Chapter 209: Bad News and Judgment

Du Deng Meyer, male, 35 years old, Ember Fifth Stage, is an artisan.

Born in the Thousand Islands, a common mixed-blood, like any ordinary Ember, he learned from many masters and drew on the strengths of many—which meant working odd jobs in various workshops. In order to become an artisan, he pursued sin-tainted transformation, obtained the Stagnant Corruption blessing, and knocked his head at the door of the Deep-Abyss Mentor, Jian Yuan, becoming a flute-blowing boy or a registered student.

Read as student, written as tool.

As a master who had become famous a hundred years ago, betrayed the Association, and joined the Nine Sins, Jian Yuan could be called a model of teaching without discrimination.

For students, he taught whatever was useful, and once taught, he used them until they were scrapped.

After so many years, after the number of students under his door increased, it actually seemed full of talent, successively cultivating who knows how many monsters and ghosts, known as the Stagnant Corruption Fierce Furnace. It meant that the number of monsters created in his furnace was countless.

And Du Deng was the most useless one in the worst batch... not a metaphor, but the real deal.

His foundation was scattered, his theory was not refined, and he didn't have a decent one among the four items of Ascension, Extraction, Purification, and Integration.

After learning a pile of contradictory techniques from here and there, he couldn't integrate them, nor could he discard the dross and select the essential; he ate from a hundred families and got a stomachache, learned from a hundred families and lost a hundred families.

After muddling through, he muddled out an artisan whose level was barely passable; it could be said that this was it for his life.

No more progress.

This was what Jian Yuan told him clearly; if it weren't for the extreme lack of manpower, the tool role wouldn't have been his turn.

However, in Du Deng's view, it was clearly that this old fogey was hiding his secrets and unwilling to open up his inheritance, deliberately hitting him with his words. Anyway, in his mouth, this old thing was as bad as it could be, as ruthless as it could be, and even the cat passing by had to be slapped before it could leave... It couldn't compare to the predecessor in front of him now, who was so open-minded, calm, generous, and amiable! So could you please look at the fact that I confessed and be merciful and spare my dog life, I am willing to abandon darkness for light, from now on be the dog of the Anquan Bureau, and thank you for your great kindness for the rest of my life...

No torture, no coercion, not even an interrogation.

Ji Jue just started, the process hadn't even been walked through, and Du Deng's little mouth was like a machine gun, babbling and pouring everything out.

He was afraid that if he didn't explain in detail, he wouldn't be able to buy his own dog life.

Especially after Ji Jue destroyed an alchemical piece of equipment in front of him, and then pressed his palm on him with a smile...

Then, it was a long silence.

Everyone was silent.

Tong Shan hesitated for a moment, wanting to ask, but Xu Guan, who was monitoring the whole process, rubbed his face and sighed silently, "No lies."

No trace of any lie could be read, nor was any key point ignored.

Either this guy was playing the pig to eat the tiger, with a rank high enough to easily crush everyone present to death, just playing games with them out of a sense of dark humor.

Or... everything he said was true.

Thus, a sound of gasping for air rang out.

Ji Jue was expressionless, Tong Shan lowered his eyes without a word, Lou Feng's face was iron-blue, and the other members also burst out with local dialects or Yacheng profanity.

One could only say, what a gathering of monsters and ghosts...

In Quancheng today, it could be called a gathering of heroes.

Under the initiative of the current Sacrifice Master, Cult Teacher, and Holy Envoy of the Sin-Eroding Cult—the big boss, Lu Changsheng—the Nine Sins surged, and all kinds of villains who couldn't see the light appeared one after another. Everyone gathered in Quancheng through the hidden paths beneath the vortex to plot a big event that lunatics loved most.

What exactly was the big event? Anyway, small fry like Du Deng, who could only be a tool and was clumsy even when helping Jian Yuan, didn't know at all.

But just looking at the scale, he knew...

One was heavier than the other.

First was the Sin-Eroding Cult that worshipped evil objects and spread sin-tainted transformation; then was the notorious Dragon Association; the Wulou Temple that followed the Abyss-End and advocated the extinction of all living things; the Heavenly Heart Society that was chosen by the Great Sin·Weiyang corresponding to the Heart Pivot; and the Deep-Abyss artisan...

Look at these five waves of people; which one wasn't an outlaw, which one wasn't an old-school demon, which one wasn't the darling of the Nine Sins? Oh, the Long Jihui was playing on the edge, so it didn't count... but the Long Jihui did more and more exaggerated things in order to become a dragon!

These five waves of strange-looking guys gathered together to do big things...

Haizhou had never had such a gathering of heroes!

Even if it was impossible for them to mobilize in full force except for the Sin-Eroding Cult, they had at least sent their own strongmen and backbone.

A single Sin-Eroding Cult fighting the Anquan Bureau was completely like an egg hitting a rock, but when these monsters and ghosts joined forces, the result would be terrible.

Even if there was intense infighting within the other side, and dog-biting-dog hadn't stopped, they weren't fools. With great profit in front, even if there were differences, it was just a small dispute.

They would definitely do the big thing first!

Do the big thing! Do the big thing! Do the big thing!

Ji Jue couldn't even imagine what kind of ghost these talented people could pick up when they gathered together!

He thought that after severely damaging a Sin-Eroding Cult team, these guys would definitely suffer heavy losses, or at least be uncomfortable for a long time. Now it seemed that it was completely painless.

It was just a small matter.

A minor ailment, not worth worrying about.

Now they couldn't even rank as a serious threat...

One didn't know whether to call it a blessing in disguise—there was news about Lou Feng's aunt.

The good news was that she was still alive; the bad news was that she was just alive.

The survivors of the permanent investigation team hadn't been wantonly killed, and hadn't even suffered humiliation or other torture; they had all been frozen on the spot and taken away.

It was unknown where exactly they had been taken.

Lou Feng's expression was gloomy, and he didn't speak again.

He gritted his teeth and turned to leave.

He threw himself into the dismantling of the workshop, forcing himself to divert his attention. But just listening to the loud noises of destruction, one knew how bad his state was.

Ji Jue sighed.

At this time, don't regret these few melons and dates; he hoped he could hold on.

"Found it!"

While searching, Ji Xue, relying on her terrifying speed and efficiency, finally found the most crucial thing—a palm-sized plate with many characters engraved on it, the pointer constantly rotating.

Just like a compass.

The others were shocked, looking at Xu Guan, until Xu Guan finished checking and nodded slowly, finally unable to hold back, he breathed a sigh of relief!

That was Du Deng's Earth Image Plate.

Deep-Abyss artisans couldn't possibly sleep in the same bed as the Sin-Eroding Cult; calling it "same bed, different dreams" was a compliment.

During the several processes of entering and leaving Quancheng, Du Deng had also secretly recorded several different routes on his Earth Image Plate. Otherwise, if the situation changed, and the Sin-Eroding Cult packed up and left, what would the friendly forces do?

Wait in Quancheng to die?

Doing things these days, the most important thing wasn't whether it could be done, but ensuring that one could continue doing things next time if it couldn't be done.

Now that they had Du Deng's map, as long as they did a good job of disguising, it wasn't impossible for them to seize the time and mix their way out of here.

The opportunity was right in front of them.

Next was the disposal of Du Deng...

When everyone looked over coldly, Du Deng's expression changed drastically, begging and kowtowing frantically toward Ji Jue.

Ji Jue was about to speak, but heard Lou Feng call his name.

He was standing in Du Deng's workroom, pushing the door open, his expression uglier than ever before.

"Come here."

He said, "Look at this."

Then, Ji Jue's expression also became ugly.

In the production room, there was a huge machine that had been assembled halfway, like some kind of complex pillar, with many spiritual-quality circuits engraved from inside to outside, rigorous and eerie, some of which completely violated modern alchemy, but were inexplicably compatible with each other, thus becoming established.

If it weren't for the thick design drawings and detailed instructions next to it that said as long as one operated and produced according to the drawings, there would absolutely be no problems, Ji Jue would have been completely confused about what this thing was.

In fact, he was confused now too.

The creator Du Deng was also confused, but he didn't dare to ask; he just did whatever the teacher told him to do. Why ask so much, want to take the postgraduate entrance exam? In Jian Yuan's place, further studies had never been a good word.

Ji Jue could only guess what this thing was used for through the incomplete induction of the Mechanical Descent, his own theoretical level, and the comparison of the instructions.

But just a few scattered guesses were enough to make his eyes go dark.

"Can you be sure?" Ji Jue held a glimmer of hope.

Lou Feng was silent, and a moment later his voice was equally hoarse: "It's precisely because I can't be sure that I'm looking for you. But the parameters are like this, the spiritual-quality frequency and verification sequence module, I... have indeed seen them."

Ji Jue had nothing to say.

"Is the problem very troublesome?" Tong Shan asked.

"... I'll explain it to you from the beginning." Ji Jue took a deep breath, and after stabilizing his state of mind, his trembling fingers turned the design drawing to the very back: "To use an analogy, this thing should be equipment similar to a substation."

"The effect?"

"Simply put, its function is to connect to a very large system, acting as a node and continuation, avoiding the impact caused by peak and valley outputs, used for buffering and diversion."

Tong Shan was even more confused: "Is there any problem?"

"That's the problem."

Ji Jue swallowed his saliva dryly, turning the design drawing to the middle, pointing to the parameters and requirements above, "Why would an instrument made by a Deep-Abyss artisan in Quancheng use the verification standards of the Anquan Bureau?

And why are the internal spiritual-quality frequency and sequence verification exactly the same as the outpost?"

"..."

Tong Shan's face also became ugly, unprecedented: "Can you really be sure?"

"I don't know, I'm just an apprentice knocking on the side."

Ji Jue gave a bitter smile; he hadn't thought there was such a pit waiting for him in the lounge while fighting. If he could have participated in it... no, even if he had participated, he might still have been confused.

Master Ye's style of doing things was not to say what shouldn't be said, and to learn everything that could be self-taught.

This kind of project that had nothing to do with Ji Jue and involved the big picture, she would at most throw Ji Jue in to do hard labor, and how much he could learn and how much he could see depended entirely on Ji Jue himself.

"To be honest, I don't know the Association's plans and schemes, as well as the specific implementation status, so I can't determine how bad the situation is."

Ji Jue pondered, organizing his words: "If we're lucky, it's just a simple intelligence leak; someone leaked the specifications and verification to the Sin-Eroding Cult.

Maybe they've already prepared countermeasures, and the Association's hard work is in vain, completely useless."

But if, if we're unlucky...

Ji Jue didn't continue.

It was possible that the many masters and artisans of the Association had racked their brains to propose an entire plan, and after completing ninety-nine percent of the project, they suddenly discovered that all parts had lost response.

And the opponent who had been waiting for a long time took out a remote control that had been prepared long ago...

Next, you can start praying that it's just an ordinary sex toy.

The most beautiful thing about people is that you can always hold onto hope.

So, it could be, and it could be.

It had better be!!!

But at that moment, as if it were a hallucination, a tired sigh rang in Ji Jue's ears.

Then, what rang out was the terrifying roar of the sky collapsing and the earth cracking, tremors sweeping, shrouding Quancheng, which couldn't be avoided even in this broken workshop.

In the flickering lights, countless dust particles fell.

And in the production room, that unfinished equipment suddenly lit up with countless spiritual-quality circuits, as if struggling to respond to something, but soon, under pressure, it fell apart and fell into complete silence.

Then, everyone saw.

It was dawn.

Amidst the cracking sound, the dark clouds that had shrouded Quancheng for decades dissipated silently, revealing the long-lost starry sky in the present world.

It was as if an invisible force had dug up the rotten soil, reaching nine lands deep, directly causing the buried tomb to reappear in the world, but the world was so ferocious.

Above the firmament, cracks were everywhere, and the starlight was so shaky. Countless eerie streams of light operated within it, turning into a rainstorm and falling.

Massive amounts of pollution rain poured down, irrigating everything.

Rolling white mist spread in all directions, but it seemed to be restrained by some invisible force, shrill sounds rang through the firmament, unable to expand.

Countless eerie figures were roaring excitedly and running in Quancheng.

Darkness like a tide, boiling endlessly.

Quancheng was rising, step by step, fully loaded with the grievances and poisons accumulated over decades... slowly and calmly, breaking through the blockade and walking toward the present world.

And the big stone in Ji Jue's heart finally sank into the basement of the eighteenth floor.

When people are speechless, they really will smile inexplicably.

But they can't laugh out loud.

"... Look on the bright side, at least we don't have to find a way out anymore, right?"

No one responded.

In the deathly silence, only silence remained, and even the sound of trembling and horror in the pool of blood.

"No, it's not me,"

Du Deng squirmed, struggled, and shouted in horror: "Spare my life, spare my life, I don't know anything, I'm innocent! I really... I, I..."

Tong Shan didn't even want to speak, just reached out, but his raised wrist was held by Ji Jue.

It was as if he believed what he said.

Asking curiously:

"Really?"

For a moment, Du Deng was overjoyed, wanting to nod, but found that he couldn't move at all. Wanting to argue or cover up, but couldn't make a sound.

Before that pair of pupils gradually ignited by some kind of flame, he couldn't speak again.

"Are you innocent?"

Ji Jue asked softly, step by step, moving forward.

Du Deng trembled, opened his mouth, but his throat seemed to have betrayed him, unable to tell a lie.

The Ember path was cruel from the start; with such shallow vocabulary as good and evil, it was impossible to measure an artisan. Moreover, for those who threw themselves into sin-tainted objects, there was no need to talk about things like morality and bottom lines that didn't exist.

The techniques he mastered were in the dozens, but which one wasn't soaked in betrayal and death? The works he created were in the hundreds, but how many of them carried hope and didn't contain vicious schemes?

Melting living bodies to ascend spiritual intelligence, sacrificing infants to extract material properties, stripping souls to purify materials... Among the infinite evils of the world, was his own share so small that it could be forgiven and ignored?

Ji Jue stepped forward and asked again: "Do you practice the path of Supreme Good and uphold the principles of reform?"

That voice, calm to the point of being abnormal, rang out in the broken workshop, clanging like iron and stone, sharp like a blade, piercing into the soul, echoing endlessly.

Causing the blood color on his face to fade away bit by bit.

And within the matrix, the traces of sin-tainted pollution could no longer be hidden, all appearing, and the thick pitch-black rose like thick smoke.

It had long since... penetrated deep into the soul and bone marrow!

At that moment, Ji Jue finally unlocked the shackles. Thus, from the moment he entered the workshop, the anger and killing intent that rose in Non-Aggression's spirituality could no longer be blocked, filling his consciousness.

Awakening along with it was a wisp of flame deep in Ji Jue's soul, small to the point of being hard to notice.

So familiar.

But it was completely different from the flames seen in nightmares.

It was like a brand and scar that couldn't be erased after being touched once, or, it was a wish and expectation that flowed out from a high-distance realm during a moment of fusion.

A tiny mark.

But the moment it was awakened, it spread like a fire, uncontrollably shrouding the soul, consciousness, and everything. Just like this, pushing him forward. Urging him to ask.

To fulfill this mission and duty.

Thus, from the brilliant flame in his soul, his pupils gradually emerged with dazzling pure white.

Like burning mercury.

Looking down from here.

"Finally—"

Ji Jue lowered his eyes, "Do you have any other defense to state?"

No one responded.

Only the sound of cracking rang out, from Du Deng's shell.

His expression convulsed, twitched, unable to avoid Ji Jue's gaze, unable to state any lies.

Under that solemn and cold gaze, countless traces of sin-tainted transformation were violently disturbing, as if wanting to escape this shell that was unbearable to drive. But they couldn't break free from the restraint of the faint flame.

Clearly, in the eyes of others, this seemed to be just an ordinary question, but to Du Deng, it was like being thrown into a furnace, brutally refined, unable to resist.

Like hell.

"I... I..."

Du Deng's expression distorted, twitched, his bloodshot eyes widened, struggling to open his mouth, using strength from who knows where, exhausting everything, roaring: "I didn't do anything wrong! What do you know, what do you people know!! I just, I clearly just..."

Just wanted to stand in a higher place!

I just wanted to...

The roar and wail ceased without a sound.

A palm shrouded in complex silver emblems pressed onto his face, cutting off all intent, words, and resistance.

"Throwing yourself into Stagnant Corruption, betraying reform, creating disaster with strangeness, taking chaos with lewdness."

Ji Jue sighed regretfully: "What you have achieved no longer has the phase of firewood renewal; your path ahead only has the root of cruel nothingness..."

Therefore—

—Judge you as Sin-tainted.

The light and flickering spiritual-quality fluctuation spread from between his five fingers, instantly shrouding the body, reaching everything.

Soul, blessing, matrix... wherever it passed, everything was reduced to ashes in that terrifying tremor that seemed to come from the same source as the Disintegration Art!

No residue remained.

This was the only end for you Sin-tainted ugly kinds! ===== CHAPTER 210 =====

This is the only end for you wretched, ugly creatures!