Extraction technique is a desperate cycle of death for apprentices—without money to buy materials for experimentation, they can't learn; without learning, they make mistakes; mistakes mean scrapped materials and getting smacked and fined; after being fined, they have even less money to buy materials.

Speaking of which, Ji Jue, who has always been a senior broke-ass, instinctively felt his hair balding.

Touching the million-plus in his arms that hadn't even warmed up yet, he just hoped that Chen Yubo, that heartless deadbeat, would hurry up and send the rest of his money.

"As for money, don't worry."

Professor Ye, sipping his tea, placed a black card on the table and pushed it towards Ji Jue. "It seems you didn't work for nothing last night.

Someone has already taken care of it for you."

The exquisitely designed pitch-black card on the table, its gold-stamped code gleaming brilliantly under the sunlight, lit up Ji Jue's eyes.

It exuded an aura of wealth, instinctively making one feel its prestige.

Intimidating the paupers.

"Oh... my God."

Ji Jue's heart skipped a beat, he almost cursed in front of the professor and quickly changed the topic. "What card is this? I've never seen it before. Who gave it?"

"Chen Xingzhou sent someone over with it this morning. Normally, the brothers don't even exchange pleasantries or help each other but now it seems he's quite concerned about his own little brother's life and death."

The professor snorted coldly. "I just mentioned you were a new apprentice and that guy knew what to cough up.

This is a VIP card from Tianping Commerce that's only provided to high-end clients. It seems he urgently acquired it last night. The name and details have all been changed to yours now.

There's about twenty million in it. If you think it's a hassle, you can always withdraw it and put it into your own card. But with this money, you won't have to worry about expenses for at least the next six months."

Damn!

Ji Jue's inner curse could no longer be held back, he was dumbfounded. Is this what it means to be a boss? Just giving away twenty million like that? Are gratuities supposed to be this extravagant?

Literally multiplying the final payment by ten?

And…

"Six months?"

He stared blankly at the professor in front of him several times, struggling for words—was alchemy really burning money this fast?!

Twenty million divided by a hundred and eighty roughly equates to eleven point one hundred and eleven thousand per day, a figure that single 'dogs' find depressingly stark. Yet, when this figure is multiplied by each day as an amount of money, it could transform any single dog into a fabulously affluent character overnight, like the CEO of The Diamond or the boss at locale clubs.

Eleven thousand a day?!

Ji Jue didn't even need that much to live, drink, and play!

How could such a good alchemy technique be so costly!

"Be careful not to blame alchemy for your own rapid progress."

Professor Ye glanced at him with a look of exasperation. "In just over two months, other apprentices haven't even finished their basics yet, who else is like you, not fully learning modern techniques yet digging into ancient ones as well?

If you want your money to last longer, that's fine too, this could last you ten or eight years. Just keep persevering, and maybe by the time you're thirty, you could become a full-fledged craftsman, and people will praise you as a young and promising talent.

Chen Xingzhou probably has something like this in mind too. In eight or nine years, with his money making you a craftsman, wouldn't anything you need be simple and convenient?"

Ji Jue just laughed along, not daring to speak.

He could only reflect that it indeed was like this in the world of Embers, where spending money could bolster strength, and even progress could be accelerated with top-ups.

Initially, he thought rich folks simply burned through heaps of cash for the heck of it, but now he realized even a mere gift could come with so many variations. Although it was a bit cynical to speculate, the possibility was undeniably high, but... they hadn't even signed a contract!

Not even an additional word was said.

Relations come from give and take, and with more interactions, relationships build. These matters always need mutual agreement.

Although Chen Xingzhou was generous, Ji Jue hadn't just sat around doing nothing; moreover, without Professor Ye's connection, he wouldn't have been able to snag such a generous offer.

Ji Jue wasn't foolish enough to pull out the card and ask, 'How about you take half?'—acting like that would surely earn him nothing but disdain from his own teacher.

He could only try to accelerate his progress further.

Completely unaware, he had no idea just how advanced his progress in modern alchemy had become. The soul of a hard worker within him was once again blazing intensely.

If not for the professor beside him, he would have burst into triumphant laughter:

I have the liver, I have the krypton!

Dueling in liver and krypton, who in the world could match my training speed?!

But soon, his gaze was drawn to a pendant next to the card.

"What is this?"

"Your spoils, sent over after Chen Xingzhou's men cleaned up the scene."

"Does it look like an alchemy work?"

Ji Jue picked it up and scrutinized it, it looked like one, and indeed, it actually was.

But one could feel the blessing imbued in it just by holding it in the hand, this ephemeral and fleeting sensation was Ascension.

He grew more cautious.

Generally, blessings of Ascension act upon the soul and consciousness, and a slight mishandling might trouble one's mind.

Moreover, this craftsmanship...

How should I put it, it looks flashy and seems significant, and evidently, the technique is very proficient, far superior to Ji Jue's.

But having seen the natural unity of object and self in Mercury's Work and experienced the meticulous, all-encompassing grandeur in Professor Ye's creations in his studies of Modern Alchemy... he could only say, it was just mediocre.

Even, it seemed...

"A bit flawed?" he was somewhat uncertain.

"It seems your discernment has also improved."

Professor Ye rarely praised, then immediately critiqued, "No need to be so polite, with such materials and blessings, to end up like this, there is nothing else to say but trash.

To be able to refine blessings into such shoddy goods and still have the gall to sell them is utterly disgraceful, no wonder the craftsman didn't dare to engrave his mark on it. If ever it is traced back to him, he'll probably be laughed at for life."

The materials were good, the blessings were not bad.

Only the craftsmanship, dreadful to the extreme!

Ascension having only its form, extraction just copying formulas, Purification uneven, Harmony in complete disarray, there could be no more superficial work than this.

Probably the blessing inside knew it would turn out this way, it might as well have jumped down and rotted in the Vortex with the Nine Evils.

Regarding the specific state of the blessing, Professor Ye had already seen it.

Its name was Transcendent Vision.

In a nutshell, it granted the user the ability to accelerate self-perception and thought speed, thereby indirectly achieving the effect of slowing down time.

Not ordinary, but not precious either, because there were many other blessings with the same effect. Such as White Deer's 'Lightning Reflection', Ruins' 'Unity of Object and Self', Vortex's 'Neurospiritualization'... even the legendary blessing 'Time Interception' given by the Gate of Eternity!

Actually, similar blessings like 'Heavenly Skill' also came in equivalent models.

The crowd has 'Conquest Hand', White Deer has 'Implicit Guidance', Vortex has 'Miracle Healing', each focusing either on destructive power, precision with countermeasures, or directly nurturing capabilities, incomparable to the terrifying versatility and growth potential of 'Heavenly Skill'.

"Alright, stop looking, it's just a clumsy thing."

Professor Ye interrupted Ji Jue's thoughts, then with a voice as if from the deepest nightmare said, "Since this thing has come into your hands, let me add a little homework for you—"

No!

Ji Jue's complexion changed, he instinctively wanted to throw the thing away.

Can't I just not accept it?

How can homework just be added like this?!

"In the entry practice of Dissociation Technique, just switch to it as the operational object."

Professor Ye picked up his teacup, mercilessly said, "What you need to do is to dismantle it, peel away those messy Spiritual Circuits and material contaminants, keeping the internal blessings as intact as possible, the Craftsman Guild will stay in the workshop to assist you, and extract the blessing completely."

"Uh..."

Ji Jue hesitated and asked, "Is there a time requirement?"

"Up to you, whether you do it quickly or slowly doesn't matter."

The professor gave him one last look, delivering an injection that drove Ji Jue completely mad, "I assume, once the blessing is extracted, it should just about be time to begin."

She said lightly, "Your truly meaningful, first, alchemy creation."

"..."

In the dead silence, Ye Chun closed his eyes in despair.

Yet Ji Jue's eyes lit up, emitting a bloodthirsty glow...

That moment—

—Roll over, Frenzy, complete!

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