Chosen: Beyond Fate

He couldn’t apply?

Why didn’t you say so earlier? Teacher, you saw that, right? It’s not that I don’t want to take the exam—the association won’t let me!

The corners of Ji Jue’s mouth curled upward, but almost immediately, he frowned, his expression turning serious.

Why couldn’t he apply?

It was the same principle as saying, “Accepting your gift doesn’t mean I agreed to anything.”

Thinking he wasn’t ready for the exam was one thing. It was another for the association to tell him he couldn’t even try!

Besides, no matter how much he claimed he wasn’t confident, a part of Ji Jue had still been thinking, It’s only the craftsman exam. If I work hard enough, I can probably pass.

It was just as Professor Ye had said. Deep down, Ji Jue had never been the kind of person who could sit still and settle for less. He couldn’t stand the thought of resigning himself to mediocrity or incompetence, nor could he tolerate wasting his days doing nothing. If his teacher believed he could get the license, then there was no reason for him to shrink back in fear.

Even setting aside the protection that recognition from the association would provide, the record set by the Grandmaster Divine Furnace was right there in front of him. If there was a chance, who wouldn’t want to try breaking it?

Sure, Divine Furnace had somehow spent three months preparing for the Imperial civil service exam, but hadn’t Ji Jue basically spent most of his apprenticeship studying part-time and distance learning?

He could have all the doubts, worries, and considerations in the world, but once he had made up his mind to begin, he needed to put everything aside and charge forward with everything he had. What kind of person gave up and shifted the blame the moment they ran into a minor obstacle?

The look on Ji Jue’s face changed, becoming solemn. “Could you tell me why?”

Was it internal politics within the association? Some restrictions put in place by people his teacher had beaten up before? Or did it have something to do with the recent turmoil in Cliff City? Were there people behind the scenes who didn’t want Ye Xian’s student to become a craftsman right now?

There has to be some explanation, right?

Behind the desk sat Li Yun[1], the association’s representative in Cliff City. A middle-aged woman with immaculate makeup and a calm, friendly attitude, she was neither a craftsman nor a Chosen One, but as the association’s chief representative in Cliff City, she handled all matters related to the Taiyi Ring and maintained contact between the association and the local craftsmen.

Ji Jue had seen her before in his teacher’s study and again at Lei Wuye’s funeral. They had not interacted much, but she seemed to be on fairly good terms with Professor Ye.

Besides, his teacher had only recently accepted a commission from the association and dealt with the trouble in Spring City. That had not even been two months ago. Surely they would not turn on her this quickly after getting what they wanted.

“Please don’t misunderstand, Mr. Ji. We’re not deliberately making things difficult for you.”

Li Yun clearly did not want a misunderstanding like this to affect her work with them in the future. She immediately stood, searched through the shelves behind her for a while, then returned with a file and pulled out Ji Jue’s registration record before she placed it in front of him.

With a heavy sigh, she said, “The problem is that, according to our records, you simply haven’t been training for very long. Your registered apprenticeship began last winter. As of today, it has only been a year.”

𝚏𝕣𝕖𝚎𝚠𝚎𝚋𝚗𝐨𝐯𝕖𝕝.𝕔𝐨𝕞

Ji Jue froze. He had not expected the thing preventing him from taking the exam to be the length of his apprenticeship after all.

“I can’t take it after one year?”

“It’s not just that,” Li Yun replied. “Under normal regulations, the association does not accept applications from apprentices who have trained for less than three years.”

And when all was said and done, Divine Furnace was the one to blame for that rule too. Though it was not Divine Furnace’s fault alone. There was also another of the Three Grandmasters of the present era—Ploughsmith.

The fact that the current Divine Furnace had set the association’s record for the shortest time needed to become a craftsman had never been a secret. For years, countless successors had admired that extraordinary talent.

Then, a few decades ago, another craftsman who had passed the exam after only a year of self-study went on to become a grandmaster. Amid all the praise, the time it took an apprentice to become a craftsman gradually began to be treated as a measure of talent and future potential.

Naturally, there was never any shortage of apprentices trying to shorten that time and make a name for themselves. With the temptation of becoming famous overnight and earning the same kind of recognition as a grandmaster, people threw themselves at the record one after another. And as everyone knew, there was no end to this kind of competition.

That alone would have been fine. The real problem was that far too many of them were frauds.

Normally, people like that would have been weeded out during the written exam. Unfortunately, Ember Chosen Ones were absurdly good at memorization, and with all kinds of blessings and alchemical creations available, turning someone into a walking test-taking machine was hardly difficult.

Every craftsman examination also required several masters to form an assessment panel. Every unqualified candidate meant more of their time wasted and more resources consumed.

And to ensure fairness, all materials used during the craftsman examination were provided by the association itself. Even with an application fee of four hundred thousand Fedra per attempt, enough to make Ji Jue’s heart ache just thinking about it, the association still lost money on every candidate.

Worse yet, later statistics showed that even when these fast-tracked apprentices somehow passed and became craftsmen, they usually ended up badly underdeveloped. Their foundations were simply too weak. There had even been one unlucky bastard more than a decade ago who received his craftsman license one day and blew himself up the next.

More importantly, the trend itself had created a terrible culture. For a brief period, the association ‌seemed to enter a golden age overflowing with geniuses. Talent bloomed everywhere, and everything looked more prosperous than ever. But in the end, only a handful of those supposed prodigies ever managed to earn even a single Gold Badge. Not one of them became a master.

Worse still, there had been numerous cases of people losing themselves in vanity and praise, refusing to wake from their dreams of greatness, and eventually turning to the Depths or Putrefaction in a desperate attempt to advance even one step further.

As a result, after an emergency meeting involving the association’s four council members and representatives from numerous schools, the trend was finally brought to a halt.

That was not all. From then on, apprentices with unusually short training periods were subjected to far more cautious and stringent assessments. If a candidate’s performance fell somewhere between Grade A and Grade B, they would invariably receive a Grade B. If they only barely met the passing standard, they would fail. A single point could be enough to eliminate countless candidates.

At the same time, to prevent another flood of unqualified applicants and certain large workshops shamelessly cramming people through the exam just to inflate their number of craftsmen, the association introduced a new rule. Any apprentice who had trained for less than three years needed the signatures and guarantees of three craftsmen before they could sit for the examination, thereby preventing unnecessary waste of resources.

Of course, there was no formal punishment if the apprentice failed. The results, however, would be published separately for everyone to see. If the craftsmen who vouched for them were willing to embarrass themselves, the association certainly wasn’t going to stop them.

And given how vicious the infighting between the factions and powerful families within the association could become, who would ever pass up such a perfect opportunity? The story would probably make headlines the very next day. People would seize the failure to attack your character, competence, and judgment. What could you possibly say in your defense?

From then on, no craftsman was willing to indulge an apprentice going through a bout of teenage delusion, convinced they were some heaven-sent prodigy, and let them rush off to take the exam. The embarrassment simply wasn’t worth it.

Besides, the average apprentice wasn’t some privileged heir like Young Master Lou. Where were they supposed to find three craftsmen willing to put their reputations on the line for them? They would just have to keep studying and wait their turn.

“Of course, I don’t doubt Master Ye’s judgment or the standards she sets for her students. If she sent you here, then she must be confident in you. But rules are rules. Even if I approved your application here, it would only be rejected by the higher-ups.” Li Yun pulled an old notice from the bottom of a storage box and placed it in front of Ji Jue, sincerely advising him, “You’re still young. Why not wait another two years?”

Ji Jue said nothing. He only let out a soft sigh, deciding not to waste his breath asking her to make an exception.

The association had its rules, and there was no getting around them. After so many years, once everyone had grown accustomed to them, those rules had become accepted convention as well. When you were still insignificant, challenging the rules and overturning accepted norms was neither wise nor worthwhile.

You had to make something of yourself first before you earned the right to talk about turning the tables. Only once the power was in your hands could you truly decide your own fate. Until then...

“Three signatures?” Ji Jue asked.

“Yes.” Li Yun nodded, as though she had expected the question. She didn’t seem surprised in the slightest.

Ji Jue slowly rose to his feet and politely took his leave. “Thank you for your time. I’ll be back tomorrow.”

“You’re welcome anytime.”

Li Yun watched him leave. Once the office fell quiet, she returned to her paperwork.

***

Under the midday sun, Ji Jue sat on the steps of the plaza and sighed.

Three craftsmen’s signatures...

That was a bit troublesome. He didn’t exactly know many craftsmen.

Sure, he had met more craftsmen than he could count since setting out on this path. The problem was that very few of them were still alive. Quite a few of them were dead.

If he’d known this would happen, maybe he should’ve killed a few less and kept them around to sign things for him. Though he had no idea whether signatures from people in the Depths would even count.

Still, the problem itself wasn’t difficult. It was just a bit of a hassle.

His teacher had told him to come take the exam, so there was no way she didn’t know about this rule. In other words, she clearly didn’t consider it much of an obstacle for him. And once Ji Jue thought it through, he realized that she was right.

He pulled out his phone without further hesitation and made a call. A few seconds later, someone picked up.

Ji Jue cautiously asked, “Hello? You there?”

“Fuck off!” Lou Feng immediately replied.

An awkward silence followed. Apparently, the conditioned reflex, or perhaps the lingering trauma, if not outright PTSD, was so deeply ingrained in them that neither knew what to say next.

Eventually, Ji Jue let out a long, miserable sigh.

“I see. So that’s how it is.” He gave a regretful little laugh. “Back in Spring City, I thought we’d become friends. I guess I was wrong. I even thought we might be partners for life. Sorry. Looks like I was the only one who felt that way. I shouldn’t have bothered you. As long as I know you’re doing well, that’s enough for me.”

Ji Jue’s shameless guilt-tripping was so over the top that Lou Feng nearly choked. He was suffocating. Ever since meeting this bastard, all the manners and upbringing the Lou family had drilled into him might as well have gone straight down the drain.

Lou Feng rolled his eyes so hard they almost disappeared into his skull. “If you’ve got something to say, then fucking say it!”

“Wouldn’t that bother you?” Ji Jue asked meekly. “I already feel bad for bothering you. And if people found out the Lou family was associating with a penniless nobody like me, wouldn’t that cause problems for you?”

“Ji Jue, are you fucking done yet? I—” Veins bulged on Lou Feng’s forehead, and a practiced torrent of curses came spilling out before he could stop himself.

By the time he noticed the stunned looks from his parents and siblings across the dining table, it was already too late.

Clack.

At the head of the table, the old man stared at him in disbelief. His chopsticks trembled, and two grains of rice fell onto the table. He looked as though he wanted to say something.

As an eerie silence enveloped the room, Lou Feng closed his eyes and suppressed the urge to hang himself on the spot. He put down his chopsticks and slowly stood up.

“I’m full.”

Then, with his head lowered and shoulders hunched, he bolted out of the dining room faster than he’d ever run, like he was fleeing for his life.

It took Lou Feng a long while to come back to his senses. By then, two cracks had appeared across the phone screen clenched in his hand.

He hated that bastard so damn much!!!

1. 李 (Li) is a common Chinese surname. 芸 (Yun) originally refers to a fragrant herb and is commonly used in women’s names. To me, it gives a gentle, refined, literary impression without sounding overly delicate. ☜