Chapter 108: Spirit Realm Instrument; Exterminating an Entire Family? |
The Faceless Man spoke faintly: "I am also very curious as to why Black Buddha is in such a hurry to find him. An Ink Jade talent is not enough to make the believers of Black Buddha shout words like 'at any cost'."
"A major incident occurred in Nanfeng City. Xia Hanshi actually seized a Statue of Black Buddha this time. Black Buddha invested a tremendous amount of power into it. The reason probably lies with this guy."
"If you're curious, you can slowly investigate. It's not like he's going to disappear into thin air; there will be plenty of opportunities in the future," Pang Father shook his head. "I'm off to set up the banquet. I still have to put on a show at least."
"But what if he actually comes?" the Faceless Man suddenly asked.
Pang Father paused his steps and hesitated: "He shouldn't be that stupid, right?"
......
Book first released on the entire web by 𝓉𝓌𝓀𝒶𝓃.𝒸ℴ𝓂
"The Pang family invited you?"
Su Chen turned a corner, found Old Xia, and brought up the matter of the Pang family's invitation.
"Pull in the net?" Su Chen's heart stirred slightly. "Does the Pang family also have ties with the Evil God Cults?"
"I was originally only seventy percent certain, but now I'm ninety percent certain," Xia Hanshi shot Su Chen a glance.
"Go to a certain place this afternoon. Go before five o'clock, and keep it hidden." Xia Hanshi tossed out an address. After Su Chen memorized it, he left looking somewhat suspicious.
......
"Your Excellency Su Chen, the gravity training room has been installed. The maximum adjustment is fifty times gravity."
When Su Chen returned to his own independent villa, the working personnel responsible for the installation had already finished. In the spacious, empty basement lay an additional gravity room that was roughly two meters long and three meters wide.
It was even smaller than the gravity training room he had used at the hotel.
"How many times?" Hearing this, Su Chen couldn't help but look at the Big Beard leading the group.
"Fifty times. This is the highest specification," the Big Beard explained. "Your Excellency won't need to replace it even when your tier increases in the future."
"Handling things once and for all," Su Chen sighed in out, but he also realized that this was likely a bottleneck of Yingfeng City. He didn't know what tier was required to withstand such gravity, but Yingfeng's strongest must definitely exceed it by far.
"There is also this item..."
The alloy cabin doors slid open amidst the hum of pneumatic devices. The Big Beard led him into the gravity room. On a metal platform in the corner, a hexagonal, multicolored crystal hung suspended.
"This is the Spirit Realm Instrument, but each use cannot exceed six hours. This item hasn't been recovered for long, so we don't know if there are any other hidden dangers," the Big Beard explained, before involuntarily sighing with emotion:
"To have both the gravity room and this item equipped simultaneously... even among Core Seeds, you are the first."
"Understood, many thanks." Su Chen nodded. This Big Beard was from the Logistics Department. After providing a simple introduction on how to use it, he took his people and left.
After seeing the people off, Su Chen immediately rushed to the side of the Spirit Realm Instrument and pressed the activation button.
Instantly, the crystal abruptly emitted an amber halo, and ripples of energy spread through the air as streaks of light.
"I also need to circulate a meditation method..." Su Chen held his breath and concentrated, circulating the Illusory Star Meditation Method. He immediately felt the difference. Even without drinking an auxiliary potion, the circulation speed of his mental energy had increased considerably.
"Not bad, not bad..." Su Chen sighed with emotion even more. If you weren't a Core Seed, you truly couldn't enjoy this kind of good stuff.
Emerging from the basement, Su Chen received a message from Gu Bing, inviting him to attend a banquet tomorrow night—the Gu family's banquet.
After mulling it over for a moment, Su Chen agreed to it.
"I'll have to rely on this Senior Sister for mental auxiliary potions."
He dug out the remaining 'Illusion Essence' and inhaled it into his nose. Although its effects had waned somewhat, it was still better than nothing.
Du Yu had already come by. Seeing that he wasn't around, he dropped off his clothes and left first.
Su Chen was just preparing to fiercely drill himself, when yet another person arrived to pay a visit.
"Jiang Xi?"
Opening the door to look, Su Chen was surprised. It was exactly that Nanfeng Academy student who was preparing to enter the Crafting Department. He was even holding an iron box in his hands, its surface bearing the insignia of a giant mechanical hammer.
"Big Brother Su..." he called out, looking somewhat agitated.
Although the other party was older than him, Su Chen didn't correct his form of address either.
Otherwise, it would probably leave this guy completely flustered. He lowered his head and cast a glance at the box the other party was holding, "The insignia of the Crafting Department; you got in?"
"Come inside to talk."
He stepped aside, inviting the other party in.
Jiang Xi gulped, explaining as he walked: "I was originally short by one spot. Some guy greased some palms in advance and pushed out my quota. I was already preparing to pack up and leave last night, but the Crafting Department suddenly sent me a message."
"They said they found out the other party cheated and had me entered as a substitute. That's how I got in."
Jiang Xi suppressed his excitement, unable to even speak clearly. "For this, I must thank you."
His background wasn't good, and his talent wasn't even enough to reach Bronze. After entering Nanfeng Academy, he could only diligently study crafting knowledge.
Once he stayed in Yingfeng, Nanfeng City would take responsibility for supporting his parents, and the treatment would be extremely good.
He was originally disheartened yesterday, but he hadn't expected the path to take another turn.
"So that's how it is." Su Chen came to a realization, waving his hand: "If you didn't strive to meet expectations yourself, even if they entered a substitute, it wouldn't have been your turn."
If it was a normal elimination, the Crafting Department probably wouldn't have taken the extra step, but someone greasing palms was a different story.
In case one day he suddenly remembered this fellow townsman and casually asked a question in passing, it could bring them trouble.
"And this is?" He looked at the box in the other party's arms, already possessing vague speculations.
"Oh, right... Almost forgot." Jiang Xi hastily put it down, saying: "This seems to be the weapon you picked out. The Crafting Department asked me to help deliver it."
Having completed his mission, he looked somewhat constrained and nervous, "Then... I'll take my leave first."
"Help..." Su Chen laughed involuntarily, but Jiang Xi stopped again. "Oh right, regarding the weapon upgrading issue you asked about previously, I inquired around inside the Crafting Department."
"Under normal circumstances, it is very difficult to achieve. Because the tier of a weapon relies on its materials, replacing the materials is equivalent to forging a new weapon."
"If the materials aren't replaced, it cannot be upgraded. Achieving the kind of upgrade you're imagining cannot be done through conventional channels."
Like a rapid-fire cannon, he spat all his words out in a single breath.
"So that's how it is..." Su Chen could roughly understand. Taking the Azure Cable as an example, its materials only supported it up to the second-tier. If the materials were replaced, what difference would it have with a new weapon? There would be no way to continue controlling it using Mystic Artifact Control.
That meant he absolutely had to achieve the kind of weapon upgrade effect that was given as an extra reward when he had inaugurated as a first-tier Mystic Apprentice back then.
"I'll take my leave first." Seeing Su Chen remain silent, Jiang Xi bid his farewell again.
"Wait..." Su Chen called him to a halt. Plucking out the wine Ming Lin had brought this morning, which still had more than half remaining, he said: "Take this back and share it with your colleagues. Just tell them it's the half we didn't finish."
Asking Jiang Xi to come help deliver things was likely someone's way of testing how their relationship was.
Merely being fellow townsmen was completely different from being friends who shared the camaraderie of fellow townsmen.
"Many thanks, Big Brother Su..." Jiang Xi didn't quite understand, but accepted it nonetheless.
"Convention channels can't do it. I wonder if there's any related profession that can..." Musing, Su Chen opened the box on the floor to see a pair of long black metallic boots resting strikingly within.
The matte black combat boots had pure black patterns etched onto their surfaces. Every single pattern absorbed the surrounding light, causing the space inside the box to appear somewhat dark.
"Not bad..." Su Chen reached out and picked them up, finding them quite heavy.
【Shadow Evasion Wind Boots (Tier 3): Forged using Shadow Adamantine and supplemented with multiple engravings. Capable of concealing the wearer's figure and amplifying speed.】
Upon slipping them onto his feet, the fibers in the crevices of the metal plate armor instantly tightened, adjusting to an extremely precise fit. The biomembrane alloy on the surface gradually morphed into the style of regular shoes, completely indistinguishable from the outside.
With a burst of electric arcs, the patterns etched on the shoes' surfaces instantly lit up. Su Chen's figure abruptly blurred until he completely vanished.
With a slight movement of his feet, Su Chen only felt his surroundings blur as his entire being darted out abruptly, nearly crashing into the wall.
"Hah..." Being in a good mood, it had been a long time since he last felt this kind of uncontrollable sense of speed.
But after briefly experiencing it, his expression couldn't help but sober up as he clicked his tongue: "The consumption is also terrifying. Running at full speed, I estimate I wouldn't last for ten minutes."
Weapons were merely weapons. First-tier professionals could also use high-tier weapons, but the problem lied in whether they could withstand the energy consumption as well as the reactionary forces.
The higher a weapon's tier, the more formidable it was naturally, but the key was still adapting it to oneself.
Su Chen was a top-tier profession with an unlocking progress of 50%, which was why he could barely manage to use third-tier weapons.
Attempting it carefully, Su Chen roughly adapted to its functions.
"It seems this portion of Illusion Essence is truly going to be wasted."
Glancing at the time, Su Chen couldn't help but shake his head. After adapting to his new boots, it was already afternoon. It was time for him to head to the address Xia Hanshi had given him.
That place wasn't considered far from the Adjudication Court, and it was also very close to the location of the banquet Pang Xingwen had given him.
Wearing his long-unused Mimicry Mask, he switched between transport vehicles several times, arriving at the location two or three hours later.
This was a very ordinary-looking high-rise building. Upon reaching the top floor and knocking on the door, however, he was somewhat surprised.
It was actually a fully armed Bu Siqi, clad in Adjudication Court armor.
"Senior Brother?"
"Junior Brother, you're finally here." Bu Siqi pulled him into the room. Su Chen discovered that the place was filled with working Inquisitors and an abundance of precision instruments scattered everywhere.
"This is..."
"See that over there?" Bu Siqi raised his hand, pointing out the glass windows. A brightly lit high-rise building stood yonder. His eyes contained suppressed, bone-chilling excitement.
"That's... the Pang family's building?" Su Chen raised a brow as he thought of the address Pang Xingwen had given him.
"Today, we're going to exterminate his family." Bu Siqi broke into a wide grin. "Daring to send people to track you down, they are simply courting death!"
Because they tracked me?
Su Chen had already guessed the situation long ago and wasn't bluffed by Bu Siqi, "Senior Brother, stop teasing me."
"No fun." Bu Siqi shot him a glance, slightly disappointed. "Indeed, it's not because they tracked you. It's because Teacher discovered that his family was colluding with the Evil God Cults, and is currently rallying men to prepare an extermination."
"Truly preparing an extermination?" Su Chen raised a brow.
"I'm really not lying to you about the extermination." Bu Siqi said: "Teacher despises the Evil God Cults to the core. I reckon today, not even the chickens and dogs will be spared."
"Official procedures? Does our Adjudication Court have the authority to wipe out an entire family directly within Yingfeng City?" Su Chen couldn't help but ask.
"Why aren't you agitated at all?" Bu Siqi stared at him. "Of course it's official procedures. If the higher-ups didn't approve it, Teacher couldn't possibly act this recklessly."
"As for exterminating a family within the city, it is a bit extreme, but who asked them to collude with the Evil God Cults?"
"Why would they choose Teacher? Teacher's style of conduct is well known to all. His methods will definitely be violent. Won't this exacerbate the conflicts within the city?" Frowning, Su Chen pondered secretly: "Did Teacher fight for this himself?"
'No, if the Chief didn't nod in approval, Teacher shouldn't have any means to do this either.'
Suppressing his other thoughts, Su Chen suddenly felt a sense of ridiculous irony: 'The Pang family...'
Just yesterday, he was still worrying whether this family was involved with Black Buddha and if he needed to lay low. Yet today, their entire family was going to be exterminated.
The affairs of the world are truly fickle.
"Teacher..." The two headed upstairs to another floor. Xia Hanshi was currently here, still bearing his withered old man appearance as he stood before the window, observing another high-rise building not far away.
"That's the Pang family's old lair. They're going to host a banquet for you today..." Xia Hanshi's tone was icy. "Everyone who should come has come. Perfect timing..."
"Host a banquet?" Bu Siqi beside him was startled. "This actually happened?"
Xia Hanshi said indifferently: "If they weren't hosting a banquet for Su Chen, I wouldn't have intended to pull in the net so quickly either. Because if done too hastily, fish would slip through the net."
"So there really is a reason connected to you..." Flabbergasted, Bu Siqi hadn't expected the joke he casually made earlier to inadvertently align closely with the truth.
With his back facing everyone, Xia Hanshi said: "I took a trip to Yunlan. Unfortunately, I discovered a distant relative of Pang Hui's there. Following the trail of the stolen spatial crystal, I retraced their steps and stole another one."
"Sure enough, this news wasn't reported to Yingfeng at the first instance, but was instead communicated to Pang Hui first through secret channels. But I intercepted the intel."
"I beat that guy up. Unfortunately, he wasn't a believer of the Evil Gods, but I don't need concrete evidence."
"Combined with information from past investigations, I can confirm that the Pang family has a problem."
So that's how it is. Su Chen hesitated: "But there's no need for you to take on this assignment to purge within the city, right?"
Inside the city was the Supervision Department's territory. Since Xia Hanshi was acting so recklessly, the trouble would probably not be small.
Teng Liang looked up, his tone indifferent as he cast his gaze toward Su Chen: "Request exchanged for request."
Su Chen blanked. Could it be because of installing the gravity room and Spirit Realm Instrument simultaneously?
It shouldn't be, right?
"Don't overthink it, your matter was just an added bonus," Xia Hanshi had already guessed what he was thinking.
"The time of action is set for 10 PM. Bu Siqi..." Xia Hanshi issued his command.
"Present!"
"Take Su Chen and stay here. Don't go anywhere."
"Yes sir!" Bu Siqi was highly spirited, but was subsequently startled: "Stay here?"
Xia Hanshi didn't repeat himself. It was only 7 PM now, so it was still very early before the time of action, and there were quite a lot of people entering and exiting the building opposite them.
Losing all his interest and enthusiasm, Bu Siqi leaned against the wall: "Sigh... I really want to kill someone. I really want to kill someone."
As he wailed, Su Chen kept glancing over repeatedly, silently shifting his position away.
This kind of inner-city operation was held in high secrecy, with personnel gathered over half a day in advance, dispatched secretly one by one to quietly converge from all directions.
The curtain of night gradually fell, and more and more people arrived. He even spotted Yang Yan. The other party's expression was solemn, but upon seeing him, he was still very shocked.
Because the current situation wasn't convenient, he didn't approach him to talk, merely exchanging a few looks.
"Yang Yan is a Level-4 Inquisitor and a third-tier professional, yet right now he doesn't even have the right to speak." Observing the crowd, Su Chen saw Yang Yan following behind a burly, muscular man.
From the few scattered greetings, he learned that the other party was one of the Deputy Directors of the Disciplinary Judgment Department, named Zhao Gang.
And confronting Xia Hanshi, this guy didn't even dare to breathe heavily.
(End of this chapter)