# Chapter 39: I Am the Cancer of All Things, the Embodiment of Life
Like writhing darkness, tentacles emitting a strange, rotting stench surged overwhelmingly toward the warrior's body.
Gazing at this scene, Joshua, bound by hundreds of green life energy radiation restraints, remained expressionless. He allowed himself to be rolled up, wrapped, and then swallowed back into Helras's belly.
Earlier, when the cult's High Priest had released his physical restraints and returned to the form of a Chaos Giant Beast, a premonition had flashed through the warrior's mind. And the truth was exactly as he had imagined—Helras was indeed using his massive body in an attempt to swallow him into his stomach.
Since that was the case, Joshua decided to turn the situation to his advantage. Previously, his several direct confrontations with Helras had ended in a stalemate, with him even falling slightly behind. Now, by taking advantage of the enemy's unpreparedness and breaking through from within, his chances of victory might actually increase. So after circulating energy throughout his body to protect himself, the warrior offered little resistance and allowed himself to be swallowed.
Black, strange matter continuously rubbed against the life energy shield on Joshua's body surface. As the two mutually eroded and repelled each other, violent explosions occurred repeatedly. But the fierce shockwaves did not break through this seemingly fragile, bizarre flesh wall—they only pushed it outward for an instant, forming a large bubble, before it rebounded back into place.
"At this rate of erosion, it would take at least several dozen hours to break through my life energy shield."
Although Joshua believed that completely relying on skills and power systems created by others would restrict the progress and development of one's own strength, this did not mean he would discard them entirely. In fact, the warrior often extracted the essence of these skills and then used his own methods to fight.
For example, the life energy shockwave he had used earlier to clash head-on with Helras had incorporated core techniques from at least thirty energy-condensing explosive attack skills. And the life energy shield he was now using to protect his body was a composite of over a dozen powerful defensive skills such as [Sun Flame Blessing], [Tidal Surge], and [Steel Energy Shield]. It could effectively isolate all non-life-energy forces, shield against and purify most curses and weakening effects, and even provide attribute blessings similar to divine power.
Even if he were in the Void outside the world, the stomach of a Legendary Giant Beast, or any of the most dangerous death zones, Joshua believed he could hold out for a long time. Although Helras's belly was terrifying, it had not yet reached that level.
But for some reason, after several seconds passed, the intense crushing and life energy erosion the warrior had been waiting for did not arrive. On the contrary, Helras even ceased all movement.
"Wait, something's not right!"
Just as he was pondering suspiciously, Joshua suddenly sensed a strange fluctuation emanating from his surroundings. An inexplicable sense of danger washed over him, instantly setting off alarm bells in his mind.
This was the fluctuation of space-time teleportation!
The warrior's judgment was indeed correct. What was emanating from the surrounding infinite black flesh was indeed intense space-time fluctuations. And before Joshua could unleash his full power to break free from the space-time restraints, Helras, who had been prepared for this, forcefully channeled his energy and directly teleported the warrior—along with the flesh within a five-meter radius around him—away.
At the same time, the dark giant beast that had been coiled by the banks of the Maizhi Non-Freezing River, rapidly devouring and assimilating the surrounding sand, soil, and rocks, also ceased all movement, frozen in place. The numerous dark green giant eyes on its body closed one by one, absorbing the ambient free-floating energy into its body.
Helras terminated all external actions. He completely withdrew all his power, focusing his attention inward.
Or rather, into another world.
A small world.
Space-time twisted, fluctuations spread, and a pitch-black rift opened. Joshua had been teleported here.
—A miscalculation!
The warrior had originally thought that Helras had swallowed him into his belly to use his more abundant life force to forcibly assimilate or erode him, or to attack and decompose him using various terrifying and powerful plague divine arts. After all, Helras was a cult High Priest, and in Joshua's view, his mastery of plague evil arts was undoubtedly at the master level. Yet before this, he had been using warrior methods to fight him, which was highly abnormal.
But he had never imagined that inside the belly of the Chaos Giant Beast that Helras had transformed into, there was not a digestive organ that dissolved all things, but rather a passage leading to a subspace!
In the Multiverse, there were countless worlds, and on the outer layer of each world hung many small attached worlds and space-time corridors. These were what were called demiplanes and secret realms. The most famous among them were the Boundless Heaven where the gods resided, the Fairyland of the fairies, and the next level down were various subspaces.
The difference between a subspace and a demiplane was not significant. It was a small world created by some powerful existence imitating a demiplane within the Void. On the Mycroft Continent, powerful spellcasters often opened subspaces to place their mage towers. Although the initial space of a subspace was not large—it could even be said to be very small, perhaps not even comparable to a spatial equipment—a subspace would continuously expand as its holder's power grew, until finally, it might have the potential to transform into a true demiplane.
The subspace that Helras had created was naturally not small. Joshua realized this the moment he was completely teleported here. Thinking of this, the warrior snorted coldly and threw a punch, blasting the black flesh that had been teleported along with him and wrapped around his body into countless fragments.
And what was revealed before his eyes was a bizarre world.
This was a world of colorful splendor. Towering, bizarre fungal caps covered the sky, and patches of multicolored spore mist surged forth from them, filling the heavens and the earth. On the ground, countless black and gray insects resembling cockroaches and ants were digging and shuttling through various molds and mosses, using their bodily fluids and fungi to construct enormous triangular insect nests.
Boundless energy surged within this small world. Astonishing, surging life force flowed through every insect, every fungus and moss. Looking up, an almost infinite tide of life energy formed a pale star ring in the sky, encircling all things and providing an inexhaustible source of power for everything.
"..." Exhaling a breath, Joshua narrowed his eyes. He surveyed everything around him. Life radiation, like sunlight, emanated from his eyes as a source, sweeping outward to probe his surroundings.
But on the Mycroft Continent, this life radiation could easily penetrate mountains and earth, directly detecting Gold-rank magical beasts buried 1,500 meters underground. Here, in Helras's small world, it could only extend less than fifty meters from his body. In this artificial alien world created by another, the ambient free-floating energy was completely beyond Joshua's control. He felt his body constantly enduring the obstruction, repulsion, and corrosion of this space. Simply standing on this ground required the warrior to exert his full strength, let alone gather intelligence.
But even so, he had detected an important piece of information.
"These things?!"
Speaking in shock, Joshua frowned and looked at the fungal spores drifting in the air. He reached out and caught a patch of purple spore mist. The warrior released the life energy shield on his right hand, allowing it to touch his skin.
And in the next instant, a distinct stinging sensation came from his hand. Joshua stared at his right hand. His iron fist, originally harder than steel and virtually indestructible, had been corroded by these bizarre spores into densely packed pits. In this large area of pits that could instantly cause a trypophobe to faint, countless tiny fungi grew at a speed comparable to breathing. They devoured Joshua's flesh, using his life force as fertilizer, rapidly reaching maturity.
Just as these patches of fungi were about to open their caps and release spores again, a flash of Battle Qi flame passed by. The fungi on the warrior's right fist were instantly swept away, and Joshua's right hand returned to its original state, without a trace of injury. He looked up again at the spore mist covering most of the small world, and his vigilance increased even more than before.
"Not just fungi—every living thing here is an incarnation of some kind of plague!"
Through powerful life radiation analysis, Joshua had already seen through the life essence of most things here.
The drifting spore mist in the sky was a carrier for dozens of terrifying plagues. Among them were fungi that could use flesh as fertilizer to grow rapidly, and plagues that could control human brains, turning intelligent beings into zombies. The numerous molds and mosses on the ground were also terrible fungal primordials capable of eroding steel and rock, turning cities into ruins. And the various strange insects shuttling among them carried countless virulent viruses.
The Black Blood Plague that the warrior was familiar with was also among them. The carrier of this terrifying pathogen was an insect that flew in the air, feeding on fungal spore mist. It had a steel-like carapace and a tail stinger about twenty centimeters long. Overall, it looked like a gray-black giant wasp, emitting a disgusting buzz in the air.
This was not one of those empty places created by ordinary experts. Within this small world was contained a mature and complete ecological circle. Producers and consumers at various levels had established a closed, circulating food chain. Except that all participants were—deadly plagues.
But now was not the time to dwell on these things.
Slowly raising his head, Joshua looked toward the sky.
Countless insects flew about, spore mist scattered everywhere, and a humanoid figure, using the life energy condensed in the surrounding air, appeared before the warrior.
Malice, killing intent, survival instinct—a terrifying willpower so vast it seemed to materialize spread in all directions. Countless insects in this world paused because of this will. The giant flies flying in the air stopped beating their wings. The ants pushing slime molds let their food roll into the mold. Even the towering giant fungi that nearly touched the ceiling of this small world ceased their spore-spreading process, 'respectfully' paying homage to this figure.
The Plague Evil Cult High Priest, the Witherer Helras, appeared once again before Joshua.
"Entering my world, you are the first."
Compared to his body on the Mycroft Continent, the cult High Priest appearing in this small world appeared much younger, his face seemingly not yet twenty years old. And his tone finally had emotional fluctuations. As his deep voice transmitted, it seemed to carry a hint of curiosity and emotion: "Joshua, as expected of you. If it were an ordinary person, the moment they entered this world, they would have been devoured by my children."
As Helras spoke, the world seemed to echo his voice. Countless insects and fungi emitted buzzing sounds, harmonizing in praise for him. At this moment, within this plague world, as its creator, he was undoubtedly the incarnation of the World Will.
And Joshua also understood why Helras, who had rampaged through the western mountain region for decades, killing and exterminating countless life groups, destroying and ruining countless cities and villages, had only accumulated several times more life force than Joshua had in just over two years. Looking at this world, it was clear—this cult High Priest had invested most of the life force he had absorbed into it, combined with the supreme divine arts of the Plague Evil Cult, transforming it into a complete and flawless evil poison ecological circle!
His wisdom and energy were entirely invested in this plague world. That was why, in the outside world, he was as rigid and indifferent as a machine, caring about nothing. Because he simply had no energy to spare for the outside world. What walked on the Mycroft Continent was merely a shell housing vast power.
Only here could one see Helras's true form.
"Life is the most fragile, yet also the most tenacious."
Looking down from on high, gazing at the warrior who was on full alert, the young cult High Priest raised his hand. He looked at the palm lines on his hand and said in a faint voice: "I understood this after my parents died because of my abilities, and I became even stronger."
He shifted his gaze, meeting Joshua's eyes. An invisible momentum surged, sweeping away all the spore mist and insects between them. Black-red life flame light began to rise on the warrior's body bit by bit, while around Helras, circles of dim black mist began to emerge.
"Do you know the essence of plague?"
But just before the battle, he suddenly asked, his tone sincere, as if he were merely a curious child.
But before Joshua could answer, Helras answered himself: "It is selfish life."
A light bloomed in his eyes, like a nova. This light was so pure that the warrior even understood what he was about to say next.
Life is mutual plunder, mutual slaughter. It means surviving as much as possible, reproducing as much as possible, expanding as much as possible. All things are like this—and you and I are no exception.
In that instant, Joshua finally understood the essence of the humanoid before him. It was not the Void that drowns all things, but life that was selfish to the extreme, devouring everything only for its own survival.
And the Plague Great Demon, the Evil God's Agent, the Witherer Helras stood in mid-air. He looked down at the warrior and said with a light laugh.
"I am life, Helras."
"The cancer of all things, the enemy of all living beings."
"The greatest plague in the world."
"I am the embodiment of life!"