Chapter 54: Killing and the Divine

Boom boom boom!

In the wide corridor, the Gatugui trampled forward with its thick legs, relentlessly chasing Fang Shi from behind.

Fang Shi’s expression remained calm; he only used Double Impact to accelerate when the Gatugui drew near.

Each time, he kept just far enough to give the Gatugui false hope.

This repetition made the Gatugui increasingly furious.

A dessert slipping from its grasp was utterly unbearable.

Thus, the Gatugui’s eyes began to glow red, and a thin green ray shot out from them, straight toward Fang Shi.

I’ve been waiting for this!

Aiming while running is difficult enough, and Fang Shi’s movement was unimpeded.

Combined with his high-perception warning, he easily dodged the death ray.

The Gatugui could not unleash the death ray twice in succession, creating a skill cooldown.

Its threat to Fang Shi dropped sharply.

Crash!

【Double Impact】

Fang Shi turned and charged back, swinging his longsword at the Gatugui’s neck.

During his prior running, he had already closed the distance to about three meters.

This sudden turn caught the Gatugui off guard.

In previous battles, it had always stayed rooted, attacking only with its tail.

Whenever Fang Shi circled slightly ahead of it, it would spin around.

To bring Fang Shi back into its attack range.

Since the Gatugui was inside the circle and Fang Shi was outside.

No matter how he circled, Fang Shi could never break in—its attacks were flawless.

But this tactic was useless while running.

Added to that, Fang Shi had already neutralized its death ray.

For a moment, the Gatugui had no means to attack Fang Shi except biting.

But biting was useless—even unable to force Fang Shi to reposition.

Because the Gatugui’s neck joints were stiff and its muscles too sparse to move flexibly.

By the time Fang Shi charged in, the Gatugui’s head had barely turned ninety degrees.

That was its limit; a full 180-degree turn was impossible—that was the domain of dragons.

Moreover, its four limbs were like pillars, inherently inflexible like claws.

And its neck was too long and slender, leaving a gap between its body and head.

That gap was just enough for Fang Shi to strike without colliding with the Gatugui’s body.

“Slashing attack initiated.”

“Target received fatal damage.”

“You dealt 12 points of damage to the target.”

Crash!

A massive head slammed to the ground.

Fang Shi had cleaved the Gatugui’s neck clean in two.

It was only because the Gatugui’s neck was so thin; had it been an elephant of equal height.

Fang Shi’s strike would have gotten stuck halfway.

This is the awkwardness humans face against large creatures.

Sometimes you’ve pierced the defense, yet the weapon is too small to sever.

But it doesn’t matter—once he reaches level 6 and can use sword qi, this situation will improve.

In truth, the decapitated Gatugui did not die instantly.

Its body still carried vitality, driven by residual neural signals.

It surged forward relentlessly, its tail whipping like a whip, cracking with explosive sounds.

Too bad—all of it was merely dying thrashing.

From the severed neck, blood gushed skyward.

Like a high-pressure hose, it sprayed across the corridor, pooling into small puddles.

Even Fang Shi was drenched, his entire body crimson.

Blood dripped continuously from his clothes, making him look like a bloodthirsty demon.

“Target deceased.”

“Extracting target’s soul energy. You gain 462 experience points, 46.2 survival points.”

“Detection: Player has reached level 5.”

»

“You have obtained partial information on the advanced class Earth Sword Saint.”

“You have obtained partial information on the advanced class Death Sword Saint.”

Death Sword Saint?

What does this class do?

Does every attack count as a Death Point?

What if I face a monster immune to physical toughness?

Or could it one day elevate the concept of death to all things?

Right now, Fang Shi was deeply curious about all advanced classes.

After all, he had realized his own strength was lacking.

A physical class that only uses basic attacks has no future.

This time, he relied on experience to kill the Gatugui.

But next time?

Not every monster is this dumb.

If not for the heavy experience penalty for dual-classing.

Fang Shi would have loved to become a Sword Saint and a Mage all the way.

How severe was this penalty?

It was calculated as the sum of your class levels.

For example, a level 5 warrior wanting to dual-class as a level 1 mage.

The experience cost wasn’t 1000, nor 1500.

It was directly 15,000—the exact amount needed to level up at that moment.

This completely eliminated any possibility of exploiting loopholes through endless dual-classing and leveling.

“Hope the next intersection brings luck.”

Fang Shi rested briefly, then continued forward.

He didn’t believe his luck was truly this bad.

“It’d be better if I encountered something like Lion-Footed Hawkmen or Scorpion-Men.”

“Usually, humanoid monsters are strong in organization—but in mazes, they’re all solitary. Easy to handle.”

Too bad, Fang Shi was wrong—terribly wrong.

When he was a hundred meters from the intersection, he did see a humanoid creature.

Its body was a churning mass of unknown substance, like a giant eye.

No head, one trailing tail, and four dull gray arms.

Aside from being unsettling, it was undeniably humanoid.

But that wasn’t the main issue.

The deadly part was the heavy pressure emanating from it—imbued with the aura of life and death.

Fang Shi’s limbs trembled; his mind was cold and calm, but his body’s instincts could not be suppressed.

As if fear was engraved deep in his genes.

This was a tier-three monster!

No mistake—this feeling matched exactly the tier-three creatures he’d seen before his rebirth.

Even stronger, nearly approaching legendary status.

“What kind of monster is this? I’ve never seen it in the Monster Codex!”

“The book seller is a fraud—he claims to catalog every monster in existence!”

Of course, these were just Fang Shi’s grumbling.

He knew the multiverse was vast—no single book could possibly contain everything.

He merely wanted to ease his nerves, calm his body’s instincts, and hurry to flee.

Fortunately, there was a rule: monsters could not attack unless the player entered the intersection.

Otherwise, Fang Shi was certain he’d already be dead—even a hundred meters away.

……

“Jiang Xian, look—there’s food here,” Zhang Di said, pointing to the branches on the wall.

The endless maze was not empty; occasionally, stone steles, plants, weapons, and soil would appear.

Some speculated these might have been brought in by the monsters themselves.

But shouldn’t anything a monster carries be confined to the crossroads?

How could it appear on the path itself?

Unless someone had come here long ago and fought a battle.

Humanity from Blue Star was certainly not the first lifeform to use this maze.

“This fruit?”

Jiang Xian leapt and plucked the fruit from the branch.

It was a bright red fruit, apple-like in shape but only the size of a plum.

“Can we eat it?” Jiang Xian asked, puzzled.

Zhang Di, unconcerned, reached out, grabbed the fruit, and tossed it into his mouth: “Who cares? When I was a kid in the countryside, I ate wild fruits every day—it’s all the same. It won’t kill you.”

He swallowed it in three quick bites.

“Ah!”

A scream erupted from Zhang Di’s mouth; his whole body trembled uncontrollably, as if seized by epilepsy.

“Fatty, what’s wrong?!” Jiang Xian grabbed him, stunned.

“I… so… good…”

Zhang Di gritted his teeth, his voice a mix of joy and agony.

“What the hell is wrong with you?! You’re shaking all over—how could that be comfortable?!”

Jiang Xian suspected Zhang Di had eaten a hallucinogen; his mind might already be going mad.

“No, you must eat the rest of the fruit—it adds attributes. Right now, it’s remodeling my body.”

Zhang Di finished the sentence in fragments, as if expending all his strength, then closed his eyes and collapsed.

Jiang Xian propped Zhang Di against the wall, uncertain and uneasy.

Logically, Zhang Di wouldn’t lie to him.

But Zhang Di’s condition was utterly abnormal—words spoken in such a state were questionable.

So Jiang Xian decided to wait, to see when Zhang Di woke up and ask him exactly what had happened.

……

“Why are you here?”

Before Jiang Xian could wait for Zhang Di to awaken, a cold male voice came from his right.

Jiang Xian turned hastily and saw a man standing not far off.

The man was drenched in blood, gripping a dark red longsword, his face resolute and cold.

Like a demon from hell.

Jiang Xian’s heart chilled.

When had he arrived? Why hadn’t he heard footsteps?

Fear gripped him; he quietly tugged at Zhang Di, preparing to rise, fearing this might be an unknown monster within the maze.

The man seemed to sense Jiang Xian’s fear and said calmly: “Don’t be afraid. I’m human too.”

Jiang Xian stammered: “Y-you… how… prove… demons… can… say… they’re… human…”

The man—Fang Shi—said simply: “No proof needed. I’m just curious about you.”

After doubling back from the fourth crossroad, Fang Shi found he had only one path left.

Two he had already taken; one was the path Jiang Xian and Zhang Di had taken.

Fang Shi avoided the last one because if two weaklings were still alive,

the likelihood of a high-level monster there was low.

So he took the final path.

But halfway through, he discovered Jiang Xian and the other sitting nearby.

And when he saw Jiang Xian, a sudden unease struck him.

Following the principle of self-preservation, Fang Shi decided to slip away quietly—no trouble, no risk.

Yet the farther he walked, the heavier that unease became.

As if leaving was the true path to death.

So Fang Shi decided to find out what was going on.

“Curious? What’s there to be curious about? I’m just an ordinary guy.”

Jiang Xian found Fang Shi’s words strange—he had no special talents beyond DIY, and his life was utterly plain.

“You are ordinary indeed. But what’s inside you is anything but.”

Fang Shi shouted: “Come out! What do you want?!”

The moment he spoke, an anomaly erupted!

Golden light began pouring from Jiang Xian’s body.

He now looked like a different person—his expression solemn and divine, pupils golden, supreme and cold, gazing down upon Fang Shi with disdain.

“Mortal, why do you call me?”

Divine Descent!

This was something Fang Shi had never anticipated.

He had assumed something hidden within Jiang Xian might be a ghost or a malevolent entity.

But never a deity.

The reason was simple: other worlds had deities—but Blue Star absolutely did not.

This was a decree, issued by some great power,

engraved within the Ocean of Primordial Force, to be revealed to the world by legendary heroes in the future.

Wait—

This was the endless maze. The Trial Tower. Not Blue Star!

“Which Your Majesty are you?”

Fang Shi forced out the words, struggling against the trembling in his soul.

The deity’s pressure affected not just the body, but the soul.

Facing a third-rank monster, Fang Shi could keep his mind steady.

But facing a deity, it was excruciating.

This wasn’t even the deity’s true form—not even a true avatar.

Merely a negligible projection.

Jiang Xian spoke with divine authority: “Mortal, I am the sovereign of gamblers, the protector of adventurers, the guardian of half-elves, the embodiment of luck across the multiverse. My name is Tymora.”

Tymora—the Luck Goddess, the deity who governed fortune across the multiverse.

All matters of luck fell under her dominion.

“So it’s the Lady of Luck. What do you want with me?”

Fang Shi’s tone was neither humble nor defiant, yet he bowed deeply in respect.

This was not worship of a deity, but reverence for a superior power.

“Didn’t you call me?”

Tymora’s voice was calm, her expression utterly still.

Fang Shi was speechless. Though deities towered above mortals, each had their own personality.

Tymora, legend said, was a bold, reckless, fickle woman.

Women value face—it’s natural. I’ll give her all the face she needs.

Besides, she’s a lady—must show respect.

This was a deity—a being far beyond legendary heroes.

“I called you, Lady. My luck has been terrible lately. May I ask what remedy you offer?”

Fang Shi was no fool. Since Tymora’s appearance, he deeply suspected his own misfortune.

The Rune Hounds and Gato Beasts were tolerable—perhaps just low-probability normal events.

But the final unknown third-rank monster? That was absurd.

The maze’s mechanics didn’t work like this—no second-rank monsters encountered, straight to third-rank.

And all this while Fang Shi was only level five—it was as if someone had shouted:

“The Luck Goddess wants to meet you.”

Fang Shi guessed this entire scheme had begun only after he entered the Trial Tower.

After all, on Blue Star, deities couldn’t even manifest a projection.

With the dominance of the attribute panel, someone had even become a priest of a deity—

and simply stole the power. Divine grace could be granted, but never revoked.

How did Fang Shi know these things?

Because in the future, a priest had committed sacrilege—and his power remained untouched.

Caused a great uproar and soon spread widely.

Yet when the Lady of Luck heard Fang Shi’s words, the Jiang Xian possessing her smiled seductively.

“Naturally, Luck favors you.”