Chapter 676: Chains of Destiny

Looking at Mom’s slightly unkempt hair, her subtle excitement, and the confident, meaningful look on her face, Lu Xin couldn’t help but feel a flutter of excitement himself. Regarding the question Mom asked, he still didn’t fully grasp its meaning.

But no matter what, he caught several key words and understood what Mom had done.

No wonder, after she saw the Old Director’s exam paper, she quickly left his side.

Had she seen something in that paper? Was she worried she wouldn’t be able to hold on?

Was every arrangement—even setting up such an elaborate trap—intended to boost her strength?

To achieve that effect, she didn’t even mind making herself look this disheveled…

Countless warm currents stirred within Lu Xin’s heart.

He didn’t know what to say; he just stared fixedly at Mom for a long while before nodding gently.

Sometimes, overwhelming emotion renders one almost serenely calm, unable to find the words.

But it seemed Mom didn’t need him to say anything special; she understood his feelings. Quietly, she glanced at his right hand and, with a nonchalant smile, said, “From now on, you must protect this coin well. It has quite a history…”

“This was ‘borrowed’ from the Tortured Mother…”

“Only a nail like this can make this palm stay with you.”

“…”

“Tortured Mother?”

Lu Xin was mildly astonished—he had heard that name before; it seemed to be one of the Thirteen Ultimates.

Had Mom really gone to her just to fetch this nail?

Lowering his gaze to his palm, he noticed that the nail appeared neither wholly real nor illusory.

In his sight, it clearly pierced through his palm, leaving a bloody, raw wound.

A sharp, intense pain radiated from his palm.

Yet aside from that pain, his hand felt unaffected by anything else.

Upon closer sensing, he clearly felt another spirit—a mental entity not his own—impaled in his palm by the nail.

The Tortured Mother’s nail…

Lu Xin vaguely sensed that this nail was on the same level as Mom’s scissors.

What sort of being is the Tortured Mother? Why would she lend him this nail?

And why did Mom come out from the corpse of the Hell Embryo?

So many questions swirled in his mind, yet Mom had already turned away, softly saying, “I have other matters to attend to.”

Lu Xin suddenly became alert and turned around.

The Hell Embryo had completely collapsed, and the twisted, oppressive atmosphere around it was rapidly dissipating.

In the Stadium below, the frenzied believers suddenly fell silent.

Before anyone knew it, their bodies showed no sign of mental power.

They had all turned into mere vegetative shells.

Father and Sister also stood dumbfounded a short distance away; the incident had been so abrupt that, while they were struggling against the Pale Hand, they were injured and hadn’t dared to approach immediately—merely watching like stunned bystanders.

Only when it was certain that the danger had passed did Sister timidly inch forward.

Warily and with concern, she looked toward Lu Xin until he took her hand, which allowed her to relax just a bit.

Then, tilting her small arm, she glanced at Mom beside her.

Mom was calmly adjusting her clothes. Her slender fingers gently brushed Lu Xin’s shoulder, and the bloodstains on him gradually vanished. Her hair became neatly arranged, and from the husk of the embryo, she retrieved a shoe and slipped it on.

With that simple adjustment, a sense of refinement returned.

She smiled gracefully at Sister and gave Father a gentle nod, prompting him to summon the courage to come closer.

The family stood side by side, silently gazing at a distant point.

In Flame City, the sound of chains clanging across the ground suddenly echoed—a sound that was startlingly clear.

Lu Xin grew cautious, turning his head toward the source of the sound, only to find that it seemed to be coming from all around.

All across Flame City, an eerie silence fell.

It was as if all sounds had been suppressed by the dragging chains; the two forces clearly weren’t on the same level.

Outside the Stadium, the remaining Flame armed forces, along with investigators and spies from various factions, all abruptly halted their combat.

They all heard the sound of the dragging chains, felt their mental power waver, and a deep-seated fear and awe surged within them.

It emanated from a level of life so different, creating an immense oppressive force.

A primordial, almost physiological sense of fear and reverence.

Even many of Flame’s remaining armed forces instinctively felt their hearts skip a beat as they bowed their heads.

They dared not raise their eyes, worried that their gaze might be seen as a sign of disrespect toward some entity.

Members of the Club, however, appeared unperturbed, casually surveying their surroundings with curiosity.

This physical awe didn’t seem to affect them much at all.

……

……

“Gurgle…”

A different sound emerged, faint but persistent.

It was the rapid contraction of a massive surge of mental power, sounding like water rushing through a narrow gap.

In the distance, the Hell Regiment suddenly vanished, its bloated forms and the chaotic crowd slowly calming.

At that moment, all three Number Two clones sensed something, stopped fighting, raised their heads slightly, and looked upward.

Following their gaze, Lu Xin noticed three black chains locking onto the area of their spines.

Along these chains, he saw even more chains.

They hung from mid-air like strands of black seaweed floating from the ocean into the sky.

These chains were densely packed; each tail end was tied to members of the remaining Flame armed forces and some residents, as if some entity was herding them—the chains serving as reins…

Looking up along the chains, Lu Xin then noticed a black shadow.

That shadow didn’t seem to belong to this world—it was separated from it by layers of thick glass.

Because of these many layers, only a vague silhouette of a black figure could be made out.

It appeared draped in a black robe, with countless chains trailing around its body.

As it moved, these chains collided, producing a clanging noise that seemed to drown out all of Flame.

It had come from a distant place; hazily, one could see its chains leading innumerable mental entities—some floating in mid-air, others crawling behind, and some slithering like serpents. All had in common that they, like Flame City’s residents, were bound by chains and silently herded.

It advanced steadily, with countless mental entities following, its gaze somber as it observed the Real World through layers of glass-like barriers.

The moment Lu Xin saw it, his brow furrowed.

He even felt his mind grow dizzy, as if compressed by an unseen force, and a ringing overtook his ears.

This growing pressure only subsided when the black particles in his eyes began to lightly tremble.

He squinted, then calmly fixed his gaze on the shadow once more.

……

……

The chained shadow, separated by a layer of glass, locked eyes with Lu Xin.

Surrounding it, countless mental entities seemed to go into a frenzy, twisting and contorting as they howled toward Lu Xin.

Beside him, Mom, Father, and Sister straightened up a little.

The family, separated by a barrier that divided the Real World from an illusory space, regarded each other with cool detachment.

In that moment, Lu Xin felt a primal crisis erupt within him. The black particles in his eyes slowly shifted and gathered in his left hand, while the mental entity impaled by the Tortured Mother’s nail on his right began to stir—transforming his right palm into a pale, strange, yet formidable force…

……

……

The tension between the forces increased, with intangible mental powers interweaving and clashing across several realms.

Both the chained black shadow and Lu Xin felt an irresistible impulse.

It was as if both their hearts housed a volcano, primed to erupt at any moment.

In the stifling silence, everyone felt the air solidify, making it hard to breathe.

Perhaps this standoff wouldn’t have to end in battle after all?

Just as that thought flashed through Lu Xin’s mind, the black particles in his eyes suddenly quivered violently.

“Shua!”

It was as if another part of him suddenly woke up.

The gaze from the black shadow in that other realm had long stirred a deep discontent within him.

In this tense moment, he struck first, throwing an angry, cold look at the black shadow.

Facing it, he became the one to provoke.

“Clang…”

At the same moment, the black shadow moved.

A black chain hanging by its side suddenly soared high, snapping like a giant python as it burst through spatial barriers and shattered glass-like walls, coiling around Lu Xin.

“The Cangzhang Sect’s Domination Chain…”

At that instant, Mom spoke in a low, heavy tone.

Drawing on their unspoken connection and the specialized knowledge he had diligently trained in, Lu Xin understood instantly.

This chain embodied the ‘Domination’ power among the Thirteen Ultimate Mental Powers—a symbol of the Cangzhang Sect’s might.

Along with Mom’s scissors, the Tortured Mother’s nail, and the Pale Hand, they all belonged to the highest tier.

Similarly, the power system represented by the Cangzhang Sect among the Thirteen Ultimates was now unmistakably clear:

“Domination!”

……

……

“Woo woo woo…”

He looked at the chain—its black surface even showing patches of red rust.

Yet this seemingly ordinary chain evoked an indescribable sense of menace.

Anyone who came into contact with it would be ensnared, becoming a mental slave to the Cangzhang Sect, forever unable to rebel.

“I’m coming…”

Seeing the chain fly toward him, Lu Xin murmured and stepped forward.

Aware of its threat, he moved ahead of his family and swiftly reached out to grab it.

“Clang…”

He clutched the chain tightly in his left hand; the black particles in his eyes trembled fiercely as his palm turned pitch black.

He could even feel that the chain emitted a sound akin to a hissing, human cry.

Once the black particles made contact, the chain writhed like a constricting python.

That dark, rust-speckled, tangible texture quickly began to dissolve under his touch.

It gradually lost its color, becoming nearly transparent, as if shifting from reality to illusion.

This was because the black particles were eroding its power.

Yet at the same time, he experienced a cascade of strange sensations throughout his body—countless bizarre thoughts rising, as though half of his will was surrendering, wanting to obey that black shadow completely…

In this clash of power levels, it was a question of whether Lu Xin would be the first to destroy the chain or be bound by it.

“Hmph!”

A faint, cold snort was heard, and members of the Cangzhang Sect a few spaces away seemed displeased that Lu Xin had dared to grab the chain.

Amid that dismissive snort, countless chains suddenly cascaded down, piercing through space and surging toward Lu Xin in a boiling torrent.