"F*ck—"

Ji Jue never dreamed that the first words he would utter after stepping into the Crack Realm would be such a candid bit of Federation vernacular...

He didn't have a choice but to be blunt, as he was nearly scared out of his Cliff City charm.

Anyone would hardly be in a good frame of mind if, in a blur, they discovered themselves plummeting through midair at a rapid speed.

He was falling, falling!

In the blink of an eye, he saw the sky and earth rolling like a drum, the ruins of a dilapidated city quickly flipping over right before his eyes, rapidly growing larger and larger.

"Beep!!!!"

The little bull-calf wriggled its body in midair, emitting a shrill scream, but apart from squealing like Ji Jue, it was useless for anything else.

All it did was stand out and eat.

Fortunately, in any team, there's always someone who is on top of it.

On the back seat of the little bull-calf, An Ran, amidst the spinning and falling, was remarkably composed. From a momentary pause, he looked down at the rapidly enlarging street, and then, with a muffled sound.

Boom!

Without showing any signs of exerting force, he ejected from the seat like a cannonball, flying out and descending toward the ruined buildings below.

He landed instantly!

As if there was no falling momentum or impact, he stood firm the moment he touched down, not even stirring a particle of dust.

From beginning to end, he kept the thin rope in his hand taut, pulling along Ji Jue and the little bull-calf, who were still plummeting.

With a sudden exertion of force, he pulled!

The slender frame suddenly erupted with power that exceeded Ji Jue's imagination. The explosive force of the White Deer Path unexpectedly altered the direction of their fall, guiding them toward the broken rebar and edge of floor slabs to the area behind him, gradually slowing down.

Their descent was mitigated by the rope, and when enough slack was given, An Ran suddenly gripped it tight and pulled back.

Ji Jue, along with the little bull-calf, collectively weighing several hundreds of pounds, were steadily pulled up and landed on the rooftop.

The moment they hit the ground, Ji Jue hadn't even managed to get up.

The little bull-calf rushed forward, licking voraciously and making noises, as if to say, "I knew you wouldn't just leave me behind; Ji Jue, you are so lame."

This sight straightened Ji Jue's eyes and made his teeth itch with irritation.

Quick, call the cops, we've got a bootlicker here!!!

But after being rescued from the brink of life and death, he finally had time to survey his surroundings—and then he realized he had cursed too soon.

Luckily, there were other swear words to use.

"I'm f*cked—"

Ji Jue was utterly dumbstruck.

The howling wind ushered in clouds that resembled tattered cotton, revealing a dim sky, yet it was impossible to discern whether it was day or night.

The sun shone like a dimly lit round void, while the moon, like a vortex, devoured the twinkling fragments of light, seemingly endless and insatiable.

Stars, having lost their orbits, roamed freely across the sky, colliding with one another and sparking painfully bright specks.

The world appeared to be on the brink of destruction but was frozen in the instant before obliteration.

What truly made Ji Jue's hair stand on end was the scene at the edge of the sky, the end of the earth, appearing distant and wavering like a mirage.

A tower that seemed to stand in the center of the earth, holding up the sky.

Despite the vast and immeasurable distance, and time, the solemn and magnificent presence of the tower was still imprinted upon this patch of sky.

As if it would stand forever.

But the tower was shattered, cleaved in half from the middle—

Thus, the earth split, the sky toppled, and endless catastrophes swept out in all directions.

This was the world's last lingering shadow before its nearing destruction.

In just an instant, it was eternally stamped upon the sky of the Crack Realm, leaving an indelible gloom for all outsiders.

Ji Jue rubbed his eyes, then rubbed them again, until the clouds once more obscured the sky, finally snapping back to reality from the terrifying scene, gasping for breath.

At that moment, he just wanted to turn back home, then grab the neck of that damn person who compiled the observation report, and demand: Is this seriously supposed to be a Crack Realm that only accommodates those below the Transformation Stage?

Are you kidding me?!

But now, there was no way back; he had been swallowed by this Crack Realm.

"Brother Ball, what do you think?"

Ji Jue instinctively reached into his chest, but pulled back his hand as if he had touched a red-hot iron spike, throbbing with pain—not as if, but it truly was!

In the inner pocket against his chest, the usually inert Ghost Work Ball was emitting a terrifying heat, scalding like a red-hot iron block.

Inside the Ghost Work Ball, its intricate components spun wildly, circling, then with a sound akin to something breaking, it suddenly jammed, crashed!

Before falling into complete silence, it left behind one final warning:

[Be careful, something's not right...]

Not right?

Ji Jue was close to laughing in frustration, wanting to point at the ruins of the city before him and ask, does anything about this place seem right to you?

Big brother, are you capable or not?

Say something useful, won't you?

"Ji Jue, be careful!!!"

An Ran's voice suddenly rang out, and in the instant he heard it, Ji Jue's vision blurred as the chains sprung out from An Ran's sleeve once again, coiled around his waist, and violently pulled him backward.

Utterly powerless to resist, Ji Jue's body flew into the air. As he looked back in shock, he saw the spot where he had just been standing... The floorboards, ridden with cracks, collapsed with a thunderous crash.

Emerging from the building beneath the cracks was a huge maw, large enough to completely devour ten times his size!

Like a meat grinder, the great mouth extended from the ruins, followed by the sound of firecrackers as the structure collapsed. A long, thick body, resembling a train, snaked out from the building.

It seemed alive, yet also like iron and stone.

Underneath the insect-like carapace and rotting flesh, there faintly shimmered a steel glow, as if mechanical—yet when Ji Jue subconsciously resonated with his abilities, the presence felt elusive, hard to pinpoint, as if existing somewhere between being and dispersing.

And when the huge maw's surrounding ring of crimson compound eyes suddenly looked toward Ji Jue, it felt as if the connection finally began—a barrage of screams invaded his mind, potent enough to completely shatter his consciousness.

Like the agonized wails of millions.

These voices overlapped, louder than thunder.

They exploded within his skull!

His vision went black.

"What the hell!"

He was falling toward the ground, but before he could land, the small calf-like motorcycle had already revved up in place and shot out like a bolt of lightning, executing a skilled leap that carried him onto its back.

Without needing any commands, it crushed the wall corner's accumulated rubble and bricks, leaped into the air, and, pulling An Ran's rope, it soared above the ruined buildings only to plummet towards another collapsing rooftop.

Escape!

Boom!

Behind them, the centipede-like gigantic creature plunged down where they had just been, piercing completely through the building, bringing the unsteady ruin to a collapse akin to a demolition.

Dust flew, stones scattered.

A tide-like eerie noise emanated from the collapsing building, and then, the ferocious birds that dwelled in the dark recesses burst forth like a waterfall, soaring into the sky.

It was as if they had caught the scent of meat and lunged toward them!

And the first target they locked onto was An Ran, hanging behind!

At this moment, An Ran, clutching the chain, was in mid-air, being towed along by the motorcycle, yet his body seemed to have no tendency to fall at all!

Old Zhang had once told Ji Jue that the followers of the White Deer Path inherited spiritual techniques that allowed them to control powers freely, rendering themselves weightless and able to leap tens of meters in a single bound.

When combined with the Superior Blessing, even more exaggerated effects could be achieved. One would not sink even when falling into water but could easily traverse the turbulent flows by stepping on the waves, or alternatively, enhance one's own weight and stand firm upon landing.

And now, what Ji Jue was witnessing surpassed the rumored effects—under the blessing, An Ran's already insignificant weight was erased by the White Deer's spiritual technique, light as a feather.

He soared freely in the air like a kite!

Even now, as several strange birds chased and surrounded him, ensnared by their persistence, An Ran waved his hand, signaling Ji Jue not to worry. With another wave, his fingertips let loose a high-pitched wail that pained the eardrums.

It was like the rumble of thunder.

A faint white line shot forth from his fingertips, arcing freely through the air, light and spirited as if to say, it swept past.

Then it returned to his hand.

Only then did Ji Jue see clearly, it was a piece of iron already rubbed red-hot and slightly deformed in the air!

It was hardly two fingers wide and slightly longer than one, with a thickness similar to a razor blade.

Right after that, the sinister flower of blood suddenly burst open mid-air. The monstrous birds lunging forward lost their momentum in an instant, spurting out various shades of dark green or blood red as their severed limbs fell from motion, plummeting to the ground.

Not a single one escaped!

Only now, amidst the blood wind rushing toward him, did Ji Jue see the smile on An Ran's face.

So innocent, brimming with mirth.

Perhaps, this was his true self.

Different from other families, the rules of the An Family were exceedingly rigid; they strongly opposed the sort of superior induction that other people might consider more suitable for themselves, with each generation undergoing an Upper-level Summoning through a ritual guided by the White Deer.

Every child, be it their own offspring, side branches, or adopted orphans, would uniformly undergo the ritual at the age of six. Yet, the conditions were extremely stringent, with very few passing through the years.

Those who failed the ritual would be relegated to the outer court; if no one in the family could pass the ritual selection in three generations, they would be completely expelled. Having no talent and being associated with the An Family was not a good thing.

Through the Upper-level Summoning, the ability they awakened was also singular—projection!

Simply put, it meant throwing something from one's hand.

Except, compared to ordinary people, it was thrown farther, faster, stronger.

So strong that even other Chosen Ones were left in the dust!

Such was the terror of inheritance.

This simple technique, through generations of study and refinement, had developed applications and the transmission of skill that had grown vast and profound beyond what ordinary people could imagine.

In the An Family, this technique was summed up as "the ceremonial toss."

Like a game played by ancient nobility during wine feasts and merriment, it sounded so tender and warm, masking the true carnage and death it wrought when its edge was truly revealed.

Now, with each snap of An Ran's fingers swaying in the wind, a spray of blood would burst from the sky, cries of agony and wails rising together, incessant.

But the thick stench of blood seemed to drive the massive beast lurking in the dilapidated structure even madder, incessantly opening its jaws even before the carcasses of those monstrous birds fell to the ground from the sky.

The more it fed, the hungrier it became.

Rings of eerie compound eyes had already targeted the chef in the sky... relentless in pursuit!

You damn thing, you've set your sights on this morsel, huh?

Ji Jue's entire body was completely numb, he twisted the throttle to its limit, determined to drain all his spiritual energy, channeling it into the body of the small motorbike.

The engines roared furiously, both exhaust pipes spewing out blue flames like a rocket.

Speed surged once again!

And so he navigated nimbly among the broken buildings, leaping and bounding through the collapsed ruins and bricks, like a shitty video game cutscene with no QTEs demanding actual control, in a desperate flight for his life!

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