Blessed Equipment—Transcendent Vision, activate!
Amid time accelerated fourfold, eightfold, and sixteenfold, Ji Jue's eyes flared with light.
First applied to his hands was the material enhancement of the Embers path, transforming them into implements far deadlier than any blade or axe. They tore through tough muscle, plunging straight into Centaur's viscera.
Immediately after, between his ten fingers, motion and stillness shifted in cycle: condensation and vibration, repulsion and fusion, opening and closing... Completely disparate qualitative shifts of spiritus erupted between his palms, bringing forth unparalleled destructive power against all alchemical creations!
—Dissociation Art, activate!
Its sole target was the matrix inside Centaur, which had already teetered on the brink of ruin.
It was like delivering a vicious kick to a cripple's remaining good leg.
Accompanied by Centaur's increasingly shrill, agonizing shrieks, a storm of spiritus capable of crushing and destroying all alchemical structures burst from Ji Jue's fingers. It locked onto the weakest nexus and unleashed unhesitating destruction!
Combined with Non-Offensive's manipulation of spiritus, the Dissociation Art's destructive effect against spiritus surged exponentially once more!
The essence of a matrix was a beacon leading toward Sovereign Virtue—a path forged through the tapestry by countless predecessors, as well as a seed of miracles coalescing the quintessence of Sovereign Virtue and ascending spiritus.
And now, having endured successive impacts and ravages, pushed to the verge of self-detonation by its overloaded state, the matrix could no longer withstand this destructive assault directed at all spiritus creations.
It was like the final ten tons of straw breaking the camel's back.
The shrill screech of shattering chains rang out. Directly following that, intricate spiritus circuits emerged upon the soul that was nearing disintegration, collapsing, fracturing, and dissociating...
In the end, for a fleeting instant, Ji Jue felt as though even that thing called a soul was clutched firmly between his interlaced fingers.
Caught—
To think it was... this simple?!
In that sudden wave of daze and epiphany, Ji Jue couldn't help but fall into bewilderment, filled with disbelief.
There was no need for overwhelming might, no need for meticulous calculation and deliberate schemes, not even the need for utter concentration in control. The moment the essence of this art surged into his heart, everything unfolded with absolute naturalness.
The formless hands of Non-Offensive achieved seamless integration with the core of the Dissociation Art.
Without a single gap.
As if this was precisely how it was always meant to be!
From a lofty, bird's-eye vantage, every shift was laid bare, and no flow could escape his eyes. All flaws and vulnerabilities became blindingly clear.
It was so simple that all he had to do was reach out his hand, at the right moment and place, and topple the first domino to unleash an unforeseen deluge.
Crack!
Irresistible disintegration and collapse rippled out like a chain reaction, wreaking havoc and enveloping everything.
After such prolonged self-torment and practice, he had finally crossed the threshold of the Dissociation Art. With that fleeting glimpse, he beheld the vast and magnificent vista in the distance, and the long, rugged road stretching far into the horizon.
Ji Jue clenched his fingers tight.
Without mercy, he ground everything in his grip to dust!
The overburdened matrix shattered at once. Before its resplendent brilliance could even scatter, it was captured and devoured whole by the power of Deus Ex Machina.
Then, before the rampant spiritus and vitality could detonate like a bomb, the matrix of Non-Offensive lit up once more.
Alchemical operation, begin!
No, this could hardly be called alchemy... It was nothing more than crude, brutish looting and pillaging relying on the innate properties of spiritus manipulation!
Using Centaur's body as a vessel, and utilizing Non-Offensive's characteristics, he commandeered all spiritus within reach. He contracted it inward into a vortex, gathering all life, spiritus, and remaining blessings into a single point, churning them haphazardly into a ball and forcefully compressing it!
While this minimized dissipation and loss to the greatest extent, it also created a chaotic aggregate that no one could ever swallow or digest—a pile of garbage indistinguishable from lethal poison.
"Come out!"
At Ji Jue's shout, Centaur's body rapidly shriveled into a withered husk, crumbling and weathering away in the blink of an eye. And when Ji Jue pulled his hand from the wreckage, it gave off a gorgeous yet bizarre glow.
It was a heart that continued to beat wildly.
Amalgamating all the spiritus and vitality Centaur possessed before death, the translucent heart gave off waves of an eerie fragrance. Yet when a drop of blood fell from it onto the floor, it hissed like deadly venom, causing the shattered floorboards to writhe like a living organism, sprouting veins and fascia.
Thanks to Ji Jue's crude methods, the moment the heart appeared, it began rapidly squirming and swelling. Had it not been suppressed by Non-Offensive, it would have already broken out in tumors and morphed into heaven knew what monstrosity.
Vital studies was a profound branch of alchemy worthy of a craftsman's lifelong dedication. At Ji Jue's current level, he was utterly butchering fine material. Even if he presented this to Professor Ye, he would receive no praise whatsoever beyond the word "garbage."
To humans, it was completely devoid of practical value.
Yet to Little Niuma... it was just right.
The instant the heart appeared, Little Niuma had already bounded over. Crouching on the ground, its tail whipped frantically, carving deep grooves into the wall.
Its massive maw sputtered drool in spurts.
It had long been salivating.
It practically burned with the urge to pounce...
Yet the moment Ji Jue glanced back, it forced itself to hold back, not daring to act out of turn.
"Sit."
Ji Jue commanded. The floor shuddered as Little Niuma flattened itself completely against the ground, chin raised and tail still wagging, radiating sheer obedience.
"Paw. Right paw. Not that one... right. Spin around. Do a flip. Good, good boy."
Ji Jue patted its head and chin with a satisfied left hand before finally extending the rapidly swelling heart. "All right, eat up."
The headlights on Little Niuma's face blazed. It gingerly opened its maw toward the heart in Ji Jue's hand, took it, and immediately lay down to rip, tear, and feast with reckless abandon.
It didn't even spare the drops of blood and shreds of meat that had fallen to the floor, scarfing them down along with chunks of the floorboards, chewing with loud crunches!
Meanwhile, Ji Jue looked down at his own empty palm. His fingers were slender and fair, devoid of calluses or blemishes, without a single drop of blood or speck of dust remaining.
At his will, Non-Offensive's matrix faded and resurfaced.
At last, he could control it freely.
On the dial around his wrist, inside the numeral 2 that had only been half-filled, the gold suddenly shot up by a massive chunk... After destroying a single matrix, the progress bar had surged by an entire third, leaving even the power of Deus Ex Machina filled with a gorged sense of satisfaction.
Not only that, through a phantom-like perception, Centaur's lifelong comprehension and insights into Sovereign Virtue seemed to rush into him. This deepened his understanding of the Vortex significantly, to the point that it surpassed his previously highest comprehension of Embers by a considerable margin!
In other words, not only were there shortcuts in alchemical technique—if he needed to deepen his understanding and realization of Sovereign Virtue in the future, he only had to track down a few corresponding Celestial Chosen and dismantle their matrices?
Such good people. Everyone was so kind!
Ji Jue couldn't help putting his palms together, his heart brimming with gratitude.
This was truly a blessing from the heavens.
As the saying went, saving a life brought more merit than building a seven-tiered pagoda!
A dead Celestial Chosen could only be used as raw materials, but a living Celestial Chosen could not only serve as materials, but their matrix could also level up his profession's experience bar... Didn't this mean that from now on, he ought to do more good deeds and refrain from wanton killing?!
Things were looking up!
This life, this existence, and all living beings in this world had suddenly become wonderful!
The Embers path was precisely this kind of gentle tapestry that guided people toward virtue—utmost compassion and Sovereign Virtue, unwilling to let even a single grain of rice go to waste on the ground. The world truly harbored far too much prejudice and misunderstanding toward craftsmen like them!
"The path of Non-Offensive is heavy, and the journey long," Ji Jue sighed softly, offering a compassionate smile toward the bright moon shining in the night outside the shattered window.
The moonlight remained silent.
It quietly illuminated that bloodstained, sinister, and ravenous smile.
Beside him, tucked away in the shadows of the corner, Blondie was trembling like a leaf.
He didn't dare make a sound.
*Oh no, I accidentally saw Brother Ji eating a human! Aren't we White Stags the only ones who eat humans when corrupted? How does an Embers devour people even more ferociously than us?!*
*It's over, it's all over. He's looking over here, and he's still smiling at me!*
*Should I just slit my own throat to make it quick, or drop to my knees right now, kowtow, and beg Brother Ji to take me as his dog?*
Tears welled up in his eyes.
*Please, I'll do anything!*
***
In the grand hall on the other side of the villa, everything had been dyed crimson.
Countless corpses bearing identical faces were stacked atop one another, nearly forming a mountain. Severed limbs and shattered bones sprayed beneath the sweep of blades and spears amidst a downpour of blood.
It was, in every sense of the word, a living hell!
Boom!
A gale surged from the ground once more, turning scarlet. From behind the churning waves, Asura raced forward, laughing maniacally as blades slashed.
By this point, the Corpse-Eating Brothers had lost every shred of their previous ease and delight. Their faces were riddled with cracks, and more and more grotesque deformities appeared among their split clones.
They were utterly dumbfounded.
Confronted by this divine spear thrust, they couldn't even dodge in time.
Even their shrieks were strangled in their chests.
Severed at the waist!
In his final death throes, the younger brother only managed to preserve an intact head. Before it could hit the floor, it was caught in the arms of the panicked elder brother. Relying on dozens of clones desperately throwing their lives away to stall for time, the elder brother turned around and fled at full tilt, not daring to hesitate for another second.
A pathetic, scurrying escape.
"Jin Wujiu! Jin Wujiu, what the fuck are you doing?!"
The disheveled elder brother shrieked as he ran. "If we die, how are you going to answer to Lei Yaoxing! How is Lei Yaoxing going to answer to Jiangcheng! What the fuck are you thinking?!"
Jin Wujiu stayed silent, offering no reply.
Or rather, he was already... drenched in sweat!
He felt as though he had been frozen in place.
Several times, he had tried to raise his hand, but a certain chill lingering in his marrow only grew clearer.
Instinct told him that the moment he stepped inside, he would die.
He would definitely die!
*Die! Die! Die! Die! Die! Die! Die! Die!*
Yet now, in the span of just a few minutes, a squad that should have been more than enough to sweep Chen Xingzhou's remnants—and which carried far greater missions and duties—had been completely wiped out in this unassuming ruin.
He felt the bizarre nature of it all the more acutely.
Amidst the distant dying wails of Centaur, the raspy, furious roar of the Corpse-Eating Brothers finally made the corner of his eye twitch.
No matter what, it was impossible for him to step foot inside... Yet watching the Corpse-Eating Brothers meet their end here was something he couldn't answer for to Jiangcheng either.
Amidst his rapt vigilance, he finally gritted his teeth and raised a single finger toward the sky.
Above the overcast firmament, thunder abruptly rumbled with vigor. Lightning raced and tangled before crashing down toward the earth, transforming into an invincible, dazzling bolt of thunder that snaked through the ruins, striking down toward Old Tom, who was in relentless pursuit through the dark.
Yet at that moment, what rang out amidst the thunder was an old man's hysterical, wild laughter.
He sounded ecstatically thrilled.
"Look closely, boy!"
Fourth Granduncle grinned broadly. "This was my signature move back when I slaughtered Cataclysm Sorcerers—"
In an instant, he soared into the air. The spear in his hands, stirring a storm, met the surging thunder light. The phantom of a colossal serpent flashed and vanished, remarkably swallowing the thunder into its maw and making it part of itself.
This caused the spear in his hands to flare with a searing, rising brilliance.
Hurling both the thunder and the spear together...
—Counter-throw!
BOOM!!!!
A roar surpassing thunder erupted at that very instant.
The spear, wrapped in storm and thunder, shot forth. It effortlessly pierced through the scurrying, fleeing figure, pinning him dead to the ground along with the severed head in his arms!
The Corpse-Eating Brothers were dead!
Yet the hand extending from Old Tom's left shoulder had been burnt to a crisp, making him grimace in agony. "Old man, give it a rest! You're not the one feeling the pain, are you?!"
Fourth Granduncle couldn't have cared less, merely casting a regretful glance at the remaining corpses and shaking his head. "A total loss. Killed so many, yet there are only two heads. At this rate, when will I ever earn a peerage..."
"The Eternal Empire is fucking gone! What damn peerage are you trying to earn?!"
Old Tom fumed, poking his head out to curiously peer into the distance. "Hey, what's that old fart doing?"
Then, he froze.
The smile stiffened on his face.
All that met his eyes were arcs of lightning dancing through the clouds. Countless bolts converged, descending at Jin Wujiu's summons, gathering into an expanse of thunderous light that bridged heaven and earth.
Heaven's thunder roared.
After a prolonged buildup and channeling, endless moisture rose into the air, forming an all-encompassing thundercloud over the hilltop. At this moment, myriad energy shifts manifested under Jin Wujiu's guidance, as though he had weaponized the entire weather phenomenon itself.
Even now, Jin Wujiu could not pinpoint what manner of devilry was lurking within the villa.
To cause him such profound terror.
Yet by this point, the ruthlessness and madness etched into his bones had gained the upper hand, overpowering his dread and hesitation. Since he couldn't find where the hidden threat lay, then he would simply reduce this goddamn villa to absolute ash!
"Holy shit..."
Old Tom stared in shock, instinctively urging, "Go hit him, Fourth Granduncle!"
Yet Fourth Granduncle remained motionless, merely asking, "Time is up. Do you wish to extend the subscription?"
*You fucking...*
Old Tom was nearly choked with rage. He patted down all his pockets, only to find two gold bars. Fourth Granduncle scoffed, not even deigning to look at them. "Give it a rest. Accepting counterfeit bills was already my bottom line."
Saying so, he offered a suggestion: "If all else fails, why don't you wake your father? His temper has improved a lot lately. If you talk it over nicely, having him and your second uncle take the field together will only require a living sacrifice of eighty people."
Old Tom completely broke down, on the verge of tears. "I'm the only damn seedling left of the Tang family, and you're still sitting here asking for your shitty money!"
"Bloodline is bloodline, and principles are principles."
Fourth Granduncle cast a final glance at him, stating coldly, "Power is value itself. Victory, defeat, survival, and death are all built upon it, and follow close behind.
"If power is not purchased with sacrifice, then everything else is meaningless.
"Without a price, there is no outcome."
As he gradually faded away, Fourth Granduncle left behind only his final words: "This is the righteous truth of the Swarm."
*Righteous truth my ass!*
Old Tom was practically weeping tears of blood when suddenly, a head poked out from behind him, peering outward alongside him.
"Holy mother..."
Ji Jue was dumbfounded. "I thought the old fart was outside looking for a toilet because he couldn't hold it in. Turns out he was channeling all this time to pull off something huge?"
A stifling, scorching wind swept in from the distance, offering not the slightest trace of coolness. Clammy, thick air had enveloped the entire hilltop.
It was hard to breathe.
Under Jin Wujiu's guidance, the energy within the clouds surged at a speed visible to the naked eye. In just a few short seconds, it had formed a vast ocean of lightning that enshrouded everything.
A bone-deep chill gripped the soul of every Celestial Chosen, and an almost suffocating terror filled the air.
After such a lengthy channeling, unprecedentedly violent power was on the verge of pouring down, completely annihilating the entire villa.
The destructive might of the Entropy path after finishing its cast was about to be vividly demonstrated upon every unlucky bastard's head.
It might very well flatten the villa in a single blow!
Where the hell did such a powerhouse of an old fart come from?!
"Stop 'holy mother'-ing! Does 'holy mother' do any good?!"
Old Tom was about to explode with frustration, not even bothering to interrogate him on where he had disappeared to for so long. "Aren't you an Embers? Hurry up and whip out some magical gadget to take him down!"
"If I had that kind of thing, I would've used it already. Why would I save it until now?"
Ji Jue sighed, taking a tentative shot at Jin Wujiu. Jin Wujiu didn't even bat an eye. Repelled by the electromagnetic barrier, the fired bullet ricocheted straight back, grazing the edge of Ji Jue's hair and embedding itself into the wall.
Good thing he ducked his head fast enough.
Under normal circumstances, he would have had to consider stabbing himself in the neck twice to trigger Cousin's emergency survival protocol and activate his second phase. But now, he had no fear.
He had cheats!
Though he didn't have the Azure Dragon on the left and the White Tiger on the right, the Desolate Ruins was literally sitting right on his navel in the middle, all right?!
Did they understand the confidence that cheats provided?!
"Old Tom, watch closely!"
Ji Jue cleared his throat, smoothed his hair, stepped forward, and patted Old Tom's shoulder. "Your buddy here is about to flex on him!"
With that, he vaulted out from the ruins, pointing straight at Jin Wujiu, who was on the verge of erupting amidst the storm, thunder, and flame.
He shouted at the top of his lungs:
"—Old fart, prepare to die!"
With a flick of his finger, the Minerva blessing Sister Wen had left upon him was unsealed by Ji Jue's infusion of spiritus. A dreamlike wisp of crystalline light rippled from his fingertip.
And vanished without a trace.
The thunder continued, the storm raged on, and the flames surged.
Nothing changed.
Only from behind the crumbling walls did Old Tom poke his head out, looking completely bewildered. "Can I blink now?"
Ji Jue froze for a moment. He looked up, meeting the gaze that Jin Wujiu had finally cast his way—one filled with doubt and utter incomprehension. *Where did this clown come from?*
"Uh, sorry, my bad."
Ji Jue forced a strained smile, intending to cup his fists in salute, say his goodbyes, and apologize for the intrusion.
Unfortunately, he could no longer move.
All of a sudden, his entire body lost all sensation, as if petrified. No, the petrification had already begun.
His hair, skin, and clothes rapidly lost their color, turning translucent and reflecting intricate, crystalline luminescence. In the blink of an eye, he had become a statue, frozen in the posture of pointing forward.
Standing in place, awaiting death in majestic, overbearing... glory.
And then, he finally felt that burgeoning, berserk power—so distinct.
Like a volcanic eruption.
Unfortunately, it felt like he was sitting right on the crater.
Huh?
Wait!
Was something... wrong again?!
Ji Jue's fragile consciousness was thoroughly swallowed by the terrifying aura surging from his soul.
It was like turning into stubborn stone, enduring millions of years of wind and rain, before finally breaking open amidst thunder and earthquake, displaying the piercing brilliance nurtured over eons.
The mountains rumbled; the tides echoed.
The distant echoes of mountains and seas overlapped continuously, and the eternal, immutable reality of the world manifested for a fleeting moment within that crystalline glow—as though a terrifying shadow named Dragon had cast a disdainful glance from the distant apocalypse.
At this moment, Jin Wujiu's expression finally shifted drastically.
Yet, it was already too late...
Beyond the storm clouds tangled with countless thunderbolts and flashes of lightning, in the higher reaches of the heavens, a dreamlike aurora suddenly appeared.
Within that shifting, permeating deep violet, countless crystalline prisms seemed to reflect, transforming the entire night sky into a resplendent kaleidoscope. The vortex woven from countless radiances formed the eyes of the Dragon, yet soon vanished like a hallucination.
"Holy shit, holy shit, holy shit! What is that?!"
Old Tom's hair stood on end. His primal instinct screamed at him to turn tail and run.
It was like watching someone pull out a rocket launcher against a cockroach at their feet...
Minerva!
That was Minerva, damn it all!!!
Five years ago, that lunatic woman who had come out of nowhere went on a decapitating spree across Mid-Continent and the Thousand Islands. After being pacified and recruited by the Federation, she went on another fucking decapitating spree across the Federation, butchering her way from Huangzhou to Yunzhou, all the way under the very noses of the Celestial-Humans, before vanishing without a trace... And now she had popped up again?!
Was this for real?
Crouching in the ruins, Old Tom only felt his scalp tingle. Just how deep were the waters he had blindly stepped into?!
Dead silence fell abruptly.
The storm came to an abrupt halt, the air turned to amber, the flames paused, and the thunder froze. Beneath the cracked clouds, iridescent light shone and the bright moon hung high. In this frozen, static world, everything became so beautiful.
Yet within the courtyard, not a single breath of life remained.
Destruction was overwritten by more violent destruction; death was devoured by a more solemn death.
From that lofty gaze, the end had already arrived in absolute silence!
There was no room for struggle or escape.
There was not even time to leave last words, or to feel fear and despair.
Midair, between the frozen thunder and fire, a corner of Jin Wujiu's body silently fractured... Pale fissures spread across his skin, expanding until he turned into drifting crystalline dust, vanishing into nothingness.
The thunder, the flames, the storm—all suffered the same fate.
Dreamlike shards of light drifted, rising and falling over the ruins.
Like ten thousand fireflies dancing together.
They drifted with the wind, gradually disappearing without a trace.
With this, the enemy had been completely wiped out!
And within this seemingly endless silence, only Ji Jue's soft sigh echoed.
With his hands behind his back, he gazed up at the moon still hanging high in the sky, as though lamenting how many struggles and bouts of loneliness this moonlight had witnessed throughout history.
Just as he was contemplating what sort of profound, imposing line to deliver to put a perfect period on this flawless flex, he heard... Blondie's hysterical, wild laughter from the ruins!
Running wild, cheering, dancing.
He had even forgotten he wasn't wearing pants.
"I made it!"
He shouted, dancing with joy. "Hahahahaha, I made it!!!"
A streak of flowing light emerged from the ruins of the battle, converging, and descended upon his body.
That was...
Ji Jue turned his head in shock, his eyes nearly popping out of his head.
—A Sovereign Virtue blessing?!
Chapter 134