From Hell to Heaven! (Thanks to Mo Yunyi, the Alliance Leader)

Everything within sight was bathed in a brilliant, crystalline radiance.

The setting sun was fractured by countless prism-like crystals, scattering into a dazzling array of warm yellows and oranges. From the complex shifts of light, indigo flowed, emeralds wound silently, azure transformed into waves, and dark purple rippled like a gentle breeze.

Even the act of breathing was forgotten.

The world had been twisted, reshaped, and transformed into this incomparable, magnificent spectacle.

Cold, gorgeous, and cruel.

Within this indescribable beauty lay a primitive, archaic, and solemn chill; there was no warmth to be found.

This place was no longer a realm for mortals!

"A Realm of Encirclement?!"

Lawrence gasped.

How could the Yacheng Security Bureau have a second Chosen One who had reached the Boundary of Heaven-Man?

And it was that temporary team leader who had been parachuted into the North Mountain Team and ostracized by the Security Bureau?

Had he underestimated her after all?

No, this feeling...

In a flash of thought, realization dawned on Lawrence.

"A Stained World, transformed into a barrier and a desperate trap—such a matrix... it's you!"

He stared intently at that indifferent face. The once-fair features were now devoid of blood, and her calm eyes were without a ripple. Only the corners of her mouth, curled ever so slightly as if by hallucination, looked like a Masterwork carved by a peerless saint, interpreting the flow of joy and sorrow.

It was as if she had become a deity in a sanctuary, looking down with arrogance.

The suffering, desires, and emotions of the mortal world could no longer shake her in the slightest!

"--Minerva!"

"How nostalgic."

Wen Wen sighed softly and raised her hand. "It has been a long time since anyone dared to address me by that name to my face..."

Boom!

In that instant of change, without any warning, Wen Wen's figure was already close at hand!

She clenched the fingers of her right hand and struck out.

Crystalline phantom light enveloped her, making that hand look like a work of art carved from crystal.

Yet, with just that one punch, the vast Realm of Encirclement shuddered and roared.

The sound of shattering was incessant.

In the blink of an eye, Lawrence's hands, tentacles, and even the bones of his upper body were pulverized, his flesh exploding outward.

Amidst the howling wind, scarlet blood and fragments of flesh peeled away from his cracked skeleton, flying off like gaudy, fluttering flags!

Yet, upon that shattered face, a smile emerged.

So mocking.

"Hahaha, hahahaha! Even the Heavens couldn't finish you off? The Federation actually let you live? Your bounty is much higher than mine!"

Countless wriggling worms, like blood vessels, rapidly regenerated and wove themselves together from the bones, forming a sinister and eerie face—it was Lawrence's true appearance.

Even when instantly crippled, the followers of the Vortex were known for their terrifying vitality and recovery; they had countless ways to preserve their lives. Even if ground into dust, for a Chosen One like Lawrence who had reached the Rebirth Rank years ago, as long as his parasites remained, reorganizing his body was a matter of moments!

But more importantly, even Lawrence himself found it hard to believe...

Wen Wen had become weaker!

If the woman before him had made his skin crawl before the Realm of Encirclement unfolded, now that the realm had covered the area, her threat level had plummeted to merely troublesome.

"How ridiculous, Minerva. The esteemed World-Splitting Executioner, the Mad Dog Butcher, have you really become so soft-hearted?"

He was incredulous, suspecting some trick or conspiracy, and demanded, "You went to such great lengths just to save the lives of those consumables?"

At this moment, within the coverage of Minerva's Realm of Encirclement, all life—every ordinary person who had fainted in Jici Hospital and every innocent caught in the fray—was frozen within crystals, isolated from the erosion and influence of the Vortex Implantation Technique and the parasites, even if they were unconscious or on the brink of death...

Time seemed to have stopped.

Every state was forcibly fixed at the very moment the crystals covered them.

The Frozen Realm of the Wasteland Ruins Path had actually been applied to every single person on such a massive scale? Even for Minerva, this was too extravagant!

Wen Wen moved forward.

Her response was another iron fist capable of crushing buildings head-on!

Pure matter, pure power—thunderous force erupted from her five fingers, channeled and thrust forward, crushing the old and rotten as it punched a massive hole through Lawrence's regenerated body!

"To deal with you, this is enough!"

The Vortex represented life.

The Wasteland Ruins represented eternal, unchanging matter.

The ability to crystallize, paired with the top-tier matrix of the Wasteland Ruins Path—Minerva—created a power that was unbreakable in direct combat, and even a terrifying defense that surpassed those of the same rank!

Anyone with a brain would never attempt to go head-to-head with those humanoid fortresses that could achieve full-body metallization and max out their offensive and defensive stats at a moment's notice!

It was a pity, though, that this was only relative...

What was once an unreachable cliff face that seemed to stand as high as the heavens was now merely a thick, hard wall. Even if it remained just as thorny, it no longer possessed that majestic aura of something eternal, nor the peerless, terrifying pressure it once held.

Weak. Far too weak.

Even if the power still retained its original height, the mind within had already grown soft and pathetic!

"The Wasteland Ruins Path has no need for human hearts!"

Snap!

In that instant, a crisp, shattering sound rang out.

Cracks emerged upon the crystalline light.

Viscous blood seeped slowly from the wound in her abdomen, drop by drop, landing on the ground with a sizzling sound, blooming into sharp, cold flowers of crystal.

"I am curious—"

Lawrence raised his regenerated limb. Hidden within the blind spots between the dancing tentacles, a sharp blade finally extended from his flesh.

The eerie blade was pitch-black, with patterns faintly appearing in the reflection of the crystalline light, only to vanish just as quickly, sinking into the gloom, its outline difficult to discern.

As he licked his long tongue, the mutated blood fell onto his tongue tip. Carefully savoring the burning sensation and the stinging pain, Lawrence grinned: "Between the 'Masterwork: Nightfall,' which claims to pierce the iron-walled defenses of the world, and Minerva's defense, which is stronger?"

The Wailing Sound cut off abruptly.

From between his clenched fingers.

Beneath the shattered crystalline light, blood seeped out, yet the fresh blood rapidly transformed into crystals even superior to steel, spreading, interlocking, and binding.

"A piece of scrap metal?"

Wen Wen asked, "Is this your trump card?"

Her other fist was raised just like that.

Clenched.

Immediately following, a wild surge capable of shaking the entire hospital erupted. Crystals proliferated from the earth, gushing out and spreading like waves.

With just a single punch, a hurricane was stirred up.

Blood splattered and shredded flesh sprayed. Lawrence, hit head-on by the punch, had been reduced to a broken, withered skeleton, yet within the skeleton's eye sockets, ferocious flames still surged.

Filled with ecstasy and delight.

He had blocked it!

"Hahaha, hahahahahaha!"

Right in front of Minerva's fist was his outstretched palm, now reduced to only half a remaining skeleton. Yet, upon the bone, brand-new flesh and tissue were rapidly proliferating.

It was completely different from the fragile mortal vessel of the past.

It was a complex structure superior to any scales or fascia in the mortal world, and even more solemn was the thread of sweet, scarlet essence surging within it.

Brilliant and dazzling, like red light!

With just this single drop integrated into his body, it instantly recreated a shell capable of going head-to-head with Minerva!

"I have succeeded! I have succeeded!"

Lawrence laughed wildly, the flesh on his back unfolding like rows of arms, reaching toward the branches hanging down from the giant tree above, gripping, connecting, and draining!

He greedily sucked on this miraculous nectar, the glorious fruit squeezed from countless deaths and suffering!

"Above all mortal things, that which reaches the pinnacle of all phenomena is the Dragon."

He piously chanted the ancient poems passed down within the Dragon Offering Society, intoxicated by this beautiful transformation: "Destruction and natural disasters are Its breath; pain and despair are Its blood!"

Now, the Dragon Blood had come from hell, and the transformation had begun.

He would evolve; he would undergo Ascension.

He would be reborn from the Dragon Blood!

Amidst his wild laughter, Lawrence felt the Vortex Implantation Technique's conversion strangely stall for a moment, but it quickly returned to normal, as if it were merely a hallucination.

Only within the entanglement of the giant tree's countless roots, the little finger of the sleeping Ji Jue twitched imperceptibly.

Like a spasm in a nightmare.

A futile struggle.

It was as if he had suddenly fallen into the deep sea, unable to breathe.

Amidst an unprecedented cold and suffocation, Ji Jue fell into a nightmare with no end in sight, drifting with the current, sinking toward the deeper abyss.

Wherever he looked, he saw only scarlet; wherever he listened, the echoes in his mind were only wails.

It was as if thousands of people were weeping at once—sorrowful cries, futile roars, struggles—until finally, they wearily let go, falling into the abyss, never to return.

All that remained were bones and tears.

Those tears gathered into an ocean, the tides rising high, swallowing everything within the tide of weeping.

"Why kill me? Why?!"

In a daze, it felt as if someone were grabbing his collar, questioning him with desperate, hoarse cries: "I'm just a worker, I've only been here a few months! I'm innocent!"

But before Ji Jue could answer, the phantom seemed to dissipate, replaced by a weary and disheveled man covered in coal dust, pounding on the door before him again and again: "Where's the money? Where's my money? Boss, didn't you say you'd pay me today!"

The iron door stood firm, with no one responding.

"You're all liars, you're all cheating me!"

The man, driven to a dead end, wept bitterly and raised a hammer: "I'll fight you to the death!"

He smashed the door open, and the sound of gunfire rang out.

Everything came to an abrupt halt, and the illusion vanished.

Yet Ji Jue heard the familiar beeping, the scent of disinfectant permeating his nostrils. He turned his head blankly and saw a filthy hospital room, and on the bed, an emaciated woman whose hair had fallen out, revealing her wrinkled scalp.

"Eat something, just a little more."

The man accompanying her held up a rice bowl, his face covered in stubble, smiling ingratiatingly: "You have chemotherapy this afternoon, eat something to keep your strength up."

But she did not eat.

She could barely lift her hand anymore.

"Listen to me, let's stop the treatment, let's go home, okay?"

In the long silence, she said softly, "This illness... it costs too much."

The man froze in place, the hand holding the noodle bowl suspended in mid-air, but his spine gradually hunched over, as if bent by something invisible.

He lowered his head.

"Okay."

This was the final sound before the tears fell.

Then, there was a torrential downpour. In the blurred world, there was only wailing. The woman on the ground rolled over, clutching the child's leg, begging with tears streaming down her face: "Stop taking it! Don't take it anymore! Just consider it your mother begging you—if you get hooked on this stuff, your whole life is ruined!"

Bang!

A club came down, drowning out the sound of the storm.

The world spun.

In another enclosed room, wailing and moaning came from the bed. A naked woman, her face covered in blood, was dragged by her hair and slammed against the wall, then silently endured one slap and punch after another.

She let the tattooed man ravage her brutally until he had his fill, then pulled off his belt and yanked her face up from the floor: "Bitch, does it feel good?"

Amidst the cowering and fear, that seemingly familiar face twitched, forcing out a smile with great difficulty: "Brother Yang, you're so powerful, I like it so much."

Even though blood slowly trickled from the corner of her eye, her smile was so sweet.

As if she were joyful.

Please, I beg you, please don't hit me anymore.

Until the very end, she never had the courage to say those words aloud.

Ji Jue closed his eyes, not wanting to look anymore.

But those clamorous sounds kept pouring into his ears, until finally, they all turned into a hoarse and murky voice, like a prayer.

"Great Compassionate Buddha Bodhisattva, bless and save this child, save her... This disciple has heavy karma and deserves to sink into the eight sufferings, enduring Avici. But she is still young, she hasn't even been to school yet..."

Before the Buddha statue, the elderly man wept, his tears flowing, knocking his head forcefully against the floor, praying hoarsely.

Again and again, he repeated it, never daring to stop.

Besides praying, he had no other way left.

But the gods and Buddhas did not respond.

Only the hoarse, sob-like prayer gradually faded into the deathly silence.

Enough!

Stop it, I beg you all.

Let me go!

Ji Jue covered his ears, but it was useless.

More sounds, more images—those memories, scenes, and nightmares—poured incessantly into his consciousness and mind. He wanted to scream and cry out, but he could not make a sound amidst the countless wails.

He was still falling, toward the deeper reaches of despair.

Until finally, there was absolute silence.

It's finally over.

For a moment, he thought so, until flames ignited from the ruins and debris, spreading and illuminating the contours of hell.

On the charred earth, flames leaped. A wind carrying sulfur and ash stirred, blowing away the black smoke that blotted out the sky, revealing a scorching red night sky.

The stars twisted and wound, like melted glass, dripping a wisp of dim light.

Just like that, reflecting the decaying world.

The appearance of what the disaster had swept through.

The nightmare returned.

The sound of shattering, the echoes of collapse, the ear-piercing friction of twisting steel, and, a distant and ethereal song, coming from within the flames; the singing was hoarse and broken, yet so gentle.

Ten years ago, the Tidal Flame Disaster.

Ji Jue finally understood that he had arrived at the deepest part of hell.

A place that belonged to him.

Above the shattered and cracked earth, the rails had burned red and melted, and carriages that had derailed rolled across the scorched earth, scattering bones, finally falling into the ashes.

Flames spread between the broken seats, thick smoke billowing.

Amidst the debris and scorched earth, there were still people wailing, struggling, wanting to crawl out from the flames, only to eventually be extinguished in the ruins.

"...The sun sets, the night arrives."

Inside the broken carriage, someone was singing a lullaby softly, the gentle singing echoing amidst the flames and thick smoke: "Close your eyes quickly, let sweet dreams embrace you."

Ji Jue froze in place, staring blankly at the half-broken door before him, yet he dared not push it open.

He wanted to turn and flee, but there was nowhere to go.

"The stars shine, the bright moon rises."

The singing continued softly: "Look at the afterglow of the sunset, I will accompany you, waiting for you to wake up, going nowhere... waiting for you to wake up, with sweet dreams to keep you company..."

Snap!

The broken door fell from the raging flames, and the tragic scene inside the carriage entered Ji Jue's eyes.

It was like hell.

Yet in hell, someone was singing, bathed in the flames.

She knelt on the ground, holding a comatose child in her arms, placing the only gas mask onto his face. She wrapped him in a fireproof blanket, using her own embrace to block all the gaps.

And so, she smiled.

So blissful.

Just like that, amidst the scorching flames, she sang, gradually losing her breath. Only the hoarse singing echoed in the child's dreams, over and over again, accompanying him, as if to continue into eternity.

As if she had never truly gone away.

Ji Jue stumbled forward, letting the flames burn him.

He walked toward the end of the dream.

This was the final outcome left behind by that massive catastrophe.

What Curse Bearer, Chosen One, what miracle of life... Ji Jue didn't understand at all what those guys were babbling about; he couldn't grasp it, and they, too, were all wrong.

"The person who should have survived back then was not me, right, Mom?"

Ji Jue gazed at her form and asked softly, "I am the lucky one who was never supposed to be on the list of survivors."

Ten years ago, on this train that could never reach its destination, there was a child named Ji Jue who should have died in the disaster, returning to dust.

But someone had swapped him out of hell.

With herself.

Ji Jue slowly reached out his hand, wanting to touch her cheek, but his fingers stopped in mid-air, not daring to move forward. He was afraid she would turn into a bubble that would shatter at a touch, leaving no trace behind.

Only tears could no longer be held back, falling down.

"I miss you so much, Mom."

He whispered, "I really do."

In the silence, no one responded, but the sound of the flames burning suddenly disappeared.

There was only the singing.

The singing echoed in hell, over and over, gradually becoming clear, like the tide, slowly rising, unwavering.

From the end of the song, a high-pitched whistle suddenly sounded once again!!!

The darkness was pierced, the scorched earth vanished, the flames disappeared into the whistling wind, the nightmare was torn apart, easily crushed into fragments.

Responding to his call, the dream that had accompanied him for ten years rose from the deepest part of despair.

Swallowing everything!

As if time had reversed.

The gentle glow of the sunset spilled in from outside the window, and amidst the sound of the train striking the rails, Ji Jue woke up from the nightmare, staring blankly at everything so familiar.

It was as if he had returned once again to before the disaster arrived, still on that train rushing forward, embraced by those warm memories.

"You look so sad, Ji Jue."

Someone gently stroked his cheek, her eyes tender.

Ji Jue looked at her, opening his mouth to speak several times, but in the end, he couldn't help but lower his head, dodging her gaze. "I'm just... a little tired."

"Then get some good rest. It's okay to sleep a little longer." She ruffled Ji Jue's hair. "If something is too hard, you should learn to let it go."

"Mom, can you hug me?" Ji Jue asked softly.

"Of course."

Without hesitation, she opened her arms and pulled the child she hadn't seen in ten years into her embrace. Even though she was so slender and frail, being held by her felt so safe, as if there was nothing left to fear.

The entire world could not hurt him.

Ji Jue closed his eyes, his tense body finally relaxing. Just like that, he listened to her humming, feeling her warmth and her breath.

The dream was so long, as if it had no end.

Until he opened his eyes once more and gripped the ticking watch on his wrist.

"Are you leaving?" she asked.

"Yeah."

Ji Jue looked at her. "There are still some things I must do. Although it's difficult... but don't worry, I'll handle it, just like in the past. Nothing can stump me."

"Goodbye, Mom."

He took a deep breath and said his final farewell. "I might... never be able to come back again."

A light laugh sounded, as if she were watching a child worrying over nothing, as if it were such a simple matter.

"Then keep moving forward, and don't look back."

She smiled and cupped the boy's cheeks. "I will watch over you, no matter where you go or what path you take. I will miss you, just as you miss me."

Just like that, she hugged him one last time.

She left a soft kiss on his forehead.

Just like that, she watched as Ji Jue turned and walked away.

Ji Jue walked a few steps forward and couldn't help but want to look back again, but he didn't dare, until he heard the voice behind him.

"Ji Jue!"

Under the glow of the setting sun, she called his name and waved. "Do your best."

"Yeah."

Ji Jue nodded firmly, wiped away his tears, turned around, and pushed open the door at the end of the carriage.

Farewell to everything that once was.

The train seemed to drift away and vanish, just like that distant dream.

Ji Jue fell into the blood-red deep sea once again—cold, suffocating, and painful, but also so familiar. This time, he was no longer afraid or terrified.

Just like that, he raised his head and stared at the countless echoes of humble pain and despair.

"Hey! Can you hear me?"

Ji Jue took a deep breath and shouted with all his might, "I'm right here!"

In that instant, the scarlet ocean stirred into a frenzy, surging as if it were boiling. Countless streams of blood-red rage converged toward him, intending to tear this foreign object that didn't belong here to shreds.

"Come out with me."

Ji Jue reached out his hand, extending an invitation to those departed obsessions. "I will avenge you."

In a heartbeat, the scarlet fell into a dead silence, as if frozen.

The wailing and crying stopped abruptly.

It was as if countless eyes were looking over from the world of the dead, staring at the boy before them, stirring against one another, slaughtering, and kicking up a turbulence like never before.

Finally, they turned into blood-stained palms.

They grasped his hand!

The contract was sealed here.

In that instant, the ocean gathered from infinite pain and despair split down the middle!

The torrent surged, swallowing Ji Jue. The infinite pain acted like mountains, lifting him up, rising toward the mortal world, toward the world that did not belong to them.

In that instant, Ji Jue opened his eyes.

Through the eerie giant tree, he stared at the sky covered in scarlet, the collapsed and shattered hospital, the countless crystal giant pillars rising from the ground, and the countless wriggling flesh scattered everywhere.

The figure that had turned into a monster swung its tentacles, laughing hysterically as it gradually expanded.

As far as the eye could see, the world had become like hell.

But he was not afraid of hell.

He had already crawled out of hell, and having been granted the most precious treasure in this world, he was going to live well; he was going to make something of himself. From that day on, every day of Ji Jue's life had been like heaven!

And now...

The time for retribution had come!

He reached out his hand...

In the midst of the fierce battle, Lawrence's expression suddenly stalled as he felt the supply of Dragon Blood cut off once again!