Chapter 1875 - 962: Battle!

Go at once.

After all, the Ghost Craft must eventually be returned. Besides, after researching for so many days, the principles and details should be almost understood, leaving only constant revisions and attempts. Once the Nine Forms are completed, the exploration of one's own Jing Zhen Extreme Realm begins.

After jumping directly from the office to the residence in Cliff City, he swaggered to Tide Sound with an umbrella, launching a surprise inspection on a certain lazy person!

Let me see if you've finished your graduation thesis!

Strutting into the living room, he heard an excited shout.

"Big brother! Big brother!!!"

Amidst the flapping of wings, a silver bird soared from in front of the animated TV, landing towards him: "Did big brother come to play with me?"

"Hmm?"

Ji Jue seemed stunned, instinctively catching, and curiously examining: "...Who are you?"

"..."

Gloria froze, her little eyes opened wide, clearly showing shock and sadness, quickly almost covered by a mist.

Then, he heard Ji Jue's laughter.

"Hahaha, how could I not recognize Xiao Jiu!"

The well-behaved child he personally coaxed away from Mercury, even if turned to ash, could never be forgotten, right?

He skillfully tickled Xiao Jiu's chin, fingers brushing through the silver feathers: "Feels like you've gained a little weight, eaten lots with your sister?"

"Not at all, haven't gained any weight!"

"So you've grown a little bit?" Ji Jue sat on the sofa holding Xiao Jiu, "Why haven't you come to play with me recently?

I even thought you didn't want to talk to me anymore."

"Because big brother is always so busy." Gloria blinked, rubbing his hair, finally mustering the courage: "Also, that big sister is very scary, always watching you... always always..."

"Ah this..."

Ji Jue's expression stiffened, cold sweat broke out on his forehead, he chuckled awkwardly: "Kids are imagining things, how could that be? You must have misunderstood."

"Is-is that so?"

"It's like that!"

"Then why is big brother sweating?"

"..."

Ji Jue couldn't hold it anymore, helpless, "Anyway, Xiao Jiu, don't be afraid, I'll seriously talk to her, if you miss me, just come look for me and play!"

Gloria's expression suddenly became more confused: "But there seems to be more than one sister watching brother."

Ji Jue's actions completely petrified, dumbfounded:

"There are more experts!"

"..."

Xiao Jiu seemed to have realized, aware of the slip, immediately diverting attention, refusing to speak further.

A yawn came from the stairs:

"Xiao Jiu, do we have guests? Why not call..."

Still in fuzzy pajamas, Ye Chun rubbed her eyes, coming down from upstairs.

Seeing the refreshed guy on the sofa, she instantly froze, becoming instantly vigilant!

Soon, her gaze became sharp.

And Ji Jue's expression also abruptly turned serious, looking over with equal resolve, not yielding an inch.

For a moment, just like a duel between western gunslingers.

At the moment they locked eyes, fingers unconsciously resting on the takeaway app icon. Subconsciously uncapping the happy water, an imposing fighting spirit surfaced from both their chests.

No need to say more at this point.

Only one thing remains...

——Battle!

.

In the deepest part of the workshop, under the dim celestial light, Ye Xian silently gazed at the streams of light floating in the void, flowing and combining, constructing a network resembling the human body.

The complex and intricate construction seemed to possess a life of its own, displaying a unique subtle rhythm, faintly throbbing, yet always torn apart by an invisible force at the moment of completion, collapsing.

With the stroke of Ye Xian's fingers, the shattered network reassembled, evolved, continuously transformed, gradually expanding, until it filled the entire space.

Repeatedly.

Until a crisp sound occurred, an ivory-colored Ghost Work Ball emerged from a rift in the void, suspended mid-air.

"You're back."

Ye Xian asked without turning: "How's the progress?"

[What else could it be, one percent is already good]

The Ghost Work Ball sighed: [You're deliberately making it difficult for the kid, and the kid is still laughing foolishly. The difficulty of the Extreme Realm is indeed a bit excessive, just learning to walk and being asked to run a marathon, can't you take it step by step?]

"Even if I'm making it hard, hasn't there been one percent progress?"

Ye Xian sighed lightly: "To complete the leap from zero to one in such a short time, is already astonishing.

The difficulty of Jing Zhen Extreme Realm lies in its foundation, principles, and transformation.

Ninety-nine percent of the difficulty is at the threshold, once crossed, the remaining issues are merely water mill skill.

At twenty-two, with tips from that Heavenly Furnace guy, I completed the basic theory of Dissociation Technique combining the Nine Forms. At twenty-nine, I overthrew the shackles of the Nine Forms, innovated, elevating Jing Zhen to a new level on the foundations of previous traditions, yet it wasn't until thirty-five that I could truly say I completely mastered it.

At that time, I thought myself unrivaled in the world, this side of that old dog, yet unexpectedly, just over a decade later, I am about to be surpassed by my own student."

She sighed self-mockingly: "I'm afraid that in two or three years, as a teacher, there'll be nothing left for me to teach him."

A student with lackluster talent certainly brings suffering to the teacher.

But a student's talent being excessively high is also too cruel for the teacher.

The cliff I once struggled over for who knows how long is just a small hill to him. Watching him race ahead at high speed, it feels like my past hardships are a joke.

And yet this guy's thought process is as wild as a mad dog.

Even if you teach step by step with the textbook, he'd end up with some inexplicable nonsense. If you're not just a bit careful, he'd come up with a version that leaves you speechless.

Being his teacher is seriously life-shortening.

You end up questioning not only your talent but also your teaching abilities. It's not just your mental health and professional reputation at stake; if you're not careful, you might ruin your career in education.

No, no need to be careful, it's already ruined...

Just thinking about it makes my fists clench.

And even now, that old dog keeps coming up with new ways to annoy me, constantly concocting some messy force-feeding and wild catalysts, completely ignoring my teaching plan, to the point where I'm almost completely stumped as a teacher.

I was way too good to that dog back then.

Both dogs!

[Then why do I feel like you're quite enjoying it?]

Ghost Work Ball didn't hold back, honestly remarking: [In my opinion, there's somewhat of a problem with your branch's feng shui, the bad roots are the same, you all just love giving students a hard time.]

"What are you saying? Taking pleasure in students' cries of despair is a teacher's legitimate right."

Ye Xian said with great serenity: "Besides, I've been very busy lately, I have to give him something to do, otherwise, I can't handle the mysterious surprises he keeps springing every so often."

As they say, every dog has its leash.

After so long, I've figured it out, if you don't keep Ji Jue's workload packed, he'll think your workload isn't packed...

Throwing a troublesome project at him to work on is better than getting exhausted dealing with the mess he causes.

It's just that, despite saying so...

She couldn't help but feel subtly nervous.

It's like leaving the air conditioner on when heading out, realizing you forgot to refuel after hitting the highway, or getting home to find you didn't bring your keys.

Always uneasy

Until the Ghost Work Ball broke that unspoken understanding:

[Since I'm back, don't you want to think about what's going on outside now?]

Suddenly, Ye Xian's actions froze momentarily.

Oh no!

.

Unfortunately, when Ye Xian finally rushed over after dealing with her work... those two had long met in the brisk autumn wind and dewdrop, snorting and grunting like pigs in the living room all afternoon!

No, not even pigs could eat that much!

As soon as the door was pushed open, the smell of hotpot rushed in, mingled with the scent of hot and sour noodles and aged vinegar.

The floor was littered with all sorts of bags and uncleaned meal boxes.

In the background, the TV played a boring variety show, plastic bags made rustling noises as they were torn open, and after finishing bubble tea, there was a slurping sound as straws sucked up ice blocks, occasionally accompanied by burps and chuckles while watching short videos...

Too late!

Ye Xian felt a wave of dizziness.

Unnoticed, the stupidity index in the workshop had surpassed limits.

After eating and drinking their fill, the two were squirming like maggots on the sofa, still debating which restaurant's ice jelly was best, which lobster freshest, and whether to try them all... occasionally bursting into knowing chuckles.

"Then let's order them all, order them all. This shop's minimum order must be big, I can't finish it alone, been wanting to order for a while... and this shop... oh no, this one, it's best to eat on the spot for the taste."

"Then let's go!"

Ji Jue clapped his thigh: "Let's do it!"

"Let's do it!"

Ye Xian's eyes lit up, she flipped off the sofa like a salted fish and was about to change clothes to go out, only to catch sight of her aunt's expressionless face behind her.

The smile froze on her face.

"Aunt, listen, don't misunderstand me, I was with him..."

Ye Xian sighed, raising her hand:

"I would rather misunderstand you guys a bit."

How could two seemingly decent-looking people with well-defined features melt together into such two lumps of non-combustible matter?

Suddenly, she felt a bit exhausted.

Remembering her old friends in Nirvana, everyone was quite sentimental... Even in their wildest days, they weren't this outrageous!

Why don't you guys just go out to dance in a club and have a drink, or at least find someone to have a brawl with, that'd be healthier!

Returning to her senses, she saw Ji Jue holding up a newly delivered mango-strawberry shaved ice, offering it ingratiatingly in front of her, as if being filial:

"Teacher, want some?"

"..."

Ye Xian numbly withdrew her gaze, waving her hand: "Forget it, finish your meal and come in."

After taking just two steps, she heard yet another snorting noise akin to a wild boar rooting coming from behind, causing her expression to twitch.

Regret surged up.

Why did I even bother opening my mouth at all?