Star Odyssey

Chapter 3038: The Child

Luo Shan’s eyes went wide when he saw that Corpse God’s aura was weakening. “He hasn’t fully healed from his injuries!”

Mu Shen explained, “During the massive battle in the Endless Frontier, he was wounded by the Lu family’s ancestor, Lu Yuan. By forcing himself to exert this much strength, he’s quickly reached his limit. We can’t allow him to escape.”

When Lu Yin and Mu Ke had fought against Corpse God in Giants' Purgatory, the Skygod had never used his full strength, which was because his injuries had prevented him from doing so. While he had recuperated a bit, forcing himself to use his full strength had resulted in a bit of backlash, and his wounds were being exacerbated. Fighting against the rulers of three universes was far from easy.

Corpse God paused. His own blood stained his entire body.

The current situation was much like ants attacking a giant. However, if things were reversed and Mu Shen, Lord Xu, or Luo Shan tried to escape, Corpse God might not be able to do much to stop them.

Mu Shen and the other two were in no rush to press the fight. Just waiting would help wear Corpse God down.

Corpse God panted for breath. The pale-green light faded from the branch-like pattern on his skin. It had nearly disappeared.

He looked around. The three humans had spread out to surround Corpse God, blocking all paths of escape.

Corpse God finally looked at the distant farmhouse. Years of his efforts were about to evaporate into nothing. It was regrettable, but also unavoidable. He clenched a fist and attacked the farmhouse.

The building trembled even before the punch arrived, and the lamp flickered. The child stopped writing to tap the lamp.

The punch was not fast, but that did not mean that it was slow. Still, the distance between the punch and the farmhouse seemed endless, and the child had enough time to tap the lamp a second time. “Grandpa, the lamp’s broken.”

No one answered. Out in the yard, the old man’s body slowly started to disappear.

“Grandpa!” the child called louder.

The yard itself was dissolving into dots of light, and the phenomena soon spread to the farmhouse.

The child held his pen as he ran to the balcony and looked down. Instead of the normal yard outside of the farmhouse, he saw a desolate wasteland. “Grandpa?”

The child appeared stunned, and it was at the moment that he looked up that the punch finally arrived at the farmhouse.

The pencil fell, softly hitting the ground. However, the sound of the impact echoed like thunder in the ears of Corpse God, Mu Shen, and the other two. It was as though the impact was shattering the illusory world itself.

The staircase behind the child dissolved, and it was quickly followed by the attic, the desk, the lamp, and even the boy’s homework. Everything disappeared.

In the end, only the child remained.

The child watched the approaching punch in a daze, not even moving.

Boom!

The punch shattered the ground and buried everything.

Mu Shen and the others watched from the distance as the farmhouse disappeared. They could not help but wonder what Corpse God was doing.

Blood dripped from Corpse God’s arms, but his eyes were fixed on where the farmhouse had just been standing.

A huge cloud of dust was blown away by the wind to reveal a figure lying on the ground; it was the child. He had not been crushed by Corpse God’s punch, and instead, he lay on the ground, looking like he was asleep. There were not even any wrinkles in his clothes. It was as though Corpse God had never thrown a punch at all.

Lord Xu frowned. “The farmhouse, the old man, and the child were all illusions. This is the real person.”

“How are they still a child?” Mu Shen wondered. What could a child possibly do? Creating the illusory world was one thing, but how could a child have established Giants' Purgatory? The universe had trapped numerous super giants in a never-ending war, two of whom had even been sequence powerhouses.

However, the child really had been the one to create Giants’ Purgatory.

When the Mountain King died, a few scenes from before Giants’ Purgatory was established had appeared, and there had been a screaming child. That child was identical to the one in the illusory world.

How had the child done it?

“You want to still sleep? I’ve accompanied you through this innocent childhood of yours, letting your grandfather spend his twilight years with you so that that version of you could enjoy his childhood, fulfilling your wish. Do you really want to watch me die?” Corpse God spoke as he stared at the sleeping child.

The child did not respond.

Mu Shen frowned and immediately attacked Corpse God, surrounding the Skygod with blocks of wood that rose from the ground and also fell from the sky.

Corpse God clenched his teeth. A dim, green pattern flashed over his skin as he punched the wood away. A Monarch Arrow approached and embedded itself into his right shoulder. Before, his sequence particles had covered his body and prevented a single visible wound from appearing, but at this moment, even Luo Shan’s arrow could penetrate Corpse God’s defenses.

Lord Xu reformed the Thermometer of Life, trapping Corpse God.

“After you’ve spent so many years on this, do you really want to watch me die?” Corpse God bellowed.

The temperature of the Thermometer of Life started to rise, and Lord Xu’s expression turned solemn. While none of them understood the peculiarities of the sleeping child, there was no doubt that killing Corpse God as quickly as possible was the right decision.

Another wooden lotus bloomed beneath the Thermometer of Life. Even if the Voidlord’s innate gift failed to kill Corpse God, the lotus was powerful enough to crush him to a bloody pulp.

“Fine. I promise that I won’t touch anything, and I won’t bother you again. If you need, I can simply continue to recreate your perfect childhood!” Corpse God roared.

In the distance, the child slowly opened his eyes. “Thank you, Uncle.”

Mu Shen and the others immediately looked over, and they saw the child sit up and look at them. At that moment, everything changed. The wooden lotus vanished. The Thermometer of Life disappeared. Corpse God fled, escaping what had appeared to be certain death.

A Monarch Arrow in Luo Shan’s hands shattered.

Everything happened in the blink of an eye.

Mu Shen and the other two were horrified. How was this possible? How could this child instantly cause all of their attacks to simply disappear? Just how powerful was this child?

Mu Shen exclaimed, “Dukkha! He must be overcoming Dukkha!”

Lord Xu was terrified. If this person was overcoming Dukkha, then their cultivation was equal to the Great Sovereign, Astral Anura, and True God’s. Who could have imagined that such a powerful expert had hidden themselves in Giants' Purgatory?

It was no wonder why Corpse God had spent so many years in the universe, living in an illusory world. If he had succeeded in wooing someone who was overcoming Dukkha for Aeternus, all of Corpse God’s efforts would have been worthwhile.

What was happening to the megaverse? One old monster overcoming Dukkha after another kept on appearing. It was truly baffling.

Luo Shan wanted to run away, but doing so from such a monster meant certain death. He knew very well how strong his master and Astral Anura were. Opposing such beings was suicide.

Corpse God gasped for breath, “Thank you.”

The child observed Mu Shen and the other two. “You can leave. I have no wish to kill anyone. He has been with me for a very long time and is like an uncle to me. You cannot kill him.”

Mu Shen stared at the child. “You’re also human, aren’t you? That man is Corpse God, one of Aeternus’s corpse kings. He’s sworn to exterminate our kind. You actually want to help this monster?”

The child was unphased. “When my home was destroyed, who helped me? A body is nothing more than a vessel for dreams and memories. All I need to live is those memories.”

He raised a hand and observed his own body. “Something like species really isn’t important.”

Mu Shen’s expression soured. Reasoning and logic would not help when dealing with this person. People who were overcoming Dukkha were all insane. They were focused on their own personal madness, some deep desire that was magnified to the point of becoming an obsession. To normal individuals, such people were insane.

The child looked back over at Mu Shen and the others. “There’s no need for you to be so fixated on such things, either. Who can guarantee that everything you’ve ever experienced is not also an illusion, a cycle, or some sort of dream? Isn’t it better to just be yourself?”

“Even in a dream, there are still things that are right and wrong, as well as emotions and ties that bind us to each other. This false civilization had traffic laws, systems, and hierarchies. Are such things not important to you? If not, then why did your civilization have them? What sort of civilization do you follow?” Lu Yin stepped forward. He had been present throughout the entire battle, but he had not gotten involved. He was certain that every last Skygod had their own secret trump card. This had to be why Corpse God still had not used any divine energy.

Lu Yin had intended to only take action after Corpse God had exhausted all his other options, in order to avoid a repeat of the battle in Giants' Purgatory. Lu Yin did not want Corpse God to escape again.

Every one of the Seven Skygods was extremely difficult to kill. That had been true of both Shaman God and Undying God, and it had to be true of Corpse God as well.

The child looked over at Lu Yin, but he said nothing.

Lu Yin stared at the child. “If species means nothing, then what is the difference between humans and beasts? Who has the right to kill another? Since we are here, we are part of the same civilization.”

He pointed at Corpse God. “That man is a vile criminal, while we are the protectors of the system. Following the laws of the civilization you created, we should eliminate him.”

The child continued to stare at Lu Yin.

Lu Yin stopped speaking and just stared back at the child.

“You are quite the debater. Could I invite you to participate in a debate contest in the civilization where I live?” the child asked.

Lu Yin took a deep breath. “I was overthinking, believing that I could change your mind. While you may look like a child, you’ve lived longer than anyone else. Giants' Purgatory was around for countless years, and you’ve lived since before it’s establishment. Even after all this time, you still cling to your convictions. There’s no point in discussing anything.”

Mu Shen shook his head. How could anyone hope to reason with someone who was overcoming Dukkha? All of those people were madmen.

The child rose to his feet, still looking at Lu Yin. “Please leave and don’t fight anymore. That’s how my original home was destroyed. I’ve already created Giants' Purgatory, and I don’t want to create another.”

Lu Yin’s guard rose. This child had easily saved Corpse God, and Mu Shen and the others had been utterly helpless to do anything at all. It looked like it would be impossible to kill Corpse God.

It was no wonder why Corpse God had fearlessly remained in this place and had shown no sign of wanting to escape.

Lu Yin let out a resigned sigh and then said, “If he’s under your protection, then we might really not be able to kill him. Even so, we cannot simply give up. This is simply too rare an opportunity.

“I had no intention of destroying you home, but I do ask that you reconsider and take into account that I am continuing the Cyclops King’s torture for you. Please do not interfere.”

Lu Yin’s Champions’ Stage then appeared, and he summoned the Seven-Star Mantis, Kong Ji, and the Cyclops King. Lu Yin would not walk away from killing Corpse God.

The moment Lu Yin summoned the Cyclops King, Corpse God’s expression changed drastically.

The child’s face also changed quite a bit. “The Cyclops King?”

Lu Yin explained, “This is my Lu family’s innate gift, the Champions’ Stage. My people killed the Mountain King, and then I anointed the Cyclops King to my Champions’ Stage so that I can summon him. Now, even though he’s dead, he will never have any peace. This should be an acceptable punishment for one of the primary culprits behind the destruction of your homeland, right?”

The child stared blankly at Lu Yin. “Is the Mountain King also dead?”

Lu Yin frowned. The child’s reaction was off. How was it possible for this expert to not know about the destruction of Giants' Purgatory? While Lu Yin was surprised to discover that the creator of Giants' Purgatory had stayed in the same universe, but never revealed himself, the person who had created Giants' Purgatory should have known about what had happened to it.

“A bit more than a decade ago, I led an army of cultivators, and we destroyed Giants' Purgatory. While the Mountain King was dying, his body resonated with Giants' Purgatory, and we were shown your reason for creating Giants' Purgatory. Their war destroyed your home and planet. The Mountain King is now dead, and the Cyclops King is my summoned champion. Did you really not know about any of this?”

OMA's Thoughts

Translated By: OMA

Edited By: Neshi/Nyxnox

TLC'ed By: OMA