Chapter 33: The Efficiency of Professor Ye

The efficiency and swift, decisive style of Professor Ye's actions are truly breathtaking.

That very afternoon, before the school administration office had even finished their shift, a single phone call settled all the procedures. Those so-called leaders, who used to make Ji Jue run back and forth eight or ninety times just to register a moped license, now didn't even dare to let out half a fart. They obediently completed all the paperwork and respectfully invited student Ji Jue to come by and sign whenever he had a moment.

Although he was already aware that Professor Ye's true status could absolutely not be as simple as that of an ordinary teacher on the surface, experiencing it firsthand still made Ji Jue sigh at the convenience of power.

Professor Ye, who had been watching the whole process coldly from the sofa, merely picked up her teacup and said indifferently, "The largest alchemical research institution in the present world, the industry association for all artisans—the Ring of Taiyi—is a shareholder of Tianmen University.

If you obtain your artisan license before graduation, the smile they give you then will definitely be brighter than the one they give their own father."

"For real?"

Ji Jue was shocked.

He wasn't shocked by the immense power of the Ring of Taiyi, nor was he curious about whether the school leaders would be so humble when facing him later; rather, he was skeptical about this premise.

Before graduation? An artisan license?

Professor, are you serious?

He was starting his junior year this year and would be a senior next year. Two years of time—even if Professor Ye waved her hand and exempted him from all the problems in his professional courses, two years was still two years, even if he didn't eat, drink, or sleep!

After gaining a preliminary understanding of alchemy, Ji Jue had already been intimidated by its complex classifications and various incredible techniques. Not to mention whether he could one day reach the 'Reddening' rank like Professor Ye and become a big shot whom everyone would greet with a smile and kiss up to wherever he went, just the difficulty of getting started made his scalp tingle.

Good positions are like certain diseases; they can only be obtained through the exchange of bodily fluids and inheritance. In a way, the standard certification of the Ring of Taiyi is much tighter, more sought-after, and more precious than those positions.

There are plenty of people who have been grinding away from the age of twelve until forty, and it is not uncommon for people to spend half their lives as apprentices doing odd jobs for others. The reason: while good teachers are indeed rare, the standards, which are outrageously strict and have been tightening year by year, are an abyss that has swallowed countless people trying to cross the bridge.

Spiritual quality operations that meet standard ratings, understanding the Twelve Virtues' emblems, engraving hundreds of basic runes, identifying thousands of spiritual quality circuits, and the independent creation of a complete B-rank alchemical item...

Just thinking about it made Ji Jue feel like he was going bald.

Especially the runes and the Virtues' emblems. As runes serve as the containers and carriers for the Virtues' blessings, they require the artisan to have a deep understanding of the blessings; it would be one thing if each one were an independent experience bar. But the Virtues' emblem depicted by each artisan represents even more directly their understanding of the Dao of the Virtues. This is simply hard power brought about by the accumulation of time, and there is absolutely no way to fake it.

"Me?"

Ji Jue pointed at himself, looking blank.

He felt as if he had suddenly been pushed to a crossroads.

On the left was a monkey leading a horse with a bald man sitting on it, followed by a fatty and a bearded man; on the right was a thing with four arms and twenty fingers—he didn't know what kind of freak it was—sitting on a throne of white bones...

"Don't worry, I have confidence in you."

Professor Ye put the lid on her teacup. When she looked up, a hint of a smile seemed to appear on her cold, stern face: "You won't let me down, right?"

Ji Jue nodded frantically.

He didn't dare to make a sound.

It wasn't until they were almost home that he couldn't help but sigh up at the sky amidst his headache, in stark contrast to his excited and cheerful little sister in the back seat.

"Are you happy at school?" Ji Jue asked curiously.

"Yeah, the counselor and teachers are all very easy to talk to, and a lot of senior sisters heard that I have good physical fitness and won awards in high school sports meets, so they were fighting to pull me into their clubs."

Lu Ling was beaming: "Everyone is so rich. The jewelry and bags they wear are brands I don't recognize, but they don't mind that I'm poor."

"Keep a normal mindset, keep a normal mindset. Everyone has one nose and two eyes; it's no big deal. If you can get along, just hang out together. If anyone bullies you, tell me, you know?"

Ji Jue wasn't worried about Lu Ling being bullied. The little girl had had many clever ideas since she was a child, loved to smile at everyone, and had a mouth as sweet as if it were smeared with honey. Half of the good reviews for the Mainland Auto Repair Shop were things she had asked for... and the other half were things Ji Jue had gotten by 'brushing his face.' Selling his looks—the more said about that, the more tears there were.

As for that guy Lu Feng, he was always lying on the mat with that deadpan look of 'the price is just like this, fix it if you want, get lost if you don't,' which was infuriating just to look at; he could only hold them back.

Ji Jue shook his head and sighed, then heard a voice from behind: "Second brother, you seem to be in a very good mood."

"Huh? Where? Did you see me smile?" Ji Jue was bewildered. He leaned into the rearview mirror to check, moved his expression, and the corners of his mouth, which had been tightly pursed, moved a little, but there was still no trace of a smile.

Where could she see that he was happy?

"It's different."

Lu Ling shook her head, rested her little chin on his shoulder, and giggled: "Every time there's an exam or some trouble, you're like this.

You look very serious and scary, but the corners of your eyes are curved, and your eyes are shining, just like you're not afraid of anything."

"Really?"

Ji Jue leaned into the rearview mirror and observed left and right; he really couldn't see the curve his little sister described. As for his eyes, they weren't light bulbs, so how could they shine? On the contrary, they were a bit dry from the wind, and he couldn't see any brightness.

Instead, Lu Ling behind his shoulder had eyes like crescent moons, and her smile was bright.

"I've already asked today."

She said seriously: "Some senior sisters paid off their loans four or five years after graduation, and my interest rate is even lower. As long as I work hard and get a few more certificates while at school, Mom and the others can have it easier in the future. In a few years, when I save up some experience and pass the Level 1 Accountant exam, I can find a job at a big company to support the family!

By then, I can help you pay off your loan, Mom can retire, and the third and youngest ones can switch to a better school, so maybe their studies will be better."

"What about Feng-ge?" Ji Jue asked curiously.

Lu Ling rolled her eyes: "Big brother, don't worry about him; let him go open a repair shop!"

"Haha, okay." Ji Jue couldn't help but laugh out loud, "When the time comes, I'll buy a genuine Mustang and let him fix it for me. If he doesn't fix it well, I'll give him a bad review, and if there are no hidden rules, I'll give him a bad review too!"

"Okay, together, together!"

Amidst the cheers, the little sheep's throttle was twisted, and it galloped forward, carrying them and disappearing into the sunset, which seemed even more beautiful than usual.

In the passing laughter, the streets were still bustling with traffic, and Yacheng was as prosperous and noisy as ever.

Click!

In the crisp sound of the shutter, everything seemed to freeze at this moment.

Late at night, in the dilapidated living room, the half-eaten television still maintained its original tragic state.

And the mud-covered 'culprit' was currently lying on the living room floor, rolling, swinging its two tires, and constantly twisting its body.

At the front face, the plastic shell between the two turn signals opened, revealing an indescribable big mouth and a plastic tongue, drooling.

"Sit, sit!"

Ji Jue scolded and trained it repeatedly, so the little sheep stood up and 'sat' on the floor in front of Ji Jue, its two wheels turning obediently, opening its mouth to pant.

It looked like a dog, which made people completely unable to understand.

"Good, open your mouth, slow down, eat slowly, I'm not fighting you for it!"

Ji Jue picked up the fresh chicken leg he had packed from Lu Ma's house and threw it into the little sheep's mouth. He was even licked by its tongue, getting engine oil all over his hand.

Watching the chicken leg he had snatched from the youngest one's mouth being swallowed by the little sheep in one gulp—it didn't even spit out the bones—chewing with a crunching sound.

Ji Jue couldn't help but sigh.

For the sake of this family, the youngest one had sacrificed too much.

... It just so happened that he hadn't learned his math well recently, so let him sacrifice a little more. At a young age, he had to understand that bad kids who didn't study well would have to suffer!

At least there would be no chicken legs to eat!

However...

He was currently pinching his chin, examining the little sheep that was excitedly spinning in circles after eating the chicken leg, still completely confused: "Tell me, what exactly are you?"

The little sheep turned on its ignorant high beams and flashed them twice, not knowing what he meant.

By rights, this thing should have been a product of Ji Jue's ability, but after Ji Jue's ability ended, everything else had already turned into scrap iron. Just this dog-like little sheep, because of the dragon blood, had accidentally become alive.

He went panting at it, but it didn't react, and it didn't look like a real dog either.

But it was really too dog-like!

Especially after discovering that Lu Ma was the god in charge of white-cut chicken in ancient Greece, even when it was sitting under Ji Jue's butt, it couldn't help but shake sparks off its mudguard.

Fortunately, Lu Ma didn't notice!

He should have shown it to the professor, but this thing involved dragon blood... He had promised Wen Wen to keep the matter of her being able to dragonize a secret. Although he didn't quite understand what kind of thing a dragon was yet, since he had promised, it was best not to let anything related to dragons be linked to her.

And for now, it seemed there were no big problems for the time being.

So, just keep it.

After all, who wouldn't want to own a little sheep that could run at over 300 kilometers per hour on the highway without needing to refuel or charge?

"Tsk tsk tsk~ Who is the best little sheep in the world~ Of course, our little sheep is the best, right?"

Ji Jue stroked its 'dog head' and praised: "Good kids all need names. Does our little sheep need a name too?"

Immediately, the little sheep became even more excited, its 'dog head' bobbing frantically.

"Hmm, let me think..."

Ji Jue pinched his chin and pondered for a moment. Finally, his gaze fell on the tattered trademark on its shell, where he could vaguely distinguish the gold-stamped characters below—Niu Ma Motorcycles, Your Choice.

Ji Jue's eyes lit up: "How about we call you 'Little Niu Ma'!"

【???】

In a moment of stiffness, it seemed that one hundred thousand question marks had been transmitted from the perception of his ability, and they were upside down!

As soon as it heard that it was going to be called Little Niu Ma, the little sheep seemed to refuse immediately. It twisted its body frantically, the handlebars shook until they were flying, and it turned on its high beams to shine directly into Ji Jue's eyes, asking him to change it!

It didn't want to.

Then what should he call it?

He couldn't call it Pal, could he?

"What's wrong with Little Niu Ma? What's not good about it?!"

Ji Jue felt that his world-shaking wisdom had been insulted, and he said earnestly: "Those called Little Sheep aren't necessarily real sheep, but those called Little Niu Ma are definitely real cattle and horses.

Look, cattle and horses, which one isn't better than a sheep? And they're bigger! Why are you still unwilling?"

"Beep beep beep!"

The Little Niu Ma, which had just been a little sheep, honked its horn frantically to resist. Regrettably, the resistance was useless.

It was decided just like that.

At least Ji Jue decided it unilaterally.

"Alright, stop making a scene. Go to work properly tomorrow, and I'll reward you with a chicken leg at night."

Ji Jue waved his hand and went upstairs. After washing up, he lay down on the bed and took a customary look at the watch he had taken off his wrist.

Brother Watch was as stable as ever. Apart from carrying the whole game when necessary, it absolutely didn't cause any trouble, and it didn't even need to eat white-cut chicken!

It was simply the most worry-free employee in the whole family.

Unfortunately, there was still no movement on the watch face.

After he became a Chosen One, the golden 0 had finally been filled, and the 1 had also made a good start. But apart from the beginning, it was like a book by a struggling author who had finally written something after holding it in for more than a year; it was about to run out.

For a full half-month, no matter how Ji Jue used his ability, how he accumulated spiritual quality, or how he studied it over and over again, that 【1】 which had only just begun to show itself remained motionless from beginning to end!

Being a 0 is hard, being a 1 is even harder.

Ji Jue's ability, until now, had absolutely no growth.