"Drop off right ahead," Su Chen suddenly said.
Naturally, the driver had no objections. He drifted out of the lane and gradually landed by the roadside. Although night had fallen, the streetlights were bright, and there were quite a few pedestrians on the street as well.
Su Chen waited by the roadside for a long while before his eyes finally lit up. He quickly rushed towards a silver-haired old lady not far away and called out enthusiastically, "Old Grandma—"
Under the dumbfounded gaze of this old grandma, whose hair and beard were all white but whose bones were very sturdy, Su Chen supported her and slowly crossed the street.
"Young man, I... I haven't reached the point where I need soone to support ." It was only when she reached the other side of the street that she reacted. Her old face was a little flushed red, as she broke free from Su Chen's hand and jumped two ters high, demonstrating her good health.
Su Chen's heart twitched at the sight. This old lady was clearly a Professional as well, and it wasn't a special class either, but rather a tier-class, the kind that could directly enhance one's physical constitution.
Pedestrians on the street glanced over, as if observing to see if there was any excitent to watch.
'It really didn't count,' Su Chen thought after sending off the indignant old lady and opening the panel. It was no surprise that the Saint's class inauguration requirent showed no movent.
The old lady did not have a need for help, so even if he 'forced help' upon her, it was useless.
'This kind of requirent is quite subjective... I wonder who exactly is supervising this.' Su Chen felt helpless, and could only think of other ans. 'The simplest thod is to find a hundred poor ghosts and conduct a massive money-scattering operation.'
'However, in this matter, I need other's help myself.' Su Chen shook his head again. He barely had enough potions for himself, let alone scattering money to others.
Moreover, he couldn't quite grasp the exact degree of this 'help'.
For instance, to a destitute person, the concept of 'lacking money' ran very deep. Giving them a thousand gold coins was help, ten thousand was help, and a hundred thousand was also help.
This kind of requirent was a bottomless pit that couldn't be filled.
'It's best to go to a place with a reasonably dense crowd, where a small demand for help is bound to arise—'
'A hospital—hmm... the vast majority of cases there are for saving lives and treating illnesses... that's an even bigger trap than scattering money.'
Su Chen's gaze wandered, and as he stepped sideways to avoid a couple walking toward him, his eyes finally lit up. He looked up at the tallic tracks weaving through the towering skyscrapers.
Yingfeng's orbital trains operated non-stop, twenty-four hours a day, to et the demand.
But the crowd density was not high at this hour. 'I'll take a look during the day.' Su Chen gathered his thoughts and hailed another hovercar.
'No wonder they say talent is only one aspect—' Watching the people coming and going all around him, Su Chen couldn't help but sigh: 'As far as this initial [Saint] requirent goes, talent is rely the threshold.'
Returning to his hotel, Su Chen routinely trained late into the night before resting a bit.
When it was slightly bright out at six or seven the next morning, Su Chen headed out for the closest orbital train station.
This was the ti of the most intense mobility. The crowd of workers heading out for morning shifts practically cramd the entire station full.
Su Chen was also swept up with the flow, lining up for a dozen or so minutes before finally squeezing onto the train.
Looking at the densely packed heads in the carriage, Su Chen imdiately began searching for targets.
Very soon, he found one. It was a woman with a bulging stomach, seemingly five or six months pregnant. She wore loose clothing, her forehead covered in dense cold sweat, as she carefully guarded her belly amidst the crowded throng.
Although people were packed tightly together, those around her tried their best to avoid bumping into her.
This pregnant woman frequently looked towards the seats on both sides, but the people occupying them were either closing their eyes to feign sleep, or fiddling with the terminals in their hands.
Su Chen's heart stirred, but he suddenly realized he had made a miscalculation. 'Fuck, I don't even have a seat myself, how can I offer one?'
"Sigh—" Su Chen breathed out a sigh. His gaze swept across the seats on both sides before finally locking onto a young man who looked very robust.
He quietly stealth-walked over, his gaze narrowing as a ntal undulation dispersed. The young man's expression imdiately beca dazed.
'Surprisingly, he's actually a Professional. Most likely an auxiliary class, since his ntal resilience isn't high,' Su Chen was rather surprised.
Psychokinesis surged out, wrapping around his limbs and making him slowly stand up, an action that imdiately attracted the attention of the surrounding crowd.
But with swift eyes and quick hands, Su Chen slipped in through the gap and safely sat down, drawing a wave of 'what a pity'-styled looks.
The slightly bright eyes of the pregnant woman gradually dimd as well.
"Here, Big Sister, you can have my seat." However, Su Chen suddenly stood up and looked towards the pregnant woman.
The other party's expression blanked before gratitude surged on her face. Moving her body, she walked over and sat in Su Chen's spot, heaving a long sigh: "Thank you."
'As expected.' Su Chen glanced at the panel, which showed the assisted target 1.
'The demand for a seat, being both minute and concrete, can be very easily fulfilled.' Su Chen nodded secretly.
It was only at this mont that the young man recovered from the ntal interference. He dazedly watched his seat being occupied, looking left and right, and scratching his head.
Although he didn't know what had happened, he couldn't argue since the one occupying his seat was a pregnant woman.
'Could it be that I subconsciously did a good deed?' The young man muttered to himself, crying out in his heart. Now he had to stand for over an hour.
Su Chen squeezed his way out of the crowd. Covering the surface of his body with a layer of psychokinesis, he was just like a swimming fish, causing the surrounding crowd to naturally part to both sides.
He searched for his next target that needed help.
And inside the train carriages, this kind of target was evidently very plentiful.
It was almost nine o'clock when the morning rush hour completely ca to an end, and the people inside the train carriages gradually beca scarce. Su Chen felt his mouth dry and his tongue scorched as he glanced at his panel.
The cumulative number of people helped had already reached 6. He had carefully selected nearly thirty targets this morning, all of them being old, weak, sick, or disabled, but ultimately only a fifth t the requirent.
'So guys simply didn't produce the thought of needing a seat. Even though they look like they need one, in reality it makes no difference to them whether they sit or not.' Su Chen was helpless: 'This kind of situation is simply impossible to distinguish.'
'However, the efficiency isn't low either. Even factoring in the evening rush hour, there should be at least ten a day. The requirent will definitely be t before the Adjudication Court evaluation.'
Compared to the originally heaven-defying requirent, Su Chen was already very satisfied, but imdiately after, his eyes turned cold. 'Still, who sent that guy over?'
Through the reflection on the glass curtain wall on one side of the carriage, Su Chen locked onto a certain guy who was still a distance away from him, looking ordinary and unremarkable.
During the process of selecting targets, Su Chen frequently needed to change carriages, and this guy had been following him all along.
'I just arrived in Yingfeng, I shouldn't have offended anyone.' Su Chen couldn't help but think of the banquet last night, his brow furrowing slightly. 'That shouldn't count as offending soone, right?'
Yingfeng's laws were stricter, and their technological level far surpassed Nanfeng's.
At present, he didn't understand much about this, nor did he know what the surveillance limit was. Moreover, he didn't have an official identity yet, so hastily making a move would definitely be bad.
'Let's wait and see for now—'
It was still a long way off from the evening peak hour. Su Chen returned to the hotel first, training until four or five in the afternoon before heading out. However, just as he got off the elevator, he walked right into an acquaintance looking for him.
"Senior Brother Bu?" Su Chen asked, rather surprised.
"Didn't check your ssages?" Bu Siqi raised his eyebrows. "I sent you a ssage this afternoon."
"I set it to Do Not Disturb—" Su Chen explained. "I'm not used to being interrupted during my training."
"Oh." Bu Siqi wasn't bothered either. He raised his right hand, allowing Su Chen to see the black tal box. "The stuff you wanted."
Su Chen invited Bu Siqi into the room.
This Senior Brother evidently didn't view himself as an outsider. Before Su Chen could even speak, he sat down on the sofa by himself, tossed the tal box to the side, and said casually:
"Right, the Mist Demon Beads you asked to look for have news. The Strange Goods Store over there had one, but the price wasn't cheap; one cost a hundred thousand gold. Unfortunately, I was a step late, and soone else bought it."
"That expensive?" Su Chen was surprised, thinking of the one Chu Yunze gifted to him yesterday.
He didn't know if Hu Xiang had saved up that much money, but it should be about right. Even Pan Yu's net worth was over a hundred thousand.
"It's decent," Bu Siqi said. "This thing is only produced by Mist Demons on the verge of advancing to the third-tier. If it weren't for its relatively limited uses, it would be even more expensive."
"When the next one appears, I'll reserve it for you."
"No need, Senior Brother," Su Chen shook his head. "You don't have to keep an eye on this matter for now."
"No need?" Bu Siqi couldn't help but look over.
Su Chen thought for a mont before deciding to tell the other party about the banquet last night.
"Chu Xuan, Chu Yunze, Pang Xingwen, ng Qi..." Bu Siqi also seed quite taken aback, exclaiming in surprise: "To think such a thing actually happened. He hasn't even entered the Adjudication Court yet, and he's already gathering his own faction. This Chu Xuan is formidable."
"Furthermore, I kept feeling there was a faint trace of hostility from this Pang Xingwen towards ," Su Chen added.
"It's not surprising," Bu Siqi composed his emotions and explained. "The Pang family is a local tyrant of Yingfeng and once produced a Chief Inquisitor. Pang Xingwen's father, Pang Hui, is Wei Yinshuo's student and also Zhou Xian's teacher. Every month, Glazed Blood from Nanfeng is sent to his ho."
"No wonder," Su Chen realized. Even if Zhou Xian colluded with the Evil God Cults and died his deserved death, the resulting benefits had ultimately decreased. To them, this was a tangible loss.
Bu Siqi then said, "But you don't need to worry. That little bit of loss isn't enough to make them do anything to you."
Seeing him stand up to leave, Su Chen stopped him again, whispering, "Senior Brother, soone was tracking today."
In a flash, a cold light burst forth from within Bu Siqi's slightly lackadaisical gaze. "Who?"
In this instant, Su Chen actually faintly felt a sensation similar to Old Xia from him.
Su Chen shook his head, "I don't know. But when I go out later, he will probably still follow ."
"I understand," Bu Siqi's voice turned chilling. "You don't have to concern yourself with this matter anymore. Just do whatever you need to do, I'll take care of it."
"I'll head out first. Wait for a while before coming out."
Su Chen nodded, seeing Bu Siqi off, before opening the tal box the other party had brought. White, frigid air seeped out, revealing the potions he needed sitting right inside.
Doing a quick count, Su Chen couldn't help but feel surprised: "Fifteen tubes of each. This has basically doubled Senior Brother Bu's initial estimate. It'll roughly last until the evaluation period, more or less."
"How generous." Su Chen flipped through the E-grade ditation technique smuggled inside—【Heart-Burning ditation thod】. This thod used flas as a dium, visualizing a crimson fla burning one's spiritual body and continuously refining it.
After stuffing all these things into his Storage Space, Su Chen finally left and headed for the nearest orbital train station according to his predetermined goal.
And this ti, that tracker had disappeared.
Yingfeng had no distinction between an inner and outer city. The factories, breeding farms, manufacturing sites, and even certain large-scale research institutes that relied on Yingfeng were not within the city at all, but rather scattered in its surroundings.
Because Yingfeng's own martial force was strong enough to look after these areas outside the city.
Under the veil of night, Bu Siqi piloted a small spacecraft. Relying on his status within the Adjudication Court, he left the city and flew directly south all the way, stopping in a mountain col not too far or near.
A garrison fort stood here, but from the looks of it, it had been abandoned for a long ti.
After the spacecraft hovered to a halt, Bu Siqi opened a storage compartnt, pulled out a burlap sack, and walked straight into the deepest room of the fort.
"Teacher—" he lowered his head and called out respectfully.
Xia Hanshi was currently standing before a drawing board, upon which nurous coordinates and photographs were pinned.
"Mm," Xia Hanshi responded offhandedly. "Who is that in your hand?"
"Soone from the Pang family, trailing Little Junior Brother," he explained.
"The Pang family?" Xia Hanshi abruptly turned his head, his tone sinking into an icy depth. "Are they colluding with the Evil God Cults as well? Wanting Su Chen's life over a Zhou Xian?"
"It isn't quite like that," Bu Siqi, his head covered in cold sweat, hurriedly explained. "It seems this was the arbitrary decision of that junior nad Pang Xingwen."
"Last night..." He roughly described what happened and made a conjecture: "I estimate that Little Junior Brother's refusal provoked the displeasure of certain people in that group, which is why they wanted to play so small tricks."
"As for harming Little Junior Brother, they don't have the guts."
"Don't have the guts?" Xia Hanshi sneered entirely. "Many things require no guts to start with. Since I'm not in Yingfeng, many people have grown bold."
"Give it so more ti, and their guts might just grow big enough to cut off his head and deliver it to the Pang family."
"Yes," Bu Siqi revealed a bitter smile. Changing the subject, he asked, "What have you managed to uncover this ti?"
Xia Hanshi's expression sobered as a trace of anxiety flashed through his eyes. "A major event is about to happen."
Bu Siqi's entire body trembled. He quietly listened to Xia Hanshi's narration.
"Nanfeng's Saint Word Stone, Yunlan's Spatial Crystal, Green Lake's Silver Star Water, Baiyue's Nano Spirit Fetus..."
Xia Hanshi said softly, "I wouldn't have known without investigating. For the past half year, the activities of the Evil God Cults have been extrely frequent. Furthermore, it's not just a single Evil God; multiple Evil Gods are cooperating."
"Cooperating?" Bu Siqi's throat bobbed, shocked. "They can cooperate too?"
Xia Hanshi's expression shifted continuously. "Correct. I don't know what they intend to do, but it must be a major event."
"Should we report this to the Adjudication Court?" Bu Siqi couldn't help but ask.
Xia Hanshi narrowed his eyes into slits. "The very first item lost, Green Lake's Silver Star Water, occurred a year and a half ago. Yet the Adjudication Court in Yingfeng knew absolutely nothing about it... There's sothing fishy going on here."
"Are you saying... there's a mole within the Adjudication Court?" Bu Siqi trembled at these words.
Xia Hanshi didn't explain, only waving his hand. "Alright, go back. Don't reveal my return to anyone."
His mind in an utter ss, Bu Siqi lowered his head and took his leave.
As ti approached mid-June and the date for the Adjudication Court's evaluation drew nearer, Su Chen could even feel a difference in the atmosphere. He could even hear people discussing this matter on the orbital trains.
He consistently maintained his own rhythm: shuttling around on the orbital trains during the day to select targets to help, and training at night. On this particular night, the gravity training room was fully paved with silvery-white special tallic plates.
Su Chen kept his eyes tightly shut, his brows furrowed. Arcs of electricity danced across the surface of his skin, cracking and snapping. His entire body was burning hot, and his movents beca faster and faster, opening wide and closing tight. The electrical arcs surging around him also grew increasingly intense until, at a certain mont, a change began from his chest. His skin turned indigo blue, and the blazing, intense pain gave Su Chen a feeling as if he were lting.
The indigo skin spread from his chest to his four limbs and hundreds of bones, until it had thoroughly dyed him indigo.
At the sa ti, the wind and thunder converged and flowed, automatically forming an illusory suit of armor around his body. Soon after, it slowly pressed towards his body, as if wanting to rge as one with him.
This ti, not only was there intense pain, but it was also mixed with a tingling numbness that seeped deep into the marrow.
"Hiss—ah..."
Su Chen's pupils were suffused with bloodshot lines. He even had an urge to rip his own skin off. This intense pain and numbness almost made him faint.
【Wind and Thunder Adept developnt has reached 50%. Acquired ability — Wind and Thunder Tough Skin.】
【Wind and Thunder Tough Skin and Wind and Thunder Bastion have similar compatibility. Abilities fused and enhanced. Acquired ability — Frenzy Thunder Wind Armor: Uses ultra-highly compressed wind and thunder elents to form a physical set of armor.】
Fortunately, the duration this ti did not count as long, and the changes within his body gradually receded.
Su Chen practically collapsed limply onto the floor, panting heavily. He gulped down mouthfuls of highly compressed nutrient fluid, and waited for another mont before finally recovering.
Reaching fifty percent developnt and acquiring a new professional ability were both within Su Chen's expectations, but the subsequent fusion and enhancent ca as a complete surprise.
'From the information I've gathered, ability fusions don't appear frequently.' Su Chen deliberated.
Every profession possessed its own traits, but as one's profession continuously advanced, there would always be tis where the resulting abilities overlapped.
For instance, 【Wind and Thunder Bastion】 and 【Wind and Thunder Tough Skin】 were both defensive thods, yet they were akin to two different routes. One ford a defensive bastion outside the body, while the other reinforced the body itself.
It couldn't be called redundant, since it was ultimately an extra layer of defense. But if one were to truly ask how much stronger it made him, the answer would be quite forced, since his defenses were spread out.
Ability fusion was precisely a special phenonon produced when an organism evolved in a better direction on its own.
When two abilities with similar compatibility were fused together, the resulting intensity was higher and much more straightforward. It wasn't as simple as one plus one equaling two.
However, exactly how an ability fusion could be triggered was sothing that every single Professional was striving to seek out.
'Coincidence, or inevitability?' Su Chen guessed in his heart. Arcs of electricity shot out from the surface of his body, and the wind and thunder elents interwoven together. Feather-like wind blades and electrical arcs interlaced to form flowing patterns of light, rapidly hooking together over the surface of his skin to form a tight-fitting suit of armor.
Striking it with his palm produced the sound of clashing tal.
'This defensive strength is indeed quite impressive. It's been reinforced by two or three tis...' Su Chen roughly estimated.
Following closely, he took out the Azure Scale Chainmail from his Storage Space, attaching it to his body's surface before superimposing his lightning armor ability onto it.
Crackle!
Bolts of lightning shot wildly in all directions. Every scale seed to have been injected with liquid stardust, as the azure color gradually faded into a blazing indigo blue, turning it increasingly radiant.
Clang! Clang!
Su Chen pounded against his own chest, producing muffled booms. 'Tsk, with this kind of defensive intensity, based on Zhou Xian's offensive strength back then, normal attacks would probably struggle to break through my defenses now...' Such an enhanced advantage was obvious to clearly distinguish.
He rested slightly, but did not continue with physical training. Instead, he left the gravity training room and sat cross-legged on his bed, operating the 【Heart-Burning ditation thod】.
【Illusory Star ditation thod】 had already reached the Master-level a few days ago, netting him an ability nad 【Bright Star】 that boosted his ntal resilience.
After stacking a multitude of abilities, his current ntal resilience had most likely already t the third-tier standard.
It didn't take long for his ntal energy to gradually boil as well. The curtains, bedsheets, tables, and chairs all began to tremble.
His ntal talent was stronger after all. While on the spaceship, without the aid of a gravity room, the developnt progress of his Psionic Adept class had also gradually elevated.
Following this period's effort, it had similarly reached 50%.
ntal changes stood apart from physical ones. Su Chen rely felt an unprecedented invigoration. The boiling ntal energy pierced through his cranium and road his surroundings. Viewed from afar, it was as if a layer of frosted glass was wrapped around his body.
Abruptly, his eyes snapped open, extraordinarily bright, as his ntal energy rapidly withdrew—
【Psionic Adept developed to 50%. Acquired ability — ntal Hypnosis.】
【ntal Hypnosis and ntal Interference have similar compatibility. Abilities fused and enhanced. Acquired ability — Mind Control: Can directly control lifeforms with insufficient ntal resilience.】
"Phew—" Su Chen exhaled a breath of air, soothing his boiling ntal fluctuations while gazing at the text on his panel.
'In other words, ability fusion is inevitable for ... Why? Is it because my classes were all inaugurated according to the most standard requirents, causing them to beco perfectly flawless?'
He massaged his glabella, which was vaguely swelling with pain, as he couldn't help but fall back to his thoughts.
【Wind and Thunder Adept: 50%】
【Psionic Adept: 50%】
【E-Rank Thunder Brilliance Body Forging thod — Proficient: 65%】
【E-Rank Heart-Burning ditation thod — Proficient: 20%】
"Both have already been developed to 50%," Su Chen clenched his fists. "My potions have basically been exhausted as well. In the latter half of developnt, I'll need to change potions again."
"Fortunately, there are still five days until the evaluation. I don't need to waste energy on this front; there will naturally be rations given out once I enter the Adjudication Court."
Checking the Saint inauguration requirent again, the targeted number of people helped had already reached 86.
'Ti-wise, it's definitely sufficient,' Su Chen pondered. 'But I still have to see whether Old Xia can make it back by then.'
'In the event that Old Xia doesn't return, rashly displaying this might not be a good thing. Thankfully, even if the requirent is completed, I can freely choose whether or not to inaugurate it.'
The transformation of his body had made him slightly fatigued. Glancing at the ti, he saw that it was already ten in the evening. Just washing up slightly, he fell into a deep slumber.
It wasn't until high noon the next day that he slowly re-awoke. He rely felt a strong sense of spirit, and the bodily fatigue had been entirely swept away.
"My biological clock has actually failed. Looks like I was truly quite tired yesterday," Su Chen stretched his back, the sound of popping joints echoing from within his body. Missing the morning rush hour left him feeling a sense of pity.
But since there was still ample ti anyway, he did not particularly mind.
'I've been busy playing the Good Samaritan these past few days to the point where I haven't run over to the Class Decoding Departnt...' He hesitated a bit. The Class Decoding Departnt was a massive treasury of classes, and perhaps it even involved Morning Star-tier classes. He definitely had to infiltrate it.
'But right now I don't have the excuse of the Saint Word Stone. If I go using only the status of being Old Xia's student, Elder Sang will probably have nothing to say to .'
'I might even annoy people. I should wait a bit longer. There are only a few days until the evaluation anyway. I'll go back after I enter the Adjudication Court and get an official identity.'
Su Chen made his decision. After eating a delicious al at the hotel cafeteria and drinking and eating to his heart's content, he returned to continue his training until the evening rush hour to go out again.
Four days' ti passed by in the blink of an eye.
At just past midnight on this night, Du Yu and Zhang Hengyu arrived side-by-side.
"Brother Su, what ti is it already and you're still training? The Adjudication Court evaluation begins today!"
Seeing Su Chen open the door bare-chested, Du Yu couldn't help but say.
Su Chen let the two of them inside while he went to wash up: "I've been keeping track of the ti. Counting from here to the Adjudication Court, it should take roughly four or five hours. It only starts at nine in the morning, so leaving at two or three isn't too late either."
"You sure have it easy." Du Yu couldn't help but point at Zhang Hengyu: "This guy beside hasn't properly slept for several days. Yesterday afternoon, he dragged out to find you."
Zhang Hengyu's face was taut, clearly nervous.
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