Chapter 409: A Hurried Leisure

"Good morning, Factory Manager."

"Good morning."

"Good morning, Mr. Ji."

"Hmm, good morning."

In the early morning of Xinquan Town, it was busy and noisy. The market area, which had been rebuilt and was now several times larger than the original, was teeming with people.

The passing crowd greeted Ji Jue enthusiastically, and Ji Jue waved back, enjoying the morning scenery. The stall owner leaned out and asked, "So early, Mr. Ji? Would you like a bowl of rice noodles?"

"Sure, add an egg. Do you have chili?"

"You got it, just a moment."

The stall owner grinned, and soon, a paper bowl of noodle soup with beef piled high and sprinkled with chili was served. Taking a bite of both soup and noodles, the damp cold of the early morning dissipated under the salty, fragrant heat.

The taste was not bad, and the meat was okay too.

It was just... a little bit of technology in it.

But in the wilderness, let alone technology, being able to eat rice noodles fresh from the pot was considered progress. Why be so picky?

o￠o

This price was fine; no one should look down on anyone else.

Ji Jue slurped his noodles, watching lazily from the side.

The bustling market was noisy, filled with chaotic sounds, and greetings could be heard from time to time among the people coming and going.

The depression and coldness of the rainy season had disappeared.

It wasn't just the settlers and scavengers in the wilderness; even merchants from Yacheng and Chaocheng were gradually increasing.

With the further expansion of the coast, more and more employees and unreleased consumption power attracted more merchants to settle in. Prosperity came so suddenly that even Ji Jue couldn't react in time.

Even if this piece of prosperity was just a temporary scene.

In the wilderness outside the city, few things could last long. A heavy rain, an earthquake, a flood, or a landslide was enough to cause a huge settlement to fall apart. There were too many accidents and disasters.

When the next rainy season arrived, it might return to its dilapidated state again.

But at least before the storm arrived, everything could be safe.

Perhaps, in a few years, after Xinquan developed to a certain extent, it could become a formal small city. Even if it couldn't compare with central cities like Yacheng and Chaocheng, at least with the protection of the Heavenly Supervisor's Law, everything could be stable.

When the sky was just beginning to brighten, a series of roars came from the town's construction site. After crossing the demolished high walls, Xinquan began to expand again.

The Messenger Logistics building and the first large transfer warehouse were about to be completed. By then, all related staff and business would move out of Coastal Industry, avoiding the embarrassment of both sides sharing an office building and fighting for workstations.

By then, the increasingly frequent traffic jams on the main road would also relatively decrease; at least there wouldn't be a large number of overloaded three-wheeled trucks unable to move forward or backward.

Walking along the road, he swayed back to Coastal Industry.

He flipped through the reports piled on the table, and after signing the documents picked out by Isis, Ji Jue pushed open the door leading to the workshop from his office.

The Doomsday Special Train on the platform was still silent, only the lights on the front of the train were on, staring at the returning conductor.

And in just a few days, the workshop inside the special train had changed again.

The workshop modules of the former sage Mercury had begun to be gradually transplanted. Although limited by the insufficient output of the core spiritual quality furnace, it couldn't be done in one go.

But compared to other new artisans who were bitterly picking up scraps to upgrade, just repairing, transplanting, and modifying was simply like a dream.

"Good afternoon, sir."

In the projection that looked like gathered starlight, a blurry figure emerged: "It seems you've had a good rest recently."

"Don't mention rest."

Ji Jue gave a self-deprecating smile. After taking over the operation of the many Mercury mechanical arms, he checked the progress and asked casually: "Any new news?"

"Mr. Yu from the Lihua District left a message yesterday. The school you ordered has been found, communication has been completed, and you can enroll at any time. Of course, regarding your requirements for the students' coursework, I have already connected with the school. The school has guaranteed that they will assign coursework in the most serious manner, to provide you with some unspeakable twisted pleasure amidst your busy affairs."

"That's great." Ji Jue followed her words, sighing playfully: "I love watching kids cry so much. Anything else?"

"The Association sent an invitation, inviting you to attend the exchange event held at the end of the month. According to your instructions, it has been declined."

"Besides that, there is an order from the Chi Bang that needs your confirmation. That accountant gentleman seems to be no longer satisfied with tractors and modified three-wheelers, asking if you are willing to deepen cooperation in the field of alchemy..."

"No rush."

Ji Jue shook his head. "Just say I've been busy recently and will reply to him in a while. After all, it involves the Central Plains, so we must be cautious. The previous split export of power exoskeletons was already a borderline act; how could we go deeper... Besides, there are no red lines for this kind of thing; it varies from person to person and time to time. Maybe it's okay today, but tomorrow it will be a death sentence."

And the Association's control over alchemy products would only get stricter.

Now that the situation in the Central Plains was turbulent, all city-states were preparing for war in full swing.

God knows when a new large-scale conflict, or even a war, will break out.

Ji Jue didn't want his works to appear in any sensitive situations. Otherwise, if utilized by someone with ulterior motives, he might capsize in the gutter. What peers loved most was to mess with peers, especially Embers, who only had eyes for peers they couldn't kill and peers they were about to kill.

The fact that a new artisan created the Heavenly Artisan before was enough to attract attention. Currently, he just wanted to steadily get the Gold Ribbon he had reserved for himself and couldn't give others an excuse to make a fuss.

Of course, on the premise of ensuring secrecy, he didn't mind putting on a mask and doing some private work with everyone behind the Association's back... but regarding the price, could they talk about it properly?

This was destined to be a long tug-of-war.

But after a brief contemplation, Ji Jue looked up and said: "Send all the bounties and news from the Wilderness Market to them, and tell them that if they can handle it, everything is negotiable."

"Okay."

Isis responded: "The first batch of news summaries has been placed on your table. Unfortunately, there are no decisive clues or evidence."

Ji Jue picked up the thin few pages of paper; even with large characters and sparse lines, they weren't full.

It was all hearsay.

On such and such a year, month, and day, the suspected target appeared somewhere, without a head or tail, occasionally with a photo, but it was blurry...

But to gather these few pages of paper, Ji Jue had already spent more than four million. The early investment was more than that, and if he wanted to collect relevant information for a long time in the future, the investment would only be more exaggerated.

It wasn't just the Wilderness Market; the Security Bureau, the Taiyi Circle Association, the Tianping Chamber of Commerce, and even many reading clubs where Aether gathered, Ji Jue had all sent out the same bounty.

Unfortunately, until now, there were very few useful clues.

There was only one target for the bounty—【Wolf】!

In the name of his own workshop, Ji Jue posted a bounty for Wolf-type Sin-Tainted and collection tasks. The fresher, the better; the higher the rank of the wolf, the better. The only requirement was that it had to be alive.

The reason was simple: he wanted to study it!

Don't ask; asking means we Embers are like this.

Everyone was already used to this. How far had it gone? When artisans started doing research, they would post all kinds of strange bounties, and no one would suspect his purpose. Besides, evil paths should be punished by everyone; what's wrong with me using waste?

This shows I'm kind!

If any Wolf-type Sin-Tainted held a grudge because of this and targeted him as a goal, that would be even better!

The material had delivered itself to his door!

But in reality, what Ji Jue really wanted... wasn't just a wolf, but the trace of the leader of the 【Wolf Nest】, the organization of the Bai Lu Sin-Tainted—Rotten Scale, Xie He.

No way, this guy could really run.

In the Rift Realm, after that guy, as a representative of the Sowers, did all sorts of things, he was actually able to slip away while everyone wasn't paying attention. His ability to escape was truly breathtaking.

However, even if he ran, he probably wouldn't get any good out of it.

Under the entanglement of the Tower's Distortion Law, he would lose half his life even if he didn't die. Besides, there was the aftermath of Chixiao; even a wisp of it was enough to make him uncomfortable for several years.

Besides, now Ji Jue had to thank Xie He for running fast.

If it weren't for Xie He, where would he find clues about the Sowers?

After being discharged from the hospital in Xinxin, he had already borrowed the excuse of research to go to the Security Bureau and flip through the intelligence on wolves in the Federation for so many years, focusing on relevant records.

Only then did he discover that before Xie He became a lackey of the Sowers, he had already emerged when the Bai Bang had not yet fallen.

But at that time, he was a priest of the Bai Bang, a follower of the White Lord, and an important member of the Bai Bang Priest Group. And as the previous generation of Priest King became desperate and the priests collectively became Sin-Tainted, leaving endless trouble, he also disappeared without a trace.

Everyone thought he was dead, but when he appeared again, he had become a real wolf and had also obtained the evil name of "Rotten Scale."

He was also the most frequent among the current wolf leaders. For decades, he had been running around, connecting all parties, with countless false names and disguises, and had been involved in more than one large-scale vicious incident, often only being able to trace a few clues after the fact.

Until now, the bounty on him from all sides had accumulated to over a billion, yet until now, no one had had the chance to get it.

He was too cautious.

Even among wolves, he belonged to the most cautious and hidden batch.

What's more, where would a wolf write its identity on its forehead?

So much so that, facing Ji Jue's bounty, even the Bai Lu hunters had no good way.

"It's very hard to deal with. Although wolves in groups are very tricky, lone wolves are even more troublesome."

When receiving Ji Jue's commission, An Neng on the other end of the phone sighed and lamented: "Wolves, this kind of thing, generally don't show their heads until they open their mouths. They hide tightly when they hear the wind blowing. Especially since you want to catch them alive, it's even harder; you can only rely on luck."

"It doesn't matter; I can wait."

"See if you can wait. Don't worry, I'll notify you whenever there is news."

After An Neng hung up the phone, there had been no news until now.

Indefinite future.

And besides the news about wolves, Ji Jue was also paying attention to news involving the Usurper, but he could only wait passively for the wind, or follow the crowd to buy some shared intelligence.

After all, it hadn't been long since the Temple Incident ended, and the whole world was frantically looking for the whereabouts of the Imperial Seal. As an artisan who had nothing to do with the Temple, besides regular attention, it was really not suitable for him to do anything eye-catching.

Ultimately, it was still the public news channel, or more precisely, the channel that Artisan Ji Jue could openly use, which was still too limited.

If he really wanted to get some truly useful news, he might have to return to his old profession and make the Sin-Tainted Cult great again!

"Hiss..."

Ji Jue's eyelid twitched subconsciously, and he gasped.

Every time he thought of this idea, his legs would always feel a very familiar phantom pain.

It was PTSD.

So what if he was at the Rebirth Rank?

"Hiss..."

The corner of Ji Jue's eye twitched instinctively, and he gasped.

Every time he thought of this thought, a familiar phantom pain would always come from his legs.

It was PTSD.

So what if he was at the Rebirth Rank?

When it was time for the teacher to break his legs, he still couldn't escape!

He had just leveled up, and his aura wasn't even enough yet; he didn't want to be dragged back by Ye Xian to take the Spiritual Quality Offense and Defense class again...

The matter of the Evil-Transforming Sect could only be put aside for now.

Just like the Seal of the Nation.

No news is good news; it would be best if it never existed at all, that would be best.

After all, some things, no matter how clear they are in one's heart, or how many guesses one has, are ultimately very difficult to put into words.

Just like Ye Xian never asked Ji Jue how he ended up looking so evil, smoking and steaming all over, Ji Jue didn't ask how he managed to climb up after falling into the vortex? Why were there so many shoe prints on his face when he opened his eyes?

Since Ye Xian didn't mention it at all, Ji Jue didn't want to ask anything more.

He already had enough trouble on his own, why look for more annoyance?

Besides, how much do you weigh and how many dishes have you eaten to be asking so much?

Anyway, as a student, he had already done what he should do.

Even if the teacher tried to stop him, he had to do what he had to do.

Regardless of the consequences.

Just like that, the master and apprentice got along as usual, as if nothing had ever happened.

To avoid being linked to it and because he had already been in the spotlight too much, he had originally wanted to lie flat, imitate Ye Chun and be a salted fish for a while, and by the way, settle down on the Nine Types.

But he didn't expect the advancement of Rebirth to be so smooth.

Thus, there were new problems, placed right before his eyes...

"Blessing, huh."

Ji Jue sighed and looked at the memo that had turned a page.

【Weight of the Earth】, 【Heavenly Movement】, 【Self-Transformation of All Things】.