Chapter 122: “the Heart Of The Benevolent”
The vast Challenge Hall was pin-drop silent at this moment, with pairs of eyes around the Arena bulging round, as if forgetting to blink, staring fixedly at the Arena.
No one underestimated Su Chen, after all, with dual professions advancing in parallel, even if Chu Xuan risked promotion to Third Order Top Tier Profession, a win would still be a pyrrhic victory.
Moreover, Su Chen might not be without a chance of victory.
In any case, their expectations were that both sides wanting to win wouldn’t be so simple.
However, Su Chen had been on stage for not even three minutes, the clash not exceeding one exchange, when Chu Xuan was cleanly and neatly defeated, and it was a crushing defeat, beaten to the point he couldn’t stand up.
“This… Chu Xuan really lost?”
The huge psychological drop made some people even think Chu Xuan was executing some strategy.
“Why isn’t he defending? Is all that strength just for show?” someone shouted in frustration.
In the corner, Chu Yunze and the others had pale faces, no longer with the initial laughter and cheer.
Only Meng Qi, sitting at the very back, had a glint bursting in his eyes, but it quickly subsided.
“This… this… why isn’t Chu Xuan resisting?” He Kang, standing behind Wei Yufan, was incredulous, his thick black eyebrows twitching up and down, looking utterly comical.
Wei Yufan had a grave expression, and the other three including Ming Lin were the same.
Zhong Ming suddenly spoke, his voice deep: “It’s a mental attack. At the moment of the assassination, Chu Xuan completely lost control, his muscles went limp, his energy spread out, turning him into nothing more than a punching bag.”
“Indeed…” Ming Lin nodded, a hint of trepidation in his eyes, “Chu Xuan has a Top Tier Profession, his mental resilience is absolutely not low. If it were interference, it would be normal, but his body completely lost control…”
He didn’t finish his words, but everyone understood that the intensity of this mental attack shouldn’t appear on someone who had just promoted to Third Order Upper Tier Profession.
“Third Order Top Tier Profession?” Zhong Ming suddenly said, and Feng Ze beside him looked grim. This batch of newcomers was too fierce; he could silently promote to Top Tier Profession?
If he had been unlucky and chosen to challenge Su Chen, wouldn’t he be the one embarrassing himself on the Arena right now?
“No… even Top Tier Profession isn’t enough; Chu Xuan completely lost control, even if just for a moment.” Ming Lin shook his head, his gaze profound, “He’s hiding even deeper. Perhaps the time he’s been a Third Order Professional is far earlier than we estimated…”
“And he has a special profession that can enhance mental power.”
“So good at hiding?” Feng Ze’s eyelid twitched; this was too insidious.
Given the time Su Chen had been in the Court of Justice, being able to promote to Third Order already surprised everyone greatly, and he even had time and energy to seek other special professions.
“Don’t overlook another thing: the intensity of his physical profession is also not low.” Zhong Ming added, looking down at the Arena, “That punch had tremendous power.”
Chu Xuan was a physical profession; the strengthening of his body was not to be underestimated. Even without using any defense, his body intensity was not low.
“You don’t mean to say both his physical and mental-side professions are Top Tier Professions, do you?” Feng Ze couldn’t help saying, completely unwilling to believe it, “The requirements for Top Tier Professions—how could he fulfill them alone?”
Unfortunately, no one agreed with him; all had grave expressions.
Zhong Ming’s face showed a complex expression, “If we weren’t suppressed to Third Order, with mental resilience stronger than Chu Xuan’s now, Su Chen could one-shot us one by one right now.”
Ming Lin gave a wry smile, “Even excluding the mental attack, with the strength Su Chen has shown, it would be hard for us to win.”
Hearing this, Wei Yufan’s face grew even darker, and he couldn’t help looking up at the higher-level room, his eyes full of anger.
Where in the world was there so much fairness? Wiping away years of their hard cultivation, forcibly suppressing them to the same level as low-order challengers—was that fair to them?
Thinking of this, his resentment toward this reform deepened even further.
Chief Seed—he couldn’t get it, and no one else could either!
He made up his mind, abruptly standing up, and under Ming Lin and the others’ gazes, turned and left.
“This intensity should be Top Tier Profession, and dual Top Tier at that… and he seemed to pull back at the end.” After a brief stunned moment, Jiang Shumo came back to his senses and couldn’t help looking at Chong Jingtian, who had sat back down:
“How did he do it?”
Chong Jingtian certainly couldn’t sit by and watch Chu Xuan get beaten to death and had been prepared to intervene, but Su Chen pulling back at the end made him nod inwardly. His gaze fixed straight on the Arena, slowly shaking his head: “I don’t know either.”
“He only accessed two Upper Tier Professions from the Court of Justice, nothing more.”
“Old Xia?” Jiang Shumo couldn’t help saying.
You Shan hesitated: “The professions might have been given by Xia Hanshi, but Xia Hanshi hasn’t been in the Court of Justice this whole time. Who’s helping him?”
“Even if Xia Hanshi were here, it’s impossible to silently help him promote to Top Tier Profession, and dual Top Tier at that.”
“That’s strange then.” A flash of suspicion passed through Jiang Shumo’s eyes, “It has nothing to do with the Strange God, right?”
The Strange God could accomplish all sorts of inconceivable things. Since what happened with Su Chen couldn’t be explained, his first thought was to suspect the Strange God.
Chong Jingtian shook his head, “He was checked when entering the Court of Justice; he’s definitely not a follower.”
“What about peripheral members?” Jiang Shumo still wasn’t reassured, “How about checking his memories? Second Sister, you should be able to do that.”
“It’s risky.” You Shan shook her head, “He’s already Third Order, and with a mental-side Top Tier Profession, his mental resilience must be very high.”
“If something goes wrong, Xia Hanshi will flip out. Can you stop him?”
Mentioning Xia Hanshi, Jiang Shumo paused.
“Innocent until proven guilty. Without evidence, don’t mention peripheral members again.” Chong Jingtian shook his head and continued:
“Before leaving, Xia Hanshi specifically told me that whatever happens with Su Chen, as long as it’s not related to the Cult of the Strange God, don’t investigate.”
“So Xia Hanshi should know.” Jiang Shumo mused thoughtfully. It was his first time seeing Su Chen, so it wasn’t baseless targeting.
It was just some suspicion. Since Xia Hanshi had already given a heads-up, seemingly anticipating it, he said no more.
“However, what you say makes some sense. Find a way to check if his spirit body has any contamination.” Chong Jingtian mentioned, “The Translation Department has a magical profession called Space Collector, with very strong versatility.”
“I’m planning to have these core seeds all try it, but one requirement is Second Order mental-side Top Tier Profession, so we’ll probably need external support then.”
“Chief Judge You, you can confirm again at that time, see if any of this group is involved with the Strange God.”
“Alright.” You Shan nodded. This could also serve as a major screening. The Inner Court reform likely dissatisfied many, and there might be those involved with the Cult of the Strange God.
Liu Chen’s death was a vivid example.
“So many talents…” Jiang Shumo sighed with emotion, but somewhat regretfully: “As for this Chu Xuan, I hope… he can self-regulate. Otherwise, the person is ruined.”
………
“…Chu Xuan entered the Nether Domain far less time than Liu Chen…”
Shadows gradually enveloped Chu Xuan as he struggled to lift his head, looking at Su Chen before him.
That downward gazing look seemed to overlap with the assessment day.
The bold words before the combat, and even the so-called “diligent self-improvement” this time, all felt like slaps across his face.
What arch-enemy? What dragon fights tiger—it was all just a joke.
Presumably, in Su Chen’s eyes, he was just a clown, quietly watching him hop around before slapping him dead.
“Kill…” He struggled to open his mouth, blood uncontrollably surging out.
“What?” Su Chen didn’t hear clearly, glancing around. The combat was over—where were the emergency responders? If Chu Xuan died now, whose fault would it be?
After looking around, he finally spotted a few in white coats struggling to squeeze through the gathered spectators around, seemingly shouting something.
“Kill, kill me!” Chu Xuan gnashed his teeth, his pupils veined with blood.
“Huh?” Su Chen was stunned, looking at Chu Xuan who had finally struggled to his feet. Did this guy think he didn’t want to kill him?
There were big shots watching above; otherwise, he wouldn’t have pulled back earlier. Chu Xuan couldn’t resist, and one hit could smash him dead.
“I voluntarily seek death; the Court of Justice won’t pursue you. Kill me!” Chu Xuan was frenzied, calling out repeatedly.
Pairs of eyes stared at him as emergency personnel climbed onto the Arena to check, only to be flung away by him.
You say no pursuit and that’s it? Go down and kill yourself—no one would care. Why make me do it?
Su Chen was speechless inside. If this were in the wilderness, this guy would have been dead long ago without burial.
He ignored him during the last assessment, and this guy had resented him for so long. Losing so badly this time, that resentment would probably turn into a life-or-death grudge.
But even one Liu Chen’s death caused such a stir…
Su Chen thought for a moment and said: “Why are you so hostile to me? As you said earlier, during the assessment no one holds back. If so, why harbor resentment?”
“I…” Chu Xuan was speechless. His earlier relief was because he had anticipated victory as the outcome, making him seem relieved.
But now another crushing defeat—how could he be relieved?
“After entering the Court of Justice, many people have been above you, some even just with Crimson Gold Talent. Why don’t you resent them?”
Su Chen asked again, “Is it because you think they should be stronger than you, but I shouldn’t be, or because I made you lose face?”
“This…” Chu Xuan’s expression was dazed.
“What we need to do is keep training, training, training, and more training. Those not as good as you will naturally be left behind; those better than you, you can’t do anything about.” Su Chen bluffed:
“Being hostile to others won’t improve our talent or strength by even a tiny bit.”
Hmm… no hostility, just find a way to kill directly, Su Chen added inwardly.
Chu Xuan’s figure swayed—not from being dazed by Su Chen’s words, but because he realized something.
Su Chen didn’t seem to look down on him or see him as a clown, but rather equally “ignored” everyone.
Only now did he suddenly realize that after entering the Court of Justice, Su Chen seemed to do nothing but train, almost no extra actions.
And his own hostility seemed like one-sided “overthinking.”
Finally, Su Chen said flatly: “If you really seek death, go down and find a place to slit your throat. You know, on this Arena, I can’t kill you.”
“Heh…” A miserable smile appeared on Chu Xuan’s face as he lay back, quickly supported by emergency personnel for simple treatment.
Jiang Shumo looked at Chong Jingtian in astonishment: “Xia Hanshi can accept this kind of student? Has he changed?”
Chong Jingtian nodded inwardly as well.
“Well said!”
“A benevolent heart, even helping Chu Xuan adjust his mindset. I thought he was already frenzied; he might have been ruined otherwise.”
Someone below shouted loudly in approval.
Su Chen was silent. If not to prevent Chu Xuan from continuing to target him afterward, he wouldn’t have bothered with all this talk.
Watching Chu Xuan on the Arena nearly losing consciousness, an imperceptible mental seed entered his brain.
He needed to find a way to confirm whether, after today, Chu Xuan would have a great enlightenment or deepen his obsession.
“I hope he can adjust his mindset; otherwise… I’ll have to eliminate the root of the problem forever.”
Looking up toward where Ming Lin and the others were, he found Wei Yufan and the rest had left, leaving only Ming Lin.
“They ran fast…” Su Chen jumped down from the Arena, the crowd spontaneously parting a path, pairs of fervent eyes staring at him.
At the door, Ming Lin was already waiting, smiling wryly: “You hid it really well.”
“What?” Su Chen feigned confusion. Ming Lin shook his head without speaking, and the two passed through the crowd.
It wasn’t until they returned to Su Chen’s villa that Ming Lin spoke, “If the challenge Arena weren’t imperfect, you should already be a Chief Seed by now.”
With that, he smiled wryly again: “It’s just a matter of time. Once your profession development progress improves, the mental attacks will be even stronger.”
When stepping onto the Arena, his Fourth Order profession would be sealed, with profession development progress roughly equal, but mental resilience like a fully developed Third Order, with high resistance.
But Su Chen had only just promoted to Third Order, and could still improve.
“Doesn’t matter.” Su Chen had no obsession with that so-called Chief Seed.
For now, becoming a Chief Seed brought no more direct benefits.
Truly obtaining it would instead make him the center of attention, which might not be good for him.
“Doesn’t matter…” Ming Lin’s expression was indescribable, his mood seemingly complex as well, and he left hastily without saying more.
Not long after this combat ended, the on-site witnesses excitedly told their relatives and friends.
Several hours later, one invitation after another was delivered to Su Chen’s home.
“Zhang Family, Zhou Family, Sun Family…”
Gu Bing was helping him sort them, reciting them like a catalog, inevitably envious: “These all supported Ming Lin and the others before, and now they’re extending olive branches too.”
These olive branches didn’t mean they’d switch to Su Chen, but they were willing to provide some support. Because of the Inner Court reform, these forces could only hedge their bets.
This would distance them from their originally bound core seeds and also reduce the intensity of the struggles.
Investing resources in multiple sides at once meant that if something happened, they would at least try to mediate.
“Give them all to your grandfather; have him pick a few suitable ones to contact.” Su Chen waved his hand, “No ones with too bad a record, no ones giving too much, no ones giving too little—your grandfather should understand what I mean.”
Gu Bing was delighted inside and couldn’t help saying: “You… want my grandfather to help you select supporters?”
Even her form of address had changed.
Today’s battle with Chu Xuan not only powerfully proved Su Chen could defend his position, but his initiative in soothing Chu Xuan also earned him a huge wave of points.
Outsiders were even spreading that it wouldn’t be long before the Chief Seed fell into Su Chen’s hands.
The influence was far deeper than Su Chen himself imagined.
“Yeah, leave it to you all to handle.” Su Chen nodded and continued:
“Also… earlier, the internal affairs side told me the Pang Family’s assets have been mostly divided, and they gave me a share, but not cash—physical assets. Let your grandfather handle them.”
Su Chen took out several deeds and contracts, handing them to Gu Bing.
