Every type of Bizarre God's power could provide a different stimulation to a class. With the Faceless Ghost and Black Fiend as precedents, Su Chen's curiosity about the effects of the other powers hadn't just started yesterday.
Now he finally had the chance. To conduct the experiment, he had deliberately selected a Tier 3 advanced class before coming, and it was already prepared on his interface.
[Tier 3 Advanced Class β Wrathflame Envoy], a mutated fire-element class with even greater destructive power.
[Advancement Requirement One: Upgrade three E-rank body-tempering methods to the Master level.]
[Advancement Requirement Two: Defeat three professionals of the same tier related to the fire element, and devour their elemental power.]
[Advancement Requirement Three: Venture deep into a volcanic region and soak in shallow magma for over half an hour.]
Requirements Two and Three had already been weakened by the Great Exalt's face. Originally, it required defeating five professionals of the same tier and soaking for over an hour.
Low-tier divine power was enough to affect a Tier 3 class. Spending a portion of it for an experiment was just a drop in the bucket compared to the amount of divine power he currently possessed.
Next to him, the personnel from the Adjudication Office were preparing the testing procedures to see if he had been corrupted. Su Chen didn't take it to heart, thinking to himself, 'I'll try this Crimson power first.'
With a slight shift of his thoughts, the interface immediately reacted: [Wrathflame Envoy has been corrupted by the Crimson power. The difficulty of taking on the class has been further weakened. Please specify the requirement to be weakened. Note: If a requirement can no longer be further weakened, guidance will be provided.]
"So it weakens the advancement difficulty," Su Chen realized. "It's quite similar to the Great Exalt's face. Its essence probably has the same effect, tsk."
Thinking about it this way, the Great Exalt's face was truly significant. Not to mention ranked classes, but to affect special classes, one had to use an essence.
Every time he used that face, it was equivalent to getting a portion of Crimson essence for free.
Although it overlapped somewhat with the Great Exalt's face, it couldn't be said to be completely useless. After the Great Exalt's face weakened a requirement once, the Crimson power could weaken it again.
The most crucial part was that this thing could specify which requirement to target. He just didn't know what it meant when a requirement could no longer be weakened.
Su Chen pondered secretly and selected Requirement Three of the Wrathflame Envoy.
[Wrathflame Envoy advancement Requirement Three has been weakened. You only need to soak for one minute.]
"One minute?" Su Chen exclaimed in astonishment. After two consecutive weakenings, this requirement was practically non-existent.
However, even so, the requirement still existed. After all, it was a weakening, not an erasure.
Su Chen thought to himself, then turned to look at the next portion of divine power.
"Then the Sly Fox," he murmured.
As his gaze fell, the dark pink power of the Sly Fox coiled around the Wrathflame Envoy class.
[Wrathflame Envoy has been corrupted by the Sly Fox power. The difficulty of Requirement Three has increased. It requires soaking for over half an hour. Upon completing the requirement and advancing to the class, an extra reward will be granted.]
'Increasing the difficulty to obtain a reward, so that's what it does,' Su Chen rejoiced inwardly. Taking everything into account, up to this point, he had only triggered similar situations twice. The first time was with the Mystic Gear Master, and the reward immediately upgraded the first piece of mystic gear he controlled.
The second time was with the Armament Nurturer, which greatly reduced the class's consumption rate.
'Although the rewards aren't heaven-defying, they are all very useful. Now I've found a way to trigger them consistently.' Su Chen's mood became increasingly cheerful. Extra rewards were always a pleasant delight.
Striking while the iron was hot, Su Chen immediately tested the final Dark Plague power.
[Wrathflame Envoy has been infected by the Dark Plague power. You may select an advancement requirement and replace it with another requirement of similar difficulty.]
'Replacing a class requirement?' Su Chen was taken aback. This was a special reaction he had never triggered before.
'Replacement... similar difficulty...'
With that thought, he selected Requirement Two of the Wrathflame Envoy.
[Wrathflame Envoy Requirement Two has been replaced: Fuse with a Volcanic Heart fragment.]
Oh? It went from defeating enemies to collecting an item?
Su Chen's eyes flickered. This kind of effect was somewhat interesting. Its general applicability wasn't very broad, but if he ever encountered a requirement that was simply impossible to complete no matter what, he could take a gamble with it.
"Su Chen."
Just as he was thinking, his vision went dark, and a ghastly, sinister face suddenly appeared. Su Chen jumped in fright. His lips twitched as he said, "Teacher..."
Xia Hanshi stared at him suspiciously. "You don't feel anything else, do you?"
The testing procedures from the Adjudication Office had already finished, naturally showing no abnormalities.
But Su Chen's faintly shifting expression still made Xia Hanshi, who had been watching him closely, sense that something was off.
"No, I was just thinking about Hongxuan," Su Chen lied smoothly.
"Hmm." Xia Hanshi glanced at the test results again and nodded. "As long as you're fine. You look a bit tired, so head back first."
"Understood." Su Chen stood up, greeted Teng Liang, and then left the area.
'Old Xia's face suddenly popping up like that was seriously terrifying,' Su Chen grumbled inwardly.
By the time he finished absorbing the Bizarre God's power, it was already noon. As it was nearing September, the artificial sun blazed fiercely, and the air grew increasingly scorching.
'Looking at it this way, Crimson reduces difficulty, Sly Fox increases difficulty for an extra reward, and Dark Plague replaces the requirement.'
As he walked, Su Chen pondered to himself, 'Then the effects of their essences should be roughly the same.'
'However, these effects also conflict with each other. For example, the requirement with increased difficulty from the Sly Fox power specifies that the reward can only be obtained after completing it and advancing. This means it can't be erased by the Faceless Ghost's power or replaced by the Dark Plague's power.'
'If I want to maximize the use of these divine powers, how should I apply them?'
He calculated carefully, 'When a class is recorded, the first step is the face-giving phase, where the difficulty of a certain requirement is weakened.'
'I can first use the Faceless Ghost's divine power to erase one. Although it might erase the one that's already been weakened, it's still better than influencing it with other divine powers first only to have it wiped out anyway.'
'If it doesn't erase the weakened one, that's the best outcome. Then I can use Crimson and Sly Fox to influence it. One increases and one decreases, leaving the difficulty unchanged, but yielding an extra reward.'
'If I encounter something truly unresolvable, I'll take a gamble with the Dark Plague power.'
'This approach should be the best.' Su Chen deliberated. As for encountering other Bizarre God powers in the future, he would adjust the order of usage then.
'It's a pity that the needs born from the influence of the Black Fiend's power don't count as class advancement requirements.' Thinking of this, Su Chen couldn't help but feel regretful.
'In that case, I need to properly plan out the two special classes in my hands and see how I can weaken the difficulty as quickly as possible to advance.'
"Su Chen!" Just as he was deep in thought, someone suddenly called out to him. Looking up, he realized he had already arrived at his residence, and two people were waiting for him in front of his door.
"Senior Brother." Su Chen looked at Bo Siqi, then at the weather-beaten middle-aged man standing beside him, reeling in his thoughts. "Is this Inquisitor Qin Qingfeng?"
Bo Siqi nodded. "That's right. He's the Old Qin I told you about. Currently, in our Inquisition, and even in all of Yingfeng, he is the only person who has a record of class fusion and is still alive."
"Brother Qin," Su Chen greeted warmly. The Myriad Phenomena class still required him to attempt a class fusion once. He had researched the topic after returning yesterday and surprisingly discovered that there was a guy in the Inquisition who had accidentally performed a class fusion.
"I wouldn't dare, I wouldn't dare," Qin Qingfeng waved his hands repeatedly, his face full of trepidation. Although class fusion was quite rare, he was actually only a Tier 3 professional right now.
The class fusion was something that had happened back when he was at Tier 1.
He currently worked in the Logistics Department.
When Su Chen had gone to collect potions yesterday, Qin Qingfeng had watched with his own eyes as this supposedly amiable young man ruthlessly fleeced five portions of Blue Cloud Potion from the supervisor. The supervisor had been so heartbroken that he couldn't even eat dinner.
"Please come in, come in."
Su Chen opened the door and invited the two inside. He instructed Zero to pour some tea before finally asking about the class fusion.
"To be honest, I didn't even know it was a class fusion at the time," Qin Qingfeng said, falling into reminiscence. "That was nearly twenty years ago. I was just a young man back then with a Brilliant Silver talent, and I was quite sought after in my home city."
"A Brilliant Silver talent twenty years ago was indeed very impressive," Su Chen noted. Back then, the Dome Light hadn't been widely popularized yet, the threat of mutants was far more direct, and the population was decimated.
It was just like in his past life, comparable to being a university student twenty years ago.
Impressive? Qin Qingfeng looked at Su Chen with a bitter smile. "Back then, I didn't know the immensity of heaven and earth and actually wanted to run dual classes simultaneously. But my spiritual talent was merely at the Bronze tier. Taking on a Tier 1 class was easy enough, but Tier 2 took a massive amount of effort, and Tier 3 was completely impossible."
As he spoke, he felt a bit dazed. Su Chen was already a core seed of the Inquisition with unparalleled prestige, yet he was still so humble.
If he had possessed even half of Su Chen's mindset back then and settled down to focus solely on his physical-side class, perhaps he could have advanced to Tier 4 instead of stagnating at Tier 3.
"I've gone off-topic." Qin Qingfeng quickly brought the conversation back. He continued, "At that time, both my spiritual and physical classes were at Tier 1. My ego swelled, and I actually sneaked out of the city, wanting to hunt mutants."
"In the end, I ran into a pack of Azure Wind Wolves and was almost besieged to death. It was in that moment of despair that I faintly felt my body and spirit merge into one. My strength surged, allowing me to break out of the encirclement."
"A moment of despair... merging into one..." Su Chen frowned. "What exactly did that feel like?"
Qin Qingfeng recalled carefully. He opened his mouth, closed it, and finally squeezed out a few words. "It's hard to describe."
"Old Qin, isn't that just nonsense?" Bo Siqi said speechlessly.
Qin Qingfeng sighed helplessly and said, "How should I put it... If I compare spiritual power to water and the body to a stone, that feeling was like water dissolving into the stone."
"Afterward, I tried to replicate it several times, but it was extremely difficult. It was as if the water was just water again, and the stone had turned back into a stone."
This metaphor was so rough that even Bo Siqi rolled his eyes, but Su Chen looked thoughtful. He recalled the sensation he felt when he advanced to the Anti-Originator class.
'Perhaps... the Anti-Originator has already laid a natural foundation for me. Attempting a class fusion might not be as difficult as I imagined,' Su Chen couldn't help but think.
Many things were just separated by a thin layer of paper. Before this, Su Chen had absolutely no concrete concept of what class fusion actually entailed.
The few scant records available officially were all nonsensical theories. They weren't nearly as useful as Old Qin's simple metaphor.
"Also, I have an immature thought," Qin Qingfeng said softly.
"Oh?" Su Chen looked over abruptly. Qin Qingfeng hurriedly added, "This is just my personal feeling."
"Oh, just say it. Who would blame you over something like this?" Bo Siqi urged. "In a weakened state, the barriers of the body might lessen slightly," Qin Qingfeng added softly.
"A weakened state..." Su Chen noted. Everyone wanted to become stronger; Old Qin had probably tested this secretly many times and accumulated some experience.
He expressed his gratitude to Old Qin once again, causing the man to wave his hands repeatedly. "I merely said a few words. It's not worth thanking me for, not at all."
He wondered how Hongxuan had fulfilled this requirement. There had to be a simpler method out there, perhaps even a fully formed system, Su Chen couldn't help but speculate.
After seeing the two off, Su Chen headed to the basement. His interface appeared, and staring at the two special classes, he resumed his previous train of thought.
'I only have one portion of the Faceless Ghost's essence, but now that there's a clue regarding class fusion, I might as well take a gamble on the Life Burner class.'
Su Chen calculated for a moment. First, he synthesized forty-five portions of low-tier Sly Fox divine power into eleven portions of mid-tier divine power. This way, he had a total of twelve portions of mid-tier Sly Fox divine power.
Then, he used nine of those portions to convert into Sly Fox essence. Based on his estimation from the last time he converted the Faceless Ghost essence, this would take at least half a month.
As for the one portion of Sly Fox essence he currently had on hand, after careful deliberation, he decided to use it on Requirement One for taking on the Myriad Phenomena class.
[Myriad Phenomena Requirement One difficulty has increased: The dual classes previously taken must both be top-tier, and there must be no disparity between the talents of the dual classes. Upon completing the requirement and advancing to the class, an extra reward will be granted.]
"Tsk." Su Chen grinned as he read the description. This increase in difficulty wasn't small, but it was roughly what he had expected.
The reason he used it on Requirement One was because he sensed that the root of this requirement lay in his dual classes and the disparity between his talents.
His main classes were already fully optimized, and his talents were equal. Even with the increased difficulty, he still had the potential to complete it directly.
If it had been a specific talent requirement, he would have had to reconsider. If it had intensified into something like a Crimson-tier talent requirement, he would have had no choice but to use the Crimson essence to revert it.
'In that case, the Crimson essence can be used on Requirement Two.'
This was also why he had used the Sly Fox essence first. If he could still satisfy Requirement One, he could free up the Crimson essence to attempt weakening the class fusion requirement.
Without hesitation, Su Chen immediately invoked the Crimson essence and selected Requirement Two of Myriad Phenomena.
[Myriad Phenomena Requirement Two can no longer be further weakened. You have received one guidance opportunity. Please attempt to proceed only when fully prepared.]
"Hmm?" Su Chen paused. "So this is what it means by 'cannot be further weakened.' It makes sense. The fusion is only required once, so it's not like it can be split into half a time."
'Is this guidance meant to help me perform the class fusion?'
Su Chen speculated. Since he wasn't clear on the specifics, he didn't act rashly. Besides, the description had explicitly emphasized that he needed to be fully prepared.
'I'll try it independently a few times first to accumulate some experience before using this guidance.'
Having thought it through, Su Chen set Myriad Phenomena aside for the moment and shifted his gaze to the Life Burner class.
This class was a bit more troublesome.
"Even if I use the Crimson essence to weaken the difficulty, I'll probably only be able to reduce the burning of ten years of lifespan down to five years. That would be about the limit," Su Chen muttered, furrowing his brow.
Whether or not he would use the ability after advancing to the class would depend on the situation, but he absolutely couldn't afford to permanently lose his lifespan before taking on the class.