Chapter 34: Grinding

There are twelve Virtues, the watch face is divided into twelve hours, and Chosen Ones below the level of Heavenly Human are also divided into twelve stages.

Below the Heavenly Human level, Chosen Ones are divided into twelve stages, covering four major realms: Calling, Metamorphosis, Rebirth, and Transcendence. If placed on a watch face, each sector is exactly three hours.

Each stage represents one's height moving one step closer to the Virtues, and each realm represents a terrifying change that is completely different and earth-shattering from the previous one.

According to Ji Jue's knowledge and speculation, Sister Wen should be an out-and-out Transcendence big shot, a master of masters. Just how high she was, Ji Jue couldn't tell at all. As for that old wretch Lawrence, perhaps he was in the Rebirth realm, between the sixth and ninth stages, having completely shed the weaknesses of mortal things; even if he were ground into dust, he could instantly grow back.

Unfortunately, he, who was single-mindedly trying to break through to the Transcendence realm using dragon blood, met the even more unreasonable Wen Wen and was completely evaporated by dragon thunder, from his physical body to his soul.

And Ji Jue... was still a little shrimp at Level 1 who didn't even have a matrix.

A blank slate among blank slates, a newcomer among newcomers.

The kind who had just created an account and was still looking up strong professions online.

For a severe "grind-addict" obsessive-compulsive like Ji Jue, there was nothing more painful than seeing a progress bar that wouldn't budge no matter how hard he tried.

If you don't level up for a day, you can say you're accumulating merit, but this... not leveling up every single day...

Precisely because of this, he was exceptionally anxious.

But being anxious was useless.

Within the three stages of the Calling realm in the first boundary, all of them were developments and breakthroughs in the Chosen One's own abilities. Aside from the realm related to their ability, everything else was no different from an ordinary person. If you ate overnight braised pork rice, you'd get a stomachache; if you got shot in the head, you'd die on the spot just the same.

The distance to the realm where Sister Wen could punch Lawrence, kick Lawrence, and destroy Lawrence with dragon breath was simply too far away.

According to Ye Chun, at this stage, he should be working hard to exercise his ability until it grew to a certain node, then seek a new blessing from the Twelve Virtues, and then successfully LVUP.

As a result, he got stuck right at the beginning. Nobody would believe him if he told them, and if they did, they'd probably laugh at him; after laughing, they might even write him into some crappy book.

It was simply more miserable than a screaming chicken.

What's more, as the foundation for a Chosen One to go further, the crucial matrix was still nowhere to be found.

Nowadays, counting through the Twelve Virtues, there were a total of 221 matrices in various registries sufficient to achieve Heavenly Human status. Where wouldn't they be a hot commodity? Which one wasn't a case of one radish for one hole?

It might even be that the hole existed before the radish.

You want one?

Either you're a direct descendant of a major organization, or you've signed a contract even more harsh than this one, selling your blood, kidneys, and youth for a lifetime just to get a spot in line.

Chosen Ones are common.

Over the years, not to mention the rarest Chosen summons, just the autonomous awakenings by mistake and the upper-level callings caused by soul contamination from certain things were countless.

Yet, important treasures like matrices, which required countless predecessors to human-test and error-correct one by one before finally fixing the sequence and completely riveting it to the Virtues, were not numerous.

Basically, the slightly better ones were all monopolized by major organizations.

The Federation on the left, the Empire on the right, the Middle Earth in the middle, then the distant Chongguang Church, the nearby Taiyi Ring, and the Wild Market behind their backs... Those who really had no qualifications and couldn't see the light of day simply plunged headlong into ghost places like the Dragon Sacrifice Society or Nirvana.

There were simply too many Chosen Ones who wanted to progress but had nowhere to turn.

They didn't lack one more like him.

So, for the time being, even if he was stuck at a level, Ji Jue wasn't anxious.

Wasn't the craftsman's progress bar moving, anyway?

Just grind whichever one you can grind, right?

Besides, wasn't he living just fine?

Surviving a horror event and becoming Professor Ye's apprentice could be called a turn for the better; at least he wasn't unlucky anymore, and he didn't have to worry about getting hit by a car the moment he stepped out the door.

How nice!

Ji Jue lay on the bed, limbs splayed, feeling incredibly relaxed.

Things were getting better. Ever since Lawrence died, everything was getting better.

In the future, when Little Two became an accountant, he became an alchemist, and that dog Lu Feng continued to fix cars, everyone would have a bright future.

Just like that, amidst his messy thoughts, he closed his eyes and fell into a deep sleep.

A night without dreams.

Under the same night sky, there were others who didn't sleep all night.

"That kid, there's a big problem."

In an office in a building next to the overpass, a photo taken that afternoon was pushed to the front of the desk. The tracker who had just rushed back said decisively:

"There's definitely a problem."

In the photo on the desk, under the dim light of the sunset, the teenager riding the little scooter twisted the throttle, casting a trail of laughter with the girl behind him.

Youthful and beautiful.

"What do you mean?"

The old man behind the desk paused, then frowned: "Are you saying he really has some connection with that woman?"

"Perhaps, it's possible."

The middle-aged man with a stubbly face, Qi Qin, smoked a cigarette and said in a muffled voice: "Half a month ago, at the same time the Chosen summons occurred, the biggest thing in all of Yacheng was what the Dragon Sacrifice Society caused."

Yet, among all the survivors, he was the one most closely connected to the woman surnamed Wen...

That woman kept her mouth shut about the entire process of the operation, speaking vaguely. Is it possible she wanted to cover up the existence of a Chosen summoner in the operation?"

"...Are you crazy?"

The old man, Jiang Jin, paused, then looked suspicious: "Serious?"

The Chosen summons that suddenly appeared after decades had already stirred up all of Haizhou. In these days, who knew how many people had offered rewards, searching for traces of the Chosen summoner.

Likewise, it had also aroused the vigilance of more people.

Even if Wen Wen didn't mention a word and had never said anything about Ji Jue, her several visits couldn't be hidden from the prying eyes of those with intentions in the dark.

In fact, it wasn't that no one had suspected that Ji Jue might be the Chosen summoner.

Because everyone who was suspicious had almost all been dug out, and almost no one who was suspicious had been left behind, including Ji Jue. But very quickly, after deep digging and investigation, he was the first to be ruled out.

"Get it straight, he's a Cursed One!"

Jiang Jin was furious: "You want me to take this thing to report to the other side? Are you crazy? Do you think anyone will believe such nonsense?"

"Such an outrageous thing as a Chosen summons has happened... a Cursed One becoming a Chosen One isn't that hard to accept, right?"

Qi Qin pondered for a moment, peeking at the old man's face, and said with a stiff neck: "Besides, even if this person named Ji Jue isn't a Chosen One, he must really have some relationship with that woman surnamed Wen, right?"

Jiang Jin was slightly stunned, not knowing what he really wanted to say.

"Until yesterday afternoon, I saw them both sitting on the same motorcycle at Tianmen University with my own eyes. If I hadn't seen it with my own eyes, I wouldn't have thought that woman would actually smile."

Qi Qin lit a cigarette and took a deep breath: "Is it possible that she's in love?"

"..."

The corner of Jiang Jin's eye twitched, more spasmodically than before.

Qi Qin continued: "...To be honest, I think that kid looks like a pretty boy too. Who knows how many little girls he's tricked. Besides, an iron tree is still a tree. Spring is here, maybe the iron tree is blooming?"

Jiang Jin's expression changed slightly.

Even if it was absurd, what if it was true?

If that were the case, there would be a lot more that could be done with that kid.

After all, even on the Security Bureau side, there were plenty of people who wanted to see that woman surnamed Wen have bad luck.

Besides, if they could really get a handle on this plague god, the difficulty of making a living in the North Mountain District in the future would undoubtedly be reduced a lot.

More importantly, what was the meaning of 'that side'?

"You go out first."

The old man Jiang Jin remained calm. Qi Qin immediately got up and left.

After a long time, a voice came from behind the door: "Come in."

The old man in the office put down the phone, his expression changing. After a long while, he said: "Just do as you said, go check... dig it out for me, get it clear."

He paused, a fierce look appearing in his expression, "If by any chance it's true, then solve it, understand?"

If it was a pretty boy lucky enough to hook up with Minerva, then he could be used to some extent.

Being able to let that scourge Wen Wen gain a foothold in the Security Bureau was already something many people didn't want to see. If she had one more soft spot, everyone would be a little more at ease.

But if she really cultivated a strong reinforcement for the Chosen summons... no one knew what kind of trouble that would cause!

"Don't worry, boss."

Qi Qin grinned, revealing two rows of teeth yellowed by smoke, "I'm a professional."

Thus, he brazenly patted his chest and gave his guarantee.

And then...

The days of being in prison began.

Not to mention what the guys lurking in the dark wanted to dig out of Ji Jue, simply following a grind-addict who didn't even want his life when he saw credits, papers, and grades was, without a doubt, not a rational idea.

Especially when this grind-addict was put on a dog leash and dragged to do graduate research before he even graduated...

He would become even more of a grind-addict.

Fake graduate student daily life: pretending to shake test tubes in a laboratory with bright lights and advanced equipment, looking at the inexplicable liquid inside, and nodding and smiling at the camera with colleagues beside him.

Real graduate student daily life: picking up trash, doing manual labor, grinding.

Depending on the situation, he might also have to take care of the mentor's children, participate in the legendary junior high school technology R&D competition where big shots are everywhere and PhDs are worth less than dogs, and incidentally cook, do laundry, and maybe even sacrifice his chastity and body.

Fortunately, Professor Ye had never been married and had no children; her only niece was her senior sister. Aside from her pure research interest in Ji Jue's body, spirit, soul, and ability, and wanting to throw him into a furnace or put him on an anatomy table, she had no other needs.

Therefore, for Ji Jue, an alchemy apprentice on his first day of work, the work he had to face, aside from running errands to buy milk tea, bring lunch, accompany the senior sister in charge of supervision to play games, and chat about gossip, was all spent on...

Doing manual labor! ===== CHAPTER 35 =====