Above Destiny

Chapter 635 Beasts, Beasts and Beasts

Suddenly, the sky collapsed and the earth cracked.

Above the dark sky, cracks spread and appeared, as if they had been brutally crushed by an iron hammer. Beams of intense light pierced through them, illuminating everything with devastating force.

The earth trembled as if shaking, the raging wind seemed to wail, and blood rained down like tears.

The once desolate world was instantly plunged into destruction.

It was impossible to see what had happened in the darkness beneath the giant tree; the desolate ruins of the old capital had been swallowed up by streaks of intense light and crimson.

It's fighting!

Ji Jue was startled awake.

He couldn't care less about the Tzu Chi old ghost who was just there to chat, and he ran wildly out of the car.

Chaos reigned in the camp, with boulders raging in the gale, tearing the fragile walls and huts to shreds.

Screams came and went.

boom.

The gale, the blood rain, the earthquake—all came to an abrupt end, or rather, were shut out.

The telekinetic energy flowed, enveloping the entire camp like a dome. Cracks appeared continuously, and amidst the chilling sound of shattering, the fissures spread...

"What's wrong with Brother Shan?" Ji Jue finally found Tong Shan.

"The Federation and the Empire have made their move." Tong Shan's expression was grim. "Don't say anything, pack your things, get in the car, and get out of here immediately!"

"Everyone, abandon all non-essential supplies. The convoy will depart in half a minute!"

He waved his hand expressionlessly, using his telekinesis to clear all unnecessary and cumbersome items from the truck, frantically reducing weight and packing everything up as quickly as possible.

What else can be said?
Looking at the scene before us, isn't everything clear now?
Bad news! The Kingdom of the Forest is staging a drama!

Good news? Tianyuan is also putting on an act!

From the beginning until now, both sides have been acting, to the point that they are so immersed in their performances that they have lost sight of the world around them.

Tianyuan pretended to be testing the waters gradually, but in reality, he was gathering strength.

The wolf is also acting, pretending to undergo a difficult transformation, when in reality it's almost done...

Amidst the seemingly tense situation, constant probing in the shadows, the undercurrents beneath the surface erupted completely when one side deliberately broke the balance, transforming into the overwhelming 'flood' that now utterly submerged the entire forest kingdom.

At that moment, a series of loud explosions erupted, and alarms sounded one after another in the outpost.

Everyone's face turned pale, and they hadn't even reacted yet.

So, a fight has broken out?

It can only be said that people always overestimate their own importance, leading to unrealistic expectations and illusions, mistakenly believing that they can play a valuable and useful role.

Unfortunately, the opportunity is gone.

When the wolves choose not to bite, the bait has lost its value.

Reality is always complex and unpredictable; no one knows what will happen in the next moment, not even Tianyuan.

Overly complex and overly idealistic plans are always useless; blindly following a plan when unexpected situations arise is suicidal.

The key is to adapt to the situation and respond to each move... and most importantly, to make decisive decisions!

And so, they were cut off.

Or rather, it successfully played its role as a 'sacrificial pawn,' slightly lulling the Forest Kingdom into a false sense of security and causing them to devote a lot of energy to dealing with the troubles brought by this advance team.

Once all the preparations are complete, the bait that has lost its value becomes irrelevant...

What's the point of keeping it then?
The Federation and the Empire chose to flip the table.

Do you think I have a conscience?
Sorry, I was faking it!
Whether it's a feint attack or a diversionary tactic, now that the operation has begun, the entire outpost has become a mere decoration...

No, even decorations are better than them. At least no one would mess with decorations. Now, they have to find their own way to survive.

What are we waiting for if we don't run away now?!

Are we just waiting to die?
If the Federation and the Empire win, they can simply come back and wait for rewards and prizes. But if the Federation and the Empire's actions go slightly wrong...

That would be a huge disaster for someone!

Even without Tong Shan saying anything, Ji Jue had already begun a mechanical deus ex machina as he rushed out. The workshop, which had just been set up, quickly shrank, and countless machines, like spiders, ran around and returned to their positions on their own.

After leaving a pile of trash in just a few seconds, he returned to the calf car, and then An Ning was already in the passenger seat.

Ji Jue slammed on the gas pedal, and with a roar, he followed Tong Shan's trucks directly behind, preparing to retreat.

But in that instant, amidst the sounds of wind, thunder, and the muffled noises of collapse, he suddenly heard a clear, crisp sound.

【Ding--】

It was as if a faint bell rang out from the deepest part of the darkness.

Ji Jue's vision went black.

【Ding--】

As the second bell-like sound rang out, he was swallowed by the overwhelming darkness. In a daze, he seemed to hear the old man from Tzu Chi sigh and warn him: "Be careful."

I'm not being careful, you idiot!

What were you doing earlier? !

Ji Jue subconsciously wanted to rebuke, but in his daze, the chaotic darkness before him seemed to reveal the shadowy appearance of a dense forest.

Amidst lightning and thunder, blood-red rain poured down from the sky. Eerie, menacing shadows of tree branches overlapped, dancing and engulfing everything.

In the resonance of Shangri-La, he has already fallen into illusion!
Or...

—Falling into the forest!
Countless phantoms appeared before my eyes: withered leaves, rotting corpses, thunder, burning, flames, giant trees, pythons, insects, distorted faces and beasts...

In the flash of lightning, in the deepest part of Shambhala, pain surged, despair rose, and countless images emerged from this moment of delirium.

It was as if we were unarmed and had fallen into a forest surrounded by wild beasts.

Finally, I felt the hungry gaze cast from the deepest darkness of the forest!

When Ji Jue turned around in horror, he saw, in a flash of lightning, the hideous outline illuminated.

Those scarlet eyes burned like raging fire, their expression a mixture of resentment, bitterness, despair, and madness, before settling into a thirsty chaos.

Its massive form stood in the darkness.

It was already completely broken.

Beneath the torn flesh, pale bones were exposed, and the internal organs had long since rotted and broken, falling out of the cracks... No, those were not internal organs, but bells that looked like cast iron!

Whether large or small, complete or incomplete.

Soaked in blood.

As the cold wind blows from the darkness, the blood bells, resembling internal organs, sway in the wind, emitting sharp and mournful cries, like sobs, like weeping, like trembling roars.

That is……

The Wolf of the Forest!
For a moment, Ji Jue even felt that he was about to be devoured by the awakened wolf, but the wolf in the forest just looked at him coldly, its claws and teeth ferocious, but it did not pounce.

Or perhaps... it's impossible?
In a fleeting moment of realization, Ji Jue couldn't help but breathe a sigh of relief, remembering Tzu Chi's words—three days! No more than three days, but that doesn't mean now or immediately…

In other words, the priest king has not yet been resurrected, and the wolf of the forest has not yet fully transformed!
But then he realized he was too happy... because when he looked up, he saw two blood-red suns and a pale moon silently shining above the illusory dense forest and the sky after the rainstorm.

Like two pairs of hungry eyes, they stared intently at the wolf in the forest about to complete its transformation, and even... everything in the dense forest!
boom! ! !
The forest trembled, and the wolves in the deepest darkness opened their mouths and roared furiously, forcefully driving away everything that did not belong there.

The illusion shattered, the delirium ended.

Ji Jue fell again, waking up from the resonance of Shangri-La, only to find that it had only been a short second, but his body was already drenched in sweat.

When he looked back at the passenger seat, he found that An Ning's face was deathly pale and had lost all color.

It's like being crushed by an unseen pressure.

Unlike Ji Jue, whose delirium was only brief, the pressure faced by the White Deer Hunter was far more extreme than Ji Jue could have imagined.

Even the slightest awareness is already difficult to sustain under the erosion and suppression of the Forest Kingdom.

"Brother Ji Jue, be careful."

She forced out the words through clenched teeth, gasping for breath: "Not in the forest... but in the mountains and in our hearts! They're behind the scenes..."

"Shut up, don't say a word!"

Without hesitation, Ji Jue reached out and placed his hand on her head. The disintegration technique erupted, and the violent spiritual energy vibrations spread along the matrix of flying light. Instead of destroying it, it forcibly stripped away, dispelled, and drained away all the corrosive gloom.

There's no time to deal with it slowly and methodically; let's take drastic measures to suppress the situation first!

An Ning groaned, blood seeping from her mouth and nose, but a familiar glimmer of light finally reappeared in her previously dull eyes. She didn't even have time to speak.

As he raced forward, Ji Jue's enhanced wolf-like perception suddenly sensed the malice coming from ahead like a raging tide.

Like a tsunami...

Ji Jue stared wide-eyed at the chaotic scene at the outpost and shouted:
"Brother Shan, little——"

silence.

No loud noise could be heard; the only thing that could be seen was a blazing light shooting into the sky from the very center of the outpost, like a tidal wave, with endless thunder and flames spreading in all directions, engulfing everything.

That was... an explosion?!

It's too dazzling.

Just staring at it caused Ji Jue's eyes to sting; the intense light pierced through the car window, making him feel as if he were in a furnace.

But those slight temperature changes are insignificant; what's truly terrifying is the massive, sweeping airwave and the raging temperatures it contains.

Before being swallowed by the waves, the calf suddenly transformed, its giant claws plunging into the earth, fixing itself completely in place, and then, it stood as immovable as a mountain!
The waves roared past.

A menacing mushroom cloud suddenly rose from the earth, the shockwave crushing the entire outpost to pieces. The intense heat from the center of the explosion spread outwards, dissolving everything that had been torn apart.

All Ji Jue could do was to do his utmost and forgive any transgressions!
The outer armor melted and solidified, solidified and melted again, evaporating and cracking rapidly, as if being ravaged by an invisible giant hand, sinking inch by inch.

After the destruction swept past, the outer armor of the bulldog had completely melted away, and the entire frame was burned red. Fortunately, the main structure remained intact.

We held on!
But Tongshan wasn't so lucky. The truck that was leading the way was crushed in the first instance, and almost everyone inside was wiped out before they could react.

The only survivor was Tong Shan, who was the first to react.

Even without Ji Jue's reminder, the family's inherited ethereal ability to sense crises is even stronger!
At this moment, he suffered severe burns.

It looked like charcoal.

At the cost, Ji Liu and Ji Xue, the brother and sister behind him, were unharmed, only unconscious.

He slowly rose from the broken and twisted basket, looking around expressionlessly. All he saw was devastation, broken limbs, and even cries of agony and bitter cold.

When he turned around and saw the calf whose shell had melted away, he finally breathed a sigh of relief.

Dizzy and panting, Ji Jue was equally bewildered.

A fusion bomb?!
No, if it really is a fusion bomb, then everyone inside the explosion's core will be dead... But if it's not a fusion bomb, then...

"what……"

Ji Jue, utterly speechless, couldn't help but burst out laughing.

At the very center of the explosion, a figure slowly rose into the sky, its scarlet eyes watching everything unfold. Its face remained the same, but its expression was completely different.

Like a wild beast, ferocious and thirsty.

It chooses its prey to devour.

Gold is insatiable!
"..."

In a moment of stunned silence, Ji Jue suddenly looked around. Amidst the devastated ruins, the intermittent groans and wails gradually disappeared.

Instead, there were hoarse gasps and howls like those of wild beasts!
One after another, staggering and eerie figures crawled out of the ruins and quickly recovered. They were either old or young, male or female, but the only thing they had in common was their pair of scarlet eyes!

As the forest kingdom revolted, one wolf after another tore away their disguise.

Or perhaps... one person after another has fallen into wolves!

A wolf in the heart?!

No, even a wolf in the heart couldn't be this overpowered. How could it simultaneously and without a trace corrupt and transform so many people with such a terrible power, without even provoking any resistance?!

How is this done? !

He suddenly turned around, looked at the old man from Tzu Chi, and glared angrily.

The phantom of Tzu Chi slowly shook its head: "Shangri-La is indeed indispensable, but it has long been out of my control, and all of this has nothing to do with me."

Moreover, the emphasis of the title "Wolf in the Heart" is not on the wolf itself, but on the heart.

He sighed regretfully, gazing at the faces that were gradually becoming distorted. "The essence of a wolf is not in its claws and teeth. Who can be without a beast in their heart?"

Ji Jue was so angry he almost laughed.

Okay, okay, you're everywhere, but you're the only one who's non-stick, huh?

"The key to enlightenment lies in one's own awakening; why should I add anything unnecessary?"

The Tzu Chi leader glanced at everything before him, remaining calm, showing neither joy nor sorrow, nor even compassion or pity. He simply watched indifferently.

"Whether you call it enlightenment or demonic possession, it's all just revealing your true nature. This understanding is like a lamp, passed from heart to heart, requiring no words or writing."

Do you remember what I told you?

The key is never the distance, but taking the first step.

When they accepted the gift of the forest kingdom, the seed of the wolf was planted in their hearts, however insignificant it may be...

Isn't that true for you too?

Ji Jue remained silent.

I don't want to talk anymore.

Who said this old man has no skills?
They've been dead for thousands of years, yet their influence is still so pervasive... They've left behind a Shangri-La, and they've managed to cause so much trouble?

You bunch of Chaos Kings, why can't you just die cleanly?!

Perhaps, this is the true face of the Enlightened Lord.

Generous yet cruel, compassionate yet indifferent, treating ascension and depravity as the same, and unconcerned about where the insights given lead.

No matter how warm, considerate, or approachable they may seem, they are ultimately not human.

Even if the afterimage at this moment is not a remains, Shangri-La is still under his control, and he will not care about anything in front of him, much less offer any help.

What kind of utter enlightenment can someone who just stands by and watches coldly, waiting to sink into hell, possibly gain...?

"sorry to bother you."

A hoarse voice rang out in the wind. Tong Shan turned back one last time and used his telekinesis to lift the unconscious Ji Xue and Ji Liu and put them into the ox-horse carriage.

He drew his sword and walked forward step by step.

Jin Wuyan, suspended in mid-air, sneered silently, waiting for his prey to come to him.

Ji Jue also pushed open the door and came out.

In the still sweltering air, he stood in front of the oxcart, looking around at the pair of scarlet eyes staring back at him.

His crazed expression made him no different from a living corpse!
"Let's just assume you still retain some rationality..."

Ji Jue suddenly asked, "Before we begin, does anyone want to quit?"

There was no response, only hoarse howls and panting.

One by one, the distorted figures slowly approached.

Even further away, howls rose from all directions as packs of wolves from the wilderness launched an attack!

Ji Jue then sighed silently.

"Forget it, just pretend I didn't say it."

Amidst the roars, some could no longer suppress their hunger and thirst; the dark shadows rushed forward at breakneck speed!

In just a moment, they were already within arm's reach.

Then, it abruptly ended...

Ji Jue extended his hand.

With a casual gesture, he grasped that distorted face and tightened his grip. It was as if the other person had willingly offered their face into his hands!
Slowly lift it up.

"Let's just consider it a special closing sale."

Ji Jue looked around at the monsters that kept rushing towards him and finally announced: "Cremation service is free today."

Bang!
The screams abruptly ceased.

The figure in his hand suddenly convulsed and trembled, engulfed by the viscous flames, turning into ashes inch by inch.

Amidst the ashes, a dazzling wisp of purple lightning shot up, illuminating all the scarlet pupils!

Zhanlu was drawn from its sheath, without any further hesitation. The ferocious nature, honed and tempered by natural disasters, erupted from it.

cut!
(End of this chapter)