[{"data":1,"prerenderedAt":-1},["ShallowReactive",2],{"origin-above-destiny":3,"chapter-above-destiny-above-destiny-chapter-401":6},{"origin":4,"title":5},"chinese","Above the Heavenly Fate",{"chapter":7,"nextChapterSlug":19,"prevChapterSlug":20,"totalChapters":21,"novelImage":22},{"id":8,"novel_id":9,"title":10,"slug":11,"index":12,"content":13,"wordcount":14,"created_at":15,"updated_at":15,"volume":16,"translator":17,"content_hash":18},2226102,4117,"Chapter 401: The waves have yet to subside, the blood-feud knows no rest","above-destiny-chapter-401",401,"\u003Cp>Even before the matter was spoken of, Ji Jue had already sensed the severity of the situation.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>After all, he found it truly hard to imagine what kind of affair could leave the Great Elder so distressed and weary. In fact, he had even prepared for the worst-case scenario: manifesting his Sin-form and taking Xu Chaoxian’s head under the cover of night.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>As it turned out, that was not the case.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>But it was even more troublesome.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Over a month ago, the turmoil triggered by the sacrificial temple was not merely limited to the worldwide purge and suppression of the Evil-Transforming Cult; it was more like... a fuse.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Adding fuel to the fire.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Coupled with the Imperial Emperor lying critically wounded in the ICU because of it, the resulting chain reaction had left the entire world in a state of upheaval.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>The vastness and terror of the Heavenly Origin could be seen from this.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Even a negligible ripple, after being continuously amplified, was enough to form a destructive tsunami. And when the dust of an era falls upon a certain place, it becomes a disaster that shatters the heavens and splits the earth.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>The Empire launched its fourth large-scale troop reinforcement into the Central Lands, and a new garrison base on the Endless Sea had already begun construction. Once completed, the brand-new long-range missile launch base would place Dacheng exactly within its maximum strike range. In retaliation, the Federation dispatched the Leviathan Fleet to begin patrols, and the Aerial Giant strike sequence began deployment.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Both sides sharpened their weapons and bared their blades, the situation seemingly on the verge of erupting. As a result, the prices of fuel, grain, medicine, rubber, and other supplies in the international market began to soar even further, while at the same time, the prices of a large volume of goods in the futures market began to plummet...\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>After a standoff between the two sides from afar, there was no sign of actual fighting, yet the assets of countless city-states outside the Federation and the Empire had shrunk by a large margin, leaving them in wails of despair.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>They could no longer survive.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Disputes everywhere, flames of war across the land.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>And under the push of many invisible hands behind the scenes, the Federation and the Empire remained as stable as ever. The changes in the situation in the Central Lands were all thunder and no rain, yet the many city-states among the Thousand Islands were already at each other's throats.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Blood feuds, conflicts, assets, water sources, grain, religion, conspiracies... there were too many excuses and reasons. Moreover, the Northern Border had once again crossed the Baihe belt, driving straight in.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>The frost period was approaching; by then, that vast expanse of snowy wilderness in the Northern Border would become a complete dead zone. For the sake of survival, people would do anything.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>With the loss of suppression and buffering among the many city-states that had long been impatient, they directly descended into a chaotic mess.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>To the point of being a scene of utter devastation.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Just like a flood discharge area when a dam breaks.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Caught between the Federation and the Empire, yet lacking the rich output and scale of the Central Lands, they were like wheat stalks in a field; when the gale blew, they fell everywhere.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>The Endless Sea was vast enough, and the islands were naturally isolated—some extremely close, others extremely far. Added to the interference of storms, ocean currents, tsunamis, and many other factors, the massive uninhabited areas and the vast ocean were enough to contain too much chaos without fear of backlash.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>One could not see the hell, nor hear the wails.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>No one even cared.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Now, on the southeastern side of the Endless Sea, the civil strife in the Punabantu Archipelago had been going on for over a month. With the president dead and warlords fighting, it had been completely cut off from the outside world.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>A plague had quietly spread from there.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>\"...Blood-Thirst Syndrome?!\"\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Ji Jue gasped in shock.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>The Great Elder’s voice grew increasingly bitter: \"No, it is a spiritual plague with an even earlier serial number... Dream-Loss Syndrome.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>It spreads through spiritual quality, diffusing via lingering regrets and resentment. Initial patients feel a lack of energy, easily fatigued, dreaming often and waking often. Then, as the frequency of dreaming decreases, until it disappears completely, it becomes difficult to sleep.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Yet one cannot call it being awake.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Just like that, suffering day after day, muddled like a walking corpse, until the oil is exhausted and the lamp dies out. They may even undergo alienation, deformity, or even... Sin-transformation.\"\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>\"A few days ago, the Haizhou branch of the cult responded to the headquarters' call and dispatched a humanitarian medical team, hoping to save the situation as much as possible and limit the scale of the plague.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Although it is troublesome to treat, it is very simple to prevent; a single vaccine injection is enough.\"\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>The Elder sighed wearily: \"The general who has now taken power claimed we were carrying weapons and expelled us. But after the medical team left, he claimed that the patients we took away included key political figures, and they chased us down to forcibly detain the medical team...\"\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>In reality, when the medical team was driven away, they had been able to keep almost nothing but their clothes, let alone patients.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>It was entirely an excuse used to blackmail the Chongguang Cult.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Yet when the cult headquarters called, the other side flatly denied this point, claiming that the Chongguang Cult had violated their religious taboos and had been completely expelled, and that there had been no detention or obstruction whatsoever.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Both sides held to their own versions, arguing in an inextricable deadlock.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>But one knew with their heels who to believe.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Let’s put it this way: if the Elder and Xu Chaoxian were both pointing at something and saying it was a deer and a horse respectively, everyone would definitely spit at Xu Chaoxian.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>The golden signboard forged by hundreds of years of countless contributions and good deeds was just that solid!\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>\"Although it is inappropriate for me to say this...\"\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Ji Jue hesitated for a moment and asked: \"The Chongguang Cult is a large organization with so many resources and money in its hands, is there really no... can you not...\"\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>The Elder sighed, \"Burdened by reputation, limited by stance.\"\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Wielding a blade and doing good are difficult to reconcile. The reason the Chongguang Cult has been able to continue to this day is its absolute resistance to violence. Cult members and even institutions, apart from necessary security, are not allowed to carry any weapons, let alone cause harm.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>The cult’s reputation cannot have any flaws, and its stance cannot shift.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>It cannot be openly associated with any violent incidents, or even be linked to them.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Maintaining harmlessness.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Only because of this can it be welcomed and treated with courtesy by all parties. But unfortunately, this set of rules doesn't work when encountering idiots and morons, especially those who think they are peerlessly clever just because they hold a gun.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>In fact, for so many years, the cult has been accustomed to such things and has its own methods and procedures. But whether it is open communication or coordinating pressure from all sides, it is too slow; a month or two is considered long.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>What is needed now is speed.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>After all, who knows what will happen in these one or two months? Can a warlord who started slaughtering heretics after taking power through a coup really last for a month or two?\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>One can only say that if he had even a shred of reliability, he wouldn't have been reduced to blackmailing the Chongguang Cult...\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>\"In fact, this matter is not entirely official business.\"\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>After clarifying the situation, the Elder sighed self-deprecatingly: \"More of it is my own selfishness at work; it is truly wretched.\"\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>His assistant was in that medical team.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Called an assistant, but in reality, they were like father and son. The Elder had served the law his whole life, never married, accumulated no wealth, and had no descendants to speak of. The young assistant was an orphan raised by the cult. After passing university and obtaining medical qualifications, he formally joined the cult because he admired the radiance brought by the Elder.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>This time, as volunteers, the couple both joined the medical team.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>The spirited look they had when they set off was still fresh in his mind, but when he received the distress message and the notification from the main cult late at night, the Elder was already in a state of mental chaos, losing his composure.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Even at the risk of potentially violating the precepts and being abandoned by the Holy Spirit and completely expelled from the cult, he had to take private action.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>There was not much time left.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Two hours ago, the cult received a distress signal; an hour ago, the ship’s communications went silent. Once the medical team was taken back into the territory, it would be too late to fish them out.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>But in such a rush, there were simply not many who could exert influence over the Thousand Islands. Among them, those who were truly reliable and would not implicate the cult’s reputation were even fewer...\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>\"I understand.\"\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Ji Jue sighed silently in realization.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>He understood the reason for the other party’s distress and torment... it wasn't because the matter was dangerous or troublesome; it was simply that the Elder’s moral standards were too high.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>To the point of being so lost and helpless.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Ji Jue said: \"In short, as long as the people from the medical team can return safely, that’s enough, right?\"\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>The Elder hesitated for a moment, his voice hoarse: \"If necessary...\"\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>\"Alright, Elder, there is no need to say any more.\"\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Ji Jue interrupted him, \"I will do my best.\"\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>There was no need, and even less need to say it.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>In fact, as long as the medical team could return safely, everything else was irrelevant. If necessary... it wouldn't matter if everyone else died!\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>But why would one need to voice such things?\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>It would only leave room for gossip.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Why should the clean reputation that the old gentleman had spent a lifetime accumulating through good deeds be destroyed by a bunch of scum?\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Reputation is also power; in fact, it is a very strong and precious power... Ji Jue didn't even need to remind him; if the Elder wanted to, he could use this reputation to accomplish many things.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>But he never had.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>With the premise of being able to be extravagant, restraint is a virtue.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Ji Jue didn't have such things, but he admired it from the bottom of his heart.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>\"Please leave it to me, Elder.\" Before hanging up the phone, Ji Jue said his final words: \"Just give me the registration number of the ship your assistant is on.\"\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>\"Alright.\"\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>The hoarse voice on the other end finally let out a sigh of relief.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Soon, a number was sent to Ji Jue’s phone; before this, Isis’s search had already begun.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Reconnecting with the cables of the Haizhou Supercomputing Center, at the lowest level of the workshop, the computational sequence formed by the repeated interlacing of countless spiritual crystals warmed up and restarted.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>A second later, among the signals transmitted by the Federation satellite, a red dot quietly appeared on the map of the southwestern part of the Endless Sea.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Flickering.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>It was a pity it was too dark, and the weather was bad.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>No matter how much it was magnified, through the thick night fog, it could not be seen clearly.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>\"Search complete, found it. Coordinates confirmed.\"\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Isis’s voice sounded: \"The ship’s main computer is unresponsive; the system and engines have been shut down. It is currently being towed.\"\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>\"What about the other ship?\" Ji Jue asked.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>\"An Imperial decommissioned destroyer, the Astarte-II generation control system from many years ago. The current version has already accessed via the ship’s WIFI, but the control system is too backward and lacks too many devices; I’m afraid I cannot take over the engines.\"\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>A hint of rare displeasure appeared in Isis’s voice.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>She hadn't expected that one day, what would defeat her wouldn't be advanced technology, but equipment so backward it couldn't even be taken over... What was the use of being great at electronic warfare?\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>This broken destroyer was nearly a hundred years old; it was almost at the point of needing to be cranked by hand!\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>\"It doesn't matter, taking over navigation is the same.\"\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Ji Jue looked at the position of the red dot on the map and gauged the distance slightly: \"Guide them to turn and head north.\"\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>It seemed that after the ship carrying the medical team noticed the pursuit behind them, they had run for a distance while calling for help; otherwise, Ji Jue would have had to go bald and start the Doomsday Express to make a trip himself.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Fortunately, this position was still in time.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>There was no need to trouble the Wilderness Collection; that dog Ling Liu of Gray Harbor was cunning and sly, and if things went wrong, he would open his mouth like a lion.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>He took out his phone and dialed the number for the Seven Cities.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>After a few short busy signals, it finally connected.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>\"Hmm? Mr. Ji?\"\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>An enthusiastic voice sounded from the other end, slightly tinged with sleepiness, and one could vaguely hear a woman’s blurred moans and complaints.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Ji Jue smiled and greeted: \"General Minkle, I heard you served as deputy commander of the Joint Fleet a few days ago. Congratulations, congratulations.\"\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>\"Haha, easy, easy, it’s all thanks to the appreciation of the lords above and the respect of friends.\"\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Minkle’s laughter grew even more heroic: \"Old Lu’s brother is my brother. If there is anything you need help with, just say it! I will definitely...\"\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>\"No, that’s not it.\"\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Ji Jue interrupted his momentum of making empty promises and asked directly: \"I just wanted to ask, are you still interested in military merit? Hmm, it’s a pity there are no generals this time, only a Punabantu destroyer delivered to your doorstep.\"\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>\"Hmm?\"\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Minkle was stunned for a moment, then suddenly did a carp-leap, flipping up from bed.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>\"Hmm?!\"\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>All sleepiness vanished.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>He wasn't sleepy anymore!\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>In the middle of the night, a pair of green eyes almost glowed.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>\"Brother, Brother Ji! Tell me more!\"\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>As expected of Old Lu’s brother, his actions were truly extraordinary.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>There was actually a reward?!\u003C\u002Fp>",2433,"2026-06-17T22:21:53.433Z",1,"Gemini 3.1 Flash Lite","fe698514ef221a7cdeb56496f4f7192c6b8416623957dbaf54fe9d1a9292b64b","above-destiny-chapter-402","above-destiny-chapter-400",461,"https:\u002F\u002Fnovelzhen.com\u002Fimages\u002Fcovers\u002Fabove-the-heavenly-fate-cover.jpg"]