Above Destiny

Chapter 629 Watching from the Sidelines, Taking on a Critical Mission (Thanks to Fatty Xu for being the Alliance Leader)

A mournful sound came from the distant wind, a mixture of cries and howls, along with wild laughter and cheers.

Under the scorching sun, dust swirled and danced. Inside the front-line base, the widened main street was bustling with people, resembling a marketplace.

The bustling and lively places are even more extravagant than markets.

However, the faces on the street were clearly polarized: some looked like they'd just died, while others were beaming with joy, as if they'd just killed someone's horse...

They may lose everything, escape with their lives, or reap a great reward and return victorious.

Sometimes the difference is just that dramatic.

Some of them, lying on stretchers on the verge of death, could still laugh out loud.

Because the unlucky souls who couldn't make it back alive had long since died in the wilderness...

Within just a few days, the frontline base, which had been attacked, quickly recovered and even became more prosperous than before. The original outer perimeter expanded several times outward, and with the influx of a large number of outsiders, it had become like a small town.

As a large settlement located close to the Forest Kingdom, it enjoys the protection of the Heavenly Laws, allowing people to rest in peace, and is supplied by various merchant guilds. It naturally has the advantage of attracting people. As the Federation and Empire gradually loosen their blockade from the outside in, it is almost becoming the entrance to the Forest Kingdom.

Most of the chosen ones who have traveled a long way will rest here before entering the Forest Kingdom, replenishing their supplies and consumables, and making thorough preparations.

Similarly, the first stop for the vast majority of Chosen Ones who evacuated from the Forest Kingdom was still the nearest frontline base. Only here could they replenish their supplies quickly, collect bounties, and sell spoils to maximize the monetization of all their gains.

The hustle and bustle is natural.

Making a fortune is only natural!

As the largest, toughest, and earliest workshop to settle in the entire front-line base, Ji Jue now finds that he doesn't need to do anything. He just needs to sit behind the counter and put on a show of rudeness, and people will keep coming up with smiles and money.

In just a few days, the faces on the street changed like leeks, one crop after another, dying and then growing back.

Each stalk of chives looks like it's loaded and inviting you to fleece it, which is quite delightful.

"Wow, quite a haul!"

When Ji Jue was called down by Yan Fei, he saw the guests waiting behind the table, and a large bag full of things on the table, many of which were stained with blood and had not been washed.

People are too lazy to do such superficial things. Do they think going to the Forest Kingdom will help them accumulate good deeds?

When someone kills, someone else dies; when someone dies, there is an inheritance. Over time, valuable things, like heavy metals in an ecosystem, accumulate in specific groups of people.

Moreover, there are also specialized scavenging teams that search for these items in the surrounding areas to resell them.

More than twenty alchemical artifacts, some new and some old, each with different styles and eras, including two blessed artifacts. In the past, this would have been a large order, but now it can only be described as ordinary.

Ji Jue sat down, without even looking at it, and asked while holding his teacup, "Appraisal or recycling?"

"Please take a look first."

The gaunt man had a hoarse voice, his bald head was covered in tattoos, and his beard was thick and reddish-brown. He looked like a murderer, but at this moment he actually managed to squeeze out a smile that was more like a grimace and lowered his posture.

Ji Jue didn't bother with formalities, his fingers sweeping over the spread-out creations: "Trash, trash, trash, mediocre stuff. Hmm? This one's not bad... Hmm, I've looked at them all. Not bad. If we buy them all together, we can get a good price."

Daqun's eyes lit up: "How much?"

Ji Jue raised his hand, showing him five fingers, and said, "Fifty thousand."

"...So low?"

Daqun was stunned and incredulous, his brows furrowing: "Mr. Ji, we've had quite a few dealings before, you can't be this dishonest, can you?"

"What I mean is, since you recognize these things, I'll give them to you for free, and in return, you give me 50,000 federal dollars."

After taking a sip of tea, Ji Jue screwed on the lid, placed it beside him, and slowly said, "Then, let me tell you why I dare to charge you 50,000."

If you think I have the time to tease you, then just pretend I didn't say anything, or you can go look somewhere else.

"..."

Daqun's expression subtly changed, and the veins on his forehead throbbed, clearly indicating that he was about to lose his temper, but in the end he didn't dare to.

After all, compared to other workshops where people with smirks are ruthlessly haggling over prices, treating treasures like trash, Ji Jue's workshop simply tells you openly that he buys things at a low price, and is even willing to pay a level lower than the association's guide price. Whether you make a profit or a loss is crystal clear, making it the best choice.

Besides, when you're out in the world, you still need to have some sense of propriety. Even if you're courting disaster, why fall out with the craftsmen in the workshop?

After thinking it over for a long time, he gritted his teeth, took out his credit card, and swiped it through the POS machine.

"Since you've put it that way... I would appreciate your guidance."

So Ji Jue reached out and pulled out an antique-looking bracelet from a pile of miscellaneous items. He clenched his fist, gave it a slight tremor, and a piercing scream burst forth from between his fingers. A large amount of resentful, dark, and mixed spiritual energy turned into a wisp of black smoke, which slowly rose from between his fingers.

After spreading her fingers again, the blood-red gem on the bracelet seemed to have been cleared of its gloom and became bright again.

With a slight infusion of spiritual energy, it emitted faint fluctuations, which caught the attention of the large group.

Then, Ji Jue tossed the bracelet over.

"Okay, now you can take it and use it."

He caught it hastily, examined it closely, and couldn't believe his eyes.

I tentatively asked, "Do you accept them here?"

"Apart from the skill in planting mines, everything else is too poor; there's no point in reworking it."

Ji Jue yawned. "Buying it back at the price of a complete piece and then treating it as scrap is too much of a loss. Let me see. If you don't need it yourself, take it next door and sell it to him for 4.91 million. Not a penny less. Just say I said so."

"to make."

The group beamed with joy, showing no doubt whatsoever: "Mr. Ji, you've worked hard! Mr. Ji, you're so generous!"

He left, thanking them profusely.

Anyone who's spent a couple of days at the front-line base knows that Mr. Ji's eyes are like a ruler. If he says it's 491, then it's 491, not a penny less!

A short while later, muffled complaints could be heard from next door, clearly indicating that they felt cheated after spending a large sum of money to recycle the property.

Unfortunately, even behind closed doors and in hushed tones, they dared not curse too loudly...

Otherwise, Ji Jue could have taken the opportunity to exchange experiences with his peers.

Before the seller could even leave the door, the alchemical creations on the table had already fallen into the bucket at Ji Jue's feet, turning into snow-white ash. Under the disintegration spell, they were all completely decomposed.

The feedback caused Ji Jue to raise his eyebrows slightly.

Baibang's products are just pure!
Although many of them were crudely made, quite a few were ancient artifacts passed down from this region, and the essence and related craftsmanship they contained gave Ji Jue a real eye-opening experience.

Unfortunately, the quantity was still a bit small, and I couldn't really taste the flavor.

If you buy a few more items, you might be able to master some of the skills involved.

Ji Jue glanced down at his watch; the gold numeral at the eight o'clock position on the dial was already mostly filled.

I've been incredibly busy lately, otherwise I would have already started preparing for the blessing of rebirth rank.

The movement of heaven is ever vigorous, and all things transform themselves—neither of these has any clear direction.

At present, Bai Bang has no opportunity to make steady progress and persevere. Although Ji Jue's alchemy skills have improved by leaps and bounds, they have not yet reached the point of perfect integration of the four parts.

Having finally found Sheikhi's weakness from the smallest clues, Ji Jue couldn't possibly abandon the Forest Kingdom in front of him and go back to slowly level up.

"I feel like there's so much to do, Isis."

Ji Jue sighed, twirling a pure white flower in his hand. The delicate petals were almost transparent under the sunlight, shimmering faintly. Unlike the desolate and barren landscape, it was fresh and vibrant.

Unfortunately, it didn't smell like anything.

“Speaking of which, how about we try some perfume?” Ji Jue suggested.

The flower branch in his hand trembled slightly, and two thorns silently grew out and pierced his finger.

"Sir, while your quirks may be considered normal among craftsmen, aren't they a bit too perverse for ordinary people?"

Isis asked coldly, "And, after holding on for so long, can you finally let me go?"

"Hey, I wasn't paying attention, it was an accident, an accident!"

Ji Jue smiled awkwardly, let go of her hand, put the white flower branch in her hand into the vase next to her, and then took out her phone to start taking pictures.

"..."

Isis remained silent, not wanting to speak.

The flower buds close and shrink.

Refusal to cooperate.

This dashed Ji Jue's hopes of continuing to bark like a dog on his WeChat Moments.

It's a pity. I could have shown it to Lao Lou later. If Lao Lou knew that I had created another masterpiece with the materials he provided, he would be overjoyed!

Indeed, this seemingly slender and fragile flower branch is Isis's true form as a Matrix artifact, and the closest thing to her current essence.

Who would have thought that such a seemingly fragile white flower could almost drain the entire earth veins of Punabantu, leaving only a trace of blood?

Although it is far from the terrifying creation that once covered the entire present world, shrouded everything, and destroyed everything in the simulation of the Tower of All Transformations, given time, it may not be impossible to restore even a fraction of its former glory.

However, now that Isis is a Matrix artifact, she has embarked on a completely different path from before, and even Ji Jue can't say for sure what she will become in the future.

With his current abilities, it's already quite difficult for him to cleverly bypass the Heavenly Craftsmanship realm by relying on the transformation of the Three-Phase Alchemy. Let alone someone like his teacher, who carries two fully perfected Matrix Relics of the Celestial Rank and can use them for fun...

Difficult, too difficult.

It's important to understand that while a Celestial Artifact may not be a Matrix Relic, a completed Matrix Relic is undoubtedly the finest among Celestial Artifacts! Regardless of the faction, the existence of a Matrix Relic is the most important core of that faction, serving as a model and foundation for guiding all successors, and even a treasured possession. When necessary, it can also be a trump card for maintaining the faction and eliminating opponents.

The difficulty of achieving this goes without saying.

Timing, capital, talent, skill, and luck are all indispensable... but among them, blessings are the least important.

From an alchemical perspective alone, a creation capable of supporting and containing the twelve blessings is far more precious than the twelve blessings themselves.

Not to mention, with gradual adjustments and training, and the addition of blessings and increases in the upper limit, the difficulty will increase dramatically with each step forward.

The resources and effort required to create a complete Matrix artifact are even more complicated and extravagant than those required to achieve celestial status.

Ji Jue was able to skip the initiation and transformation in one step and reach his current level. Besides Isis's spirituality being sufficient, he also benefited from non-aggression and fluid alchemy.

As a spirit born from the purification of fluid alchemy, Isis herself is a creation spirit created by fluid alchemy, and the compatibility is perfect. Her mastery of non-aggression is a match made in heaven. Even so, she still needs to undergo the fixation and spirit-enhancing processes of rising momentum and stabilizing the foundation, invest a huge amount of resources, and be nurtured through an entire ley line to achieve this.

It was Ji Jue who made it; any other craftsman would have struggled to raise that much money, even if they sold everything they owned.

If you get a bargain, you'll inevitably encounter trouble.

First of all, the Ember faction cannot be built up by simply piling up resources and materials. If it were the Great Group or the White Deer, it might be a matter of killing and fighting, but the Ember faction requires professional titles, resumes, and achievements!
The truly precious and rare blessings of the Ember are mostly empirical; they are only awarded to artisans who have reached a certain level of skill, as a way to embellish their work and show recognition. If Isis herself does not meet the standards, even if Ji Jue forcibly implants the three pieces of the Ember set, it will not be able to activate or respond.

Moreover, among the many types of matrices, non-aggression is the most difficult composite type to deal with!

Although, in theory, most self-awakened people, while not reaching the point of the Supreme Goodness personally manifesting, still possess the characteristics of multiple Supreme Goodnesses.

The key point is that no matter how many good qualities a person possesses, the number of blessings each chosen one can receive before the celestial beings is fixed at twelve...

Let alone twelve, most people can't even figure out five or six blessings in their entire lives. Twelve blessings in a single field are already enough to drive people crazy, let alone different fields.

Therefore, the vast majority of matrices point to the highest good within their own domain, and even if they have different compatibility, compatibility will not be considered unless absolutely necessary.

The biggest problem is how to pass it on.

The more requirements there are, the fewer suitable successors there will be, and the more difficult it will be to achieve success.

Countless traditions have been passed down from ancient times to the present, and many of them are so powerful that they defy reason. However, the proportion of composite matrices among them is pitifully small.

There's no way around it; when it comes to the divine, breadth is not as important as depth!
Showy acrobatics, if done well, are naturally incredibly impressive, but if they mess up, we have a more fitting name for such people...

clown.

The greatest advantage of a composite matrix, besides its flexibility and wide range of applications, is that it truly comes into play after achieving the level of harmony between heaven and man!
When celestial beings are no longer confined to the realm of supreme goodness and begin to expand into other realms in order to perfect themselves and go further, having the leverage points left by the celestial beings beforehand will certainly make it simpler and easier than completing the origin theory or the end-times theory from scratch.

However, this is also the biggest flaw of non-aggression.

Heavenly being?

But for most people, it's too far away!
Are there unparalleled talents and gems everywhere in this world? Let alone the realms of sages and dragons, ordinary people would be considered extremely lucky to even reach the transcendent level in this lifetime.

The surging crowds on the street in front of Ji Jue at this moment are undoubtedly proof of this.

If everyone were in the heavens, why would so many people jump into the pit one after another after hearing about the power of the Forest Kingdom?
As long as we can get through today, who cares about the future?
Time is short and the opportunity is rare, so let's eat as much as we can!
We'll talk about the rest after we finish eating!
All I can say is that Sheikhi's move to publicly reveal the Kingdom of the Forest was too ruthless; it struck right at the Achilles' heel of all the wild Chosen Ones, and even the Federation and the Empire's attempts to suppress the news were futile.

The desire for advancement and change is inherent in everyone.

Taking away someone's livelihood is like killing their parents, let alone becoming an obstacle on their path to destiny.

The only option was to take advantage of the situation and use the large number of Chosen Ones who had arrived to set targeted bounties on the high-ranking members of the Restoration Front, while Wilderness also set bounties on all the Transformed Wolves.

This is a temporary measure to address the symptoms.

But as long as the kingdom in the forest exists, the situation will only get worse.

The more the Chosen Ones get involved, the more chaotic things become.

What's even more disgusting is that if you don't kill, the forest kingdom will slowly degenerate; if you do kill, it's even better. Each killing and plundering is a sacrifice in itself, providing nourishment for the third wolf.

Blocked at both ends.

In just a few short days, behind this bustling scene, pustules have begun to spread, and amidst the gluttony, a third wolf is gradually growing.

After so much time, Bai Lu and Tian Yuan should have accomplished something by now, right?

Letting the White Bang destroy itself is one thing, but if they really let Sheikh Li blow up the cesspool and splatter the whole world with its stench, then they'll be acting like complete idiots.

Since last night, large-scale mobilizations have never stopped, and even now, while the outer perimeter of the base is bustling and noisy, the inner perimeter is becoming increasingly solemn and quiet.

Ji Jue held his teacup and waited quietly.

And then, at just the right moment, a knock came at the door.

When Ji Jue looked up, he saw the old man who seemed to be out for a stroll. He was hunched over, with his hands behind his back. He walked around and sighed, as if he had never seen the world before.

This made Ji Jue stand up straight and widen his eyes.

He finally turned around and grinned at Ji Jue.

Lin Shouyi, the head of the Tower City Operations Division of the Security Bureau, is a Celestial Being from the Desolate Ruins!

"Are you busy?"

"Manager Lin."

Ji Jue greeted them, "Please sit down, I'll have someone prepare tea right away..."

"No need, I don't like the taste. I came to see you mainly because I have something to discuss."

Lin Shouyi waved lazily, looking at the bustling scene outside. "Next, the Security Bureau plans to take action. An advance team will be sent in to assess the situation. The goal is to plant another foothold in the Forest Country. What do you think?"

"..."

Ji Jue thought for a moment, preparing to give a serious and formal speech praising Tianyuan, but noticing Lin Shouyi's ambiguous smile, he ultimately decided against using platitudes and simply sighed:
"You've started fishing, haven't you?"

"It's possible that such thoughts exist. Therefore, without a celestial being by your side, life and death are uncertain, and the outcome may not be good. It's not a good job, and it's not as comfortable as sitting here waiting for someone to give you money."

Lin Shouyi said frankly, "We are currently short of a craftsman, and I prefer you."

There was no beating around the bush; the meaning was so clear that it was only a matter of asking if he was going or not. The reason he didn't ask was to save face for Ji Jue.

If someone simply says something like, "It's a pity I'm too busy with business," "I'm not in good shape," or "I can't get away," then the deal is done.

But why did they have to break up?
For Lin Shouyi, it was because the Security Bureau needed a craftsman for a dangerous operation that came to him for help.

But for him, it was a perfectly legitimate way to storm into the Forest Kingdom, and he was even provided with a whole luxurious bodyguard team... and they even paid him!
"It's our duty, Manager Lin. We're all on the same side, why be so formal?"

Ji Jue laughed and nodded without hesitation. After reiterating the friendship between the two sides, he didn't feel embarrassed at all and went straight for the lead: "But, in terms of compensation, you have to let me earn more, right?"

"..."

Lin Shouyi was silent for a moment, and his gaze toward him became distinctly strange.

If I had to put it into words, it's like Ji Jue looking at Yan Fei's collection of number theory mistakes—a kind of profound sadness that something is hopeless and a kind of bewilderment that even you can't learn this.

"Do you want the travel allowance from the Security Bureau? I'll give you double."

Lin Shouyi sighed meaningfully, "How much can a poor manager like me empty his pockets? You're just a craftsman, no matter how big your mouth is, how many dishes can you possibly make? I really doubt how you became a representative of the military industry."

Ji Jue was stunned for a moment, then suddenly realized.

I vaguely understood what he meant.

That's why it's so hard to believe...

Could there really be such a ruthless and outrageous scheme?
No, isn't this a bit hurtful to the Federation...?

“If you’re going to make a bet, make a big one. How much can an individual possibly get out of a bet? Small-scale bets are not respectable.”

No matter what, who do you think you are?
If they really want to ask for a price, then the Ring of Taiyi would be asking for an exorbitant amount!

Lin Shouyi leaned on the counter, took a liking to Ji Jue, and simply gave him some advice: "If you're going to cause trouble, you have to do it big."

"I saw you were doing pretty well in the Taiyi Ring. Why don't you go to your Craftsmen's Association and sort out your identity, then have that little fox Lü Yingyue talk to the military? It's the perfect time to raise prices, why are you worrying about the Federation... trying to save money to buy that Fan guy an extra dish?"

"No, this can actually work?"

Ji Jue was shocked. "Will it work?"

"The military might even thank you. You profited, the Security Bureau profited, Lü Yingyue profited, Hai Chao profited, and the Association profited. Everyone on this chain profited!"

Lin Shouyi patted him on the shoulder and grinned, "This is Tianyuan, kid!"

No, you're clearly a wasteland...

Ji Jue hesitated, unable to speak.

Then, without thinking, he picked up the phone.

"Hello? Garrison Commander Lü, it's like this..."

Half an hour later, news came from Lü Yingyue's side. An hour later, Gustav's secretary called back, and two hours later, the association's assignment was issued.

Amidst the constant ringing of incoming payment notifications, Ji Jue, a gold-sashed craftsman appointed by the Taiyi Ring Association, made a dazzling appearance as a representative.

"Oh, oh, oh... oh... how could I possibly accept this?"

Looking at the slowly opening warehouse door in front of him, Ji Jue had a bitter expression on his face. Helplessly, he took out eight extra-large reinforced woven storage bags from his pocket and shook them open neatly.

"You've really caused me a lot of trouble!"

(End of this chapter)