"Tch."

Ji Jue had nothing to say.

After all, he was dealing with an old Melting Furnace, who became craftier with age, let alone a Craftsman Grandmaster of the You Sui lineage? After a single glance, he saw through everything more accurately than if he had unpacked it!

Given the situation, at this moment, Ji Jue couldn't be bothered to resist any longer.

He glanced at old Melting Furnace's monocle, lying sprawled on the ground, "Just kill me!"

"Pity to kill."

Jian Yuan said, "Better to recycle waste; it also counts as following the path of Embers."

True enough.

To the Embers, the Chosen One was a trove of treasures.

To someone like Zhi Fu, an old Melting Furnace, there was no need to mention any moral boundaries.

Flesh, bones, and soul aside, Heavenly Skill and Spirit First are rare commodities, not to mention the out-of-print Non-attack.

To kill him outright would be a shameful waste of heaven's gifts.

Just as Ji Jue was about to make a desperate last stand, he saw Jian Yuan wave his hand, and suddenly a pile of materials fell from midair, raining down on him like a downpour, completely burying him.

Only his propped-up head was visible.

Bewildered.

Jian Yuan pointed at the Melting Furnace, "Process these within the time limit."

Process?

Ji Jue was almost laughably angry: Process my ass!

I came here undercover; I'll die if I must, but you actually expect me to work?!

Dream on!

Ji Jue snorted coldly, "What if I say no?"

Bang!

He was thrown back.

Without any sign or trace, spiritual energy interwove in the air, circuits overlapped, turning into a nail that pierced his throat, pinning him to the ground.

Then it disappeared without a trace.

Only a row of fine, chilling rune chains emerged above his neck.

Restraining both body and soul, shackling blessings and the Matrix.

In an instant, taking control of everything.

It was like a blade at Ji Jue's throat, capable of claiming his life at any moment.

"All these years, I've been called the Corrosive Furnace, partly in mockery of my incompatibility with the Heavenly Furnace, and partly in recognition that indeed, I excel at tailoring my teachings to the student."

Jian Yuan looked down, eyeing him, "I always have a way with disobedient apprentices."

He asked, "Want to try?"

"I surrender!"

Ji Jue raised his hands without a second thought, "The Embers' path is shallow; the way of Zhi Fu is profound and intricate! I abandon the dark for the light! I welcome the Great Calamity!

There's just one problem; I can't even stand up right now..."

He tentatively asked, "Could you possibly return my walking stick to me?"

"You mean those two unfinished pieces?"

Jian Yuan's smile was increasingly mocking, "Isn't the knife you have enough for you? Besides, don't you have Non-attack? Go make yourself one."

"Ah, my repentance comes from the heart!"

Ji Jue's heart clenched, his smile growing more sycophantic, "Under your watchful eye, I, a mere ant, wouldn't dare stir up any trouble, would I? Why the need to guard so closely?"

"Why not try to resist?"

Jian Yuan warmly suggested, "Who knows, I might like the tough ones."

Ji Jue shook his head emphatically, "No way, good birds select trees for nesting, and those who absorb the mist are the truly exceptional! To serve under your guidance is a blessing I've cultivated over many lifetimes."

The more he spoke, the more agitated he became, thumping his chest with a resounding clang, "I couldn't be happier, to the extreme!"

"Good, I'm starting to like you."

Jian Yuan gave him a final look and turned to leave, "Work hard; I'm looking forward to your comeback."

To hell with your comeback!

Ji Jue rolled his eyes and collapsed onto his back.

Done for, doomed!

The worst-case scenario in the plan had unfolded—he was exposed under Jian Yuan's watch.

Workshop, workshop, workshop...

Why do craftsmen dream every night of building their own workshops? A craftsman within their workshop is omnipotent!

And ants in the workshop, no matter how tiny, are still in the workshop.

It doesn't matter under normal circumstances, but once spotted, isn't crushing or rolling them up just a thought away?

Ji Jue never entertained any illusions, even performing tricks under the Melting Furnace's gaze, he only had one shot—if he was unnoticed.

He intended to seize this opportunity to take down Cun Ling, then find another chance to attach himself to a craftsman, preferably finding a way to get close to the Sky Rail Engine.

But the one thing he hadn't anticipated was that Jian Yuan would be so vigilant, revealing his cover at the slightest disturbance.

The plan had succeeded, but he had lost himself.

The silver lining, though, was that he wasn't thrown into a cell awaiting a violent death. Nor was he dismembered into character fragments to be sent down an assembly line.

Instead, Jian Yuan had tethered him right under his own watch...

This had a certain charm, akin to an investigative agent undercover in a sweatshop.

Facing atrocious criminals, her identity accidentally exposed, all that awaited her was... huh, to be strapped on an assembly line and work to death? Isn't there something wrong with this plot?

Is this really what everyone wants to watch!

And just what crafty play was that old Melting Furnace, Jian Yuan, really making?

Why bother?

For someone as insignificant as myself, why play such tricks? Surely, he doesn't really plan to take me in as an apprentice, does he?

The thought alone almost made Ji Jue laugh.

Now, although he was trapped, he didn't have to worry about being skinned and bled out on an assembly line for a canning, and although Jian Yuan had seen through him after one CT scan...

Weren't there still things he hadn't figured out?

He sorted through the materials on the ground, his eyelids faintly lifting, his peripheral vision glancing toward the corner. The CEO, perched there boredly, raised a paw to lick it. Around his neck hung Ji Jue's watch.

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