Chapter 331

The Lord of the Deep is dead; Wu Chang could be certain of that—only when utterly dead would its vital energy manifest.

The entire lost continent had merged with the Lord of the Deep's divine realm, yet the last remaining lost city had not collapsed despite the Lord's death.

The reason was not that the Lord's death automatically severed the bond between the two.

Rather, though the Lord of the Deep was dead, its divine realm had not fully dissipated.

The Deep Sea Temple previously consumed by the Lord to restore its divine power was merely the surface core of the realm; the true core of the Lord's divine realm had always lain beneath the deep sea, never having moved.

When he made the divine pact with the Great Mother, he and the Great Mother shared an understanding: as a divine projection, whether pure energy or a fleshly avatar, one should not fear death so intensely.

The Lord of the Deep's fear of death likely stemmed from some mission it carried, or from guarding something.

That thing's existence was more important than the Lord's avatar; for its sake, the Lord of the Deep dared not die, nor take risks.

Without doubt, its greatest secret lay hidden within the deep sea, inside the true core of its divine realm.

Mention of the true core beneath the deep sea naturally reminded Wu Chang of Dagang's resentment—within that resentment, Dagang had once waited before a deep-sea fissure, receiving the Lord of the Deep's commands.

On the risen lost continent, there was no corresponding terrain to the deep-sea fissure; if the divine core existed, it must lie beyond the fissure mentioned in Dagang's resentment.

The Omniscient Crystal could only give a general direction for the divine core's location, not pinpoint it precisely.

The ocean was vast, and deep-sea fissures countless; even if he transformed into a Sea Titan, searching inch by inch might take forever.

To find where the Lord of the Deep once slept, he needed a local guide—and he happened to have one who knew the way.

A few minutes later, the fish-man Ernst appeared before Wu Chang and bowed respectfully.

"Fish-man Ernst, I have come at my lord's summons."

Wu Chang leapt into the sea and said, "Take me to where the Lord of the Deep once slept."

Ernst frowned, saying:

"Though I command the fish-men, Dagang only remembers me during raids and battles; his trust in me falls far short of that he places in his few lieutenants."

"The Lord of the Deep's slumber permits no being to disturb it; protecting the Lord's sleep is the fish-men's most sacred duty, and the location of the slumber is naturally the highest secret—Dagang never trusted me enough to tell me."

Wu Chang asked, "When you were underwater before, did Dagang ever designate any areas forbidden to fish-men?"

Ernst thought for a moment, then said, "Two."

Wu Chang pointed to the direction marked by the Omniscient Crystal and asked, "Is one of those forbidden zones in this direction?"

Ernst replied, "One."

Wu Chang nodded. "Take me there."

Under Ernst's guidance, the two dove into the deep sea, swimming along the seabed for over ten minutes until they reached a region where the undercurrents raged violently.

The surrounding water appeared calm, yet within it, one could feel pulling forces from all directions.

Any ordinary deep-sea creature that wandered here would be torn apart instantly by the undercurrents.

The undercurrents had no effect on Wu Chang, who bore the Titan title, but Ernst's flesh could no longer withstand them; Wu Chang left him outside and entered the chaos alone.

As he advanced into the forbidden zone, he indeed saw the deep-sea fissure from Dagang's resentment, at the heart of the most intense turbulence.

To Wu Chang's surprise, the fissure had not widened since the Lord of the Deep's departure—it remained a narrow crack.

In Dagang's resentment, the fissure had contained a repelling force that blocked his entry and prevented any external probing.

To learn what lay beyond, one could only rely on the message-guardians.

Yet as Wu Chang neared the fissure, he felt no repulsion—only an attraction.

A faint, almost imperceptible call drifted from within the fissure, urging him to enter.

He closed his eyes; his intuition gave no warning of danger, and instead, in a daze, he sensed warmth from the other side, like home.

He focused carefully and realized the anomaly came from his own deep-sea aberrant bloodline—this revelation struck him like lightning.

The ritual that elevated him from ocean kin to deep-sea aberrant had used bloodline from a fallen god's remains; the two remnants of the fallen god shared the same origin—the space beyond the fissure seemed to mistake him for part of the fallen god's remains.

Don't look back, I am the Lord of the Deep.

Understanding the connection, Wu Chang no longer hesitated—he moved toward the deep-sea fissure.

As he entered the fissure, his vision blurred, and he arrived at the Lord of the Deep's slumbering place.

The slumbering place was a vast indoor space; seawater was barred outside the fissure, leaving the interior completely dry.

The Lord of the Deep's bedchamber was a colossal temple, identical in every detail to the temple at the center of the lost city, including the two guardians squatting atop square stone pillars outside.

The temple guardians, believing the Lord of the Deep had returned, knelt low at the entrance to welcome their master.

Seeing not the Lord of the Deep, but a stranger human, the two guardians froze for a moment.

By the time they recovered and tried to resist, Wu Chang had already slapped them—one, then the other—killing them casually beside the path.

Two primordial divine beings who, in an A-rank instance, could serve as final bosses, never even struggled before becoming two piles of sludge.

The two temple guardians died miserably—but not unjustly.

Wu Chang now possessed 480 points of strength, nearing the Wasteland Realm's limit; even before gaining the Violator title, his Root Knight transformation had only reached 500 points.

Even Ailin's divine true form or the Lord of the Deep at its peak would not surpass him in strength attribute.

Combined with the Desecrator's effect, he dealt with the temple guardians more easily than Ailin—especially since these two bowed their heads and offered themselves to be slapped, no different from handing him their heads.

With the two temple guardians gone, nothing else blocked the slumbering place; Wu Chang stepped forward into the deep-sea temple.

Unlike the dry space outside, the temple's interior reverted to the lost continent's style; as soon as he pushed open the great doors, Wu Chang smelled a thick, foul stench.

Thick layers of pale green slime coated the floor, the Shi Zhu, and even the ceiling; vast patches of slime stretched into fine threads, interwoven and trembling slightly, like spiderwebs or vascular networks.

The slime on the ground was so deep it might as well have been a shallow sea; even after adjusting his Sea Titan form to a height of one hundred meters, the slime still reached above his calves.

With every step, he felt a pulsing, living rhythm beneath his feet—the slimy, soft, yet vivid sensation felt as if he walked inside a living organ.

Fortunately, Wu Chang had no aversion to filth; otherwise, he'd have had to cut off both legs.

He endured the temple's vile environment, trudging through the slime toward its depths, where he felt a call from his bloodline.

When he pushed open the second door and entered the temple's true inner core, what he saw left him frozen in place.

In the center of the inner chamber, within a vast net woven from green slime, lay a massive, translucent egg.

The surface of the egg resembled crystal, yet possessed a clarity and purity no crystal could match; at its center, a wisp of black mist drifted.

He could not discern its exact form, but his deep-sea variant bloodline told him that what lay within was of the same origin as himself.

More precisely, his bloodline had been born from that mist.

Drawn by the mist, Wu Chang wandered toward the egg with glazed eyes, reaching out to touch its crystal-like surface—before a line of text flashed before him.

"Item Name: Deep Sea Origin"

"Item Effect: Unknown"

Seeing "Unknown" as the effect, Wu Chang knew this object was far more extraordinary than he'd imagined.

Since the official database was useless, he turned to his personal search engine.

He pulled out the Omniscient Crystal and asked about the origin of the crystal egg; the Omniscient Crystal gave no detailed answer, but offered one crucial piece of information:

"Consuming the Deep Sea Origin will break the shackles of the Deep Sea Variant bloodline, granting the Primordial Bloodline and freeing you from bloodline limits."

Wu Chang immediately asked how to consume it; the Omniscient Crystal's reply was simple.

"Swallow it whole."

Wu Chang plucked the crystal egg from the slime net, summoned Abyssal Blindwater to wash off the green slime coating its surface, hesitated a moment, closed his eyes, and shouted:

"Clean and hygienic—down the hatch!"

Though the crystal egg appeared hard, it dissolved instantly upon entry; an indescribable sweetness surged down his throat to his stomach, unleashing a massive burst of water-element energy within him.

The water-element energy flowed through his veins, spreading to every limb and extremity, rendering him temporarily immobile.

The next instant, he widened his eyes in helplessness as the inner temple's door slammed shut, and thick green slime surged from the ground, engulfing his body.

Perhaps due to consuming the Deep Sea Origin, he felt no stench from the green slime—instead, he became entranced by its texture.

The green slime hardened on his surface, forming a shell identical to the crystal egg's outer layer, while he replaced the mist within, becoming a colossal crystal egg.

Encased within the shell, he felt his flesh melting within the water-element energy inside him.

This melting harmed him not at all; instead, all his internal forces abandoned resistance and willingly cooperated with the transformation.

In mere minutes, his flesh fully liquefied, filling the transparent shell.

The sensation was peculiar—he had no physical body anymore, yet could still see, hear, and sense changes around him as usual.

Then a wave of drowsiness washed over him, urging him to fall asleep.

As his consciousness blurred, he felt a strange warmth surge into his body, dispelling the drowsiness his willpower could not resist.

Following the warmth, he saw its source: the Omniscient Crystal, which he had not recalled, now submerged within his liquid form.

He had felt this warmth once before—it was the Primordial Spirit Pivot.

With the drowsiness gone, Wu Chang finally realized what had happened.

By fusing the Deep Sea Origin and awakening the Primordial Bloodline, he required vast energy—and the source of that energy was the green slime filling the chamber.

His earlier drowsiness stemmed from insufficient energy for evolution; the green slime's energy was inadequate to let him break free in a short time, so his biological instinct drove him to sleep through the long growth phase.

The Omniscient Crystal, however, released its stored Primordial Spirit Pivot to replenish this energy, accelerating his absorption.

Without the Omniscient Crystal, he would have succumbed to instinct and slept—though not for millennia like the Deep Sea Lord, at least thirty to fifty years.

Remember: each time his bloodline awakened, his physical body and true self evolved together.

If his true self sank into slumber along with his body, by the time he awoke, even if the Blue Star hadn't been blown up by Deep Dungeon players, it would already have fallen to the Light Society; in decades, Huanxi might not have cleared the game, but he'd surely be a Level Four Deep Dungeon player.

Then what the hell would he even be playing for?

Wu Chang gazed at the Omniscient Crystal, silently thinking he hadn't wasted resources on it—it truly knew how to repay him in times of need.

He apologized for having once regretted feeding the Omniscient Crystal the Primordial Spirit Pivot; from now on, all Primordial Spirit Pivot he obtained was his—eat your fill!

The energy tier of the Primordial Spirit Pivot surpassed even the so-called Primordial Bloodline; under its influence, the liquid within the crystal shell reshaped at a visibly rapid pace.

What should have taken ages, he completed in minutes, reforming his Sea Giant body from the liquid.

Though consuming the Deep Sea Origin did not elevate his bloodline further, it strengthened his current Deep Sea Variant bloodline.

First, numerical boosts: his Sea Giant and Abyssal Deep Serpent transformations each gained +30 points in strength and energy.

Simultaneously, all abilities tied to both transformations were enhanced comprehensively.

The Abyssal Deep Serpent's Deep Water Devour became divine damage; if the target's divinity was no more than one rank above Wu Chang's, it could not resist the attack's lethal poison.

The Sea Giant's Power Body ability granted him a 70% bonus to his life attribute during transformation, matching his strength bonus.

These numerical bloodline enhancements looked impressive—but compared to the new talent gained from consuming the Deep Sea Origin, they were negligible.

"Talent Name: Deep Sea Primordial Seed"

"Note: When you consume marine creatures, you absorb their deep-sea bloodline to increase your own bloodline concentration. When the concentration gauge fills, you evolve according to your bloodline's optimal path."

"Remark: As an ancient Primordial Seed, your evolution is no longer bound by limits."

Wu Chang stared at the "Note" of the Deep Sea Primordial Seed, his expression turning strange.

The good news: with the Primordial Seed talent, even if he later reached the Rational Realm or Deep Dungeon Level Three, he need never fear his Deep Sea Variant transformation becoming obsolete.

In the Deep Dungeon game, what was most valuable? Clearly, growth-capable assets—among equipment of the same tier, growth-capable gear was worlds apart from ordinary gear, let alone bloodlines.

According to the Bureau's intelligence, Ocean-Favored transformations were already the pinnacle of Wasteland Realm transformations; Deep Sea Variant transformations were rare even in the Rational Realm.

As for evolvable bloodlines, scholars in the Bureau's bloodline research papers hadn't dared even speculate.

As long as he kept eating, his bloodline would keep evolving.

The bad news: in the end, would he turn into a Kun?

He cast aside the distractions in his mind and refocused on the present.

Wu Chang watched the green slime in the temple slowly dissipate; he felt the Sleep Chamber trembling violently—not just the Sleep Chamber, but the Lost City where his physical body lay was also collapsing.

The "Deep Sea Origin" was not merely guarded by the Deep Sea Lord—it was akin to a divine pillar, the core of the entire divine realm.

Now he recalled: when he plucked the "Deep Sea Origin," the black mist within the crystal shell had already begun solidifying from liquid, and would soon complete its hatching.

But the energy accumulated in the green slime had been exhausted, insufficient to nourish the "Deep Sea Origin" through its final stage.

The "Source of the Deep," guarded in slumber for over a thousand years, is about to hatch; by seizing the Silent Town's plane during the Stars' Return, one can harvest enough faith power to fuel the "Source of the Deep" through its final evolution stage.

Success is within reach—no wonder the Lord of the Deep, abandoning his usual passive nature, chose not to flee after being crippled by the Ograe Fleet, but instead devoured his own temple to fight them to the death.

All their years of preparation were ultimately wasted, enriching Wu Chang alone.

Wu Chang sighed, recalling the origin of it all—the call he sensed from the Deep when he swallowed the Golden Flying Fish.

Who asked you to call me in the first place? Now that I've come, you're not happy.

He manipulated his body back to normal size, kissed the Omniscient Crystal hard, then left with it from the crumbling divine realm.

On the Lost Continent, Erin and the Grand Mother had not yet recovered from their exhaustion, but the violently trembling ground left them no time to linger.

In desperation, the upright Wu Chang's true body could only support the two as they searched the core region of the Lost City for loot.

The results matched his True Self search—they found only artifacts that had rotted and broken, useless now.

The Grand Mother found this deeply puzzling; she glanced suspiciously around, muttering that these items had once accumulated vast energy and should not have decayed so quickly.

Wu Chang had not understood the reason before, but from his experience in the Slumbering Temple, he now realized the artifacts' decay was due to the Lord of the Deep absorbing all available energy to feed the "Source of the Deep."

Including the energy from offerings made to him.

Wu Chang naturally said nothing, merely followed behind the Grand Mother, feigning confusion.

Something amiss must conceal a trick—the Grand Mother, tracing the decay of the artifacts, quickly deduced the Lost City hid deeper secrets.

She wished to investigate further, but her body could not sustain it, and the Lost City had already collapsed by more than half, forcing her to abandon the effort.

Wu Chang had expected that after such a great battle, the Grand Mother, having gained no loot and lost immense divine power and a descent doll, would be utterly shattered.

But he never imagined her mindset remained calm; after a brief moment of regret, she accepted it all with serenity.

Even Wu Chang, trying to mask his solo looting, forced a look of disappointment onto his face.

Something's wrong.

Wu Chang probed: "Grand Mother, Your Radiance, can you truly accept this outcome? Shall we return to the temple ruins and search again? The Lord of the Deep must hold secrets."

The Grand Mother dismissed it: "Let's leave first. Saving this plane from the Lord of the Deep is already the greatest gain. As for the Lord of the Deep's secrets, we can explore them later."

Watching the Grand Mother's calm demeanor, Wu Chang wondered if he'd been judging her with a petty mind.

If only he was the one acting treacherously, betraying his allies—wouldn't that make him seem vile?

Before the Lost City collapsed entirely, he brought Erin and the Grand Mother back to the last remaining warship.

The battle was over; the Grand Mother's doll body could no longer hold together. She leaned against Wu Chang's body as she sat on the deck, the divine light in her eyes fading slowly.

"Mortal, the battle is over. Next…"

The Grand Mother never finished. Her body fell utterly still.

The next instant, a teleportation array flared on the ship's deck—Jilman, Mandazhu Sect's Archbishop, appeared with a brand-new, perfectly intact Grand Mother.

The Grand Mother spoke coldly: "Mortal, now we must discuss the ownership of Briver Island."

(End of Chapter)