My profession is too unique.

Chapter 172 The Sudden Showdown: The Past of Yai Shan
Morning Star Steps, I wonder if the royal court has any in stock.

Despite this daydream, Su Chen felt that the Morning Star Rank contained even more secrets. The requirements for the ranks and professions he had encountered in the past were varied, but none of them required talent.

Special professions, such as the Sage, may require the simultaneous enhancement of both talents, but it will be noted that the spiritual talent is required.

However, the requirements for the Great Venerable's talent have no specific focus, nor is it stated whether it is on the spiritual or physical side.

The difference here is significant. His panel automatically corrects incorrect requests, which proves that this is not ambiguous.

"Perhaps... it requires both the spirit and the body to be of the dark purple color."

Old Xia walked ahead, while Ming Lin, standing to one side, was unaware that so many thoughts had surfaced in Su Chen's mind in the blink of an eye. He could only sigh in amazement.
"The physical aspect? I wonder how powerful he will be after he takes office. Alas... I am fortunate to have him, and I am destined to lose him."

Su Chen's thoughts wandered for a moment, "If both talents are of the same rank, Xuan Zi, then they will inevitably pursue two professions simultaneously."

The strength of dual professions is self-evident. The improvement they bring is far more than just one plus one. Even if both talents are not very high, people will try to pursue dual professions to some extent to make up for their mental or physical deficiencies.

"This raises a question..." Su Chen's eyes flickered, "Does everyone with this qualification end up having to seek another Morning Star rank profession?"

I had heard Lao Chong say before that the Morning Star rank held a high status in the so-called royal court, and they weren't everywhere.

"That shouldn't be the case; there's probably more to it than meets the eye." Su Chen knew too little information to make this speculation.

Then I can't help but think of Hongxuan. Besides the fact that he has dual professions, the main reason for his strength is his peculiar state.

They are not very old, and the number of people employed in their special professions is not large.

Unlike his mastery of one skill, which enhances another, Hongxuan's state is more like a fusion of skills.

Afterwards, he carefully reviewed information related to professional integration and found that this was an extremely rare and special situation, which was extremely rare even in Yingfeng's history.

This can only happen if one has two professions running concurrently, and both professions are of the same rank and level.

Furthermore, it is an occasional occurrence, beyond one's control. According to the few records available, under such circumstances, the fusion user's own strength will be enhanced to a certain extent.

Su Chen felt a surge of curiosity. "I don't know the specifics of his situation. I hope I'll have the opportunity to investigate further."

Su Chen had a premonition that Hong Xuan had been preparing for the Crimson Flame Thunder Venerable, and this state might also be related to the secret of the Morning Star Rank.

Minglin laughed again, "After you went in, you didn't see how many different expressions Wu Chenpei and Hongxuan had on their faces."

He didn't have a good impression of Hongxuan, having already seen through the arrogance hidden beneath the other's nonchalant demeanor, which he described vividly.

Su Chen half-heartedly agreed until Xia Hanshi, who was ahead of him, stopped in his tracks, having arrived at the presiding judge's residence.

"Want to come in and sit down?" Xia Hanshi turned to the side, his gaze falling on Ming Lin.

Minglin paused, looking at the "renowned" presiding judge before him. His withered face looked as if it were pasted onto bone, with no trace of flesh or blood, and his eyes were sunken deep into his bone frame.

"No, no thanks." Minglin swallowed hard, and for some reason, he suddenly broke out in a cold sweat. He hurriedly refused, said goodbye repeatedly, and left in a hurry.

“Too timid…” Xia Hanshi shook his head, withdrew his gaze, and led Su Chen into the room. No one moved, and the door closed.

"Judging from Wu Chenpei and Hongxuan's reactions, the strange phenomenon that occurred was probably far beyond their expectations." Xia Hanshi sank into the sofa, his voice hoarse. "Wu Chenpei was evasive, but when he mentioned approval, he only said 'Three Dragons'."

"The three dragons unite as one, and above them, perhaps it is a wondrous sight of becoming the chosen one. Do you have any specific feelings about it?"

Su Chen frowned and shook his head, saying, "No, it's probably because of the incomplete spirituality. Even the professional requirements must be complete before they can be revealed."

“I see…” Xia Hanshi seemed to have guessed, and gestured for Su Chen to sit down as well. “In that case, it might make sense. Because of the lack of spirituality, at most, he can only be recognized.”

"Therefore, Wu Chenpei spoke of these things without any reservations, but your situation has greatly exceeded his expectations."

Su Chen agreed with this, and instead of sitting down, walked toward the tea station.

“Unfortunately, we know far too little.” Xia Hanshi frowned. “Yuan Du, on the other hand, knows far too much. There are many things they shouldn’t know. Could it be that they have already contacted certain people in the royal court beforehand?”

Su Chen was pouring tea when he heard this and looked over in surprise, "Yuan Du contacted the royal court in advance?"

Xia Hanshi nodded and took the teacup from Su Chen. "This is Chong Jingtian's guess. Hongxuan's appearance is unusual. His Crimson Talent is unheard of."

“You tell me…” Xia Hanshi, holding his teacup, suddenly said, “If you were Hongxuan, what would you be thinking right now?”

“Me?” Su Chen was stunned for a moment, trying to simulate Hong Xuan’s mindset, but then gave up: “I don’t know him well enough to fathom him.”

"If I were Hongxuan, I would definitely be trying to kill you right now," Xia Hanshi said quietly.

“Uh…” Su Chen paused, sat down opposite Xia Hanshi, and pondered, “That’s possible.”

"Therefore, it is best to strike first." Xia Hanshi's eyes were filled with murderous intent.

Su Chen's eyebrows twitched. He felt he had been ruthless enough, but his targets were all those who had tried to infringe on his interests.

As for thoughts, they are too difficult to determine. There are plenty of people who dislike him and want to kill him.

Those who infringe upon his interests may not actually have intended to kill him.

But what Lao Xia said made him feel an unusual sense of rationality.

"But if we make a move now, Yuan Du will definitely refuse to open the ruins, and it might even lead to a lose-lose situation," Su Chen warned. The current trouble is the Holy Banquet, a crisis that affects everyone.

"It is a bit troublesome..." Xia Hanshi twirled his teacup with his fingers, his eyes seemingly unfocused, lost in thought.

Suddenly, he added, "Tell me the truth, do you have some kind of precognitive ability?"

Upon hearing this, Su Chen's eyes trembled slightly, and the teacup in his hand wobbled. This question was far beyond his expectations.

Old Xia wanted to confront him directly.

"What are you still afraid of now?" Xia Hanshi frowned. "In Nanfeng, you used that little fat boy's help to find the Black Tuo Priest for the first time, and then you made up some story about a righteous person to target the Black Tuo Priest for the second time."

"After arriving in Yingfeng, you even knew about the upcoming blood sacrifice and Meng Qi's matter. How did you know all that?"

“This…” Su Chen’s eyes darted around uncertainly; he had considered the possibility of a showdown.

But Old Xia is really unpredictable; he doesn't ask questions unless he's absolutely sure, and when he does, he's far too blunt.

His original plan was to use dreams as an excuse, as the uncertainty of dreams would help him cover up many problems.

But the current situation is different from before. With the Great Venerable's approval, his status is completely different. Perhaps... He thought of something, something he had long forgotten.

"You're too perceptive," Su Chen said with a wry smile.

"Perceptive?" Xia Hanshi scoffed. "If they knew these things, not to mention me, even that idiot Bu Siqi would have noticed something was wrong."

"Tell me, what exactly is the situation?"

Su Chen already had a rough draft in mind, it was just a matter of changing it according to the original idea. As for precognition... that ability was too terrifying, he definitely couldn't accept it easily.

"Actually, I don't know if this counts as precognition..." Su Chen said helplessly, "It's just that sometimes, when I come into contact with things related to the Ghost God, strange illusions suddenly flash before my eyes."

"The first time I discovered the Black Priest was when I encountered Kong's treacherous artifact while killing Qi Chuan..."

Su Chen forcibly linked the several incidents Lao Xia mentioned to the mysterious artifact.

"It's related to the Ghost God..." Xia Hanshi listened, his face expressionless, and suddenly murmured, "Could you really be that thing from back then?"

Huh? Something from back then? What is it?
Upon hearing this, Su Chen was suddenly stunned and had a bad feeling. Could it be that the lie he made up on the spot matched some kind of proverb?

"Could I be that unlucky?" he thought anxiously.

Old Xia is a really hard person to figure out. If he really misunderstands something, even with his current identity, he might still hit him with a hammer.

"What are you saying?" he asked cautiously.

“Yashan City, do you remember it?” Xia Hanshi glanced at him.

"It's this place again," Su Chen said helplessly. "I really don't remember."

"Someone else mentioned it to you? Who?" Xia Hanshi asked coldly, judging from his attitude.

"Judge Jiang mentioned it," Su Chen replied honestly, but judging from Lao Xia's attitude, it seemed that he did not have any doubts about him.

"Jiang Shumo, you're so self-righteous." Xia Hanshi's eyes were cold and indifferent. "Is this a subtle way of implying that you're some kind of refugee or something?"

"No, not at all." Su Chen shook his head.

No? Xia Hanshi was slightly taken aback, suddenly realizing that Su Chen was not the same person he used to be. Even without the approval of the Grand Venerable, he was a rising star in the Tribunal and already possessed great prestige.

He paused for a moment, then continued, "You are from Yai Shan. Twenty years ago, Yai Shan City was corrupted by a treacherous god, and the followers of the Black Tuo sect intended to bring a divine child into the world."

"Divine Child?" Su Chen seemed to make a connection.

Xia Hanshi seemed oblivious to the change in his expression. "Later, we discovered it and used all our strength to destroy Yashan, which affected a large number of innocent people."

"The descent of a divine child requires a mother's body to nurture it, but the ritual was interrupted, and we haven't found the mother. At the time, we deduced that it had been annihilated, but perhaps it hasn't..."

Xia Hanshi stared at him intently, and Su Chen's heart pounded. He couldn't help but ask, "You don't actually think I'm some kind of divine child, do you?"

Heaven can bear witness that even if it is the previous incarnation, it has absolutely no relation to that damned divine child.

At the same time, there was a sense of utter dismay. I never expected that my hometown had such a story, and I never expected that the lie I made up could actually be linked to that past.

"Hehe..." Xia Hanshi's laughter was chilling, until Su Chen felt uneasy, before he slowly asked, "What kind of image do you have of me as your teacher?"

"If you scare me less often, I'll probably feel much better," Su Chen thought to himself, but he also breathed a sigh of relief.

“I estimate that the ritual was not completed and the divine child did not descend, but the people of Yashan were more or less affected,” Xia Hanshi added. “So once they come into contact with anything related to the Ghost God, they will sense it.”

Is it a closed loop?
Su Chen was stunned. This lie was too well-constructed; he had almost lost the final say.

But then he realized that Lao Xia was suspicious of something. After all, there were quite a few survivors from Yai Mountain, so why didn't the others have this feeling?

"Can you actively trigger that illusion?" Xia Hanshi asked again.

“Actively triggered…” Su Chen hesitated. “It’s hard to say. Compared to the number of times I’ve come into contact with items related to the Ghost God, the number of times the illusions have appeared is obviously not many.”

What are your thoughts?

Xia Hanshi's question was unusual, as if he wanted to take advantage of this ability. Uh... he didn't have this ability at all, Su Chen thought to himself, speechless.

“I suspect there’s something fishy about this attack by the Faceless Ghost Cultists,” Xia Hanshi said without hiding anything, his expression flickering. “Now that I think about it, this vast land is so wide, yet Yuan Poshan and I just happened to run into that group of Faceless Ghost Cultists.”

"You suspect that they deliberately let you discover them, as a... diversionary tactic?" Su Chen thought of the last time, when the Faceless Ghost God used the same method.

“That’s right…” Xia Hanshi nodded, “but the sheer number of the Faceless Ghost followers is undeniable. If Ying Feng doesn’t respond, he will inevitably be in great danger.”

How come it's exactly the same as last time... Su Chen had an indescribable sense of déjà vu.

Last time, that faceless ghost god gathered many believers lurking in Yingfeng behind the scenes. If no one is sent to deal with it, it will cause great damage.

This is the same old trick. Could it be that the one directing things behind the scenes is that same divine child again?

Su Chen kept thinking to himself, the more he felt it, the more likely it seemed.

"So, I want you to try and see if you can predict anything," Xia Hanshi finally revealed his true purpose for the showdown.

“I can do it without hesitation.” Su Chen agreed at first, but then hesitated. “But right now, there are no artifacts related to the Ghost God.”

“This is the courtroom.” Xia Hanshi stood up and said calmly, “We have been fighting the Ghost God for so long, and there are far too many things related to the Ghost God.”

Old Xia was indeed planning this. Su Chen's heart skipped a beat, and he quickly finished what he hadn't finished saying because of that damned divine child's interruption, "I estimate that ordinary items might not be enough. It would be best if they were something like a strange artifact, containing the power of a strange god."

“And…” he hesitated, “there is one more thing I need to tell you.”

"Is there anything else you haven't said?" Xia Hanshi wasn't surprised; this kid was hiding too much.

“Triggering the illusion seems to consume the power of the Ghost God.” Su Chen seemed to have made a big decision before speaking.

"In fact, what I obtained by killing Qi Chuan was not an empty trick."

"However, after the illusion appeared, the artifact somehow disappeared."

"Later," Su Chen said with a wry smile, "after learning about the dangers of the treacherous artifacts from Master Yuan, I dared not say anything more."

(End of this chapter)