Chapter 389

The witch spoke decisively, but found everyone silently staring at her, making her hesitate: "What? Did I guess wrong?"

"You didn't guess wrong," Nagris asked, "but didn't you just say you recognize every skeleton in the farm? Then why don't you recognize him?"

The witch protested: "Hey, how can you be like this? Always clinging to trivial details—I just said it offhand, who could've known it'd be this coincidental? The farm's boundaries are maintained personally by His Majesty; if there's a skeleton I don't know, it can only be one of the farming skeletons."

Everyone perked up: "Maintained personally by His Majesty?"

The witch said: "Of course. He created the farm just to pass the time when he's bored, so he has to manage it himself—otherwise how would he pass the time?"

Du Luo Kan said in disbelief: "But… but we've never seen His Majesty go to the farm—not even get close."

The witch rolled her eyes: "If His Majesty went in person, would the farming skeletons even survive? He projects himself there—he appears as a golden skeleton, then resurrects a bunch of little skeletons to tend the land."

Upon hearing the words "golden skeleton," Ang immediately directed his awareness toward the black crystal skeleton, carefully discerning the lingering aura within, then shook his head: "Not the lord."

As a lowly farming skeleton, Ang knew only one golden skeleton—the lord who created him—but sadly, the aura on this skeleton was different.

Yet he recognized this aura, because it also lingered in the Palace of Rest—he had dared not enter the palace grounds for years out of fear, until his bones could no longer hold out, forcing him to bravely step inside.

The witch spread her hands: "Of course he wouldn't let you know. If you knew, who in the palace wouldn't? Then everyone would be rushing to fertilize and water it—how would His Majesty have fun?"

Du Luo Kan thought about it—he was right. Don't think no one in the Palace of Rest tried to curry favor. At least Du Luo Kan himself, if he knew His Majesty tended the farm, would immediately design a fully automated irrigation and harvesting system to spare His Majesty the "effort."

Even if His Majesty stopped him, he'd still sneak over occasionally to watch, clapping and cheering from outside the farm, making His Majesty's "fun" even more "comfortable."

So the farming skeletons were the only group the witch didn't recognize.

Nagris was deeply disappointed: "That's it? That's all? I thought there was something special here—this is just a retired old farmer tending a garden for fun. Then why did he inherit the Death God's essence, while I, the God of Knowledge, cannot?"

The witch smiled: "Property has no right of inheritance."

Before Nagris exploded, the witch quickly changed the subject: "If he inherited the Death God's essence and the Palace of Rest, then what about the Beauty God? Where did this miraculous ability come from? It's definitely not Death God magic—if the Death God's essence had this power, I'd have opened a beauty salon long ago."

Du Luo Kan awkwardly scratched his nose; Nagris chuckled.

"What do you mean? You actually opened a beauty salon?" The witch froze.

Nagris boasted: "Bigger than that—it's called Meishencheng. Let me tell you, there are so many services: this one, that one, this and that one."

The witch's eyes sparkled with fascination; she couldn't help asking: "Can undead witches do these services too?"

"Probably," Nagris said. "Meishencheng has many undead witch clients. There's a Truth Mage named Obenli who now lives there and refuses to leave. As for exactly which services are possible, you'll have to ask Lisa."

At that moment, the voice of the Grand Sage echoed from afar: "Are you done yet? If so, I'm coming over."

"Alright, come on over," Nagris remembered—they'd forgotten the Grand Sage.

The witch said nothing, but instinctively adjusted her hair and clothes—then touched her garments and immediately clutched her chest, shouting: "No! Don't come near!"

Having been here over a thousand years, her clothes were long torn to shreds. When she was shriveled, it didn't matter—but now that she was animated, her sensitive areas were starkly exposed, half-visible, enough to make any human bleed from the nose.

But none present were "humans," so no one noticed the problem—not even the witch herself.

Du Luo Kan hurled his cloak at her to cover her, then instantly forged a full set of robes and dress—solving the witch's embarrassment.

The Grand Sage, granted permission, approached—and immediately became cloying. The usually solemn Grand Sage now acted like a boy, his speech involuntarily dripping with sentimentality, yet the witch didn't notice, soon being coaxed into a bright smile.

Nagris, unable to watch any longer, said: "Enough, enough. We flew here for two months—not to watch you two flirt. What happened to His Majesty? Why is only a skeleton left here?"

The witch pointed to the space directly before the skeleton: "His Majesty went to kill. Someone at the edge of the Void was creating an attack called Starburst, aiming to wipe out all life here. His Majesty went to kill them."

At this, the witch suddenly realized: "You have the Death God's essence and the Beauty God's essence—why aren't you affected? After the Starburst is shattered, the residual belief force keeps advancing, finally striking every plane and forming a belief storm targeting divine essences. How are you unharmed?"

Nagris said: "We used the belief storm to farm. Starburst? That red star we saw in the main plane? Did you shatter it?"

"Farm?" A huge question mark rose in the witch's mind—why does this little yellow book speak so cryptically?

But she didn't dwell on it, continuing: "Impossible. I don't have that kind of power. It was His Majesty who shattered it… uh, the Black Crystal Body shattered it."

Meeting their suspicious glances, the witch explained: "When His Majesty left, he told me: if a new Starburst appears, it means he failed. Then I should use his body to block the Starburst."

Du Luo Kan asked: "Can you control the Black Crystal Body?"

"No," the witch said, "but I can move it into the path of the incoming Starburst."

Fine—just like Ang used Luo Ke's skeleton as a shield—but this also indirectly proved the Black Crystal Body's durability.

The residual force of a shattered Starburst could obliterate entire pantheons, yet the Starburst itself could not harm the Black Crystal Body.

"But we've observed through the Astral Mirror—the center of the Starburst is a humanoid form," Nagris said.

The witch nodded: "Yes, because it's a Juheti of belief force. The humanoid form is the manifestation of collective belief—the image of a figure widely known in the location where the red star appears."

Nagris began to understand: "So if followers of the Death God launched such an attack, the manifested form would likely be the Death God himself?"

"Yes," the witch said.

Nagris asked somberly: "So if a new Starburst has arrived, does that mean His Majesty is dead?"

The witch shook her head: "I thought so too—but look."

She gestured for everyone to gather before the skeleton, pointing to the specks of light within the bones: "They were always dormant, but recently, these specks have appeared. So His Majesty isn't dead—but for some reason, he can't stop new Starbursts from forming."

Then the witch turned to face them all: "Since you've arrived, the duty to guard His Majesty can now be entrusted to you."

The Grand Sage's heart sank with dread.

Sure enough, the witch said: "I'm going to send myself there to bring His Majesty back."

"No," the Grand Sage instinctively objected: "If His Majesty couldn't do it, what use is your sending? Too dangerous—you lack His Majesty's power. You might not even make it through."

Seeing the King left his body but not his soul, everyone knew how he had departed—soul projection.

Even the fastest flight reaches only a thousand kilometers per hour at its limit—but the speed of thought can match light.

Guided by thought, then pulling the soul forward, speed can exceed half the speed of light.

But not everyone can perform soul projection—without a powerful soul, thought cannot stray far enough to make soul projection worthwhile.

Moreover, this projection consumes enormous soul energy. Most cannot bear it; if energy runs out halfway, it's no joke—the soul will dissipate.

The witch lacks the soul strength of the Death King. If she forces it, the most likely outcome is energy depletion and soul dissipation in the Void.

The witch gazed deeply at the Grand Sage and smiled: "I must go. His Majesty needs me."

The Grand Sage's heart sank further—he knew the witch too well. When she said "His Majesty needs me," it meant she would spare nothing.

Every soul in the Palace of Rest, except the little golden dragon, would give everything for His Majesty.

Seeing his expression, the witch quickly added: "Of course, I'm not acting recklessly. Look."

She pointed to the forehead of the Black Crystal Body: "See? All the specks are slowly converging here and vanishing. What does that mean? Power is being projected from the Black Crystal Body to a distant place—so His Majesty is definitely not dead."

"I plan to use this energy channel to attach my thought and project myself," the witch said.

The Grand Sage said: "Too dangerous. Let me go."

The witch smiled faintly, ignored the Grand Sage, and began guiding the specks within the Black Crystal Body.

After fiddling for a while, she suddenly stopped, casually saying: "Alright, I can't guide the power inside—probably because I've used up too much energy."

There was no soul energy in the Void, yet the witch had remained here for over a thousand years—only consuming, never replenishing. For a millennium, she had survived by sleeping, her soul strength severely diminished.

Ang pulled out a bag of soul crystals.

While the witch recovered, Ang pressed his palm against the purple crystal skeleton, pouring soul energy into its bones.

Almost the instant the soul energy entered the bones, Ang felt his awareness being pulled toward somewhere—when he regained his senses, he found himself inside an unfamiliar body.

He raised his hands—both were covered in speckled black crystal. He had entered the Black Crystal Body?

From Nagris and the others' perspective, they saw Ang suddenly stiffen—while the Black Crystal Body raised its hands.