Chapter 00204: A Single Page
# A Single Page
Chapter 204
Novel: Above Destiny
Chapter 204: A Single Page
Sometimes, the person who understands you the most might not be yourself, your wife, or even your enemy.
It might very well be your craftsman.
Abilities, matrices, blessings, preferences, styles, habits, and even weaknesses—all of these should be secrets that a Chosen One would never dare to whisper, even in their dreams.
Yet, to a craftsman, they are as transparent as glass.
It’s like a middle-aged man sitting in front of an old doctor, mustering the courage to extend his hand for a pulse reading.
When the doctor’s lips curl into a faint smile and their gaze meets yours, you should already have a tacit understanding.
Don’t let unpleasant words be spoken.
Just take whatever prescription they give you and swallow it obediently!
What else can you do? Argue with them based on some software search results? Here’s a red clown nose—guess who dropped it?
The demonized descriptions of Tong Hua and the many accounts and introductions from Sister Wen could only sketch a rough outline, at best slapping on a few labels to make it easier to understand.
But Ji Jue truly came to understand Tong Shan when he took that banner from his hands.
Without even needing to ask, the mechanical descent of the divine was enough for Ji Jue to grasp every detail of Tong Shan’s abilities.
Including the dissipating Star-Burning Phenomenon in the sky at this very moment…
No way… no way!
Those two idiots… couldn’t possibly think that the Star-Burning Phenomenon required the banner to be activated, could they?!
Hilarious!
During maintenance, Ji Jue had examined the banner from top to bottom, inside and out.
There were only two blessings on it—one for Ascension and one for Aether—both purely supportive, with nothing remotely related to the phenomenon.
It was like a walking stick during a hike or a tripod for taking photos—just a tool to save effort and hassle.
It made things easier to handle, but without it, the difference was negligible…
At this moment, witnessing it all firsthand, Ji Jue almost couldn’t hold back his laughter.
Who said the Heavenly Origin Path was rigid and that Tong Shan couldn’t deceive anyone?
From the very beginning, this trap had been set for Yan Chong and Ling Zhi!
No, judging by Tong Shan’s habits, this pit had likely been dug for many years, with countless people having already fallen into it!
Now, under the “life-threatening opportunity” created by Yan Chong’s desperate struggle, Ling Zhi, the Heavenly Origin’s nemesis who had been lurking in the shadows, had willingly walked into the trap.
In the sky above, Tong Shan’s expression, which had remained cold and indifferent throughout, finally shifted slightly.
A mocking smile appeared in the reflection of Yan Chong’s eyes.
So satisfying.
In that instant, the Rebirth Form, hidden since the beginning of the battle, was revealed!
The Twelve Stages of the Primal Stone: Summoning, Metamorphosis, Rebirth, and Transcendence.
The Summoning Stage grants blessings and enhances the essence of one’s abilities.
The Metamorphosis Stage determines the path and future direction.
The Rebirth Stage transforms the body, elevating it beyond the mortal realm.
The Transcendence Stage establishes the Circle Realm, receiving the essence of the Supreme Good, until one crosses the boundary between mortal and divine, becoming a part of this world’s glory.
Now, as the shackles of psychic power loosened layer by layer, the transcendent form that surpassed mortals and approached divinity unfolded.
There were no thousand hands or eyes, no terrifying transformations.
In an instant, Tong Shan’s skin lost all color, becoming pure white, flawless and untainted, as white as paper.
And his blood, once crimson, transformed under the influence of the matrix and blessings, deepening in color until it became pure black.
At this moment, an invisible brush dipped into the black blood and began to write furiously on the pure white canvas of his skin.
Countless tiny characters linked together, forming chains that wrapped around his skin, interweaving and manifesting.
Thus began the foundation of a grand chapter, the writing of the Heavenly Origin’s order, constructing a distant and ethereal future.
A desire, or perhaps, a delusion.
—A generation free from disasters!
Haizhou was plagued by disasters, and Yacheng was rife with troubles.
Since he could remember, Tong Shan had enjoyed unimaginable wealth and luxury, standing atop the mountain of his family, gazing out at the turbulent and desolate world.
He had read through the painful histories and even experienced firsthand, through the Aether records of his elders, the devastation wrought by numerous disasters.
Yet, he had never felt drawn to the Path of Aether.
The Beast Calamity of Northern Province 140 years ago, the Cloud Province Cataclysm 110 years ago, the Blood Rain that swept across half the Federation a century ago, the fall of Quan City decades ago, the Desolate Sandstorm 41 years ago…
And then, ten years ago, when he was sixteen, he witnessed the Raging Flame Calamity with his own eyes.
It burned thousands of miles, turning fertile plains to ash, causing a famine that lasted three years, with food supplies still not fully recovered.
The flames surged into the sea, boiling it for five days, and the resulting plagues and toxins still lingered.
Countless people died of hunger and thirst, or lost everything…
Why did it come to this?
And why must it come to this?
In that moment, he realized that Aether could not change any of this.
Human calamities were endless, destined to be unceasing.
The Paths of the Heart Core and Ascension were too insignificant, while the Path of the Wasteland was too lofty.
At best, they could only alleviate the suffering of a single place at a single time.
But if one wanted to truly reduce or even eliminate natural disasters, one had to turn to the Heavenly Origin!
For this, he was willing to betray his mission and his family’s legacy.
The continuation of the Tong family could be left to his uncles, aunts, and younger siblings.
Why did it need him? No matter how much outsiders praised him for his sense of duty and responsibility, for caring about Yacheng, he knew that he was the one who had chosen to be selfish for the sake of his so-called ideals—greedily using his family’s resources to climb higher, altering and transforming the family’s Aether legacy to bolster himself.
Finally, under his grandfather’s guidance, he became the pivot where Aether and the Heavenly Origin intersected.
The moment he was reborn under the infusion of the Supreme Good’s essence, what he achieved was this tome, using his own body as the vessel, barely having written the opening chapter of the *Disaster Prevention Manual*!
Perhaps one day, it would be completed, transforming the Circle Realm, altering the Wedge of Time, even laying the foundation for the Origin… But compared to its true completed form, what he had now wasn’t even a draft.
Still, it was more than enough to deal with two clowns!
At this moment, as the title page of the *Disaster Prevention Manual* appeared on his skin, the chapter shifted, and countless records rapidly flowed.
From the Star-Burning Page, it traced back through the Meteor and Desolate Night, stopping at the third page of the Celestial Phenomena Chapter.
—**[The Calamity of Collapse]!**
Thus, after the dissipating Star-Burning Phenomenon, a crack silently opened in the empty night sky, followed by a second, a third, a fourth…
Countless cracks crisscrossed, as if tearing through thin paper, revealing the dark abyss of the universe behind it.
“Everyone, hold on!”
Ji Xue’s expression changed drastically.
She accelerated without regard for the consequences, speeding through slowed time like lightning, instantly pulling everyone together and tying them down with a fixed rope.
Jiang Xuan slammed his hands on the ground, and iron walls rose, enveloping them.
Delicate roots of steel spread underground, growing rapidly.
Only then did everyone feel the belated sensation of weightlessness…
Psychic power condensed, gravity collapsed, and infinite mass converged, forming the disaster that had manifested in the mortal world 210 years ago during the upheaval of the Supreme Good’s Eternal Gate.
At most, it was just a thumb-sized black dot, but it caused Ling Zhi, who had just emerged from the shadows, to change color and let out an involuntary scream.
But it was too late.
It was too close, close enough to take Tong Shan’s life.
And at the same time, it had delivered Ling Zhi into the deadly gravitational range…
“Goodbye.”
In that instant, Ling Zhi saw Tong Shan’s lips move, but no sound reached his ears.
Then, the world seemed to twist and spin, amidst screams and roars that could not spread.
He wanted to grab Tong Shan, but Tong Shan’s body was like a phantom, untouchable.
The sound of collapse could not escape, the image of the collapse was distorted by light, and no matter how much he tried to shadow-shift, he could not escape this vortex of despair.
Even worse, there was a hand from behind…
In the final moment, he left behind a last word that no one would hear.
A venomous roar:
“Yan Chong!!!”
The moment he sensed something was wrong, the heavily injured Yan Chong didn’t hesitate to snap his broken sword, reducing the attraction, and then pushed Ling Zhi into the deadly vortex with a shove to his back, using the force to escape the gravitational pull, even at the cost of severing half his body!
Stepping on his comrade, he bought himself a sliver of survival, and after escaping, he turned into a streak of blood light, speeding away without looking back.
In an instant, he was gone.
Not even the tidal wave caused by the vortex’s collapse could catch up to him.
He escaped!
In that brief moment, two Rebirths—one reduced to nothing, the other severely wounded and fleeing.
The outcome was decided.
As countless ruins and debris, swept into the sky, rained down like a storm onto the earth, Ji Jue finally saw the devastation from behind the slowly opening iron walls.
And the scattered figures fleeing in the storm…
After narrowly escaping the deadly gravitational vortex in the sky, the few surviving members of the Heretic Cult, lucky enough to avoid being wiped out by the aftermath, immediately followed their leader’s example and fled for their lives.
“No, don’t let them escape!”
Lou Feng reacted, wanting to chase after them: “My aunt, my aunt is still…”
Without hesitation, Ji Jue tripped him again, pinning him down.
Seeing him still struggling, Ji Jue immediately slapped him twice to snap him out of it: “Calm down! Your aunt is still alive!”
He warned: “If you want your aunt back, shut up and don’t cause any more trouble!”
This wasn’t just empty talk.
Ji Jue had seen the seemingly indestructible spirit crystal with his own eyes.
According to Professor Ye, the Rebirth Stage of Spirit Shaping usually had little effect on the physical body, focusing more on the soul and spirit.
The most notable feature was that even if control was lost, the shaped spirit would still maintain its existence and properties, as if it had been created out of thin air, lasting until the user’s death.
At this critical moment, capturing live prisoners was no longer the priority.
After all, if they wanted to capture anyone, no one was in a better position to do so than Tong Shan, who was overlooking everything from above.
Since Tong Shan hadn’t acted, there was no need to complicate things further.
“Time is limited, come here and help!”
Ji Jue quickly rummaged through the ruins for any remaining supplies, including the provisions they had just unloaded from the truck—food, medicine, and water.
Fortunately, thanks to the sturdy packaging and durable boxes, a lot had survived the numerous impacts.
Even the ones that had cracked could still be eaten after a quick wipe.
When you’re starving, you can’t afford to be picky.
There was no time to be selective.
Ji Jue’s mercury tentacles split into seventeen or eighteen strands, searching for every bit of supplies in sight and tossing them to the sluggish Lou Feng and the other teammates.
After Tong Shan nodded, the others silently stepped up to help.
In just two minutes, the truck was filled to the brim with a chaotic pile of items.
Finally, after everyone had boarded the truck, Ji Jue found a large bag of something in the calf’s compartment, scattered it around the ruins in a wide circle, and then got back in the truck.
As the truck sped away, after covering some distance, Ji Jue pressed the remote control.
A faint rumble echoed from the dark distance.
Explosives!
(End of Chapter)