Chapter 239: Poison and Medicine

Ten thousand feet high, the wind whistled.

Tremors and roars came from the earth, death and destruction, so distant. But the life-and-death slaughter and struggle high in the sky seemed close at hand, within reach.

Looking up, the sky was gloomy, as if gods were descending, but the gods were fighting each other.

Looking down, the world was white, everything was as small as ants, but the ants were roaring or wailing in endless slaughter.

Heaven and earth, a turbulent world, everything was filled with struggle.

Like a chessboard.

But what kind of invisible hand was manipulating all this?

Above the higher sky, who else was there?

Could it be that this is also the so-called mandate of heaven?

Ji Jue looked up, looking at the broken membrane in front of Jian Yuan, and even the huge engine roaring, but his heart was in a mess.

Jian Yuan turned his head suddenly, flame light surging in his emerald eyes, examining:

"You seem very nervous?"

"Yes."

Ji Jue lowered his eyes, pressing the wheelchair handle silently, "In this situation, how can I not be nervous?"

Jian Yuan glanced at his wheelchair, as if he could see the sharp blade hidden in the wheelchair, reminding him: "Now is not the best opportunity."

"I know, that's why I'm nervous."

Ji Jue smiled slightly, not hiding it, his gaze looking behind him: "What is this?"

"The legacy of former glory, that's all."

Jian Yuan reached out, touching the engine operating in the heat, sighing: "Lu Changsheng used this as a reward, asking me to help—the legacy of the last generation of Mohists is said to be here.

Descendants have been searching for so many years, but in vain."

Ji Jue smiled mockingly: "This kind of thing, you can't make it?"

"Even if I could make it, so what?"

Jian Yuan shook his head, "What is valuable about it is not this form, but its own mission, and behind it, the Heavenly Track that once connected the whole world..."

For a moment, Ji Jue wanted to pounce on the engine, crossing the distance within reach, awakening the residual spirit struggling in the cage.

But he couldn't move.

Reason restrained his body, forcing him to sit in the wheelchair, motionless.

When he swept his peripheral vision around, he found that the CEO had disappeared without a trace, and his heart became heavier—the dog is really a dog, and the dog leader is also a dog, and still a leader.

The two most annoying things in the world, it occupied both, how could he still be blind and count on it?

Jian Yuan was in front of him, the engine was in front of him, there was only one chance.

He must wait.

But from the brief silence, he heard Jian Yuan's mocking voice: "Aren't you here for this?"

Silence.

He was frozen in place, unable to move.

"The Mohists were just a general term in the past.

Most of them came from within the Eternal Empire, for example, the last generation of Mohists, when he sacrificed himself to block the Emperor, who could have thought that the Emperor's hand would draw a sword against the Emperor?"

Jian Yuan looked back, looking at Ji Jue, his hands tightly gripping the armrest, teasing and mocking: "Since you carry Non-Aggression and bear the inheritance of the Holy Sage, how could you know nothing about this?"

Ji Jue didn't remain silent, just shook his head indifferently:

"What if I really know nothing?"

Jian Yuan didn't speak.

Just looking at him.

Is this Ji Jue playing tricks? Or teasing?

He didn't care.

"It doesn't matter whether you know or not."

He sincerely didn't put the so-

Jian Yuan raised his hand toward the firmament: "Today, let me show you—with my creation, Jian Yuan, how much of the glory of the ancient Heavenly Orbit can be recreated?"

In that instant, an infinite light of darkness surged, erupting from within the workshop, rushing into the sky and scattering across the earth like a giant pillar connecting heaven and earth, piercing the axis of the world.

Just like the very center of the world.

The so-called position of the Heavenly Origin!

The boundary membrane collapsed completely, crumbling and melting like snow, and from within it, the high-pitched roar of the engine running at full capacity rang out like thunder, echoing through heaven and earth.

Amidst the thunder, Ji Jue subconsciously wanted to stand up, but immediately after, his vision went dark.

He could not move!

Neck, heart, arms, legs, right eye, internal organs...

All the punishments once inflicted by Jian Yuan, those cold, pitch-black runes, suddenly activated as if they were living things, changing on their own. When they connected to one another, a world-shaking change occurred in an instant, transforming into a lock that pierced through flesh and soul, locking him completely and imprisoning him within!

And then, he saw it: Jian Yuan raised both hands.

From that riddled, broken shell of a body, a complex matrix, lush like the roots of a giant tree, extended outward, transforming in the air into intricate spiritual structures.

Suddenly, it plunged into the engine, taking control of everything.

Just like a key inserted into a lock.

A perfect fit.

Click!

In that instant, a crisp sound rang through heaven and earth.

The noise and clatter of the engine vanished; all previous resistance was completely suppressed, erased, and seen no more. Replacing it was a magnificent anthem manifested by the overlapping vibrations of countless pieces of steel!

Quancheng shook violently.

And then, the firmament cracked.

A purple-black rift opened silently, spanning the entire sky above Quancheng, and then another, intersecting with the first like a blood-stained cross.

A wound in the world.

Behind the scar was a behemoth gathered from infinite darkness and eerie flowing light; merely revealing a minuscule edge seemed as if it would swallow the entire world whole.

In that instant, Ji Jue finally saw it.

The so-called 【Vortex】!

Burning or freezing, collapsing or shattering, overturning or annihilating... just by looking, countless fantasies or past histories emerged before his eyes.

As far as his reach could go, there was only infinite, profound darkness.

It was as if he were falling into a bottomless abyss...

When the flowing light erupted from the engine and shot out in all directions, it fell into Quancheng, connecting the behemoths buried in various places.

It forced one massive alchemical creation after another to run at overload, burning until they glowed red, scattering countless streams of light in all directions. After breaking through the blockade of the Heavenly Origin, they followed invisible tracks, flying toward facilities already set up throughout Haizhou...

In an instant, it reached everywhere!

That was... the Heavenly Orbit recreated by Jian Yuan!

Who knows how many years and how much time had been spent preparing for this; the cunning Evil-Transforming Sect had wandered between city-states, burying silent alchemical creations and setting up secret rituals in cities, in the wilderness, and in ruins.

Waiting for the arrival of the appointed day.

At this moment, in a mere snap of the fingers, tracks of invisible flowing light like a web completely shrouded all of Haizhou, and it was not enough—they even extended toward the Endless Sea and all other directions...

Beneath the darkness of Quancheng, amidst numerous living sacrifices and corpses, the bare-chested old monk slowly opened his eyes. The stitches of scripture on his lips snapped one by one. He opened his mouth, chanting scriptures already polluted by Sin-Taint, lightning flashing in his eyes.

One could not hear his words or voice, only the surging torrent of spiritual quality.

And the moment the seven-day chanting ended, countless words seemed to overlap at this instant, rising into the sky.

They plunged into the intersecting wounds.

Thus, amidst the praise woven from infinite evil thoughts, evil views, evil rumors, and evil desires, the Vortex vibrated, erupting with a roar.

Just like a bell being struck.

Dark and ferocious, it followed the tracks created by Jian Yuan, ringing throughout all of Haizhou, spreading.

Issuing a call...

And so, the world paused, and all was silent.

Wherever the bell sound passed, everyone froze in place.

In cities, in the wilderness, in ruins or fields, on former battlefields and burial grounds, in the soil, among corpses, in graves, in the so-called sanctuaries of underground sects, and even within human bodies, wisps of blackness rose like mist.

The suffering of the Heavenly Origin's shackles, the resentment of Bai Lu's tyranny, the thirst of failed metamorphosis, the greed of calculated schemes, the pain caused by strife, the death from disaster's poison, the delusion of being addicted to illusions...

For a long time, those evil Sins dormant in the land and souls surged like a tide, responding to the call.

And then...

—The Sins of the Four Seas, come hither!

In that instant, above the firmament, amidst the dark rainbow light that was precarious and on the verge of collapse under the strangulation of the fierce light, came a sigh and a chuckle.

"Tao Gong, in this game, I have won."

Accompanying Lu Changsheng's words, the earth shook, and infinite darkness erupted!

Sins as deep as the sea, evils as vast as the tide.

When all the Sins stored throughout Haizhou over hundreds of years gathered in one place, they transformed into a pitch-black waterfall of heaven that shrouded all of Quancheng!

Shrouding everything, descending inch by inch!

The mighty fierce light did not hesitate at all, instantly blocking the front of the pitch-black waterfall, desperately holding up the evil Sins of all Haizhou, just as it had once held up all of Quancheng!

Without the slightest hesitation.

At this moment, within Quancheng, everyone who looked up at the firmament could not help but tremble.

If the waterfall of heaven descended and erupted along with Quancheng... how many places in the vast Haizhou could survive?

It seemed the world would be destroyed in the next instant.

The apocalypse had arrived.

The firmament collapsed, the earth shook, and everything was falling apart.

Just as it had been decades ago, with everything this city had welcomed...

Those wails buried deep beneath the nine earths, those cries buried by ruins, the bones no one collected, the lingering remnants of spirits—they all seemed to come alive again at this moment.

Under the unprecedented erosion of Sin-Taint, the shadows of the past reappeared before his eyes, then quickly dissipated, like fleeting light and passing shadows, gone in a flash.

Right in front of Ji Jue.

On a shattered face, blood flowed slowly, falling into the unseen soil. In the rising flames, one wailing figure after another disappeared.

It was as if weeping had begun; amidst the trampling, no one cared.

The manifested evil has already marked you in four places, and all three of the non-existent evils are entangled with your aura. Not to mention the marks left on you by the nine supreme goods... and Ink, Non-Aggression?"

So forcefully.

Lowering her head, she comforted him softly; she smiled, as if saying something, but it could not be heard clearly.

Only tears fell slowly from that pale face.

Crossing the smile.

Reflecting the final lingering light.

Ji Jue subconsciously reached out his hand, wanting to touch, but the phantom dissipated quickly.

They had died long ago.

Died many years ago.

Forgotten by people, ignored by people, buried by people...

From the dead silence, he looked around in a daze, asking hoarsely: "... What will happen to Haizhou?"

Jian Yuan pondered for a moment, "Half-polluted, I suppose."

"And Yacheng?"

"If you're lucky, it will escape, after all, it's so far away."

Jian Yuan answered indifferently, "But even so, what does that have to do with you?"

Ji Jue raised his eyes and glared, wanting to speak, but saw his smile.

So mocking.

"Do you really care as much as you think you do? Or have you really managed to hold onto anything?"

The profound Artisan raised his eyes arrogantly, looking down: "The creation of Non-Aggression is truly heaven-sent; all things are made by ten fingers, omnipotent, possessing everything.

But the flaw lies in you, because you reach your hand toward the void, which is why you cannot grasp anything—what you see, what you choose, is only a vast wasteland."

He said, "This is your essence."

"Even now, does the Artisan still expect to shake me with that set of stagnant, rotten theories?"

Ji Jue asked coldly in return: "How powerless are words; why not repeat your old tricks, so I can see if I will bow to you?!"

Jian Yuan's eyebrows slowly arched.

Doubt, realization, and even an indelible mockery.

He could no longer help but grin and laugh out loud.

Leaning back and forth.

"So that's how it is, so that's how it is! Ha, hahahaha, hahahahaha... hahahahahaha!!!"

"There is one thing I forgot to tell you..."

Jian Yuan almost laughed to tears, saying intermittently: "Perhaps you have misunderstood, but the Candle-Illumination ritual you endured before was not a ritual pointing toward stagnation and rot."

He paused for a moment, his smile becoming even more ferocious:

"On the contrary, that is the essence of the Ember Path passed down for thousands of years!

Even as the host, it is difficult for me to know exactly what you saw. Because what it reflects is the future you want to see, the world you want to create.

What it guides is the path you want to walk in your heart...

But what is it that you saw?"

He questioned mockingly:

"—Is it destruction or death?!"

Ji Jue remained unmoved, glaring coldly, "Wasn't it you who instilled the theory of stagnation and rot before this?"

"How can a mere three days of work compare to the life you have insisted upon since birth? How can it compare to the teachings Ye Xian has dinned into your ears day after day?"

Jian Yuan stepped forward, looking down at him, asking word by word: "How much of this is my guidance? How much is what you truly want and seek in your heart? And how much is what flows from your essence?

Isn't what you see the real you, stripped of all pretense and disguise?!"

Just like that, amidst Ji Jue's silence and stupor, he admired the wavering and anger hidden behind that indifferent expression, his smile deepening, as if watching a sharp blade being gradually tempered in a furnace.

"I said before, an artisan never misidentifies materials.

From the first moment I saw you, I knew what kind of monster you were—"

Jian Yuan bent down to look Ji Jue in the eye, flames surging in his emerald eyes, piercing through all disguises: "I have never seen such a twisted soul, never seen such a contradictory structure.

Your heart is empty; you sneer at everything high-sounding, using a non-existent thing as a pillar, like a prisoner drawing a circle on the ground as a prison.

I can see it.

You are like the legendary Sisyphus, cycling day after day, running for your life, yet not knowing where to go, and not daring to stop.

Until one day, you are completely unrecognizable...

Precisely because of this, you are so painful, so eager for death!"

"No wonder so many great Sins are so fond of you!

Compared to a guy like you who chases the void, what am I, a lunatic, worth?"

Jian Yuan reached out and pointed to Ji Jue's heart: "The arrogance of Stagnation, the void of the Abyss, the madness of the Slaughterer, the desolation of the Vortex, the distortion of the Tower, the hunger of the Wolf, are all here...

You don't care about your own life; no matter how tenacious the struggle seems, one day, you won't care about anyone's life, because you are that kind of person, and you will eventually become that kind of monster!"

Ji Jue was silent.

He did not answer, as if frozen.

From this silence, he seemed to hear his own heartbeat, rising and falling amidst the intervals of wailing, so low. Blood flowed in his veins like tides washing the shore, the echo hollow.

So much so that he did not hear Jian Yuan's words clearly.

Perhaps he was right; this was his essence, this was his ugly appearance hidden behind a smile, he was such a freak.

He could not escape anymore.

But those things were not very important.

His gaze was attracted by something more important.

As if passing through Jian Yuan's obstruction, he stared intently at the fleeting phantoms appearing in the Sin-Taint pollution, the final remnants of those who had passed away.

Those strange and blurred faces.

Fighting and shoving, or retreating and fleeing.

Crying, cursing, calling out, or shouting, but no sound could be heard.

It was like struggling in vain in a quagmire, reaching out in vain, time and time again, wanting to grab something, but grabbing nothing.

Only when they embraced each other did tears fall.

Passing through his palm, falling to the ground, splashing the last glimmer of phantom light.

Ji Jue lowered his head, and upon coming to his senses, he realized his palm had been outstretched again without him knowing.

The empty palm still held nothing.

So futile.

But he suddenly laughed.

Mockingly grinning.

Mocking Jian Yuan, and mocking himself.

"No."

He raised his head, showing his empty palm to the Artisan before him, telling him:

"I care."

Dead silence; Jian Yuan did not speak.

He only looked down at him, his eyes gradually turning cold.

It was like looking at a piece of rotten wood that could never be carved, a sharp blade in a furnace covered in rust and dust, contentedly dissolving into a twisted shape.

In the end...

Hopeless!

Boom!!!

Above the nine heavens, the waterfall of heaven erupted, the pitch-black tide of Sin rolled and spilled, gradually swallowing that thin, dim white light. Amidst the roar, the decree of the Heavenly Origin revealed cracks, one after another...

Riddled with holes.

Thus, pitch-black rain fell, gradually drowning the entire ruined city.

Falling into Lu Changsheng's hands.

"Look, Tao Gong, the filth of the world, the evil Sins of the human heart, are like the ocean."

Beneath the dark rainbow light, Lu Changsheng lowered his eyes to gaze at the drops of Sin-Taint essence in his palm that looked like venom, asking curiously: "Why are you, the Supreme Virtuous ones, unwilling to take a look?"

Tao Gong was silent, still wordless.

Only Lu Changsheng raised his head, bathing in the rain of evil Sin, the rainbow light filling the sky expanding, appearing even more profound and eerie.

Thus, looking down at the world gradually shrouded by rain, at those tides of Sin-Taint rushing into the sky, he no longer restrained himself and laughed toward the sky.

"I have always had a question."

The low laughter spread from above the firmament, ringing through Quancheng, echoing in everyone's ears: "Since this world was created by the Supreme Virtues, then why were the Sins formed?"

"Until I finally figured out another question—it is not that people throw themselves into Sin, but that Sin is cast by people!

Only those who cannot live, cannot understand, cannot find a path, and have no place to stay will throw themselves into Sin...

But were these people created by the Sins?

Before that, wasn't what they received the grace of you Supreme Virtues?!"

No one responded.

Only wails like tides, screams like thunder, echoing endlessly.

The Saint of the Evil-Transforming Sect raised his voice, questioning: "When the disaster first happened, it was the Federation that abandoned this place; when the distortion spread, it was the Anquan Bureau that chose to blockade it; and what led everything to this state is the world you are accustomed to and proud of!"

Lu Changsheng raised his head, looked around, and spread his arms contemptuously, "Quancheng, distortion, sinking...

These are all things you don't want.

But since you don't want them, why can't they be left to those you do not tolerate?!"

In that instant, the world was vast, yet abruptly silent.

From above the firmament, from a place even further away, a thunder-like wrath and killing intent descended, so cold.

"Ha, hahahaha, hahahahaha."

Lu Changsheng laughed, hoarse and violent, finally asking: "If the Supreme Virtue is the principle of this world, then evil Sin should also be a part of the world!

Why can't you tolerate me and you competing on the same stage?!"

Boom!!!

In an instant, accompanying the rise of his aura, violent pressure descended from heaven and earth, as if to freeze everything.

That was not human intervention, but the absolute punishment that descended the moment the iron law of the Supreme Virtue was touched.

Sins rose, fierce light flashed.

Right between the projection of the Vortex and the present world, Lu Changsheng unreservedly revealed his own soul. Accompanied by the mighty torrent of spiritual quality, the Heavenly Human of the Evil-Foolish kind was now almost frantically extracting the infinite evil Sins between heaven and earth, and even...

Going a step further!

"No need for Tao Gong to worry anymore..."

"—I will bear all the evils of this world myself!"

The rainbow light filling the sky suddenly collapsed.

Lu Changsheng's body fell apart, alienating and growing; in an instant, he transformed into an amorphous behemoth, vaguely outlining an eerie body, bathing in the infinite waterfall of heaven, shedding his old form.

Or perhaps, revealing his true appearance...

Like a holy image cast from bones and blood, four heads and three eyes, purple, green, and indigo flowing ceaselessly, completely different from the past, only the mocking smile on that face remained the same.

Thus, standing in the present world, he reached out toward the Vortex.

Clenching his hand in the air.

In that instant, the massive Vortex above Quancheng vibrated violently, surging mightily. Behind the Vortex, it seemed as if some behemoth was dying, wailing, and falling apart.

Thus, pitch-black divine essence flowed out, fell, and merged into his body, making that body even more eerie.

Holy and ferocious.

At this moment, under his response, the two wounds in the present world above the firmament that had originally begun to heal actually opened toward the sides again!

After plundering the divine essence of several high-level Sins, he transformed himself into a high-level Sin!

Just like that, using himself as an anchor, he Sin-Tainted Quancheng, taking root in the present world!

From now on, Quancheng is the extension of the Vortex in the present world, the sanctuary of the Evil-Foolish kind!

No need to cower and be shackled in the Vortex beneath the present world like other high-level Sins...

He himself is the Sin of the human world!

At this moment, amidst the silence of the world, Lu Changsheng raised his head, looking down at everyone, finally looking back at the blurred figures gradually emerging in the dim light behind him.

"It looks like I won."

Lu Changsheng asked solemnly: "Tao Gong, do you want to go back on your word?"

If you want to clear away the Sin-Taint and save Quancheng...

This is your last chance!

By now, with the changes in the situation time and again, the bet they had made could no longer shackle the status quo. Tao Cheng could easily flip the table, breaking the final tacit understanding... and then, let all this struggle escalate completely!

At this very moment, Quancheng, which seemed to be swaying in the wind and rain, had already attracted who knows how many gazes.

Even if Tao Cheng walked away, the moment the outcome was determined, it would become the fuse for another cruel war.

From the darkness in all directions, high-level Sins, sages in the world, Heavenly Humans or Sins, the Empire or the Wild Market... who knows how many people were impatient to place their bets.

Waiting for the choice.

At this moment, when that old figure appeared above the firmament, he felt who knows how many gazes cast upon him.

One could not see the radiant appearance of a dignified Heavenly Human.

Pupils turbid, white hair mottled.

Just like an old man who could be seen anywhere.

But the moment Tao Cheng appeared, Lu Changsheng became instantly vigilant, as if facing a great enemy.

"I never thought I would fall to this state, but it seems... it's not strange either."

Tao Cheng sighed lightly: "When it comes to the sinister nature of the human heart, you surpass me by who knows how much. With your spirit and the ambition to turn evil into good, all these years of preparation and waiting...

Now that it has been launched, the timing, the geographical advantage, and the so-called 'human harmony' are all in your hands.

And I, however, have nowhere to retreat."

He looked at Lu Changsheng: "Just looking at how you have integrated so many things today and stirred up the situation, it is almost the Heavenly Origin of the evil kind. If the Tower yet to exist takes shape, I'm afraid it will also cast a shadow for you, right?"

Lu Changsheng shook his head, "Isn't this thanks to Tao Gong's hands-on teaching?"

"Wrong."

Tao Cheng's smile gradually became strange, or perhaps, it could be called mocking.

"I have never been able to teach you anything, Lu Changsheng."

He looked around at the dark world, saying with regret: "Otherwise, you would understand—although the world is chaotic, sometimes, black and white are always clear... even if you put on the most high-sounding hat and pull out the most deafening truths, it is still the same.

Evil is evil, demon is demon, ugly is still ugly!"

"..."

Lu Changsheng was silent for a moment, sighing with regret: "A gentleman can be killed but not humiliated; it is only natural that Tao Gong is unwilling to associate with someone like me."

"Don't be so pathetic, Lu Changsheng. You say with your mouth that the snakes and rats in the gutter want to fight to the death with incompetent people like us, want to turn the world upside down, and turn evil into good.

But the righteous path has always been there, yet you have never walked it. When you pride yourself as a snake or rat, you play with ghosts and tricks, disdaining to understand the morality of living in the sunlight, and instead want to overturn everything and deny everything.

Isn't the most arrogant person here you?"

Tao Gong raised his eyes and looked at him, without anger, only compassion.

Like looking at a blind man who is clearly basking in the sun but wants to deny the sun.

"That's why you don't understand..."

He finally smiled with relief and closed his eyes.

Making Lu Changsheng's expression change drastically.

Watch closely, Lu Changsheng, this is the first lesson I want to teach you!

In that instant, Tao Cheng smiled and raised his hand.

Toward his own neck...

He slashed down.

—The so-called, sacrificing one's life for righteousness!