"Wow, he yelled so loudly."

During their escape on the small bull horse, Ji Jue couldn't help but look back and comment. Sitting behind him, An Ran nodded admiringly, "He has a really good voice."

Sitting in the back, he was checking the iron pieces previously stored in the hidden compartment of the small bull horse, only to discover that not only his own iron pieces, but even the gun and bullets Ji Jue had previously put in the compartment seemed brand new.

The faint Superior Emblem appeared intermittently in the dim light, with material, strength, and properties all enhanced by the Embers and blessed by the Ruins.

Melting Furnace was truly a genius, just by spending some time in the furnace, he casually enhanced everything, and now this batch of weapons was nearly on par with Alchemy Weapons, with significantly increased stability and durability, all fully restored!

Just this basic skill alone was already a hundred times superior to Ji Jue!

"Ah, what a pity." An Ran sighed regretfully, "If I had known earlier, I would have put Dark Star in there too."

Dark Star was the weapon he kept hidden in his sleeve, unlike the other iron pieces, it was about twenty centimeters long, translucent with a murky color, and the material unclear. Inside, there seemed to be faint blood-like strands moving, but when An Ran held it, it lacked the strength and toughness of steel, and was unbelievably soft instead.

Ji Jue had never even touched it, not because An Ran was stingy, but because the seemingly ordinary edges could easily slice synthetic steel into pieces. If Ji Jue held it carelessly and swung it near his neck, that would be really problematic. It was said that people from the An Family favored such weapons, which could achieve incredible precision and effectiveness with projectile techniques.

After all, working in the Desert Market these days, it was tough to get by without some special skills, let alone staying obediently loyal, so it was essential to have enough deterrent power.

"What's the pity?" Ji Jue, without turning his head, patted his head, "I'm still here, right? Besides, if I can't handle it, we can always take it to the teacher later!"

Being a student had its advantages, anything you couldn't handle professionally could be solved by calling up a teacher.

"Right, then I'll have to trouble Brother Ji Jue."

An Ran beamed with joy, no doubt in his mind, the rearview mirror's eyes gleaming, as if assured that Ji Jue's involvement would definitely yield excellent results, which put a bit of pressure on him.

"I mean, An Ran... aren't your expectations for my abilities a bit too high?" Ji Jue's expression twitched, "You're already a level five expert, and I'm just a newbie without even a Matrix. I'm really not that amazing."

"No, you are amazing, um, the very impressive kind!"

An Ran shook his head decisively, earnestly saying, "You're much better than me."

"You could overcome several of me with just one hand, right?" Ji Jue smiled wryly.

"It's not that being able to fight and kill makes someone great. If that were true, I wouldn't have argued with my sister and run away from home."

An Ran looked up into the wind, gazing at the Crack Realm ahead, "Sister Wen is very skilled, Old Zhang as well, and sometimes Sister Painter can be incredibly skilled.

Ji Jue, from the moment I met you, you've always been incredible."

"Why is that?" Ji Jue was almost amused.

"Because you know what you want to do."

The boy answered matter-of-factly, "When Sister Painter told me, I knew you must be awesome—knowing what you want to do, knowing what kind of life you want to live, and then moving forward without hesitation, opposing those who stand in your way, even if it means death.

I think someone like that must be much stronger than me."

"..."

Ji Jue was silent, and after a while, he sighed, "Is that it? Doesn't everyone have a life they want to live?"

An Ran shook his head, "Not me."

"I don't know what I want to do in the future, nor do I know what the best way to live is, but I also don't want to 'work' with my family, which is why I ran away."

An Ran sighed, "Originally, besides my left leg, my sister was supposed to chop off both my hands too, but my aunt pleaded for me. If I don't find what I want by the time I'm eighteen, I'll have to go back home and work. If things go wrong, if I don't go back, my hands might really get chopped off."

"… There are still three or four years left, right? Take your time."

Ji Jue was silent for a moment, then suddenly said, "Don't worry, I'm here for you. Even if you can't figure out the life you want by then, I won't just stand by and let someone chop off your hands."

"Um, Sister Wen actually said the same thing." An Ran looked at him seriously, "But, Brother Ji Jue, you can't defeat my sister. You'd die."

"..."

Why must this kid be so brutally honest?

Ji Jue, annoyed, gave him another pat on the forehead, "Then wouldn't I make you a pair of prosthetic hands?! I've read up on bionics three times in these last few days. By then, it definitely won't hinder your playing of the guitar or lute!"

"Right!" An Ran's eyes lit up again, tugging at his sleeve, "I'll be counting on you by then, Brother Ji Jue!"

So you're already presuming they'll chop off your hands?

Your family is really strange, little brother!

Ji Jue felt a slew of complaints in his mouth but couldn't spit them out, and just as they found a safe place to stop, he felt An Ran's hand suddenly on his shoulder.

"Be careful."

He said, "Something is watching us."

Ji Jue was taken aback and looked in the direction An Ran was pointing. In the distance, behind the walls of a recently collapsed apartment, a figure flitted past, cautiously peeking over.

Through the magnification of the binoculars, that face was crystal clear.

It seemed to be a middle-aged man, unkempt beard and raggedy clothes, appearing like a tramp, but his face was shattered. On the right side of his face, a mess of several eyes were growing, blinking erratically.

His arms too, had grown excessively long, dragging on the ground.

He cautiously glanced over.

Upon noticing the wary gazes of the two, he panicked and turned to run.

"Wait—"

An Ran's palm rose to aim but Ji Jue pressed it down, letting the figure escape into the distance and disappear.

An Ran retracted his hand, looking bewildered at Ji Jue, "Ji Jue, that wasn't human."

"I know."

Ji Jue remembered the look in that man's eyes, the indelible wariness and fear; yet inexplicably, he thought of the final words left by Melting Furnace: "If there is still a chance… please bestow mercy on us once more."

At the time, Ji Jue was confused and did not have the chance to ask for clarification.

So, was this what it meant?

Hurting its kind. After Melting Furnace gained a soul, would it grieve and suffer because of these Puppets' fates?

"Never mind."

He shook his head and twisted the throttle again, "Anyway, since it bears us no ill will, it doesn't matter if we ignore it. Let's change campsites."

The Ox-Horse disappeared again into the gradually collapsing, crumbling city.

Disappeared.

Meanwhile, in another underground space sunk in darkness, there was nothing but disjointed, broken Puppet remains. The monsters that had lurked here after the mutations were completely eradicated without mercy.

Within the vast room, beside a kettle boiling on a corner stove, there was no other movement.

Several figures sat on chairs motionless, pupils vacant, regardless of age or sex. Aside from breathing, there was no other sign of living beings.

Until the sound of footsteps approached closer and someone entered, carrying a massive bundle, a pleased smile on their face.

Nine people immediately stood up and advanced to meet him, coordinated and comprehensive, helping him unload the bundle, unpacking and categorizing its contents, tools, gains, and even captives…

During this process the pretense of a smile on the newcomer's face vanished too.

Only an empty calmness remained.

"Just a bunch of paupers."

Ten people bent down, inspecting the gains on the ground. Heads shook in uniform motion, their voices overlapping, carrying a sinister vibration.

Among the items brought back, the largest was an oddly bandaged captive who couldn't struggle; all spiritual essence was tightly sealed within.

When the bandages were unwrapped, a face surfaced, twisted in terror.

"Wait, wait a minute, please—"

Before he could finish, the ten surrounding figures took a deep breath.

Almost instantly, a horrific scream cut short, as a scarlet essence rose from the man on the ground, entering their mouths—life, spiritual essence, and even the soul itself.

Devoured in satisfaction, glutted.

On the ground, the body that was still struggling moments ago rapidly withered, turning into mere bones.

Already consumed.

Simultaneously, the same scarlet glow emerged from the ten people's eyes, rising and merging, faintly forming a vague figure in the air.

It resembled a flayed corpse.

The materialized soul, entwined with scarlet, faintly showed the distorted faces writhing on each strand of scarlet, made of countless people's spiritual essence and soul fragments, forming this avatar.

Those ten people collapsed instantly, falling to the ground.

Only the figure in midair, checking its limbs, sighed noiselessly.

"Just ordinary stuff, not very useful."

Known as the Invisible Shepherd of the Dragon Sacrifice Ceremony, he sighed silently, feeling the gap in his soul, expression regretful, "Only a small part has come in; this place is indeed peculiar."

Initially, he had meticulously divided his soul and hidden it in more than twenty people, but unexpectedly, when the Crack Realm opened, less than half entered.

However, as a Chosen One who had long reached the Rebirth Rank, he truly managed to bypass the restrictions of the Crack Realm by splitting his soul, entering this world!

Now that he had entered, he could look for opportunities to recover at ease.

A soul missing half might mean a fatal injury for other Chosen Ones, but for someone steeped in both Heart Core and Ascension like the Invisible, it was no issue at all.

If you find any errors ( broken links, non-standard content, etc.. ), Please let us know < report chapter > so we can fix it as soon as possible.