Above Destiny

Chapter 530 Prayer
The world has changed.

It is hard for anyone to deny that everything has changed drastically since that crimson star rose from the sky and the God-Enemy declared himself king from the border prison.

The peaceful cycle that lasted day after day came to an end.

No matter how many times Tiancheng reiterates that the existence of demons is insignificant, like a minor ailment, and calls on everyone to strengthen their faith, it is difficult to achieve the same effect as before.

So the cult changed its tune once again, and the holy book was updated again, adding a chapter of Revelation and interpreting everything as a test from God.

Blessed are the beings on earth, for the day of the Kingdom of Heaven's descent is near. Once they overcome this final hurdle, one day the holy army of Heaven will face the forces of Hell in a decisive battle. As long as believers prove their faith, they will be able to draw near to God and enter the realm of bliss forever, enjoying boundless joy.

Upon hearing this explanation, countless believers wept with joy, roused their spirits, and prepared to fight against the devil from this day forward.

Unfortunately, distant water cannot quench immediate thirst, nor can distant bread.

Even with the cult's utmost efforts, it is difficult to resolve the divine enemy far away in the border prison, just as it is unable to quell the chaos in the world today.

The peaceful and tranquil days are gone. The river no longer flows with honey, and the trees no longer bear figs. Someone kicked over the garbage can of paradise, and chaos erupted. After all the chaos of dreams was released, the world that was once a clear, white expanse was dyed in all sorts of colors and stirred up endlessly by various forces.

Chaotic celestial phenomena and frequent earthquakes have permeated the world outside the parish, and the order has done its utmost to maintain a precarious stability within the parish.

As blood rain, thunder, and fly plagues occurred, more and more bizarre events began to emerge. One day, flowers suddenly bloomed all over the mountains outside the city, and after the flowers withered, toads and wriggling snakes sprang out from the flower buds, speaking human language. The broken dripping beast stone statue even sang loudly...

The transport team said that on their journey, they often encountered strange villages that were not on the map. The villagers were kind and friendly, and even invited them to stay, but they could never find them again after leaving.

Some people saw a magnificent and vast city deep in the fog, but after chasing it for a long time, they could not find any trace of it at all. Instead, the person in question mysteriously disappeared in full view of everyone.

Scenes that defy common sense are unfolding in every part of the world. Massive anomalies converge and change, giving rise to many bizarre regions, and are even spreading insidiously.

Once the chaos that has been suppressed for decades begins to erupt, it is like a festering sore on the skin, difficult to cure and resolve.

The chaos wasn't just spreading outside the city; strange things were happening even inside the city center.

Inside the central sanctuary, the celebrant on night watch encountered believers offering confessions and prayers late into the night for several days in a row. He remained silent, turning and leaving each time he finished. At first, the celebrant didn't pay much attention, but soon he noticed an increasing number of believers praying late at night. Finally, one day, when he opened his eyes after a nap, he found the entire sanctuary filled with countless figures, layer upon layer, yet these people made no sound except for low prayers and murmurs.

The high priest screamed and fled, but the figures did not chase after him; instead, they silently watched him leave with empty eyes.

From that day on, no believers came at night anymore, but the priest who kept watch gradually went mad, arguing and fighting with people who didn't exist every day, until he was imprisoned and then suddenly disappeared one day.

Then, news spread from various sanctuaries that a priest would often come to pray late at night...

Some believers joined a mutual aid society with a harmonious atmosphere where everyone helped each other and improved together. However, several weeks later, they discovered that the society was not registered with the church and that the people in it had never existed.

Numerous strange rumors and tales spread by word of mouth, and sometimes it became difficult to tell whether the people around you were alive or not.

Moreover, is the person telling you this story even a real person?

Even though it was a dream, ghost stories kept happening everywhere.

After the Heavenly Origin was thrown into chaos, numerous bizarre events occurred. Yet, the only deity capable of restoring order to everything remained unmoved.

As a result, many believers gradually discovered that the illusion called déjà vu was becoming stronger and stronger, with familiar scenes and words appearing repeatedly, and they seemed to be able to vaguely stir up this reality to a limited extent through their own consciousness...

After chaos returned, order was distorted.

Awakening has become easier, weaker, and more uncontrollable.

Everything was reminding them that this was not reality.

They live in a dream.

In a dream with no end in sight...

The moment one truly grasps this reality, despair and wavering silently sprout from the heart, and when looking back at the sanctuary behind them, it becomes difficult to remain steadfast.

Not to mention those who were already wavering.

Human nature is to admire strength and to pursue power. When the devil proves his power and hell proves its value and meaning, the faith that flows continuously toward the border is proof of that.

Besides these, there is a great deal of resentment, hatred, and even anger, but it doesn't matter. The gods may abandon you, but hell will not.

The doors are wide open; all are welcome.

A vast amount of curses and beliefs flowed day and night, stirring up the chaotic dreamscape and forming a dark region covering thousands of miles across the land.

The lingering curses and resentments settled in the air, preventing anything from growing. Dark clouds shrouded the sky, obscuring the sun, while the fires of hell erupted from the cracks in the center of the earth, repeatedly spreading malice upon the mortal world.

As the Border Prison rises on its own initiative, drawn by this curse and faith, it has gradually approached Paradise, even opening a fissure known as the 'Scar,' which wraps around the Divine Kingdom.

An absolute demonic realm has emerged from the divine kingdom.

If you lie on the edge of the scar and look down, you can see an endless steel hell, with huge machines as tall as buildings constantly running, forever echoing with loud noises and roars.

The lava flowed like a river, converging from all directions toward the center. In the end, all the fires of the borderlands, all faith and curses, fell into the massive furnace at the very center, which resembled a mountain range.

Dust fell like rain, while demons with steel wings rose and fell. Unrepentant believers were imprisoned in workshop after workshop, forced to work in agony every day under the torture of whipping and electric shocks. Many more surviving angels were thrown whole into the furnace, their screams echoing as they melted into the molten iron, becoming plates of steel and weapons as they were cast…

They prepared their troops and horses, ready to fight at any moment.

Making no attempt to conceal their ambitions and plans, the entire border prison has been transformed into a giant arsenal, where demons are trained and armed day after day, yearning to storm the divine kingdom and trample the heavenly city under their feet!

As the gates burst open, molten steel poured down, flowing like a dazzling river and converging along the road before being poured into the molds.

Soon, the still-hot steel, not yet fully cooled, was slowly lifted by the chains, carried and moved to the sound of horns and whistles, and finally landed on the piece of armor that was still warm.

Layer upon layer, like fish scales.

As the chains were released, the silent behemoth slowly raised its mountain-like head.

The Styx Dragon.

No longer the twisted creature it once was, and devoid of any flesh and blood, the dragon, now completely transformed into steel, twisted its body, shaking off the oxide layer from its scorching armor amidst the scraping of metal. Fine bits of black ash fell like rain.

A heart-stirring roar suddenly rang out.

The steel dragon roared, spread its wings, and dozens of vector engine nozzles all over its body spewed out scorching light. Right in front of the take-off and landing platform, the demon waved a flag to indicate that the area was cleared.

Then, a storm suddenly broke out.

The dragon accelerated as it sped forward, its massive wings unfurling as it rose from the Scarred Rift Valley, soaring into the sky and excitedly roaming the gray world.

It roars contemptuously toward the distant Heavenly City.

"Isn't that quite motivating?"

Inside the workshop, Ji Jue raised his eyes and glanced at the playful red light rising and falling in the distance: "Isis, give it to me..."

He paused slightly before finishing his sentence.

He then realized that Isis wasn't there.

In his frustration, a mercury hand rose up and handed him tools—without the assistance of the workshop spirit, Ji Jue had to do it himself. To avoid trouble, he extracted Chun Jun from his soul and built a giant spiritual fire array on its own to enhance its multi-line operation capabilities.

It can only be said that Xiao Dao is ultimately unable to handle the work of a large truck. Although their teamwork is still excellent, they are limited in many ways.

This shitty life is unbearable.

He clicked his tongue and continued his work, when he heard a knock on the door.

Bao Dacai.

After hiding for a while, this old ghost reappeared, still clutching that snake-like hat in his arms. He was like a crow that had come to life; nothing good ever came out of his mouth.

"bad news."

Old Deng said jokingly, "The cult just updated to a new version. The underlying structure of the Yellow Millet Dream has been modified a lot. Your previous method of killing people has been cracked and blocked."

"It doesn't matter. If I really want to kill people, I have plenty of ways to do it. Besides, wouldn't this be a better way to avoid wasting materials? Let's block it. Destruction is always easier than operation. I want to see how long Tiancheng can hold out."

Ji Jue guarded the weapon in his hand, narrowed his eyes, and slowly frowned: "I also have some bad news, I don't know if you want to hear it?"

"..."

Bao Dacai peered out, looking puzzled and bewildered.

They saw the spear in Ji Jue's hand.

The weapon I made for Wenwen had a four-sided, rotating spearhead and a heavy, sturdy body. It was a small spear, but it weighed over several tons. Apart from Wenwen, not many people could swing it like a straw.

To be fair, from a design perspective, this weapon, even if not perfect, is still a rare gem, not to mention its perfect complement to Wenwen.

Sufficiently heavy, and at the same time, sufficiently sturdy and solid, through fluid alchemy, Ji Jue used internal spiritual matter to drive external matter, and after a frenzied cycle, the material of the entire spear had approached the upper limit that Illusion Dream could allow without any limit, and could almost be called immortal.

Only in this way can we ensure that it won't be smashed to pieces or easily damaged by Wen Wen.

As for destructive power... it doesn't need to be destructive. It only needs to ensure that it can extract the divine power from the enemy and bring them back to their original form.

Next comes the time for true damage.

All the design elements ultimately ensured that Wenwen had no match for him in a direct confrontation.

In addition, Ji Jue also added a lot of small designs to this weapon in the subsequent upgrades, such as... the 'coating' that was specially covered on the spearhead to prevent the Holy God's true form from descending.

It is both a poison for those with mixed beliefs and a medicine to help people regain their rationality from chaos and loss of control.

It references the principles of Old Deng's exorcism, but goes a step further and even incorporates some principles of disintegration. As long as spiritual matter is injected, it can continuously generate shockwaves. With a single touch, it can find all the cracks on the spiritual body and disintegrate it from the inside out.

For ordinary people, it's nothing more than dizziness and shock, not very lethal. But for a holy being who has absorbed countless impure self-natures, no matter how much purification is done, what is not one's own is ultimately not one's own.

The foundation for ascension is built upon 'me'. Similarly, no matter how powerful 'me' is, it is ultimately impossible to absorb other 'me's' and achieve infinite growth. Otherwise, everyone could simply pool their souls and become gods directly, instead of going through all that trouble.

This is an attempt and a targeted attack against the Holy Spirit.

If it hits, it can directly strip away a large amount of the self that does not belong to oneself from the soul through the impact, thereby knocking the opponent back to their original form!
But the problem is...

"It's no use."

Ji Jue put down his gun, wiped his hands, and told Lao Deng, "When facing the Holy Shadow, Sister Wen's weapon did cause a momentary commotion, but it did not have any substantial consequences."

It has some effect, but it's not strong enough.

"..."

Bao Dacai remained silent, his expression gradually turning serious.

This means that the premise of the plan was flawed.

The Holy Spirit draws so much from self and faith, yet he doesn't use it on himself... So, what is he doing at this moment?
Where have all these selves and beliefs gone?

What is his current situation?
No one knows.

"We're missing too few conditions and data." Bao Dacai rubbed the bridge of his nose. "It seems we need to start reconsidering."

He began to regret bringing bad news to the door.

While eating, I ended up eating myself on the table.

We still have to work overtime!

Fortunately, the overtime work didn't last too long...

The door was knocked on once again.

Yu Shu.

“A lot of people have come from outside.”

Yu Shu reported: "Since the border prison has surfaced, a large number of believers from Paradise are heading towards the rift, and many sinners who were previously tortured in the border prison want to see you, Mr. Ji."

His devout demeanor didn't seem feigned.

"Then we can just incorporate them and deal with them as appropriate." Ji Jue asked doubtfully, "Is there a problem?"

"Everything else is fine."

Yu Shu hesitated for a moment before reporting, "The requirements are... there are some..."

"Negotiate terms?"

Ji Jue was amused: "I'm not as generous as the Holy God, I don't have a paradise to bestow upon them."

"No, they don't want any reward; on the contrary, they want to give us all their wealth."

Yu Shu remained silent for a moment, then sighed silently: "They just heard the rumors about you and wanted to ask you for a favor."

Ji Jue remained silent and looked over.

listen.

"They, those people, want you to kill them."

Yu Shu lowered his head and stammered as he told him, "They want to die."

Outside the workshop, amidst the roar of the furnaces, voices of prayer and pleas echoed, rising and falling.

A dense crowd lay prostrate in the ashes, their empty, numb faces rising and falling with the worship, constantly praying and kowtowing to the devil.

It surpasses even devotion to the gods.

Praying for death.

(End of this chapter)