*Snap!*
Another faint, barely audible crack.
The spiritus scattered once more, slipping back into Ji Jue's grasp. His hands were already trembling. Between the excessive exertion and the strain of keeping them steady, he was breathing heavily after holding his breath for so long.
This time had been slightly more successful than the last—just a tiny bit. He had made contact, only to immediately crush the spirituality he had just shaped.
And after four, five, six more attempts, his best result had been nothing more than the barest sensation that he had caught hold of this fragile soul.
And then, like a candle in the wind, that faint spark was snuffed out completely by his movements.
"Teacher, is this really possible?"
Dizzy and lightheaded, Ji Jue could not help but sigh.
In the foundational theories of modern alchemy, the world was composed of matter and spirit.
Ascension and Desolate Ruins intertwined, soul and matter merged, and thus the first Holy Spirit was born. This was the most ancient Sovereign Virtue, neither preceding the other.
To endow matter with spirit was the true essence of alchemy.
Yet right now, what Ji Jue needed to do was impart spirit to matter and then extract that spirit wholly from within the matter. Setting aside the intimate connection and affinity between matter and spirit, not to mention whether Ji Jue's skill level was up to par, how was this any different from pulling a living person's soul entirely out of their body...? Fuck, wait!
The moment the realization hit him, Ji Jue was stunned, his face twitching uncontrollably.
Indeed, if one used Dissociation Art to unravel a matrix and break through defenses, used alchemy to bind blessings and prevent interference, and then applied Non-Offensive's spiritus manipulation... in theory, it was truly possible to yank someone's soul out.
But in practice?
He swallowed dryly, his posture instinctively shrinking. "Can that really be done?"
"Want to give it a try?"
Professor Ye looked eager, raising a hand slightly. "Interested in experiencing it firsthand? It's been a while since I've done it, so I might be a little rusty."
Ji Jue shook his head frantically without a second thought.
He feared that if he were a second too slow, Professor Ye would let out a sinister cackle—*I've been waiting for you to say that for ages*—and strike without mercy.
It wasn't that he distrusted Professor Ye; rather, as an artisan apprentice striding boldly down this path, Ji Jue simply could not muster any faith in the average moral character of artisans.
Someone who could kill a person, make full use of their ashes, and still dig a hole to bury them was already considered a saint among artisans. From that alone, one could imagine how appalling the standards of the rest were.
Yet immediately afterward, he heard Professor Ye let out a regretful sigh.
"Don't worry," she said. "I can't do it."
Although she specialized in spiritus studies, her forte did not lie in manipulation.
The effect of Moxie was merely division and repulsion; it could not pull a soul from a body while preserving its structure intact.
Yet that did not mean no one could.
In fact, certain Ascension abilities held far greater mastery over soul manipulation. For the more vicious sorts, ripping a soul out to eat raw was not out of the question, nor was chopping it into chunks, slicing it into slivers, or shredding it into ribbons...
And for a master who specialized in spiritus, such delicate surgery was merely a matter of time and effort, not an insurmountable obstacle.
For Non-Offensive's nearly omnipotent spiritus manipulation, it was completely within reach.
Even for the Ji Jue of today, it was possible!
In fact, that possibility was high enough to be an inevitability.
"Even if you can't extract someone else's soul, what about the consciousness and spiritus you created yourself?" Professor Ye reminded him. "The greatest difficulty in stripping spirituality away is suppressing its instinctive resistance. Even in an unconscious state, an intact spirituality will reflexively resist alteration. But if the spirituality cooperates willingly, then even at your current stage, you should be able to do it."
Ji Jue was slightly taken aback.
If the scope was restricted strictly to the spirituality created by his own Deus Ex Machina, wouldn't the value of this technique drop even further...? No, wait!
Understanding finally dawned upon him.
It hadn't dropped at all. Rather, after conceding repeatedly on scope and effect, at his current stage, such a technique was tailored just right for him!
If he could freely extract and release the spirituality he bestowed, it meant creations whose abilities were limited by material constraints could undergo an upgrade through a "new vessel for an old spirit" far more easily.
The spirituality of the Thunder lever-action rifle could be transferred to a more convenient carrier.
No—what if he didn't transfer it?
What if he kept it directly inside his own soul?!
Imagine it: no practice needed, no training required. All he had to do was bestow sapience upon an object, extract it, and integrate it into his own soul. He could instantly become a marksman who never missed within three kilometers, a peerless swordsman or blade master within ten paces, a martial artist unmatched within arm's reach...
This was a technique capable of triggering a qualitative leap in Deus Ex Machina's power!
The prerequisite, of course, was that he had to be able to pull it off...
Just thinking about it filled him with surging fighting spirit. His eyes shone bright as hundred-watt light bulbs, beaming inside the workshop!
Then came Professor Ye's voice.
"Once you can freely extract and transfer the sapience of your Deus Ex Machina creations, your spiritus manipulation can be considered to have reached the elementary stage," Professor Ye said slowly. "After that, you can try your hand at lessons on pure spiritus alchemical construction."
[?]
Ji Jue froze again. ???
*Meow meow meow?*
*Teacher, do you hear what you're saying?*
Just extracting the complete spirituality formed by Deus Ex Machina was already as difficult as ascending the heavens for him. To perform alchemical construction purely out of spiritus without any physical vessel and end up with a creation that could exist independently...
Calling that a fantasy wouldn't even begin to cover it.
"Are you serious, Teacher?"
Professor Ye did not answer. She merely walked ahead toward the deeper reaches of the workshop, giving a casual wave for him to follow.
Amid the shifting and turning of the corridors, another suffocatingly vast workshop appeared before Ji Jue once again. It was not his first time here, but every visit granted him a brand-new understanding.
Each time, he felt with growing clarity the terrifying transformations permeating every inch of air, and the torrents of spiritus coursing beneath matter like a sea of stars...
Yet this time, what sat upon the workbench was neither an unfinished piece nor some bizarre creation.
It was...
A rhinestone-studded pink cat carrier?!
Ji Jue rubbed his eyes, double-checking to make sure he wasn't hallucinating. He even recognized it—this tacky bag was the exact one Chen Yubo and Tong Hua had fought to order earlier!
And beneath the carrier's opening, a small silhouette squirmed and struggled, finally squeezing a round little head out through the unzipped slot.
It looked at Ji Jue, opened its mouth, and let out a sudden "Meow!"
"A'fu?"
Ji Jue instinctively reached out, rubbed its little head, lifted it up, and scrutinized it closely. After double-checking, he was certain—this damn thing really was Chen Yubo's cat! He had even fed it canned food before!
"What are you doing here?"
A'fu's claws popped out, clutching Ji Jue's collar in a death grip and refusing to let go. It meowed pitifully, eyes glistening with tears.
"Brought over this morning," Professor Ye said. "And Chen Xingzhou's younger brother has been acting like the world is ending, calling A'chun every hour demanding his cat back. Utterly annoying. Since you're heading back today, take it to him. It'll save him from coming to the workshop and screaming his head off."
Professor Ye waved a hand in disdain. In an instant, the cat hair floating in the air gathered into a tight clump and was tossed right back into the bag, keeping the place spotless.
Then, through the aloof and detached expression Ji Jue had long grown accustomed to, a faint smile seemed to surface.
"Speaking of which, didn't you want to see an alchemical creation formed purely of spiritus?"
And in that instant, Ji Jue saw it.
Right in his arms, the blue cat that had been squirming to escape suddenly went rigid.
In the silence, it was as if some set of shackles had unlocked.
Under the overhead lights, right beneath Ji Jue's hands, A'fu's shadow ballooned abruptly. Expanding madly as if inflated, countless wisps of shadow squirmed and spread, shaping shifting silhouettes.
In the end, as the lights went out one by one, the pitch-black shadow detached entirely from A'fu's shadow. It engulfed the entire workshop, turning into a terrifying, wing-like contour that seemed to blot out the sky.
Just like that, it casually unfolded its wings, revealing a terrifying aspect impenetrable to the naked eye.
Ji Jue stood frozen in place, not daring to move a muscle. Even the cat in his arms no longer squirmed, shivering uncontrollably.
No sound could be heard; no definite shape could be seen.
Yet in the invisible air, something seemed to cast its gaze downward, leisurely examining the tiny beings before it, leaning close for a closer look.
That gaze alone was enough to make cold sweat pour down Ji Jue's back.
Not to mention the terrifying surge of spiritus fluctuations that crashed through his senses like monstrous tidal waves.
Something was right there, right in front of him!
Grinning malevolently.
Exhaling a breath that made the soul tremble.
Until a crisp snap of fingers sounded from Professor Ye's hand.
The colossal shadow blanketing the workshop shrank back, melting into Professor Ye's shadow and vanishing without a trace.
Leaving only Ji Jue standing in place, drenched in sweat, trembling uncontrollably.
"Teacher, what... was that?"
"I suppose it was the first piece I created after becoming a master. Finished it when I was about twenty-seven, if I recall."
Professor Ye flicked her fingers, playing a game with the restless monster inside the shadow. With each tap, the shadow seemed to rap against its forehead, coaxing it to curl up tamely and return to its place.
"Back then, my ambition for fame and fortune burned hot. I cared too much about what others thought and said. The moment I achieved the slightest result, I couldn't wait to parade it before everyone, thinking that enough accomplishments would be enough to make the incompetent see the gulf between us... Looking back now, it was genuinely shallow and naive.
"After registering it with the Association, it managed to earn a Celestial Craft rating. Later, as time went on, this line of creations came to be known as the 'Omen Series.'
"Within it, its codename is [Black Swan]."
As she spoke, the Black Swan in the shadow seemed to flaunt its wings in pride, dancing with vigor and grace.
Just like every sudden, unexpected catastrophe.
Breathtaking and terrifying.
Ji Jue nearly forgot to breathe.
Out of the silence, he suddenly heard Professor Ye's question: "Ji Jue, will you be able to create something like this one day?"
"I don't know."
Ji Jue shook his head instinctively.
The future was too distant. He couldn't see it, nor did he dare make claims.
Yet Professor Ye seemed not to hear, asking again, "Will you be able to create a work that surpasses this one day?"
Ji Jue fell silent. After pondering for a long while, he let out a shamefaced sigh.
"I don't know."
After a slight pause, out of that fleeting silence, he suddenly felt a surge of courage from who knew where—no, calling it arrogance would be far more fitting.
Reckless and ignorant of his own limits, like a clown.
Yet he could not stop himself from wanting to say it.
"I want to try," he said.
"..."
For a brief moment, Professor Ye seemed to drift off, falling quiet for a long while.
It was as though the scene from thirty years ago had suddenly played out again.
When her own teacher had asked that question back then, she had given a similar answer... No, no need to sugarcoat it. Unlike Ji Jue, who was accustomed to keeping his thoughts guarded, given how arrogant and contemptuous she had been at the time, she must have been far more wild and insolent.
Yet what had her teacher been thinking back then?
All these years, Ye Xian had never known. But hearing her student's answer right now, an involuntary delight rose within her.
It was like a refreshing breeze blowing in from afar during an endless journey.
The path of Embers was too rugged, too far.
One could exhaust a lifetime and still see no end.
It felt almost like eternity.
Whenever one caught sight of those figures chasing from behind, one couldn't help but feel immense gratification and anticipation... Had her teacher felt the same back then as she did now?
Unfortunately, no matter how hard she tried, she could never play the part of a kindly elder skilled in praise and encouragement. Besides, harboring notions of standing on equal footing with one's teacher so early on...
Such a foolish student truly needed to be brought down a peg!
"With where you are right now, you're a long way off."
Amid her long-absent delight, Ye Xian did not hesitate to pour two buckets of cold water over him. "Wild sleep-talk like that can wait until you've earned your artisan's license."
With that, she clasped her hands behind her back with a smile and turned to leave.
Only her parting words echoed in the air:
"Still, commendable spirit..."
Chapter 146