Chapter 233: He Who Inhales Fine Mist is a Hero

"Tsk."

Ji Jue had nothing to say.

He really is an old timer who has been famous for many years, the older he gets, the more cunning he becomes, not to mention that he is a Grandmaster with a status as noble as a master in the Profound lineage? After one glance, he saw more accurately than an unboxing!

In this situation, at this very moment, Ji Jue was too lazy to resist.

Glancing at the old timer's monocle, he lay on the ground, spread-eagled: "Just kill me!"

"It would be a pity to kill him."

Jian Yuan said: "It's better to make use of the waste, which can also be considered the right path for the Embers."

To be fair, indeed.

For the Embers, the Chosen One is a treasure from head to toe.

For an old timer like Jian Yuan of Stagnant Rot, there's no need to mention moral bottom lines.

Flesh, bones, and soul aside, "Miraculous Hand" and "Spirit Firstness" are rare good goods, not to mention the out-of-print "Non-Aggression."

To kill him with one strike would be too much of a waste.

And just as Ji Jue was preparing to fight to the death, he saw Jian Yuan wave his hand, and suddenly a large pile of materials fell from mid-air like rain, submerging him.

Only his propped-up head was exposed.

Stunned.

Jian Yuan pointed to the furnace, "Within the time limit, process these well."

Process?

Ji Jue was almost laughed to anger: Process my ass!

I'm here as an undercover agent, if I die, I die, you damn well want me to work for you?!

Dream on!

Ji Jue snorted coldly, "What if I say no?"

Bang!

He flew backward.

Without any warning or sign, in mid-air, spiritual quality intertwined, circuits overlapped, turning into a nail that pierced his throat and pinned him to the ground.

Then, it vanished without a trace.

Only a line of dense and cold rune chains appeared on his neck.

Restraining body and soul, shackling blessings and matrices.

Instantly, controlling everything.

It was like a blade held against Ji Jue's throat, which could take his life at any time.

"For so many years, others have called me the Stagnant Rot Fierce Furnace, on one hand, it's a mockery of my inability to reach the Heavenly Furnace, and on the other hand, it's an acknowledgment that I am indeed good at teaching students according to their aptitude."

Jian Yuan lowered his eyes, glancing at his appearance: "For disobedient apprentices, I always have a way."

He asked: "Do you want to try?"

"I surrender!"

Ji Jue didn't hesitate, raising both hands: "The Embers are short-sighted, the Stagnant Rot path is broad and profound! I have abandoned darkness for light, I welcome the Great Evil!

There's just one problem, I can't stand up at all right now..."

He asked tentatively, "Could I trouble you to return my crutches?"

"Are you talking about those two semi-finished products?"

Jian Yuan's smile became more mocking: "Isn't that blade enough for you to use? Besides, don't you have Non-Aggression in hand? Go make one yourself."

"Hey, my surrender to the Evil is sincere!"

Ji Jue's heart tightened, his smile becoming more flattering: "Under your nose, how could an ant like me make any waves? Why be so guarded?"

"Don't want to try resisting?"

Jian Yuan suggested warmly: "Maybe I like hard bones?"

Ji Jue shook his head decisively: "What are you saying, good birds choose trees to perch on, he who inhales fine mist is a hero! Being able to work like an ox and a horse for you is a blessing I've cultivated for I don't know how many lifetimes."

The more he spoke, the more excited he became, patting his chest with a thudding sound: "I like it so much, I like it to the extreme!"

"Very good, I'm starting to like you too."

Jian Yuan took one last look at him and turned to leave: "Keep it up, I look forward to your counterattack."

Counterattack my ass!

Ji Jue rolled his eyes and fell backward.

Done for, finished!

The worst-case scenario in the plan had appeared—he had been exposed under Jian Yuan's nose.

Workshop, workshop, workshop...

Why does every artisan dream of building their own workshop every day? An artisan in their own workshop is omnipotent!

And the ants in the workshop, no matter how small, are still in the workshop.

It doesn't matter if you don't pay attention usually, but once discovered, isn't it just a thought to crush or mold them?

Ji Jue had never had any luck, even playing tricks under the old timer's nose, there was only one chance—when he wasn't paying attention.

He had originally intended to use this opportunity to take down Cunling, then find another chance to attach himself to an artisan, preferably getting close to the Heavenly Track Engine.

As a result, he never expected Jian Yuan to be so vigilant; the moment he made a move, his disguise was completely gone.

Won the plan, lost himself.

And the lucky thing in the misfortune was that he wasn't thrown into a prison cell, waiting for a sudden death. Nor was he chopped into pieces and sent to the assembly line.

Instead, he was tied under Jian Yuan's nose...

It had a certain beauty of a beautiful investigator secretly visiting a sweatshop.

Facing the heinous criminals, her identity was accidentally exposed, and all that awaited her was... hmm, being tied to the assembly line to work until death? Is there something wrong with your plot?

Is this what everyone wants to see!

Also, what kind of tricks is that old timer Jian Yuan playing?

Why bother?

For a small fry like himself, what need is there to play tricks? Surely he doesn't really intend to take him in as an apprentice?

Ji Jue was almost amused by himself just thinking about it.

Now, although he was trapped, he didn't have to worry about being skinned and bled and sent to the assembly line to be canned for the time being. After one CT scan, although he had been seen through by Jian Yuan, but...

Isn't there still something that hasn't been seen?

He rummaged through the materials on the ground, his eyelids lifted slightly, his peripheral vision glancing at the CEO squatting in the corner, who was boredly raising its hand to lick its paws. On the collar of its neck, his watch was still hanging.

Waiting quietly.

Ji Jue's gaze swept over, looked elsewhere, and withdrew.

Cat and mouse game, huh?

Be careful, old man, don't get your ears bitten off by the mouse you look down on.

He took a deep breath, ignored the severe pain in his legs, stood up holding the wall, and walked step by step toward the material library—the mouse's top priority was to get two crutches for himself first.

Jian Yuan was even more generous than he had expected.

At the same time, he was far stronger than he had imagined.

The inside and outside of the workshop's fourth floor were two completely different worlds; the outside was at best a factory, while the inside felt like a world created by Jian Yuan.

Separated by a door, after pushing it open, one could see deep and distant shelves that stretched on without end. Various materials were dazzling, stored in categories, extending to the limit of Ji Jue's perception.

And after turning around and pushing open another door, in the void space, a point of fire swayed in mid-air, burning silently, yet feeling no temperature at all. Ji Jue stood outside the cordon and closed the door expressionlessly. That was the Annihilation Furnace.

Opening another door, behind it was a valley with storms, thunder, and endless rain, where blurry figures walked, noticing Ji Jue's gaze, as if turning back to look, and soon, they withdrew their gaze and trudged away.

Ji Jue closed the door, giving up the idea of exploration.

A workshop built with the accumulation and hard work of who knows how many generations of artisans was simply a complete independent domain; heaven knows how many ghostly things Jian Yuan had stuffed inside.

If he opened a prize and got Godzilla, that would be a huge joke.

And when he lowered his head, he saw the phantom that had appeared behind him at some point, ethereal, like a soul. He couldn't see its face, it just waited silently, watching and observing.

Ji Jue pondered for a moment and pointed at the shadow: "You, go cook two dishes for me."

The shadow had no reaction.

With a snap, two packs of compressed biscuits fell from the sky, hitting the ground, accompanied by a bottle of water.

Dishes?

You're dreaming!

Ji Jue thought again and said: "Find me a crutch."

Instantly, several pieces of steel fell from the sky, with burrs still on the cut edges, clattering on the floor in front of him.

Oh, if you want something, do it yourself, huh?

"Such a small amount of stuff, who are you fooling?" Ji Jue frowned: "Rubber."

Snap!

A whole block of rubber slapped him in the face, meaning that's enough.

It is a Grandmaster's workshop after all, even artificial intelligence exists?

Ji Jue laughed, but didn't say anything more. Under the dual blessing of Non-Aggression and Miraculous Hand, in just a few minutes, a wheelchair took shape. Although it had no motor and couldn't be automatic, he even added a suspension system.

It's just a pity that conditions were limited, the armrests were too narrow, and couldn't hold two shotguns...

After Ji Jue turned around a few times in the wheelchair, he returned to the hall, rummaging through the pile of materials. They were common materials born in Quancheng's evil-transformed environment, which were absolute pollutants to the Association's artisans, but were good supplements for the Stagnant Rot lineage's evil-transformed refining.

According to the physical and spiritual quality characteristics, Ji Jue roughly distinguished the functions of some of them, but soon frowned: "Just talking about organizing materials, what about the specifications? Requirements? Diced or chunked? Isn't this being a hooligan? There isn't even a blueprint, how are workers supposed to work?"

The shadow remained motionless, and with a snap, a demand list appeared out of thin air.

It didn't care at all about his probing actions and prying into Jian Yuan's inheritance; even without him asking, two books on material processing procedures and requirements were already thrown into Ji Jue's arms.

Then there were two books on the basic theory of evil-transformed creation, and even a brick-sized comprehensive theory and basic shallow discussion of evil-transformed refining.

With a bang, Ji Jue couldn't even react before it hit his stomach, like a clean and decisive punch!

Finally, placed in front of him was an alarm clock.

Four-hour countdown, starting to tick.

The meaning was simple and straightforward.

Four hours.

If after four hours, you haven't finished the work, then we'll have some fun to watch.

"What do you mean! Where is there such a thing as forcing people to commit crimes!"

Ji Jue was furious, holding the basic introduction to evil-transformed alchemy in his hand, trembling with anger, his tears falling uncontrollably: I am a proper Association artisan apprentice, the inheritor of fluid alchemy, a clean and white Embers Chosen One, do I need to learn your kind of bullshit? It's dirty, it's dirty... eh, but this section is actually quite interesting, the annotations are quite insightful, the old ghost has some stuff...

As a result, before he could react, the book had already been opened.

Damn, I can't help myself, Brother Embers, save me, my body is moving on its own, you can't blame me... this is force majeure! It must be that old timer Jian Yuan's doing!

Ji Jue lowered his head with a look of disgust and began to read word by word.

Anyway, since I'm already here...

If I don't learn something, wouldn't it be a wasted trip?!

Three hours, forty minutes, fifty-one seconds.

All materials were processed and sent to Jian Yuan, who had suddenly appeared. His emerald eyes swept over them, and then his fingers waved: "Passable, okay, passable... these few are fine, redo the rest of the trash, half an hour."

"Half an hour?"

Ji Jue glared in anger: "I've only been learning for two hours, I haven't even finished the book, where is the logic in this world, don't make things too difficult for people!"

"You know how long you've been dragging your feet."

Jian Yuan was expressionless, "If you can't do it, I'll cut off one of your fingers."

"..."

Ji Jue was silent for a long time, then threw the book aside and sighed helplessly.

"Why bother, Grandmaster." He advised sincerely: "It would be better to have less trouble and just kill me. If a disaster like me is left alive, who knows, I might become a serious threat to you in the future."

Jian Yuan heard this, glanced at him, and his indifferent face finally changed slightly, as if looking at a clown: "Don't worry, if one day you are truly fortunate enough to be a threat to me, I would be too happy to be upset."

"Well said, well said, well said, the Embers are quacking!"

Ji Jue applauded and praised, admiring from the bottom of his heart: "It's just that there are so many disasters in this world, why don't you unify the Profound lineage as soon as possible, attack the Association, kill the Scavenger first, then destroy the Plow-Casting Artisan, and finally scatter the ashes of the Heavenly Furnace, proving the peak of the Embers, wouldn't that be wonderful!

Why mix with insects like the Evil-Transforming Cult, and why waste your effort here?

Hmm?"

Ji Jue leaned on the wheelchair armrest and asked curiously: "Could it be that you don't like it?"

It's probably been many years since anyone dared to say such nonsense in front of Jian Yuan.

Even if Jian Yuan were to be furious in the next second and pull out a copper belt to whip him into a small spinning top, it wouldn't be strange.

But to Ji Jue's surprise, Jian Yuan remained calm, unconcerned, and just asked back:

"How do you know I haven't?"

In an instant, Ji Jue was stunned.

Frozen in place.

Because right in front of him, Jian Yuan grinned, raised his hand, and just like that, with extreme familiarity, took off his face in front of Ji Jue.

On that mask-like face, the playful expression remained.

But the head beneath the mask revealed tragic gaps, deep fissures, and even the curse light entangled and entrenched upon it.

Beneath the human shell, it seemed as if everything had been hollowed out, and the soul residing within was suffering from trauma and torture, constantly changing, revealing its true face.

"Life science is broad and profound, kid, you're still far from it."

On that closed face, a meaningful mocking smile appeared, and finally, a reminder, "You have twenty-five minutes left."

The shadow emerged from behind Jian Yuan.

Holding a cigar cutter, showing it.

Snap, snap.

The countdown begins... ===== CHAPTER 234 =====