Chapter 291: Lingering Echoes of Victory and Defeat

Ji Jue reached out and closed his fingers around empty air once more, as though gripping an invisible hilt.

At once, the Myriad Hands Form high above transformed again. Countless hands contracted and folded into one another until they vanished, leaving only a single hand suspended in the sky.

Ji Jue found himself growing calmer than ever. For him, ten thousand hands were entirely unnecessary. No matter how many forms they could take, they would only weigh him down. For true creation and destruction, one hand was enough!

The lone hand slowly rose toward the sky and spread its fingers. The world went dark, and every trace of light was blotted out.

Then, between those five fingers, a faint and dim glow appeared. Under that glow, even the grotesque mercury vortex seemed to take on a lifelike quality, as though it had been given a soul and came alive!

That single blade of afterglow carried a divine essence Ji Jue had never seen before, changing endlessly as it flowed. In the end, that slender gleam of light shone like the blazing sun, illuminating everything beneath it before slashing down toward the earth!

The obelisks shook frantically as spirit matter intertwined within them. Bright beams capable of forcing all creations into regression surged upward with an uproar, but the descending blade of afterglow tore straight through them, shattering the beams.

The blade continued onward, cutting through everything in its path as it stretched ever farther. Then, it came crashing down from the sky!

The bell tolled once more. Across the earth, the obelisks overloaded and collapsed one after another. When that seemingly ordinary strike finally came down, another deep fissure appeared across the sanctuary, causing its pillars to shatter and its walls to come crashing down.

Then, without warning, the massive projection of what looked like a clock tower emerged from within. Above the enormous bell, the solemn outline of some colossal being appeared for the briefest instant, crouching there in all its ferocious majesty as enormous wings unfurled behind it. Beneath those nearly transparent wings, shadows surged like a tide and collided head-on with the blade of afterglow!

“Holy shit!” Outside the simulation, standing before the projection, Jiang Tongguang barely looked up before blurting out in shock, “The true essence of a sage and the legacy of dragon blood?!”

What the hell had he just come back to? Was this seriously still a craftsman exam?! Could someone please explain why he had only stepped out to buy a pack of cigarettes, yet by the time he returned, the exam had somehow turned into pure chaos?!

Jiang Tongguang grabbed Gustav in disbelief. “What the hell did you put in this thing? How did it get this ridiculous?”

The sages had laid the foundation for the beginning of all things and the dawn of time, while the dragons had forged the world’s apocalypse and the end of time. If the Twelve Supreme Benevolences were threads woven together through time into a grand tapestry, then the sages and dragons were the vital elements that formed its beginning and its end.

One represented the beginning, while the other represented the end. Both were great manifestations beyond even Celestial Beings, terrifying existences capable of leaving their mark on the world itself and shaping its origin theory and eschatology. But how could traces of such lofty and distant existences have appeared in what was basically a friendly youth-exhibition match organized by a neighborhood office?

Compared with true sages and dragons, what had appeared here was not even one hundred-millionth of one hundred-millionth of a mere wisp of their aura. However faint it was, having even a trace made all the difference. Its true essence was unmistakable. No matter how crude and insignificant it seemed compared to their lofty nature, it still carried a faint imprint of the real thing!

“Young people these days are getting more and more frightening.”

Jiang Tongguang could no longer laugh. It was one thing for the new generation to overtake the previous one, but these youngsters had barely begun to make waves, and already he was starting to feel the pressure.

How could this possibly be called a duel between apprentices? This had practically become a long-distance clash between the legacies of a sage and a dragon. It was significant even if it had lasted for only the briefest instant.

“I doubt we’ll see anything this absurd again even in the next few decades. Am I wrong?”

Now that the Divine Furnace had stepped in to take over and support Gustav’s initiative, it had, in a sense, received the endorsement and recognition of a grandmaster. Besides, this cohort had produced so many exceptional talents and geniuses. There was no denying just how exceptional they were.

From this point onward, this exam format would probably become established practice in the craftsman examinations. But even so, over the next few decades—or even the next century—could anything this ridiculous possibly happen again?

Jiang Tongguang looked at Gustav. “So? How does it feel? As the one who started all this, how do you feel?”

Gustav was silent for a long time before he said, “I don’t know. I was just wondering, if I were still an apprentice, would I have been capable of reaching this level?”

Jiang Tongguang paused. “And? What’s the answer?”

Gustav didn’t reply immediately. He simply watched the clash unfolding between heaven and earth within the shimmering projection.

After a long while, he sighed. “A long time ago, my teacher told me that everyone carries an image in their heart of the person they want to become. Whenever people imagine the future, they believe they’ll become that person as long as they work hard enough. But reality isn’t like that, because reality has no need for fantasies.”

Nor did it leave any room for fantasies. No matter how much one tried to beautify, disguise, or dress up the truth, the world was ultimately cruel. It was like Sisyphus and his endless, futile climb, or someone struggling again and again to pull themselves out of a mire.

Only when hardship and setbacks came crashing down like stones could a person, through all that impact and friction, begin to see the true shape of who they were. And only under enough pressure could they discover whether they were nothing more than rough stone or a piece of fine jade. That was why people needed to be tested, to constantly reflect on themselves, and to face setbacks.

“The world shapes us into who we are. When despair finally breaks a person, all their pride and self-assurance crumble. Only after falling into the abyss, when getting back up seems almost impossible, do people come to understand that true talent lies in making the impossible possible.” Gustav raised a finger and touched the shimmering projection before him. “And it is people with that kind of talent who shape the world.”

For all these years, he had looked down on those who relied solely on talent and acted without discipline, holding firmly to rules and laws. He had done so precisely because he knew that he was not one of those extraordinary people.

Yet as he witnessed the scene before him, he could not tell whether what he felt was bitterness or joy. Even though the very existence of such people was the greatest possible dismissal of ordinary men like him, he still wanted to raise his head and gaze at those figures soaring high above the heavens. No matter how vast the distance between them was, he still wanted to catch up, even if it seemed reckless and foolish.

Gustav smiled softly. “How wonderful. Don’t you think so?”

Jiang Tongguang didn’t reply. He simply stood beside his colleague in silence, watching the battle unfold within the shimmering projection.

Amid the fierce clash, the divine essence of the sage and the dragon appeared for only a brief moment. What followed was an intricate display of countless techniques and workshops.

As the two sides collided fiercely, mercury scattered like rain while blazing light surged toward the heavens. In the end, after an enormous amount of power had been spent and both sides were pushed to the very brink, the duel finally reached its conclusion.

“Sorry about this, Lou.” High in the sky, Ji Jue glanced back at his teammate, who was barely conscious and completely drained of spirit matter. “I probably won’t be able to look out for you from here on out.”

Lou Feng rolled his eyes and was just about to speak when he saw that bastard Ji Jue raise a hand toward him. Ji Jue curled his finger and flicked it. “As compensation, you get a front-row seat.”

Smack!

“Wait—”

Before Lou Feng could even get another word out, he was sent flying backward. Wrapped in silver light, he shot out of the massive construct and flew a great distance before plummeting toward the ground.

“Ji Jue, you motherfucker!” Lou Feng’s furious cursing rang across the sky between choking coughs.

A moment later, the mercury shifted and spread into an enormous parachute above him, catching his fall. The wind carried him away as he slowly drifted down toward the sea.

Around him, a deafening roar shook the heavens. The massive dark clouds fled in every direction. High above, the silver light shifted one last time, contracting and reshaping itself into a vast structure like an inverted pyramid. It had five sharp points, and its edges were stark and angular.

From far above, it aimed directly at the shattered earth and the ruined sanctuary before it fell like a meteor carrying divine retribution. Gales erupted around it, wrapping around the mercury tower and tracing its glowing-red surface with a rim of white light.

Just like that, Ji Jue turned everything he had into a weapon and hurled himself at his enemy!

Everything around him seemed to be breaking apart. Layer after layer of barriers rapidly manifested in the air, only to collapse just as quickly. As Ji Jue descended, dragon scales flowed from the ground to meet him, yet under the impact of the tower’s razor-sharp tip, they too swiftly disintegrated.

It was the very technique that had haunted Lou Feng’s nightmares countless times.

“The Dissociation Technique?!”

Across the ground, obelisks toppled and faded away. Even the earth’s ley lines dried up completely and vanished, while the falling mercury tower was steadily worn away by each successive collision, shrinking smaller and smaller.

In the midst of that furious clash, Ji Jue had grasped the sanctuary’s inner workings, including how it operated, how it changed, and how its spirit matter was structured. Nothing remained hidden from him. All he had to do now was reach out and seize victory for himself.

Before Lou Feng’s eyes, it looked as though heaven and earth had collided. The impact filled his entire vision, and for a moment, he even forgot to breathe. Ignoring the gale hitting him, he kept his eyes wide open and stared without blinking, refusing to miss a single thing.

Far below, the sanctuary rapidly fractured, while the slowly descending mercury tower was consumed just as quickly beneath the interference of Regression and Stasis.

At last, the still-standing sanctuary and the broken tower collided. To be more accurate, they merely touched, ever so lightly.

And with that, everything was obliterated.

Inside the sanctuary that crumbled into dust, the craftsman seated on the base of the stone statue looked up at the descending tower. His lips parted slightly, as though he wanted to say something, but after such a long silence, he could not think of anything to say. The outcome had already been decided, and there was nothing more to be said.

He had drawn on the power of multiple workshops and started with an overwhelming advantage, having unleashed every ability and technique at his disposal without reservation, and giving everything he had in his battle against the enemy. And yet, he had suffered a crushing defeat. Such a devastating defeat should have left him humiliated and furious. Instead, the battle had been exhilarating beyond measure.

For the first time in forever, he even felt a genuine sense of joy and delight rising from the depths of his heart. “Congratulations.”

In the final moment, Andrei waved his hand in farewell, utterly at peace. The corner of his mouth even seemed to lift into the faintest smile, as if the stone itself had learned to smile. He closed his eyes and calmly accepted the outcome as bright light surged upward and swallowed everything.

“Is it over?” Jiang Tongguang sighed, still wanting more. Aside from the lingering melancholy, his thoughts had already turned to how he could lure Ji Jue into doing this again, preferably with something even more exciting.

“It’s over.”

Gustav’s pen paused briefly over the page before he filled the vacant spot at the very top of the rankings with the one name no one could dispute. The final victor was Ji Jue. Yet as he lifted his pen, Gustav felt a trace of melancholy he had not experienced in a long time.

Once the results of this exam were announced, they would undoubtedly cause an uproar far beyond anything expected. The successors of giants such as the Clock Tower, Dragonheart, Concord, Seven Rivers, and many others had actually lost to an unknown apprentice. Once the results came out, some clown was bound to jump up and make trouble, accusing him of handling the exam unfairly.

Gustav could not have cared less. If anyone had a problem with it, they were welcome to come to the council and say it to his face. Of course, that was assuming they could survive Ye Xian’s retaliation afterward.

As for the signs suggesting that this apprentice had probably been studying alchemy for less than half a year, what did that have to do with Gustav? If Ji Jue said it had been a year, then a year it was. Gustav did not care.

After a moment’s thought, Gustav waved a hand and erased every minor clue from the exported records that could reveal the truth. He ignored Jiang Tongguang, who looked as though he wanted to say something. “Come on. It’s about time we reported the results to the council members.”

“Uh...” Jiang Tongguang hesitated. “You sure it’s over, Gus?”

“What else could there be?” Gustav asked.

Jiang Tongguang pointed toward the now-dark projections and shimmering displays, and finally at the tower beneath their feet.

“Then why... is the Myriad Transformations Tower still running?”

This time, Gustav was the one without an answer.

The two stared at each other for a long moment. Then Gustav reached out and patted him on the shoulder.

“I liked you better when you didn’t concern yourself with anything,” he said sincerely. “Try not to ask so many questions that have nothing to do with your job.”

Jiang Tongguang had no response to that. The men looked up at the towering beam of light piercing the clouds.

The Myriad Transformations Tower was still running. If anything, it was operating even more intensely than before.

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Someone gave a slight wave and dismissed the insignificant request. It was not over yet. He said, “Keep going.”