Boom!
The deafening roar of shattering and collapse seemed to engulf everything. In the vault of heaven, iridescent light swirled; across the earth, raging flames swept. The towering workshop was swallowed in darkness and searing light.
Dead silence swallowed that domain. On the surface, all appeared tranquil, yet anything within its perimeter—be it rubble, clouds, or living beings—could be cleanly sliced to pieces without warning at any given second.
Or shattered directly into dust.
Forms crumbled, material properties spiraled out of control, dispersing into wisps of smoke or ash.
Everything was enveloped within an invisible crucible, remolded or destroyed at whim. In this duel between two artisans, there was no room for a third party to intervene.
Nor would any blind fool dare come to disturb them.
Smoke and war fires billowed everywhere.
The mortal world sank into ruin and devastation, unable to extricate itself.
Quancheng was collapsing.
Be it this expanse of ruins that left only crumbling walls, or the modifications and accumulations built up by the Evil Transmutation Cult over so many years. As the pillars collapsed one by one, the invisible weight born of Tianyuan grew increasingly violent, impossible to bear.
It sent tremors through the vault of heaven.
Murky rainbow radiance surged like a tidal wave across the sky, boiling as it violently clashed against the decrees of Tianyuan, unleashing a ceaseless, ear-piercing shriek.
At the very center of Quancheng, the silhouette of the worldly abomination rose like a heavenly pillar between heaven and earth, gazing with disdain upon Tianyuan's counterattack and the sweeping frenzy.
Completely unwavering.
At that moment, amidst the iron whale-song, the airship bathed in flames ascended into the sky. In an instant, three eyes locked onto it, comprehending it entirely.
"...The Celestial Rail?"
In a flicker of confusion and sudden realization, Lu Changsheng could not help but sneer. "And here I thought the T5 would do something decisive to teach me a lesson. Who would have thought that even now, so many relics would still linger in this world!"
No one answered.
As if totally indifferent.
Disdainful even of replying.
Amidst a shrill blare like a steam whistle, the iron bird that had slept for over two hundred years spread its invisible wings and soared into the sky.
Like a phantom that did not belong to this realm, it pierced through layers of blockades, ignoring the shockwaves rippling from the clash between the Great Abomination and Sovereign Virtue, once more looking down upon the mortal world.
Wherever it passed, it left only a dazzling, blood-red scorch mark behind.
Looming long without fading.
In that instant, Lu Changsheng finally saw him. Behind the cracked window, in the pilot's seat, sat a battered, dying young man who seemed vaguely familiar.
Ji Jue.
Ji Jue was looking back at him.
So cold, devoid of ripples.
That gaze swept indifferently past him, ascending higher, toward the firmament... toward the countless boiling ribbons of murky rainbow light.
Shifting endlessly, boundless and myriad, the divine marrow of the Great Abomination manifested and operated within it. When clashing with the decrees of Tianyuan, it erupted in shrill echoes as if the world itself were tearing apart.
Too dazzling.
And too noisy.
"Shut up,"
Ji Jue said.
And so, the roaring booms ceased. Dead silence arrived without warning, shrouding everything. The rainbow light surging across the sky seemed abruptly veiled, dimming the world.
Along with his words, it was as if an invisible palm rose from the earth, spreading five fingers to blanket the land and blot out the sky.
The whole world froze for a moment, falling into brief tranquility.
Yet the familiar wails and weeping by his ears only grew sharper...
Now, looking down upon all from on high, he found everything to be hauntingly familiar.
When the city of the past was torched to the ground, stripped of its disguises and veneers, all that remained of the worldly bustle was the gruesome face of hell.
No different from what he had seen in nightmares.
Nothing more than going from one hell to another.
Perhaps Kanemoto had been right: everything seen within the Formula of Illumination was his true nature.
Only because of that could he see such a world; only because of that could he hear those echoes of despair.
Those wails and cries came from the past, from beneath the burning sky, from the dead of Quancheng who had perished long ago, from within his own soul.
From start to finish, they had been together.
Born from the same blaze, buried in the same darkness, alike as ashes burnt to nothing, falling into the same hell, never parted for a single moment.
Weeping tears as they embraced one another.
That was why the weeping was so distinct.
Only...
Ji Jue closed his eyes and sighed softly in exhaustion. "Why must you weep for me?"
Had I ever shown you mercy or granted you a gift?
No one answered.
Boom!
Tremors rippled out; the frozen world shattered, turning once more as ruin and collapse became irreversible.
Beneath the rushing rainbow light, the worldly abomination laughed maniacally, reclaiming everything that belonged to it, taking control of all!
The scale of the Celestial Rail was indeed terrifying, but alas, it had been entrusted to the wrong person...
He couldn't even unleash a ten-thousandth of its power!
Yet Ji Jue no longer cared.
Once again, he reached out his hand toward that distant hell.
Toward... the place where the weeping came from!
Telling them: "I am here!"
At that moment, an illusory blaze rose from the earth, spreading across everything, raging and surging, swallowing Quancheng, yet devoid of any heat.
Endless ash fell like rain from the vault of heaven, shrouding the sky and covering everything, yet impossible to touch.
It was as though the gates of hell had swung wide open!
Then, the wails no one cared about and the weeping no one had heard rose like a tidal wave, echoing in everyone's ears, welling up inside their souls.
Amidst fire and lamentation, countless souls lifted their eyes, gazing toward the blazing sun-like brilliance in the heavens, crimson tears streaming down their cheeks to drop into pools of blood.
And so, from the rubble and ashes, within the gloom of blood and death, countless invisible hands manifested, opening wide, clasping their palms.
Even if nothing remained but void.
In that instant, an unprecedented, shrill screech rang out from the heavens.
In the void, invisible ripples appeared, spreading, enveloping all, showering endless radiance like a torrential storm down upon the mortal world.
Under the intervention of All-Domain Circulation Control, fueled by an endless supply of spiritus, the matrix of Non-Offensive spread through the void, expanding, running into overdrive, burning to a searing red.
It was on a scale never seen before—
—[Deus Ex Machina]!
Within that fleeting instant, the radiance of salvation circulated through hell, delivering this gift into every clasped hand!
Bringing with it a final blessing:
"You are free."
And then, the world plunged into sudden dead silence.
The moment the phantoms of fire and ash vanished without a trace, no one felt the slightest relief; what rose in their chests was only unprecedented terror and dread.
"What's that sound?"
Inside the sanctuary, cultists of the Evil Transmutation Cult turned around in bewilderment.
No one answered.
In the dead silence, only a wisp of dust rose from the shadows, dancing in terror. Then, amidst the trembling of the earth, the surging roar formed by countless clamors suddenly swelled like a tidal wave!
Along the ruined street, a dust-covered light suddenly flickered.
Inside the broken bulb, a light sparked to life.
A piercing crimson!
Like the ravenous gaze cast by dead souls from hell, staring at them unblinkingly.
Then, the screech of scraping steel erupted.
Beneath rusted, shattered car bodies, scrapped engines roared back to life, shrieking fiercely as pungent, thick smoke billowed out.
It was as if an invisible vitality spread through inanimate objects, bestowing mercy, causing the steel creations dormant in darkness to churn once more, opening their eyes to gaze upon the hell that had wrought them.
"Help... help..."
On a silent shelf, a broken radio crackled to life again. Harsh, noisy static carried the lingering echoes of the dead, weeping tears of blood, demanding: "Wh... why..."
No one answered.
And so, the wails grew even more piercing and shrill.
Until finally, they turned into hysterical shrieks!
From corners and crevices, from desolate streets, amidst the chaotic battlefield and burning flames, beneath every red light that flared to life...
Within every inch of space and domain in Quancheng.
The darkness was illuminated once more by flickering lights that stretched endlessly into the distance. It was like invisible blood surging through veins, filling everything, permeating all.
Then, shrill grinding sounds rang out in endless waves.
From behind the cracks and seams of every machine, thick, viscous blood spewed forth, spreading outward. Amidst weeping, sparks flew; rusted iron hulls cracked open as rust-encrusted faces and claws raised upward.
A piercing roar!
The first careless Evil Transmutation cultist turned his head in shock, only to be immediately tackled to the ground.
Then, from the discarded steel and scrap, deformed monsters crawled out one after another, hissing madly, leaping forward, tearing and gnawing indiscriminately, flailing their newborn claws and fangs to gorge upon flesh and blood!
Piercing alarms blared across every part of Quancheng. Battered trucks shook off dust and transformed into behemoths, recklessly crashing through walls, trampling, brutally devouring the blood and bones beneath their feet.
Even if they fell to pieces the very next second under counterattacks, the light resembling bloody eyes among the twisted wreckage still flickered persistently without pause.
Grotesque constructs cobbled together from scrap spread iron wings like birds, taking to the sky and flocking together until they resembled a grayish-black storm.
Wherever they passed amidst the rust, they left only ruins behind.
Amidst the tremors of the earth, fissures suddenly spread and widened; mutated, corrupted trains burst out from tunnels, maw agape, barging into the sanctum, running rampant and coiling around sacred icons, thrashing their bodies.
And still more rustling sounds echoed from ventilation shafts, sewers, and shadows—tiny monsters cobbled together from God knows what spare parts and wreckage, swarming in dense packs.
Though each was only the size of a palm, gathered together they formed a scalp-numbing tide, uncountable, with no end in sight.
Impossible to tell whose wails and weeping they were.
After they swept past, all that remained in dried blood were crushed bones and scraps.
When the Security Bureau teams cautiously pulled back their formations and stood on guard, they saw the overwhelming wave of iron rush right past them—completely ignoring them!
Right now, as far as the eye could see, all of Quancheng was engulfed by that infinite tide. Countless metals and wreckage were crudely hammered together, outlining savage faces that madly tore into every adversary and foe in sight.
No matter how many were destroyed, ravenous monsters reconstituted from the fragments. No matter the ruin inflicted, blood and rushing fury raged unabated beneath the debris.
Even Kanemoto probably could never have imagined what terrifying consequences the crafts he taught Ji Jue could unleash!
Now, hell was a crucible.
Unquenched lingering hatred burned within it.
Tears and death—wasn't this the kind of monster they created?
No need to resist corruption; no need to fear mutation. The only thing to do was to vent the agony and hatred in their hearts to their hearts' content!
With this lingering hatred as the source, Creation of Non-Offensive permeated everything. With Corruption Alchemy, it ignited every ounce of savagery and fury; with Fluid Alchemy, it granted the forms and variations most suited to their essence...
Ascending bitterness, transmuting blood vendettas, purifying despair, integrating all!
In an avalanche, every innocent falling snowflake comes from the ashes of despair; when the levee breaks, every helpless drop of mud is formed from blood and tears.
All suffering has a source.
Yet when did those high-and-mighty schemers ever care for the cry of each snowflake, or the tears falling into every drop of blood?
Now, the time for the end had come—
Everything would face its final reckoning!
From first to last, Ji Jue had never exerted control over them.
Exhausting every scrap of spiritus, surpassing his own limits, he had merely placed this power—fated only to create hell—into the hands of every dead soul within hell.
And then, he taught everyone what hell had taught him...
Do not remain silent, do not endure, do not stand still any longer!
Go hate, go burn, go destroy!
Go pour out this bitterness and venom to your heart's content!
Toward everything that wrought this despair...
—Exact your grand vengeance!
Now, within the tide of hatred, flames spread, and the screech of grinding steel rang endlessly, echoing through all. Looking down from the vault of heaven, countless mechanical beasts formed a tidal surge, rampaging across the land.
No beginning in sight, nor any end.
Amidst weeping and wails that none dared ignore any longer, they brutally destroyed everything.
Thunderous cracks of collapse echoed ceaselessly between heaven and earth.
Facing the pervasive tide of abominations, the many sanctuaries and halls that had been strictly defended were submerged, blanketed, and eaten away in the blink of an eye.
From collapsing buildings, furious roars erupted.
"Get lost!"
A corrupted being hurled lightning, soaring into the sky.
From atop a ruined wall, an iron beast lunged recklessly into the air, jaws snapping, chewing, before being burned to cinders by flames. Yet amidst the screeching, the corrupted being's upward momentum abruptly stalled for an instant.
As if dragged down.
Trampling over the remains of its kin, a hound-like monster leapt into the air, sinking its teeth viciously into the instep of his foot, refusing to let go—even though it disintegrated in the very next instant.
Yet before that, more of its kind had already trampled over his body, clambering upward!
Until shadow fell across the lingering savagery on his face.
It's over.
In that moment of realization, a writhing mountain of steel reared up, opened its maw, and snapped shut!
Boom!
Blood, wreckage, fire, and lightning burst out from the crevices, staining vast swathes of steel and gears red.
Fused together by flesh and blood, countless monsters merged into one, and under the transformation of Fluid Alchemy, took on a brand-new form, as if reborn.
Upon the face pieced together from broken steel and machinery, there lingered the savage likeness of a beast, flickering crimson lights serving as pupils.
Gazing fixedly at the figures scattering through the ruins.
It pounced!
One after another, beast upon beast.
When one beast shattered beneath trampling feet, even more opened their eyes from bloodstained machinery, crawling ravenously, devouring evil and corruption, their bodies ballooning endlessly.
The weeping was so crisp, the wailing so melodious.
Above the heavens, the dark rainbow radiance surged in fury, continuously hurling down beams of dazzling light to crush the rampaging monsters, yet it was completely in vain.
Time and again it cleared the colossal monsters encircling the sanctum, yet it could do nothing to halt the fracturing and collapse of the pillars.
The worldly abomination, which had once propped up the sky, now had its spine bent by the weight of the mortal world. It could no longer sustain the projection of the Vortex. That vast torn wound gradually shrank, and the massive Vortex behind it grew ethereal and faint, unreachable.
Upon its four heads, fury could no longer be concealed.
Rainbow light poured down like torrential rain, shredding vast swathes of iron beasts, yet amidst the countless flying shards, even more monsters crawled out anew from blood and vendetta.
Greedily feeding on corruption, embracing mutation, they paid no heed whatsoever to the high-tier abomination's suppression and control, turning back to bite!
"How does it feel, Lord Sacrificial Lord Sage?"
Amidst the thunderous noise, a distant voice seemed to carry.
When Lu Changsheng looked back with cold eyes, he saw that battered figure inside the airship propping himself up on the railing, a face covered in scars and fissures.
His hair was streaked with white, his body broken, yet his eyes were like crucibles of hell, searing crimson churning ceaselessly within them.
As if genuinely puzzled, he asked indifferently, "Is this bitterness and despair wrought by the Great Abomination sweet and palatable?"
Boom!
Lu Changsheng held back no longer. He raised his hand and clenched his fist violently toward that offensive gaze.
The rainbow light across the sky converged, rushing forth in ten million beams: eroding, crushing, transmuting, infiltrating, impacting, tearing... An immeasurable onslaught manifested in an instant, yet Ji Jue merely waved his hand.
All-Domain Circulation Control. Every ounce of devastation and impact was entirely diverted into Quancheng, crushing one node crafted by Kanemoto after another.
In the end, the unspent momentum of that wild power violently slammed into the workshop that had turned into a heavenly pillar.
The earth shook and mountains trembled.
A furious growl seemed to emanate from the gloom, but it could not be heard clearly.
Immediately after, Ji Jue waved his hand again, issuing a command—[Aggregate]!
In a flash, among the countless monsters rampaging across the earth, colossal titans suddenly arose.
Masses of machinery were cobbled together, interlocking. Countless savage faces wailed and screamed, overlapping, undergoing Metamorphosis into brand-new forms.
Like mutated behemoths.
Limb after limb propped up bodies heavy as mountain ranges, violently ramming into Lu Changsheng's avatar of the Great Abomination—no matter how small and weak that power was when compared to Lu Changsheng.
"All hollow show!"
Beneath the falling sky, Lu Changsheng swung his hand violently. Pulling a fraction of his attention from a thousand tangled matters, he crushed the charging colossus into dust. "Aside from being large, what good are you?"
Yet immediately after, as countless fragments crashed to the ground, brand-new silhouettes emerged from among them.
Shattered once, reformed once.
After devouring and assimilating more of their kin, those bodies grew ever clearer and more defined, clinging and biting like frenzied beasts!
Opening their maws, they spewed boundless abomination venom. Blood flowed, and sparks erupted within blazing fuel, turning into torrents of fire. Ramming, tangling, tearing, gnawing.
Right after that, a second behemoth rose from the earth, then a third...
Boom!
Beneath the contemptuous gaze of the Great Abomination, another building-sized monster was pulverized.
Futile.
Yet without anyone realizing it, countless specks of crimson had already floated into the air. Masses of venom and lingering hatred shone like sparks of fire.
Ji Jue reached out his hand once again.
Under the authority of All-Domain Circulation Control, the tens of millions of invisible hands that had once permeated Quancheng and held sway over all resurfaced, overlapping one another.
In the end, it was as if the image of the ancient Sage had reappeared.
Yet what was reconstructed was merely one among ten thousand hands!
Yet now, as that single palm rose in unison with Ji Jue's motion, the entire world seemed to freeze beneath the working of those five fingers.
As the five fingers spread, countless metal fragments rose from the earth, reforming, piecing together, falling into the palm to become a massive, crude, and heavy handgun.
The lingering hatred and bloody radiance filling the sky shuddered violently, contracting, converging, surging in a mighty torrent.
Collapsing, condensing.
Corruption alchemy manifested here; countless spiritus circuits wove and circulated until, in the end, they condensed into a crystal-clear bullet.
Clack.
With a crisp sound, the bullet dropped into the chamber. With a practiced flick of the wrist, the cylinder snapped shut and spun, the round seated into place, and the hammer cocked.
The pitch-black muzzle was already aimed squarely at the face of the worldly abomination.
Just like that, ignoring the rainbow radiance sweeping across the heavens, he casually took aim at the most offensive of the heads.
"You shall receive all that you deserve, for I have set myself against you."
A cold voice seemed to drift in the wind. "Let this be the beginning, Lu Changsheng..."
Ji Jue pulled the trigger.
—From this day forth, between you and me: our feud ends only in death!
Chapter 242