ctnovel Chapter 138 'The Heaven of Universal Wishes'
Chapter 138 'The Heaven of Universal Wishes'
Chapter 138 'The Heaven of Universal Wishes'
A middle-aged man, who had previously expressed his intention to retire, spoke in a hoarse voice: "Lord Jifeng! I can't take it anymore! I really can't! I can't breathe, my head feels like it's about to explode! The treasure—I don't want it anymore!"
The woman whom Yu Wang had saved chimed in, "Me too! We'd definitely die if we went any further!"
"Yes! Let's go back!"
"The divine decree is important, but aren't our lives important too?! Even if we get the treasure, I have nowhere to spend it!"
A chorus of agreement rang out one after another. Ji Feng glanced at the crowd and realized that nearly ten people had openly expressed their desire to quit!
This means that two-thirds of the remaining fifteen people who are still able to move will leave at once! The team is in danger of falling apart in an instant.
Ji Feng's face turned incredibly ugly, then a fierce glint appeared in his eyes: "Leave? Fine, then I'll revoke your blessing! Look at you lot, you can't even get 300..."
"What kind of useless piece of trash can't even stay in the rice paddies? How will it swim back to the surface!"
"You!" The middle-aged man was both shocked and furious, his face contorted in anger. "You're forcing us to our deaths! Who do you think you are, your divine messenger?!"
"You yourselves chose to betray your faith and abandon your mission!" Ji Feng's voice suddenly rose, filled with a fervor incomprehensible to outsiders. "Or, you can choose to stay and complete the divine decree with me! At that time, glory, grace, and even extraordinary opportunities will naturally be yours!"
After saying this, under the crisscrossing beams of light from the several frantically swaying headlamps around him, Ji Feng's face appeared somewhat crazed, his eyes bloodshot, completely lost in his own obsession, no longer able to hear any rational voice.
Yu Wang finished filming and checked the panel. He had been itching to film when the monsoon first broke out, but if he filmed it from the middle, it would be a bit out of context and the credibility would be greatly reduced.
This time, he anticipated the timing of the outburst and ensured that the Monsoon's face, threatening words, and the terrified and angry expressions of the believers around him were captured on camera as clearly as possible.
Although the underwater scene was inevitably dark and blurry due to the limited lighting equipment, and the sound was also distorted by the water, the iconic white robe with the "Holy Radiance Angels" insignia on Ji Feng's body, as well as the coercion in his words, were faithfully recorded.
After filming, Yu Wang calmed himself down and watched the farce unfold.
He knew very well that it was a pipe dream to think that he could bring down a force with divine backing based on such a blurry underwater conflict video.
Releasing it directly might at most cause some trouble for the "Holy Angels Cult" and spark some controversy, but to achieve a "perfect" strike, we must wait for a more suitable opportunity.
After a brief but heated argument, both sides realized that every second wasted made their chances of survival dwindle.
The middle-aged man who stepped forward first saw that Ji Feng's attitude was firm and there was no room for negotiation, and a resolute look flashed in his eyes.
He stopped wasting words, abruptly waved his hand, and called to his two companions who were willing to take the plunge: "Let's go!!"
Without further hesitation, the three changed direction and swam upwards!
They were betting that the blessing's effects might not disappear immediately, or that their physical condition could withstand it for a while after the blessing wore off. It was only a little over 200 meters; as long as they swam fast enough, the pressure would gradually decrease. They didn't need to reach the surface; they only needed to reach 100 meters to win, and the rest would be easy.
As for the aftereffects? That's something to consider after you survive.
Ji Feng coldly watched their retreating figures, making no immediate move, only a cruel smile curving his lips.
Revoking the blessing? That would be too lenient on them.
He wanted everyone to see for themselves the consequences of "betrayal."
The other people who originally wanted to leave also hesitated when they saw that Ji Feng did not stop them immediately, but instead stopped and watched.
However, before the three people had completely escaped the beams of the headlamps, a sudden change occurred!
The man swimming in the middle suddenly stiffened, and his limbs convulsed violently as if he had been electrocuted!
Immediately afterwards, dark red blood streaks, like small snakes, seeped from his mouth, nose, ears, and even the corners of his eyes, quickly spreading in the seawater!
He frantically scratched his throat with both hands, trying to gasp for air, but it seemed to only make things worse.
Just a few seconds later, it became completely still and slowly sank under water pressure, like a heavy bag of garbage.
The other two companions were prepared. Upon discovering that the life-saving capsule had malfunctioned, they decisively took out compressed airbags from their spatial backpacks, gasped for breath, and their faces were full of shock.
"Ah—!!!" The woman on the left seemed to have seen something extremely terrifying. She let out a shrill scream, exhaling a string of rapid bubbles. Suddenly, she drew the diving knife from her waist and stabbed it into her own eyes without hesitation! Blood splattered!
The last person on the right, as if being chased by an invisible monster, suddenly turned around without warning. In his panic, he misjudged the direction of the water and swam frantically downwards, disappearing without a trace in the blink of an eye.
silence.
A deathly silence enveloped the rest of them.
Some people licked the capsules in their mouths with lingering fear; it turned out that this was also a controlled tool!
The headlamp beam trembled, illuminating the slowly sinking corpse, bleeding from its seven orifices, and the suicide victim whose eyes were bloodied and mangled.
No one spoke. The three people, without even being directly attacked, simply had their blessing removed and swam less than ten meters upstream before dying in such a tragic manner in full view of everyone.
Everyone realized one thing: in this dark hell three hundred meters deep, they had nowhere to retreat.
Leaving the group and acting alone is almost tantamount to suicide. The only "way out" seems to be to follow the monsoon closely, complete that damned divine decree, find the so-called treasure, and then—perhaps, there is still a sliver of hope that the "gods" will guide them back.
Ji Feng slowly turned around, the beam of his headlamp sweeping across the faces of the remaining pale-faced believers. His face was still the same, but his empty eyes sent a shiver down everyone's spine, as if Ji Feng's soul had been replaced.
There was no trace of human emotion in those eyes, only indifference, as if what was gazing at them through those eyes was a being from a higher dimension.
And it turned out just as they had guessed.
A voice resounded directly in everyone's minds.
The sound was no longer the original timbre of the monsoon, but was mixed with a grand background sound of hymns being sung in unison:
If Zhang Xinlan heard this voice, she would definitely complain that Ji Feng had spent money to have his own personalized speech bubble—no, personalized speaking effects.
Put aside your wandering thoughts and listen carefully to Yu Wang.
{Do you see? This is the consequence of abandoning one's mission and betraying one's protection. The light of holiness will only shine upon those who steadfastly forge ahead.}
My followers, there is no need for fear. Heresy has brought about its own downfall; those who remain are the tested and capable of great responsibility. Now, you will become my official followers, worthy to know my name!
My name is—All Wishes Heaven!
The voice of "All Gods" is very calm, and even has a layer of compassion due to the special effects, as if the Virgin Mary or the Father were on earth.
But to someone who has just been frightened, it is even more terrifying than the hysteria of the monsoon.
Jifeng's body, or rather, the body "All Wishes Heaven" was using, slowly raised its arm, pointing to the darkness ahead: "That ancient relic is your new trial and grace. Go, complete it. The gaze of holy light is with you."
"May all beings pray to Heaven!"
This is the god of the "Holy Radiance Angel Cult"?!
Yu Wang mingled in the crowd, head bowed, concealing the shock and turbulent thoughts in his eyes.
What exactly is the Pale Guardian guarding that could attract the covetous eyes of beings of this level?
Could it be—a divine artifact? Or a forbidden object containing complete authority and supreme rules, powerful enough to change the world's格局 (geju, a concept encompassing the overall structure and overall structure)?
Or perhaps it is a power that, once it appears in the world, can cause even the "never-falling aerial fortress" to fall?
After Ji Feng finished his declaration, the compassionate, grand, and inhuman aura he exuded vanished abruptly, as if all his strength had been drained away.
He suddenly bent over and vomited violently. Clear gastric juices mixed with some undigested food residue gushed out, only to be quickly diluted by the seawater. He slumped down, his face ashen, his breathing rapid. Clearly, being possessed by a deity had taken a tremendous toll on his mortal body, leaving him nearly half-dead.
However, even in such a terrible state, Ji Feng continued to mutter intermittently: "The relic—the treasure—must be found—the glory of the Lord—" As if driven by some obsession, he forced his weak body to begin to identify directions and then swam into the depths of the maze.
The remaining eleven dared not slack off and quickly followed, traversing the dark maze, fearing that if they fell behind, they would be considered to have strayed from the group and have their oxygen supply cut off.
Yu Wang opened the map and compared it with his real-time coordinates.
He discovered that the direction the team was heading was getting closer and closer to the area where the shipwreck was found, just as he remembered it!
Moreover, it's a convenient shortcut!
Without Jifeng's guidance, it would have been almost impossible for him to find it again by himself, relying solely on his own exploration in the maze and without violently breaking through walls.
"It seems this human navigation is really useful. I wonder if Jifeng received guidance or if he has a map of the deep, dark zone in his mind." Yu Wang thought to himself, and continued forward. Surprisingly, after operating underwater at a depth of 300 meters for a long time, this team of twelve did not suffer any further casualties.
Perhaps it's because these people have become formal believers, and the blessings they receive are more potent? In this respect, "All Wishes Heaven" hasn't been deceiving anyone; at least it has guaranteed the basic safety of its "tools." Yu Wang analyzed calmly.
Just then, the seemingly endless wall of coral skeletons in front of the headlamp suddenly disappeared!
They entered a vast, empty underwater space, like the hollowed-out belly of a mountain.
The water flow seems to have stopped here.
The leading monsoon seemed to sense something, and suddenly let out a hoarse laugh. Ignoring its weakness, it accelerated sharply and swam swiftly towards a certain direction deep in space!
The others tensed up, not daring to fall behind, and immediately tried their best to keep up.
Not long after they swam, a huge, shadowy outline slowly appeared at the edge that the headlight beams could reach.
That familiar tilting mast, that massive hull covered in gray-white coral armor—it was the ancient shipwreck that Yu Wang had discovered before!
Time seemed to stand still here; the environment was almost exactly the same as when he last left.
"I wonder if there will still be pale marks when I touch the cabin" — Yu Wang's thought was interrupted by reality.
Ji Feng led the group to a relatively small hatch on the side of the sunken ship.
He stopped, breathing heavily; the strenuous activity had clearly taken a toll on his body.
Once his breathing had calmed down a bit, his gaze swept across the crowd behind him, finally settling on someone who had previously shown signs of backing down but ultimately didn't dare to actually leave.
Ji Feng pointed at the person: "You, come here and push open this door."
The man's face turned deathly pale instantly, his body trembled violently, and he shook his head and retreated repeatedly: "No—no—Sir, I—"
""
Before he could finish refusing, his face suddenly froze, and he covered his mouth with his hand.
He felt that the "life capsule" in his mouth, which had been continuously supplying him with air, suddenly lost its effect!
A feeling of suffocation began to emerge.
"Okay—okay! I'll push! I'll push!" The threat of death overwhelmed the fear of the unknown horror, and the man scrambled to the hatch.
Perhaps Lord Monsoon is simply too lazy to take action, and you've overreacted.
The hatch was tightly closed, its surface covered with thick sediment and coral crust, with only a few places exposing blackened metal, on which the ancient traditional patterns of the fish-men could be faintly seen.
He reached out his hand, trembling, and pressed it against the cold, rough door panel.
The moment I made contact, my mind exploded.
[Warning! You have triggered the Pale Mark!]
You have been marked by the Pale Guardian!
The notifications, visible only to him, kept popping up like crazy!!
The next instant, blocked by the seawater, a muffled and shrill scream erupted from him!
His body began to twist unnaturally, and something was writhing and piercing wildly under his skin!
"Snap! Pfft!"
A pale white bone spur suddenly burst out of his shoulder blade!
Next came the arms, ribs, thighs—the bones throughout the body seemed to transform into living weeds, new bone spurs sprouting everywhere, which then rapidly grew, branched, and formed new joints, intertwining and fusing together.
He lacked Yu Wang's ability to fight and reshape flesh and bones, and died in less than ten seconds from his internal organs being pierced by bones.
The human body can only provide a limited amount of nutrients to the bones. The entire growth process lasted only two minutes, and all that remained was a "sapling of bones" covered with broken skin and a small amount of flesh and blood.
Having been deeply entangled with the power of "Pale," Yu Wang's sensitivity to this power is far stronger than that of ordinary mortal beings.
After turning a human into a bone sapling, the "pale" power on the door noticeably weakened in his perception due to the lack of subsequent replenishment.
If we use human lives to fill the gaps, then more than two hundred more people can completely exhaust the remaining power on the gate.
But obviously they don't have that many people right now. Are they going to catch some deep-sea creatures on short notice?
"Hmph! Trash!" Ji Feng's gaze swept past the skeletal tree sapling, his eyes filled with no pity, only impatience and icy anger. Then, his aura suddenly changed once again!
Clearly, the power of "All Wishes Heaven" has intervened again in some form. {Pale, pale, let's see how long you can protect this broken door with the last bit of power you have left with your last breath!}
"Monsoon" took out a small six-winged angel statue from his pocket, pressed his hands together, made several complex gestures towards the hatch, and muttered incantations.
Using a miniature six-winged angel statue as a medium, "Monsoon" was able to wield power far beyond his capabilities using a human body.
The angel statue emitted a soft white light, and bathed in it, the physical and mental discomfort experienced by everyone due to water pressure and pollution seemed to be somewhat soothed.
In Yu Wang's perception, the pale aura on the door disappeared at a visible speed under the light.
However, the time "All Wishes Heaven" can possess him is very limited each time, and each time he possesses him, Ji Feng's physical condition will deteriorate further.
In less than a minute, Ji Feng's body was pushed to its limit.
His lips were almost bloodless, and his eyes were unfocused, as if he might collapse completely at any moment. Everyone else looked at him with trepidation, fearing that he would break down at any moment.
"All Wishes Heaven" seemed unwilling to let its medium die like this, and decisively stopped when the pale "power" on the hatch had only a trace left.
At worst, it'll just cost one, two, three, or four more lives.
Monsoon consciousness returned, and pointed to another person to come forward.
Thinking the danger was over, the man happily touched the hatch, but the mutation reappeared, though at a significantly slower pace.
After a full ten minutes, the person, in the long torment, finally transformed into the second white bone sapling.
The time stretches out, but correspondingly, every second of torment endured while alive becomes clearer and longer.
Ji Feng frowned, and this time, his cold gaze fell on Yu Wang.
"you go."
His voice was weak and coaxing: "Don't worry, with the supreme power of our Lord protecting us, and those two weak-willed fools in front having used up most of their remaining strength, there's no danger now. Push open the door, and you'll be the one who gets the credit."
"Okay!" Yu Wang hesitated for a moment before agreeing.
Under the sympathetic gazes of his fellow team members, he slowly swam to the hatch that had claimed two lives.
He could sense that the power of the "Pale Guardian" still lingered on the door, though it had been weakened considerably, it was still highly corrosive.
However, instead of fear, Yu Wang felt a strong desire rising within him!
He felt that his extraordinary path as a [Flesh and Blood Craftsman] had, after the life-and-death struggle with the "Pale Mark," had vaguely reached a deeper level!
This encounter might just be the opportunity for me to break through this barrier and comprehend a new ability within the [Flesh and Blood Craftsman] path!
The basic attributes might even continue to rise as a result!
It's a crisis, but also an opportunity!
Yu Wang's eyes narrowed, and without further hesitation, he placed his hand firmly on the hatch!
The filthy power that attempted to twist the bones surged up the arm in an instant!
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