The days are unbearable.

Ji Jue lay sprawled on the ground, feeling dizzy, with a buzzing sound in his ears.

It seemed like mocking voices came from not far away, but they sounded muffled as if coming from underwater, indistinct. When he looked up, he saw three Ye Xian shaking their heads at him regrettably.

Oh, double vision.

Concussion, fortunately, that's a minor issue.

He punched his own head from the other side to balance and counteract the lingering turbulence inside his skull, and instantly, he felt much clearer.

Once again, he stood up from the ground.

For the umpteenth time.

"How long has it been?"

"Three minutes, you've regressed a lot."

Ye Xian shook his head, "If this is all you've got, it seems like you're still some ways from graduating."

Regressed?

Ji Jue was almost amused.

It's not even the same difficulty anymore, alright?

If at the beginning, Professor Ye would still slowly up the ante, giving Ji Jue some time to adapt, now he was directly hitting the pressure with fierce fire right from the start.

A pressure cooker stewing a rolled dog, quick and efficient, offering some small comforts and considerations from a teacher to their reckless student.

Even without using the blessed works, relying solely on the basics of material interference to bring himself to the same level as Ji Jue, facing the barehanded mastery of Fei Gong and the nascent skill support, Ye Xian effortlessly used the unique experience suppression from Embers to give Ji Jue a fully invigorating ranking experience.

"Have you rested enough?"

Ye Xian boredly beckoned, "Don't waste my time, where's your third hand? What's the point of hiding moves you've already used once?"

She glanced at the bruise around Ji Jue's right eye, feeling a bit uneasy.

It would only be symmetrical if you added another bruise on the left.

"Hurry up." She said.

"Wait a moment—"

Ji Jue supported himself on his knees and stood up, taking a deep breath, coughing violently, blood mixed with mucus and leached from his gums, spitting it all out onto the ground with a sizzling sound.

Finally, he felt a bit refreshed.

He took a deep breath, clenching his fist tightly.

"Teacher, be careful."

Ji Jue warned, "I'm going to launch a surprise attack."

Ye Xian's lips curled slightly, seemingly in mockery.

It was unclear whether he was laughing at the ridiculousness of announcing a surprise attack or the craftiness of trying to avoid making the teacher angrier and getting beaten worse by announcing it first.

No matter what, there seemed to be confidence in the 'surprise attack' plan.

In other words, he was certain: even if announced, he could still pull it off right in front of her...?

Bang!

At that instant, a huge sound erupted.

Immediately following, a heatwave of blood and fire surged and spread!

In the blink of an eye, spanning over twenty meters, Ji Jue was already near at hand!

Like a volcanic eruption, molten lava rolling, terrifying temperatures spreading from Ji Jue's body, causing his hair to curl slightly, with flames darkly intense in his pupils burst forth with brilliance.

The whole person suddenly bent down like shrimp dropped in boiling water, turning completely red.

A sound like a drum being beaten resonated, his heart pumping violently, pressing on!

The blood of the Melting Furnace surged throughout his body, reacting fiercely like the best energy source and fuel.

Full throttle!

"Again, this move..."

Ye Xian shook her head slightly, raising her hand, easily blocking Ji Jue's fist, deflecting and spreading it out with ease.

The brief contact made her feel as though her arm was set against a fully charging truck, the heavily trained fist formation almost crumbling.

This power and hardness far beyond common sense, perhaps even the Ruins of the same rank could hardly compare?

By enhancing the hardness and resilience of skin and bones through material interference and further tempering with the blood of the Melting Furnace, it should stem from Ji Jue's habitual use of Golden Iron Quality and Supreme Resilience, applied to himself conversely.

But that's not all.

Its essence, its motive force, this extraordinary speed and destructive power, its source, was Ji Jue himself.

Using the blood of the Melting Furnace as fuel, through Mechanical Descent, treating his own body as a machine, issuing commands, overloading it.

The once clumsy and crude, hard-to-practise technique, along with the increase in user control and experience, had already been initially completed?!

Faster and more exaggerated than she had anticipated, and... stronger!

Boom!

At this moment, the enemy was already near, as a storm, rushing in!

The sound of breaking through the air echoed incessantly.

Fingers jabbing, hand blades, fists, elbows striking, knees, stomps, sweeping and flying kicks...

The limbs acted independently as if they had developed their own thoughts, freely executing sophisticated and unexpected attacks unceasingly in all sorts of ways.

Yet more terrifying was that those disordered, complex attacks were completely under control, from start to finish, Ji Jue's body did not sway, nor did he lose balance.

If not constrained by the range of joint motion, Ye Xian almost felt she was fighting against four mechanical arms, even having to consider the possibility of extending the range through dislocation if necessary.

And, the third Spiritual Hand aiming unerringly at weaknesses and vulnerabilities... without prior preparation, even Ye Xian would be caught off guard?

Yet, treating oneself as an alchemy puppet?

Even the craftsmen from the Embers line, who incessantly talked about creation and ascension, wouldn't dare show off like this...

"After all, it's a lack of experience."

Ye Xian sighed lightly, stepping abruptly forward, stamping down Ji Jue's barely raised left foot, approaching to thrust her elbow, her elbow clashing with Ji Jue's ribs, sparking what sounded like metallic clashes.

The echoes resonated.

Ji Jue flew backward, yet his left foot was pinned down by Ye Xian, failing to launch, falling back like an iron target. But before he could even hit the ground, his elbow already propelled backward to prop up, bouncing off, his right leg swept horizontally, lifting a storm.

But unfortunately, too slow.

Too slow.

If it were just a bit faster...

Bang!

Without any warning, Ye Xian, stepped back!

Or rather, slid back... The friction between her shoes and the floor made a screeching sound.

She still maintained her defensive posture, but the originally pristine shirt sleeve on her arm now bore a patch of crimson, heat rising.

Most importantly, Mo Xie!

She had finally used her matrix under her student's sneak attack.

At that moment, the slow sweeping counterattack that she had overlooked suddenly accelerated, charging at a speed beyond Ji Jue's limits, forcing her to defend hastily and step back.

"How about that, teacher?"

Ji Jue kicked off with one foot, swung up from the ground in a bizarre posture, stood firmly again, and grinned: "This is my blood-boiling combo technique!"

"It's a bit too rough, isn't it?"

Ye Xian shook her head with a sigh, glanced down at her arm, flicked her fingers slightly, and immediately, the large patch of crimson attached to her sleeve rose up and disappeared without a trace.

Only the lingering heat of the bloody scent remained in the air.

"So, you were sneaking around here?"

She glanced at Ji Jue's shattered sneakers and understood instantly.

A sudden full-force burst, the secret and essence of second-stage acceleration, Blood of the Melting Furnace... actually cut the skin around the ankles from within, guided the blood to flow out, then shaped and detonated it, accelerating like a second-stage rocket.

And if the Blood of the Melting Furnace was fully triggered after detonation, the temperature it emitted would be enough to melt and scorch all steel.

In fact, there's a more convenient and quicker method of use, but this guy was afraid of getting hit and didn't dare to use it.

If not used for acceleration, but instead refined and brewed in the palm and suddenly exploded, I might be in an even more awkward position?

It's just...

"Did you master the Blood of the Melting Furnace so quickly?"

The Blood of the Melting Furnace, as passive, inherently requires subtle adaptation and gradual enhancement of control to earn its blessing, partly because it requires the craftsman to forge it a million times, and partly due to the Ember's rare mercy... If one recklessly stuffs it in, the craftsman himself might be ignited and burned by the savage power.

Normally, achieving it in three years is considered fast.

But how long did Ji Jue take to master it?

Half a month? Two weeks? Or perhaps even shorter.

Although far from fully controlling and harnessing its potential, he adequately stepped into the realm, mastering enough to earn a passing score, leaving only the slow polishing to be done.

What's more intriguing to her is that, in just a day, how did his progress leap so much?

"What exactly happened last night?"

"Uh, cough cough!!"

Ji Jue was instantly embarrassed, laughed at himself: "When I was penalized with drinks, Ye Chun caught me secretly using blessings to cheat, goaded me into performing a Godzilla fire breath for everyone."

He scratched his head, "While breathing fire, I accidentally grasped a bit of a knack."

Ye Xian remained expressionless, speechless.

As far-fetched and absurd as it seems, on this rascal...

It's normal.

"Later, if you beg for mercy, remember to perform for me."

She slowly said: "Under your t-shirt, on your chest, you're hiding a lead layer? If I'm not mistaken, it should be to guard against the Dissociation Technique, right?"

Since Ji Jue had already revealed his cards, she didn't mind uncovering a couple more for him.

"Lead blocks aren't fluid, not easy to hide, however, considering its counteractive nature with mercury, it should be the material you intend to use for solid alchemy, right?"

"...Correct."

Ji Jue became increasingly embarrassed.

"Good idea, the sulfur reaction is too violent, salt too fragmented and hard to integrate, comparatively as a poor conductor for spiritual quality, under prepared circumstances, lead as material is more effective for practicing solid alchemy than mercury."

Professor Ye had insight like sharp flames, speaking gently, "Controlling yourself with Mechanical Descent and applying defense at the weakest points for Dissociation Technique, should be to buy time for advantage before the Dissociation Technique breaches the spiritual isolation inside the lead blocks."

Completely seeing through Ji Jue's little tricks.

After all, after hearing a dog bark enough times, you can discern some patterns.

On this, Ji Jue could only sigh helplessly.

"Alright, that's about enough."

After exposing the student's small cleverness, Ye Xian wasn't interested in going through any procedures, told him: "Since you've grasped the basics to this extent, it's about time to teach you something new."

At that moment, Ji Jue was ecstatic, yet also simultaneously shocked and wary.

As if facing a formidable foe.

It's widely known, Professor Ye's advocacy for a stick approach education, especially when dealing with this rascal Ji Jue—teach them through experience once if verbal lessons aren't enough.

Especially notable in the Spiritual Attack and Defense Class!

Typically after saying this, what's in store for Ji Jue is a deluxe combo of dragon fruit, CPR, and an upsetting kick.

Yet, Ji Jue couldn't resist the allure of the carrot.

"Teacher... can we learn somewhere else?"

Ji Jue mustered the courage to ask, "I feel like this environment isn't quite suitable for teaching."

To this, Ye Xian smiled kindly: "If you want to learn on Cliff City Avenue or in Mingyue Square, I don't mind."

One has to choose between physical death and social death.

Surely she's angry, right! Right?!

Ji Jue shivered with chills: I already said it was a sneak attack, it's the teacher's carelessness, how can you blame me for being underhanded?

"What are you waiting for?"

Ye Xian finally gestured with her hand, signaling him to bring it on: "If you hesitate any longer, I might change my mind."

Ji Jue took a deep breath.

Mustered his courage.

Thus, he took the first step forward.

And that's where it ended.

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