Chapter 36: T5

There was no reaction time given to Ji Jue at all, nor was there the shock, bewilderment, or vigilance he had anticipated.

It was completely as if they were discussing that the weather was nice today or what he had for breakfast... casual and indifferent.

It made Ji Jue almost roll off the sofa in fright.

He subconsciously picked up a can of happy water and offered it with both hands: "Young hero, drink some tea, tell me in detail."

Ye Chun looked at his enthusiastic expression suspiciously, raised her hand, and pointed to the bookshelf behind: "It should be the cabinet on the left, the middle row. You look for it, there should be an encyclopedia of the Myriad Phenomena General Knowledge series."

That was a tome as big as a dictionary. Looking at the back, it was published in the 388th year of the Cataclysm Era, older than Ji Jue. According to Ye Chun, he found the entry about the Heavenly Track from the index.

An abbreviation that left him completely confused.

——【T5】.

This name refers to five large company organizations that already existed before the Cataclysm Era, in the Central Era, which was the Eternal Dynasty period of Middle Earth.

It is said that in the era before the Virtues descended, they were already active in history and played an indispensable key role in the Eternal Dynasty.

Although they had no actual status in the imperial court, they still received authorization and respect from the Emperor.

And just when the disaster descended, the lands collapsed, and the world turned upside down, the Cataclysm Era arrived. The Eternal Dynasty collapsed and vanished into smoke, and Middle Earth turned from the once Heavenly Kingdom Holy Land into a mud pit of endless war.

And these five companies still existed and had participated in the reconstruction of the world and order of the Cataclysm Era, making significant contributions and sacrifices.

Whether it was the Federation in the north or the Empire in the Southern Continent, or even Middle Earth and all the islands drifting on the endless sea, all orthodox regimes recognized their transcendent status and power higher than secular authority.

At the same time, in order to prevent the disaster from recurring and to curb the trend of the Rift World falling to the greatest extent, all parties gathered together and signed the T5 Agreement, limiting the power, operation, production, and even the scope of activities of these five companies.

Under the gathering of massive resources, backed by historical accumulation and countless uninterrupted secret research, these five companies also occupied an absolute dominant position in their respective fields.

And their business scope was medical, communication, production, finance, and transportation...

Among them, the companies engaged in production and construction, after splitting, became the behemoths that monopolized most of the industrial markets of the Federation and the Empire, 【Universal Heavy Industry】 and 【Great Creation】!

God damn Universal Heavy Industry!

Ji Jue felt terrible.

Just as it was impossible for people in the Empire not to know about Great Creation, it was impossible for people in the Federation not to have dealt with Universal Heavy Industry. Some people spent their whole lives, from birth to death, eating, drinking, and shitting, all within its business scope.

Ever since Ji Jue started learning to fix cars, he hadn't seen these four characters less. The parts were produced by companies under Universal Heavy Industry, the engine oil was refined by them, the gloves were from their chemical plants, and the hard hats, uniforms, and fuel—even the local Coastal Automobile Factory in Yacheng had their investment and holdings. Lu Ma's Mainland Auto Repair Shop didn't even count as an operating downstream; it couldn't reach the edge at all.

The Boundless United Communication Group in the communication field was a behemoth that directly occupied 80% of the global communication market. In a world where earthquakes were rampant and disasters were constant, people in Yacheng couldn't bypass them even if they wanted to make a call to people in the Central City. Ji Jue was still using an 18-yuan-a-month plan.

The Hope Hospital in the medical field... it seemed he had heard of it somewhere, but he had no impression. It might be too high-end, and a bottom-feeder like Ji Jue couldn't reach the edge at all. It might also be that they had already spread across the world through shareholding, but he had no way of discovering it.

The Perpetual Bank in the financial field, aside from the name, had no detailed description, and with the little money in Ji Jue's pocket, he was afraid he wouldn't be able to have anything to do with them in this life.

As for the last one, it was the undisputed hegemon in the transportation field—the Heavenly Track Transportation Group!

The book said that this group not only operated all ranges including airships, trains, and cruise ships, but also built a transportation network that could reconnect the world.

It made Ji Jue's blood boil, and he felt a sense of honor.

Such an awesome company, it must be very strong, very cool, very domineering, and the salary must be very high, right?

But regrettably, Ji Jue couldn't find any traces of their existence at all, and even the introduction was so short. Aside from simply stating the business scope and name, there was only one sentence left.

——【Due to poor management, it has now gone bankrupt and closed down】.

Closed down?!

Ji Jue's eyes almost stared through the broken paper: Closed down? Are you serious?

Although he had really hoped for this from the bottom of his heart, the other four were all so awesome, how come you are so lame?

Such a company that sounded so cool it could almost go to heaven and enter the earth... no, it could completely go to heaven and enter the earth... just gone like that?!

And after taking a look at the closing time, he couldn't help but go crazy again: 198th year of the Cataclysm Era? It had already been gone for over two hundred years!

Then what is this about for me?!

He had only just become a regular employee last month, okay?

Not having a big tree to lean on was one thing, but looking at this, it was possible that he would have to be the legal representative on his first day of work?!

Slap!

The book was closed by Ji Jue without hesitation, put into the cabinet, and the door was carefully closed.

Whoever wants to go to this crappy Heavenly Track company can go, it has nothing to do with me!

Goodbye!

Anyway, there was no contract signed, and anyway, it had already gone bankrupt. Even his watch's own system couldn't contact the superior. No matter how awesome the Heavenly Track company was, it had already been bankrupt for over two hundred years. It was impossible for any leader to turn into a ghost and come to find him to work overtime in the middle of the night, right?

Just like that, he made up his mind to throw the Heavenly Track to the back of his mind.

Don't know it, don't know it, don't know it. I picked up this watch, I thought no one wanted it!

After being subjected to an unexpected fright, Ji Jue, still lingering in fear, devoted his entire afternoon to the study of alchemy, completely forgetting himself, not even noticing the passage of time.

Until the familiar sound of breaking emerged from the furnace again.

The 51st failure.

Reason: physical property imbalance.

Ji Jue held the fire tongs, scrutinizing the copper fragments that had been tortured for the whole afternoon, feeling the spiritual quality that was out of control and spreading inside, and analyzed the reason for the failure again.

As a result, he saw that on the cooled copper piece, a crack suddenly appeared, and then a second, a third, densely packed... in the end, right under Ji Jue's eyelids, it cracked and collapsed, turning into a pile of scorching copper sand.

"Oh, congratulations, congratulations."

Ye Chun poked her head out, seeing the fragments completely scrapped, and couldn't help but clap: "The first step to clearing the trash pile is finally completed!"

Spiritual quality overload.

After Ji Jue's afternoon of exercise and engraving, the already scrapped fragments could no longer withstand more processing and engraving, crossed the limit of endurance, and collapsed from within.

The simpler the material's physical properties, the more fragile it is, and the lower the upper limit it can withstand, and the smaller the reaction after self-destruction.

If it were some dangerous substance, after pouring in massive amounts of spiritual quality and the essence of the Virtues, it might have exploded while out of control in the furnace. It's possible the entire workshop would have been razed to the ground and turned into a big pit. Furnace explosions have always been the eternal nightmare of alchemists.

This is Professor Ye's education plan—as long as it doesn't explode, keep pushing it until it does.

Anyway, the warehouse is full of useless waste and leftovers, which have no value. It's better to exert some residual heat and let Ji Jue practice with them.

Even if it were a dog, if it could rely on its alchemy skills to refine that warehouse of waste until it overloaded and self-destructed, it could still become a craftsman, let alone a Chosen summoner?

At this moment, having finally completed the first step of a ten-thousand-mile journey, Ji Jue should have been cheering.

It's just that he inexplicably fell into a trance.

He lowered his head blankly, looking at the copper filings under his feet, and even the spiritual quality that was gradually rising and rapidly dissipating in the scorching copper filings. The precipitation and traces accumulated in those dozens of processing and engraving sessions were rapidly evaporating.

But why did he feel... so hungry?

Hunger, hunger, hunger, hunger, hunger!

Just like a starving ghost who hadn't eaten a grain of rice for dozens of days, an indescribable hunger and thirst emerged and rose from Ji Jue's soul and consciousness, almost making him turn into a vicious dog.

Subconsciously reaching out, just like grabbing those rapidly dissipating spiritual qualities and essences, wanting to stuff them into his mouth.

After realizing what he was doing, he couldn't help but smile bitterly.

Trying to grab invisible spiritual qualities and essences with just his hands, and trying to digest the residues that had been mixed with who knows how many forgings and processing with his mouth and stomach, was simply too crazy.

The next moment, he froze in place.

Because his hand seemed to have really grabbed something... not just the spiritual quality essences rapidly dissipating in the air, but even the essences remaining in the copper sand seemed to be captured, controlled, pulled, and gathered in Ji Jue's palm by an invisible force.

On his right hand, silver rays of light like circuit boards lit up slightly, so familiar—every time he used the watch to extract spiritual quality, Ji Jue would see it, but now, he just had a thought, and that spiritual quality circuit, which was dizzyingly complex, emerged from his hand.

It was as if his hand had also become an alchemical item.

Capturing out of thin air, extracting, and then, as his five fingers clenched, the emblem representing his ability in Ji Jue's soul suddenly rose, absorbing, eating, and digesting all the essences.

Dizziness came suddenly!

Ji Jue twitched. In the short moment that was less than an instant, what appeared in his perception was actually fifty-one engravings and processing sessions!

It was as if he had turned into copper, enduring the burning and forging of flames, feeling the operation of spiritual quality. But at the same time, he seemed to have turned into the spiritual quality itself, leaving behind circuits and imprints time and time again, facing failure time and time again... And before that, even earlier, he seemed to have turned into a part of some behemoth.

That was when the fragments hadn't collapsed yet, from the burning of the furnace, countless spiritual quality circuits were operating within his body, from the hands of a blurred figure.

It was as if he were performing creation, forging the myriad phenomena!

Runes were born and died in the flames and copper juice, complex circuits like giant trees ran through everything, and in the end, at the very core, the essences of the Virtues collided and fused with each other.

A magnificent creation beyond Ji Jue's imagination appeared in the furnace. Under the control of that figure, the unruly physical properties were like loyal dogs, and the changeable spiritual quality was like flowing water, achieving brand-new changes in the waving.

Until the end, flames like tides opened from both sides, and from the violently shaking furnace, a huge engine more than two people tall slowly rose. On the complex machinery, the light was brilliant, and the blessings of the Virtues flowed from the copper light, so solemn!

But what greeted it was a gaze containing disappointment.

"Ascension is enough, but purification is insufficient."

Professor Ye withdrew her gaze: "Another piece of trash."

With a flick of her finger, the magnificent engine that had just been completed fell apart in an instant, turning into countless fragments.

All that remained was the loud noise echoing in Ji Jue's soul.

Boom!

Ji Jue's eyes went dark, and he couldn't help but take a step back.

But the moment he realized what was happening, he had already grabbed the fire tongs, pinched another fragment, and threw it into the furnace, racing against time, not even waiting for the material to heat up and its physical properties to change, and pressed it onto the operation table again.

Taking advantage of the experience that felt like he had turned into Professor Ye and the fragment itself before it had time to dissipate, spiritual quality, rushed out!

The feeling was here!

Completely without the previous awkwardness, and no longer the previous trepidation. Ji Jue's consciousness and perception ran through the fragments with the spiritual quality, like a fish in water, moving forward heartily, even under heavy interference, he didn't care at all.

Rough and heroic, just like cursive script flowing like clouds and water, he completed the conception that appeared in his chest in one go!

In less than a few seconds, the process that Ji Jue used to carefully take more than ten minutes to complete was already over, and what he felt was unprecedented heartiness.

He picked up the fire tongs, took out the fragments from the furnace, and stared at the only success he had achieved after a whole afternoon of failure—the Virtues' totem!

Like an invisible fire, rising upward, eternal and never extinguished.

It is the beginning of the Twelve Virtues, the foundation of truth, transcendence, and insight, the source of all thinking and souls in the world.

——【Ascension/Transformation】!

After breaking away from the simulated operation environment without interference, in less than six hours, Ji Jue had crossed the hurdle that other apprentices needed countless failures and accumulation of experience to overcome, and completed his first true engraving of the Virtues...

He raised his hand, wiped away the nosebleed caused by the overdraft of spiritual quality, and couldn't help but show an excited smile.

This was just his first step! ===== CHAPTER 37 =====