Chapter 289: Mutual Destruction

In an instant, the spirit matter reserves that had been on the verge of overflowing were burned away. The myriad hands spread wide, broke free of gravity’s restraints, and reached toward both the heavens and the earth. With brute force, they pushed them apart once more.

The Heart of Decay pounded furiously, dimming the silver radiance and leaving the myriad hands stiff and sluggish. As the tolling bells swept over them, the endless mercury could no longer maintain its operation. It rapidly dissolved instead, spilling toward the ground. Gravity raged around them and erupted with crushing force.

Yet behind the hands that were rapidly cracking, one followed Ji Jue’s movement and plunged back into the vortex at the core. When it re-emerged, a magnificent radiance gleamed between its fingers. It was the blessing known as Repulsion Foundation!

Just like that, Ji Jue displayed it before everyone without the slightest attempt to hide it.

For a moment, Lin Ke almost thought he was hallucinating. He could have sworn he heard Andrei shouting. The thought nearly made him laugh. Could that stone-faced freak actually raise his voice?

Then Ji Jue spoke, sounding genuinely puzzled. “Don’t your workshops have self-destruct systems?”

He clasped his hands together. The myriad hands moved with him, closing over the blessing, and an enormous torrent of compressed spirit matter poured straight into it without restraint. He paid no heed to the blessing’s violent instability or the way it was beginning to fracture. Within the span of a few heartbeats, he forced it to swell several times over, pushing it completely into overload.

Cracks appeared across its surface. At last, as everyone’s faces rapidly drained of color, a dot of searing light rose from behind the countless overlapping cracks.

Detonate!!!

Ji Jue did not hesitate to burn through more than half the spirit matter Young Master Lou had supplied, converting all of it at once. As the blessing shattered, a terrifying tide of repulsive force erupted from between the myriad hands!

The sky, the earth, and everything within sight were swallowed by the expanding force. There was no sound, not even the blast of an explosion. Even the warning signs were swallowed by the blaze of light.

The vast blanket of dark clouds vanished. Across the sea, the pitch-black waters were driven firmly in every direction, raising immense waves that swept across the horizon. The entirety of Leafway Island shook violently, as though it had truly become nothing more than a single leaf adrift upon the ocean, groaning and trembling beneath the impact. Mountains were hurled into the air, while the ground collapsed.

Within the sudden vacuum, only the invisible tide of repulsive force continued to spread, engulfing everything in its path and tearing apart anything that tried to resist it. It was already too late for anyone to react.

And at the very last moment, the toll of a bell rang in everyone’s ears. It sounded almost like a hallucination, yet it was unmistakably clear.

Radiance surged from the sanctuary, spreading and descending upon every workshop. The streams of light linked together, layered over one another, and formed overlapping scales around them.

Dragon scales manifested. One final defense rose against the oncoming tide of repulsive force.

And then, the raging light swallowed everything.

Amid the violent earthquakes, Lin Ke felt himself thrown into the air, then slammed back down again. The ground heaved like a rug being shaken, and he collapsed among the fallen knots, unable to pull himself free. All he could hear was the endless sound of things breaking inside the workshop. The walls, the floor, the vaulted ceiling, even the core furnace—under the raging impact, everything shook and fractured at an alarming rate.

Then, almost as suddenly as it had begun, the destruction stopped, as though it had been nothing more than an illusion.

Is it over?

As silence fell, Lin Ke dragged himself to his feet. Covered in dust and grime, he looked up through the haze. He hurriedly stabilized the workshop, replaced the damaged external sensors, and scanned his surroundings. Then he saw what was outside, and his face went pale.

Beneath the protection of the dragon scales, now riddled with cracks, the entire workshop was on the verge of complete collapse.

And beyond the dragon scales lay a vast, deep crater. A massive hole had appeared out of nowhere in the middle of Leafway Island. It looked like half a watermelon that had been hollowed out from the center, then smashed against the ground until it split apart and was filled with mud. Murky seawater surged through the broken terrain, crashing and churning through the ruins.

The earth had turned gray-black, and silvery-gray mercury fell from the sky like torrential rain.

What shocked him even more were the two enormous pits nearby. Five Flora Workshop and Concord Workshop were gone. When the Kunwu Lock and the Earth-Axis Instrument exploded under the burst of repulsive force, the backlash had torn through their workshops from within. With their interiors already devastated, neither had any chance of withstanding the impact from outside. They had been completely vaporized within the very first second of the repulsive blast.

The Hundred-Eyed Giant Workshop had fared even worse. It had collapsed before the blast even arrived.

The others were not much better off. Beneath the fading dragon scales, the surviving workshops were barely standing, battered almost beyond recognition. Mirage Workshop had somehow endured the initial storm, but all of its mist had been wiped away.

Then, right before Lin Ke’s eyes, the Mirage Workshop lost control and exploded, getting eliminated in the process. Surviving the initial blast had only delayed the inevitable.

Under mutual destruction, all things were equal. Plus, that bastard Ji Jue had apparently worried that the repulsive blast alone might not do enough damage. He had mixed in countless fragments of Ex-Wife and Stepmother as well, along with aberration contamination.

It was like coating the blade in shit just to make sure the wound festered. Even those who survived the initial impact would never make it through the aftermath. The dead were at least spared any further suffering. The survivors were the ones left to suffer.

No one spoke. There was only the ragged breathing of those still trying to recover from the shock.

Lin Ke raised his head and stared toward the swirling metallic vapor and the heart of the explosion beyond the dense downpour of mercury, but he could not make out anything clearly. He could hardly believe it.

“Am I dead?”

An unfamiliar voice spoke to him through the internal communication channel. That voice assured him, “Yes. Oh, you’re dead for sure!”

The world froze once more. Amid the clouds of metallic vapor, the streams of falling mercury stopped in midair. Then they converged, forming a bizarre blade several kilometers long. The blade shot forward and curved around the crumbling dragon-scale defenses, ignoring every curse, deflection, and obstruction from the knots. It slithered like a living creature through the weakest point and plunged deep into Dragonheart Workshop.

Then, as though a grinder had suddenly roared to life, tens of millions of razor-sharp branches burst from the blade, spreading outward and spinning rapidly!

Crack!

Lin Ke froze where he stood. After a long moment, he gave a self-deprecating chuckle. “Heh. I learned something new.”

He dropped back into his chair and murmured softly, “So you could do that too...”

Then he exploded into a cloud of blood, and Dragonheart Workshop exploded along with him.

Before everyone’s eyes, the silver downpour and clouds of mercury vapor suddenly contracted inward. They converged around the reconstructed foundation and framework, swirling and collapsing into a vortex. And from that vortex, countless arms spread open once more!

The decay left behind by Dragonheart’s curses still lingered, but the Myriad Hands Form remained completely unaffected. Within the rolling mercury vapor, its hazy silhouette shifted constantly as silver light flowed across it. Damaged limbs rapidly rebuilt themselves, restoring the Myriad Hands Form to its former shape.

In just a few seconds, its outline had already reappeared, as though it had never been harmed at all. It had revived with full health!

Ji Jue beamed from ear to ear. “Man, it sure is nice being rich. Lou, we’re rich now!”

Lou Feng’s eyes were practically burning red. He had already been on his last legs, yet he somehow found the strength to start cursing again. “That’s my fucking money! All of it!”

The explosion just now and the subsequent reconstruction had nearly drained his workshop completely dry. Lou Feng had been grievously injured as well, and every bit of spirit matter being burned away felt like a knife to the heart.

That was the wedding fund[1] he’d been saving since the very beginning! And now both the wife and the wedding fund were fucking gone!

Worse still, the bastard responsible was right in front of him, laughing his head off while happily burning through Lou Feng’s spirit matter and making free use of his workshop.

Ji Jue patted him on the shoulder with a meaningful smile. “Come on, we’re practically family. We’re going to be partners for life, aren’t we? What’s yours is mine.”

Ji Jue, you motherf—

Crack!

The sound of something breaking rang out as fissures appeared across the Myriad Hands Form. Ji Jue shut his mouth and raised an eyebrow, while Lou Feng’s face darkened.

Something was interfering with the operation of Fluid Alchemy?!

No, more accurately, impurities had gotten into it. Too much interference and debris that couldn’t be filtered out had worked its way into the Myriad Hands Form’s internal circulation as it reassembled. They were like tiny grains of sand lodged between gears and joints, increasing the wear, disrupting the mechanism, and steadily spreading deeper through the construct like a plague.

Thousands upon thousands of contaminants had already worked their way deep inside. And more were still gathering.

Ji Jue reached into the flowing mercury, fished something out, and pulled it free. When he opened his hand, a jagged piece of stone lay in his palm. It looked like a fragment chipped from some kind of statue.

“I see.” Ji Jue looked up at the distant sanctuary, now riddled with cracks.

The roof of the sanctuary had already collapsed. Through the gaps in the shattered structure, Ji Jue could see the silent young man standing amid the dust and rubble, looking back at him.

It was the first time Ji Jue and Andrei had come face-to-face since the exam began. There was no triumph or satisfaction on Andrei’s face, only the same calm composure Ji Jue himself wore. He offered a slight nod in greeting.

Ji Jue sighed softly. “Looks like I underestimated you. That was a good move.”

When the explosion occurred, Andrei had not only pushed his ability to its limit to protect most of his allies, he had also taken the opportunity to dismantle his own workshop and creations, scattering their fragments in every direction. He had suppressed their power and hidden them within the heart of the explosion. Only after the Myriad Hands Form rebuilt itself and drew those fragments deep inside did they reveal their true nature again.

It was almost as though Andrei had ground up his own limbs and soul, mixed them into his opponent’s organs, and then reassembled himself from within. He fixed physical matter in place, separated spirit matter from its physical properties, and obstructed the operation of Fluid Alchemy. He resisted all alteration and transformation, and forced everything to remain as it was.

Even after Ji Jue reconstructed the entire Myriad Hands Form, he still could not rid himself of that contamination. Dragonheart’s curse of decay clung stubbornly to him, while Clock Tower’s plague of stasis had sunk deep into his very bones. At this point, even if Ji Jue squeezed Young Master Lou completely dry, there would not be enough spirit matter left for another full reconstruction.

And even if he did rebuild it, he probably still would not be able to erase Andrei’s infiltration and interference. It would only be a waste of effort.

“Looks like I don’t have much time left, huh?” Ji Jue glanced around at the few remaining workshops, all of them heavily damaged, and dismissed them as though they were not even there. At last, his gaze settled on Andrei’s sanctuary, full of curiosity. “What about you?”

Andrei’s lips moved. As if he had not spoken in a very long time, he took a deep breath before answering in a slightly dry, hoarse voice, “I’m fine. I can hold out a little longer.”

“Can you hold out long enough?” Ji Jue asked with a smile.

Andrei nodded. “More than enough.”

Neither said anything else. In the brief silence that followed, the two simply stared at each other. Despite how different their faces were, the same expression appeared on both of them at once. There was wariness in their eyes, along with caution and a hint of anticipation. Their expressions were solemn and cold, yet somehow, they also seemed to be smiling.

There was no hesitation or uncertainty left, nor any need for further taunts or mockery. The outcome of the battle would be decided here right now!

From the fractured sky and shattered earth, a thunderous roar erupted as reconstruction took place. No one knew how long Andrei had been quietly preparing for this. From the ruins of workshops, towering obelisks rose from the ground.

Andrei had ruthlessly made use of the remains and foundations left behind by his “allies,” building his own creations on top of them without sparing even the survivors.

The tolling of the bell rolled across the battlefield. Radiance spread from the sanctuary and swept across the land, forming cages and chains that locked down every flow and circulation. Everything was forced into stasis.

Unfortunately, the stasis caught nothing. At the center of the sealed ground, there was nothing left.

High above, the sun that had briefly reappeared through the broken sky vanished once more, as though swallowed whole by some colossal creature. Only a vast black shadow remained, rapidly spreading across the ground below!

The Myriad Hands Form had launched itself into the sky. It rose higher and higher until it took the place where the blazing sun had once hung, reigning above all things!

1. Laopo ben (老婆本) (literally “wife cost”) refers to the money a man saves up in preparation for getting married. More broadly, it can be understood as the financial cost of taking a wife. It usually covers major marriage-related expenses such as a home, a car, the bride price, and the wedding itself. ☜