Dog barking.
Ji Jue paid it no mind, eyes lowered.
Like a civil servant in a meeting, he held a fountain pen and notebook, seemingly jotting things down and absorbing the spirit of the discussion with complete focus.
And so, he began drawing little turtles on the paper.
He had to study and practice diligently—one day, he would surely compete with that salted fish Ye Chun!
As for Heavenly Furnace...
Hm? Was there such a person?
What difference was there between him and a dog in Ji Jue's eyes?
He had never expected that the first time he came to the Association's highest floor, the first time he attended a meeting in the Hall of Radiance, the two dreamlike joys overlapping together, he would end up drawing little turtles.
So what?
Draw a few more.
Like the vast majority of institutional meetings—perhaps even more long-winded and tedious than most official meetings—as though to make up for his regret at failing to become an Imperial civil servant back then, once Heavenly Furnace started barking, he went on and on without end, every sentence impossibly convoluted.
Recalling the past, looking toward the future, recounting origins, seeking meaning...
It was enough to make people drool.
"Young people should focus more." A deep voice sounded beside him, making Ji Jue's eyelids twitch as he looked across the table.
The old man leaning on a cane, seemingly listening to the instructions with full concentration.
The final disciple of Grandmaster Carrion Eater, the head of the Empire's largest Workshop, [Clock Tower]—he was Clock Tower itself.
At that moment, after Ji Jue looked over, Clock Tower's pupils shifted slightly as he gave him an inconspicuous glance. Mainly because Ji Jue had been drawing those little turtles with such focus that he had eventually started using Old Dog