Above Destiny

Chapter 790 Who is Right and Who is Wrong?
The heavens and earth were deathly still, and the vast sea was silent.

Between the dark sea and sky, towering walls of darkness on all sides isolate the island from the outside world, standing guard like a cube. Countless mirror-like reflections and rainbow lights flicker faintly in the darkness that has become tangible, dazzling and mesmerizing.

Such tight security guards protect that single, dark light that reaches the heavens and the earth on the isolated island.

Unfortunately, that light kept flickering, and even with such tight security, it still felt like it was about to collapse...

"It's about time to give up."

On the still sea, the yawning craftsman director opened a bag of peanuts. At his feet, in a small boat, peanut shells were already piled up like a mountain.

The white porcelain bottle on the clay stove was filled with the aroma of wine, which gradually warmed to a pleasant temperature and emitted a subtle fragrance.

"There's no point in putting up a fight. We're all craftsmen. By now, we're not so clueless as to not understand the situation. Why not just surrender and come visit the association?"

Jiang Tongguang shook his head and sighed: "How many more human sacrifices do you have left? And how long can you sustain them after that? Just throw them away, and the old man won't blame you."

Darkness towers high, indifferent and silent.

"Why bother with all this?"

Jiang Tongguang sighed, his smile gradually fading from his face, his expression blank: "Since you won't take the polite toast, you won't have to take the penalty drink either."

He said, "Let's get going."

click -

For a fleeting moment, it sounded as if a shattering sound had been heard.

Silently, the sea rose inch by inch, spreading upwards and gradually swallowing up the reefs and cliffs... No, that wasn't the sea rising, but the island sinking rapidly!

As if it had lost its foundation, it fell, plummeting into a bottomless abyss.

Sharp sounds echoed from the void, but before any counterattack could even manifest, they vanished without a trace, leaving only the sound of the mirror shattering.

The sea remained deathly still, appearing ferocious as if it had transformed into a monster.

Rocks crumbled, steel turned to mud, and the enormous island suddenly tilted and collapsed... like a capsized giant ship, dissolving inch by inch into the endless stagnant water.

There was absolutely no ripple.

The darkness vanished, the light vanished, everything was gone forever.

When the dark clouds roared and tore apart, and sunlight streamed down from the sky, only a lone boat remained on the entire sea, along with a craftsman drinking alone aboard.

"I've killed so many of my colleagues lately, but it still doesn't feel quite right..."

Jiang Tongguang slightly raised the rough porcelain wine bowl in his hand, reflecting the sky. Ripples appeared in the clear wine, mirroring the carefree, intoxicated smile on his face, prompting sighs of admiration:

"Indeed, it is your deep blood that is most suitable for drinking."

No one responded.

The breeze is coming, and the water waves are not happy.

The warm wine, like sweet dew, was drunk in one gulp.

"This time, that kid really caught a big one."

Jiang Tongguang casually added another scratch to the existing marks on the boat's hull, reaping a bountiful harvest. He exclaimed, "Old Gu, have you figured out how to entertain us later?"

"Let me emphasize again, don't call me 'Old Gu'." A cold voice came from the radio next to him: "It's just a reward according to the association's rules, what's the big deal?"

"Ha, you really are giving it to me?"

Jiang Tongguang scratched his chin, unsure whether his colleague was being old-fashioned or radical. "It's only been a few years. Are you going to award an honorary title to a craftsman who isn't even a master craftsman?"

"Whether or not the honor is awarded is not up to me, but to the council's vote."

Gustav calmly replied, "Also, he's only missing this title to be a master. The old captain just informed me that Dragon Poison has been killed by him."

"That old man is still alive? That's impressive."

Jiang Tongguang immediately laughed and picked up his glass again: "It's worth having a drink to celebrate."

"Stop drinking...Are you that bored?"

A weary sigh came from the radio: "Take the Punishment Team first and clean up this mess first!"

"Whether the penalty team does the work or not, and whether I'm idle or not, are two different things."

Jiang Tongguang sipped his warm wine, gazed at the vast sea and sky, and sighed silently: "You have to understand, whether or not we can solve this mess is never up to us."

"Do your job to the best of your ability."

Gustav's voice deepened: "We'll talk about the rest later."

Jiang Tongguang did not speak again.

In the distance, a sudden gust of wind arose.

Amidst the raging storm, new waves of trouble have arisen.

As the pillar of light collapsed, a dark, flowing light silently surged through the deep sea, spreading far and wide...

When the dark fortress vanished and the pillar of light collapsed, the essence of the great evil hidden within finally revealed itself, rushing away in response to the call from afar!

At this moment, from the perspective of satellite cloud images, as beams of light collapsed and vanished, what flowed out from the ruins was an endless expanse of darkness.

Those darknesses that seem so vast to the naked eye are, from outside the world, nothing more than a tiny speck, stretching endlessly, merely a thin line.

It was as if a dark, torrent of rivers appeared on an endless sea, meandering forward, intertwining with each other, spreading out like a tangled mess of threads.

With the help of the harmful winds, it once again began to rage and grow.

Wherever it passed, monstrous beasts howled, dissolved, and were completely devoured.

The vast, endless sea is like an incredibly complex artery that has appeared out of nowhere. The blood flowing and pulsating within it is the essence of the stagnant and corrupt great evil, the life and mutation of countless calamity beasts, and even... the painful remnants of countless souls that have been annihilated in their depravity!

No matter how fast the association moves, no matter how thoroughly it destroys, this magnificent process of self-transformation continues!
Even the association's sabotage was incorporated into the established procedures...

Everything was prepared from the very beginning.

Not only were Fernand's death and the collapse of the Pillar of the West insignificant, but even the survival of the Thirty-One Pillars was of little importance.

Their collapse and disintegration can all be seen as part of this process of refinement, a catalysis, a transformation, and a near-ascension of 'fall'.

Once it starts, it can never be stopped.

Just like the cycle of spring, summer, autumn, and winter, and the phenomenon of tides rising and falling, all of these are natural occurrences.

A butterfly flapping its wings can stir up a massive storm in the distance.

The true furnace is the entire world; the rise and collapse of the thirty-one pillars were merely the first batch of materials thrown into the furnace, serving as the starting point for a chain reaction.

Beneath the perilous winds, the lives of countless calamistic beasts were used as kindling and thrown into the flames. Centuries of silent preparation and the quietly spreading spirits of decay were ignited in the fire, naturally triggering endless changes…

As countless dark rivers raged and stretched across the vast ocean, they eventually overlapped and converged into a single point in the desolate, uninhabited expanse of the southern sea.

Then, in the darkness of the sea, a sharp outline slowly rose... It was a wrecked car body covered in rust.

Next came the twisted and broken crane arm, then a table missing a leg, and a tangled mess of broken cables…

A dilapidated, crumbling building; a statue reduced to half its original shape, its features obscured; a broken searchlight; a moss-covered rattan chair; an iron gate riddled with cracks; a rusty fence…

Trash, trash, trash—a massive amount of trash emerged at an explosive rate, yet they seemed to be seamlessly connected, as if by nature. Different pieces of trash, when pieced together, seemed to transform into something else entirely. But from another angle, the original railings appeared to become part of a statue, taking on a completely different form.

Amidst constant changes and rises and falls, postures, properties, outlines, and functions are constantly switching and flowing in the chaos. In the end, countless fragments of creation come together and become a colossal pillar that reaches the heavens and the earth, standing between the sea and the sky, sometimes visible, sometimes not, sometimes not.

There was absolutely no discord, an incredible harmony, as if it were a matter of course, something they were born with.

A concise and straightforward aesthetic emerges from it.

Mesmerizing.

At the same time, it also caused the entire world to be in turmoil and unstable.

Based on these countless forgings, using all the collapsed and fallen pillars as anchor points, and the blood of countless calamity beasts and the souls of suffering as chains, they were layered and wrapped around the [lock] and [chain] that covered the entire mortal world, adding a brand new structure to the original constraints.

With this stagnant and corrupt seed, we will enter the present world; with this profound principle, we will rewrite the world!
Despite the suppression of the lock and the rejection of the world, the forbidden large-scale exchange of good and evil begins once again!
The deep well, submerged beneath the whirlpool, slowly but persistently begins to rise!
Towards the locked-down present world!
Then, the distant and elusive projection of the deep valley gradually emerged from the darkness beneath the sea.

And then it abruptly ended!

its stuck!
Above the sky, stars rise like torches, and the celestial furnace appears!

"Old man, what are you stirring up now?"

A white-robed craftsman, leaning on a cane as if he were disabled, appeared out of nowhere in front of the giant tree. He rolled his eyes wearily: "If I'm not paying attention to you for a moment, you come out and disgust me. Can't you stop making a scene?"

"I dwell in the deepest abyss and have never set foot in the mortal world. If you find the stench unbearable, you should know perfectly well where that smell comes from."

In the darkness of the vast ocean, amidst the deep shadows, the image of the Azure Furnace faintly emerges.

Under the glow of the flames, the withered and hunched old craftsman raised his eyes and sighed helplessly: "'Heaven and Earth as Furnace,' isn't that your title?"
If this world is a furnace, then you and I are nothing more than raw materials in the furnace. No matter what I do, what is happening at this moment is nothing more than the self-transformation of all things.

How can you blame me for having malicious intentions?

"Stop reading those smutty books from the Truth Publishing House. You, a master craftsman, are throwing around metaphysics and trying to start a debate? Are you the furnace of heaven or am I the furnace of heaven?" The furnace of heaven sneered, making no attempt to hide its contempt: "I say no, and that's it. You have a problem with that?"

"Then it can't be."

The old craftsman, his brows still drooping, showed no emotion: "Now that Your Excellency has spoken, we, the hidden artisans who cannot see the light of day, can only revere and submit. What else can we do?"

"Oh my, that's a sarcastic remark. Why are you getting more and more sarcastic as you get older?"

Tianlu was amused and leaned closer, using his cane to invite him warmly: "You can't just talk, you can use your hands too, I don't mind."

"You've won, you're now the Heavenly Furnace, and whatever you say goes."

"Not urgent."

The old man remained unmoved, sitting serenely in the deep valley, unshaken.

No matter how you fish in the Heavenly Furnace.

“That day will come eventually,” he said, “but not now.”

The existence of the lock isolates the present world from the vortex.

All the celestial beings and evil spirits below the vortex who want to show themselves in the mortal world will be suppressed to some extent.

Saints like Ancestor, who were made through the grace of great calamity, would likely have their strength greatly diminished once they escaped the vortex.

Apart from the three fools, no one can defy the bondage of the chains.

What's more, now that he's jumped out, he's facing the Heavenly Furnace, the closest thing to the Supreme Realm in the mortal world! This bastard is also the administrator of the lock, a complete privilege hog, who loves using locks to target others.

If you accidentally fall into their trap, not only will you not be able to win, but it's also uncertain whether you'll still have the old man to play with in the future!

Besides, he's not the one who should be in a hurry right now!

He has already gained the upper hand!

"Give me a straight answer, old Deng."

Tianlu shook his head, glancing at everything before him: "What exactly is the purpose of all this scheming? It can't be just to blow up a latrine for you to enjoy with your drinks in Yousui, can it?"

"Hmm? Everything I've done is out in the open, isn't it?"

The old man, seemingly puzzled, looked directly and frankly at the furnace and gave a mocking smile: "Of course, it's what you want to achieve but can't..."

Of course, it's the [Change] that your Ember faction cherishes most!

Shouldn't the association provide strong support?

"Change? What changes?"

Tianlu retorted, "Are you trying to tell me that distortion is also a change, and deterioration is also a transformation?"

"If Ascension is the starting point of alchemy, then what about Depravity?"

The old man with the hunched back lifted his body inch by inch until he straightened up. He no longer smiled and asked solemnly, "Is this current distortion my doing?"
The world has fallen to this state, the blame lies with Tianyuan, Bailu, Shengbian, the desolate ruins, and the evil deeds of the Federal Empire… but aren't the real culprits you inactive embers?

"Even when the Pillar of Heaven collapses, the world may still change. And before the Association was established, which Chosen One of the Embers would call themselves a craftsman?"
Why don't you high and mighty masters tell those craftsmen that their current appearance is a deliberate act by the association?
Are the hidden dangers facing the association today sown by your own hands?

Aren't you the instigators of all this?
They imprisoned themselves in the net, distorting destiny.

The chosen ones of the Ember were transformed into artisans, immersing themselves in their craft day and night, while the Ember's transformation vanished completely.

As a result, since then, all the remaining embers around the world have sought craftsmanship more than change... causing stagnation and decay to flourish and expand rapidly, leading all the artisans within the association astray without their realizing it!

"Even in the depths of darkness, things are constantly changing, so why has your association become such a stagnant pool? Where is your potential for change? Where is the flame of your spirit?"

The old man laughed loudly and asked mockingly, "Leaving aside the so-called distinction between good and evil, between the two of us now, who is the stagnant decay and who is the embers!"

"Putting aside physiological differences, what's the difference between you and a dog?"

Tianlu yawned, unmoved. "You've got the tongue twister right. How long have you been saving up this phrase? You're even making a rhythm with your farts?"

I've already said, stop with the empty talk. The association exists for a reason, and there's no right or wrong to it.
A profound and ever-changing landscape?

You seem to be trying to make me laugh!
You can say that when you've been replaced!
Those below are constantly fighting to the death, using their own bodies as nourishment to feed you, the unchanging old tyrants above. And after you've eaten your fill, you still bark like dogs.

Even if the association does nothing, what achievements can be made from the rotten mud you have created?

"How can you be sure that a tall building cannot be built from rotten soil? In a quagmire, useless people will naturally sink to the bottom, but how can true talent be extinguished?"

The old man with the anvil raised his head proudly: "Since all things transform themselves, let's see what this world will create!"

As he spoke, the flames of decay surged and rose.

Right before the Heavenly Furnace, the colossal pillar formed by countless mutated creations solidified once more, taking root in the mortal world like a seed.

No longer concealing their purpose, they use this as a foundation to gather the ruins of the entire world and to refine the transformation of good and evil...

In this way, the essence of stagnation and decay penetrates deep into the embers, and thus some of the embers in the present world also turn into stagnation and decay. At that time, the Deep Well will naturally anchor itself on the present world!
What he wants is not even the achievements he has in the present.

Instead, the essence of decay and the blessing of great sin should be sprinkled on every craftsman along with the embers!

Furthermore, based on this, the Association will be gradually replaced by the Deep and the Embers by the Stagnant and Corrupted... Ultimately, the Great Evil and the Supreme Good will be completely replaced and reversed.

Even if it is destined to be a long and difficult journey, there is no doubt that, under the guidance of the old man, You Sui has once again taken this step.

After a long period of dormancy, it finally bares its fangs at the lofty association!

And so, the faint, fleeting smile on Tianlu's face gradually disappeared.

Poker face.

You dare to do that, you bunch of sons of bitches?

"No need to talk?"

"No need to talk."

The old man with the cleaver resolutely replied: "Since good and evil are one, how can embers be better than stagnation? If they come from the same source, why is the association necessarily superior to the deep and dark?"
I'd like to ask, why can't the secluded and profound be considered orthodox?

"Alright, let's fight then."

Tianlu nodded: "If they've been like this for four hundred years, and two hundred years ago, and still haven't given up, then after all these years, it's time for a fight..."

He asked considerately, "Do you have enough support and resources? Would you like me to give you a little more time to prepare?"

"No need. Since it is a creation of the profound and secluded, it will naturally be uniquely formed by the profound and secluded. Why should others get in the way?"

The old man smiled dismissively, “On the contrary, the Ring of Taiyi can be used to invite friends and acquaintances, so I don’t mind making it even more lively.”

"it is good!"

Tianlu clapped his hands, eager to try: "Then please wait a moment while I go and bring over those old men, Tiandu Diyu Bingzhu Canshu Shenying Shengzhu!"

In a brief pause, he glanced at the old man's unchanging face and smiled contemptuously: "What are you pretending for?"

If I said that, would you still be able to sit still, you old man?

"I do not mind."

The old man laughed as well, as if he really didn't care at all.

Or perhaps, they are fearless because they have something to rely on.

There's no truth in a craftsman's mouth, just like power armor doesn't have rearview mirrors.

There's no such thing as something simply disappearing without a trace.

However, just as sometimes, whether something exists or not, it simply doesn't exist!

The furnace master understands, the anvil master understands, and every craftsman understands—when you come out to be a craftsman, you can throw away your dignity, you can overturn the table, and of course, you can disregard the rules!
But before that, the first thing to cut off is one's own arrogance!
When faced with this challenge that determines orthodoxy, any craftsman will have no other option.

Who the hell do you think you are?!
—Do you need to call for help to beat me up?

Even if someone tries to interfere, you should tell them to get out of the way and not get in your way!
Call it arrogance and pride, or self-confidence and self-restraint; there is no difference between the two. Whether it is the essence or the dross, they are merely two sides of the same coin. Both are the original sin and virtue rooted deep within the soul of the craftsman.

But which of those who reach the top isn't like that? Without absolute confidence in one's own abilities, how can one possibly achieve anything?

The embers are like this, as is the stagnation; the Association is like this, and so is the Deep Abyss.

Everything stemmed from the competitive spirit, the distinction between superior and inferior, and the difference between strong and weak among the craftsmen!
At this moment, the decision made jointly by Tianlu and Anvil, the Association and Yousui, can even be described as an absolutely rational one.

Otherwise, victory or defeat would be meaningless, superiority or inferiority would be impossible to discern, and strength or weakness would be indistinguishable.

"Let's start again!"

Tianlu sneered and declared to the myriad phenomena of the sea and sky: "This is the beginning, and this is also the end. Let us rise again in the century-long battle between the Association and the Deep Abyss, the embers of decay!"

The old man raised his hand.

The phantoms then made a pact by high-fiving each other, agreeing to a deal that neither would respect the other, yet neither would break it.

Craftsmen kill craftsmen, and colleagues kill colleagues!

Let's settle this openly, by any means necessary, in a fair and square manner, and with utmost decency!
The loser is stagnation and decay, the winner is embers!
(End of this chapter)