The crag eagles were rather satisfied with the rock spires that the rock spirits had created, but they weren't used to the height—the crag eagles were used to far more elevated perches.

Upon finding out that Renhuang was hosting a celebration on account of its founding, the crag eagles immediately motioned to attend.

"Of course we have to attend this celebration too!" Yu Huantian shouted.

A large pot was brought out from who-knew-where, and the meat from the peak-grade lifeforms that Zhang Lie had slaughtered was simmering inside.

All the citizens of Renhuang gathered in the central plaza of the city. The rock spirits emerged from their quarry, and the wood spirits from their forest.

The rock giants dwarfed everyone else around. The wood spirits hovered in the air, glowing green. The Yeluo fighters' bronzed skins and hulking forms made them a sight to behold. The crag eagles flew through the air.

In front of the palace, Zhang Lie announced, "Thank you for all your hard work, everyone. You've put in a lot of effort to transform this from a war-torn capital to a brand-new city! I know many of you didn't come to this city willingly, but from your happy, expectant faces, I can tell that you've come to feel like you're part of it. From today onwards, this city will have a name: Renhuang.

"To all of you, I'd like to offer you a toast—in gratitude for your work, and with the promise of more to come!"

The humans, Yeluo, wood spirits, rock spirits, and the newly introduced crag eagles all began to cheer.

"Now, time for the feast!"

Sun Mengmeng and the others climbed up a ladder to reach the gigantic stone cauldron's lid, where they used a long ladle to scoop portion after portion of meat broth to everyone present. Besides the peak-grade meat broth, there were all sorts of delicacies available to everyone present. 

Everyone, human and alien alike, smiled blissfully. They were particularly glad that they had chosen or been coerced to accompany Zhang Lie to Renhuang.

If the humans had remained in Qi, they would never have advanced beyond second-realm hunters with maxed superior gene fragments. In fact, many of them wouldn't even have reached such a threshold, let alone obtain any peak gene fragments at all. They would risk their lives just to get a paltry few mutated gene fragments, and they might even die to a sudden attack or ambush from a superior-grade lifeform.

Even killing a regular or mutated-grade lifeform wasn't easy for most second-realm hunters. Many hunters died from inexplicable bouts of carelessness, of a confluence of an unlucky set of random events. Their every battle was filled with danger at every corner. So too was the wilderness of the second realm. Who knew where genetic lifeforms lay in wait?

Some hunters died after chance encounters with multiple lifeforms in a row, or by encountering hostile tribes while escaping from a group of genetic lifeforms. If these hunters were particularly unlucky, they might find themselves facing a superior- or even peak-grade lifeform.

Living in the second realm meant accepting peril at every corner.

In Renhuang, however, everything seemed far simpler. These hunters could amass enough gene fragments to secure a good foundation just with regular and mutated-grade soulshards that they couldn't use anymore, and they would even be able to hire a team of bodyguards in battle.

The Yeluo were particularly good at providing this service. They were talented fighters and charged a rather cheap price for what they offered—for killing a group of genetic lifeforms, they would be satisfied with receiving just a single soulshard or two, and the human hunters could walk away with the lifeforms' flesh.

The celebration in Renhuang mirrored the celebration deep within sura territory.

In a sura country to the extreme west, millions of sura were gathered outside their monarch's palace, shouting so loudly they could be heard from miles away.

"Longevity to the monarch of stars! The sura shall never fall!"

"Longevity to the monarch of stars! The sura shall never fall!"

"Longevity to the monarch of stars! The sura shall never fall!"

Their chant echoed in the air. The buildings almost seemed to tremble with the collective shout of the sura as they celebrated their kingdom's victory.

They stood in a plaza whose center was a statue of a sura. He wielded dual blades with sharp, serrated teeth, giving off a fearsome aura that seemed to be transmitted even in the form of a statue.

Within the palace, a gigantic sura monarch sat on his throne.

The palace was so large that it was dozens of times the size of Zhang Lie's city. The sura monarch's throne room was lined with statue after statue of past sura emperors, and at their center was a statue hundreds of meters tall.

It was cut out of a gigantic piece of blood jade and depicted a sura with three heads and six arms, a different weapon in each arm. By his back was a wheel of light. The statue stood in front of a stained-glass window, and when light shone in through that window, the deity depicted in the statue seemed to radiate with an inner glow.

This was the deity worshiped by the sura: the asura.

Before the asura was the monarch's throne, crafted out of blood jade and gold. A nearly ten-meter tall sura sat on the throne, wearing bone-plated armor that seemed to suck in all light. His face was calm, but the aura surrounding him seemed so fearsome that those who looked upon him began to palpitate.

A minister wearing blood-colored robes knelt at his feet with parchment in his hands. "Your majesty, our forces report an overwhelming success! The three sura kingdoms that have attacked us are now nothing but dust.

Our kingdom is strong enough to rule over the entirety of the second realm, and you are the ruler of that kingdom. It is my humble suggestion that this kingdom be titled the heart of the sura empire."

Another minister added, "Millions of sura have gathered outside the palace to cheer for your victory, your majesty. With the citizens' hearts and minds united, this kingdom will surely prosper for another millennium!"

"No, no—while your majesty is alive, our kingdom will prosper for millennia! Your majesty shall usher in a new age for the sura!"

The sura monarch, the monarch of stars, was unperturbed by his ministers' flattery.

"To celebrate our grand victory, send word to my nine godsons to have them return for a feast. How have they been?"

The ministers glanced at each other. "Eight of the princes are doing well, but the ninth..."

The sura monarch smiled. "What's the matter? I recall he had a certain fondness for human males. How is he?"

The minister lowered his head until it was touching the ground. "Your majesty, while we were being besieged by the three neighboring sura kingdoms, he... was killed. We believed it would be inappropriate to reveal that information to you while the war was ongoing."

"Bastards!" the sura monarch roared. His anger manifested as a wave of cutting wind which shook the entire palace. He slammed a palm down on his armrest and crushed it into pieces. His aura rippled through the room, blowing around the weaker ministers and cracking the pillars that held the palace upright. The minister in blood-colored robes hurriedly pleaded, "Please calm down, your majesty!"

With a deep breath, the sura monarch restrained himself and sat back down. "Who dared touch my godson? What sura would disrespect me so?!"

The official's legs had turned to jelly as he reported, "Your majesty, please forgive me. I hadn't paid too much attention to the report because the sura king had been captured alive."

Recently, the sura king's body had finally given out, and his vitality was so depleted that no spiritual herb could save him. He died impaled on a wooden stake.

The minister in blood-colored robes urged, "Tell us what you know!"

"Yes, minister!" The reporting official clambered up from the floor. "Your majesty, as you suspected, no sura would dare touch your godson. He was killed by a group of humans!"

The sura monarch snorted. "That's impossible. I'm well aware of my godsons' strength. How could humans take any of them down?"

"It's true, your majesty, I swear on it! According to our latest reports, not only did those humans take over your godson's former kingdom, they even recruited a few alien races to rebuild its capital from scratch!"

"Insolent! They clearly think nothing of me." The sura monarch clenched his fists tightly.

The minister dressed in blood-colored robes murmured, "No one human could slaughter a sura king. Your majesty, I suspect your godson was too caught up in his hobbies and pleasures and fell prey to a devious scheme!"

"An ignoble death for a sura, but a crime against my godson is a crime against me. If I don't take revenge, all sura will scorn my name," the sura monarch pronounced.

He thought for a moment. "What of my godson Xuechi? He isn't too far from the captured sura kingdom, is he?"

"That's right, your majesty, he's the closest among your godsons!"

The sura king commanded, "In that case, let Xuechi seek revenge for his brother. Instruct him that he is to bring me that human's head within ten days."

The official prostrating himself on the floor exhaled in relief and was just about to stand when a flash of blood-colored energy streaked past. No one saw how the monarch had struck, but the official noticed his surroundings somehow all rising into the air.

No—his body was dropping. He turned around to see a pair of legs behind him. 

The official who had lost both his legs flopped onto the red-colored carpet, blood pulsing out of his stumps and dying the carpet a darker shade of red.

The sura king spoke slowly, "You have no right to decide which information is pertinent to me, and which is not. If not for your loyalty to the kingdom, you'd have lost your head, not your feet."

The official who had lost both his legs keened in pain as he cried out, "Thank you for sparing my life, your majesty!"

"Long live the monarch of stars! While he rules, the kingdom shall not fall!"

The officials gathered in the palace all knelt and bowed down to their monarch.