A Little Cheat Doesn't Count

Flames surged and soared. Scorching gales mingled with heaps of dust and shattered stone, spraying and raining down along with traces of blood. On the plaza outside the Outpatient Building, disheveled figures ducked and scrambled away from the torrential downpour of severed limbs and shattered remains, their faces pale as ash. At the very rear, Tong Hua panted as she wiped the sweat from her forehead, feeling like she had never been worked like a dog before... That bastard Ji Jue had just sent over a record tome without moving his lips once, while she had run her legs off. It was bad enough that she had carried the bombs he gave her the whole way with her heart in her throat, planting them everywhere, but the gas valves, oxygen valves, and various dust dispersion apparatuses... every single one had been manually operated by her! It was fair to say that if the terrorist Ji Jue was the mastermind, she wouldn't escape the net of justice either. If this were in the outside world, that "Address-Me-By-My-Title" Tong fellow might very well darken his face and sacrifice his own flesh and blood for the greater good! Making the dignified young miss of the Tong family demolish a hospital... What in the world was going on inside Ji Jue's dog brain? If word of this got out, it would be a shameful dark mark on her history for the rest of her life. Wait! Tong Hua suddenly grew wary—could that bastard be planning to use this as leverage over her?! Still, how should she put it... Watching such a massive structure blow up right before her eyes—and having personally laid the charges and wired them up—she actually felt an indescribable sense of accomplishment and thrill surging in her chest. It actually felt pretty exhilarating? Unfortunately, the exhilaration didn't last long. Beneath the hospital ruins, amid the mangled remnants of monsters, a roar of agony suddenly rang out. The broken walls and shattered rubble abruptly bulged upward, and then, a bizarre, colossal head pieced together from countless human heads finally revealed its grotesque visage! The calamity beast from the hospital's sealed second floor, formed from an unknown number of mutated, aberrant patients! Just looking at it made Tong Hua, an Aether practitioner, feel her scalp tingle with dread. She could sense a vigorous vitality that remained completely unshaken even after taking the explosion head-on, along with a ferocious, ravenous aura... If this were outside the Chrono Ruin, it would probably be rated at least Hazard Rank, enough to mobilize the military specifically to eradicate it, right? Yet right now, without the slightest panic, she took a step back, positioning the zombie-like Celestial Chosen in front of her. Along with Xie Lan, whose expression was twitching. "Over to you," she said. The corner of Xie Lan's eye twitched wildly, and he sighed helplessly. "While I appreciate that you gave me and the other survivors advance warning to evacuate, I'm just a researcher," he asked coldly. "Even granting that, how does Ji Jue know I'll definitely help him?" "He said..." Tong Hua recalled the notes in the record tome, her expression turning odd as well. "—'You know my identity. If you do a good job escorting me, the Tong family has plenty of rewards for you.'" "I'm not short on money." Xie Lan shook his head without hesitation, curling his lips with disdain. What a joke. Although research investments in the Vortex branch were huge, the inputs and returns were at least proportional, all right? Besides, he had the money-printing machine of medical operations backing him. Did they think everyone was a bottomless pit like the Embers?! Ridiculous! "He also said..." Tong Hua continued relaying Ji Jue's words. "'If you turn out to be completely useless, don't even dream of getting half a scrap of the materials. He'll keep the Disease of Immortality specimens all to himself. Including what you've gathered so far—the Security Bureau will confiscate every last bit.'" She paused, quoting the final knockout blow verbatim: "—'Doctor, you wouldn't want your medical license revoked, would you?'" "..." The moment those words fell, Xie Lan's disdainful smile froze on his face, his eye sockets twitching repeatedly. In the pocket beneath his collar, the rat was already rolling around in hysterics, practically unable to stop. *Hahaha, Xie, you bastard, you have a day like this too?!* "You craftsmen from the Embers are all goddamn devoid of conscience!" Furious, Xie Lan wished he could spit right into that dog's face: *That bastard had his eye on me from the start, didn't he? Going off to court death and dragging an innocent, harmless doctor like me into the muddy water with him!* "...If it's just playing a supporting role, I suppose I have some ability." He gritted his teeth for a long while before squeezing the words out from between them. "Don't expect me to help him deal with the Disease of Immortality, though!" The moment his voice fell, wisps of dreamlike shimmer emerged within the churning, scalding wind. Countless gu poisons dispersed into the searing gale, unfurling insect wings and taking flight. Like dazzling ripples, they formed a river, drifting toward the calamity beast frantically struggling out from the ruins. In an instant, the countless grotesque heads across the calamity beast's skull seemed to fall into a dream. Their expressions roiled, vacant eyes filling with despair or rancor as madness circulated within them. Astonishingly, it plunged headfirst back into the ruins, brawling with the raging fire and the invisible monsters lurking among the debris. Then, Xie Lan blew a whistle. Behind him, the walking-corpse puppets sprang into motion one after another. A sliver of clarity returned to their muddled eyes, followed immediately by fear and panic. "Go handle that thing," Xie Lan pointed forward, enduring the heartache. "If you take care of it, I'll honor the contract and discharge you." In an instant, those bewildered eyes lit up in near-ecstasy. Without needing another urge from Xie Lan, they threw themselves forward recklessly, keeping the frenzied monstrosity too occupied to care about anything else. Meanwhile, watching the high-tier corruption he had so grandiosely mobilized get blasted to the heavens in the blink of an eye, Lian Cheng—who had been brimming with momentum beneath the bone wheel—instantly fell into a daze. Stupor, confusion, utter incomprehension. *Where the hell is my gigantic Outpatient Building? Where did it go? Gone!* In the brief, dead silence, he heard only a muffled snicker rise from below. So distinct. When he looked down and glared, he saw Ji Jue looking left and right while covering his mouth. The bloodshot fury in Lian Cheng's eyes flared even more crimson and violent. "I WILL KILL YOU!!!!" "All right, all right, saying the important stuff once is enough. No need to keep yelling small-fry lines over and over... Where's your act? Show it to me!" Ji Jue tilted his head to look at him, crooking his finger. "If you've got a lighter, chew on a lighter. If you don't show off now, you won't get another chance!" Saying this, he paused, his smile turning increasingly mocking. "Hierophant, you wouldn't want people to know the Evil Transmutation Cult is just a bunch of trash who can only chant slogans, would you?" *You're courting death!!!* Lian Cheng was in a fury and had originally intended to scream this. Yet the moment he opened his mouth, what came to mind was Ji Jue's ridicule. Tangled in shame and rage, he suddenly lacked even the confidence to spit a menacing threat. Even harder to ignore was the chill creeping up his spine, along with the oppressive pressure and wariness swelling in his chest. At this moment, Lian Cheng, practically fused with the medium of the Sovereign Lord, actually felt trepidation—as if facing a formidable foe—when confronting Ji Jue! It wasn't just the ruthless, insidious maneuvers from earlier or the boy's exploitation of the Chrono Ruin's rules; it was an instinctive warning, an understanding born of experience... Everything was telling him that the person before him was an absolute, genuine monster! The now-unrecognizable Inpatient Building had long turned into a demonic realm. The instant the Sovereign Lord's power descended, all forces of Sovereign Virtue should have been thoroughly expelled, turning the area into a black zone. Yet now, that Celestial Chosen still stood before him full of vigor, completely unharmed. Behind Lian Cheng, the bone wheel turned ceaselessly, the tumor throbbing like a heart, its eyeballs overlooking everything... Yet the gaze of an abomination capable of mutating a Celestial Chosen in an instant had zero effect on Ji Jue! Within this demonic black zone, Ji Jue's spiritus light still shone brightly, without wavering in the slightest. Even the earlier erosion of the Disease of Immortality hadn't altered him one bit. Now, even after fusing with the bone wheel, the trembling in Lian Cheng's heart hadn't lessened at all; instead, that mocking smile made him increasingly paranoid... Once he struck, it had to be merciless, with everything he had! "—Die!" Amid the roar of the spinning bone wheel, Lian Cheng raised his hand in midair. The aura of the Ascension branch merged with the murky fluctuations of the abomination, uniting thousands of minds into one at that very moment. Then, descending from above, came the Absolute Sentence. Pure spiritus underwent layers of qualitative mutation, transforming into a violent shockwave directed straight at the soul. Carrying the taint of the abomination, it shot forth! One, two, three, four... Soul shockwaves, overlapping almost simultaneously, formed a glaring, hideous dark trajectory across midair, piercing straight down. And then, a shrill shriek rang out. Wails and screams. With a yank of the chain in Ji Jue's hand, the stitched ghost fetus suddenly appeared in his grip, thrust forward like a shield directly before the soul shockwave that could shatter any consciousness in an instant. Without any technique whatsoever, it literally face-tanked the damage, soaking up every bit of Lian Cheng's output head-on. When that overwhelming spiritus impact collided with flesh, a dull thud echoed! No, perhaps it wasn't the sound of collision—it was the final wail before cerebral blood vessels burst. For a fleeting instant, the ghost fetus's little stitched head swelled to twice its original size, thick crimson blood immediately snaking out from its eyes, ears, nose, and mouth. The two spiritus heads that squeezed out from its flesh burst in a flash. Yet immediately afterward, under the reshaping of Non-Offensive, it was forcibly pieced back together, left with nothing to do but struggle in despair and shriek as it took spiritus attack after spiritus attack head-on. Soul shattering, split sanity, frenzied consciousness, memory cleansing... none of these side effects mattered in the least. As long as Non-Offensive was in hand, it could be reshaped in an instant. Whether it was scrambled into an idiot by the soul shockwaves or mutated into a freak by the savage taint of Vile Folly, there was no end in sight. "Is that it? Is that it? Is that all you've got?" Ji Jue nearly burst out laughing, brandishing the shrieking ghost fetus in his hand. "Did you hear that? It's asking if you've eaten today. Telling you to put some muscle into it..." Instantly, the ghost fetus's wailing grew even higher and shriller. The mockery and the weeping were like needles stabbing into Lian Cheng's face one by one, turning his complexion between flushed crimson and livid purple. "I WANT YOU DEAD!!!" Amid Lian Cheng's roar, the bone wheel formed matrices once more, and the eyes embedded in its flesh shone brightly. A violent torrent even fiercer than before reemerged, surging forth... Yet before that, what rang out was a soul-stirring chime. As if originating from the Netherworld. "Out of tricks, huh?" Ji Jue said, "Next up, it's my turn!" Unbeknownst to anyone, he had pulled out the Soul-Calling Bell and shoved it into the ghost fetus's hand. Once more, it rang! *Ding—* The first chime of the Soul-Calling Bell: awaken all lingering spirits within the sensory domain. When that bell in the ghost fetus's hand—one it couldn't shake off no matter how it struggled, as if welded onto its grip—let out its first crisp chime, the calling and summons from the Netherworld had already spread throughout the entire Chrono Ruin! Like gripping a red-hot iron. The ghost fetus's screams grew even shriller. A gruesome fissure cracked across its skull, countless wisps of spiritus bleeding out, unable to bear the terrifying pressure and draining force of the Soul-Calling Bell. All the spiritus it had gorged on over these past days was emptied in an instant! The restrictions Professor Ye had once placed upon it were now thoroughly undone by Ji Jue's Dissociation Art. It hadn't been an exceptionally airtight or welded-on seal to begin with; quite the opposite, when applying the restrictions, Professor Ye had deliberately weakened the relevant spiritus circuits' resistance to the Dissociation Art. It was practically made to crumble at a touch! God knew when one would have to stake their life when out and about. Back in the day, when Professor Ye plunged into Chrono Ruins, explored Border Realms, and looted ancient tombs, the dangers she faced were beyond count, with near-death escapes too numerous for her to remember. When it was time to risk your neck, you risked your neck. A seal like this was only meant to be respected in ordinary times. When a critical moment arrived, you were supposed to rip it right off. —*Fuck it, let's blow this whole damn thing up together!* The crisp chime echoed within the chaotic Chrono Ruin. In an instant, what surfaced across every inch of earth, enveloping all space, and gushing forth from the ruins was... a waterfall of lingering spirits! Ghostly emerald light was everywhere, dense to an appalling degree. Under Ji Jue's spared-no-expense (at the ghost fetus's cost) approach, all of them were awakened from their silence. Opening their eyes. Then, Ji Jue shook his wrist, clutching the ghost fetus's little hand to ring it a second time—the second chime of the Soul-Calling Bell: unleash the ferocity of all lingering spirits! *Bang!* The first thing to detonate was the ghost fetus's head. As if dragged into a meat grinder, under the uninhibited, violent drain of the Soul-Calling Bell, the two spiritus heads were pulverized in an instant, yet immediately reshaped once more, forcibly held intact. Its small body swiftly shriveled like a charred corpse, falling apart. Then, the skull spiritus cage stuffed to the brim at Ji Jue's waist was shoved into the ghost fetus's embrace. Containing an unknown amount of spiritus scavenged from patients and monsters, along with all the residual spiritus of eight or nine Celestial Chosen, it was devoured completely in an instant. And the overwhelming emerald light, disturbed by the chime, had already swelled into a towering tsunami. Surging and raging, sweeping forward with tremendous might. Tens of millions of overlapping, agonizing wails resonated, turning into an inescapable soul shockwave. Not only did blood stream wildly from Ji Jue's nose and mouth, but even Lian Cheng in midair felt his vision go dark. Finally, from the shriveled, shattered hand of the ghost fetus, the Soul-Calling Bell slipped down, landing in Ji Jue's palm. He gripped it tightly, his skin sizzling. This was the final hurdle—one that absolutely could not be delegated, nor avoided by any other means. Taking a deep breath, he faced the surging torrent Lian Cheng had unleashed. —Ringing the third chime! *Ding—* Though it was such a crisp, delicate chime, it made everyone shudder involuntarily with dread. From deep within their souls, they felt the terrifying shadow spreading outward... And what detonated in Ji Jue's consciousness was a thunderclap that nearly tore his soul apart! Even though the vast majority of the pressure had been borne by the ghost fetus—which disintegrated in an instant without leaving a trace—this final wave of terrifying force from the Soul-Calling Bell still made his vision black out. Non-Offensive surrounding his soul shuddered violently, barely holding together as cracks appeared! An unprecedented tearing agony surged from his soul. The spiritus within his body was drained in an instant, nearly sucking his soul dry, followed immediately by the spiritus reservoir that emergency-switched into output. The reserves in his wristwatch plummeted in a sheer free fall. Ever since entering the Chrono Ruin, even when facing the corruption of high-tier abominations, Ji Jue had never suffered such gruesome trauma. Yet at this moment, he felt as if the horrifying suction from this damn bell was about to reduce him to ash! Fortunately, with the buffer of the ghost fetus, the expenditure from the skull spiritus cage, the spiritus reservoir in the wristwatch, and the enduring support and protection of Non-Offensive, this blessed creation—crafted specifically for Regeneration-rank Celestial Chosen—finally unleashed the power truly belonging to it! Instantly, the violent torrent rushing at him screeched to a halt. It stopped right in front of Ji Jue. Even though a single second more would have torn him to pieces and obliterated his soul, that razor-thin margin now stood like an insurmountable chasm, impossible to cross. It was as if time itself had stopped. At this very moment, across the entire Chrono Ruin, the rising flames, drifting dust, collapsing ruins, rampaging monsters, and every shift in spiritus— Everything froze. Or rather, was held firmly in the grasp of an invisible hand! A roar abruptly expanded. High in the heavens, the bone wheel trembled in fury, as though trying to continue its rotation, but could not turn at all... It had already been locked tight by an invisible hand! "The prosperity of all things was made by this hand," Ji Jue raised his head and spoke softly. "All that exists in the world was fashioned by ten fingers." Behind him, a pure white wing slowly unfurled, followed by a second, a third, a fourth... Pure white wings from an unseen origin overlapped, extending, rising into the sky, pervading all. Then, atop the wings, an eye slowly opened. A thousand eyes, ten thousand eyes, seemingly boundless, overlooking all creation. Amid the overlapping and shifting of countless wings, millions of folded arms slowly unfolded, revealing their true form. Countless interweaving fingers seemed to caress every shifting phenomenon within the Chrono Ruin! Though forged from countless lingering spirits resembling grains of sand, this indescribable entity made Lian Cheng's viscera and heart shudder in terror. Incomprehensible, impossible to fathom, utterly baffling! Just a temporary creation slapped together was actually enough to rival the bone wheel that controlled the entire Chrono Ruin—and even suppress the manifested authority of the Sovereign Lord! "Never seen this before, have you?" Ji Jue raised a hand and wiped away the thick blood continuously oozing from his nose and mouth, grinning. "Don't be scared. A little cheat doesn't count." In that instant, accompanying his words, that solemn entity formed from the union of infinite wings, eyes, and arms rising into the firmament spread its wings, opened its eyes, extended its limbs, and parted its fingers. Once more, seizing control of all! The entire world ground to a halt. All phenomena of the Chrono Ruin fell once more into those countless palms. This was the Creation of Non-Offensive! This was the culmination achieved by exhausting all the power of the Soul-Calling Bell, burning away every lingering spirit, modeled after the mightiest entity Ji Jue had ever witnessed. Re-manifested in imitation of Quicksilver's corrupted form from days gone by... —Spiritus Creation: Shadow of the Sage!