Chapter 366: Mysterious Code, Fourth Metamorphosis
Compared to not long ago, the Supreme God’s disciple’s level had once again risen—from 271 to 274—only one step away from the currently known level cap of 275.
But that one step wasn’t so easily crossed.
After Bai Fu noticed his name, she saw a new status appear beside it.
【Life Chasm】
Just as the status name implied, a colossal chasm stood before the Supreme God’s disciple, preventing him from advancing further through mere accumulation of strength or by elevating the tier of his life force.
He needed a special evolution—one that would prove he possessed the qualification to break through the cage and become a “god.”
For the Supreme God’s disciple, completing this evolution wasn’t particularly difficult—at least not in his own view.
Difficult? My ass. As long as he knocked down these ten-odd Transcendents before him and swallowed the Fourth Apostle whole, wouldn’t that settle it?
Aetheron didn’t think he couldn’t do it.
Sure, there were many enemies—but he wasn’t fighting alone!
Those dozen Servants of the Apostolic Holy City twined around the branches of the enormous Double Helix Tree were the best batteries he could ask for.
With more than a dozen batteries supporting him, and half of his fusion with the Double Helix Tree already complete, could he possibly lose?
“Looks like running isn’t an option—we’ll have to fight him head-on!” Angus pressed his battered arm, exhaustion written across his face.
“Can we win?”
Another member of the Original Pact asked this quietly.
Win your hammer!
Bai Fu couldn’t help rolling her eyes.
Half a meter in front of her, a mission panel floated in midair.
【Tree of the Rebels】
【Mission Description: The Supreme God’s disciple of the Apostolic Holy City has unexpectedly turned on his own companions, turning them into the fuel for his path to godhood. The vast psionic and dark energy he has absorbed has created a mysterious resonance between him and the cosmic treasure born within the Ethereal Realm—the Double Helix Tree. When their fusion is complete, it may mark the moment his will begins to erode the Ethereal Realm itself!】
【Mission Objective: Prevent the Supreme God’s disciple from fusing with the Double Helix Tree (Current Fusion Progress: 42.97%)】
【Reward: 350 billion XP, Remnant Heart of the Sacred Tree, Old Gene Vault ×1】
【Note 1: If progress exceeds 80%, this mission will automatically fail.】
【Note 2: Once progress reaches 100%, the Supreme God’s disciple will gain the ability to influence the Ethereal Realm itself, affecting all Psionic Priests within it.】
The freshly triggered mission revealed a trove of valuable information.
Not only did it clarify the origin of the Double Helix Tree, but it also exposed the true purpose of the Supreme God’s disciple.
So this bastard was trying to fuse with the Double Helix Tree to reverse-corrupt the Ethereal Realm, and eventually seize control of it entirely.
No wonder he’d been babbling about this so-called “Path to Godhood.”
If he truly gained control over the Ethereal Realm, he would indeed be indistinguishable from a god.
The God of the Ethereal Realm?
Hah—he wasn’t even worth the dirt under one of her fingernails!
And the mission rewards made it obvious how difficult stopping him would be.
Three hundred and fifty billion XP was already astounding, and the Remnant Heart of the Sacred Tree and Old Gene Vault were even more so.
The Remnant Heart of the Sacred Tree—a top-tier, ultra-rare item—granted the user a Sacred Tree Body.
This body possessed extraordinary psionic (and dark energy) affinity, as well as powerful regeneration and resilience.
Of course, Bai Fu didn’t need it now. Her own Racial Potential Rating had already reached 99.8—no less than that of a Sacred Tree Body, and perhaps even superior.
There was no need for her to abandon her accustomed talents and skills just to adapt to a new form.
If the mission succeeded, giving the Sacred Tree Body to Yulia would be the better choice.
What she liked most, though, was the Old Gene Vault.
That vault contained a vast amount of genetic data from ancient Ethereal Realm civilizations—and that data might just be the key to pushing her Racial Potential even further!
In short—the mission rewards were excellent.
But rewards that good meant stopping the Supreme God’s disciple under the current circumstances would be extremely difficult.
Forget stopping him—surviving this at all was uncertain.
Either way, time to prepare everyone mentally.
Bai Fu took a deep breath and called through the comm channel:
“The tree the Supreme God’s disciple is fusing with is the Double Helix Tree born within the Ethereal Realm. Once he fully merges with it, he’ll gain a chance to control the realm itself—becoming a godlike being. By then, no matter where we run, as long as he senses our movements, he can descend instantly.”
What?
A single shout startled a thousand birds in the forest.
Everyone present—including the Fourth Apostle and Aetheron himself—was stunned.
Yulia and the others were shaken by the revelation of the Supreme God’s disciple’s plan.
The Fourth Apostle was shocked because he and the Supreme God’s disciple had discovered the Double Helix Tree together, yet he had no idea it possessed such a function.
Aetheron, on the other hand, was stunned that Bai Fu could see through his true intentions.
It was reasonable for the Goddess of the Ethereal Realm to be knowledgeable—but this, specifically, she shouldn’t have known.
How?
As Aetheron frowned, the Fourth Apostle, restrained by Lufas, snarled furiously:
“How did you discover the Double Helix Tree’s secret right under my nose?”
“When?” Aetheron laughed. “From the moment we found the Double Helix Tree.”
The Fourth Apostle refused to believe it. “Impossible! I’m an Apostle—if even I couldn’t perceive it, how could you?”
Aetheron replied, “Precisely because you’re an Apostle. You’re a part of the Ethereal Realm itself. You could never perceive it. Even if I told you the Double Helix Tree had such power, you couldn’t fuse with it. You’re merely a shadow of the Old Days—how dare you dream of surpassing them and becoming a true god? Bai Fu is far smarter than you. She cleanly discarded her Apostolic identity and chose to integrate into the present world. She could fuse with the Double Helix Tree now—but it’s already too late. I’ll devour you all here and turn you into my nourishment!”
The black treeman let out a voiceless roar in the deep void.
Surging power tore through the surrounding space, psionic and dark energy intertwining. The dimensional barriers of the Ethereal Realm shattered, and at that instant, its projection descended temporarily, engulfing Bai Fu and the others within it.
It wasn’t a prison, but the effect of the realm’s descent was no weaker than when the Original Pact used the Predestined Celestial Sphere!
Everyone present felt the crushing pressure—none more so than the Fourth Apostle, for Aetheron’s first target was to eat him!
“Stop him! Stop him now! If he absorbs me, he’ll seize the ecological seat of the God of the Ethereal Realm, becoming the new one himself! Once that happens, his fusion with the Double Helix Tree will be irreversible! Do you really think you can defeat an entire world?”
The Fourth Apostle screamed ceaselessly.
His only response was Aetheron’s cold laughter—and the grunts and shouts of battle around him.
Yelling, at this point, what use was it? Did he think that’d help them win against the Supreme God’s disciple?
Angus, fending off the tree branches lunging like tentacles from all directions, quickly relayed the situation to their leader.
The leader had no solution—only urged them to hold on as best they could.
More than a dozen people besieged Aetheron together—yet it was they who were being overpowered.
Firstly, the stat gap between both sides was immense. Secondly, after learning the truth of Aetheron’s growth, they had to divert attention to protect the Fourth Apostle, lest Aetheron snatch him away.
Under such conditions, an already difficult battle became almost impossible to manage.
Every moment, someone was struck by the tree’s branches. Even Bai Fu—whose psionic affinity was terrifying and who mastered void powers—was no exception.
The effects weren’t visible yet, but as time passed and negative debuffs stacked, the scales of victory would inevitably tip completely toward Aetheron.
“Of all things, it had to be a psionic-type BOSS. If it were another type, I could’ve used my dark-energy-aligned psionics and certain Prayer Cards to keep piling debuffs and slowly close the gap.”
Bai Fu was irritated.
If the situation didn’t change soon, they would all die here.
One of her avatars wasn’t present, and Yulia’s soul—as well as the others’—had backups aboard the Ark of Heaven, so they wouldn’t truly die.
But if that happened, there’d be no one left to stop the Supreme God’s disciple. He would ascend into godhood—becoming a monstrously overpowered entity that had no business appearing in version 3.0!
She had to find a way to turn the tide.
The first thing Bai Fu thought of was her own Fourth Metamorphosis Quest.
She was just one step away from completing it. As long as she could raise her Plot Exploration in Beyond the Stars to over 8%, she could complete the metamorphosis instantly—and skyrocket her level to around 270 in one go.
At her current level, whether she could defeat the Supreme God’s disciple remained uncertain—but she would surely be able to hold out against his attacks long enough, at least until the Leader and the others arrived.
Now then—how could she raise the Plot Exploration rate?
Bai Fu’s gaze fell on Angus and the others.
“Fei Ye, Jin Lu, cover me!”
The twin sisters didn’t hesitate. Space rippled as their abilities burst forth; even at the risk of injury, they created an opening for Bai Fu to reach Angus.
“Time’s short. Tell me a secret—one big enough to influence the entire Star Sea.”
“？”
Angus was utterly confused.
Sis, what are you even doing? At a time like this you still want to squeeze intel out of me?
“If you’ve got the leisure to pull that nonsense, why not think of a way to get the Fourth Apostle out of this cage first!”
Angus actually found Bai Fu irritating. Their cooperation now was only because Aetheron was even more terrifying.
I’ll squeeze you, monkey.
Bai Fu was almost speechless.
“Who has time to dig for intel right now? Hurry! Just tell me one major secret, and my power will instantly rise. Don’t look at me like that—it’s one of the conditions for completing my Fourth Metamorphosis.”
“……”
I believe you—ghost.
Angus didn’t want to talk to Bai Fu anymore.
He barely had time to defend against Aetheron’s assaults, much less waste energy on her absurd talk.
Complete a divine metamorphosis by hearing a secret? If it were that easy, he’d eat the whole world.
Just as Bai Fu was about to curse, a new disturbance came from beyond the descending Ethereal Realm dimension.
“Who?”
Even Aetheron momentarily stopped attacking and turned to look.
Countless points of light suddenly flared in the dark void of space.
A closer look—
They were ships!
From the designs, a few were Players’ vessels, but most were ships from the Apostolic Holy City.
Could it be that the Apostolic Holy City had coerced players into coming to aid the Supreme God’s disciple?
Oh, no.
Bai Fu quickly realized—they were here to attack him.
What happened on Holy Land Star had already spread, thanks to Lit and Sen Lan’s reports. Most of the Apostolic Holy City now regarded the Supreme God’s disciple as an enemy.
【Why has His Majesty rebelled?】
Some came to avenge the Servants being drained of energy; others, fearing they would be next, decided to strike first.
Driven by such motives, they launched their assault the instant they arrived.
“There’s hope!”
Angus’s eyes lit up.
He didn’t expect these ships to kill the Supreme God’s disciple—that was impossible—but if they could just shatter the descending Ethereal Realm dimension, they could all escape.
“Hope? We’re doomed!”
Angus didn’t understand—but Bai Fu, as a Psionic Priest, did.
Sure enough, the ships’ bombardment failed to shake the Ethereal Realm dimension in the slightest.
After one round of bombing, countless tree branches shot out from the void—each swelling thicker than a deep-space missile—piercing through all nearby ships in an instant.
“The energy—the ships’ energy is being drained by the branches!”
Panicked screams echoed inside the ships.
Some powerful Espers tried to abandon ship, but smaller branches sprouted from the main ones, wrapping them up in seconds.
Hmph—since you came, you think you can still run?
All this happened within ten seconds. After ten seconds, Aetheron, who had only a dozen “batteries” before, now had tens of thousands hanging off him.
Fueled by that supply, his aura became even more terrifying.
We’re done for!
Angus’s face turned pale green.
He finally realized he had underestimated the problem.
The Leader was still some distance away; they really might die here!
Angus was under immense pressure—so was the Fourth Apostle.
We’re going to die, going to die, going to die!
He could only place his hope on Bai Fu.
“You’re the God of the Ethereal Realm! You must have a way! If you restore your true form now, Aetheron won’t be able to fully fuse with the Double Helix Tree. Then we might still have a chance to destroy him!”
There’s such a way?
Bai Fu froze for a moment—but then her tense expression collapsed.
Of course she wanted to—but she wasn’t the real God of the Ethereal Realm.
For now, her only hope lay in completing her Fourth Metamorphosis.
Bai Fu turned to Angus again, her tone heavier this time.
“I’m not joking. If you don’t want to die, do what I say—tell me a secret big enough to influence the entire Star Sea!”
Angus was dumbfounded.
She didn’t seem to be joking—but could that really work? What even counted as a secret that could influence the whole Star Sea?
Reaper?
That secret couldn’t be revealed—if he said it…
“I already know about the Reaper, so pick another one.”
“Ah, then, uh, uh…”
While dodging, Angus’s mind raced, but he couldn’t think of anything.
“Then tell me—what did the First Seekers discover in the void? You must know that one, right?” Bai Fu pressed urgently.
The secret found in the void…
Right—that!
Angus hurriedly said, “It’s actually related to the Reaper. Those First Seekers originally went to investigate the harvesting incidents that occurred in the void, but there, they found a pre-set program. They couldn’t decode it, so they had to seal it away temporarily. Right now, that program is kept by the Original Pact, under the care of the Child of Prophecy.”
That’s it?
Bai Fu blinked. She was about to demand another secret when a notification jumped out, startling her.
【Beyond the Stars Plot Exploration +3.7%】
Holy—!
She was dumbstruck. If she remembered correctly, learning about the Reaper hadn’t even increased the Plot Exploration that much. What on earth was that program?
But Bai Fu knew this wasn’t the time to dwell on it.
With the additional 3.7%, she finally met all requirements for the Fourth Metamorphosis Quest.
It was time!
She snapped her hand around a flying branch.
Facing Aetheron’s arrogant gaze, her lips moved.
“Trans—form!”
【You have completed [Fourth Divine Metamorphosis Quest]】
Entwined psionic and dark energy swallowed Bai Fu, and at the same time, a flurry of system notification chimes enveloped her completely.