Chapter 188: Handling and Lessons

"No matter what—"

Ye Xian suddenly made a sound, as if she had accidentally interrupted Duan Mu, and said to Ji Jue: "—acting without authorization and causing such a big scene, in order to maintain the Association's stance, as a teacher, I cannot fail to make a statement."

"Don't count on getting involved in other work, from today on, you'll go to the Recycling and Processing Department."

Amidst the shocked gazes of many, Ye Xian said decisively: "If you can't process four batches, don't come back."

The atmosphere in the room became heavy again, as if the sound of swallowing could be heard.

The gazes toward Ye Xian also shifted from horror to confusion and shock. The other victims who had wanted to continue wailing heard this and immediately fell silent, not daring to make a sound.

Only Ji Jue was dazed: "What is the Recycling Department?"

"Locking down Quancheng is a major matter; over the years, the artisans of the Security Bureau and the Association have worked together to produce a batch of isolation facilities, which are supplied for consumption.

After use, in order to prevent these 'alchemical works' that have absorbed 'Sin-Tainted pollution' from spreading and causing pollution or destruction, they must be recycled uniformly and processed by artisans through dismantling.

The Recycling Department is the place used to handle this part of the work."

Professor Ye glanced at Ji Jue coldly: "Now, do you understand?"

Working for a long time in a place filled with Sin-Tainted pollution is, for a Chosen, just like an ordinary person staying near a reactor in a high-radiation environment every day; it's literally risking one's life!

Moreover, although they are called isolation facilities by name, in reality, the way those alchemical works isolate is by absorbing the Sin-Tainted pollution overflowing from Quancheng themselves.

In order to ensure they can work stably for a long time, they are almost all created by artisans with top-tier materials, painstaking effort, and blood. And precisely because of this, the pollution contained within them is probably even more terrifying than the environment in Quancheng!

No matter how tight the protection is, with Dissection in hand, if you really want to process four batches, you'll lose half your life; if you're not careful and get polluted, you might be able to go straight to the ICU.

Such a cruel and ruthless way of handling things made not only Master Duan, who had just stood up to be a peacemaker, but everyone else feel cold all over.

This is your own student, after all, not someone picked up on the side of the road... If he were that kind of scrap apprentice, why bring him to your side, and how could he beat a dozen people like chopping melons and vegetables?

How come you're treating him like an enemy?

It's been ten or twenty years, everyone thought she had started to cultivate her character, but they didn't expect this crazy woman to be truly ruthless—ruthless to others, ruthless to herself, and even more ruthless to her students!

But Ji Jue, upon hearing the consequences, didn't say a word.

He even just nodded and said indifferently:

"I understand."

As if completely unshaken.

Unfortunately, his slightly twitching face and uncontrollable trembling voice "betrayed" him, making many who had wanted to punish him severely now feel a hidden sympathy.

But Ye Xian didn't give them a chance to interrupt, just turned her head, "Well, everyone, does my discipline and handling meet your expectations?"

Master Duan wanted to speak several times but stopped, finally shaking his head: "Actually, there's no need to be so strict..."

"Then what should I do? Scold him a couple of times, lift him high and put him down gently? I can't do that kind of thing."

Ye Xian sneered, "Other apprentices can do it, but my apprentice can do the same; no need for you to be a dog catching a mouse and showing off your kindness.

Now, Ji Jue, I've handled it!"

She glanced at the other embarrassed artisans with her hands behind her back, and said coldly: "What to do next, it's up to you!"

What to do next?

Cold noodles?

Keep dreaming!

Ji Jue, who was 'humiliated and forced to fight back', was almost thrown into death row by his own teacher; what about you bullies? Punish yourselves with three cups of wine?

Not to mention how others will see it, Master Duan, who was urged to stand up as a peacemaker, wouldn't let him off first!

But you can't kill them, and you don't want to beat them too hard, so what to do?

At this moment, following the flow of everyone's gazes and the crossing of eyes, finally, they all looked at the middle-aged artisan who had just been angrily denouncing them, and the female apprentice who was closing her eyes and pretending to be dead in his arms.

You started this, you go first!

The artisan's expression twitched, he wanted to speak several times, but under the gazes, he finally lowered his head helplessly, looked at the terrified student, gritted his teeth, and squeezed out a sound:

"Provoking trouble first, slandering a Master, and causing such a big scene, from today on..."

Just as he wanted to speak, he heard a voice from not far away.

Ji Jue.

As if sighing, he said to his teacher beside him: "Teacher, that bracelet of hers looks pretty good."

Ye Xian looked at him, as if she understood something, and just nodded with regret:

"Yes, it's pretty good."

In that instant, the artisan's eyes lit up, and with a flash of inspiration, he threw the student in his arms to the ground, and then, ignoring her struggle, directly snatched the bracelet off.

He leaned over, ignoring the surprised gazes of others, squeezed out a smile: "A small gift, not worth much, just to make up for the offense Ji suffered earlier..."

"Huh?"

Ji Jue was shocked, eyes wide: "Is this really okay?"

"It's okay, it's okay, it couldn't be better." The artisan endured the twitching of his heart, his smile distorted, and forced the bracelet into his pocket.

But Ji Jue sighed, waving his hand to refuse, "Oh, that's not what I meant."

"I know, I know, it's just a small token!"

"Oh↑ oh↓ oh↑"

Ji Jue wanted to push it away helplessly, but finally, under the artisan's strong request, he was forced to accept this blessed creation as an apology, and could only sigh:

"Alright then, I'm embarrassed."

Seeing that he was willing to let them off, the artisan couldn't care about the heartache, directly grabbed the student by the hair and headed straight for the infirmary; if he didn't go now, he was afraid he would beat the student to death on the way.

The things that followed happened naturally.

Ji Jue said: "I think that ring is also okay."

"Indeed." Ye Xian nodded.

"The gloves are average, but there are two, so that'll do."

"Then that'll do, the earrings are okay, just add another piece of material of the same level and it'll be about right."

"This one doesn't feel right."

"Then..."

"Wait!"

The artisan with the distorted expression gritted his teeth, helplessly snatched the bracelet off his own wrist, and offered it with both hands; Ye Xian ignored him, as if she couldn't see.

It wasn't until he turned and handed it to Ji Jue.

That Ji Jue helplessly opened his second pocket, sighed, and signaled for him to force it in.

I didn't ask for this voluntarily!

Just like this, under the witness of many Masters, a cruel execution turned into a disguised robbery recognized by the official, and the fools who didn't have eyes were beaten up, and then had to cry and strip off the valuable items on their bodies, pay the ransom, and after lying on the stretcher, they were shouting weakly and on the verge of death...

But Ye Xian's eyes were poisonous, and ordinary things couldn't fool her; basically, the asking price was accurately stuck at the upper limit of what the artisans could accept.

One cut if you stick your head out, and more than one cut if you shrink it, maybe several cuts.

In the end, it turned into such an awkward scene where the victims were scrambling to send ransom money.

Only Zhou Zhong, next to them, had an increasingly green face.

When it was his turn, he simply sneered.

He didn't intend to bow his head either.

He just waved his hand, his cane tapping on Zhou Cheng's shattered chin on the ground: "This blind thing offended Professor Ye's high-ranking student, and still needs Ji to show mercy and spare his life; no need to give me face, just beat him to death!"

"Okay."

Ji Jue nodded without hesitation, directly pulling out his pistol.

Without any hesitation, he pulled the trigger!

He didn't even give him a chance to bargain.

When Zhou Zhong remembered that the bullet loaded in the chamber was the Sin-Tainted bullet he had seen with his own eyes, he couldn't hold it anymore, his expression changing drastically.

Subconsciously reaching out.

"Slow!"

In shock, he couldn't even care about holding back, forcibly interfering with space, stagnating the air, and enveloping Zhou Cheng.

But unfortunately... nothing happened.

The trigger was pulled, but there was no gunshot.

And no bullet flew out.

"Hmm? Strange... what's going on?"

Ji Jue was dazed, picked up the gun, brought the muzzle to his eyes, pulled the trigger several times, and finally realized: "Oh, the primer seems to be damp."

Saying that, he removed the Sin-Tainted bullet that was loaded.

Zhou Zhong finally breathed a sigh of relief.

He couldn't even care about his face and being teased by Ji Jue, just about to open his mouth to speak, when he heard a roar without warning.

Bang!

A muzzle flash, and Zhou Cheng, who was pretending to be dead on the ground, screamed, clutching one of his legs, wailing shrilly.

Ji Jue was dazed, looking down at the gun in his hand; his finger clearly wasn't on the trigger.

"Ah, it misfired!" He said in shock, patting the gun in his hand angrily: "Why does this piece of junk have a delay? It almost killed me!"

Only Zhou Zhong, next to him, was neither angry nor not angry, his expression gradually tending toward a dead horse.

Staring fixedly at Ji Jue, for a long time, he sighed:

"Truly a good disciple."

"Thanks for the compliment." Ji Jue didn't retreat at all, just nodded, "I will work hard."

Zhou Zhong didn't speak again.

Pointed at his grandson, who was dying on the ground, signaled others to drag him up, and turned and left with his people.

Only Ji Jue watched them leave and couldn't help but sigh: "A Master is truly impressive, not even giving a single token of appreciation."

Ye Xian, beside him, threw the Arrow of Heart Poison he had left behind into Ji Jue's arms.

Told him to keep it safe.

From now on, this thing belonged to Ji.

Just like that, she nodded slightly to the others and turned and left.

Ji Jue followed behind, all the way back to her residence; after closing the door, he looked at Professor Ye, who was picking up a teacup with an expressionless face, and then gave an awkward smile, becoming nervous:

"Does causing such a mess affect your work here?"

"It does, but it's just as well, it saves me from having to say anything unpleasant."

Ye Xian didn't care: "If I really wanted to avoid trouble, I wouldn't have brought you here; this little matter is still within my ability to handle."

This counts as a little matter?

In broad daylight, Ji Jue felt that if he had used a little more strength, it would have been enough to wash the Taiyi Association in blood; in his own teacher's eyes, it didn't even count as a big deal?

Then what counts as a big deal?

Killing a Master?

Ji Jue didn't understand, but was greatly shocked.

While greatly shocked, he didn't forget the rules, obediently placing the two large bags he was carrying on the table, picking out a few protective pieces of equipment he could use for now, and then confiscating the rest.

Anyway, he wouldn't use that many.

Then, the bag was thrown over by Ye Xian.

"Handle it yourself, are you treating my place as a garbage dump?"

Ye Xian put down the teacup indifferently and suddenly asked: "What did you learn from today's events?"

"Uh..."

Ji Jue was dazed, thought for a long time, and asked tentatively: "Take the initiative in everything? Never let provocation go? Or... reason with people?"

It couldn't be beating everyone you see, and beating them until they kowtow if they don't, right?

And the way Ye Xian looked at him was like looking at a fool.

"If reasoning were useful, why would we need alchemy?"

She said, "Don't have too many fantasies; the Association is the most realistic place, even more realistic than the Wilderness Market, it's just that everyone pretends to be very civilized, and in the end, they even believe it themselves."

Survival of the fittest is the rule of Bai Lu, and the capable rising and the learned being first is also the principle of the Ember.

It's just that one manifests in power, and the other focuses more on knowledge and talent.

At the root, there is no difference.

If you can do it, you can do it, you're awesome; if you can't, then kneel, don't talk.

It's that simple.

Ye Xian has been running wild for so many years, and everyone gets a headache when they see her; isn't it just because she's stronger than everyone else and more Ember than everyone else?

For so many years, if anyone in the Association's top management had the best chance of becoming the next Grandmaster, Ye Xian would definitely be at the top of the list, and not many people could even compete with her for the top spot.

"The only thing you should learn is not to become that kind of person. No matter how much the weak howl, they are still clowns; only when you are strong enough that others dare not point fingers, do you have the qualifications to walk your own path."

Ye Xian paused and smiled self-deprecatingly: "I didn't learn this principle until I was twenty-five; you're actually better than me."

Ji Jue wanted to speak, but was interrupted by her wave.

I don't know if she was too lazy to listen to self-humility and flattery, or if she didn't care at all if he wanted to refute.

"Alright, get lost and get to work!"

After being a teacher for so long, if she still couldn't detect that Ji Jue's ability growth depended on dismantling equipment, then Ye Xian's eyeballs could be gouged out and stepped on for fun. Many things, she was just too lazy to say.

People were beaten, money was collected, and this mouse was sent into the rice jar as a matter of course, giving him a luxurious buffet.

Thinking of this, Ye Xian's fist suddenly hardened.

How come all the good things were taken by you, kid?

And you ran so fast!

Should I call him back and clean him up?

Outpost, inside the silent office building, top floor.

In the office of the Haizhou Garrison, the secretary bent down, picked up the document the old man had accidentally dropped on the floor, put it back on the table, and then took out a handkerchief to carefully wipe the drool from the corner of his mouth.

"There seemed to be a sound of vibration just now." He sighed, "Nothing happened, right?"

"Nothing... hap... pened..."

Tao Gong leaned on the recliner and said vaguely, "It's all, small matters..."

Only for some reason, the corners of his mouth seemed to hook into an arc.

Seemingly happy.

It's the beginning of the month, please give me a monthly ticket!!! ===== CHAPTER 189 =====