Above Destiny

Chapter 673 The old dog laughed as soon as the craftsman started thinking.

bottleneck.

This word is too understated; it always makes people think that the current predicament is only temporary, that the road ahead is difficult, and that encouragement and perseverance are still needed.

The key point is that the term "bottleneck" itself is a result-oriented one.

Once you get through it and move forward with ease, looking back will make you realize that it was just a bottleneck, a few hardships.

But for those who can't get through it, it's like an impenetrable fortress, a prison of despair.

An insurmountable obstacle that is difficult to overcome even after exhausting all one's strength and struggling desperately.

Ji Jue had experienced this kind of stagnation and confusion more than once, but he had so many things to refer to. Even if there was no solution at the moment, his insightful understanding of fluid alchemy and his experience with the forefront of change always helped him to grasp the direction. Through systematic sorting and review, he could always find a solution.

But not this time.

Because there has never been any precedent for this!

The construction and design of the Giant Sword Project originated from the Enneagram, but it has already deviated from the Enneagram framework. The cycle and combination of the three phases of alchemy are no longer within the scope of fluid alchemy, and the insights into fluid alchemy cannot solve its own problems.

In fact, it's not that the problem is unsolvable.

Ji Jue simply had no idea where the problem lay.

Departing from the scope of the Enneagram, and referencing the structure and essence of the Giant Sword, we can forge a new path, using this as a foundation to climb and explore upwards—with a foundation, it will naturally be easy to do, and the process will proceed naturally... The design is basically complete, but the key is that it completely fails to reach the level that Ji Jue wants!
Set difficult problems for yourself and find the answers yourself.

I only got 60 points on the test.

With a foundation that was almost perfect after generations of additions and subtractions to the Nine Types and the Three-Phase Alchemy with unlimited potential, the result of combining the two was that they only created a ship tire that could be described as sturdy and stable at best.

Ji Jue has thought about it countless times, overturning and starting over time, but he always ends up on the same path... Even though this path seems perfect no matter how you look at it, perfection is the biggest problem!

Before you think something is completely perfect, you might as well ask yourself, who are you?

A furnace?
The old dog laughed as soon as the craftsman began to think.

If Ji Jue really had that ability, how could he still have his dog's head hanging around his neck?

I should have ripped it off and smashed it to pieces!
So, the problem lies with yourself...

“Sir, if I may be so bold,” Isis said, “I don’t see anything wrong with the design.”

"That can only mean one thing."

Ji Jue gave a self-deprecating laugh: "It's because my 'talent' is insufficient."

On this issue, Isis was of no help. Even in the application of the three-phase alchemy, she was far more skilled than Ji Jue, and her operations were much more meticulous and complex...

But so is success, and so is failure.

As the Matrix Relic, Non-Aggression, she was born from this, and at the same time, she is confined to this scope. Unless she follows Ji Jue's orders, all outward explorations will be drawn back to their origin and back to themselves by this essential attraction.

In short, whatever he creates looks like himself, and whatever he does is also himself.

For her, this is the optimal solution.

This instinctive assimilation, within the fictional simulation of the Tower of Myriad Transformations, created a profusion of flowers covering the entire mortal world; but the more abundant the flowers, the more all things withered.

If one focuses solely on one thing, one loses the whole.

She doesn't experience the confusion and bewilderment of humans, and she would never change or deny herself.

This purity always made Ji Jue feel regretful, and also made him envious.

"Still wrong."

For who knows how many times, Ji Jue tore up the half-finished underlying framework, his vision went black, and he had a headache – he had gone back to the same old path!

No, it’s still wrong!
He could have continued on that foundation, but he couldn't find the direction!

Everything seems right, but something feels off, though I can't quite put my finger on what's right. Everything is good, but something's not right, yet I can't quite put my finger on what's good.

There is no place to use the power.

Even though he instinctively felt that this was not the limit and that things could be better, he didn't know how to take this crucial step!
They exert 80%, 60%, or even only 40% of their strength...

This feeling of frustration almost made him vomit blood.

The improvement brought by Tianxingjian was still increasing slowly, but the speed was outrageously slow, which meant that all his hard work was in vain!

It's like getting up at four in the morning and working hard for three hours, only to end up making a seaweed rice roll and then filming a vlog to show off – it's embarrassing.

At this point, only one solution remained...

Ji Jue took a deep breath, his body trembled, and then he landed like a tiger on a sandy beach, leaping into Ye Xian's study.

Crying out loud:

"Teacher, please help me!"

"Well, that's it."

Ye Xian glanced at the numerous designs presented by Ji Jue with both hands, but did not examine them closely. After hearing the crux of the problem, he already understood.

Unfortunately, they offered absolutely no guidance or advice.

Instead, it was full of mockery.

"This can't even be considered a bottleneck, right, Ji Jue?"

Ye Xian asked, "What exactly do you consider a bottleneck to be? At most, it's just a temporary setback."

It's like seeing a rich young master who's never lifted a finger in his life suddenly burst into tears after eating a vegetarian meal, feeling that the poor are really suffering, and that his family has fallen on hard times...

What kind of bottleneck is this?
If this is considered a bottleneck, then what about the lives of others?
A gallows!

"Isn't this what exploration and research after breaking free from paradigms and templates is all about? Stumbling and going around in circles, it's difficult at the beginning, difficult in the middle, and difficult at the end. Every step is painful and difficult."

You've only been stuck for four or five days, yet you feel like you're in unbearable pain and say you've hit a bottleneck. But what kind of bottleneck is this, Ji Jue?

Master Duan, who once lived a life of hardship and despair in Jinan, began his life at the age of twenty-two and persevered for seventy years, or even longer… On a dead end, he built a towering edifice from nothing, and even when the road ended and the edifice collapsed, he remained steadfast and unwavering!

As Ye Xian spoke, his tone became increasingly sharp and cold: "Tell me, compared to that desperate situation, what are you! You come to me crying and whining over the slightest trouble, what do you expect from me?"
"Help you solve this little thing? No problem, but if you have to come to me for every little thing, what kind of craftsman are you? You might as well go back to Chaosheng and be an apprentice for life, doing menial tasks every day!"

"No! Don't worry, teacher, this is nothing to trouble you with..."

Being reprimanded by his teacher after a long time, Ji Jue didn't feel any resentment. On the contrary, his previously wavering and confused heart calmed down once again.

He glanced at the manuscript on the table and sighed softly, "I can solve the design problems, and I can keep going. But I just want to know... where my problem lies."

So Ye Xian remained silent and looked at him.

Mockery, sighs, pity, helplessness.

It was as if, with a sigh of regret, a soft lament.

"Indeed, in a sense, that is your biggest problem—including your choice to come to me, which is also part of the 'problem' you are facing."

She chuckled softly: "You know what the right thing to do is, Ji Jue. You can always find a way to overcome difficulties... Just like now, you've found the optimal solution."

"..."

Ji Jue fell silent for a moment, as if pondering, and after a long while, asked again, "Isn't this the right thing to do?"

"When students encounter problems, they ask their teachers for advice. What's wrong with that? On the contrary, I should be proud and honored that you trust me so much."

Ye Xian held the teacup and blew on the rising steam. "You can always find a way, Ji Jue. That's why you've been able to get to where you are now so quickly. And that's also why you've taken so many 'shortcuts,' which has made your journey so smooth."

Ji Jue hesitated, as if he wanted to say something but then stopped.

He certainly took many shortcuts, but he didn't miss out on any of the hardships he had to endure or the lessons he needed to learn. How can you say he took too many shortcuts?

"Mediocre people always feel that the right path is difficult and shortcuts are easy, but people like you understand that if you look to the future, the right path that is most difficult to walk right now is the real shortcut... You have overcome all obstacles on this path, relying on your own talent and insights, and have made it to where you are today."

But even the best roads eventually come to an end. You just haven't gotten used to walking on bad roads yet, Ji Jue. You need to understand: as long as you continue down this path, the predicaments you will encounter in the future will only become more numerous and more difficult.

The devastation of the embers—could any individual's talent alone prevent them from escaping it?

Ye Xian slowly said, "Don't worry about having any problems. You have no problems. This is not the exhaustion of your talent, but the limitation of your accumulation, nothing more."

You've found a new path beyond accumulation, exploring outwards and seeking upwards. It's naturally difficult and troublesome, but that's not a problem.

But now that I've explained it this far, you should understand, right?

She paused for a moment and looked at Ji Jue:

"—Your own biggest problem."

"You mean... you haven't taken any wrong turns?"

Ji Jue was momentarily at a loss.

A wrong path?
I must have walked quite a lot, right?

I've studied that whole bunch of stagnant, decaying stuff quite a bit myself! "Leaving aside the deep and dark parts, who says jumping into the abyss can't lead to a bright future..."

Ye Xian chuckled: "You've just never gotten lost, so you haven't seen the scenery on the wrong paths, which is why your 'accumulation' is still insufficient."

What you lack is 'useless effort', what you lack is 'hard work', and what you don't have is dullness and confusion.

Without failure, there is no hesitation; without straying from the right path, there is a lack of evidence and reference for mistakes. Even if it's a wrong path, as long as it can be called a path, doesn't that mean there are still achievements along the way?

Since becoming a craftsman, Ji Jue has never made a mistake on his path!

Once the direction was determined, it did not deviate by more than half a point.

Soar to the heavens!

But there was so much beauty on the right path that Ji Jue overlooked the scenery on the wrong paths. After so much triumphant progress, he lost touch with the anxieties and insights gained from the ups and downs.

Even when you bend down and pick up a few worthless stones from the ground while hesitating, who knows if they might shine like fine jade at other times?

Indeed, Ji Jue's design employed all optimal solutions... But what is Ji Jue anyway? Is what you consider the optimal solution truly the optimal solution?
On the wrong path, is there nothing we can refer to?
Indeed, fluid alchemy and the Enneagram have already provided the answer—fluid alchemy has been refined through countless trials, and in the hands of sages, it can easily transform the world. But is the optimal solution for mercury also your optimal solution?
Can a fixed pattern within the Enneagram maintain its effectiveness once it leaves the Enneagram framework?
The optimal solution chosen by our predecessors is because it is a perfect fit for us. But Ji Jue, you have never even experienced failure and mistakes, so how can you draw such a conclusion so decisively?

It's like constantly following recommended lists to avoid bad food; how can you know which item in a thick stack of menus will suit your taste best?

"Ultimately, you don't have enough 'error notebooks,' Ji Jue,"

Ye Xian astutely pointed out the biggest problem: there are too many correct answers and too few wrong ones, resulting in a lack of experience and understanding gained from failures and mistakes.

"It's very easy to solve."

The teacher's smile suddenly turned mocking, and he pointed to a path that led astray: "Go and ruin a hundred, no, a thousand alchemical creations, and make a thousand flawed products with various defects."

"what?!"

Ji Jue stared blankly, unable to comprehend: "Defective product?"

“Yes, that’s right.” Ye Xian nodded decisively: “Now that you have some wealth, you won’t suffer any serious losses. Just do it this way, and you’re only allowed to fail, not succeed.”

"Well...then what?"

Ji Jue stammered, incredulous: "And then you can break through?"

"who knows."

Ye Xian waved his hand dismissively: "If there's no breakthrough, then continue. You can mix the positive and negative approaches."

I can't guarantee you'll break through, but when you can naturally mess something up without having to consciously think about it, you'll definitely be better than you are now.

She paused, her smile turning mocking: "A craftsman who can only succeed and not fail is undoubtedly unqualified... Let's start by experiencing failure."

Ji Jue, go and experience the frustration and awe that an apprentice should feel.

Come find me after you're done."

Ji Jue hesitated for a moment, then hesitated again, and finally mustered up his courage: "Isn't there any other... more convenient way?"

"Of course."

Ye Xian nodded decisively: "If we're talking about treating the symptoms, there are plenty of ways. Your problem is that you've encountered troubles and shortcomings beyond what you've accumulated, which has made you lose your way."

Then the simplest and most direct approach is to increase accumulation.

Since the fire thief who played with fire and got burned, countless craftsmen have explored and researched almost every field known to us. Perhaps there is a similar lineage that can solve your problem.

Go ahead and look for it; sometimes, lessons from others can be inspiring.

Instantly, Ji Jue's eyes lit up.

He looked at his teacher.

Doesn't that solve the problem?

When it comes to accumulated knowledge and experience, how many people in the association can compare to their teachers?
Unfortunately, this cannot be resolved.

Because Ye Xian's expression remained indifferent and mocking, showing no intention of offering any help whatsoever.

"Indeed, I have all these things, and there's even more than one way to solve them, but don't dream of taking anything from the teacher's study."

Ye Xian extinguished that tiny flame of hope: "You already have too much in your hands, more than you can control. We'll talk about it again when you're truly qualified to easily manage even more things."

If you want everything to transform itself, you have to understand it yourself.

Success or failure is a natural outcome.

Behind every seemingly effortless success lies a multitude of seemingly effortless failures; for you today, failure is actually the fastest 'shortcut'.

Ji Jue let out a long sigh, feeling as if dark clouds were gathering overhead, yet he no longer hesitated.

So be it if we fail!

For the self-transformation of all things!

Ji Jue gritted his teeth and made a painful decision—from today onwards, he would be a failure!
.
"I'm such a failure..."

Two hours later, Ji Jue crawled out of Chaosheng's workshop, slumped over, climbed onto the sofa, and cried out, "I don't even know how to fail... I'm such a failure!"

He just tried it out in the teacher's workshop, and the result was a complete failure!
I just casually made a sword, deliberately making it look bad, but after I finished it, I found out... it was still rated as excellent!
The Ember set is still going strong!
What failure?
Brother, you don't exist!

It's like lifting a stone only to drop it on your own foot. With the blessing of the three-piece Ember set, the difficulty of failure has increased tenfold!
The key lies in the requirements given by Ye Xian.

Intentionally making irreparable mistakes and ruining things won't work for Ji Jue now. What he needs to do is find the possibility of failure in works that should have been successful!

In other words, you need to arrive at a wrong answer naturally while getting as close to the correct process as possible... and you can't make a mistake that's obvious at a glance.

This is many times harder than doing it right!

"Waaaaah, I'm such a failure, senior! Waaaaah, I can't even answer the questions correctly... Aww..."

Ji Jue cried out, wriggling on the sofa, but accidentally his mouth got into the potato chips he had just opened, and he buried his head in them and started crunching away like crazy.

"You bastard, get away from me!"

Ye Chun was shocked and kicked Ji Jue to the other side of the sofa, trying to protect her potato chips. Unfortunately, she failed, but she was determined to protect her sofa and her status in the family!
The thought of this guy's betrayal and treachery from a few days ago made her resentment rise uncontrollably: "What exactly do you want!"

"The teacher said I should be a useless person!"

Ji Jue replied in a loud voice, staring at her with wide eyes: "I'm studying hard! So that I can get rid of the lazy bums and good-for-nothings in the house and replace them!"

"go away!"

Ye Chun flew into a rage, his anger escalating until it reached a point of utter impotence and rage.

Now, seeing Ji Jue staring straight at her, having seemingly strayed from the path of being a "good-for-nothing," she panicked and screamed towards the study, "Auntie! Auntie, you can't do this... I, I, Chun..."

Unfortunately, there was no response from the study.

They even locked the door.

Like a battle royale, it's a showdown between two guys who have ruined his reputation in the education field!
"Accept your fate, senior!" Ji Jue sneered, drooling. "From now on, there's only one useless thing in this house, and that's me!"
"I'm the real loser, none of you are!"

"Ji Jue, you'll regret this!"

Enraged, Ye Chun rolled up her sleeves and started fighting with him to defend her position, pulling his hair, grabbing his face, pushing him away, and kicking him.

As a result, Ji Jue was welded to the sofa, completely motionless.

Instead, she was so exhausted that she lay down, unable to move.

Tired, exhausted, resigned to my fate.

The little pearls are about to fall...

A grunt.

In an awkward silence, the two stared at each other until Ji Jue took the initiative to suggest, "How about we get something?"

"You bastard, you're back again, aren't you?!"

Ye Chun glared angrily, staring intently for a long time... before squeezing out through gritted teeth, "This time, I'll use your red envelope!"

"Still that shop?"

"Still eating barbecue? I'm tired of it..."

"Rice noodles?"

"It's a bit bland."

"fried chicken?"

"Do it!"

(End of this chapter)