Within Tianshu, inside a room that no detector could locate.
A gramophone played a soft jazz melody, soothing and melodious.
Amidst the classical, luxurious furnishings, Ji Jue lay on the bed, feeling completely limp and barely able to move. In time with the gramophone's melody, black smoke billowed steadily from his body.
Treatment.
Wisps of black ash laced with emerald fire drifted up from Ji Jue, adhering to the record. The tune gradually turned shrill and bizarre, its soothing vocals twisting into a screeching wail until it could no longer play.
The attendant staff member standing by, clad in full protective gear, carefully picked up a pair of tongs, clamped the damaged record, and placed it into a specialized sealed container.
The taint of Stagnant Rot was mostly stripped away.
Deprived of its record, the gramophone actually began to play on its own. It cast a dizzying, bewildered haze over the mind as thick, viscous blood began seeping from inside the device.
The Association guards immediately rushed forward, clumsily fastening restraining gear over the gramophone, unplugging the probes, and sorting everything into storage.
"The first stage of treatment ends here. We'll perform another round in four hours."
The master overseeing the treatment glanced at the report in his hands and offered Ji Jue a faint smile. "You may rest now. You might feel a bit dazed at the moment, but that's entirely normal. Nothing to worry about."
"Ah. Oh, alright. Understood."
Ji Jue nodded sluggishly. The crowd promptly filed out and gently shut the door. Only after a long while did he shake off the floating sensation that felt like waking from an endless slumber.
He sensed his broken body, riddled with fissures, still maintaining its Regeneration form. It looked like a scrapped machine—truly a gruesome sight.
In reality, his condition was better than ever.
Compared to the erosion and reification of Stagnant Rot, such damage was merely a negligible surface symptom. A couple of cycles of Three-Phase Alchemy would immediately restore him to pristine condition.
Truth be told, even the erosion and reification of Stagnant Rot hadn't posed a real issue, though he hadn't dared say so aloud…
The fruit of ten consecutive victories had earned him the treatment of an undeniable hero.
Gustav had decorated him right on the front lines, witnessed jointly by the entire Association and the Profound. He had transformed from a genius into a powerhouse, from raw jade into a true masterwork wrought by heaven.
From an Embers Celestial Chosen who hadn't held an artisan license for even two years, he had leaped into a Master towering over countless artisans.
It was foreseeable that his renown spreading across the worldly realm was merely a matter of time.
From this day forward, no matter which peer crossed his path, they would have to bow their heads and address him as Master Ji—Lou Feng included.
Gustav had even directly authorized the deployment of sealed and concealed Masterworks specifically to cleanse the Stagnant Rot contamination from Ji Jue, sparing no cost to extract the lingering residues.
One had to realize how many artisans within the Association were trapped by the sin-mutation of reification, yet previously not a whisper of this had ever leaked out.
One only needed to look at the requirement of three directors' concurrent signatures just to pass the application to grasp how precious it was.
Yet it had been wasted on him.
Truly a waste.
The Masterwork had been wasted, and the true essence of the Great Sin had been wasted, too.
Although inside the Border Realm his sin fiend reflection had gorged itself to bursting point, that didn't stop him from keeping leftovers as little snacks for later, did it?
This million-value extraction seemed tragic on the surface, but in reality, he had made a killing.
Indeed, slaughtering peers truly was the ultimate shortcut to progress. Just the fine works and Masterworks shattered beneath his Dissociation Art had fed Ji Jue until he nearly threw up.
For the first time, he felt completely stuffed.
This clash between Embers and Stagnant Rot had been an absolute feast. He had gorged himself and taken all he could carry, hauling out whatever he couldn't finish in take-out bags.
He could nibble on them at his leisure from now on!
The only fly in the ointment was that after consuming so many experience packs and gaining analogies across countless assorted legacies, why hadn't his level budged at all?
The Exaltation rank remained utterly unmoved.
Before coming here, he had been just one step away; after coming here, he was still just one step away. After eating so much, there hadn't been the slightest change. Surely it couldn't be that he still hadn't eaten enough?
Or should he eat a bit more?
"…Treasure, my treasure."
Slumped in bed, Ji Jue took inventory of his spoils. From the massive pile of items, he pinched out a glittering golden ring, feeling as though his eyes were being dazzled:
"I'm in my twenties, having earned hundreds of treasures in vain, but how could any compare to this one?"
In his palm, the Ring of Siegfried—cast from molten gold—faintly gleamed, exuding an alluring, fragrant aura…
A Masterwork possessed a spirit of its own. Even though it was dimmed and on the verge of ruin, refusing to respond to an artisan outside its legacy and unable to pass internal verification, that didn't diminish its staggering value as an experience package.
One bite, and perhaps the legacy of the Hero's Seed or even the spirituality of the Shadow of the Sage would be within reach—provided he didn't mind his reputation with the North Wind Workshop and the Northern Realm becoming permanently locked at hostile indifference.
Even if Ji Jue truly shattered it, Yellowbeard would have no grounds to complain. After all, when an item you lost changed hands several times before being scavenged by someone else, there was no reason to expect it back for free.
It was just that doing so would be a dreadful waste.
Ji Jue let out a soft sigh and ultimately set the ring, which he had practically rubbed glossy, back onto the table.
There was no need; he wasn't starving for that single bite.
Besides… Master Artisan, surely you wouldn't want North Wind's Masterwork wandering abroad, would you?
And so, as though the north wind missing him had finally blown into Tianshu…
A knock sounded at the door.
"Come in."
At once, the burly artisan with a tattoo-covered bald head and a beard glittering like gold reappeared outside the door, carrying two fruit baskets in fists the size of clay pots.
His face, usually cold and grim, twitched as if he had suffered a stroke, struggling to force out a strained smile.
Walking in to be fleeced.
"You're quite late, Master Artisan," Ji Jue chuckled. "You shouldn't have brought gifts!"
*Starting your dog-barking again, aren't you?*
Yellowbeard rolled his eyes, but before they could roll all the way up, his gaze froze, pinned to the table. Half-rolled, it looked downright eerie.
If he stuck out his tongue and flashed a peace sign right now, he would probably leave Ji Jue traumatized for life.
There was no helping it; he hadn't wanted this either.
Yet who could have imagined that the Ring of Siegfried would simply be tossed onto the table by this dog, without so much as a tray beneath it?
Seeing that the legacy Masterwork was undamaged, Yellowbeard finally breathed a sigh of relief, his involuntarily taut body relaxing.
He had truly feared this dog Ji Jue would be starved ravenous!
Yet just as he was rejoicing, he saw Ji Jue bare his teeth in a radiant grin.
His newly relaxed body tensed up again instantly, itching to let out a string of Northern Realm curses.
It felt as though a gleaming broadsword was chopping straight for his forehead—not only was there nowhere to dodge, but he had to force a smile and lean in to let this dog hack him to his heart's content.
In normal times, he might have tried dragging things out, struggling and putting on a show. But at this critical juncture, with Ji Jue looking ready to run wild outside at any moment, he dared not stall in the least.
*If you're going to die, wait until you hand the thing over, and hurry up and name your price!*
"I left a bit early, so I don't know how things unfolded afterward," Ji Jue asked. "How did today's battles turn out?"
"Some wins, some losses. Though you stole all the limelight."
Yellowbeard sat down with an emotional sigh and cut straight to the chase: "No need for pleasantries, Ji Jue. You know full well why I'm here, so there's no need to beat around the bush. I've brought the permission and authorization of both the Workshop Master and the Grand Commander."
"Go ahead," Ji Jue nodded.
"North Wind has two proposals," Yellowbeard said bluntly. "The first is the Grand Commander's authorization."
He paused, his expression twitching slightly, before forcing his gaze away from the ring and sighing helplessly. "This item can be given to you. In addition, the mobilized legacies and other related techniques can also be granted to you…"
"What?"
Before Yellowbeard could finish, it was Ji Jue who cried out, dumbfounded.
*Wait, brother!*
*I call you brother and you just hand it over? Are you Northern Realm folk a little too generous?!*
"There are conditions," Yellowbeard said. "You must join the North Wind Workshop; external status is fine. The arts and legacies cannot be passed outside, and after your death, we will welcome the Hero's Work back once more."
Ji Jue fell silent.
Yellowbeard said nothing more either. After a long silence, a soft, wistful sigh broke the air.
"Offer another one," he said. "It's really not suitable."
Indeed.
Seeing him refuse, Yellowbeard couldn't help but let out a sigh of relief, his expression softening considerably.
Even though he knew the Grand Commander was gambling—gambling that Ji Jue would soar in the future and become a powerful ally for North Wind—he was also gambling that Ji Jue wouldn't take a wrong step, bringing disaster upon North Wind or even the Northern Realm!
Did North Wind not fear Ji Jue usurping their position, driving out the original masters? Did the Northern Realm not fear the Federation's giant hand reaching into their heart through Ji Jue?
Sometimes cooperation brought mutual benefit, but the prerequisite was keeping a proper distance beforehand rather than entangling everything together.
"In that case, I have a suggestion," Ji Jue suddenly said.
He paused, glanced at the table, and smiled nonchalantly. "I don't value it that much. You can take this item back—let's just consider it making a friend."
"…"
For a fleeting instant, joy flashed across Yellowbeard's face, and he nearly agreed on the spot. But quickly, hesitation set in, and he hesitated with words trapped in his throat.
In the end, he merely gave a self-deprecating sigh:
"You offer another one instead."
North Wind wielded immense renown in the Association and across the entire worldly realm, but its reputation was equally mixed—pettiness, vindictiveness, and cunning trickery went without saying.
Yet while some words could be treated as hot air once spoken, certain words could never be uttered lightly.
A favor like this was simply too immense.
If Ji Jue came to collect on that favor in the future, where would North Wind stand?
If they were friends, they would have to jump through fire and water without a second thought.
Did he dare?
Did he dare stake the entire workshop and even the Northern Realm on this gamble?
Presently, Ji Jue was not just a single person, in every sense of the word. He represented Haichao Armaments, Haian Industry, Haian Tech, reaching from Haizhou to the Mid-Continent and on to the Seven Cities… not to mention an artisan's natural instinct to stir up trouble. If Ji Jue truly intended to stir up trouble, Yellowbeard didn't even dare imagine how colossal a mess it would be.
Yet just as he struggled to speak, Ji Jue's voice reached his ears:
"I wasn't referring to North Wind. I meant you."
For a moment, he froze dumbfounded, instinctively rising to his feet.
Looking at Ji Jue, he was struck utterly speechless.
Chapter 806