Easily having overcome countless trials that he anticipated, Ji Jue scrutinized his achievements, unable to suppress a burst of joyous laughter. Excited as he was, he also couldn't help but feel regret and wistfulness.

Even for someone with Ji Jue's abilities, such a creation could already be considered inconceivable, the stuff of fantasy. But compared to Professor Ye's techniques that he had just experienced, it was full of mistakes and blunders, an awkward imitation.

It wasn't on the same level at all; he was left trailing so far behind that he couldn't even see the dust.

But so what?

Awkward can be adorable, and small can be mighty!

In the spiritual essence absorption that followed the fragment's self-destruction, he not only used his own soul and perception to understand the processes and reasons for his previous fifty-one failures but also personally experienced Professor Ye's terrifyingly natural skills, akin to Creation of Heaven!

It was as if he had transformed into a true creator.

All changes, all transformations rose from the Melting Furnace… he merely needed to reach out to pick whatever he wished, and with a flip of his hand, he could recreate the universe.

The sudden enlightenment was intoxicating.

But more importantly, it was a more precious experience than hands-on teaching could ever provide. That brief moment was like a lighthouse suddenly rising in the long night, guiding Ji Jue who had been going in circles, showing him the road and direction.

What he needed to do was to rush forward while the memory of this light was still clear in his mind, putting forth all his strength, running as fast as he could!

Once again, he picked up the fragments.

Ji Jue, indifferent to the piece he had just finished, drew from the spare Spiritual Storage in his watch and began the inscription anew. Meanwhile, his other hand turned to the latter pages of the gigantic bronze book beside the operating table.

While his realization had not yet faded and memories were still distinct, this time he tried to engrave the emblem and totem of another from the Twelve Superior.

He was attempting to control all energies, birth and annihilation, silence and explosion, elements, and storms—the Superior known as "Entropy"!

And so it continued until half-past midnight.

When Ye Chun came for the sixth time to urge him to finish work and return home, amidst heartfelts pleas like, "It's time to rest," "Work a little longer then," "It's good enough, you're already pretty impressive, many big shots are not your match now," "For fuck's sake, stop being so obsessive," Ji Jue reluctantly, frequently looking back, mounted his little ox-horse and left the workshop.

The extra five hours of work felt more productive than the long spans of practice prior, perhaps dozens or hundreds of times more so. Before that vibrant insight vanished completely, Ji Jue had done his utmost to retain some understanding and gather even more experiences from his failures.

In the end, he never managed to depict the complete totem of "Entropy."

At times during the process, he felt he was just one step away from success, but as he tried harder, he seemed to be going in the wrong direction, a frustrating feeling akin to trying to draw a tiger but ending up with a dog.

He knew that continuing would probably yield little gain.

After digesting the entire Experience Bag from Professor Ye, he hummed a tune, whistled, bought a bowl of stir-fried noodles from a streetside stall, and then without hesitation… he headed home.

Quickly to wash up and sleep, to continue striving tomorrow!

"Fuck!"

Meanwhile, in the distance, hidden in the flow of cars, the middle-aged man Qi Qin wielding a camcorder, froze in place, watching as Ji Jue returned home.

In disbelief.

What the fuck are you doing?

Screwing in screws at the professor's factory until midnight; people need to relax and have fun, right? Damn it, so you don't club or flirt or rank up, fine, but at least call that older sister who's behind you and invite her out for some FUN!

I had my camera all ready, and you have me shooting your fucking industriousness?!

Is that what everyone came to see?!

The man who had endured a whole day behind Ji Jue was losing his mind—none of this was logical—the noodle stall girl had such large boobs, and he didn't even give them a glance! Even when she tried to upsell you to make an extra buck, you wouldn't even add an egg!

Are you fucking human?

Calm down, don't rush, patience yields results, surveillance catches big news.

Qi Qin took a deep breath to soothe his irritable mood; only when Ji Jue's room light finally went out did he leave his vehicle to pee, use the bathroom, then buy and eat a bowl of instant noodles.

Finally, some peace.

At least a good night's sleep was possible.

He closed his eyes.

In the same deep of the night, some were sleepless.

"Holy shit—"

In the quiet factory area, Ye Chun, having finished washing up and still wrapping her hair, was yawning as she tidied up the workshop. But when she reached to pick up a fragment from the table, she froze.

As if struck by lightning.

Ye Chun swore she had never opened her eyes so wide in her life!

That irregular fragment, after Ji Jue's ravaging, had developed an obscure crack, yet at this moment, it shimmered with an almost imperceptible pure white phantom light, glowing faintly in the moonlight after the lights were turned off.

Even more unbelievable to her… someone had, with insane effort and borderline hospitalizable compulsiveness, forcibly etched over twenty Superior Emblems into the small palm-sized area!

They were all Ascension!

That afternoon, when she checked on him, Ji Jue was still a rookie, clueless about everything, not understanding a thing. Unexpectedly, in just four to five hours, he had far surpassed what other apprentices would agonize over for years.

And what was even more terrifying…

Through the faint marks, she could vaguely discern her aunt's style from years ago?

Especially the final few totem emblems, their finishing curves were distinctly her aunt's signature style… Even if imitating, was it necessary to replicate that too?!

What did you come here to learn?

To forge?

"Auntie, please go home."

Suppressing the urge to scream, she dialed the phone: "There's a freak here!"

"...Normal."

After finding out what had happened, a long silence ensued on the other end of the phone, but in the end, the response came calmly, as if it wasn't a surprise at all.

Professor Ye said, "Just let him continue, don't worry about the extra stuff."

The phone call was then disconnected.

Ye Chun was left alone in the silence, face to face with the fragment.

After a long while, he turned back, gazed at his tiny reflection in the glass, and after abandoning the fragment, he couldn't help but let out a light sigh.

"Damn, monster."

"What the fuck?"

In the same night, Ji Jue, who had just closed his eyes in his old bedroom, suddenly sprang up from the bed.

He had finally noticed that something seemed a bit off.

He had been so focused on the growth of his alchemy during the day that he almost missed...

Under the moonlight, he raised his right hand to his eyes, scrutinizing and seriously distinguishing the [1] on the watch face that was faintly tinged with gold.

He squinted, incredulous, "Is this damn progress bar finally moving?"

If his memory served him right, that morning the [1] had barely any other color above it, but now, at the very top, there appeared to be some unmistakable pure gold.

To put it bluntly, it was like some blue icon's slow download software suddenly started moving.

Although it was at a speed of 1Kb, 2Kb, at least it was no longer 'resource unresponsive' or 'download not available due to relevant laws'...

From 0% to 1%, he had once again achieved the great leap from zero to one!

Trivial and feeble, but so conspicuous.

"Yippee!!!"

Ji Jue couldn't hold back a cheer with his arms raised, "Hell yeah!!!"

But why?

Could it be that his improvement in alchemy had spurred the growth of his ability? But that didn't seem right; when he began practicing alchemy the day before, the watch really had shown no sign of life.

He lay back down on his bed, carefully recalling everything that had happened throughout the day, and the image that came to mind was of him reaching out to extract the remaining essence and spiritual matter from the self-destructing fragment.

In the end, all of the essence was devoured by his ability!

"No way, dude, are you serious?!"

He felt the emblem inside his soul, lightweight and turning effortlessly, unable to understand.

Could it only grow by absorbing the essence of alchemy items?

How is this crappy ability like a character in some card-drawing mobile game? Grinding dungeons and slaying monsters are useless, and you have to feed it other equipment and characters to level up?

Is it that when you finally reach max level, you need to consume several of the same characters to Ascend?

Don't tell me that when I strengthen to +11, +12, there will be a chance of equipment destruction?

Ji Jue was about to despair over a world where one must pay to become stronger and suddenly felt like slamming his head against a wall – aren't true legends not supposed to be like this?

But oddly enough... what appeared before him was the very warehouse that had filled him with despair during the day, and that exaggerated pile of waste large enough to bury at least a dozen of himself.

If he remembered correctly, Professor Ye seemed to have said that those useless things were for him to practice with, right?

At that moment, Ji Jue's drowsiness was completely gone.

Turning to look towards the workshop, his eyes were ablaze with fire, as if he saw countless scantily clad beauties beckoning him, inviting him to hurry over and play...

What junk pile?!

That's cleansed experience points!

His mind was left with only one word.

——[Grind]!

From that day on, the stalker's nightmare truly began.

The person had been sending reports until past two in the morning before closing his eyes. Then, at five-thirty the next morning, he discovered... that bastard Ji Jue had left the house!

He hadn't even changed his clothes or washed his hair, just washed his face, brushed his teeth, and bought a baozi at the door.

Then, he headed straight for the factory!

The way he rushed as if fearing he'd be too late to grab free eggs made Qi Qin feel his worldview being shattered – but why, why the rush?

Brother, just sleep a little longer, will you? If you don't sleep, I still need to!

Why are you running off to the factory so early? What are you after?

He even bought coffee and couldn't wait to work like a horse?!

In the wind, a distant voice was heard...

Leaving the despondent middle-aged man standing there, rooted to the spot.

He was laughing maniacally!

Ji Jue grinned, throttling his scooter to the max, racing in the morning's dawn light.

A new day, a new beginning.

It's time to screw bolts joyfully again!

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