Meanwhile, in the temporary residence designated for the subordinate cities of Yingfeng, Xu Siyuan hesitantly withdrew his gaze from the window.
'What on earth is Yingfeng doing? Father's divine power suddenly appeared, only to vanish just as quickly.'
'The Inquisition...' His expression shifted constantly. Over the past few days, he had gathered more intelligence. Although the Inquisition had concealed certain key details, he had already deduced the general sequence of events.
'Teng Liang destroyed my vessel and was subsequently held accountable by the Inquisition. This proves they did not discover any anomalies beforehand; it was entirely Teng Liang's own initiative. Yet, for some unknown reason, he managed to prove to the Inquisition that there was a problem with my vessel.'
'Later, my clone wanted to retrieve the vessel it had painstakingly forged. It allied with other followers of the eerie gods in Yingfeng to seize the opportunity, but ended up getting wiped out as well.'
Many people had witnessed the joint operation of the eerie god followers. The subsequent eradication declarations issued by various departments could still be easily found.
However, he was completely powerless to uncover what had transpired inside the Inquisition itself.
'Teng Liang, Teng Liang... What kind of ability does this person possess to actually see through a Faceless vessel?' Xu Siyuan speculated. 'He is only a Tier 5 professional. I can eliminate him first to see what makes him so special, and then use his body to infiltrate the Inquisition.'
"Phew..." In the gravity training room, Su Chen exhaled deeply and slowly opened his eyes.
[Spirit Word Lawmaster: 7%]
[Calamity Patroller: 7%]
[Grade C Cloud Dragon Tempering Method ā Proficient: 12%]
[Grade C Mirage Sea Meditation Technique ā Proficient: 12%]
This was all thanks to the talent-balancing trait of the Inverse Originator, coupled with the fact that he had started developing both classes at the exact same time.
It caused the progress of the two classes and the body-tempering method on his status panel to be unprecedentedly synchronized, which brought a great deal of comfort to Su Chen's mild obsessive-compulsive tendencies.
In the past, having mismatched numbers had always felt somewhat awkward.
Su Chen tidied up briefly and left his quarters. The Inquisition was sparsely populated; nearly a month had passed since Chong Jingtian and the others had departed.
He was not entirely clear on the situation at the frontlines, but it seemed there were no major issues. If Yingfeng could not even withstand an assault from the followers of a single eerie god, it would have likely been annihilated long ago.
When he arrived at the parking lot, Teng Liang was already waiting there.
"Senior Brother," Su Chen called out in greeting. He was preparing to head out and complete the final requirement for the [Windchaser Dancer] class, and he had invited Teng Liang to come along.
"What has Teacher been busy with lately?" Su Chen inquired as the two boarded a hovercar before transferring to an aircraft.
"He's investigating the sleeper agents, and he's already locked onto a group of people," Teng Liang explained in detail. "They're candidates from Gujiang City who came to participate in the assessment. Among them is someone named Xu Siyuan, who is highly suspected to be an infiltrator."
"Xu Siyuan?" Su Chen asked, thoroughly surprised. "He's that efficient? He's already pinpointed the exact person?"
"Well..." Teng Liang hesitated for a moment before saying, "Speaking of which, it actually has a bit to do with me."
"A while back, when I was out on patrol, I accidentally bumped into him. He told me he had heard of my reputation from He Kang and admired me greatly."
"However, after exchanging only a few words, I received a summons from Teacher and had to leave in a hurry. I only found out later that their entire group was under strict surveillance."
"For this Xu Siyuan to suddenly approach me out of nowhere, Teacher suspects it has something to do with Meng Qi's death."
Su Chen furrowed his brows slightly. To think that this divine son was still obsessing over how his clone had died.
However, the divine son likely never expected that he had already been targeted, inadvertently exposing himself completely to Old Xia in the process.
"Teacher hasn't arrested them yet?" Su Chen asked.
"No," Teng Liang said uncertainly. "It seems like Teacher still has some other matters to attend to."
'Other matters?'
Su Chen had been fully engrossed in developing his classes recently and hadn't seen Xia Hanshi for quite a few days.
The two chatted casually. The flight took a bit longer this time. It wasn't until nearly half an hour later that Su Chen arrived near his destination, by which point the aircraft was shaking violently.
The moment he stepped out, fierce winds smashed against his face. Standing before him was a colossal grayish-white pillar that connected the heavens and the earth, violently tearing apart the surrounding mist.
Inside the wind wall, which towered nearly ten thousand meters high, thick arcs of lightning continuously exploded. Python-like tentacles of airflow extended from its edges. This was exactly what he neededāa Category 8 hurricane, as defined by Yingfeng.
Forming this hurricane had been no easy feat. Led by a Tier 5 professional who had stayed behind, and assisted by three Tier 4 professionals, it had taken nearly half a month to create, with numerous failures along the way.
Despite the high difficulty of its creation, its actual lethal power was not considered overwhelming; its scale, however, was massive.
At present, the hurricane was slowly moving toward the southeast.
A few figures floated down gracefully. Teng Liang nodded to their leader, a man with hollow cheeks who looked remarkably capable.
"Director Ruan," Su Chen greeted. The man was none other than the primary creator of this hurricane.
Director of the Adjudication DepartmentāRuan Yu.
Though the fierce winds howled, Ruan Yu's voice remained perfectly clear. He spoke rapidly, "In about half an hour, this hurricane will expand to Category 9. In an hour, I will have to step in and shatter it. Once it reaches Category 10, I won't be able to control it anymore, and the danger will be too great."
"Understood." Knowing time was of the essence, Su Chen didn't waste another word. He instantly transformed into a streak of lightning and darted straight toward the storm's core.
The closer he got to the center, the more violent the winds became. Countless crystalline wind blades slammed against the lightning armor covering his body, erupting into blinding sparks.
In the core region of a Category 8 hurricane, the winds had already condensed into elemental wind blades. Looking like sharp glass, they were devastating enough to tear apart the bodies of Tier 3 physical-type professionals, and even ordinary Tier 4 professionals would struggle to endure them.
But for Su Chen, the difficulty was barely noticeable. Without expending much effort, he breached the barrier and arrived at the eye of the storm.
Compared to the chaos outside, this area exhibited an almost absolute tranquility.
"Alright... The Windchant Gem..." Su Chen reached out and retrieved an irregular, fist-sized emerald gem from his spatial storage. It had seven holes on its surface, with fine, transparent veins growing naturally along its edges and crystalline fuzz lining its interior.
"And the Stormfury Feather."
This feather was roughly half a meter long, with a streamlined, spiral shaft that gleamed with a cold, cyan-gray metallic luster. It was composed of countless overlapping, microscopic crystals, each harboring highly compressed cyclonic energy, naturally forming razor-sharp serrations along the edges.
"Use the airflow generated by waving the Stormfury Feather to sound the Windchant Gem..."
Holding the Windchant Gem in one hand, Su Chen fanned the Stormfury Feather with the other. In the absolute silence of the storm's eye, faint cyan air currents funneled into the holes of the Windchant Gem, brushing past the crystalline fuzz. Instantly, a peculiar humming sound resonated from it.
"Gradually increase the tempo, but the interval between waves cannot be faster than half a second..." Su Chen muttered. These were among the few pieces of experience summarized by those who had previously taken this advancement path.
As he increased his speed, the sound emanating from the Windchant Gem grew crisp and melodious, playing like a symphony.
Time ticked by. About ten minutes later, the Windchant Gem began to float into the air. The Stormfury Feather naturally orbited around it. The symphony continued playing without Su Chen needing to make another move.
The faint sound of wind chimes echoed from all directions. Streams of cyan light appeared from seemingly nowhere, slowly converging and gathering around Su Chen.
'So these are Wind Spirits.' Su Chen marveled inwardly. These tiny entities were highly condensed variants of wind elements. They were exclusively born in natural environments and were almost utterly impossible to capture.
"Form the Wind Dance Pact..." Su Chen spread his arms. Wisps of wind flowed across the surface of his skin. As if sensing something, the Wind Spirits tentatively brushed against him.
Then, as if they had discovered a warm, inviting nest, they frantically swarmed into his body.
At the same time, the Windchant Gem and the Stormfury Feather underwent a miraculous transformation. As though melted by an invisible force, they gradually dissolved and merged into Su Chen's physique.
Su Chen felt a growing numbness spread throughout his body. It was as if these Wind Spirits had permeated his very being, flowing through his organs and surging through his bloodstream.
Once the saturation reached a critical point, he felt incomparably lighter.
'So this is the Wind Dance Pact...' Su Chen mused as he experienced the sensation. This was still not the job advancement itself; it was merely the completion of the third requirement.
The so-called Wind Dance Pact involved absorbing Wind Spirits into one's body, drastically sharpening their perception of the wind and boosting their speed.
Su Chen's eyes flashed slightly. The final requirement had been met.
Next came the true stepāthe advancement!
In an instant, Su Chen felt as though his body had developed countless holes, just like the Windchant Gem. Furious currents of air poured into him from the void, causing his muscles to twist and contort under the immense wind pressure.
His chest heaved violently like a bellows. Emerald wind elements cascaded through his meridians, while cyclone patterns lit up segment by segment along his spine. Concentrated mist spewed from his facial orifices.
However, for Su Chen, this drastic transformation was still well within his limits of endurance.
[Windchaser Dancer Advancement Successful. Acquired Class Ability ā Wind Dance Instinct: Your body becomes one with the wind, granting extremely sharp perception of impending threats.]
With the advancement complete, Su Chen slowly touched back down on the ground. He felt an unprecedented lightness in his body, as if he bore absolutely no weight at all.
"This sensation is truly bizarre..." Su Chen murmured, looking down at his body. His clothes had been shredded to ribbons, but his skin appeared completely unchanged.
With just a slight leap, his entire body drifted effortlessly through the air.
"This..." Su Chen stopped abruptly without any warning, yet the space around his body showed absolutely no signs of disturbance.
"Air resistance has almost completely vanished." Su Chen tested his movements a few more times, confirming his hypothesis. "The resulting boost in speed is far more than just a little bit. It has more than doubled."
The ability description had consisted of only a single sentence, but it contained profound implications that were impossible to fully capture with mere words.
Not only that, but his stealth capabilities had skyrocketed. While he had been fast before, moving at such high speeds had always generated massive disturbances. The faster he went, the louder the commotion.
Now, his standard speed could match the speed of his elemental form, and once he fully elementalized, the results would be utterly terrifying.
"I bet Senior Brother Teng Liang wouldn't even be able to catch my shadow."
Speeding off, Su Chen sprinted wildly through the eye of the storm, his figure nearly invisible.
A moment later, he stopped and flicked his fingers, shooting out streaks of black lightning. The arcs soared high above his head before crackling and refracting back down, crashing toward him like a torrential downpour.
Su Chen closed his eyes, retracted his senses, and stood perfectly still. Yet, at the exact split-second the strikes were about to hit him, his figure suddenly flickered. Like a true dancer in the wind, he effortlessly glided through the cascading barrage of lightning.
"What a truly... marvelous sensation," Su Chen exclaimed joyfully, opening his eyes. "To have this kind of automatic reaction even with my senses sealed, it'll make me an absolute force of nature in combat."
[Wind Dance Instinct] acted like a passive skill. It didn't require active channeling, making it incredibly convenient.
"As expected of the class Old Pu personally picked out for me." Su Chen was in an excellent mood. He spent a few more moments testing his new capabilities before finally leaving the eye of the storm.
After letting Ruan Yu disperse the hurricane and expressing his thanks once more, he departed with Teng Liang. Meanwhile, at a temporary residence designated for the subordinate cities, Xu Siyuan stepped out of his room with a bewildered expression. He looked at the one-armed middle-aged man who had just knocked on his door. "Uncle Zhang, what's wrong?"
"It's our turn to relocate," Zhang Lei explained briefly before moving on to notify the others.
'Relocate?' Xu Siyuan grew wary. He quickly followed the man and asked in confusion, "Why are we suddenly changing locations?"
"It's not sudden. The notice was issued seven or eight days ago; you just didn't know about it," Zhang Lei replied, shaking his head helplessly. "With everyone crammed together, quite a few conflicts broke out between cities with past grudges. Because of that, Yingfeng made a special reassignment to separate any cities that might clash."
"The relocations started days ago."
"I see," Xu Siyuan replied, realization dawning on him as he relaxed his guard. He was aware of a few of those conflicts himself. The commotions had been massive, even drawing out the higher-ups of Yingfeng.
Zhang Lei gathered all the people from Gujiang City and herded them onto a transport vehicle. The others were quite excited, excitedly whispering and guessing where they would be moved to.
Xu Siyuan's eyes shifted shiftily. 'Currently, the only ones left in the Inquisition are Xia Hanshi and Lei Tieyan. As Tier 6 professionals, these two are of no concern.'
'Right now, I just need to prepare the ritual, pinpoint the location of that spirituality, and then channel the divine power. As long as I strike fast enough, no one should be able to stop me.'
It had been almost a month since the battle began, and he had gathered just about all the intel he needed.
'A few days ago, there was actually a perfect opportunity to strike at Teng Liang, but sadly, it slipped away...' He still felt a pang of regret. However, he had plenty of time and was in no rush; he could afford to make his move at a more leisurely pace.
'As for that Su Chen...' He weighed his options carefully. The only person he hadn't been able to make contact with during this period was Su Chen.
'I don't know why Heituo values him so much, but I should figure out a way to take him with me as well.'
The stone slab was his primary objective. Teng Liang had destroyed his Faceless vessel, and Su Chen was coveted by Heituo.
He didn't want to leave a single one of these three targets behind.
The transport vehicle rumbled along for a long time before finally arriving at its destination.
After they disembarked, mild-mannered staff members led them through the main gates. Gasps of amazement rang out from the people around him.
The layout and decor here were vastly superior to their previous lodgings. The stone tiles on the ground literally radiated a soft glow, giving the place an air of magnificent opulence.
Zhang Lei was called over to handle the paperwork and assign their new rooms. Xu Siyuan's room was allocated on the third floor.
"Isn't this place a little too nice?" Xu Siyuan frowned slightly, looking at the spacious room before him.
Did the people of Gujiang City really qualify to stay in a room like this?
Meanwhile, the staff members who had finished the arrangements walked out the main gates and hurried toward a nearby building.
Xia Hanshi was waiting inside. His eyes were sharp and piercing, and a vast array of instruments and equipment surrounded him.
"Chief Inquisitor, everything is ready." The staff member's previously amiable expression turned cold and solemn as he reported in a hushed voice.
"Excellent..." Xia Hanshi nodded slowly. Staring at the building on the monitors, he declared in a heavy tone, "Yuandu has used their reception center to harbor the divine son of the Faceless Ghost, intending to subvert our Yingfeng. Such a crime is absolutely unforgivable."