Chapter 400: Subduing the Mother Entity, The State of War (Patreon)

Chapter 400: Subduing the Mother Entity, The State of War

Richard was somewhat startled by Ulysses' excitement. He thought to himself, Is this Rule Fusion really that powerful? To the point that even a powerhouse of Ulysses' caliber would get this worked up.

"Calm down first. Explain to me what this function actually does."

At Richard's words, Ulysses finally noticed his own lack of composure.

"My apologies, I got too carried away," Ulysses said, trying to steady himself. "If my understanding is correct, Rule Fusion should involve refining multiple rules into a single rule, thereby making the rule more complete—"

"Hold on," Richard suddenly interrupted. "What do you mean by 'refining multiple rules into a single rule'? I know rules can interact, but what’s the difference between that and this?"

Ulysses nodded. "Of course there’s a difference—a significant one. Explaining this concept is a bit complicated, but to borrow the words of a friend I made in the illusory world, all the rules in existence are actually different facets of a single rule.

The reason we perceive so many rules is simply because our level of existence isn’t high enough. Observing this rule is like the blind men touching an elephant—we can only perceive the part it reveals to us.

Rule Fusion, then, is about combining these fragments we’ve perceived.

The goal is to bring your own rule as close as possible to that singular, ultimate rule.

As my friend put it, it’s about aligning with the Great Dao."

"The Great Dao..."

Richard’s expression turned slightly odd as he listened to this term. Though the syllables were unfamiliar, the meaning felt strangely recognizable.

The Astral World was vast and boundless. If civilizations like the Wizards could emerge, then the existence of a cultivation civilization akin to what he imagined shouldn’t be surprising either.

Richard shook his head, dismissing the wild thoughts.

"So, the advancement of a World Master is related to this?"

"Correct," Ulysses affirmed. "Once a being becomes a World Master, they must find a complete rule as their foundation to forge their Rule Body.

Once the Rule Body is fully forged, the World Master reaches their limit—the peak of a fourth-tier existence.

At that point, you must fuse other rules into your own to evolve further.

This process is extremely lengthy because not all rules can be fused together.

Some rules clash violently and can only be merged under specific conditions. Moreover, different civilizations have different methods of fusing rules, which can also render certain rules incompatible.

What’s even more frustrating is that sometimes these conflicts don’t manifest obviously. They only reveal themselves after you attempt the fusion.

If the fusion goes wrong, the consequences range from damaging your Rule Body to outright rule annihilation—complete destruction of both body and soul.

But you don’t have this problem. That furnace of yours can handle all of it."

At this point, Ulysses looked at Richard with undisguised envy.

Not having to worry about rule fusion going awry—this trait alone would drive any World Master to madness.

Yet Richard possessed it at the mere third-tier stage.

"Alright, then what did you mean by saying becoming a Chief God depends on me?" Richard asked again.

"This here," Ulysses chuckled, "rules can be stripped away. Once you become the World Master, I'll peel off my rules and give them to you for fusion in that furnace."

"After the fusion's complete, I'll take them back. This way, my path to greater strength will be significantly accelerated."

"With my soul so severely wounded, I'd lost all hope of reaching Chief God status. But if this method works, I might still claim that throne before my death ends."

For a powerhouse at Ulysses' level, nothing was more desirable than ascending further.

Richard was momentarily stunned, feeling an unexpected stirring in his heart.

The idea of stripping away rules and entrusting them to someone else sounded incredibly risky. The slightest betrayal would leave Ulysses with nothing.

Yet Ulysses treated it as a viable path forward.

The unspoken implications were crystal clear.

Richard laughed heartily in response: "Deal. Just wait. When I become World Master, I'll guarantee you that Chief God position."

...

After taking the Fuel Ring, Richard didn't attempt to test whether the Power Furnace could refine it.

Something of that magnitude clearly couldn't be processed at his current level anyway.

Better not invite unnecessary trouble.

Leaving the Power Furnace area, Richard regrouped with Hog and the Serpent King to exit the fortress.

Having squeezed most benefits from the fortress, it was time to depart.

Before leaving, Hog used her highest clearance to have the fortress mainframe erase all records of their visit—preventing any future fortress occupants from obtaining information about Richard.

The ancient battlefield remained shrouded in endless yellow sand, though the energy radiation had noticeably diminished.

If nothing unexpected occurred, the edges of this battlefield would soon be overtaken by Green Forest World's dense jungles.

All 932 arachnid drones had completed their system updates. Following Richard's orders, they began scouring the battlefield for signs of the floating mothership.

"You've got your eyes on that behemoth?" Ulysses casually remarked. "That's no easy target—those floating cannons surrounding it are troublesome."

Richard produced the information transmission crystal from his pocket.

"No need to destroy it. We just need to insert this into its rear data port. The new authorization protocols will make it join us automatically."

Ulysses looked startled: "That powerful?"

Richard smiled faintly: "We'll know soon enough."

The arachnid drones quickly located the mothership—currently operating about 100 kilometers due west of their position.

After confirming its coordinates, Richard's group immediately pursued it along the drones' guidance.

Soon, that distinctive blue cloud formation appeared before them.

"I'll go," Ulysses volunteered. "None of you can evade those floating cannons' detection."

Without unnecessary words, Richard handed the transmission crystal to Ulysses.

"The interface is at the midpoint of its central dorsal axis. Be careful—retreat immediately if anything goes wrong."

Taking the crystal confidently, Ulysses declared: "Relax. When it comes to escape methods, all of you combined couldn't match me."

Gripping the crystal, Ulysses vanished instantly into thin air.

The Snake King's pupils constricted at the sight, thinking to himself, "It actually entered beneath the veil. What origin does this crow have to possess abilities even the World Master might not command?"

Soon, the swarm of floating cannons around the mothership suddenly turned crimson and began attacking each other.

"Success."

Ulysses' voice abruptly sounded beside Richard's ear. Turning his head, Richard saw a patch of shadow that had somehow reached his shoulder, now rising to form a black crow.

Before long, the floating cannons stabilized, reverting to their eerie blue hue, and the mothership ceased its movements.

Seeing this, Richard cautiously approached with Ulysses to check whether the system had updated.

Arriving beside the floating cannons, the eerie blue swarm showed no reaction.

"It seems we've succeeded."

Richard breathed a quiet sigh of relief—his hypothesis had been correct. These floating cannons had malfunctioned due to system errors.

Standing directly before the massive mothership, a beam of light shot from its head, enveloping Richard.

Soon, he heard the mothership's voice.

[Commander confirmed. Land-based floating mothership QE124 has joined your command sequence.]

...

Scorching fire elements rampaged across the battlefield, causing temperatures to skyrocket.

In such conditions, breathing became torture. Air saturated with fire elements burned like hot coals, searing the respiratory tract with every inhale.

The experienced Old Wizards could still suppress their biological instincts to halt breathing, but younger Wizards, unable to resist the reflex, endured the agony of burning with each breath.

The war had devolved into an ordeal.

Boom! Fireballs rained down with precision upon the insect tide, stabilizing the dissipating small-scale Fire Elemental Storm.

The Wizards in the fortress had no choice but to rally once more, operating the Alchemical Magic Stone Cannons to pick off any stragglers that breached the elemental storm.

The battle had raged for nearly two months, and the Fire Elemental Storm had persisted just as long.

In these days, the ashes of insects slain by the storm could form a small mountain, yet the tide showed no signs of abating.

This horrifying phenomenon shook even veteran Wizards, making them doubt whether victory was possible.

Could these insect tides ever truly be exterminated?

Hundreds of meters beneath the fortress, a black-robed Wizard sat in an underground chamber, staff in hand, listening intently to the sounds resonating through the soil.

Suddenly, the Wizard's eyes snapped open. With a flick of the staff, a spell's glow shot from its tip into the surrounding earth.

Moments later, another wave of the staff split the soil before him, revealing a three-meter-long, thick root.

At its end, a pitch-black Obsidian blade dripped with emerald-green sap.

Silently, the Wizard pocketed it—the command center was paying handsomely for such finds. This three-meter specimen alone could fetch a full Magic Essence.

One spell, one Magic Essence.

Under normal circumstances, the black-robed Wizard would have been overjoyed.

But now, the black-robed Wizard was completely calm.

He took out a pocket watch from his coat, glanced at the time, and silently counted in his heart:

"Twenty minutes and thirty-two seconds until shift change, thirty-one, thirty..."

......

Floating City, command room.

Jimmy stared at the map before him, his brow deeply furrowed.

On the map, the Wizards' controlled area formed an almost perfect circle. Outside this circle was the blackened zone representing the insect tide.

Around him, dozens of Third Circle Wizards were coordinating the allocation of defensive perimeter supplies.

"Position 324 requesting reinforcements. A third of our alchemical artillery towers are already damaged. Without repairs, our firepower won't even be enough to eliminate stragglers."

"Position 129 requesting support. Two level-three biological weapons have breached our fire net, destroying one of our fortresses. We need fire support to help with fortress repairs!"

"Position 32 reports a special creature sighting. This creature..."

The crystal balls continuously transmitted distress calls from commanders at various positions. A Third Circle Wizard, having just dealt with one request, looked exhausted as he turned to Jimmy.

"Jimmy, has Grand Wizard Galon been in contact with you? Our defensive line is becoming stretched thin."

Hearing this, Jimmy turned around. Behind him, a special crystal ball remained dark and life

less.

"My crystal ball has been right here. Since the Dean last told us he was sending reinforcements, when has this crystal ball ever lit up?"

With that, Jimmy let out a weary sigh.

"Let's just pray that the reinforcements the Dean promised us don't get intercepted by the insect tide on their way here."