My Professions Have Too Much Personality - Chapter 344 - 205: Could it be Lan Hao?
“It’s no trouble. It will only be a delay of a few days at most,” Qing Cang said, shaking his head. “The Nether Fog is gone. With the Copper Star’s performance, it would only take a day to return to Ying Feng.”
’Right… I almost forgot about that.’ Su Chen had a sudden realization. He had heard Qing Cang mention before that the ship’s travel speed was different inside and outside the Nether Fog.
He had just been habitually calculating based on the time when the Nether Fog was still present, which would have made the return trip to Ying Feng ten days long.
Wan Chen, who had been about to speak, closed his mouth. He had forgotten about this as well. A delay of ten days or half a month would be significant, but a few days didn’t matter.
“Alright, let’s wait a bit longer then.” Seeing that Qing Cang was genuinely considering his interests, Su Chen no longer refused.
After all, there were two more shipments of Deceitful God’s Power on the way. The one from Yuan Capital, in particular, contained an amount that was likely no less than Ying Feng’s.
The surrounding crowd gradually dispersed. Su Chen first went to the Celestial Joy spaceship that was carrying the Deceitful God’s Power to take all the Deceitful Artifacts and other such items.
After it had arrived, the Red Thunder Cauldron had been dug out, but there hadn’t been time to deal with it.
’Hmm… The most of any type of Deceitful Artifact is only twenty units, and there are no statues… let alone any essence.’ Su Chen temporarily stored the Deceitful Artifacts in his space. There were too many people around; he couldn’t reveal his ability to absorb Ghost God Power.
As he had expected, Celestial Joy’s stock was far from comparable to Ying Feng’s—only about a third. After all, its sphere of influence and scale were also much weaker than Ying Feng’s.
’The main haul is still the one from Yuan Capital…’ Su Chen thought as he turned and disembarked from the spaceship.
Chong Jingtian was leaving and taking Zhou Yanwu with him, as they were heading in the same direction. He left Jiang Shu Mo behind to discuss the subsequent cleanup of the Deceitful God’s Followers with the people from the other three cities.
’Never thought I’d see the day Old Xia robbed the cradle…’ Su Chen mused as he watched Xia Hanshi and Ji Rou board the spaceship. His mentor’s young wife would occasionally turn her head to ask Xia Hanshi some questions,
and the gentle, soft-spoken way Old Xia acted was something Su Chen had never seen before.
When Ji Rou heard that Chong Jingtian had become Ying Feng’s Chief Judge, she couldn’t help but look amazed.
Upon learning that Xia Hanshi had also become a Chief Judge, however, she couldn’t help but feel a pang of pity for him, a sight that made Chong Jingtian’s lips twitch into a grin.
“Are we returning directly to Ying Feng?” Qing Cang only came over to ask after everyone who was leaving had boarded the spaceship.
Wan Chen watched with a complicated expression, sighing inwardly. ’Qing Cang’s attitude toward Su Chen is completely different now. When has he ever asked for our opinion?’
Su Chen considered for a moment, then said, “Let’s take a detour. The Deceitful God’s Power being transported from the other cities is on its way. Let’s go pick it up first.”
He spoke bluntly. In any case, Deceitful God’s Power was valuable in the Dust Star Sea, so it was perfectly normal to go and collect it.
“Alright.” Qing Cang nodded, asked for the specific route, and the spaceship took off. The engine nozzles suddenly erupted with a stream of faint blue particles. The gravitational field generated during acceleration caused the rocks on the ground to float up as if they were weightless.
The entire spaceship had become a streak of black lightning tearing across the sky. Its bow continuously broke the sound barrier, creating conical clouds of vapor, its speed now more than ten times faster.
「……」
「A short while earlier.」
Ni Chuan dragged the crestfallen Ni Bin back to the spaceship’s docking area, entered the largest vessel, and tossed his son down.
His brow was tightly furrowed. He glanced at the still-dazed Ni Bin and said coldly, “How long are you going to dwell on this?”
Hearing this, Ni Bin’s expression changed several times. His fists clenched and unclenched before he said in a low voice, “I lost without even getting to fight.”
The frustration in his heart was immense; he hadn’t even been in a single battle.
“No one is blaming you.” Ni Chuan shook his head. His son’s Heart really wasn’t very good. Under the corrosion of the Deceitful God’s Power, he had barely passed, not even measuring up to that girl named Lin Yue.
’If it were someone with Su Chen’s Heart, he would have probably already recovered by now.’
’No… if it were Su Chen, he probably wouldn’t have shown any emotion at all up there.’
’In the end, Heart really is quite important,’ he thought.
“This is just a temporary setback. There’s an old saying in the Dust Star Sea: as long as you haven’t ignited the Morning Star Fire, everyone still has a chance,” Ni Chuan said in a low voice. “If you keep dwelling on today, even if another opportunity presents itself, it will just slip away for nothing.”
Ni Bin pressed his lips together. He understood the logic, but he just couldn’t accept it!
This was something he had to resolve on his own. Ni Chuan knew that saying more was useless. His expression darkened, and he left Ni Bin in the cabin, heading for the upper decks.
Entering his room, he casually tossed out a few black metal chunks. A hazy, gray mist seeped in from all directions, gradually forming a small room built of grayish-brown stone.
He casually slapped a button on the table.
He waited for a long time, until he grew impatient and even agitated, before a blurry, humanoid figure finally began to form in the room.
The figure had gaunt cheeks and a sharp gaze. He was wearing heavy, bronze-colored combat armor, looking capable and sharp.
“Lanhai, what took you so long?” Ni Chuan’s words were filled with impatience.
“I’m still shouldering the burdens of the Sect. How could I come at a moment’s notice?” Lanhai shook his head. He had already noticed that Ni Chuan’s expression was not good and had his suspicions.
He calculated the time and frowned. “It’s only been about ten days since you last contacted me. The Royal Court’s support couldn’t have arrived yet. Did you fail?”
“Did the Ancient King intervene after all?” Lanhai looked somewhat puzzled.
“Yes.” Ni Chuan nodded, his face grim. “That Qing Cang suddenly requested the Ancient King’s help.”
Lanhai looked shocked and suspicious. “That shouldn’t be. The Ancient King’s attention is almost entirely on the Eternal Silence Star.”
“And Qing Cang has always revered the Ancient King. He would never trouble the Ancient King unless it was absolutely necessary. How could things suddenly change like this?”
Hearing this, Ni Chuan couldn’t help but snort coldly. “I suspect that Qing Cang discovered I was secretly following him, and that’s why he asked the Ancient King for help.”
“You were discovered?” Lanhai froze, a hint of anger creeping into his voice, which rose in pitch.
“How could you have been discovered? That planet was covered by the Nether Fog, and you’re a Commander of the Town Guard Army with vast combat experience. How could you be found out by someone like Qing Cang, a guy who almost never leaves the Sect’s gates?”
Despite being questioned, Ni Chuan didn’t show much anger. In fact, he seemed a little surprised. “It wasn’t you?”
“You think it was me?” Lanhai was stunned. “How could you even think that? I was the one who told you about the Red Thunder Star.”
“Exactly. Only you and your son knew that I was coming in secret…” Ni Chuan’s expression was cold. “Qing Cang is no military leader. There’s no way he was the one who discovered me.”
“Why don’t you go ask your son if he was the one who got found out somewhere.”
On the way back, he had thought it over carefully. The only possible source of the problem was the father-son pair, Lanhai and Lan Hao.
He even suspected that Lanhai was playing both sides—first selling the information to him for some benefit, then reporting the news of his pursuit to the Bronze Sect to claim another credit.
“Absolutely not,” Lanhai said decisively. “Lan Hao may not be the most meticulous, but his status is clear. If he refuses to talk, a softy like Qing Cang can’t do anything to him.”
The two fell silent. Deep down, neither trusted the other, but for now, neither could be sure if the other was to blame.
After a moment, Lanhai calmed himself. The plan had failed, and he needed to understand the situation. He asked, “So, does this mean the Spiritual aspect of the Great Venerable Red Flame Thunder Resonator has fallen into Qing Cang’s hands? He’ll be bringing it back soon, and there will be another grand selection.”
His eyes flickered. Lan Hao had lost the initiative, and he was already thinking about which other members of the Lan Family might have a chance in the upcoming grand selection.
“No need,” Ni Chuan said indifferently.
Hearing this, Lanhai’s expression changed slightly. As if realizing something, he asked urgently, “A chosen one has emerged? Who is it? Was it Wan Chen?”
His face turned ashen. The very reason he had risked leaking information to Ni Chuan was because he didn’t want to see Wan Chen become the chosen one.
If Wan Chen had succeeded anyway…
“No…” At this moment, Ni Chuan, on the contrary, seemed to be enjoying the show. He shook his head slowly.
“No?” Lanhai was filled with shock and uncertainty. “If not Wan Chen, could it be Lin Yue?”
His expression shifted between light and shadow. “A Double Scarlet Talent… It’s not like there haven’t been examples of this before. To think Lin Langtian would get so lucky.”
If it was Lin Yue, it would be a silver lining in this unfortunate situation.
But, to his surprise, Ni Chuan denied it again, his expression holding an indescribable meaning. “It wasn’t Lin Yue, either.”
“Not Lin Yue?” Lanhai froze. A completely unbelievable thought suddenly surfaced in his mind. The mere speculation made his demeanor turn cautious. “Could it be… that Lan Hao succeeded?”
