Free Web NovelChapter 32: The Nature of Ability
So what did it feel like for an apprentice to work their ass off on their very first day at work, just to end up having their wages and subsidies for the next four years completely wiped out?
The unlucky bastard Ji Jue could only mutter while hiding his face in shame. “If you know, you know.”
To be fair, Professor Ye’s workshop was actually pretty humane. Even apprentices got proper wages, subsidies, and stuff like workplace injury insurance. Unfortunately, this kind of humane treatment didn’t really work on someone not-quite-human like Ji Jue.
Anyway, he hadn’t planned to make money here in the first place. Rounding things up, all he lost was something he didn’t even know he had to begin with. At most, he’d just go home and shed a couple little “pearls”[1] in his dreams.
At Professor Ye’s request, Ji Jue once again demonstrated his ability using already-scrapped parts. Ever since the Fate Summoning, where he officially became one of the Chosen Ones, his ability had improved by leaps and bounds, surpassing its previous limits. He no longer needed to physically touch machines to issue commands or communicate with them. He could connect to anything within ten meters instantly, without the slightest delay.
He was faster, stronger... but also way more mana-hungry[2].
Golden breeze and jade-like dew,
When we meet, all else is few.
A single moment, pure and rare,
Outshines a lifetime anywhere[3].
Now that Ji Jue had broken through and became a Chosen One, he no longer had Lawrence’s infinite mana supply.
Man, the Vortex Cultivation Method really is awesome.
Thinking back, he really should have stopped Wen Wen and told her not to kill Lawrence completely. If they’d kept a bit of spare flesh and planted a couple more Lawrences in the ground, with that guy’s regeneration ability, he’d keep regenerating, and Ji Jue would be able to endlessly harvest spirit matter from him. Wouldn’t that basically mean he’d be able to mass-produce spirit matter batteries?
Damn, just thinking about it hurts... When am I ever going to run into another incredibly valuable opponent again?
Just as Ji Jue’s thoughts began to spiral, Professor Ye, having watched the whole process once more, adjusted her glasses and let out a knowing sigh. ƒrēewebnoѵёl.cσm
“I see.”
Through those lenses that could perceive the flow of spirit matter, she had already witnessed everything unfold. On the surface, it looked like an Origin-style control-type ability, but in essence, it was completely different.
If it were merely controlling machinery, then the flow of spirit matter wouldn’t be this frequent, nor this massive. If it were just issuing commands, then as long as the target had its own energy source, it shouldn’t consume this much power.
Skilled control-type Chosen Ones could use their abilities dozens, even hundreds of times a day. Some, like those of the Heart Core type, could control ordinary people with just a single sentence.
But about one-fifth of Ji Jue’s spirit matter flowed out, and less than half of that returned, which meant that most of it was simply lost. For an average, useless Chosen One, that would be normal enough. But how could someone who was able to trigger the Fate Summoning possibly amount to just this?
Professor Ye’s brow furrowed, and she felt that something was off. Something about this... just wasn’t right. Spirit matter didn’t just appear out of nowhere, nor did it vanish into thin air, unless it had already been put to work and converted, in which case...
Professor Ye turned her head. “You said just now that you can talk to them, right?”
“Yeah, but most of the time they don’t really say much,” Ji Jue replied. “So far, everything I’ve run into has been pretty easy to deal with.”
After a brief silence, Professor Ye asked, “Is it possible... that the ones talking aren’t actually them?”
“Huh?”
“Ordinary matter doesn’t possess thoughts, Ji Jue. Without spirit matter, there’s no basis for thinking, personality, preferences or dislikes.”
She tapped the outer shell of the workbench. Instantly, the machine slipped out of Ji Jue’s control and fell silent again.
“Take for example this workbench. I assembled it myself, and unless I’ve gotten so senile that my eyesight’s gone, there’s no way I would’ve overlooked something like interference or hidden variables. But if it has no will of its own...” She turned towards him and asked, “Then when you communicate with it, who exactly is the one talking to you?”
Ji Jue was dumbfounded.
If it wasn’t the machine talking, then who else could it be? Don’t tell me it’s... wait, hold on... it couldn’t actually be myself, right?! Oh crap. Did I just develop split personalities?! I already got discharged, don’t tell me I have to be hospitalized again?! No, that can’t be right, the doctor said I was perfectly healthy!
He focused on what Professor Ye said next.
“If I’m not mistaken, the essence of your ability is that you imbue your own spirit matter into other objects, temporarily animating them. As for the ‘voices’ you hear in your mind, they’re likely a kind of pseudo-personality formed from the object’s history, experiences, and accumulated traces combining with your spirit matter. They then respond to your commands autonomously, carrying them out on their own.”
After a moment of thought, she concluded decisively, “If this ability develops further, it might even allow machinery to truly come alive. It could even alter its own structure and act independently on your behalf.”
Ji Jue just stood there, completely stunned. She hit the nail on the head. Just from watching him once, she understood his ability on a deeper level than he did. And without knowing anything about Mr. Watch’s emergency survival protocol, she had already deduced the specifics of the dual qualitative shift he had only executed once.
The moment that thought crossed Professor Ye’s mind, she reached into her pocket, pulled out a spherical object, and threw it in the air.
“Try this.”
The object landed in Ji Jue’s hand. About the size of a fist, its surface was covered in intricate, ornate patterns. It was carved with exquisite craftsmanship, with nine coin-sized holes. Peering inside, he could see a smaller sphere nested within, which was identical in complexity and intricacy. And inside that one, there was another smaller sphere, and then another, for a total of nine spheres.
It was said that in ancient times, craftsmen would use ivory as their material, pouring in their heart and soul to create masterpieces like this of near-divine craftsmanship. Ji Jue had only ever seen something this exquisite in history textbooks. Inside it lurked a vicious, violent aura that made his heart pound in fear. It was even more terrifying than the Duskbane saber he had seen in Lawrence’s hands.
“Is this... a devil’s work ball[4]?”
Holding it in his hand, Ji Jue examined it closely. Almost instinctively, he fed a trace of his spirit matter into it, trying to sense its composition.
Instantly, his vision went black. In that fleeting moment of perception, his spirit matter perception exploded into countless branching paths. Complex energy patterns spread out like integrated circuits, layered with hundreds and thousands of rune imprints far beyond his comprehension. If a fist-sized puzzle sphere like this was unfolded and laid flat, it could probably cover the entire factory complex, and maybe even extend into the sea.
The moment Ji Jue’s ability acted on it, it felt like a bottomless pit. The sphere devoured his spirit matter like a whale swallowing everything in its path, greedily consuming it all. But, aside from that, it gave absolutely no response. Even when Ji Jue had completely drained himself dry and was on the verge of collapsing on the spot, the only thing he heard was a satisfied voice.
“Thanks, bro. I’m good now.”
After that, it completely ignored him.
How rude! Absolute trash attitude! Don’t you dare steal my spirit matter, spit it back out!
Ji Jue glared so hard at it, his eyes were practically popping out of their sockets. Unfortunately, the sphere offered no other reaction.
It even slipped out of his hand on its own and returned to Professor Ye’s grasp, as if pulled by invisible threads. It spun lightly, then slowly expanded, revealing its dizzyingly intricate and terrifying internal structure to Ji Jue. It was as docile as a well-trained dog.
“See that? I hope you learn your lesson. Don’t just simply feed your spirit matter into anything you come across.” Ye Xian said calmly, “Some objects possess their own inherent spirituality. They can automatically distinguish friend from foe, as well as levels of authorization. In cases like this, unless your ability is strong enough to completely overwrite their underlying circuits and commands, they won’t respond to you at all.
“But once you’re able to craft alchemical items yourself and become a proper craftsman, you’ll understand how to modify those underlying instructions.” She paused, then revealed a faint smile tinged with subtle malice. “And you can even make it turn on its owner right then and there.”
Just imagine your opponent confidently pulling out their trump card and activating it at all costs, only to find their weapon had become your ally instead. That was a nightmare scenario for anyone. Especially for Ember-type Chosen Ones who specialized in this field, an ability like this was practically the ultimate counter to alchemical items. No matter what kind of weapons or equipment they used, it would all be useless once they faced Ji Jue, as if they were standing there completely naked.
And that wasn’t all. One shocking revelation after another, Ye Xian was hit by yet another realization about the sheer terror of the Fate Summoning.
The gap wasn’t in talent, nor in courage, but in something far deeper: a fundamental difference in essence. Any apprentice in a workshop could probably recite it in their sleep. The essence of alchemy was to grant matter a soul, to bring miracles to the mundane, and to elevate the gifted into masters of transcendent skill, from refining gold from stone, to fusing Supreme Benevolence into spirit matter, all the way to a realm of infinite wonders.
And yet, a single Chosen One’s base ability could already encompass Ascension, Transformation, Purification, and Harmony, all four fundamental elements of alchemy. It was simply too bizarre.
Even more ridiculous was the fact that Ji Jue somehow already knew how to do the advanced stuff while lacking even the most basic foundations. It was like a castle floating in the air. No, not even that, it was a fully living sky garden—an ability that, without any foundation whatsoever, had been forcibly elevated to an utterly unreasonable height.
It was like an illiterate eighty-year-old grandma trying to teach you nuclear fusion, or a farmer at the village entrance casually farming in a way that somehow aligned with warp engine jump parameters. It was pure chaos and rebellion.
Professor Ye had not seen anything this absurd in her entire life. More than once, she even suspected she had fallen into some illusion of the Mirror or a mental distortion from the Heart Core. It was tricky, bizarre, and downright strange, but... it was just too fascinating!
As she pondered, her smile slowly turned dangerous, almost unhinged. The domain of Ember governed creation, change, and innovation. Anyone who truly walked this path was, without exception, a research-obsessed madman. If some mutated abomination or twisted creature jumped out on the road, they’d feel an irresistible urge to cut it open just to see how it worked.
And now, such a bizarre talent had delivered itself right to her doorstep? Her hands were already itching.
From a purely research standpoint, those chosen by the Fate Summoning were real gems. Their very existence had astonishing compatibility with corresponding aspects of Supreme Benevolence. Ji Jue, in particular, resonated with nine of them, so his range of application was absurdly broad.
The blood and marrow of Chosen Ones could be extracted to concoct potions, and their bones and flesh could be crushed or processed for cultivation. Their soul could be split and reforged into a divine creation, and even his spirit matter could be steadily siphoned to aid in material fusion. From head to toe, inside and out, even his ability itself held near-infinite possibilities.
What a pity, though. Professor Ye’s specialty lay in engineering and purification. If she were a craftsman focused on living spirits, she probably would’ve already tossed the kid straight into a furnace by now.
That fixed, unblinking stare made Ji Jue’s skin crawl, and he suddenly had the urge to call the police. Trembling, he instinctively scooted back a little.
Under the pale white light, Professor Ye slowly revealed a “kind” smile. “Get ready, Ji Jue. Starting tomorrow, your grad school classes begin.”
1. In this context, 小珍珠 (“little pearls”) is a metaphor for tears. ☜
2. Please note that I chose the term “mana” here instead of “spirit matter” deliberately, and not by mistake. The author uses the term 耗蓝 here and later 蓝供应, 蓝 is a Chinese gaming slang term that means “mana.” ☜
3. This is a poem from “Magpie Bridge Immortal: Delicate Clouds Weave Skillfully” by Qin Guan of the Song Dynasty celebrating the Qixi Festival, using the story of the Cowherd and Weaver Girl to reflect the partings and reunions of life. ☜
4. A devil’s work ball (Chinese: 鬼工球) or the Concentric Ball (Chinese: 同心球), is an artifact that consists of a number of intricately carved concentric hollow spheres carved from a single solid block that fit within one another in a way that looks impossible, often consisting of fourteen layers.
I have attached an image for your reference, and you can read more here. ☜
