Chapter 426 - Han Wu’s Ultimate Move

The war shifted into Han Wu’s favor with the Origin of Mutation’s appearance. The invaders didn’t want to give up, but they were powerless to resist. In every era, strength decided everything. Watching the units they had painstakingly nurtured fall one after another, they finally considered retreating to cut their losses.

Just as they prepared to withdraw, something extraordinary happened. A giant gate opened, released a blinding beam of light, and closed as suddenly as it appeared. The beam of light touched the ground and quickly expanded into a towering life form that resembled a heron, but with 100 heads. Its pure white wings unfurled and bathed the area with sacred light.

Everyone froze. The monster was stronger than a Sage life form. The invaders had no idea which side the heron would attack and hurriedly ordered their units to fall back.

Then the heron swooped down on the Origin of Mutation and pecked it with its 100 beaks. The Origin of Mutation’s dragon scales shattered like glass and blood splashed across the ground.

The Origin of Mutation retaliated with Steelcutter, but the heron dodged with effortless grace. Unable to land a hit, the Origin of Mutation found its Skills useless against the heron. All the advantages it had created vanished instantly with the strange heron’s arrival.

The invaders, who had been ready to flee, suddenly saw hope.

“Everyone, attack! We’ve lost too much already. How can we return home empty-handed?”

“Destroy his divine realm and his Core.”

“He killed the Sage life form that I spent ages nurturing. How can he have so many Sage life forms? Isn’t he just a newly ascended God?”

“I’m so jealous. I’ll summon all my units and kill him myself.”

“

Hahaha

! I just dug up a fire-type treasure. I’m rich. You guys, continue digging around. I’m heading back first.”

Their voices overlapped, a flood of chatter and information echoing through the divine realm.

Rage consumed Han Wu as he watched the invaders retreat through their gates with his treasures in tow. Meanwhile, the strange heron was pummeling the Origin of Mutation, and the shockwaves from their clash were tearing through his units.

Han Wu couldn’t stand it any longer; he would confront it himself. Yet even at full power, he was only as strong as a Sage life form. He doubted that he could defeat it. That was when he recalled Replicate, his latest Exclusive Divine Power. With enough Divine Essence, he would have a fighting chance.

Without hesitation, Han Wu teleported onto the Origin of Mutation’s body and pressed his palm against it. “Replicate!”

His body swelled rapidly. To prevent any backlash, he used the most brutal and efficient method, burning through his reserves of Divine Essence to strengthen himself. The cost was steep, but the Divine Essence transformed into raw power surging through his body.

He then formed an overlapping domain like the Origin of Mutation, and new limbs and organs grew from his expanding frame. Power surged endlessly from his core. By the time he finished, he had consumed 100 Divine Essence.

The strange heron faced another version of the strange monster. One was drenched in blood, while the other remained pristine.

Han Wu turned to the Origin of Mutation. “I will handle this. Teach those invading bastards a lesson they’ll never forget. I know you can.”

The Origin of Mutation nodded and flew toward the invaders’ gates. As it passed through the battlefield, it also picked up the corpses of powerful units and absorbed their flesh and blood to use its fourth Skill, Life Creation.

The mangled pieces of flesh moved and twisted until they formed wriggling red worms. Though they looked small and seemingly harmless, they were the deadly Mind Worms that it had painstakingly nurtured. Their primary method of attack was to remain hidden while releasing a toxin that disrupted the mind. Once inside a host, they could use that same toxin to seize control of the victim’s thoughts and actions.

The Origin of Mutation had initially created it to control Han Wu. Now that he had granted it freedom, it intended to use them to repay him instead.

One by one, the blood-red worms leapt into the invaders’ gates. The Origin of Mutation commanded them to infest and parasitize as many units as possible, planning to let them spread until at least half of the invaders’ units were compromised. Then it would seize control and destroy the enemies’ Cores.

The Mind Worms heeded its order and started working.

On the other side, Han Wu battled the monstrous heron. To him, the heron was sluggish, and its pecks posed no threat. He could read every movement it made and defend against it easily.

This wasn’t because his replication was stronger than the Origin of Mutation, but because Han Wu had more combat experience. The Origin of Mutation resembled a brilliant scientist who had never fought in a real battle, while Han Wu wielded the same power with ten times the skill. In moments, he bashed more than forty of the 100 heads.

Sensing defeat, the heron tried to flee. Naturally, Han Wu had no intention of letting it escape. He was going to kill it immediately. He unfurled his five pairs of dragon wings and closed the distance in an instant. He merged his eight great swords into a single blade large enough to split his own divine realm in half, swung it brutally using Steelcutter, and cut off every escape path.

Left with no choice, it turned to defend against Han Wu’s Steelcutter, but it was useless. The blade severed the heron in half and ended its life.

𝒇𝓻𝓮𝓮𝙬𝙚𝒃𝒏𝓸𝙫𝒆𝙡.𝓬𝓸𝒎

When the invaders saw the heron fall, they retreated at once. They wouldn’t have invaded Han Wu’s divine realm if they had known his true strength. They had failed to seize any treasures and lost half their units. Their invasion ended in a complete disaster for them.

Han Wu watched the invaders withdraw from the spot where he had slain the heron. He didn’t pursue them, not for lack of will but for lack of power. The strength he had obtained from replicating the Origin of Mutation was nearly spent. He would be helpless if he chased after them.

At that moment, several gates opened at the heart of his divine realm. Qin Shuang appeared with her Thunder Sparrows, while Lina, Saliya, and Xu Hai all led their units to support Han Wu.

The reinforcements came too late to join the battle, but their appearance was enough to make the invaders retreat faster.

“Run! The people from Imperial College are here!” someone shouted.

“Leave your units and run!”

“Shit! I lost three King life forms and got nothing. This is a failure,” a voice complained.

“You only lost three King life forms. I lost a Sage life form! Do you think your losses compare to mine? Just run right now, or the rest of your King life forms will die here!” someone barked.

All the invaders escaped, but none of them knew of the greater danger that waited for them back in their divine realms.