'Morning Star Tier, huh... I wonder if the Royal Court has any in stock,' Su Chen thought.
Despite entertaining such thoughts, Su Chen felt that the Morning Star Tier held even more secrets. The professional tiers he had encountered in the past had a wide variety of requirents, but none had ever involved innate talent.
As for Special Professions, like the Sage, even if their abilities enhanced both talents simultaneously, they would always explicitly state that a ntal-Type talent was required.
However, the talent requirents for the Great Exalted had no specific focus. It didn't specify whether it needed a ntal-Type or a Physical-Type talent.
The difference here was massive. His system panel would automatically correct erroneous requirents, which proved that this wasn't just so vague phrasing.
'Perhaps... it requires both ntal and physical talents to be Profound Purple simultaneously.'
Xia Hanshi walked ahead. Beside him, Ming Lin had no idea that so many thoughts had flashed through Su Chen's mind in the blink of an eye. He rely sighed.
"Physical-Type? I wonder how powerful it will be after taking the profession. Sigh... if I get it, it's my fortune; if I lose it, it's my fate," Ming Lin said.
Su Chen's thoughts wandered for a mont. 'If both talents are Profound Purple, it will inevitably lead to Dual Profession Parallel Cultivation.'
The strength of Dual Profession Parallel Cultivation was self-evident. The enhancent it provided was far beyond a simple addition. Let alone having two exceptionally high talents, even if they weren't that high, a cultivator would more or less attempt parallel cultivation to patch up their ntal or physical flaws.
'This brings up a question...' Su Chen's eyes flickered. 'Does everyone with this qualification eventually have to seek out another Morning Star Tier profession?'
He had previously heard Chong Jingtian ntion that the Morning Star Tier held a high status in the so-called Royal Court, and they certainly weren't found everywhere.
'That shouldn't be the case. There must be another secret to this.' Su Chen knew too little at the mont and could only make such speculations.
He couldn't help but think of Hong Xuan. Aside from the power brought by Dual Profession Parallel Cultivation, the main source of that guy's strength was that peculiar state he entered.
Hong Xuan wasn't old, and the number of Special Professions he had taken wasn't large either.
Unlike Su Chen's Holy Hand, which used one profession's ability to enhance another, Hong Xuan's state felt more like a fusion of professions.
After the incident, Su Chen had carefully researched information regarding professional fusion. He discovered it was an extrely rare special state, with only a handful of recorded instances even throughout the history of Yingfeng.
It strictly required Dual Profession Parallel Cultivation, and both professions had to be at the exact sa tier and level for there to even be a chance of it happening.
Furthermore, it was a spontaneous state that could not be controlled voluntarily. According to the sparse records available, the fused individual's own strength would be enhanced to a certain degree under such circumstances.
An intense curiosity welled up in Su Chen's heart. 'I wonder what his specific situation is. I hope I get a chance to investigate it thoroughly.'
Su Chen had a premonition. Hong Xuan had been constantly preparing for the Crimson Fla Responding Thunder Great Exalted, and this state might also be tied to the secrets of the Morning Star Tier.
Ming Lin chuckled again. "After you went inside, you missed seeing just how colorful the expressions on Wu Chenpei and Hong Xuan's faces were."
He didn't have a good impression of Hong Xuan, having already seen through the arrogance hidden beneath the other's detached deanor, and went on to vividly describe the scene.
Su Chen absentmindedly agreed with him, right up until Xia Hanshi paused his steps ahead. They had arrived at the Chief Inquisitor's residence.
"Want to co in and sit for a bit?" Xia Hanshi turned sideways, his gaze falling upon Ming Lin.
Ming Lin's expression froze as he looked at this long-renowned Chief Inquisitor. The man's haggard cheeks seed glued directly to his skull, showing no trace of flesh, and his eyes were sunken deep into their sockets.
"N-No, thank you." Ming Lin gulped. For so unknown reason, he suddenly broke out in a cold sweat. He hastily declined, repeatedly voicing his goodbyes before hurrying away.
"Too timid..." Xia Hanshi shook his head. Retracting his gaze, he led Su Chen inside. Without anyone visibly moving to shut it, the door closed behind them.
"Judging by the reactions of Wu Chenpei and that Hong Xuan, the phenonon that appeared back there probably far exceeded their expectations." Xia Hanshi sank completely into the sofa, his voice hoarse. "Wu Chenpei tried to cover it up with his words, but when he ntioned the recognition earlier, he only spoke of the three dragons."
"Three Dragons rging into One is a level above that. Perhaps it's the phenonon of becoming The Chosen One. Did you feel anything specific?"
Su Chen frowned and shook his head. "Nothing at all. It might be due to the incomplete Spiritual Essence. Even the profession's requirents won't be revealed until it's made whole."
"Is that so..." Xia Hanshi seed to form a guess, raising his hand to gesture for Su Chen to take a seat as well. "If that's the case, then it makes sense. Because the Spiritual Essence is fractured, the most you can get right now is just its recognition."
"Therefore, Wu Chenpei had no qualms about discussing these matters earlier, but your situation was wildly beyond his calculations."
Su Chen also felt this was reasonable. He didn't sit down, instead walking over to the tea counter.
"Unfortunately, we know far too little," Xia Hanshi said, his brows tightly locked. "Yet Yuandu knows far too much. They are aware of many things they shouldn't be. Could they really have contacted certain figures in the Royal Court ahead of ti?"
Su Chen, who was in the middle of pouring tea, couldn't help but look over in surprise. "Yuandu contacted the Royal Court in advance?"
Xia Hanshi nodded, reaching out to accept the teacup Su Chen offered. "That is Chong Jingtian's theory. Hong Xuan's appearance is highly unusual, and a Crimson talent is completely unheard of."
"Tell ..." Xia Hanshi gripped his teacup, suddenly asking, "If you were Hong Xuan, what would you be thinking right now?"
"?" Su Chen paused, attempting to simulate Hong Xuan's mindset, but gave up a mont later. "I don't know him well enough to guess."
"If I were Hong Xuan, I would definitely be thinking of a way to kill you right now," Xia Hanshi said faintly.
"Uh..." Su Chen faltered. Taking a seat opposite Xia Hanshi, he pondered, "That is quite possible."
"Thus, he who strikes first gains the advantage." Cold, awe-inspiring killing intent flickered in Xia Hanshi's eyes.
Su Chen's eyelids twitched. He felt that he was already ruthless enough, but his targets were always those who had actively tried to infringe upon his interests.
As for re thoughts, they were too difficult to verify. There were plenty of people who disliked him and wanted him dead.
On the flip side, those who had actually acted against his interests might not have even intended to kill him.
However, hearing Old Xia say this gave him an extraordinary sense of justification.
"But if we strike now, Yuandu will undoubtedly refuse to open the Ruins. It might even turn into a life-and-death struggle where both sides suffer," Su Chen warned. The imdiate trouble was the Holy Banquet, a crisis that affected absolutely everyone.
"It is sowhat troubleso..." Xia Hanshi twirled the teacup with his fingers, his gaze slightly unfocused as if lost in thought.
Suddenly, he asked, "Tell the truth. Do you possess so kind of precognitive ability?"
Upon hearing this, Su Chen's eyes trembled slightly, and the teacup in his hand shook. This question vastly exceeded his expectations.
Old Xia wanted to lay all his cards on the table.
"What are you afraid of now?" Xia Hanshi frowned. "In Nanfeng, you used that chubby kid to find the Priest of Black Buddha for the first ti. Then, you fabricated so story about a righteous individual to lock onto the Priest of Black Buddha a second ti."
"After arriving in Yingfeng, you even knew about the impending Blood Sacrifice, as well as the matter concerning ng Qi. How exactly did you know all of this?"
"This..." Su Chen's gaze darted around. It wasn't that he hadn't anticipated a showdown.
But this guy, Old Xia, simply didn't play by the rules. He would either ask nothing at all, or when he did ask, he was far too blunt.
His original plan had been to brush it off by claiming it was a dream; the inherent uncertainty of dreams would be enough to cover up many issues.
But the current situation was completely different from before. Carrying the recognition of the Great Exalted, his status was on a whole other level. Perhaps...
He rembered sothing—a matter he had cast aside a long ti ago.
"You're far too perceptive," Su Chen said with a bitter smile.
"Perceptive?" Xia Hanshi scoffed. "With knowledge of all these events, never mind , even an idiot like Bu Siqi would have noticed sothing was wrong."
"Spit it out. What is the actual situation?"
Su Chen already had a rough draft in mind, which was simply a modification of his original excuse. As for precognition... that ability was too terrifying. He absolutely could not admit to it easily.
"Actually, I don't even know if this counts as precognition..." Su Chen said helplessly. "It's just that sotis, when I co into contact with things related to Evil Gods, strange illusions suddenly flash before my eyes."
"The first ti I discovered the Priest of Black Buddha was because when I killed Qi Chuan, I stumbled upon an empty Evil God Artifact..."
Su Chen forcefully linked all the incidents Old Xia had ntioned to Evil God Artifacts.
"Related to the Evil Gods..." Xia Hanshi listened, his face betraying no emotion. Suddenly, he murmured, "Could you really be that thing from back then?"
'Huh? That thing from back then? What thing?'
Hearing this, Su Chen was montarily stunned, and a bad feeling suddenly washed over him. Did the lie he just fabricated coincidentally line up with so ancient adage or prophecy?
'I can't be that unlucky, can I?' he thought anxiously.
Old Xia was truly an unpredictable man. If this really caused so sort of misunderstanding, even with his current status, Old Xia might just drop the hamr on him.
"What are you talking about?" he asked cautiously.
"Yashan City. Do you rember it?" Xia Hanshi shot him a glance.
It was this place again. Su Chen felt exasperated. "I truly don't rember."
"Soone else ntioned it to you? Who?" Seeing his attitude, Xia Hanshi asked in a cold tone.
"Chief Inquisitor Jiang ntioned it," Su Chen replied honestly. However, judging by Old Xia's attitude, it didn't seem like the man harbored any suspicion toward him.
"Jiang Shumo. Always so full of himself," Xia Hanshi said, his gaze turning icy. "Did he vaguely hint that you were so kind of refugee or the like?"
"No, he didn't do that," Su Chen shook his head.
He didn't? Xia Hanshi was slightly taken aback. He suddenly realized that Su Chen was no longer the boy he used to be. Even without the recognition of the Great Exalted, he was a rising star in the Adjudication Court who had already amassed trendous prestige.
He remained silent for a mont before continuing, "You are from Yashan. Twenty years ago, Yashan City was corrupted by Evil Gods. The followers of Black Buddha intended to trigger a God Child Incarnation."
"A God Child?" Su Chen seed to connect the dots to sothing.
Xia Hanshi didn't seem to notice his change in expression. "We later discovered their plot. We went all out and wiped out Yashan, dragging a massive number of Innocent People down as collateral damage."
"A God Child Incarnation requires a Host Body to nurture the vessel. However, the ritual was interrupted, and we never found the Host Body. The conclusion at the ti was that it had been obliterated, but perhaps it wasn't..."
Xia Hanshi stared at him faintly. Su Chen's heart skipped a beat, and he couldn't help but ask, "You don't seriously think I'm that God Child thing, do you?"
Heaven as his witness, even the original owner of his body had absolutely nothing to do with that bloody God Child.
At the sa ti, he felt a profound sense of absurdity. He hadn't expected the original owner's hotown to have such a dramatic history, much less that his newly concocted lie would actually loop back around to that very past.
"Heh..." Xia Hanshi's laughter was chilling. Only after making Su Chen's hair stand on end did he slowly ask, "Just what kind of image do I, as your teacher, hold in your heart?"
'It would probably be a lot better if you stopped scaring so much,' Su Chen grumbled inwardly, though he also breathed a sigh of relief.
"I reckon that because the ritual was incomplete, the God Child failed to descend. However, the people of Yashan were all affected to so extent," Xia Hanshi added. "Because of that, once you co into contact with things related to the Evil Gods, you sense a reaction."
'It ca full circle?'
Su Chen was stunned. This lie was woven so perfectly that he had practically lost the final say in the matter.
But then he realized that Old Xia might still be harboring so unknown suspicions. After all, there were quite a few Survivors from Yashan; why didn't anyone else have this kind of reaction?
"Can you actively trigger that kind of illusion?" Xia Hanshi asked.
"Actively trigger..." Su Chen hesitated. "It's hard to say. Compared to the number of tis I've touched items related to Evil Gods, the illusions have clearly not appeared that often."
"What are you thinking?"
Xia Hanshi's line of questioning was unusual; it seed he wanted to utilize this ability of his. Uh... but he didn't even have this ability at all, Su Chen thought, feeling rather speechless.
"I suspect there is sothing fishy about this attack by the Faceless Ghost Cultists," Xia Hanshi didn't hide his thoughts, his eyes glinting. "Thinking carefully about it now, the world is so vast, yet Yuan Poshan and I just so happened to run into that exact group of Faceless Ghost Cultists."
"Are you suspecting that they intentionally let themselves be discovered as a way of... luring the tiger out of the mountain?" Su Chen recalled the last ti the Divine Son of the Faceless Ghost pulled the exact sa trick.
"Correct..." Xia Hanshi nodded. "However, the sheer, massive numbers of the Faceless Ghost Cultists couldn't be faked. If Yingfeng doesn't mount a defense, it will undoubtedly be in grave danger."
'Why is this exactly like last ti...' Su Chen experienced an indescribable sense of déjà vu.
Last ti, the Divine Son of the Faceless Ghost had rallied multiple hidden cultist factions operating behind the scenes in Yingfeng. Ignoring them would have resulted in massive destruction.
'This Old Trick... don't tell the one commanding things from behind the scenes this ti is still that Divine Son.'
Su Chen muttered continuously in his heart, the more he thought about it, the more likely it seed.
"Therefore, I want you to give it a try and see if you can foresee anything." Xia Hanshi finally revealed his true motive for this showdown.
"I am duty-bound," Su Chen agreed at once, though he inevitably revealed a look of hesitation. "But right now, we don't have any artifacts related to the Evil Gods on hand."
"This is the Adjudication Court," Xia Hanshi stood up and said calmly. "We have fought against the Evil Gods for so long. There are simply too many things related to them here."
Old Xia really did have this exact plan in mind! Su Chen's heart skipped a beat, and he hurriedly added the rest of his excuse, which had been interrupted earlier by that bullshit God Child nonsense. "I reckon ordinary items won't work. It's best if they are Evil God Artifacts that contain Divine Power."
"Furthermore..." he hesitated. "There is one more thing I need to tell you."
"What else haven't you ntioned?" Xia Hanshi wasn't surprised; this kid hid far too many secrets.
"Triggering the illusion seems to consu the Evil God's power," Su Chen said, appearing as if he had made a major decision before revealing it.
"Truth be told, when I killed Qi Chuan, the Evil God Artifact I obtained wasn't actually empty."
"It's just that, after the illusion appeared, sohow, the artifact beca empty."
"Afterwards..." Su Chen gave a wry smile, "Once I learned about the dangers of Evil God Artifacts from Teacher Yuan, I didn't dare speak of it again."
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