Chapter 145: The Immortal True King, God Among Men

Perhaps he hadn't slept enough and woke up in a foul mood; before Lutz had fully emerged from the stone coffin, he smashed a fist into the face of Ruifuzhu beside him.

Though both were monsters, there were differences between them.

Although both were failed products of an interrupted Blood Moon Immortality Ritual, Lutz was an old noble who had undergone the first Blood Moon Immortality, and among such old nobles, the concentration of Blood Moon energy within his body was second to none.

Compared to an old noble like Lutz, Ruifu could at best be counted as a nouveau riche, lacking both foundation and sheer bulk by a wide margin.

The head, mutated into a flower bud, was smashed open by a single punch; the upper body, which had just sat up, jerked backward violently and fell back into deep sleep.

Transformed into a flesh giant, Lutz's muscles swelled explosively every second; before he could even step out of the stone coffin, his body shattered it from within.

Due to the premature end of the Blood Moon Ritual, Lutz lacked a vast amount of Blood Moon energy; with his consciousness shattered and able to act only on instinct, he set his sights on the monsters surrounding him.

Seeing this, he scooped up Ruifu, who had fallen back into deep sleep, opened his massive jaws, and bit off Ruifuzhu's blossoming head in one gulp.

A torrent of blood sprayed from Ruifuzhu's neck; the moment the blood left his body, it instantly transformed into a sky-full of pollen, causing the other monsters to sneeze.

Wherever the pollen landed, whether on the walls or on the flesh and blood of other monsters, tiny flower buds began to grow, strikingly similar to Ruifuzhu's former head.

Wu Chang activated the remnant fragment of his Thunder Method, arranging a layer of electric netting before him that incinerated all the incoming pollen into charcoal ash, then said to Han Er beside him, "I didn't expect Lutz to be a vegetarian."

The monsters stained with pollen began frantically clawing at their own flesh and blood, seemingly trying to dig the parasitic flowers out from within.

But the flower roots had taken hold deeply; no matter how hard they clawed, even if they scratched them off, the flowers quickly regrew.

Lutz, being closest to Ruifuzhu, suffered the worst condition; his body became covered in flower buds, turning him entirely into a huge moving garden.

Yet Lutz paid it no mind; he clamped his jaws onto Ruifuzhu's neck and began to suck greedily.

In just a few breaths, he sucked Ruifuzhu dry into a mummy, and the flower buds on the other monsters withered along with Ruifuzhu.

Through the perspective granted by the Soul-Cleansing Banner, Wu Chang saw Lutz brutally plunder all the Blood Moon power from within Ruifuzhu, cutting off Ruifuzhu's path to survival at its source, thereby resolving the bizarre pollen ability.

No mechanism can withstand high attributes; this highlighted how sheer force subdues ten skills.

With Lutz, the highest-ranking figure present, making the first move, the other few old nobles showed no courtesy either and began their own "serving of dishes."

Relying on instinct, they began seeking out weaker targets around them and launching attacks.

Having just eaten a vegetable salad, Lutz apparently was not yet full and, showing absolutely no table manners, began snatching other food in a frenzy.

The monsters' sanity was already shattered, and now, under the effect of the Loud Horn, they plunged into chaos; initially they might have feared Ruifuzhu, but once the fighting started, no one showed anyone any mercy.

Soon, ten monsters were locked in a brawl, slaughtering one another.

Yet no matter how they fought, they all maintained an unspoken understanding: no one dared to provoke the figure on the Golden Wang Zuo.

They did not dare to provoke him, but someone else did.

Wu Chang took a deep breath and once again drew out the Loud Horn.

Risking the potential failure of a hidden side quest, wasn't the point of turning these clients into mindless monsters precisely to use them as cannon fodder, to exhaust Mikael I's abilities and force him to reveal his trump card?

He hadn't expected these fellows to be cowards to the bone; even without sanity and plunged into chaos, they still didn't dare to act as regicides even once.

Since they wouldn't move, he would move on their behalf.

Woo~

The loud sound of the horn rang out once more in the underground tomb; under the effect of Wu Chang's 98 points of Inspiration, the sound waves shook all the monsters so severely that they clutched their heads with both hands, wailing in agony.

Wu Chang looked toward the Golden Wang Zuo and saw that Mikael I had fully opened his eyes, yet his gaze was utterly blank, still in a state of sleep.

Good, good, good, so you're one of those goldfish types, are you?

Mikael I, sleeping with his eyes open, had the stillness within his body broken; the fire of life had reignited within him, though this flame was predominantly red, mixed with white, black, gray, and a hint of gold.

Wu Chang unleashed Calamity, entering a spirit form, and with a slight flick of his finger toward Mikael I, a wisp of black qi gushed from his fingertip and drifted toward Mikael I.

Pretending to sleep, are you? I'll make you burst out!

Mikael I sensed something and wanted to dodge, but being in a half-dead state, he could not evade and could only take this strike of Calamity head-on.

"The sum of the target's Inspiration and Will attributes is less than 50% of the sum of the user's two attributes; effect triggered: 'Spreading Plague', 'Summoning Calamity'."

"The target is protected by a special status; each time affected by an abnormal status, a separate judgment will be conducted, with a 60% probability of resisting that abnormal status; 'Spreading Plague' judgment succeeded, but was immunized by the target."

"'Summoning Calamity' judgment failed; the target gains the effect 'Summoning Calamity'."

"Summoning Calamity: When the target is affected by the Summoning Calamity effect, they will continuously suffer accidents, everything will go wrong, and mishaps will occur frequently; the effect's intensity depends on the difference between the target's and the user's Inspiration attributes."

Wu Chang sighed; what a pity that it was Summoning Calamity and not Spreading Plague, otherwise he would have definitely made Mikael I burst out thoroughly and turned his Golden Wang Zuo into a golden toilet.

However, the effect of Summoning Calamity was equally powerful; having gained the Summoning Calamity effect, Mikael I became somewhat unable to sit still.

One could see divine light gathering in his pupils, as if he might wake up at any moment.

At that time, the first king of this land would make a magnificent entrance to announce his return.

That was how the original script was written, but due to the intervention of Summoning Calamity, matters developed in a bizarre direction.

Lutz, originally the farthest from the Golden Wang Zuo, was grabbing a monster incarnated as a knight of the Hunguang Sect Sect and spinning him around like a windmill.

As he spun, his hand suddenly mutated; losing his grip, he sent the monster flying horizontally, crashing it onto the ground below the Golden Wang Zuo.

The massive impact shattered the high platform, and coincidentally, another monster flew horizontally, colliding with the backrest of the Golden Wang Zuo; thus, the Golden Wang Zuo tipped forward, rolling all the way to Lutz's feet.

Lutz's mutated hands happened to stabilize just then, transforming into two heavy long blades; he had intended to lower his hands normally, but since his hands had become long blades, the motion became a downward slash.

Beneath the blade's edge was Mikael I, rolling over to meet the strike.

One slash severed the Golden Wang Zuo and also chopped off Mikael I's head.

Mikael I's head rolled all the way to a stop at Lutz's feet; Lutz subconsciously moved his foot to kick the head upright, only to find two eyes filled with divine light staring straight at him.

"Good, good, good; worthy of the grand duke I favored most back then! I knew that in the entire kingdom, only you would dare to raise a blade against me!"

With Mikael I's awakening, the atmosphere throughout the entire Immortality Tomb changed abruptly; an immense pressure filled the surroundings, and even though the monsters had already lost their sanity, they subconsciously retreated several steps.

Mikael I's head, which had fallen to the ground, flew up and hovered in midair, while his headless body rose from the Golden Wang Zuo and reached out to catch his own head.

The moment his head and body merged into one, the Golden Wang Zuo transformed into a suit of golden armor that covered his body, making him appear imposing and heroically formidable.

Everyone present had undergone the baptism of Blood Moon Immortality, but against the backdrop of the surrounding demons and monsters, Mikael I appeared like a god.

He reached back and grabbed a great noble disguised as a knight; the great noble he seized could not unleash any Blood Moon power, and not only was he unable to resist, but his monsterized body even reverted partially to a human form.

Then Mikael I slammed the great noble in his hand fiercely onto the ground, extended his fingers like a blade, thrust them directly into the opponent's chest, and tore out a heart condensed from Blood Moon power.

With the power of the Blood Moon stolen, he died instantly on the spot.

Michael I gripped the heart in his hand, scanned his surroundings, and said coldly, "Stealing my miracles, cursing me, chopping off my head—you all did wonderfully!"

Led by Lutz, several monsters took a step back, seemingly wanting to say, "It wasn't me, I didn't do it, stop talking nonsense."

As for stealing the miracles, they had indeed done that, but regarding the latter two accusations, they were innocent.

Unfortunately, the fragmentation of their consciousness prevented them from even thinking coherently, let alone defending themselves.

Instead, because the pressure brought by Michael I was too great, the four monsters transformed from ordinary knights, under the influence of chaos, completely lost their sanity and pounced at Michael I.

Facing the siege of four monsters, Michael I remained utterly calm; the golden armor on his body decomposed into golden particles and condensed once again into the Golden Throne.

The monster's heart he held in his hand transformed under the modification of Jin Guang into a ruby, embedding itself within the throne.

The red gem erupted with dazzling light, and subsequently, it could be seen that the bodies of the several monsters pouncing toward him slowed down while mid-air.

Seizing the gap created by their slowed speed, the Golden Throne transformed into two giant golden swords; Michael I gripped the swords with both hands, swung with all his might, and instantly slashed the four monsters flying away.

Michael I's golden power possessed a peculiar effect, capable of directly attacking the origin of a target; just as he had previously grabbed the Blood Moon power from within an old noble in one grasp, the blade swung this time similarly shattered the blood-colored power within the several monsters.

The two monsters that had charged the furthest forward were split in half by the giant golden sword, their blood-colored power overflowing wildly from the severed wounds along with black, white, and gray qi.

It would not take long before the two would die completely.

If this energy dissipated cleanly, it would be a total waste; Wu Chang had always managed his household frugally, how could he tolerate this, so he immediately had his True Self quietly slip over to gulp down the life force leaking from the wounds.

These newcomers, who had undergone only one Blood Moon baptism and failed at that, had foundations far inferior to the old monsters; each person provided Wu Chang with only 8 points of Strength attribute.

Consuming the two brought the Strength of Wu Chang's True Self to 135 points.

Amidst the fierce battle, Michael I noticed the death of the two rookie monsters, turned around in confusion to take a look, but unable to see through the True Self's social anxiety and advanced stealth, he could only turn his gaze back in puzzlement.

Strange; the Blood Moon power within every target he killed should have been absorbed by his Tomb of Immortality and converted into his own energy.

How did those two little ones on the ground die so cleanly, leaving nothing behind?

Was someone stealing his energy, or was there a problem with the Tomb of Immortality?

Michael I harbored suspicions, but he could not afford to be distracted; after all, compared to those few small fries, Lutz and the others were the truly important prey.

!

In contrast, under Michael's oppressive aura, Lutz and the other monsters began to yield to instinctive fear, wanting to flee the Tomb of Immortality.

A duck already in hand certainly could not be allowed to fly away like this.

The giant two-handed golden sword in Michael I's hand transformed once again into the Golden Throne; this time, a crown appeared atop his head as well.

"Since you have come, then stay here all of you!"

As soon as the words fell, Lutz and the others, who had been fleeing toward the exit of the Tomb of Immortality, suddenly crossed space and appeared around Michael I.

Wu Chang, observing the battle from afar, raised an eyebrow; space magic, and quite expertly done.

As an intermediate space mage, Wu Chang could clearly feel Michael I's interference with space.

Sitting upon the Golden Throne and wearing the Wang Guan, Michael I could transform the Tomb of Immortality into something akin to an inner world; as the master of this inner world, he could manipulate the space within it at will.

Having teleported everyone to his side, Michael once again turned the throne into a giant sword and slashed toward an old noble.

Just as the giant sword entered his hand, his body suddenly fluctuated, his hand trembled slightly, and the strike that should have been fatal only severely injured the old noble, allowing the opponent to escape before dying.

A lucky fellow.

Michael I swung the giant sword, about to strike Lutz, but halfway through the swing, he forcibly halted it.

He sharply turned his head to look at the previous old noble, discovering that the man had died in a corner, dead cleanly without a trace of energy remaining.

What was going on?

There was absolutely some dirty thing inside his tomb!

Wu Chang's True Self, hiding in the corner, let out a burp; after gaining another 15 points of Strength, his power reached 150 points.

Michael I wanted to drag the dirty thing out, but Lutz and the other monsters were not prepared to give him that chance.

Seeing no hope of escape, they acted like dying beasts, no longer caring about themselves, and began fighting for their lives against Michael I.

At this moment, including Lutz, only three old nobles and two rookie knights remained in the arena; dealing with them should have been easy for Michael I, but unfortunately, waking up early from the Blood Moon Immortality had affected his condition, making his entire state unstable.

Every time he attempted a killing strike, inexplicable errors would occur, causing his attacks to miss vital points and giving the opponents a chance to catch their breath.

Amidst frequent mistakes, he and Lutz's group actually fought to a stalemate; unable to take down the opponent for a while, and under siege, his skill transitions were not timely, resulting in him taking a punch from Lutz and sustaining some injuries.

Under the shroud of golden light, Michael I's injuries healed rapidly; he put the crown back on, looked coldly at Lutz, and sighed.

"The farce ends here; so much time has passed, yet you still haven't shaken off the influence of the Blood Moon to regain clarity—truly disappointing."

The battle with Lutz and the others had dragged on for so long not only because of the continuous low-level errors but also because he was intentionally holding back.

He had been asleep previously and had not witnessed the scene where Wu Chang extended life for Lutz and the others; he had still hoped to let Lutz wake up from the Blood Moon Immortality and successfully complete two Blood Moon baptisms, only absorbing the opponent then to achieve maximum utilization efficiency.

Seeing that the most golden period of the Blood Moon Immortality was about to pass, he could no longer hold back.

The Golden Throne condensed in his hand into a new form: a scepter.

Michael I gripped the scepter vertically with both hands, slammed the end of it fiercely onto the ground, and shouted coldly, "Submit!"

A burst of Jin Guang exploded from the top of the scepter, rushing outward; those among Lutz's group affected by the Jin Guang saw the black, white, gray, and red colors within their bodies, which had just stabilized, instantly shake violently.

The conflict between the life force, death qi, and Blood Moon power within their bodies caused everyone to instantly lose their strength, kneeling on the ground, unable to move.

At the same time, Wu Chang received a notification.

"Target's current status 'Disaster-Inviting' has been purified."

Michael I transformed the scepter into a giant sword, plunged it into Lutz's heart, and said indifferently, "Farewell, Lutz."

Next, with one sword strike per person, he beheaded all the monsters瘫 soft on the ground.

When he finished killing the last one and turned around, he suddenly discovered a huge body, massive like a giant, squatting beside Lutz's corpse, stuffing something into its mouth in large gulps.

Michael I froze for a moment, then reacted, suppressing his anger as he asked, "What are you eating?"

Wu Chang's True Self looked at Michael I, swallowed the life force and Blood Moon power in his mouth with a "glug" sound, and said with a dry laugh, "Food dropped on the ground can still be eaten within three seconds; frugality and thrift are virtues."

Consuming Lutz's life force increased his Strength by 20 points, and the momentum radiating from within him grew even more immense.

Looking at the energy thief before him, Michael I's forehead bulged with veins. Am I asking you about frugality right now?

So it's you, kid—you've been stealing my spoils all along!

Though he wanted to casually crush the thief and reclaim his Blood Moon Power, the aura radiating from this giant far exceeded anyone he had ever seen, including himself.

Facing such an opponent, he must show respect—if possible, he did not wish to clash with him.

"Strange stranger, who are you?"

Wu Chang said: "I am the gravekeeper of this cemetery. Who are you?"

When asked who he was, Michael I wore a king's confident smile.

"Listen well, gravekeeper: before you stands the Enfeoffed One, the Chosen of the Gods, Master of the Golden Throne, Guide Through the Mists, Eternal and Immortal True King, Ruler of All Things, God of Mortals, Michael I."

After hearing this long string of titles, Wu Chang clicked his tongue. "How didn't I know so many people were buried here? One grave per household—you need to register if you bury more. Got it?"

Michael I had never heard this joke; it took him a moment to catch on.

"Gravekeeper, are you destined to be my enemy?"

Though Wu Chang showed no overt hostility, from the man's greedy gaze he could tell the fellow either craved his body or the energy within it.

Wu Chang's True Self shrank his body to about four meters tall, blocking the exit of the Eternal Tomb Chamber.

His true body and Ailin flanked the True Self, forming a triangular encirclement, trapping Michael I in the center.

As for Brother Han Er, the battle before him had surpassed his capabilities; Wu Chang had stationed him outside to keep watch.

"No, no, no, Your Majesty Michael I, I have no intention of becoming your enemy—I merely wish to borrow something."

Michael I's Wang Guan coalesced into golden armor and a golden greatsword; he narrowed his eyes at Wu Chang and asked: "What do you wish to borrow?"

Having observed the battle earlier, Wu Chang had already figured out Michael I's combat habits and abilities.

Now that he understood his enemy's limits, Wu Chang dropped the act.

The True Self blew on a fist the size of a millstone and said: "Stick your head over here and I'll tell you."

(End of Chapter)