Chosen: Beyond Fate

Lian Cheng let out a cold laugh.

There was a condition in this world known as being stubbornly tough.

Some people, even if they had sour plum essence in their mouth, pressure mats pressed against their chest, a two-hundred-plus-pound woman standing on their back, fascia knives working on both legs, and electrodes simulating childbirth at maximum output pressed against their abdomen, when they were already barely breathing and on the verge of death, they would still lift their head, widen their eyes, and issue a soul-searching question. “You’re too weak. Did you even eat anything[1]?!”

Even if the world exploded, even if the Supreme Benevolences and the Nine Abominations disappeared, even if the universe was destroyed, that mouth, tougher than a duck’s bill[2], would still be floating through the endless void, babbling nonstop.

Heh. He’s putting on a brave front and acting tough.

Did he really think that would help?! The real torment was still ahead.

Lian Cheng looked down at Ji Jue with contempt, but he couldn’t help taking another look. His eyes widened as he leaned closer and closer, staring at that infuriating smiling face he wanted nothing more than to tear to pieces. From beginning to end, there wasn’t even the slightest change in Ji Jue’s expression.

He’s faking it! He’s absolutely fucking faking it!

But the more he looked, the more desperate he became.

Lian Cheng used every method of observation he had, yet still reached a hopeless conclusion. It really didn’t look like Ji Jue was faking it.

His expression, heartbeat, and muscles showed no reaction whatsoever. There wasn’t the slightest sign of tension. Even his spirit matter had remained completely unchanged from start to finish. He was calm and composed, as if he was lying there listening to a pingtan performance[3]. He even felt like yawning.

An overwhelming sense of absurdity welled up inside Lian Cheng. He wanted nothing more than to rush over and slap Ji Jue across the face.

This isn’t right. This is impossible. Who the hell are you trying to fool?! How is this fair?! My family has served the Nine Abominations for generations. I’ve risked my life over and over, gone through countless life-and-death struggles, all to reach the next level. I’ve endured hellish torment for this, so why is this guy showing zero reaction at all?

It was like one of those ridiculous stories where a group of people signed up for a little side gig with some older strangers to make extra spending money. While he was up front being tortured senseless, tears and snot running down his face, eyes rolled back as he desperately flashed hand signals, the tanned blonde next to him was casually playing on her phone. She couldn’t even be bothered to put on a show and move or moan. Then, after growing bored, she would casually look up and ask, “Hm? Have you put it in yet?”

In the blink of an eye, the unfairness of the world, the gap in ability, the difference in fate, the disparity in character, who was truly skilled and who was just trash, all became painfully obvious. This was the ultimate humiliation, the most complete form of insult.

Rage and resentment churned in his chest, and he could no longer hold back the frustration rising inside him. He even felt like rushing up and punching that massive tumor of Undying Disease as hard as he could.

Didn’t you eat? Put some strength into it! Bring out the same intensity you used on me! Why the hell did you torture me like some pervert, but turn all gentle and affectionate when it comes to this bastard from who-knows-where?!

Above their heads, the massive tumor made up of countless screaming human faces suddenly let out a piercing shriek. The wails continued, but this time, they were filled with far greater agony.

On the blurred human faces, scorch marks appeared, and sparks flickered out from their mouths, as if they were being burned by an invisible flame after being placed inside a furnace. All they could do was scream helplessly.

The tendrils that wrapped around Ji Jue trembled violently, unable to transmit the infection and corruption of the aberrant entity. It was as though countless unseen monsters were tearing into them from all sides.

The moment the implantation began, the first thing to undergo a violent upheaval was Pacifier, the matrix within Ji Jue’s body. As if enraged, the originally calm and stable matrix, the one that had always looked down upon everything with indifference and controlled all things, now revealed a striking sense of ferocity and brutality, as well as pure malice toward the invading force.

Under the influence of the blessing, Spirit Primacy, even the matrix’s reactions had become more vivid and responsive, and with it, its likes and dislikes became sharply defined.

Ji Jue, good. Blessing, good. Supreme Benevolences, good. Foolish Abominations, aberrations, mutations... all of you can go die.

The matrix’s aura had always been distant, profound, and aloof, but it suddenly turned savage and violent, like an engineer abruptly pulling two machetes out of his pockets and going on a rampage.

It practically pointed at the trembling Undying Disease with razor-sharp malice, as if declaring, Come to Ji Jue Street if you’ve got the guts. Don’t let me catch you. If I see you, I’m punching you in the face and ripping your damn head off!

This wasn’t merely disgust born from witnessing centuries of torment inflicted upon its previous wielder by the Putrefied Furnace Core. Beneath that lay deeper, more fundamental hatred and fury. It was an absolute malice that had been deliberately embedded into its very design from the moment of its creation, a boundless hostility toward all creations born of the Vortex.

Under the stimulation of the Undying Disease, Ji Jue could feel the Pacifier matrix on his hands manifest for a brief moment. The intricate patterns grew on their own, spreading beneath his flesh as they drew on his spirit matter. It wasn’t even satisfied with that, and after draining more than half of the spirit matter stored in his watch in one go, it fully enveloped his entire body. It covered his flesh, organs, and bones alike.

It was as if his soul had been fitted with a massive suit of armor, one without the slightest gap, completely sealing off the deeper corruption of the Undying Disease. Had it not been limited by the available blessing and spirit matter, countless invisible hands would have probably already traced the connection through flesh in reverse, reaching directly into the tumor of the Undying Disease.

He didn’t need to call on Mr. Watch to help him at all. The tiny amount of Undying Disease infection that had managed to enter Ji Jue’s body was instantly locked down and sealed off completely. It only had time to erode a sliver of his spirit matter before it was stopped cold, unable to reach his soul at all.

The burden was not heavy. It was roughly equivalent to the energy consumption of maintaining one more Deus Ex Machina construct’s consciousness.

Considering the situation, he didn’t immediately have Mr. Watch extract this fragment of corruption. Instead, he gathered it at his chest, where it formed the black emblem of a Foolish Abomination.

Aside from that, there were no other changes whatsoever. There were no extra eyes, pain, or suffering. In Ji Jue’s own perception, even without Pacifier blocking it, this level of infection and transformation was probably less than one-tenth of what the dragon blood had once done to him.

At this point, he understood the look his teacher used to give him when it seemed like she wanted to kill him. Dragon blood really was amazing. It was the culmination of Lawrence’s lifelong research, yet Ji Jue had ended up wasting it on something like a cheap scooter.

What craftsman wouldn’t be driven to despair upon seeing that?

All one could say was that creations were not equal. Dragon blood simply had overly strong side effects that easily led to corruption. Corruption itself wasn’t the problem.

But the Undying Disease? That was just a pile of nothing.

Just by getting so close to the Nine Abominations’ aura corresponding to the Vortex, Ji Jue felt like he was about to throw up. That was not a form of life any normal being could comprehend. No, its very existence was an outright subversion and defilement of life itself.

The closer one got, the more one could feel its terrifying infectivity and corrosive nature. It was probably not limited to blood. Even droplets in the air would be enough to spread it.

But then another question arose. With such long-term exposure and research, why had the Undying Disease not infected the doctors inside the Time Ruin?

He raised his head and glanced at those distorted figures laughing, singing, and applauding. He looked at the hospital director, swollen and rotting like a corpse, then at the head of infectious diseases, with four or five grotesque arms twitching uncontrollably, and finally at Mr. Qian, who was stitched together from pieces of flesh and bone.

Each one was more grotesque than the last, yet none of them showed any sign of corruption. In fact, they were even more extreme than Ji Jue.

Ji Jue only had high resistance and high immunity, but these people were more like... insulators? He couldn’t figure it out.

But that didn’t stop Ji Jue from enjoying the cheers and praise in front of him. So this was what it felt like to stand on the moral high ground and act however he pleased[4]?

He loved it, he absolutely loved it. He would definitely come back for more.

1. In Chinese culture, "你没吃饭吗?" ("Didn’t you eat?") is a very common sarcastic remark used when someone appears weak, lacks strength, moves too slowly, or fails to put enough force into something. The association comes from the traditional belief that food is the source of physical energy and vitality. If a person cannot lift, push, hit, run, or work effectively, others might jokingly ask whether they skipped a meal, implying that their weakness is due to a lack of nourishment. Over time, the phrase evolved beyond its literal meaning and became a teasing challenge to someone’s effort or toughness. In martial arts stories, sports, physical labor, and even everyday arguments, shouting "Didn’t you eat?" is a way of mocking an opponent’s lack of power, as if to say, "Is that all you’ve got?" ☜

2. In Chinese, 嘴硬 (zuǐ yìng) literally means "having a hard mouth," but figuratively it refers to someone who refuses to admit weakness, pain, defeat, fear, or fault even when the reality is obvious to everyone around them. A 嘴硬 person may be suffering badly, losing an argument, or facing overwhelming evidence, yet they continue to insist that everything is fine or that they are still winning. It is often associated with pride, stubbornness, saving face, or a refusal to give others the satisfaction of seeing them give in. ☜

3. Pingtan, also known as Suzhou Pingtan, is a regional variant of quyi and a popular musical/oral performance art form in the Jiangnan region of China, encompassing southern Jiangsu, northern Zhejiang, and Shanghai. Here’s an example video. ☜

4. The original writes “So this is the happiness of standing on the moral high ground and relieving himself (defecating and peeing) as he pleases?” which sounds pretty off in English lol, so I’ve changed it to “act however he pleased”. ☜