Boom!
The figure within arm's reach was torn to shreds without the slightest hesitation. Wen Su dissipated, reappeared, shattered once more, and regenerated yet again.
Like a persistent, vengeful wraith, she remained mere inches away.
Yet she looked on with such yearning and intimacy.
"Come home, Sister. Everyone misses you so much."
She spread her arms in humble pleading. "After you left, I already killed those older brothers and sisters who only ever did bad things. The younger ones definitely won't dare object.
"As long as you're willing to apologize, Father will definitely forgive you. We can be happy together again, okay?
"Just like old times!"
Wen Su gazed at her expectantly. "I can protect you now."
Yet all that answered her was the same chillingly indifferent expression that had been there from the start.
"I have nothing to say to you people, Wen Su. If you truly care about whatever little sisterly bond we once shared, stop spouting this bullshit!
"I will never go back with you!"
Wen Wen drew a deep breath. Her Domain sealed off the interior completely from the outside world. In her hands, dragonfire coiled and surged across her magnificent crystal lance, brimming with ferocious murderous intent.
"What you should be thinking about is whether you can even make it back to that cesspool alive!"
"Tsk!"
The expectant, smiling face collapsed.
It grew cold, then darkened into gloom.
"I know. They must be lying to you, right? Those sweet words of theirs, feeding you nonsense about friendship, a future, all that bullshit about duty and bonds..."
Wen Su ground out each word through gritted teeth. "I knew it. To use you, Sister, those people would do anything!"
"Aren't you the exact same?!"
Wen Wen scoffed. "Who was the one who tried to control me on the very first day of your Autonomous Awakening?"
"I'm not like them!"
The girl flew into an instant rage, as though a malicious ghost tearing off its disguise to reveal its true, venomous face. She roared, "I'm the only one who truly cares about you! I'm the only person who would never hurt you! Sister, as long as you have me, that's enough! Why do you always have to defy me?!"
She paused, her expression twisting rapidly. "I understand now. As long as those nasty things are gone, you'll definitely come to your senses, right?"
"Wen Su!"
"It's fine. Severing ties isn't easy, so let me help you!"
Wen Su bubbled with delight, dancing about as her eyes lit up once more. "As long as I kill them all, you'll definitely change your mind, right?!
"Don't worry, I'll make sure they die horrific deaths. I'll make them regret everything they did to you—that little bitch named Tong, that brat named An, and that old fossil named Zhang!"
The corners of her mouth slowly curled in sheer glee. "Oh, right, and that craftsman you care about so much. That idiot who loves jumping into mud pits for other people. You care a lot about him, don't you?"
Wen Su burst out laughing.
"—Then I'll start by cutting him down first!"
"..."
A sudden, dead silence descended.
Wen Wen's movement hitched. The furious rage on her face froze, gradually shifting into an ambiguous, complicated expression.
It looked like disdain, or perhaps...
Pity?
In that instant, Wen Su's laughter froze mid-air. Her figure flickered violently as if turning to ice, and immediately afterward, she bent over uncontrollably.
—*Blech!*
A spray of crimson blood erupted from her lips!
*Snap!*
In the gloom, Wen Wen tilted her head, lit the cigarette dangling from her mouth, and took a deep drag.
She exhaled slowly.
Lounging like an idle spectator, she savored the drama unfolding before her eyes.
Yes, that was the flavor.
*Crack!*
The moment that figure appeared behind him, Ji Jue—without a second thought—buried a sword straight into her skull!
Then another thrust, another, and yet another!
Shattering her skull, piercing her throat, severing her hands, chopping off her legs, pinning her torso—one spiritual blade of Chunjun after another instantly turned her into a pincushion!
What else was he supposed to do?
Turn around to chat about the weather and wait for a magical girl transformation sequence?
Why waste breath on her!
Under such a fine moon and gentle breeze on a lovely night, shouldn't one open with a jumping slash first?
"How interesting."
Ji Jue gave a soft sigh, looking down at the astonished, twisted face and echoing her earlier sentiment right back to her. "I really didn't expect people like you to exist in this world..."
Just because you're a Heart Pivot, you dare waltz into an Embers workshop?
I guess you really don't know what the Hand of Non-Offensive means!
Spiritual descent, avatar, projection, astral projection—I don't give a damn what you are...
—Just die!
*Boom!*
In an instant, the spiritual blades impaling the figure shook violently. The crimson hue of Pan Ying emerged from within them; the spirit of Chunjun and the austerity of Pan Ying tangled, honed each other, and erupted!
Dissociation Art: Jingzhen!
A flurry of tearing sounds rang out incessantly. The stunned face twisted rapidly as she let out a piercing shriek.
Even though this was purely an incorporeal phantom, merely a projection spun from a wisp of her own spiritus, she felt an agony akin to ten thousand swords piercing her heart under this brutal battering. Even her actual consciousness suffered a violent tremor.
It was practically tearing her apart.
...This was utterly ridiculous!
It was like dealing damage to a reflection in a mirror, only for the wounds to manifest on the actual body. It defied all logic! But what could she do? That was just how the Nine Forms rolled!
This was the confidence that Chunjun granted him!
A sword of Ascension sublimated from self-awareness and obsession was specifically forged to hack down meddlers who toyed with mind and perception. As long as any link existed across spiritus and sensory awareness, there was no escaping it!
"You..."
Transfixed by countless blades, that fairly pretty face twisted violently. She opened her mouth to speak, only to see Ji Jue seize another Chunjun and shove it straight down her gullet.
Speak? Shut your mouth!
If we're brawling, then brawl—feel it with your heart!
Without hesitation, without delay. Any violation or trespass into a workshop's domain was the most blatant, unmistakable provocation imaginable to a craftsman. Even his own master wouldn't barge into a student's private domain unannounced, so who the hell did she think she was?
Who the fuck are you, reeking of that Heart Pivot stench!
Back when I had my Higher Good Calling, Heart Pivot didn't even show up, yet here you come slithering in! Didn't you see the sign: 'Heart Pivots and dogs not allowed'?
Not a shred of self-awareness!
For all he knew, this person right here was the mastermind behind the White Nation terrorists from before. Wasn't the one who fled a Heart Pivot?
No evidence? Doesn't matter—that just proves your guilt!
It's all you Heart Pivots' doing!
Ji Jue didn't stop for a breath, striking with merciless brutality!
In the time it took to make small talk and shoot the breeze, an entire batch of raw materials could already be processed. If there really was anything to say or clear up, it could wait until she was strapped onto his dissection table!
Amidst deafening roars, massive billows of quicksilver vapor danced through the workshop, rapidly solidifying to draw out and absorb every drop of spiritus in the area while scanning for all living things...
Rats?
Bugs and birds too?
Ji Jue looked up toward the sky. High in the outer vault of the heavens, a tiny black speck hung almost imperceptibly—the Heart Pivot's Fulcrum for maintaining the spiritual descent.
Whatever. Kill them all!
Ji Jue snapped his fingers. Within Xinquan, a turret immediately swiveled up, easily blasting the bird to pulp with a single burst. Next, he brought the rats and insects under complete control. Quicksilver flowed forth, piercing their brains before paralyzing their limbs while forcibly keeping them alive.
Want to run?
As if it would be that easy!
The shattered phantom abruptly burst and coalesced anew. Amidst countless streams of light, blood-stained pupils locked onto Ji Jue, easily stoking hatred and terror, which then swiftly morphed into hesitation and doubt. Incalculable swirling thoughts plunged him into brief disarray, causing his movements to hitch for a fleeting moment.
Soon, as the swirling emotions shifted, they would transform into pure affection and loyalty—just like snapping a leash onto a faithful dog, effortless and simple.
In just a split second, it would be done!
Wen Su sneered silently, reaching out toward Ji Jue's face.
And then, she was 'bitten'—deep to the bone!
Sorry, no loyal dog here, only a rabid hound.
A mechanized rabid hound at that!
Facing the Heart Pivot's interference, Ji Jue showed no signs of succumbing beyond that momentary waver.
Long before striking, he had already issued the command for Deus Ex Machina across his body, turning his flesh into a precision machine that operated automatically according to instructions.
Right after that, the shadow of Chunjun enveloped his soul, safeguarding his consciousness and forcibly severing all emotion, leaving behind only the purest calculation and a craftsman's cold scrutiny.
Facing Wen Su's outstretched hand, Ji Jue reached out without hesitation, locking his fingers into hers in a vice-like grip.
"Oh, aren't we passionate?"
Ji Jue bared his teeth in a grin, and then—Dissociation Art: Jingzhen!
A spiritual blade shot toward the soul projection suspended between illusion and void, impaling it instantly and detonating. This time, along with pure Nine Forms spiritus, Ji Jue added an extra kick.
A spiritus crystal of the Abyssal Depths lineage!
Within aberrant spiritus saturated with Great Sin corruption lay the distilled negative emotions previously extracted by the Poison Heart ring. Ji Jue hadn't stopped extracting until the ring wore out, leaving several entire crates of these spiritus crystals stacked in his workshop!
Gripping that thread of spiritus connection tightly without letting go, he pumped waves of spiritual swill straight into her while raising his other hand to snap his fingers.
*Snap!*
A sudden drone washed over all of vast Xinquan as countless shrill hums echoed one after another. Streetlamps across the avenues shattered spontaneously into midair, and swirling quicksilver stirred up a spiritus turbulence that disrupted every delicate operation.
This cut off any possibility of the intruder linking to the souls of local residents to use them as cannon fodder or hostages. Even taking hostages would be useless; any civilian showing anomalies would instantly be swallowed by quicksilver and solidified, left to be unsealed later.
Having cut off her retreat and stamped out all other hidden risks and possibilities, Ji Jue finally brought forth his other hand. The Non-Offensive matrix manifested, manipulating spiritus to grab a fistful of her hair in a death grip.
With the workshop's coordination and control, suppression was accomplished in an instant.
Just like that, holding fast to this avatar suspended between existence and nonexistence, he gave her no chance to transform. With his other hand, he seized Chunjun, drove it into her spiritual form once more to pin her down, and then released the hilt, raised his palm, and unleashed a barrage of vicious slaps right across her face.
*Smack! Smack! Smack! Smack! Smack!*
A relentless, satisfying storm of slaps rained down left and right, every strike a Jingzhen impact targeted straight at the avatar's core to dismantle her resistance and disrupt the flow of her spiritus and thoughts!
Act tough, will you?!
Playing the ghost and spooking whom exactly?!
"Getting treated like this is really doing you a favor, you rotten outsider."
After dishing out twenty slaps in a single breath, Ji Jue eyed that face twisted in murderous fury. Unable to help himself, he followed up with a backhand and forehand combo:
"—Tell me, is this authentic or what?!"
Chapter 483