Chapter 00122: The Descent into Corruption
# The Descent into Corruption
Chapter 122
Novel: Above Destiny
Chapter 122: The Descent into Corruption
"Whoa! Was that thunder?"
Under the shade of a tree outside the residential area, Ji Jue felt the ground tremble suddenly.
He couldn't help but look up, his gaze drawn to the surging spiritual energy erupting from within the community in the distance.
It was like a storm.
What he sensed was a familiar aura, but it was no longer gentle or patient.
Instead, it was filled with an overwhelming ferocity.
The warmth of spring had turned into the icy blizzard of winter, and the gentle sun had transformed into raging molten lava.
Old Zhang?!
"Is... is this for real?" Ji Jue muttered, stunned.
"Of course! Old Zhang is one of the founding members of the Cliff City Security Bureau. He's been around since the very beginning," Tong Hua said, holding an ice cream cone, her eyes sparkling with excitement.
"Not many people know about him these days. He retired a long time ago and is just a figurehead now. The bureau has gone through several directors since then. My grandfather used to receive a lot of help from him back in the day. Anyway, if something happens, just listen to Old Zhang. You can't go wrong."
"True," Ji Jue nodded.
Having an elder around is like having a treasure.
Having weathered countless storms and challenges, no matter how big the difficulty, they remain unshaken.
Especially someone like Old Zhang, a hidden powerhouse, coupled with Xiao An.
A bunch of small fry coming to Cliff City to make money? They wouldn't stand a chance.
But just as Ji Jue lowered his head to sip his lemonade, he heard distant screams and a loud crash.
A wall collapsed, shattered.
From within, a blood-soaked figure emerged.
Staggering, hunched over, and twitching uncontrollably.
In his hand, he dragged a heavy, notched longsword.
Blood and grime dripped slowly from the blade.
It was chilling.
"Heh, heh, heh... too many voices, too many voices," Herbert's disfigured face lifted, twitching incessantly.
His eyes, now a deep crimson, had narrowed to pinpricks as he stared at the unrecognizable world around him.
In the sea of blood, countless faces seemed to emerge, screaming in agony.
Those who had passed.
Comrades, or enemies, they clung to him.
Broken hands reached out, caressing his face, tugging at his clothes, calling his name.
But they were all dead.
How could they meet again?
"Ah, I see now..."
He finally understood.
"Is this hell?"
He felt no fear, only a profound sense of emotion.
Even the pain and torment seemed insignificant.
Tears welled up in his eyes.
After a lifetime of struggle and countless battles, what awaited him wasn't emptiness or despair.
There was still such a place?
How wonderful, truly wonderful!
Was the war still ongoing?
In the distance, the sound of a horn echoed.
Was someone calling for him?
Herbert laughed out loud.
Once more, he raised his blade.
He shouted, spreading his arms wide, wanting to embrace this cruel yet beautiful world.
Boom!
A piercing scream erupted.
His raised head suddenly tilted, as if struck by a hammer... a bullet?
Herbert turned, looking deep into the hellish abyss, where a demonic figure grinned back at him, challenging him.
He couldn't help but cheer in excitement.
"What the—"
Seeing the madman turn back with a twisted grin, Ji Jue couldn't help but curse.
The enemy hadn't been fazed, but Ji Jue was starting to crack.
Why did he keep running into opponents who could shrug off bullets?
He had wanted to pull Tong Hua away to a safer distance and observe carefully, but seeing the blood-flame-wreathed mass of chosen ones completely lose their minds, with a few reckless kids still lingering nearby, he had no choice but to take a shot first...
And just like that, he had drawn their hatred.
The moment those crimson eyes locked onto him, Ji Jue's left hand instinctively tightened on the pistol.
A faint glow emanated from the ring on his finger as his transcendent vision activated.
If a fight was inevitable, he needed to stack all his buffs first.
But in that instant, the madman in the distance seemed to vanish.
All that remained was a streak of blood-red flame hurtling toward them like a meteor, tearing through the air, smashing through cars in its path, and charging at them with maniacal laughter.
Two times, four times, eight times, sixteen times!
In the blink of an eye, the ring on Ji Jue's finger, fueled by his spiritual energy, grew scorching hot.
He was grateful now that he had chosen the most stable design when crafting it—maximum durability, maximum spiritual energy capacity, and the ability to push the blessing's effects to their limits.
Otherwise, if it had been the shoddy piece of junk he started with, it would have already started to break down at eight times.
But even now, with Ji Jue pushing the blessing equipment to its limits, the enemy's speed was still too fast to clearly discern.
Fast, too fast.
So fast that he couldn't react in time.
In that briefest of moments, all he could do was wave his hand.
The emblem of non-aggression appeared, and layers of mercury seeped out from the lining of his jacket, piercing through the water pouch and converging on his arm.
Countless strands wrapped around it, enhancing its toughness and strength under the influence of material manipulation, forming a mercury whip that lashed out and coiled around the front of the ox-cart.
Then, as the ox-cart sped forward, Ji Jue tossed the pistol aside with his other hand and grabbed Tong Hua, who was still dazed, by the collar.
In an instant, material manipulation reinforced the grip, ensuring it wouldn't tear.
A near-explosive roar erupted from the ox-cart's engine.
Under the command of mechanical divinity and the infusion of spiritual energy, it suddenly unleashed a terrifying force that threatened to rip Ji Jue's arm off.
Boom!!!
The storm howled, the roar spreading.
By the time the enemy's impact arrived, Ji Jue and Tong Hua had narrowly escaped the blast zone, brushing past it.
And then, right where they had been standing moments before, a massive banyan tree, thick enough to require three people to encircle, was split in half!
Dust and ash filled the air, but they couldn't obscure the menacing figure.
In his slowed perception, Ji Jue even saw how the twitching face's pupils locked onto him, shifting within their sockets.
Watching him the entire time!
Then, the transcendent vision finally deactivated, followed by an intense wave of pain—pain, pain, pain, pain, pain!
Instantly, his right arm went numb, twitching uncontrollably.
It wasn't from the enemy but from the sudden strain.
His muscles were severely strained, and cracks appeared in his bones.
One move, and he was already on the brink of death?!
Ji Jue was stunned.
Was this what the masses were like?
Was this what it meant to fight for your life, without protecting employers or caring about money?
Only now did he have the chance to break out in a cold sweat.
But soon, he saw Herbert, having steadied himself, turn decisively and, with a mad laugh, raise his hand and hurl the cracked blade toward him.
Like a cannonball, it whistled through the air, spinning toward them!
Ji Jue didn't even have time to steer the ox-cart.
At this speed, trying to change direction would likely cause it to flip.
But in that critical moment, Tong Hua, who had been knocked senseless, struggled free from his grip.
She raised a hand, reaching under Ji Jue's arm, and spread her fingers, blocking the path.
A glow emanated from the alchemical creation on her wrist.
Boom!
An invisible barrier appeared for an instant, and the blade embedded itself deeply into the void.
Ji Jue could even see the cracks forming on it.
It had been blocked!
"Corruption! It's corruption!"
Tong Hua raised her other hand to shield her face, blocking the view from Ji Jue's side.
Her etheric eye had locked onto the enemy, instantly detecting the darkness surging from the shattered soul.
"That guy's starting to corrupt!"
This was the most tragic fate for a chosen one.
Not death, but something far worse.
When too many blessings pressed down on the soul, when the diminishing humanity could no longer bear the power from above, when blessings began to conflict with each other, if the matrix had flaws from the start, or if it was infected by evil and corruption...
The result was the loss of control over blessings, the dissipation of humanity, and the collapse of the soul.
At that point, the chosen one, once favored by the heavens, would be drawn to the abyssal depths beneath the mortal world, infected, and rapidly transformed into an abomination!
This process wasn't always instantaneous.
It could be a long, torturous ordeal.
From the first signs of abnormality to the final, irreversible collapse, many chose to end their lives to avoid becoming fully corrupted.
When a chosen one from the Ascendant path lost control, their mind would begin to irreparably fracture, their personality crumbling into madness.
Those from the White Deer path would be consumed by bestial instincts and greed, gradually succumbing to the allure of flesh, even cannibalism...
The bizarre affliction known as blood thirst had originated from the corruption of the Central Plains' Sacrificial King, leaving a legacy of endless suffering.
For Ji Jue, from the Ember path, the hallmark of corruption was the dreaded 'materialization.' Out-of-control blessings and the ember's flame would fuse soul and flesh, gradually turning the chosen one into a grotesque alchemical artifact.
As for the masses, their corruption was the simplest.
Gradually losing themselves in uncontrollable slaughter, cursed by all the lives they had taken, unable to break free, until they lost all sense of self and became mindless killing machines.
Just like... now!
In that moment of sheer terror, Ji Jue pressed his left hand against his right arm, using non-aggression to forcibly repair and heal.
His eyes turned back to the relentless chosen one, sensing the aura and number of blessings.
One, two, three, four, five, six—sixth rank!
At the peak of the transformation stage, just one step away from rebirth, with almost no vital points left on his body! He might even keep moving after having his head cut off.
This was bad.
It was like a dungeon monster had escaped to slaughter the city!
"Heh, heh, heh—"
Amidst his deranged laughter, Herbert reached down, picked up the fallen longsword, and charged toward them.
The enemy was there! The war was there!! Victory was there!!!
The chance to redeem his mistakes had appeared before him once more.
He had to win, he must win.
If he won this time, he would never have to worry about being abandoned again, never have to fear becoming a stray dog.
He could go back, return to that familiar camp!
But he couldn't remember where the camp was anymore...
The places he knew, the friends he had, the people he had met—all had vanished in the flames of destruction.
In that moment, the cry of a lost beast echoed, like a wail, a dying lament.
His speed surged once more!
Burning with blood and fire, he charged forward again!
This time, Ji Jue responded by finally pulling out a lever-action rifle from the cart.
He ducked, and a mercury bullet roared out.
Crack!
Herbert roared, swinging his sword casually.
He had anticipated the attack, waiting like a hunter, and sliced the bullet mid-air!
Who knew what kind of mass blessing this was.
Ji Jue didn't dare stop.
The action of reloading was almost a blur, and within a second, he had emptied the five pre-loaded bullets in the magazine.
But every single one was blocked!
Even one was caught between his teeth, crushed, and swallowed along with the exploding mercury!
As Ji Jue paused to reload, the distance closed to within a hundred meters.
Tong Hua could almost see the twisted face clearly now.
She was terrified, no longer caring about pride or dignity, and screamed in panic, "Hurry up, Ji Jue! The monster's catching up!"
Then you jump off and let him eat you!
Sacrifice yourself to cover my retreat!
Ji Jue was on the verge of tears too, no calmer than she was.
But now, there was only one last resort, the trump card he had been saving.
Without hesitation, he took a deep breath and shouted at the top of his lungs:
"Xiao An, save me!!!!"
Boom!!!
Herbert was sent flying backward.
It was as if he had slammed into an invisible wall.
A piece of metal, from who knows where, was embedded deep in his skull, brain matter oozing from the cracks.
Then, a distant voice echoed from afar.
From a signal tower on a nearby high point, a figure slowly appeared, waving with a smile:
"Got it, Brother Ji Jue."
(End of Chapter)