Chapter 1814 - 932: Scars

Deathly silence.

It wasn't just Yellow Beard who was stunned; the craftsmen outside the arena, the moment they perceived it, all turned to stone.

They couldn't make sense of it.

They blinked on instinct, trying to doubt their own eyes, preferring to believe they'd seen wrong.

The combination of the Fireworks Pot and the Golden Ring, the pairing of North Wind Inheritance and the Hero Seed, the blessing of the Path of Conquest and the accumulation of ancestral legacies…

They were too familiar with all of this, too trusting, even to the point of worshipping this invincible power, to the extent that… right here, right now, they simply couldn't understand what had just happened!

Or rather, their instincts refused to believe it.

The revival and Rebirth of the Fireworks Pot had been interfered with, even broken…

No longer perfect!

"What the hell happened?"

"Did he use some technique to Erode the Circle Realm itself?"

"Dissociation Technique? Not strange, given the Tide Sound Lineage…"

"Idiots! Dissociation Technique can break the shape of the Hero Seed, but you think it can interfere with revival and Rebirth? The Circle Realm is still intact—where do you see any damage?"

"Then you tell me what's going on!"

"You ask me, who am I supposed to ask?"

"Shut up, all of you, just watch!"

In the noisy squabble, plenty of people argued themselves red in the face, practically forgetting where they were. Their craftsman instincts had already pushed them to start guessing and deducing the current situation on reflex—but the battle in the arena was too fierce, and they simply couldn't keep up with the changes!

Faced with Surtr's damage, Yellow Beard frowned, but his hands never stopped, stirring the great cauldron without a second thought, sending torrents of molten iron splashing, rising, swirling.

As flames and Smoke billowed, the crack finished its repair, restored flawless and whole!

But on the other side, a fresh outcry of shock rang out.

The iron wall, under the burning of Purple Lightning Black Flame, melted; after tanking a blow like a collapsing mountain range, Ji Jue's arm had already Pierced through the huge shield and clamped down on Helrunir's face.

Right after that, Zhanlu Light flared hot, exploding in a thunderous blast!

Helrunir's mangled body toppled backward, half his torso turning to ash and vanishing…

And when he walked out of the flames once more, his flesh had been stripped away, body incomplete, like a charred corpse of dry bone—so utterly miserable.

Again!

Next, Ji Jue swung a backward slash without even looking, smashing head‑on into Surtr's Flame Sword; by the time he turned his head, his left hand was already clenched into a fist and driving forward without mercy!

The violent impact exploded from the collision; Surtr's burly body shuddered abruptly, his movements actually jerking and warping, and right on his chest, the spot that had just been perfectly patched suddenly showed cracks again…

The fatal breach reappeared!

Before it could react, the fist Ji Jue had slammed into its chest opened into a palm and pressed down again!

Tide Sound!

Boom!

Chun Jun's spiritual radiance surged out from his five fingers, Piercing through that fissure, erupting from within; amidst the heavy rumble, Surtr turned to flying ash, Dissociating inch by inch.

"No good, Great Craftsman."

From the depths of the Fierce Flame came a soft, regretful sigh: "This kind of slapdash patch job leaves flaws way too big; for Dissociation Technique, it's a straight‑up fatal weak point!"

Damn mutt, still yapping!

Yellow Beard's face was expressionless, completely ignoring Ji Jue's interference. In the thick Flames and Smoke, Surtr revived again; unfortunately, same as before, the crack on his chest remained.

Yet this made Yellow Beard smile.

"So that's how it is…"

He said in sudden understanding, "That technique that can damage the Hero Seed is a burden for you too, isn't it? You can't use it a second time in such a short span, right?"

So he'd settled for second best, using the gap from Surtr's not‑yet‑fully‑repaired fissure, using Dissociation Technique for temporary destruction.

And he even tried to use that damned barking to draw Yellow Beard's attention away, to make him ignore this detail… otherwise, why say anything at all?

He knew Ji Jue too well. The instant this mutt opened his mouth, Yellow Beard knew for sure he was holding in some malicious silent fart!

"That so? Then let's test it again!"

Ji Jue laughed like it was no big deal: "Bring it on, Great Craftsman. As many times as you want!"

In the melee, he strode forward unhurriedly, reaching out once more, slashing at the descending Surtr. Under Pan Ying's eruption, the crack appeared again!

Blood Flames surged, his palm pressed against Surtr's face, once more striking ruthlessly!

But at that instant, Surtr, who was right in front of him, suddenly twisted, turning into a scar‑covered woman's face. As her eyes lifted, endless Flame and blazing light in her gaze converged like arrows, shooting straight at Ji Jue's face!

This was a Hero in Northern Realm history who inherited the same legacy as Surtr, famed for her ruthless Evil ambushes and scheming plots: Ashen Hyena Xinmala!

They'd switched out!

Caught off guard, trading injury for injury, half of Ji Jue's head was burned away, nearly exploding on the spot.

Next, Xinmala's entire head was thoroughly crushed by Ji Jue. She walked out of the flames in Rebirth again, the crack on her forehead still vivid, Blood Flames gushing nonstop.

This time, she didn't rush in close. Instead, she opened up distance, constantly firing cold arrows and throwing spears, harassing in the gaps between the other Heroes' attacks.

Clearly wary of the damage Ji Jue caused, the Heroes who rotated in afterward no longer dared to close with him recklessly; they shifted to roaming and pulling, and could only watch as the hole in Ji Jue's skull rapidly patched up and became whole again, missing that critical window.

Nothing to be done—at this point, Yellow Beard finally understood just how disgustingly nasty this mutt really was.

Under Violence Control's interference, the most shameless hero siege that the Fireworks Pot relied on could only trip over itself, heroes hindering each other and getting in each other's way, turning into something he could exploit instead.

To avoid giving Ji Jue any opening to capitalize on, they could only go one-on-one—but the moment you chose a solo fight, your Hero Seed, under that unknown craft and those unknown moves, would suffer damage and trauma that were almost impossible to repair.

So that battle which had been a sure nine‑out‑of‑ten stomp got forcibly dragged by Ji Jue into the war of attrition he was best at—both sides grinding away at each other, tormenting each other, locking each other up in jail.

And this bastard just kept yapping like a dog, messing with people's mentality.

If it were only filthy curses that'd be one thing, but the problem was every word he said, every flaw he pointed out, was right on target, not a single lie in there.

If you pretend you didn't hear it, your momentum drops by a good thirty percent; but if you want to talk back and win the verbal exchange, you're likely walking right into his trap… at best, he'll tilt your mentality until it explodes and your execution goes crooked.

Disgusting!

And it was Yellow Beard himself who had opened the door for Ji Jue—this was disgust taken to the limit!

Sure, what he loved really was his life as it was, no mistake there—but when the hell was this mutt going to die?

"Mm, three transcend… so this is the upper limit of the Fireworks Pot, Great Craftsman?"

Within the layered encirclement of flames and Fierce Flames, there came a voice as relaxed as if out on a picnic: "From where I'm standing, it still looks like you're holding back, keeping some margin, you know?"

"Don't tell me you're trying to stash away one last trick to screw me over?"

"You think you deserve that?"

Yellow Beard instinctively let out a cold sneer of mockery, but as the words left his mouth, the face blurred by smoke and haze took on a gloomy cast.

Fuck, took the bait!

"Oh, oh, you finally answered me—so enthusiastic? Or is that guilt talking? Great Craftsman, in the end you really are an honest man." Ji Jue laughed out loud, utterly delighted. "Let's just call it three, it doesn't really matter. Question is, do you still have enough Hero Seeds to burn? Don't go and break all your toys for me."

"Or we can keep it simpler…"

"—Let's play a game!"

Boom!

In a flash of crossing trajectories, one hand casually crushed the Burning Arrow screaming toward him; the other, sharp as a blade, swept across the throat of the beast‑hero Beigermir in his bear pelt, decapitation!

The feral, savage hero's head flew skyward, then dropped, only to be stomped into mud.

And right after that, a tooth‑aching screech of friction cut down the Sword Sound and snarling roars within the Circle Realm, pressing arena and outside spectators alike into a strange, dead silence.

Right under Ji Jue's hands, between his ten fingers, with each lazy flick and sweep, the empty void where nothing should have been shuddered nonstop, like a dull knife sliding along cloth, kicking up ripples and wrinkles in layers.

Like steel grinding against steel, sharp edges scraping glass, the shrill sound escalated and escalated.

Until finally, right beneath Ji Jue's fingertips, with a casual stroke, a pitch‑black crack abruptly appeared in midair—then swiftly knit itself back together.

Leaving behind only a twisting, snaking scratch mark, so fine, yet so uncanny.

A sight that made your eyes ache!

All the eyes in and out of the arena contracted on instinct, like needle points.

In that sudden icy chill, they forgot to breathe, simply stood up without thinking, pressed themselves to the barrier, straining to get closer, to scrutinize it.

Because…the Circle Realm had been torn!

The Circle Realm·Fireworks Cauldron, woven together from endless Fierce Flames and thick Smoke, had just been split open under those two hands, those ten fingers.

But that wasn't the main point!

The Circle Realm isn't invincible; as the manifestation, in the hands of a Chosen One, of the vast power of Superior, a layered projection woven like brocade, it's not truly complete.

Facing another Circle Realm, being targeted and broken by a greater [quantity], a purer [quality], or even an affinity that restrains it more completely—none of that is unusual.

Against Non‑Attack, a Circle Realm that's extreme in its specialization and focus, the Fireworks Pot's suppression getting punctured here and there isn't rare—but the uncanny part was that faint crack left behind in the void!

Like a scar that could not heal, it was etched right into the Circle Realm of the Fireworks Pot.

Impossible to erase, impossible to repair, impossible to cover!

Just like wounds left on the Hero Seeds themselves, just like…

Yellow Beard's pupils trembled for an instant, as he finally recalled everything he'd witnessed with his own eyes just yesterday… Ji Jue, still moving with ease, improvising freely even under the oppression of the North Wind Workshop!

And at that very moment, the shackles and seals that had been completely broken—the blank spaces and darkness that had appeared within his own Perception!

What the hell was that…

"Surprise!"

Ji Jue spread his hands; as his ten fingers unfurled, black lines reappeared at his fingertips, winding, spreading.

Like some brat scribbling all over a wall, leaving behind scars that stabbed at the eye.

No longer making any effort to conceal this uncanny, nightmare‑like power.

"Thank you, Great Craftsman."

He smiled, offering sincere thanks. "Thanks to you, I've fully mastered this power."

Thud!

With the dull sound of a glass bottle shattering, a fist‑sized black fissure burst out as his fingers clenched, cracking open and etching itself into the Circle Realm, impossible to knit back together.

What followed was a shockwave far more terrifying than before, and beyond that—a wound.

Yellow Beard's expression twitched; at last he felt it, that pain striking straight at the soul—unlike the previous almost unnoticeable surface scratches that barely broke skin, this was a flesh‑carving, bone‑deep agony!

This wasn't just damage to the manifested surface of the Circle Realm; it was the very essence of the Fireworks Pot that had begun to fracture under Non‑Attack's destruction!

What the fuck kind of freak power is this!