Death spread softly, like a creeping shadow.
Across the hills and fields, the shrieks and wails of the aberrant spawn quickly died away. In the gradually clearing silence, only the faint thuds of collapsing bodies remained.
The withering of life resembled an endless swarm of ants, marching in vast columns toward oblivion, draining away with the rivers of blood.
The instant that fish scale shattered, the colossal Bashe roared and collapsed.
Robbed of even the strength for a deathbed struggle, its mountain-sized carcass rotted and dissolved at a visible pace, reeking foully as it melted into silt.
In the end, not even its skeleton could endure, crumbling away into flying ash.
A life that should never have existed here met its end.
And having lost the Bashe's support, the sky full of bloody rain quickly began to wither as well.
The calamity fragment, overdrawn and drained dry in Ji Jue's hands, could no longer sustain itself in the mortal world.
Without an internal supplement and anchor like the Bashe, it was reduced to a hollow shell teetering on the edge, gradually fracturing under the pressure of the mortal realm—a crushing weight comparable to the deep sea.
What was more, Ji Jue had no intention of maintaining it; he was actively accelerating the collapse.
Yet as the worm gradually dispersed... a bizarre attraction manifested out of thin air from the void!
Amidst the faint, distant sound of running water, a wisp of shimmering light extended from the dark clouds in the sky, falling upon the broken fragments of the fish scale.
Like a sneaky little hand clutching something it had already given away, trying to pull it back into its pocket...
*Pull back your mother's leg!*
Ji Jue's eyes widened instinctively in blazing fury.
Someone was trying to snatch back materials right under his nose?
Keep dreaming.
*—I've already figured out how I'm going to use them!*
In an instant, the remnants of the bloody downpour coalesced. Hand after hand materialized from thin air, clamping down firmly onto the two scale fragments, refusing to let go.
*Calamity of Blood Rain, let me see your limit!*
Amidst a deafening boom came what sounded like the collision of gargantuan behemoths.
The collapsing calamity rapidly dispersed, sparing no effort to squeeze every last drop of value from the worm's remnants. Leaning on this final surge of dying strength, Ji Jue forcefully wrenched the two fragments back from midair.
[?]
It was as if the entity had never expected anyone to dare rob what belonged to it.
The unknown presence on the other end of the shimmering water was stunned, caught entirely off guard, and the fragments were truly yanked toward Ji Jue.
In that fleeting moment of bewilderment, the connection to its scales began to blur at terrifying speed.
Layers of quicksilver flowed forth, stained with Ji Jue's blood, coiling around the fragments to coat and seal them. Layer after layer after layer—dozens, hundreds of rounds of Solid Alchemy executed in a split second, binding them air-tight!
The shimmering light abruptly widened. A dull, dead fish-like giant eye gazed down from the void, only to be met by Ji Jue's completely unabashed expression, along with the violently trembling quicksilver cube in his hands.
Watched by the rightful owner, Ji Jue felt no shame whatsoever. If anything, he only quickened his pace.
*What are you looking at?*
*Finders keepers!*
*You claim it's yours—call its name and see if it answers!*
Wrath seemed to flare within that hollow fish eye. The pull abruptly surged, accelerating like a vicious tug-of-war.
It meant to tear its scales back by force!
Unfortunately, on the other end of the rope, Ji Jue had tethered not just its own scales, but a Nether Sea Worm on the verge of complete collapse, along with countless barriers of Solid Alchemy. For a moment, the entity could not budge them in the slightest...
And immediately after, it lost its chance entirely.
"Brother Ji Jue, use this!"
Beside him, the girl held out a slender, uncanny bone blade. The moment his fingers closed around the hilt, it seemed to sense something, bursting into brilliant radiance thick with hatred and malice!
Eerie, wavering phantoms materialized faintly from that glimmer of light. Their faces were savage and distinct from one another, yet their movements mirrored Ji Jue's as he raised the blade.
Without hesitation, he slashed down at the sealed scales in his hand.
—*Strike!*
*Crack!*
A crisp sound of shattering erupted from the void. The innate connection and resonance shared between the scale and the abomination, born of the same origin and meant to be indivisible, was severed clean through.
The surging light and rushing water snapped back like severed ropes, recoiling and shrinking away, unable to sustain themselves.
In that final fraction of a second, the hollow giant eye stared coldly down at Ji Jue, as if carving his face into its very soul.
The shimmering water vanished into thin air.
Gone without a trace.
With the abomination's interference removed, the remaining salvage went all the smoother.
Not only did he secure the two fish scales that now bore his surname, but Ji Jue also raced against the clock. Employing his techniques for manipulating mechanical intellect, he sealed the Nether Sea Worm's dispersing wisp of divine essence into the quicksilver for future use.
When the last drop of blood rain fell, the two quicksilver seals in his hands were thoroughly complete.
Finally looking down at the fragments of the Soul-Calling Bell beneath his feet, he could not help but let out a silent sigh.
Brother Bell had accompanied him for so long, only to be scrapped here.
What a pity.
Yet he had no time to wallow in sentimentality.
In the corner of his vision, a figure was constantly squirming and shifting about, striking all kinds of bizarre poses and making strange faces in an effort to draw his attention.
Until Ji Jue finally turned his gaze toward her.
"Looks like you had a good rest."
"Not at all,"
An Ning stared at his face with deep resentment. "I had a nightmare. Some super annoying jerk in the dream said awful things—hurt so much I cried."
"You're probably just severely injured and hallucinating,"
Ji Jue corrected her earnestly. "That wasn't a dream. It really happened."
"..."
An Ning glared, furious, ready to roll up her sleeves and tear the scumbag apart with her bare hands.
Yet before she could move, his voice drifted over again:
"Incidentally, given my current state, if someone kicks me, my leg will genuinely snap." Glancing at her stance, Ji Jue warned, "No pinching either. One touch and I'll shatter."
In the gentle breeze blowing from afar, a hairline fracture appeared across his face. A tiny flake of broken skin peeled away, turning to ash before it even touched the ground.
Material property overload.
Just like metal fatigue or the embrittlement of rubber... it looked fine on the surface, but the inside was already riddled with holes.
Even if Deus Ex Machina was all-powerful, even if alchemy had no limits, Ji Jue himself was not omnipotent. His body was still nothing more than mortal flesh in the Metamorphosis stage.
Without a state of Regeneration that drew closer to Sovereign Virtue, he naturally possessed all the limits of mortal matter.
Even raw materials had their breaking points.
In just a few short hours, to maintain control over Deus Ex Machina and preserve his condition, he had subjected his body to an immense amount of material property interference: hardening enhancements, elasticity boosts, spiritus infusions, alchemical repairs and reinforcements...
That he had not yet crumbled into ash or suffered corruption was solely because the transformations wrought by Crucible Blood and Unquenched Fuel were overwhelmingly powerful.
Crucible Blood kept his life functions running, while the fourteen percent of his physical tissue tempered by Unquenched Fuel now served in reverse to sustain the remaining eighty-odd percent of his bodily systems, propping up the craftsman named Ji Jue like a rigid scaffold.
The rest had practically turned to tofu dregs.
Now, his hands were numb, Non-Offensive had ceased responding, and Primacy of Mind had to support his sanity and consciousness in reverse, slowly patching up his body while hanging on by a thread of health.
'Shatter at a touch' was not a figure of speech; it was a literal description.
An Ning's condition was hardly any better. She had merely undergone emergency treatment. Even after receiving the White Stag's blessing, she had only climbed back from the brink of death to being severely wounded.
It was only the techniques of the House of An and the heritage of the Hunting Finger that allowed her to keep moving like an ordinary person.
Fighting up to this point, turning the tables from a desperate impasse and nearly wiping out their opponents, had cost them every last reserve. Their vitality was drained to the dregs.
They were weaker than they had ever been.
At this moment, if anyone at all came along, they could effortlessly claim their heads.
Not to mention...
—Yue Chen, who had suffered no fatal wounds whatsoever!
*Rumble!*
The broken mountain range shook and collapsed. Countless boulders and muddy silt slid downward, plunging into the roaring torrents. Amidst the dispersing crimson, the burning iron-stone giant raised its head and let out a resounding roar.
Now, a mere stomp of his foot shook the earth and echoed through the peaks.
Causing tremors as naturally as breathing, his instinctual circulation alone drew every piece of matter across an immense expanse into resonance!
Over an immense span of time, day after day of accumulation, endless torment, abandoning all humanity, love, and hate to endlessly approach the true essence of the Desolate Ruins.
The Celestial Chosen who had long stood at the peak of Regeneration now completely threw off all shackles after enduring the scourge of the calamity and the erosion of corruption.
Amidst the surge of spiritus came an abrupt ascension, bursting forth like a long-dormant volcano in a magnificent eruption!
Even covered in wounds, his power climbed steadily higher, his physique swelling further still. At last, he broke through that nearly insurmountable barrier, stepping one foot across the threshold into Exaltation...
Hysterical, wild laughter rang out.
His soul underwent a cataclysmic surge. That wisp of obsessive, frenzied consciousness rose once more, drawing ever closer to the eternal Desolate Ruins. Now, it was as if the mountains themselves were laughing, radiating raw savagery.
At the end of this unexpected ordeal, he had finally welcomed a breakthrough. Even if it was only a hair's breadth, it was a world apart from the past!
"Should we run, Brother Ji Jue?"
An Ning looked back toward the craftsman beside her. "There's still over ten kilometers of distance. I can cover you."
"No need. It's already over."
Ji Jue shook his head and sighed softly. "Get me a cup of water. I'm a bit thirsty."
"Are you sure?"
An Ning frowned suspiciously.
According to her understanding of Ji Jue, this guy who refused to turn back even at death's door was wicked, foul-mouthed, uncultured, devoid of morals, and loved making girls angry while disregarding their feelings—truly deserving of ten thousand deaths.
Yet his tenacity when struggling on the brink of death was horrifyingly fierce. Surely he wouldn't see his opponent break through mid-battle and simply lose all heart, lying down to await death?
"Water,"
Ji Jue repeated.
Only then did An Ning let out a helpless sigh, turning to hand over her water cup.
The cup slowly rose, moistening his parched lips and soothing the dry cough in his throat. When he spoke again, his voice was no longer raspy.
"Facing an Exaltation rank was within expectations from the start. If anything, facing only a half-dead Exaltation who wants to kill me is already something to thank the heavens for."
He let out a self-deprecating laugh and said slowly, "I like an orderly life. A neat schedule, day after day of study and work... No matter how much or how troublesome it gets, it's fine, because it can always be handled properly.
"Unfortunately... I'm never given a choice.
"So to avoid taking risks, I have to make plenty of preparations, pouring everything into planning thoroughly, even if those plans never end up being used... It doesn't matter if I'm underhanded, and it matters even less if I lack manners and morals, so long as I stop at nothing to kill every opponent, by whatever means necessary.
"I don't care about the process. I want to win."
Ji Jue lifted his head and looked at her. "Did you really think what I was counting on was the so-called Calamity of Blood Rain?"
An Ning froze in place.
Chapter 377