Gu Bing's hands were trembling slightly. Allowing the Gu Family to act as a middleman to contact other factions would inherently let them snatch a portion of the benefits.
Furthermore, handling a portion of the Pang Family's assets represented an even greater level of trust. Gu Bing hadn't expected their investment in Su Chen to yield returns this quickly.
After seeing Gu Bing off, the sky gradually darkened. Su Chen arrived at the potion storage room, which had already taken on an entirely new look.
Gu Bing had come here specifically to deliver potions to him.
"Earth Fiend..." Su Chen picked up a tube containing a yellowish-brown liquid. This was a physical-type auxiliary potion extracted from a special mineral known as Copper Iron.
A single tube had a market price of forty thousand gold. Even with the Gu Family purchasing it in bulk, it still cost thirty thousand gold. And he had to consume at least seven or eight tubes a month. This was merely for the physical auxiliary potions; the Gu Family was already struggling to support this alone.
Opening his mouth, he poured it in. It had a gritty, grainy texture, like rusted molten iron. Every part of his muscles felt as if they were being pierced through by needles.
"Silver Lotus Spirit Water" was the mental-type auxiliary potion. It looked like quicksilver and tasted slightly sweet. His mental energy gradually became active.
Finally, he supplemented it with a mouthful of Glazed Blood. He could clearly feel that its effects had already significantly diminished.
Entering the gravity room, he retrieved two sets of materials, each over ten pages long, from his wristband. One of them depicted bizarre posturesâsome reclining, some lying down. This was the D-rank [Crouching Tiger Body Forging Method].
The other set traced out some special symbols. This was the D-rank [Sanskrit Sound Void-Shattering Meditation Method].
New body forging methods, new meditation methods, new potions. D-rank training methods were much more complex. Su Chen spent quite some time before grasping the basics of each.
'I hope Chu Xuan can be sensible. Killing a Core Seed would cause a bit too much turbulence,' Su Chen couldn't help but think.
...
A group of people was actually gathered in front of the door to Chu Xuan's villa. Losing to Su Chen was because Su Chen was too strong, not because Chu Xuan was weak. Although he hadn't washed away his past humiliation, Chu Xuan was still a very promising stock.
The main door was pulled open, and Chu Yunze walked out with a bitter smile. "He won't see anyone."
"What's the situation? Big Brother Chu is fine, right?" someone leaned in and asked.
"His injuries aren't a major issue," Chu Yunze replied. But seeing that everyone's expressions hadn't changed at all, he finally realized they weren't asking about his injuries, but rather his state of mind.
On the arena, Chu Xuan's mental state had clearly collapsed. If he failed to recover after this setback, it was best to announce it early so everyone could go their separate ways.
Chu Yunze said displeasedly, "If there's nothing else, then disperse."
Everyone looked at each other in dismay, but it wasn't appropriate to say much more either, so they scattered and left.
Only Meng Qi, who was standing in the corner, was left alone. He finally walked up, looking as if he were still lingering in fear. "I didn't expect Su Chen to be so formidable."
"Yeahâ" As a core member of their small group, Chu Yunze had a pretty good relationship with Meng Qi. Hearing this, he nodded and said, "However, Chu Xuan doesn't seem to be reacting like last time."
"The things Su Chen said to him probably played a significant role."
"To have a setup orchestrated against him, yet still possess such breadth of mind... He is broad-minded and unperturbed by external matters," Chu Yunze couldn't help but say. "If you ask me right now who is the most likely person to become the Chief Inquisitor, there is no one else suitable but Su Chen."
"Indeed." Meng Qi nodded in deep agreement, then said, "I'll go inside and chat with Big Brother."
"He won't even see me," Chu Yunze shook his head.
Meng Qi said helplessly, "Let me try. I have to arouse his fighting spirit somehow."
"That's true," Chu Yunze agreed deeply. "Then you go ahead."
As Meng Qi pushed the door open to enter, Chu Yunze couldn't help but recall the scene on the arena earlier today.
"The capacity to tolerate others is merely thusâ"
Meng Qi turned his head to glance at the tightly shut main door. He walked up to the second floor and knocked on the room door. Inside, there was an absolute silence without any response.
Meng Qi wasn't surprised either. An indescribable expression surfaced on his usually cowering and timid face. He whispered, "Big Brother, I have a method to deal with Su Chen."
A moment later, a hoarse voice echoed from inside the room, "Come in."
Meng Qi pushed the door and entered, only to see Chu Xuan lying on the bed. Bandages were wrapped all over his body, and he was currently rubbing his temples, his brows tightly furrowed. The vitality of professionals was exceptionally robust. Chu Xuan's injuries were very severe, but after receiving basic treatment, his own regenerative abilities would allow him to be alive and kicking in just a few days.
Expressionless, Chu Xuan said indifferently, "In the future, don't talk about dealing with Su Chen anymore. There is no enmity or grudge between him and me."
"Visit Wei Yufan less too. Su Chen was right; I was blinded by obsession and forgot what is truly most important."
He genuinely had no other options left. He couldn't beat him, and he couldn't compare. If he didn't adjust his state of mind, was he supposed to actually commit suicide?
He truly had been beaten into submissionâeven Meng Qi was astonished inwardly. However, he whispered, "You... misunderstood. I didn't express it accurately. What I meant is that I have a method to let you surpass Su Chen. Surpass him fair and square."
"Oh?" Chu Xuan couldn't help but look over. "He has an unprecedented dual top-tier class. You have a method?"
Meng Qi nodded solemnly. "âI doâ"
Before he could even speak two sentences, Chu Xuan's expression suddenly turned ferocious, and he abruptly smashed a fist against his own brain.
Startled, Meng Qi asked, "Are you alright?"
Chu Xuan took a deep breath, his complexion gradually smoothing out. "I'm fine. It might be the aftereffects of being hit by that mental attack earlier. You can continue."
"âA method to surpass me?" Su Chen's unfocused eyes gradually came back into focus, and he couldn't help but ponder deeply.
Just now, he had wanted to take the opportunity to spy on Chu Xuan's situation to see what the other party was thinking right now.
The good news was that Chu Xuan seemed to have genuinely let it go, no longer obsessively fixating on him.
But that Meng Qi was somewhat strange.
This guy's presence wasn't high. Su Chen didn't even have any specific impression of him, but for him to jump out right now felt altogether odd.
'Unfortunately, Chu Xuan is still a 3rd-tier top-class professional, so his mental resilience is very high. If I spy on him for too long, I will be discovered. I estimate that once he fully recovers, I'll have to annihilate this seed...'
Su Chen deliberated for a moment, then shook his head. "Forget it. As long as he isn't staring at me and causing trouble, it's fine."
He temporarily tossed this matter to the back of his mind and continued his training.
Over the next few days, Gu Zhengting acted on his behalf, making contact with several factions and attending quite a few banquets. Finally, he organized a list of three families.
"The Wang Family: Built their fortune through the resale of potions. They have a lot of connections in the Potion Department..."
"The Tie Family: They have branch families in quite a few lower-tier cities. They rely on various mineral resources..."
"These two families can consolidate channels for potions and metallic materials. More importantly, their family forces aren't considered robust, making them very easy to control..."
Gu Bing continued explaining, "As for the Zhou Family and the Sun Family, they are both upper-level figures in the city. The things they offer aren't considered much, but our main purpose in contacting them is to state our stance: we do not wish to be isolated from the core circles either."
"There's also those contract documents you gave us. We did a rough calculation; their theoretical price should be around ten million gold. If you wish to take them off your hands, you'd likely have to take a forty percent loss..."
"No need to take them off my hands; you guys just continue operating them," Su Chen waved his hand, cutting her off. Merely for auxiliary potions, he needed to consume around five million gold a month. That was only equivalent to two months of consumption.
He was determined to be a hands-off boss. Handing it to the Gu Family to handle was enough.
"I don't have many places demanding money. Right, help me pay the ten million I owe the logistics department."
"Alright." Gu Bing nodded, making a note of this matter.
"By the wayâ" Her eyes drifted, looking somewhat hesitant. "My grandfather asked me to ask you, do you have time to visit our home for a mealâ"
Before she even finished speaking, she saw Su Chen's expression change. Amidst explosive wind sounds and shooting electric arcs, his entire person practically darted into the underground room.
"So... so... such fast speed!" Gu Bing was utterly dumbfounded, even forgetting what she had been about to say.
Smoothly shutting the main door to the gravity room, Su Chen's expression fluctuated. He had sensed that his mental seed was on the verge of annihilation.
'Was I discovered? How could it be so fast? Does he know it was me who planted it?'
Su Chen needed to figure this point out. His mental energy radiated outward, attempting to connect.
The scene before his eyes blurred, and angry shouts echoed beside his ears: "Meng Qi, you're courting death!"
"I am a Core Seed of the Adjudication Court! What are you trying to do!?"
'Where is this?' Upon clearly seeing everything around him, Su Chen felt both alarm and doubt.
This was a dim, gray room. Chu Xuan seemed to be strapped onto an iron rack. Standing before him were several figures cloaked in black robes, with Meng Qi standing at the front.
However, unlike his cowering and timid demeanor during the assessment, at this moment, the only thing on Meng Qi's face was suppressed excitement.
"Chu Xuan, oh Chu Xuan, to find this opportunity, I waited for a full half-year." Meng Qi paced back and forth. "You practically never stepped out of the Adjudication Court, and even if you did, you always had many people by your side."
"Acting like an idiot by your side for half a year made even me disgusted."
"Youâyouâ" Chu Xuan was both shocked and enraged. "If you kill me, the Adjudication Court will definitely turn Yingfeng upside down to investigate this thoroughly!"
"Of course, of course," Meng Qi paid it absolutely no mind. "Killing people like you actually has a very low cost-performance ratio. It's only during certain specific moments that we need to kill you."
"Besides, who said I'm going to kill you?" Meng Qi revealed a bizarre, eerie smile.
Su Chen's heart jolted. Using Chu Xuan's peripheral vision, he finally noticed someone bowing over, drawing something onto his body.
Under the black robe, long, slender fingernails dipped into a single drop of transparent, slightly whitish liquid contained within a bronze vessel.
It looked like there was only a tiny bit of liquid inside, yet no matter how many times it was dipped into, the amount never seemed to decrease.
'It's exactly that thing that nearly caused my mental seed to annihilate.' Su Chen realized that the closer the other party drew to completing the drawing, the more violently his mental seed trembled.
Amidst Chu Xuan's roaring screams, the drawing was finally completed.
The surrounding scenes became extremely blurry. His mental seed was nearing utter annihilation, and Su Chen couldn't clearly see exactly what the other party had drawn either.
However, he could see that the face of the black-robed person who slowly stood up had absolutely no facial features.
'A Faceless Man! Sure enough, they are Evil God Cultists!' A tremor ran through Su Chen's heart. Only Evil God Cultists could orchestrate such an eerie, bizarre scene.
"It can begin." The Faceless Ghost Cultist walked to the side and whispered.
'The cultist is very respectful. This guy's status is definitely not low. How did he sneak into the Adjudication Court?' Doubts filled Su Chen's heart.
Meng Qi took a deep breath, and his mouth began chanting aloud. Su Chen couldn't understand the lyrics of the chant.
But as the chanting grew louder and more resonant, grayish-white chains gradually surfaced on Meng Qi and Chu Xuan's bodies. They seemed to be rooted within both of their bodies, and faintly, some sort of substance could be seen flowing between the two.
Meng Qi's body began to twist and contort. A massive number of symbols surfaced on his skin; his entire body looked as if it was piled up using symbols. Meanwhile, Chu Xuan let out miserable wails of agony.
"This the f*ckâ"
Under Su Chen's horrified gaze, the melted facial features on Meng Qi's face were reshaped, gradually turning into Chu Xuan's appearance. Whether it was height, hair color, or skin tone, everything was converging.
'Is this the ability of the Faceless Ghost?' Even Su Chen felt a chill run down his spine. This change was clearly not a simple disguise.
"Huuâ"
The transformation finally concluded. The grayish-white chains between the two vanished. "Chu Xuan" exhaled a breath, stretching his limbs and letting out a comfortable groan. "Worthy of an Ink Jade talent, 3rd-tier top-classâ"
"Evil Gods... you actually colluded withâ" Chu Xuan spoke up, his voice turning extremely weak. "You actually colluded with Evil Gods."
Following Chu Xuan's line of sight down, Su Chen discovered that his body had already withered to the point of turning into a haggard husk, as if sucked bone dry.
"Worthy of a top-tier classâ" Meng Qi praised in admiration. His body gradually changed, becoming enveloped in blood flames.
'He can even replace classes?' Su Chen grew even more deeply alarmed.
Chu Xuan's expression froze; he was clearly shocked as well. Such methods were simply unheard of.
He shouted sternly, "Exactly who are you!? Believers of the Faceless Ghost can absolutely not achieve this degree!"
"What a pity... mental bodies temporarily cannot be disguised." Meng Qi shook his head, reverting back to his own appearance.
He pondered, "Hmm, who is next? Su Chen seems to be very formidable, and he's coveted by Black Buddha too. I'm also very curious to know exactly what secrets he holds."
"Unfortunately, that guy is also someone who lives in deep seclusion and rarely comes out. I can't even predict when he'll step outside. It's somewhat troublesome."
'This guy has his eyes locked on meâ' Su Chen's heart turned completely cold and desolate.
"You want to deal with Su Chen?" Chu Xuan sneered repeatedly. Having already foreseen his own ending, though his heart felt desolate, he still gritted his teeth and said, "Delusional! His scheming is far heavier than mine! You will die without a burial place!"
It seemed as if only by relying on Su Chen could he dispel his current unwillingness and his fear of death.
'In what way is my scheming heavy?' Su Chen muttered. On the contrary, Chu Xuan looked like he was generously walking to his death, without begging for mercy.
Meng Qi wasn't disturbed by these words. He turned sideways and asked the cultists beside him, "Has the Divine Blood of Black Buddha been found yet?"
The Faceless Ghost cultist shook his head. "No. Because of Liu Chen's death, we haven't allowed them to act. The Believers of Black Buddha have been going mad with anxiety lately."
Meng Qi nodded. "After I return, I'll challenge a Core Seed too to raise my status. It should make movement more convenient than those Believers of Black Buddha."
Before his eyes, practically everything faded into nothingness. Working strenuously, Su Chen barely maintained the mental link, only managing to hear Meng Qi's final sentence.
"I will find the Divine Blood of Black Buddha as soon as possible, and secure the method to manipulate the Divine Blood from those Believers of Black Buddha as swiftly as I can. Otherwise, it will be very difficult to bring that slab out."
"Understood." The Faceless Ghost cultist nodded, then looked toward the weak Chu Xuan. "What should we do with him?"
"If a Core Seed dies, it's bound to cause massive turbulenceâ"
His mental seed had thoroughly annihilated. He had no idea what Chu Xuan's fate ultimately was.
Su Chen pulled his mind back, remaining silent for a long time.
'Although this bunch of guys is cooperating, they each have their own calculations. That... thing I don't even know what it is, its target is a slab? What slab?'
'I don't know if reporting this will be of any use. Whatever, I'll figure out a way to report it first and then see.'
"No." Su Chen shook his head again. "If I only target him alone, he might notice clues... I might as well report them allâ"
'There's also that Black Buddha Divine Blood, and the method to manipulate itâ'
He was currently pinching the Divine Blood of Black Buddha in his hands. Although it couldn't be called a hot potato, if there was a method to manipulate it, it could definitely count as another means.
A sharp glint flashed through his eyes. "When it comes to finding Believers of Black Buddha, no one is faster than me."
(End of this chapter)