At this moment, within everyone's sight, Huai Shi reached out and extended his right arm, wearing heat-resistant gloves, into the boiling oil pot!

The burning iron flowed, and the swirling metal fuel engulfed his forearm.

Temperatures terrifyingly comparable to a furnace could not destroy the specially crafted gloves by Tong Ji, nor could they burn away Huai Shi's already metallicized right arm.

Instead, they ceaselessly provided an infinite amount of heat and steel, ready for his command and waiting for his dominion.

When the Hand of Confinement unfolded at that instant.

The forging began!

Under the erosion of divine nature, that fully transparent humanity operated, Huai Shi's soul slowly surged, brewed, and continuously injected source substance into the furnace of his arm.

Awaken the Alchemy Fire.

The thousands of times forging began...

This process had already been carried out thousands of times, completely imprinted into instinct. Even though he had long lost the ability to feel emotions like anger, purely reactive actions remained ingrained in his body and Stigma.

They were still preserved in the records of the Hand of Confinement and the Alchemy Fire.

He just needed to repeat the sequence step by step!

Failed once, then came the second time, the third time... In brief moments, tens to hundreds of repetitions, then inevitably exploring thousands of times.

Like turning a key, igniting the engine, ignite, ignite, ignite, ignite... the endless repetition, each time digging into the remnants within the records.

Until the rumbling sound burst from within the Casting Furnace.

The engine finally started.

Huai Shi's eyes brightened.

From nothing to existence, the breakthrough was completed in this moment.

Something was gripped tightly by the clenched five fingers.

First to appear was the silhouette of a heavy axe blade; the anger separated from the soul turned into steel, growing bit by bit in his hand.

Next, the anger spread, inversely infecting Huai Shi's consciousness.

Returning this anger originally from him once again!

The phantom pain of axe-splitting erupted.

Deep in the soul came the pain of shattering.

Huai Shi's vision went black, with threads of blood suddenly flowing from his mouth and nose. Those abnormal, brilliant gold-infused blood rose into the air, exuding a hazy glow.

Illuminating Huai Shi's lifted face.

And those bloodshot, anger-filled eyes!

At this moment, the Axe of Killing Intent in Huai Shi's hand reformed, anger returned!

Next came sorrow, followed by pity, pain, and even virtue... finally, curses and grudge offered by the flock of crows!

Compared to the noble spirit of the gods, these crystals produced by humans were so weak and insignificant, but this time, when they returned, they wedged deeply into the soul, not allowing that noble divine aura to spread again... forming a locked cage!

Huai Shi's humanity, with great difficulty, greeted its return!

The ascended altar halted its rise.

When those eyes lifted again, the agility and joy of the past resurfaced.

Now, under his command, the disaster and records belonging to the Town of Dusk were continuously transforming, injecting massive despair and endless pain into this narrow dish.

From the void shell between iron and fire, he constructed a new hell.

Not as difficult as imagined in the past, even felt like flowing water, effortlessly wielding this inspiration, projecting it into his hands without any pressure.

This is the hell crystal only a forger, only the Hand of Confinement can complete, a pinnacle work that can occupy a whole new height in the realm of Industrial Kitchen Demon!

Applause of admiration burst forth.

Not only from below the stage, but from admiration above the stage as well.

Someone seemingly happier, more delighted, and more joyous than Huai Shi...

Guo ShouQue.

At this moment, full of emotion, he praised the essence of disaster crafted by Huai Shi's hands!

"You must be happy now, Miss Huaizhi?"

He examined Huai Shi's appearance, whispering contentedly: "You must be able to comprehend the joy unique to the Kitchen Demon now, right?

Like farming, carefully choosing time, watching malice, adjusting disasters, finally growing fruits from Hell... Have you felt this excitement and fulfillment?"

In the midst of creating, Huai Shi never realized, couldn't even hear his sigh. But on Miss Huaizhi SuZi's face, her mouth had already curled into a slight smile.

He was smiling.

When fully engrossed in cooking, a spontaneous and indescribable fulfillment and appreciation arises. He was creating something.

He was crafting a result.

He was stepping into a new world, alone, moving forward step by step.

"You are growing, Miss Huaizhi, you at this moment is like the rising sun, incredibly dazzling, incredibly swift growing..."

The old man's eyes emitted excited light: "I can see, you can't hide from me, you are striding forward on this path that belongs to us!"

Indeed, like running, like flying...

No, even faster than that, even more brilliant than that.

Within those dark eyes filled with abyss projection, a blazing light slowly rising above the sky reflected.

Almost illuminated himself.

Dispelled his loneliness...

He laughed heartily, the drummer, filled with anticipation, sincerely praying for her.

Please hurry up, Miss Huaizhi.

Faster!

You are now on the verge of entering a realm where you can stand against me!

What answered him was a resounding wail of despair.

From the boiling evaporation, instant burning, erupting with all the heat of metallic fuel, from Huai Shi's fryer, a furious blaze swept through, engulfing everything.

Then, the dark surge erupted.

An unending viscous blackness burst forth from the fryer.

The crystallization of despair has been engraved in Huai Shi's hands.

Having passed through countless long years, the power entrusted to Huai Shi by the King of Casting from the deepest part of the Town of Dusk, is once again manifested through casting!

At this moment, at this instant!

The great work is accomplished!

Among the golden crisp metal fritters, the viscous dark sauce slowly flows, perpetually emitting a numbing and despairing wail.

Hell reappears here.

"Its name..."

At some unknown time, Guo ShouQue had already risen, his whole body leaning on the kitchen counter, peering closely at the dish before him, inhaling deeply the bitter aroma, savoring the moment.

His eyes were already burning red.

"What is its name, Miss Huaizhi? Please, you must tell me—"

"You choose one,"

Huai Shi indifferently wiped his fingers: "I have no interest in decorating painful history; naming it would be nothing but desecration of these pains—Guo ShouQue, since you crave disaster so much, experience this despair and pain firsthand."

"Apart from 'Avici,' I can't imagine any name that compares."

Guo ShouQue sniffed this endless, recurring pain and bitterness, saying decisively: "Born from the deep fryer, an eternal agony with no relief from numb waiting, it should be called 'Avici'!"

There are eight great hells, the first is Live Again, the second is Black Rope, the third is Crush, the fourth is Screaming, the fifth is Great Screaming, the sixth is Scorching, the seventh is Great Scorching, the eighth is Avici...

Avici, is Endless.

In monks' beliefs, there is no place more terrifying and dark than Endless, only sinful souls are doomed to fall into such a place after death, where solidified souls are eternally tortured by endless evil thoughts.

Now, Avici comes before Guo ShouQue.

The gates open wide, waiting silently. 𝙛𝒓𝒆𝙚𝒘𝒆𝓫𝙣𝓸𝙫𝓮𝒍.𝒄𝒐𝓶

No urging is needed.

In front of everyone's witness, Guo ShouQue rolled up his sleeves, adjusted his collar, and sat solemnly.

Then, he picked up the burning red iron box, used ivory chops to pick up a piece of steel soaked in despair, opened his mouth, and swallowed it amidst the crisp sound.

Gulp.

There was no imagined teeth gritting sensation, not even the hardness in texture; extremely thin and crispy steel shattered between lips and teeth like chocolate chips, bringing indescribable sweetness and delight.

In that instant, a sharp howl erupted.

Guo ShouQue's arm trembled momentarily.

On his neck, without warning, a huge gap appeared, as if he were chopped by an invisible axe, with flesh rolled up and bones exposed.

The neck almost entirely fell off from the shoulder.

Yet, he seemed unaffected, opening his mouth, chewing, and bit by bit making the metal piece crumbled.

Swallowing it.

"I know, this is... the taste of anger."

He lamented, as from his neck's gap flowed viscous darkness, sharp teeth emerged one by one, then slowly disappeared into the bottomless cavity.

"So cruel, Miss Huaizhi, I'm already old... Why hurt me this way?"

Guo ShouQue shook his head helplessly, smiled, picked up the second piece, placed it in his mouth, and the wondrous blend of sweet and sour with bitterness brought a refreshing fruity aroma, yet it felt increasingly cold and increasingly numb...

Breathing was difficult.

The chest contracted!

Bang!

The sound of bone breaking echoed, as invisible ropes rapidly tightened on organs and limbs, mercilessly pulling, torturing his body inch by inch.

Followed by, is Pieta.

A blade merging poison and redemption tore open at the heart, leaving a penetrative scar.

The form grew increasingly broken.

But Guo ShouQue's appearance became more ferocious, more inhuman... more akin to a monster from the Abyss.

Each bite was equivalent to enduring Huai Shi's full-strength attack from within, destroying his body from the most vulnerable spot.

Yet more dangerous was the curse spreading from within...

Countless pains and despair

This despair's purity reached a level beyond ordinary imagination, generously nourishing, irrigating with the grudges and curses accumulated within him.

This was merely the fuse for a chain reaction.

With every mouthful swallowed, he could feel the inner darkness revolting.

Countless old wounds slowly cracked, showing signs of recurrence and deterioration...

Just as Huai Shi said—break the balance, the strong collapse!

When toxicity entangled with the soul and balance of the body was broken, Guo ShouQue was pushed to the edge of a cliff by Huai Shi.

Just one step away from falling into the Abyss entirely!

Huai Shi stared intently at Guo ShouQue before him, looking at the bottomless darkness in his eyes.

Yet not knowing when this crucial step might be taken!

"Just one step away... "