Chapter 145: Testing The Waters, Head Rolls
Soon, a rift spanning the sky suddenly tore open, with vein-like pulses growing along its edges, and chaotic black-red substances churning within.
A heartbeat-like rumble came from the depths of the rift, clearly audible even here.
Each vibration made the blood-colored sky curtain tremble, with a few strands of dark blood mist seeping from the crack’s edges, as if slowly bleeding outward.
“This is… a Corrupted Rift?” He Kang’s expression was filled with shock and fear.
“Today seems to be the time for executing that priest…” Xiao Ying frowned tightly, also puzzled: “Killing a Heituo Priest, why would it provoke ‘Crimson’ methods?”
While the two were talking, protective shields began to weave and converge above the Court of Justice, each layer flowing with energy auras of different attributes.
The inner layer was interwoven with golden symbols, while the outer layer was surrounded by a dark purple defense matrix, constructing a three-dimensional defense network along spherical coordinates.
“I don’t know, something’s probably about to happen. Let’s go.” He Kang’s expression was grave as he consciously shouldered his duty as a Judge.
“It won’t be a big deal, just a Corrupted Rift. The Chief can definitely handle it. I’ll go chat with that Chief Judge upstairs.” Xiao Ying’s expression shifted slightly.
With He Kang there just now, many things couldn’t be said.
“You…” He Kang coldly glanced at him. Even now, he was still thinking about those dirty little matters.
He didn’t bother saying more and darted straight out. Many Judges had already started moving toward the outside of the Court of Justice.
……
“Such a huge commotion, just to save a Heituo Priest? Is it worth it?”
Su Chen also stepped out of his residence, looking toward the massive crimson rift in the distant sky, with crimson lightning falling as if to swallow the earth.
It was just a visual effect; in reality, the place of execution for the Heituo Priest was nearly outside the city.
“And it seems not just Heituo Followers are saving him. They really hooked a big fish.”
The scene before him reminded him of the winged creature he saw during his first Whispering Trial.
Cyan-red flames rose from the ground, sweeping toward the sky, then turning into chains that wrapped around both sides of the rift, forcibly curbing its expansion.
The sky unfolded like a flowing scroll, with churning blood-colored chaos above and rising frostfire holy land below.
“Chong Jingtian…” Seeing this, Su Chen immediately understood. This was the Seventh Order Middle Tier Professional【 World-Purifying Flame Spirit】.
“It looks like there shouldn’t be much problem. Someone as badass as Old Chong, and Ying Feng has four more.” Su Chen thought to himself.
Suddenly, a vigorous female voice rang in his ears: “Senior Judges with no emergency tasks, follow me to the execution site.”
A streak of flowing light cut through the sky above the Court of Justice. It was You Shan, this Chief Judge, leading people to provide support. The scene before her clearly exceeded her expectation.
“Hm?” Su Chen’s heart suddenly skipped a beat. “This way, Chong Jingtian and You Shan are both gone, Jiang Shumo is also absent, and only Lei Tieyan remains in the Court of Justice.”
“Maybe he went too. Even if not, the Adjudication Department is quite far from the Medical Department.”
“Perhaps, this is the best opportunity.”
After realizing this, Su Chen couldn’t help but feel excited, but he quickly suppressed it. “No, Wei Yinshuo still has guards around him. Just that Xue Fei alone is not someone I can deal with.”
“But perhaps it’s worth a try. If I’m not mistaken…”
The noisy sounds outside the door continued nonstop, and Su Chen could clearly sense powerful lifeforms passing by one after another.
The sky was crimson, and even the ground was a crimson expanse, with rumbling booms shaking everything.
Su Chen took out a black cloak from his Storage Space.
【Hermit Cloak–Third Order: Made from dark night fox mongoose hide, it can collect environmental information for disguise.】
He shook out the cloak and draped it over himself. The fabric’s edges rippled with water-like distortions, and his outline began to produce visual errors.
When moving, the cloak formed dynamic visual camouflage. This was one of the items Lei Tieyan had sent, specifically for concealment.
The other was a silver metal mask fastened to his face, covered with grayish traces.
【Shadow Iron Mask–Fourth Order: Crafted from special alloy, it can interfere with Mental Power.】
This was a Fourth Order item, not cheap at nearly ten million gold, powered by Mental Power. If not for his system just taking shape and able to withstand the consumption, he really wouldn’t dare use it.
Su Chen vanished completely from sight, with only the sound of wind rising.
………
“…What a huge commotion.” Wei Yinshuo looked out the window and couldn’t help saying: “Wasn’t it a Heituo Follower being executed? Why would Crimson Followers take action?”
“What exactly are Ying Feng’s followers trying to do?”
The voice in his ear also carried some surprise and doubt. The followers left in Ying Feng were mostly for scouting and covering news for them, only occasionally carrying out important tasks.
It wasn’t that Ying Feng didn’t value them, but years of confrontation had allowed Ying Feng to master basic screening methods, making it hard for their people to infiltrate.
Suddenly, Wei Yinshuo’s expression tightened, and he turned to see Xiao Ying, who had been brought back in by Xue Fei.
“Why are you back again?” Wei Yinshuo frowned, looking displeased at Xue Fei.
“Uncle, he says he has important information.” Xue Fei made a helpless gesture, smiled bitterly, and went out, closing the door.
“Chief Judge Wei…” This time, Xiao Ying got straight to the point: “No outsiders here, so I’ll be direct. Are you really going to sit by and watch Xia Hanshi’s student become Chief Judge?”
“How much conflict is there between you two? Do I need to say it? Just the little moves in the dark during Su Chen’s assessment—it’s not like no one knows.”
“Right now, Chu Xuan is dead. Who among your students can take the lead? Relying on Xue Fei?”
“Of your three sons, two are already dead, and the last one only has Brilliant Silver Talent. Your grandsons are also not up to big tasks.”
Xiao Ying spoke with sincere emotion: “Once he becomes Chief Judge, you’ll be old and decrepit by then. The family’s collapse will be right around the corner!”
“Family…” Wei Yinshuo showed a complex, indescribable expression and said faintly: “What exactly do you mean?”
“Kill!” Cold light flickered in Xiao Ying’s eyes.
“Wei Yufan asked you to pass the message?” Wei Yinshuo narrowed his eyes slightly and asked.
“Whether yes or no, will it affect your decision?” Xiao Ying countered.
“Su Chen is only Third Order. Do I need to kill him myself?” Wei Yinshuo shook his head. “You can take him out.”
“I can, sure.” Xiao Ying said gravely: “But he hardly leaves the Court of Justice, his whereabouts are hard to pin down. Doing it quietly and cleanly is very difficult.”
“You’re talking about breaking the rules.” Wei Yinshuo frowned tightly.
Xiao Ying’s voice was extremely low, but the sharp light in his eyes nearly solidified: “Winners take all.”
“Wei Yufan is that afraid?” Wei Yinshuo’s gaze was profound, almost bottomless.
“Not afraid, just nipping a threat in the bud.” Xiao Ying’s tone carried dissatisfaction. “If not for the Chief being so stubborn, it wouldn’t have come to this.”
A challenge arena had inexplicably erased years of hard work. It was good for newcomers like Su Chen and Chu Xuan, but for them?
“If you agree, your family will produce another Chief Judge. If not, you can hand me over to the Chief.” Xiao Ying seemed to have burned his bridges.
After a long time, he finally heard Wei Yinshuo sigh: “I understand.”
A flash of joy passed through Xiao Ying’s eyes, but he didn’t say more, only saying sincerely: “You won’t regret it.”
Watching Xiao Ying leave, Wei Yinshuo heard the voice in his ear again: “This Wei Yufan… seems worth contacting.”
………
“As expected!”
Once out of the Medical Department gate, Xiao Ying couldn’t suppress his excitement, his face beaming with joy. Even the churning crimson thunder sea at the horizon seemed to celebrate for him.
“I knew it. How could Wei Yinshuo, that old guy, have a sudden epiphany after one serious injury? It was just that the price wasn’t high enough.”
The gloom in Xiao Ying’s heart dissipated completely. The idea to eliminate Su Chen stemmed partly from the other’s talent and strength, and partly from the shadow of that bidding day.
It hadn’t been long, yet Su Chen could already get Inspection Department high-level to step in for him. If they waited longer, who knows what would happen.
Although the Security Department had also sent people to contact Wei Yufan, his side was already full, with no room for more meddling.
Su Chen, being a lone wolf, was instead easy to see as a tasty morsel in their eyes.
You Shan’s summons had made the already remote area near the Medical Department nearly deserted.
The sky rumbled nonstop like muffled thunder, occasionally bursting with brilliant light. That massive rift was gradually closing—Chong Jingtian wasn’t bragging.
Out of long years of habitual caution, Xiao Ying walked in the shadows along both sides of the road.
“Should I take out Ming Lin too…” He thought, then dismissed it: “Forget it. This threat isn’t as high as Su Chen’s. Taking out another would be too obvious.”
“If not for Old Wei decisively promoting to Fifth Order, being openly defeated by him on the challenge arena— what would be left to fight for?”
“Unfortunately…” Then, pity appeared in Xiao Ying’s eyes: “If he weren’t so strong, maybe we could even be friends…”
Crack!
Suddenly, another thunderclap rang out. Xiao Ying was stunned, his face changing drastically, because this thunder wasn’t in the sky—it was right by his ear!
The air beside him was suddenly torn apart. A thunderball condensed to the extreme exploded violently. In the blinding white light, the faint outline of a straight-bladed long knife was visible, its blade completely wrapped in leaping thunder slurry.
The thunder light wasn’t scattered but wrapped around the Blade like a living thing, emitting continuous explosive crackles.
The trajectory of the falling long knife left visible ionized tail traces, leaving charred air cracks in its wake.
Before the Blade even arrived, Xiao Ying’s skin felt pinprick-like stinging pain.
Someone is attacking me!
Who!?
Xiao Ying was shocked and furious. He had no time to react before the Blade was upon him, as if appearing out of thin air, without any warning.
The dazzling thunder light obscured his vision; he couldn’t see the knife-wielder within at all.
Su Chen’s gaze was cold. His hands gripped the blade, his arms trembling, every muscle and meridian pulsing.
This attack had consumed more than half the nutrient substances stored in his Abyssal Stomach.
He first used【Holy Hand】 to strengthen【Azure Thunder Collapsing Cloud】, attaching it to the blade formed by【Liquid Gold Phantom Blade】, then hid in the shadows accumulating power to the limit.
Xiao Ying was a Fourth Order Professional after all, even if only Mental-type. Su Chen didn’t underestimate him and went all out with his current strongest strike!
Who! Exactly who!
Xiao Ying roared—at least in his perception, he was roaring.
The overhead thunder knife was indeed powerful, but not to the point he couldn’t block it. As long as he could… could…
He was stunned to discover that his abundant Mental Power was gradually collapsing.
Not only that, his vision was spinning, everything around had gone silent—the sky’s rumbling, the nearby thunderclaps, everything was fading.
And as a Mental-type Professional, his abundant Mental Power had become his burden at this moment.
He could clearly sense himself stepping into death, yet was powerless to reverse it.
“Who!?”
Xiao Ying was unwilling. The excitement hadn’t faded, his major threat was about to be eliminated, yet he was ambushed to death inside the Court of Justice.
“Exactly who, exactly who…”
His dissipating Mental Power, in the final moment, tried to gather, as if wanting to see clearly who was ambushing him.
Crackle-pop!
But with a flash of thunder light, it completely shattered.
The severed head, not yet hitting the ground, vanished along with the tottering corpse, even the spurting blood not landing.
Su Chen’s figure disappeared without a trace, everything buried under the sky’s rumbling.
“Phew…”
In the Spatial Layer, Su Chen moved very slowly, taking out Compressed Nutrient Solution from his Storage Space, then slowly lifting it to his mouth.
On one hand to replenish the Abyssal Stomach’s consumption, on the other to quickly convert into Mental Power, sustaining his activity in the Spatial Layer.
“Didn’t expect to run into this guy.” Su Chen was also surprised. He was very familiar with the nearby situation and had come carefully all the way.
But just arriving nearby, he saw Xiao Ying coming out of the Medical Department beaming with joy, not knowing what happy matter it was.
After a brief thought, he decided to simply test the waters with him, to see the current situation in the Court of Justice.
“However, killing him was way easier than I imagined.”
Xiao Ying was a Fourth Order Mental Side Professional. To increase his body intensity, he had tried Physical Profession, but only Second Order.
He had hidden in the Spatial Layer and struck with full force.
And Xiao Ying, for some reason, had almost no vigilance, making it easy for him to succeed.
After waiting a moment longer, seeing no movement, no one noticing the anomaly or coming to investigate.
“The situation is about as expected. Most people’s attention is drawn outside.” Su Chen pondered, taking a deep breath. Xiao Ying was just an appetizer; the main event came next.
In the Spatial Layer, Su Chen gradually shifted to “Heituo Priest” state. That clear and intense sensation came from the Medical Department before him.
“Hope I’m right.”
……
“…I like people with desires like this, who trample boundaries for their own desires without hesitation.”
Listening to the voice in his ear, Wei Yinshuo shook his head: “It’s hard to turn Wei Yufan into one of us. He’s different from me. After Su Chen disappears, he’s still him, the most likely to become Chief Judge.”
“Just a spare piece. Su Chen is an extra task. We need more people.”
Wei Yinshuo’s gaze shifted slightly, wanting to ask more, but he noticed the voice in his ear suddenly rise in pitch, growing more suspicious: “Sensed it again. That priest from before appeared, right outside!”
“How is that possible? That priest is being executed today.” Wei Yinshuo instinctively denied, then reacted, stunned: “There’s another priest outside?”
“Doesn’t Ying Feng only have one priest? Where did this one come from?”
The voice in his ear was also puzzled, but soon said: “No, we must meet him.”
