Chapter 00136: A Long, Endless Night – Part Five (Thanks to Johannes van der Berg, the Alliance Leader, for the Blessing Equipment Tra
# A Long, Endless Night – Part Five (Thanks to Johannes van der Berg, the Alliance Leader, for the Blessing Equipment: Transcendent Vision, Activate!)
Chapter 136
Novel: Above Destiny
Chapter 136 – A Long, Endless Night – Part Five (Thanks to Johannes van der Berg, the Alliance Leader, for the Blessing Equipment: Transcendent Vision, Activate!)
From the accelerated flow of time at fourfold, eightfold, and sixteenfold speeds, Ji Jue’s eyes suddenly lit up.
First, an ember-type physical enhancement surged into both his hands, transforming them into instruments far surpassing any blade or axe—capable of tearing through hardened muscle and piercing to the core of one’s being.
Immediately after, between his ten fingers, motions flowed and interchanged—condensation and trembling, repulsion and fusion, expansion and contraction—so radically different changes in his spiritual essence burst forth from his palms.
What emerged from that phenomenon was an incomparable destructive force directed at every alchemical creation!
——Dissociation Technique, activate!
Its single target at this moment was the nearly destroyed matrix within the centaur’s body.
It was as if he had ruthlessly kicked away the only healthy leg a lame person had left.
At this moment, accompanied by the centaur’s increasingly high-pitched, tragic wail, a spiritual essence storm that shattered every alchemical structure burst from Ji Jue’s ten fingers.
Zeroing in on the matrix’s weakest link, he ruthlessly unleashed his destructive power without a moment’s hesitation!
After having integrated Fei Gong’s method of operating upon spiritual essence, the destructive effect of the Dissociation Technique against spiritual essence grew even more ferocious!
The matrix, by nature, is a directional beacon towards supreme goodness—a path paved by countless predecessors weaving a magnificent tapestry; it is also the miraculous seed of the essence of supreme goodness and rising spiritual power.
But now, after successive impacts and ravages, the matrix that was operating under overload and on the verge of self-destruction could no longer withstand this annihilating blow aimed at every spiritual creation.
It was like the final ten tons of straw that finally broke the camel’s back.
The clattering sound of breaking chains rang out, and immediately, a series of intricate spiritual essence circuits appeared on the nearly disintegrated soul, collapsing, shattering, and dissolving… Until, in that final instant, Ji Jue felt as though even what was called the soul was grasped between his intertwined ten fingers.
He had grasped it—could it really be…this simple?!
In the sudden haze of bewilderment and enlightenment, Ji Jue fell into a daze, hardly able to believe it.
There was no need for a tremendous amount of force, no careful calculations or considerations, not even the necessity to concentrate every bit of his energy—the moment the quintessence of this skill surged within his heart, everything happened naturally.
Fei Gong’s intangible hand merged seamlessly with the core of the Dissociation Technique.
No gaps at all.
It was as if, naturally, it had always been meant to be this way!
From his lofty “overview,” every change was laid out before him; no shifting movement could escape his gaze.
Every flaw and fragility became so clear that with a proper extension of his hand at the right moment and place—pushing the first domino—it was enough to trigger an unforeseen torrent.
Snap!
The unstoppable disintegration and collapse spread like a chain reaction—rampaging, enveloping everything.
After such a long period of self-torture and practice, he finally stepped over the threshold into the Dissociation Technique.
In that fleeting moment of brilliance, he glimpsed the vast and resplendent scenery in the distance, as well as the long and arduous road that lay so far away.
Ji Jue clenched his fingers.
Mercilessly, he ground everything in his hand to dust!
The matrix, already overloaded and on the brink of collapse, shattered instantly.
The dazzling streams of light couldn’t even scatter; they were all promptly captured and devoured by his mechanical divine descent ability.
Then, just before the uncontrolled spiritual essence and life-force exploded like a bomb, Fei Gong’s matrix lit up once again.
Alchemical Operation… Begin!
No, this couldn’t truly be called alchemy at all… It was merely a crude, raw plunder and gathering of spiritual essence, taking advantage of its inherent properties! Using the centaur’s body as a container and Fei Gong’s unique traits, he manipulated all nearby spiritual essence, drawing it inward into a vortex to gather all life, spiritual essence, and even the remaining blessings into one chaotic mass—forcefully compressing it!
After minimizing the loss and dissipation as much as possible, he also fabricated a miscellaneous polymer that no one would have any difficulty swallowing or digesting; it was nothing different from poisonous, toxic refuse.
“Come out!”
At Ji Jue’s shout, the centaur’s body quickly shrank, withering like a dried corpse.
In the blink of an eye, it cracked and weathered away.
When his palm pulled something from among the remains, it shone with a strange and splendid light.
It was a heart, still frantically beating.
All the centaur’s spiritual essence and life-force that had existed before death had been gathered into that translucent heart.
It emitted an eerie, mysterious fragrance, and as its fresh blood dripped onto the ground, it hissed like potent venom, making the shattered floor seem to writhe like a living creature, with blood-veins and sinews appearing.
Thanks to Ji Jue’s ruthless methods, ever since the heart had manifested, it had begun to wriggle and grow rapidly.
Had it not been suppressed by Fei Gong, it would by now have been overrun with tumors, transformed into something unrecognizable and monstrous.
The study of life is also an art of alchemy so profound that any craftsman could devote a lifetime to it.
At Ji Jue’s level, he was completely squandering a good raw material—even if he were to present it to Professor Ye, apart from being labeled “garbage,” it wouldn’t earn any positive comment.
For humans, it was of absolutely no practical value.
But for Little Niu Ma, it was just perfect.
No sooner had the heart appeared than Little Niu Ma had hurried over, crouching on the ground with his tail wildly lashing about, leaving deep scratches on the wall.
His huge mouth drooled relentlessly.
He was practically drooling with greed.
He couldn’t wait to pounce… Yet when Ji Jue glanced back at him, he forced himself to restrain—he dared not act rashly.
“Sit down.”
Ji Jue ordered, and instantly the floor trembled, causing Little Niu Ma to collapse flat on the ground.
He raised his head, continued wagging his tail, and behaved as if obedient and well-mannered.
“Hand—Right hand. Not this one… Yes, spin around, do a somersault, good, good boy.”
Pleased, Ji Jue patted Little Niu Ma’s head and chin with his left hand, then handed over the rapidly swelling heart. “Alright, eat up.”
Little Niu Ma’s face lit up like a car’s headlights.
Carefully, he opened his mouth toward the heart in Ji Jue’s hand, picked it up, then turned around and lay on the ground, biting, tearing, and devouring with unbridled indulgence.
Not even the blood drops and shreds of meat that fell to the floor were spared; he even sucked them in along with the floor, crunching noisily!
Meanwhile, Ji Jue looked at his now empty palm—his five long, fair fingers, untouched by calluses or blemishes, not even a drop of blood or a speck of dust remaining.
Under his will, Fei Gong’s matrix vanished and reappeared.
He had finally achieved complete mastery.
At the same time, on the dial of his wristwatch the number “2”, which was only halfway filled, saw its golden portion surge once again… After destroying one matrix, the progress bar leaped up by one-third, leaving even his mechanical divine descent ability with a feeling of over-satiation.
But that wasn’t all—in his almost hallucinatory perception, the centaur’s lifelong understanding of supreme goodness seemed to surge over to him, deepening even his own comprehension of the vortex.
It even surpassed the highest level of the ember technique he had achieved before by a long shot!
In other words, not only was there a shortcut in alchemical techniques—if in the future he needed to further enhance his comprehension and insight into supreme goodness, all he had to do was find a few corresponding Heaven’s Chosen and dismantle a matrix!
Such good people… every one of them is good!
Ji Jue couldn’t help clasping his hands together, his heart filled with gratitude.
This was all a blessing from Heaven.
They say saving a life is more meritorious than constructing a seven-tier pagoda! The deceased Heaven’s Chosen could only serve as raw materials, whereas the living ones, aside from being used as materials, could also boost one’s professional experience bar… Doesn’t that mean he should do more good deeds and commit fewer sins in the future?!
Things were looking up!
With that, his life, the lives of countless beings in this world, all improved in an instant! Our ember technique guided people toward goodness like a gentle tapestry of compassion.
So kind and excellent is supreme goodness—even a single grain of rice dropped on the ground is not wasted.
Yet the world still held such deep prejudice and misunderstanding about craftsmen like us!
“The path of Fei Gong is long and loaded with responsibilities,” Ji Jue sighed softly.
He looked out at the bright moon in the ruined window, smiling kindly.
The moonlight remained silent, quietly illuminating that bloodstained, ferocious, ravenous grin.
Nearby, in the dark corner of the room, a little blond fellow trembled in the shadows.
He dared not utter a word.
Crap—if he accidentally saw Brother Ji eating people! Aren’t we the only ones, the White Deer cursed ones, who are supposed to eat people? How come our ember technique eats even more ferociously than we do?!
It was all over—completely over.
Now that he had seen Ji Jue’s actions and was still smiling at me, should I just slice my own throat, or better yet, immediately get down on my knees and kowtow, begging Ji Jue to accept me as his dog? Tears streamed down his face. “Please, I’ll do anything!”
In the other side of the villa’s grand hall, blood had stained every surface red.
Countless identical corpses interlaced with one another, nearly piled up into mountains.
Severed limbs and dismembered bodies had been flung out by the slashing of swords and blades, with blood falling like a torrential rain.
It was nothing short of hell on earth!
Boom!
A storm rose again from the ground, turning blood-red.
And after the surging waves of the storm came crashing down, an Asura rushed out, laughing wildly as swords and blades sliced through the air.
At this moment, the corpse-eating brethren no longer carried the same ease and joy as before.
Their features were riddled with cracks, and the deformed number of their split forms increased more and more.
They were dumbfounded.
At this moment, faced with this divine shot—there wasn’t even time to dodge.
Even their screams were stifled deep in their lungs.
Limbs were chopped at the waist!
In his final, desperate struggle, the younger brother barely managed to leave behind an intact head.
Before it even hit the ground, the panicked older brother caught it in his arms.
Relying on the self-sacrificing delay by his many clones, he turned around without a moment’s hesitation and bolted, fleeing in utter disarray.
“Jin Wujiu! Jin Wujiu, what the hell are you doing?!”
The fleeing older brother cried out in a mad dash, “We’re doomed! How are you going to explain this to Lei Yaoxing? And how will Lei Yaoxing explain to Jiangcheng?! What the hell are you thinking?!”
Jin Wujiu remained silent, offering no reply.
Rather, he was drenched in cold sweat—it was as if he were frozen.
Several times, he tried to lift his hand, but a creeping chill deep in his bones became even more distinct.
His intuition warned him that once he stepped in, he would die.
He would absolutely die!
Die! Die! Die! Die! Die! Die! Die! Die! But now, in just a few minutes, the team that could have swept aside all of Chen Xingzhou’s remnants—and who carried even more tasks and missions—had been completely decimated in this inconspicuous ruin.
He increasingly sensed the strangeness of it all.
In the distant wails of the dying centaur, in the hoarse, furious roars of the corpse-eating brethren, his eyes twitched for an instant.
No matter what, he absolutely could not go in… but as he watched the corpse-eating brethren leaving things behind here and with no way to explain things back in Jiangcheng, in that moment, while his nerves were completely alert, he finally gritted his teeth, raised a finger, and pointed to the sky.
Above the dark, clouded heavens, a thunderous roar suddenly erupted, with lightning streaking and entangling, falling to the ground in the form of invincible, dazzling thunderbolts.
They crisscrossed through the ruins, relentlessly hammering the dark-hounded Tang Qian.
Yet at that moment, amid the thunder, what rang out was the old man’s hysterical laughter.
So excited.
“Look closely, kid!”
Fourth Elder Ancestor grinned broadly, “This is the secret trick I once used to slaughter all the Calamity Warlocks back in the day—” In the blink of an eye, he leaped into the air, the long spear in his hand stirring the storm as it rushed toward the streaming lightning.
In a flash, like a phantom of a giant serpent, he even swallowed the thunder, turning it into part of himself.
His spear then too glowed with a scorching light, rising up.
Merging the thunder with the spear in one motion…
——Throw Back!
Boom!!!!
The roar that dominated even the thunder surged forth.
Wrapped in the storm and lightning, the spear shot out and easily pierced through that disheveled, fleeing figure—nailing him to the ground along with the head he carried in his arms!
Corpse-eating brethren, perish!
Meanwhile, Tang Qian’s left shoulder was reaching out; his hand had already been burned into a charred mass, causing him to grimace in pain. “Old man, that’s enough—aren’t you hurting now?!”
But Fourth Elder Ancestor was unbothered.
He only glanced regretfully at the remaining corpse and shook his head, “What a pity—we killed so many, yet there are only two heads left. When will I ever earn that title…?”
“The Eternal Empire is gone, for crying out loud! Why do you even bother with that damned title?”
Tang Qian shouted in anger, craning his neck and squinting out, “Hey, what the heck is Old Deng doing?”
Then, he fell silent.
A rigid smile fixed on his face as his eyes took in the scene: streaks of lightning dancing among the clouds, countless bolts converging, descending from Jin Wujiu’s call, and gathering to form an all-penetrating thunder.
The heavens rattled with thunder.
After a long period of gathering and guidance, among the rising endless mists, a vast thundercloud formed above the mountain.
In that moment, under Jin Wujiu’s guidance, innumerable energy transformations became visible—as if the entire heavens were transformed into his own weapon.
Up until now, Jin Wujiu still couldn’t figure out what kind of cursed thing was hidden within that villa.
It made him so fearful.
But now, the ruthless and crazed determination carved deep into his bones took precedence, overwhelming all his terror and hesitation—if he couldn’t locate the hidden threat, he’d simply obliterate that damned villa completely!
“Holy sh*t…”
Tang Qian was stunned, instinctively urging, “Do it already, Fourth Elder Ancestor!”
But Fourth Elder Ancestor remained unmoved, only asking coolly, “Time’s up. Do you want to renew?”
Damn it…
Tang Qian was fuming.
He fumbled through his pockets and found only two gold bars, yet Fourth Elder Ancestor sneered dismissively, not even giving them a glance, “That’ll do. Accepting counterfeit money is already my limit.”
Then he added, “If that won’t do, just wake up your old man. He’s been in a much better mood lately. Just have a proper talk. With your second uncle joining in, if you can offer a sacrificial feast of eighty people, we’re set.”
Tang Qian completely lost it; he was almost in tears, “The Tang family now has only me, the sole heir left, yet I’m here scrambling to pay your damn money!”
“Bloodline is bloodline, and principles are principles.”
Fourth Elder Ancestor gave him one last cold glance and said, “Power is value itself. Victory, defeat, survival, death—they are all built upon it and follow after it. If power isn’t obtained through sacrifice, then nothing else holds significance. Without a price, there is no result.”
As his presence gradually faded, Fourth Elder Ancestor left only these final words, “This is the fundamental rationale of the many.”
Damn it, I’m seriously pissed!
Tang Qian’s blood and tears nearly burst forth.
Then, suddenly, someone poked his head out from behind him, joining him in gazing off into the distance.
“Goddamn…”
Ji Jue stared in astonishment, “I thought Old Deng was out there looking for a bathroom because he couldn’t hold it any longer—turns out he was summoning the energy for something huge!”
The heavy, scorching wind swept in from afar, yet it brought not a hint of coolness.
The thick, humid air had covered the entire mountaintop.
It was hard to breathe.
Under Jin Wujiu’s guidance, the energy within the clouds spiked at a speed visible to the naked eye.
In just a few seconds, a vast ocean of thunder had formed, enveloping everything.
An icy dread settled into the souls of every Heaven’s Chosen, and an almost suffocating pressure of terror filled the air.
After such a lengthy buildup and charge, an unprecedented violent force was about to erupt—destined to completely erase the villa.
The destructive power of the entropy lineage’s final technique was about to be displayed on the heads of every unlucky soul.
It might even flatten the entire villa in one go!
Where did this insanely powerful Old Deng come from?!
“Enough already, is it even going to work?!”
Tang Qian was beside himself with anger, not even caring how long this guy had been missing. “Aren’t you from the ember clan? Hurry up and use your miraculous little gadget to kill him!”
“If I had such a thing, I’d have used it ages ago. There’s no need to keep it until now.”
Ji Jue sighed and tentatively fired a shot toward Jin Wujiu, but Jin Wujiu didn’t even bat an eyelid.
The bullet that shot out was repelled by the electromagnetic shield, and it actually flew back, grazing Ji Jue’s hair and embedding itself in the wall.
Thankfully, he had ducked quickly enough.
In the past, this might have forced him to consider slitting his own throat, following my cousin’s emergency survival protocol to trigger a second stage—but not now.
He had backup! Although he didn’t have Left Azure Dragon and Right White Tiger, the ruined area was right at his navel! This was the confidence that a cheat code could give me, understand?!
“Old Tang, watch closely!”
Ji Jue coughed, raked his hair, stepped forward, and patted Tang Qian’s shoulder, “Buddy, let me load you up!”
Saying that, he suddenly leaped out from within the ruins, pointing straight at Jin Wujiu, who was about to unleash a storm of thunder and fire.
With a resounding shout, he roared, “——Old Deng, your end is here!”
In the blink of an eye, the secret blessing of Minerva left on his body by Sister Wen was unsealed under the infusion of Ji Jue’s spiritual essence.
A wisp of dreamlike crystal light danced from his fingertips and then vanished without a trace.
Meanwhile, thunder still raged, storms still howled, and flames continued to surge.
Nothing changed except that behind the crumbling walls, Tang Qian poked his head out, looking utterly dumbfounded, “Can I blink now?”
Ji Jue was momentarily stunned, then looked up to see Jin Wujiu finally casting a sidelong glance his way—full of puzzlement and utter disbelief. “Uh, sorry, I got it wrong.”
Ji Jue forced a smile and tried to clasp his fists in greeting, wanting to say his farewells for having disturbed him, but alas, he had become immobilized.
Suddenly, his entire body lost all sensation, as if petrified—no, petrification had begun.
His hair, skin, and clothes all swiftly lost their color, becoming almost translucent, reflecting a maze of intricate crystalline fluorescence.
In an instant, he was transformed into a statue, still reaching out with his hand, exuding a majestic, defiant air… standing there to await his death.
Then, he finally sensed that gradually emerging violent force, so distinct—like the eruption of a volcano.
But unfortunately, it seemed as if he had landed right in the crater.
Hm? Wait a minute! Something wasn’t right… the strength?! Ji Jue’s fragile consciousness was completely overwhelmed by the terrifying aura surging from his soul.
It was as if he had turned to stone, weathering countless years of wind and rain, only to ultimately break forth in the trembling of thunder and earth—revealing a piercing brilliance nurtured over millennia.
The mountains roared and the sea echoed.
The distant reverberations of the mountains and seas overlapped, and in the flash of crystalline light, something eternal in the world made an appearance for a split second—almost as if a fearsome shadow named Dragon had cast a disdainful glance from the distant end of time.
At that very moment, Jin Wujiu finally turned ashen with fury.
But it was already too late…
Behind the countless whorls of thunder and dancing bolts of lightning in the dark clouds above, a single streak of dreamlike aurora suddenly appeared.
From the shifting, pervasive deep purple, it was as though countless crystalline prisms were reflected, turning the entire night sky into a splendid kaleidoscope.
Countless swirling vortices of interwoven radiance formed what looked like the eyes of a dragon, only to soon vanish like an illusion.
“Holy sh*t, holy sh*t, holy sh*t! What is that?!”
Tang Qian shuddered, instinctively wanting to turn tail and run—it was like watching someone pick up a rocket launcher aimed at a cockroach at his feet…
Minerva!
That’s Minerva, damn it!!!
Five years ago, that nutcase (who had appeared from nowhere) was chopping off heads in Central Land and the Thousand Islands.
After being recruited by the Federation, she went on to slaughter countless heads in the Federation, killing her way from the Desolate State to the Cloud State, and finally up to the very eyes of the Celestials, only to vanish without a trace—and now she appears again?!
Are you serious?!
At that moment, Tang Qian lay prone among the ruins, his scalp going numb.
He couldn’t help but wonder just how deep in the water he had accidentally gotten himself into?!?!
Silence fell suddenly.
The storm abruptly stopped—air turned to amber, flames ceased, thunder solidified, and beneath the cracked, frozen clouds, rainbow light flashed, while the bright moon hung high.
In that frozen, timeless world, everything had taken on a transcendent beauty.
Yet within the courtyard, not a hint of life remained.
Destruction would be covered by even more violent destruction, and death would be swallowed by a more solemn death.
With that distant glance from above, the end had quietly arrived! There was no room for struggle or escape.
Not even time to leave final words or to fully feel terror and despair.
Right in midair, between the frozen thunder and flames, a corner of Jin Wujiu’s body silently began to crack… A pale fissure spread over his skin, expanding until it turned into drifting crystalline dust and vanished entirely.
Thunder, flame, storm—everything met the same fate.
Fragments of light, like a dream, scattered upward from the ruins, dancing like countless fireflies.
They drifted away with the wind, gradually disappearing without a trace.
Thus, the entire army was wiped out!
And in that never-ending silence that stretched to the horizon, there was only one soft sigh from Ji Jue.
With his hands clasped behind his back, he gazed at the still-hanging bright moon, as if contemplating how this moon had witnessed countless battles and loneliness throughout the ages.
Just as he was about to say something profound—a final, perfect line to cap off his magnificent display of style—he heard… the hysterical, crazed laughter of the little blond fellow from the ruins! Running, cheering, dancing—he even forgot he wasn’t wearing any pants.
“I did it!”
He danced about, exclaiming, “Hahahaha, I did it!!!”
A thin streak of light appeared among the ruins after all the struggles, gathering and falling onto him.
And that was…
Ji Jue turned around in shock, his eyes nearly popping out.
——Supreme Goodness Blessing?!
(End of Chapter)