Chapter 103: The Birth of the Beast

“King…”

Beneath the royal dais, countless witch ministers held their breath, their faces tense.

Ever since the Three Witches pioneered wizard civilization and departed from the tribal era, humanity had been the sole overlord of this wizarding world. No powerful giant beasts remained to threaten humans. Because wizards wielded extraordinary power, even the most massive ordinary beasts could not contend with them.

But now, those giant beasts, having merged and coexisted with the limbs of evil gods, had become incredibly bizarre. They could even cultivate like humans and were gradually developing basic intelligence. Humanity's advantage would completely vanish.

“Are we to return to that terrifying ancient era when humanity was utterly insignificant, and monstrous beasts devoured people everywhere, a time fraught with peril?”

Medusa suddenly fell silent, her profound eyes seemingly piercing through time as she gazed at the azure sky. Before her eyes, it was as if she saw the slash-and-burn era, the tribal age of the Three Witches, who had fought against heaven and earth, contending with nature for survival.

Although humanity had been embroiled in internal strife, sectarian conflicts, and her own centuries-long struggle with the Alchemist Emperor, people had gradually forgotten those arduous times. But Medusa had never forgotten.

“You must know, Circe, one of the legendary Great Three Witches who pioneered the wizarding age, was my master,” Medusa thought silently, looking at the “Three Witches” mural in the royal hall beside her. In ancient times, three women in animal skins, adorned with flower wreaths, stood surrounded by countless female corpses, a sea of blood. They stood together, raising a massive torch high.

She sat in silence for three whole hours before suddenly opening her aged eyes.

“I never imagined such a thing would happen in my generation... I am still too old; I wonder if I can endure this, if I can break through.”

“The wizard civilization pioneered by the Three Witches, entrusted to me by my teacher Circe, must not perish in my hands... As long as I, Medusa, Monarch Emperor, reign for a day, I will not permit the downfall of this nation.” Medusa suddenly opened her eyes, crushing the ornate armrest of her throne. “These creatures, demonized by the remnants of evil gods, half-demon and half-beast, shall henceforth be called... Demonic Beasts.”

A hurried thudding sound!

At that moment, urgent news arrived.

“Your Majesty, a town named Rocky at the edge of the mountains is under attack by demonized giant beasts! They’ve entered the streets, causing widespread destruction. Numerous Level 1 and Level 2 wizards in the town have been wounded, and the local witch alchemist shops have been ransacked! Many potions have been stolen!”

“What! Demonic beasts launching a massive attack?” Medusa stood up in shock.

The evil god’s organs... cultivating on their own?

It descended upon this world, and despite being dismembered, its various organs were still instinctively acting on their own, learning this world’s extraordinary system, learning our unique wizardry! What kind of monster is this?!

A chilling sense of horror completely enveloped her. She immediately stated coldly, “Send word to the Three Great Wizard Kingdoms! All major wizard academies and sects, lead your disciples into the mountain ranges and clear out the demonic beasts within the forests!”

The birth of the demonic beasts marked a historical moment. "The Spear of Prosperous Witchcraft" recorded:

In the year 837 of the Babylonian Kingdom, the Cthulhu Evil God’s body was scattered across the world, infecting various giant beast species, transforming them into demonic beasts, and plunging the wizarding age back into a crisis-ridden era of widespread disaster.

“It has finally come to this.”

Initially, Xu Zhi had been thinking: In the tribal age of disaster, people struggled to survive, preyed upon by giant beasts, contending with nature for their lives. But after developing a cultivation system and having wizards, they essentially breezed through. The giant beast species had become too weak, unable to keep up with successive version updates.

“Humanity is the sole, invincible overlord; the structure is too singular. In a wizarding world, there should be all sorts of horrific, bizarre, twisted, evil, and incomprehensible beings. Otherwise, how could it truly be called a wizarding world?”

Xu Zhi’s gaze shifted, and he smiled. Perhaps at this moment, the world’s structure had fully matured, allowing for other various extraordinary life forms.

He looked at his little pet beside him, this strangely shaped tortoise-shelled bird, eating a stainless steel bowl of rice. He felt a headache coming on. “This fellow eats more than three adults combined. It’s insane. I need to figure out how to make money.”

His money was almost gone. But he still needed to think about how to earn money more easily.

He took a deep breath, walked over to the electric scooter he had bought a few days ago, and rode to the nearby town to buy a bag of rice and some ingredients to stock up. After all, he was now feeding a big eater; there was no other way. He couldn’t just let it forage in the vast sandbox, could he?

Xu Zhi wandered around the outer town, greeted a few aunts who were tending vegetables on a country lane, but didn’t rush back. Instead, he headed to the previously uninhabited, dense forest.

“Aura Hammer of War!”

The gushing small river instantly ceased its flow, water splashing more than two meters high, revealing the pebble-strewn riverbed below. *Splash*. Just a second later, the river water surged, filling the pit, and the current resumed its flow.

“It’s already three or four times stronger than before,” Xu Zhi’s faint smile grew. “After these days of cultivation, I’ve finally become a Level 2 Wizard.”

Medea’s Aura Hammer of War was the most common witchcraft, growing stronger with one’s power. As a Level 1 Wizard, it was like carrying an iron hammer, capable of striking people casually, possessing some destructive power, but not very strong. As a Level 2 Wizard, it was like carrying a two-meter-long iron hammer; striking someone with it could instantly collapse their chest, incredibly fierce.

“I’m becoming more capable of self-preservation.”

Xu Zhi pondered, “However, a wizard’s strength lies primarily in their spirit; their body is very fragile and easily susceptible to surprise attacks. Only upon reaching Level 3 can one learn full-body defensive witchcraft.”

Typically, Level 2 Wizards would master two or three spells of their level, but Xu Zhi was too lazy to learn these low-level spells; one common Aura Hammer of War was sufficient. His farm life was very disciplined; he meditated and cultivated regularly every day. Li Shengjiang took a month to become a Level 1 Wizard and a year for Level 2, while Xu Zhi became a Level 1 Wizard in just one or two days and had now rapidly advanced to Level 2! This was all due to absorbing the previous two mass extinctions, which resulted in his incredibly strong spiritual power.

“As a Level 2 Wizard, I can already sense my body’s condition and even use spiritual power to suppress the proliferation and spread of cancer cells.”

Xu Zhi stood by the river, watching the flowing water, and frowned slightly. “Perhaps, if I continue cultivating like this, once my wizard realm is high enough—reaching Epic, no, perhaps just Legend—my own vast spiritual power will be able to eradicate the cancer cells in my body.”

Unfortunately, time was not on his side. The extraordinary cultivation system had been deduced. But terminal cancer meant he wouldn’t live much longer; there wasn’t enough time for him to cultivate. Even with such incredibly fast cultivation speed, he would surely die before reaching Level 4 Wizardry. Following the wizard path, cultivation was too slow to solve the problem.

As for the Hive Sub-brain, it had lost the tech tree of the previous generation’s Overmind. Its current abilities were incredibly simple, numbering only two. One was spore deployment. The second was the AI’s inherent abilities, such as supercomputer calculations, network control, and so on... There was no way to rely on the previous generation’s Overmind tech tree for a high-tech medical solution. Furthermore, although he was a Hive Hero and could modify his own gene chain, he couldn’t eliminate these stubborn cancer cells, like an intractable psoriasis. He claimed to be the Creator God, but currently, he was indeed appallingly weak. A problem that even a legendary wizard within the sandbox could solve had become a sword hanging over his head.

“I still need to find a solution within the sandbox.”

Xu Zhi mused, “The Alchemy Era has almost reached its peak. It’s nearly time to get down to serious business! I’ll introduce my cancer cell genes into the sandbox and let the wizards there begin their research.”

“After preparing for so long, it’s almost time for the main event to begin.”

Xu Zhi rode his electric scooter, carrying a bag of rice and vegetables. After testing his Level 2 Wizard abilities, he returned to the orchard. Without even putting his groceries down, he went into his room, opened his laptop to Taobao, and ordered some custom items.