Wizard: I Can Refine Everything-Chapter 499 - 44 The "Gift" of the Mother Worm God

"Constructing the Rule Body?"

Richard’s request left Ulysses momentarily stunned; as a bona fide World Master, he couldn’t immediately see the connection between constructing a Rule Body and balancing rules.

However, he quickly caught on.

"I think you’re somewhat mistaken about the Rule Body; although the name suggests it’s a transformation specific to the physical body.

In fact, constructing the Rule Body requires significant soul participation—a mere physical breakthrough is insufficient for crafting the Rule Body."

Hearing Ulysses’ explanation, Richard’s face paused, and a hint of embarrassment swiftly climbed his eyebrows.

"I see," Richard chuckled drily, "then do you have a method to balance two rules? Whenever I use these two, they conflict."

Ulysses nodded slightly, confidently responding, "That’s truly a happy trouble. The average natives who are World Masters might not come across a complete foundational rule in their entire lives.

You, on the other hand, have so many rules that your body can hardly contain them all.

Balancing two rules is simple; isn’t your furnace capable of rule fusion? Just melt these two rules together, that should do it."

"Ah?"

Richard found this solution a bit unexpected.

"But isn’t constructing the Rule Body supposed to be based on foundational rules? If I fuse them ahead of time, won’t I need to find another foundational rule to construct it?"

Ulysses shook his head, "No no no, if your rule were incomplete, you would indeed need another one. But your Radiation Rule is complete; all you’re doing by fusing rules now is getting ahead.

In essence, rule fusion is an upgrade to the Rule Body, merging clearly defined separate rules.

As long as the foundation is complete, it will not delay your future construction of the Rule Body at all."

Seeing Ulysses so certain, Richard didn’t press further. Ulysses had made things quite clear, and to keep on questioning would imply doubting his honesty.

"But it’s easier said than done; rule fusion requires rules as fuel," Richard said, feeling a headache coming on.

He had plenty of rules at the moment, but truth be told, they were all rather useful.

The expendable rules were too insignificant in quantity to suffice as fuel.

"I can’t help with that," Ulysses said, unable to provide assistance.

Lacking rules was something even he couldn’t resolve; he certainly couldn’t strip rules from himself to give to Richard as fuel.

That’d be foolish.

After pondering hard for a while, Richard felt rather dejected.

Manifesting carriers of rules wasn’t something he could just encounter whenever he wished.

But just as he was feeling downcast, as if Ulysses had thought of something, he suddenly called out to Richard:

"Richard, do you remember that Insect God’s Divine Chosen you captured in the first world? After all these years, that big insect must have been killed by your Great Wizard by now, right?"

Ulysses’ words jolted Richard into alertness.

Right, how could he have forgotten about that Insect God’s Divine Chosen? If the Mother Worm God had died, then the backup Divine Chosen he had would likely have been activated by now.

But Richard quickly realized a problem.

"If the Mother Worm God were to resurrect, the World Mushroom would not remain unresponsive."

"Old Mushroom certainly wouldn’t miss it, but what if that insect resurrected while Old Mushroom was in an evolutionary sleep?"

Ulysses became somewhat excited.

"I’ve heard Old Mushroom say that each evolution leads him into a period of sleep. If that insect had any sense, upon detecting its presence inside Old Mushroom, it would definitely choose to hide."

"Could it really hide?" Richard was shocked.

"Of course it could. As long as it stays still without Old Mushroom watching closely, nobody would be the wiser."

Richard nodded slightly and quickly opened a Space Rift.

"I’ll go ask. Meanwhile, have the Holy Tree Elf search for that insect."

"Okay."

Outside the Secret Realm, the bedroom, now clean and tidy, was where Ali lay lazily on the bed, casually flipping through a Magic Book.

"Ali, has the principal dealt with the Insect Nest World’s Mother Worm God?"

Ali looked startled, "Why bring this up all of a sudden? That insect was killed long ago, probably more than four hundred, almost five hundred years by now."

More than four hundred years?

Richard did the math in his mind; more than four hundred years ago, the World Mushroom indeed underwent a Secret Realm integration. If the World Mushroom did fall into a sleep at that time, it was possible that the Mother Worm God could have taken the opportunity to resurrect within the Divine Chosen.

"Alright, I got it."

Richard left without further conversation, returning through the rift to the Secret Realm, leaving a bewildered Ali staring after him.

Shaking her head, she mumbled to herself, "I don’t understand."

Back in the Secret Realm, the Holy Tree Elf had already been manipulating the World Mushroom’s body in search of the hidden Mother Worm God’s Divine Chosen.

"It’s confirmed, that insect was killed more than four hundred years ago, and coincidentally, the World Mushroom had just undergone a Secret Realm integration."

This news exhilarated Ulysses.

"Everyone, work harder, find that insect quickly! Gah gah gah, I can certainly eat him now!"

Watching a somewhat brash Ulysses, Richard couldn’t help but smile helplessly.

A World Master fixated on eating—it definitely wouldn’t be believed if told.

After some searching by the Holy Tree Elf within the body of the World Mushroom, it eventually found the thoroughly mushroom-thread entwined and tightly coiled Inhardt underground amongst the roots.

Removing the mycelium from the outside of Inhardt, the body of Inhardt itself remained the same as in the past, even having gained strength from the multiple evolutions of the World Mushroom.

His physique had reached the limit of a second-level creature.

With a wave of his hand, Richard commanded the Holy Tree Elves to continue removing the mycelium. As each strand was withdrawn from Inhardt’s body, the previously dormant Inhardt suddenly trembled.

But the trembling quickly subsided.

"Hmm?" Richard frowned slightly. "Is the drug effect not over yet?"

"Ga, it’s not that." Ulysses’ eyes gleamed faintly, followed by a cold laugh. "This bug has sensed people outside and has chosen to keep playing dead."

With that, he spat out a mass of pitch-black flames, the temperature of which even twisted the surrounding space a bit.

Buzz!

Suddenly, Inhardt on the ground moved, and a golden barrier of rules instantly blocked the pitch-black flames from outside.

Seeing this, Richard did not waste words and threw a fierce punch.

The next moment, with a bang, the barrier of rules shattered to pieces.

Inhardt’s foundation was too weak. Though the Mother Worm God possessed rules, in front of Richard’s physique that had surpassed human limits, it was merely seeking death by fighting against the inevitable.

His robust arm gripped Inhardt’s neck, hoisting him up forcibly. Richard turned his head towards Ulysses and asked, "How do we deal with this thing? Don’t let it get away again."

Ulysses chuckled: "Don’t worry, with me here, it can’t escape." novelbuddy.cσ๓

No sooner had he finished speaking than a streak of black light burst from Ulysses’ body, drilling straight into Inhardt.

Instantly, rule fluctuations continuously emerged from within Inhardt’s body, and a myriad of phenomena caused by rules almost twisted Inhardt’s body out of shape.

The souls of two World Masters were using Inhardt’s body as their battlefield, locked in a desperate struggle to the death.

Soon, Ulysses’ soul flew out from Inhardt and returned to his body. The moment he spoke, Richard was taken aback.

"There’s been a little accident. Hey, are you interested in training a Divine Chosen for fun?"

"... What?"

...

In the dark space, Inhardt’s consciousness had no idea how long it had drifted. With no points of reference, a single second could feel as long as a year.

Loneliness, emptiness, despair... All these negative emotions filled Inhardt’s heart.

In the pitch black, he visualized the Divine Statue of the Mother Worm God and chanted its doctrines. But in this seemingly endless solitude, even the most steadfast faith could waver.

Once the high wall of belief cracks, collapse is only a matter of time.

Amidst the endless loneliness, Inhardt’s faith began to crumble.

He began to hate the Mother Worm God for not saving him, even though he had devoted himself entirely to it. But now, the Mother Worm God didn’t even have the power to let him die.

Hatred is an intense emotion. Unlike faith, it’s like a slow-acting poison.

It can drive one towards death, but at the brink of dying from thirst, it can also save.

In this pitch-black space, Inhardt transformed from the Mother Worm God’s most devoted believer to its most steadfast enemy.

And in this near-endless loneliness, the hatred in his heart did not wear down but grew more intense.

At last, a light broke through the darkness in the endless loneliness.

The Mother Worm God had arrived.

The Mother Worm God had not expected its most devout believer to have become its most staunch enemy.

But even if it had known beforehand, it would not have cared.

Inhardt’s rebellion was inconsequential to it.

However, the appearance of the World Mushroom caught it by surprise.

It knew its old friend too well, so well that it could tell the flavor of the World Mushroom.

Therefore, it had to remain dormant, in hopes that one day, the World Mushroom might cast it out.

It squeezed Inhardt’s soul into a corner of the body and then waited. To the curses of Inhardt, the Mother Worm God showed no response.

Humans do not take offense at the insults of insects.

What followed was simple; lacking rules as fuel, Ulysses remembered the dust-covered Inhardt.

After confirming the Mother Worm God’s resurrection, Ulysses and the Mother Worm God used Inhardt’s body as a battleground for a battle between the souls of the World Masters.

As expected, Ulysses tore the Mother Worm God’s soul to shreds.

But what he hadn’t predicted was that Inhardt’s soul still remained.

As the Mother Worm God’s soul was torn apart, Inhardt’s soul regained control of the body. Driven by hatred, the moment it sensed the Mother Worm God’s soul shatter, it immediately engulfed the soul fragments into its own.

And this action happened to trigger the Mother Worm God’s contingency plan.

Under its influence, the two souls began to fuse.

The Mother Worm God, possessing vast memories but lacking a guiding personhood, and Inhardt, with a strong personality but meager memories, merged, and the overwhelming memories instantly overwhelmed Inhardt’s reasoning, creating a blank soul devoid of personality. The fusion of souls also gave this blank soul the foundation of a World Master.

If properly restored in the future, this blank soul could fully return as a World Master.

"Your suggestion sounds nice, but what I need now is fuel," Richard said helplessly.

Inhardt’s future might be promising, but what he needed was combat power. If he couldn’t manage the present, even a glorious future was but an illusion.

"Isn’t that simple?" Ulysses said exasperatedly, "Just strip those extra rules off of him.

This bug has more than one rule on him."