Chapter 00089: A Sense of Oppression
# A Sense of Oppression
Chapter 89
Novel: Above Destiny
Chapter 89: A Sense of Oppression
As everyone knows, in the past, when the Southern Lands, Northern Lands, Central Earth, and Thousand Islands were unified during the age of the Eternal Empire, all worldly matters were under its control.
When the primordial era of chaos came to an end, the Eternal Empire unified everything and held power for thousands of years...
The terror of its might, the depth of its heritage, and the wealth it accumulated are evident.
Under this premise, as members of the resistance organization known as "Ink," what was needed most, alongside determination and perseverance, was the ability to escape!
Faced with the empire’s frequent crackdowns, relentless attacks, and complete blockades, practitioners from the ancient times could only flee, hiding in dark corners.
Living day-to-day, often without meals, became the norm.
"What do you mean? A workshop? What a dream, my friend! Don’t talk about workshops; even if you wanted to build a modest house, the empire would tear it down before the roof was even completed. They would pull the recently sown grains from the field, slaughter your breeding sows, and even cut your earthworms in half!"
Because of this, craftsmen had to minimize their dependence on workshops and various tools, refusing to stay in one place for too long whenever possible.
Any trace left behind by an unregistered workshop could spell their end.
Yet, a craftsman without a workshop was like a public servant without a post, like deflated soda, like a security guard in no position to partake in the feast, or like an author without connections or royalties...
They were in a state that couldn’t truly be called dead but felt far from living—a state where death felt just a breath away.
This was something indispensable, yet having it could be life-threatening.
Faced with such a suffocating predicament, generations of members, celestial beings, and chosen ones conducted countless attempts and explorations in secret before finally finding the optimal solution.
This was the origin of "Non-attack."
In order to free craftsmen from reliance on workshops and tools, they chose to abandon them altogether—processing materials with just their hands and using their own spiritual essence to conduct alchemical operations!
Thus, with no need for a furnace, wherever the hands reached, Non-attack could manipulate the very properties of objects.
There was no need for tools; wherever their essence reached, they could freely create circuits and runes.
As long as the craftsman’s hands remained, the struggle of Ink would never cease.
As long as the craftsman's spirit was alive, innovation would never fade!
There were no limits, no constraints.
All things and all phenomena relied on hands to be created; everything above and below was formed because of ten fingers!
This was the work of "Non-attack"!
The result was absolute control over the spiritual essence! No matter if it was guiding, catalyzing, diffusing, constraining, extracting, or purifying... just as Ji Jue once dreamed, everything within materials could be freely drawn and manipulated.
In an instant where Ji Jue and Non-attack fused, everything seen was as if the world was shaped by formless hands, and the source of all Non-attack’s creation came from the hands of craftsmen.
As long as everything was within Ji Jue’s reach, all changes in spiritual essence could not evade his control.
Unless the material changes and quantities exceeded ten times his capability, they would inevitably fall within his range.
Unfortunately, no matter how hard Lou Feng tried, it was to no avail.
Since the day Non-attack was born, it had become a nemesis to all abilities related to the manipulation of spiritual essence.
Any art based on the use of spiritual essence, upon encountering it, was destined to return to its original state!
Our hero is such a person; there is a beauty in their intensity.
Why didn’t you ban it? Oh, it seems it’s not your place; then it’s no matter.
Hurry and go die!
Ji Jue pulled the trigger again, exhausting the last round of buckshot on his belt.
With a careless wave, the furious beast formed from spiritual essence instantly froze and began to dissipate as quickly as it had appeared, like a ghost that shattered upon contact.
Observing Lou Feng’s expression as if he had seen a ghost, Ji Jue promptly concealed his own injured hand, which had skin torn, nails bent, twitching, and almost uncontrollable due to numbness.
His fingers clenched tight.
Enhancement of spiritual essence: material manipulation.
A momentary flicker blinked across the dark, complex totem.
Under the influence of Non-attack, Ji Jue began the process of alchemy, focusing on restoring his damaged hands.
This was the most basic operation in alchemy—repairing.
At this moment, supported by both fluid alchemy and modern alchemy, the two methods proceeded in unison.
In an instant, the split wounds healed, the bruises faded as if forcibly concealed, and the bent nails returned to their original places, restored to their former state.
It was as though nothing had happened—perfect and flawless.
As for the minute scars and fissures on the bones, the ruptured capillaries, and the torn muscles... unless Lou Feng had eyes like an X-ray machine, who could possibly perceive them?
This is the most wondrous aspect of magic; as long as one cannot fathom what tricks lie behind that thin veil, what occurs before them seems to happen naturally and is indeed miraculous!
Lou Feng did not need to know that Ji Jue’s level was still far too low, that merely regularly reversing and dissolving the materialized spiritual essence had already pushed him to his limits.
He only needed to know that all his offensives and the pride he had carried since childhood, the Lou family heritage, resembled a joke in front of his adversary—that was enough.
What followed was an almost suffocating sense of oppression.
Compared to the shock of having his spiritual essence manipulation unraveled, it was the primal panic and shock to his reason that served as the last straw!
In that moment, under the protection of the Dragon Scale Armor, Lou Feng found himself utterly rattled!
The strategies he had been taught since childhood and the rich experiences accumulated by the Lou family over hundreds of years flowed through his mind like a rushing river, but they could not leave even a trace.
He couldn’t make sense of what Ji Jue was up to!
What was going on? What had happened? What the hell was this?!
He even dared not hastily activate the hidden avatar implanted in his wrist’s Time Sand Pearl, as it was his last lifeline.
At the very moment he saw Ji Jue loading a crimson buckshot into his gun, a chill shot through him, and under the visibly cracked Dragon Scale Armor, his form suddenly blurred.
When he reappeared, he was already dozens of meters away, hurriedly creating distance and setting up a repulsive defense.
Gone was the earlier scrutiny and elegance.
His hair disheveled, his face pale, he stared intently at Ji Jue and his hands.
Was this Non-attack? The matrix inherited by sages, is the difference with his own so vast?! Was there really such an exaggerated effect of a matrix in the world?
Even though the essence and logic of alchemy told him it was impossible to have such absurd things occur, from that seemingly mocking and indifferent smile, he found it hard to discern the truth.
The moment he sensed Ji Jue pulling the trigger, his instincts kicked in and he waved his hand!
Coldness shot out, a whirlwind of snow and ice surged, an icy iron wall shot up to block the gun’s muzzle...
Yet what flew from the barrel was just an ordinary buckshot.
It couldn’t even pierce the outermost layer of the icy iron wall.
Damn it, fooled again!
Ji Jue raised an eyebrow, involuntarily letting out a whistle.
This round of trickery was incredibly effective; with a simple attack, he almost fooled all of Lou Feng’s blink and equipment skills.
Unfortunately, his strength was still insufficient.
If he could level up again, or delve deeper into fluid alchemy and modern alchemy, his pressure would be so great that Lou Feng wouldn’t even dare to face him.
In the future, they might just avoid him altogether.
“Calm down, Boss!”
Silan’s voice rang through the communication device: “Don’t be fooled by that kid; I can’t tell exactly what trick he’s playing, but it’s definitely not as easy as it seems. This isn’t a one-on-one duel; no need to take him on alone!”
Boom!
Among the Returning Knights, Silan suddenly waved his hand, hurling a spear at Ji Jue; however, mid-air, the spear was sliced apart by a piece of iron thrown by Xiao An, erupting into a burst of crimson mist.
The knights regrouped and surrounded Lou Feng once more, even sacrificing their blockade against An Ran for the defense.
The Returning Knights moved as per command; Silan’s mind remained clear throughout.
When compared to victory, the Boss’s safety was the priority.
Winning was of no use; every one of them was here to make a living.
Even if they killed these two kids, if Lou Feng died, who would settle the bill?
In a matter of just minutes, much of Xiao An’s spiritual essence was exhausted.
The surging sword energy was unpredictable, yet it only grew more fierce and wild.
Relying on the mobility brought by the ringing of his swords, even with many knights against him, the Returning Knights could do nothing; only a few injuries remained.
In contrast, every one of his opponents was injured, some heavily so!
Yet it was unfortunate; their wounds didn’t affect the combat strength of their adversary at this moment.
The chosen ones granted boons by the Red King continued to receive similar benefits: blood thirst, power shattering, fierce battles... they were fully fueled!
Riding with valiant effort, the knights rallied once more; they didn’t rush to attack but unanimously took out hanging pendant-shaped vials from their chests, breaking the mouths with their teeth and swallowing the contents with their heads tilted back.
As if material flames colored in blood began to rise from their bodies, the flames joined together like living beings, as though to spread across the entire world!
Burning blood sacrifice, using the blood of the group of chosen ones as offering to the microbial entity for blessings.
Trading life for strength and endurance, all the knights would share the same soul and bloodline, only those with identical matrices could unite so seamlessly.
The Returning Knights were ready to fight!
Under the protection of the wing formation, the disheveled Lou Feng finally smiled, staring coldly at his two remaining enemies.
They had nowhere to run, even the shabby car was gone...
Wait—
Suddenly, Lou Feng froze, feeling a chill from who knows where, accompanied by a sudden halt of horror and confusion.
He couldn’t understand: where was the car?
Where the hell was that damn car?!
In that instant, he heard a slight crisp noise.
Creak!
The bullet chain ratcheted into place...
Amidst the chaos, an almost unnoticed three-wheeled motorcycle finally shed the dust cover that had been draped over its carriage, revealing mountains of spoils.
Bundles and packages housed inside, and not long ago, Ji Jue had just welded up the frame in camp.
On that frame sat a bizarrely shaped piece of iron.
Thick, long, black, and hard...
And six barrels, which had started rotating slowly, aiming at the backs of the Returning Knights... causing Lou Feng to erupt in fury!
From generous donations of retired soldiers, good items that brother Feng dug out from the veterans' mutual aid association’s warehouse, passed through the hands of Furnace Brother for restoration.
The 2100 bullets specially allocated by Sister Wen occupied over seventy percent of the original weight of the small cow and horse...
—It was a six-barreled heavy machine gun!
In that moment, the rear of the small cow and horse finally adjusted its position,
And so, at Ji Jue's signal, a roaring sound erupted.
“Beep!!!!!!!”
(End of this chapter)