My profession is too unique.

Chapter 156 Difficulties abound
Previously, there were three requirements for being a wise man or a scholar, but only two for being a spiritual person. Su Chen did not feel happy about this.

To some extent, this might mean that these two requirements could be more difficult.

"The Netherworld?" With a quick glance, Su Chen saw the second requirement: the place to enter the Whispering Trial was called the Netherworld.

"Another trial of delirium?" Su Chen felt a chill run down his spine.

[The Lord of Words] That one dodged, and now another one has appeared.

He could try to meet all the other requests, but this trial of delirium made him feel really insecure.

That underworld was truly eerie; I entered it three times and saw strange gods twice.

Upon arriving, the spirit paid the highest respect to the Crimson Flame Thunder Venerable, and reduced his own requirements for the position, reducing the amount of spiritual essence he needed to fuse from three parts to one.

As usual, it was time for the Venerable One to give face, but unfortunately, the Spirit Master was sensible and didn't stubbornly refuse.

Although the amount of spiritual essence that needed to be fused was reduced from three parts to one, it still had to go to the underworld.

Then, more information appeared on the panel—
The Spirits, Sages, Scholars, and Saints rejoiced as the Path of the Immaculate Advances; only the Acquisition of a Powerful One is needed for further ascension.

“…Power Master…” Su Chen looked at the pop-up panel. Although it was still not enough, it revealed the last profession name.

“It’s the essence of spirit.” Sang Hanhai also came over to take a look, then shook his head and said, “It’s difficult.”

"What is spiritual essence?" Su Chen asked, having never heard of it before.

"It is a special material born in the underworld, originating from places where large amounts of spiritual remains are piled up, and it is very beneficial to the spiritual body of professionals," Sang Hanhai explained.

Su Chen asked the crucial question, "Is that thing easy to find?"

Sang Hanhai glanced at him and said, "What do you think? The Underworld is mysterious and dangerous. One of the main reasons why there are so few mental professionals is that it is very difficult to get around the troublesome Dream Trial."

Seeing Su Chen's worried expression, Sang Hanhai grinned again, "However, the Whispering Trial is the Whispering Trial, and finding things in the Netherworld is finding things. The two are different."

"Hmm?" Su Chen's spirits lifted, and he couldn't help but look over.

Pu Zhenghong picked up the thread, "What we call the Underworld is like the shadow of the world, two sides of the same coin."

"Preliminary speculation suggests that it is a place where the spirits of life gather after they are annihilated. For a living person's spirit to enter it is like throwing a red-hot iron into cold water."

"The reason why the Whispering Trial is a trial is because it forcibly spreads spiritual energy on a large scale in order to induce greater danger."

"During the trial of delirium, the spirit is out of control, time and space become blurred, and it is impossible to predict what will happen."

"I see..." Su Chen immediately understood. Under normal circumstances, entering the Netherworld would not be like the trial of delirium, where one would stumble and fall, or even encounter a strange god. The danger would be greatly reduced.

Pu Zhenghong continued, "If you don't undergo the delirium trial, you can also use external means to conceal your spiritual aura and further reduce the risk of being discovered."

However, seeing Su Chen's relieved expression, he couldn't help but remind him, "Don't let your guard down because of this. The Underworld is not a good place after all. If you stay there for too long, you yourself may be assimilated."

"Moreover, there are also crazed Netherworld creatures, each of which could easily kill you."

Su Chen was already aware of the dangers of that place and did not believe that finding the essence of spirituality would be a simple matter.

Sang Hanhai shook his head and said, "Spiritual essence is rare and also beneficial to creatures in the underworld, so it is very difficult to find."

"Furthermore, the location is different each time we enter the Netherworld, making it difficult to search continuously. It's basically all about luck. Given the danger of the Netherworld, even high-level professionals, let alone low-level ones, are unwilling to go in unless necessary."

"This is so complicated," Su Chen couldn't help but ask, "Does Hong Xuan from Yuandu hold this position?"

Sang Hanhai's expression was quite solemn: "Not only spiritualists, but I estimate that he has also taken up the positions of scholars and sages in order to achieve the unprecedented Crimson Talent."

"How did Yuan Du find the essence of spirituality in the Netherworld? Is there some secret?" Su Chen pondered.

Sang Hanhai sneered: "Perhaps it's due to the help of the Ghost God Cult."

"Alright," Pu Zhenghong scolded. Saying too much of this baseless stuff would only make him look bad. "It's probably a unique tactic of Yuandu."

Su Chen's heart stirred slightly: "The Cult of the Demon Gods can still exert influence in the Underworld?"

“Of course.” Sang Hanhai’s voice was much lower after being reprimanded. “The Netherworld is suspected to be the location of the true body of the Ghost God. Many of the Ghost God’s followers rely on the Netherworld for their methods. And the things in the Netherworld dare not provoke them.”

"Is that so?" Su Chen was quite surprised. If he disguised himself as another priest, would he be able to move freely without any hindrance?
Thinking about it, he asked again, "Have you two heard of any other professions similar to spiritualists or wise men, like madmen or strongmen?"

Pu Zhenghong and Sang Hanhai exchanged a glance and laughed in unison, "This kind of job isn't so easy to find."

"If there really are any, they are probably all in those ruins. The sacred stones that record these professions were all excavated from those ruins."

The relics left behind by the last person to assume the position of Great Venerable?
He pondered this for a moment, then took his leave, reminding himself as he departed.
"Elder Pu, Elder Sang, if you obtain any powerful professions from Yuan Du that I would consider suitable for, please let me know."

Sang Hanhai pointed at him and said, "You haven't forgotten about this. Don't worry, you deserve credit for today. If there's any really powerful job, you'll be indispensable."

Su Chen then turned and left. Sang Hanhai's expression turned serious, and he looked at Pu Zhenghong with great concern. "Yuandu wants a Saint so badly, and they even want to improve Hongxuan's talent. I'm afraid their goal is that profession."

"So what if it is?" Pu Zhenghong retorted.

Sang Hanhai said in a deep voice, "Then we certainly cannot let Yuandu succeed. The bloody war has only stopped for ten years. My father and your father both died at the hands of the Yuandu people."

Pu Zhenghong was silent for a moment, then sighed, "We only have a broken stone slab in our possession, and we don't even know the name of that profession. It's not something we can stop just by saying we want to."

“Furthermore…” Pu Zhenghong stopped there, shook his head, and walked out.

……

The reception area is usually deserted. People from lower-level cities aren't qualified to stay here; it was built specifically for the other three cities. You might not see a soul here for a year or two on a regular basis.
Tang Chen got off the hovercar with a gloomy expression. He encountered some Yuandu people who greeted him on the way, but he didn't say a word and went straight to a room in the reception area.

Upon knocking and entering the room, Wu Chenpei saw Tang Chen's gloomy face and immediately understood, "Failed?"

"Mm." Tang Chen nodded emphatically.

“The Translation Department has learned its lesson. We tricked them once before, so it’s normal that they won’t fall for it again this time.” Wu Chenpei had expected this and shook his head, saying, “I thought that with Pu Zhenghong around this time, they would be confident to gamble again.”

“It’s not that there wasn’t a wager.” Tang Chen’s expression darkened further. “Our methods have been exposed, and the Translation Department will likely report to the Council of Elders soon, demanding an explanation from us.”

"You found it?" A look of surprise flashed across Wu Chenpei's face. "How is it possible that the profession is not recorded on that Sacred Word Stone?"

"The Black Tuo High Priest swore that no one could discover it." "Damn it!" Tang Chen gritted his teeth. "I don't know what happened, but it was discovered. Pu Zhenghong even wanted to call people from the other two cities to witness and work together to decipher it."

"So certain." Wu Chenpei was surprised and frowned. "Pu Zhenghong is getting more and more cunning. Could it be that he has actually figured out the secrets of the divine language, and that he is only a fifth-tier professional?"

"Not only that," Tang Chen sneered, "Pu Zhenghong summoned a young man from somewhere and deliberately had a little brat expose us, slapping us in the face."

On the way here, he realized that Pu Zhenghong's move was too vicious; it was revenge for blocking the door last time.

Moreover, if they say something wrong, they can just blame it on that young man; it's really cunning.

"A young man?" Wu Chenpei didn't take it seriously and sighed, "This is troublesome."

The Translation Bureau simply doesn't accept betting, but they have backup plans. However, if they are caught using underhanded tactics, obtaining the "Saint" will likely become exponentially more difficult.

The key issue is that the backup plan is no longer available, and not only that, but the problems left over from the last bet also need to be resolved.

"How about your end?" Tang Chen paced back and forth impatiently, asking Wu Chenpei.

“Chongjingtian refused,” Wu Chenpei said.

"Shortsighted." Tang Chen was equally unsurprised: "If it weren't for the sudden discovery of the Royal Court's people ten years ago, Chongjingtian would have always been a proponent of war and insisted on unifying our three cities."

"The threat is right in front of us, why not seize this lifeline?"

Wu Chenpei said calmly, "If we don't let Chong Jingtian see reality clearly, he will definitely not be willing to compromise. He would rather try every single person in his court than agree to our terms."

"The court of judgment..." Tang Chen shook his head: "Chongjingtian will never understand what we have sacrificed to cultivate Hongxuan."

“He’ll understand soon enough,” Wu Chenpei said calmly. “I heard he set up a challenge arena last year, which is quite interesting. I’ll have Hongxuan give it a try.”

When they came, they had prepared a plan. Regardless of whether the God of Worship agreed, they had a way to achieve their goal.

Thinking about it, Tang Chen's face darkened again. The discovery of the Sacred Word Stone was something he hadn't expected at all. He asked in a low voice, "That Sacred One?"

The underhanded tactics were discovered, and the backup plan was no longer usable, so we had to come up with a new approach.

Wu Chenpei seemed to have an idea: "Let's do it on this arena, it'll just let Hongxuan run rampant."

……

When Su Chen returned to his residence, Gu Bing was already waiting for him at the door.

"How did it go?" Su Chen asked as he pushed open the door.

Gu Bing followed behind and said helplessly, "We have asked every family and organization, big and small, in Yingfeng. The one with the lowest level of contamination is still Thor's Eye, which is 30% contaminated."

“30% blood flow? No way…” Su Chen shook his head and invited Gu Bing to sit on the sofa. Zero had already served tea as usual.

The so-called Eye of Thor is actually derived from a fourth-order mutated species called the "One-Eyed Thunder Beast".

The Cyclops Thunder Beast is hairless, covered in scales swirling with lightning element, has six legs, and only one eye on its head, with no other organs.

Living in an area perpetually covered by thunderstorms, their primary means of attack relies on the vertical eye between their eyebrows, which can unleash extremely powerful beams of lightning.

However, once attacked, its vertical eye will become bloodshot.

After death, blood stops flowing, and the blood stagnates in the vertical eye, becoming one with it and impossible to remove. This tainted blood greatly interferes with the value of the vertical eye.

The clear eye of Thor must be killed directly without any attack being launched.

This requires overwhelming strength, and the One-Eyed Thunder Chief is a fourth-order mutant, whose size naturally gives it an advantage in battle. Ordinary fourth-order professionals cannot do anything to it.

In addition, these creatures are social animals, living in areas where they have an advantage, and attacking enemies as a group once they discover them.

It takes at least a fifth-tier professional to obtain its vertical eye, but it will be contaminated to some extent. The clear Thor's Eye has not appeared for several years.

"There's really none in the city, so no one should be hiding it," Gu Bing said helplessly.

"I can only ask someone to get it for me," Su Chen's eyes flickered. The only fifth-tier professional he was on good terms with was Senior Brother Teng Liang.

Asking for his help would certainly be welcomed by the other party, but while the Eye of Thor is easy to obtain, the Clear Eye of Thor is more troublesome.

Teng Liang's transformation into a giant is indeed powerful, and it will cause a great commotion.

"Ideally, it would be best to have a fifth-tier professional skilled in concealment and assassination, or with special binding abilities, to take action, or someone at the sixth tier to directly crush them." Su Chen thought for a moment but couldn't find a suitable target.

As for the sixth rank, needless to say, they are all judges. If Chongjingtian wants to appoint them, he needs a suitable reason.

"Or we could find a few more Tier 5 professionals." Su Chen pondered, then asked Gu Bing, "Under normal circumstances, what's the price for hiring Tier 5 professionals?"

Gu Bing pondered: "Fifth-tier professionals are already at the division chief level in the Tribunal and deputy minister level in the Security Department. They are big shots. When they take action, personal connections play a large part."

These kinds of people will never lack money; they're more interested in looks.

"I'd owe him a favor." Su Chen thought for a moment. He could contact Cheng Lang, but that guy might not be willing to make the trip to Yingfeng for him.

"Let's ask Senior Brother Teng Liang in a few days; there'll always be a way." Su Chen thought to himself, then asked Gu Bing, "How long is it from Ying Feng to where the One-Eyed Thunder Beast lives?"

“The closest one is ‘Wind Valley,’ but it would take about two months to get there and back,” Gu Bing pondered.

After receiving the specific time, Su Chen seemed to be deep in thought. He chatted with Gu Bing for a bit and learned something unexpected.

"The Wei family contacted you, wanting to sell me a portion of their assets at a low price?"

"Yes." Gu Bing nodded. "Not only you, but also Wei Yufan and the others have been contacted. However, we can get a considerable share. The Wei family will have to shrink a portion sooner or later. Their current idea is probably to preserve some of their family's influence."

"Given the past dispute between Judge Wei and Elder Xia, so... do you want to take it?"

Wei Yinshuo is dead, Chu Xuan is dead, but Xia Hanshi and Su Chen are still alive, so the Wei family has no choice but to make preparations.

"Take it," Su Chen said casually. As long as the Wei family didn't do anything stupid, he was too lazy to fight them. "After you take it, you can help me run it."

Gu Bing nodded.

(End of this chapter)