Above Destiny

Chapter 751 Under the Curtain
Silently.

That curtain, like a curtain connecting the sea and the sky, stretched out silently, high and ethereal, heavy as an iron wall, yet light as if dancing with the wind.

We await the arrival of all visitors.

There was no earth-shattering noise, not even a ripple; a pale mist covered everything, swallowing all of it.

Beyond the curtain, however, lay layers upon layers of raging waves gradually gathering.

The sky and the ocean, between the sea and the sky, are filled with raging black tides, countless sea locusts rise and fall, gather, mate and fight, vying for the dead fish and rotting flesh on the sea surface, singing loudly.

But that wasn't enough; even more sweet aromas wafted from the deepest part of the mist.

More food!
With the convergence of massive amounts of pheromones, the endless locusts in the sea gradually became ferocious, thirsty, and mad. From the dense, dark mass of dead fish on the sea surface, suddenly a large number of sea locusts rose into the air and roared towards Luo Island.

I can't take it anymore.

In mid-air, a large number of locusts gathered together, meandering like a river, with dozens of torrents flowing continuously, rising and falling, rushing into the mist.

at last……

Outside the arena, countless lurking observers' eyes lit up, and they laughed silently.

However, the smile quickly froze on her face.

Silence remained behind the curtain.

It was as if nothing had happened; nothing could be seen or heard. The fog remained unchanged, generously and inclusively embracing every visitor.

Absolutely, there was no sound whatsoever!
There were no visible flames or thunder, no hissing or noise, and no spiritual fluctuations could be felt.

From beginning to end, the curtain remained high.

Only a continuous stream of locusts kept swarming in, hundreds, thousands, or even tens of thousands.

Each tiny tributary is formed by the convergence of thousands of sea locusts. In just a few minutes, who can count how many rush into that mist in the sky, the sea, and even mid-air?

and then?
Then there is no more.

From the beginning until now, no one has figured out what happened, not even the sea locusts themselves... Not a single sea locust that entered that fog has been able to fly out of it again.

Only the curtains dance gracefully between the sea and the sky.

No one will be turned away.

"..."

The same deathly silence permeated the Seven City Council of Pucheng. The meeting room, which had been filled with joy and excitement, was once again enveloped in silence.

Under the guise of solidarity and concern for the situation, everyone gathered together to watch the spectacle, vent their anger, and find opportunities to kick someone when they're down.

As a result, the movie has been running for ages, but the screen is still black!
Forget about characters and special effects, there's not even a sound!
Can anyone tell me what this was all about?

Wait a minute, you bunch of bastards, are you ganging up on us?
The more important question is...

"...This thing."

The chief physician's expression gradually turned serious. Ignoring the scalding hot teacup in his hand, he involuntarily leaned closer and asked the question that had been on everyone's mind:
"What exactly is it?"

In the ensuing silence, Garisto's expression twitched, as if he were recalling something, but even he wasn't sure: "It looks like the Veil of the Venom Fleet?"

In an instant, everyone turned to look at him.

It's like looking at someone who's mentally challenged.

It was the kind of thing where the whole body was convulsing and drooling.

Curtain?

Everyone's seen it before!

But where would you find such an exaggerated curtain?!
The Sukarno family didn't hide it back then; they wanted to show it off every day. But the only thing the veil they used was to reduce the power of cannonballs and to control the situation during naval battles.

It wasn't nearly as terrifying as it is now. They swallowed so many locusts without a sound, not even letting out a burp!
If it were that powerful, the Venom fleet would have already dominated the Seven Cities. What would the Sukarno family be doing vying for the alliance leader position? If this thing were just placed in someone else's home base, everyone would have to bow down...

If it's not a curtain, then what is this thing?

They looked at each other blankly, and no one spoke.

In the silence, Garisto suddenly remembered the Holy Tree family's enthusiastic attitude towards Ji Jue, and suddenly felt a chill run down his spine.

Even more surprisingly, a chilling thought involuntarily surfaced in my mind.

Perhaps the threat that "we can show our teeth within three days" not long ago was not just empty talk!
No matter how many locusts swarmed in, and no matter how mixed the feelings of those outside the arena were, the curtain remained indifferent and unresponsive throughout.

For example, as the light gauze rises with the wind, beneath the paleness lies another paleness.

No matter how hard you try to see through it, after clearing away the layers of fog, all that awaits you is still the same unchanging fog.

The seemingly unified curtain has long been divided into countless layers. The curtain that is now thick enough to cover Luo Island is essentially an alchemical megastructure formed by tens of thousands of layers of spiritual mist!
Indeed, the curtain of the past was not enough to expand to its current size, but what Ji Jue has now is completely different from what it used to be.

In terms of sheer size, the Venom Fleet's ragtag bunches aren't even worthy of carrying the Curtain's shoes!

The mist, once woven from countless remnants of spirits and resentment, was at best a man-made alien realm used to interfere with artillery fire. Yet, even this crude structure provided Ji Jue with endless inspiration. After radical modifications and the removal of the remnants of spirits filled with mere resentment, what now gathers within is the specially modified spirit of the Fly King.

These faint souls, which originally came from the same source, did not repel each other at all. On the contrary, the more of the same kind there were, the more stable they became.

At the same time, after reverse-engineering the golden body of Badanta, Ji Jue poured all his knowledge of ascension and his understanding of the Abyss into it, truly turning it into a handy tool!

An invisible furnace of embers!

Although the "true Dharma" of Wulou Temple goes against the principle of ascension and transformation, it has some merits, more or less.

Just as monks are an extension of the Dharma, the Fly King, who originated from Ji Jue's creative spirit and was formed from the structure of the mandala, truly became a part of Ji Jue, an extension of Ji Jue's soul and consciousness...

Just like now, everything within the layers of curtains is in the palm of the Non-Aggressive Hand! The area covered by the curtains is the domain forged by the Non-Aggressive Hand!
In other words, this is a man-made boundary!

"All things flourish because of this hand."

Ji Jue murmured softly, "Everything in this world is made of ten fingers!"

At this very moment, within this fully unfolded curtain, amidst an unprecedentedly magnificent forging process, Ji Jue once again deeply felt the true essence of non-aggression.

He held out his hand.

Thus, the invisible hand controls everything.

Beyond the curtain, countless sea locusts continue to swarm in, but within the thick fog, no matter how large their numbers, they gradually disperse and separate during their aimless flight.

They couldn't distinguish east from west, north from south, or front from back and left from right. The deeper they went, the more even their ups and downs began to turn upside down.

It's like jumping into a deep-sea whirlpool, helplessly tilting, drifting, and floating, until finally, you're all alone.

"Om-"

The mutated sea locusts screeched loudly, calling out to their kind in the mist, but the responses from all sides became faint and indistinct. They could only follow the scent of food and move forward aimlessly.

But they didn't notice that their bodies were becoming lighter and lighter...

Amidst the erosion of layers of mist, scales silently fell off, limbs broke off like withered leaves, the outer shell shattered into dust, and blood evaporated without a trace.

In the end, even the wings fell apart.

Only the remains fell from the sky, decomposing more and more rapidly as they fell, until finally, when they hit the ground, only a wisp of insignificant ashes remained.

A gentle breeze blows, and it disappears into the sewers, never to be seen again.

The exquisite and masterful dismantling and dismemberment process was flawless, with not a single drop of blood wasted or a single material damaged. Even the impure and contaminated spiritual matter was completely recycled.

Such scenes are unfolding continuously in countless places, under the veil of secrecy.

At first, I was a bit clumsy, which caused the frantic locusts to struggle violently and wasted a lot of materials. But soon, after repeated attempts, I became very proficient.

Countless locusts, like products on an assembly line, are processed and dismantled until they vanish into nothingness.

The physical bodies were completely dismantled, yet the ignorant and thirsty little souls seemed to still be soaring.

But they forgot why they came, and they didn't know where they were going.

Just slowly, upward, upward, through the endless fog.

Thus, even the faintest firefly glimpsed the vast brilliance of the blazing sun.

That was a mandala of nested layers, constantly in motion, a magnificent altar constructed from a vast number of Fly Lord spirits!
Layers of dazzling silver light, like a tide, echoed across the boundless sky, overlapping and forming vortexes. The collision of steel was like a shout, the vibration of electricity like a chant, the friction of workpieces like a recitation, and the monotonous, sharp synthesized sound effects rose and fell like the tides.

In the end, it all culminated in a solemn and dignified chant that resounded throughout heaven and earth.

The remnants of locust spirits rising from the mist, bathed in the clear light, seemed to receive a sudden enlightenment. The hunger and madness that had plagued their souls since birth miraculously vanished, replaced by boundless joy and peace.

Transformation! Under the transformation of the mandala, countless remnant spirits rose from the mist at all times, turning into specks of light that flew into the dazzling sun!
Like moths drawn to a flame, they throw themselves into the fire without regard for their own safety.

Even if they themselves are burned to ashes.

In this way, he transformed his own remnant spirit into a tiny brick, completely becoming a part of the mandala, thus expanding the magnificent mandala by an insignificant fraction.

Then one point, and another...

In this almost endless dedication, the originally illusory and ephemeral mandala is rapidly becoming clearer and gradually solidifying.

Lou Feng was dumbfounded.

Such a massive creation consumes an astronomical amount of resources every moment, every second.

Just like the revitalization workshop that Ji Jue set up during the craftsman exam, anyone with a slightly weaker financial background would have it burned dry in three to five minutes.

But the spiritual energy reserves that were originally declining rapidly began to slow down and increase right under his nose, and eventually, they started to rise at a speed visible to the naked eye?
The electricity meter has started spinning backwards!
No, that's not right!

Dude, stop hitting me! Tell me where you bought this cheat first!
The key point is that Lou Feng really knows where Ji Jue bought his cheat, and he even has a copy of it... the Three-Phase Alchemy Technique!
Fluids, solids, and gases.

Fluid alchemy elevates matter through the enhancement of spiritual qualities, thereby stabilizing the nature of things; solid alchemy controls spirit through matter, using the stabilization of physical properties to constrain the changes in spiritual qualities; while gaseous alchemy breaks down the barriers between matter and spirit, builds bridges, and enables arbitrary transformations, extracting physical properties to enhance spirituality and squeezing spirituality to enhance physical properties.

Each of these three skills, taken individually and placed among craftsmen, would be a closely guarded secret. But when combined, they become an absolute bug.

The three phases rotate; rotating forward strengthens the flow, while rotating backward drains it!

Taking from the poor to give to the rich, or taking from the rich to make up for the poor, is just a matter of a single thought. Apart from being a little unscrupulous, there are practically no other drawbacks.

But aren't these two changes also a natural progression?

According to the philosophy of Wulou Temple, nothing is constant; everything simply flows endlessly between formation, existence, decay, and emptiness.

For a precious herb to mature, it may require draining all the soil's fertility within a hundred paces, causing countless weeds to wither and die; similarly, the fall of a giant whale can nourish countless schools of fish in the deep sea.

The interplay between spirituality and materiality is a phenomenon that occurs constantly in the present world. To judge good and bad based on human morality is far too narrow-minded and arrogant.

Is everything happening right now not natural?
Even the raging tide of calamities stirred up by the current evil wind... isn't it just part of the cycle of the present world?

In a daze, Ji Jue gained a new understanding and perception. At this moment, the operation of the curtain became even smoother, flowing smoothly after breaking through one barrier.

It is truly as if it were created by nature.

“Look, Isis.”

Ji Jue laughed, looking down at the cycle of life and death within the curtain, and suddenly realized: "All things are contained within me."

"That's how it should be, sir."

The spirit of the workshop remained serene and unperturbed.

No matter how many locusts swarmed into the curtain from the sky and the sea, no matter how large their numbers were, they had no effect and could not bring about any change.

In terms of sheer numbers, to shake the veil of mist, one would have to increase the current quantity tenfold to exceed the veil's processing capacity.

If the curtain cannot be completely destroyed from the outside, all the locusts that rush inside are nothing more than raw materials waiting to be processed.

Even their own souls and lives will become part of the curtain, supplying the curtain's consumption and operation, which in turn will subsidize Ji Jue's collection and reserves.

"I think you need to pay attention, sir."

The workshop spirit, observing quietly, reminded, "The workshop's material storage space is limited. Too much of this scrap material will only take up space."

"Then after preliminary processing in Punabantu's furnace, it can be sent as raw material to the branch factories in Xinquan, Luocheng, and Zhongtu as production materials."

Ji Jue waved his hand, "They've come all this way with their own food, so why would we complain about having too many supplies or too many reserves?"

That's what a junk collector is like; they see everything as a treasure and can't bear to throw anything away.

Even a single grain of rice that falls on the ground should be picked up and washed. Besides, anything that's alive is bound to be useful, right? Even the most useless thing can be made into a battery!
besides……

"I'll show you something good."

Ji Jue stretched out his hand with great interest and pointed to a sea locust that had just rushed into the curtain.

The hissing sea locusts wriggled their enormous bodies, riding the waves. These giant sea locusts, now fully grown, were even more exaggerated than their counterparts, about the size of a fully loaded heavy truck.

With such weight, it was no longer able to fly, and its wings had completely degenerated, leaving behind several lizard-like limbs and webbed feet.

At this moment, riding the wind and waves, they burst out of the sea and climbed onto the barren reefs of Luo Island, searching for any trace of flesh and blood.

They rushed toward the simple shack that was still faintly lit not far away.

But as he ran, his body gradually stiffened, turning a metallic sheen. He staggered forward, step by step, almost unable to stand, and then got up again.

Gradually, as the scales and shells continued to fall off, layers of metallic light emerged from beneath the distorted flesh... until finally, it stood frozen in place.

The lights in the cabin flickered for a moment.

"What's happening outside?" a trembling voice asked. "What is it?"

"Don't be afraid, I'll go take a look."

The faint sound of a gun bolt being pulled back rang out, and a corner of the curtain was lifted, revealing the fisherman cautiously peeking out one eye from inside the hut, looking warily outside.

There was only a layer of pale mist, and nothing could be seen.

A faint hissing sound was heard, which quickly disappeared completely.

It sounded like an eerie wind.

"Dense fog has suddenly appeared at sea, and a complete lockdown has been imposed on Luo Island. Residents are requested to stay at home and avoid going out as much as possible. In case of emergency, please call the assistance hotline immediately..."

The old television was repeatedly playing a notice from the Luodao government building, and two boxes of emergency supplies that had been distributed a few days ago were placed on the ground at the entrance.

It contained mostly compressed biscuits that were about to expire, bottled water that had been sitting for a long time, and several slats of common medicines, with a stack of recruitment notices for Coastal Industries sandwiched in between.

"Nothing's wrong, don't make a fuss."

After watching warily for a while, the fisherman lowered the curtain, unloaded the bullet, and placed the gun beside him. When he turned back, he forced a disdainful smile: "What could possibly happen? Don't panic, let's eat first."

"Ah."

The terrified woman tore a recruitment notice from the stacks and threw it into the stove to start a fire. Looking down at the slowly rising flames, she drifted off into thought: "The coast... I heard the pay is alright..."

The fisherman, who was waiting for his meal, thought for a moment and nodded: "I'll try it another day. I heard that if you sign a longer contract, you can get a room. It may be small, but it's better than this shabby house."

"But they don't need any more people right now, would they even consider us?" The wife became anxious and uncertain.

"Didn't they say there would be training?"

The fisherman laughed, "We should at least give it a try. It's not a long-term solution to always rely on the weather. There aren't as many taxes to pay now, so if we sell the boat, we should be able to save some money."

He put his arm around his wife and snuggled up in front of the stove, grinning: "If that doesn't work, we can go sell fried rice off the coast... Your fried rice is so delicious, you'll definitely make a lot of money."

"Then who will wash the dishes?"

"I'll buy a dishwasher when I make some money!"

"Fuck off!"

……

Amidst the whispered chatter, the flames in the hearth gradually leaped and grew stronger.

When the two leaned against each other, even the cold wind that seeped in through the cracks seemed no longer icy.

In the mist outside the shed, in the area ten meters away, the mutilated carcasses of sea locusts were rapidly decomposing, dissipating, and evaporating.

It was as if they had never existed.

Amidst the shattered wreckage, a monstrous creature, seemingly forged from steel, was pinning down another monster that was once its own kind, its open jaws biting into its throat.

quack!

Another monster that had just climbed onto the shore was torn in two. The mutilated monster convulsed and gradually became still.

Only splattered blood trickled down from the metal monster's face, dripping onto the ground.

In the dead silence, the mechanical sea locust raised its head and looked around.

After a long while, it suddenly raised its head, its expression ferocious and violent, and let out a loud shriek.

"--Meow!"

(End of this chapter)