Destiny is ashes

Chapter 1143 Jidu's Forbidden Technique of Condensing Light and Transforming into the Moon
"Enemy attack!"

In the dim light, blood splattered, leaving a scarlet arc on the wall, and the entire defense system of the underground puppet workshop was activated.

As the piercing alarm sounded, the guards who were patrolling elsewhere immediately went on alert, picked up their magical artifacts and equipment, and began to rush toward the coordinates provided by the great formation.

But it's just too slow.

At that moment, Cang Linzu took a deep breath.

Behind him, the dark shadow boiled, rose into mist, swirled around him, and then condensed again, almost becoming a solid, transforming into a form resembling armor.

Ketu, whose destiny is filled with abundant granaries, is the Earth element corresponding to Saturn, and is opposite to Rahu.

Fire is the soul, while the rest is ash, which is matter. Therefore, Huo Qing, who is associated with Luo Hou, cultivates the principle of "grass and trees wither and flourish, returning to the fiery earth," which corresponds to strengthening the physical body, that is, "refining qi and condensing the body."

The planet Zhenxing is earth, the foundation of all things, while the rest are the netherworld, the abode of souls. Therefore, the Canglin of Ketu can sense the souls and step into the underworld. His innate ability to communicate with the netherworld allows him to connect with souls, walk in the shadows, and even control and devour souls for his own use. He is a supreme being among ghosts and gods walking in the human world, which is also known as [Merging Spirits into Gods].

However, Cang Linzu did not choose to delve deeper into the path of ghosts and gods. If he had to say, he did not like to command others, nor did he like to devour ghosts to strengthen himself. He was a pure martial artist who only wanted to become stronger and walk on the righteous path that he recognized and that was recognized by everyone else, drawing power from his own heart.

This inadvertently led him onto the true right path—that one's own spirit is the only true and pure spirit, and that by merging oneself and fully mastering one's thoughts, ideas, soul, will, and faith, one can become a true "god."

All the Ketu throughout history could not do this, because they were born at the time of the Seven Fiends' Tribulation, in a world where people ate each other, in an era where boundless vengeful spirits were scattered and countless evil ghosts roamed. Therefore, they were destined not to be able to explore themselves, but could only merge with countless other spirits as their own gods, and then become the collection of all resentment, the embodiment of all karmic retribution, and the retribution for all hatred and enmity.

But with ample granaries, it's unnecessary.

Because An Jing is simply too powerful... powerful enough that he can change the world without any resentment.

It has even begun to change.

Therefore, the true technique of Ketu's destiny, the inheritance known as the [Ketu Condensed Light Transformation Moon Forbidden Technique], can naturally be manifested in Canglinzu.

When light shines on one's own body, it creates a mysterious shadow.

My heart is the sun, my body is the moon, my spirit is the shadow, and my will is God.

My mind transmits to my body, my spirit conveys my will, and nature shields me from the light, creating a mysterious shadow; I merge with the spirit and transform into the divine!
The pitch-black Xuanming Shadow Armor covered Cang Linzu's entire body, while the silver-white and blue patterns shimmered slightly, winding around his joints and meridians, like moonlight or ghosts and gods. The power originating from the distant past, the master, the source, that is, the power of [Destiny], was also continuously empowering it, causing the light and shadow to distort like invisible flames.

Tap tap tap tap—the rapid and orderly footsteps converged smoothly from all directions, and with the tremor of the ground, the guards had arrived.

Although these guards trained by aristocratic families were merely servants, their elite status was no less than that of the regular army of Dachen. If others were to evaluate them, they would surely say that they were like a hundred rivers flowing together, or clouds gathering, like the precursor to an earthquake, with an invisible force accumulating beneath the earth and growing stronger.

But to a true hunter, it's nothing more than the tremor of an insect stepping into a spider web.

The leader of the guards was a martial artist. He was clad in heavy armor and wore a bird-shaped mask. The moment he entered, he scanned the hall, which was now a bloody slaughterhouse, and the Canglinzu, who was wearing strange armor. A look of surprise flashed through his observation hole, but he quickly regained his composure: "Kill them!"

At a single command, without any further words, the guards formed a martial formation and pressed down with an unstoppable momentum, like a mountain collapsing.

Faced with such an unstoppable martial formation suppression, Canglinzu only did one thing.

That is to take a step forward.

boom!
The ground was shattered by the immense force, trembling violently as if it were liquid. Cang Lin's speed was like that of a cannonball, traversing a distance of ten zhang with several times the speed of thunder. The aftershocks generated by this speed even blew away all the limbs and pools of blood that were originally in the hall, splattering them onto the walls.

He charged straight into the guards' formation, and in the instant before the guard leader was giving orders, he punched him in the head.

—What kind of speed is that?

The guard leader was also a martial artist. He could roughly sense Cang Linzu's speed, but he was completely unable to dodge or block. He didn't even have time to show any expression of fear or anger before he felt the fist crushing through steel and pressing against his flesh.

Although they are both martial lineages, they are worlds apart... The differences in foundation during the internal strengthening period, the differences in the strength of different divine abilities, the differences in the degree of refinement of the same divine ability, the differences in the efficiency of the internal array formed by the mutual amplification and superposition of divine abilities, and the differences in the compatibility between the internal array, destiny, cultivation techniques, and personal thoughts.

Upon closer examination, the weakest peak martial vein and the strongest peak martial vein differ by more than a thousand times due to various differences in values, attack multipliers, special independent multipliers, skill bonuses, special passive bonuses, base differences, and so on.

The city of Canglinzu was not originally among the strongest; at most, it could only be considered a 'first- or second-tier metropolis,' not even a 'first-tier capital.' But now, thanks to a bit of Anjing's power...

He at least barely reached the bottom line of being the 'strongest'.

The fist struck the skull, easily shattering and penetrating the strongest bones in the human body. The entire brain was turned into a mushy mess, then dissolved by the shadows, splattering into large patches of grayish-red liquid that splashed backward.

During this process, all the attacks launched by the other guards—slashes with swords and thrusts with spears—were blocked by the Shadow Armor, only causing a few sparks to fly.

"what!"

Before the guard could even see the gruesome sight of his captain being punched to death, he roared and charged straight at Cang Linzu, intending to grab him around the waist and let the other guards finish the attack, even if it meant his own death—he wasn't afraid of death at all; at worst, he could switch to the path of ascension.

But Canglin did not flinch or dodge, letting the guard fall onto his armor. Then, in the next instant, he continued to step forward, and the guard slid down limply—his face, the front of his body, and the front half of his internal organs all disappeared, the remaining internal organs flowing out and falling to the ground.

His entire front was melted.

"Quick! Retreat! This person is no ordinary martial artist!"

An old guard noticed something and immediately roared, wanting to lead his team to retreat and report to their superiors. This was clearly not an opponent that ordinary guards like them could handle; they would have to call upon the family's patron saint to deal with it—but speaking out would be tantamount to exposing himself.

Cang Linzu looked at the old guard, then raised his hand. The shadow condensed and then transformed into a black longsword, which he lightly slashed at the other man.

The old guard knew something was wrong at first glance and tried his best to dodge, but he was too slow. Cang Linzu slashed his neck with his sword, and his head flew into the air, blood gushing out like a fountain.

"Ah! A ghost, a ghost!"

In the blink of an eye, the leader, the bravest and the most experienced men were all dead, and some of the guards were immediately terrified—even the bravest army could not continue fighting without the leadership of these three types of people, let alone the fact that they were just servants and guards.

The previously formed martial formation instantly collapsed, and the gathered crowd tried to retreat in a much more disorganized formation than when they arrived.

But how could a full granary tolerate this? He stepped forward and slashed with his sword, cutting several guards in half at the waist. Then he threw a punch, scattering the last few guard squads that had mustered their courage to charge forward. The leader was punched through the chest cavity, and blood gushed from his mouth. He made a 'heh heh' sound and was obviously dead on the spot.

Now that things had come to this, even the most fearless team was terrified. Everyone turned and ran, no longer caring about any formation. But Canglinzu's eyes, which seemed to burn with fierce fire, locked onto everyone.

His figure was like a ghost, disappearing in an instant, and then reappearing in front of several fleeing guards.

He reached out and instantly grabbed a guard by the throat, then crushed the flesh, grasped the spine, and viciously slammed him to the ground, scattering the body on the spot, blood splattering everywhere.

At the same time, Canglinzu's shadow rose up, transforming into a sharp blade that slashed wildly in all directions, like a storm, cutting everyone within range into pieces that exploded and smeared the walls.

The only guard left behind was the one who ran the fastest and furthest. Because he was the furthest away from the others, he was unaware that the once-powerful guards had been wiped out in an instant, leaving only him. The next moment, he felt a tightness in his chest and a pain in the back of his head. He lay dizzy on the ground, only to be kicked to the ground by Cang Linzu, who then stepped on his chest and ribs.

Within the pitch-black helmet of the demon god, two eerie lights flickered between the gaps, piercing through the guard's defenses and causing him to burst into tears, muttering words of pleas for mercy that no one could understand.

"Which family's servants are you? This puppet workshop is using people as tools for murder. Where is the core of that workshop?"

"The Yuan family! The Yuan family of the four great families: Yuan, Yao, Song, and Guang!"

The guard's face was covered in the blood of the other guards and the pharmacist, as well as his own snot and tears. He should have been unable to speak, but thanks to an inexplicable force, he began to tell the truth: "It's in room number one next door, but we didn't harm anyone. These refugees, and those lowly people who sold themselves, did it willingly. The price was clearly stated, and there was no deception. Their lives are only worth this much!"

"And isn't this a good thing? If we're transformed and taken a liking to some noble people, we lowly soldiers will have to call them masters! If we were originally refugees, commoners, or lowly people, even if we had ten thousand years, we still wouldn't have this possibility! This path of ascension can really make people ascend to heaven!"

Contempt and envy. Disdain and longing.

Such contradictory emotions can be combined so harmoniously, just like human thought, which is both stubborn and extreme, and also has double standards.

Because it is real, it is ugly. After all, even the most wicked person will say something that is almost benevolent before they die. But Ketu’s power connects the soul, so all the darkness that is covered by morality and human nature, never spoken, but only a wisp of thought, is revealed without a doubt.

(End of this chapter)