Chapter 287: Black Buddha is Personally Delivering the Heart of Spiritual Light? |
After a long time, the red lightning and firelight converged, and only then did everything come to a halt. It turned out that both his Body Tempering Technique and Meditation Method had been elevated to the Master Level, awakening their enhancement abilities.
[The Thunder Brilliance Aura-Forging Body Forging Method has been elevated to the Master Level. Gained ability—Astral Thunder Physique: Slightly increases defense and elemental resistance.]
[The Burning Sound Soul-Refining Meditation Method has been elevated to the Master Level. Gained ability—Soul Ward: Slightly increases mental resilience and total capacity.]
Su Chen let out a long breath and glanced at his Profession Panel. The Profession Development Progress of both classes had already been pulled up to 60%.
Although the efficiency decayed considerably after reaching 50% development, entering the Cycle Saint and Stigmata Healer professions allowed him to stack another 150% efficiency.
It hadn't even been half a month, yet his Development Progress had increased by another 10%.
"Tsk tsk, so fast..." Su Chen stood up. Naturally, the new Body Tempering Technique and Meditation Method had been prepared long ago, but he was in no rush. After briefly tidying up, he stepped out the door.
"Calculating the time, today is precisely the time I agreed upon with Lan Hao. He should go to that previous place according to my instructions."
"Just right, it's also time to have a chat with Lord Black Buddha..."
"Senior Brother Lan Hao."
In the Guidance Hall of the Nether Realm, Lan Hao stepped out from a Nether Guidance Tower.
The person in charge here was no longer unfamiliar with Lan Hao. Every so often, this Legitimate Heir of the Lan Family would come to the Nether Realm.
"Zhang Yuan, you're on duty today." Lan Hao didn't respond directly, merely greeting him with a smile before exchanging a few pleasantries and stepping out of the Guidance Hall.
Zhang Yuan curled his lip secretly. 'You got him killed, yet you still put on an act of mourning.'
It was currently the Radiant Sun Period, and the Starfire overhead was intensely hot.
Within the scope of the Nether Realm, there were quite a few people coming and going.
"Lan Hao," Deacon Feng, a man with a stout figure, caught sight of this guy again. The corner of his mouth twitched, and words caught in his throat, but ultimately he merely said, "Pay attention to safety, don't run too far."
The matter of Meng Shiyu's death had ended without resolution, but this Lan Hao would inevitably come to the Nether Realm every month on the day Meng Shiyu died, claiming it was for mourning and remembrance.
"Rest assured," Lan Hao guaranteed, quickly stepping out of the core area.
He was already extremely familiar with this path. After walking a specific distance and completely distancing himself from the core area, he began to sprint all the way.
"I hope it's still like before, that no one comes."
Before entering the Nether Realm, he had found someone to engrave various Talisman Arrays on his Spiritual Entity to conceal his aura. As long as the distance wasn't too close, it would be very difficult even for these Nether Realm Creatures to discover him.
What he feared was not the Nether Realm Creatures, but that Believer of Black Buddha.
The previous few times, the other party hadn't appeared.
"Perhaps he's already died somewhere," Lan Hao would often pray like this. It was quite normal for Evil God Cultists to die inexplicably.
He felt anxious and apprehensive all the way until he reached the location where the two of them had met last time, only then coming to a halt.
With Nether Mist drifting all around, his expression was mercurial, and he inevitably felt irritable. As the time ticked away second by second, Lan Hao paced back and forth.
"It seems he still won't show up this time."
After a long while, Lan Hao breathed a sigh of relief. If he didn't appear, then he wouldn't have to accept whatever specific instructions the other party might issue.
The sect was the place where he grew up; he strongly resisted doing anything detrimental to the sect.
The day was drawing to a close, but out of caution, Lan Hao still decided to wait until an entire day had completely passed before leaving.
But right at this moment, the mist not far away drifted, and his heart trembled slightly. A somewhat familiar figure wearing a metal mask walked out from the mist.
'He actually came this time,' Lan Hao sighed lamentably in his heart.
"I didn't expect you to be quite cooperative." Su Chen looked at Lan Hao, his voice hoarse. "Didn't you prepare to find someone to ambush me?"
Lan Hao's expression was awkward as he hurriedly said, "How could I dare to find someone?"
It wasn't that he hadn't harbored such thoughts, but he definitely couldn't find outsiders for this matter; the only person he could trust was his own father.
However, he would have to face several problems. No matter what, he would have to lie everything bare, including leaking the family's Holy Class and leaking the matter of his father's collusion with Ni Chuan.
Fear of his father was one aspect; on the other hand, it was also because up until now, apart from demanding a Holy Class from him, this Evil God Cultist hadn't truly made him do anything that sold out the interests of the sect or his family.
Weighing both sides was what kept Lan Hao from ever making the resolve to lie everything bare.
But if the other party issued an instruction that was truly impossible to complete, it was impossible for him to defend this secret to the death and truly walk down a path of no return.
After a brief warning beat, Su Chen continued to ask: "During this period of time, what events have occurred within the Bronze Sect?"
He always had to keep up appearances. He was an Evil God Cultist, after all; what would it look like if he immediately went straight for the Holy Class as soon as he arrived?
'Sure enough, he's starting to pry into the sect's internal news.' Lan Hao hesitated inwardly, saying cautiously, "Some things have indeed happened within the sect recently. Our Star Seed, Su Chen, using his 5th-tier body to achieve Rank-Defying Slaying against the 6th-tier Divine Dawn Grade Talent Qin Tianlin, has become the Top Ranker of the 6th-tier."
Su Chen narrowed his eyes. Mentioning me specifically in front of an Evil God Cultist... is he trying to get me killed?
"What," his voice was piercingly cold, "Do you want me to help you eliminate this Star Seed?"
'What do you mean 'help me eliminate'?' Lan Hao froze, hurriedly saying, "Didn't you ask me what news had occurred in the sect recently? The ripples caused by this matter within the sect were quite significant."
Uh... that seemed to be true.
Su Chen realized he held a stereotyped impression of this guy. This matter wasn't considered a secret; presumably, everyone in the entire Dust Star Sea who should know about it already knew.
By using this matter to respond to him, Lan Hao was actually being somewhat perfunctory.
"Then this Star Seed of yours is quite extraordinary," Su Chen played along and remarked.
"Who says he isn't?" Lan Hao lamented inwardly as he recalled Su Chen's current glory.
Perhaps after being recruited as a mole by this Evil God Cultist and tormented by anxiety day and night, his mindset had long since changed.
If he could start over, he would hug Su Chen's thigh without hesitation.
If he had done that, Meng Shiyu wouldn't have harbored the thought of trying to win him over, thereby calling him out, and consequently inexplicably provoking this Evil God Cultist.
It was a pity; nothing could be started over.
"Only this news?" Su Chen pressed further. "How much do you know about that Su Chen?"
He harbored a bit of intent to test the waters.
"Su Chen lives in seclusion and rarely goes out. I have extremely little contact with him," Lan Hao summarized simply, hurriedly changing the subject: "However, that Qin Tianlin has been acting somewhat strange recently."
He absolutely didn't want to receive any instructions regarding Su Chen himself.
"Qin Tianlin? That Divine Dawn Grade Talent owner?" Su Chen was somewhat surprised. "What anomalies does he have?"
Seeing that this Evil God Cultist was interested, he hurriedly said, "After he was defeated by Su Chen, I thought he would sink into dormancy for a long time. I didn't expect him to hold a banquet a while ago, looking completely composed and unaffected."
"It is said that he is secretly, faintly searching for certain specific Professionals, though it is unknown what he wants to do."
"Searching for specific Professionals?" Su Chen pondered inwardly. He didn't have any trusted aides in the sect; having Ming Lin and the others help sell the Nether Realm Mother Stones already left him at his wits' end.
Not to mention spying on internal sect news, especially this kind of under-the-table news.
The Lan Family was one of the commanders of the Bronze Sect Army; many a rustle in the grass within the interior was hard to hide from them.
He actually didn't pay much attention to Qin Tianlin, but in order to maintain his persona as an Evil God Cultist, he thought for a moment and still issued an instruction: "Try your best to gather news regarding this Qin Tianlin."
"Gather news on Qin Tianlin?" Hearing this instruction, Lan Hao breathed a sigh of relief inwardly. If it was just gathering news, then he could delay things for a while longer.
"Right, do you know the fourth Class Sequence of your family's Holy Class now?"
Lan Hao's heart trembled, and he said helplessly, "I have learned of it."
"Let's hear it then." Beneath his mask, a smile appeared on Su Chen's face.
Lan Hao's expression was bitter. His spiritual projection faintly became distorted as he spat out each word in pain.
[Discovered Specialized Class—Healing Weaver Sage. Can advance after completing profession requirements.]
[Profession Requirement 1: Undergo Job Entry for at least six Physical-Path Classes, of which at least five must be Top-Tier Professions.]
[Profession Requirement 2: For a long period of time (three hours daily, continuously for three years), observe the states of health and damage of at least a thousand different entities.]
[Profession Requirement 3: Collect Flawless Crystal and Universal Dust, fusing them into yourself.]
According to what Lan Hao said, the Professional Abilities of this class were very special. It seemed capable of solidifying the body, restraining the generation of injuries, and could also form a synergy with Stigmata Healer.
[All things have their inherent perfect forms. Injuries and illnesses are merely a temporary obscuration and distortion of this perfect state. The Healing Weaver Sage expresses excitement upon facing the perfect form of the Crimson Flame Responding Thunder Great Exalted. Profession Requirement 2 has been weakened; continuous observation time halved.]
Su Chen looked at Lan Hao, whose cheeks were twitching before him, and nodded: "Not bad, you are quite cooperative. I hope you don't harbor any other thoughts. At certain moments, I might not necessarily be unable to lend you a hand."
'Lend me a hand? An Evil God's help? Stop scaring me...' Lan Hao smiled bitterly in his heart. After watching the other party leave, he helplessly dissipated from this place.
"I wonder what that Qin Tianlin is trying to do, rounding up Specialized Class Professionals..."
Su Chen muttered to himself secretly, returning along the original path and arriving near the Starfire.
At this moment, it was the Radiant Sun Period. He found a suitable position, transformed into his Priest of Black Buddha state, carved the Vertical Eye Emblem, and prayed to Black Buddha.
This time, Black Buddha was even more anxious than the last time. As soon as the connection was established, a profound, gloomy, and silent voice could be heard transmitting from the black mist lingering all around: "The matter I entrusted to you, are there results?"
'This is way too anxious...' Su Chen was amazed secretly but hurriedly responded, "Please forgive my sins. My poor execution failed to obtain the specific target. That Zhou Yunyang is insatiably greedy; he is truly detestable."
"What do you mean?" Black Buddha's voice carried a bit of urgency. "Does he actually know or not?"
"He claims he knows, but he demands that we hand over the Heart of Spiritual Light to him first, saying he doesn't trust us, and doesn't trust you."
"This person holds absolutely no respect for you... It's simply..." Before Su Chen could finish speaking, he was interrupted by Black Buddha. "He claims he knows, but does he have proof?"
"Hmm—" Su Chen said cautiously, "That Zhou Yunyang said he traced the whereabouts of all the items searched from the Divine Son. Among them, there was indeed one item that was specifically extracted and not put into storage?"
"This was a clue he spent a great deal of energy to find."
"Additionally, he also said that about half a month ago, the person we are looking for was secretly summoned by the Bronze Ancient King."
"Are you certain this is what he said?" Black Buddha's voice grew increasingly hurried. The black mist lingering all around rippled erratically, even faintly expanding to the boundaries of the Starfire and emitting hissing sounds.
This sufficiently showed the emotional fluctuations of this Great Eldritch God at this moment.
Half a month ago was precisely the time the second Mist Ember was purified.
"Correct, this is exactly what he said," Su Chen nodded. "He also said that if I relay these words to you, you will naturally know whether what he said is true or false."
Speaking up to here, Su Chen still didn't forget to maintain his persona, his voice turning furious: "This person is truly disrespectful, actually saying you are unwilling to keep your promise..."
His words still weren't finished before being interrupted by Black Buddha: "Agree to his terms."
"Agree to his terms?" Su Chen's heart palpitated, but he spoke with a bit of hesitation, "Are we really going to give him the Heart of Spiritual Light first?"
Black Buddha didn't answer his question, merely saying: "The Heart of Spiritual Light is excessively heavy; you cannot bring it out to the present world. Before long, I will personally head to the Bronze Sect bringing the Heart of Spiritual Light."
"You are coming personally?" Su Chen's heart suffered a severe shock. This matter greatly exceeded his expectations. After all, this was a Great Eldritch God on the same tier as the Ancient King, and having lived for countless years, who knew how many methods he possessed.
He hurriedly asked, "Do you need me to do anything?"
Black Buddha's voice returned to calmness: "When the time comes, you will rendezvous with me. Hand the Heart of Spiritual Light over to him, and just have him state that person's identity."
Continuously purifying two Mist Embers had already made Black Buddha so vigilant that he was actually going to personally strike out from the shadows. Su Chen felt a chill in his heart.
In addition, Black Buddha also added: "Increase your attention on Su Chen. Try your best to understand his every action, in preparation for future use."
'Not only are you going to strike against the person purifying the Mist Embers, but you're also going to strike against me while you're at it?'
'Wait, the person purifying the Mist Embers is also me...' Su Chen's mood shifted unpredictably, but on the surface, he respectfully complied.
Following that, a stream of extremely dense mist abruptly shot out from the black mist drifting all around, suddenly sinking into his body.
Su Chen was startled inwardly. Before he could react, the panel popped up—[Discovered pure Power of Faith, currently infusing into the Priest. Priest advances to—High Priest: The most fanatical of Believers, capable of speaking directly with Eldritch Gods, and even borrowing their power.]
[High Priest can disguise as: High Priest of Black Buddha, High Priest of the Faceless Ghost...]
[Disguise Form—High Priest of Black Buddha gains ability—Eldritch Gift: You will become versed in all knowledge that a High Priest of Black Buddha ought to be versed in.]
In an instant, his figure underwent a transformation. Black mist overflowed from his body, the black patterns on the surface of his skin deepened, and the vertical eye on his head seemed even more solid.
"He actually elevated me to High Priest." Su Chen was quite surprised. Not only that, but he could also feel a multitude of information welling up in his brain.
A massive amount of Ritual Arrays, whether simple or complex, how to borrow Black Buddha's power, and such; everything that a High Priest of Black Buddha ought to know.
A High Priest was already the highest tier of Believers, just below the Chief Priest.
Compared to ordinary Believers, a Chief Priest was different. Their level of faith toward the Eldritch God actually wasn't considered high. They needed to possess an independent self-consciousness and needed to make trade-offs at certain times in order to maintain the stable development of an Evil God Cult within a region.
If it was purely fanaticism, it would only lead to destruction. To a certain extent, a High Priest was the highest tier in the Believer sequence.
He was just preparing to brew a look of fanaticism when he discovered that the black mist all around had already dissipated.
Su Chen rapidly dispersed the engravings beneath his feet, his brows tightly locked. "Black Buddha is personally coming to deliver the Heart of Spiritual Light..."