When they set out, the sun was blazing, and the sky was clear.

But in less than half an hour, dark clouds covered the firmament, and then, amidst the thick and heavy cold wind, earth-shattering thunder erupted, echoing between the mountains.

Countless rocks tumbled down from the mountainside, cutting off the roads.

However, even the roads were nothing more than narrow remnants or naturally formed traces. In this highland where mountains crisscross like blades, the so-called 'roads' were just barely passable tracks for wheels.

Then, as bean-sized raindrops carrying a bone-chilling cold fell from the sky, all roads and mountain surfaces quickly turned muddy. Landslides boomed and thunder crashed, intertwining without pause.

In merely a morning, after leaving the outskirts of the highlands and delving into Kunwu, the Little Ox's mobility only managed over three hundred kilometers... Just imagine, any slope, as long as it's not ninety degrees, could be easily tackled by its torque, showing how perilous the terrain was.

Even worse was the ever-changing landscape and the raging mountain torrents in the torrential rain.

Initially, many roads were born in the corners and crevices between a few mountains, but now they've all transformed into riverbeds for the floodwaters. Above the sky covered by dark clouds, besides the eerie brilliance of lightning flashes crisscrossing, not a hint of sunlight could be seen.

In pitch darkness, the whole world was shrouded in a heavy curtain of rain.

Before the signal was completely lost, the radio only managed to convey the last disaster report—due to ocean current changes and maritime storms, a chain reaction caused by a massive influx of cold air heading north had brought unprecedented rains unseen in decades to more than half of the Federation. Hai Province had already issued a heavy rainfall disaster warning, the city hall was shut down, and most production had come to a halt…

The torrential rain poured incessantly, sometimes pausing for several minutes before brewing an even more violent storm.

Midway up the mountain, near a stable rock layer, Ji Jue pushed open the rear door of the vehicle. In the roaring wind and rain that gushed in, he launched the third drone.

But once it was out, in a few minutes, it quickly lost signal.

Falling somewhere in the distance.

Boom!!!

Amidst the massive sound of boulders collapsing, a flash of lightning illuminated the bizarre figure gliding silently between the mountains, a giant creature stretching several kilometers long slithered past.

Its segments, resembling pale and eerie snake bones, writhed; neither head nor tail was visible, nor any limbs, like a phantom floating in mid-air, slipping nimbly in the storm and rain, moving away.

Sometimes it dived into the clouds to hunt for massive prey, sometimes it rode the gale into ravines and mountain rifts.

Quickly, it vanished without a trace.

Leaving Ji Jue drenched in sweat.

[Disaster], [Threat], [Termination], [Annihilation], [End]... The five-tier rating for a Disaster Beast, each tier gap being a terrifying chasm.

The one that just passed by was at least a Threat level, maybe even a Termination level!

That alone was the second one they saw today...

Even though Ji Jue prided himself on having seen grand spectacles, having slain a Nether Sea Worm, he wasn't so inflated as to confuse the virtual with the real.

A teacher with a big nose once said, no matter how strong you are in the game, it's fake... If Ji Jue were put before a worm, he wouldn't utter a fart; he'd roll as far as he could.

As he currently stands, he might be able to take on Threat or Disaster levels, but if he were to face a Termination level without bringing out his trump cards, he wouldn't stand a chance. And even if he did bring them out, any adversary lurking nearby might seize the opportunity and end him in one blow.

Luckily, before leaving the snowy plains, he had taken out Sky City's contestant.

Otherwise, with that woman Maya's capability, entering these mountains, who knows how many Disaster Beasts she could incite to drown Ji Jue.

"Speaking of which, there's a question I've never quite understood."

In the rear compartment, An Ning squatted on the ground. Though facing the same gusts and downpours, while Ji Jue was soaked through, she remained dry. At this moment, she watched Ji Jue's futile attempt to wipe himself dry, her gaze landing on his hand.

That extra ring.

"What is it?" Ji Jue asked perplexedly; it couldn't be that his operation was too bizarre, directly stripping the adversary and turning it into gear, scaring her, could it?

"Clearly, Ji Jue, you're a craftsman, right?"

An Ning was curious, "But you have surprisingly few pieces of equipment."

Besides the Double Blessing Fluid Mercury, Ji Jue's equipment consisted of little more than a Transcendent Vision ring, an Ancient's Mouth necklace, a Bone Knife, a bell, and a Hai Xiang Mirror stashed away... The enhancement blessings and Pan Ying on Little Ox weren't even really his own equipment, and consumables like bullets didn't need to be mentioned.

Although the quality wasn't low, and these items already made him quite wealthy among the average Chosen Ones, they didn't match his identity as a craftsman, not to mention Ji Jue hailed from a renowned school with extraordinary skills.

"I also want to be dressed in gold and adorned with silver, but alas, the conditions aren't there, the financial situation has only been decent for just a month or two," Ji Jue laughed self-deprecatingly, shrugging, "Besides, how long have I been studying alchemy anyway?"

If one were to meticulously craft a piece, the time a craftsman consumes is often counted in years—material selection, proportioning, design, the state of blessings, adjustments and guidance of the spiritual structure, and the control of the final effect. And the countless details involved in the four parts of the creation process: Ascension, Purification, Extraction, and Integration.

It often turns out that it's hard to achieve the desired effect, leading to dismantling it and starting over again.

Since becoming a craftsman, Ji Jue's only formal work was Pan Ying. Yet it was a semi-finished product, and that was after a considerable amount of precious materials and a lengthy duration to complete the basics.

Even if Ji Jue didn't have the same perfectionism as his teacher Ye Xian, and adhered to "good enough," it still needed to be presentable, enough not to be ridiculed by peers.

The convenience of Mechanical Descent is self-explanatory, relying on it, Ji Jue could solve over ninety percent of his problems, the remaining part needed targeted strengthening.

Quality over quantity.

Tools are the craftsman's aid, not a burden. Even Ye Xian, besides the Ghost Craft and Ominous Sequence, would only carry two or three Blessed Creations on him.

One must know, using Blessed Creations isn't without cost.

Essentially, it's blessing carried through materials, combining via spiritual circuit construction—like an external general-purpose matrix plugin, connecting to the Chosen One's matrix, thus obtaining effects and functions beyond those of one's original matrice and blessings.

This means that no matter how good the external graphics card or equipment is, it still consumes CPU and motherboard resources, and requires power, with greater exaggeration.

Likewise, Chosen Ones must bear the burden brought by additional blessings.

As for some equipment that doesn't require user infusion and mastery, capable of self-restoring spiritual essence, of self-operation, and containing Spiritual Wisdom for flexible thinking, adaptability, and coordination... Haha, such equipment, even large workshops might have only one or two pieces, barely enough for their own use, let alone for sale.

If it weren't for being cheaply uplifted by his grandmaster, Ji Jue would probably have bankrupted himself trying to create something like Isis in reality.

"Even with Fei Gong available, allowing alchemy anytime and anywhere, the creation of Blessed Creations isn't that simple of a matter." Ji Jue returned to the driver's seat and said slowly, "Sometimes not every penny buys a penny's worth, but if no effort or mental exertion is put into it, a masterpiece is out of the question."

"Hmm?"

An Ning sensed the implication of Ji Jue, her gaze fell on the ring on his right hand: "Are you saying, this doesn't count either? It looks very exquisite, doesn't it?"

"..."

Ji Jue's expression suddenly grew complicated: "At best, it's just a semi-complete."

Even if it appeared perfect to An Ning, in comparison with Ji Jue's initial goal, it could only be described as small but charming.

[Poison Heart], that's what Ji Jue named it.

Consisting of three blessings, specifically designed for defense against Ascension and Heart Core types, as for its purpose, it could be said to be achieved, even far exceeded.

As an analogy, it's like the substitution doll used by Maya previously—Ji Jue, by means of spiritual essence refining and drawing from some of the experiences of creating Isis, created a composition within which an empty virtual spiritual wisdom fused, functioning akin to a fragmented soul shard.

When encountering Heart Core's mind reading and consciousness linkage, Ascension's spiritual impact and soul shock blasts, it could take Ji Jue's place in bearing the attack and erosion, ensuring Ji Jue's safety.

Not just that, [Eternal Forget] blessing stabilized the internal soul structure, preventing self-collapse, while [Hidden Resentment and Grudge] allowed it to act as a container for vast amounts of negative emotions and Mutated Pollution. The operation of Mutated Alchemy paired with Fluid Alchemy's Purification nearly created an artificial malevolent spirit, growing fiercer day by day with spiritual infusion. As for [Desire Fire Burning Body], it offered an optimal outlet for completely triggering and releasing the Mutated Pollution and negative emotions.

It's as if Ji Jue equipped his soul with a protective moat, filling it with piranhas, strong acids, and all sorts of unspeakable ghostly creatures; should anyone be foolish enough to approach, one's consciousness would be greeted with an unprecedented, bitter delight.

Moreover, when necessary, Ji Jue could proactively release the dams, indiscriminately unleashing the pollutants, granting everyone a pleasant ranked experience of butterfly swimming in a cesspool!

From a functional perspective, it not only gave Ji Jue a soul defense but also effectively compensated for Ji Jue's flaw as a You Sui secret agent in being unable to widely disseminate Mutated Pollution.

Even Jian Yuan would have to approve.

Unfortunately, it still couldn't change its awkward status as a semi-finished product, or rather...

A failure.

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.