Chapter 36: Chapter 36: 50% Development: Wind Armor "Red Gold..." Beside him, Bai Fengxi’s hand, which was raising a teacup, froze mid-air, her eyes filled with astonishment. "Red Gold! It’s Red Gold!" "If Zhang Hongbo and his group knew about this, the looks on their faces would be priceless!" Yuan Chenyang shot to his feet, his face flushed. He paced back and forth, waving his arms. "Teacher..." Su Chen called out, thinking to himself, ’No wonder practicing with the Candle Fire was so easy.’ "Oh, oh..." Yuan Chenyang realized he’d lost his composure. After calming down, he added, "No, this matter can’t be exposed for now." "The shady old bastards in the city won’t necessarily want to see someone with a Red Gold Talent appear." Yuan Chenyang was agitated, trying to sort out his thoughts. "Ying Feng, you have to go to Ying Feng... A Red Gold Spirit Talent... Wasting even a year is a crime..." "No, that won’t work. His refugee background is still a hidden danger." At this, even Bai Fengxi couldn’t help but ask, "A Red Gold Talent isn’t enough to overcome the issue of being a refugee?" "You don’t understand." Yuan Chenyang shook his head. "The vast majority of refugees have no ties. Due to their life experiences, they harbor a deep-seated resentment that’s hard to erase. They are easily swayed by the Deceitful God Sect, and might even seek them out on their own." "Take this kid, for example..." Yuan Chenyang pointed at Su Chen, his tone half-joking and half-serious. "I can’t for the life of me figure out what he’s thinking. For all I know, he might be planning to destroy Southwind City in the future." "I’m not a madman," Su Chen said, shaking his head. "I was just saying..." Yuan Chenyang casually skipped past the topic. "These are lessons from history. Unless they’re trained from childhood, if you start training them as adults, six or seven out of ten will turn out to be a problem." "Even if they make an exception and train him because of his Red Gold Talent, the Judicial Court will never allow him to hold any key positions in the future." Su Chen understood this phenomenon. Refugees were a unique group. Having lived difficult lives since childhood, they generally had no parental bonds, and their worldview was already set. Investing in them halfway through their lives had a very low rate of return. ’If I hadn’t given Yuan Chenyang that Tier One Top-level Profession, it’s hard to say if he would be acting this way now.’ "Unfortunately, his records have already been entered into Southwind Academy. To change them now, we have to go through Zhang Hongbo." Yuan Chenyang’s expression was uncertain. "If we want to change it this year, we’d need someone with more clout than Zhang Hongbo to step in and alter the records from the source, to eliminate any future trouble." "But contacting Ying Feng requires going through Zhang Hongbo. And the person coming from Ying Feng this time isn’t my teacher." Due to the fog’s influence, long-distance communication and travel were very costly. "Hmm, there’s still a chance..." Yuan Chenyang clapped his hands together, a sudden thought striking him. "The ruins!" "They should have advanced communication equipment set up at the ruins. When my rotation comes up in a while, I can use it to contact my teacher and ask him to find a way to make a trip here." "When that time comes, let’s see what tricks Zhang Hongbo dares to pull." The long delay after their return wasn’t entirely because of Su Chen. More importantly, it was because of the ruins. With the suspicion hanging over Zhou Xian, it was impossible to take him out again. So, Zhang Hongbo had left him and Yuan Chenyang behind, taking the City Patrol Minister to inspect the ruins instead. But those two couldn’t stay out there forever. They would rotate with him. "Teacher, don’t rush. At worst, we wait a year. For the sake of stability, it’s not a waste," Su Chen said reassuringly. ’I have my panel. A steady and stable approach is the best way forward. Waiting a year is no big deal.’ Yuan Chenyang paused slightly, looking at Su Chen. He shook his head and chuckled in spite of himself. "I can’t believe I’m less calm than you are. You’re right. There’s no need to be in such a hurry." He felt increasingly pleased with him. "This must be kept secret. Your Canyin physical Talent can be revealed, but your Red Gold Spirit Talent must remain a secret." He warned again, his expression grave. "To be honest with you two, I’m afraid there’s a big problem in the city." "Black Tuo Followers have actually infiltrated the City Patrol Guard. The cockroaches have spread all over Southwind City, and High-Level Spirit Talents are what the Deceitful Gods love most." Su Chen and Bai Fengxi both nodded. Yuan Chenyang trusted them completely; he was only emphasizing the point to be absolutely safe. "Right now, the only decent Spiritual Profession I have on hand is Secret Magic Apprentice..." Yuan Chenyang mused. "Teacher, I’ve already become a Secret Magic Apprentice," Su Chen interjected. Bai Fengxi pressed her lips together slightly. ’Su Chen, just what other secrets are you hiding?’ "You’ve taken the profession?" Yuan Chenyang paused, but he wasn’t too surprised. It was more a moment of realization. "No wonder you wanted a Meditation Technique." "I understand. I’ll find one of each for you." Yuan Chenyang calculated. "However, the information on the Tier Two Profession, Secret Scholar, is in the Research Department. The head is Jiang He’s old man, so it won’t be easy to get it in a short amount of time." "If you want to train in two paths, there might be a support profession that’s perfect for you—" Before Yuan Chenyang could finish, he left in a whirlwind. Su Chen couldn’t help but feel a sense of admiration. ’It really is nice to have connections.’ "Old Bai..." Su Chen suddenly turned his head and met Bai Fengxi’s gaze. "You’re staring at me like that again." Bai Fengxi nonchalantly stood up and returned to her room. ...... "If the skull wasn’t shattered... there would still be hope. But shattered like this, he can’t be revived." In the secret chamber, Zhou Xian’s eyes were shot with blood. Before him was a black, vertical pupil from which an intermittent voice emerged. "Zhou Zhong had more than just that Holy Word Stone on him! He also had the Space Crystal! It couldn’t have just vanished for no reason!" Zhou Xian looked gaunt and had lost a lot of weight. "We shouldn’t have... we shouldn’t have used Zhou Zhong as the carrier!" The voice from the vertical pupil was flat. "If Zhou Zhong hadn’t been the carrier, the suspicion on you would be even greater." "Yuan Chenyang!" Zhou Xian hissed in a low voice. "That old beast! I want him dead! And that little bastard, too!" "Of course..." the voice from the Black Pupil said calmly. "But I suggest you first figure out every detail of what happened that day and find the whereabouts of the Space Crystal." ...... [Sky Splitter Warrior Profession development progress has reached 50%. Professional Ability awakened—Wind Armor: Gale Power, shield my body.] Su Chen relaxed from the strange posture, feeling as if his entire body was about to be torn apart. A small pool of sweat had formed beneath him. He looked at the line of small text on his panel. "A new Professional Ability..." Nearly ten days had passed since his return from outside the city, and the development progress for [Sky Splitter Warrior] had reached 50%. He took a breath. With a slight thought, the still air in the room began to move on its own. Air currents gathered and formed a constantly flowing, azure barrier on the surface of his body. "It can probably block some small-caliber firearms now." Su Chen poked it with something. It was quite hard. "So this is what a Top-tier Profession is like. It covers speed, strength, and defense..." he couldn’t help but marvel. A Warrior specializes in strength. Even a Skyrunner leans towards speed, with a bit of strength, but has no defensive aspect. The [Sky Splitter Warrior], however, is very comprehensive. "According to the records, awakening a Professional Ability again is a milestone. As my physical strength increases, the development efficiency will drop significantly." "Maybe changing my Training Technique would be beneficial, constantly using new stimuli to train my body." Su Chen opened his panel. The new Training Technique, carefully selected by Yuan Chenyang, had been ready two days ago. [Body Refining Training Technique—Skilled: 2%] [Hell Fire Meditation Technique—Skilled: 6%] Both were F-level. The limit for a Tier One Professional was F-level, and even the vast majority of Tier Two Professionals used F-level techniques. Advanced Refining Techniques were even rarer. The development progress for [Secret Artifact Master] had also finally advanced, reaching 10%. Su Chen could clearly feel that due to the influence of his Red Gold Level Spirit Talent, both the development progress of [Secret Artifact Master] and the improvement rate of his Meditation Technique were faster. Of course, the Radiance Potions also played a part. He had almost used up all of Old Bai’s stock. As for the support profession Yuan Chenyang mentioned, he was still filing the paperwork for it, which also had to go through the proper procedures. He chugged a mouthful of the Blood Circulation Potion he had "snatched" from Old Bai. As expected, the effect felt much weaker, the stimulating sensation greatly reduced. ’No wonder the latter half of professional training requires the aid of Black Flame Potions,’ he thought to himself. BEEP BEEP— His Spirit Communication Device chimed. He opened it and saw it was from Old Yuan— "The paperwork is done. Your file has been sealed, so no one can view it. Go report to the Inspectorate. I’ve already made the arrangements. Just go through the motions, and it’ll be a good chance to give you [Gale Hunter]." "Alright," Su Chen replied. Southwind Academy only had information on Tier One Professions. Information on Tier Two was almost exclusively held by the various major institutions in Southwind City.