Chapter 430 - 247: Star Amber Talent 2

"For every special profession I take, the efficiency increases by 10%?" A glint appeared in Su Chen’s eyes as he subconsciously clenched his fists. ’This Holy Profession is truly something else. All my painstaking effort and the torment I went through to successfully melt it were worth it.’

Taking a quick inventory: Drug Tester, Reverser, All Things, Armored Bone Warrior, Soldier Nurturer, Gourmet, Wind Dancer, Life Burner, Endurance Walker, Nourisher, Tolerant, and Tyrant.

Then there was Priest, which could change the status of Believers. That probably only counted as one.

But the number of special professions he now held was thirteen. That meant another 130% increase, bringing the total efficiency boost to a whopping 630%.

’My Talent level, then...’ The thought suddenly occurred to Su Chen, and he quickly retrieved the Talent Detection Device from his Storage Space.

The moment he placed his hand on it, a deep, dark golden hue appeared.

Looking closely, although the color was dim, it was extremely rich. Within it, a radiance like molten gold faintly shimmered.

"Star Amber..." Su Chen’s expression shifted slightly. The data on paper hadn’t seemed so concrete before, but seeing it manifest as a Talent color was a completely different feeling.

"A Holy Profession is truly something else!"

He marveled once again. It had allowed him to leapfrog past the Profound Purple threshold and go straight to Star Amber.

Within the Sect, this was already on the same level as Wei Zhenghong.

"Holy Professions, it has to be Holy Professions!"

Su Chen said repeatedly. No wonder all the High-Tier Professionals in the Sect aimed to melt a Holy Profession. They were indeed powerful.

’Phoenix, Permanent Body, Life Burner’s transformation...’ he murmured to himself. Each one was calling out to him.

’Permanent Body can already be used to obtain the next special profession. As for Blood Burner...’

There were three ways to obtain special professions within the Sect. The first was to exchange contribution points, the second was through family or tutelage, and the third was as a reward from the Holy List.

On the Holy List, among the non-physical rewards that couldn’t be converted into Star Coins, the special profession exchange was one of them.

’With my ranking, I can exchange for at least three of them, so I don’t have to worry for a while. However, I need to put acquiring Deceitful God Essence back on the agenda.’

Su Chen couldn’t help but think that Deceitful God Essence was a super accelerator; he’d have to rely on it to take on new professions quickly.

’I still need to mine Netherworld Stones. Xiao Hei can help out now, so I don’t have to keep an eye on things myself during every Dark Sun. But I need to have a chat with that Centipede Dragon.’

Su Chen considered this, then glanced at the time. It was still the Dark Sun period.

’I’ve actually been messing around in the Nether Realm for two or three days without realizing it.’

As he thought, his surroundings gradually changed. He immersed himself back into the Nether Realm, expertly anchoring his position and heading toward the new mining area.

Xiao Hei hadn’t returned yet; it would take some time.

He went straight to the Centipede Dragon to bring up this "trivial" little matter.

"You want your people to mine?" Above the ore vein, the Centipede Dragon lowered its head.

Netherworld Stones were beneficial to Netherworld Creatures, but the reason no other creatures dared to enter the mine tunnels wasn’t because they were too stupid.

It was because High-tier Netherworld Creatures like the Centipede Dragon were watching, and they absolutely did not allow others to approach.

This wasn’t a huge deal. This Deceitful God’s Follower already brought people to mine every day anyway. After a moment of contemplation, the Centipede Dragon nodded. "You may, but there is a limit on the number. Four Netherworld Creatures at most."

"No problem." Any more than that, and Su Chen worried Xiao Hei wouldn’t be able to control them.

After reaching an agreement with the Centipede Dragon, Su Chen waited there for Xiao Hei to return. It was a bit slow, only just making it back as the Flame Fire was about to reignite.

"Master!" Seeing Su Chen waiting for it, Xiao Hei recognized him despite his different aura. The direct connection of faith confirmed his identity, and it ran over excitedly.

"Stop! Stop!" Su Chen waved his hands hastily as he saw it about to crash into him.

Xiao Hei stopped excitedly and began circling him, letting out thrilled wolf-like howls.

Hm? The Centipede Dragon lowered its gaze, somewhat astonished. ’That black monkey actually advanced a tier?’

’That shouldn’t be possible...’ Its two eyeballs twitched, but it made no other move.

"Every time this happens, after that thing in the sky turns dark, you’ll take a few Netherworld Creatures inside to dig for stones. Dig as many as you can."

"I’ll come find you here every so often. You just need to give me what you’ve dug up. If they’re difficult to store, just keep the Mother Stones. You can eat the Child Stones yourself or do whatever you want with them."

Su Chen described his plan to it in detail, repeatedly checking to see if the creature had actually understood.

Tier Six Netherworld Creatures seemed to have gained intelligence. After Su Chen explained it two or three times, it more or less understood.

Once he was sure it understood, Su Chen breathed a sigh of relief.

This Xiao Hei was proving to be quite useful. The Dark Sun lasted a full 12 hours, and he didn’t have the energy to keep watch here the entire time.

Coming to collect the harvest every so often was the best approach.

Still feeling a little uneasy, Su Chen made another request to the Centipede Dragon, hoping it would protect Xiao Hei and ensure the mined items weren’t stolen during the Flame Fire period.

After the Flame Fire reignited, this mining area would be covered by it. While there were basically no top-tier Netherworld Creatures causing trouble here, there were still many that were stronger than Xiao Hei.

In response to Su Chen’s request, the Centipede Dragon’s massive eyes narrowed slightly. Its gaze fell on the inexplicably promoted Xiao Hei, its thoughts unreadable, but in the end, it agreed.

However, it also made a demand, its voice low. "In the future, if there’s anything I need help with, you must help me too."

It had noticed that this Deceitful God’s Follower was indeed different from the others it had met. When they first made contact, he was constantly saying "My Lord, My Lord," but now he hardly mentioned it.

’It’s strange, but he’s definitely a believer of one of those Divine Spirits. He might be useful in the future. Protecting that black monkey is a simple enough task.’

"No problem." Su Chen nodded immediately. Through this matter, he and the Centipede Dragon could gradually build trust. ’I’ll just agree for now.’

The Flame Fire gradually brightened, and the Centipede Dragon and other Netherworld Creatures began to retreat. Su Chen glanced toward the Sect’s core area and slowly faded from sight.

...

"Someone used the Spiritual Fire before we could?" Qin Yuezheng looked at the furious Fan Zhao, his gaze sweeping past Steward Feng.

A wisp of mental fluctuation washed over him, and Qin Yuezheng’s expression grew stormy. ’The Spiritual Fire is gone, Meng Shiyu is dead... something like this happened?’

"The Nether Hall has always been responsible for the Spiritual Fire. Whoever knew about this and was able to act on the opportunity must be someone from within the Sect." Fan Zhao spoke with conviction. On his way here, after he had calmed down, he had already identified several potential suspects.

Qin Yuezheng could see that Fan Zhao wanted him to make a big scene. He was reluctant, but the matter was indeed tricky and concerned the Nether Hall. He frowned and asked, "What do you propose, Martial Nephew?"

"First, investigate who entered the Nether Realm in the last period."

"That’s impossible. There are too many people." Qin Yuezheng immediately shook his head. The Sect was simply too large. ’If I investigate them one by one, how many people does Fan Zhao want me to offend?’

Fan Zhao had already prepared his argument. "We don’t need to investigate too many people. The Spiritual Fire can’t be taken out and stored; it must be used on the spot. The only ones who would need to use it are those preparing to melt a Holy Profession. There aren’t that many of them in total."

’Easier said than done...’ Qin Yuezheng’s brow furrowed. But looking at Fan Zhao’s cold expression, he already had a guess. "Who do you want to investigate first?"

"Wei Zhenghong," Fan Zhao spat out the name coldly.

...

Returning from the Nether Realm, Su Chen opened his eyes. Matters on that end were settled. From now on, he just needed to go in and collect the harvest every so often.

’However... there’s still Ming Lin’s side of things,’ he mused. Before, because someone might have been watching and because he needed to focus on melting the Purifier profession, he had temporarily told Ming Lin not to make any moves.

But now, even if it was risky, it was time to get things moving.

After some thought, he walked out of the Nether Tower. As it happened, Ming Lin hadn’t gone out today and was in another training room.

"The trouble with distributing the goods..." Ming Lin said, walking out of the training room. He joined Su Chen in the lounge, rubbing his chin with a contemplative look.

"Aside from the manpower issue, the main thing is to avoid being investigated. I’ve been thinking about it lately, and there are a few ways to mitigate the risk. The most convenient one... would be for me to join the patrol team."

"Oh?" Su Chen’s interest was piqued, and he listened as Ming Lin explained in detail.