Chapter 00149: The Better the Thing, the Worse It Gets
# The Better the Thing, the Worse It Gets
Chapter 149
Novel: Above Destiny
Chapter 149: The Better the Thing, the Worse It Gets
Ye Chun had a nightmare.
It felt like she was being chased by a dog in the pitch-black night.
The dog was foaming at the mouth, its tongue lolling out, relentlessly pursuing her.
At some point, she thought she saw her aunt, but before she could cry out, "Auntie, save me!" she heard her aunt say something to the dog.
And then... the damn thing's eyes turned red, and it started sprinting like crazy, shouting something about wanting to eat a hot dog...
No matter how much she cried and begged for mercy, it was terrifying!
Ye Chun suddenly opened her eyes, gasping for breath.
Waking up from the dream, she realized she was drenched in sweat, and the sound of rain tapping against the window was incessant.
She got up, grabbed a cup, and went to the kitchen, gulping down several glasses of cold water before finally calming down a bit.
She couldn't help but grit her teeth and stomp her feet.
"Ji Jue, just you wait! I guess I've been feeding you too well! Starting tomorrow, you won't even get a seat at the table!"
But when she turned around to go back to sleep, she noticed a sliver of light coming from under the door.
The living room light was still on, and it seemed like there were voices talking.
The conversation was nearing its end.
"Alright, since Master Ye is so straightforward, the association won't be stingy with the compensation. Of course, I know you don't care much for such things, but it's still a token of our appreciation. Please don't refuse."
The late-night visitor politely bid farewell, stood up, and left without glancing at the slightly ajar door.
The sound of footsteps faded away.
"Ah Chun?" Professor Ye, sitting on the sofa, turned her head.
"Yeah."
Ye Chun pushed the door open, rubbing her eyes.
"Auntie, are you still busy?"
Professor Ye replied, "Go back to sleep. It was someone from the association."
"Oh."
Ye Chun nodded in understanding, her gaze shifting away from the door, seemingly relieved.
"I thought you were leaving."
"Not yet."
Professor Ye lowered her eyes, speaking calmly.
"Go rest."
"Okay..."
Ye Chun thought for a moment, then turned back with a smile.
"Thanks, Auntie."
Professor Ye didn't respond, her eyes fixed on the drizzling rain outside, the distant sound of the tide faintly audible.
The sound of footsteps faded away.
The night passed in a flash.
The next day, as the sky began to lighten, Ji Jue, with bloodshot eyes, arrived at work carrying his toolbox.
Clearly, he had spent most of the night wrestling with the pocket watch in his hands.
Although his spiritual energy was abundant, it still felt somewhat unstable, with a faint, uncontrolled leakage.
He wasn't in peak condition.
"How's the progress?" Professor Ye asked, holding a teacup, her tone a mix of concern and perhaps a hint of schadenfreude.
Or maybe both.
She had never realized before how entertaining it was to watch a student struggle with a difficult problem, scratching their head in frustration...
There was a certain beauty in seeing someone repeatedly fall into a ditch, climb out, and then fall back in.
But then, she heard Ji Jue's voice.
"I think... I might have found a trick?"
He spoke uncertainly, causing Professor Ye's hand, which was lifting the teacup, to pause momentarily.
It was so brief, almost imperceptible, before she smoothly resumed her action.
After taking a sip, she set the cup down and slowly raised her eyes to look at him.
"Oh?"
For some reason, her gaze made Ji Jue feel an immense pressure.
"I'm not sure if it's just my imagination, but take a look."
Ji Jue raised his hand and once again activated the Mechanical Descent on the pocket watch.
A faint, flickering light of spiritual energy emerged from the watch, glowing softly.
Then, this time, he took a deep breath and slowly extended his hand...
In that instant, Ji Jue's spiritual energy fluctuations visibly dissipated and slowed down.
The spiritual energy on his five fingers became as thin as a thread, completely still, without any fluctuations or movements.
It was... an application of the Disintegration Technique, or rather, the most basic aspect of it—stopping all spiritual energy movement, keeping it in place.
As the creator of the Disintegration Technique, no one understood this better than Ye Xian.
This stillness was inspired by the most profound and advanced application in the Desolate Ruins Path—the Stasis Zone!
If the soul is like a fleeting firework, then the essence of matter points to what is known as eternity.
True masters of the Desolate Ruins, like Wen Wen, could casually and effortlessly use this skill to completely halt all spiritual energy changes within the former Jici Hospital, maximizing the safety of the victims.
It was said that the ultimate form of the Stasis Zone could even freeze the molecular motion of matter, creating a terrifying effect akin to stopping time.
What Ji Jue had achieved now wasn't even a fraction of what Wen Wen had demonstrated.
At best, it was a clumsy imitation.
Yet, with this crude imitation, Ji Jue's fingers had, for a brief moment, truly grasped the fragile spiritual intelligence within the pocket watch.
He had caught it!
Even though the next moment, with the slightest movement, that fragile spiritual intelligence disintegrated... it was still enough to leave Ye Xian in silence.
Fast.
Too fast.
Even faster than she had anticipated.
In just one night...
If we were to use the crude logic of how to fit an elephant into a refrigerator, extracting the spiritual intelligence from matter could be broken down into three simple steps: first, catch that tiny thread of spiritual energy; second, ensure its structure remains intact; and third, take it out.
Each step sounds plausible, but in practice, they're all nearly impossible.
Yet, Ji Jue had already completed the first step.
Without destroying the structure itself, he had managed to grasp the spiritual energy bestowed by the Mechanical Descent with an extremely delicate operation.
Moreover, he had intuitively understood the key to the second step—how to keep the structure intact.
Ji Jue's method was simple: if it's too soft, too fragile, and too weak to handle, then why not just "freeze" it?
Using the basics he had learned from practicing the Disintegration Technique, he made his own spiritual energy enter a state of stasis, then gradually extended it into the structure of the object he was manipulating.
Once the structure of the object was completely fixed, wouldn't it be easy to extract it?
Unfortunately, he was completely off track.
He wasn't a chosen one of the Desolate Ruins Path, nor did he possess the blessings of the Desolate Ruins.
If he continued in this state, even if he spent his entire life on it, he might never grasp the eternal essence within the "Stasis"...
There was potential, but Ji Jue was destined to fail, or rather, it wasn't worth the effort to keep pushing.
But at the very least, he had realized the problem and had started making attempts.
That was the most important thing.
The hardest part of any troublesome task isn't figuring out how to do it, but identifying where the problem lies.
Once you find the crux of the issue, even the most brute-force methods can yield some progress.
"Thinking of breaking down the basics of the Disintegration Technique and applying them is indeed creative, but you currently lack the conditions to practice it," Professor Ye pointed out the flaw in his approach with precision.
"If I were you, I'd focus on the primacy of the spirit."
When pointing out the issue, Professor Ye's wording was unusually gentle.
After all, as a student, it was already impressive that Ji Jue, without knowing the origins of the Stasis technique, had found a direction and made attempts.
Moreover, in just one night...
"Let me guess, your current interference and control over the spiritual intelligence of creations..."
She pondered for a moment, then suddenly asked, "Is it the effect of Non-Aggression?"
"Exactly."
Ji Jue nodded.
To be precise, it was the work of the "Invisible Hand."
For the first time, outside of alchemical creation, Ji Jue once again felt this presence.
When he focused entirely on manipulating the spiritual energy of the pocket watch, that illusory sense of control reappeared in his mind.
According to his previous understanding, this should have been an illusion.
The Invisible Hand—it should have been a feeling that arose when he had complete control over all changes during alchemical creation, as if an invisible hand was casually manipulating everything within the furnace.
It was just a metaphor.
That's how it should have been, logically.
But Ji Jue seemed to have truly felt it.
A phantom-like sensation, even more intense than before.
Unlike the familiar touch of his ten fingers, this was a more vague and subtle sense of control—within the range of his spiritual energy, there existed such a [hand].
Formless and shapeless, but as his spiritual energy flowed, it could replace him in performing all sorts of precise operations, achieving the seemingly impossible.
Including, as if holding dew, carefully grasping that fragile spiritual intelligence in his hand!
After dozens of attempts, he had become quite adept at it.
The hardest step had been completed in such a simple manner.
After the blessing of the Primacy of the Spirit arrived, the effects of Non-Aggression on spiritual energy manipulation had strengthened.
At the same time, the matrix, now closer to its complete state, had become even more compatible with Ji Jue.
It was as if it was adapting to Ji Jue, adjusting itself to his habits and usage.
It felt so natural.
"Is this the legacy of the sages?"
Professor Ye murmured softly.
As far as she knew, in the current era, there were at least three Non-Aggression matrices circulating...
One was safely stored in the Taiyi Ring's collection; another had appeared at an auction in the Thousand Islands decades ago, bought by a mysterious bidder; and the third should be in the possession of the Federal Desolate State Security Bureau.
But among these three, none could compare to the Non-Aggression in Ji Jue's hands.
Nothing could match the bond between a matrix and its chosen one.
The matrix itself was a creation that relied on the soul of the chosen one.
Similarly, over years of use, the matrix would inevitably retain traces and experiences of its user.
Eventually, the differences between them would become stark.
Not to mention the differences in skill between users.
For the sages of old, reversing time was theoretically possible.
What high-level operation hadn't they tried? Now, it was no big deal for the matrix to "reverse the heavens" and cooperate with Ji Jue's actions.
Not to mention the astonishing compatibility between Ji Jue and Non-Aggression.
In daily use, it wasn't noticeable, but when facing a target beyond his limits, even the slightest bit of extra help became glaringly obvious.
In a moment of realization, Professor Ye couldn't help but sigh softly.
"It seems Mercury really likes you."
"Mom really likes big brother!"
The metal hummingbird, having grown bored of playing on the chandelier in the living room, flew down, rolled around in his hair, flapped its wings, and excitedly shouted, as if announcing to the whole world:
"All moms like him!"
Ji Jue's face twitched as he pinched the bird's beak shut.
Why did such a compliment suddenly feel off?
It was like he had been used as a tool by the prophet, and now it sounded like he was some young gigolo tricking older women!
People only saw the good parts, but he had been screwed over way more often!
This was clearly just his compensation for all the trouble!
"Alright, now that you know you have an advantage in this area, don't waste it. Go back and practice on your own."
Ye Xian couldn't be bothered to watch Ji Jue show off anymore.
If this continued, she might just have to give him a few pairs of pretty pink shoes to wear.
"Oh, and this is done too. Take it back."
Finally, Professor Ye pulled out an ancient-looking bell and placed it on the table.
It exuded a subtle spiritual energy, distant and elusive.
Just looking at it, one could almost hear the faint, illusory ringing in their ears.
It was mesmerizing.
This was the only intact item Ji Jue had found after scouring the battlefield, retrieved from the remains of that lightning old man—everything else had turned to ash.
Only this bell had survived the Minerva's Sword attack, not even a scratch on it.
Anyone could tell it was a good item.
However, according to the almost unspoken rule among craftsmen of the classical era—the better the item, the more likely the craftsman had hidden some backdoor or nasty surprise within.
Unwary users would end up in worse situations, leading to the bizarre phenomenon where the better the alchemical item, the worse it could be.
Without Professor Ye's expertise, Ji Jue wouldn't dare use something he had just picked up randomly.
Otherwise, while using it, he might unknowingly become the one being used.
Hearing this, he was immediately delighted:
"You've checked it?"
"Yes, in a way, this is the most impressive thing you've brought back in a while."
Professor Ye picked up the bell and gave it a slight shake.
A clear, crisp sound instantly rang out from it.
It was as if it came from the netherworld.
An invisible chill spread, even more intense than when the old man had used it, nearly freezing Ji Jue on the spot.
Only then did he feel the deathly silence that followed.
He couldn't help but turn to look out the window.
Under the overcast sky, amidst the drizzling rain, outside the workshop's gate, in the misty rain, one after another, blurry figures began to appear.
Like lingering spirits of the dead.
Their crimson eyes turned, looking in this direction.
Hundreds, thousands...
(End of Chapter)