【Subjugation successful. Obtained high-tier Black Buddha Power. Applicable to 8th-tier professions and below.】
A notification appeared on the panel. Su Chen was surprised; it was actually high-tier.
"You are actually extracting Our Lord's power. Just what exactly are you?"
The High Priest inside Wei Yinshuo's body seemed to grow increasingly frantic, his voice even carrying a tremor of terror.
Using the Divine Blood as a medium, the other party was extracting divine power from the wound. Without the divine power as a vessel, it was very difficult for him to exist solely as a consciousness entity; he was gradually being annihilated.
Wei Yinshuo's eyes were bloodshot, furious to the absolute extreme. "Fight back!"
"Too late!" Su Chen shouted deeply. Only at this point had his blade pierced one-third of the way in. Wei Yinshuo was truly hard to kill.
However, because the centrally gathered divine power of Black Buddha was being extracted, the pure, tyrannical power wrapping the outer layer had begun to overflow uncontrollably.
Black smoke billowed from the wounds covering Wei Yinshuo's body. As if having a premonition of something, terror surged into his eyes. "No... no... no..."
As a Chief Inquisitor, he enjoyed the reverence of tens of thousands. He was strongly attached to the beauty of the world; otherwise, he wouldn't have believed the illusory and ethereal promises of an Evil God.
Yet now, everything was about to become nothing but passing clouds and smoke.
He didn't want to die!
Su Chen's eyelid twitched. The scales on the surface of his skin rapidly melted into his body, and his mental energy was instantly extracted. The nutritional substances stored in his Abyssal Stomach surged throughout his entire body, which the Origin Reverser rapidly converted.
[Holy Hand] enhanced the [Indestructible Thunder Aura Armor]. Blazing electric arcs exploded from the surface of his skin. With a burst of [Azure Thunder Divine Movement], his entire person abruptly darted out the window.
This sequence of actions flowed as smoothly as moving clouds and flowing water, accomplished in practically an instant.
Concurrently, Wei Yinshuo also welcomed his most despair-filled moment. Amidst his unwilling, despairing gaze, his emaciated body swelled up and spectacularly exploded amidst his wails!
BOOM!
The top floor of the Medical Department exploded. An ink-black, ring-shaped energy wave expanded at a terrifying speed, sweeping out in all directions like a ferocious beast breaking free from its cage, madly surging everywhere.
The edges presented an absolute blackness, seemingly capable of devouring even light. The space wherever it passed faintly distorted, while irregular dark electric arcs danced on the surface, emitting heart-palpitating hisses.
The expansion speed was extraordinarily fast. Su Chen, who had already darted quite a distance away, was quickly overtaken, feeling as if a massive hammer had slammed into his back.
Bang!
A sharp pain wracked his internal organs. The muscles on his back deformed violently under the distortion, metallic patterns faintly flashing in and out of existence.
His entire person was sent flying away from the blast, but it also granted him an additional burst of speed, accelerating him to a point invisible to the naked eye.
Rumble—!
The Medical Department spectacularly collapsed. The upper floors had already been reduced to fine powder, while the staff on the lower floors fled screaming.
Very quickly, in merely two or three breaths, a cyan hurricane that seemingly suppressed the earth descended. The violent winds blew away the smoke, revealing a figure—it was none other than Lei Tieyan.
His face ashen, he landed in front of the Medical Department, watching the staff scattering in all directions.
The following instant, he appeared in the core area of the explosion. The top floor of the Medical Department had already been sheared flat; only the first and second floors were unaffected.
"Wei Yinshuo..." Lei Tieyan surveyed his surroundings, eventually spotting a charred, bowl-shaped fragment of bone inverted on the ground.
His cold, hard cheeks twitched slightly as a surge of fury welled up in his chest. His falcon-like eyes swept across the surroundings.
Many Adjudicators left behind to guard the court had sensed the commotion and were already rushing over, their expressions filled with inexplicable terror.
"Hiss—"
Within a certain spatial layer extremely far away, Su Chen bore his teeth in pain. The clothes covering his entire body had been annihilated, leaving him practically stark naked. Patches of scorched black marks covered the surface of his skin.
"That explosion was way too fierce. Good thing I already made it quite a distance away, otherwise, if not dead, I would've been heavily injured..."
Su Chen carefully poured various potions into his mouth. Watching the Adjudicators rushing towards the explosion zone from all directions, he extracted some clothes from his storage space and slowly put them on.
"Truly hard to kill..." he sighed with emotion once more. "However, I didn't actually end up using the Divine Blood."
Holding the Divine Blood, his "authority" was higher than that of the High Priest. The Black Buddha power mobilized by the other party was unable to harm him.
"That High Priest was completely stunned silly by the Divine Blood. His reaction speed wasn't even as fast as Wei Yinshuo's, allowing me to snatch the Black Buddha divine power right out from under him, losing his reliance..."
Su Chen thought to himself. Back then, he had been afraid the High Priest might also be able to mobilize the Divine Blood, constantly remaining vigilant and on guard. In the end, the other party's mentality just completely collapsed.
"Perhaps it's also because this kind of extreme fanatic finds it very difficult to comprehend my disguised form, and even more so that I could hold the Divine Blood and absorb Black Buddha divine power. His faith had practically half-crumbled."
He once again profoundly realized just how freakish this disguise of his was. Not only could it unconditionally gain the trust of similar believers, but it could also unexpectedly shake the other party's faith.
"Of course, I definitely can't let guys like Old Xia see it, otherwise I'd still get a club bashed over my head."
Su Chen pondered while the commotion in the distance grew louder and louder. His landing point was already quite far from the Medical Department.
"I didn't expect the power I absorbed this time to actually be high-tier, capable of affecting up to 8th-tier professions. I wonder if it can be split apart; otherwise, it's a bit of a waste," Su Chen couldn't help but think, staring expectantly at the panel.
After waiting a moment, amidst his astonished gaze, the text for [High-Tier Black Buddha Power] began to blur, gradually transforming into [Mid-Tier Evil God Power] ×3.
Su Chen grinned. "It
can
be split into three portions. So that means three portions merge to upgrade."
With this, things became very comfortable. After confirming no one was passing by, he emerged from his stealth state.
Taking a massive detour, he returned to his residence, slipping in through the back door.
Someone was already knocking on the door. Su Chen faked an expression of confusion and opened it.
"Your Excellency Su Chen, Chief Inquisitor Lei urgently summons you..." the person said with a solemn expression.
Summoning me?
Su Chen's heart jumped as he asked, "What happened?"
"Please follow me first." He hurriedly led Su Chen to the Medical Department.
A massive group of Adjudicators had already gathered here. The nearly collapsed Medical Department had been placed under strict martial law, while the search radius was concurrently gradually expanding.
He made his way into the Medical Department and saw Lei Tieyan, whose face was as sunken as still water.
"Chief Inquisitor..." Su Chen called out.
Lei Tieyan swept a glance over him. Sensing his weak aura, he said completely, "Still training?"
"Mm," Su Chen nodded.
"The execution of the Believer of Black Buddha was today; why didn't you go?"
"Uh..." Su Chen looked bewildered. "Why should I go?"
Lei Tieyan frowned. "The execution was attacked. Several Core Seeds went; why didn't you go?"
"I only have a 3rd-tier profession. I wouldn't be of much use if I went, and manpower might even have to be wasted to protect me," Su Chen shook his head.
"Do not lose your courage," Lei Tieyan said faintly.
Su Chen was speechless internally. He thought this old man was suspecting him, but after all that, he was just disgusted that he was holing up at home.
He didn't mind, surveying his surroundings before asking hesitantly, "Chief Inquisitor, what happened here? Where is Chief Inquisitor Wei?"
"As for what exactly occurred, I do not know," Lei Tieyan shook his head, looking at the charred fragment of bone clutched in his hand. "As for Wei Yinshuo, he should be dead."
"Dead!?" Su Chen said in shock. "How can that be possible? What happened? Was it an accident or man-made?"
"The possibility of it being man-made cannot be ruled out. Stay with me until the Chief returns," Lei Tieyan said heavily.
Calling me here was because you were afraid something might happen to me...
Su Chen felt a bizarre sensation, nodding solemnly.
The sky had already returned to normal; Chong Jingtian had probably finished resolving the situation.
"...Teacher... Teacher..."
A wailing sounded from a distance, drawing closer. It was an Adjudicator, stumbling and crawling.
"Jiang Baorui!" A sharp glint flashed in Lei Tieyan's eyes. With a mere reach of his hand, he yanked the Adjudicator up from below.
"Teacher... Teacher..." Jiang Baorui seemed to have already realized something, prostrating on the ground, weeping bitterly with snot and tears, still clutching a metal box in his hands.
Watching from the side, Su Chen remained silent.
"Shut up!" Lei Tieyan rebuked, staring fixedly at him. "Where are the people protecting Wei Yinshuo?"
"Teacher..." Jiang Baorui only focused on wailing, making the veins on Lei Tieyan's forehead bulge violently. A slap to the face finally quieted him down into low sobbing. He explained quietly:
"Teacher asked me to go to the cafeteria to prepare some food. Magma Beast Heart is quite complex to make fresh, so I was waiting the entire time."
"Where are the others? Where's Xue Fei?" Lei Tieyan pressed sequentially.
"Teacher sent them out as reinforcements," Jiang Baorui sobbed.
"Wei Yinshuo sent them!?" Evaluation filled Lei Tieyan's eyes.
"Mm. Xue Fei originally didn't really want to go. Teacher scolded him a few times before he left," Jiang Baorui's voice was halting. "Right before leaving, Teacher specifically named me to stay behind."
"Teacher..." He began howling again.
Lei Tieyan was annoyed listening to him and had people take him away, pondering in confusion: "Wei Yinshuo voluntarily sent everyone away... how could this be?"
If someone had acted secretly from the shadows, it couldn't possibly be this coincidental. No one could predict what Wei Yinshuo was thinking.
Furthermore, this seemed much more like Wei Yinshuo wanting to do something himself, actively sending Xue Fei away and also dispatching Jiang Baorui on an errand.
Yet judging by the outcome, he died.
It couldn't be that he sent everyone away just to commit suicide, right?
Lei Tieyan frowned tightly, utterly perplexed.
"What are your thoughts?"
He suddenly looked at Su Chen, who was silently standing nearby. It carried a hint of a test.
"Chief Inquisitor Wei was always holding the Adjudication Court and the safety of Yingfeng in his thoughts," Su Chen signed with emotion.
Lei Tieyan's expression stiffened, but considering he was a Core Seed after all, he guided him with a hint of prompting, "If you were asked to investigate, how would you investigate?"
"Investigate what?" Su Chen looked bewildered.
"Investigate why Wei Yinshuo died!" Lei Tieyan was frustrated by his failure to meet expectations.
"Shouldn't we first verify if what Jiang Baorui said was true or false?" Su Chen was puzzled. "And with no corpse to be seen... are you truly certain he's dead?"
Lei Tieyan froze.
This kid... dragged me right into it.
Just as he was about to say something else, his expression abruptly shifted drastically. He suddenly looked in a different direction; flames burst forth as a rumbling reached them.
"Again? Are they trying to flip the heavens upside down!!"
Lei Tieyan was truly enraged. Leaping into the air, a storm reaching the heavens and a majestic air pressure even swept Su Chen away.
"That's... the direction of the Research Department!"
"What's going on today? Incident after incident."
The nearby Adjudicators wore grave expressions, looking towards the location where thick smoke was billowing upwards.
"Someone else is stirring up trouble in the shadows?"
Astonished and doubtful, Su Chen's expression shifted slightly. Looking toward the horizon, he gradually realized:
Luring the tiger out of the mountain?
The Adjudication Court aimed to use the Priest of Black Buddha to lure out the other believers.
The opposition then took advantage of the situation, leading the Adjudication Court to believe they had hooked a massive tiger.
Yet in reality, their true target lay inside the Adjudication Court.
And the Adjudication Court just fell for it?
Su Chen frowned slightly. "What's in the Research Department?"
...
At the same time, at the execution grounds of the Priest of Black Buddha, the area was a complete mess. The ground was covered in fissures, and the air was permeated with various elemental forces that had yet to dissipate. However, there were almost zero personnel casualties.
"To think a Priest of Black Buddha would actually draw out a Priest of Crimson, as well as a Priest of the Faceless Ghost..."
Chong Jingtian descended from the firmament, perplexity written across his face, holding a corpse in each hand.
"Do these Evil God believers cooperate this closely?"
"Chief, the scene has been mostly cleaned up. We came fully prepared; seventeen people were injured, but zero deaths," You Shan walked over, looking quite invigorated.
"With this, the Evil God believers within Yingfeng City have practically been completely eradicated. Those people from the Council of Elders shouldn't have anything to say now."
The middle and lower tiers might not have felt the impact of Chu Xuan's and Meng Qi's matters, but the Adjudication Court had lost immense face among the higher-ups of Yingfeng.
Chong Jingtian's tightly knitted brow didn't uncrease. Head-on dealing with those Evil God believers just now, he hadn't had the time to think deeply, but pondering it now, that the more he thought about it, the more something felt wrong.
Sweeping a glance around, watching the Adjudication Court members bustling about, there was no lack of Directors and Vice Directors among them.
Right at this moment, someone hurried over to report, their face anxious, "Chief, news just arrived from headquarters! The Medical Department has been attacked, and the Research Department has been attacked!"
You Shan's expression abruptly underwent a drastic change, while Chong Jingtian could no longer bother with anything else. His entire person transformed into a streak of flowing light, charging straight toward the Adjudication Court headquarters amidst a thunderous roar.
Very quickly, he returned to the Adjudication Court, landing before the Medical Department that had nearly been reduced to ruins.
"Chief..." Su Chen, who was waiting here, quickly walked up.
"What's the situation?" Chong Jingtian asked heavily.
"...An explosion suddenly occurred. Chief Inquisitor Lei says Chief Inquisitor Wei is ninety-nine percent dead..." Su Chen lowered his voice.
"Dead?" Murderous intent turned frosty in Chong Jingtian's eyes as he shouted, "How could he die? Where is Xue Fei!?"
These measly traces of explosion were far from worthy of being called a battle, and Xue Fei was a 5th-tier professional after all.
Su Chen respectfully replied, "He seems to have been sent by Chief Inquisitor Wei to provide reinforcements for you."
Chong Jingtian froze, formulating the exact same question as Lei Tieyan.
What on earth was Wei Yinshuo doing?
Actively dispatching the people left behind to protect him—did he truly believe he needed those guys for reinforcements?
Chong Jingtian frowned tightly, vaguely sensing something was completely wrong, but he couldn't grasp the crucial point.
The whistling of wind reached their ears, and the two simultaneously looked over. It was Lei Tieyan returning, his facial features taut—clearly bearing no good news.
"What's the situation at the Research Department?" Chong Jingtian immediately asked.
"Meng Qi's corpse is gone," Lei Tieyan spat out a single sentence.
"Meng Qi's corpse?" Su Chen was astonished; this time, it wasn't an act.
In an instant, his mind was clear. This operation was likely led by the believers of the Faceless Ghost. Taking advantage of the incident with the Priest of Black Buddha, they orchestrated a "luring the tiger out of the mountain" play to snatch the corpse.
The Adjudication Court actually hadn't destroyed it, and was still researching the corpse. They were probably hoping to find something unusual.
To think the Evil Gods paid such a high price just for a corpse. Calling it "luring the tiger out of the mountain" wasn't exactly accurate either. The situation over there just now really looked quite terrifying; if they hadn't gone, the consequences might truly have been horrifying.
Does this mean I rode their coattails to commit a murder?
Su Chen muttered to himself, but he couldn't help but ask out loud, "If the corpse was snatched, can he still be revived?"
"Perhaps that was never a corpse to begin with, but a vessel." Chong Jingtian's brow throbbed, the blood-colored vertical scar faintly glowing with arcs of light.
"Chief, there's still a chance. The Medical Department's explosion occurred prior to the Research Department's, and at the first instant I ordered someone to lock down the entire Adjudication Court, permitting entry but no exit," Lei Tieyan said quietly.
"Meng Qi might still be inside the Adjudication Court."
(End of this chapter)