“Leave it to me,” he murmured, vowing to all of them. He reached out and firmly grasped the scepter offered by the Seer.

Without hesitation, he ignited all his spirit matter, pouring everything into this resonance and connection, merging once more with it all.

Deus Ex Machina!

There was no resistance, nor hesitation. The moment Ji Jue’s consciousness took command, the workshop that filled the rift realm seemed to welcome its new master, trembling in celebration.

There were endless spirit matter circuits, ever-shifting Fluid Alchemy, numerous runes and emblems, and even the vast, star-like blessings of Supreme Benevolence. This workshop, the culmination of the sage’s entire life and everything she had built, this absolute work of Divine Creation, welcomed its new ruler.

From his right wrist, the watch that had long been dormant burst into brilliant light, like a blazing sun illuminating all things.

Guided by the watch, the Pacifier matrix on Ji Jue’s hands seemed to be granted life, growing once more and enveloping his entire body.

Inward, it covered his soul. Outward, it seized all things.

Countless invisible hands manifested from thin air, standing high above all things, covering every phenomenon, seizing control of everything. Deep beneath the Ninefold Earth, in the deepest core of the vast workshop, within the darkness sealed for over four hundred years, a faint and delicate resonance emerged, as if responding to a long-lost call.

Thus, within a dazed, illusory vision, Ji Jue saw the seal constructed upon the entire workshop itself, and within that binding structure, the rusted blade buried in dust. It trembled and rang out.

From that shattered, fragmented, broken sword, rising amid vibration and a clear metallic cry, a layer of blood-stained rust finally peeled away from its chipped edge. Beneath the shedding dust, a single line of brilliance emerged, so dazzling it caused the entire rift realm to tremble. It froze the heaven and earth in place, and it pierced through everything.

Endless blazing radiance surged from the seal, pouring in torrents toward the heavens and the central core. It surged forward like a vast flood, falling directly into the Seer’s hands. It devoured the spirit matter of the workshop like a bottomless abyss, as if intending to consume everything and burn all existence away. The Seer’s body began to crack and dissolve, and it almost entirely vaporized. Within that soul-rending agony, on that exhausted face, a smile emerged.

“All things, in the end, must reach their conclusion,” she whispered softly, holding the radiance that resembled a miniature sun in both hands. “Otherwise, nothing new can ever be born. Thank you for your efforts. This unrealistic dream has lasted far too long. Now, it is time to wake up. Everything must come to an end.”

When the scorching radiance finally dissipated, after devouring boundless spirit matter, the form of that blade reappeared once more, this time transformed into a crown woven of thorn-like structures. Thus, it was placed upon Ji Jue’s head, like a coronation. Boundless divine light erupted and covered the heavens and the earth, reflecting all change and sealing away all observation.

“What the hell...”

In a corner beneath the central core, White Owl, who had been peering into the distance, felt as if struck by lightning. She even subconsciously tore off her mask, rubbing her eyes frantically, unable to believe what she was seeing.

“That’s... the Edge of Revolution?!”

One of the tools of the Supreme Benevolences, which had been dormant for so many years, had actually been awakened?!

Are you kidding me?!

“Hey! Old man? Hey, old man! Say something!”

She shouted in confusion, but in her hands, the map was already splitting into cracks, its form collapsing under that overwhelming and violent pressure, no longer able to maintain its shape.

No response came.

The moment the Supreme Benevolence's tool that had once severed the Tower of Origin manifested within the rift realm, all creations of Ember froze in mournful silence, stripped of all autonomy. Even the entirety of the Supreme Benevolences’ blessings fell into stillness, their radiance extinguished. For in this world, the only eternal torch had ignited above the heavens, encompassing everything.

Even Ji Jue’s consciousness and thoughts were brought to a complete halt, unable to continue. A vast will, riding upon the crown, descended into his body. It granted boundless power, then turned into a violent, rushing torrent, pushing him forward. It was no longer under his control.

When he lifted his head, he beheld the emblem of the Supreme Benevolence upon the eternally dim heavens.

Stars burned within the flame, the Divine Furnace overturned, and all transformations and essences converged and poured into the mortal world, becoming a single unending stream of kindling light.

“This world shall change. All that was shall return to dust.”

A declaration like a celestial upheaval manifested from his very soul, echoing and guiding him to receive that descending strand of flame. It poured into his spirit, then exploded fiercely, shattering the final remnants of thought.

A tidal wave of visions crashed over him. Countless transformations manifested from within his soul. No retreat was permitted, nor was any evasion allowed.

The boundless transformations of human creation were brutally imprinted into Ji Jue’s eyes and senses, almost forcibly compelling him to experience the true essence of Supreme Benevolence.

All that was newly born will one day become old. Only change was eternal. Thus, fire did not reside within the furnace. Within the furnace, there was only ember left.

This was the essence of Ember.

And so, the flame known as Ji Jue was ignited within the furnace of transformation. It was so small at first, like a dying candle in the wind, yet under the force of the Edge of Revolution, it swelled into a sun that enveloped all existence. It was so radiant that it could not be looked upon directly.

Everything that had once been newly created and every soul that had been offered to the flames reappeared in that moment. In the endless blaze, they gathered, standing beside Ji Jue and illuminating all things.

“Sage Mercury, today we judge your creation as one of disorder and obsolescence.”

Voices rose in layers; there were high and low voices, sounding both clear and hoarse, overlapping one another. They emerged from Ji Jue’s mouth, inheriting the true essence of Supreme Benevolence and delivering judgment upon the mortal world.

“From this day forth, you are condemned as an abomination!”

A thunderous sound of collapse resounded between heaven and earth, for within Ji Jue’s hand, a single line of brilliant light emerged. It rose, splitting heaven and earth at its center, like the very standard by which all things are measured and weighed.

Within the boundless chains, blood rain ceased and mournful songs were cut off. It was as though an unseen storm had swept through everything, stripping away all non-human constructs and distorted creations, and severing countless grasping hands. It tore open the veil that had covered all things.

Behind the remnants of the sage, an eerie shadow appeared, so distant it seemed separated by eternity itself. It twisted both world and reality into a vast vortex, distorting essence and truth, and revealing a structure formed from all mutations of this world.

Within that darkness, so immense it seemed to engulf everything, including the Supreme Benevolence, a blurred outline faintly emerged, looking down on its prey and all who dared stand in its way.

Just by looking at it, Ji Jue felt as if his soul was about to collapse and shatter. Before that could happen, the blazing light of revolution had already burned away all corruption and cut off every intrusion.

At last, he was able to glimpse its true form.

It was like a massive furnace, eternally burning with flames of suffering, continuously spewing out countless grotesque constructs, and ceaselessly creating new mutations. Within the boundless crimson flames, the furnace resembled a monstrous eye, coldly gazing down upon everything.

Across the long passage of time, it had contemptuously witnessed all despair and suffering, waiting for cycles and tragedies to continue, and anticipating the final outcome. It waited for the sage, burdened with endless curses, to fall into its flame and forge, and to be reshaped into a corrupted abomination of mutation and sin.

In the darkness beyond the reach of the Twelve Supreme Benevolences, the vortex persisted within the shadow of the world. Corresponding to the creations of Ember, this was the shadow toward which all corrupted works of disorder ultimately pointed.

It was one of the Nine Abominations, the Putrefied Furnace Core!

The radiance of the Edge of Transformation rose from Ji Jue’s hand, and all connections that had been concealed behind layers of cycles finally emerged beyond the veil.

Those countless threads of connection had long since entangled the sage’s obsession and soul, yet throughout this long passage of time, they had been obstructed, bound, and entangled by the workshop, never allowing her to fall into that abyssal vortex.

Now, everything had reached its end. The endless cycle collapsed, and the long dream shattered beneath a blinding dawn. This world became fleeting and unstable.

Compared to that all-encompassing blaze of radiance, everything else was like fragile bubbles, trembling within the rising light and breaking apart before silently drifting toward dissolution and extinction.

The day of revolution had come. All that was old had to be reduced to dust and annihilated.

When song and lament suddenly ceased, when ancient melodies reached their conclusion, when hell itself was erased in the burning of suffering, pure and immaculate radiance rose from Ji Jue’s hands and surged forth!