Legend of the chosen ones: Beyond Destiny

Every sight was bathed in a wonderful light, crystal clear and pure.

The setting sun of twilight was fragmented into countless pieces of dazzling warm yellow and orange through the facets of crystal-like prisms, emerging from the complexity of light was indigo flowing forth, silent emerald meandering, azure transforming into waves, and lilac like a gentle ripple.

Even breathing had been forgotten.

The world was distorted and reshaped into the unparalleled, breathtaking scene before me.

Cold, dazzling, yet cruel.

An ineffable beauty revealed its most primal simplicity and austerity, with no more tenderness to speak of.

This place had become no longer within mortal realm!

"Circle Realm?!"

Lawrence exclaimed in disbelief.

Did the Cliff City Security Bureau actually have a second Chosen One who reached the boundary of the Heavenly People?!

And it was that temporary group leader who was parachuted into the Northern Mountain team and violently ostracized by the Security Bureau?

Had he still underestimated the situation?

No, this sensation...

In a flash of thought, Lawrence came to an enlightenment.

"The world dyed in color, transformed into barriers and limits, this Matrix... it's you!"

His eyes widened as he stared at that indifferent face. The beautiful visage from the past now completely pale, the calm eyes void of any ripple. Only a faint hint of a smile seemed to materialize like an illusion, as if sculpted by a transcendent artisan's hand of the heavenly craft, depicting the flow of sorrow and joy, rage and delight.

As if transformed into a deity within the Holy Temple, looking down arrogantly.

The suffering, desire, sadness, and happiness of the mortal world could no longer shake her!

"— Minerva!"

"Oh, how nostalgic."

Wen Wen sighed, lifting a hand: "It's been a long time since someone dared to address me so directly..."

Boom!

With no warning, Wen Wen's figure was already, within an arm's reach!

Her right hand clenched tightly, striking down.

The hand, enveloped by the illusion-like crystal light, itself seemed an art piece carved from crystal.

But with just a punch, the vast Circle Realm trembled and roared.

The sound of shattering was incessant.

In an instant, Lawrence's hands, his tendrils, and even the bones of his upper body, all shattered to pieces, his flesh exploding.

Within the howling gale, the crimson blood and flesh fell from the cracked skeletal frame, fluttering out like a flamboyant banner!

Yet upon that fractured face, what surfaced was a smile.

Such mockery.

"Ha-ha, ha-ha-ha-ha, not even the Heavenly People could finish you? The Federation actually let you live? Your bounty is far higher than mine!"

Countless wriggling worms, like blood vessels, swiftly regenerated from the skeleton, interweaving, transforming into a sinister and bizarre face, strikingly Lawrence's true visage.

Even when instantly gravely injured, followers of the "Vortex" were always known for their vital and terrifying regeneration ability. There were countless methods for survival. Even if crushed into dust, for a Chosen One like Lawrence who had reached the Rebirth Rank for years, reassembling the body was just a snap of the fingers, as long as his parasites remained alive!

But what was more important, even Lawrence himself could hardly believe it...

Wen Wen had become weaker!

If before the Circle Realm was deployed, she had made his whole body chill, then after it was encompassed, the threat level had rapidly dropped to just being troublesome.

"It's laughable, Minerva. The Boundary Splitter, the Mad Dog Butcher, have you grown so kind-hearted to such an extent?"

He could scarcely believe it, suspecting some trick or conspiracy, he asked: "Did you exert so much effort just to save the lives of those expendables?"

At that moment, within the expanse of Minerva's Circle Realm, every life, all the comatose commoners in Jici Hospital, innocent bystanders caught up in it, were all encased in crystal, isolating the influence and erosion of the Vortex Planting Technique and parasites, even if they were unconscious or barely alive...

Time seemed to have stopped.

Every condition was forcibly fixed at the moment of the crystal's envelopment.

The Circle Realm of the Ruins Path's freezing condition was exaggeratedly extended to every single individual? Even for Minerva, this was too exaggerated!

Wen Wen advanced.

What met him was another punch capable of directly demolishing buildings!

Pure matter, pure power, fierce thunder and wind erupted from the gaps between the fingers, circulating, pounding forward with a withering force, punching a giant hole through Lawrence's regenerated body!

"Against you, this is enough!"

Vortex represented life.

Ruins represented the eternal constancy of matter.

The ability to crystallize, coupled with the top-tier Matrix of the Ruins Path: Minerva, created an unstoppable force in head-to-head combat, even boasting a terrifying defense surpassing its Rank!

Any sensible person would not attempt to directly clash with those who could turn their entire body into metal, maximized in attack and defense like human fortresses!

Regrettably, it was only by comparison...

The once unreachable peaks that seemed to join the heavens, were now just a thick, hard wall. Still troublesome, yet lacking the grand stature coexisting with the world and the unmatched, terrifying pressure.

Weak, far too weak.

Even if the strength retained its original height, the mind had become ridiculously weak!

"The Ruins Path needs nothing less than the human heart!"

Crack!

In that instant, a crisp fracture resounded.

Cracks appeared upon the crystal light.

Thick blood slowly oozed from the gash in her abdomen, drop by drop, falling to the ground and sizzling, sprouting sharp and cold crystalline flowers.