The afternoon sun was bright, and the sound of waves echoed from afar.

In the winter sky, white clouds floated endlessly, the sun spreading its halo, dispelling dampness and cold.

Flowers were blooming, birds were singing.

While some poor souls were almost out of breath...

Bang!

The workshop door slowly opened, revealing a tattered figure struggling to move, writhing on the ground, barely breathing.

And beneath him, the cashmere carpet sizzled, leaving a scorched yellow trail wherever he went.

The heat spread.

"Trash, trash... Give me trash..."

Ji Jue reached out with great difficulty, pleading with the person on the sofa, his eyes blurry with tears: "Just a bite, Senior, just one bite..."

Ye Chun lay on the sofa, resting her chin on her hand, gloating over his misfortune.

"Hmm? Who's talking? Sorry, I can't hear you."

Her fingers played with a piece of scrap just taken from the warehouse, dangling it in front of Ji Jue, but never giving it to him: "Maybe the Chief Craftsman who speaks is too majestic for tiny ants like me to see... Hey, what's going on? A few days ago, he was bragging about easily claiming the top honors, and today he's disappeared. Do you have any ideas?"

"It must be those evil cult!"

Ji Jue defiantly shifted the blame, gritting his teeth as he tried to grab the helmet from Ye Chun's hand, but always missed by inches. Until Ye Chun finally had enough fun and slightly lowered it, her smile grew more malicious: "Want it? If you want it, then..."

Before she finished, a sharp gaze from deep within the workshop seemed to watch her, curious about what nonsense she was going to utter.

It made the lazy fish instinctively shiver.

Instantly, Ji Jue grabbed the waste helmet and began refining it.

Under the increasingly proficient Dissociation Technique, the intact helmet shattered instantly, turning into dust, as Superior Essence like snowflakes gathered, falling into Ji Jue's hands.

To merge with his soul.

"Hoo..."

Ji Jue let out a sigh of relief, collapsing on the floor.

Unable to move any longer.

The high temperature around him gradually dissipated.

Only Ye Chun's expression grew heavier, agony piercing her heart.

"Didn't you promise me you'd stop eating trash?"

She lifted her hand, wiping away nonexistent tears, taking advantage of Ji Jue's inability to resist, angrily rubbing his head: "Quit it, Ji Jue, getting hooked on this stuff will ruin your life! The family can't afford to buy you garbage to eat anymore, boohoohoo... Senior will go out and wait tables to buy you trash..."

Ji Jue rolled his eyes, unwilling to deal with her.

Wasn't it just last week when he accidentally bragged in front of her about his easy victory claiming the top spot, fiercely rebuking Old Deng?

Such a broad mind, yet so narrow-hearted!

He sighed silently, feeling time cut like a knife. The once cool and considerate Senior had vanished, now replaced only by a lazy bug who lived each day just to make potato chips expensive!

And without noticing, a hat made from a stack of potato chip bags was placed on his head, while next to him, Ye Chun cheerfully intoned: "With this crown, you'll become a lifelong trash collector, never able to touch any finished products again..."

Smack!

The hat and hand were slapped away.

Leaving only a face full of salt and pepper.

Ji Jue finally regained his breath, getting up from the floor, still dizzy.

Ye Xian walked out of the workshop with his hands behind his back, gave Ji Jue a glance, then returned to his special seat, taking a sip from the strong tea steeped meticulously by Ye Xian before asking: "What's the situation?"

"Let me see..."

Ji Jue raised his hand, slapped his forehead, and the spiritual wisdom within the electronic thermometer existing in his soul reported the information: "The current temperature is 54, still dropping, the regular temperature has recently maintained at 41, and when I lost control, it soared to over ninety degrees..."

Ye Xian snorted coldly, shook his head, without any sympathy.

Serves him right.

This is the consequence of taking shortcuts.

Whether in academia or craftsmanship, the most important thing is to make steady progress, even if difficult, each overlapping footprint still holds its significance.

Rapid progress comes with its price, bringing endless troubles.

Like castles in the air, collapsing with the wind, crumbling with the tide.

Now Ji Jue, due to the Heavenly Furnace, was dragged up and quickly raised in this way, just losing temperature control, was already fortunate among unfortunate, not even a side effect.

Just a bit embarrassing, not much trouble.

It seems that Spiritual Attack and Defense Class still needs more attendance, Ji Jue this bastard dog, gets too deep into things, hardly remembers the lesson after pain. Such minor faults provide no real alert.

If he doesn't have a little bit more of a lesson now, who knows what huge problems he'll cause later, if there's nothing left of him, it's a good thing.

The root cause of all this hassle boils down to just one point.

The blessing, "Blood of the Melting Furnace" lost control.

The blessing, which ideally requires accumulation over time and subtle transformation to slowly change the craftsman's physical condition into a qualitative leap, was suddenly inserted into the soul and body.

With a blink of an eye, the electric bike transforms into the current small bull horse.

No post-effects, what a joke!

If others were as reckless as Ji Jue, they might have directly self-destructed on the spot. Unlike Ji Jue, whose feedback and Superior Essence came entirely from his own achievement, there is no conflict or contradiction, resulting in minor repercussions instead of an explosion on the spot, which many people could never attain.

— Body temperature loss of control.

His flesh and soul have not yet adapted to such a radical transformation and are slowly digesting it. During this period, Ji Jue's body temperature consistently stays above fifty degrees. If accidentally out of control, it can easily soar to several hundred degrees within a short time, turning from a living person into a torch, self-igniting instantly.

Although it wouldn't lead to death, suffering is unavoidable.

Ji Jue thought hard for a long time, still unable to determine: was this post-effect a mere accident, or was the Heavenly Furnace old dog taking the opportunity to retaliate?

Considering the old dog's narrow-mindedness, there's no need to wonder—intentional or not, it was intentional!

Every time his body temperature went out of control, a schadenfreude laughter seemed to echo by his ears: Next, I'm going to let an unlucky kid suffer a little...

Solving it is actually simple.

The cure: eat more, drink more, rest more; human cells entirely replace themselves once every 120 days or so. By then, the adaptation would naturally commence. If it doesn't work the first time, then try again.

The method of treating symptoms is also simple: use the Dissociation Technique to dismantle scrap, take some Superior Essence to enhance the effect of Mechanical Descent, forcibly suppress it with one's soul, and that's it.

Now, relying on dismantling scraps, the progress bar marked [4] on his watch is over halfway. Once fully charged, his soul and ability will be enough to embrace and control this fourth blessing, smoothly transitioning seamlessly to Rank [5].

After all, typically, Chosen Ones seek blessings only when their spiritual essence is abundant and fully developed, cases like Ji Jue's are exceedingly rare.

Receiving blessings too early is, in some sense, a hassle.

In earlier days, Ji Jue would absentmindedly have nosebleeds, and even spitting had to be done carefully, lest any gum bleeds igniting a fire.

Sometimes, before even opening his eyes in the morning, his pillow and quilt would start to burn. He ends up having to weld a bed frame himself and sleep on iron sheet.

Nowadays, with just a thought from Ji Jue, his blood can be raised to several hundred degrees.

This isn't even the limit—with complete digestion of Blood of the Melting Furnace, the maximum temperature of his blood can be elevated to about two thousand degrees, surpassing molten steel.

Yet this is merely the most rudimentary application of the blessing.

As another passive type of blessing, Blood of the Melting Furnace isn't as broad in application as Heavenly Skill, Spirit First, and Governance Axis.

Instead, it focuses on Embers and oneself.

Under the effect of Blood of the Melting Furnace, his control over the furnace's heat has become completely instinctive, elevating all creation and craftsmanship to brand new heights.

Through Material Interference and combining with spiritual essence, his blood is undergoing thorough replacement and qualitative transformation currently, turning into an excellent spiritual essence carrier, with more than a week taken for Ji Jue's natural recovery to barely complete the conversion of one-third of his blood.

Once the transformation of Blood of the Melting Furnace is complete, it becomes a rare and valuable material used in Alchemy for Ascension, which imparts spirituality to materials and enhances quality.

Even without forging, it is the perfect pairing for Fluid Alchemy, even more adaptable than ordinary Pure Mercury. Nowadays, Ji Jue idly lets out some blood, infusing it into mercury.

On one side, increasing reserves; on the other, reducing repercussions and side effects.

For how long can anyone endure living through the days where a mere sneeze could lead to spontaneous combustion?

Thanks to this, Ji Jue has not yet begun research on the Xiang Sword Theory.

Without achieving absolute control over oneself, starting such dangerous classes now might end up sacrificing oneself to the sword firsthand, leading to becoming infamously known for a curled dog sword.

What he can do now, is to thoroughly memorize all the ancient books and sword diagrams inherited from the Ye Family thrown at him by the teacher, and delve into pondering them.

Xiang Sword Theory consists of two parts, Han Xiang Chapter for operation and Sword Discourse for theory and analysis, both indispensable.

Times have changed, yet the inheritance remains original, containing numerous metaphors, codes, and references. To avoid misunderstanding, Ji Jue finds himself going over ancient and classical languages yet again, leaving his mind full of archaic expressions.

Like this, he can only comprehend a tenth, knowing the how but not the why.

"Slow down if you don't understand. After all, time is on our side."

After answering a few questions, Ye Xian put down his teacup: "Previous generation's inheritance may not be truth, Xiang Sword Theory indeed holds ingenuity, but times have changed long ago. For several hundreds of years, it's not rare to learn to the point of deviation or commit oneself to Zhi Fu. Yet, a Saint has not appeared since."

Ye Xian had long looked beyond the invaluable family inheritance.

Continuing it is enough; what form it takes is irrelevant.

"Times change, blindly sticking to old formulas all life only leads to self-binding. What you need to care about is whether you can digest it, can you use it as a stepping stone to glimpse further landscapes."

"... Teacher, aren't your expectations for me a bit too high?" Ji Jue chuckled bitterly.

Let alone using it as a stepping stone, he is about to be crushed under theory alone, unable to crawl out.

Overly distant aspirations, sometimes, are indeed burdens.

Ye Xian glanced at him, half-smiling: "Don't you wish to give a punch to that old fool's face one day?"

"That makes sense!"

Ji Jue's eyes widened, instantaneously, his fighting spirit surged.

Surged indeed, he wants to take down ten rotten fishes handily! Muahaha!

Ye Chun, sprawling on the sofa, suddenly became vigilant, clutching the shrimp sticks in her arms.

Her phone rang.

Ye Chun's phone.

If you find any errors ( broken links, non-standard content, etc.. ), Please let us know < report chapter > so we can fix it as soon as possible.