Primacy of Mind

[Primacy of Mind]. Among blessings, it stood in direct opposition to [Primacy of Matter], known as the Pillar of the Desolate Ruins. From their names alone, one could tell their relationship was like fire and water, completely incompatible. They had never once coexisted within the same Celestial Chosen. [Primacy of Matter] emphasized that "matter is the fundamental existence of the world, and all spirit must submit to matter itself." The essence of [Primacy of Mind], however, was to invert their positions and place mind and spirit before the world. It rejected the notion that the spiritual depended on physical objects, emphasizing the supremacy of the mind. Primacy of Matter sounded exceptionally scientific and reasonable, but Primacy of Mind already began to sound unhinged just from its description. Considering this was Ascension, however... it was actually quite normal. One had to remember that the core theme of the Ascension path was the exaltation of the soul and the transcendence of will. It was completely and utterly subjective, devoid of even a shred of objectivity. Views and philosophies like "The world exists because of me," "All things are complete within me," and "A fleeting dream, the butterfly becomes me" were a dime a dozen among the Celestial Chosen of the Ascension path. The arrogant notion of placing the subjective above the objective was merely the entry level; imposing one's own subjectivity over someone else's subjectivity was where the real technique lay. Lunatics shouting things like, "Idiots, today I shall defy the heavens!" or "My drill is the fucking drill that will pierce the heavens!" cropped up in endless succession. While not very objective to say, within the Ascension path that governed souls and the Heart Pivot path that governed minds, mental instability was actually pretty standard. Under that premise, a passive blessing like Primacy of Mind appeared remarkably normal and unassuming compared to others. Beyond significantly boosting the trademark traits of the Ascension path—increasing max spiritus capacity and recovery speed—it granted Ji Jue steadily growing mental resistance and tolerance. Its primary effect, however, was that under certain circumstances, it allowed him to overlook the flaws and poor conditions of physical matter to a limited degree, substituting the expenditure of spiritus and sheer willpower to achieve the intended result. To put it simply: when conditions fall short, push through with willpower. Like an escapee from a raging fire, a mother lifting a car to save her child, a rock climber dangling off a cliff face, an athlete breaking world records while chased by a bear, or a desperate survival trek crossing country and mountains for four hours to flee a scam compound... Without other blessings to pair with it, its initial effect was modest. Left on its own, it would at most let a phone cling to one percent battery from the subway ride all the way home. Yet it was an elite, growth-oriented passive! There was simply so much to tap into. In its base state alone, it drastically extended the duration of Deus Ex Machina, doubling it outright. Ji Jue could hardly imagine what surprises awaited once its qualitative transformations were maxed out and the blessing advanced in tier. Both Masterwork Nature and Primacy of Mind were late-game blessings—an absolute godsend for grind-fiends. Ji Jue was never afraid of a long experience bar. The longer the bar, the more thrilled he became, and the more motivation he had to grind. He was having the time of his life. Time to set a small goal: using Primacy of Mind to shave a few thousand off the electric bill first! Who wouldn't love a phone that lasted an entire week on a single charge? His fighting spirit was soaring! "Well, since the blessing of Primacy of Mind came so smoothly, we can begin the next phase of your training." In the workshop, after checking Ji Jue's current condition once more, Professor Ye said calmly, "—The integration and synergy between your blessings." "Have you thought about the developmental direction for Masterwork Nature?" she asked suddenly, catching Ji Jue off guard. For a moment, he didn't know how to answer. Too little time had passed. Merely getting used to the enhancements of Masterwork Nature and gradually testing its effects and boundaries had already kept him swamped. As of now, he could only claim to have barely grasped it. Add in his absurd pace of advancement, and he simply hadn't had the luxury to consider it. Just as people often said: there are no ultimate weapons, only ultimate wielders. Even with weapons, once enough people used them, countless different styles and inclinations emerged. A warhammer struck with heavy, crushing momentum; a dagger danced with swift, elusive grace; an obnoxious longsword user sheathed their blade and launched into an aerial slash... Blessings were no different. Sometimes, the exact same blessing produced entirely different results in different hands. Both belonged to the Swarm, and both ran the standard trio of Blood Drinker, Bitter Battle, and Sunder the Strong alongside Anticipate the Enemy, yet in Ji Jue's eyes, under that exact setup, Old Tom could slaughter ten opponents without breaking a sweat. His mastery had long been maxed out. After several qualitative leaps, his blessings might have even advanced in tier. Even with the same build, could a zero-constellation character ever compare to a max-constellation one? In a limited span of time, being greedy and wanting everything would only leave one mediocre at all of it. A jack-of-all-trades could never measure up to someone who relentlessly dedicated themselves to a single specialty. Some factions even possessed secret rituals and methods that discarded a portion of a blessing's effects in exchange for a massive, qualitative leap in another. Of course, with a blessing whose scope of application was as frighteningly broad as Masterwork Nature, there was no need to put the cart before the horse and overdraw it like that. Even so, Ji Jue had reached the point where he had to choose a specialization. Unchecked wild growth would only produce a field of weeds, never a towering tree. Besides, it wasn't an abandonment—merely prioritizing certain aspects over others at his current stage. Yet precisely because its scope was so vast, when Professor Ye suddenly questioned him, he found himself momentarily paralyzed by choice. Specializing in strength could let him literally tear steel plates with his bare hands. Speed would push his reaction and execution to the absolute limit. And if his focus on precision reached the extreme, Ji Jue might one day use submolecular tweezers to pluck extra protons out of quicksilver to handcraft pure gold... though nobody would likely ever be that bored. And those were merely basic physical choices. If categorized by target of operation, the options were endless: smelting, Transmutation, Ascension, Purification, or even distinctions of materials—metal, wood, chemical compounds, blood, organs, or even... "Spiritus?" Enlightenment struck Ji Jue from the professor's subtle hint, and his eyes lit up. "You mean my training direction should focus primarily on spiritus manipulation?" Professor Ye nodded slightly, the corners of her mouth curving into a faint arch. Teaching a student with great compatibility and sharp intuition was wonderfully smooth and satisfying. There was no need for tedious, drawn-out lecturing; a single point at the crux was all it took for him to see right through it. Right now, Ji Jue's greatest strength happened to be spiritus manipulation! Between the empowerment from Non-Offensive, the purification expertise of Fluid Alchemy, his practice with Dissociation Art, and the passive effects of Primacy of Mind, Ji Jue had already left everyone else in the dust within the realm of spiritus manipulation. Forget mere apprentices—even ordinary artisans couldn't hold a candle to his current standard. Blessed with such favorable conditions, failing to double down and establish an overwhelming lead would be an utter waste! "Even if we say focus on spiritus manipulation, I don't know how to go about it," Ji Jue sighed. "Surely I'm not supposed to squat in front of a furnace every day boiling it over and over?" "No need." Professor Ye finally offered a faint smile, which instinctively sent a shiver down Ji Jue's spine. "I've already prepared it for you." She waved her hand. A hatch suddenly opened in the workshop ceiling, and accompanied by the puzzle ball's excited shout of "Incoming, little bro!", a box tumbled down from above. It landed right by Ji Jue's feet. Ji Jue picked it up and opened it, instantly dumbfounded. Palm-sized, round, mediocre craftsmanship, so-so materials, and a godawful assembly... Ji Jue held it up and turned it over, finding it weirder the longer he looked. Wasn't this... seemingly, perhaps, possibly just a cheap, run-of-the-mill mechanical pocket watch bought off the street? "Professor, do you need a watch?" Ji Jue looked bewildered. "If you need one, just tell me. My mother's family used to make these. If you don't care about brand names, I can handcraft one for you. If the second hand is off by even a fraction of a second within a year, I'll twist my own head off for you." "It's not for me." Professor Ye calmly took the pocket watch from his hands and held it back out to him. "It's for you." The box still had the receipt attached—twenty-five yuan and eighty cents. Delivered yesterday by a courier from the yellow delivery app, the price tag hadn't even been peeled off. Ji Jue scrutinized it again and again, confirming that this piece of junk had zero merits beyond telling time, leaving him all the more baffled. It was probably put together by some bored auntie taking piecework orders to make a little pocket money. What was she giving it to him for? "Use your ability on it," Professor Ye commanded bluntly. Without hesitation, Ji Jue reached out. Deus Ex Machina. The spiritual response was exceedingly faint, like a candle flickering in the wind. For a mass-produced item with zero devotion poured into it and no history to speak of, generating a dull, rigid spiritual response was already its limit. If he wanted a livelier reaction, Ji Jue would have to pour in more spiritus to nurture it himself. "Spiritual endowment complete," Ji Jue reported. "Very good," Professor Ye said. "Now, take it out." "Huh?" Ji Jue froze. Instinctively, he reached out to cancel the ability, but quickly realized that Professor Ye hadn't said to cancel it, but rather... take it out? Take it out? "Take what out?" Ji Jue's hand hovered in midair. "The 'it' you just created." Professor Ye said, "Extract it from this pocket watch. Use Masterwork Nature to manipulate the spiritus and extract it completely, without damaging a single thread of its consciousness." Ji Jue was struck dumb. It felt like a bolt from the blue... Holding the pocket watch in both hands, he froze in place for a long time before looking up at Professor Ye in utter confusion. Professor Ye looked back at him, her gaze serene, free of rush or impatience, simply waiting. Until Ji Jue summoned his courage and reached out... His spiritus control wavered by a fraction of a hair. Snap! The fragile spiritual response instantly dissipated, dissolving into wisps of scattered spiritus that drifted into Ji Jue's palms, now utterly meaningless. The dull consciousness inside the watch had completely vanished. Yet Ji Jue hadn't even truly begun. He hadn't even managed to make contact! A microscopic leak of his own spiritus fluctuation had already thoroughly pulverized the watch's spiritual response. It couldn't be helped; the watch's material limitations were too severe. Even if Ji Jue put everything into constructing a sufficiently stable consciousness, its inherent flaws left it vastly too weak compared to other objects. Even if Ji Jue could make the spirit actively cooperate, this was like a giant trying to pick up a microscopic wrench to dismantle a precision instrument, extracting its core while keeping it fully intact. One breath, and it was gone. People said that the world's smallest mechanical watch had a movement measuring less than 0.2 centimeters, composed of 97 components. When disassembling it, watchmakers had to use specialized tools and hold their breath, because a momentary lapse of concentration was enough to cause an irreversible blunder... At least, that was the grand claim, so he took it as true. Ji Jue had once dreamed of getting his hands on one to try it out, but now, something far more troublesome sat before him. He had no idea where to even begin. "This will be your training objective from now on, Ji Jue." Admiring his distressed expression, Professor Ye said calmly, "Do your best."