Truly, Beautiful

Chen Fu had learned for the first time that Dual Divine Positions existed in this world.

The Sword of Killing Intent, thick with the stench of blood, slid down from beyond the heavens. The world suddenly turned crimson.

Chen Fu instinctively looked up. In his black-and-white Spiritual Perception, a dark red, blood-colored little sword with the authority to sever life and death struck his vision, filling every corner of his sight. His "insubordinate" gaze could see only the blade that occupied half of heaven and earth. As the giant sword slowly yet swiftly descended, he seemed to see a pair of eyes.

What kind of gaze was that? So cold it contained not a trace of emotion. Killing an offender across worlds was as casual as accidentally knocking a small knife off a tea table and inadvertently impaling an ant as it fell.

Wantonly slaughtering the inheritor of His God's divine position and destroying one favored by the World Will—such violations did not stir even the slightest emotional fluctuation in Him as an Enforcer.

Because He was a god, a god high above all others, a god who held everything in His grasp.

The life and death of ants, the observance of rules—none of it mattered.

Because,

Gods did not care.

The incomprehensibly powerful crimson sword energy descended slowly with the force to suppress the entire world, gradually being worn away by this world's enraged will. Yet the sword energy that ultimately reached this shore was still not something any non-god could withstand.

Looking up at the crimson light descending upon him from beyond the world like Divine Punishment... honestly, Chen Fu suddenly felt a little regretful.

"How has Dr. Chen been lately?"

The burly special agent in black stood outside the exquisitely carved wooden fence, looking at the so-called prison within, where grass grew lush, orioles sang, and emerald willows swayed. He could not help feeling puzzled.

"Not well. He has kept asking for paper. According to orders, we cannot refuse any of his requests except those involving self-harm."

After carefully checking the black-clad agent's pass and confirming that it was valid, the receptionist let him in.

"Could you be more specific? My mission this time is to learn something from him directly."

"You'll have to ask him yourself. He has been waiting for you."

Leaving behind those cryptic words, the receptionist waited outside and gestured for him to enter first.

"You're here. Just in time."

The thin man with a head full of dry white hair stopped writing, put away the manuscript faintly streaked with blood, and looked at the special agent seated opposite him.

"Hello, Dr. Chen. My name is Shi..."

"I don't care what your name is. And I'm not well at all."

The bloodless man cut off his introduction. His bloodshot, murky yellow eyes stared at him without emotion.

The burly man in black felt his scalp prickle under that stare.

"I represent..."

Bang!

"Cut the crap! You ask, I answer!"

The man, seemingly at the end of his rope, suddenly erupted with terrifying strength. His fist struck the table with a bang, startling the other man.

"Why did you defy orders and forcibly lead the Cold Nuclear Research Group to continue the experiment?"

"They believed in me!"

"...Why did it fail?"

"Yeah... why...?"

The other man suddenly looked dazed. Disorderly syllables spilled from his lips as his eyes gradually became distant and hollow...

"Dr. Chen..."

"Shut up!"

The increasingly crazed man suddenly whipped his head around and roared at the man in black.

"Particles! High-energy particles altered all of my experimental data!"

"One—no! Two of them!"

He would never forget the instant the reactor collapsed! Every detail of that scene in his memories had replayed in his mind tens of thousands of times!

"Dr. Chen, please calm..."

The recording pen captured every detail of the conversation.

"Calm my ass!"

His emotions had just begun to settle, but those words instantly detonated the resentment and fury in his heart!

"Physics is fucking dead! We were attacked! Attacked by an unknown civilization at the microscopic level!!!"

"Dr. Chen!"

"It's fine."

The man who had been clutching his head in madness suddenly calmed down. He sat back down and looked across the table.

"..."

"Let us continue discussing microscopic particles..."

Drops of crimson fell from the tip of his nose onto the pristine manuscript, blooming into seductive red plum blossoms.

"Sorry, there isn't much time left."

He grabbed a wad of paper to block his nosebleed, then weakly pushed the bloodstained manuscript pages he had stacked in his briefcase toward the other man.

"...What is this?"

"The Cold Nuclear Equation and its related technologies."

"You! How did you do it?!"

"I overclocked. Calculated it with my brain."

If machines could not be trusted, then he would calculate it himself.

His vision suddenly blurred, and warm streams trickled from the corners of his eyes.

"You?! Medical staff! Medical staff!"

"Rather than wasting time calling people, you might as well keep me company for a few more words."

"Madman! Brain-overclocking technology has been explicitly banned!"

"Jiang Nan's overclocking technology was based on materials I provided. I was the first successful experiment in her hands."

Suddenly, somehow, an enormous apple tree laden with apples appeared in his vision, which had gradually become nothing but black emptiness. A mottled Fat Bird was curled up among its branches.

"Why go this far?!"

"I just can't accept it..."

The fact that he had survived was itself an accident—the impossible result of those two particles being affected by the reactor collapse.

"Haha, that just proves They think highly of me."

This was the highest respect from an enemy. He could not be impolite in return, could he?

Watching the man whose seven orifices streamed blood mixed with white threads, whose clouded, dim eyes seemed to gleam with divine radiance beneath the lights, Shi Qiang silently rose to his feet.

Whoosh!

His heels struck together with a sharp clap.

He saluted!

The transition from thermonuclear power to cold nuclear power would be a technological Big Bang no less significant than the Third Technological Revolution. It involved every aspect of civilization's development, and an energy revolution would mean that humanity could leave the solar system in the shortest possible time!

But humanity soon discovered that the fundamental physics required for cold nuclear power had been locked away.

"Xiaotao!"

The Phoenix cloaked in five-colored radiance transformed amid Xuan Zi's roar into a brilliant Glazed Rosy Rainbow. With her wings, she shielded the youth who stood alone between heaven and earth, facing that cold and merciless divine might by himself. The seven Soul Rings behind her shattered with a thunderous crash at that instant.

For some reason, the girl had learned all of Ring Detonation, which the youth had always scorned. She used it to activate her unique seventh Soul Skill apart from her Martial Soul Avatar—the reward bestowed by the Super Ferocious Beast Jade Swan for her feelings: the hundred-thousand-year Soul Skill, Wing of Protection!

This world seemed to always have all sorts of strange compulsory Soul Skills, even if their cost was severe.

I... shouldn't have gone looking for that damned Emerald Swan...

Within the sacred Phoenix flames, the youth looked up at that cluster of blood-red particles, and his mind could not help going blank.

[Checking... bodily anomaly... data...]

The girl had not completely blocked the Divine Punishment. The divine power that pierced through her descended upon Chen Fu. Crimson Blood Qi eroded his bloodline, his Soul Power was gradually being erased, and his four damaged Soul Rings completely dissolved, never to be restored.

Yet he survived again.

"Listen up! From now on, Chen Fu is under my protection. If any of you dare bully him again, I'll break your damn legs!"

"Hey! Chen Fu, come here! You're under my protection now. You can strut sideways through the Outer Court from now on!"

"Chen Fu... do you think I'll become a bad person because of my Martial Soul someday?"

"Chen Fu... if I become a different person someday, will you leave me?"

"Chen Fu, Chen Fu! I found a way to cultivate that suppresses my evil fire! Although it gets really cold every time I cultivate..."

"Chen Fu..."

The girl's hand caressed the boy's cheek. Her fingers, corroded by Asura divine power, snapped off at the slightest touch.

"Am I... very ugly... now?"

The life force within her was stripped away and plundered by the crimson divine power. The girl's exquisite face withered at a speed visible to the naked eye.

Chen Fu stood there blankly, his eyes hollow as he stared stupidly ahead.

"Chen Fu... cough, cough! You have to believe in yourself. You were right!"

Her body pierced through by countless heavy-metal particles, her skin already turning an unnatural dark red, Jiang Nan lay against specially made radiation-proof glass. Her lips moved as she spoke to the boy inside.

"Chen Fu... look, when you needed it most, I was still the one helping you..."

The crimson divine power severed all of Ma Xiaotao's life force. Her vivid red hair rapidly yellowed before falling out.

"Chen Fu... trust your judgment. We didn't fail!"

Jiang Nan struggled to turn around against the specially made radiation-proof glass. Her skin under the high-energy radiation had begun to peel away, and bloody bits of flesh and blood were smeared all over the glass. She did not want him to watch her melt under the radiation. It would be too ugly.

In the end, Jiang Nan could not help turning back for one last look at the boy, wanting to etch him firmly into her memories.

In Chen Fu's sight, Jiang Nan looked back at him one final time. Her entire face had melted into blood, and her distorted, irregular eyeballs slid out of their sockets through the bloody sludge, still faintly rotating as they flowed...

In Chen Fu's sight, the flesh and blood around Ma Xiaotao's body was reduced to ash bit by bit by the crimson divine power. Her blood turned to flying ash before it could spill out, and the hand caressing his face rapidly became skeletal remains. Her beautiful cheek was now only a skull covered in a few scraps of skin...

Chen Fu thought it was beautiful.

"Today, we are visiting the ruins of the historically renowned Ascension Soul Tool. It marked the beginning of an era; it was a witness, an experiencer..."

"Why is there a skeleton nailed to the ground with a long halberd in the middle, teacher?"

"It is obvious you weren't listening. That's the Sin God! And I heard he is still alive!"

"And do you see that Small Wooden House beside it? That was Master Chen's Arrogance in response to the Sin God's Arrogance!"

Thanks to [Book Friend 1150] [Book Friend 1779] [Shuori Shuofeng Chui Shuofang] [Book Friend 5274] [Demon Heart Daoist] [Dream of the Mortal World] [Cannon I Am Your Uncle Kong] [Flame 1] [ChristopherH], good brothers, for your monthly votes.

Thanks to all you good brothers for your recommendation votes.