My Professions Have Too Much Personality - Chapter 243 - 155: Beset with Difficulties (Part 2)
Chapter 243: Chapter 155: Beset with Difficulties (Part 2)
Sang Hanhai pointed at him. “So you haven’t forgotten about that. Rest assured, you contributed greatly today. If a truly powerful profession comes out of this, you won’t be left out.”
Su Chen then turned to leave. Sang Hanhai’s expression grew grim as he turned to Pu Zhenghong with a worried look. “Yuan Capital is desperate to get a Saint, and they want to enhance Hongxuan’s Talent. I fear their goal is *that* profession.”
“So what if it is?” Pu Zhenghong retorted.
Sang Hanhai said gravely, “Then we absolutely cannot let Yuan Capital succeed. The bloody war only ended ten years ago. My father and your father both died at the hands of people from Yuan Capital.”
Pu Zhenghong fell silent for a moment before sighing. “All we have is a fragment of the Stone Slab. We don’t even know the name of the profession. This isn’t something we can stop just by deciding to.”
“Besides…” Pu Zhenghong started to say, but then clamped his mouth shut, shook his head, and walked out.
…
The guesthouse was usually deserted. It had been built exclusively for visitors from the other three major cities, as envoys from subordinate cities didn’t have the qualifications to stay there. Normally, you wouldn’t see a soul here for a year or two.
Tang Chen stepped out of the Hovercar, his expression dark. He ignored the greetings from the Yuan Capital People he passed on the way, making a beeline for a specific room in the guesthouse.
He knocked and entered. In the room, Wu Chenpei saw Tang Chen’s grim expression and immediately understood. “It was a failure?”
“Yes.” Tang Chen nodded curtly.
“The Translation Department has gotten wise. We already tricked them once, so it’s only normal they wouldn’t fall for it again.” Wu Chenpei had anticipated this outcome and shook his head. “I really thought that with Pu Zhenghong there, they would have the confidence to take the bet again.”
“It wasn’t that they didn’t take the bet.” Tang Chen’s expression darkened even further. “They saw through our scheme. The Translation Department will probably report this to the Elder Council soon and demand an explanation from us.”
“They found out?” A flicker of stunned disbelief crossed Wu Chenpei’s face. “How could they possibly have discovered that there was no profession recorded on the Holy Word Stone?”
“The Black Tuo Sacrificial Chief swore up and down that no one would be able to find out.”
“Damn it!” Tang Chen snarled, gritting his teeth. “I don’t know how, but they saw right through it. Pu Zhenghong was even about to call people from the other two cities to act as witnesses for a joint deciphering.”
“He was that certain.” Wu Chenpei hadn’t expected this, and his brow furrowed. “Pu Zhenghong is getting more and more uncanny. Don’t tell me he’s actually made a breakthrough in his research of the Divine Language. He’s only a Tier Five Professional.”
“And that’s not all,” Tang Chen snorted. “Pu Zhenghong dragged out some young man from who-knows-where and deliberately had some kid expose the whole thing, just to slap us in the face.”
He had figured it out on the way over. ’Pu Zhenghong’s move was vicious; it was clearly revenge for them blocking his department’s entrance last time.’
’And if the kid had been wrong, Pu Zhenghong could have just pinned the blame on him. The man is too damn crafty.’
“A young man?” Wu Chenpei dismissed the detail with a sigh. “This is going to be a problem.”
If the Translation Department had simply refused to bet, they had a backup plan. But now that their underhanded scheme had been exposed, the difficulty of obtaining the [Saint] profession would likely increase exponentially.
The crucial part was that their backup plan was now useless. Not only that, they still had to resolve the trouble left over from their last bet.
“What about on your end?” Tang Chen asked Wu Chenpei, pacing back and forth in agitation.
“Chong Jingtian refused,” Wu Chenpei said.
“Short-sighted fool.” Tang Chen wasn’t surprised. “If they hadn’t suddenly discovered people from the Royal Court ten years ago, Chong Jingtian would still be the same old warmonger, hell-bent on unifying our three cities.”
“The threat is imminent, yet he refuses to grab the lifeline right in front of him.”
Wu Chenpei said coolly, “Until we force Chong Jingtian to face reality, he will never compromise. He’d rather test every single person in his Judicial Court than agree to our proposal.”
“The Judicial Court…” Tang Chen shook his head. “Chong Jingtian will never understand what we’ve sacrificed to nurture Hongxuan.”
“He’ll understand soon enough,” Wu Chenpei said calmly. “I hear he set up a challenge arena last year. Sounds rather interesting. I’ll have Hongxuan go give it a try.”
They had prepared contingency plans before arriving; regardless of whether Chong Jingtian agreed, they had ways to achieve their objective.
As he thought about it, Tang Chen’s face darkened once more. The exposure of the Holy Word Stone was a completely unexpected setback. He asked in a low voice, “Then what about the Saint?”
’Their scheme was exposed, and the backup plan was useless. They had to come up with a new approach.’
Wu Chenpei seemed to already have an idea. “We’ll use the arena for that, too. We’ll just have to let Hongxuan be a bit more… unrestrained.”
…
When Su Chen returned to his residence, Gu Bing was already waiting for him at the door.
“How did it go?” Su Chen asked as he pushed the door open and went inside.
Gu Bing followed him in and said with a helpless tone, “We’ve already asked every family and organization in Ying Feng, big and small. The least-contaminated one we could find is an Eye of the Thunder God that’s thirty percent suffused with blood.”
“Thirty percent suffused? That won’t work…” Su Chen shook his head and invited Gu Bing to sit on the sofa. No. Zero, following its usual routine, had already served tea.
The so-called Eye of the Thunder God was actually taken from a Tier Four Mutant Species called the One-Eyed Thunder Beast.
The One-Eyed Thunder Beast was hairless, its body covered in scales that crackled with the Thunder Element. It had six legs, and its head featured only a single eye with no other organs.
It lived in regions perpetually wracked by thunderstorms. Its primary means of attack depended on its vertical eye, which could fire an incredibly powerful beam of lightning.
But once it attacked, its vertical eye would become suffused with blood.
After death, its blood flow would cease, causing the blood to pool in the eye and fuse with it, making it impossible to remove. This tainted blood would drastically reduce the eye’s value.
Therefore, to obtain a pure Eye of the Thunder God, the beast had to be killed instantly, before it had a chance to attack.
This required overwhelming power. The One-Eyed Thunder Beast was a Tier Four Mutant Species to begin with, and its massive size gave it a natural advantage in combat. An ordinary Tier Four Professional was no match for it.
On top of that, these creatures were social, lived in terrain that favored them, and would swarm any enemy they discovered.
It would take at least a Tier Five Professional to retrieve its eye, and even then, there would almost always be some degree of contamination. A truly pure Eye of the Thunder God hadn’t been seen in Ying Feng for years.
“There really are none in the city. I doubt anyone is hiding one,” Gu Bing said, resigned.
’I’ll just have to ask someone to get one for me,’ Su Chen thought, his eyes glinting. The only Tier Five Professional he was on good terms with right now was his senior brother, Teng Liang.
’He definitely wouldn’t refuse if I asked for his help. But while getting an Eye of the Thunder God is one thing, getting a *pure* one is much more difficult.’
’Teng Liang’s giant transformation is certainly powerful, but it also creates a huge disturbance.’
’The ideal person for the job would be a Tier Five Professional skilled in stealth and assassination, or one with special immobilization abilities. Alternatively, a Tier Six could just overwhelm it directly.’ Su Chen racked his brain but couldn’t think of a suitable candidate.
’As for a Tier Six, that was out of the question. They were all at the level of a Chief Judge; even Chong Jingtian would need a proper reason to dispatch one.’
“Or maybe a few Tier Five Professionals working together,” Su Chen mused, then turned to Gu Bing. “Generally speaking, what does it take to get a Tier Five Professional to take on a job?”
Gu Bing considered this. “A Tier Five Professional is already Director Level in the Judicial Court or a deputy chief in the Security Department. They’re major figures. When they agree to do something, personal favors are a huge part of the deal.”
People like that aren’t hurting for money; it’s more about personal connections and reputation.
“So I’d owe them a favor,” Su Chen mused. He could contact Cheng Lang, but he wasn’t sure that guy would be willing to travel all the way out of Ying Feng for him.
’I’ll ask Senior Brother Teng Liang in a few days. There has to be a way,’ Su Chen thought, then asked Gu Bing, “How long does it take to get to the One-Eyed Thunder Beasts’ habitat from Ying Feng?”
“The closest is Wind Thunder Valley. A round trip would take about two months,” Gu Bing replied thoughtfully.
With a specific timeframe in mind, Su Chen grew pensive. He made some more small talk with Gu Bing and learned something unexpected.
“The Wei Family contacted you? They want to sell off some of their assets to me at a steep discount?”
“Yes,” Gu Bing nodded. “They didn’t just contact you; they reached out to Wei Yufan and the others as well. But we can get a considerable portion. The Wei Family was bound to downsize sooner or later. Their current thinking is probably to try and build some goodwill for the future.”
“Given the past conflict between Judge Wei and Elder Xia… So… do you want to accept their offer?”
Wei Yinsuo was dead. Zhu Xuan was dead. But Xia Hanshi was still alive, and so was Su Chen. The Wei Family had no choice but to prepare for the consequences.
“Sure, why not?” Su Chen said casually. “As long as the Wei Family doesn’t do anything stupid to provoke me, I can’t be bothered to pick a fight with them. Once you’ve acquired the assets, you all can manage them for me.”
Gu Bing nodded.
