Juque

"Right, exactly right, that's it!" The next day, in Punabantu, Ji Jue looked at how everything had completely transformed in just a few short weeks, practically dancing with delight. "This is how the damn Haze inheritance is supposed to be used, Isis!" It had to be said that the original system had been smashed to pieces and reworked beyond recognition—the transmutations of Haze had been completely discarded, replaced by a condensation and dispersal magnified countless times over! Right now, billows of dense smoke rose above the iron-gray city. Countless mechanical cats and creations of Deus Ex Machina moved through it in orderly succession, throwing themselves into feverish production. In just a few short days, it had expanded outward by a substantial margin, and an already insane level of efficiency had surged yet again. More importantly, between the innumerable creations— Strands of spiritus resonated with one another as if united into a single whole, their aura flowing without the slightest friction or impediment. In the midst of construction, production, and assembly, the mechanical cats scattered everywhere, seemingly unrelated, somehow gave off a subtle impression of seamless unity. Each team was an integrated whole. Or rather, a blessed creation! After integrating many new formulas and theories, and under Isis's control and reconfiguration, the entire species of the Lord of the Flies had undergone a complete rebirth. Right now, before Ji Jue's very eyes, amid a flurry of clanks and clicks, hundreds of mechanical cats clustered around a special giant cat and abruptly merged together! After a tower crane mounted additional components, it turned into an enormous tunnel boring machine. With a thunderous rumble, it began carving through rock and boring into the mountain. At the core, the giant cat designated Orange Cat No. 3 cried out continuously. The blessing of the Barren Ruins emerged from its body, activating and spreading its effects across the entire machine. Instantly, the stubborn ironstone up front rapidly softened into sludge, spewing out through pipes at an efficiency more than ten times greater than before. The hundreds of mechanical cats, previously unremarkable on their own, had genuinely combined into a blessed creation under Orange Cat No. 3's integration! "[Haze System V0.7], testing complete, sir." Isis's voice rang out: "Under the integration of this new spiritus framework, modularization of blessings has been preliminarily achieved. However, the architecture remains too fragile. At present, the assembly and disassembly phase still requires pairing with Non-Offensive for smelting and integration. Moving forward, the focus will be on improving the cohesion and stability of the formulas." "That'll do. It's enough for this stage. I'll bring back new theories later." "Material reserves remain insufficient. The shortfall of standard materials is too large, and Punabantu's current supply can no longer keep up." "No problem. A massive batch of calamity beasts will be credited to our account soon." Ji Jue waved a dismissive hand. "When an opportunity knocks on our door like this, we definitely have to seize it without capsizing. I'll head out into the field to do some more hunting. With any luck, tracking the calamity beasts might even lead me to a few folks from the Profound to squeeze for some sponsorship." "Understood. The contingency plan for the noxious wind is being drafted. I will send the subsequent project details to your inbox. Please check it at your convenience." "Just decide for yourself." Ji Jue didn't mind at all. "What about Project Juque?" "The simulations and calculations regarding your proposed method of reducing quantity to increase quality are complete. No oversights have been found so far, but controllability remains insufficient." Isis said, "I advise you to consider this with caution." "Life always needs a few surprises. What's the harm in trying?" Ji Jue looked down at the projected blueprints. He still felt it wasn't enough; even though it was vastly superior to the original, he felt there was still room for improvement. But it didn't matter. Having referenced the architecture of Haze, the core concept of the entire Project Juque was modularity and disassembly; he could take his time tweaking it later on. Moreover, it was inherently an expandable base—an all-purpose vessel and tool framework forged according to Juque's own stability and material properties. The theoretical peak and complete form it could truly achieve had long surpassed the limits of Ji Jue's capabilities; expecting to accomplish it in a single bound was sheer delusion. This was an undertaking worthy of Ji Jue dedicating his entire career as a craftsman to gradually upgrade, one that could even be passed down as a legacy for future generations to expand upon. After preparing up to this point and investing so much, it was enough. There was no reason to stall any longer— The fishing season had arrived; how could he not even have a rod? After one final confirmation of the overall procedure, Ji Jue made his decision. "This version will do. No more changes!" Isis said nothing, wasting no more breath. She moved to execute the plan in silence. Amid the roaring din, the mountain collapsed. Beneath vast swathes of rubble, the buried iron shell within was laid bare. Molten rock surged and spread, turning the iron shell glowing red-hot. Using a mountain within Punabantu as the furnace, with geothermal heat and magma providing the thermal energy, the crucible prepared for Project Juque had long been ready. The preheating phase was also drawing to a close. In the billowing smoke above the crater, gusts of sulfurous wind capable of scorching one's lungs to cinders blasted against him. Hauled upward by heavy chains, the colossal dragon bone buried within the magma rose slowly into view. After countless material properties had converged, and through such prolonged incineration, it showed no sign of melting; instead, it radiated an intense, brilliant glare. Though clearly just an inanimate object, at this moment it gave off a savage, ravenous presence, as if it might break free of its shackles at any second and devour anyone in sight! The steel vibrated, bursting forth with a booming roar like that of a behemoth. Through such extended burning, far from suffering any damage, the dragon blood had been thoroughly revitalized! "Begin, Isis," Ji Jue said. "This time, I'm leaving it to you." He extended his hand. Innumerable streaks of silver radiance spread outward from his fingertips. Under Isis's control, with him serving as the matrix relic, they mobilized once more. The intricate patterns of Non-Offensive reappeared upon both hands, expanding until they enveloped the entire volcano. Gradually, Ji Jue felt as if everything had been gathered into his palms. Immediately afterward, his vision went black against his will— Channeling through his body as a transit point, a torrent of spiritus surged forth, instantly traveling into the volcano via thousands of thread-like quicksilver hands. Under countless delicate manipulations, an ocean of minute changes overlapped, like the rise and fall of constellations within the murky light of the volcano and magma. Spiritus circuits exceeding the requirements of Juque by several times, dozens of times over, gradually coalesced in the void. In this rapidly shifting gale and volatile environment, they formed without a single error or deviation, accurate to more than a dozen decimal places, locking together seamlessly—like a towering skyscraper thrusting abruptly from the earth. The price was that Ji Jue could no longer feel his own limbs and body. Even with a body of steel, under the overload of spiritus, it glowed red-hot all over, spitting sparks as faint wisps of dark smoke curled from the mechanical seams. He was merely a single step away from collapse. Yet everything operated as intended, without the slightest hesitation or drag, like a tractor hurtling down a highway at four hundred and eighty kilometers per hour—it would either reach the finish line or tear itself to pieces! Ji Jue said, "We can keep going." And so, they continued. Isis did not hesitate. The method of reducing quantity to increase quality was never something to be taken lightly. To truly unlock its effects and upper limit required pouring dozens of times more effort into a creation than usual, crossing terrifying thresholds that far surpassed normal limits, and overcoming difficulty that skyrocketed at every step. Even Ji Jue found every step fraught with difficulty. In fact, outside of specific conditions, it was practically impossible to achieve. That paper had been tossed out from the start just to intimidate people for fun; he had never intended to teach anyone, nor had he ever planned to bestow his secret art upon the world for free. Although the theory was sound, he possessed a matching algorithm that he hadn't disclosed in the slightest. Without that algorithm, others could only rely on pure blind luck; even if someone miraculously replicated it by chance, there was zero possibility of mass-producing it. Scavenger had seen through it, but she had kept quiet. She had merely given him a light rap on the knuckles as a subtle warning and reminder, showing remarkable magnanimity. Her "Nice thought, now don't think about it anymore" meant: keep the things you cook up in your own head to yourself to play with; don't use this nonsense to mess with everyone's heads. As for "anyone with hands could do it," the hands in question weren't even Ji Jue's own hands. They were Non-Offensive. The prerequisite for reducing quantity to increase quality was the terrifying control granted by Non-Offensive; without Non-Offensive, one shouldn't even dream of it. And for Ji Jue, without Isis, it was doubly a fantasy. This was an unconventional sort of Ascension. Within the high-pressure, high-temperature environment of the crucible, through the collision of spirit and matter, and fueled by the conflict and fusion between the powers of Ascension and the Barren Ruins, a new reaction was triggered! What it demanded was extremely precise control coupled with extreme unpredictability. Only sufficient unpredictability could trigger mutation and prevent spirit and matter from annihilating each other; yet at the same time, only sufficient control could guide that mutation into something benign, steering it in the intended direction. At this moment, as Ji Jue curled his index finger tight, the earth roared. The explosive charge deep beneath the ley lines detonated completely. Amid the muffled roar of a boiling ocean, boundless magma erupted alongside violent tectonic shifts. The fiery red glow and dark smoke rose like a colossal pillar, shooting straight into the vault of heaven! What erupted within the volcanic crucible was a deafening roar that shook both sea and sky! It was as if, high above the clouds, an unseen giant swung down a sledgehammer onto the anvil of the earth, churning up rolling shockwaves that turned the turbulent seawater murky and ash-black, reflecting the searing glow of the sky above. Within the erupting volcanic crucible, another thunderous crash burst forth! The instant spiritus and matter overlapped and merged, the outermost layer of the spiritus structure violently shattered, triggering a chain reaction of material fission. Fierce light shot outward. Cracks abruptly fissured across the dragon bone, and its outermost structure peeled away inch by inch like a shell, reduced to ash and dust in the gale and flames. A shrill, ferocious sound rose from the steel, like an enraged roar. Immediately following, the spiritus construct shuddered again! Fractured again! Detonated again! Boom after boom erupted from the rapidly crumbling volcano, each sounding as though an invisible hammer were striking down, cruelly meting out creation and torment. Ji Jue closed his eyes, already lost in the endless flashes of light. It felt as if, in that single instant, a deluge of reactions flooded over him, swallowing him whole. Everything had spun completely out of control, yet excitement gradually welled in his heart. Even if he gave it everything he had, he could not track every single transformation occurring within the crucible. But he didn't care in the slightest; he simply felt the magnificent, vast upheaval and, guided by instinct, fed commands to Isis. Like a lone skiff tossed between sea and sky amid a howling tempest—climbing again and again, plunging again and again, its sails shredded, its hull cracking—the flashes of lightning tearing across the dark were enough to show the way. In that very moment, an epiphany surfaced in Ji Jue's mind. The corners of his lips curved upward uncontrollably, filled with wild joy: "It's gonna blow!" Silver light engulfed him entirely. Amid unprecedented dizziness and stupor, he nearly lost consciousness, feeling himself plunge into darkness, hurled upward, crashing down, colliding again and again. In the colossal upheaval of the volcano bursting and the crucible disintegrating, a firework of intertwined black and red bloomed between sea and sky. Boundless magma and iron fragments were flung into the heavens amidst the deafening roar, as a torrent of rubble swept past like shrieking shrapnel. Amid the violent tremors and shaking, Ji Jue opened his eyes. Before him, the shrouding darkness parted to both sides as the hardened quicksilver barrier completely crumbled away. What met his eyes was a scene straight out of an apocalypse. The sky was pitch-black, the sea blood-red, and amidst billowing smoke and magma, devastation stretched as far as the eye could see. The volcano, which had originally been hollowed out from the center, had snapped clean in half during the explosion, molten rock spilling forth like rivers and pouring into the ocean. Thanks to Isis's initial design, the northern side of the crucible facing away from Punabantu had intentionally been constructed as a structural weak point. When the crucible detonated, it vented the vast majority of the shockwave there. Punabantu's industrial sector was only lightly ruffled by the tremors and magma spray, suffering the collapse of a few early, poor-quality structures without affecting the bigger picture. As for environmental degradation— Suffice it to say that anyone who cared about such an issue for even a second was unfit to be a craftsman. Besides, in this desolate wasteland of treacherous waters and barren hills, let alone living people, there weren't even many fish. So what if it degraded? Left alone, it would naturally recover in time. The real focus right now was the creation inside the crucible! "Wait... where the hell is my Juque?!" Ji Jue was dumbfounded. Standing on the fractured crag, he peered down into the billowing smoke and saw nothing. He instinctively tilted his head up toward the sky, and still saw nothing. Uh-oh. Could it have been blasted into outer space during the explosion just now? Smack! A piece of rubble that had been flung into the air tumbled down from above and struck him right in the face. Then bounced off. It wasn't because Ji Jue's skin was thick enough, but rather that the kinetic energy accumulated during its long downward fall had gradually dissipated on the way down. And it wasn't just this single stone—at this moment, above the volcano, every falling iron shard and piece of debris was decelerating at an uncanny rate. By the end, they were even hovering in midair! Whirling round and round, they drifted past Ji Jue's eyes, revolving around some invisible entity like satellites. Droplets of viscous magma were drawn up from the deepest reaches of the volcano by an unseen force, levitating and bobbing freely— And amidst the sound of boiling heat, the glowing red magma parted to both sides. The incomplete dragon bone reappeared. It was riddled with fractures, broken and fragmented, yet its color was as scarlet as fresh blood! Without any chains pulling it, let alone physical matter supporting it, the colossal dragon bone rose slowly from the abyss, levitating above the volcano. It drew countless objects to itself, causing them to orbit around it like courtiers paying homage, guarding it at the center. And above that incomplete dragon bone, the faint silhouette of a behemoth took shape. Beneath the shroud of invisible wings, gravitational turbulence stirred, casually manipulating the movement of matter. It opened its maw and roared with all its might, yet no sound could be heard. Only through the terrified tremors and rhythmic shudder of countless dust motes did invisible ripples surge out of nowhere, expanding in every direction. It worked! Ji Jue's eyes lit up, and he couldn't help but laugh. "Hello there, Juque." And so, amid the shifting fiery glow, a familiar pair of eyes seemed to open upon the dragon bone, glaring at Ji Jue in silent accusation: *[You bastard, where's my horn?!]*