"That way, the Subordinate Cities won’t have to expend so many resources organizing defenses on the periphery."
His reasoning was sound, so Sang Hanhai didn’t press the matter. It wasn’t much of a secret to begin with.
"It can’t be mass-produced. The key isn’t the Spirit Ring itself, but what’s on it." Sang Hanhai lowered his voice conspiratorially.
Su Chen played along, a curious look on his face. "What’s on it?"
"Symbols taken from a Stone Slab, which also ca from those ruins." Sang Hanhai’s eyes flickered, but he didn’t hide the information.
Stone Slab!
Su Chen had finally gotten so concrete information, but it didn’t seem to be a Holy Word Stone.
’And when ng Qi devoured Zhu Xuan, didn’t that group of Faceless Ghost Followers also ntion a Stone Slab? Could it be the sa thing?’
He suppressed the tremor of excitent in his heart and asked, "Can I see it?"
"You?" Sang Hanhai wasn’t surprised by the question. He pointed to his own grayish-white eyeball. "See this? I only took a single glance, and I was already a Tier Four Professional at the ti."
"Before you reach Tier Four, you don’t even qualify for a single look."
’Tier Four, always Tier Four...’ Su Chen recalled that Xia Hanshi had said sothing similar: ’Until you’re Tier Four... don’t even think about trying to save anyone for .’
"Don’t overthink it. Just focus on steadily increasing your profession’s developnt and advancing step by step. That’s what you should be doing right now." Sang Hanhai patted his shoulder. "I have so other business, so I won’t see you out."
He headed deeper into the Translation Departnt. Su Chen stood rooted to the spot for a long while, watching until Sang Hanhai disappeared before finally turning to leave.
...
Sang Hanhai made his way to a small wooden cabin deep within the Translation Departnt. Upon seeing Pu Zhenghong, his first words were, "It’s confird. This is the third ti. I’m afraid Su Chen can resonate with all Holy Word Stones."
Pu Zhenghong continued to carve tirelessly on a blank Holy Word Stone. His movents paused at Sang Hanhai’s words. After a mont of silence, he asked, "Has he shown any curiosity about the Divine Language?"
"Er..." Sang Hanhai faltered, looking a little sheepish. "He just seems curious about the professions recorded on the Holy Word Stones. As for the Divine Language... he didn’t ntion it once."
Pu Zhenghong’s brow tightened. "He’s not curious about why he can resonate, only about the professions? What on earth has Xia Hanshi been teaching him?"
"He does seem quite curious about you, though," Sang Hanhai added. "He asked a lot of questions, including about the Defense Spirit Ring." Inwardly, however, he was mulling sothing over.
’It’s not even certain that the markings on the Holy Word Stones are this ’Divine Language’ he talks about. My senior really is getting a bit obsessed.’
’But it’s understandable. He’s just like his teacher, desperate to prove his theories correct.’
"You told him about the Stone Slab?" Pu Zhenghong’s voice grew colder. "You still can’t let it go."
"Ah, senior," Sang Hanhai sighed. "Who could forget? Can you?"
"What’s recorded on that fragnted Stone Slab is, more than likely, the very profession those people are searching for. Even the Royal Court covets it. A single line of its symbols can intimidate Mutant Species."
"The Royal Court..." Pu Zhenghong fell silent. Sang Hanhai continued, "Yuan Capital has been looking for an opening. They seem to know more than we do and have been cultivating individuals with high Talent, hoping to gain the approval of the ruins."
"We’re already far behind. They claim to be coming this ti to offer an explanation, but I fear they don’t co in peace."
"Su Chen’s appearance might be our opportunity. If nothing else, should we manage to fully decipher the Stone Slab, the other three cities would have no choice but to bow their heads to us."
"’Approval...’" Pu Zhenghong shook his head. "It’s not that easy. A profession of that caliber possesses its own divinity. To be acknowledged by it, Talent alone is nowhere near enough."
Pu Zhenghong didn’t take the bait, changing the subject instead. "It’s been confird that Tang Chen is among the group coming from Yuan Capital this ti."
"Tang Chen! I knew it!" Sang Hanhai shot to his feet, incensed. "Last ti, he took advantage of your absence to bring over a Holy Word Stone just to flaunt his power. He claid no one in Ying Feng could decipher it and spent a full six months blocking the entrance to the Translation Departnt, mocking all of us."
"This ti, he’s bringing another Holy Word Stone," Pu Zhenghong said flatly.
"The sheer audacity!" Sang Hanhai’s face contorted with anger, but then he broke into a grin. "Well, he’s just asking for it this ti. Never mind that you’re here—Su Chen alone will be enough to make him eat crow."
"It’s best not to let too many people know about Su Chen," Pu Zhenghong mused. "The people of Yuan Capital... we’re already drifting further and further apart."
...
’Armored Bone Warrior, Reverser... Thank goodness for the Great Venerable...’
On the way back, Su Chen looked at his panel. He had acquired two new professions this ti.
’After being weakened, the Armored Bone Warrior profession isn’t too difficult. It just involves passively taking hits, and sothing about a ’core.’ I should be able to complete it quickly. Even without defending, I can tank a fair number of hits.’
’The [Reverser] profession is more troubleso. Draining myself to my absolute limit and then recovering takes a fixed amount of ti. If it hadn’t been weakened, it would have taken three years, or even longer, to complete.’
’I’ll need to plan this out carefully...’
Just as he returned to the Judicial Court, Su Chen learned sothing rather unexpected.
"Wei Yufan successfully advanced to a Tier Five Profession?"
Ming Lin, who was waiting at his door, nodded. "Yeah. The guy has been building up his power for a long ti. He was aiming for Tier Five Top, but he settled for Tier Five Upper. It really wasn’t worth it."
He followed Su Chen through the door. Staring at Su Chen’s back, he couldn’t help but sigh inwardly. Ever since Su Chen’s battle with Zhu Xuan, the suspense over who would beco the so-called Chief Seed had all but vanished.
The fights among the few of them who were Core Seeds used to be fairly frequent, but they had co to a standstill for a long ti now.
But Wei Yufan refused to accept this reality. He had forced his advancent to Tier Five, exceeding the arena’s tier-suppression limit, effectively putting the "Chief Seed" position on lockdown.
Ming Lin couldn’t understand why he would use such a thod—one that indirectly weakened his own potential—just to obstruct Su Chen.
"That’s pretty impressive of him," Su Chen remarked, though he didn’t seem to give it much thought.
’If Wei Yufan knew what Su Chen was capable of now, he’d probably explode with rage.’ Ming Lin gave a wry smile to himself.
Wei Yufan was willing to sacrifice a part of his own future just to stop Su Chen from becoming the Chief Seed, yet Su Chen himself didn’t seem to care much about the position at all.
"I wonder who’ll get the two vacant Core Seed spots," Ming Lin mused.
With Zhu Xuan and ng Qi both dead, the two Core Seed positions that had been created as an exception were now empty again.
Chong Jingtian hadn’t rescinded the positions. Instead, he was preparing to hold an internal selection tournant to determine two winners who would beco the replacent Core Seeds.
Everyone in the Inner Courtyard was focused on the event lately, each of them rubbing their hands in anticipation. Filling a vacant spot was a lot easier than challenging an existing Core Seed.
"When does it start?" Su Chen asked. He knew Old Bai also aid to beco a Core Seed and would likely participate.
"Soon, I’d imagine. It’ll definitely be settled before the people from Yuan Capital arrive," Ming Lin speculated.
"You know about the visitors from Yuan Capital, too?" Su Chen sounded surprised.
"It’s hardly a secret anymore." Ming Lin was rendered speechless by Su Chen’s surprise. "We’ll probably have another round of overt and covert struggles. The last ti they ca, I had just joined the Judicial Court and sparred with a few of the people they brought with them."
"And what was the result?" Su Chen asked curiously.
"So wins, so losses. But their overall quality was a fair bit stronger than our Judicial Court’s seeds," Ming Lin recalled. "Yuan Capital isn’t like our Ying Feng, which is divided into the Judicial Court, the three divisions of the Security Departnt, and various other agencies. Their entire city is under the jurisdiction of the Church Court, so their resources are much more centralized."
"Comparing just the Judicial Courts, we’re a notch below them. And I heard that this ti, their ’Disciple’ is coming too."
"Disciple." This was the second ti Su Chen had heard the title. He noticed Ming Lin staring intently at him and a shiver went down his spine. "What’s with that look?"
Ming Lin explained, "I’m just curious... who’s stronger, you or him?"
"The Disciple is the most unique individual in the Church Court. Their selection thod is strange, too. It isn’t based on strength, and apparently not on Talent, either."
"How boring." Su Chen shook his head. The only things about the visitors from Yuan Capital that caught his attention were the [Spiritualist] profession and the Divine Spirit they worshipped.
’Still, the good news is that since this Disciple is so special, there’s a high probability he has mastered the [Spiritualist] profession. My chances of acquiring it just went up.’
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