"With this, there are already three special classes waiting to be unlocked."
Su Chen boarded the aircraft, gradually leaving the docking port amidst the hum of the engines.
His gaze unfocused slightly as he opened his interface and skimd through it.
"These three classes will probably take quite a bit of ti to unlock," he muttered.
Almost no one would attempt to prepare for multiple special classes at the sa ti like he did. The ti and energy required were massive hurdles.
So classes even had continuous requirents; interrupting the process for just a single day ant starting all over again.
However, Su Chen had his own plans. 'I'll focus on acquiring the Faceless Ghost's divine power first to forge its essence,' he thought to himself. 'Once I confirm the requirents for erasure, I can start completing the rest of the conditions.'
This way, he wouldn't waste any ti while collecting the Sly Fox's and the Scarlet's divine powers.
The aircraft drifted smoothly toward his floating island. All around him, many other vessels were heading downward to the satellite city or off to more distant locations.
'Ming Lin is back...'
Approaching the floating island, he spotted another standard aircraft docked at the port.
'Perfect timing. I need to talk to him...'
Stepping out of the port and onto the main path, Su Chen imdiately saw Ming Lin pacing back and forth in the main building's lobby.
Seeing Su Chen return, Ming Lin hurried out to et him and imdiately asked, "Did sothing happen?"
"You know about it too?" Su Chen asked in surprise, his steps not slowing down as he continued toward the main building.
"How would I know?" Ming Lin shook his head, matching his pace. "It's just that a lot of people have been asking about it, since they know I work for you."
Ordinary faction mbers had no right to know about such matters. Seeing the sudden movents of various bigwigs, they couldn't help but make wild guesses.
"Right..." Su Chen nodded. "Qin Yun has disappeared. In fact, all the Morning Star rankers from the other factions who attended the Vast Sea Emperor's birthday banquet have vanished."
"What?" Ming Lin's expression contorted in shock, his steps faltering as he muttered, "Sothing huge is about to happen!"
He frequently mingled with the middle and lower-tier mbers of the faction, so he had a profound understanding of Qin Yun's prestige and the imnse importance of a Morning Star ranker.
Seeing Su Chen already stepping into the lounge, Ming Lin hurriedly followed. "What exactly happened?"
"I'm not sure, and neither is the faction. It still needs further investigation," Su Chen said, shaking his head as he sat down on the sofa.
"Could this be a good thing for us?" Ming Lin asked hesitantly, not entirely sure.
"It's hard to say." Su Chen frowned, his answer ambiguous. He wasn't just brushing off the question; it truly was hard to say. Although Qin Yun had malicious designs on him, he was still one of the foundational pillars of the faction.
He understood the principle that when a nest is overturned, no egg remains unbroken.
"Tsk..." Ming Lin clicked his tongue.
"However, whether it's a good thing or not, there's nothing we can do to influence it," Su Chen said, his eyes flashing. "But right now, this is a pri opportunity to offload our goods. Qin Tianlin probably doesn't have the ti to keep an eye on us anymore."
Hoping for Qin Yun's death sounded like a betrayal to the faction, but Su Chen didn't mind using the man's situation as a cover for his own affairs.
Ming Lin's thoughts raced, and he deeply agreed. "You're right. During this ti, not just Qin Tianlin, but probably no one else will have the energy to pay attention to us."
"By the way, for the next period of ti, our main focus will be collecting the Faceless Ghost's divine power," Su Chen stated. He also ntioned that Chu Ran had already transferred Ming Lin into the patrol squad. "Faceless Ghost divine power... understood." Ming Lin looked thoughtful but noticeably relaxed. "With the identity of the patrol squad as cover, it'll be even more covert now."
Telling Ming Lin to stay put for the ti being, Su Chen waited until the Dark Sun period before entering the Underworld to find Little Black.
Having only mined two mother stones in a day's work, Su Chen first took them out and handed them to Ming Lin, setting him to work.
The news of Qin Yun and the other Morning Star rankers' disappearances gradually spread throughout the faction, triggering significant waves of unrest.
The Qin Yun faction, in particular, was plagued by internal turmoil and widespread panic.
Qin Yun was in the pri of his life and still at his absolute peak. If he were to suddenly perish, the blow to his followers would be devastating.
At the sa ti, three of the Seven Great Seat Heads had been recalled and were making frequent trips to the Ancient King Palace.
Even though Su Chen rarely left his ho, he could clearly feel the increasingly grim atmosphere perating the faction.
Through Ming Lin, he learned that the entirety of the Dust Star Sea was in a state of impending storm.
The Five Great Factions had jointly issued a formal inquiry to the Royal Court. Large-scale fleets and high-level professionals were mobilized frequently. Factions big and small were on edge, and many command hubs had declared martial law and temporarily shut down.
As a result, the prices of all kinds of resources were skyrocketing. Even the price of Underworld Stones had increased, allowing them to sell for a hefty sum.
But just as this tension was climbing to its absolute peak, feeling as if a single spark could detonate the entire region...
The Five Great Factions suddenly went silent, and everything quieted down once more.
Soon after, all the dispatched high-level professionals were recalled. The fleets were also pulled back, and the harsh inquiries directed at the Royal Court simply vanished without a follow-up, almost as if the factions had admitted defeat.
When Su Chen heard the news, he was quite astonished. Was the Royal Court really so powerful that it could stand against five factions simultaneously without losing ground?
He harbored so doubts... However, he soon got his answer at a banquet hosted by Wei Zhenghong.
Inside the lounge, Su Chen sat on a broad, black leather sofa made from the hide of so mutant beast. Half of his body sank into it, giving him a strong sense of being enveloped.
Shen Yi'an stood by the window with his hands behind his back, gazing into the distance.
Wei Zhenghong sat boldly, his right arm resting on his knee. With a deep frown, he asked, "Are you sure?"
Chu Ran leaned against the wall with his arms crossed over his chest, his fingers constantly tapping against his elbow.
Jiang Mufeng nodded. "It's confird. Two Morning Star rankers from the Royal Court have also disappeared. Specifically, the Prison Suppressing King and the Night King."
The Prison Suppressing King... Su Chen recalled the imposing figure he had seen at the Taiyue Hub. On the Morning Star Rankings, which consisted of thirty-six people in total, that man was ranked third and possessed an illustrious reputation.
"So that's how it is," Chu Ran said, a look of realization dawning on his face. "No wonder the Five Great Factions suddenly went quiet."
"The Royal Court's Morning Star rankers disappeared right inside the Royal Court?" Zhao Ming remained sowhat skeptical.
Jiang Mufeng replied hesitantly, "It seems to be because of the Lost Fla."
He wasn't entirely certain himself.
The Lost Fla—Su Chen thought about this matter. When he first arrived in the Dust Star Sea, he had heard tales of it, describing a brilliant, blazing fire that continued to burn intensely deep within the Underworld Mist.
The Vast Sea Emperor's birthday invitation this ti around was likely connected to that Lost Fla.
"But the Lost Fla isn't in the Royal Court. Even if they went to explore it and ended up dying there, they wouldn't have just disappeared from the Royal Court itself," Zhao Ming pointed out, utterly baffled.
Jiang Mufeng sighed helplessly. "That's true, but the Royal Court must have produced so sort of concrete evidence to make the Ancient Kings stand down."
This involved communications at the absolute highest levels, sothing they had no way of knowing.
However, what relieved everyone was that this wasn't an ambush secretly set up by the Royal Court. The anticipated major war probably wouldn't happen after all.
No one wanted to see a war break out.
"Seven Morning Star rankers," Zhao Ming clicked his tongue in awe. "If they're really dead... the Royal Court will still be hard-pressed to absolve itself of the bla."
"It's precisely because no one is sure if they're dead or alive that everything has temporarily died down," Shen Yi'an suddenly interjected.
The group continued to discuss the matter for a while longer.
Taking a sip of wine, Chu Ran looked over at Su Chen. "Junior Granduncle, I heard you've been frequenting the Underworld lately to mine Underworld Stones?"
"Yeah, well, I'm short on contribution points, and Underworld Stones are quite valuable," Su Chen replied casually.
"Underworld Stones? Those are notoriously difficult to mine," Jiang Mufeng said in surprise. Since they ca from extraordinary backgrounds, they had never had to worry about contribution points.
"That's for normal people. I heard that Junior Uncle mined four mother stones in just five days. Even the Underworld Hall is talking about it," Chu Ran said. "Just good luck, that's all," Su Chen replied, feigning helplessness. The others didn't make a big deal out of it either, chatting for a few more sentences before changing the subject.
What on earth was going on with that Lost Fla? As he left the banquet, Su Chen found himself pondering the matter.
It wasn't until he rode his aircraft back to the floating island that he finally managed to suppress his wandering thoughts.
Stepping out of the aircraft, Su Chen summoned his interface.
[Thunder Emperor Fla Lord: 21%]
[Crimson Thunder Dominator: 21%]
[Tier 5 Fla Thunder Bone Forging thod — Mastery: 5%]
[Tier 5 Fla Thunder Mind Cleansing ditation — Mastery: 5%]
Glancing at the interface, even though it wasn't the first ti he had felt this way, Su Chen still couldn't help but sigh in silent admiration. 'It's so fast. It's only been a month and a half, yet the developnt progress has already reached twenty percent.'
This was the developnt efficiency of a Star Amber rank talent.
Of course, it was also thanks to him training and developing it almost around the clock. The main reason he could push himself so hard was that having a visible progress bar right in front of his eyes provided trendous motivation.
'I wonder how amazing Divine Radiance feels,' Su Chen couldn't help but think. He had carefully researched nurous records, and it was exactly as Chu Ran had said. Even within the faction, there were no docunted cases of a person's talent being upgraded to Divine Radiance post-birth.
Take Qin Tianlin, for example. He was born with a physical-side Divine Radiance talent, but his spiritual side was slightly weaker, only at the Profound Purple rank. It was only through various artificial thods that he gradually raised it to the Star Amber rank.
It was exactly as he had predicted earlier. Under the turbulent circumstances, Qin Tianlin simply didn't have the ti to keep an eye on them constantly, allowing Ming Lin to fence their goods smoothly.
In just a month and a half, they had already managed to purchase fifteen portions of mid-tier Faceless Ghost divine power. They had even managed to forge one portion of essence from it, and a second portion would soon be ready.
However, calculating the ti, it would still take at least another half a month to obtain the final portion of Faceless Ghost essence.
Perhaps... Su Chen pondered for a mont, thinking of the Faceless Ghost. His eyes flickered. 'Maybe I should try communicating with this guy. It would serve as a good foundation.'
He didn't need divine blood in the short term, so he might as well squeeze out so high-tier divine power.
Three portions of high-tier divine power could be converted into nine portions of mid-tier divine power, which would be enough to forge the essence.
Su Chen already had ideas about this. These strange gods were practically treasure troves, but dealing with them required extre caution.
Waiting until the Dark Sun period, Su Chen familiarly entered the Underworld. He first headed toward the mining area to find Little Black.
The high-tier Underworld creatures in the vicinity had long since grown accustod to his arrival.
"Master! Master!"
Little Black ran over excitedly, presenting his harvest from the past three days—a full five mother stones.
Su Chen only wanted mother stones now, because their price was the highest and they were very easy for Ming Lin to sell. All the child stones were given to Little Black to eat. As a result, the creature's body had beco increasingly solid, and its fur looked incredibly sleek and glossy.
Behind him stood several other Underworld creatures, Little Black's lackeys, who looked at Su Chen with absolute reverence.
"Not bad, not bad," Su Chen praised, reaching out to take the stones. He was very satisfied.
Receiving the praise, Little Black grew even more visibly excited, letting out a wolf-like howl as he tilted his head back and pounded his chest.
Even though he was used to it, seeing a black ape unleash a wolf howl still felt incredibly bizarre to Su Chen.
After first bringing the mother stones out into the real world, Su Chen re-entered the Underworld. This ti, he didn't head back to the mining area, but picked a direction and headed outward.
'Little Black is quite competent at his job...' Su Chen mused. Recently, Little Black had been executing the mining orders perfectly.
Having a literal construction crew working for him was indeed extrely comfortable and saved a massive amount of ti.
'I wonder what else, besides out-of-bounds spirits, can rapidly strengthen Underworld creatures. If he can grow stronger, it would be highly beneficial to .'
As he thought this, Su Chen's steps suddenly faltered. A strange expression crossed his face as he realized he had actually placed so much trust in Little Black that he was actively considering ways to boost his strength.
'It's only been a few months since I first t the guy, and I'm treating him like this just because he's my believer?'
Su Chen fell into deep thought. 'No wonder I was able to scam a drop of divine blood out of my old friend, the Black Buddha.'
Even he wasn't immune to this subconscious level of trust toward believers.
'As long as a believer can get things done and demonstrate their value, the benefits won't be lacking. Perhaps it's not just about extorting divine blood and divine power...'
Su Chen tried to analyze the mindset of the strange gods. The Faceless God he was about to contact was different from the Black Buddha. This entity had no direct connection to the na "Su Chen," which might make deceiving it a bit more difficult.
Su Chen calculated carefully, constantly perfecting his ntal draft.
As the flas reignited, he found the boundary marker. Just like last ti, he perford only the most basic of prayers.
The faceless humanoid symbol on the ground gradually glowed with an invisible radiance. An ethereal, overlapping voice—a blend of n, won, the elderly, and children—echoed in his ears: "For what matter do you summon ?"
"Great Faceless God, I require you to bestow upon three portions of high-tier divine power."
Su Chen stated his demand directly.
Sure enough, just like last ti, a brief silence followed. Then, the tone of the voice shifted entirely. It beca resentful and haunting, as if spectral n and won were coiling around Su Chen, whispering directly into his ears. "My humble believer, what kind of act to please are you undertaking that requires the aid of three portions of high-tier divine power?"
"Do you know of Su Chen?" he asked probingly.
"Su Chen of the Red Thunder Star. The one chosen by the Scarlet Fla Echoing Thunder Exalt. The fellow targeted by the Black Buddha," the haunting voice replied, seemingly rippling with a hint of emotion.
'He really does know, and he's even been paying attention to .' Su Chen's confidence surged. Since the god knew about him, the task was already half done.
"You are indeed omniscient. It is exactly him. I have been lurking in the territory ruled by the Bronze Faction, and I recently discovered a Black Buddha believer who hails from the Red Thunder Star. He seems to have set his sights on Su Chen and has already initiated a series of actions."
After he finished speaking, the Faceless Ghost did not respond.
Su Chen muttered inwardly, 'What does this silence an?'
"The Black Buddha... as expected..." the Faceless Ghost let out a long sigh before continuing. "Three portions of high-tier divine power. I understand. Humble believer, I hope you can bring a pleasant surprise."
The Faceless Ghost was far more decisive than the Black Buddha. Perhaps it was because the request didn't involve divine blood.
The Underworld space before his eyes distorted, and three translucent, snake-like trails of power slithered out, hovering right in front of Su Chen.
The Faceless Ghost's voice echoed out once more. "Humble believer, do you have any other entreaties?"
This guy seed much easier to talk to than the Black Buddha. Su Chen's heart stirred. After a mont of thought, he said, "Great Faceless God, I recently got in touch with a high-ranking mber of the Bronze Faction. He has so questions. If I could answer them, it might help build a closer relationship with him."
"Oh?" The Faceless Ghost seed sowhat astonished. "A high-ranking mber of the Bronze Faction. Humble believer, you have already brought a surprise."
"What are the questions?"
'It actually worked!' Su Chen's spirit soared. He realized he had previously completely overlooked another use for these strange gods: treating them as encyclopedias.
As strange gods with seemingly limitless lifespans, the sheer volu of events they had experienced and knowledge they possessed was nothing short of vast.
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