Chosen: Beyond Fate

“Jin Wujiu! Jin Wujiu, what the hell are you doing?!” The battered elder brother shouted as he ran. “If we die, how are you going to answer to Lei Yaoxing? How is Lei Yaoxing going to answer to River City? What the hell are you thinking?!”

Jin Wujiu remained silent, giving no reply. He was drenched in cold sweat, frozen in place. Several times, he tried to lift his hand, but the chilling sense coiling deep into his bones only grew clearer. Instinct told him that once he stepped in, he would die. This would absolutely result in death!

Die! Die! Die! Die! Die! Die! Die! Die!

After just a few minutes, the team that should have been capable of sweeping away the remnants of Chen Xingzhou’s forces, while also carrying out additional missions and responsibilities, had been completely wiped out in this unremarkable ruin.

He found this strange and abnormal.

Amid the distant howls of the dying Centaur, the Cannibal Brothers roared hoarsely, finally causing a twitch at the corner of Jin Wujiu’s eye. No matter what, he could not go inside, but he wouldn’t be able to explain it to the authorities in River City if he watched the Cannibal Brothers die here.

Fully vigilant, Jin Wujiu finally gritted his teeth and raised one finger, pointing toward the sky.

Above the heavily clouded heavens, thunder echoed fiercely. Lightning raced and tangled, then crashed down toward the earth, transforming into unstoppable, dazzling bolts of lightning that swept across the ruins and relentlessly struck at Tang Qian, who was hiding in the darkness.

Despite the thunder in the background, what echoed instead was an old man’s hysterical laughter. He was utterly exhilarated.

Fourth Great-Uncle grinned. “Watch closely, kid! This is the ultimate technique I used back when I slaughtered all the formidable sorcerers.”

He shot into the air, the storm-like, swirling spear in his hand meeting the rushing lightning. A phantom of a giant serpent flickered for a second, swallowing the lightning whole, making it part of itself. Even the spear in his hand was then suffused with scorching radiance, rising higher and higher.

Combining the lightning and the spear, he made a reversal throw!

BOOM!!!!!

A roar that surpassed thunder itself erupted.

The spear, entwined with storm and lightning, shot out like a bolt from a cannon. Effortlessly, it pierced through the fleeing figure and nailed him to the ground, along with the head he was holding in his arms.

The Cannibal Brothers were dead.

As for the hand that extended from Tang Qian’s left shoulder, it had already been burned into a lump of charcoal. He grimaced in pain.

“Old man, that’s enough already, alright? You’re not the one getting hurt, are you?!”

Fourth Great-Uncle paid him no mind. He only glanced regretfully at the remaining corpses and shook his head.

“Such a loss... I killed so many, yet only got two heads. At this rate, when am I ever going to get my noble rank?”

“Your damn empire doesn’t even exist anymore, what rank are you even talking about?” Tang Qian shouted back, then leaned to the side curiously to look. “Hey, what’s that old geezer doing?”

His movements froze, and so did the smile on his face.

What lay before his eyes was a series of lightning bolts dancing within the clouds. Tens of thousands of lightning strands converged, summoned by Jin Wujiu’s call, now descending and gathering into a pillar of lightning that connected heaven and earth.

Thunder rumbled endlessly.

After long buildup and guidance, amid the rising moisture in the air, a thundercloud that blanketed everything had formed above the mountain peak. The transformation of countless forms of energy was being guided by Jin Wujiu, as if the entire weather system had been turned into his weapon.

Up to this moment, Jin Wujiu still could not figure out what was hidden inside the villa. Whatever it was, it made him feel it was something that had made him feel intense fear.

But at this point, the ruthlessness and madness etched into his bones had actually taken the upper hand, suppressing his hesitation and dread. Since he could not locate where the hidden threat was, then he would simply erase this damned villa from existence.

Tang Qian stared blankly. “Holy shit. Go kill him, Fourth Great-Uncle!”

Fourth Great-Uncle did not move at all. Instead, he said, “Time’s up. Do you want to renew your payment?”

What the hell...

Tang Qian was about to lose it. He searched through his pockets and only found two gold bars, but Fourth Great-Uncle scoffed at them without even looking.

“Enough already. Accepting counterfeit bills is already my bottom line.” He suggested, “If that doesn’t work, why don’t you wake your father? He’s been in a much better temper lately. If you properly negotiate with him and bring your Second Uncle along, it’ll only cost eighty human sacrifices.”

Tang Qian completely broke down. “We’re the only one left in the Tang family, and you’re still trying to charge us for this shit?!”

Fourth Great-Uncle gave him one last glance and said coldly, “Bloodline is important, but principles are principles. Power is value. Victory, defeat, survival, death, all are built upon it and follow from it. If power is not obtained through sacrifice, then everything else is meaningless. If there’s no cost, there’s no outcome.”

As he gradually faded away, Fourth Great-Uncle said his final words. “This is the law of the Swarm.”

Law my motherfucking ass!

Tang Qian was on the verge of crying blood. Suddenly, someone popped out from behind him and looked around alongside him.

Ji Jue was staring. “Oh my god. I was just saying this old geezer has been outside forever and might’ve gone to the bathroom because he couldn’t hold it in. Turns out he was preparing for something big?”

A heavy, scorching wind swept in from afar, bringing no trace of coolness. The thick, humid air had already enveloped the entire mountain peak. It was hard to breathe.

Under Jin Wujiu’s guidance, the energy within the clouds was increasing. In just a few short seconds, it had swelled into a vast ocean of lightning, blanketing everything beneath it.

A bone-deep chill pressed down on the souls of every Chosen One, and an almost suffocating, overwhelming pressure filled the area. After such a long buildup, an unprecedented surge of violent power was about to be unleashed, erasing the entire villa from existence.

The fully-charged destructive power of the Entropy Path was about to be displayed in full for every unlucky soul present. If things went wrong, it could flatten the entire villa in one go.

Where the hell did this overpowered old geezer come from?!

Tang Qian was furious, no longer even bothering to question where this guy had been hiding all this time. “Stop saying ‘oh my god’! What’s the point?! Aren’t you an Ember Chosen One? Hurry up and pull out some magic gadget to kill him!”

“If I had something like that, I would’ve used it already. Why would I save it?” Ji Jue sighed and tentatively fired a shot at Jin Wujiu.

But Jin Wujiu didn’t even lift an eyelid.

The bullet that shot out was repelled by the electromagnetic barrier and bounced straight back, whistling past Ji Jue’s hair and embedding itself into the wall behind him. He just barely managed to duck in time.

If this were usual circumstances, he would’ve at least considered stabbing himself in the neck a couple of times to trigger his cousin’s emergency survival protocol and enter a second phase, but right now, he wasn’t afraid at all.

He’s got cheats! Even without the Azure Dragon on the left and White Tiger on the right[1], the Ruins is safe and sound in the center, okay?! This is the confidence cheats give me, you get it?!

Ji Jue coughed. He ran a hand through his hair, stepped out, and patted Tom on the shoulder. “Tom, watch closely! I’m gonna show you something cool.”

With that, he leapt out of the ruins and pointed at Jin Wujiu, who was on the verge of unleashing storm, lightning, and fire.

“Old geezer, go die!” Ji Jue shouted.

The Minerva blessing that Wen Wen had left on him was unsealed under Ji Jue’s infusion of spirit matter. A strand of dreamlike crystalline light rippled from his fingertips before vanishing.

Lightning and storm remained, and flames still rose. Nothing changed. Behind the broken walls, Tang Qian poked his head out, looking completely blank. “Can I blink now?”

Ji Jue froze. He looked up and saw Jin Wujiu finally glance over, his expression filled with confusion, utterly baffled. Where did this clown come from?

“Uh, sorry, I got it wrong.” Ji Jue forced out a difficult smile, trying to cup his hands in apology and say something like “farewell, excuse me.”

Unfortunately, he could no longer move. All sensation in his body had disappeared, as if he had turned to stone. No, not as if, he was already beginning to petrify!

His hair, skin, and clothes rapidly lost their color, becoming semi-transparent, now reflecting intricate crystalline light patterns. In the blink of an eye, he had turned into a statue, still pointing forward. He emanated great aura as he stood there, and looked utterly invincible, yet he was waiting to die.

At last, he felt that surging, brutal power finally manifesting fully, so clearly and unmistakably, like a volcanic eruption. Unfortunately, he seemed to be sitting right on top of the crater.

Huh? Wait a second. Something’s still not quite right?!

Ji Jue’s fragile consciousness was completely swallowed by the terrifying aura rising from his soul. It was as if he had turned into a stubborn stone, weathered by wind and rain for over ten thousand years. Finally, from the thunder and tectonic upheaval, something sharp and brilliant that had been nurtured for endless ages was revealed.

The mountain roared, and the sea echoed.

The distant resonance of mountains and oceans overlapped in endless layers. Bathed in crystal light, something eternal and unchanging revealed itself for a brief moment, as though the dreadful shadow known as the dragon had cast a disdainful glance from the distant end of days.

Jin Wujiu’s eyes widened in shock. But it was already too late...

Beyond the clouds filled with countless bolts of lightning and electric arcs, higher in the sky, a strand of dreamlike aurora suddenly appeared.

Within that shifting, deep-violet glow, countless crystalline prisms reflected and refracted light, turning the entire night sky into a dazzling kaleidoscope. Swirling vortices of intertwined radiance formed what looked like a dragon’s eye, but then, just as quickly, they vanished, as if they’d been nothing but an illusion.

“Holy shit, holy shit, holy shit! What is that?!” Tang Qian felt a chill run through his entire body and instinctively wanted to turn and run. It was like seeing someone pick up a rocket launcher and aim it at a cockroach at his feet.

Minerva! That’s Minerva, damn it!!! She’s back?! Are you serious?!

Five years ago, that crazy woman from who-knew-where slaughtered her way through the Central Lands and the Thousand Islands as heads rolled everywhere. After being recruited by the Federation, she then proceeded to slaughter her way through the Federation as well, from Huangzhou all the way to Yunzhou. In the end, she even attempted to fight a Celestial Being, and then vanished without a trace.

Tang Qian lay sprawled in the ruins, only feeling his scalp go numb. Just how deep into this mess had he accidentally stumbled?

Absolute silence suddenly befell the place.

The storm came to a halt, and the air turned into amber. Flames froze in place, and lightning solidified. Beneath the cracking, fragmented clouds, rainbow light shimmered, and the bright moon hung high. This frozen world was eerily beautiful.

There was no longer any trace of life within the courtyard. Destruction was swallowed by even more violent destruction, and death was devoured by an even more solemn death.

From that distant, transcendent glance, the end had already arrived without a sound. There was no room for struggle or escape. There was not even time to leave a last word, or to feel fear and despair.

In midair, amid the frozen lightning and fire, Jin Wujiu’s body fractured at the edges. Pale cracks spread across his skin, expanding until they turned into drifting crystalline dust that vanished into nothingness.

Lightning, flames, and storms all followed the same fate. Dreamlike shards of light scattered across the ruins, rising and falling like tens of thousands of fireflies dancing together. Carried away by the wind, they gradually disappeared without a trace.

Thus, the entire army was annihilated. In the silence stretched so long it felt endless, only Ji Jue’s faint sigh could be heard. With his hands behind his back, he gazed at the full moon, as if contemplating how many struggles and lonely moments this same moonlight had witnessed through the ages.

Just as he was considering saying something suitably cool to end this perfectly flawless act of showing off, he heard something. From within the ruins came the blond guy’s hysterical laughter. He was running frantically, cheering and dancing. He had even forgotten he wasn’t wearing pants.

“I did it! Hahahahahaha, I did it!” he shouted while flailing his limbs.

A streak of light emerged from the aftermath of the battle in the ruins, gathering and descending onto him.

Ji Jue turned back in shock, his eyes nearly popping out.

That’s... a Supreme Benevolence blessing?!

1. “Azure Dragon on the left, White Tiger on the right” is a term from ancient Chinese feng shui, originating from the directional system of the Four Symbols: the Azure Dragon, White Tiger, Vermilion Bird, and Black Tortoise.

The Azure Dragon represents the east and is associated with the element of wood, symbolizing the vitality and growth of spring. The White Tiger represents the west and is associated with the element of metal, corresponding to the harshness and restraint of autumn.

Together, the two form a balanced yin-yang system and have been widely applied in architectural layouts and the selection of burial sites. ☜