Chapter 454 - 23: Netherworld Maze and the Wind God

"In that case..."

As Su Zhou frowned, a vivid image formed in his mind: an Era had come to an end, and a creeping Gray Mist began to shroud a world that had completely transformed into a Netherworld. Scarcely a living thing remained. Then, the Eras shifted, and a new world was born from the chaotic mist. In turn, this Gray Mist would give birth to creatures suited to the New Era’s Attributes before finally dissipating...

’Coupled with the accompanying "Netherworld Maze," which records the civilizations and even the ecosystems of each Era... the true nature of this world’s cyclical Eras... the Silent Lord’s incarnation in this world...’

Burying his doubts, Su Zhou stopped looking at the reliefs along the path and headed straight for the center of the Divine Hall.

The center of the magnificent Mist Divine Hall was a massive, perfectly circular chamber. Passages led out from it in all directions, though some were embedded in the ground. In the middle of the chamber, a Magic Divine Statue hovered in mid-air, sustained by Magic Power.

It was clearly a Divine Hall designed to be underwater, built to welcome the Water People arriving from all directions. From a human perspective, its design was certainly difficult to grasp, and the environment of the Maze failed to fully replicate its charm.

Su Zhou raised his head. He could see the small projection of the Water God floating in mid-air, completely condensed from Magic Power. He couldn’t help but nod slightly. "So this is the power it left behind? Though the amount isn’t massive, the quality of this fully solidified Spiritual Power is truly high."

Su Zhou had always been one to call it as he saw it and analyze things rationally. Although the Magic Power the Water God left here had no intelligence to control it, its exceedingly high quality made it seem like a living creature, possessing its own life and capable of interacting with the surrounding Spiritual Power. He felt that even the Water God he had fought back then probably didn’t possess Spiritual Power of such high quality.

If the Water God were to reclaim this portion of power, it could very likely recover a degree of its Overlord might. In that case, no matter how indignant or enraged Su Zhou became, he’d likely be beaten to a pulp, with not even his bones left to find. After all, when it came to Extraordinary combat, getting angry is useless—unless you’re a certain green X-man, a Sai-X-an, or an Asura.

’...Wait, it feels like there are quite a few of those where getting angry *is* useful, huh?’

"As expected. It’s the ’Master of Water.’"

At that moment, Yara, sharing Su Zhou’s vision, nodded. "This Water God likely consumed some of the residual essence from the initial creation elements left after the birth of the Era of Water. That’s how it managed to reach the Overlord Realm from scratch, without any legacy to draw upon."

"The portion of its power left in this Divine Hall is a tiny bit of the essence of the ’Initial Water Element.’ If it were to reclaim this, it could truly unleash a sliver of Overlord Tier power and possess the might of a Divine Spirit."

"Huh?" Instantly, Su Zhou’s gaze on the ball of aquatic light became feverish. "Does that mean if I take this thing, I can also accelerate my path to becoming an Overlord?"

Having seen the memories of the Celestial Pool Dragon King and the scattered memories of the Water God’s prime in its Evil Soul, Su Zhou was truly envious of the power of the Overlord Realm. Moreover, if he had the power of an Overlord, then on this trip to the Tartadis World, as long as he was there, not a single innocent person would die.

But the Snake Spirit shook its head. It was currently nestled in a depression between Su Zhou’s scales that he had specifically formed for it, lying there in extreme comfort. "The Master of Water’s realm was, in the end, achieved by relying on an external object. It cannot be considered the most orthodox of Overlords."

"A true Overlord seeks great power from within. Whether it’s the body, the Soul, skill, or pure Spiritual Power—these are the four great gateways. Breaking through any one of them is the Overlord Realm. Each path is extremely powerful, no less than, and even surpassing, this Master of Water’s realm."

"I’m not belittling external objects; after all, power from external objects is still power. It’s just that, Su Zhou, since you already have your own grand path to follow, why bother walking the old road of a defeated foe?"

Its words made sense, and they also contained a subtle compliment. Su Zhou couldn’t help but nod. "You’re as knowledgeable as ever, Yara. Still, we can’t let this thing go to waste, can we? How should I collect it? And since this thing is a remnant of the initial creation elements, if I take it, will it affect this Era’s Rebirth?"

"This thing doesn’t have any intelligence. Just go find Elias later and borrow his Space Ring to store it. Once you’ve cultivated your own personal space, you can toss it in there to serve as a source of ’Water Element.’ Whether it’s for watering the Wisdom Tree or creating high-grade Holy Water, it’s good stuff."

As for Su Zhou’s other question, the knowledgeable Yara couldn’t help but shake its head. "Besides, you’re underestimating the world’s ability to recover on its own. Moreover, the fact that this thing is hidden in the Netherworld Maze means it no longer has anything to do with the Reincarnation of Eras in the outside world. In other words, by taking this thing, you’re fleecing the Silent Lord, not this world."

’Perfect.’ Su Zhou raised his head again, gazing at the pale blue, life-like Magic Divine Statue floating in mid-air.

The Giant Whale seemed to be singing triumphantly.

Since he had already found the Temple of the Water God, discovered a treasure of sufficient value, and even analyzed a part of this world’s Reincarnation and rebirth, Su Zhou’s trip to the Maze had been fruitful enough. He thus set off to return to the city.

But just as he walked out of the Maze, preparing to return to Naisel City to borrow the Space Ring from Elias, Su Zhou suddenly stopped in his tracks.

Because at the entrance of the Maze, there was a very peculiar person who seemed to be waiting for him.

Su Zhou rarely called people peculiar, because most people in this world weren’t nearly as peculiar as he was. While he often called his enemies Monsters, in his own self-assessment, Su Zhou was a genuine freak. He was fully aware that he was anything but normal—he always had a good handle on who he was.

Since he himself was a freak, Su Zhou wouldn’t easily call other people Monsters or peculiar. But the person before him was truly, utterly peculiar.

It was an adult man who looked to be in his thirties. He had waist-length gray hair, a world-weary face, and was handsome in a rugged sort of way. His stubble was also prominent. He looked like an ordinary human male.

But his clothes had a distinct sense of incongruity—his scarf, hat, greatcoat, and boots all looked as if they had ’grown out of his body’!

Rather than clothes, it was more like an exoskeleton in the shape of clothes. There wasn’t a single gap at the joints.

"Ah, you’ve noticed."

The peculiar, gray-haired man noticed Su Zhou’s gaze. He raised his head, looking up at the head of Su Zhou’s colossal dragon body. The man smiled, his voice quite magnetic. "My disguise does have its flaws, I see. Stay in one place long enough, and the locals will always find out. But you, Mr. Su Zhou, are the first to see through it in an instant."

He spoke using a very rare, top-tier honorific language, which was honestly a bit difficult for Su Zhou to understand, as he had only been learning the local language of the Tartadis World for a short time. So, acting on his principle of ’If others are polite to me, I’ll be polite back; if they’re rude to me, I’ll strike with a heavy fist,’ Su Zhou replied very amiably via soul communication, "You are too kind. But, if you don’t mind my being direct, who are you? And how do you know my name?"

"It was a spur-of-the-moment decision to visit without prior notice. Please forgive my impertinence."

The gray-haired man gave Su Zhou a slight bow, and Su Zhou returned the gesture. Although one was a Monster whose hat grew out of his hair and the other was a wingless Giant Dragon, their exchange was surprisingly gentle and reasonable. If someone familiar with Su Zhou’s online persona, like Shao Shuangyue for example, had seen this, their eyes would have surely popped out of their sockets in shock.

However, just after they exchanged bows, Su Zhou suddenly felt an unprecedented and terrifying sense of danger.

This sense of danger was exactly the same as when he faced the Water God!

The gray-haired man had now raised his head. He placed a hand on the brim of his hat and smiled at Su Zhou. "As you can see, my identity, going by the term for it in this Era..."

"...is the Wind God."