The Great Worm Lich

In the illusion, a giant tadpole-like monster swam in the starry sky at a speed that was seemingly slow but was actually fast. Its body was covered with octagonal scales that would change color every second.

Other than a mouth that looked like a black hole when it was open but would disappear when it was shut tightly, there was only a childlike, black, colossal eye circling on top of the elliptical body’s head.

Behind him was a long slender tail that could seemingly pull the planet. Every time it swung gently, it would cause the worlds in Zhang Lisheng’s mind to shake.

“Charge and sacrifice, let us only die in the battle…”

Billions of light balls flashed before Zhang Lisheng, who had transformed into a human-headed snake, with the roar of billion voices lingering in his ears.

Countless of Atlanteans charged towards the monster in the starry sky. Some formed a neat battle formation with their angel-like wings unleashed while holding a light sword. Some drove sparkling spaceships engraved with numerous dark lines of mysterious patterns and rose up to the sky to shoot a blazing, deadly beam as they charged towards the starry sky. As it all unveiled, a brilliant, tragic elegy was playing.

In the face of the ancient Atlanteans’ fully powered attack, that monster converged a pure expression. It opened its mouth in rage as though it was inhaling.

In the vivid images, the ancestral planet of the Atlanteans seemed to have been ripped apart from its stellar orbit, as it shook ceaselessly. In the sky filled with different sizes of light. About 5% of them lost control and smashed into the monster’s mouth, extinguishing one after another in just a short span of a few seconds.

After swallowing a large number of enemies, the monster made another inhalation gesture. In an instant, countless lightning, meteorites, and water column shot out of its big black mouth like a milky way hanging upside down.

“Hey, hey…” The monsters of the first snake body that Zhang Lisheng

saw are accompanied by thunder, fallen stars, and heavy rain, rushing to the ground, growing bigger. Finally, the entire sky could no longer accommodate his body. The monster and the air gradually grew angered, although the people who tried to suppress it still could not help but scream.

“Taotie, Taotie…” The human-headed snake monster that Zhang Lisheng had turned into gradually had its expression changed into that of wrathful one. He saw that the beast was getting more prominent as it charged towards the ground with thunder, fallen stars, and heavy rain. It progressed to the point where the sky could no longer accommodate his body. Despite suppressing his wrath with his might, he still could not help but below towards the sky.

In the bellowing, the body of the human-headed snake monster suddenly plunged into the earth. As if merging with the planet, it also became a giant in size. In the end, with a bawl towards the sky, it lunged itself towards the monster as it shouted, “Die! Die together! Die! Die together…”

When the two bodies came into contact, the world in Zhang Lisheng’s mind immediately crumbled. Even his consciousness began to crumble into specks of dust. In reality, the human-headed snake monster engraved with dark lines on the 18 Wizard Li totem poles cracked right away. The stone pillars began to slowly collapse as well.

When the totem pole that symbolized the glory and power of the tribe began to self-destruct, the Wizard Li tribesmen watching the night could not help but cry out in alarm and terror. In their shouts, the Wizard Li Island that was rooted in it’s somber immediately woke up in a snap. After their initial helplessness, over nine million indigenous people could only kneel on the ground, praying in horror at the crumbling totem poles of the tribe.

Time passed slowly. Under the pledge of nearly ten million devotees, the Wizard Li totem poles shattered to only one percent of their original sizes and finally stopped. Then, it began to take a turn for the better and became thicker. In the ecstatic prayers of the Wizard Li tribesmen who had initially fallen into despair, they began to recover to one-tenth of their previous sizes.

At daybreak, the first ray of dawn shone on the Wizard Li ancestral ground. At that point, Zhang Lisheng, who stood under the totem pillar that had finally stabilized for an entire night, suddenly opened his eyes in the cries of millions of his believers.

A light as thick as the soil and as blue as the ocean flashed across his mind. His body swayed as he panted, appearing to be worn out and weak, but there was an ecstatic look on his face.

The young man grew silent for a while before muttering with a huge grin, “A god’s gene can carry consciousness. Is this one of the secrets of eternal life? But the consciousness of all creatures should be unique. If two complete genes are simultaneously ‘infected’, what should I do?” He grew quiet right away when his eyes caught the sight of the Wizard Li totem pole that had become different from last night.

Looking at the stone pillar that had no patterns or illustrations other than the two colors of khaki and aqua blue, Zhang Lisheng pondered for a while in a stupor. After that, he shook his head and said to himself, “There’s no gills, so how should I breathe underwater? There are no wings, so how should I fly in the air? That’s only something that an idiot would do. I guess I shouldn’t be overthinking. Since the bane has been turned into a boon, I guess I’m still lucky…”

He then touched his forehead with a lingering fear. However, he found out that the ‘recorder’ that he borrowed from Someril that was initially placed on his forehead had already crumbled into powder.

“Terrifying, terrifying…” Finally, after heaving a deep sigh, the young man turned to look at the Hellfire aborigines kneeling on the soil of the Wizard Li’s ancestral ground. He then pondered before roaring, “My pious believers, yesterday, your prayers have paved a glorious path to the ‘Divine Throne’ for me. Thus, I’ll make all of you stronger as long as you stand on the soil of my’ nation’…”

When Zhang Lisheng said the word ‘stronger,’ all of the totem poles on the 18 Wizard Li islands began to shake, together with the islands. At once, all the Wizard Li tribesmen who were kneeling on the ground, suddenly felt that their exhausted bodies had turned lighter.

“Resolute…” The young man could blatantly feel that his ‘order’ had really come into effect. Trembling a little, he forced his turmoiled heart to ease before spitting out another word. At this moment, Tugra, who had finally realized what was happening, shouted out in ecstasy, “Dear Glorious Majesty, you’re the god of the Wizard Li islands! You’re the only glory illuminating the tribe…”

With the shout of the headman, tens of thousands of Wizard Li tribesmen finally realized what was going on. It turned out that the tribal overlord had just crossed the two most difficult levels in one night, transforming from ‘Conqueror’ into that of the ‘Island God.’

In an instant, all the panic and confusion lingering in their hearts transformed to become joy and jubilation. At once, the praises that filled the island began to resound.

The island god, as the name suggested, would have the power of a god on the island that they ruled. To this point, the name ‘god’ finally lived up to its name.

Zhang Lisheng opened his eyes to look at the jungle. At once, the trees began to twist automatically, giving way to a narrow road. He then closed his eyes to feel the island. The rolling waves that were hitting the continental shelf on the far shore began to flatten to the point where it could give off a clear reflection. Zhang Lisheng savored this power that had a different nature than his previous wizard power but had some kind of connection to it as he nodded in satisfaction.

“In the future, I can mix the power of soil and water together. Perhaps, it can even give birth to the ‘power of life.’ This would then coincide with the myths and legends of the Ancient Goddess Nuwa, who created humans using soil and water. Even though the use of this power requires the consumption of ‘faith,’ it’s completely understandable. In short, the gains I made last night was so much that it’s inconceivable. It’s really unbelievable…” The young man muttered and looked at the tribal book of history on the ground. Immediately, that tree bark book automatically floated and landed in his hand.

When the guardian spiritual monster of a tribe was promoted to the status of the legendary spirit and the island god, the tribal book of history would become meaningless. However, Zhang Lisheng still flipped through the book and silently returned it to the huge bark house beside the totem pole to place it back onto the altar.

After that, he sat on the animal leather seat while the Wizard Li headman walked into the treehouse with great respect. The headman fell at his feet. He then said devoutly, “Your Glorious Majesty, your devout believer and slave Tugra is here waiting for your order. Congratulations on breaking through the obstacles of the ‘legendary spirit’ and became the Wizard Li islands’ god right away!”

“Alright Tugra, there’s only the two of us here now, so let’s skip all the nonsense. Actually, the incident last night was not in my grasp, either. Being able to obtain a good result is the best-unexpected situation that I can get,” Zhang Lisheng smiled, “Anyway, let’s not talk about this first. The reason I returned to Wizard Li is to have a few matters to tell you.”

“Yes,” Tugra replied with his head bowed down.

“In a few days, some outlanders will come to the Wizard Li tribe with me. Just like when we received the steamship last time, we can’t let them find out that I’m the overlord in Wizard Li…” The young man muttered before finally telling Tugra his idea. This included selecting several dozens of the most powerful and intelligent warrior leaders posing as tribal guardian spiritual monsters. A part of the plan was also to warn all Wizard Li tribesmen to not reveal the true identity of Zhang Lisheng. They must also hide all the mainlanders on the Wizard Li island.

In the end, he added, “The few things I said just now are the most important. Go figure out the loopholes yourself, and in short, don’t let anyone reveal my identity.”

“Your Great Majesty, actually, mostly, you appear like that of a demon before the tribesmen of Wizard Li. Most of the Wizard Li tribesmen dared not look directly at your face. The way they identify you is based on your distinctive look and the powerful forces and ‘partners’ that you display.” Tugra hesitated a little before suggesting, “If you appear together with a group of strangely dressed outlanders and change your voice, perhaps, perhaps…”

“There’s no need to overthink this, Tugra. Your idea is better than mine.” Zhang Lisheng’s eyes lit up, and he sighed before throwing his head behind to laugh loudly, “I guess this is what they meant by ‘blunt are those who are concerned.’ I’ve indeed complicated this matter up. It’s already difficult to recognize faces between different ethnic groups, let alone from different worlds… Well, your idea is excellent, Tugra. We’ll completely modify the plan. Let the chief warriors who have received my blessing before and are commanding 100 troops, as well as chief craftsmen and choresmen who have three feathers and above, know my disguise. Of course, I’d need to create a new identity as well…”

They revised Zhang Lisheng’s disguise plan, and it was only until noon did the details were finally perfected.

He then pondered more about it. Feeling that he had eliminated the flaws to the minimum, Zhang Lisheng, who refused to remain missing for too long at such a critical moment, left the Wizard Li tribe. He condensed the fog below him and flew into the sky with satisfaction.