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Chapter 494 - 491: "Destruction of Jizhen.

Chapter 494: Chapter 491: "Destruction of Jizhen.

Feng Qiqi left the Inner City and climbed up the mountain path.

The flames began to spread to the back mountain; the woods below had already started to burn.

As he walked, he saw people not far away.

The back mountain was a magical peak with a volcanic crater at the top and a dense forest at the bottom. The temperature around the crater wasn’t scalding, allowing people to stand around it.

At this moment, his sister, wearing the Sacrificial Crown, was standing among a group of adults, close to the crater.

The way those adults looked at her was no different from how one would look at prey.

Feng Qiqi watched this scene with a touch of sadness.

...What made humans superior to other animals was their rationality.

Gazelles chased by lions would instinctively run towards their herd, risking their companions, but human rationality allowed them to defy instinct, to rebel against nature. It granted humans the courage to wait for death in place or even run in the opposite direction.

Those who feared death could die for the faith in their hearts. Those who yearned to survive could die for the independence of their spirit.

This was the greatness of humanity.

At this moment, to Feng Qiqi, his sister, who wore the Sacrificial Crown and had not fled, appeared far more human than those beast-like elders.

He clenched the Black Blade, immediately wanting to charge forward—

"—What are you going to do?"

Suddenly, a male voice came from behind him.

He turned around in astonishment to see a young man with black hair who had just climbed up the mountain, looking at him.

"Is it you?" Feng Qiqi recognized Su Ming’an: "I’m going to save Cici."

"Don’t go," Su Ming’an said.

"You want me to give up on Cici and just leave?"

"What else then, am I supposed to invite you to dinner?" Su Ming’an said.

Feng Qiqi listened, laughed instead of getting angry: "I thought you were a rational adult, it turns out you’re no different from those elders!"

"..." Su Ming’an looked at him: "You’d better leave now. Because your sister will not die, the one in danger is you."

"Why?"

"Have you forgotten about that Talent Transmutation Formation?" Su Ming’an said.

Feng Qiqi’s expression froze slightly.

He knew that before every succession ceremony, the person chosen to be thrown into the lava was always the child with the best talent in the tribe.

Bai Shen had given the people a device to test for talent, allowing them to accurately select the existence with the best talent.

This time, the ones with the best talent were him and his sister, their talents were equal; that’s why they needed to choose one to throw into the lava.

But now, having tried the Talent Bloodline Awakening Formation, Feng Qiqi’s talent had become superior to Cici’s, making him the one with the best talent in the tribe.

Feng Qiqi stood in place, suddenly realizing this truth.

...The selected person to be pushed into the lava was no longer Cici.

It was him.

Not far away, the preparations by the elders had entered the final stage.

The Great Elder raised the talent-testing device, which emitted light, resembling a radar. Its modern look seemed somewhat out of place in Qiongdi.

A beam of light shone on Feng Qiqi, who was full of astonishment; it was no longer Cici beside the volcanic crater.

The needle of the device pointed in his direction.

The Great Elder saw Feng Qiqi hiding in the woods at a glance; under the detection radar, Feng Qiqi had nowhere to hide.

"——It’s Feng Qiqi! He’s over there!" he shouted loudly.

"What’s going on? How could the innate talent change? Why did Feng Qiqi’s talent suddenly surpass Cici’s?" someone exclaimed in surprise.

"Don’t worry about that now, switch out the candidate! Move quickly, the fire is almost upon us!"

They released Cici and rushed towards Feng Qiqi.

Feng Qiqi turned and ran.

His purpose in coming was to replace Cici, but now that Cici was no longer the candidate, she was completely safe, and he didn’t need to stay anymore.

Flames gradually spread from the base of the mountain, nearing the summit. The fire was extremely fierce and fast, especially during a natural disaster, it was given a horrific boost, spreading like an unstoppable tide.

He simply couldn’t outrun the five elders.

The elder Migael only needed a flash of radiance in his hand, and Feng Qiqi’s steps became sluggish, the deep blue light pulling at his feet, preventing him from even outrunning the flames.

"Don’t run! Do you want to watch the First Tribe be destroyed? Think about those tribespeople in the sea of flames!" the Great Elder bellowed, "You are the son of the Young Tribe Leader, do you want to see your tribe destroyed?"

Feng Qiqi clenched his teeth.

"——Bai Shen doesn’t care about us at all! I started the fire; it has nothing to do with Bai Shen!" he yelled, "Bai Shen has never shown up! You’ve been deceived, by those researchers from the outside world!"

His inadvertent counter actually hit upon the truth. But the elders didn’t believe it at all.

The Great Elder reached out, and a blinding light rose from his body. A hand, shimmering with gold, took form out of thin air and reached for the immobilized Feng Qiqi.

At this critical moment, Su Ming’an extended his hand.

"Boom——!"

Under the gaze of the onlookers, the shimmering golden hand suddenly shattered under an invisible disturbance, dispersing into fragmented light that slowly disappeared.

He had blocked the Great Elder’s attack.

"That’s enough, it ends here," Su Ming’an said.

He knew that the God Sacrifice Ceremony was indeed a sham.

At this point in time, Bai Shen had not yet formed from the faith of the people; it truly did not exist.

So far, all the so-called oracles, divine festivals, and mythological tales were merely fabrications by outsiders.

Not to mention the talent detector in the Great Elder’s hand, which was clearly of modern craftsmanship.

The Divine Festival Ceremony, so far, was merely a means for outsiders to weaken the power of Qiongdi and eliminate the strongest with innate bloodlines. Facing this massive fire, whether it was Feng Qiqi or Cici who died, it would be of no consequence.

Ignorant faith had caused these people to lose their humanity and become beasts, casting aside rationality to commit acts of extreme cruelty. It was infused with concepts in a designed manner, ensuring those concepts took deep root regardless of whether they embodied an absurdly preposterous method.

And now, it was manifesting before their very eyes.

Even in the original world, there were those who, for the sake of superstition, would kill living persons for ghost marriages, or drown infants for an auspicious sign. In fact, these actions could even develop into a profitable industry, benefiting people involved.

The practice of turning living people into the dead for the sake of some superstition was utterly despicable.

"——What nonsense are you spouting! Lord Bai Shen, Lord Bai Shen, He——" the Great Elder’s beard trembled with rage.

"Bai Shen does not exist yet," Su Ming’an interrupted him flatly, "You’ve been amusing yourselves for over a hundred years."

He raised his hand and initiated Gravity Suppression.

"——Bang! Bang! Bang!"

A tremendously strong force of gravity bore down on everyone. Aside from the Great Elder, with his considerable strength, the other four elders were forcefully pushed to the ground by the force, their knees striking the ground so hard that they bled.

Because of the scorching volcanic ash on the ground, the smell of charred flesh began to permeate the air.

Su Ming’an took out the Amber Knife and, with force, swung it——

With this move, he activated the Amber Knife’s active skill and poured almost all his mana points into it.

...

[Active Skill (Condensation): The next attack will carry a "Spatial Fracture" effect, adding extra slash damage to the enemy.]

...

"Boom——!"

In the shocked gazes of the people, a violent trembling erupted.

Volcanic ash and the dense fog of night obscured their vision, and cracks began to appear on their bodies as blood oozed out.

"Pop pop pop pop——"

The intense sound of explosions rang out, buzzing like the crackling of popping beans.

Branches fell to the ground like snowflakes, and even the surrounding trees began to topple. The elders who had not yet managed to stand up were pulled by a powerful force, as if countless hands were tearing at their muscles and skin.

Blood spilled from their twisted, rope-like muscles, staining their clothes red; they didn’t even have time to raise their hands before they fell to the ground.

The Great Elder burst out in a shout, speeding away like the wind, only to find that the four elders on the ground had already lost consciousness.

Su Ming’an pulled Feng Qiqi and Cici to their feet and sprinted away.

The Great Elder would undoubtedly save the four elders on the ground first, and that was their chance to escape.

With his strength augmented by four times, he really could try to contend with the Great Elder and look for an opportunity using the "Lasting Radiance" Damage Transfer Skill. However, it wasn’t only about himself now, the raging fire was spreading, and the surroundings were alight. Both Feng Qiqi and Cici present were in danger.

If they died, the Main Quest would fail.

He led Feng Qiqi and Cici into the fire. The flames were exceptionally fierce but couldn’t harm him in his Shadow State. However, Cici seemed to struggle to endure it.

"Wait here, I’ll clear the way ahead!" Feng Qiqi shouted. He held the Black Blade in his hand and cleaved through the flames.

Intense black energy spread around him and shot up into the sky as if to shake the heavens, the waves of fire forcibly split apart by his blade edge, like Moses parting the Red Sea.

He charged ahead, his blade swinging continuously. His small frame possessed an explosive power that could almost disrupt heaven and earth. The flames that touched his blade edge were extinguished, leaving behind a line-shaped safe zone in his wake.

After being enhanced by the Talent Bloodline Awakening Formation, the "Annihilator’s" ultimate destructive power was already beginning to show.

The odor of dusty, wood structures mingled with scorching heat waves, drifting around them. The stench of scorched food, the odor of burnt flesh, and the smell of withered plants smoldered in the vicinity.

Since their vision was completely obscured by various fogs, they couldn’t see the perimeter, so Feng Qiqi had to rely on some partially burned buildings to find his way barely.

Suddenly, they heard a series of shouts.

"—Qiqi!"

"—Cici! Where are you!"

"Cici, Qiqi! Cough, cough, cough!!"

Through the thick smoke, several voices called out, including the voice of a middle-aged man and the tender voice of a child.

"It’s..." Cici’s eyes lit up, and she immediately grabbed Feng Qiqi’s clothes, "—It’s Mom! It’s Dad and Mom! And Chang Sheng, and the others—"

The fire was split apart, and the figures of a middle-aged man and woman could be seen vaguely within the blazing red. Behind them, they were protecting four children. Leading the way was a boy with a face full of scars, who was Cici’s "Shadow."

The flames parted around the Shadow and did not harm him; the Shadow seemed to have a resistance to these kinds of flames.

"—Cici! Qiqi!"

"Dad! Mom!"

The reunion with their family was extraordinarily emotional. Sik and Chushan had originally been under house arrest when the tribe suddenly caught fire.

Seizing the moment when the guard was down, the two of them broke free together and ran into the Shadow and children coming to find them.

"Quick, go this way!" Sik knew the way out and immediately led the children away.

Chushan’s ability was Protective Shield. She walked next to the children, holding up the shield to block the flames.

"How did you find us?" Cici asked the Shadow as they ran.

"He has the scent of Bai Shen on him." The Shadow pointed at Su Ming’an. "I could smell it from far away."

"Bai Shen?" The group looked at Su Ming’an in surprise, but now was not the time to inquire further.

Together, they ran out of the Tribe. The fire had begun to die down gradually, as the elders had taken action to suppress it.

But none of them felt any joy.

Because they had seen something blood-red streaming down from the top of the mountain at an alarming rate, and even the air atop the mountain had begun to "pop" explosively.

"...It can’t be," Feng Qiqi realized something terrifying.

Originally, even if the tribe was on fire, it wouldn’t be completely destroyed, but now... it seemed a dreadful chain reaction had begun.

...A volcanic eruption.

Given the scale of the affected area, if the volcano truly erupted, the massive amounts of scorching gases and volcanic debris could completely engulf the region where they resided.

"It won’t happen — " a child shook their head desperately: "The volcano won’t erupt, it won’t! We will all be safe, no one will die..."

"Don’t worry, everyone, we’ll be okay. Chushan is very powerful, she can protect us..."

"Zeven, the volcano won’t erupt, right! It’s been quiet for so many years, it won’t blow now..."

"..." Su Ming’an fell silent as he watched the chattering children.

At this moment,

he suddenly remembered a letter from home written by Zhao Weidong in the laboratory.

...

[Pingping:

The letter unfolds fine.

Qiongdi had fallen into a period of natural disasters quite early on, the volcanoes had erupted, we couldn’t leave, and the ground was covered with scalding earth and high temperatures.]

...

Period of natural disasters.

Volcanic eruptions.

...So that was it.

...So this was the time.

Su Ming’an watched the volcano heated to a glowing red, as if witnessing a sorrowful piece of history.

As if watching the hammer of fate striking towards them with an unstoppable force.

"...No, it will erupt," he said, "It definitely will."

As if the hand of fate was driving all this to occur.

He stood among the fervent flames, surrounded by people who were screaming loudly.

He looked up.

At that moment, the violent sounds erupted as if it were the end of the world.

The volcano erupted.

Blood-red filled his vision.

At this time, he seemed to have understood why the parents who dearly loved Feng Qiqi and Cici had not appeared after a few years.

He suddenly understood why, after a few years, none of the children except Chang Sheng were seen by Feng Qiqi’s side.

He understood why there would be a burn mark at the back of the future Chang Sheng’s neck.

...He understood why Xiber’s arms were covered with horrific burns.

...

He understood it all.

...