Chapter 1700 - 872: Reverberation of the Prologue

With the demise of the Dead Guard, the shadow of the Sacrificial Master gradually dissipated.

Amongst the drifting ashes, a lingering glow of Blood Flames soared up and landed on the sword ridge of Pan Ying, instantly revealing a sharp, polygonal emblem like an open mouth.

The heritage of Swallowing Death fell into his hands.

But after sensing the blessings and effects of Swallowing Death slightly, Ji Jue's expression turned subtle.

By killing opponents, he can seize their souls and lives, and even use their deaths as sacrifices, preserving them within himself.

But what's the use of that for me?!

Consuming souls will inevitably bring resentment and remnants of murderous intent; the influx of numerous lives and the lingering death will rather impact the operation of his rebirth form.

This isn't a problem for the Legion; it can even add excitement, but for craftsmen, uncontrollable power is merely a burden, worth nothing.

Even if it could somewhat complement with Blood Arm, this functionality already overlaps with Wolf.

Somewhat wasteful.

However, different from the selfishness and greed of Wolf, the blessings of Swallowing Death can apply not only to oneself but also to weapons and subordinates belonging to the Legion.

It saves a lot of effort and steps for tempering Pan Ying and nurturing Creation and counts as a convenient trick.

The only problem is...

Why are there more mouths to feed at home?

Economic benefits haven't been good recently, the market environment is so cold, why can't you Sacrificial Masters be clever and go find jobs outside, earning sacrifices to subsidize the factory?

No conscience at all!

I've really worried myself sick for this family.

Ji Jue sighed deeply, mending his heartache and regret for just wasting a complete transcendence, sharpening his knife subconsciously, and looked at the Ruins suppressed in the sea by Chixiao and the curtain, being shattered by Ying Qulong.

His eyes lit up.

Can't afford to waste this!

Boom!!!

Under the Shadow of Seven Cities' coverage, the sea suddenly trembled, then seemed to freeze.

Within the curtain's shroud, countless Spirits of Creation applied Material Interference, forcibly transforming the surrounding seawater into solids, making it difficult to flow.

Instantly, with dual actions, amidst the hair-raising sounds, a giant crevice erupted from the surface, with boiling torrents gushing forth.

Transformed into water, the Ruins could no longer blend into the sea, forced out, conflicted amidst the bombardment of Heavenly Punishment Thunder Arrows, unable to break through the blockade, instead pierced by one spiritual sword after another descending from the sky.

Compared to the flood roaring like a river, the spiritual swords were tiny like dust, yet precisely under the continuous explosions of these massive spiritual swords that they pinned it down like nails, gradually shackled it to the spot, unable to escape.

"Well done!"

Ying Qulong laughed aloud, opened his bow again, gathered strength, the mighty Thunderbolt converged into a line, exploded from his fingertips.

Instantly, under the penetration of a line of thunder light, the river torrents writhed and spasmed like a great serpent, shrieked painfully, and countless streams collided and rubbed, roaring like thunder.

The stream raging side to side suddenly shuddered, shot skyward, swiftly collapsing inward, the massive liquid generating terrifying heat under the collapse, rapidly evaporated, like a pillar of cloud.

Under gravitational distortion, the seawater turned black in endless collapse, like solids, with flickering electric light hidden within.

Might as well die!

Damn it, I'm going to blow you all up!!!

Amidst the roaring howls of the nameless Ruins, the suspended black waterball erupted... erupted... has it exploded?

Wait!

Instinctively dodging, Ying Qulong widened his eyes, only seeing the black sphere suspended in mid-air repeatedly trying to expand, attempting to explode and burst forth, but ultimately unable to expand further.

Stuck in this critical point of destruction, despairingly present in endless iteration.

Shadow of Seven Cities appeared, under the burning light of Chixiao, the Heavenly Origin's Weight acting upon it, suppressing with full force!

Meanwhile, under the curtain's wrap, mist surfaced with layers of large hands, pressing upon the exploding black sphere, silver light flowing, solid alchemy locked.

And Ji Jue, once again reached out his hand…

Explosion?

What am I supposed to eat if you explode?

After spending so much effort fishing, having finished baiting, should I return empty-handed?!

Dream on!

Since you're here, don't leave.

From head to toe, blesses, matrix, soul, flesh, Circle Realm and life, stay here for me!

In the sudden dead silence, that hair-raising friction sound rang again, amidst everyone's dazed stares, the originally condensed to the limit black sphere, unexpectedly again shrank inward by one inch.

Strands of silver light appeared out of nowhere, entwining like iron rings, guiding the Heavenly Origin's Weight and curtain's suppression, pressed inward again.

Thus, explosive thunder roared again, interspersed with high-pitched screams, so sharp and piercing.

Shrieks, shouts, curses, or laments.

Unfortunately, no matter what was said, it couldn't stop what was to happen next.

Another silver ring appeared, encircling, dozens upon dozens of mercury rings overlapped like an orrery, orbiting around the central black 'sun'.

The invisible hand gradually clenched five fingers, the inexhaustible squeeze began!

Boom! Boom! Boom! Boom!

Again and again in compression, cracks appeared on the black sphere, only to remerge under the torment of terrifying mass, even without a chance of scattering or destruction.

The Ruins famous for its materiality now howled under material pressure, unable to bear the weight.

Until finally, with the Circle Realm's fracture, even the rebirth form couldn't maintain, rampant materiality tumult, the black sphere rapidly evaporated, dissolved, then bit by bit transformed into terrifying scarlet.

Strands of blood dripped from it, barely had time to fall into the sea before being eagerly consumed by Little Ox and Horse below, excitedly yapping in delight, delicious!

As the last resistance capabilities completely vanished, the moisture within the black sphere dispersed like a storm, and strands of silver light within the curtain began a smooth disassembly process right under everyone's eyes.

Removal of the soul, dissection of the body, blessing preservation, matrix peeling, Circle Realm fragments sealing, skinning, deboning, organ removal, and not even scraps were wasted, all funneled into Little Ox and Horse's mouth until it nearly couldn't crawl anymore.

In less than half a minute, a cold, living person was reduced to a heap of warm material.

Only the last twisted, distorted skull remained, falling into Ji Jue's hand.

After extracting all materiality and marrow, quick-drying glue was poured back in, barely maintaining the original shape, but the color of the skull had turned into a ghastly crimson, as if tear tracks were sliding down.

After completing this task, Ji Jue tossed the skull in his hand, glancing back at the aftermath.

The blood-stained Deserted Reef had become completely unrecognizable.

Among countless corpses, the youth transformed into a Disaster Beast was no longer raging, only its sword claws still scratching the earth hungrily, ravaging the broken bodies.

The ferocious aura in his eyes was rising, the hunger still unsatisfied.

Even so, he restrained himself, as if being pulled by chains, unwilling to overstep the circle he had drawn.

He could only circle anxiously within the boundary, pacing back and forth.

His crimson eyes occasionally glanced at those terrified figures in the distance.

Finally, they settled on the gradually approaching Ji Jue.

For a moment, he was overcome with hunger, almost pouncing, but in the end, he made no move, just twitching, standing where he was, frantically sharpening his sword claws.

Even when Ji Jue extended his hand, approaching his face.

The blood-red mask face was sinister, opening its mouth, nearly about to devour, but it froze in mid-air.

Finally, he submissively lowered his head, allowing Ji Jue to remove the mask from his face.

Underneath the mask, the youth's face was pale as paper, as if waking from a long dream, gradually regaining his senses.

"Brother Ji Jue..."

"Losing control is normal, don't be afraid."

Ji Jue gently said, "It's my first time making something like this too, I have no experience, but after some adjustments it'll get much better."

"Okay."

An Ran nodded, simply saying, "I wasn't careful, one got away."

"It doesn't matter."

Ji Jue nonchalantly ruffled his hair, "Rest for now, you've worked hard today."

"Okay."

An Ran smiled, sitting down on the ground, quietly watching Ling Shuo and his men clean up the scene.

After greeting Ying Qulong, Ji Jue turned to the old man still strolling with a rifle, "Thank you for your hard work."

The old man didn't reply, just scrutinized him sideways for a moment, suddenly asking:

"Are you Ji Jue?"

"If there's no second person as annoying as me, then I suppose so."

Instantly, the old man grinned widely.

"You're better looking than Old Zhang said, he praised you quite a bit!"

As he said this, he enthusiastically patted Ji Jue's shoulder, "Among the young men in Cliff City, you're one of the best, let's have tea sometime!"

Ji Jue was momentarily stunned, speechless.

Unexpectedly, he felt Old Zhang's connections here; you know, does your seniors' club have some hidden talent?

But at this critical juncture, the more experts on his side, the better; it would also make outsourcing easier in the future, wouldn't it?

Thus, under the command of Old Lin and Ling Shuo, the entire Deserted Reef was cleaned up, all corpses meticulously stacked into a small mountain at Ji Jue's request, perfectly aligned.

At the top, beside Caruso's head, Ji Jue solemnly placed the heads of Dead Guard and the Ruins.

In the middle, he left an empty spot, vacant and waiting.

He stepped back, admiring the 'artwork' gleaming in the scorching sun, clicking his tongue in admiration, "With this, it counts as a response to East City, right?"

No response came.

Only Ji Jue looked back, his gaze sweeping through the void, and finally he reminded:

"Remember to relay my regards to Mr. Han."

In the eternal darkness, Schelbach was silent, saying nothing, only quietly watching all this. Even when the unwary Ji Jue was momentarily within reach, he made no move.

Not revealing any trace or clue.

Silent endurance.

Until everyone boarded the ship and left, the sea and sky were silent, the bones soundless.

Only the blood quietly snaked, silently extending, thread by thread seeping into the rising and falling Sea Tide, staining the ocean with a streak of glaring crimson.

As if silently unveiling the curtain of blood feud and slaughter, pulling everything towards murky chaos...

And just before this, in that brief yet intense struggle, a pair of eyes witnessed the entire process from start to finish.

There was a moment when that hand raised from afar, but immediately paused mid-air, as if wary. Ultimately, after careful consideration, it was slowly withdrawn.

In the end, no intervention was made.

Thus, from the other side of the ocean, came a 'tsk' sound.

Disappointed in its failure to strive!

Confounded thing, why are you so cowardly?

Why don't you dare to step out and zap that Ji boy with a bolt?

This trip was in vain...