"Teacher Qing, this Hengdao Hub delayed us for ten days for no apparent reason. The situation over at Mount Taiyue might not be completely stable," Wan Chen cautioned.
"Perhaps it really is a Nether Mist cluster?" Lin Yue remarked, watching the approaching star gate. "The Taiyue Hub belongs to the Luminous Group. They are a faction specializing in operating interstellar hubs and are absolutely neutral. They've even rejected the Royal Court's requests for joint investigations several tis."
"It wouldn't be easy for anyone to ambush us in a place like that."
"Rest assured, I know what I'm doing." Qingcang's calm deanor influenced the others, easing their worries significantly.
anwhile, the Copper Star had breached the star gate. The hull trembled slightly as blinding, dazzling light pierced through the portholes on both sides.
Su Chen couldn't help but narrow his eyes. Only after a violent tremor did the ship finally stabilize.
Outside the portholes, the view had transford into a bizarre, kaleidoscopic dinsion of flowing light. This was the hyperspace jump lane.
"We're finally safe now that we're in here." Lan Hao relaxed his taut nerves. Having gone out with Su Chen previously, the glares of those who looked ready to eat Su Chen alive had left quite a traumatic impression on him.
Qingcang narrowed his eyes slightly and turned to head toward the cockpit.
Wan Chen remained silent, turning on his heel to leave. He had sothing he needed to verify right now.
"Senior Brother..." Su Chen caught up to Qingcang and followed him into the cockpit.
"What is it?" Qingcang inquired as he pulled up a star map, his eyes scanning the display.
"I wanted to ask about the Sacred Professions." Su Chen glanced at the star map. He didn't know how to read it yet and could only see a cluster of glowing dots.
"Sacred Professions?" Qingcang was sowhat surprised, but quickly understood. "Did Lan Hao and the others tell you?" he asked softly.
"Yeah. After all, the Sacred Professions are so powerful." Su Chen made no attempt to hide his desire.
"Sacred Professions aren't easy to obtain..." Qingcang understood Su Chen's intention and shook his head sowhat helplessly.
"Doesn't our faction have any Sacred Professions that everyone can learn?" Su Chen asked tentatively.
"Everyone can learn?" Qingcang paused in surprise before bursting into laughter, a hint of teasing in his voice. "Without the Morning Star rank, a Sacred Profession cannot be born. It is the core foundation upon which a family or faction relies to survive and thrive."
"If it were you, would you be willing to offer it up for just anyone to learn?"
"Uh..." Su Chen hesitated.
"You're quite honest, not even bothering to pretend." Qingcang chuckled again, then added, "However, the Sanctuary does indeed possess three Sacred Professions. When the ti cos, you can choose one and slowly work toward mastering it."
'If we actually have them, why are you ssing with ? It was exactly because he really possessed them that he hesitated,' Su Chen thought to himself.
Su Chen was secretly speechless. "Can I only choose one?"
"If it weren't for your status as a Star Seed, you wouldn't even get one. Besides, a person's energy is limited. Managing to successfully attain even one is already an excellent achievent." Qingcang shot him a flat glance. "Once we reach the faction, we'll consolidate the professions you've already taken and your related information. The analysts will then select the most suitable Sacred Profession for you."
"Then what about our Master?" Su Chen suddenly rembered.
"Master's profession can no longer be called a Sacred Profession." Qingcang shook his head. "Don't even think about it."
'It's not a Sacred Profession?' Su Chen's heart stirred, but Qingcang offered no further explanation.
Having beaten around the bush, Su Chen finally asked what he really wanted to know. Feigning curiosity, he pressed, "I heard them say that a Sacred Profession eventually requires slting, and it seems you need sothing called Morning Star Fire? Isn't that sothing you can only get after advancing to the Morning Star rank?"
"They only have half the picture." Qingcang glanced at him and shook his head. "It does indeed require Morning Star Fire, but the fla doesn't need to be overwhelmingly vigorous. You just need to ignite the kindling using a special thod."
"Kindling?" Su Chen hurriedly asked. "What is that?"
Qingcang paused briefly, but he understood Su Chen's curiosity. After all, this was his first ti coming into contact with the Dust Star Sea. Information that Wan Chen and the others took for granted was sothing Su Chen had to learn step by step.
"It's a bit complicated to explain. Simply put, it's anything that can serve as fuel for the Morning Star Fire, and there are many different types." Qingcang gave an example, "Currently, the most widely used kindling is Divine Blood..."
"Divine... Blood?" Su Chen froze, his expression suddenly becoming very colorful. "Is it the Divine Blood I'm thinking of?"
"Yes, the blood of an Eldritch God." Qingcang nodded. "And it's the finest fuel available."
'I think... I actually have a drop,' Su Chen thought, genuinely taken aback.
'These Eldritch Gods are treasures from head to toe. Their power, essence, and blood—all of it is useful.'
As for what the special thod to ignite the Morning Star Fire was, Su Chen didn't ask. He figured Qingcang wouldn't tell him anyway.
After chatting idly for a few more minutes, he turned to leave, muttering inwardly, 'Looks like my interactions with the Eldritch Gods can't stop anyti soon.'
"Should I do it or not..." Qingcang hesitated as he watched Su Chen's departing back. "Or should I just take him back normally, step by step?"
He had an idea that might clear away so impending troubles for Su Chen upon entering the Bronze Faction. It would intimidate many people and uphold their Master's prestige.
However, it would simultaneously cause violent tremors within the faction, leading to unknown consequences, which could also be sowhat detrintal to their Master.
It was difficult to achieve the best of both worlds, leaving him highly conflicted over whether he should go through with it.
After a long ti, he let out a heavy sigh. All things considered, there were only twenty-two of them in the entire Dust Star Sea. Even if they obeyed Master's orders and fiercely protected Su Chen from outsiders, still...
"Apologies. Sir Su Chen does not permit public access to his training projection." Inside the training room, a cold, chanical prompt echoed, causing Wan Chen to frown deeply.
"Access not permitted?" He was slightly surprised, which only stoked the flas of his curiosity. "Just what kind of secrets is this guy hiding?"
But with the system permissions set as they were, he didn't have the authority to order the Copper Star to force it open. His eyes flickered before he commanded, "Retrieve the record of Lin Yue's most recent battle with Su Chen."
"Apologies. Lady Lin Yue has prohibited others from accessing her battle records."
"So that path is blocked too." Wan Chen narrowed his eyes. The more they tried to keep him in the dark, the more he wanted to know.
"Do they really think I'm out of options..." Wan Chen's expression shifted as he turned and walked out the training room doors.
"...Training projection..." Around the corner of the corridor, Lan Hao stared at him intently. Seeing Wan Chen leave, he waited a mont before slipping into the training room himself.
Soon, he found himself just as bewildered. "The training projection is locked, and the battle records are locked too. It seems there really is sothing suspicious going on here."
anwhile, Wan Chen had already located Xia Jie, who was inspecting various parts of the spaceship to ensure no components had been damaged during the jump.
"Captain Xia, there's a problem with the training room's data. I've been trying to pull up a previous battle record, but I just can't get it to load," Wan Chen said, sounding distressed.
"A system glitch?" Xia Jie frowned. "We probably spent too long in the Nether Mist, causing so data corruption."
Feigning helplessness, Wan Chen asked, "That battle record is quite important. I was hoping to review it. Do you think there's anything you can do?"
"Hmm..." Xia Jie hesitated. "Data loss is tough to fix. All I can do is try rolling back the system to see if we can recover it."
"Great. I'll have to trouble you, then." Wan Chen breathed a sigh of relief.
Xia Jie suspected nothing. If it had been the surveillance room or sothing similar, he might have refused. But the training room only contained combat data—what kind of secrets could possibly be in there?
He followed Wan Chen to the training room and glanced at the indicator light, looking surprised. "Soone's inside?"
Wan Chen's brow furrowed. Before he could speak, the cabin doors slid open, and an equally puzzled Lan Hao walked out. Their eyes t, and both of their hearts skipped a beat.
"Sir Lan Hao," Xia Jie greeted.
"What are you two up to?" Lan Hao's eyes flickered as he asked.
Wan Chen cursed inwardly, but he couldn't stop Xia Jie from explaining. "Sir Wan Chen ntioned there was so missing data, so I'm here to do a system rollback."
"Oh." A glint flashed in Lan Hao's eyes. He stepped aside and gestured. "Please, go ahead."
Oblivious to the strange tension between the two, Xia Jie walked straight in.
Wan Chen shot Lan Hao a glance but said nothing. Both of them entered the training room together.
Qingcang and Xia Jie possessed master override permissions for the entire spaceship.
He first initiated a data backup before preparing the rollback operation, turning to ask Wan Chen, "Which day should I roll it back to?"
"Hmm..." Wan Chen recalled the ti when Lin Yue had kicked his door down. "It should be right after we departed from the Crimson Thunder Planet..."
"Yes... exactly! That day, around six in the evening," Wan Chen said imdiately upon spotting a specific tistamp on the screen.
"Alright." After Xia Jie completed his biotric verification to authorize the action, the entire training room suddenly plunged into darkness.
Not planning to wait around, Xia Jie said, "The rollback will take about ten minutes to complete. I'm going to continue inspecting the cabins. If you find that battle record, have the Copper Star back it up. I'll co back later to restore the tiline."
There was nothing particularly important about the training room; apart from a few specific situations, almost no one ever used it.
Lan Hao and Wan Chen watched him leave.
In the darkness, neither of them spoke a word.
Ten minutes later, accompanied by a soft hum, the lights in the training room flickered back to life.
Seeing that Wan Chen was still keeping his mouth shut, a trace of mockery flashed through Lan Hao's eyes. "How long are we going to wait?"
Wan Chen realized it was impossible to shake this guy off. Giving a resigned sigh, he finally spoke up, "Bring up the record of the most recent battle between Lin Yue and Su Chen's training projection."
This ti, as expected, the Copper Star did not refuse. A glowing blue light wove together into a virtual screen, and two figures gradually materialized. It was the projections of Lin Yue and Su Chen, who quickly clashed together in combat.
"Just as I thought..." Wan Chen's expression grew solemn. It was extrely difficult to track their movents in the battle footage.
However, by analyzing their afterimages, he could deduce that Lin Yue only held a slight upper hand. This was almost exactly as he had speculated.
No wonder Lin Yue had been so thrilled when she ca to find him that day.
"To think Su Chen can actually fight Lin Yue to a draw..." Lan Hao muttered in astonishnt. Even he wasn't confident he could beat Lin Yue.
"It's more than that. This is just his training projection; it still falls short of Su Chen's actual strength," Wan Chen said, his eyes gleaming.
After watching for a few more monts, he had the Copper Star close the battle record. It was too blurry; they couldn't clearly make out the details anyway.
"Doesn't this an that, at the sa rank, Su Chen could potentially beat ?"
Lan Hao was shocked and doubtful. After all, he was several years older than Su Chen, and he certainly hadn't wasted those years.
Ignoring Lan Hao's disbelief, Wan Chen simply ordered, "Copper Star, release Su Chen's training projection."
"Acknowledged," the Copper Star replied. In the center of the room, a holographic phantom sitting cross-legged gradually took shape.
"What kind of stance is that...?" Wan Chen was baffled, but he stepped into the arena anyway. "Activate fair combat mode."
His life aura was suppressed down to a matching level. Looking at Su Chen's training projection, his expression turned deadly serious. "I underestimated you before. To be chosen by the Exalted Crimson Fla Lightning Sovereign, you are indeed extraordinary."
"Since that's the case, I shall experience it for myself."
Outside the combat ring, Lan Hao's heart remained filled with shock and doubt.
With Su Chen's talent, having fully mastered top-tier professions at his age and reaching the Fourth Tier... that would place him in the upper-middle echelons even within the Bronze Faction, let alone on a desolate world like the Crimson Thunder Planet.
But factoring in the terrifying ntal fortitude the boy possessed, it made sense. Throw in one or two special power-boosting professions on top of that, and it wasn't unimaginable.
Yet even with all that, he still shouldn't be a match for Lin Yue. Just what exactly was he...
Before his thoughts could settle, Lan Hao's eyes suddenly bulged and his pupils dilated rapidly, as if he were witnessing sothing utterly unbelievable.
In the arena, the mont the battle began, the aura radiating from the training projection first weakened, then violently spiked. In the blink of an eye, the figure vanished from where it stood.
It wasn't just Lan Hao; even Wan Chen couldn't track Su Chen's movents. His expression changed drastically. By the ti he reacted, his opponent had already pressed right up to him like a phantom.
A right punch was already rocketing forward, wrapped in black lightning like a dense cloud of ink. The coarse arcs of electricity snapped and crackled tightly around the fist.
Wan Chen only had ti for a subconscious reaction. Just as a layer of shimring purple shielding humd to life across his chest, the lightning-wreathed fist slamd brutally into it.
Boom!
A sea of black lightning erupted in the arena. A surging torrent of energy swept outward, only to be rapidly absorbed by the training grounds.
Crack!
The shield around Wan Chen shattered. Shards of purple electricity hissed and scattered violently, each fragnt erupting into six-inch-tall tongues of fla upon hitting the ground.
Su Chen's training projection carried on with unabated montum. The savage fist sank deep into Wan Chen's abdon, and searing black arcs of electricity instantly ravaged his entire body.
His body arched violently like a cooked shrimp, his eyes bulging from their sockets as he was lifted entirely off the ground by Su Chen's fist. The faint, sickening crunch of snapping ribs could be heard, and blood dribbled from the corner of his mouth.
All of this happened in a re fraction of a second. Su Chen's training phantom didn't pause; its other fist was already raised high. Yet, before the blow could land, the projection suddenly disintegrated.
Thump!
Wan Chen crashed heavily to the floor. As the battle concluded, his aura rapidly restored itself, yet he remained motionless on the ground.
'He was... he was... one-shot?!'
Lan Hao's mind reeled in disbelief, his expression frozen stiff. For a mont, he even suspected the system was malfunctioning. How could Wan Chen be utterly steamrolled like that?
In the battle logs, Lin Yue had even managed to secure a slight advantage.
Wan Chen, who had been lying face-down on the ground, rolled over like a dead fish. His expression was completely blank and shell-shocked.
He hadn't even had ti to react. He hadn't used any of his combat techniques, nor had he brought out his trump card of fusing his professions.
Su Chen's speed had been far too fast, his attack far too tyrannical. Yet as he assessed the situation in his mind, he knew that even if he had thrown out every trump card he had, he would have only survived a few more hits at best. The final result would hardly have changed.
'How could this be? Lin Yue clearly still had the upper hand... How was I crushed so effortlessly...'
Suddenly, as if a realization struck him, Wan Chen snapped his head toward Lan Hao.
Their eyes t, jolting Lan Hao awake from his stupor. In that instant, as though sharing a telepathic link, he imdiately demanded, "Copper Star! The battle record we just accessed—what combat mode was it in? What were their respective profession tiers?"
The cold, chanical voice echoed through the training room. "Normal Combat Mode. Lady Lin Yue was at the Fifth Tier, and Sir Su Chen's training projection was at the Fourth Tier."
'What!?'
Lan Hao looked horrified, as if he had been struck by lightning. He staggered two steps backward. 'A Fifth Tier fighting a Fourth Tier... and she only barely gained the upper hand?!'
Wan Chen stared in a dazed trance. For a long while, he was utterly incapable of speech.
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