There were Twelve Virtues, a clock face was divided into twelve hours, and beneath the Celestial-Humans, the Celestial Chosen were likewise divided into twelve stages.
Beneath the Celestial-Humans, the Celestial Chosen were split into twelve tiers across four major realms: Calling, Metamorphosis, Regeneration, and Exaltation. Placed upon a clock face, each realm formed a neat three-hour sector.
Each stage marked a step closer to the Virtues in personal height, and each realm heralded an earth-shattering, terrifying transformation utterly distinct from what came before.
According to Ji Jue's understanding and conjectures, Sister Wen had to be a bona fide heavyweight of the Exaltation realm—a master among masters, towering so high that Ji Jue couldn't fathom the depths of her skill in the slightest. As for that wretched fool Lawrence, he had likely been in the Regeneration realm, somewhere between the sixth and ninth tiers. He had already shed the vulnerabilities of mortal flesh entirely; even ground to dust, he could regenerate in an instant.
Pity that, bent on using dragon blood to break through into the Exaltation realm, he ran into the even more unreasonable Wen Wen, and dragon thunder vaporized him completely—from his physical form down to his soul.
As for Ji Jue... he was still just a Level 1 nobody without so much as a matrix to his name.
A blank slate among blank slates, a rookie among rookies.
The kind who had just created an account and was still scouring the internet to see which class was meta.
For an obsessive-compulsive grindset fanatic like Ji Jue, nothing stung worse than watching an experience bar refuse to budge a single millimeter no matter how hard he pushed.
Skipping the grind for a single day could be called building up some good karma, but skipping it day after day...
That was why he felt so exceptionally anxious.
Yet worrying did him no good.
The three tiers within the first realm, the Calling realm, were all about a Celestial Chosen developing and breaking through in their innate abilities. Beyond their specific domain of power, they were no different from ordinary mortals. Eating overnight braised pork rice would still give them the runs, and a bullet through the head would still kill them on the spot.
The realm where one could punch Lawrence, kick Lawrence, and obliterate Lawrence with dragon breath like Sister Wen was impossibly far away.
According to Ye Chun, at this stage he should be diligently training his ability until he grew to a certain milestone, at which point he would seek a new blessing from the Twelve Virtues and level up.
Instead, he had gotten stuck right at the very beginning. Nobody would even believe him if he told them; if they did, they'd probably laugh their heads off, and after laughing, they might even write him into some lousy novel.
He was more pathetic than a rubber screaming chicken.
What was worse, the matrix—the cornerstone essential for a Celestial Chosen to advance further—was nowhere in sight.
Across the Twelve Virtues today, exactly 221 matrices capable of forging a Celestial-Human were recorded across various rosters. Where wouldn't such a prize be fiercely coveted? Every single one was one radish to one hole—an exclusive slot.
Chances were, the hole had been dug long before the radish even sprouted.
Want one?
You either had to be a direct descendant or core member of a massive organization, or sign an indentured contract far more ruthless than that—selling your blood, kidneys, and youth for a lifetime just to earn a spot in the queue.
Celestial Chosen were common enough.
Over the years, setting aside the rarest Celestial Conscription, the Autonomous Awakenings sparked by bizarre coincidences and the higher callings brought on by soul contamination from touching forbidden things were already countless.
Yet matrices—invaluable treasures that required countless pioneers to test through human trial and error before fixing the sequence and anchoring it irrevocably to a Virtue—were painfully scarce.
Basically, any decent matrix was monopolized by the major factions.
To the left stood the Federation, to the right the Empire, and in the center the Mid-Continent. Farther away was the Church of Chongguang, closer at hand was the Ring of Taiyi, and lurking at their backs was the Wild Gathering... Those who lacked qualifications or couldn't bear the light of day simply threw themselves into hellholes like the Dragon Cult or Nirvana.
There were far too many Celestial Chosen who longed to advance but had hit a dead end.
The world wasn't lacking just one more.
And so, even if he was currently soft-locked or stuck on a stage, Ji Jue wasn't in any rush for the time being.
Besides, wasn't his artisan progress bar constantly moving forward anyway?
If he could grind one, why not grind that one instead?
Besides, wasn't he living just fine?
Surviving a horrific incident and becoming Professor Ye's apprentice was practically the dawn of good fortune after the darkest night. At least the cursed luck was gone; he no longer had to worry about getting hit by a car the moment he stepped out the door.
Life was good!
Ji Jue sprawled out on his bed like the character 木, feeling utterly at ease.
Things were looking up. Ever since Lawrence died, everything had taken a turn for the better.
In the future, Xiao'er would become an accountant, he would become an alchemist, and that dog Lu Feng would keep fixing cars. Everyone had a bright future ahead of them.
Amid these rambling thoughts, he closed his eyes and drifted into a deep sleep.
A dreamless night.
* * *
Beneath the same cloak of night, others were awake through the dark hours.
"That kid is a huge problem."
Inside an office in a building beside an elevated highway, a photograph snapped just that afternoon was shoved across the desk. The tracker, who had just rushed back, declared flatly:
"There is definitely something wrong with him."
In the photo resting on the desk, bathed in the twilight glow of the setting sun, a youth rode a Little Sheep scooter, twisting the throttle while the girl behind him cast bright laughter in their wake.
Youthful and vibrant.
"What do you mean?"
The old man behind the desk paused, then frowned. "Are you saying he really has some connection to that woman?"
"Maybe. It's possible."
Qi Qin, a stubble-faced middle-aged man puffing on a cigarette, muttered in a muffled voice, "More than half a month ago, at the exact moment the Celestial Conscription occurred, the biggest event in all of Yacheng was the mess stirred up by the Dragon Cult.
"Out of all the survivors, he's the one closest to that woman surnamed Wen...
"She's kept her mouth tightly shut about the entire operation, keeping all the details vague. Is it possible she's trying to cover up the fact that a Celestial Conscript was involved?"
"...Are you insane?"
The old man, Jiang Jin, was taken aback, then gave him a suspicious look. "Are you serious?"
The sudden emergence of a Celestial Conscription after decades of silence had thrown the entirety of Haizhou into an uproar. Over the past few weeks, countless parties had put up bounties, scouring every corner for traces of the Celestial Conscript.
Naturally, it had also put many more on high alert.
Even if Wen Wen hadn't breathed a word about Ji Jue, her repeated visits could hardly escape the prying eyes of those watching from the shadows.
In truth, people had suspected that Ji Jue might be the Celestial Conscript.
Nearly every suspect had been dug up and scrutinized, leaving practically none unexamined, including Ji Jue. But very quickly, after thorough digging and investigation, he was the very first to be ruled out.
"Get this straight—he's a Cursed One!"
Jiang Jin barked in fury. "You want me to report this nonsense to the other side? Have you lost your mind? Do you honestly think anyone would buy such an absurdity?"
"If something as outrageous as a Celestial Conscription can happen... a Cursed One receiving Heaven's Choice isn't entirely impossible to stomach, is it?"
Qi Qin pondered for a moment, eyeing the old man's expression, and forced himself to press on: "Besides, even if this guy named Ji Jue isn't a Celestial Chosen, he definitely has some sort of connection with that woman surnamed Wen, doesn't he?"
Jiang Jin blinked, unsure of what he was getting at.
"Just yesterday afternoon, I saw with my own eyes the two of them riding the same scooter through Tianmen University. If I hadn't seen it myself, I never would've believed that woman was capable of smiling."
Qi Qin lit another cigarette and took a deep drag. "Could it be... that she's fallen in love?"
"..."
The corner of Jiang Jin's eye twitched violently, spasming even harder than before.
Qi Qin continued, "...To tell you the truth, that kid looks like a pretty boy toy. Who knows how many young girls he's fooled. Besides, even an iron tree is still a tree, right? When spring rolls around, maybe the iron tree finally blossoms."
Jiang Jin's expression shifted slightly.
Absurd as it sounded, what if it was true?
If that was the case, there was plenty of leverage to be extracted from that kid.
After all, even within the Security Bureau, plenty of people were dying to see that Wen woman stumble.
Besides, if they could actually get their hands on a weakness of that plague god, making a living in Beishan District would become vastly easier from now on.
More importantly, what would 'that side' think?
"Step outside for a moment."
Jiang Jin remained impassive. Qi Qin immediately stood up and left.
Only after a long while did a voice call out from behind the door: "Come in."
In the office, the old man set down the telephone. His expression shifted repeatedly until finally he spoke: "Investigate just as you suggested... Dig deep, figure it all out."
He paused, a ruthless gleam surfacing in his eyes. "And if there really is something between them, get rid of him. Understand?"
If he was just some lucky gigolo who managed to hook Minerva, he could be put to good use.
Letting a scourge like Wen Wen gain a firm foothold in the Security Bureau was already something many people hated to see. If she gained a vulnerability, everyone would breathe a bit easier.
But if she was actually grooming a powerful ally who was a Celestial Conscript... nobody knew how massive a catastrophe that might ignite!
"Don't worry, Boss."
Qi Qin grinned, baring two rows of teeth stained yellow by tobacco. "I'm a professional."
With that, he thumped his chest shamelessly and gave his word.
And after that...
The days of doing hard time began.
* * *
Setting aside whatever explosive scoop the lurker in the shadows hoped to dig up on Ji Jue, tailing a grind-hound who would risk his life for academic credits, research papers, and top grades was, without question, completely insane.
Especially when said grind-hound had been leashed and dragged into graduate school before even finishing his undergraduate degree...
He would only grind harder.
The idealized graduate student routine: swirling test tubes with affected seriousness in a brightly lit, state-of-the-art laboratory, gazing at mysterious liquids, nodding and smiling for the camera alongside colleagues.
The actual graduate student routine: scavenging scrap, performing manual labor, pouring concrete.
Depending on the situation, one might even have to babysit the advisor's kids, participate in those mythical middle school science and tech competitions where top minds prowled everywhere and PhDs were treated like dogs, do the cooking and laundry on the side, and perhaps even sacrifice one's chastity and virtue.
Fortunately, Professor Ye had never married and had no children, and her only niece happened to be his senior apprentice sister. Aside from a purely academic fascination with Ji Jue's flesh, mind, soul, and ability—and a distinct urge to toss him into a furnace or lay him out on a dissection table—she had no other demands.
And so, on his very first day on the job, the work facing the alchemist's apprentice Ji Jue—aside from running errands to buy milk tea and lunch for the senior sister supervising him, carrying her through ranked matches in video games, and gossiping—consisted, for every remaining waking second, of...
Hard labor!
Chapter 34