Not What Is Called Attack

He grabbed it! As Ji Jue's fingers contracted, right in his hand, an indistinct shape faintly emerged, fluctuating and shifting. Like an arm stealthily reaching for a victim's wallet—caught red-handed with the loot! Precisely because of this, it was so sudden, so utterly unbelievable. To the point where, outside the apocalypse, countless pairs of eyes popped out of their sockets, and question marks erupted from every forehead from north to south, bursting like volcanic eruptions in stunned bewilderment: *No, bro, how could you possibly grab that?! How did you catch it?!* Something that didn't exist in the first place—how could anyone touch it! It was like scooping the moon out of water, plucking a flower bud from a mirror; it was simply too bizarre! The Principle of the Griefsmith was formless and shapeless, virtually a manifestation of destiny's creation, Heaven's Mandate just one step away—yet it was actually seized by Ji Jue's palm. It even seemed as though, specifically to be caught by Ji Jue, it had deliberately turned from void into reality, solidifying its form and existence so that Ji Jue could better manipulate and handle it! No, it was the other way around! After a fleeting moment of shock and daze, realization and alarm set in. It wasn't that the Principle of the Griefsmith had "lowered itself," but that Ji Jue had turned the impossible into the possible, granting it a form and state out of thin air. Striking down the formless, endowing it with substance! What kind of master was this bastard?! The answer was: Non-Offensive. —[Encircled Realm: Non-Offensive]! Just like the unadorned vigor and straightforward simplicity of the Mohists of old, the blessing chain of the Transmutation tier was simply called Transmutation, and the blessing chain of the Regeneration tier was simply called Regeneration. The Encircled Realm that Non-Offensive pointed toward and achieved was still called [Non-Offensive]! In truth, even compared to all Encircled Realms, the domain of Non-Offensive was likely among the smallest of them all—the kind so insignificant it couldn't even get a seat at the holiday dinner table! Because its maximum range was strictly limited to literal arm's reach! Its existence lay solely within Ji Jue's hands. It wasn't even enough to cover his whole body. It possessed no indestructible force or explosive burst, nor any terrifying area of effect or raw numbers. It was not even a permanent state—when his fingers opened, the realm unfolded and spread; when his fingers closed, the realm sealed and shut. When Ji Jue reached out, the realm manifested in response; when he withdrew his hands, the realm vanished without a trace! One could say it had numerous flaws. Yet compared to its effects, none of these flaws were shortcomings at all. They were constraints that any artisan would willingly embrace to realize the prayer entrusted to it. Having surrendered nearly every convenience an Encircled Realm offered, what it gained in return was a terrifying enhancement and expansion of Non-Offensive's own effects, extending even to the infinite possibilities of the ten fingers of his hands! This was, without a shadow of a doubt, [Infinite Possibility]! To others, perhaps all Ji Jue did was casually reach out and clench his hand. But from his perspective, in that very same instant, with that very same motion, what split off were boundless reflections. As if seen through a visionary gaze, the world split apart before his eyes. One became two, two became four, four became eight... In that single instant, how could that same movement have been repeated merely hundreds or thousands of times? Every time Ji Jue extended his hand, the world in his eyes split and shifted with the terrifying consumption of his own spiritus. In that same instant, while others saw only a single motion, what he saw were countless palms extending like phantoms, blotting out the heavens and earth! Just as when the Quicksilver Sage had manifested in the past: Reaching up to the azure heavens, reaching down to the underworld springs, grasping myriad phenomena, remaking all! And when Ji Jue's fingers tightened, countless reflections and divergences converged once more into one beneath that single palm—countless possibilities overlapping under the glow of that faint shimmer of light within his hand. Thus, a one-in-a-billion possibility, an ethereal and illusory fate, the Principle of the Griefsmith operating within the apocalypse, was seized right in Ji Jue's hand! "This is not what is called attack; this is called retribution!" A hallucinatory voice seemed to ring out from the blazing fire of the matrix, echoing in his soul. The wills and prayers of countless Mohists of old overlapped, entrusting this inherited strength into Ji Jue's hands. Severing the proof of unrighteousness—this was Non-Offensive. Yet what it stood for was neither mercy nor peace, but a resolve that transcended even murderous intent and fury! Eradicate the root of ruin, extinguish the seeds of oppression and devastation. Bring tranquility and stability to this world, leaving no scourge of cruel strife! Therefore— Crush the unprincipled, execute the unrighteous! Amidst the flow of spirituality, countless resolute faces and gazes could be seen, casting gratified looks toward the distant future, toward Ji Jue here, brimming with anticipation as they laughed aloud. *We hereby wage war against the world before us. Even if the heavens collapse and the earth shatters, even if not a single bone remains! So long as a sliver of possibility exists, this heart of reform shall never cease. Even if there is no possibility at all, we will forge a brand-new future with these very hands!* Beginning with the first blessing, Masterwork Nature, Non-Offensive had initiated an almost extreme strengthening of the artisan's hands, continuously expanding the artisan's own limits and range of interference. As long as it could be achieved through practice and accumulation, it could certainly be done! As long as progress could be gathered through tempering and trial, there would surely be a harvest! Beckoning, Transmutation, Regeneration, and even crossing the threshold of the Exaltation tier—after such protracted trials and accumulation, Ji Jue had finally touched the essence and core carried by Non-Offensive! Break all shackles of reality and constraints of conditions, truly grasping that "one in ten thousand" glimmer of hope in hand! Make the minuscule probability that existed only in theory a reality! No matter how microscopic the odds, as long as it was within the Encircled Realm, it could become one hundred percent! For an ordinary mortal's hands, this might merely be a decorative blessing, but for an artisan's hands that remade all things, this was an indisputable leap and qualitative transformation! Before this, all the study and tempering Ji Jue had undertaken were meant to maximize his possibilities and range of interference, to shatter the barrier and obstruction between "Being" and "Non-Being," accumulating toward the qualitative transformation achieved at this very moment! No matter how absurd and bizarre the objective, no matter how preposterous and extravagant the ambition and ideal, even if the probability lay beyond countless decimal places, none of it mattered. As long as the probability existed, as long as there was enough spiritus, it was enough to become indisputable reality in the artisan's hands! Just like right now! The instant the hand of the Encircled Realm reached toward the Griefsmith, that infinitesimal possibility amidst an infinite magnitude was already destined to fall into Ji Jue's hands! From void into reality, from non-being to being, with this nonchalant clutch, it shattered the barrier of nothingness, plunging into reality like a falling star. The lofty proof of a Sage now sank into the mire! Furious struggling, violent counter-shock, erupting backlash. That indistinct arm trembled continuously, shifting ceaselessly. Fracturing sounds rang out unceasingly from Ji Jue's hand. Cracks rapidly surfaced across his fingers and palm, spreading in severe trauma, yet in the blink of an eye, they repaired completely once more. Under the control of the Encircled Realm, the physical properties and solidity of Ji Jue's hand were pushed to their limits, reinforced by the internal suppression of the Non-Offensive Encircled Realm. Caught in haste, the Griefsmith's hand—which had possessed no countermeasures for retaliation to begin with—could not break free of the restraint at all. And by the time it mobilized the power of the entire apocalypse to suppress Ji Jue—it was already too late! Ji Jue's other palm was already raised. Toward that seized arm, five fingers spread open once more, the Encircled Realm manifesting, followed immediately by—[Jingzhen]! Boom!!! In an instant, Ji Jue's left hand disintegrated under the backlash, turning to flying ash, but upon the Griefsmith's hand gripped by Ji Jue, a crack appeared! After dragging the Principle of the Griefsmith down to his own level, Ji Jue's abundant experience finally came in handy! Who was it that invented such a wonderful thing as Jingzhen? Oh, right, it was my teacher! Then you'd better have a good taste of it! A momentary spasm of "pain," and the Griefsmith's hand grew berserk, finally using raw magnitude to forcefully tear free from the Encircled Realm's suppression. Right after, it "saw": within the apocalypse, Ji Jue raised his hands, and his shattered hands were reforged anew! A silent, manic laugh. "What's the rush? We've still got plenty of good days ahead of us!" He reached out again, clenched his fist, and the arm in the void reappeared, followed immediately by: Jingzhen! Jingzhen! Jingzhen! Jingzhen! Jingzhen! Jingzhen! I'll shock the shit out of you! Pan Ying, Zhanlu, Chixiao, Chunjun, Juque—after fivefold tempering and qualitative transformation, flares of spiritus erupted from within the apocalypse in an unbroken barrage. That terrifying frequency and hysterical laughter made the entire sea and sky feel desolate and bleak. From Profound to the Association, from Stagnant Rot to Embers, countless artisans stood agape, chills running down their spines, instinctively clenching their legs tight and not daring to utter a word. Once again, they recalled the terror of being dominated by Ye Xian, and for the first time, they witnessed a cruelty and savagery that surpassed even Ye Xian's! Some even birthed a bizarre suspicion they had never had before: Could it be... was Ye Xian actually... pretty nice to everyone? While it was impossible for Ye Xian to be a good person, compared to Ji Jue, it suddenly seemed damn well possible!!! "...Master Ye was truly a kindhearted soul after all." In the Hall of Guanghua, Gustav, having just lowered his binoculars, couldn't help letting out a heartfelt, earnest sigh. In the dead silence, no one spoke, nor could they find the words. It was clearly such a blood-boiling scene, so why did watching it leave people feeling utterly drained? They couldn't understand it. But they were terrified. Meanwhile, within the frozen apocalypse, the brutal devastation continued. Or rather, it was a one-sided beatdown, even if the damage Ji Jue caused with Jingzhen was at most scratching the surface. If damage numbers had popped up upon impact, they would only be -1, -1, -1... but who had ever seen an artisan who wasn't even a Celestial-Human defy the heavens, dragging out the Principle of the Griefsmith from the realm of the Saintly Fool and pounding it into the dirt!