Above Destiny

Chapter 687 You're always there when something goes wrong!

Silence, a long silence.

Only blood silently seeped from the phone, dripping onto the ground with a hissing sound, spreading the contamination.

Even without radio waves, the invisible curse still traveled a great distance and struck the Heavenly Furnace without reservation.

For example, a greeting, or... a vicious attack that has been prepared for who knows how many years!
Old Deng looked like he'd seen a ghost, grabbed his knitting bag, and ran off without a second thought of offering any help... You brought this on yourself, so deal with it yourself.

Besides, what about himself? Should he lend a helping hand? To the Heavenly Furnace?
Are you serious?

So he turned and left without hesitation.

Only the Heavenly Furnace sighed silently.

The fingers, which had melted away to reveal bare bones, were restored, and the withered and decaying aura vanished without a trace.

"Your temper is getting worse and worse, Yuan."

He sighed, then his face lit up with excitement: "We're brothers after all, is it really necessary to be like this? If you ask me, what's the point of that awful place, You Suo? We should come to Nirvana sooner, so we brothers can do great things!"

Kengen remained silent.

Still indifferent.

Imagine that your sworn enemy, with whom you've been locked in a life-or-death struggle for so many years, suddenly calls you one day and jokes around as if nothing ever happened. He even asks you for gossip and entertainment, acting like you and your buddy are the best of the best.

Moreover, he even called your workshop when you weren't looking...

All I can say is that if Jian Yuan can refrain from uttering a single swear word in such a situation, it's a testament to his remarkable self-control.

Although Kengen didn't have many of these things, he still didn't curse.

It's because it's meaningless.

Cursing at him will only make this bastard happier.

"If you're really so bored that you're going to this secluded place to have some fun, why don't you find a rope and hang yourself up a tree? That would be better for you and for others, Lord 'Heavenly Furnace'."

"Sigh, can't your senior brother just show you some concern?"

Tianlu sighed and said, "Besides, you are in the deep and dark place, not having enough to eat or wear. Don't you worry, senior brother? I'm afraid you are suffering!"

So… what's been going on lately? Could you perhaps offer some guidance? What exactly is that old geezer, the Butcher, up to? Has he finally had enough after all these years?

"What does it have to do with you?"

"Indeed, but that old codger is always sneaking around doing things that are an eyesore, it's really too much trouble. What I mean is, why don't we all just have a fight?"

Tianlu scratched his chin and casually said, "It's much simpler and easier for everyone to fight openly and decisively."

"Okay."

Jian Yuan remained calm and didn't hesitate: "No need for the old man, I'll handle it. You set the time, I'll set the place, how about we fight to the death?"

"Can we use someone else?"

Tianlu looked helpless and said sincerely, "You're my only junior brother. I really can't bear it. If you die, who will I have to talk to in the future?"

Still so frivolous, still so arrogant.

As always, they completely disregarded me...

A breaking sound was heard.

An uncontrollable rage erupted.

"Take care of yourself before I come back, Lord Jushi!"

Kengen warned coldly, "Especially that 'Lu Changsheng' you raised—if I see any more of that trash outside with 'Kengen Handmade' engraved on it, I'll go and have a talk with him myself!"

click!
The moment the call ended, the phone in Tianlu's hand exploded. Amidst the gushing blood, a bizarre outline grew and suddenly expanded, revealing a gaping maw that slammed shut toward Tianlu's head.

In the short span of a few words, the phone in Tianlu's hand was somehow transformed by Jianyuan into a cursed creation that would devour anyone it wanted.

Then, as the five fingers of the Heavenly Furnace contracted and shriveled up again, like a rat being squeezed, it let out a sharp wail and collapsed inward.

In the end, the fragments of the phone slowly slipped from his fingertips.

"You really have a terrible temper, Yuan."

Tianlu sighed, "Let's see what kind of environment that awful place, Youxu, really is."

His temper is getting worse and worse, and he's speaking more and more aggressively.

Unfortunately, his personality hasn't changed much; he's like a pressure cooker, easily exploding if you tease him even slightly...

Over the years, everyone has become so familiar with each other that they would almost recognize each other even if they were reduced to ashes. Just as Kengen knows what Tenro is about to bark as soon as he opens his mouth, even if Kengen is being extremely sarcastic and mocking, Tenro can still guess something from him.

This matter has nothing to do with Kengen...

Given his pride, he would never allow himself to lie in front of the Heavenly Furnace. If there were any connection, he wouldn't have said that he was there to fight the Heavenly Furnace.

In other words, after so many years, the old man has made a new move?
Of the three master craftsmen, the one with the most profound wisdom is the one with the most detached, or rather, aloof. He never bothers with petty squabbles, and even treats great evils as raw materials and resources. Even though his actions are no different from those of a sinner, in terms of their relationship with stagnation and corruption, he is actually the furthest away.

On the contrary, Bei Gong was too close to stagnation and decay. Now, more than ninety years have passed without any news. Judging from that guy's style, he has probably already ruined himself. Even if he doesn't die, he is not far from complete objectification.

Among the three master craftsmen, the one with the highest status, the greatest prestige, and the most powerful and extensive forces under his command in the secluded valley is the old tortoise, Anvil Master, who rarely shows his face in the secluded valley.

After so many years, the old man's hands have reached into the association again and started groping... The recent turmoil in the association has been fueled by this guy behind the scenes to some extent.

It's like the corruption of the dust and haze workshop.

Same old routine!
This move again!
The other party was already very familiar with the method and had even developed a fixed approach... Although it lacked a bit of innovation, it also showed that this tactic was really effective.

After all, when you're in dire straits and can't make any progress, why would you care where the lifeline in front of you comes from?
When you discover that a school of thought has studied for so long and yet found nothing, when you find that the direction you chose with your whole life has yielded nothing, who can accept reality?

How many people have the courage to give up everything and start over?

The embers are located between the Ascension and the Desolate Ruins, formed by their convergence and overlap. In a sense, they also inherit the flaws of both.

Like a transformation, one's obsession runs deep, and one can easily fall into the abyss; or like a desolate ruin, where a beautiful jade is naturally formed, but without talent, one can hardly move forward.

Craftsmen succeed because of their dedication, but they also often fail because of it.

Like Duan Mu, who walked down a dead end and never looked back, he even jumped into the abyss in search of a way forward. Like Belzuna, who gradually went mad in order to compensate for the flaws of the dust, he was willing to take risks and cooperate with Anvil.

And so, on this dead-end road, they went further and further astray, never to turn back.

The so-called transformation into something sinister is merely a symptom; truly embracing the great sin is nothing more than a registration process. Long before complete transformation, the craftsman was already on the wrong path…

The difference between embers and decay doesn't lie in whether or not one is devoid of humanity, because in many situations, the craftsman himself is already devoid of humanity. Therefore, the craftsman in decay simply appears even more inhumane.

When people are driven to a dead end, they will stop at nothing to achieve their goals.

In the pursuit of breakthroughs and progress, whatever is useful will be used, regardless of the magnitude of the disaster.

But will there really be a breakthrough?

Is there really any progress?
Or perhaps it's just a self-deceptive illusion and a daze?
In that stagnant pool symbolized by decay and stagnation, in that desolate wasteland devoid of all change, no matter how much change there is, it is nothing more than spinning in a vicious cycle.

The path of embers is always judged by success or failure.

This road is too difficult and too dangerous.

Inheritance, experience, theory, and even talent have their limits. Amidst the devastation of the embers, no one knows if they can reach the end...

In the silent march forward, everyone struggles to move forward.

Nobody knows if things will turn around if we keep going, or if we'll see the light at the end of the tunnel.

That is precisely why the deep is so alluring.

Unfortunately, that is also a dead end—among endless dead ends, there may be occasional oddities, but how can ordinary people possibly reach them?
No matter how generous or lavish the rewards from the Great Evil, how could they possibly reach the useless and the ashes?

There might be exceptions to other forms of supreme goodness, but in the Ember lineage... it's never because they became stronger through demonic transformation, but rather because the strong chose demonic transformation for their purposes, desires, or plans!
The vast majority of fools who can't see the situation are willing to degenerate, a few clear-headed craftsmen are forced into it, and there are also master craftsmen who can stand at the highest point and look down on everything, and don't care at all.

Even if they knew, those artisans who threw themselves into this atrocity would not have hesitated at all.

Even if it's a dead end, so what?

Even if there is no road ahead, we must go further; even if we reach the end, we must open up a new world!

No amount of bloody lessons from the past will be of any use. Whether we can transform ourselves in dire straits or sink into stagnation, we'll only know after we try!
Self-righteousness leads to self-inflicted consequences and one reaps what one sows.

This is the original sin of craftsmen!

The line between the association and the deep has never been clear...

Even the existence of the Punishment Team is nothing more than a low wall, a warning sign, in the face of those who cross the border. As long as this arrogance and obsession remain, the Deep Abyss's erosion and infiltration of the Association will not cease.

No matter how many rules later generations summarize, they cannot avoid making mistakes; no matter how profound their understanding, they cannot prevent them.

No matter how many summaries you draw, success ultimately comes from those who succeed.

No matter how deep one's understanding, it's impossible to escape the defeat of the loser.

"All things transform themselves."

Tianlu lowered his eyes and sighed softly, helpless.

Craftsmen regard everything as raw materials, but in the eyes of the highest good and the greatest evil, aren't craftsmen also raw materials and creators?

Success or failure in life, the ascension and fall of the soul, the pursuit of good and the expulsion of evil, the entanglement between embers and decay—is this not also a kind of nature?
When every craftsman is lost and desperate, he will look up and ask: If heaven and earth are the furnace, what kind of shape will they forge me into?
Unfortunately, even the Heavenly Furnace itself could not decide its final form...

Isn't he also one of the creations from the embers?

At this critical juncture, with the old woman who scavenges nearing the end of her life and about to return to the highest good, the Deep Abyss is once again stirring. It is foreseeable that in the near future, the Association and the Deep Abyss will inevitably engage in another life-or-death struggle and showdown.

Kengen knew this, so he told him to mind his own business. Kengen knew this too, but he didn't care.

The old man knew, and it was precisely because he knew that he was so cautious.

That old codger is too good at enduring and too good at tolerating. He didn't even show his face when Jiang Tongguang was riding on his back and pointing his finger at him and cursing him. As a result... the poor worker who showed his face was surrounded and kicked half to death by the furnace, the carrion eater and the newly promoted plow-casting craftsman.

Having learned his lesson once, he would never make the same mistake again. As long as the furnace was still in perfect condition, he would never act rashly!

Perhaps this incident is also a test of himself?

Let's see how much strength this strongest furnace in history can still retain after being injured.
"Ouch... I'm injured, I'm bleeding all over the place!"

Tianlu leaned back in his recliner, his breath coming in short gasps. He sighed lazily, "Oh no, I'm going to die. Quickly, find A-Xian to help me with my funeral arrangements..."

"You bastard, still fishing!"

Old Man Qi Tan glanced at him from afar and sneered.

The reason why the name "Heavenly Furnace" has now fallen to the point of being used as an insult is not only because this bastard doesn't like to behave, but also because he's too damn fond of fishing!

Since his debut, he's been fishing from beginning to end.

What's even more terrifying is that after fishing for so long, I consistently have a huge catch, with very few instances of coming home empty-handed. To the point that my credit score is now so low that I can't even find a shared bike listing!
Tianlu smiled without saying a word.

He has fully immersed himself in the role-playing, and even plans to subtly reveal his true intentions somewhere.

By making a show of force, one can make others doubt that they are all bark and no bite, and that their condition is not as good as before.

only……

He paused for a moment, recalling Jian Yuan's last words, and couldn't help but wonder: why was Ji Jue mentioned again?

He was only on the penalty-rejection team once, so how did he end up getting involved in some trouble again?
It's safe to say that this level of bad luck is unprecedented.

You're always involved in trouble, and this time too!
You kid...

"Hey, this is really a fine piece of jade."

Tianlu couldn't help but laugh out loud.

He suddenly had a premonition—this time there was going to be some more excitement...

fun!
Let's have some fun!

Ji Jue was unhappy.

No matter who it is, if a bearded man in his late thirties or early forties hugs your leg and bursts into tears in public, you probably wouldn't be happy or able to laugh.

But amidst the calm gazes of those around him, the guy clinging to his leg refused to hold on.

It was like clutching at a straw.

You can't shake them off, you can't kick them away.

At this moment, Rear Admiral Minkler, the commander-in-chief of the seven-city joint naval defense, was already in tears:
"Croak! Godfather, save me!!!"

　Ah, insomnia and sluggishness.

　　It's the beginning of the month, please give me a guaranteed monthly vote!

　　
　
(End of this chapter)