Chapter 229: Set It Off and Run

Modern alchemy encompassed a vast number of different fields.

Compared with ancient alchemical traditions, many of which stretched back thousands of years and were deeply rooted in the histories of great families and powerful clans, modern alchemy had emerged relatively recently, becoming the mainstream precisely because it built upon the foundations of ancient alchemy while opening entirely new paths and directions.

It not only established unified standards and methods of measurement, making it easier for later generations to enter the field, but also possessed a degree of openness and inclusivity that far surpassed ancient alchemy.

Over several centuries of development, it had absorbed the finest elements of numerous ancient traditions. After discarding what was useless, retaining what was valuable, and integrating the rest into a coherent whole, it had expanded beyond the four fundamental disciplines of Elevation, Purification, Transformation, and Integration to develop more than a dozen distinct branches and fields of study.

The study of life was undoubtedly one of its major branches. It had countless ties to the Vortex and was also inseparable from the popular field of potion-making.

Naturally, Ji Jue, a mere apprentice, would never dare claim expertise in such a profound and demanding subject. In truth, even after using Deus Ex Machina to absorb knowledge at an absurd rate, his level could only barely be considered introductory.

At the moment, he wasn’t yet capable of bringing the dead back to life. He was, however, remarkably good at accidentally turning the living into the dead. That was precisely why the process of making a “human skin mask” had looked so gruesome and horrifying. It was like buying something. You couldn’t expect it to be fast, effective, and so cheap that it was practically free. Compromises had to be made.

That was how this awkward situation had arisen.

To avoid damaging the material and preserve the disguise’s realism as much as possible, the skin had to be transplanted while still alive. With the Mercy Bone Blade at his disposal, that part was naturally no problem. Given how little time he had, surely it was understandable that the freshly applied layer of skin had not adhered properly?

Unfortunately, the woman before him didn’t appear willing to forgive him. In that case, he had no other options.

Before bending down to retrieve the mask, Ji Jue casually drove his last Radiant Blade into her abdomen. Under the effects of the Veil of Concord, she instantly lost the ability to move. She couldn’t even make a sound.

Then the Mercy Bone Blade pierced her, separating flesh from soul. Her body and soul both went still.

Since his cover had already been blown, Ji Jue stopped bothering with the disguise. He peeled off both halves of the borrowed face and tossed them aside, then took an ugly face soaking in solution from a bottle inside his coat and pressed it back onto his own.

“Nothing beats the original!”

His fingers traced the seams, reconnecting the flesh. Then, infused with spirit matter, the Mouth of the Ancient Ones took effect and restored most of the face’s original function, perhaps seventy or eighty percent of it.

As for the fact that he now seemed even uglier... Who cared? He could live with being ugly. Once he returned and had Mr. Zhang treat him, he could restore everything to factory settings.

By comparison, the wounds from his broken legs were far more troublesome. Without the support of his mercury exoskeleton, even walking would have been difficult.

Ji Jue leisurely continued forward, strolling through the precious materials storage room with his eyes wide in amazement.

“As expected of a Master Craftsman of the Depths. This is incredible.” Ji Jue marveled at the collection, stopping to admire each treasure in turn.

There was a naturally formed piece of blessed metal from the Ruins, large enough to match two people in size, with an innate blessing preserved within it; a stone-marrow crystal twice the size of Ji Jue’s head; and an aberrant creature completely restrained and frozen inside a sealed case, unable to break free.

Almost every compartment and display shelf held something tempting enough to stir the darkest impulses in his heart. He wanted to pull off another ruthless heist. Perhaps he could simply call President over, take his time, and loot the entire place clean.

Well, assuming he lived long enough to escape.

According to the bald woman, this was merely a Level Two storage room. The truly precious materials were kept within Jian Yuan’s private realm. Even more, the items stored here were only a small portion of the materials that had recently been acquired and had yet to be classified. Wasn’t he a little too rich?

Ji Jue wavered between gasping in shock and breathing heavily, greed sparkling in his eyes. In the end, he didn’t dare look any longer. Any more of this and he would lose it.

Before long, however, the most important target of his visit appeared before him. He felt as though he had stopped breathing altogether.

“What the hell is that?”

Ji Jue couldn’t believe it. Now he finally understood why Lou Feng had been so certain that his aunt was still alive.

Among the Lou family’s secret spirit-matter techniques was a life-preserving method developed from Spirit Morph. When a Chosen One sensed that death was inevitable or that they had reached a moment of extreme peril, they could perform one final Spirit Morph—Death Lock. Their crystallized spirit matter would envelop both body and soul like a coffin, hardening to its absolute limit until it became virtually indestructible.

It was like hiding inside a tortoise shell, leaving the enemy with no way to reach them. Of course, whether they would then be dragged away, slowly carved open, and killed was another matter. At least it bought them a little more time to cling to life.

When Jian Yuan attacked, Lou Feng’s aunt, Lou Yanyue[1], had used the most complete form of Death Lock on herself at the final moment. Once someone reached the Rebirth Realm, their Spirit Morph would endure for as long as they remained alive. As long as Lou Yanyue remained alive, it wouldn’t dissipate. And as long as she lived, her spirit matter would continue reinforcing the crystalline shell around her.

The only way to kill her was to exhaust every last trace of her spirit matter, causing her soul to collapse and disintegrate on its own. In a sense, she had completely erased any possibility of her body being used as material.

Jian Yuan had probably intended to keep her around until he had the time to personally teach her how a proper piece of material ought to behave. Unfortunately for him, he probably wouldn’t get the chance.

Ji Jue was questioning everything he knew.

“This is your aunt?” He leaned closer and stared at the incomplete figure sealed within the spirit-matter crystal. “You’re telling me this is your freaking aunt?!”

The body frozen inside the sealed crystal bore horrific wounds. Both legs had been severed at the hip, and only one arm remained. Even her face had been slashed by a blade. Both eyes had been injured beyond saving, and her once-beautiful features had been twisted into something ugly and grotesque, so much so that it was hardly any better than Ji Jue’s current ghastly appearance.

But the real problem was that she... she... she looked like a minor!

“Sixteen? No, fourteen, thirteen...”

Ji Jue narrowed his eyes and leaned in so close that he nearly triggered the alarm. There was no way she was older than fourteen. Absolutely no chance.

A fourteen-year-old in the Rebirth Realm?! Surely she had not botched some miraculous technique and accidentally reverted to childhood?

Ji Jue sucked in a sharp breath, then another, and another, as though he meant to drain every last bit of air from Jian Yuan’s central air-conditioning system. As expected of a great clan, the depth of its legacy was truly staggering. Its family hierarchy was just as absurdly complicated.

Lou Feng’s grandfather had surely been remarkably vigorous in his old age. He had somehow fathered a daughter younger than his own grandson.

No wonder Lou Feng always wore such an indescribably complicated expression whenever he mentioned his aunt. Had Ji Jue possessed an aunt seven or eight years younger than himself, one who had already become a core combatant of Tide City’s Security Bureau and a top-tier expert at such a young age, he would have probably wanted to die too.

There was no more time to stand around sighing over it. Time waited for no one.

Ji Jue moved swiftly, running both hands over the display case as he sensed the spirit circuits within. He carefully read and analyzed their structure, and the Dissociation Technique flashed into effect.

Passing through the outer spirit matter structure, Pacifier’s spirit matter hands reached deep inside and precisely destroyed the identification sequence and its associated modules. He had five minutes before the security sequence completed its self-check and sounded the alarm.

Ji Jue pulled the “aunt detector” Lou Feng had made from his pocket and pressed it directly against Lou Yanyue’s spirit-matter crystal.

The two crystals formed through Spirit Morph collided and merged instantly. Since they had originated from the same source, they fused into one with a faint, resonant hum.

Spirit matter was a carrier of information, and the Lou family possessed a separate method of communication through it. To prevent Lou Yanyue from hindering Ji Jue or causing any trouble, Lou Feng had stored far more than his unique spirit-matter signature within the crystal. It also contained the procedure for releasing Death Lock, an explanation of the situation, and information confirming Ji Jue’s identity.

After a brief silence, Ji Jue saw the mutilated body within the spirit matter crystal twitch ever so slightly. She had awakened from a long dream. As she absorbed the message left by her eldest nephew, she quickly grasped the situation.

The Death Lock slowly began to fracture. Spirit matter vibrated through the air, producing a hoarse, indistinct voice.

“Ji Jue?” A faint hand formed through Spirit Morph brushed over Ji Jue’s face, feeling out his features. She quickly seemed to understand the situation. “That boy Feng has certainly made something of himself. Are you his friend?”

“Of course. We’re very close friends, the kind who trust each other with our lives and guard each other’s backs!” Ji Jue declared without hesitation. “Don’t let my age fool you. Whenever he sees me, he calls me Mr. Ji. He even insisted on getting an autographed photo of me so he could take it home, place it before an incense burner, and bow to it three times every morning and evening. He’s kept it up for two years without missing a day. What, he never told you?”

A faint chuckle came through her muffled voice. “That isn’t how he described you.”

“He’s just a tsundere. You can’t judge him by what he says. His actions have always been much more honest!”

After a moment’s thought, Lou Yanyue said, “True. Of all the younger members of the family, he cries the longest after I punch him.”

“Your family culture is certainly... unique.” Ji Jue wiped the cold sweat from his brow. Even as they exchanged pleasantries, his hands never stopped moving.

Infiltrating a craftsman’s workshop and altering the permissions and rules its owner had established was still far beyond Ji Jue’s abilities. All he could do was use the Dissociation Technique to crudely destroy several key components and buy himself a little more time.

He kept moving, rushing back and forth as he sorted the bombs strapped beneath his black robe and planted each one in its designated position.

“How are you feeling? Are you ready?” Ji Jue asked. “We’re almost out of time.”

As Death Lock dissolved, only one final layer of crystal remained, encasing her body and keeping her alive. Ji Jue lifted it into his arms and was surprised by how soft and delicate she felt. She was far lighter than he had imagined.

“How long do we have?” Lou Yanyue asked as she seized every remaining moment to recover her strength.

“Five...” Ji Jue glanced at his watch. Before Lou Yanyue could respond, he continued, “Four...”

Lou Yanyue could no longer hold back her laughter. “Hey, you little brat!”

The instant the countdown ended, an unprecedented chain of explosions erupted throughout the first floor from the corridors, the floors, and even the ceilings. Flames swallowed everything.

Boom!

Amid the violent tremors and chaos, Ji Jue stuffed Lou Yanyue into a crate, hoisted it onto his back, and sprinted away with his head down, slipping into the terrified crowd outside.

Three minutes later, another series of explosions tore through the entrances and exits. Throughout the thunderous blasts, the trucks waiting to be loaded suddenly switched on their headlights even though there wasn’t anyone behind the wheel. One after another, they came crashing through the door, speeding off into different directions.

1. To me, the name 楼偃月 (Lóu Yǎnyuè) has a distinctly classical and striking quality.

Lou is the 269th most common surname in China, shared by approximately 220,000 people. While 偃月 literally means a “reclining moon,” and suggests the curved shape of a crescent moon. I’m reminded of the 偃月刀, a crescent-bladed weapon, which gives the name both elegance and strength. Lou Yanyue sounds like a woman who is graceful and poetic on the surface, yet edged with resilience and danger underneath. ☜