Fine craftsmen were easy to find in this world, but fine materials were hard to come by.
With such exquisite jade in hand, who wouldn't want to refine it to perfection and give it their all?
Ji Jue was no exception. He had even placed great hopes on it—his goal from the beginning had been pure Spirit Essence Refinement, modeled after spirit-essence creations like his teacher Ye Xian's Omen Sequence!
Unfortunately, after trying for most of the night, he had not only failed to complete it—he had not even found the starting line.
The precision and control required for pure Spirit Essence Refinement were simply terrifying. Even though Ye Xian had never concealed her craft from him, answering every question and laying out all the relevant theories and methods before Ji Jue, it still remained beyond his reach.
It was even harder than getting started with the ninth form of the Elephant Sword Treatise!
This was Ye Xian's unique expertise and attainment as a master, the result of countless shortcuts taken and obstacles overcome—something impossible to approach so easily. Even with a cheating ability like Deus Ex Machina in hand, Ji Jue still felt the despair of being unable to copy something no matter how faithfully he tried.
The aptitude of an Artisan was merely the beginning of the long Embers Road.
So long as one was still alive, this arduous road of stumbling hardship would have no end. Regardless of how glorious and triumphant one might be at the outset, it only meant the embers had yet to exhaust their generosity and reveal their cruelty.
"What a pity."
Lost in thought, Ji Jue could not help but let out a melancholy sigh, his expression full of regret.
Time waited for no one; every moment had to be fought for.