Chapter 252.1: This Is Running, This Is Jumping, And This Is a Grandmaster, Take Him Down Part 1

“What?” Ji Jue shot upright as if he were a dying patient suddenly jolted awake. He stared at Professor Ye in disbelief. Once he confirmed she wasn’t joking, he pointed at himself, still unable to believe what he was hearing. “Me?!”

You want me to fight Sukuna[1]? Seriously?

“Yes. You.” Professor Ye nodded, calm and composed as ever, leaving absolutely no room for negotiation or delay.

You. Go take out that monk, the monkey and pig he keeps around, and the guy carrying the luggage while you’re at it[2]. I know a route through Thailand[3]. It’s a little risky, but you leave today. You have six hours for the round trip, plus another two for eating, slacking off, and sleeping. Then bring me back a craftsman license.

“Isn’t that a little... you know, fast?” Ji Jue wiped the cold sweat from his brow. “Professor, I’ve only been doing this for four months.”

Not even four full months, really. Out of those four months, he had spent at least two and a half wandering around and getting into all kinds of nonsense. At best, that could only count as distance learning. And out of the month and a half that remained, he had spent half a month lying in a hospital bed.

The amount of time he had actually spent settled down in the workshop and studying properly came to little more than a month, including the time he had spent just getting started. Besides, even if he had spent all four months at the workshop working day and night and desperately trying to keep up with Ye Chun, it still would have been far too soon!

This was just absurd. Under normal circumstances, within the Ember Path’s legacy, an apprentice who became a craftsman within six to ten years could already be considered exceptional. He would be praised as a standout among Ember Chosen Ones, a promising craftsman, someone genuinely gifted.

Over the past several centuries, however, as Modern Alchemy gradually developed, the Taiyi Ring’s internal procedures evolved, craftsmen competed and schemed against one another, and vested-interest groups deliberately imposed restrictions to preserve their privileges, therefore the craftsman examination had become several times more difficult than it had originally been.

It was only after widespread protests and joint petitions from craftsmen more than eighty years ago that the difficulty had finally stopped rising any further. Even then, it was still absurdly difficult. There were four stages: a written exam, an assigned creation, a critique of self-evaluation, and an individual assessment. Together, they had crushed the hopes of countless young apprentices in their prime, and reduced many once-thick heads of hair to bald patches.

And yet, an endless stream of Ember Chosen Ones still fought tooth and nail to squeeze their way in. They had no choice.

The Ember Path was nothing like the Starcore Association, which welcomed anyone from the Eternal Gate with open arms, nor was it like the Wasteland Assembly, where you started with a blade and got the rest of your gear from whatever you could loot. And it certainly wasn’t like Origin, where they could simply open up more positions whenever they needed people.

The internal hierarchy of the Ember Path was so harsh and unforgiving that people were effectively divided into only two categories: craftsmen and useless trash who weren’t craftsmen.

It wasn’t even just about getting rich or securing an easy life. Many Chosen Ones worked themselves to the bone day and night simply to earn what amounted to basic human rights, struggling for the chance to climb one rung higher in the pyramid.

There was hurdle after hurdle. If you made it across, then naturally, “Ember is generous, and Creation knows no bounds.” If you failed, then it became, “Ember is cruel and has no mercy for the mediocre.”

Compared with all those apprentices who had trained full time for years, practically going straight from undergraduate study into master’s and doctoral work, a bastard like Ji Jue barely qualified as a night-school student. How was he supposed to compete with them on equal footing?

After listening to Ji Jue complain, Professor Ye seemed genuinely puzzled. After a long pause, she raised her hand and helplessly pinched the bridge of her nose. “Are you perhaps taking yourself a little too seriously?”

“Huh?” Ji Jue looked confused.

“When I said ‘craftsman,’ who exactly were you comparing yourself to?”

“Well, obviously...” Ji Jue’s answer caught in his throat.

He froze, eyes wide. Who else could it possibly be?

Of course, he had been comparing himself to the teacher standing before him, to the Sage from the rift realm, the Onyxists of centuries past, the masters seated around conference tables, and even Jian Yuan, the master craftsman who lurked in the depths of Spring City’s darkness.

Compared to people like them, even Ji Jue seemed no more significant than a speck of dust, no more important than an ant.

But what about everyone else? There were surely people even smaller and less remarkable than he was, yet the thought had never once crossed his mind.

For a moment, he didn’t know what to say.

“You have the arrogance of an Ember-type.” Ye Xian sighed, then laughed coldly. “And what makes you think you’ve earned the right to be that arrogant?”

Ji Jue didn’t reply.

“I’m always telling people to set their sights farther ahead, but haven’t you set yours a little too far beyond your station?” Ye Xian tapped her fingers against the table. “As your teacher, I’ve already determined that you’re more than capable of meeting the requirements of the craftsman examination. Your talent has already surpassed that of your peers, and when it comes to practical work and creation, even the average craftsman would struggle to match you.

“The only things you lack are some theory that has to be memorized by rote and the experience that only comes with time. You’re rather lopsided in what you’re good at, but that’s hardly a problem. For you, getting a craftsman license won’t be easy, but it’s certainly within your ability. So what exactly are you dragging your feet for? What, because you can’t measure up to me, the masters, or Jian Yuan right now, you’re planning to stay an apprentice for the rest of your life?”

“It just feels a little sudden,” Ji Jue said awkwardly. “I mean, I haven’t exactly been at this very long.”

Ye Xian stared at him expressionlessly. “You brought this on yourself. Do you know why Lü Yingyue came to see me today? Aside from all the other miscellaneous business, just before she left, she asked me something. ‘Is your student Ji Jue the Chosen One who appeared in Cliff City a few months ago?’”

Ji Jue tensed.

“She knows I hate lying, so she didn’t bother testing the waters or beating around the bush.” Ye Xian sighed grimly. “I told her you weren’t.”

Ji Jue opened his mouth several times, but had no idea what to say.

Ye Xian had no interest in hearing it, anyway. She simply waved a hand. “Whether she believed me or not, I don’t care. As your teacher, I’ve already made my position clear. She won’t come after you again. But what about everyone else? Do you really think she’s the only smart person in the world?”

Just as Ye Xian had said, Ji Jue had brought this on himself. What happened in Spring City had been far too serious and chaotic. Even if no one knew who had been aboard the Doomsday Express when it rose into the sky, Ji Jue’s record was already far too impressive and alarming. He was Ye Xian’s student, the only living successor to Fluid Alchemy, a recipient of the Radiant Church’s Radiant Benevolence Badge, and a prodigy among the apprentices of the Ember Path.

And while still only an apprentice, he had joined Cliff City’s exploration team and followed Tong Shan deep into Spring City. He had even gone undercover, slipped right under Jian Yuan’s nose, rescued Lou Yanyue, and somehow made it back out in one piece.

That was only because Jian Yuan had come off worse in the whole affair and had no intention of publicizing it. No one else had dared call him up and ask, either.

On top of that, Tong Shan had stepped forward before anyone else could, taking all the attention onto himself and deliberately omitting many records related to Ji Jue from the official report.

Tong Shan had figured something out, but he would never say it aloud. Whether Ji Jue really was the Chosen One involved in the incident, he was still a friend of Mr. No-Fun and that lovable blockhead Tong Hua.

1. For those of you that don’t watch anime, Ryomen Sukuna is a fictional character and one of the main antagonists of the manga and anime series Jujutsu Kaisen. Here’s a reference picture. ☜

2. Probably a reference to the film Journey to the West. ☜

3. Probably a reference to how some people from China will sometimes escape to Thailand after committing a crime, or after getting in trouble with the law/gangsters. ☜