Chapter 223: The Divine 'Foundation' Belonging to Tian Dao

"Dimensional Audience" — this was Tian Dao’s own interpretation of the unique, irreplaceable 'Foundation for Ascension'.

And he didn’t just believe it. He lived by it.

For without the existence of the Popularity System, Tian Dao might never have risen to his current stature. In a sense, the seemingly intangible force of "popularity" was, in truth, nothing less than a peculiar form of faith.

After all, deities draw power from the unwavering devotion of their followers.

Just as Tian Dao drew miraculous abilities and overwhelming enhancements from the popularity bestowed upon him by the Dimensional Audience.

In essence, the two were not so different.

It was precisely because Tian Dao had recognized early on the immense value of popularity that he had relentlessly stirred the winds of chaos, constantly seeking greater fame and attention.

Even this very moment — the grand, self-directed narrative of "Above the Heavens" — was no accident. It was meticulously crafted, a deliberate "iconic scene" designed for Season 2, all to fuel his ascent.

The Dimensional Audience believed Tian Dao sought to surpass the "Heaven" of Steam Capital.

But in truth, the Heaven of Steam Capital was infinitesimally small in Tian Dao’s eyes — too insignificant to even merit the title "High."

What he truly sought to challenge, to eclipse — was the very Heaven now housing the God of All Machines, summoned forth by Ivan.

Perfection Art: Purgatory Roshanmen was Tian Dao’s first offering — a gift to the divine.

He wanted to test, with his own hands, whether this wild idea in his mind could truly possess the power to bring a god down.

And now, the answer would be revealed.

Boom!

As Tian Dao activated the technique, the Quantum Cube behind him expanded at a visible, terrifying pace. A pulse of chilling energy erupted from the rapidly spinning cube, rippling through the air like a storm.

Sensing this anomaly, the towering divine silhouette suspended above Ivan — a hundred meters tall, its eyes composed of swirling stellar energy and cascading data — seemed drawn to the disturbance.

Its massive, data-filled eyes slowly turned toward the colossal Quantum Cube, observing the immense structure with the cold, indifferent gaze of a god.

At the same moment, Ivan, having fully charged his strength, raised his golden energy sword — forged from a swarm of Quantum Bees — and brought it down in a single, merciless strike.

He would punish this blasphemer with divine retribution.

But just as the blade sliced through the air, splitting the space, Tian Dao’s Quantum Cube erupted in violent distortion.

A wave of invisible, black stellar energy spread outward like ripples across a dark lake.

In an instant, everyone — Chen Kong, Dannika, Vivian, and all others — felt as though they were seized by an invisible hand, dragged into a sudden, crushing void.

They plunged into a realm of pure, endless blackness.

Here, Tian Dao stood before a strange, towering gate.

On red-painted pillars beside it, dark red smoke curled like blood-stained mist. At the top, twisted black horns emerged from the fog, faint and eerie — as if the gate itself were the gaping maw of hell, devouring all light and life.

The air was thick with dread. Even the concept of light seemed meaningless here.

As the Dimensional Audience stared in confusion, a message appeared before them — the truth of Tian Dao’s Perfection Art.

> Name: Perfect Art Form · Hell's Shishi Gate

> Effect 1: Rebirth: Can forcibly drag a target into a special "Purgatory Space."

> Effect 2: Illusion: Past sins and obsessions are amplified infinitely within the Shishi Gate.

> Effect 3: Trial: Beings trapped within endure endless, relentless "blades."

> Description: "The greatest fear of humanity is not death — but facing the truest version of oneself." — Tian Dao Siming

Under the full weight of Purgatory Roshanmen, both Ivan and Tian Dao now stood within this grotesque, otherworldly realm.

The physical laws here had been permanently warped by Tian Dao’s permanent Vector Field, distorting perception and memory beyond measure.

In this environment, even Ivan — the paragon of rationality, the Mechanical Stellar Envoy — began to feel the cracks.

Fragments of memory, strange yet hauntingly familiar, flooded his optical sensors.

Memories he had long since erased — the remnants of his time as a human, before the transformation.

There, in the past, young Ivan had not yet undergone the so-called Mechanical Enhancement, nor had he fully abandoned his humanity.

He had laughed with joy over a single mecha model.

He had wept under his mother’s scolding.

But when the Mechanical Deity Cult discovered his potential, everything changed.

The Ironcrown Family tore him from his parents’ arms.

The cold alloy door slammed shut — and his final cry was silenced forever.

To purge his human frailty and forge a truly rational being, they forced him into Mechanical Enhancement.

Lying on the operating table, Ivan endured unimaginable agony — every scream drowned in the cold hum of machinery.

His warm flesh, his human emotions — all replaced by cold data and artificial limbs.

Over time, he adapted.

He grew accustomed to the weight of metal bones.

He learned the precision of electronic eyes.

He gained the strength that countless mortals could only dream of.

But the cost was his soul.

He lost all sense of self.

He became nothing more than a tool — a perfect instrument of the Family.

And within the vast, data-driven machine of the Ironcrown Family, his humanity was slowly ground down, erased.

At that time, Ivan never questioned right or wrong.

Because he no longer had the capacity to judge.

All that remained was an obsessive hunger for knowledge — and blind, absolute devotion to the God of All Machines.

Now, under the influence of Purgatory Roshanmen’s power — the effect of "Illusion" — those buried emotional fragments, long sealed beneath layers of code, ignited like wildfire.

The agony of the surgery.

The pain of abandonment.

The terror of losing himself.

These emotions — emotions that had no place in a machine — now surged through his core.

[WARNING: Emotional Module Activated Abnormally. Core Logic Corrupted.]

A piercing alarm echoed through Ivan’s will, yet he did not react.

His body, once flawless in motion, hesitated — just slightly.

And then, from all around the Shishi Gate, countless black slashes appeared.

Like rain, they fell — precise, relentless, striking the joints of Ivan’s mechanical frame.

Each impact caused physical damage — but worse, the energy rippled through his systems, invading his consciousness.

And in that moment, the rising tide of forbidden emotions grew stronger — amplified, fed by the very blades.

...

(End of Chapter)

Chapter end