The Essence of Abilities

What is it like to have your entire salary and subsidies for the next four years deducted on your very first day of work as an apprentice?

Ji Jue, that unlucky bastard, can only say that those who know, know.

To be fair, Professor Ye's Workshop is quite humane; even apprentices receive a formal salary and subsidies, and there is even Work Injury Insurance and the like.

However, such humane treatment is hardly applicable when faced with a creature as "anthropomorphic" as Ji Jue.

But then again, he never intended to earn any money from the Professor anyway. Rounding it off, it was merely the loss of something he didn't even know he had in the first place.

At most, he'll go home and shed a couple of Little Pearls in his dreams.

And so, at Professor Ye's request, he once again used a scrapped workpiece to demonstrate his ability.

Ever since the Mandate of Heaven Summoning, having become a formal Chosen One, his abilities had advanced by leaps and bounds. He had broken through his original shackles and no longer needed to reach out and touch objects to issue commands or establish communication with machinery.

Targets within ten meters could be connected instantly, without a single gap.

Faster, stronger, and much more energy-intensive.

It's a pity that when the Golden Wind and Jade Dew meet, it surpasses countless encounters in the mortal world... Now that Ji Jue had achieved a breakthrough, he no longer had the infinite mana supply of his teacher, Lawrence.

The Vortex Implantation Technique really is a wonderful thing!

Thinking back, he really should have stopped Wen Wen from killing him so cleanly. If they had left some scraps of flesh to plant a few more Lawrence-teachers in the field, relying on his regenerative ability—grow one, harvest one—wouldn't they have been able to mass-produce Spirit Essence Batteries?

No, it's such a pity just thinking about it... When will another opponent who is a treasure from head to toe come along?!

Just as Ji Jue's thoughts were sliding further down the slope, Professor Ye, who had observed the entire process, adjusted her glasses and sighed with realization: "So that's how it is."

Through those glasses, which were capable of peering into the flow of Spirit Essence, she had observed the entire process.

On the surface, it appeared to lean toward a control-type ability of the Celestial Origin category.

But the essence was completely different.

If it were merely controlling machinery, the circulation of Spirit Essence would be too frequent and too massive.

If it were simply issuing commands, there shouldn't be such a massive consumption as long as the object possessed its own energy. A skilled control-type Chosen One could use their ability dozens or hundreds of times a day; even a Heart Pivot Chosen One only needs to speak a word to control an ordinary person.

But Ji Jue... one-fifth of the Spirit Essence flowed out, and less than half returned; the vast majority was lost.

If he were just a mediocre, useless Chosen One, this would be normal.

But could the Mandate of Heaven Summoning really be of such low caliber?

Her brows furrowed.

Something wasn't right.

There was always something, somewhere, that felt off...

Spirit Essence cannot appear out of thin air, nor can it disappear out of thin air, unless it has already "performed work" and been converted. So—Professor Ye suddenly turned around, "You said earlier that you could talk to them, right?"

"Yes, but most of the time, they don't have much to say." Ji Jue replied: "As of now, the ones I've encountered have been quite easy to talk to."

"..."

In the silence, Professor Ye suddenly asked: "Is it possible that it isn't them who are doing the talking?"

"Huh?"

"Ordinary matter does not possess thought, Ji Jue. Without Spirit Essence, there is no premise for thinking, nor does personality, preference, or aversion exist."

She reached out and tapped the casing of the Work Center. Instantly, the machinery broke free from Ji Jue's control and fell silent once more:

"Take this Work Center, for example. I assembled it with my own hands. If I haven't become so senile that my eyes are failing me, I shouldn't have overlooked such interference and possibility.

But since it doesn't have a will of its own..."

She looked back and asked, "Then, at the moment you communicated with it, who exactly were you talking to?"

Ji Jue was completely dumbfounded.

If it wasn't the machine talking, then who could it be? Could it be... holy crap, wait, could it be himself?

Oh no, do I have a Split Personality?!

I've already been discharged from the hospital; surely I don't have to go back?

That's not right, the doctor said I was perfectly healthy!

Only then did he hear Professor Ye's words.

"If I'm not mistaken, the essence of your ability is to imbue other objects with your own Spirit Essence, temporarily bringing them to life." She said, "As for the dialogue appearing in your mind... it is likely a pseudo-personality generated temporarily after the object's own history, experiences, and sediment combine with the Spirit Essence.

It will generate responses spontaneously according to your commands and operate proactively."

Deep in thought, she stated decisively: "If such an ability could be taken a step further, it might be possible to make the machinery itself truly come alive, or even change its own structure to run errands for you."

Ji Jue was stunned.

She had hit the nail on the head completely. Having only seen it once, she seemed to understand it even more deeply than he did. Moreover, without knowing about his Cousin's emergency Survival Protocol, she had already deduced the specific state of the "Dual Transformation" that Ji Jue had only used once.

The moment she thought of this, she reached into her pocket, pulled out a spherical object, and handed it to Ji Jue.

"Try this."

As it touched his hand, it made a crisp sound.

The surface of the fist-sized spherical object was covered in intricate and magnificent patterns, carved with exquisite craftsmanship, and featured nine coin-sized holes. Looking inward, one could see smaller spheres nested within, identical to the outer layer in their complexity and splendor, yet layered one after another—inward, and further inward—totaling nine full layers!

It is said that in ancient times, artisans would pour their heart and blood into ivory to create such miraculous, devil-crafted works.

Ji Jue had only ever seen such ornate artifacts in history textbooks, yet this one contained a fierce, malevolent aura that made his heart race with alarm.

It was even more potent than the "Xiao'an" he had once seen in Lawrence's hands!

"This is... a Devil-Crafted Ball?"

He held it in his hand, examining it closely, and subconsciously channeled a bit of Spiritual Substance into it, attempting to sense its material, when his vision suddenly went black.

In that fleeting moment of perception, his Spiritual Substance feedback revealed countless bifurcations—complex Spiritual Substance pathways resembling integrated circuits, along with hundreds, perhaps thousands, of rune imprints far beyond his comprehension.

If this fist-sized Devil-Crafted Ball were to be unfolded and laid flat, it would likely be enough to cover the entire massive factory complex, perhaps even extending out into the sea.

Yet, as Ji Jue's ability acted upon it, it felt like a bottomless pit. The Devil-Crafted Ball devoured his Spiritual Substance like a whale, gorging itself crazily, but beyond that... it gave absolutely no signal!

Even when Ji Jue had completely drained his own Spiritual Substance and was on the verge of collapsing on the spot, the only thing he heard was a satisfied voice: [Thanks, brother, I'm good now.]

From then on, it remained completely unresponsive.

The attitude was simply atrocious!

Ji Jue's eyes nearly popped out of their sockets: Don't you get "good," give it back to me!

Unfortunately, the Devil-Crafted Ball offered no further response.

It even detached itself from Ji Jue's palm, as if guided by invisible cables, and returned to Professor Ye's hand. It spun nimbly, slowly expanding to display its dizzyingly complex and terrifying structure to Ji Jue, as tame as a loyal dog.

"See that? Learn your lesson after getting burned; don't just stick yourself to anything you find."

Ye Xian said slowly, "Some items possess their own inherent spirituality and can automatically distinguish between friend and foe, as well as access permissions. In such cases, unless your ability is powerful enough to completely overwrite the target's underlying circuits and commands, it will never respond to your requests.

However, once you are able to craft alchemical items and become a formal artisan, you will know how to modify those underlying commands."

She paused slightly, revealing a smile that held a hint of subtle malice: "You could even make it turn on its original master and bite back without a second thought."

Imagine the scene: when an opponent confidently brings out their trump card and activates it at any cost, only to find their weapon has become the enemy's limb.

For any enemy, that would be a nightmare, right?

Especially for a Chosen of Embers who specializes in this path; such an ability is the absolute bane of alchemical items! No matter what kind of weapon or equipment they encounter, it would be rendered useless against Ji Jue, as if they were standing there stark naked.

And that wasn't all...

Even now, after a series of shocks, Ye Xian felt a realization once again...

Regarding the terror of the Mandate of Heaven Summoning!

It was not a gap in talent, nor a difference in courage, but a difference in essence!

Any apprentice in a workshop could likely recite the essence of alchemy in their sleep: to imbue matter with a soul, to grant miracles to mundane objects, and to bestow transcendent skill upon raw talent.

Refining gold from iron and stone, fusing Supreme Goodness from Spiritual Substance, all the way to reaching the Myriad Phenomena Limitless Realm!

Yet, the basic ability of a single Chosen One could actually encompass all four great elements of alchemy—Ascension, Extraction, Purification, and Harmonization?

It was simply too bizarre.

What was even more absurd was that Ji Jue had inexplicably mastered the advanced concepts, yet lacked even the slightest foundation.

It was like a castle in the air—no, it was a living, breathing hanging garden... A capability that should have had no foundation based on Ji Jue himself had been forcibly elevated to an utterly irrational height!

It was like an eighty-year-old illiterate grandmother teaching you the mysteries of nuclear fusion, or an old farmer at the village entrance planting crops that secretly aligned with the jump parameters of a curvature engine—it was pure punk and rebellion.

She had never seen such an absurd situation in her entire life.

She had even suspected more than once that she had fallen into the illusions of a Mirror or the bewilderment of a Heart Pivot.

Troublesome, eerie, bizarre.

But... it was too interesting!

As she pondered, her smile grew increasingly dangerous and fanatical.

The domain governed by Supreme Goodness is creation, change, and innovation... Every Chosen One who truly steps onto this path is a technology fanatic with a head full of research.

If a Sin-Corrupted Creature or an Aberration were to jump out on the road, they would be unable to resist dissecting it to figure out how it worked.

Now, such bizarre material had been delivered to her doorstep?

Her hands were already itching.

Purely in terms of research value, a Chosen Summoner is truly a treasure from head to toe.

He possesses an astonishing affinity with the corresponding Supreme Goodness, not to mention that Ji Jue resonates with nine types of Supreme Goodness; his potential for application is simply too vast.

His blood and bone marrow could be extracted to concoct potions; his bones and flesh could be crushed or processed for cultivation; his soul could be split and cast into a Masterwork; even his Spiritual Substance could be drawn out in a steady stream to facilitate the fusion of materials.

From head to toe, his entire body, and even his abilities, possessed near-infinite possibilities!

It was a pity that her expertise lay in engineering and purification; if she were an artisan focused on living spirits, she might have already been unable to resist throwing this kid directly into the furnace.

That direct, unblinking gaze made Ji Jue's skin crawl.

He suddenly felt an urge to call the police, subconsciously shifting backward, trembling with fear.

"Get ready, Ji Jue."

Under the pale light, Professor Ye slowly revealed an 'amiable' smile: "Starting tomorrow, your graduate studies begin early."