Snap!

Quickly, another mistake.

"Again."

So, quickly, another mistake happened, Ji Jue's sweat soaked through his shirt, but Professor Ye simply responded, "Continue."

"Keep going."

"The final touch was wrong just now, the density of your spiritual essence changed; reflect on your previous sensation."

"Spiritual essence is not just a blade; it is also the very substance that forms the imprint. They are a whole; keep going."

"Another try, maintain it, and contract a little more."

…

With each repeated attempt, only the distinct ticking of time accompanied Ji Jue whose complexion gradually turned pale, his breathing became labored, and dizziness overtook him. Yet in his daze, the stability of his spiritual essence increased once more. Guided by the Spiritual Probe, it began to change, little by little, circulating within the crystalline interior.

Until, a dreamlike light burst forth from Ji Jue's hands.

When Ji Jue's spiritual essence dissipated, the rune left within the crystal began to move as if alive, emitting a gentle hue. As it circulated, its magnificence lit up Ji Jue's eyes.

He forgot to breathe.

It was as if, in an instant, spiritual essence had become a bridge, connecting him with that revolving rune, and some unexplainable enlightenment rose from his heart.

As the soul is a flame that never ceases to burn or ascend, thinking, feeling, understanding—all philosophy and true essence of the world flowed from this miraculous source, touching everything.

Hence, its name was...

—Ascension!

This was the emblem and totem of the Twelve Superiors!

Then, darkness fell before his eyes.

A drop of blood suddenly appeared on the Crystal Ball, then a second drop, a third drop...

The crimson dripped down from Ji Jue's nose, scattering across the workbench.

He staggered back, reaching for something to hold but collapsed onto a chair and soft cushion, gasping for air. It took a while for him to come to, gazing at the increasingly blurry rune within the crystal.

"Professor, did I succeed?"

Professor Ye didn't speak.

She stood there, looking down at the crystal intently, lost in thought.

Just gently wiping away the blood stain, then with an outstretched finger, she touched the crystal. The nearly-fading rune abruptly stabilized, shining even more brightly than when Ji Jue had just finished inscribing it.

It blazed with dazzling brilliance!

Like a spotlight suddenly turned on right in front of his eyes, countless delicate branches extended from the rune, majestic and splendid, surpassing the previous by hundreds, no, thousands, tens of thousands of times!

It was the absolute gap in understanding and realization between the two of them on the path of Ascension.

As vast as the heavens and the earth.

"Not bad."

She suddenly said.

Not only did he manage to use the Spiritual Probe on his first interaction, but he also had an astoundingly high level of talent in controlling the spiritual essence's force.

Stability, continuity, precision… For a master, it was full of flaws, too immature, but for an apprentice, it was already close to flawless.

What if this apprentice had just come into contact with all this?

What if he had absolutely no foundation in alchemy prior to this?

What if he had successfully made the Superior's rune imprint in just half an hour?!

If someone had told her this yesterday, she would have scoffed, but even now, having witnessed it all with her own eyes, she still felt it was completely...

Arabian Nights!

Adept use of the probe, controllable operations of spiritual material, expansion and maintenance of alchemy circuits, application and mastery of rune imprints... Had someone actually completed all the content of standard apprentice training in just half an hour?

Back then, it had taken her a whole week to complete the introduction to Alchemy, and her progress and efficiency were at the very forefront of all her peers, so much so that even her teacher was amazed.

She thought it was nothing special and didn't care, even though the eyes behind her were filled with fear and jealousy.

And now, more than twenty years later, she finally felt the frustration of her peers and the surprise in her teacher's heart at that time.

Even... she was glad that she hadn't let Ye Chun come down to watch.

If he had seen it, it would probably have been another brutal blow, right?

"You did well, Ji Jue," Professor Ye finally raised her eyes and looked over, "Even better than I thought... Does this have something to do with your ability?"

"Er, it seems a bit similar, but some parts are kind of different."

Ji Jue scratched his head, gesturing for a long time not knowing how to describe it and simply stretched out his hand, pointing towards the distant Dragon Gate Processing Center: "Roughly, like this."

[Dude, get moving! Give me a task!]

The moment the command was issued, the massive CNC machine suddenly trembled, the power connected, the program started, and indicator lights rapidly lit up. In the deep humming sound, the processing center cheerfully acknowledged: [OKAY!]

Then, on the workbench, a piercing sound of friction arose!

A bizarre jet-black cutter head, which Ji Jue had never seen before, emerged with a dazzling light and suddenly fell, making the substantial titanium-alloy octagonal ingot also suddenly shake.

Amid the spraying of cutting fluid and coolant, thousands of metal strands burst forth from beneath the cutter head.

It was just like a hot knife slicing through wax!

This stuff, which was so hard it could shatter cutters, brittle as hell, and with terrible thermal conductivity, had always been a nightmare for Ji Jue to process in the past. But now, he felt as if he had inadvertently walked into a barbershop.

At this moment, the once defiant ingot had been subdued by the barber, wantonly molested, cut, and styled. It danced with grace in the coordination of the five-axis rotation.

Like a foolish boy lost under the barber's silver tongue!

Fast, too fast.

Without any aid or any preparatory work, just get to work, damn it, in the delusional laughter of the machine, the ingot was willfully sculpted, reshaped, stripping layer after layer of superfluous coating; fine threads scattered, but not one could entangle that cutter head that seemed to twitch with madness.

In just under four minutes, a bust of Professor Ye had already emerged from the original ingot, lifted up, correspondingly facing her through the glass.

Just like looking in a mirror, every strand of hair, every wrinkle, flawless.

Even Professor Ye's actions halted in place.

Her eyes widened in disbelief.

After a long while, her trembling hand rose, adjusting her glasses as if to suppress her emotions: "Ji Jue..."

"Hmm."

Ji Jue grinned, proudly lifting his shamelessly pleased face, "How do you feel about it, Ma'am?"

"...Not good."

Professor Ye slowly exhaled, still refraining from punching his smug face: "That custom ingot was supposed to be the engineering prototype for the armor Transmission spine, and the program was almost finished."

"Oh...ah."

Ji Jue's smile froze on his face.

An awkward silence fell out of nowhere, with only Ji Jue's proud face being pressed down by an Invisible Power. Several times he opened his mouth as if to speak but ultimately mustered the courage, "That, um... was it expensive?"

"No worries, just 260,000." The professor consoled, "We'll deduct it from your salary."

Ji Jue was increasingly shocked: "Do I even have a salary?!"

Professor Ye finally turned back and looked at him, scrutinizing his stunned expression. After a long while, she slowly nodded:

"You used to."

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