Chapter 184: Poor Man

"An Xiaowei!"

I stared at her intently, and the strength in my body secretly gathered.

"What on earth do you want to do? You've been playing tricks for so long just to lure me here?" I asked sternly.

"Playing tricks?" An Xiaowei smiled lightly, with a strong sense of sarcasm in her smile, but I didn't know whether it was directed at me or herself.

"No, I have never believed in any gods, including Gali. They are nothing more powerful and ancient monsters, following the cold rule of the jungle. The so-called 'divine grace' or 'divine punishment' is nothing more than plunder and charity at the level of power." She shrugged nonchalantly.

Then, she took a few steps forward, looking at me sharply. "From the very beginning, my goal in all this has been clear: I want to create a god. A new god who truly belongs to humanity, who can understand humanity, and who can lead humanity to a way out of this cycle of despair!"

"So you chose me? Using me as a petri dish?" I felt the chilling madness and rationality in her words.

"You are the perfect candidate, Ji Ling."

An Xiaowei's eyes burned. "You possess rare resilience, able to remain lucid amidst Gali's pollution; you can steal the authority of the gods; you know there are totems that resist pollution... All of this shows that you are the vessel most likely to contain divinity without being completely lost! I guided you, honed you, and even helped you gain Gali's power, all for this moment! The moment when you are infinitely close to God, yet never completely transcend it!"

Her voice suddenly rose, carrying the fanaticism and paranoia of a martyr: "Only by becoming a god can one fight against the gods! Only by mastering the ultimate power can one break this damned cycle of reincarnation, avoid further sacrifices, and end this endless despair! Look at this world! The Bureau of Investigation? How many elites have been sacrificed? In the end, they only managed to delay their demise! They barely survived! Who among those high-ranking old gods would care about the lives of ants?!"

I looked at the almost burning belief in her eyes, which was mixed with deep concern for the fate of mankind, but deeper than that, it was an extreme desire for absolute power and control.

"Fuck, are you crazy?"

I suddenly interrupted her.

"That's a very high-sounding statement! Ultimately, don't you just want to take everything from me and fulfill your own selfish desire to become a god? To lead humanity? If you truly succeed and become that indifferent god, what's the difference between you and Gali?!"

"The process isn't important, the result is!" An Xiaowei snarled, her body radiating a powerful wave of energy. It was a mixture of her own spiritual power and the icy power of Gali, which she had somehow stolen! "When I become the new god, I will naturally lead humanity in my own way! And now... it's time to complete the final step!"

She suddenly opened her arms, and the entire rooftop was instantly enveloped by a huge, complex ritual venue.

Countless dark red runes lit up on the ground and in the air, and a powerful suction force began to frantically pull at my soul and the power in my body!

"Your body! Your strength! Your understanding of illusion! And that damned cloud-thunder pattern! They will all become the cornerstone of my path to the throne of God! This is for a greater goal! Ji Ling, give up resistance!"

A terrifying tearing sensation came over me, as if my consciousness was being forcibly pulled out of my body. An Xiaowei had planned this for a long time, and the power of this ritual was extremely strong!

"Don't even think about it!" I uttered those two words with difficulty. The spiritual power within me, empowered by the cloud and thunder patterns, erupted with an unprecedented brilliance and clarity, firmly anchoring my soul and spirit. The unwavering self-awareness I had just forged within the mirror array became my strongest fortress!

"My life, my power...where it goes is up to me to decide! Who do you think you are? It's not your turn to become 'great' for me!"

I frantically mobilized all the strength within me: the stolen Gali authority, the stabilizing force of the Cloud Thunder Pattern, and my own mental strength. These three forces intertwined in an unprecedented way, no longer a simple confrontation, but fused into a torrent, fiercely crashing into An Xiaowei's body possession ritual!

Boom!!!

The two enormous forces collided violently, causing the entire rooftop to tremble violently, and Fu Wenming was in a state of uncertainty.

"No—!" An Xiaowei screamed unwillingly. The calmness on her face completely disappeared, leaving only twisted madness and disbelief. "Why?! Why can you resist?! I calculated everything! I paved the way for you! You should be perfect! Why won't you fulfill me! Fulfill humanity?!"

Her struggle was intense but tinged with despair. She saw hope on the path to ultimate power, but ultimately found herself unable to cross the final threshold.

This is indeed more painful than killing her.

The huge mental shock and the backlash of the ritual began to take effect on her. An Xiaowei began to show signs of losing control. Her body became blurred and seemed like it would collapse at any time.

"Because... you never understood..." I gritted my teeth, resisting the immense pressure, and said word by word, "A true 'God' doesn't need power, but... a human heart that won't be lost in power! And you've already lost that!"

The moment I finished speaking, I concentrated all my will and strength and delivered the final blow!

The ceremony venue collapsed!

An Xiaowei's figure shattered into pieces like shattered glass. Her final expression was frozen in extreme unwillingness, anger, and a hint of confusion and emptiness that her plan had completely failed, which she herself perhaps had not even noticed.

The light faded, and the rooftop was in a mess.

An Xiaowei's breath completely disappeared, and this time, it seemed that her body and soul were truly destroyed.

I half-knelt on the ground exhausted, gasping for breath, my whole body shaking.

A carefully planned attempt to seize another's body ultimately ended in her utter failure. Her pursuit of godhood was driven by both the ambition to save others and the selfish desire to control everything.

But she underestimated the weight of human nature itself, and she also underestimated me.

Looking at the place where An Xiaowei disappeared, I felt a mixture of emotions. An extreme enemy had vanished, but she was also a pitiful person who had witnessed countless sacrifices and tried to find a way out in the most extreme way possible.

Thinking of this, I can't help but sigh. If she hadn't gone astray at the beginning, perhaps she would still be the best researcher in the Bureau. Or perhaps she would have become my reliable predecessor.

Not only her, but also Fan Buqiu and thousands of other people who sacrificed themselves in search of a way out.

But their journey had come to an end here.

And my journey has to continue.