Artisans, Artisans, and Artisans

All at once, disaster erupted from right under his arm. The artificial Celestial Rail spun out of control, throwing the vast expanse of Quancheng into turmoil. Its vital heart had fallen. What should have been the most secure position of the Profound artisan had unexpectedly taken the first blow... No, perhaps this had been fated from the very beginning. Even if he hadn't raised a tiger to his own detriment, the beast would still have crossed mountains and paid any price to throw itself before him, baring fangs and claws! Kanemoto remained silent, yet could not suppress an urge to laugh. It felt as though he were tasting the mockery of Heaven's Mandate. He, uncorrupted by abomination, was destroying the world before him, while the monster who ought to relish it most was standing in his path to stop it? What kind of farce was this?! No, this was just as well. Since this failed lesson had ended in the apprentice's folly, what followed was an unscrupulous, life-and-death duel between artisans. "Very well..." In that instant, Kanemoto's lips parted silently. All gloom and fury vanished from his expression, replaced by a solemnity cold enough to freeze the world. The shadows behind him surged outward, coalescing into a gateway. He merely extended a hand and pointed forward. Within the vast expanse behind that dim gate, faint silhouettes manifested. Iron radiance swirled; Celestial Craft was unsheathed, whipping up a desolate, frigid brilliance that spanned half of Quancheng, nearly searing the sight of anyone watching. Every piece of iron wailed; blades shuddered, cracking open with fissures. An ephemeral blade edge flickered at his fingertips for a heartbeat. Sever! The storm clouds and lightning broke off in an instant. Above the murky neon glow, a fathomless rift opened. Impossible to close. Born of split-second rational appraisal and cautious deliberation, it was an all-out strike! The iron light ripped through the air, only to freeze dead before Ji Jue! Driven by the engine's operation, border membranes rose without warning from the earth, enveloping Ji Jue within. Like a terrifying bastion forged from dozens of layered Border Realms, an iron wall barred everything outside. Protecting its master. With the roar of the engine, the former grandeur of the Celestial Rail—which had once pierced the mortal realm and unified all phenomena—flickered into view, turning mere inches between them into an unbridgeable chasm. Anyone else might have flown into a rage, scorning the use of external tools as false ability. Yet for a Celestial Chosen of the Embers, it was only natural. Relying on tools, mastering tools, creating tools—how was losing one's tools any different from losing one's limbs? In that fleeting clash, a brief probing strike was all Kanemoto needed to pierce through the defense's true nature. When the old Celestial Rail had traversed Border Realms to knit the shattered mortal world back into one, it had relied on this very ability to warp space, manipulate border membranes, bore apertures, and roam at will. A blessing sequence from the Eternal Gate was undeniably rare. Yet that hardly made it insurmountable. A targeted counter was all it took! Indifferent, Kanemoto watched as countless outlines of artifices spun behind his gate. In a breath, the most effective creations stepped forth: the Light-Skewing Nails, which warped space to strike deep within a target's body; the Demonic Spear Limit Breaker, which forcibly demolished every barrier between foes; the Celestial Craft Dewfall, which inverted time to strike first despite moving second; and the Renowned Sword Kunitsu, which anchored space and locked down all change... Innumerable treasures, an endless selection. In that case, why not... Kanemoto grinned with wild laughter. He thrust his five fingers toward Ji Jue and clenched them tight. *Come all at once!* In an instant, the artisan's absolute dominion, boundless variations, and terrifying output within his workshop were laid bare. Violent armaments, each capable of draining a Celestial-Human's spiritus dry, were unleashed simultaneously! Shattered radiance flitted like fireflies as tiny spikes broke through the void one after another, weaving erratically across empty space without a trace, flitting with eerie splendor. A bizarre spear tip barely a meter long pierced forward with a mournful howl, carving a straight fissure through the layered border membranes. The moment an undulating, dreamlike iron glimmer flared to life, it had already materialized at the back of Ji Jue's neck, cleaving downward! Meanwhile, a heavy tachi plummeting from the sky drove deep into the stone and steel, freezing all creation in place. *Not enough!* Even this was not enough. One ferocious blade silhouette after another formed behind the shadow gate, numbering in the hundreds, the thousands, the tens of thousands... As far as the eye could see, biting iron radiance blazing like the sun blanketed everything, leaving no escape. Even the slightest aftershock was enough to tear a man to shreds and grind him to dust. Fast—too fast! Without the slightest tell or gathering of power, everything arrived too quickly for Ji Jue to react, leaving no margin for evasion. In that final fraction of a second, which felt almost like a moment of mercy, all he could do was shrug with regret. *Not a bad move.* *Too bad...* "Too late," Ji Jue whispered. At that moment, behind him, brilliant light burst from the thick shroud of smoke and dust. Like a monster opening its eyes and howling at the skies! After two hundred years, the Doomsday Express that had once remade the mortal realm had completed its reboot! A blizzard of prompts cascaded before his eyes: [Registry updated. Login complete. Conductor credentials verified.] [Special operational authority approved and granted.] [Executor: Acting Director-General Ji Jue] Beneath the final paw-print authorization that served as a signature: [—All-Domain Circulation Control initialized!] Intricate spiritus circuits stretched forth from the void. Silver radiance cascaded in thousands of threads, plunging into Ji Jue's flesh and interfacing with Non-Offensive. Effortless and smooth, free of any friction. It was as though everything had always been meant to be this way! In that heartbeat, Ji Jue's consciousness and senses broke free from his frail vessel once more, swelling and rushing like light—precisely as he had felt back in the Quicksilver Workshop. Wait, no, damn it... *This was the exact same system!* The entire workshop and its internal structures, previously plucked away by the Celestial Rail's emergency recovery protocol, surfaced in his perception once more. In fact, it went far beyond that. It was as though he had plugged into a far vaster system, an unfathomably colossal megastructure. One that spanned the entire world. For an infinitesimal fraction of a second, Ji Jue even felt as though the entire realm rested within his palm. Yet that was merely an illusion born of excessive expansion. Straining his soul to its utmost, all he could truly cover and control was Quancheng, and all he could sense were the distant, faint undulations of spiritus echoing across the vastness of Haizhou. Yet that was more than enough! The instant Non-Offensive engaged, an inexhaustible torrent of spiritus began coursing through the colossal structure at his back, answering his call, delivering commands, executing instructions, and completing directives. With him at the axis, millions—tens of millions—of invisible hands materialized. In a breath, they swept outward with a roar, covering all things and seizing absolute control. This was the true All-Domain Circulation Control— *Boom!* A deafening roar erupted from the summit of the workshop. The whole of Haizhou seemed to shudder imperceptibly. Visible ripples surged from beneath Ji Jue's feet, plunging straight through the workshop into the earth. Wherever they spread, fine fissures cracked open across the ground. Countless plumes of dust rose, accompanied by the endless snapping of steel rebar like breaking lute strings. The entirety of Quancheng seemed to drop by an inch in an instant. A roar rumbled in the distance. The worldly abomination propping up Quancheng and the Vortex like a pillar of heaven bent a fraction further. Its face splintered, three eyes widening in fury: *Kanemoto! What are you doing?!* *Why unleash an all-out strike upon Quancheng out of nowhere?!* The thunderous crash faded, and the dust churned. Ji Jue stood refreshed and unharmed. Or rather, his previous wounds had been so catastrophic that adding a few minor scratches made no visible difference! Facing a barrage capable of tearing him apart countless times over, Ji Jue had done only one thing: he had spread his hands. Upon the Non-Offensive matrix, radiance swirled and surged, manifesting boundless change! *The flourishing of all creation is forged by these hands.* *All things under heaven are crafted by ten fingers.* Even if it were confined solely to the domain his fingers could reach, this infinite potential, if wielded aright, approached omnipotence. And when a dramatically elevated Non-Offensive combined with the authority of the Celestial Rail's All-Domain Circulation Control, it was enough to stretch that terrifying power across everything Ji Jue could perceive! The authority of All-Domain Circulation Control was simply too vast, too frightening. In theory, every movement and change across the entire territory fell under his control. Though Ji Jue's current limits prevented him from commanding its full scope, diverting trauma and destruction elsewhere through circulation was... Child's play! *Sorry, old man. You might not be using cheats, but I turned mine on!* Before Kanemoto's eyes, those spread hands slowly rose. Cloaked in the glow of Non-Offensive, his ten versatile fingers curled and straightened, lending that shifting gesture an indescribable, mysterious grace. In the end, two rigid middle fingers reflected clearly in those emerald eyes. "Goodbye, you motherfucker!" Smiling faintly, Ji Jue offered a slight, courteous bow of farewell. Behind him, amidst the billowing smoke, the terrifying silhouette of a behemoth finally revealed itself. Like an iron titan, it opened its maw, swallowing Ji Jue whole. Then came the tempest! A distant whale song resonated through the dead world, sweeping across all things. Amidst the surging torrent, the colossal engine once known as the Doomsday Express soared into the sky! The world ground to a halt. It was as if an iron star were defying gravity, ascending into the heavens. The moment It rose, the axis of the entire world seemed to shift with It. The gathering clouds burned scorching red in the flames, fracturing down the middle as an opening was breached, shattering the iron curtain. The endless black rain was vaporized by that vast pillar of fire, deflected away before it could even come close. A brilliant light flared in the murky mortal world, casting down dreamlike luminescence. Vast as a citadel, solemn as a cathedral. Like a great ship raising its sails to smash through all waves and obstacles, It surged forward. The moment It took flight, everything in the mortal realm was destined to be bathed in Its radiance. Invisible wings unfurled, casting their shadow over all phenomena. In a single breath of weightlessness, It tore free from the mundane world, gravity, and every trivial restraint, rising endlessly into the heavens above. Revealing a brand-new form. Wreathed in eternal flames was a solemn, menacing airship! Its blinding light stung the eyes of countless onlookers. In the far gloom, after a brief silence, a sigh of wonder drifted through the air: "Two hundred years... Long time no see, Celestial Rail!" No one answered. In this hushed world, only an unbroken chain of snapping sounds rang out. Dragged and savaged by the engines, artificial Celestial Rail nodes spread across Quancheng and radiating into Haizhou shattered one after another, ripping free from their anchors... As the Doomsday Express climbed into the sky, that ethereal web felt as though it had been seized by an invisible hand. Violently yanked. Torn out by the roots! And those unbreakable links binding them together had been forged by Kanemoto's own hands. Amidst deafening ruptures, fissures spread across the projection of the Vortex in the sky. Unable to hold, the colossal intersecting wounds began to knit and close. Irreparable chasms tore across the pillars formed by high-tier abominations... Everything once solid as a mountain now hurtled toward unavoidable collapse. Upon an unfamiliar helm still littered with cracks, fissures, and flying sparks, Ji Jue stood before the great window, looking down upon the world below. Once more, he raised his hand— Paying no heed to Kanemoto's wrath, he savaged every single fruit of the man's labor. Killing Kanemoto was a tall order. Even with the Celestial Rail's circulation control, Ji Jue couldn't prevent him from retreating; dragging it out might only waste time. Yet defeating him was all too easy... —All he had to do was smash everything before him to dust! *Destruction, ruin, despair, and death—weren't these the truths you wanted me to embrace? Here, I give them all back to you.* *I can hardly wait to see how happy it makes you!* A roar echoed like a beast's bellow. Down on the earth, the towering workshop shuddered violently, mutating. Countless black chains surged upward like driving rain, sweeping toward him and coiling layer upon layer, briefly stalling the Celestial Rail's ascent. "Wishful thinking!" Cold and detached, Kanemoto shifted endless spiritus circuits. The workshop underwent rapid transformations, sinking its roots deeper into Quancheng's ley lines to stabilize the shaking foundation. He would not permit reality to slip from his grasp... If some fool thought relying on a two-hundred-year-old tool from the Celestial Rail was enough to match him, then he would teach him a lesson! Yet at that very moment, brilliant pillars of light converged from beyond Quancheng! East, south, west, north—from every quarter, towering spires materialized in great numbers, forming an unbroken perimeter that reached up to the Law of Tianyuan and plunged down into the gloom of the nine underworlds. What they summoned was a surging tide like a tsunami! A violent collision! More than that, sharing the same specifications and frequency, they jacked into Kanemoto's colossal structure, launching a counter-infiltration and deconstruction... "We made it in time." Kong Qingyan slumped to the floor, soaked in sweat, scarcely able to stand. After days of tireless reinforcements from the Association at any cost, the planned shackles and containment grid were finally complete. At this moment, beyond all the masters present, more than ten masters from across the four corners of the land were lending remote support through the Association's relays, sharing the burden. The tug-of-war between the Association and the Profound began now. Even Kanemoto felt a flicker of disbelief. Those useless weaklings had actually found the spine to show their faces now? *Of all times...* "Human power has its limits. Sometimes you can't have it both ways; you must learn to let go." A voice filled with reflection came from behind him, offering mockery and counsel in equal measure. "Otherwise, you'll end up with nothing in either hand." In the void, a straight fissure abruptly ripped open. Like a sword wound! By some unknown method, it had bypassed the workshop's outer defenses, carving a direct path before Kanemoto. As the rift parted to both sides, it revealed a gaunt figure standing with hands clasped behind her back. "..." Kanemoto slowly turned his head, expressionless as he stared at the unfamiliar face. Her countenance held no trace of warmth or gentleness. She seemed eternally cold, eternally contemptuous, forever weighing the value of whatever stood before her. Sharp and direct, she embodied the true essence of an artisan without the slightest pretense. It was a refreshing sight. "Freeing yourself from burdens is hardly a bad thing..." The newcomer waved a hand to close the rift behind her, having come alone. "Now the Grandmaster should have a free hand to instruct a junior, wouldn't you say?" "Ye Xian?" Even having never met her, the instant she arrived and he caught sight of that gaze, Kanemoto knew. Who else could have molded something so pure besides that damned fellow? "I haven't thanked you yet," Ye Xian said with a nod. "Thank you for taking care of my student." "No need," Kanemoto replied indifferently. "A fine piece of jade—I cherish such talent as well." Even one so hopelessly unteachable! "And that's the problem, Grandmaster..." Ye Xian sighed softly. "*My* raw material, *my* fine jade—what business is it of yours?" In that breath, like clashing blades, sparks sprayed from the void. Without warning, yet in silent accord. In a split second, the two had already exchanged a probe! Three blade edges materialized in the void, crossing one another. One was heavy and immovable as a mountain, belonging to Kanemoto. The other two—one was black as ink, stretching out seemingly without end; the other was clear as light, wavering between substance and nothingness. Black and white intertwined, shifting between reality and illusion in boundless permutations. "Swords?" A dim flame flickered in Kanemoto's eyes. "Before me?" "I've heard that to this day among the Thousand Islands, the name Kanemoto still stands for the apex of Celestial Craft in swords." Ye Xian flicked her finger nonchalantly. The two blades swirling in the void revealed their razor edges, orbiting her side. "Still, in my view, having too much clutter is a nuisance. Two are plenty... "If the Grandmaster takes issue with that, why not open my eyes?" With a flick of her hand, the puzzle ball flew into the air, hovering and peeling apart layer by layer. Boundless spiritus structures unfolded from their compressed state, expanding, stretching, and even jacked into Kanemoto's workshop in reverse. Radiance surged like a hollow, translucent cathedral. A temporary workshop beyond anything Ji Jue could imagine was complete! Usurpation Sequence, engaged! Ye Xian twisted open the thermos in her hand. And poured it out. Once the bitter, concentrated tea drained away, what poured forth was a boundless, dreamlike mist and shimmering light. Portentous beasts broke free from their cages as shadows and thick radiance oozed outward, giving rise to countless savage silhouettes. Then, as the workshop's sheath fell away, a Celestial-Human matrix surged from the black blade. Matrix Relic: Ganjiang materialized! Next, rising from the swirling white blade beside her was a second Celestial-Human matrix! Matrix Relic: Moxie! The intricate, splendid matrices spread outward and overlapped without the slightest conflict, erupting into a majestic flame far beyond ordinary imagination. Separation and fusion, repulsion and attraction... Ganjiang and Moxie were originally one! Yet rarely had any opponent been worthy of seeing their true form. Nor had any artisan ever driven Ye Xian to go to such lengths... "Junior Ye Xian of Chaosheng!" The artisan drew her swords, offering her foe a final greeting: "—Grandmaster, instruct me!"