At an altitude of tens of thousands of meters, fierce winds howled.
Faint tremors and rumbles rose from the earth below. Death and destruction seemed so distant. Yet the life and death struggle raging high above felt close at hand, almost within reach.
Looking up, the heavens were dim, as if gods had descended—but the gods themselves were fighting one another.
Looking down, the mortal world was white and vast, and everything was as tiny as ants. Yet amid endless slaughter, those ants still roared or wailed.
Heaven and earth alike—the world in turmoil, everything saturated with conflict.
Like a chessboard.
But what kind of Formless Hand was controlling it all?
And who stood in the even higher heavens?
Could this, too, be the so-called Heavenly Mandate?
Ji Jue raised his head and looked at the shattered boundary membrane before Jianyuan, as well as the enormous roaring engine. He couldn't help but feel utterly unsettled.
Jianyuan suddenly turned back. Flames rose within his emerald eyes as he scrutinized him. "You seem nervous?"
"Yes."
Eyes lowered, Ji Jue silently gripped the handles of his wheelchair. "How could I not be, in circumstances like these?"
Jianyuan glanced at his wheelchair, as though he could see the sharp blade concealed within it, and reminded him, "This isn't the best opportunity."
"I know. That's why I'm nervous."
Ji Jue smiled faintly without concealing anything, his gaze shifting behind Jianyuan. "What is this?"
"A remnant of former glory. Nothing more."
Jianyuan reached out and stroked the engine as it ran with searing heat. "Lu Changsheng paid me with this to request my aid—the remnant left behind by the last Matrix Child is said to be here.
For so many years, later generations sought it, only to achieve nothing."
Ji Jue gave a mocking laugh. "You