"I'll include you as the second author next time I pad out a paper!"

And from the main seat in the living room, the sound of newspaper pages turning could be heard.

"Once you're done showing off, put it away," Professor Ye instructed indifferently, "You've been dragging this out for days. Remember to submit the revised argument today."

Thus, a familiar wail echoed once again.

She picked up the teacup and took a sip.

Behind the newspaper, the corners of her mouth curved up ever so slightly.

Life was really getting more interesting.

After a flurry of activity, the meal was finally served—five dishes and a soup. Seeing that there were still vegetables in the fridge, Ji Jue casually whipped up a bitter melon salad.

Though far from exemplary, his years assisting Lu Ma in the kitchen had at least taught him something. At the very least, the food he made wasn't bad.

Although Ye Chun, who had managed to even the score, complained pickily for a while, at least her human rights were intact—she could still sit at the table and eat.

"It's because of senior sister, you know? She's kind, right?"

Ye Chun unapologetically snatched the largest piece of sausage for herself, savoring her victory.

She had even planned the lines she'd use to critique the fruit cutting in the afternoon. Having finally gained the upper hand after days of lackluster meals, wasn't she entitled to some payback?

As for the high-minded question of when the cycle of vengeance ends, that was never within her consideration.

The strong should unashamedly mock the weak!

And right after the meal, while Ji Jue was busy in the kitchen, the electronic alarm clock in the living room began to beep, drawing Ji Jue out with his hands wiping a cloth, face alight with joy as he checked the time.

"How long has it been?" asked Professor Ye.

"Seventeen hours and forty-one minutes."

Ji Jue was elated, "I've broken my previous record."

Before starting the timer, Ji Jue had applied Mechanical Descent to the alarm clock with the least amount of effort, the sole instruction being to stop timing and issue a reminder before the effect ended.

Now, his bare minimum Mechanical Descent could last close to eighteen hours!

If he infused more spiritual material, although the increase in duration wouldn't be significant, he could at least maintain it for around twenty hours.

And in his estimation, that still wasn't the limit.

With some more training, maintaining it for twenty-four hours wouldn't be a problem.

In other words, a single release could keep the Mechanical Descent effect going for an entire day. After twenty-four hours, simply applying another one before the effect ended could sustain it for yet another day.

By now, he could easily maintain normalized control over multiple targets without effort. Considering the rate of spiritual material recovery and his own capacity for strain, Ji Jue could now keep the effect on five targets at any time without impacting his ability to perform precise operations or his readiness for unexpected encounters.

In Cliff City, that meant five fully-loaded trucks that could create strategic advantages in any battle. Even accounting for drone battery life and leaving spare time to recharge, that was still five sentries that could remain vigilant at all times.

Or perhaps...

Ji Jue had already started considering how to cruelly pull off a big job, bringing home the little darlings, the howitzers, from the storage at the Cliff City garrison base.

He had calculated that with just two units he could cover the entire Northern Mountain District and more than half of the South Mountain.

Imagine, as long as he was in the Northern Mountain District, he could call for fire support at any moment... Wouldn't life be just too beautiful, with safety maxed out?

Unfortunately, once he maxed out this safety, Ji Jue would no longer be safe at all.

Let's not even discuss whether the Governor could sleep with two howitzers targeting important locations in Cliff City; the Hai Province Military Department could issue a knockout blow and hammer Ji Jue into the mud.

Ideals are so beautiful, reality is so cruel.

He sighed in disappointment and ultimately drew back one foot from the brink of crime.

As for the other foot, let it linger there; isn't it at least a thought to cherish?

"Looks like you've really hit the jackpot this time."

Professor Ye shook her head in wonder—she had realized that an explosive demolition version of a traveling toad like Ji Jue, when kept at home, would only be an annoyance; it was only after letting him out that he could bring back some good stuff.

Last time he went out to the Crack Realm and directly found the long-lost Non-attack Matrix and the complete Fluid Alchemy.

This time, he merely took a week's leave and brought back an essential blessing.

The duration of Mechanical Descent had doubled!

This dog's luck was beyond description, simply supernatural.

Within the Wanxiang Collection compiled by the Ethers, the abilities of the Emberrs series predominantly involved changes in the properties of matter.

They could dissociate matter, guide and transform spiritual material, catalyze reactions—even the term Alchemy originally came from Chosen Ones who could turn stones into metals.

Abilities like Mechanical Descent were uniformly classified as control types. The majority of control types were naturally closer to Tian Yuan, Ascension, or Heart Core, with very few investing in Embers.

Among control types, further categorization includes directive, manipulative, and autonomous types, each with distinct advantages and disadvantages.

For instance, directive types issue straightforward commands to the controlled entity—if you push the machine gun forward fifty meters, it goes exactly fifty meters, not a millimeter more or less.

Advantages include saving on spiritual essence, as dozens or even hundreds of commands can be issued without fatigue, given the controlled object has its own power. The downside is a lack of flexibility; if there's a wall in those fifty meters, the effort is wasted, as the controlled object will butt against it like an NPC following a set path until the command changes.

Manipulative types, as the name implies, replace the object's own will and preset instructions, controlling it directly like a game character. They navigate around obstacles with minute adjustments until satisfied, avoiding issues of artificial stupidity. The drawbacks are the mental strain and complexity, making it hard to control multiple objects in intricate coordination.

Mechanical Descent, which is autonomous, is the most complex and draining on spiritual essence, and its control effects may not even be as good as the former types. Against some entities, its force of compulsion can also be insufficient.

But its advantage lies in a strong adaptability and being worry-free—Ji Jue only needs to give the command, and how to accomplish it is up to the controlled entity.

These control types are not always clearly delineated and can overlap at times, as with the effectiveness of Mechanical Descent. If necessary, Ji Jue could take over the entity himself, directly intervening. But the thinking ability and independence granted by Mechanical Descent are so strong that most of the time, there's simply no need.

Under such circumstances, running out of spiritual essence becomes Ji Jue's most fatal flaw; if his tools were destroyed too quickly, dragging him into prolonged combat, his spiritual essence would be exhausted in under five minutes, rendering him completely incapacitated.

The arrival of the Ascension Blessing now compensated for this weakness to a certain extent.

It directly doubled the duration of effect for Mechanical Descent, effectively saving the spiritual essence otherwise spent on repeatedly applying the ability, while also further enhancing Ji Jue's spiritual essence limit and recovery rate.

Even among the Ascension Series, such a precious blessing was rare indeed.

—Foundation of Ascension·[Spirit First]!

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