My Professions Have Too Much Personality - Chapter 244 - 156: In the Nether Realm

Chapter 244: Chapter 156: In the Nether Realm

An unknown distance from Ying Feng, atop a canyon, Xia Hanshi looked down with a cold gaze.

Through the thin mist, a small settlement was visible in the canyon below. Stone houses built from Aurora Stones emitted a soft glow, their light linking together to delineate the living quarters.

But at this moment, the thousands of residents below were like manipulated puppets, frozen to the ground in the exact same kneeling posture. Their knees were sunk deep into the soil, their spines bent into stiff arcs, and their hands hung limply at their sides.

All the desiccated bodies were precisely aligned toward the central area, forming concentric circles.

The skin of these kneeling figures clung tightly to their skeletons, and their eye sockets were sunken, pitch-black voids. The center of the ring formation was empty, save for a dark red energy imprint left on the ground.

“Sigh…” A sigh came from beside Xia Hanshi. “How many does this make?”

Due to the influence of the mist, such settlements were extremely common. Generations had lived and died here, and they were very resistant to relocating to any of the closer cities.

“The twenty-second…” Xia Hanshi’s withered cheeks looked like frozen stone. “Judging by the imprint on the ground, this belongs to Crimson.”

“Black Tuo, Crimson, Dark Plague, Cunning Fox…” Yuan Poshan’s brow furrowed. “Four Deceitful Gods. After their attempt to sacrifice ten cities failed, they’ve started targeting these small settlements on a massive scale.”

“These settlements are too scattered. It’s impossible for us to defend them all. Don’t tell me… they’re really going to start that Holy Banquet?”

“There still seems to be no trace of the Faceless Ghost Followers,” Xia Hanshi suddenly asked.

Yuan Poshan frowned. “Is the Faceless Ghost out of the game?”

…

“Lord Su Chen, I am the Talisman Master, Gong Yun.”

Su Chen looked at the woman before him. She wore a form-fitting, off-white dress that reached her ankles and outlined her slender figure, and her long, wavy black hair cascaded to her chest.

“Please, come in.” Su Chen stepped aside. With a gentle smile, Gong Yun said, “I was sent by the Analysis Department to construct the Concealing Breath Talisman for you.”

“I know. They already told me,” Su Chen nodded.

“Then I bet they didn’t tell you that I volunteered for this,” Gong Yun said with a soft, knowing smile.

“No, they didn’t,” Su Chen said casually. “Just find a place where it’s convenient for you to start.”

“Anywhere is fine.” A glimmer danced in Gong Yun’s eyes. “However, I will need you to take off your shirt. Where do you think would be convenient?”

“Then right here is fine.” Su Chen immediately took off his shirt, revealing a sharply defined upper body. His pectoral and abdominal muscles were as chiseled as if carved by a knife, brimming with explosive power.

His chest rose and fell slightly with his breathing, and faint blue veins of light flickered beneath his skin, as if liquid lightning coursed within them. This was a result of him having just finished practicing the Thunder Gang Forging Body Technique.

Gong Yun froze for a second, her eyes instinctively raking over his body. She licked her lips. “Then right here is fine.”

She extended a finger, a faint golden glow swirling at its tip. She drew complex patterns in the air, forming symbols that landed just below Su Chen’s collarbone. The surface of his skin immediately rippled, as if a stone had been tossed into a calm lake.

More talismanic symbols were branded onto his body, and the faint golden lines began to spread on their own, creeping along the contours of his muscles like living vines.

The technique Gong Yun employed was clearly profound. She focused her entire being, and the threads of light from her fingertip began to resonate with the patterns on Su Chen’s body.

The talismanic symbols gradually sank beneath his skin, leaving only a faintly visible golden network on the surface that pulsed gently with his breathing.

It took a full half-hour to complete the process. By the end, Gong Yun’s fair cheeks were covered in dense beads of sweat.

“It’s done.” After saying these two words, Gong Yun’s slender body swayed as if she were about to fall. But when she saw Su Chen standing there without moving to help, she couldn’t hide her disappointment and straightened herself up.

“So this will reduce the danger when I enter the Nether Realm?” Su Chen asked, looking down at his skin, which now glowed with a faint golden light.

“That’s right. This Talisman can conceal your life force, but you still need to be careful. It does its best to lower the risk, but it can’t eliminate it completely,” Gong Yun advised. “Also, this Talisman will only last for half a month.”

“After half a month, if you need me to, I’ll come again.”

Su Chen nodded to show he understood. Gong Yun stood rooted to the spot for a long moment. When she saw that he had already put his shirt back on and was giving her a look that said, “Why are you still here?” she felt a pang of regret.

’I’d heard this Core Seed wasn’t a womanizer. If I could just latch onto him, my future would be set.’

“Well, I’ll be leaving now,” Gong Yun said, reluctantly taking her leave.

Meanwhile, Su Chen could hardly wait. He headed to the Gravity Chamber, closed the door, and sat cross-legged on the floor. He tentatively activated the Talisman on his body, then drew a series of symbols on his chest.

Entering the Nether Realm, much like the Delirious Words Trial, was simple and only required a few symbols.

But this time was indeed different from the Delirious Words Trial. He could clearly feel himself crossing some kind of threshold as his body gradually grew cold.

His surroundings were suffused with a grayish-white color until the scene of the Gravity Chamber vanished completely, and he found himself in an unknown land.

The land stretched to the horizon, boundless. He could see almost no color, and the sky was perpetually overcast.

The strangest things were the wisps of grayish-white mist floating in the air. They drifted about like living tentacles.

’So this is the Nether Realm when entered under normal conditions? This mist looks a lot like the mist in the real world. Don’t tell me the mist in reality actually leaks out from here?’

Su Chen looked around, took two tentative steps, and then glanced down at his body. It, too, was ethereal, like a floating cloud.