Chapter 45: Chapter 45: The Panic of the Professions: Deceitful God’s Power
The first promotion requirent for the Gale Hunter was complete.
Qi Chuan had died a grueso death. He lay on his back, two bloody holes where his eyes should have been.
’The Spiritual Resilience of a Tier Two Professional is really high,’ Su Chen thought, rubbing his temples as a throbbing pain pulsed through his head.
Professionals on the Physical Side didn’t specialize in training Spiritual Power, but promotions still increased their Spiritual Resilience.
It was impossible for soone from a Low-tier ntal Profession to instantly kill a Professional from a High-tier Physical Profession.
After confirming that Qi Chuan showed no signs of life, Su Chen’s gaze fell upon several small glass vials scattered beside the body. They had been in a tal box but had spilled during the fight.
’A targeted Antitoxic Potion?’
Su Chen picked them up and examined the hazy, light purple liquid swirling inside. There were labels on them. Two vials were left, and he stuffed them both into his Personal Space.
He grunted softly, carefully closing the door. Expanding his spiritual senses and using his Spiritual Vision, Su Chen remained constantly aware of the situation outside.
Iron wires snaked through the air around him. Thanks to his Dual-tasking ability, he could now control more than half of them at once.
SWOOSH!
The iron wires pulled taut, darting back and forth within the walls and creating a continuous series of muffled thuds like a frantic drumbeat.
CLANG!
The sharp clang made Su Chen look toward the left wall. ’Just as I thought... there’s sothing else here.’
With a little effort, he pried another tal box out of the wall. It was heavy and exquisitely crafted, with a black and yellow finish. Intricate, intersecting lines were embossed on its surface, weaving together to form...
Su Chen scrutinized the pattern, trying to identify it. ’Is that... a vertical pupil?’
CLICK!
The tal box opened on its own. A cross-shaped seam split open in the center, the panels retracting to the sides as black smoke billowed out.
’What the hell is this?’
Startled, Su Chen scrambled backward, but the black smoke was faster than he had imagined. It had already wrapped around his body and was boring its way inside him.
"A delicious... Soul..." A voice, both real and illusory, echoed in his ears. Su Chen’s eyes lost focus, and he seed to see an old man, his figure as gaunt as withered wood.
The figure’s head was bowed, its scalp bald except for a single vertical pupil that appeared to be its only eye. "I shall bestow upon you a blessing," the voice said. "Beco my most devout Believer."
’What is this thing?’ Su Chen thought. Cyan Wind Armor swirled around him, but it was powerless to stop the black smoke from pouring into his body.
The panel suddenly displayed a notification—
[Unknown external force detected. Eroding Host’s Professions.]
’Eroding my Professions?’ A chill ran down Su Chen’s spine.
[The Sky Splitter Warrior perceives the danger and rises to the challenge...]
[The Secret Artifact Master observes from the sidelines...]
[The Engineering Apprentice frets helplessly...]
[The Gale Hunter joins the fray...]
[The Space Storer rushes to the scene...]
[The Scholar cries for help...]
A stream of notifications scrolled past. It was the first ti Su Chen had ever seen them so active.
[Crisis threatening all Professions detected. Taming external force.]
"You... Your body... How can it be like this..."
The illusory voice in his ear suddenly turned to one of shock and uncertainty. Vaguely, Su Chen thought he saw the withered figure raising its head, but it was already starting to fade.
"...I will rember your scent..."
CLATTER!
The tal box fell to the floor and snapped shut.
[Taming successful. Acquired—Low-tier Deceitful God’s Power: Can be used on unclaid Professions below Tier Three, causing them to undergo peculiar changes.]
His heart hamred against his ribs, and his forehead was covered in a cold sweat. Just a mont ago, he had been almost completely paralyzed.
’Thankfully, the crisis is over.’
"A Deceitful God can actually erode one’s Professions..." Su Chen murmured to himself, his gaze fixed on the so-called Low-tier Deceitful God’s Power.
’Since the panel has already tad it, any hidden dangers should be gone.’
After taking a mont to calm down, he looked at the black and yellow tal box on the floor, not daring to touch it just yet.
’No wonder they’re called Deceitful Gods. They’re certainly bizarre. Does this an Jiang He’s murder, the theft of the Holy Word Stone, and all these other inexplicable incidents are really the work of a Deceitful God moving in the shadows?’
’This thing is definitive proof that there was sothing wrong with Qi Chuan. If that’s the case, I don’t have to hide this killing.’ Su Chen imdiately pulled his Wristband from his Storage Space, turned it on, and scrolled through his contacts until he found Old Yuan.
Qi Chuan had to die. He had bribed Hu Xiang and sent people to kill him. It didn’t matter whether he was one of Zhou Xian’s n or had connections to a Deceitful God.
The only difference was that if there were no connection to a Deceitful God, Su Chen would have had to clean up the ss himself. But now, he could have soone else handle it.
"Teacher, I’ve found sothing. Please co as soon as you can." He kept his ssage vague. Who knew if Southwind’s data hub could intercept these conversations.
The signal was weak, so Su Chen had to lean out the window to send the ssage. On the floors below, lights had begun to switch on.
Old Yuan’s reply ca quickly. "...I’m tied up at the mont. If it’s not a big deal, have Old Sun go take a look first."
"It is a big deal."
A mont later, another reply ca. "Understood. I’ll get there as soon as I can. If you need help, contact Old Sun."
Su Chen thought for a mont, then opened another chat. "Brother Sun, edge of South City... bring people, quick."
...
anwhile, sowhere in Southwind City, a figure in a black, hooded robe suddenly snapped their head up. Their pupils were pitch-black, and their face was a mask of uncontainable shock. "The Sacred Artifact... it’s gone!?"
...
Su Chen then searched the room inside and out one more ti. Just as he confird that nothing had been missed, Fatty Sun arrived with his n.
The veteran inspector, a suspected Tier Two Professional, pushed open the door, panting heavily with sweat beading on his forehead.
His eyes swept over the corpse on the floor, but he imdiately rushed toward Su Chen, who was standing by the window, and asked with concern,
"Kid, you’re not hurt, are you?"
Several Inspector Guards filed in behind him. They were familiar faces—his colleagues from the Seventeenth Patrol Guard.
"Han Da, Lili..." Zhao Xiong gestured to his left and right, and the group began to move cautiously around the corpse.
"Boss, this person... is that... Qi Chuan?" Han Da asked, his head snapping up in astonishnt after just a brief glance.
"Qi Chuan?" Fatty Sun’s ears perked up, and his expression changed drastically. "Ah, kid, you have such a short fuse! How could you kill him?" he said, looking flustered.
"Was it because of that woman who ca last night? What did she tell you? Did you record it? You need to go, now! We’ll cover up the scene..."
Zhao Xiong and the others exchanged subtle glances, looking as if they had just stumbled upon so major gossip.
Su Chen gave a helpless smile. "Where would I go? Even if you covered it up, I couldn’t hide it from my teacher."
Fatty Sun’s expression flickered. His deference to Su Chen was entirely due to Yuan Chenyang; there was no way sothing like this could be kept from him.
But he imdiately changed the subject, asking with feigned surprise, "This Qi Chuan was a Tier Two Professional, wasn’t he? Kid, how did you manage to kill him?"
"He was starved for a few days at the Inspectorate, and I drugged him a little..." Su Chen replied casually.
’So ruthless.’
Fatty Sun’s lip twitched. He found Su Chen’s calmness to be unnatural, which made him wonder. Sothing was off.
’Su Chen had already killed the man; there was no need to call them over to sanitize the scene. He could have just dealt with it himself.’
"Ah... Lili..." Su Chen said suddenly. "Don’t touch that."
Lili froze. She looked at the object covered by the Shadow-avoiding Robe, shrugged, and turned to inspect sothing else.
"...Why does this wall look like it’s been sprayed with bullets? It’s full of tiny holes..." Han Da said, leaning close to it.
"What’s going on here?" a deep voice bood from the doorway, making Fatty Sun jump.
’How did Inspector General Yuan get here so fast?’ Fatty Sun wondered. ’I only just sent out the ssage.’
Zhao Xiong and the others instantly snapped to attention, swallowing nervously and not daring to make a sound.
"Is this Qi Chuan?" Yuan Chenyang walked in, frowning at the corpse on the floor. His gaze moved past Fatty Sun and settled on Su Chen. He sighed. "Go ho. I’ll take care of this."
Su Chen was rather surprised. He had expected Old Yuan to ask for an explanation.
"Teacher, over there." Su Chen pointed to the spot covered by the Shadow-avoiding Robe.
Yuan Chenyang’s eyes flickered. He walked over and lifted a corner of the Shadow-avoiding Robe. After just one fleeting glance, his pupils contracted sharply.
’This is... a Deceitful Artifact!’
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