Meanwhile, outside the deathly silent third-floor warehouse storeroom,

all the craftsmen who had rushed over were pale, trembling as they stood to the side, listening to footsteps that were slowly approaching, sweat drenching their backs, unable to stand steady.

In the silence, Jian Yuan, with hands clasped behind his back, strolled through the unrecognizable and chaotic storeroom.

Casually, he crushed a Mutant that was trying to crawl out of a broken box into a pool of pitch-black liquid, blowing out a wall, the trickling sound lingering in everyone's ears, like the sound of their own blood spilling on the ground.

Trembling, they couldn't find peace.

At last, Jian Yuan's gaze fell upon the wall where a line of hasty and thickly inked characters was written,

as if a greeting from a visitor.

"The master collects abundantly, elated beyond measure, and hence I pay a visit.

Coming with enthusiasm and leaving when it wanes, I leave a poem as a memento."

The poem stated:

"The horse is skinny with long fur, thick hooves—father steals, the son is no thief, We've lived more than half our lives, yet have never seen each other."

Boom!!!

The moment Jian Yuan finished reading, explosives hidden in the cracks detonated suddenly, flames bursting forth and sweeping across, the shockwave surged, then everything abruptly stopped.

Frozen.

With just a casual wave of the hand, a flick of the fingers, no need for any 'blessing' to assist, the Static Zone of the Ruins Path revealed itself!

Flames rose like flowers, shattered metal scattered like leaves.

Against the wall, covered with cracks, the calligraphy looked more hideously ugly than ever.

Jian Yuan, hands still behind his back, gazed for a long time, then slowly shook his head.

"Cun Ling."

In the rigidly standing, endlessly trembling crowd, someone immediately burst out, scrambling and crawling forward, kneeling on the ground: "Teacher, I am here."

Jian Yuan, without turning his head, just lifted his hand and pointed to the wall in front of him, "Look at this poem, what do you think?"

Instantly, Cun Ling's cold sweat poured out like a waterfall, drenching his back.

Gathering the courage to look up, after a long while, again and again, finally trembling, he answered: "It's, it's a load of nonsense!"

"Indeed."

Jian Yuan nodded, turned back, his eyes flickering over his student, suddenly asked, "You said you've been busy these past two days, the workshop affairs were complicated, and you were in charge,

now tell me, how well did you manage?"

On the brink of death, Cun Ling was no longer panicked; panic was useless. From despair, he lay prostrate on the ground,

"It's a total mess."

"No, there were at least some bright spots, weren't there?"

Jian Yuan spoke softly, almost laughing, pointing at the wall: "Isn't this the trouble bred by your own doing?

After teaching you for so many years, I never thought you'd show no progress in seeking achievement or questioning the fruits of our work, yet when it comes to creating havoc and breeding chaos, you show remarkable talent. It seems I was mistaken."

"Teacher, have mercy, Teacher, I..."

Cun Ling's tears and snot flowed as he continued to kowtow: "Student..."

"Don't worry, I won't take out my anger on my own student. As far as I see it, this disaster is barely related to you, at best you are just incompetent.

After someone figured out your bluff and routine, like those clueless masses, you were led by the nose step by step..."

Jian Yuan lowered his gaze, "If it's incompetence, then you shall be punished."

In that instant, Cun Ling was overjoyed, tears of gratitude flooding his face.

His kneeling became even more frenzied.

"Thank you, Teacher! Thank you, Teacher!"

Jian Yuan walked away without looking back, the crowd following.

Only Cun Ling remained in the empty storeroom, still kowtowing, his tears and snot flowing.

...

Ten minutes later, upon Jian Yuan's command, the supervisors and department heads from every floor gathered on the fourth level.

In the solemn hallway, everyone stood still, each in their place, exchanging glances, anxious and uneasy, whispering quietly amongst themselves.

Of all people, Sun Ci appeared the most relaxed.

On the one hand, he had just taken office the day before, so any problems really had nothing to do with him. Besides, even as a manager, he was in charge of the trash heap...

As long as the stench didn't bubble up, who the heck cares about bugs, cattle, and horses in the garbage pile?

"It's so serious, what happened? Why does everyone look so…"

His assistant stood beside him, head lowered, curiously looking around. Sun Ci quietly gestured to him to lower his voice: "There's been an incident. With such a big scene, the Craftsman Grandmaster is probably going to deliver an ultimate punishment."

"What ultimate punishment?" Ji Jue was curious.

Sun Ci's expression twitched, turning pale; he dared not say more.

"...Just watch."

From the silence, Ji Jue heard footsteps again, so very heavy.

Jian Yuan emerged from behind the door and sat down.

Without uttering a word.

And then, at last, a metal frame was slowly wheeled to the front. Seeing this, everyone instinctively avoided it, clearing out a large space.

Next, the bare-chested Cun Ling, escorted by two craftsmen, trembling, stepped onto the platform and was secured to the metal frame.

Gulp, gulp, gulp, gulp…

The hair-raising sounds of boiling arose from beneath the metal frame, out of the sheer void of darkness, and then, faint eyes opened within that darkness, black viscous tendrils like tentacles writhed out.

Entwining and sticking to Cun Ling's body.

Sizzling sounds.

Penetrating to the marrow.

Cun Ling turned deathly pale, biting his teeth hard to endure. But he couldn't bear it any longer, he let out a terrible scream, shouting until his throat was raw, his hoarse and pitiful cry never ceased.

Beneath the dark tendrils' entanglement and Erosion, his right arm rapidly withered, shrunk, and changed, losing the color and texture of skin, revealing strange wood patterns.

In the writhing flesh, it cracked and split.

Behind him, flesh bulged into a large sack, still rapidly swelling, drawing out his spirit and 'blessing', devouring it greedily, until at last, tearing through flesh and blood.

Beneath the bones, a wooden doll covered with blood-red lines had sprouted, strikingly realistic, with a face identical to Cun Ling's—except one was in terror and trembling, the other laughing maniacally with a ferocious grin.

It had only grown halfway, the lower half yet to be fully nurtured.

The snarling Puppet embraced his neck with both arms, its eyes thirstily scanning the surroundings.

Amidst gasps of shock, Ji Jue held his breath.

A spine-chilling sensation!

Mutated...

A mutation from the Embers lineage!

Jian Yuan directly triggered the Great Calamity Gift within Cun Ling's body, intensifying the balance and incubating a Mutant creature crafted from Cun Ling's soul and flesh!

Yet, the creature was not allowed to drain Cun Ling's soul completely and finish the transformation; instead, progress was intentionally halted halfway, inflicting the maximum amount of pain in just the right measure.

Robbed of half their soul and flesh, the incompletely grown Mutant creature would henceforth become Cun Ling's constant, dire threat. A moment of complacency would lead to irreversible Mutant decay drained completely.

But at the same time... if Cun Ling managed to triumph in this struggle, fully controlling the Mutant catalyzed by their own soul, their craft and power might just leapfrog in transformation, and their connection with Zhi Fu would undergo a qualitative improvement.

But what were the odds?

How high? Almost none...

The test was too harsh, too cruel.

It was like kicking a man dying of thirst down a cliff, then placing a bottle of water on the brink.

Advance and live, hesitate and die!

Live or die, the choice is yours...

Ji Jue involuntarily shrank his neck.

Just like that, watching Cun Ling dragged away, wailing and twitching like a dying dog, never to be seen again.

Everyone, to the naked eye, breathed a sigh of relief.

Heads bowed, even more deferential.

With someone taking the blame, all was well!

What a relief it wasn't themselves...

And then, they heard Jian Yuan's voice.

For the first time since he walked in.

"It's not easy to sneak in and make a stand in a snail shell. Very clever. Your methods are also pretty. Ruthless to others, even more so to yourself... I wouldn't have thought that you didn't choose White Deer, but opted for Embers."

With his chin propped up, Jian Yuan's blue eyes glowed with Flame Light, curiously asking, "Now, you've rescued everyone, so why stay behind?"

In that instant of silence, everyone held their breath.

Eyes wide, they looked at each other, not understanding the Craftsman Grandmaster's meaning. Upon understanding, they dared not acknowledge it, feigning ignorance like quails cowering in fear.

Trembling with dread.

As Jian Yuan's gaze swept over, the crowd parted in panic to either side.

Ji Jue, too, dodged the gaze.

Only to find that focus was already sticking to him...

Following him.

His heart plummeted into the abyss.

"..."

The scarring on his face contorted slightly as he lowered his eyes submissively, seemingly mustering courage, "Craftsman Grandmaster Jian Yuan? Were you speaking with..."

"Yes, with you," Jian Yuan replied, cutting him off before he could finish.

Thump!

Next to Ji Jue, the stupefied Sun Ci already collapsed backwards, fainting in terror.

"Young and yet so daring," Jian Yuan observed, eyeing his feigned pose, "Although the application is a bit scattered, the foundation is solid. Not bad at all. You're drenched in the aura of Embers, but not deeply, so you must be new to being a craftsman, right?

A year? No, less than a year..."

He paused briefly, sighing softly, "Truly a fine material."

Ji Jue's face was a landscape of terror and trembling, "Master, I really..."

"My patience is not good, I suggest you don't waste time," Jian Yuan interrupted impatiently, "Your companion's time is running out, too."

"..."

In that moment, Ji Jue's expression darkened.

It was a helpless sigh after all.

"You really have no shame... Setting up a fishing trap here, huh?"

"To keep a household, caution is first. When something seems off, I always prepare for the worst," Jian Yuan said with a mocking smile, "Old and undying is a synonym for 'thief,' isn't it?"

To this, Ji Jue nodded in agreement.

"Funny, we, the transgressors, think the same."

In that instant, Jian Yuan's pupils narrowed slightly.

Far outside the workshop, trucks crashing on Ruins were stopped in their tracks, then meticulously searched by various Mutants and craftsmen.

Driver's seat, cargo area, under the truck...

One by one, the boxes were opened, all empty.

Not even a bomb to be found!

And underground in the workshop, the Recovery Department, the leading craftsmen broke down the door, took down every apprentice, and when they smashed through the office partition, they finally saw that empty chest.

And even the large hole in the floor leading straight to the sewer...

In the surging foul water, Mercury Spiders crawled back and forth, their backs burdened with gleaming Flame Element Explosives emitting a flashing red alarm light, their ticking sounds so piercing.

So urgent.

Causing the ones at the forefront to turn deathly pale.

And then...

Boom!!!!!

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