Chapter 43: The Angel of Truth, Destroying the World in Turn!

"It seems you haven't been doing very well lately."

Inside the Elven Sanctuary, Liu Jun quietly gazed at the bound Angel Queen.

She was suspended upon a cross, her four wings as dark as a nocturnal starry sky, her lowered gaze suffused with compassion and benevolence, the depths of her pupils seeming to contain endless wisdom.

Beautiful.

Too beautiful.

She was the most exquisite creature in this world.

This beauty did not stem from mere external appearance; she radiated an intellectual beauty perceivable only by the soul—like an angel of wisdom caught by a mortal in a glimpse of eternity.

To merely approach her was to feel mentally refreshed, the entire world instantly clarifying, every obscure and ambiguous mystery snapping into focus.

She was the Angel of Wisdom, and also the Angel of Truth.

Liu Jun gathered his thoughts slightly, pondering, "No wonder she is the source of a calamity."

Of course, Liu Jun himself was not weak either.

He was also a nascent God of Immortality; once fully developed, he might even master the authority of longevity across the entire mushroom-soup world.

A god must not be looked upon directly.

To gaze directly upon the God of Wisdom was to become addicted to wisdom and the pursuit thereof.

To gaze directly upon himself, the God of Immortality, was to attain longevity?

Well, that sounded quite reasonable.

Presently, this was the era of the birth of primordial, infant gods. The advent of every single god inevitably upset the balance of the world's order.

"You've had a rough time over these years."

Liu Jun watched her in silence.

It appeared that a faction of mortals had defeated this deity, imprisoned her, and continually attempted to taint the divine majesty.

Wisdom was a non-combat power.

It was entirely natural that she had been besieged and contested by her frenzied subjects.

"It is all retribution."

"It is the Creator's punishment upon us."

Upon the cross, the Angel of Wisdom now seemed to have transformed into a devout believer in causality, repenting, praying, and drowning in immense guilt.

"The suffering I endure now is no more than I deserve."

"Back then, I was the mastermind behind everything. I betrayed your teachings, my Lord..."

Chong Qiqi was racked with overwhelming self-blame.

She believed that she had led civilization astray, and the current calamity of wisdom was the punishment inflicted by the Creator in days past.

Her heart was filled with remorse, resentment, agony, and despair...

Chong Qiqi said, "And I fear this has implicated you as well. Now, the entire world will turn against you."

"Perhaps this is an immutable law of the cosmos."

She spoke of a mythological legend destined to be passed down to future generations:

"When heaven and earth were split, once living beings attained [Wisdom], they would inevitably yearn for [Immortal Life]."

"And immortality is exceedingly unique, the sole divine power capable of surviving the tribulation of heaven and earth."

"Therefore, in order to slay the God of Immortality who possessed the means to escape the destruction of the epoch, the Creator bestowed wisdom upon the world."

Liu Jun fell silent for a moment.

The logic was self-consistent, possessing the aesthetic beauty of ancient mythology.

Even Liu Jun felt the sudden urge to think: The Creator—could this wave genuinely be coming to slaughter me, the God of Immortality?!

The latter half of the Angel King's life had been spent in repentance, and now, Chong Qiqi had walked down that very same path.

She was in immense pain and remorse.

Yet, she could not die.

Because she knew that upon her death, [High Wisdom] would become ownerless and would seek out a new, suitable host.

At that time...

[High Wisdom] would spiral out of control, likely falling into the hands of other malicious beings and causing even greater catastrophe.

Therefore.

Back then, she had chosen self-sealing, having the angels lock her away within a magic box deep beneath the earth, with that batch of feigned-death angels acting as gravekeepers to suppress the box.

She had known better than anyone at that time.

What manner of eternal, torturous confinement it was to be shut alive inside a dark, oppressive, sunless coffin.

Yet she had done it without a moment's hesitation.

Using herself as a medium to seal away this terrifying disaster.

"The most painful thing in the world is wanting to die when life is worse than death, yet choosing to live on with fortitude for the sake of the entire world."

"Child, you are now the Angel of Truth. You have failed no one, not even me."

Liu Jun released the Angel of Truth from her imprisonment, lifting her down from the cross. Looking at the exhausted, four-winged angelic maiden, he said slowly:

"Sometimes, living through suffering requires far more courage than dying a heroic death."

Listening to the gentle voice of the deity, feeling the trust and benevolence radiating from his gaze, the Angel Queen's eyes welled up with tears.

"My Lord, have I truly failed no one?"

Her eyes were filled with yearning.

"You are already worthy of becoming another god." The ancient God of Immortality smiled faintly. "Your wisdom, your integrity, and your kindness have won His recognition, have they not?"

The eyes of the Angel of Truth, aged and feeble, flickered with a trace of deep emotion.

Recognition was the greatest solace in the world.

"Come, join us in the resistance."

A warm voice echoed beside her ear.

"Come, the era of your husband, the Angel King, has passed."

"Now, it is a new era."

She shook off her chains, stumbling out of the Elven Sanctuary into the bright sunlight and lush forest.

Tap, tap, tap.

Her internal trembling steadied with every stride, her gaze gradually turning resolute and daring as she silently followed in the footsteps of the prophet.

In the distance, a tattered bow hung from a tree branch, the solemn clan emblem flashing with brilliant radiance...

"We shall forever pursue beauty." In a daze, she seemed to recall that majestic and beautiful Angel King raising the Sword of Angels high, roaring in her ear.

Intending originally to end her life alongside her comrades of old, she suddenly muttered to herself:

"Then let us chase after this new era once more."

...

For the next half-month.

Liu Jun quietly traversed and surveyed the land, bringing along the Mother of Fallen Angels, the Mother of Five-Colored Dragons, the Progenitor of Titans, the God of Elves—the Angel of Truth bearing countless epithets.

He attempted to bring her back to the Wutong Tree.

Trying to use the infection domains of [Middle Wisdom] and [Low Wisdom] to neutralize this portion of [High Wisdom].

Regrettably, it failed.

The standing of [High Wisdom] was superior to the other two, and instead forcibly overwrote the domain of the stupidity-inducing aura.

There was simply no way to resolve her problem of outward leakage.

Perhaps countless years from now, as she continuously grew stronger and broke through realms, she would possess sufficient power to control this endlessly radiating plague of force.

"At first, I could still hide inside the coffin to restrain my aura," Chong Qiqi sighed. "However, they forced me to cultivate, to grow stronger, to expand the radius of my infection. Now, I can no longer control this power... In truth, I can sense that even if they hadn't unsealed me, my wisdom would still cause me to grow stronger passively, broadcasting my aura outward."

"My new wings are the result of my passive wisdom evolution; I am growing every single second." The Angel of Truth flew through the sky, overlooking the earth, while the God of Immortality, disguised as a colorful butterfly, sat quietly upon her shoulder.

They observed this era riddled with plague everywhere.

Ultimately, they arrived at a plan.

Chong Qiqi would stay far away from the Wutong Tree.

Yet she would continue to infect the next generation of children.

Even so, she would act as an insider.

From this point on, the entire era was divided into two "nations."

One was the realm infected by wisdom.

The other was the Wutong Forbidden Zone.

This mythological era of creating myriad races was truly miraculous, split right down the middle with wisdom as the boundary.

Yet, spending these days together—even with Liu Jun's invisible concealment buff—he still felt somewhat affected by the aura of the addiction-fungus.

The High-Wisdom Mushroom was overwhelmingly potent!

Fearing he might turn into one of those madmen...

He could only bid a silent farewell.

...

Half a month later.

The remnants of that war, tracking the infected aura, located Chong Qiqi once more and re-enthroned her as their deity.

Furthermore, this younger generation prepared to launch the next wave of offensive.

This era was intensely mad—so mad that it never paused for a single breath.

The civilization of the next era had already begun.

"They lost because they didn't understand the power of the God of Immortality. This time, we know, and we will formulate countermeasures against his concealment abilities!"

"What about fire attacks?"

"Weaving an aquatic race to directly flood Wutong, leaving him nowhere to hide!"

"No, water is too easily stained with color, making it easier to spot."

"How about weaving a race capable of turning into flying clouds, transporting moisture mixed with bodily fluids to make it rain!"

"A race that creates clouds and causes rain?"

"How should we modify them?"

"I recall there was a race that urinated from the air."

"Let's modify them using the Tree of Life; that's already a well-established template—water elves, fire elves..."

"Why not Flame Titans? Or perhaps, Frost Dragons?"

"Our energy is limited. Taking elves as the core is optimal!"

"Then let us weave a brand-new generation of elves upon the primordial elves."

"Attack Wutong! Attack Wutong!"

"According to the records of the previous generation, we only have twenty-odd years of lifespan left, which is plenty."

"This is the beauty of our butterfly race: we fear not death, striving only to pursue knowledge and truth—moths flying into the flame!"

...

Upon the Wutong Tree.

Having received the news from their insider, the Angel of Truth, Liu Jun's expression was far from pleasant.

A bunch of mad butterfly-addicts with fungus.

I taught you how to spin cocoons and fly into the flames, but you actually flew straight at me?!

Liu Jun's expression grew exceedingly complex.

They really were treating me like a final boss.

All sorts of tricks, endless and incessant!

They even researched my skill cooldowns and boss mechanics, creating brand-new mythological races specifically to counter me? Designing military configurations just to defeat me?

"Absolute beasts."

Liu Jun sighed.

Fending off wave after wave of assaults—Titans, Elves, Dragons, Angels...

It was entirely too vivid a mental picture.

At this rate, he had no idea how many more rounds he could endure.

Relying solely on himself was useless; he was a single pillar struggling to prop up a collapsing roof. Perhaps the lifeforms on the Wutong Tree could share some of the pressure?

Yet they were far too normal, not unhinged enough, utterly unfit for heavy responsibilities!

And yet, if they did go mad and become infected by the fungus, they would turn on their own flesh and blood.

This calamity of wisdom currently seemed completely insoluble.

Twenty years later.

What awaited Liu Jun was torrential rain blotting out the sky, accompanied by an endless horde of advancing elves.

"I am the new Elven King, Tyrel!"

Seeing this, Liu Jun stepped forward.

Half a day later.

The Water Elves, annihilated!

The Fire Elves, annihilated!

And a brand-new, peculiar race.

The Pearl Sirens, annihilated!

Those Pearl Sirens had actually been quite interesting.

Clasping a pearl to their chests like witches holding crystal balls, they gave off a mysterious, magical vibe.

Had they been allowed to develop, their potential seemed boundless as well.

Yet they had to be killed!