Above Destiny

Chapter 824 Between Existence and Non-existence
A skilled craftsman never makes a mistake with his materials.

Whether it's fine timber or mud and dung, if it can be used, it should be used to its fullest potential. Whether it's medicine or poison, if it's effective, there should be no hesitation or delay.

But sometimes, no matter how sharp your eyes are, how far-sighted you are, or how rich your experience is, when you encounter a bizarre character like Ji Jue, who is both divine and ghostly, and whose medicine and poison are indistinguishable, you can't help but want to gouge out your own eyes.

What the hell is this?!
In fact, the more experienced and accomplished someone is, the more difficult it is for them to make a decision.

Jian Yuan firmly believed that he would one day fall into stagnation and corruption, Ye Xian was certain that he would become a master craftsman, and as for the Heavenly Furnace... he didn't care.

The mortal world is like a furnace, and destiny is multifaceted.

There are some things that even a master craftsman like him cannot fathom, see clearly, or understand. So how can there be any 'inevitability' in the face of such bizarre variables?

Whether it's success or failure, medicine or poison, good or evil, it doesn't matter.

Let Ji Jue choose for himself!
Perhaps Tianlu really didn't know or wasn't sure about other aspects, but there was one thing he could say he had personally experienced... This little dog, besides being able to stir things up, do things, and get things done, really consumes a lot of graphics cards and memory!

Previously, I activated the Creative Mode on Ji Jue, and the Tower of Myriad Transformations burned down, almost creating a hole in the Association's reserves and causing Delong to suffer a cerebral hemorrhage...

In the end, Tianlu used his own savings to make up the difference!
If you give him the chance to go wild, he'll really surprise you!
Now, the same opportunity is presented to Ji Jue, and it's time for You Sui to experience the association's pain!
boom!!!
The doomsday theory of returning to square one is accelerating again!
The engine overloaded, spinning wildly... Countless curling and writhing fingers opened again, pulling at the events in the tapestry, and once again began to weave, evolve, and prove, once again propelling the end of the world!

So, Ji Jue drew his sword, rubbed his fists together, and threw himself into the fray once more!

The cycle of despair is repeating itself once again.

However, this time, there seem to be even more people in despair...

Now it's too late to reconcile.

The ascension of sages and dragons is not like driving a car. You can't just drive on the road, find out that there are license plate restrictions today, and then reverse back as if nothing happened.

Even the old man who made the anvil could no longer stop, nor could he stop. If he stopped, the first thing to collapse would be the tragic work itself!
He had to believe, believe in the reason for the tragic work he had completed, and believe that Ji Jue would be the first to be exhausted in the sinking and torment of fate.

But before that, what began was an endless cycle of torment.

As countless steel buildings rise from the earth once more, and a new apocalypse is forged once more, a brand new Ji Jue emerges once more from the towering black flames, draws his sword once more, and cuts off his own head.

Everything was cut off again, and the cycle restarted once more.

The cycle of gradual loss of control and madness is accelerating, and each seemingly natural evolution collapses under the malicious vulnerability known as Ji Jue.

Between the sea and the sky, the apocalyptic visions spun rapidly, like a movie playing at thousands or tens of thousands of times the speed, constantly teetering on the brink of collapse, constantly rallying, and launching one sprint after another toward an unreachable destination.

Like a hero drawing his sword to challenge an invincible demon!
So exciting!

Not only the association and the deep abyss, but the surging rainbow light in the sky fell silent. Countless observers stared at this scene in silence.

speechless.

Is this...right? Is this how it should be? Why do you Embers look even more sinister than Rotten Rot? And whose general is this?

Every second, every instant, every flick of the finger is a futile cycle.

Amidst the ever-changing world, endless cycles of creation and decay, and countless cycles of replacement and depletion, the figure deeply entangled in tragedy not only shows no signs of wear and tear or distortion, but instead grows stronger with each battle!
So what exactly is that thing?

No one responded.

Ji Jue drew his sword once more, severed his own head, and then stepped into a new cycle without hesitation.

In the endless acceleration, even he himself fell into a daze and confusion, like a long, long nightmare, waking up again and again.

The old Jijue was burned to ashes in the flames, and the new Jijue was reborn in the flames.

A near-suicidal succession, an irreversible collapse and demise...

Within the cycle of obsession, the soul wanders, with the old and the new replacing each other.

He saw himself sinking into depravity and decay, and then he saw another version of himself being created, walking step by step toward the end.

But where exactly am I?
But which one is truly yourself?

Yes, they are all paths that the craftsman named Ji Jue will take, and they are all futures created by his obsession. But they are also not the same, and they are by no means the complete Ji Jue.

But where am I?

In the endless cycle, his obsession relied on one reborn form after another, undergoing replacement and birth and death, but his soul seemed to be completely torn apart as a result, with countless fragments scattered between the cycles...

The vastness of heaven and earth is all mine; all the changes in the world are in my hands!
But where do I exist?
The sword rang out, then fell, severing everything once more.

All things vanished with me, the world went to nothingness with me, but where did I perish?

Broken again and again, rebuilt again and again.

He exists in every stage simultaneously, vanishing into nothingness while being reborn anew.

Like the Ship of Theseus, which is constantly being replaced, it remains the same despite endless births and deaths and the ever-changing landscape.

But is this ember or stagnation?
What is it about myself...?

—Is it [present], or [absent]?
When the words from the carrion eater resounded once more from the depths of the soul, the countless fragments scattered in the cycle trembled slightly, stirring up a new resonance.

In the chaotic darkness, a wisp of dreamlike flame seemed to rise, illuminating Ji Jue's eyes.

I see……

boom!!!
The cycle came to an abrupt end.

When the craftsman, bound by the principle of tragic craftsmanship, completed his final creation once again on the altar at the very center of the apocalypse, the dissipating flames left nothing but emptiness.

No new Ji Jue has emerged from it!
The cycle of succession has ended!
But as the apocalypse seemed to operate and evolve in a frenzied manner, gathering all the distortions and pouring its essence into the craftsmen on the altar, a cracking sound rang out.

From the pitch-black flames, the craftsman who was about to complete the Doomsday Proof raised his head, as if giving a disdainful smile.

Then, it disintegrated inch by inch.

Ashes!

Amidst the earth-shattering roar, the evolution of doomsday theories came to an abrupt halt once again!

The goal has been lost.

It's as if, during the crucial stage of the process, the vital ingredients suddenly disappeared, making it impossible to continue.

When the malicious vulnerability named Ji Jue disappeared from the system, the Doomsday Token did not continue to be patched as expected. Instead, a shocking gap appeared!

The tragic worker was furious, the apocalyptic earthquake shook the earth, and the sacred fool's instrument searched everything, but could not find any trace of Ji Jue!

Even the last vestiges of the craftsman's obsession vanished along with the extinguished flames. It was as if an invisible hand had reached out and utterly denied everything created by the craftsman named Ji Jue, along with himself, erasing him from the very core of the apocalyptic narrative!

Let this ugly cycle, along with the impending apocalypse, be frozen completely.

Between the sea and the sky, there was a deathly silence.

On the artifact of the saintly fool, countless writhing fingers twitched violently, freezing the brocade weaving motion in place. The apocalyptic scene was completely solidified and stopped.

In the silence, everyone involuntarily looked toward the very center of the apocalypse, at the widening gap and void.

In the pure darkness, in the pure nothingness, something seemed to be faintly surging, changing, flowing, and gradually emerging as a glimmer of light.
Like flames.

A fleeting flash, a leap, emerging from nothingness.

It was as if I had finally woken up from an endless dream, opened my eyes, and looked at everything in this moment.

First, it lost the power to maintain its body; then, it lost the shell that could bear its soul; next, it lost the soul that sustained its consciousness; then, it lost the consciousness created by its obsession; and finally, even its obsession vanished into nothingness.

But what exactly exists here now?

In the void, between existence and non-existence, the last wisp of flame leaped silently.

combustion.

Even if it has nothing left, even if it returns to nothingness, it still rises arrogantly.

As if by instinct, I wanted to reach out my palm once again.

Looking towards the world before us...

This will never die!

And so, creation never stops!

In that instant, the tiny flame trembled violently, grasped by an unseen hand. This triggered a chain reaction as powerful as a violent storm!

It's like time has reversed!

Within a faint, almost imperceptible glimmer of light, the obsession that had vanished without a trace reappeared, and the fragmented consciousness followed suit, reconnecting itself. The soul that had vanished reappeared from the gathered spiritual matter, and the vast amount of fragments once again coalesced, returning to wholeness.

A resounding clang, like the cry of a sword, burst forth from the flames, calling out to the mortal world.

The dissipating fly ash came from all directions, and countless iron lights rose and converged, forming tiny metal parts that pieced together and integrated into a mechanical heart.

As the invisible hand tightened its grip once more, the heart of steel trembled violently, surging like thunder, with purple lightning and black flames pouring forth from it, bursting forth with light and heat.

Amidst the raging flames, the metal skeleton rapidly grew, and countless strands of spiritual wires swayed in the wind like nerves. Gears, bearings, bolts, pistons, gaskets, chains... connections, seals, transmissions, bearings—the complex engineering emerged from nothingness, unfolding smoothly and effortlessly.

In the blink of an eye, it's all done!

When the sound of a heartbeat echoed once again within the empty shell of his body, Ji Jue opened his eyes.

He looked at the earth, the sky, the ruins, the apocalypse, and even at the wisp of flame in his palm, a flame that existed between existence and non-existence.

Still small, still fleeting, yet so dazzling.

The colors of pitch black and silver-white flowed and changed endlessly.

This single ray of light seemed to illuminate the entire world!
Hereby, we proclaim the signs of the end times.

他 说:

"I'm here!"

boom!!!
Everything that had solidified erupted with a deafening roar, the stagnant wrath of the apocalypse began to run, time accelerated, and within the weaving of the instruments of the holy fool, the evolution of doomsday theory began anew.

The cycle begins again, endlessly repeating itself.

The omnipresent principle of tragedy has once again converged, entangled him, and propelled him toward his predetermined destruction.

But this time, Ji Jue reached out his hand in the same way.

Spreading out his five fingers, he recklessly reached towards the incomparably high and distant sky, towards those hollow eyes that gradually became clearer and more ferocious!
It's like being at odds with the whole world, wrestling with the end of the world!
We must take control of what we call destiny!

But when he closed his outstretched fingers under the spotlight, there was still nothing in his palm.

Of course.

There's nothing you can hold onto...

Ji Jue paused for a moment, as if deep in thought.

Then, he reached out his hand once again.

Distant sneers and sighs rose, and in the eyes of those who witnessed all this between the sea and sky, countless expressions of pity and barely concealed contempt arose.

Since ancient times, the will of Heaven has been difficult to fathom.

The gap is still too large.

The grandeur of destiny and the magnificence of creation are beyond the reach of your single hand...you...wait! Damn! Bro, wait a minute! You son of a bitch...

A sudden, deathly silence fell, and many contemptuous and regretful gazes were jolted, unable to comprehend it.

...What the hell did they catch?!

It sounded like a sharp, shattering glass, the piercing noise continuing unabated.

Ji Jue's outstretched hand contracted and clenched once more, cracks spreading from between his fingers, like wrinkles appearing on an unfinished brocade under rough treatment.

The ethereal and elusive principle of tragedy could no longer flow and had stagnated. It was actually touched in essence by that outstretched hand, and even grasped in its hand!
The apocalyptic scene paused for a moment, as if a knot had appeared that couldn't be untied or bypassed!
He caught him!

Ji Jue closed his eyes and laughed silently.

He heard it; a clear sound rang out from the void, like shackles being loosened, and an invisible door that had been sealed for too long opened before him.

As early as when Ji Jue reappeared, his transcendental rank had already been achieved naturally, without any further hindrance.

And then, naturally...

—【Circle】, unfold!

(End of this chapter)