Chapter 61: A Good Sprout from Rotten Bamboo — Sage? Scholar? |
"Du Yu told me you were looking for me."
His tone was steady and gentle. Su Chen couldn't shake an odd sense of familiarity. He studied the young man for a moment before it clicked — this kid was consciously emulating his father.
After a brief pause, Su Chen suddenly bellowed, "I refuse to accept this!"
His voice echoed through the lobby. Staff members snapped their heads around in surprise. Zhang Hengyu's expression went blank.
"Why should I have to wait an entire year?!" Su Chen roared, his eyes boring into Zhang Hengyu.
Only then did Zhang Hengyu understand. His face flushed scarlet. He opened his mouth, closed it, fidgeted — practically at a loss for words.
'That reaction?'
Su Chen was genuinely taken aback. He instantly pivoted, letting his face harden. "Follow me."
He turned and headed upstairs. Every Supervision Guard in the lobby tracked them with their eyes, murmuring buzzing in their wake.
They climbed to the top floor. The corridor was empty.
Zhang Hengyu seemed to be working up the nerve to say something when Su Chen spoke first, his voice low and heavy. "I'm already a 2nd-tier professional."
"What?" Zhang Hengyu froze. Whatever he'd been about to say evaporated. His voice came out strained, "You... how can you be that fast?"
Su Chen's tone was frigid. "I'm not some pampered young master like you. I'm a refugee. When I get an opportunity, I don't dare waste it."
He let a note of wistfulness creep in. "I can't even remember the last time I slept more than three hours. Have you ever seen Nanfeng City at three in the morning?"
"Of course I have!" The accusation seemed to strike a nerve. Zhang Hengyu started out sheepish but rallied.
"I may have been willful as a child, but once I grew up, I committed myself to fulfilling advancement requirements. After entering Nanfeng Academy, I trained just as hard. My effort is no less than yours!"
'This guy... seems genuinely naive,' Su Chen thought, the strangeness of the encounter deepening.
Zhang Hengyu composed himself, his expression sobering, voice dropping. "But I'm truly not your equal. The speed of your advancement is remarkable. I understand your anger, but... there's nothing to be done about it."
'He's not acting? He actually believes it?'
Su Chen thought of Zhang Hongbo — that smiling tiger — and marveled at the contrast.
"Regardless, I'll be held back a full year. Nanfeng City's resources can't compare to Yingfeng's." Su Chen maintained his cold front.
Zhang Hengyu's expression shifted. His fists clenched and unclenched. "I... can compensate you."
'What? This took a bizarre turn.'
Even Su Chen was slightly stunned, though he kept up the disgruntled facade. "Compensate? How?"
"I have a special profession. It's quite useful." Zhang Hengyu lowered his voice. "It's called Sage. Once advanced, it allows for more precise control over the body during physical training, increasing the efficiency of all forging methods."
Sage?
Su Chen's interest spiked. Higher efficiency meant faster proficiency gains.
'What's its relationship to the Scholar class?'
His mind raced, but he kept his face skeptical. "You'd really give this to me?"
Zhang Hengyu explained, "This profession isn't exactly a secret in Yingfeng. It's just difficult to advance into. But Director Yuan could probably figure something out."
Su Chen blinked, the hostility fading from his face. "Maybe I misjudged you."
'A good sprout from rotten bamboo? How?'
Seemingly sensing forgiveness, Zhang Hengyu perked up and launched into a quiet recitation of the details:
[Special profession discovered — Sage. Complete requirements to advance.]
[Sage advancement requirement 1: Minimum Red Gold-tier mental talent.]
[Sage advancement requirement 2: Obtain information on at least three top-tier professions of any tier.]
[Sage advancement requirement 3: Be a person of great wisdom.]
The panel registered the data. Su Chen scanned it, his expression growing increasingly odd.
The first two requirements were straightforward enough. But "a person of great wisdom" — how was anyone supposed to fulfill that?
It was absurdly subjective. And it hadn't been marked "Completed."
'So I'm not a person of great wisdom. Fair enough. But Zhang Hengyu is? Great wisdom disguised as simplicity?'
[The Scholar, currently occupied with reeducating the Believer of Black Buddha, notices an old friend's arrival. It excuses itself to warmly greet the newcomer...]
'Old friend?' Su Chen was surprised. He asked directly, "Your mental talent — it's Red Gold tier?"
"No." Zhang Hengyu shook his head honestly. "My sister helped. She brought a special item back from Yingfeng that temporarily elevates mental talent to meet the advancement requirement."
"That's possible?" Su Chen was impressed. "Then how did you meet the other requirements?"
"Like that last one — possessing wisdom beyond ordinary comprehension. That's way too vague."
Zhang Hengyu explained, "I didn't complete all of them. It's too difficult. But I managed to roughly satisfy one, which was enough for a Forced Advancement. I was lucky — it worked."
"In Yingfeng, that's the standard approach too. You still get some enhancement from it."
'A Forced Advancement... so it came down to luck.' Su Chen understood. He'd instinctively been judging by Perfect Advancement standards and had forgotten that Forced Advancement was an option.
A Forced Advancement might unleash only a tenth of a profession's potential, but it was better than nothing.
Su Chen sighed. "I think I understand where you're coming from."
"Honestly, I've come this far and I should be grateful. Even if I have to wait another year before going to Yingfeng — when I reached out to you, it was really just to vent some frustration."
Zhang Hengyu was visibly relieved, as if a boulder had been lifted off his shoulders. He managed a wry smile. "I actually mentioned it to my sister once — how unfair this all was to you. But only once. I had my own selfish reasons for not pressing it..."
"Judge a man by his actions, not his heart." Su Chen swept a hand in dismissal, his eyes blazing with feigned competitive fire. "Even if you get to Yingfeng a year before me, don't get cocky. I might catch up sooner than you think."
Zhang Hengyu was momentarily taken aback, then nodded firmly. "I'll do everything I can to make sure you don't."
'Is this... mutual respect between rivals?'
Growing up under strict supervision, Zhang Hengyu had virtually no friends his own age in Nanfeng City. Everyone around him had been sycophants.
"Oh, one more thing." Su Chen's tone shifted — half challenge, half invitation. "Want to stay and train here with me? See if you can keep up with my schedule."
"Here?" Zhang Hengyu hesitated, but quickly squared his shoulders. "Alright. Let's do it."
'He actually agreed?'
Su Chen's expression flickered oddly for a split second, then Zhang Hengyu eagerly went off to gather his things.
'Why do I feel slightly... guilty?' Su Chen wondered. He immediately gave himself a stern internal dressing-down, and felt better in an instant — conscience-free and light as a feather.
He opened his panel and mulled over the Sage profession. He had Red Gold mental talent — check. Three top-tier professions — he already had two. It was just that final requirement that was baffling.
No telling what the Scholar class would "discuss" with its new friend.
His original plan had been to rough Zhang Hengyu up badly enough to cause a scene.
Once Zhang Hengyu was spotted here, even someone as dim as Zhou Xian would connect the dots to Zhang Hongbo and recognize the fishing operation — at which point he'd likely back off.
But the current outcome was even better.
The next day, Zhang Hengyu made good on his word. He arrived at the branch office carrying his own clothes and a supply of potions.
As a 1st-tier professional, he picked a standard training room and got to work.
They chatted briefly. Su Chen learned that Zhang Hengyu's professional development had already reached roughly 60% — impressively fast, and the Sage class had clearly played no small part.
"Is there a connection between Sage and Scholar?" Zhang Hengyu looked surprised by the question. He shook his head. "I don't know either."
Su Chen left, deep in thought, and returned to his own training.
But by mid-afternoon, an uninvited guest arrived — barging through the branch office's front doors with unmistakable violence.
After a minor commotion, Zhang Hengyu rushed downstairs and approached with visible reluctance. "Sis, what are you doing here?"
It was Zhang Yunqing. The tall, striking woman wore a frost-cold expression. Her gaze swept past her idiot brother and locked onto Su Chen, who sauntered down the stairs at his leisure.
"Come with me." Zhang Yunqing's tone brooked no argument.
"No." Zhang Hengyu shook his head, standing firm. "I'm staying here."
Zhang Yunqing saw Su Chen's barely concealed smirk and nearly ground her teeth to powder. She yanked Zhang Hengyu aside and hissed, "You moron — he played you like a fiddle. Did you know that?"
"Father is using him as bait to lure the Evil God cults into the open. And he's using you as a human shield!"
Zhang Hengyu stared blankly for a moment. Zhang Yunqing assumed he'd come to his senses. "This kid's schemes are actually quite—"
"How could Father do this?!" Zhang Hengyu cut her off in a burst of fury. His whole body trembled.
Zhang Yunqing gaped. Her brother's face was flushed with rage. "He... he's already had it so hard. Why would they use him as bait?!"
"Because of you!" Zhang Yunqing snapped back, equally incensed. "If you return to Nanfeng City, and he has Yuan Chenyang backing him — do you think you'd actually inherit Father's—"
"Why do I have to inherit anything?!" Zhang Hengyu erupted like a volcano finally breaking past its plug, glaring at his sister. "Can't I have thoughts of my own?!"
Zhang Yunqing's face went deathly still. "Talk about individuality when you actually have the strength to back it up."
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