novelraw Chapter 1318 - 666: Before the Storm
Chapter 1318 - 666: Before the Storm
"Interrogation meeting?"
The Empire, a distant clock chime echoes.
In a grand workshop resembling a Sacred Place, an aging craftsman sighs lightly, "The best part about the Association is that no one likes to pretend."
"Huh?"
The dull young man, still studying the watch, looks up at his teacher.
He doesn't understand.
"Once you're wearing a contrived façade, you can skip even the act. Can't stand seeing someone do well, can't stand newbies making a name for themselves, can't stand others being better than oneself... Even a budding talent faces probing immediately."
The old craftsman sneers, "Should one say 'true craftsman' or 'typical craftsman'?"
"I don't understand."
Andel shakes his head openly.
"If you don't understand, you don't understand. Everyone lives their own way; knowing everything can be exhausting."
The old craftsman casually props his chin and speaks indifferently, "Whether it's political scheming, sudden breakthroughs after years of silence, or heartless machinations, it's all the same.
The world offers many solutions; if it works, it's right; if it fails, it's wrong. If one could live straightforwardly like this, casually crushing minor tricks, it wouldn't be a bad option."
"Oh, I'll try."
Andel nods, perhaps understanding, perhaps not, displaying his indifference.
Instead, it's the old craftsman who smiles softly as he watches him.
"Talent" signifies freedom, the privilege of not having to heed the eyes of others, to force oneself into conformity, or care about petty pursuits.
Whether dull or innocent?
It doesn't matter, neither are shortcomings.
This is the privilege of the strong.
The echoes of clock chimes gradually fade away, and afternoon sunlight pours from above the firmament, through stained windows, illuminating the overly grand and vast hall, silent except for dust gently forming a mist.
The frail, elderly craftsman reclines in his chair, seemingly ancient, yet his aura seems to meld with the hall itself.
His amber slit pupils gaze upon his student.
Suddenly he quizzes;
"After watching so long, what do you see?"
"Two."
Andel's gaze remains fixed on the watch, "It looks like two, but it's actually one."
Effortlessly, he distinguishes the two different techniques used above.
The fluid alchemy handed down by Saints, the Lou Family's Spiritual Shaping.
Yet now, the two techniques gradually merge, with an elusive echo appearing where they intertwine, as if some invisible main axis threads them together as one.
"This isn't Ji Jue's work," he said, "It's Lou Feng's."
The Old Dragon laughs.
He shakes his head.
"Wrong."
"..."
Andel remains silent for a long time, still confused, "Where did I go wrong?"
"You're caught up in a wild goose chase."
The Old Dragon gestures, capturing the watch remotely, suspending it in his hand, "When we determine the creator of a work, materials, craftsmanship, theory, technology and design… which holds more weight?
Judging by technique and production, undoubtedly more influence comes from Xiao Kong's students, who oversee everything.
But the key is, the overall design concept and purpose diverges completely from Xiao Kong's school.
From the design, and even before that, Association rules were exploited. Just observing this ingenuity, the lack of restraint and insidiousness... hey, if Ye Xian had been this adept at pretending back in the day, her reputation might've fared better."
Forget it, no point discussing what you cannot understand; let us observe this object, how do you see it?"
"Very odd."
Andel, without hesitation, returns to his original thought, "Looks normal, but something doesn't sit right. Seems intentionally left blank, hiding something, do you perceive it, teacher?"
"Something meant to scare, I'm not ether, what can I discern? It's all just some shadowy guesses, nothing worth mentioning."
The Old Dragon nonchalantly yawns, "If you sense it's off, then let it be, there's no need to overthink it, it's not your specialty.
Purely from a craftsmanship viewpoint, what's your evaluation?"
"Extremely superior."
Andel gives the highest praise, "Alas the merits and defects, are entirely one and the same."
The greatest defect is lacking blessing, thus unable to maximize effectiveness, failing to perfectly utilize this outstanding basis.
Yet the advantage is identical.
Not only in craft and theory faultless, equally in practicality.
No blessing, hence it won't apply stress load like a Blessed Creation, you can effortlessly wear it close at hand, use it 24 hours, enjoying the convenience without worrying it occupying space of another Blessed Creation.
Theoretically, you might feasibly wear eighteen pieces, experiencing multiple times the spiritual stock of others.
As long as when storing you don't fear being drained, and drawing you don't fear being overwhelmed..."
But the problem remains here, however spacious the pool, the size of the outlet and inlet are limited, output efficiency cannot change.
Unless overload one's Matrix to forcefully enhance.
Moreover, being covered head-to-toe in watches, how does one live like that?
With such funds, better to wear an Extraction Furnace.... Not nearly as cumbersome, directly burn Spiritual Crystals, attach equipment, ready for use.
For Entropy Systems, significant spiritual consumers, no qualitative change is produced. For Heart Core and ether, frugal with their reserves, it offers negligible benefits.