Ye Chun had a nightmare.

It seemed like on a pitch-black winter's night, a dog was frantically chasing her, foaming at the mouth, its tongue flailing relentlessly. At some point, it seemed she encountered her aunt, but before she could cry out "Auntie, save me!", she heard her aunt say something to the dog and then... the beast's eyes turned red. Desperately, it sprinted, shouting something about "I want to eat a hot dog," and caught up to her...

No matter how much she cried and begged for mercy.

It was just too damn terrifying!

Ye Chun suddenly opened her eyes, gasping for breath.

Awakened from her dream, she realized she was drenched in sweat, and outside the window, the rain dripped ceaselessly.

She got up, grabbed a cup and went into the kitchen to gulp down several glasses of cold water. Only after that did she finally begin to regain her composure. She couldn't help but grind her teeth and stamp her foot.

Ji, you wait! Have I been feeding you too well!

You won't be getting on the table tomorrow!

But as she turned to go back to sleep, she noticed the light coming through the crack in the door; the living room light was still on, and it seemed there were voices coming from nearby.

The conversation was nearing its end.

"Alright, since Master Ye is so forthright, the association will not be stingy with the reward. Of course, I know you won't care about that trifle, but it's still a gesture of goodwill. Please don't refuse it."

The late-night visitor politely said his farewells, got up to leave, and did not glance at the slightly ajar door.

The footsteps receded.

"A-Chun?" Professor Ye turned around from the sofa.

"Mm."

Ye Chun pushed the door open and rubbed her eyes: "Auntie, are you still busy?"

Professor Ye said, "Go back to sleep, it was someone from the association."

"Oh." Ye Chun nodded in understanding, looking away from the direction of the front door, seemingly relieved: "I thought they were leaving."

"It's not time yet."

Professor Ye looked down and said indifferently, "Go rest."

"Mm..."

Ye Chun thought for a moment, then turned back with a smile: "Thank you, Auntie."

Professor Ye did not respond, gazing out at the pitter-patter of rain and the faint sounds of the tide in the distance.

The footsteps faded away.

The night rushed by.

The next day, as dawn broke, Ji Jue, with bloodshot eyes, clocked in for work carrying his toolbox.

Clearly, he had spent much of the previous night struggling with the pocket watch in his hands. Although his spiritual energy was abundant, it was still somewhat uncontrolled and had leaked out a bit.

His condition was not optimal.

"How's the progress?" Professor Ye, holding a cup of tea, seemed to be inquiring about a student's wellbeing, but also appeared to take pleasure in another's misfortune.

Or perhaps it was a combination of both.

She had never noticed before how much fun it could be to watch students scratching their heads in front of a tough problem, utterly confused... There was a certain beauty in watching someone repeatedly fall into a ditch, climb out, and fall back in again.

But then she heard Ji Jue's voice.

"It seems... I might have found a clue?"

He said with uncertainty, causing Professor Ye's motion of sipping tea to pause ever so slightly.

It was a very brief moment, hardly a blink – she quickly resumed her smooth action, took a small sip, set down the cup, and slowly lifted her eyes to look at him: "Oh?"

For some reason, that look put an enormous pressure on Ji Jue.

"I'm not sure if it's just an illusion, come have a look."

Ji Jue raised his hand and once again released the Mechanical Descent towards the pocket watch, and a slender thread of spiritual light – as weak as a flickering candle flame – emerged and lit up.

Then, this time, he took a deep breath and slowly extended his hand...

In that instant, Ji Jue's spiritual fluctuations visibly dissipated and slowed, while the spiritual light above his fingers became as thin as a thread, completely frozen and still with no ripple or tremor.

It was... an application of the Dissociation Technique, no, it should be said, the most rudimentary fundamental skill—stopping the flow of all spiritual energy, keeping it in place.

As the founder of the Dissociation Technique, no one knew better than Ye Xian.

The inspiration for this stillness came from one of the most profound applications within the Ruins Path—the Static Zone!

If souls are as fleeting as fireworks, then the essence of matter points towards what is called eternity.

A true master of the Ruins, such as Wen Wen, when utilizing this skill, would do so with ease and nonchalance, effortlessly causing all spiritual changes within the former Jici Hospital to come to a complete standstill, maximally ensuring the safety of the victims.

It is said that the ultimate form of Static Zone can completely freeze even the molecular motion of matter, creating a terrifying effect akin to time standing still.

Yet now, Ji Jue's static ability was not even a fraction of what Wen Wen had demonstrated; at best, it was a mediocre imitation.

And with this crude imitation, Ji Jue's fingers managed to grasp, albeit for a brief moment, the fragile Spiritual Wisdom within the pocket watch.

He had grasped it!

Even though in the next moment, with his slight movement, the fragile Spiritual Wisdom had already disintegrated... Yet it was still enough to leave Ye Xian in silence.

It was too fast.

Even faster than she had anticipated.

Just one night...

If one were to consider the problem with the blunt logic of how to stuff an elephant into a refrigerator, extracting the Spiritual Wisdom contained in a material was as simple as three steps: first, to grasp that faint glimmer of spiritual light, then, to ensure its structural integrity, and finally, to take it out.

Each step sounded feasible in theory, but in practice, they were all pipe dreams.

Yet, Ji Jue had already completed the first step.

Without destroying its structural integrity, with extremely delicate manipulation, he had captured the spiritual energy granted by Mechanical Descent within his hands, and even, he had intuitively understood the key to the second step—how to ensure its structural integrity.

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