Chapter 659: The Path of Ascension

The torrent from the Subspace began to lift Vashtor's body.

The time frozen in the treasury by the Old Ones began to flow; the wails of those sacrifices never ceased, and the faith in those vicious weapons propelled Vashtor's ascension.

In an instant, the Subspace revealed the mournful cries of countless machines, the roaring of steel, and the cruel assembly lines of flesh-grinding, producing row after row of terrifying and horrifying weapons.

Chlorine gas, incendiary bombs, Agent Orange, mustard gas, automatic weapons, cobalt bombs, biological weapons, genetic weapons—these terrifying weapons were born in past military competitions, echoed in the Subspace, and dwelt within the realm of Vicious Arts.

Now these vicious echoes were released, piled up into layer upon layer of steps, transforming into boundless potential energy that pushed the path of ascension.

That potential energy was so powerful that even Vashtor himself could not control it or resist it.

He raised his hand, and clouds of smoke formed by the mixture of ten thousand kinds of poisonous gases danced.

He turned his head and saw behind him ten thousand guns, cannons, and weapons raging and roaring.

He opened his eyes, and reflected in his pupils were the bright furnace fires of billions of sweatshops.

The potential energy that once lifted Nurgle, Khorne, and Tzeentch must have been just as powerful, so that upon their birth they became the most extreme forms, becoming the most vile divinity.

The metal wings behind Vashtor, sharp as blades, suddenly spread open; furnace fire gushed from the void, transforming into screaming and roaring craftsmen who wielded fire-wielding hammers, striking Vashtor's wings, causing them to iterate, update, and leap faster and faster, eventually surpassing the limitations of the material universe, sending him straight into the clouds of the High Heaven.

At this moment, all confusion in his mind vanished with the unfolding of the path of ascension; questions he once could not understand were smoothly resolved at this moment; his intellect was leaping forward, and his gaze was piercing the essence of the world.

He knew where he came from, where he was going, and why he was born.

He was part of the "Weapon," the Lord of Vicious Arts in the Heijiang Sect's Old Ones' plan.

The Heijiang Sect—how simple and clear; Vashtor had actually never figured this out before.

Those fallen, war-maddened Old Ones believed this universe had no possibility of redemption.

They intended to create one final "Weapon" to completely destroy this galaxy.

The essence of that "Weapon" was the realm of Erosion and Destruction, the Dark King.

But at that time in the galaxy, Slaanesh had not yet been born, making the birth of the Dark King difficult.

The Old Ones' first choice at that time was to cultivate Slaanesh, and then cultivate the Dark King.

But the environment at that time was unsuitable for cultivating Slaanesh, and finding a way for the Dark King to be born was even more difficult.

Thus, the Old Ones chose another path.

They intended to use the realm of Vicious Arts to catalyze the birth of Slaanesh and the Dark King.

In the boundless competition, the realm of Vicious Arts had actually begun to manifest; Vashtor's Soul Furnace was built upon this foundation.

Thus, they used their faith in weapon iteration and technological innovation to cultivate Vashtor.

In the Old Ones' plan, Vashtor was to contain their faith, use the souls of countless races that fell in the arms race across the stars as sacrifices, and combine the three divine artifacts symbolizing the three aspects of creativity as the ritual to complete the ascension.

This is why the three Old Ones' divine artifacts always longed for Ke Wang Zhu Zhong, and why Vashtor was always obsessed with obtaining the "Weapon" to ascend.

Because this was the manifest destiny the Old Ones bestowed upon them when they were first born.

And the moment Vashtor completed the ascension, the fate cast within him by the Old Ones would take effect.

The arts he symbolized were inclined toward destruction, ruin, without restraint, and without control from the very beginning.

His birth would inevitably lead to more destruction and ruin in the galaxy, nourishing the entire realm of Erosion and Destruction.

At the same time, the rule that gods are born in sequence destined him to press down upon the realm of Erosion and Destruction, promoting the birth of the Dark King.

He would become a molten furnace hammer, pulled from the furnace fire of Vicious Arts, falling from the High Heaven, smashing down upon the realm of Erosion and Destruction, forcing the Dark King to be born, making that divinity born of destruction manifest in the world, and holding this furnace hammer, he would burn the entire universe to ashes.

But ultimately, the Heijiang Sect was stopped by the Fuyin Sect, the three Old Ones' divine artifacts were split apart, Vashtor was hidden in the Subspace, and even the Old Ones themselves were eventually extinguished in the galaxy.

Now, after such a long detour and waiting for so many years, the grand wish of the Heijiang Sect was finally realized.

The lingering thoughts of those dead Old Ones circled around Vashtor; their intellect was squeezed out, their inspiration became roaring sparks, and their creativity became hammers striking Vashtor's body.

Even more, even more terrifying creativity from ten thousand races was applied to Vashtor, reshaping and ascending his body.

Vashtor's volume became increasingly massive; the metal on his body turned into molten orange-red under constant hammering.

At this moment, he was like a semi-molten winged long dragon, with a dark metal upper body and a bright molten orange lower body; around him circled those craftsmen formed from vicious creativity, constantly updating and iterating his body, pushing him to higher levels.

But as Vashtor looked at those lingering thoughts of the Old Ones circling around him, anger, contempt, and disbelief surged in his heart.

This being, born from the faith of the Heijiang Sect's Old Ones, roared at those who created Him:

"How cowardly have you become?"

"There are still so many unknowns in this universe yet to be solved; there is still so much creativity in this universe yet to be released."

"You are actually going to set this universe ablaze; where has your thirst for knowledge gone? Where has your creativity gone?"

After the anger, despair surged in Vashtor's heart.

His purpose in pursuing ascension was to gain more knowledge and witness the truth of this world.

But now, once He completes the ascension, the Dark King will be born under His heavy pressure, and this world will eventually be destroyed.

Vashtor raised his hand to look, seeing the realm of Vicious Arts pressing down upon Erosion and Destruction, seeing the black great sun on the High Heaven of the Subspace being stained by the orange-red furnace fire, and seeing the body of the Master of Humanity on the Wang Zuo being ignited by the furnace fire.

Vashtor could not even stop it.

He let out a sigh of sorrow.

But after the sigh, Vashtor quickly turned his gaze back to the knowledge that began to unfold before him with His ascension.

Even at this very moment, His thirst for knowledge remained unstoppable; looking at that complex knowledge, watching the truths between the stars unfold bit by bit before His eyes, He could not help but begin to absorb this knowledge.

Even though the Dark King was waiting at the end of the ascension, Vashtor still could not help but immerse Himself in this knowledge, immersed in the joy of acquiring truth.

But just at this very moment, a crisp sound of a door opening rang out behind Vashtor.

Vashtor turned his head to look behind him, only to see in the void a wooden door, pinkish-red in color, suddenly appear and then open.

Laughter, binary prayers, the sound of gears turning, the surging of steam, and the howling of Gao Si came simultaneously from within the door.

Countless mini Doras of various colors crawled out from the door, transforming into waves of color that surged into this treasury.