Free Web NovelChapter 37: The Call of Grinding
Having crossed the countless hardships he had once anticipated with unexpected ease, Ji Jue examined his work and couldn’t help but beam with pride. Yet alongside that excitement, a sense of regret and disappointment also lingered.
Even by Ji Jue’s standards, this creation was already beyond imagination, something out of a dream. But compared to Professor Ye’s performance from just now, it could only be described as full of flaws, like a clumsy imitation.
They weren’t even on the same level. Ji Jue was so far behind that he couldn’t even see the exhaust fumes.
But so what? Even something clumsy could be cute. Even something small could be powerful.
In the spirit matter absorption that followed the fragment’s self-destruction, he didn’t just experience the process and reasons behind those fifty-one failures with his own soul and perception, he also personally witnessed Professor Ye’s terrifying craftsmanship, something that seemed like the work of a creator.
It was as if he had become a true creator. All transformations rose from within the furnace. All he needed to do was reach out, and he could take whatever he wanted. With a single turn of his hand, he could reshape the world itself.
That sudden realization was intoxicating. But more importantly, this was an experience more valuable than any hand-holding instruction. In that brief moment, it was like a lighthouse suddenly rising in the long night, guiding Ji Jue, who had been wandering in place, toward a clear path and direction.
What he needed to do was simple: hold on to the memory of that light while it was still vivid, and run forward with everything he had.
He grabbed another fragment. Without the slightest hesitation or regret for his just-completed work, Ji Jue drew spirit matter from the watch’s backup storage and began another round of inscription. With his other hand, he flipped open the massive copper book beside the workstation.
While that feeling was still fresh, and the memory was still clear, this time he would attempt to carve the emblem and totem of another of the Twelve Supreme Benevolences—Entropy, the one governing the birth and annihilation of energy, silence and explosion, elements and storms.
And so, he continued all the way until 12:30 in the middle of the night.
Ye Chun came to urge him to get off work and go home for the sixth time, saying things like “it’s time to stop,” “just rest a little longer,” “you’ve already done very well, many experts aren’t even as good as you,” and “stop overworking yourself.”
Only then did Ji Jue reluctantly mount his Horsey and leave the workshop, not forgetting to look back three times with every step.
Five hours of overtime felt like it had yielded more than all his previous training combined. The gains were even dozens or hundreds of times greater. Before that vivid insight completely faded, Ji Jue had done everything he could to preserve a portion of what he had learned, along with even more lessons from his failures.
In the end, he couldn’t fully complete the Entropy totem. Several times during the process, he felt like he was just one step away from success. But as he continued, the more he tried, the more his direction seemed to drift, until it felt like he was forcing something that wasn’t quite right, a clumsy attempt that missed the mark.
He knew that if he kept pushing, he could not gain much more from it. After fully digesting the experience package given by Professor Ye, he hummed a tune, whistling as he bought a serving of fried noodles from a street stall, then headed home without any hesitation. He wanted to wash up quickly and go to sleep so he could continue the grind tomorrow!
Meanwhile, in a van trailing from the shadows in the distant traffic, the middle-aged man Qi Qin, holding a video camera, froze in place as he watched Ji Jue return home.
“Damn it!” fɾeeweɓnѳveɭ.com
Unbelievable. What the hell are you doing? Working in the professor’s workshop until midnight? Any normal person would take a break and enjoy themselves at a time like this, right? Damn it, you’re a college student. Even if you don’t go to bars or flirt with girls, at least call the lady backing you and go out to have some fun! I’ve got my camera ready, and you’re giving me slice-of-life content?! Do you think I came to see your boring student life?
The man who had followed Ji Jue the entire day was on the verge of losing it. This was completely unreasonable. The street vendor had such a big chest, but Ji Jue didn’t even look at her! When she subtly tried to get him to spend two more Fedra, he wouldn’t even add an egg to his order!
Are you even human?!
Stay calm, stay calm. Only patience will get me results. Only by staking out will I capture the real scoop.
Qi Qin took a deep breath, calming his irritated mind. Finally, when the light in Ji Jue’s room went out, he got out of the car, went to relieve himself, then bought a bowl of instant noodles and ate.
Alright, it was finally quiet. At least he could get a good night’s sleep. Thus, he closed his eyes.
On the same late night, someone else couldn’t sleep at all.
“Holy—”
In the silent workshop area, Ye Chun had wrapped her hair in a towel after washing up, yawning while tidying up. Then, when she reached out and picked up the fragment on the table, she froze in place as if struck by lightning.
Ye Chun would swear her eyes had never been wider!
After Ji Jue’s relentless torment, the irregular fragment already had a faint crack on it. But a barely perceptible layer of pure white, illusory light flowed across its surface, glowing faintly under the moonlight after the lights had been turned off. frёeweɓηovel.coɱ
What shocked her even more was that on that tiny surface no bigger than a palm, someone had, with a level of insane effort and obsessive-compulsive intensity worthy of immediate hospitalization, forcibly engraved more than twenty Supreme Benevolence runes, and all of them were Ascension runes!
When she checked earlier in the afternoon, Ji Jue was still a complete beginner who didn’t even know how to use the furnace. Yet in just four or five hours, he had surpassed the progress that would normally take other apprentices years of relentless effort.
And what was even more terrifying was that she could vaguely recognize the style from her aunt’s earlier years through the faint traces left on the fragment. The final few totem inscriptions and the curvature at the finishing strokes were exactly her aunt’s signature style. Even if he was learning by imitation, there was no need to copy that part as well, right?!
What are you here to learn? Forgery?
Suppressing the urge to scream, she called out, “Auntie, you should come home. You brought a freak here!”
“This is normal.”
After understanding exactly what had happened, there was a long silence on the other end of the phone. In the end, Professor Ye simply gave a calm response, as if it wasn’t the least bit surprising.
“Just let him continue. Don’t worry unnecessarily.”
The call ended. Ye Chun stood there in the silence, staring at the fragment. After a long while, she turned and looked at her small reflection in the glass. Only after setting the fragment down did she finally let out a sigh.
“Damn it... What a monster.”
***
“Holy crap?”
In a dim, old bedroom under the same night sky, Ji Jue, who had just closed his eyes, suddenly sprang up from the bed. He had finally realized that something was off.
During the day, he had been too focused on improving his alchemy skills to the point that he almost failed to notice it. Under the moonlight, he raised his right hand and brought it close to his eyes. He carefully and seriously examined the watch, looking at the dial where the number 1 was faintly tinged with gold.
He squinted in disbelief. “Is this damn progress bar... actually moving?”
If his memory served him right, the 1 had barely shown any other color at all in the morning. But now, at the very edges and corners, there seemed to be a trace of unmistakable pure gold.
If he had to describe it, it was like a blue-icon download software that had been stuck only to suddenly start moving. Even if the download speed was still only one or two kilobytes per second, at least it wasn’t unresponsive anymore, nor was the download unavailable because of certain regulations.
The bar had progressed from 0% to 1%, and it had achieved the monumental breakthrough from nothing to something. The progress was tiny and barely there, yet somehow impossible to miss.
Ji Jue couldn’t help but raise his arms and cheer. “Yeeeeees!!! Nice!!!!!”
But why? Could it be that his progress in alchemy was driving the growth of his ability? That didn’t seem right, either. When he first started learning alchemy the other day, the watch hadn’t reacted at all.
He lay back down and carefully recalled everything that had happened throughout the day. The final image that surfaced in his mind was the moment he had reached out to extract the remaining essence and spirit matter from the self-destroyed fragment. In the end, all of that essence had been devoured by his ability.
“Wait, are you serious?!”
He sensed the faintly flowing emblem within his soul, completely unable to understand it.
So the only way to evolve is by absorbing the essence of alchemical items? What kind of busted ability is this? It’s basically like a gacha game character. Grinding dungeons and killing mobs does nothing, and I have to feed it other gear and characters just to level up.
And what, once it hits max level, do I have to pull duplicates to go even further beyond? Don’t tell me when I try to upgrade it to +11 or +12, there’s even a chance the gear just breaks on me?
Ji Jue was starting to feel desperate about a world where getting stronger meant spending resources. He even felt like smashing his head into a wall. Didn’t they say real legendary systems didn’t work like this?
But for some reason, the image that surfaced in his mind was that entire warehouse from earlier today, the one that had once filled him with despair, and the massive pile of scrap that was large enough to bury more than a dozen people. If he remembered correctly, Professor Ye had said that all those useless items were for him to practice on, right?
In that instant, Ji Jue lost all sleepiness. When he turned his head to look toward the workshop, his eyes were already burning with fierce determination, as if he were seeing countless girls dressed lightly, teasingly beckoning him to come and play...
What the heck was this?! The scrap fragments were basically already washed clean and ready to be converted into experience points!
There was a single word floating in his mind—GRIND!
From that day on, the nightmare of the surveillance tail began. The man had just finished submitting his report at around two in the morning and gone to sleep.
Then, the next morning at 5:30, he discovered... that brat Ji Jue had already gone out! He hadn’t even changed his clothes or washed his hair. He just rinsed his face, brushed his teeth, bought a bun at the door, and then headed straight for the factory!
That frantic, “afraid of being late and missing out on free eggs” kind of look made Qi Qin feel like his worldview was being shattered.
What the hell are you doing? Bro, at least sleep a little longer! Even if you don’t need to sleep, I do! Why are you running to the factory this early? He even bought coffee. What, couldn’t wait to start slaving away like the workaholic that you are?!
In the wind, a distant sound drifted back, leaving the middle-aged man standing there in utter despair.
Ji Jue was laughing frantically. Twisting the throttle of his small scooter all the way, he grinned as he sped through the dawn light.
A new day, a new beginning. Yes, time to go to work again!
