Ultragene Warlord

Chapter 1581: Hanxiang's Transformation

The airship was headed straight for the settlement that Hong Tianqi had constructed.

After so much time had passed, the hunter's guild looked brand-new. The hunters were no longer forced to hide in the mountains, never to show their faces. The fates of the hunter's guild and the former hunters' settlement had been reversed.

Zhang Lie exhaled in relief. If the hunters of the guild had suffered because of him as well, Zhang Lie would have felt very upset.

He had Li Qianlin temporarily remain in the airship waiting for him. Just like before, she bade farewell to him with longing as he headed back to the Milky Way via the teleportation apparatus in the hunter's guild.

Only a day had passed since the last time he left the Milky Way. He left a record of his passage in the hunter's guild as he returned to Earth.

This time, he didn't come back alone. The members of Team Zenith joined him.

Zhang Lie rushed to find his sister in the Zenith Dojo.

When she saw her brother return safely, Zhang Hanxiang smiled. "You're back, Brother!"

Zhang Lie nodded and rubbed Zhang Hanxiang's head. "I am. Did you stay home obediently?"

Zhang Hanxiang mock-scowled. "Brother, I'm not a kid anymore!"

Zhang Lie let out a long breath. "That's true. You've grown up, Hanxiang."

Zhang Hanxiang continued, "Nothing happened in the Zenith Dojo during the two days I was here."

Zhang Lie blinked. "Hm?"

Zhang Hanxiang frowned. "Didn't you want me to inspect the dojo, Brother?"

"Oh, right, I remember now."

Zhang Lie remembered the ploy with which he had tricked Zhang Hanxiang to remain in the dojo.

"I finished off the enemy long ago—I just forgot about it."

Zhang Hanxiang puffed up her cheeks. "You should have told me, Brother! I wouldn't have needed to wait idly in the dojo then."

Zhang Lie clasped his hands together. "Just two days in the Zenith Dojo shouldn't have left you too bored, right?"

"But that's two months in the third realm!" Zhang Hanxiang exclaimed. "Think about how much stronger Hong Xi would be getting..."

"Ah, my Hanxiang knows the importance of working hard now."

Zhang Hanxiang seemed to grow more infuriated. "Brother, I demand that you repay me for this."

"Ah, very well. I managed to get some incredible treasure while defeating that enemy, so how about this?" Zhang Lie revealed a chest and opened it.

The chest glowed with starlit radiance, filling the room with light. Zhang Hanxiang's eyes turned starry as she wowed.

The room seemed to transform into the cosmos. What lay within the chest wasn't a flower, but rather a nebula, fiery-red with destruction one moment, and glittering silver the next. The colors changed again and again, dazzling any onlookers.

The nebula contained concentrated vitality, so much so that calling it a 'sea of life' would be a pale imitation of reality. It was like a small cosmos in its own right. Even Zhang Hanxiang could sense and be astounded by the vitality it contained.

In addition to that vitality, the core of the nebula contained another indescribable energy, the strength that lay at the pinnacle of destruction and death, which anyone would dream of possessing.

Zhang Hanxiang's heart thumped. She felt her body's innate desire for the flower of universal life. She forcibly restrained herself as she pushed it away.

Zhang Lie frowned. "What's the matter? Don't you like it?"

Zhang Hanxiang nodded. "Very much so, but I can't have it."

She wasn't the innocent girl of her youth any longer. Her experiences in the dimensional world, the trials and challenges she had overcome, caused Zhang Hanxiang to mature bit by bit. Despite the fact that Zhang Lie and the Zenith Dojo had tried to preserve her innocence via their protection, she was no longer the frail, lonely girl who cried and begged Zhang Lie to stay behind and accompany her when he left for the dimensional world.

She, who had familiarized herself with spiritual pills and herbs via long exposure in the dimensional world, who had consumed multiple limit-breaking potions, could tell at a glance that the flower of universal life was an incredibly rare and expensive reagent, one that the vast majority of—or perhaps even all—spiritual herbs couldn't compare to.

"It would benefit you more than it does me, Brother."

These were Zhang Hanxiang's true thoughts.

Zhang Lie had to grow strong. Only then would he be able to protect her, to protect the Zenith Dojo.

Zhang Lie smiled and rubbed his sister's head. "Don't worry. I have even better treasures. Don't you see?"

Zhang Hanxiang cocked her head as Zhang Lie flexed. "I'm even stronger than before. I brought this back specially for you."

Sun Mengmeng poked her head out. "Your brother brought it back just for you. Take it, won't you?"

"We all have better stuff. You don't have to worry about us," Sun Xiaowu added.

"Captain, are you done! We're waiting for you to host us a banquet!" Li Feng shouted.

Zhang Hanxiang smiled as she cupped the flower of universal life in her hands. "What a pretty flower. I'm a little reluctant to eat it."

Fang Yi grumbled playfully, "Hurry, hurry! I want to eat my fill, too!"

Zhang Hanxiang asked, "How strong were the opponents you faced if they had such incredible treasure?"

"Not too strong," Sun Xiaowu replied. "Captain finished them off in just a few blows."

"My brother really is amazing." Zhang Hanxiang smiled proudly.

"Go on, eat it." Zhang Lie rubbed his sister's head.

Zhang Hanxiang nodded obediently and consumed the flower of universal life.

Then, starlight filled her body.

The starlight expanded, encapsulating the entire room. Fog gathered. Rosy light filtered down, and vitality surged forth. Starlight surrounded her body, concentrated and dense, as though she were wreathed in the cosmos itself.

The starlight struck her body, breaking all her bones. Zhang Hanxiang frowned in pain.

Zhang Lie grimaced as Sun Mengmeng stepped forward to console him. "Hanxiang will be just fine. You've already inspected the flower of universal life several times before we got here, and you know it has no downsides."

Zhang Lie nodded. He did know that. All he could do now was wait.

The starlight bathed her limbs and bones, shrouding her in radiance.

Starfire flared and surrounded her. Her bones shattered. Zhang Hanxiang shuddered as natural law seeped into her very bones.

Zhang Lie saw the changes in Zhang Hanxiang's expression and grew anxious, but there was nothing he could do.

Blood seeped out from her skin, carrying trace impurities with it.

More and more starlight gathered around Zhang Hanxiang, so concentrated they were condensing into clouds. Zhang Hanxiang shouted loudly as the starlight flared—but Zhang Lie lifted a hand and suppressed the manifestation, so none outside the Zenith Dojo would be made aware of it.