Chosen: Beyond Fate

“Seventeen seconds!”

“As expected of Mr. Zhou!”

“Amazing!”

Ji Jue had only just pushed open the door when cheers and applause erupted from the crowded lounge. Everyone had gathered around a spot, seemingly engrossed in some kind of game.

Ji Jue drew in a sharp breath. Ever since leaving the workshop, he had not seen such dense waves of spirit matter. Every single person in the room carried multiple alchemical items, as well as several pieces of alchemical equipment. The room practically sparkled with high-end equipment.

As the door swung open without so much as a knock, everyone inside turned to look at the unexpected visitor, sizing him up with puzzled expressions. Why was this guy showing up so late? Did someone book the services of a gigolo?

“Oh, it’s quite lively here.” Ji Jue shut the door behind him and smiled in a friendly manner. “What’s everyone playing?”

A scream shattered the brief silence in the room, leaving everyone frozen in place. “Ji Jue!!!!”

Ji Jue looked up in astonishment toward the voice, his breath hitching. That familiar feeling... that refreshing call of his name... that utterly heart-rending shout... It all came rushing back. So far from home, in a place where he knew no one, Ji Jue was so touched by that familiar greeting that his eyes nearly watered. It felt as though he’d returned home.

I’ve missed you, Lou!

Overjoyed, he strode forward, grabbed Lou Feng’s hand, and shook it vigorously.

“Long time no see, Mr. Lou. How have you been? Have you been well?”

Like hell I have.

“Not at all.”

Lou Feng turned livid. He instinctively tried to pull free, but Ji Jue’s grip clamped down like a pair of iron vise grips. No matter how hard he struggled, he couldn’t shake him off, which only made him angrier.

Damn it, so what if he had Pacifier? Did that make him so special? Though, to be fair, it really did...

“Well, you may not be doing well, but I’m doing great!” Ji Jue declared loudly. “Aren’t you happy for me?”

Lou Feng was so furious he almost laughed. Twenty years of composure and good manners finally went out the window as he spat through clenched teeth, “Go to hell, you bastard!”

“I’m happy to see you too!” Still smiling as if nothing were wrong, Ji Jue shook Lou Feng’s hand once more before throwing an arm around his shoulder, brimming with enthusiasm. “My, you’ve gained a lot of weight. Been eating well lately, huh? And you’ve gotten much fairer too!”

Under the bewildered, increasingly strange looks from everyone around them, Lou Feng could barely keep the expression on his face together.

On the sofa, Zhou Cheng, the young man who had just been surrounded by all the apprentices moments ago, glanced at the bizarre interaction between the two with growing curiosity. “Aren’t you going to introduce him?”

“Does he even need an introduction?” Lou Feng laughed coldly and pointed at the exceedingly friendly face beside him. “He’s Ji Jue from Tidesound Workshop. Haven’t you all heard plenty about him already?”

A suffocating silence enveloped the entire room.

“Tidesound?” someone blurted out in shock. “Doesn’t that mean...”

Mean what?

No one said another word. The atmosphere in the room tensed, and everyone instinctively shrank back. Their gazes shifted to Ji Jue, filled with wariness, suspicion, shock, contempt, and even undisguised disgust and hostility.

The sheer range of emotions passing those expressions in just a few seconds were enough to win an Oscar. Ji Jue could not help but be impressed, but he also found it hard to hold out any hope that his lineage was particularly well regarded in the industry.

Despite the oppressive atmosphere, Zhou Cheng forced out a smile. “Anyone who comes here is a friend. Sit, everyone, have a seat.”

Unfortunately, no one offered Ji Jue a seat. Instead, they cast cold, indifferent glances at him.

Ji Jue did not mind in the slightest. He simply dragged a chair over and sat down, completely unconcerned by the hostility around him. Lou Feng finally managed to break free as well. He glanced around, sensed that something was not quite right, and shifted a little farther away from Ji Jue. Then, still not at ease, he moved away a little more.

“Well, I’ve long heard of your reputation. I didn’t expect you to be a distinguished apprentice of Tidesound Workshop.”

Zhou Cheng chatted with Ji Jue in a lukewarm, indifferent manner, idly making small talk as he studied the newcomer’s appearance. After sensing that the spirit matter fluctuations around him had not yet reached the Metamorphosis Realm, and recalling what Lou Feng had said earlier about Ji Jue having joined the workshop less than a year ago, he seemed to relax ever so slightly. He took the item on the table and offered it to Ji Jue. “Wanna try?”

The people around them immediately displayed eager anticipation, as if waiting for juicy drama to unfold.

“I’ve never seen this before. What is it?”

Ji Jue accepted it without the slightest concern and flipped it around in his hand. He seemed to hear the derisive laughter coming from the crowd, as if they were all thinking, He’s just a country bumpkin after all.

Zhou Cheng smiled. “It’s just a little gadget released by the Taiyi Ring. Something for craftsmen to practice with. It can be used for a bit of casual amusement now and then.”

Ji Jue looked at the Rubik’s Cube-like creation in his hand. He could feel the intricate structure inside it, as well as broken, intermittent spirit matter circuits that seemed to shift and rearrange as it rotated.

After he infused spirit matter into it, the cube began moving on its own. The internal spirit circuits pieced themselves together and randomly generated a complex spirit matter lock.

It was quite an eye-opener for Ji Jue. He had never seen a little toy like this before. It was the equivalent of a randomly generated mathematical puzzle. The user had to unlock the internal spirit matter lock as quickly as possible, guide the spirit circuits forward, and fill in the missing parts.

Now that it was running at full power, its four-layered nested structure made it quite difficult. Beneath it all, there was even a concealed Supreme Benevolence emblem. If it was not solved within a certain time, it would likely trigger some kind of reaction, announcing the game’s failure.

“I’ll give it a try.”

Ji Jue smiled honestly, lowered his head, and began twisting the object in his hand. Amid the clicking sounds, the internal spirit matter circuits kept connecting and disconnecting, never quite settling into a stable form.

In the end, Ji Jue let out a helpless sigh. Under everyone’s expectant gazes, he played along and said in an almost self-deprecating tone, “It’s too complicated. How is anyone supposed to solve this? You’re not messing with me, are you?”

Uncontrollable laughter burst out all around him.

“It is a little difficult. Perhaps it’s a matter of skill.” Zhou Cheng smiled teasingly and reached out to take the instrument from him. Then, right in front of Ji Jue, he began dismantling it. His movements were swift, practiced, and truly impressive.

But as he worked on it, the smile on his face froze. He couldn’t solve it at all. No matter how much he tried or calculated, something was always off. The puzzle was completely different from before. The lock inside seemed to be constantly shifting and changing, almost as if it had come alive.

By the time he was sweating profusely and had finally, painstakingly managed to crack open the outermost layer, he discovered that there were somehow six more layers inside.

Ji Jue leaned in curiously, expression full of anticipation. “What’s wrong? What does it look like after you solve it? Can you let me see? Could it really be a matter of skill?”

Zhou Cheng’s face twitched.

“No way, no way! Impossible!” Ji Jue looked genuinely shocked. “What, you guys can’t solve it either? Is it really that hard?”

Bang!

All of a sudden, a tremendous explosion burst from Zhou Cheng’s hand without the slightest warning, making everyone’s hearts leap into their throats. Thick smoke billowed from the gaps between his fingers.

Zhou Cheng cried out in pain and let go of the puzzle. Only then did everyone see that the cube was burning red-hot.

Ji Jue reached out to it, not caring about the furnace-like, searing heat. With a casual twist to the left and right, he turned it gently in his hand. Among the spreading warmth, the mechanism trembled. All the disordered spirit matter circuits reconnected within the rotation once more, becoming flawlessly complete. The seven layers of spirit locks came undone at once.

A soft, glowing light lit up from his fingertips and flickered.

“I’m guessing this is what it’s supposed to look like?” Ji Jue smiled as he looked around at everyone. “Did I do it right?”