"Spirit First."

In blessings, it's counterpart to the so-called Material Primacy, known as the Pillar of Ruins.

Just by looking at the names, one can tell that the relationship between the two is like fire and water, never appearing together in the same Chosen One.

Material Primacy emphasizes that 'matter is the fundamental existence of the world, and all spirit must submit to matter itself'.

The essence of Spirit First, however, is to reverse the two's positions, placing the spirit before the world.

It denies the dependency of the spirit on the body and instead emphasizes the priority of the spirit.

Material Primacy sounds quite scientifically reasonable on the surface, but just hearing about Spirit First starts to sound topsy-turvy.

But, considering this is Ascension... it's actually quite normal.

You see, the main purpose of the Ascension Series is the transcendence of the soul and the detachment of the will, emphasizing complete subjectivity without any objectivity.

Views and theories like 'the world exists because of me,' 'all things are at my disposal,' 'a hurried dream, I transform into a butterfly,' and the like are indeed commonplace among the Chosen Ones of the Ascension Series.

Such an arrogant idea of placing one's subjectivity over objectivity can only be called a novice's thought; it's technical work to elevate one's subjectivity over that of others.

Rants like 'Today, I shall go against the heavens' and 'My drill, damn it, will break through the skies' are also not in short supply.

As biased as this sounds, within the series controlling the soul—Ascension—and the series controlling the mind—Heart Core—having an abnormal mind is actually pretty normal.

With this in mind, a passive blessing like Spirit First, compared to other blessings, appears particularly normal and plain.

Aside from the characteristics of the Ascension Series—greatly enhancing the spiritual capacity and recovery speed—it brought Ji Jue a gradual increase in mental resilience and endurance.

And its main effect was to somewhat ignore material defects and adverse conditions under certain situations, compensating with spiritual consumption and willpower to achieve the desired outcome.

In simpler terms, where conditions fall short, make up with fighting spirit.

For instance, in a fire scene, a mother lifting a car to save her child, a climber about to fall off a cliff, an athlete breaking records while chased by a bear, or the path to survival through four hours of crossing territories and forests escaping from a scam park...

Although lacking in other blessing combinations and with limited initial effects, if left alone, at most it could enable a phone to last from the subway to home on one percent battery...

But it was a noble, growth-capable passive nonetheless!

There was too much potential to excavate.

Merely its base state significantly increased the duration of Mechanical Descent, doubling it directly. Ji Jue dared not even imagine what surprises would come when the qualitative changes are maxed out and the blessing ascends.

Whether it's Heavenly Skill or Spirit First, these late-stage blessings are truly a roller's gospel. Ji Jue didn't fear a long experience bar; the longer it was, the more thrilled he became, the more motivated he was to grind, and he could hardly keep up with the joy...

Let's start with a small goal—by relying on Spirit First, first save a few thousand bucks on the electric bill!

Who wouldn't like a phone that only needed to be charged once a week?

Absolutely uplifting!

"Uh-huh, since the blessing of Spirit First came so smoothly, it means the practice for the next stage can begin," Professor Ye spoke indifferently in the workshop, after checking Ji Jue's current condition again: "—concerning the integration and linkage between blessings."

"Have you thought about the direction in which Heavenly Skill should develop?"

Her sudden question left Ji Jue momentarily astonished.

At a loss for words.

After all, time had been too short, and he had been too busy just adapting to the enhancements of Heavenly Skill, gradually trying to expand the effect and boundaries of this blessing.

As of now, he could only say he had a rough grasp of it.

Add to that the ridiculously fast advancement so that there hadn't been time to contemplate it.

It's like people often say, there's no strongest weapon, only the strongest person.

Even with weapons, with extensive use, individuals develop various styles and tendencies, like the Dancing Hammer, massive and forceful, or the small knife, light and flitting, as with the subordinated sword, lofted to the sky...

Blessings work the same way; sometimes, the same blessing shows completely different effects in the hands of different people.

Both from the crowd, both standard configurations of Blood Drink, Fierce Battle, Breaking, with anticipate the enemy added on, but in Ji Jue's view, under the same setup, Old Tang could easily defeat a dozen opponents without so much as catching a breath.

His skill level was already maxed out, and after several qualitative changes in his blessings, he might have already ascended... Could a character with zero life and one with full life be the same?

With limited time, being greedy for everything ensures mastery of none; you absolutely can't compare to someone who is dedicated to a single specialty.

Moreover, within some factions, there are secret rituals and methods that allow for the relinquishing of part of a blessing's effects, significantly enhancing and growing the rest.

Of course, a widely applicable blessing like Heavenly Skill doesn't need to forsake its foundation for the sake of overusing such a method, but Ji Jue had reached a point where he must choose a specialization direction.

Growing wildly will just sprout weeds everywhere, with no towering trees to show for it.

And it wasn't about giving up; it was just making some trade-offs at the current stage.

But because of its wide applicability, Ji Jue found himself somewhat indecisive when Professor Ye suddenly asked the question.

A focus on strength could literally allow him to tear apart steel plates with his bare hands, a focus on speed could max out his operations in an instant, concentrating on precision could reach the limit where perhaps one day Ji Jue could pluck superfluous protons from Mercury with an ultra-micro tweezer to roll gold by hand... but most likely, no one would bother with that.

And that's just the choices concerning the basics; if we're talking about the objects of operation, the list is endless—Melting, extraction, Ascension, Purification, and even distinguishing materials... metals, wood, compounds, blood, or organs or even...

"Spirit operation?"

Instantly, Ji Jue had an epiphany from Professor Ye's hint, his eyes lighting up: "Do you mean, my next direction of practice should mainly focus on the aspect of spiritual operation?"

Professor Ye nodded slightly, a trace of a smile inevitably curling at the corner of her mouth.

Encountering a student with good affinity and clear comprehension, the experience for a teacher is just so smooth and refreshing; there's no need for long-winded lecturing and preaching—the key points are grasped with a touch and understood with a word.

Now, Ji Jue's greatest strength was precisely in spiritual operation!

Whether it was the blessing from Non-attack, the proficiency in Fluid Alchemy, the practice of Dissociation Technique, or the effects of Spirit First, all had allowed Ji Jue to leave others far behind in the field of spiritual operation.

Let alone apprentices, most craftsmen simply didn't match his level.

With such favorable conditions, it would be a waste not to chase fervently down this path and establish an advantage!

"But even if focusing on spiritual operation, I still don't know what to do."

Ji Jue sighed, "Surely I'm not just supposed to squat in front of the furnace and refine over and over every day?"

"No need."

Professor Ye finally smiled slightly, causing Ji Jue's heart to instinctively leap in trepidation.

"I've already prepared everything for you."

She waved her hand, and suddenly a hole opened in the workshop's ceiling. With the excited cry of the Ghost Work Ball announcing "here comes your lil' bro," a box tumbled out and landed.

Right beside Ji Jue's feet.

He picked up the box and opened it, instantly dumbfounded.

Palm-sized, round and chubby, average workmanship, mediocre materials, and sloppily assembled... Ji Jue lifted it and examined it over and over, feeling that something was just not right.

This appeared to be, likely, perhaps, just a common mechanical pocket watch sold on the street?

"Teacher, do you want a watch?"

Ji Jue looked lost, "If you need one, just tell me. My mother's family used to make these. If you don't like a brand, I can hand-craft one for you—within a year if it's off by even a thread, I'll screw my head off for you."

"It's not for me."

Professor Ye calmly picked up the pocket watch from his hands and then handed it back to him, "This is for you."

The box even came with a receipt, twenty-five and eighty cents, and it was delivered by someone from a yellow food delivery service just yesterday, label still unpeeled. Ji Jue examined it meticulously over and again, confirming that this thing was nothing but a trinket that could keep time—a possible creation from some bored Auntie looking to earn a little extra on the side.

For what purpose was it given to him?

"Use your abilities on it," Professor Ye commanded straightforwardly.

Without a second thought, Ji Jue reached out, initiating Mechanical Descent.

The spiritual reaction was extremely faint, like a flickering candle in the wind. Such mass-produced items that lacked any form of dedication or history could barely conjure up a rigid spiritual reaction—reaching a more alive response would require Ji Jue to invest even more spiritual essence into nurturing it.

"The endowment of spirituality is complete," Ji Jue reported.

"Good," said Professor Ye, "Now, take it out."

"Eh?"

Ji Jue froze, instinctively reaching out to withdraw his ability, but he quickly realized that what Professor Ye meant was not to cancel his ability, but to... take it out?

To extract it?

"Which 'it'?" Ji Jue's hand hovered in the air.

"The 'it' you've just created."

Professor Ye said, "Take it out, from this pocket watch, use Heavenly Skill for the spiritual operation, and extract it completely without damaging even a strand of its conscious."

Ji Jue stood petrified.

As if struck by lightning...

His hands cradling the watch, he turned rigid, and after a long while, he looked at Professor Ye in bewilderment. Professor Ye was also looking at him, her gaze indifferent, with no hint of impatience or hurry, just waiting.

Until, mustering his courage, Ji Jue stretched out his hand...

A single thread of the spiritual essence was misaligned.

Snap!

The fragile spiritual reaction was instantaneously extinguished, dissipating into stray spiritual essence, filaments fluttering down into Ji Jue's hands, but now entirely meaningless. The rigid Spiritual Wisdom that had been within the pocket watch was gone forever.

And Ji Jue hadn't even started.

He hadn't had the chance to touch it!

Merely a slight leak of his own spirit fluctuation was enough to completely destroy the watch's spiritual reaction.

No helping it, the watch's material itself was the limitation; even if Ji Jue exerted his full might to create a stable Spiritual Wisdom reaction, due to its inherent deficiency, it was still too fragile compared with other objects.

Even if Ji Jue could get it to cooperate proactively, it was like a giant trying to pick up a tiny wrench to dismantle and extract the core of precision machinery while keeping it intact.

It would disappear even with just a puff of air.

People say that the world's smallest mechanical watch has a movement less than 0.2 centimeters in size, with the number of components totalling 97.

When dismantling it, the craftspeople must use special tools and hold their breath, because a momentary lapse could lead to irretrievable mistakes... anyway, that's the boastful claim, so let's just go with it.

Ji Jue had once dreamed of getting his hands on such a device to test his skill, but now something even more troublesome appeared before him.

He was already at a loss on how to begin.

"This is your next training challenge, Ji Jue."

Professor Ye, observing his distraught countenance, said calmly, "Strive on."

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