Chapter 149 The Better Things Are, the Worse Things Are

Ye Chun had a nightmare.

It was like a dog was chasing me in the dark night, foaming at the mouth and wagging its tongue. In the middle, I seemed to meet my aunt, but before she could shout "Aunt, save me", I heard that my aunt seemed to say something to the dog, and then... the ghost's eyes turned red, and it ran away desperately, shouting "I want to eat hot dogs" and caught up with me...

No matter how she cried and begged for mercy.

It's so fucking scary!

Ye Chun suddenly opened his eyes and gasped violently.

I woke up from my dream and found myself sweating profusely. Rain was dripping outside the window.

She got up, took the cup to the kitchen, and drank several cups of cold water before she finally sobered up a little. She could no longer hold back her teeth and stamp her feet.

You wait, Ji! I let you eat too well!

Don’t even think about serving it tomorrow!

But when she turned around and wanted to continue sleeping, she saw the light coming through the crack in the door. The light in the living room was still on, and there seemed to be voices talking.

Towards the end.

"Okay, since Master Ye is so forthright, the association will not be stingy with the reward. Of course, I know you don't care about that little thing, but it is at least a token of your appreciation, so please don't refuse it."

The late night visitor said goodbye politely, stood up, said goodbye, and left without even looking at the slightly closed door.

The footsteps faded away.

"Achun?" Professor Ye turned around while sitting on the sofa.

"Ah."

Ye Chun pushed open the door and rubbed his eyes: "Is Auntie still busy?"

Professor Ye said, "Go back to sleep, they are from the association."

"Oh." Ye Chun nodded in understanding and turned his gaze away from the gate, seeming relieved: "I thought you were leaving."

"It's not yet time."

Professor Ye lowered his eyes and said calmly, "Go and have a rest."

"Um……"

Ye Chun thought for a moment, then turned around and smiled: "Thank you, auntie."

Professor Ye didn't say anything, just looked at the dripping rain outside the window and the faint sound of the tide in the distance.

The footsteps faded away.

The night passed by in a hurry.

The next day, at daybreak, Ji Jue, with bloodshot eyes, punched in for work carrying a toolbox.

Obviously, he had been struggling with the pocket watch in his hand for most of the night. Although his spiritual essence was abundant, it was still a little weak, and a little bit of it dissipated uncontrollably.

The status is not complete.

"How's the progress?" Professor Ye held the teacup, as if he cared about his students, but also seemed to be gloating.

Or maybe both.

Why didn’t she realize in the past that there is something fun about watching students scratching their heads and trying to figure out the difficult problems before them… There is a kind of beauty in watching people fall into a ditch again and again, only to climb out and fall back in again.

But then, Ji Jue's voice was heard.

"It seems... you have found a trick?"

He said this with some uncertainty, causing Professor Ye to pause slightly as he lowered his head to drink his tea.

It was so short, less than a moment, that soon the smoothness was restored.

Maintaining the original action, she took a sip before putting down the teacup and slowly raised her eyes to look over: "Oh?"

For some reason, that look inexplicably made Ji Jue feel under great pressure.

"I don't know if it's an illusion, come and see."

Ji Jue raised his hand and released the mechanical deus ex machina towards the pocket watch in his hand again. A ray of spiritual light like a candle in the wind emerged from the pocket watch and lit up.

Then, this time, he took a deep breath and slowly stretched out his hand...

At that moment, Ji Jue's spiritual fluctuations dissipated and slowed down at a speed visible to the naked eye, and the spiritual essence that appeared on his five fingers was as thin as a thread, still and frozen, without any fluctuations or shakes.

That is... the application of dissociation, no, it should be said to be the most one-sided basic technique - to stop the movement of all spiritual substances and keep them in place.

As the founder of dissociation therapy, no one knows it better than Ye Xian.

The inspiration for this stillness is the most lofty and profound application of the Way of Ruins – the stasis zone!

If the soul is as fleeting as fireworks, then the essence of matter points to so-called eternity.

A true strong man in the ruins, such as Wen Wen, when using this skill, can do it with ease and effortlessly, which is enough to completely stagnate all spiritual changes in the former Keats Hospital, thus protecting the safety of the victims to the greatest extent.

It is said that the final form of the stasis zone is such that even the molecular movement of matter can be completely frozen, creating a terrifying effect as if time has stopped.

And now Ji Jue's stagnation is not even a fraction of what Wen Wen showed. At best, it is just a clumsy imitation.

And with this crude imitation, Ji Jue's five fingers actually, for a moment, grasped the fragile intelligence in the pocket watch between his five fingers.

caught!
Even in the next moment, with his slight movement, that fragile spiritual intelligence had already fallen apart... but it was still enough to make Ye Xian fall into silence.

Fast, too fast.

In fact, faster than she expected.

Just one night...

If we use the same crude logic as how to stuff an elephant into a refrigerator, extracting the spiritual wisdom contained in matter is just three simple steps: first, capture that tiny ray of spiritual light, then ensure its structural integrity, and finally, take it out.

Each step sounds possible, but in practice, it is impossible.

But unfortunately, Ji Jue had already completed the first step.

Without destroying its own structure, he grasped the spiritual essence bestowed by the mechanical deity with extremely delicate operations. He even understood the key to the second step without any instruction - how to ensure the integrity of its structure.

Ji Jue's method is very simple. If there is no other way to deal with it because it is too soft, too brittle, or too weak, then why not just 'freeze' it?
Through the basics of dissociation practice, one's own spiritual essence is made to stagnate and then gradually diffuses into the structure of the object being operated on.

As long as the structure of the operation object is finally fixed, it will be easy to take it out no matter how you want to, right?
Unfortunately, the direction was completely wrong.

He is not the chosen one of the Ruins, and he does not even have the blessing of the Ruins. If he maintains his current state, even if he spends his entire life on this, he may not be able to comprehend the eternal meaning of the essence of 'stasis'...

It is feasible, but Ji Jue is destined to fail to do it, or in other words, it does not have the cost-effectiveness to continue to persevere.

But at least he has realized the problem and started to try.

This is the most important.

The most difficult part of a troublesome matter is never how to do it, but to find out where the problem lies. After finding the key to the problem, even if you use the most stubborn exhaustive method, you can always make some progress. "You can think of breaking down the basis of dissociation and applying it, which is indeed a good idea, but you don't have the conditions to practice it at present." Professor Ye pointed out the mistakes in the direction: "If I were you, I would think of a solution from the perspective of spiritual primacy."

When pointing out the problems, Professor Ye's words were unusually calm.

After all, as a student, it was not easy for Ji Jue to find the direction, make decisions and try without knowing the origin of the stagnation technique.

Besides, it was just one night...

"Let me guess, your interference and control over the spiritual intelligence of creation now..." She pondered for a moment, and suddenly asked: "Is it the effect of non-attack?"

"Yes."

Ji Jue nodded.

To be precise, it should be said that it is the work of the 'invisible hand'.

For the first time, Ji Jue felt this existence again outside of alchemical creation. When Ji Jue was concentrating on the spiritual operation of the pocket watch, the illusory sense of control appeared in his mind again.

According to his previous understanding, this should be an illusion.

The invisible hand, this should be a feeling that occurs when one is aware of all changes and has all developments under control during alchemical creation.

It refers to the fact that everything that happens in the fire seems to be controlled by an invisible hand.

Just a description.

According to common sense, this should be the case.

But Ji Jue seemed to really feel it.

The strange tactile sensation, like a phantom limb, was even stronger than anything he had ever felt before.

Different from the familiar feeling of the ten fingers on his hands, it was a more vague and ambiguous sense of control - within the range covered by his spiritual essence, there existed such a [hand].

It is invisible and intangible, but with the operation of spiritual essence, it is enough to complete all precise operations on its behalf and realize all kinds of incredible operations.

Including, holding the fragile spiritual wisdom in your hands as carefully as if you were picking up dewdrops!
After trying it dozens of times, I became proficient at it.

The most difficult step has been accomplished in such a simple way.

After the blessing of spiritual primacy arrived, Feigong's effect on spiritual manipulation was enhanced again. At the same time, the matrix, which was one step closer to a complete state, became more and more compatible with Ji Jue.

It was as if it was adapting to Ji Jue and changing on its own according to his habits and usage.

So natural.

“Is this the inheritance of the saints?”

Professor Ye whispered softly.

As far as she knew, there were at least three non-attack matrices circulating in the world today...

One of them is well preserved in the collection of Taiyi Ring; one appeared at an auction in Thousand Islands decades ago and was bought by a mysterious buyer; and another one should be kept in the Federal Wasteland State Security Bureau.

But among these three, absolutely none of them can compare to the Feigong in Ji Jue's hand.

There is nothing more closely connected than the Matrix and the Chosen One, which is itself a creation that relies on the Chosen One's own soul to complete.

Likewise, in the long-term use of the matrix, it will inevitably leave traces and experiences of the users, so that in the end, there will be huge differences between them.

Not to mention, there are differences in the quality of users.

For the former saints, reversing time is theoretically feasible, so what other high-end operations have they not tried? At this moment, just like "reversing the Tiangang", cooperating with Ji Jue's operation in reverse, it is no problem at all.

Not to mention the already amazing compatibility between Ji Jue and Fei Gong.

It may not be apparent in daily basic use, but when faced with goals that exceed one's own limits, any extra help becomes so obvious and clear.

Suddenly realizing it, Professor Ye could no longer hold back his sigh, "It seems like Shuiyin really likes you."

"Mom likes big brother very much!"

The metal hummingbird got tired of playing on the living room chandelier, so it jumped down and rolled in his hair, flapping its wings and shouting excitedly, as if it wanted to announce to the whole world:

“All the moms love it!”

Ji Jue's expression twitched and he pinched his beak.

They are obviously all good words, why did the compliments suddenly change in meaning?

I was the one who was used as a tool by the prophet. How can I say that I am the same as a gigolo who cheated old ladies?
You only see yourself eating meat, but you should be the one who gets cheated more often!
This is obviously my own nutrition fee!

"Okay, now that you know you have an advantage in this area, don't waste it. Go back and practice."

Ye Xian was too lazy to watch Ji Jue show off anymore. If he continued like this, she would not be able to help but put on a few pairs of pretty pink shoes for him.

"Also, this has been checked, you can take it back."

Finally, what Professor Ye took out and placed on the table was an antique-looking bell, filled with hidden spiritual fluctuations, distant and ethereal.

Just by looking at it, it was as if there were a hallucination of the clear ringing sound echoing in my ears.

It's fascinating.

This was the last intact thing Ji Jue found from the remains of Lightning Old Deng after he had searched the battlefield - the others had all turned to ashes, but this one remained intact after being struck by the Sword of Minerva, without even a crack on it.

Who can't see that this is a good thing?

However, according to the almost universally accepted unspoken rules among craftsmen in the classical era - the better the item, the more secretive backdoors or more sinister surprises the craftsmen would subconsciously put in. The results would be worse for those who were unaware of the situation after using it, which led to the weird situation that the better the alchemical item, the worse it would become.

Without Professor Ye's approval, Ji Jue really wouldn't dare to use this thing he just picked up.

Otherwise, you may be used by others without knowing it.

Hearing this, he was immediately delighted:
"Have you finished reading it?"

"Well, to some extent, this is the most sophisticated thing you have brought back in these days."

Professor Ye picked up the bell and shook it slightly. A clear sound instantly rang out from the bell.

As if from the netherworld.

The invisible chill spread instantly, even worse than when Lao Deng used it before. Ji Jue, who was close to him, was almost frozen to death. Then, he belatedly felt the silence that was like death.

I couldn't help but turn around and look out the window.

From beneath the dark clouds, in the drizzling rain, outside the workshop door, in the hazy rain and fog, blurry figures slowly emerged one after another.

It's like the ghost of the deceased lingering.

The scarlet eyes looked back and looked in this direction.

Hundreds, thousands...

(End of this chapter)