"Good."
Xia Hanshi had already foreseen this outco. The corners of his mouth pulled back into an ugly smile.
'Can the Tribunal really cultivate this kind of freak now?'
Shi Yunzhou felt a wave of shock in his heart. The first ti he heard the na Su Chen was during the Tribunal's assessnt, where the boy had stunned everyone and was exceptionally recruited as a core seed.
He had heard bits and pieces about him since then, but he only assud Su Chen was just another Chong Jingtian. It wasn't until recently, when the people of Yuandu arrived and brought up Grand Exalt Chiyan Yinglei, that Su Chen had finally gained recognition.
With the future of their lives and fortunes seemingly tied to this young man, Shi Yunzhou had started to learn more about him.
But the power this Tier 4 professional had just erupted with was truly unbelievable.
A smile quickly surfaced on his face. He had already resolved to throw away his pride if necessary, but if he could save face, who wouldn't want to?
The battle was decided in a single strike. The residual shockwaves had yet to dissipate, and the crackling of thunder echoed ceaselessly. Almost everyone's gaze was locked onto Su Chen, who stood gripping his massive axe.
"It's over already?" Ming Lin blinked. The other onlookers shared a similar, indescribable sense of astonishnt. This wasn't an arena match, and both sides were fully ard. They had expected an all-out, exhilarating duel where every trick in the book was used. Instead—
This couldn't even be called a battle; it was a completely one-sided crushing by Su Chen.
"Phew..." Su Chen let out a long breath. That had been his strongest attack to date, bringing with it a deep sense of satisfaction.
Swinging that axe made all the grueling tornt he had endured in the gravity room feel completely worthwhile.
At the sa ti, his interface slowly unfolded before his eyes.
[Because you defeated a recognized individual in the most violent manner, Grand Exalt Chiyan Yinglei is highly pleased. For the next three months, your class developnt efficiency will be doubled.]
'Hmm?' Su Chen's spirit jolted. This was the first ti the interface had actively reacted since it recorded the Grand Exalt.
'Well, maybe not the very first ti. That reckless fool, the Law Lord of the Spoken Word, was technically the first,' Su Chen muttered inwardly as he carefully inspected the notification.
'It actually gave a buff. Not bad, not bad at all...'
Defeating soone who had gained spiritual recognition was akin to proving his own strength, or rather, his desire for the Grand Exalt, thereby pleasing the entity.
'Can I farm this?'
Su Chen's heart stirred, his first thought imdiately jumping to exploiting loopholes, but he quickly dismissed the idea. 'Putting aside the sheer difficulty of finding soone recognized...'
'Just looking at the emotional responses of these classes—even though I don't know where they co from, they clearly aren't chanical programs. It would be terrible if I ended up pissing them off.'
Not far away, a crevice over a dozen ters long stretched across the ground, filled with crackling black electrical arcs.
Hong Xuan's face was deathly pale. He lay slumped on the ground, blood spurting out in thick streams. His entire arm, along with half his shoulder, had been severed, and his spear lay discarded a short distance away.
Intense agony made his vision go dark, and the veins on his neck bulged tightly.
"You... you... how... how is this possible..."
Fighting through the excruciating pain, Hong Xuan's heart twisted with a mix of shock, fury, unwillingness, and utter disbelief.
Su Chen's strength wildly exceeded his imagination. He had originally thought that since the other party had only just advanced to an upper-tier Level 4 class, defeating him wouldn't be much of a problem.
The only difficulty was supposed to be figuring out how to kill Su Chen before Shi Yunzhou and Xia Hanshi could react.
But now, the mont this guy made a move, he had been rendered completely powerless to resist!
This wasn't sothing a top-tier class alone could achieve; it absolutely required a massive number of auxiliary classes, perhaps even an entire systematic build of them.
"You can't be... you can't possibly be soone from this planet! Who exactly are you, and where did you co from?! Are you from the Chen Family, or the Tianshu Pavilion?!"
"My Hong Family has already been reduced to this state, yet you still won't let us go?!"
Hong Xuan scread himself hoarse. Between the physical agony and the violent emotional turmoil, his mind had descended into near chaos.
"The Hong Family?" Su Chen's expression tightened. As if realizing sothing, he asked in astonishnt, "You're not from Planet Chilei?"
Su Chen truly hadn't expected this. But if that were the case, many things finally made sense.
Why Yuandu knew so much, and why Hong Xuan showed no respect to Wu Chenpei—it was all because he wasn't a local.
'But wait, don't you have to be a local to be recognized and chosen? Is there actually a way to deceive the spiritual nature?'
Xia Hanshi's face grew serious, while Ming Lin looked sowhat bewildered. Not from Planet Chilei? What did that an?
Lu Kai's expression changed, and he imdiately tried to make a move, but Shi Yunzhou was faster. A dark gold chain slamd down, firmly suppressing him.
With his other hand, Shi Yunzhou summoned a hazy mist, isolating the ordinary Tribunal judges on the outside while simultaneously sealing Hong Xuan's wound to stop the bleeding.
"You..." Seeing Su Chen's reaction, Hong Xuan forced himself to stand, letting out a miserable laugh. "You're actually not... you're not..."
His earlier emotional outburst had stemd from a refusal to accept the reality that he had reached a dead end.
In truth, thinking about it carefully, it was highly unlikely that Su Chen ca from outside Planet Chilei; he simply knew far too little.
"Ten years of hiding... all lost in a single day! Lost in a single day!" Hong Xuan roared at the sky, his hair wildly disheveled.
"Are you from the Royal Court?" Xia Hanshi asked, his gaze cold. Everyone had their own reasons why they couldn't afford to lose. If one died, it only ant their skills were inferior.
"The Royal Court..." Hong Xuan sneered. "The Royal Court is far too massive. No one can truly represent it."
Xia Hanshi pressed further, "Since you ca to Planet Chilei, why didn't you cooperate with Ying Feng, and instead got mixed up with Yuandu?"
""
Ying Feng was the strongest on Planet Chilei, and he held the stone slab. Seeking out Yuandu didn't make much sense.
"It seems you don't know the secrets Yuandu is hiding either," Hong Xuan said, seemingly realizing sothing. "Since things have co to this, I might as well tell you. We weren't the ones who contacted Yuandu; Yuandu contacted us."
Xia Hanshi's expression shifted slightly. The contact thods they held were given by the three people who had initially descended from the Royal Court, and those were ant for contacting the Royal Court's officials.
If they had contacted the officials, the Royal Court couldn't have sent soone down privately. Where did Yuandu get a thod to contact anyone else?
"You said Wu Chenpei deceived us. What did he lie about?" Xia Hanshi continued to interrogate.
Hong Xuan's voice was desolate. "After he helped beco the chosen of Grand Exalt Chiyan Yinglei, his first priority was to kill you, Chong Jingtian, Ying Feng, and all the other high-ranking figures!"
"He intends to make Yuandu supre, ruling Planet Chilei for generations to co. He never planned on leaving any of you alive."
"Hong Xuan!" Lu Kai barked sharply. "My Yuandu has treated you well."
"Always hesitating, always looking forward and backward! You insisted on waiting until we reached the ruins to kill Su Chen. If you had struck earlier, none of this would be happening today!" Hong Xuan spat angrily. Filled with grief and indignation, with death staring him right in the face, he couldn't care less about Yuandu anymore.
Lei Tieyan's expression froze as he glanced at Xia Hanshi beside him. Did Yuandu really want to kill Su Chen?
"Wu Chenpei..." Xia Hanshi murmured under his breath.
Hong Xuan didn't say these things out of the goodness of his heart. It was nothing more than a ruined man breaking the pot because it was already cracked. If he could stir up so trouble before dying, all the better.
Reigning in his emotions, Hong Xuan looked at Su Chen, his voice hoarse. "Listen closely for the thod of class integration."
"You're still willing to give it to ?" Su Chen was rather surprised. Given Hong Xuan's current state, he would completely understand if the man went back on all his previous promises.
Hong Xuan's spiritual fluctuations rippled outward, secretly transmitting the information directly into Su Chen's mind alone.
[Special Class Discovered — Myriad Manifestations: Can be assud after fulfilling the requirents.]
[Assumption Requirent 1: Dual classes must consistently progress in parallel, with a talent gap not exceeding one tier.]
[Assumption Requirent 2: Channel class powers and attempt to fuse them within the body, achieving success at least three tis.
]
[Assumption Requirent 3: Pierce the body with a branch of the World Tree to bridge the fusion of classes.]
[All laws have a source. Myriad Manifestations expresses reverence to Grand Exalt Chiyan Yinglei. Assumption Requirent 2 has been weakened: fusing once is sufficient.]
Su Chen scanned the text. These class requirents weren't difficult for him. The only troubleso part would likely be this so-called branch of the World Tree.
"The final item is in my room," Hong Xuan spoke at last, finally feeling a tiny trace of satisfaction in his heart.
If Su Chen actually followed the class requirents exactly as he had described, there would be only one path—death. Hong Xuan only had one segnt of the World Tree branch left on him, and such a thing simply didn't exist on Planet Chilei, aning Su Chen couldn't even find soone else to test it first.
"I understand." Su Chen calmly glanced at his interface. The class requirents listed there had subtle differences from what Hong Xuan had just told him.
Especially the final requirent. Hong Xuan had directly told him to fuse it into his brain. If he actually followed those instructions, suffering a critical injury would be considered lucky.
'I actually thought this guy had the sportsmanship to accept his loss gracefully,' Su Chen shook his head inwardly.
Xia Hanshi frowned slightly, his eyes filled with a mix of scrutiny and suspicion. He didn't speak on that matter for now, instead probing further: "You didn't have confidence in competing against Su Chen, so you wanted to kill him? What did the scene of Su Chen's recognition signify?"
Hong Xuan let out a hoarse chuckle. The pain from his wounds grew increasingly violent, and the mories of his past flashed before his eyes, ultimately freezing on Su Chen.
An intense surge of reluctance swelled in his chest. To be defeated by this person and then have to explain just how incredible this bastard was—he absolutely refused.
"I concede my loss..." Hong Xuan gritted his teeth. His eyes rolled back as his spiritual fluctuations rapidly boiled, then plumted. He collapsed stiffly onto the ground.
Hong Xuan's perception of his surroundings was fading, his entire being sinking into darkness. In his final, fleeting monts, a spiritual fluctuation suddenly rang out.
'If even a single dog from your Hong Family manages to survive, I'll write my surna Su upside down.'
Su Chen's eyes flickered slightly. He was a very vindictive person.
Hong Xuan's unfocused pupils abruptly constricted, but then dilated just as quickly. His head seed to try and lift, before slamming heavily back down.
"His spiritual core collapsed. Self-annihilation," Shi Yunzhou noted at a glance, shaking his head. It was far too easy for a Spirit-type professional to commit suicide.
Unless there was a high-tier Spirit-type professional who could forcibly control him, but unfortunately, there were none present.
"Still, since he committed suicide, it makes things easier to explain to Yuandu," Shi Yunzhou added, shooting a suspicious glance at Su Chen. He didn't know what final ssage Su Chen and Hong Xuan had exchanged.
"Yuandu is already planning a purge, and you're still thinking about explaining things to them..." Bu Siqi muttered from the side.
"It's just a purge," Shi Yunzhou smiled peacefully, not angered in the slightest. "If we succeed through Su Chen, we'll purge them as well."
"But we haven't succeeded yet, have we? The ruins are still unopened. We must still offer them a phantom hope."
"Just as Wu Chenpei initially offered to us."
Shi Yunzhou wore a beaming smile, but Bu Siqi couldn't help shrinking his neck, a chill running through his heart.
"That class he told you about—don't undertake it recklessly," Xia Hanshi warned. "This man harbors unpredictable motives. If he laid a lethal trap within the requirents, it would cause endless harm."
"I understand." Su Chen glanced at his interface. Hong Xuan did indeed harbor malicious intentions, but the system interface had already autonomously corrected the instructions, leaving zero hidden dangers.
Shi Yunzhou turned to look at Lu Kai, narrowing his eyes. "Just now... what were you trying to do?"
He had previously sensed Lu Kai faintly making a move.
"Nothing." Lu Kai shook his head, forcing himself to stay calm. He couldn't help but feel a pang of sorrow in his heart. Hong Xuan's desperate life-risking plan had failed even at its first step, and he himself was no match for Su Chen. What was the point in struggling?
"What are your thoughts on Hong Xuan's death?" Shi Yunzhou didn't press the matter, simply asking.
Staring at Hong Xuan's corpse, Lu Kai's gaze was complicated. Finally, he replied, "Colluding with the Faceless Divine Son is an unforgivable sin."
With things having reached this point, he either had to accept it or flip the table. Because of Hong Xuan's final actions, Lu Kai easily chose to accept the current reality.
"Very good." Shi Yunzhou nodded in satisfaction. He had already prepared to break his promise and kill Hong Xuan regardless of whether he won or lost.
But the current situation couldn't be any better.
Under Xia Hanshi's signaling gaze, Bu Siqi had already prepared to lead people into the guest house.
"Senior Brother—" Su Chen hurriedly called out, following Bu Siqi inside.
Guided by the staff, they quickly arrived at Hong Xuan's room. After a thorough search, they discovered quite a few items.
The most important among them was the so-called branch of the World Tree. It was a section about the length of an arm and the thickness of a thumb, looking like jade and feeling warm and soft to the touch.
'The thod of class integration...' Su Chen stored it away. Looking around, he noticed a few other items placed alongside it.
There was an iron plaque engraved with special symbols, and a crystal-clear, perfectly round bead. The system interface didn't react to them, aning they weren't conventional tiered items, but they probably weren't simple either.
He collected all of them before wandering off to check the other rooms.
anwhile, things outside had begun to wrap up. The people from Yuandu were temporarily taken into custody, including Lu Kai, and placed under strict guard.
Xia Hanshi said to Shi Yunzhou, "We need to notify Chong Jingtian as soon as possible. Now that the Faceless Divine Son has been destroyed, those believers will definitely sense it. They will likely retreat soon."
It was a sche to kill two birds with one stone, and both birds were extrely important.
The banishnt of the Faceless Divine Son might have looked ordinary, but it was the result of many days of preparation. Its importance was no less than killing Hong Xuan.
And those Faceless believers used to attract attention probably wouldn't continue making aningless sacrifices. The ordinary believers might lack reason, but their Head Priests did not.
"When Wu Chenpei returns, we'll have another reckoning to settle. Hong Xuan is an outsider from beyond the sky—" Xia Hanshi's tone was frigid. "Every single thing they've been hiding must be spat out."
Shi Yunzhou nodded, his deanor relaxed. "Having fought this battle, so problems have been resolved. Since he's an outsider from beyond the sky and not soone Yuandu cultivated from childhood, things are much simpler."
Lu Kai's attitude offered a glimpse into Yuandu's overall stance. Hong Xuan's final suicidal leak of secrets was sowhat chilling.
"Still, you've taken in two excellent students," Shi Yunzhou remarked with a sigh as he saw Su Chen walk out.
"There's also Teng Liang, who could actually see through the disguise of the Faceless Divine Son. How co I never heard of him before?"
Xia Hanshi couldn't be bothered to answer him. He turned and walked away, his mind deep in thought.
Su Chen's precognitive ability really was incredibly accurate. If he could foresee the locations of other blood sacrifices for the grotesque gods' banquets, perhaps... His heart stirred as he thought of the massive amount of grotesque god artifacts stored in the forbidden vault.
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