Chapter 390: Golden Body? Door!

Upon seeing the beacon, Wang Yu’s first instinct was to prepare to drag Avia away from the Void, using the filaments of his shattered meteorite blade. He instinctively assumed that, much like the cataclysmic tides of destruction in the outside world, some sudden, violent shift had occurred, and he needed to evade it at all costs.

But soon, the changes wrought by the overlapping realms manifested within their space. The scenery of that desolate wasteland began to emerge, bit by bit, into Wang Yu’s field of vision as the fusion progressed.

Everything surrounding the beacon appeared before him: the furnace Zig had forged from his own body, Noelle pressing her palms against Zig’s draconic form, and that "lighthouse" lantern Noelle held in one hand—the one that never flickered, its brilliance remaining constant regardless of how bright the light outside might be.

"Professor?"

His eyebrows arched. Wang Yu never expected that the beacon piercing through the two realms was created by Zig. And what was Zig’s current state?

"Wang Yu, I don’t know what Zig and the others have done, but be careful. The two realms are merging, and the barrier blocking your path will soon fail. Send me out first. They won’t appear in the Void, but in the material world. I need to see how they are doing."

Avia had been monitoring the shifts in the Void; the phenomena caused by the convergence of two worlds could not escape her eyes. She immediately relayed this to Wang Yu, urging him to send her out of the Void.

She needed to confirm the condition of Zig and Noelle, while also ensuring they could enter the Void to hide before the cataclysmic tide descended.

"No problem."

Wang Yu agreed immediately. He let the girl step onto his palm, then gave a gentle push toward the rift in the Void above, using the formidable strength of a high-ranking Grand Knight to send her smoothly out of the Void.

"Try not to do anything reckless. Prioritize your own safety. Since Zig and Noelle have come here, we should be able to try other ways to leave."

Even as she left, she couldn't help but urge him. She knew that even if Wang Yu listened, the final result usually deviated from the plan, but she couldn't help but say it anyway.

Giving an "OK" gesture to Avia as she was sent out to reassure her, Wang Yu turned to face the colossal octopus below.

As the two realms overlapped, the world Wang Yu occupied gradually became whole. The missing pieces of the Void were filled in, and Wang Yu finally saw what the giant octopus was clinging to.

Things that had been hidden in the blur of the Void at the edge of his vision were now revealed. The octopus’s tentacles were thrust into the junction between the Void and the material world—partially in the material world, partially in the Void—using the material world as an anchor to hold itself fast, without any other movement.

"So it’s clinging to the material world. No wonder its posture looked so strange; it’s about to fall off."

Understanding the octopus's current state, Wang Yu muttered to himself. He did not pause, but maintained a steady speed, driving the residual power of the Dream God’s vessel to approach the creature.

His goal remained the same: to touch the octopus’s tentacle. The intuition within his body had never lied to him, and this feeling, he believed, was no exception.

Come to think of it, the source of this intuition seemed different from before. If the previous ones came from the "vessel," this one originated entirely from his "self."

As the worlds merged, the isolation belt no longer stood in his path. Crossing the few hundred meters, Wang Yu successfully neared the tentacle.

A single tentacle was like a mountain range. Once he was within an arm's reach, Wang Yu found that his entire field of vision was filled by a deep green wall.

"Hoo..."

Taking a deep breath, Wang Yu removed his gauntlet and pressed his palm against the surface. The moment they made contact, a stinging sensation surged into his body, like an electric shock—not just pain, but the sensation of being suctioned.

"I knew it. Even in its sleep, the assimilation and devouring power of a lifeform of this level is terrifying. Touching it directly with flesh carries great risk, but... come on!"

Within seconds of contact, the skin and flesh of his palm rotted and tore away, exposing the bone beneath. He could see deep green, mud-like matter rapidly climbing up his skeletal hand—the same material as the octopus's skin.

The powerful devouring force, having breached the flesh, quickly began to corrode his bones. Those bones, reinforced with multiple metallic components and possessing immense hardness, were fragile as crackers before this corrosive power, easily chewed and swallowed.

The blood within his body, his second line of defense, fell in a very short time. Unlike the blood of other creatures, his possessed autonomous mobility and high vitality, yet it was devoured as nourishment by the derivative matter spreading from the octopus with almost no resistance.

"Splash!"

A pool of blood opened its gates. Since quality wasn't enough, he would rely on quantity. An opening formed above his head, and a continuous stream of blood gushed out, drenching him entirely before he submerged himself in it—including the arm that was fixed in place by the giant octopus.

"Sizzle!"

The crimson blood and the deep green matter began to clash on his arm, which had already been stripped to the bone. A distinct sizzling sound could be heard, and bubbles erupted frantically within the sphere of blood that encased him.

Even this massive volume of blood seemed unable to halt the advance of the matter. The size of the blood sphere—the quantity of his blood—was shrinking at a visible rate, while the green matter, even under the assault of his massive blood supply, continued to destroy the flesh and bone of his arm.

To be honest, if the speed of the green matter’s encroachment hadn't slowed significantly after the massive amount of blood joined the fray, Wang Yu would have doubted whether his efforts were having any effect at all.

"Truly terrifying. What exactly is this octopus made of? So far, I haven't felt the Banner of Triumph relay a single shred of life force back to me."

He clicked his tongue. Though the stalemate was brief, the fact that he hadn't received any life force feedback meant his blood hadn't killed a single part of the green matter—not even a "cell."

A corner of his mouth curled up in a wry, bitter smile. Well, at this scale, the basic unit of its body was likely this size, so the fact that he was fighting something akin to a "cell" was perfectly acceptable.

This smile was a testament to his luck; he was fortunate enough to be weak, likely not triggering more of the octopus's "immune system." After all, it couldn't possibly use all its power to deal with a tiny insect like Wang Yu, which gave him this chance to pull through.

"Boom!"

Blazing flames ignited even as the remaining blood could no longer fully encase him. With sufficient fuel, the Cursed Fire rapidly shifted from deep green to crimson, guided by Wang Yu to concentrate on the arm that had been devoured up to the elbow.

The flames were indeed more effective than the blood at blocking the green matter, even causing it to pause and retreat slightly.

But soon, the green matter seemed to adapt to the Cursed Fire, once again spreading upward, gnawing at his flesh and bone with an unwavering will to destroy this "pathogen."

When the blood burned out, he used his aura barrier. Though the quantity wasn't large, it was better than raw resistance. It held for a few seconds before being shattered by the green matter, even faster than before.

Toxic potions, spells from the Weaver’s Book... Wang Yu used a series of methods, one after another. All had effects, but none could stop it. Each time, the green matter would pause or retreat slightly before returning with even greater intensity.

Unknowingly, the green matter had spread to the point of touching his right shoulder, while the arm below had been completely devoured, leaving only a hideous, pitted stump wrapped in green.

Wang Yu stopped adding things to the wound to block its progress. It seemed that after all his methods failed, he had completely abandoned resistance, letting the green matter do as it pleased, devouring and destroying his flesh at will.

But within a few breaths of Wang Yu "giving up," the green matter stopped advancing. It still writhed violently, still possessed a strong desire to attack, but it could not move an inch further.

At the junction of Wang Yu’s arm, a pale golden ring appeared. This ring blocked the green matter dead in its tracks; no matter how it attacked, it had no effect.

"It worked. This power... was it you?"

Wang Yu raised his arm. The limb, which had been devoured almost to the shoulder, was slowly recovering under the frantic operation of his body’s powerful self-healing, and a layer of golden radiance was now clinging to it.

The golden ring that had appeared wasn't really a ring; the missing flesh had simply provided the space for this new substance to adhere.

Wang Yu still had many methods he hadn't used—neither other alchemical armaments nor the power of the Dream God’s shell had been used to block the invasion. He had been maintaining a dynamic equilibrium with the green matter’s encroachment.

Previously, his body learned by killing parts of the matter that entered his blood to gain useful abilities, but this time the gap in levels was too great. His quantity could no longer compensate for the difference in quality.

So, in fact, by doing the opposite—letting the foreign matter constantly devour his own, while his body was being destroyed and invaded—he could also complete this "learning" process.

After all, if Wang Yu really couldn't resist, why bother with the stalemate? He could just chop off his arm and walk away; it wasn't as if it wouldn't grow back.

The golden radiance covered his repaired right arm, spreading all the way to the palm, pushing back the green matter that had just easily devoured his flesh and pinning it to the octopus's body, unable to move.

Seemingly sensing something, more deep green matter surged from within the octopus, attempting to climb onto Wang Yu’s golden-glowing arm, crawl onto his body, and devour him. Yet, it was useless.

From the outside, Wang Yu’s entire right arm was covered in golden light, ending abruptly near the shoulder. It wasn't the metallic luster of gold, but rather a golden energy body. If one had to describe it, the term "Golden Body," often used in games, was perfect for the state and appearance of Wang Yu’s arm.

Even its ability was somewhat close to a "Golden Body." The green matter spreading from the octopus could no longer shake his arm in the slightest, nor could it even climb up. Striking, biting, eroding—all were completely ineffective against this arm. There was no reaction force, no friction; all external interference turned into a state of "nothingness" the moment it touched this arm.

It seemed like another strange ability Wang Yu had just learned, but that wasn't the case. Even that giant octopus from the stars wouldn't have such an incomprehensible, indescribable ability.

What Wang Yu had actually learned was simple and limited: he had simply raised the life level of his body by a critical step in a way he didn't understand. To summarize, his carrying capacity had increased, allowing him to bear things he couldn't before.

He withdrew his hand, no longer touching the green matter that could no longer harm him. The golden glow on his right arm gradually faded, receding into his body.

"Phew, I didn't expect to realize the situation I once imagined here."

Exhaling, Wang Yu wore a heartfelt smile, sensing the golden glow that had entered his body. This golden light was merely its manifestation in the outside world, while its essence...

Into the void he reached, a tattered door of white wood seized within Wang Yu’s grasp,

and with a singular press against a point in the emptiness, the portal that had long

dwelt only within the chambers of his mind crashed thunderously into the fabric of reality.