Chapter Nineteen: Becoming the Deity of Recluses

Sun Licheng felt a surge of new knowledge filling his mind. Yet he was still unsatisfied. “Magma God, my great master, is there anything else? At the very least, could you teach me a spell to ride the clouds?”

The Magma God grew annoyed now, his voice impatient. “Your body already holds the power of the stars. I know how to use it, but that part of the knowledge is in other fragments.”

Suddenly, Sun Licheng let out a miserable scream and leapt into the air. Blue smoke rose from his back, and he felt a searing pain as if a red-hot brand had been pressed into his flesh. Through the agony, he heard the Magma God add, his words slow and dripping with dark delight: “I’ve strengthened the star power within your body.”

Sun Licheng cursed inwardly. “Gods are all unreasonable! Couldn’t you have warned me? Just go straight for the branding, why don’t you? That’s my own skin, you know!”

The Magma God watched Sun Licheng hopping around in pain, wearing an expression that said, “You’ve gotten such a good bargain—aren’t you going to thank me?” This only made Sun Licheng grind his teeth in frustration.

“Great master, how can I find those fragments?”

Realizing the Magma God would offer nothing more, Sun Licheng returned to the matter at hand.

The Magma God finally heard the question he’d been waiting for and, suppressing his irritation, replied, “When you’re within five kilometers of a fragment, you’ll sense it naturally. Of course, if they’ve used spells to conceal themselves, there’s nothing I can do. You’ll have to figure it out yourself.”

Sun Licheng rolled his eyes and thought, “Not as handy as Bulma’s Dragon Radar.”

He wanted to ask more questions, but the Magma God interrupted him at once.

“I’m only a divine fragment, a projection forged from divine power. In a moment, my energy will be spent and I’ll fade away. Don’t waste time with irrelevant questions. The knowledge you need about this world and my legacy has been transferred to your mind—study it when you have time.”

At this, Sun Licheng clearly sensed the fiery figure growing indistinct, the red glow in the hall dimming, the crystal floor turning dull and gray, no longer gleaming like crystal.

Though he had acknowledged the fiery figure as his master, in his heart Sun Licheng regarded him more as an investor. Now, seeing his “investor” about to withdraw, Sun Licheng seized the last chance. “Great master, please wait! Could you give me a weapon or two? I can’t fight those monsters barehanded.”

The fiery figure sighed inwardly at his greed, but was also pleased, for only the brazen could survive countless trials and complete his task.

With this thought, the now-flickering fiery figure waved his hand, and two beast bones on the ground flew into his left hand. Sun Licheng had found these in a deep pit, using them to climb out. Amid the chaos, he’d discarded them not far away, but now they were in the fire man’s grasp.

A blinding light shone from his palm, and the two tough beast bones began to transform. When Sun Licheng dared open his eyes, he saw in the fire man’s hand a translucent red bone dagger.

It was an unusual weapon: willow-leaf shaped blade, no guard, the hilt naturally formed to fit the hand, with faint patterns for extra grip.

Taking the dagger, Sun Licheng found it resembled a red jade, glowing gently, with flowing crimson veins within. He gave it a few experimental swings, feeling it perfectly balanced, and couldn’t help but praise, “What a fine weapon.”

By now, the fiery figure was almost gone, but his final words came: “This dagger is my last gift to you. If you want more magic or weapons, you’ll have to find the next fragment for me to reappear. Remember—everything now depends on you. Beware the gods outside!”

As his voice faded, the hall fell into darkness. The once-crystal floor became ordinary flagstones, and the throne at the end became a simple stone seat, transformed from a swan into an ugly duckling. The mural behind the throne vanished, leaving only a blank wall.

Sun Licheng held the dagger, still stunned. Everything that had just occurred felt like a dream, barely believable.

…

Meanwhile, in Sun Licheng’s mind, a flame appeared before the Lord of the Stars—none other than the Magma God’s fragment.

“Welcome, my child. Welcome to our new home.”

The Lord of the Stars descended with a smile from his virtual castle to greet the fragment.

The Magma God’s fragment looked bewildered. “This doesn’t look like the chosen vessel I remember. Why does it feel like a prison?”

As the saying goes, another’s pain is one’s own joy. Having ensnared his companion, the Lord of the Stars beamed even brighter, his tone soothing. “Come, my child. Let me explain why that is.”

As he spoke, the Magma God’s fragment’s mind went blank, then—he let out an earth-shattering wail: “No…” Meanwhile, the Lord of the Stars was grinning from ear to ear. Truth be told, the fragment might not be the cleverest, but he was at least some company. And his divine power was precious, useful as cannon fodder or a lifesaver in critical moments. How could the Lord of the Stars not be pleased?

Leaving aside how he consoled his companion, Sun Licheng, knowing he had found a way home, danced in the hall, overjoyed. “Wonderful! I can go home! Xiao Jie, baby, I can go home!”

…

Sun Licheng walked out of the hall through the iron door, still a little dazed.

He hadn’t expected to get involved with the gods of this world so quickly, nor to find a way home so soon. Of course, collecting seven Dragon Balls to summon Shenron was never so simple.

“The long road ahead is like iron, but from now on, I’ll scale every hurdle anew!” Sun Licheng pumped his fist to encourage himself.

First thing after leaving the hall, he returned to the deep pit.

As a seasoned scavenger, Sun Licheng wasn’t about to leave good loot behind. According to the knowledge from the Magma God, magic beasts and their magic cores were precious treasures. The hellish two-headed wolves in the pit were high-level; that their corpses remained intact after a mass hunt was very rare. Their bones, vital organs, and magic cores were all priceless resources, bound to be invaluable in the future.

Descending into the pit, Sun Licheng methodically harvested the wolves, extracting all their cores and knocking out every fang—perfect for making arrowheads. He then turned to the giant bull. Its hide and sinews were incredibly tough, ideal for crafting weapons. After much effort, Sun Licheng used his new dagger to strip the bull’s sinews and even salvage some of the unburned hide.

Job done, Sun Licheng faced a problem: he had too much to carry and couldn’t climb out. After a painful struggle, he abandoned the wolves’ pelts and other less important items, bundling the essentials into a small pack.

“If only I had a space magic item,” he sighed, heart aching at the loss of so much valuable material.

Reluctantly, he climbed out of the pit.

As he passed through the stone gate, he heard a scraping sound behind him. Looking back, he saw the stone door closing on its own. A flash of light, and the door became a section of ordinary rock wall. The magical array’s deep grooves had vanished without a trace.

Perhaps due to some new ability, Sun Licheng found he could see clearly in the darkness of the tunnel, the world tinged red as if through an infrared scope. He found his backpack—burned to ashes, likely by oil catching fire during the lightning strike. All its contents were destroyed.

He lamented the loss, now forced to use beast hides to carry his spoils, awkward and limited in capacity.

“How about it? Amusing, isn’t he? You have no idea how entertaining it is watching this fellow blunder about,” said the Lord of the Stars in Sun Licheng’s mind, chatting with the Magma God’s fragment, who remained despondent.

Ever since the Lord of the Stars had decoded some Earth information, he had been refashioning his castle step by step, finding Earthly items more comfortable and user-friendly—like this soft sofa, a hundred times better than a hard throne.

“Don’t be like this, child. Trust in the wheel of fate. This little fellow will surely gather all your divine fragments. I’m also waiting for him to resurrect me,” continued the Lord of the Stars.

“With him?” The Magma God’s fragment looked dubious. “And we can’t even communicate with his mind—we’re like beings in two different planes, forced to watch helplessly.”

The Lord of the Stars, caught out, coughed to ease the awkwardness. “We come from entirely different worlds; it’s normal that we can’t communicate directly. Over time, I’ve learned to understand some of what goes on in his mind. I believe that with effort, we’ll eventually be able to reach him. When that happens, everything will change.”

The Magma God’s fragment, not the brightest but not a fool, could only nod in resignation and continue to watch Sun Licheng’s “live broadcast” alongside the Lord of the Stars.

He dared not leave now; the Taiji cyclone in Sun Licheng’s body, combined with that terrifying Taiji boxing, had already siphoned off some of his divine power despite the Lord of the Stars’ warnings. He had given up on any reckless moves, settling down to a reclusive life with his companion.

…

The pit was a veritable treasure trove, filled with more good things than he could carry, each loss making Sun Licheng’s heart ache anew.

During his exploration, Sun Licheng found the Medusa.

The beautiful snake-woman lay collapsed on the ground, her bare upper body bloodied, though no amount of filth could obscure her ample curves. Yet with half her head missing, no one would dream of violating her. The little snakes on her head were all stiff, mouths agape, their long tongues trailing limply.

Sun Licheng gazed at the corpse, but refrained from taking her magic core. Even with monsters—if they were women, or once beautiful—he had his principles. He sighed inwardly, cursing the manticore for its lack of mercy.

“What a waste of a woman, destroyed just like that! The beast has no conscience…” he muttered, conveniently forgetting that to a lion, the only beauties are lionesses—everything else is either prey or foe.

He pushed Medusa’s body into the dark river; bubbles rose as fish swarmed to the spot, then blood billowed up from the depths.

Sun Licheng lingered by the riverside, as if mourning some lost part of himself, then turned to search for Medusa’s twin sabers.

For all his restraint, he had coveted those blades from the moment Medusa drew them. According to the Magma God’s memories, only the highest-ranking Medusas possessed melee weapons—most carried only bows. Judging by their design, Sun Licheng guessed these sabers were relics from the Goblin Empire, with formidable killing power.

“There really are treasures everywhere here,” he thought, eyes gleaming with greed as he looked around.