Chapter 123: We All Understand the Pain of Delayed Graduation!

A few people first found an apprentice named A Wei and asked about the situation inside.

Inside the Gong Zao Si a tree disaster broke out. No one knows whose potted plant suddenly grew wildly, its branches as thick as two people standing side by side! It crawls up and down everywhere in the Si, almost tearing the place apart.

From A Wei's account, it seems he knows nothing about the rapid growth of the constructed wood.

His master, Mr. Gong Shu, is the most senior craftsman in the Gong Zao Si Smelting Workshop; after the incident he stayed inside to rescue the furnace, and his fate is now unknown. Though A Wei and the others are anxious, they refuse to abandon their teacher and must wait outside for the Cloud Rider reinforcements.

A Wei hands a jade talisman to the train crew: "If you find the master, please bring him out safely! If anything happens to him—"

Walt can't help but feel a stir: "Don't worry, kid, your master's safety—"

But before he finishes, A Wei clutches his forehead and cries out in pain: "—Our group can't graduate this year, we can't become disciples…."

Walt: "..."

San Yue Qi's face is indifferent: "Let's go, I don't feel like continuing the talk…."

I can only say, I completely understand this brother's distress.

Outside the Sumeru Teaching Command, in a café, several uniformed students huddle together, chattering.

You don't know, my original research was "Geological Structure and Spatial Stability Analysis of Sumeru Dead Zones", and guess what? My advisor and I finally found a dead zone outside the Chemical City Wall, studied it for three months, the paper was almost finished, and then… a blond‑haired the Traveler cleared every dead zone inside Sumeru! My whole project vanished!

Please! Wait until I graduate before clearing dead zones!! A student of the A Milido Academy's Student Theory faction let out a wail just like A Wei's.

Huh, what is that? another student of the Brilliant Theory faction scoffed.

Our original project was to study the ancient script left by the Red King in the desert, led personally by a teacher from the academy. After finally finding a stone slab covered with ancient characters at a ruin, my senior brother somehow triggered something and our teacher was locked inside the ruin!

My little lucky grass king! We were deep in the desert, low on food and water; if we hadn't met a merchant heading to A Ru Village who showed us the way, I probably would have—

When we finally returned to the Teaching Command and asked senior Fa Lu Shan to successfully decipher the ruin, three months had passed, and the poor teacher had already become a…

The circle of students around the table gasped.

In short, because of that accident, every student in our group had to extend their graduation that year…so I truly can understand A Wei!

Passing through the Gong Zao Si gate, we indeed saw countless tree roots and branches, and they kept growing wildly.

Without delay, everyone immediately found a path and walked inside.

Soon after, they encountered a middle‑aged man carrying several mechanical contraptions.

"The Gong Zao Si is a strategic stronghold; thieves, retreat, hurry—hurry—retreat—ya ya ya ya!" Master Gong Shu spoke with a theatrical tone.

"Hey hey! Explain it to us! We're not…bad—"

"What's there to explain? It's nothing but excuses like 'just passing by', 'by accident', 'the door was left open'! Today the Si suffered a sudden disaster; I've long suspected sabotage! As expected, just as I thought!"

After rudely cutting off San Yue Qi's explanation, Master Gong Shu gave a command, and the mechanical contraptions around him began to surround him with hostile intent.

Seeing the explanation fail, Xing grew tired of talking, and with two sticks smashed his proud mechanical contraptions into loose parts.

"Thick‑cloud golden cicada! Lamp‑day dragon fish! …What's wrong with you? Stand up quickly! I'll nurture you as if you were my own flesh and blood…" Master Gong Shu stared at the scattered parts, his face full of sorrow.

"If you're going to act, why smash these little companions of mine to pieces—compensate me!!" Master Gong Shu let out a battle roar.

San Yue Qi muttered plaintively, "You yourself insisted on not listening to explanations! We came to rescue people, and you just attacked without a word…"

Without the mechanical contraptions, Master Gong Shu was finally willing to hear explanations, and then learned that the group had been sent by a general as reinforcements. Hearing the word "general", his expression flipped 180°, clouds parting into sunshine, and he chuckled.

"You're the general's men? A misunderstanding, a misunderstanding! Never mind, those little toys—if they're broken, they're broken!"

World of One Below.

This Master Gong Shu… haha, he's actually quite interesting. Zhang Chulan puffed on a cigarette, lounged on the sofa watching the light screen, and couldn't have been more comfortable.

Elder Wang, don't even start—this Master Gong Shu's craftsmanship is rather like my older nephew's.

The Hundred‑Refined Divine Mechanism… the flavor's spot‑on, but in terms of effect it's nowhere near Ma Xianhong." Wang recalled the battle in Biyou Village, where Ma Xianhong had shown them all sorts of wondrous gadgets; that rural tech nerd may have been quirky, but his strength was no joke.

Moreover, I'm quite curious about that furnace he's desperate to protect.

Mention the furnace, mention Ma Xianhong, and Zhang Chulan can't help but feel his fingers itch.

Walt hopes Master Gong Shu can lead the way; after all, they're unfamiliar with the Gong Zao Si.

Master Gong Shu sighed continuously: the Gong Zao Si is now occupied by a wood spirit demon, and even the Si's prized "Creation Furnace" has been stolen by it. He can't free himself because that furnace contains…

He hesitates to speak, but Xing has already caught the subtext—doesn't he just want someone to help, and to snatch the furnace back for him?

"Let's save some time—where to, who to attack?" Xing got straight to the point.

"Haha, General Jingyuan invited you all here, so there must be a purpose—most certainly to resolve the Gong Zao Si crisis." Master Gong Shu laughed heartily: "Come, this way, please!"

Following Master Gong Shu, the party passed through painted screens, blasting monsters along the way, finally reaching their destination.

"Look at the constructed wood's root system…" San Yue Qi covered his mouth and gasped.

Countless sprawling roots entwine a massive cauldron‑sized furnace, each root as thick as dozens of people.

"Little one, hurry and help this old man! Let's work together to chop it down, lest it pierce the furnace!"