Chapter 32

May I ask, what is it like to be an apprentice on your first day of work and have your salary and subsidies for the next four years all deducted?

Before the jinx Ji Jue could hide, he could only say that those who know, know.

It must be said that Professor Ye's workshop is relatively humane; even apprentices have formal salaries and subsidies, and there is even workers' compensation insurance, etc.

Unfortunately, humane treatment is not very applicable when encountering something as "anthropomorphic" as Ji Jue.

But anyway, he didn't plan on making any money from the professor here. Rounding it off, it was just losing something he didn't even know he had in the first place.

At most, he'd go home and shed two little pearls in his dreams.

Just like that, at Professor Ye's request, he once again demonstrated his ability using the already scrapped workpiece.

Ever since the Destiny Summoning, after becoming a formal Chosen One, his ability had also advanced by leaps and bounds, breaking through the original shackles. He no longer needed to reach out and touch to give commands to machines and complete communication.

Targets within ten meters could complete an instantaneous connection without any gap.

Faster, stronger, and more mana-consuming.

It's a pity that when the Golden Wind and Jade Dew meet, it surpasses countless others in the world... Now that Ji Jue has completed his breakthrough, he no longer has the infinite mana supply of Master Lawrence.

Vortex Planting is really a good thing!

If you think about it, he should have stopped Wen Wen back then, not killed him so decisively. If he had left some minced meat to plant a few more Master Lawrences in the ground, relying on his regenerative ability, wouldn't he be able to mass-produce Qi batteries by growing one and harvesting one?

No, just thinking about it is a pity... When will another opponent like this, who is a treasure from head to toe, come along?!

Just as Ji Jue's thoughts were sliding further and further downhill, Professor Ye, who had observed the whole process again, adjusted her glasses and sighed knowingly: "So that's how it is."

Through that pair of glasses capable of seeing through the flow of Qi, she had already observed the entire process.

From the surface, it should be a control-type ability leaning towards the Heavenly Origin category.

But in essence, it is completely different.

If it were just controlling machines, then the circulation of Qi would be too frequent and too massive.

If it were purely giving commands, there shouldn't be such a massive consumption when the object has its own energy. Skilled Chosen Ones of the control type can use it dozens or hundreds of times a day. Even Chosen Ones of the Heart Pivot can just say a word when controlling ordinary people.

And Ji Jue... one-fifth of his Qi flowed out, and less than half returned; most of it was lost.

If it were an ordinary trash Chosen One, that would be normal.

However, is that all there is to the Destiny Summoning?

Her brows furrowed.

Something is wrong.

There are always some places that are not quite right...

Qi does not appear out of thin air, nor does it disappear out of thin air, unless it has already "done work" and transformed. So—Professor Ye suddenly turned back, "You just said you can talk to them, right?"

"Yes, but most of the time, they don't have much to say," Ji Jue replied, "So far, the ones I've encountered have been relatively easy to talk to."

"..."

Out of the silence, Professor Ye suddenly asked: "Is it possible that it wasn't them who were talking?"

"Huh?"

"Ordinary matter does not possess thought, Ji Jue. Without Qi, there is no premise for thinking, and there is no personality or likes and dislikes."

She reached out and knocked on the shell of the workbench. Instantly, the machine broke free from Ji Jue's control and fell silent again:

"For example, this machining center was assembled by my own hands. If I am not so senile that I've become muddled, I shouldn't have overlooked this kind of interference and possibility.

But since it doesn't possess a will..."

She looked back and asked, "Then, at the moment you communicated, who exactly was talking to you?"

Ji Jue was completely dumbfounded.

If it's not the machine talking, then who could it be? Could it be... holy shit, wait, could it be himself?

Oh no, have I developed a split personality?!

I've already been discharged from the hospital; I don't have to go back, do I?

That's not right, the doctor said I'm very healthy!

Immediately after, he heard Professor Ye's words.

"If I'm not mistaken, the essence of your ability is to bestow your own Qi onto other objects and temporarily make them come alive," she said, "As for the dialogue that appeared in your mind... it's probably a pseudo-personality temporarily generated after the object's own history, experiences, and sedimentation combined with the Qi.

And it will generate responses and operate actively based on your commands."

From her contemplation, she said decisively: "If such an ability can go a step further, it might be possible to make the machine itself come completely alive, and even change its own structure to run errands for you."

Ji Jue was stunned.

She hit the nail on the head completely. Just by watching once, she seemed to understand it more deeply than he did himself. Moreover, without knowing about the "Big Brother" emergency survival protocol, she had already deduced the specific situation of the "Double Qualitative Leap" that Ji Jue had only used once.

The moment she thought of this, she reached out, took a spherical object from her pocket, and handed it to Ji Jue.

"Try this."

Upon taking it, the sound was crisp.

The fist-sized spherical object had complex and magnificent patterns on its surface, with exquisite carving. There were nine coin-sized holes on it. Looking inward, one could see a smaller sphere inside, identical to the outer one, just as complex and magnificent, but nested layer by layer—inward, and further inward, there were as many as nine layers!

It is said that in very ancient times, craftsmen would use ivory as a material, racking their brains to create such a miraculous creation.

Ji Jue had only seen such magnificent handicrafts in history textbooks, but inside it, there was a fierce aura that made Ji Jue's heart jump with fear.

It was even above that "Twilight" he had once seen in Lawrence's hands!

"Is this... a Devil's Work Ball?"

He held it in his hand, examining it carefully, and subconsciously input a bit of Qi, trying to feel its material, when his vision suddenly went black.

In the fleeting perception, his Qi feedback actually showed countless branches, a complex Qi pathway that looked like an integrated circuit, and even hundreds or thousands of rune brands with complexity far beyond his understanding...

If the fist-sized Devil's Work Ball were unfolded and laid flat, it would probably be enough to cover the entire massive factory area, and even extend into the sea.

And just when Ji Jue's ability acted upon it, what he felt was like a bottomless pit. The Devil's Work Ball was absorbing Ji Jue's Qi like a whale, devouring it crazily, but other than that... it didn't give a single signal!

Even if Ji Jue had completely drained his Qi and was about to collapse on the spot, all he heard was a satisfied voice: 【Thanks, brother, I'm good now.】

From then on, it was completely unresponsive.

Its quality was just shitty!

Ji Jue's eyes almost popped out: Don't be good, suck it back for me!

Unfortunately, the Devil's Work Ball no longer had any response.

It even actively broke away from Ji Jue's palm, as if pulled by invisible cables, and returned to Professor Ye's hand, spinning around and slowly enlarging, showing Ji Jue the terrifying, dizzyingly complex structure inside, tame as a loyal dog.

"See that? Learn a lesson after being taken advantage of. Don't just stick yourself onto everything you touch."

Ye Xian said slowly: "Some objects have their own spirituality and can automatically identify friend or foe and permissions. In this situation, unless your ability is powerful enough to completely overwrite the other party's underlying circuits and commands, they won't respond to your requests.

However, when you can make alchemical items in the future and become a formal artisan, you should know how to modify the underlying commands."

She paused slightly, revealing a smile that implied a subtle malice: "Even making it turn against its original owner on the spot is not a problem."

Imagine when an opponent confidently takes out their trump card treasure and activates it at all costs, only to find that their weapon has become the enemy's limb.

For any enemy, that would probably be a nightmare, right?

Especially for Ember Chosen Ones who are immersed in this path, such an ability is completely the killer nemesis of alchemical items! No matter what kind of weapon or equipment encounters Ji Jue, it won't have any effect, as if they were naked.

And it's not just that...

Until now, after the series of shocks, Ye Xian felt a certain realization once again...

About the horror of the Destiny Summoning!

It's not the gap in talent, or the difference in courage, but the difference in essence!

Any apprentice in a workshop could probably recite in their sleep that the essence of alchemy is to bestow a soul upon matter, to bestow miracles upon mortal objects, and to bestow transcendent skills upon good materials.

To refine gold from iron and stone, to fuse virtues from Qi, all the way to reaching the realm of infinite phenomena!

But a single basic ability of a Chosen One can actually encompass all four elements of alchemy—Ascension, Extraction, Purification, and Harmony?

It is truly too bizarre.

What's even more outrageous is that Ji Jue has inexplicably learned the later things, while he has absolutely none of the basic foundations.

It's like a castle in the air—no, this is a living hanging garden... An ability that relies on Ji Jue himself, who has no foundation at all, has been forcibly raised to an unreasonable height?!

An eighty-year-old illiterate grandmother teaching you the mysteries of nuclear fusion, an old farmer at the entrance of the village farming in a way that happens to match the jump parameters of a curvature engine—it's just punk and rebellious.

She has never seen such an outrageous situation in her life.

She even doubted more than once that she had fallen into the illusion of a Mirror or the confusion of a Heart Pivot.

Difficult, weird, bizarre.

But... it's too interesting!

From her contemplation, her smile gradually became dangerous and crazy.

Virtue·Ember, the domain it governs is creation, change, and innovation... Not a single Chosen One who truly steps onto this path is not a technology fanatic with a head full of research.

When a Sin-Tainted creature or a deformity jumps out on the road, they can't help but want to dissect it to figure it out.

Now, such a bizarre material has actually been delivered to her front door?

Her hands are already itching.

Purely in terms of research value, a Destiny Summoner is truly a treasure from head to toe.

He himself has amazing compatibility with the corresponding Virtues, not to mention that Ji Jue resonates with nine Virtues directly; the range of application is simply too wide.

Blood and bone marrow can be extracted to prepare potions; bones and flesh can be crushed or processed for cultivation; souls can be split and cast into heavenly works; even Qi can be extracted in a steady stream to promote material fusion.

From head to toe, even his ability possesses near-infinite possibilities!

It's a pity that what she excels at is engineering and purification. If she were an artisan focused on living spirits, wouldn't she have already thrown this kid into the furnace?

That straight, unblinking gaze made Ji Jue's hair stand on end.

He suddenly had the urge to call the police, subconsciously moving back a little, trembling with fear.

"Get ready, Ji Jue."

Under the pale light, Professor Ye slowly revealed a "kind" smile: "Starting tomorrow, your graduate courses will begin early."

Recommending a book by an old friend: "Thirty and Established, I Became a Top Stream in Chinese Entertainment"

What can a star who has achieved nothing at thirty do?

Livestreaming to sell goods?

Changing careers?

In a state of confusion about the future, Zhang Chengsheng ushered in his own system.

Newbie gift package: The song "Missing an Abandoned Name."

From then on, the entertainment industry gained a top stream who renovates old communities.