"Zhang Lie, you scumbag, you bastard! Just you wait for retribution from the Long clan! You and your whole family shall perish! And not just you—your team will suffer for what you've done today!"

"The Long clan? Have them send people my way if they dare!" Zhang Lie didn't seem to care about how many enemies he made. And why would he? There were few that he had to fear within the first realm of the dimensional world. He wasn't the king of the slums; no, he could well be the top hunter of the first realm! He was yet undefeated, and given his firm backing on Earth by the military of Ning, he had nothing to fear in all of China.

It was for this reason that he was daring enough to kill these hunters in plain sight.

Anyone who had attacked him and his team within the domain of [Eclipse] suffered the same fate: all would perish at the hands of Team Zenith.

The battlefield grew so bloody that the spectators, even from afar, shuddered at the sight. They swore never to provoke Zhang Lie at any cost; he was simply too frightening! Indeed, after this massacre, no faction in the first realm would dare try something like this again. magic

Once the battlefield was cleaned up, Zhang Lie exchanged a few words with Chu Feng and Yun Bing, then departed with Team Zenith. Chu Feng and Yun Bing glanced at his back with complicated expressions on their faces. Although their relationship with Zhang Lie hadn't changed, they knew that Zhang Lie's friendship didn't extend to either the Yun or Chu clans.