Chapter 278: Chapter 172: Old Xia Wants to be the Sovereign of the Judicial Court [Wind Dancer]

The story was actually quite simple, a tangled mess of grudges from the older generation.

Su Chen listened as he followed Sang Hanhai into the small hut.

Pu Zhenghong was still in his hut, but this time he wasn’t fiddling with his Divine Language. He was sitting upright and formal, waiting.

"Elder Pu..." Seeing the solemn atmosphere, Su Chen said quickly.

Even Sang Hanhai was taken aback.

For so many years, almost nothing besides Divine Language had ever captured Pu Zhenghong’s attention.

Every time he had visited, the man had been engrossed in his study of Divine Language, rarely even looking up.

"Sit." Pu Zhenghong gestured with his hand, and Su Chen cautiously sat down.

"You’re a Tier Four Professional now. I heard from Xiao Sang that you have a particular fondness for special professions, so I found one that suits you." As Pu Zhenghong spoke, he waved his hand, and a virtual projection popped up.

Sang Hanhai grew even more astonished. ’How long has it been since Pu Zhenghong analyzed and offered professional advice to anyone?’

Su Chen subconsciously glanced at it—

[Special Profession discovered—Wind Dancer. You can assume this profession after meeting the requirements.]

[Requirement 1: Must have held four Top-tier Professions from the Physical Side.]

[Requirement 2: Without external aid and with senses obscured, perfectly dodge one hundred attacks from a same-tier opponent.]

[Requirement 3: Obtain a Wind Song Gemstone and a Storm Frenzy Feather, then capture a Wind Spirit within a Level 8 Storm Eye to form a Wind Dance Contract.]

Special professions weren’t ranked by Tier, but some of their requirements involved the number of main professions one had held, which was an indirect Tier requirement.

’It requires at least Tier Four to even qualify, and all of them have to be Top-tier Professions. This essentially means it demands immense physical strength. This profession must be extraordinary.’

"The [Wind Dancer] specializes in speed and is quite powerful. After you take up the profession, its abilities will allow you to easily escape from crises. Since you’re already skilled in speed, it will be like adding wings to a tiger," Pu Zhenghong said.

[Body like flowing wind, will like a startling dragon. The Wind Dancer gracefully pays its respects to the Great Venerable Red Flame Thunder Resonator. The number of perfect dodges required has been reduced to ten.]

The difficulty had been reduced. Su Chen pulled his attention away from the panel and hesitated. "I can’t accept a reward I haven’t earned. Sir, this is..."

Previously, Pu Zhenghong’s attitude toward him couldn’t be called bad, but it wasn’t good either. It had only improved significantly after Su Chen helped expose Yuan Capital’s underhanded trick.

’Is my reputation really this good just because I’ve been acknowledged by a Great Venerable?’

"Sigh..." Pu Zhenghong let out a breath, his gaze profound. "My life is coming to an end."

"Senior Brother!" Sang Hanhai’s expression changed.

’Last words?’

Seeing how things were going, Su Chen felt like he was sitting on pins and needles. ’He’s not going to entrust me with some impossible task, is he?’

Pu Zhenghong raised a hand to stop Sang Hanhai and said slowly, "My Talent is limited, and I’ve wasted far too much time and energy on Divine Language."

"Xia Hanshi thinks I’m a coward hiding in my shell, and I think he’s a blockhead. My research into Divine Language was actually an attempt to restore that ruin to its original state."

’It seems he’s not giving me an impossible task after all.’ Su Chen sat up a little straighter.

Pu Zhenghong continued, "Back then, we brought the Dome Light and the broken Stone Slab out of those ruins, which caused the ruins to enter a state of alert, drastically increasing its danger level."

"The power of those ruins is simply impossible to break through with brute force. But the Divine Language might be able to control them."

Hearing this, Su Chen grew increasingly curious. ’Just how charming was this Ji Rou?’

’She made Xia Hanshi’s personality change drastically, made Pu Zhenghong sit in the Translation Department for thirty years studying Divine Language, and made Chong Jingtian...’

’Uh, Old Chong seems pretty normal. No, that’s not right. He never married, and...’

Su Chen suddenly recalled something unusual about Chong Jingtian. He was the only chief in the history of the Judicial Court who had never cultivated a family power base. His parents had passed away more than twenty years ago, and he had remained alone ever since.

Su Chen couldn’t help but speculate. ’For all three of them to be unable to forget her, that woman must have been something special...’

"My study of the Divine Language has yielded no results, yet his student is about to enter the ruins." Pu Zhenghong gave a wry laugh. "I don’t know which of us was right and which was wrong. But it doesn’t matter anymore."

"This is for you." Pu Zhenghong took out a Holy Word Stone, on which various symbols flickered intermittently.

Su Chen glanced at it. There was no profession on it. He was surprised. "This is..."

"This is the culmination of my life’s work for over thirty years. It might be useful in the ruins, or it might not be..." Pu Zhenghong sighed. "Take it. It’s better than nothing."

’Did he actually figure something out?’

Su Chen reached out, took it, and put it away. He finally understood. Pu Zhenghong probably saw that Xia Hanshi’s persistence was bearing fruit and, feeling a bit unwilling to be left behind, had called him over to give him this.

But for some reason, he could truly feel an aura of impending death emanating from Pu Zhenghong. It was as if what he had just accepted was the man’s very lifeblood.

Su Chen was silent for a moment. Then, a thought occurred to him, and he couldn’t help but ask:

"Elder Pu, on my way here, I noticed several symbols carved on the Defense Spirit Ring. I never felt anything before, but this time they seemed vaguely familiar, similar to how I felt when I saw that Stone Slab."

"What’s the story with those symbols?"

"The Defense Spirit Ring..." Pu Zhenghong paused, slightly startled, then nodded. "That’s right. Those symbols were indeed taken from the Stone Slab."

Through Pu Zhenghong’s explanation, Su Chen learned that with Chong Jingtian’s power, the hazy mist covering the Stone Slab could be easily brushed away. The Stone Slab’s own spiritual nature was no match for him.

They had tried to study it for a while but were ultimately only able to copy two lines of symbols.

Pu Zhenghong added, "But even then, we could only barely manage to copy them because the material we inscribed them on also came from those ruins."

’So that’s how it is.’ Su Chen’s question was answered. He chatted with Pu Zhenghong for a few more moments before taking his leave.

"Senior Brother is..." Sang Hanhai sighed worriedly as he walked Su Chen out.

Su Chen offered a few words of comfort and left under Sang Hanhai’s watchful gaze.

"The ruins, the ruins..." In the car, Su Chen couldn’t help but think, ’I wonder what they’ll be like.’

Su Chen, still affected by Pu Zhenghong’s final-testament-like words, felt somewhat heavy-hearted. He composed himself and opened his panel.

The progress for [Tyrant] had already reached 3%. ’The progress is pretty fast, I have to say. Everyone wants a piece of the loudmouths.’

’The requirements for Wind Dancer are quite troublesome...’ His gaze fell upon the newest profession he had obtained.

’No external help, senses obscured, and I have to perfectly dodge an attack right before it hits. The timing is instantaneous... Tsk tsk...’

’And this Wind Dance Contract looks pretty complicated. I’ve never even heard of the components. I’ll have to ask around when I get back.’

Musing over his plans, Su Chen returned to his residence at the Judicial Court as dusk settled.

He went down to the Gravity Chamber. The familiar environment gradually calmed his thoughts.

At that moment, the day’s events flowed through his mind like a stream. Su Chen slowly exhaled. ’For now, I have to wait for Ying Feng to deal with the Faceless Ghost Followers before I can go to the ruins.’

’Hmm, I don’t need to hide the fact that I’m Tier Four anymore. I’ll have Gu Bing prepare the Support Potions first.’

He opened his wristband and sent a message. He quickly received a reply from Gu Bing: a string of question marks, enough to prove his senior sister’s astonishment.

As if she had recovered from the shock, she sent another message two or three minutes later. "I got it. I’ll go prepare them now."

Meanwhile, Su Chen remembered something else he had planned to do. His body gradually vanished into the spatial rift as the Priest’s disguise began to take form.

First, he assumed the form of Priest Black Tuo. Within his range of perception, everything was the same as before—completely empty.

"They haven’t sent anyone after all this time. They’ve probably all gone to prepare for that Holy Banquet," Su Chen frowned and muttered.

Immediately after, he shifted into his Faceless Ghost Priest form.

This time, however, Su Chen’s expression changed slightly. He immediately detected an unusual presence at the very edge of his perception range, in the direction of Ying Feng’s South District.

’This feeling... why is it so familiar?’ He focused on it carefully. It wasn’t the feeling of a Deceitful Artifact, but...

"The Faceless Ghost Divine Son." Su Chen suddenly remembered. This was the same feeling Meng Qi gave off. His eyes flashed. "He really got in."