He gathered his thoughts and asked in a low voice, "He has been troubled by his talent lately. Can the Divine Dawn level of talent only be achieved innately?"
"A Divine Dawn talent... It possesses the innate ability to ignite the morning fire..." The Faceless Ghost's voice was drawn-out and profound. "But reaching the Divine Dawn level is exceedingly difficult..."
'To innately ignite the morning fire?'
'To think it cos with such a benefit. Wouldn't that make forging a holy profession incredibly quick and convenient? But why haven't I ever heard of anything like this before?'
Su Chen's heart stirred. "Exceedingly difficult" didn't an impossible. He quickly asked, "Please instruct on a solution, so I can give that person a proper explanation."
"Have him place his faith in , and I will naturally help him resolve it," the Faceless Ghost replied.
'Place my faith in you?' Su Chen was rendered sowhat speechless. 'If I really worshipped you, there wouldn't be a damn thing left to resolve.'
He harbored so suspicions about whether this entity actually knew the answer or not.
However, playing the role of a devout believer, it wasn't his place to press the issue.
After a mont of thought, he asked again, "Great Faceless God, there is one more thing. Recently, several Morning Star experts from the Bronze Cult and the Royal Court have mysteriously disappeared. Do you happen to know the reason behind this?"
"If you are aware of the truth, I can relay it to him, and he will undoubtedly feel your supre majesty."
"They fell into the Lost Fla," the Faceless Ghost answered directly this ti.
'He actually knows,' Su Chen thought in astonishnt. He probed further, "But they seed to have vanished from within the Royal Court, and the Lost Fla... doesn't appear to be located there..."
"I am not questioning you, O Great One. I simply need a coherent explanation for him."
"They believed that exploring the Nether Realm would allow them to bypass the risks, but the Lost Fla is far beyond anything they are capable of touching. Even their physical bodies were dragged into it." The Faceless Ghost revealed the truth, a hint of mockery in his tone. "What a bunch of fools."
'So that's what happened...' Su Chen was struck by a sudden realization. This entity truly knew a lot. He was tempted to ask what secrets the Lost Fla actually held.
But before he could respond, the Faceless Ghost spoke up on its own. "To care about such matters... Who is the high-ranking cult mber you've made contact with?"
After those two questions, it seed the Faceless Ghost was genuinely intrigued.
Su Chen already had a prepared answer. "His na is Fan Zhao, a disciple of Qin Yun."
"Fan Zhao? I know of this person," the Faceless Ghost said in understanding. "You have done well. Maintain a good relationship with him. We might need his cooperation for sothing soon."
Receiving a direct order from the Faceless Ghost, Su Chen felt a slight knot of tension in his chest. "Please instruct ."
"The Divine Son of the Faceless and the Divine Son of the Black Buddha will be heading to the Bronze Cult soon. You are to receive them and assist with their operations."
Su Chen's heart skipped a beat. 'The Divine Sons of the Faceless Ghost and the Black Buddha are actually coming to the Bronze Cult?'
'They've tead up?'
What about what he had just ntioned regarding the Black Buddha's believer... Su Chen felt a wave of nervousness, but quickly realized that this kind of cooperation likely had its limits. It was impossible for two eerie gods to share every piece of information with each other.
"The Divine Sons are actually coming..." He feigned a highly thrilled tone. "Is there anything I need to prepare in advance?"
"No need. It will take them about three months to arrive at Planet Canglan. You just need to await their summons," the Faceless Ghost said.
Su Chen imdiately responded, "I will carry out your will. But what if Fan Zhao grows suspicious because of this, or even tries to strike from the shadows? What should I do then?"
"Play it by ear. You don't have to force his cooperation." To the Faceless Ghost, this seed to be nothing more than a casual, opportunistic move. If it worked out, great; if not, it didn't matter.
"I will strictly obey your command." Su Chen bowed his head, then asked once more about the secrets of the Lost Fla. Unfortunately, the Faceless Ghost had no intention of revealing anything to 'Fan Zhao' and did not respond.
On the ground, the glowing radiance of the faceless humanoid symbol gradually faded. Only after thoroughly wiping it away did he store the three portions of divine power into his interface and return to reality.
He didn't break down the divine power, opting instead to directly forge it into essence.
Su Chen's gaze was sowhat unfocused, his brows furrowed deeply. "The Faceless Divine Son and the Black Buddha Divine Son have actually joined forces. But why?"
He recalled the strange reaction the Faceless Ghost had just shown when he ntioned that the Black Buddha had secretly deployed believers to target him.
'Could they be coming for ? The Faceless Ghost thought the Black Buddha was fully cooperating with him, only to discover that the Black Buddha had his own secret arrangents?'
At this thought, Su Chen's heart skipped a beat. 'That old bastard Black Buddha hasn't given up at all.'
'He already has a believer causing trouble here with divine blood, yet he actually sent his Divine Son directly over, and even roped the Faceless Ghost into it.'
'The Faceless Ghost is already renowned for its concealnt abilities, and with a Divine Son leading the way... if they really manage to infiltrate...'
'No way. I'm reporting them. I'm reporting them imdiately!'
Su Chen instinctively thought of mobilizing the Cult's forces. This matter wasn't particularly difficult to handle, as long as he could confirm the identities of those two Divine Sons...
However, he would probably have to make a trip there personally. Su Chen pondered the matter carefully.
'Then there's the Divine Dawn talent... It seems even more powerful than I imagined.'
"These eerie gods are hoarding quite a few good things. I need to figure out a way to fleece them for all they're worth. Just bluffing definitely won't cut it; I have to let them see so results..."
Not long after, there was a commotion outside. It was Ming Lin returning, bringing with him three portions of mid-tier Faceless Ghost divine power.
Su Chen reached out and took them, silently absorbing the power and beginning the forging process.
At the sa ti, he took out three mother stones and handed them to Ming Lin, instructing, "You don't need to buy any more Faceless Ghost divine power. Resu buying the Sly Fox's divine power."
"Switching again?" Ming Lin was surprised but nodded in agreent.
With no one keeping an eye on them lately, and his official status as a mber of the patrol team, combined with his growing experience, his actions had beco increasingly secure. While not entirely traceless, he left virtually no clues behind.
Having finished discussing business, Su Chen finally asked, "Where exactly is Planet Canglan?"
This was the place the Faceless Ghost had ntioned, the destination where the two Divine Sons were set to arrive.
"Canglan..." Ming Lin pondered for a mont. "It's not too far from Copper Core. Using the warp lane, it takes about three days to get there. I often go there to distribute goods."
"You distribute goods there?" Su Chen asked, surprised.
Ming Lin nodded. "Yeah. That place is a life-bearing planet with a fairly developed trade sector. A lot of special minerals are sold to the public there. Over ti, it naturally turned into a sort of trade hub. It's a mixed bag of people, which makes things quite convenient."
'No wonder the Divine Sons are heading there first,' Su Chen thought.
Deep in thought, Su Chen said, "In that case, you must be pretty familiar with the area. Does the patrol team have much influence there?"
"It's decent enough. After that guy ng Shiyu died—" Ming Lin paused, a strange expression crossing his face.
He hadn't expected to hear the news of ng Shiyu's death so soon after just ntioning him...
Gathering his thoughts, he continued, "After that guy died, combined with what happened to Qin Yun and your own background, everything within the patrol team has been running very smoothly. We carry a lot of weight."
"That's good." Su Chen nodded, then said, "In a little while, I'm going to have you arrest two people. They seem to be believers of the eerie gods. What you need to do is 'accidentally' discover their anomalies."
"Arrest eerie god believers?" Ming Lin was startled, unable to suppress his curiosity. Su Chen stayed holed up on the floating island all day—where was he getting this information?
Despite his curiosity, Ming Lin didn't ask, rely pondering the feasibility of the request.
A mont later, he replied, "It shouldn't be a big problem. The patrol team is already responsible for investigating suspicious individuals. I just need to lock onto them, send a few people to investigate, pretend to have found so clues, and report it up the chain."
"Mm." Su Chen thought for a second before adding, "However, these two guys are going to be very strong. How can we mobilize high-level professionals?"
"Then we'll have to activate the ergency response chanism. As long as we confirm there's sothing wrong with them, explaining it afterward will be quite simple. We can just chalk it up to acting out of an abundance of caution, or claim we had an informant..."
As he spoke, he suddenly froze, rembering that back on Planet Crimson Thunder, Su Chen had seemingly used this exact thod to arrest quite a few people.
His eyes filled with suspicion, seriously doubting that Su Chen was rely asking a question; he was clearly guiding him.
"Anyway, as long as there is an actual problem with the targets, it'll work," he concluded.
Su Chen nodded and told him to wait for his signal.
"Qin Yun actually went missing? Along with the people from the Royal Court... The Lost Fla..."
A slender spaceship erged from the warp stargate. Qing Cang stood before the viewport, his expression shifting unpredictably.
During the warp jump through the stargate, he had been cut off from all external news. It was only after erging that he learned of this developnt.
The initial tense standoff had already dissipated, and what he received was the most up-to-date information.
"The Royal Court was too reckless. And those guys actually believed the Royal Court's words without even giving us a heads-up first," said an old man with a full head of crimson hair beside him, his face looking grim.
"There were likely other unexpected variables at play." Qing Cang's eyes flickered. "Besides, who wouldn't want to get their hands on the secrets of the Radiant Sun tier..."
"Easy for you to say..." The crimson-haired old man snorted coldly. "It's still uncertain whether it was actually left behind by the death of a Radiant Sun expert."
"Just wait. There will eventually be an explanation." Qing Cang sighed, his gaze shifting toward another stargate. This was rely a transit station. To reach the Cult, they needed to make one more warp jump.
Having reviewed this most critical piece of news, he finally had the ti to check his other ssages. He continuously swiped across the virtual screen.
Soon, his expression stiffened. "Su Chen... has reached the fifth tier?"
"This... isn't right."
He knew that Su Chen had beco the champion of the fifth tier while only being at the fourth tier. Having long been aware of Su Chen's remarkable strength, this hadn't surprised him too much.
But advancing to the fifth tier had happened while he was in the middle of a warp jump on his way back.
'It's definitely not the Double Ink Jade...' He felt highly suspicious. 'Just what exactly is going on with this kid...'
"To think he's already at the fifth tier..." The crimson-haired old man cast a glance over, equally surprised.
"Mm." Qing Cang snapped back to reality and quickly turned off the virtual screen.
"Double Ink Jade..." The crimson-haired old man said with disdain. "You've hidden this quite deeply. You must have baited quite a few people with that Double Ink Jade."
Su Chen's na had been causing a massive uproar recently. He naturally knew that Qing Cang had co to the Profound Heaven Cult precisely to elevate the kid's talent.
He had actually believed that this Su Chen truly possessed a Double Ink Jade talent. Looking at it now, it was absolutely impossible. Qing Cang had fooled everyone.
Qing Cang's expression shifted slightly, but he remained silent.
anwhile, the crimson-haired old man sighed in admiration, "The Bronze Cult's legacy truly endures. Every single Morning Star-tier spirituality has a chosen candidate."
"If their luck holds out, they might be able to use the Profound Heaven Instrunt to elevate one of their talents to the Star Amber level, or even Double Star Amber... Tsk tsk."
Qing Cang shook his head and said evenly, "That is only the best-case scenario. Being able to elevate it to a single Star Amber would already be a decent outco."
The Profound Heaven Instrunt wasn't omnipotent. The crimson-haired old man naturally knew this, yet he couldn't help but marvel, "I heard he also gained the acknowledgnt of the Ancient King Stele. He might actually have hope of reaching the Ancient King tier."
He was genuinely envious. The Profound Heaven Cult currently only had two Star Seeds, though there were a few chosen candidates currently locked in a power struggle.
As for a potential successor to the Ancient King, one had yet to be born.
"The Ancient King..." Qing Cang frowned slightly, offering no further comnt.
Back on Copper Core, inside the training room on Su Chen's floating island.
Golden-red tongues of fire licked at every inch of his body. They seed to possess a consciousness of their own, frantically squeezing and burrowing toward the bones in his torso and limbs.
Within the flas, his skeletal structure issued a rapid, dense series of cracking sounds, like wet wood splitting in a raging fire, yet even crisper.
His skin and muscle tissue had turned semi-transparent. The flas that surged into his body acted like the most precise forging hamrs, striking repeatedly against his bones.
Faintly, his skeleton began to emit a dark golden luster, the kind only seen when tal is calcined at extrely high temperatures.
In a split second, the surging flas surrounding him suddenly extinguished.
Su Chen slowly opened his eyes and summoned his interface—the two portions of Faceless Ghost essence had been successfully forged.
Having waited for a long ti, he imdiately applied them to his two professions: the Hundred-Refined Forger and the Weapon Master.
He had already used a previously forged portion on the Stigmata Doctor profession, erasing its third advancent requirent. It was the one that demanded gathering a pile of materials and performing a flawless surgery.
Su Chen had discreetly inquired about it. Individually, those items weren't considered precious, but deliberately collecting all of them would easily draw the Lan family's attention. Erasing that requirent was a great relief.
However, the remaining requirent—healing the injuries of over five thousand people—was also quite troubleso. The silver lining was that there were no restrictions on ti or the severity of the injuries, so there was no need to rush.
"Perhaps I could use the Fortune Copper Core to quickly fulfill this requirent, but I'd have to break into the top hundred of the Holy Rankings first..."
"I'll wait until I advance to the Weapon Master class..."
While he was lost in thought, the results had already surfaced on his interface.
For the Hundred-Refined Forger, the requirent to continuously smash himself with a heavy hamr had been erased. As for the special fusion profession, Weapon Master, the requirent to devour weapons had been eliminated.
"Ha!" Seeing the results, Su Chen's face lit up with joy.
He didn't care much about which requirent was erased for the Hundred-Refined Forger. Regardless of which one vanished, the remaining ones would simply cost him so ti.
But the one erased for the Weapon Master was absolutely perfect. That specific requirent had truly been a pain in the neck.
Not only did it require him to devour weapons, but the weapons also had to be no lower than his own tier.
Chewing on a fifth-tier weapon would be strenuous enough, let alone swallowing it down his throat. The process would undoubtedly be excruciatingly painful. Erasing it now was the best possible outco.
With that out of the way, the Stigmata Doctor only needed to heal people, the Hundred-Refined Forger only needed to gather furnace embers and assimilate them into his body, and the Weapon Master only needed to forge weapons with his bare hands and extract spirituality.
"I can start preparing." Su Chen rubbed his palms together eagerly. Gathering the Sly Fox and Crimson essences would still take so ti, but it wouldn't conflict with completing his other requirents.
Among them, the Hundred-Refined Forger's task was the simplest.
"Embers from a Century-Old Furnace..." He opened the Cult's internal exchange system and quickly searched for the item. The image displayed a cluster of fire that was still actively burning.
The core was a blinding, almost incandescent white spot, gradually fading outward into golden-red, then dark red, until it turned into a charred black at the edges.
"Oof, it's not cheap..." Su Chen looked at the description. There was a number next to it: one hundred thousand contribution points.
This thing was classified as a rare resource and could only be exchanged using contribution points.
But... he actually had that much. Next to his personal profile was the number two hundred thousand, representing the contribution points he had saved up!
The reason he had accumulated such a fortune was entirely due to handing over the Nether Realm mother stones.
His occasional trips to the mining zones through normal channels, where he put on a show of digging for ore, were solely ant to launder the Nether stones in his possession.
While he desperately needed the power of the eerie gods, he also had quite a few requirents within the Cult itself. Completing tasks to earn contribution points was too tedious; submitting rare resources was much more convenient.
He made the exchange directly. It would be delivered within twenty-four hours.
"How incredibly convenient and fast." Su Chen turned off his virtual screen, unable to help but sigh in satisfaction.
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