Chosen: Beyond Fate

In just a few seconds, Ji Jue felt like he was so drenched in cold sweat that the temperature of the entire operating room had dropped. The surgery was truly an eye-opening experience.

Unlike the dying mother’s body, within her abdomen were two violent surges of spirit matter, constantly churning and intertwining like two rabid dogs in the final stages of madness. They endlessly devoured and tore at each other, distorting one another in a frenzy. They treated the mother’s body as a battlefield, recklessly destroying it while mercilessly siphoning her life and soul.

Just watching those chaotic spirit matter currents expand and collide was enough to send a chill down Ji Jue’s spine. With repeated impacts, collapse, and reconstruction, it looked exactly like a furnace on the verge of exploding, ready to detonate at any moment.

The current, fragile calm was nothing more than a precarious balance between the two forces and the mother’s body. But that balance was temporary and on the verge of collapse. If handled incorrectly, one cut here could blow the entire thing in half on the spot. It would basically be a triple homicide.

There was no more time to waste. It had to be done immediately.

Without hesitation, Ji Jue grabbed the chainsaw. He pulled it open, and the rapidly spinning blade came down. Blood sprayed like a fountain. The previously unconscious mother instantly woke up and let out a piercing scream. Despite the chaos, Ji Jue turned back and glanced at her impatiently. She immediately closed her eyes, as if slipping back into unconsciousness, not daring to move at all.

Fine, let’s just assume you’re anesthetized.

Ji Jue worked without any restraint, cutting straight down the center. The huge incision made Tong Hua’s eyelids twitch frantically; it started looking like she had walked into a forensic autopsy scene.

Between Ji Jue’s outstretched hands, the intricate patterns of Pacifier appeared beneath his gloves, and, as if holding a welding torch, he rapidly sealed and sutured all the bleeding points at an unbelievable speed. Thanks to the monster’s high vitality and abnormal physiology, it survived. If this had been an ordinary human, they would have been in the ICU by now.

Once the internal organs were exposed, the real difficulty became clear. Because of the constant writhing and tearing, thin layers of flesh kept bulging into grotesque shapes before disappearing, as if a meat grinder was operating inside the mother’s body, extracting blood and life in an attempt to complete itself while causing greater destruction all around.

Because of this direct and brutal form of mutual slaughter that surpassed even dogs fighting over scraps, the two embryos had failed to develop into full form. They were like crabs in a basket pulling each other down. Once one embryo fully formed, it would immediately devour the other, so they were stuck in a deadlock of mutual destruction, growing increasingly vicious and violent.

In such a situation, performing obstetrics was no different from sticking your hand into a jar full of venomous snakes. One wrong move, and provoking the rage of these two monster fetuses could instantly cause them to hollow out the mother from the inside out.

At that moment, four eerie green eyes seemed to be looking out through the membrane through the amniotic fluid toward the intruder. They were fierce and vicious, far more terrifying than the mother.

What are you looking at? I’ll drag you out in a bit and step on you like a pig bladder for fun.

“Ah, things are getting a bit troublesome.” Ji Jue wiped his sweat and looked up, feigning panic as he raised his voice. “What should we do, Mr. Qian?”

In the shadow that the surgical lamp could not illuminate, an exaggerated smile appeared, still stained with blood and full of anticipation.

“Hm? Did something go wrong?”

Tong Hua felt a chill down her spine, and she became drenched in cold sweat. She could clearly sense that countless pairs of ravenous eyes lit up from the surrounding darkness. The creatures were like mad dogs, ready to swarm them at any moment.

“No, everything has been fine so far,” Ji Jue replied. “It’s just that the mother has been in labor for too long and has lost too much blood. I believe she needs a blood transfusion.”

Mr. Qian sighed with regret. “Ah, unfortunately, the hospital’s blood bank is out of stock. These are difficult times. As doctors, we can only make some sacrifices for the sake of our patients—”

“No. As the lead surgeon, we must remain in good condition if we’re going to help the mother deliver safely. Otherwise, her safety can’t be guaranteed. Besides...” Ji Jue glanced around the room and smiled. “Aren’t there plenty of family members here?”

All the excited, restless eyes froze. The figures in the darkness that had been pressing forward stopped dead in place. Visibly, they took a step back, then another. Some even tried to pull their relatives in front of themselves.

Ji Jue’s voice was the only source of noise in the silence of the operating room. “Since everyone is so enthusiastic, why not donate some on the spot? Director, what do you think? Everyone seems very eager.”

Director Qian seemed momentarily stunned. His smile widened even further, overflowing with delight.

“The newcomer really knows how to get things done. Yes, that’s right, they’re all family members. Since they’re here, they can make a donation. After all, it’s all for the sake of the patient!” He licked his teeth hungrily and asked expectantly, “Does anyone object?”

Because of the deep silence, the breathing of the family members became audible, albeit barely. As they all trembled in fear, someone seemed to want to speak, but under the frenzied gaze of the stitched-up doctor, no one dared open their mouth.

First came a hoarse laugh, then deafening screams. In the darkness, one grotesque figure after another stiffened before convulsing violently. It was as if an invisible maw were gnawing at their souls, causing them to spasm, shriek, and collapse to the ground.

Thick blood seeped from every single one of their pores. It dripped onto the ground, spread around, and pooled like standing water. In the end, it formed winding streams that slowly writhed toward the center. They climbed onto the operating table and poured into the dying mother’s body, stabilizing the nearly shattered soul.

A fifth of the blood and soul of every family member present was drawn out and transformed into a generous supply for Ji Jue to use as he saw fit.

Mr. Qian rubbed his hands expectantly. “This should be enough, right? Time is running out. Hurry and begin the surgery, and be quick about it. If you mess this up, I’m afraid the family won’t let the matter rest.”

From the pitch darkness, the crimson eyes burned with hatred. They stared at Ji Jue, yet none dared to make a sound. They could only wait restlessly for the moment he failed. And when that moment came, they would drag him into hell without mercy.

“Fuck it, let’s go, tune everything else out and focus,” Ji Jue shouted from beside the delivery table. He paid no attention to the stares around him. Throwing aside the tools in his hand, he stripped off his gloves and brought his hands together, driving them through the last layer of flesh and membrane. Then, with brutal simplicity, he tore it open.

Enthusiastically, he shouted, “Baby, time to wake up!”

Even more blood sprayed out. Foul, rotten amniotic fluid overflowed, and within the blurred mass of flesh and blood, two malformed ghost fetuses opened their eyes. Like monsters not yet fully developed within their womb-like sac, they turned their gaze toward the intruder.

Those eerie emerald-green eyes were enormous, locked onto Ji Jue with a ravenous hunger. On their underdeveloped heads, a curve of malice spread into a smile.

Ji Jue also smiled. He could barely contain his excitement and joy, so much so that he was almost dancing with delight. Wasn’t this exactly what he had come for? Wasn’t this precisely what he had come for?! Otherwise, where in the entire mortal world could he ever find such pure spirit abominations?

“Truly rare and precious material!” he praised them, smiling as he leaned in for a closer look.

He gazed down into those widening, dull, icy eyes. Reflected in their shrinking, terror-stricken pupils, a dreadful figure seemed to draw closer and closer, as though it had been burning for eternity. It grinned, inhaling sparks laden with suffering and despair and breathing out destruction and death. Just being looked at made the two fetuses tremble uncontrollably. They let out ear-piercing screams.

As Ji Jue spread his hands and pressed them down, he activated the Dissociation Technique. Rampaging spirit matter currents surged like invisible blades, darting and cutting in every direction. With sweeping motions, they destroyed everything with a tangible form in an instant, like a force of nature.

As his ten fingers came together again, he began alchemy crafting. Pacifier manifested, turning the mother’s body into a furnace. It continuously drew in the surrounding blood and spirit matter as fuel, initiating a new form of creation. The strange sensation of the invisible hand reemerged within Ji Jue’s perception. With ease, the two ghost fetuses were suppressed, all resistance from their side crushed.

Then, a blazing radiance of spirit combustion erupted. A violent refinement far beyond any ordinary flame began. At first there were gaps and imperfections. Using a living body as a furnace was, after all, different from working with steel, and difficult to control. But once he adapted, he discovered advantages that ordinary furnaces could never offer.

This overwhelming supply of life force was like having a Vortex practitioner constantly providing healing support at his side, allowing Ji Jue to work freely without caring about any consequences. In the past, when practicing with a pocket watch or a bell, he had never experienced anything this exhilarating. It was like swiping an unlimited credit card in a shopping mall, with all expenses paid by the mother’s family members.

I’ll do this, this, and this... maybe try this as well...

Under the precision of Flawless Craft, the structure of the two monster fetuses was freely altered, dismantled, repaired, and rebuilt. Unlike the dying, fragile intelligence inside the pocket watch, these wills were far more stubborn and violent. There was no need to worry about crushing them if he applied a bit too much force.

In that case, then he’d push a little harder! In this brutally crude dismantling and refining process, the mother pretending to be dead on the delivery table could no longer hold back and let out a shrill, miserable scream.

Ji Jue was too busy to care. In any case, she would soon run out of strength to even scream.

It felt as if a vortex had formed in her abdomen, continuously drawing out her life and soul, mercilessly absorbing everything without pause. If not for the constant supply of blood, she would have already been burned to ashes by the spirit matter flames.

It still wasn’t enough. As the ghost fetuses were reshaped and reconstructed, the once abundant supply of life force and spirit matter had become precarious.

But that didn’t matter. There were still so many kind donors present.

“Bad news, sir!” Ji Jue shouted in feigned panic, looking up for help. “The embryos are underdeveloped! We need emergency transfusions!”

The cruel smile on Mr. Qian’s stitched-together face remained unchanging. “Then transfuse more blood.”

Once again, in the darkness, waves of ghostly wails cut through the air one after another. More winding rivers of blood converged, replenishing life and feeding spirit matter.

Not long after, Ji Jue looked up again.

“Bad news, sir!”

Mr. Qian waved his hand without hesitation. “Transfuse again.”

Screams rose once more, but this time they carried a note of exhaustion, growing weaker and weaker.

In the darkness, the previously drooling and eager family members had collapsed, barely able to move. They were on the verge of fainting, and their breathing was weak. Only their crimson eyes grew more resentful and venomous.

And then, once more, came that grim reaper-like call. “Bad news...”

Mr. Qian waved his hand again. “Transfuse more blood!”