Chapter 100: 50 Abilities Fuse!
“Put me down in front…” Su Chen suddenly said.
The driver naturally had no objection, left the lane, and gradually landed on the roadside. Although nightfall had arrived, the streetlights were bright, and there were quite a few pedestrians on the street.
Su Chen waited on the roadside for a long time, his eyes finally lighting up. He quickly rushed toward a silver-haired old lady not far away and shouted enthusiastically, “Old grandma…”
Under the stunned gaze of this white-haired, robust old lady, Su Chen supported her and slowly crossed the road…
“Young man… I… I haven’t reached the point of needing someone to help me.” Only when they reached the other side of the road did she react, her old face flushing red. She broke free from Su Chen’s hand and jumped two meters high, showing off her good body.
Su Chen watched with his heart twitching. This old lady was clearly a professional, and not a special profession, but a rank profession, the kind that directly enhanced one’s own qualities.
Pedestrians on the street glanced over, as if observing if there was any excitement to see.
“Sure enough, it doesn’t count…” After seeing off the indignant old lady, Su Chen opened his panel. The Saint job appointment requirements showed no change, which wasn’t unexpected.
The old lady hadn’t generated a need for help, so even “forcing help” on her wouldn’t work.
“This requirement is quite idealistic… I don’t even know who’s supervising it.” Su Chen was helpless and could only think of other ways. “The simplest method is to find a hundred poor people and carry out a big money-scattering operation.”
“However, for this matter, I still need someone else’s help.” Su Chen shook his head again. He himself was running low on potions, let alone scattering money for others.
Moreover, he still couldn’t grasp the extent of this “help.”
For example, for poor people, the concept of “lacking money” is very deep. One thousand gold is help, ten thousand gold is help, and one hundred thousand gold is also help.
This kind of demand is a bottomless pit, impossible to fill.
“…Best to be in a place with extremely dense foot traffic, where small help needs are certainly generated…”
“Hospital… Hmm… That place is mostly about saving lives and treating illnesses… Even more of a pit than big money-scattering…”
Su Chen’s eyes were dazed as he sidestepped an oncoming couple. His eyes finally lit up, and he looked up at the metal tracks shuttling between the high-rise buildings.
Ying Feng’s track train runs twenty-four hours non-stop to meet demands.
But at this time, the passenger flow wasn’t dense.
“Wait until daytime…” Su Chen restrained his thoughts and called another hover car.
“No wonder everyone says talent is only one aspect…” Su Chen looked at the bustling crowd around him and couldn’t help sighing: “For this 【Saint】 requirement, talent is just the threshold.”
Back at the hotel, Su Chen did his routine training until late at night before resting for a bit.
By six or seven the next morning, with the morning light dim, Su Chen went out and headed to the nearest track train station.
This was the time of densest personnel flow, with working crowds heading out almost squeezing the entire station full.
Even Su Chen couldn’t avoid going with the flow, queuing for over ten minutes before squeezing onto the train.
Looking at the densely packed heads in the carriage, Su Chen immediately searched for targets.
Soon, he found one: a woman with a bulging belly, about five or six months pregnant, wearing loose clothes, dense cold sweat on her forehead, carefully protecting her belly in the crowded crowd.
Although it was person-to-person crowding, the people around her still tried their best to avoid touching her.
This pregnant woman frequently looked at the seats on both sides, but the people in the seats were either closing their eyes pretending to sleep or fiddling with the terminals in their hands.
Su Chen’s heart stirred slightly, but he suddenly realized his mistake, “Damn, I don’t even have a seat myself, how can I give up a seat?”
“Sigh…” Su Chen sighed, his gaze falling on the seats on both sides. After scanning, he finally locked onto a young man who looked very burly.
He quietly moved closer, his eyes focusing slightly as mental fluctuations emanated. The young man’s face immediately became dazed.
“He’s actually a professional, probably a support profession, not high mental resilience…” Su Chen was quite surprised.
Telekinetic force surged out, wrapping around his limbs, making him slowly stand up. His actions immediately drew the attention of the nearby crowd.
But Su Chen was quick-eyed and deft-handed, safely sitting down through the gap, drawing a wave of “what a pity” looks.
The pregnant woman’s originally brightening eyes gradually dimmed.
“Here, big sister, take this seat.” Su Chen suddenly stood up and looked at the pregnant woman.
The other party looked stunned, gratitude surging on her face. She twisted her body over, sat in Su Chen’s seat, and let out a long breath: “Thank you.”
Sure enough… Su Chen glanced at the panel, which showed help target +1.
“This kind of need for a seat is small and specific… Very easy to fulfill.” Su Chen nodded to himself.
At this time, the young man finally recovered from the mental interference, looking stunned at his occupied seat. He looked around and scratched his head.
Although he didn’t know what happened, the one occupying his seat was a pregnant woman, so he couldn’t argue.
“Could it be that I just unconsciously did a good deed?” The young man muttered to himself, inwardly complaining. Now he had to stand for over an hour.
Su Chen squeezed out of the crowd, with a layer of telekinetic force attached to his body surface. Like a swimming fish, the surrounding crowd naturally parted to both sides.
He searched for the next target in need of help.
And in the carriage, such targets were obviously plentiful.
Until the morning rush hour completely ended, approaching nine o’clock, with people in the carriage gradually thinning out, Su Chen felt parched and checked the panel.
The cumulative number of people helped had reached 6. This morning, he had carefully selected nearly thirty targets, all the elderly, weak, sick, and disabled, but only one-fifth met the requirements in the end.
“Some guys didn’t even have the thought of needing a seat. Even if they looked like they needed it, sitting or not didn’t matter.” Su Chen was helpless: “This situation… impossible to distinguish.”
“But the efficiency isn’t low. Including the evening rush hour, there should be at least ten a day. Before the Court of Justice assessment, the requirement can definitely be completed.”
Compared to the original heaven-defying requirement, Su Chen was already very satisfied, but then his eyes turned cold, “However… who sent that guy?”
Through the reflection on the glass curtain wall on one side of the carriage, Su Chen locked onto a certain guy still some distance from him, who looked utterly ordinary.
During the process of selecting targets, Su Chen had to keep changing carriages, and this guy had been following him the whole time.
“I just arrived in Ying Feng, I shouldn’t have offended anyone…” Su Chen couldn’t help thinking of last night’s banquet, his brows furrowing slightly, “That shouldn’t count as offending, right?”
Ying Feng’s laws were stricter, and its technology level far surpassed Nan Feng.
He currently didn’t know much about it, unclear about the surveillance limits, and without an official identity, acting rashly would definitely not be good.
“Let’s see first…”
Still far from the evening rush hour, Su Chen returned to the hotel first, trained until four or five in the afternoon, then went out.
However, just as he came down the elevator, he bumped into a familiar person coming to find him.
“Senior Brother Bu?” Su Chen said, quite surprised.
“Didn’t check the messages?” Bu Siqi raised an eyebrow, “I sent you a message this afternoon.”
“Set to do not disturb…” Su Chen explained, “Not used to interruptions during training.”
“Oh.” Bu Siqi didn’t mind, raised his right hand to show Su Chen the black metal box, “The thing you wanted.”
Su Chen invited Bu Siqi into the room.
This senior brother clearly didn’t treat himself as an outsider. Before Su Chen could speak, he sat on the sofa by himself, tossed the metal box aside, and said casually:
“By the way, there was news on the Mist Nightmare Pearl you asked me to find. The oddity shop has it, but the price isn’t cheap—one costs one hundred thousand gold. But I was a step late; someone bought it.”
“So expensive?” Su Chen was surprised, thinking of the one Chu Yunze gave him yesterday.
He didn’t know if Hu Xiang had saved up that much money; it should be about right. Pan Yu’s worth was over a hundred thousand.
“Not bad…” Bu Siqi said, “This thing only comes from Mist Nightmares about to promote to third order. If it weren’t for its limited uses, it would be even more expensive.”
“When the next one appears, I’ll reserve it for you.”
“No need, Senior Brother.” Su Chen shook his head, “No need to keep this in mind for me for now.”
“No need?” Bu Siqi looked over involuntarily.
Su Chen thought for a moment and still told him about last night’s banquet invitation.
“Chu Xuan, Chu Yunze, Pang Xingwen… Meng Qi…” Bu Siqi seemed shocked too, saying in surprise: “There’s actually such a thing. Before even entering the Court of Justice, he’s already pulling together his own faction. This Chu Xuan is impressive.”
“And I always feel that this Pang Xingwen has some hostility toward me.” Su Chen added.
“Not surprising.” Bu Siqi composed himself and explained: “The Pang Family is a local tyrant in Ying Feng. They once produced a Chief Judge. Pang Xingwen’s father, Pang Hui, is Wei Yinshuo’s student and also Zhou Xian’s teacher. Every month, Glazed Blood from Nan Feng is sent to their home.”
“No wonder…” Su Chen suddenly understood.
Even if Zhou Xian colluded with the Cult of the Strange God and deserved to die, it meant less benefits in the end. For them, it was a real loss.
Bu Siqi said: “But you don’t need to worry. That little loss isn’t enough for them to do anything to you.”
Seeing him get up to leave, Su Chen stopped him again and said in a low voice: “Senior Brother, someone was following me today.”
In an instant, cold light bloomed in Bu Siqi’s somewhat leisurely eyes, “Who?”
In that moment, Su Chen vaguely felt that he had a bit of Old Xia’s vibe.
Su Chen shook his head: “Don’t know, but when I go out later, he should follow again.”
“I understand.” Bu Siqi’s voice was cold, “You don’t need to worry about this. Do what you need to do; I’ll handle it.”
“I’ll go out first; you leave after a bit.”
Su Chen nodded, saw Bu Siqi off, then opened the metal box he brought. White cold air leaked out, containing the potions he needed.
After a quick count, Su Chen was surprised: “Fifteen tubes each, double what Senior Brother Bu estimated back then. Should last until the assessment time, just about right.”
“Generous…” Su Chen flipped through the attached E-grade meditation method—【Burning Heart Meditation Method】. This method uses flames as a guide, visualizing red flames burning the spirit body, continuously refining it.
He stuffed all these things into the storage space, then Su Chen went out, heading to the nearest track train station according to his established goal.
And this time, the stalker disappeared.
……
Ying Feng has no inner and outer city distinction. Facilities dependent on Ying Feng like factories, breeding grounds, manufacturing sites, and even some large research institutes are not in the city but distributed around it.
Because Ying Feng’s own martial power is strong enough to watch over these places outside the city.
Under nightfall, Bu Siqi piloted a small spaceship, relying on his Court of Justice identity to leave the city and fly straight south, landing in a mountain valley not too far or too near.
There was a defensive fortress here, but it looked abandoned for a long time.
After the spaceship hovered, Bu Siqi opened the storage compartment, picked up a cloth bag, and walked straight into the deepest room of the fortress.
“Teacher…” He lowered his head and called respectfully.
Xia Hanshi was standing in front of a drawing board with many coordinates and photos on it.
“Mm…” Xia Hanshi said absentmindedly, “Who is the person in your hand?”
“Pang Family’s person, stalking little junior brother.” He explained.
“Pang Family?” Xia Hanshi turned his head abruptly, his tone sinking cold, “Are they also colluding with the Cult of the Strange God? For one Zhou Xian, they want Su Chen’s life?”
“Not like that…” Bu Siqi broke out in cold sweat and hurriedly explained, “This seems to be that junior named Pang Xingwen acting on his own.”
“Last night…” He briefly described it and made a guess, “I think it’s little junior brother’s refusal that caused dissatisfaction among some in that group, so they wanted to make some small moves.”
“As for harming little junior brother, they don’t have the guts.”
“No guts?” Xia Hanshi sneered, “Many things don’t start with guts. I’m not in Ying Feng, so many people’s guts have gotten bigger.”
“In a bit more time, their guts might get even bigger, and they’ll cut off his head and send it to the Pang Family.”
“Yes.” Bu Siqi showed a wry smile and changed the topic: “What did you find out this time?”
Xia Hanshi’s expression sobered, a trace of worry flashing in his eyes: “Something big is about to happen.”
Bu Siqi’s whole body shook as he listened quietly to Xia Hanshi’s account.
“Nan Feng’s Holy Word Stone, Yun Lan’s space crystal, Qing Lake’s Silver Star Water, Bai Yue’s nano spirit fetus…”
Xia Hanshi said in a low voice, “I didn’t know until I investigated. In the past half year, the Cult of the Strange God’s activities have been very frequent, and not just one Strange God—multiple Strange Gods are cooperating.”
“Cooperating?” Bu Siqi’s throat moved, shocked: “They cooperate too?”
Xia Hanshi’s expression shifted: “Indeed. I don’t know what they’re doing, but it’s definitely something big.”
“Should we report to the Court of Justice…” Bu Siqi couldn’t help saying.
Xia Hanshi narrowed his eyes: “The earliest missing item, Qing Lake’s Silver Star Water, happened a year and a half ago, and the Court of Justice in Ying Feng knew nothing about it. There’s something fishy here.”
“You mean, the Court of Justice has an insider?” Bu Siqi trembled at those words.
Xia Hanshi didn’t explain, just waved his hand, “Alright, go back. Don’t reveal that I’m back.”
Bu Siqi’s mind was in turmoil as he lowered his head and left.
………
Approaching mid-June, the Court of Justice assessment time was getting closer. Su Chen could feel the different atmosphere; even on the track train, he could hear people discussing it.
He kept his own pace, shuttling on track trains during the day to select help targets, and training at night.
This night, in the gravity training room, silver-white special metal panels covered the walls.
Su Chen closed his eyes tightly, brows furrowed, electric arcs leaping on his skin surface with crackling sounds. His whole body was hot, his movements getting faster and more expansive, the electric arcs surging around him growing stronger.
Until a certain moment, the change started from his chest. His skin turned indigo, and the intense burning pain gave Su Chen a melting sensation.
The indigo skin spread from his chest to his limbs and bones, until it completely turned him indigo.
At the same time, wind and thunder gathered, automatically forming illusory armor around his body, then slowly moving toward his body, as if to merge with it.
This time, not only intense pain, but also bone-piercing numbness.
“Hiss-ah…”
Su Chen’s pupils were filled with bloodshot veins. He even wanted to peel off his own skin. This intense pain and numbness nearly made him pass out.
【Wind and Thunder Emissary development reaches 50%, gain ability–Wind Thunder Tough Skin】
【Wind Thunder Tough Skin has similar compatibility with Wind Thunder Barrier, ability fusion and strengthening, gain ability–Raging Thunder Wind Armor: Forms entity armor with super-compressed wind and thunder elements.】
Fortunately, this time it didn’t last long, and the changes in his body gradually faded.
Su Chen nearly collapsed on the ground, gasping heavily. He gulped some compressed nutrient solution, waited a moment, then recovered.
Development progress reaching 50% and gaining a new professional ability was within Su Chen’s expectation, but the subsequent fusion strengthening was unexpected.
“Ability fusion doesn’t appear often in the information I know…” Su Chen pondered.
Every profession has its own characteristics, but as one’s profession keeps promoting, the abilities produced will inevitably overlap at times.
For example, 【Wind Thunder Barrier】 and 【Wind Thunder Tough Skin】 are both defenses, but like two routes: one forms an external defensive barrier, the other strengthens the self.
Not exactly redundant, it adds another layer of defense, but saying it greatly increases intensity is also forced, since it’s dispersed.
Ability fusion is a special phenomenon produced by the life form evolving in a better direction.
Two abilities with similar compatibility, after fusion, have higher intensity and are more efficient, not simply one plus one equals two.
But exactly how to trigger professional fusion is what all professionals pursue.
“Coincidence, or inevitable?” Su Chen wondered inwardly. Electric arcs burst on his body surface, wind and thunder elements intertwined. Feather-like wind blades and electric arcs wove into flowing light patterns, quickly forming a fitted armor on his skin surface.
Slapping his palm produced a metallic clash sound.
“Defense is indeed impressive, strengthened two to three times…” Su Chen roughly estimated.
Immediately after, he took out the Green Scaled Armor from the storage space, attached it to his body surface, then applied the thunder armor ability on it.
Crackle!
Electric arcs burst out. Every scale seemed injected with liquid stardust, the green gradually diffusing a bright indigo, becoming even more brilliant.
Bang! Bang!
Su Chen pounded his chest, producing muffled thuds, “Tsk, with this defense intensity, based on Zhou Xian’s attack strength back then, ordinary attacks probably can’t break it.”
The advantages of this strengthening were obvious.
He rested a bit but didn’t continue physical training. Instead, he left the gravity training room, sat cross-legged on the bed, and operated the 【Burning Heart Meditation Method】.
The 【Void Star Meditation Method】 reached master level a few days ago, gaining the ability named 【Brilliant Star】, increasing mental resilience.
After stacking multiple abilities, his current mental resilience probably reached third order standard.
Soon, his mental power began to boil, curtains, bedsheets, tables, chairs, and stools all starting to tremble.
His mental talent was ultimately stronger. On the spaceship without gravity room assistance, the Mystic Mind Master development progress also gradually improved.
After this period of effort, it also reached 50%.
The mental change differed from the physical one. Su Chen only felt unprecedented exhilaration. The boiling mental power penetrated his skull, wandering around him. From afar, his body seemed wrapped in frosted glass.
Suddenly, he opened his eyes, extremely bright, and his mental power abruptly retracted—
【Mystic Mind Master developed to 50%, gain ability–Mental Hypnosis.】
【Mental Hypnosis has similar compatibility with Mental Interference, ability fusion and strengthening, gain ability–Mental Control: Can directly control life forms with insufficient mental resilience.】
“Hoo…” Su Chen exhaled, calming the boiling mental fluctuations, looking at the text on the panel.
“So, in my case, ability fusion is inevitable… Why? Because all my professions were job appointed with the most standard requirements, perfect to the point of no addition?”
He rubbed his temples, faintly aching, and couldn’t help thinking.
【Wind and Thunder Emissary: 50%】
【Mystic Mind Master: 50%】
【E-grade Thunder Radiance Body Tempering Method–Proficient: 65%】
【E-grade Burning Heart Meditation Method–Proficient: 20%】
“All developed to 50%…” Su Chen clenched his fist, “Potions are almost used up too. For the second half of development, need to change potions again.”
“But with five days until the assessment, no need to waste energy on this. After entering the Court of Justice, there will be rations.”
He glanced at the Saint job appointment requirement again: help targets at 86 people.
“Time-wise, definitely enough.” Su Chen thought, “But still need to see if Old Xia can come back by then.”
“If Old Xia doesn’t come back, rashly revealing it might not be good. Fortunately… even if the requirement is completed, I can choose whether to job appoint or not.”
The body transformation made him somewhat fatigued. Checking the time, it was already ten at night. After a quick wash, he fell into a deep sleep.
He woke up slowly the next day at noon, feeling mentally refreshed, body fatigue completely gone.
“Biological clock actually failed. Looks like yesterday was really tiring…” Su Chen stretched lazily, his body crackling. Missing the morning rush hour made him a bit regretful.
But time was sufficient overall, so he didn’t mind much.
“These days busy with helping others, haven’t gone to the Translation Department…” He hesitated a bit. The Translation Department was a treasure trove of professions, possibly involving Morning Star Tier ones. He definitely needed to infiltrate it.
“But now without the Holy Word Stone excuse, just with Old Xia’s student identity, even if I go, Elder Sang probably won’t have much to say to me.”
“Might even annoy people. Wait a bit more; the assessment is in a few days. After entering the Court of Justice with official identity, then go.”
Su Chen made his decision, went to the hotel canteen for a hearty meal. After eating and drinking his fill, he returned to continue training until the evening rush hour, then went out again.
Four days passed in the blink of an eye.
This night, just past midnight, Du Yu and Zhang Hengyu arrived together.
“Brother Su, what time is it, and you’re still training? The Court of Justice assessment starts today!”
Du Yu said upon seeing Su Chen opening the door bare-chested.
Su Chen let them in and went to wash up: “I calculated the time. From here to the Court of Justice, it takes about four or five hours. It starts at nine in the morning; leaving at two or three isn’t late.”
“You’re really leisurely.” Du Yu couldn’t help pointing at Zhang Hengyu: “This guy next to me hasn’t slept well for days. Yesterday afternoon, he urged me to come find you.”
Zhang Hengyu’s face was tense, clearly nervous.
