Chapter 21

As far as the eye could see, everything was bathed in a wonderful, crystal-clear light.

The sunset of dusk was shattered into countless dazzling pieces of warm yellow and orange-red by the prism-like crystals; from the complex changes of the light, indigo flowed out, emerald wound silently, azure turned into waves, and dark purple rippled like the wind.

Even breathing was forgotten.

The world was distorted, reshaped, and transformed into this incomparable, magnificent scene before the eyes.

Cold, gorgeous, and cruel.

In the beauty that defied words, the most primitive simplicity and solemn coldness appeared, with no warmth left to speak of.

This place was no longer a realm for mortals!

"Encircled Realm?!"

Lawrence gasped.

Yacheng Security Bureau actually had a second Transcendent who had reached the Realm of Heaven and Man?!

And it was that temporary team leader who parachuted into the North Mountain group position and was squeezed out by the Security Bureau's cold violence?

Did I actually underestimate her?

No, this feeling...

In a flash of thought, Lawrence came to an epiphany.

"Dyeing the world, turning it into a barrier and a desperate situation, such a matrix... it's you!"

He stared wide-eyed at that indifferent face; there was no blood left on the once-beautiful countenance, and there were no ripples in the calm eyes. Only the corners of the mouth, which seemed to curl up slightly like a hallucination, were like a masterpiece carved by a peerless saint, interpreting the flowing joys and sorrows.

It was as if she had become a deity in a sanctuary, looking down arrogantly.

The pain, desire, sorrow, and joy of the human world could no longer shake her in the slightest!

"—【Minerva】!"

"How nostalgic."

Wen Wen sighed lightly and raised her hand: "It has been a long time since anyone dared to call me that to my face..."

Boom!

From that moment of change, without any warning, Wen Wen's figure was already within reach!

Her right hand's five fingers clenched and punched out.

As if crystalline illusory light shrouded it, making that hand also look like an artwork carved from crystal.

But with just one punch, the vast Encircled Realm trembled and roared.

The sound of shattering was incessant.

In a snap, Lawrence's hands, tentacles, and even the bones of his upper body were all shattered, and his flesh exploded.

Amidst the howling gale, crimson blood and shredded meat kept falling off the bone frame covered in cracks, flying out like enchanting, fluttering flags!

But on that shattered face, what appeared was actually a smile.

So mocking.

"Haha, hahahaha, even the Heavenly Human couldn't finish you off? The Federation actually let you live? Your bounty is much higher than mine!"

Countless writhing worms like blood threads quickly regenerated from the skeleton, weaving into a sinister and eerie face, which was unmistakably Lawrence's true appearance.

Even if instantly severely wounded, the followers of 【Vortex】 were always known for their vigorous vitality and terrifying recovery power, with countless ways to save their lives. Even if crushed to powder, for a Transcendent like Lawrence who had reached the Rebirth Rank for many years, as long as his parasites remained, reorganizing his body was just a matter of a snap!

And more importantly, even Lawrence himself found it hard to believe...

Wen Wen had become weaker!

If the woman before him had made him feel a chill all over before the Encircled Realm unfolded, after the Encircled Realm covered the area, the threat level had instead plummeted rapidly to merely a troublesome degree.

"Too ridiculous, Minerva. The dignified Rift Realm executioner, the mad dog butcher, have you actually become soft-hearted to this extent?"

He found it hard to believe, almost suspecting this was some trick or conspiracy, and questioned: "You spent so much effort just to save the lives of those consumables?"

At this moment, within the range of Minerva's Encircled Realm, all life, all the ordinary people who had fainted in Mercy Hospital, and the innocent ones caught in it, were all frozen within the crystals, isolating them from the erosion and influence of the Vortex Planting Technique and parasites, even if they were unconscious or on the verge of death...

Time seemed to have stopped.

All states were forcibly fixed at the moment the crystals covered them.

The frozen realm of the 【Ruins】 Dao was actually covered onto everyone so exaggeratedly? Even for Minerva, this was too exaggerated!

Wen Wen moved forward.

Responding to him was another iron fist capable of crushing a building head-on!

Pure matter, pure power, brilliant wind and thunder burst from between her five fingers, operating and punching out, moving forward like a hot knife through butter, piercing a huge hole through Lawrence's regenerated body!

"To deal with you, this is enough!"

Vortex represents life.

The Ruins represents eternal, unchanging matter.

The crystallization ability paired with the top-tier matrix of the Ruins Dao, Minerva, created this indestructible power in head-on combat, and even a terrifying defense that surpassed those of the same rank!

Anyone with a brain would not attempt to shake those humanoid fortresses that were fully metalized and maxed out in offense and defense!

It's just a pity, it's only relative...

Once an unreachable cliff standing like it connected to the sky, now it was just a thick, hard high wall; even if equally troublesome, it lacked the majestic spirit of coexisting with the world and the incomparable terrifying pressure.

Weak, too weak.

Even if the power still maintained its original height, the mind had already become soft to a mess!

"The thing the Ruins Dao needs least is the human heart!"

Pop!

In that instant, a crisp shattering sound rang out.

On the crystal light, cracks appeared.

Viscous blood slowly seeped out from the wound on her abdomen, drop by drop, falling to the ground, hissing, and blooming into sharp and cold crystal flowers.

"I am curious—"

Lawrence raised his regenerated limbs; between the dancing tentacles, the sharp blade hidden in the blind spot finally extended from the flesh.

The eerie sharp blade was full of pitch black, faintly revealing patterns in the reflection of the crystal light, then fleeting, hiding in the gloom, making it difficult to see the outline.

Accompanied by the licking of his long tongue, the alienated blood fell onto the tip of his tongue, carefully tasting the burning and stinging sensation within, Lawrence grinned: "The 'Heavenly Work: Nightfall', known for piercing the world's iron-walled city defenses—compared to Minerva's defense, which one is stronger?"

The shrill whistling sound suddenly ceased.

From between the closed five fingers.

Under the shattered crystal light, blood oozed out, but the fresh blood quickly transformed into crystals superior to steel, spreading, interlocking, and shackling.

"A piece of broken scrap iron?"

Wen Wen asked, "Is this your reliance?"

Her other fist, just like that, was raised.

Clenched.

Immediately following, what was unleashed was a raging wave capable of shaking the entire hospital; the crystals proliferating from the earth sprayed out like waves, spreading.

With just one punch, a hurricane was unleashed.

Blood flew, shredded meat splattered; Lawrence, who was hit head-on by the punch, had already turned into a broken, withered skeleton, but in the withered skeleton's eyes, ferocious flame light was still surging.

Filled with ecstasy and joy.

Blocked it!

"Haha, hahahahahaha!"

Right in front of Minerva's fist was his outstretched palm, now only half a skeleton remaining. But on the skeleton, brand-new flesh and tissue were rapidly proliferating.

Completely different from the fragile mortal body of the past.

It was a complex structure superior to all scales and tendons in the mortal world, and even more solemn was the wisp of sweet crimson surging within it.

Brilliant and dazzling, like red light!

With just this one drop, integrated into the body, it instantly recreated a shell capable of confronting Minerva head-on!

"I have succeeded! I have succeeded!"

Lawrence laughed loudly, the flesh behind him unfolded, tentacles extended, like arms spreading out, reaching toward the branches hanging down from the giant tree above the firmament, clenching, connecting, and extracting!

Greedily sucking on this miraculous nectar, the glorious result squeezed out from countless deaths and sufferings!

"Above all things, the one who exhausts the greatness of all phenomena is the Dragon."

He piously chanted the ancient poems passed down within the Dragon Sacrifice Society, intoxicated by this wonderful metamorphosis: "Destruction and disaster are His breath, pain and despair are His blood!"

Now, the dragon blood came from hell, and the transformation had begun.

He would evolve, he would ascend.

He would be reborn from the dragon blood!

Amidst the wild laughter, Lawrence felt the transformation of the Vortex Planting Technique strangely stagnate for a moment, but it quickly returned to normal, as if it were a hallucination.

Only within the entanglement of the giant tree's countless roots, Ji Jue's little finger, in his sleep, moved imperceptibly.

Like a spasm in a nightmare.

Futile struggle.

Just like suddenly falling into the deep sea, unable to breathe.

From an unprecedented coldness and suffocation, Ji Jue fell into a nightmare with no end in sight, drifting with the tide, falling toward the deeper depths.

As far as the eye could see, only crimson was glimpsed; listening closely, what echoed in his mind were laments.

It was as if ten thousand people were crying at the same time, sorrowful shouts, futile roars, struggling, and finally, tiredly letting go of their hands, just like that, falling into the abyss, never to return.

What remained were only corpses and tears.

Those tears gathered into an ocean, the tide rose high, and in the tide of crying, everything was swallowed.

"Why kill me, why?!"

From the trance, it seemed someone was pulling his collar, questioning him with all their might: "I'm just a worker, I've only been here for a few months! I'm innocent!"

But before Ji Jue could answer, the phantom seemed to dissipate again, replaced by a tired and disheveled man, covered in coal ash, pounding on the door in front of him again and again, "Where's the money? Where's my money? Boss, didn't you say you'd pay me today!"

The iron door still stood tall, no one responded.

"You're all liars, you're all lying to me!"

The man with no way out cried sorrowfully, raising a hammer, "I'll fight you to the death!"

He smashed the door open, and gunshots rang out.

Everything came to an abrupt halt, the illusion dissipated.

Ji Jue heard the familiar ticking sound, the smell of disinfectant lingering on the tip of his nose; he turned his head blankly and saw the dirty hospital room, and the withered woman on the hospital bed, her hair already fallen out, revealing wrinkled scalp.

"Eat something, eat a little more."

The man accompanying her raised the rice bowl, stubbly-bearded, smiling ingratiatingly: "You have to do chemotherapy in the afternoon, eat something to have some energy."

But she didn't eat.

She could barely lift her hand anymore.

"Listen to me, let's stop the treatment, let's go home, okay?"

In the long silence, she said softly, "This illness costs too much money."

The man stiffened in place, the hand holding the noodle bowl suspended in the air, but his spine gradually hunched down, as if bent by something invisible.

He lowered his head.

"Mm."

This was the last sound before the tears fell.

And then, it was a torrential downpour; in the blurred world, there was only wailing, and the woman on the ground rolled, hugging the child's thigh, begging with tears streaming down her face: "Stop sucking! Don't suck anymore! Just consider it Mom begging you, once you get hooked on this thing, your whole life is ruined!"

Bang!

A stick came down, drowning out the sound of the rainstorm.

The world spun.

In another closed room, the wailing and groaning coming from the bed, the naked woman covered in blood, her hair pulled, was smashed against the wall, and then, silently endured one slap after another, one punch after another.

Letting the man covered in tattoos brutally ravage her, until the man had enough, pulled off his belt, and dragged her face up from the ground: "Bitch, does it feel good?"

In cowering and fear, that familiar face twitched, struggling to squeeze out a smile: "Brother Yang, you're so fierce, I like it so much."

Even though blood was slowly flowing from the corner of her eye, the smile was so sweet.

As if joyful.

Please, please, please don't hit me anymore.

Until the very end, she didn't have the courage to say such words.

Ji Jue closed his eyes, not wanting to look anymore.

But those noisy sounds kept entering his ears, until the end, they all turned into a hoarse and turbid sound, like a prayer.

"Great merciful Buddha Bodhisattva, please protect and save this child, save her... this disciple has heavy karmic obstacles, deserving of sinking into the eight sufferings and enduring the Avici Hell. But she is still young, she hasn't even gone to school..."

In front of the Buddha statue, the old man's tears streamed down his face, just like that, kowtowing forcefully, praying hoarsely.

Repeating it over and over, never daring to stop.

Besides praying, he had no other way.

But the gods and Buddhas did not respond.

Only the hoarse prayer like a sob, in the dead silence, gradually ceased.

Enough!

Stop it, I beg you all.

Let me go!

Ji Jue covered his ears, but it was useless.

More sounds, more images, those memories, scenes, and nightmares poured into his consciousness and head continuously; he wanted to scream and cry, but he couldn't make a sound amidst the countless laments.

He was still falling, toward the deeper depths of despair.

Until the end, a dead silence.

It was finally over.

For a moment, that was what he thought, until flames ignited from the ruins and wreckage, spreading, illuminating the outline of hell.

On the scorched earth, flames leaped. The wind carrying sulfur and ash rose, blowing away the black smoke that blotted out the sky, revealing the scorching red night sky.

The stars twisted and wound like melted glass, dripping a wisp of dim light.

Just like that, reflecting the decadent world.

The appearance of this disaster that had swept through.

Nightmare reappeared.

Shattering sounds, echoes of collapse, the piercing friction of twisting steel, and also, distant and ethereal singing, coming from within the flames; the singing was hoarse and broken, yet so gentle.

Ten years ago, the Tide Flame Disaster.

Ji Jue finally understood, he had arrived at the deepest part of hell.

A place that belonged to him.

On the shattered and cracked earth, the tracks had already been scorched red and melted, the carriages that had derailed rolled on the scorched earth, scattering corpses, and finally fell into the ashes.

Flames spread between the broken seats, thick smoke billowing.

Amidst the fragments and scorched earth, there were still people wailing, struggling, wanting to crawl out from the flames, and finally, they were annihilated in the ruins.

"... The sun sets, the night arrives."

In the broken carriage, someone was singing a lullaby softly, the gentle singing echoing in the flames and thick smoke: "Close your eyes quickly, sweet dreams embrace you."

Ji Jue stiffened in place, staring blankly at the half-broken door in front of him, but dared not push it open.

Wanting to turn and flee, but having nowhere to go.

"The stars shine, the bright moon rises."

The singing sang softly: "Look at the sunset's afterglow, I will accompany you, wait for you to wake up, going nowhere... wait for you to wake up, sweet dreams accompany you..."

Pop!

The broken door fell from the flames, and the tragic scene inside the carriage was reflected in Ji Jue's eyes.

Like hell.

But in hell, someone was singing, bathed in flames.

She knelt on the ground, holding the unconscious child, putting the only gas mask on his face. Wrapping him in a fireproof blanket, using her own embrace to block all the gaps.

And so, she revealed a smile.

So happy.

Just like that, while being scorched by the flames, she sang, gradually losing her breath. Only the hoarse singing echoed in the child's dreams, over and over, accompanying him, as if it would extend into eternity.

As if she had never been far away.

Ji Jue stumbled forward, letting the flames burn him.

Walking toward the end of the dream.

This was the final outcome left by that great catastrophe.

What Cursed Ones, Transcendents, what miracles of life... Ji Jue didn't understand what those guys were babbling about at all; he couldn't understand, and they, too, were all wrong.

"The person who should have survived back then wasn't me, right, Mom?"

Ji Jue stared at her appearance and asked softly: "I was the lucky one who wasn't originally on the survivor list."

Ten years ago, on this train that could never reach its destination, there was a child named Ji Jue who should have died in the disaster and returned to dust.

But someone swapped him out of hell.

Using herself.

Ji Jue slowly reached out his hand, wanting to touch her cheek, but his fingers stopped in mid-air, not daring to move forward. Afraid that she would turn into a bubble that would shatter at a touch, leaving no trace.

Only tears could not help but fall.

"I miss you, Mom."

He whispered softly, "I really do."

In the silence, no one responded, but the sound of the flames burning suddenly disappeared.

Only the singing.

The singing echoed in hell, over and over, gradually becoming clear, like the tide, rising slowly, unswervingly.

From the end of the singing, suddenly a high-pitched whistle sounded again!!!

The darkness was pierced, the scorched earth was nowhere to be found, the flames disappeared in the howling wind, the nightmare was torn apart, easily crushed into fragments.

Responding to his call, the dream that had accompanied him for ten years rose from the deepest part of despair.

Swallowing everything!

As if time had reversed.

The gentle sunset glow spilled in from outside the window; amidst the sound of the train hitting the tracks, Ji Jue woke up from the nightmare, staring blankly at everything familiar.

It was as if he had returned to before the disaster arrived, he was still on that train rushing forward, embraced by those warm memories.

"You look so sad, Ji Jue."

Someone gently stroked his cheek, her eyes gentle.

Ji Jue looked at her, several times, opening his mouth to speak, but in the end, he couldn't help but lower his head, dodging her gaze: "I'm just... a little tired."

"Then get some good rest, it's okay to sleep a little longer." She rubbed Ji Jue's hair: "If something is too hard, you also have to learn to give up appropriately."

"Mom, can you hug me?" Ji Jue pleaded softly.

"Of course."

She didn't hesitate, opening her arms and embracing the child she had been separated from for ten years. Even though she was so slender and thin, being hugged by her felt so safe, as if there was nothing to fear.

The whole world couldn't hurt him.

Ji Jue closed his eyes, his tense body relaxed. Just like that, listening to her humming, feeling her temperature and breath.

The sweet dream was so long, as if there was no end.

Until he opened his eyes again and clenched the ticking watch on his wrist.

"Are you leaving?" she asked.

"Mm."

Ji Jue looked at her: "There are still some things that must be done, although it's very difficult... but don't worry, I'll handle it, just like in the past, nothing can stop me."

"Goodbye, Mom."

He took a deep breath and said his final farewell: "I might... never be able to come back again."

A light laugh rang out, as if looking at a child who was looking for trouble for himself, even though it was such a simple thing.

"Then keep moving forward, don't look back anymore."

She smiled, holding the boy's face: "I will watch you, no matter where you go, no matter what direction you head in. I will miss you, just as you miss me."

Just like that, hugging him for the last time.

Leaving a gentle kiss on his forehead.

Just like that, watching Ji Jue turn and leave.

Ji Jue walked a few steps forward, unable to help wanting to look back again, but didn't dare, until he heard the voice behind him.

"Ji Jue!"

Under the sunset glow, she called his name and waved: "Do your best."

"Mm."

Ji Jue nodded forcefully, wiped away his tears, turned around, and pushed open the door at the end of the carriage.

Saying goodbye to everything in the past.

The train seemed to have gone far away, disappearing, just like that distant dream.

Ji Jue fell into the blood-colored deep sea again, cold, suffocating, painful, but so familiar; this time, he was no longer afraid or terrified.

Just like that, he raised his head, staring at the countless humble pains and the lingering echoes of despair.

"Hey! Can you hear me?"

Ji Jue took a deep breath and shouted with all his might: "I'm right here!"

In that instant, the crimson ocean surged, agitated, as if boiling. Countless streams of blood-colored anger flowed toward him, wanting to tear this foreign object that didn't exist here to shreds.

"Come out with me."

Ji Jue reached out his hand, issuing an invitation to those departed obsessions: "I'll help you get revenge."

In an instant, the crimson fell into dead silence, as if frozen.

The wailing and crying ceased abruptly.

It seemed as if countless pairs of eyes were looking over from the dead world, staring at the boy in front of them, disturbing each other, fighting, and stirring up unprecedented turbulence.

Finally, they turned into blood-stained palms.

Grasping his hand!

The contract was concluded here.

In that instant, the ocean gathered from infinite pain and despair opened from the center!

The torrent surged, swallowing Ji Jue; the infinite pain was like mountain ranges, supporting him, rising, toward the mortal world, toward that world that didn't belong to them.

In that instant, Ji Jue opened his eyes.

Through the eerie giant tree, he stared at the firmament covered in crimson, the collapsed and shattered hospital, countless crystal pillars rising from the ground, and countless writhing flesh scattered everywhere.

The figure that had turned into a monster swung its tentacles, laughing hysterically, gradually expanding.

As far as the eye could see, the world seemed to have turned into hell.

But he wasn't afraid of hell.

He had already crawled out of hell, been gifted the most precious treasure in the world; he wanted to live well, he wanted to accomplish something. Every day since that day, Ji Jue's life had been like heaven!

And now...

The time for retribution had come!

He reached out his hand...

Amidst the fierce battle, Lawrence's expression suddenly stalled, feeling the supply of dragon blood cut off again!

Don't want to split the chapter, just combined them. First day of the month, begging for monthly tickets ahhhhhh!!!!