Chapter 329: Wuqu Star Lord

The Wuqu Star Lord wooden carving is Wu Chang's strongest consumable; he originally planned to save it as a trump card for use in a world dungeon, never expecting to use it here.

But upon closer thought, using it here isn't surprising at all.

As the saying goes, don't trouble two masters for one matter—the corpse of the evil god on the Silent Passage was suppressed by Wuqu Star Lord, so naturally, the corpse of the evil god in this quiet town should also be dealt with by Wuqu Star Lord.

First time's a stranger, second time's familiar; according to the Sea God General, when Wuqu Star Lord first acted, he was ambushed by a yellow monster summoned by the evil god's remains—this time, he'd get his revenge.

Wu Chang quietly repeated the Sea God General's words, informing Wuqu Star Lord of the yellow monster's existence, then activated the item.

The Wuqu Star Lord statue dissolved into a stream of light that shot straight into the sky; moments later, a brilliant star appeared above.

"Item Name: Wuqu Star Lord Wooden Carving"

"Item Type: consumable"

"Item Rank: a"

"Item Skill: Summon Deity"

"Skill Description: Summon Wuqu Star Lord to assist in battle, duration: 30 seconds."

Wuqu Star, also known as Kaiyang, is the sixth star of the Big Dipper.

In ancient Xia Nation, the Big Dipper held extraordinary significance; the seven stars represented Heaven, Earth, Humanity, Time, Sound, Law, and Star.

Kaiyang governed Law, overseeing the order of all things.

With Kaiyang's appearance, the peculiar stellar phenomenon of all stars returning to their positions was shattered.

The stars in the sky each had their duties, governing the movement of all things, never allowed to abandon their posts for a moment—how could all stars simultaneously return and hide in darkness?

Kaiyang's emergence was like piercing a hole through the black cloth covering the heavens.

From that point, cracks spread outward in all directions, and in an instant, the sky's veil was covered in fissures.

The next moment, the pitch-black sky shattered, the stars blazed again, and the moon sunk beneath the sea rose once more.

With the phenomenon of all stars returning broken, the Deep Sea Lord's Dream Realm weakened by ninety percent; though its form remained unchanged, its aura grew thin.

Wu Chang, Ailin, and the Grand Matriarch awoke as if from a nightmare—the surrounding land was still the Lost Continent, but the once dark and terrifying atmosphere of despair had vanished completely.

Earlier, the Deep Sea Lord moving within the Divine Realm resembled a writhing mountain range; merely glancing at it made one lose the courage to resist.

Now, it was merely a larger mass of filthy matter, no longer possessing the might to connect heaven and earth.

Sensing the connection between the Divine Realm and the stars severed, the Deep Sea Lord roared to the heavens, its roar echoing across the entire Lost Continent.

But unlike last time, this roar was merely an outburst of rage.

Angry?

Too early to be angry.

Breaking the stellar return was merely an incidental effect of the item—the true threat to Him hasn't even appeared yet.

The stars reappeared in the night sky, but Kaiyang, the one that triggered it all, plummeted straight down, landing precisely atop the Deep Sea Lord's head.

Boom!

Before anyone could clearly see, Kaiyang struck like a railgun from a sci-fi movie, slamming directly into the Deep Sea Lord.

Roar!

Amidst intense light and heat, accompanied by the Deep Sea Lord's shriek, half its body vaporized instantly, turning into black-green putrid mist.

A flash of silver light sliced through the black-green mist, scattering it into the wind.

A tall, imposing man stepped forth, clad in white radiant armor, wearing a bronze beast-mask helmet, wielding a bright silver spear, with azure ribbons swirling around his arms.

His appearance differed slightly from the Wuqu Star Lord wooden carving in Wu Chang's hand, but his majestic aura was identical.

Wuqu Star Lord gazed at Wu Chang from afar, his eyes piercing straight into the depths of the soul, revealing the true nature of good and evil within.

After a moment, Wuqu Star Lord shifted his gaze; upon seeing Ailin, his eyes showed approval, then returned to the Deep Sea Lord.

Wu Chang exhaled in relief—he hadn't been judged as evil.

He remembered the note on the Wuqu Star Lord wooden carving:

"Note: Wuqu Star Lord is upright and unyielding; if used by a great villain, beware—he may be slain first by Wuqu Star Lord."

Had a painter used it, he'd have been instantly devoured by the item's backlash—only someone with impeccable character like him could wield this treasure.

Whoever says he isn't upright or has questionable character, he'll argue with them—he's got a certified good-guy status, with proof from Wuqu Star Lord himself!

Having passed Wu Chang's character assessment, Wuqu Star Lord raised his spear and charged at the Deep Sea Lord.

Though cowardly, the Deep Sea Lord, within his own Divine Realm, wouldn't be intimidated by a temporary divine projection—he swung his tentacles toward Wuqu Star Lord.

Though merely a temporary projection, and like the Grand Matriarch, subject to Wasteland Realm's restrictions, Wuqu Star Lord not only held his ground against the Deep Sea Lord—who had successfully smuggled himself in and established a Divine Realm—but dominated him entirely.

The Grand Matriarch was truly stunned by Wu Chang's methods—shattering the stellar return phenomenon and breaking the Dream Realm had already seemed impossible to her.

Now awake, the Grand Matriarch, relying on residual dream-sense, quickly realized they had been deceived by the Deep Sea Lord from the very beginning.

The Deep Sea Lord had somehow slipped past her Absolute Purity and Undying Sacred Flame, silently dragging her into a dream without her noticing any anomaly.

Yet this dream, which had fooled even her, was seen through by a mortal—she couldn't comprehend it.

Did Wu Chang possess soul quality rivaling a high-tier deity, or did he possess an ability stronger than Absolute Purity?

Before she could recover from the shock of Wu Chang shattering the celestial phenomenon, she saw Wuqu Star Lord descend from the heavens, unleashing an assault so terrifying it made even her tremble.

A divine projection, without using any divine authority, had stormed into the Deep Sea Lord's Divine Realm and beaten him senseless.

Not just in the Wasteland Realm—even in the third layer of the Abyss, this scene was utterly explosive.

She had thought her centuries of accumulated faith and two earthly Divine Realms, smuggling vast divine power into the Wasteland Realm, gave her a massive advantage, exploiting the world's rules.

Yet now, looking around, she was the only normal one present.

Was this still the Wasteland Realm she knew?

She walked over to Wu Chang and couldn't help asking:

"How did you summon this killing deity?"

Wu Chang's eyes remained locked on the battlefield; in response to the Grand Matriarch's question, he raised a finger to his lips in a shushing gesture and said: "Don't make a sound."

The Great Mother clenched her fist again—this damned mortal.

Wu Chang wasn't deliberately embarrassing the Great Mother; he simply had no time to answer her question, his full attention fixed on the Star Lord of Mars.

The Star Lord of Mars could ignore the Divine Realm and pin the Lord of the Deep into a beating, not through any astonishing divine power or overwhelming authority, but through pure martial skill.

Each movement the Star Lord of Mars made looked ordinary, but when Wu Chang perceived them with spiritual insight, he realized every strike subtly aligned with the rhythm of the martial Dao.

Every attack He unleashed pointed directly to the ultimate endpoint of martial transformation.

Earlier, he had thought the Great Mother's swordplay was exquisitely elegant, but now, having seen the Star Lord of Mars's movements, recalling the Great Mother's swordplay made it seem clumsy, rigid, artificial, and devoid of vitality.

Observing the Star Lord of Mars's techniques with spiritual insight and the Eye of Insight felt to Wu Chang like watching a secret manual of supreme martial arts—not illustrated text, but a detailed training video.

Merely glancing a few times gave him a sense of "sudden enlightenment."

The Star Lord of Mars's presence lasted only thirty seconds—each second a treasure. How could the Great Mother interrupt it?

At the twenty-fifth second of the Star Lord of Mars's appearance, Wu Chang's mind flashed with insight; his accumulated combat experience fused into one, and he achieved sudden enlightenment on the spot.

"Player gains insight from observing the Star Lord of Mars's battle: Combat Proficiency (C) upgraded to Master Combat (B)."

"Player gains insight from observing the Star Lord of Mars's battle: Acquires skill, Master-Level Cold Weapon Use (B)."

Wu Chang's spiritual insight told him this enlightenment was no coincidence.

The Star Lord of Mars had deliberately demonstrated each move before him, intending for him to see clearly and learn from it.

The Star Lord of Mars's wooden carving had shattered the celestial phenomenon, summoned a deity to subdue enemies, and granted him two B-rank skills.

Three benefits in one, extra value for the same cost—that's the worth of an A-rank consumable item.

Thirty seconds passed in the blink of an eye; the Star Lord of Mars's descent time was about to expire.

Within those thirty seconds, the Lord of the Deep suffered repeated heavy blows; its five-hundred-meter body, battered again and again, had shrunk to only half its original height.

Sensing his departure was near, the Star Lord of Mars gathered all his strength into the spear tip, preparing to deliver one final thrust to kill the Lord of the Deep before leaving.

The Lord of the Deep felt the pressure of death from the Star Lord of Mars's spear and roared desperately, hoping to drag out the final second.

It swung its dozens of regenerated tentacles, each tip transformed into sharp hooks, striking the Star Lord of Mars from all directions, aiming to tear him apart.

The Star Lord of Mars remained calm, treating the swirling tentacles as if they didn't exist; his feet stepped forward, and the spearhead, glowing with a soft white light, thrust out in one strike.

As the tentacles neared the spear's glow, they were like touching a high-speed meat grinder—upon contact, they were shredded into pulp.

The tentacles had terrifying momentum, yet collapsed at the first touch; the Star Lord of Mars moved with the spear, advancing leisurely, leaving behind a trail of flying flesh and blood, nothing able to stop him.

Just as the Star Lord of Mars shredded the dozens of tentacles and the spear's glow was about to pierce the Lord of the Deep, the Lord of the Deep's panic and fury suddenly vanished, replaced by a sly grin.

A nameless gale suddenly erupted, forcing Wu Chang and others to squint.

Amid the gale, the shredded flesh of the Lord of the Deep rapidly melted, forming a yellow monster.

The moment the yellow monster appeared, its body transformed into a whirlwind, attacking the Star Lord of Mars from behind and to the side; the instant it moved, the Lord of the Deep's Divine Realm twisted, the gray, desolate continent becoming bizarre and surreal.

This time, the Great Mother couldn't help exclaiming:

"Another Divine Realm!"

As the Great Mother said, the yellow monster was not a land guardian, but a being of equal rank to the Lord of the Deep.

It shared the Lost Continent with the Lord of the Deep and had condensed its own Divine Realm from it.

What consequences would arise if a god possessing a Divine Realm, hidden in the shadows, launched a surprise attack?

The answer: nothing at all.

The Star Lord of Mars seemed to have been waiting for the yellow monster; he stepped forward, twisted his waist, and swung his spear in an arc, executing a reverse spear thrust, the tip meeting the yellow monster head-on.

The thrust originally aimed at the Lord of the Deep had been a feint—all along, his final strike's true target had been the lurking yellow monster.

The Star Lord of Mars's rhythm manifested in every aspect, especially in the martial techniques He dominated.

Since the battle began, He had firmly controlled the rhythm of combat.

Especially after suffering setbacks during the Silent Passage's descent, and learning that the remnants of the evil god here were protected by the yellow monster, he had set this trap for the yellow monster from the very start.

With intent against unpreparedness, the Star Lord of Mars was the true ambush attacker.

Caught off-guard, the yellow monster collided with the Star Lord of Mars's spear as if it had charged into the tip itself.

With their forces combined, the yellow monster had no time to dodge—it was pierced clean through and died instantly.

"Satisfying!"

Having avenged the past ambush, the Star Lord of Mars laughed loudly, his figure slowly dissolving.

Watching the dissolving form of the Star Lord of Mars, Wu Chang sighed and shook his head—if he ever fought against gods again, he must always be wary of their revenge.

Gods, like him, were petty.

The Star Lord of Mars and the yellow monster exchanged one for one; now it was Wu Chang and the other two against the Lord of the Deep.

After a brief silence, the Lord of the Deep snapped back from the thirty-second battle, roared, and charged toward Wu Chang and the others.

Its movements were extraordinarily swift, like a surging mudslide rushing toward them.

Although the celestial phenomenon of the Stars Returning had been shattered, the Lord of the Deep was still not to be underestimated; since the Star Lord of Mars had retained most of his power for the final strike against the yellow monster, the Lord of the Deep only looked battered—its core remained unharmed.

The current Lord of the Deep was still a divine avatar possessing a complete Divine Realm; it would not be easy for Wu Chang and the others to subdue it.

The three exchanged glances; Wu Chang immediately grabbed Ailin and ran toward the edge of the Lost Continent.

"Run!"

The Great Mother froze for a moment, staring at the direction the two fled, then remembered something and followed after them.

One chased, three fled; Wu Chang and the others quickly escaped the Lost Continent and returned to the Orgre Fleet.

Not long after the fleet left the continent, a tremendous wave sound came from the sea behind them.

The Lord of the Deep had emerged.

Shifting the battle from land to sea greatly strengthened the Lord of the Deep; Wu Chang's choice seemed like suicide.

But the Lord of the Deep, blinded by rage and forgetting fear, had grown too comfortable in the Quiet Town, deprived of life's harsh lessons, and forgotten what it feared.

The Lord of the Deep and the evil god remnants shared the same origin—they also shared the same weakness: fear of ship collisions.

As He drew ever closer, about to catch up to the Ograe fleet, the fleet suddenly halted, turned around, and charged straight toward Him.

Before the Lord of the Deep could flee again, the Grand Mother and Elin had already bound Him tightly with chains of light.

Seeing the massive hulls racing toward Him, the fear in the Lord of the Deep's blood took hold; He struggled desperately, trying to escape.

No, absolutely not—He could not let so many colossal things crash into Him.

Too bad, it was already too late to say no.

Fleet collision!

Amid the Lord of the Deep's screams, the great warships struck Him one after another.

The ordinary steamship, crashing into the Lord of the Deep, somehow ignored His divinity and inflicted massive damage.

Each time a warship struck, vast regions of the Lost Continent collapsed and plunged back into the sea.

When all the ships had been destroyed, the only part of the Lost Continent still rising above the sea was the Lost City that Wu Chang and the other two had once entered.

The Lord of the Deep suffered heavy injuries but did not fall, for unlike the corrupted relics of the Silent Passage's god, His foundation was too strong, and His divine realm still supported Him from behind.

Facing imminent death, the Lord of the Deep severed all His tentacles and fled in panic toward His temple.

Wu Chang and the other two naturally did not miss this opportunity; they chased after the Lord of the Deep without pause.

What had been one chasing three became three chasing one—the tide of battle had turned.

When the three reached the Lost City, they saw the Lord of the Deep had already devoured His own temple.

By consuming all the accumulated faith power, he forcibly restored himself to sixty percent of his full strength.

The situation seemed about to reverse once more.

Wu Chang stood behind the Grand Mother, anxiously asking: "Grand Mother, what should we do now?"

The Grand Mother's face grew solemn; when her dream realm had not yet been broken, the Lord of the Deep had attacked her, extinguishing her Holy Flame and shattering her Pure Battle Armor, leaving her with grievous wounds.

Though this mortal appeared to have many tricks, she could tell that the wooden carving of the Killing God he briefly summoned in the Wasteland Realm was exceedingly precious—he would not use it unless absolutely desperate.

As expected, this mortal could no longer offer her any further surprises.

His elbow strike had once seemed odd, but it was still just a mortal's elbow strike; against this behemoth hundreds of meters tall, it barely counted as a massage.

"To defeat the Lord of the Deep, we must rely on Elin."

Wu Chang frowned slightly and asked: "Grand Mother, do you believe Elin can defeat the Lord of the Deep?"

The Grand Mother shook her head: "She is the only one still capable of fighting."

She turned to Elin and said:

"Elin, when I trained you before, I sensed your potential—you are but a thread away from becoming a Archangel."

"What you lack is not faith, nor understanding of magic or divine power, but intense pressure."

"For a long time, you have never faced an enemy stronger than yourself; you have never felt the threat of death, nor true pressure—that is why you have stagnated."

The Grand Mother pointed at the raging Lord of the Deep charging toward them and said:

"Now, your chance has come. Elin, summon your courage and your conviction to protect what matters—go!"

Wu Chang immediately sensed something was wrong—how did the Grand Mother's tone sound so much like "You've been buffed, go die now"?

He brought her along to be a powerful cannon fodder—how had the cannon fodder now inciting Elin to become cannon fodder?

The heavens had turned upside down.

He was about to stop Elin, but the moment he met her gaze, he could not speak.

From Elin's eyes, he already knew her answer.

"I want to try."

Wu Chang sighed and said: "We lack sufficient intelligence—this is dangerous."

The Grand Mother did not know that Elin was aware of the Omniscient Crystal's existence—if they played hide-and-seek for an hour, the Crystal could reveal another weakness of the Lord of the Deep, perhaps securing an easy victory.

At worst, let the Grand Mother go as sacrifice—she might even drain ten percent of the Lord of the Deep's power.

Elin shook her head softly and said:

"I want to stand beside you always, to keep pace with you, to become your Nurse Zhu Li. So I cannot stop here—I must break through."

Wu Chang summoned his True Self nearby, ensuring that if Elin truly could not prevail, his True Self's Sea Giant form could block the Lord of the Deep and give Elin room to retreat.

Once his True Self was in position, he said helplessly:

"Stay safe. Don't overextend yourself."

Elin nodded, then spread her wings and floated into the air, raising her Sword of Resolve as she charged toward the Lord of the Deep.

(End of Chapter)