Mercury?

"You're telling me that's mercury?"

Ji Jue's mind buzzed, and as he stiffly turned around, he suddenly wanted to ask the Prophet, "Why don't you say I am mercury?"

But the reality was right in front of him, undeniable.

"What exactly happened to her?"

Ji Jue asked hoarsely, "What has she turned herself into..."

"I don't know."

The Prophet sighed without sound, "Aren't you aware of the affairs of the Embers faction? No one can tell what remains a Saint leaves behind after death, let alone a stubborn fool who is deluded to the end."

Ji Jue had nothing more to say.

He just couldn't help but look towards the place where the figure had departed.

One day... after I die, will I also become like that? No, if I really could become like that, it might be giving myself too much credit.

The remnants of the Heavenly People, the residue of the Saints.

This was completely out of reach for Ji Jue as a blank slate Chosen One...

Even though that thing just now had done nothing but touch his face and leave, who knows what bizarre transformation it might undergo once they recklessly resist or reveal their identity as outsiders.

A whale falls, myriad creatures arise.

A Chosen One who has dealt with the Superior throughout his life is bound to be tainted and changed by the blessing, bringing a multitude of influences due to his own transcendence.

Even an ordinary person, who gorges on corn before death, can still pop popcorn in the cremation furnace...

A craftsman who spends his lifetime dealing with the Melting Furnace and alchemy, each alchemy creation, each extraction and processing, each guided blessing... all leave traces and deposits in the soul and body.

Day by day.

Month by month.

So much so that even the most famous symptoms of Mutated conditions from the Embers Path became physical.

Chosen Ones who cannot control the out-of-control blessings within or suffer from Evil Foolishness will gradually lose their humanity and soul, transforming into bizarre alchemy items, triggering disasters upon disasters.

It is predictable that the changes triggered by the fall of the Heavenly People's whale would be on a terrifying scale.

If it were just a monster, Ji Jue could nearly celebrate, thinking he had finally struck it lucky with a lottery win.

But alas, it definitely won't be...

Who knows how many such uncontrollable monsters still wander beneath these nine deep realms.

"Please be assured, you carry the marks of Fluid Alchemy, as well as the credentials of the Old Furnace, they're not interested in you, not to mention there are so many messy intruders outside."

The Prophet looked emotionlessly outside before her gaze fell on the well ahead, deep enough to seemingly lead to Hell.

"We're almost there."

She said, "Non-attack is just below."

Ji Jue stood at the edge of the massive well, looked down, and felt the wind coming at him; so cold, yet at the very end of that darkness seemed to be a faint glimmer.

When he came to his senses, he took a subconscious step back—normally, in such a plot twist, according to RPG game conventions, there'd be an NPC behind him to kick his butt, and then it would be the fixed sequence of "Ahead, jumping comes in handy."

But behind him was empty space, only the calf and horse's headlights were confusedly bright, and Xiao An's sneaky chip eating was paused on the spot. Realizing that Ji Jue wasn't turning around to catch her, she chewed hesitantly, then looked down and munched away.

The sound was crisp.

Hmm, suddenly felt secure.

He estimated the depth below, then looked at the narrow staircase winding down, utterly unable to grasp Mercury's intentions.

"Non-attack is quite important, right?" Ji Jue asked, "Why keep it here? It's like it's lost... given up?"

"The Heavenly People no longer need a Matrix to bind and suppress the blessings inside. Losing a Matrix is no big deal, it's not as critical as you think."

The Prophet replied with a hint of mockery, "Moreover, she probably can't wait for that thing to disappear from sight, right? If it wasn't so significant, it might have been thrown to who knows where already."

"Why?" Ji Jue was confused.

"Perhaps, she simply doesn't want to see it anymore?"

The Prophet sighed lightly, "Maybe she's afraid to remember the past, to recall what she once was... After deviating from the Embers Path, how is she to face her completely altered self?"

...

After a lingering silence, Ji Jue couldn't help but ask again, "Prophet, who exactly are you?"

"A guide, a head, a bad outcome that should not have persisted to this day?" The Prophet laughed ruefully, "A tool too heavy to bear."

She said, "That's all."

And so, they walked into the darkness.

Disappearing into the abyss of pitch-black.

Outside the darkness, the gloom boiled and spread silently.

From the gradually echoing songs.

"Thinking of my hometown... thinking of my hometown... alone in a foreign land, lonely and desolate, I wish to return to my hometown, back to my old home..."

It was the hoarse chanting of lost souls in the darkness.

Thus, from the pools of blood, from the cries of sorrow, from the collapsing roars, one after another blurry figure began to emerge from the darkness, wandering vaguely in the central labyrinth.

Like prisoners wandering in a jail they could never leave.

When wisps of pale fog appeared from the air, the clear Sea of Spirit gradually became stained with a crimson madness. Agitation, despair, and suffering, the countless despairs accumulated over a long time, rose like rainwater, soaring towards the sky.

Boom!

Above the skies, the fractured scene of the tower once again radiated with light.

Above the crack in the tower, strands of crimson overflowed, spilling onto the land.

Like blood.

At that instant, in the deepest part of the darkness, Ji Jue once again heard the hallucinatory voice.

So soft.

"Mommy..."

The little bull-moose's progress came to an abrupt halt as the engine trembled.

Ji Jue turned around warily, as if someone was speaking.

When his gaze swept over, a fleeting shadow seemed to pass through the darkness in a blind spot.

Yet, when he turned back sharply, it was no longer clear. Footsteps, breaths, chatter, whispers... they seemed to rise up inadvertently from some place.

It was as if he had intruded into the realm of the dead.

The closer he moved forward, the nearer he came to another world...

A distant world.

The little bull-moose shivered, and it would have refused to move forward had Ji Jue not held it tightly. Xiao Anslowly surveyed the surroundings, sniffing for something, yet could find no trace of any living or dead being.

Until the girl's light laughter rose up once more before his eyes.

In the profound darkness just beyond the narrow staircase, light rippling with spiritual energy flickered, and a young, delicate figure ran past Ji Jue before plunging into the arms of another figure, "Mommy! Are you back?!"

"Did you miss me?"

The gentle voice arose, causing Ji Jue to freeze in place. He slowly turned his head, and though he could not see the face through the blurred apparition, he recognized that voice and silhouette as if they were ash.

Mercury!!!

In the darkness, the Saint from four hundred years ago took her daughter's hand, speaking softly and walking away, laughing.

But the noisy sounds continued, emanating from all around as if they had finally crossed invisible boundaries, and vague shadows continued to emerge, one after another.

"One kilogram for sixteen-five, can't go any lower, it's a good brand from the Southern Continent. We're old acquaintances, at most I'll throw in a bit more garlic."

...

"Wow, come look, they say Mo's people have launched another attack in the Central Capital."

"They're a bunch of nutcases, why bother with that, have you collected enough for your business tax this year?"

...

"It's four in the afternoon, praise the Emperor, shall we go to worship together?"

...

"Gloria has to stay here. Take the money, raising a child doesn't need so much stuff. Don't worry, I'll treat her as if she were my own daughter."

"It's my fault, big brother, but I..."

"Enough, don't talk anymore. I don't want to hear about your things. Don't talk about the world and everyone else either…" Under the flickering lights, in the living room, a man with his head down, smoking, sighed, "You've only been back a few days and you're leaving again, have you told her?"

The figure with his back to Ji Jue remained silent.

"Mommy?"

At the top of the stairs, the little girl clutching a plush toy timidly peeked out her head, "Don't you want me anymore?"

Mercury fell silent and hung her head, speaking no more.

"I'm sorry," she whispered. "I'm sorry, Gloria."

...

"Mommy, where did mommy go?"

The girl's cries echoed in the morning, "I want mommy! I want mommy!"

"Someone's sick, mommy went out on an emergency call, don't worry, mommy will be back." The aging lady stroked the child's long hair, "How could mommy forget about Gloria?"

But soon, that apparition too faded away.

More complex and chaotic or inexplicably random fragments rose up with the rainbow light from the darkness, like a kaleidoscope, layered upon layered, dazzling and disorienting.

As Ji Jue walked forward, he couldn't help but stop for the crying girl, heaving a gentle sigh.

Yet separated by four hundred years, that distant sigh seemed to reach the other side, causing the tearful, downcast girl to lift her head, looking towards him with confusion:

"Who are you?"

Ji Jue's hair stood on end.

He staggered backward.

But that vision quickly dissipated once more, vanishing from sight.

"Has the Ether record overflowed this severely?" The Prophet sighed softly. "After so many years without maintenance, I'm afraid it can no longer contain the past incidents."

"What exactly is that?"

Ji Jue could no longer refrain from asking. He looked down.

At the end of the deep well, that glistening, moving flash of light, seemed like a gateway to the past, brimming with bygone images.

"That is the old times, Mr. Ji Jue, painstakingly pieced together from scattered time and remnants, held together by the power of Ether, the fragmented incidents."

The Prophet said, "Four hundred years ago, the appearance of a town in some remote corner of an Empire."

This was Mercury's hometown.

Her eyes were downcast, illuminated by the light from the days of old, as if they became clear and bright, devoid of shadows: "It's indeed... a dream too lengthy and far away."

At that moment, boundless time surged, rising from the darkness.

Raging.

Engulfing them, utterly!

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