In an instant, the entire world came to a complete standstill.
Then it shattered.
Centered on Jiang Qi, the tables and chairs in the room, the torrential rain outside the window, the commotion in the Inspectorate lobby...
Everything was covered in a strange Azure Radiance!
Then, like a mirror being smashed, everything shattered into billions of fragments along with the light and sound, twisting as they swept madly toward Jiang Qi's body!
He couldn't help closing his eyes.
His Spirit and senses were stretched to their limits.
He heard the universe in all its bizarre splendor, then suddenly plunged into a silent black hole.
...Three seconds passed. Or perhaps three years.
Jiang Qi awoke on the cold ground.
Before him lay a silent Lake that stretched beyond sight.
The sky and earth were both azure, and mist hung in the air.
Jiang Qi searched through his memories.
“Blue-green, like Copper Rust.”
This wasn't the Ascension Tower. This was one of the Three Great Forbidden Zones—
Rust Lake.
“My Ascension Tower... where is it?”
Before Jiang Qi had even finished speaking, he suddenly started laughing.
His laughter rapidly spiraled out of control. Soon, he couldn't rein it in at all.
“Ha!! Hahahaha!!!!”
The abrupt sound carried through the azure Space.
Jiang Qi shook all over with laughter.
He could no longer think about what consequences such a racket might bring. A crimson emotion had already taken over his mind.
His laughter startled several black water birds on the Lake.
The black water birds flew toward Jiang Qi, skimmed over his head, and opened their beaks—but made no cry.
“Click... clack!”
A gear turning sound rang out.
At that very moment, the wisp of Azure Mist dormant in Jiang Qi's Left Eye surged out like a roused beast!
The Azure Mist collided with the stagnant mist above Rust Lake, forcibly carving a straight path through the dense fog that led deep into the Lake.
“Rust Lake, is this the path you're showing me?”
Jiang Qi murmured to himself.
He had no other choice.
He stepped onto it.
The moment his first step landed, Rust Lake gave off a long, resonant hum.
The first hundred steps were fairly level.
As Jiang Qi headed deeper into Rust Lake, the mist grew thicker and colder.
He didn't know how long he had been walking. He had long since given up counting.
He seemed to have reached the middle of Rust Lake. Looking around, Jiang Qi could see no farther than two steps ahead.
The path ahead suddenly solidified into azure steps that stretched upward.
Jiang Qi looked up, but couldn't see where they ended.
“A stairway to heaven? Do I have to keep climbing to follow the Path of Ascension?”
The instant Jiang Qi stepped onto the first stair, a piercing pain shot up from the sole of his foot.
The mist was like countless tiny blades, ceaselessly scraping at his skin.
Every step on the stairs brought a stabbing pain, like needles piercing him.
At some point, the wind began to blow.
The wind howled like the wails of countless departed souls, burrowing into Jiang Qi's ears and muddling his thoughts.
Even more bizarrely, he felt as though half his head was missing.
The icy gale poured fiercely through the hole in his temple, then roared out through the wounds in his body.
Jiang Qi instinctively raised a hand to feel for it, but his fingers passed straight through his head without resistance!
The wind was swirling around inside his brain!
“Ha...”
His laughter mingled with ragged breaths. Jiang Qi bit down hard on his tongue, forcing himself to stay conscious.
The stairs had already begun to warp before his eyes.
Jiang Qi knew he was climbing upward, yet felt that taking another step would send him plunging to the bottom of the Lake.
He didn't know how much longer he walked before the stairs changed shape again.
Each step suddenly grew almost as tall as a person. Their surfaces were no longer smooth, but covered in gears.
Jiang Qi had no choice but to use both his hands and feet.
He dug his numb fingertips into the gaps between the gears and hauled himself upward with all his strength.
Just then, all the gears suddenly began to turn!
“Crack.”
The crisp sound of bones breaking.
All ten of his fingers were crushed in an instant.
Warm liquid splattered across his face.
Jiang Qi's hands fell limp, leaving him dangling from the edge of the step.
Summoning the last of his strength, he slammed his face hard against the step above!
His face was crushed against the stair, contorted beyond recognition. He couldn't tell whether the fluid running from his eyes was blood or tears.
“Ah...”
An unthinking howl escaped his mouth.
He couldn't keep climbing.
“Two thousand to one... bullshit...”
Memories from his past and present lives flashed by like scenes from a film.
He saw himself at twenty-five, in his rented room in the small hours of the morning, racking his brain but unable to write a single word.
At last, exhausted, he buried his face in his desk and wept bitterly.
He didn't want to scrape by. He wanted to live.
This moment was just like that one.
“Jiang Qi...”
“Jiang Qi...”
“Jiang Qi...”
Countless familiar and unfamiliar voices kept calling his name.
The taste of iron burst across his tongue!!
He saw his family fainting in grief after his sudden death.
He saw someone secretly laying a bouquet of white flowers before his grave.
He saw the Deviants struggling as they sank into Rust Lake; he saw his grandfather's charred hand reaching out from the great fire, trying to grab him.
The Azure Mist in his Left Eye boiled over completely!
A layer of Rust appeared on his face, then rapidly spread downward.
Every wound on his body sealed up in an instant, then was covered by Corrosion.
Though not a sound escaped him, the Copper Rust at the corners of his mouth curved into a terrifying smile.
Jiang Qi stood up.
He became an azure afterimage, leaving the wind and mist far behind as they stretched into a straight line.
After passing the final step, Jiang Qi stood before a gigantic Bronze Pendulum.
“Are you... my Ascension Tower?”
A mad voice and a mechanical one sounded at the same time.
He pushed open the Bronze Gate.
The Bronze Pendulum's hand pointed straight down, and golden, tree-shaped light appeared beneath Jiang Qi's feet, spreading forward.
It formed thick roots, a slender trunk, then began branching out to either side as it rose.
His crimson pupils turned to the right,
and a red glow appeared on the first branch to the right.
【Spirit】
Beneath it were the five words 【Mad Laughter Controller】.
A Smiley flickered in and out of view.
Every stroke whispered among itself, while the light around it pulsed like breathing.
“Looks like it can do more than cure my strange illness.”
His azure pupils turned to the left.
There was only one character on the left.
【Rust】
The blue-green glow was as still as the Lake's surface.
“Rust... Lake? It doesn't even have a category.”
“The Path of Ascension looks like a choice.”
Images of his survival in the Black Inferno, wrapped in Azure Mist, flickered endlessly in his Left Eye.
Jiang Qi had only a faint glimmer of willpower left.
Without hesitation, he chose to hurl himself into the azure glow on the left.
The 【Mad Laughter Controller】 on the right seemed displeased at not being chosen. After flickering several times, it turned into a streak of light and shot upward.
At the same time,
“Thud!”
The pendulum's hand abruptly swung to the right.
The streak of light formed by Mad Laughter Controller rapidly corroded as it rose!
When the last glimmer of light was covered, the streak turned into Copper Rust and fell, plunging straight into Jiang Qi's body!
The clock then began to decay at a visible speed.
The steps crumbled from their edges, and the path scattered back into mist.
From top to bottom, nearly everything rotted away in an instant, crumbling into dust and vanishing.
Jiang Qi fell from an infinite height toward Rust Lake.
Two different glows lingered around him, gradually expanding and scattering dazzling light.
Several water birds flew past, their colors mingling on the horizon with the only other colors in this world.
An eye opened beneath the water.
His final fall brought no impact. Ripples spread across the Lake's surface, gently supporting him.
Jiang Qi slowly sank until the Lake Water covered his Left Eye.
...
Inside the Inspectorate.
“Old Chen.”
Shen Yun nodded to Bald Uncle.
Chen Ren held out his right hand. A flash of blue light passed, and a model of the Dormitory Building appeared above his palm.
Every windowpane, every worn spot, every refraction of Moonlight—all of it was identical to the real building.
It was as if the Dormitory Building had simply been shrunk and placed in his hand.
There were only five rooms on each floor. The green lights in most rooms were on, but 802 was dark.
“That kid's already teleported to the Ascension Tower.”
Chen Ren lowered his hand.
“Everyone stays in the Ascension Tower for a different length of time. Keep an eye on things, and bring Jiang Qi to see me as soon as he gets back.”
Shen Yun stared at the Holographic Screen.
“No problem.”
“But I still can't figure out how he survived.”
Chen Ren put both hands on his bald head.
For researchers, Jiang Qi and his Notebook were maddeningly perplexing.
“Survived?”
Shen Yun spun his Fountain Pen and gave a soft chuckle.
“Old Wang, how likely do you think it is that Jiang Qi is the culprit?”
Remembering the interrogation, Wang Huan immediately replied.
“Almost impossible.”
Shen Yun continued.
“Without causing any damage to the terrain, could you use only flames to kill six hundred people over a wide area in an instant, in the middle of a torrential downpour?”
Wang Huan frowned.
“That's not my specialty, but I should be able to.”
“If you were the one doing it, under those conditions, what would be the chance you'd fail to burn a child who hadn't Ascended?”
“Zero.”
Wang Huan answered without hesitation.
“What would an Arsonist want with the Orphanage?”
“A person or an object? People don't suddenly do something out of character for no reason.”
Chen Ren adjusted his glasses.
Shen Yun stood and walked to the floor-to-ceiling window.
He drew back the curtains and looked down at the Fourth District in the torrential rain.
“For this High-Tier Ascender to take such a risk...”
“To set fire to the Orphanage just hours before the Ascension Ritual and cause so many casualties.”
A dazzling bolt of lightning tore across the night sky, briefly illuminating the entire Fourth District.
“Right under my nose.”
The rumbling of Heavenly Thunder followed close behind.
“It couldn't have been to help Jiang Qi survive, could it?”