My Professions Have Too Much Personality

Chapter 47: Chapter 47: [Secret Artifact Control] Zhou Xian Forces a Showdown

’But…’ Su Chen couldn’t help but mutter to himself, ’hunting down three more Tier Two Professionals won’t be easy.’

Killing Qi Chuan had seemed ordinary enough, but in reality, he had only succeeded with the help of the Inspectorate.

Besides, Tier Two Professionals were the pillars of Southwind City. If someone like Hu Xiang died, a minister would definitely investigate. The only exception would be someone like Qi Chuan, who had his own problems.

[You may continue hunting after completing the job advancement]

The panel’s message cleared up his doubts, and Su Chen finally felt relieved.

’Deceitful God’s Power… To get my hands on that kind of power, I’ll have to keep dealing with them.’ The thought made Su Chen uneasy.

It was currently the only thing that could actively trigger a change in his Profession.

It would be a lie to say he didn’t covet it, but the danger was considerable, and it would be hard to explain to others.

’I’ll take it one step at a time.’ Su Chen put the thought aside for now.

’Training makes me happy…’

He chugged a bottle of Black Flame Potion and a Radiance Potion, followed by a Glazed Blood Potion, and then walked into the Gravity Chamber.

’Training makes me happy…’

He activated Dual-tasking and assumed his stance. A stinging pain began to spread through every part of his body.

Being able to see his various Training Techniques and Profession progress increasing on the panel provided an immediate feedback loop, which was a psychological advantage.

Developing a Profession was no game. The constant toil and pain were an unceasing assault on one’s willpower.

Killing Qi Chuan and discovering the Deceitful Artifact seemed like a huge incident.

But in the following days, no one came looking for him.

For a full seven or eight days, Su Chen locked himself in his room. When he wasn’t sleeping, he was developing his Profession’s progress, consuming one Potion after another until they were all gone.

“Ngh…” Su Chen’s eyelids twitched. A cool sensation spread across his scalp as his Spiritual Power surged uncontrollably.

[Secret Artifact Master developed to 50%. Ability Awakened—Secret Artifact Enhancement: Other Professional Abilities can now be applied to Controlled Secret Artifacts.]

’Secret Artifact Enhancement?’ Su Chen relaxed his stance, his breathing heavy, as he looked at the panel’s description.

With a thought, the cyan iron cable appeared in his hand. He focused on the sensation.

Gradually, wisps of cyan wind gathered around the iron cable, clinging to it.

’It really works…’ Su Chen’s eyes widened in amazement. He had infused it with his Wind Erosion ability.

He tried swinging it. Its speed had increased by more than a single notch, and its destructive power was also significantly greater.

’Tsk, my two Professions are starting to complement each other.’

After playing around with it for a while, Su Chen was in a good mood. It wasn’t just his Secret Artifact Master Profession; his other stats had also improved significantly.

[Sky Splitter Warrior: 76%]

[Body Strengthening Technique—Mastery: 40%]

[Prison Flame Meditation Technique—Mastery: 60%]

His Training Technique and Meditation Technique were on the verge of reaching Master Level. Such rapid progress was all thanks to the Glazed Blood Potion.

’No wonder it’s a treasure that even Ying Feng coveted.’

Su Chen licked his lips. Unfortunately, not only was the Glazed Blood gone, but all his other Potions were used up as well.

Without the aid of Potions, his efficiency plummeted. He decided to go have a chat with his respected teacher.

As soon as he left his room, Su Chen sensed that the atmosphere was off. He ran into many mid- to high-level personnel, all of whom were rushing about with grave expressions.

“Brother Sun?”

From a distance, Su Chen called out to the easily recognizable Fatty Sun.

“Little brother?” Fatty Sun, whose expression had been grim, instantly broke into a brilliant smile and hurried over. “You’re finally willing to come out! I’ve never seen a young man as tough as you. The younger generation is truly formidable.”

Ignoring his flattery, Su Chen asked quietly, “What’s going on? Did something happen?”

“You really don’t know?”

Fatty Sun quietly pulled Su Chen into a corner and whispered, “For the past few days, the Inspector General has been acting like a madman. He’s turned the Inspectorate, the City Patrol Department, the Exploration Department, and the Ministry of Internal Affairs completely upside down, searching for Deceitful God Cultists.”

“Everyone outside is boiling with resentment.”

Su Chen’s brow twitched. ’My teacher is that ruthless?’

’Could it be because of that Deceitful Artifact?’

After Old Yuan found out it was an empty shell, he kept shouting that Southwind City was doomed. As soon as he got back, he launched this massive investigation.

“Tell me about it.” Fatty Sun sighed. “The City Lord is away, Minister Feng is away, and Minister Jiang isn’t saying a word. Inspector General Yuan is pretty much the one in charge.”

’Jiang Rong is silent?’ Su Chen’s eyes flickered, and he asked, “About that business with Qi Chuan…”

“Shh…” Fatty Sun quickly stopped him. “No one knows.”

Su Chen realized that the public didn’t seem to know about the Deceitful Artifact.

Fatty Sun changed the subject back. “But the others aren’t pushovers. It’s been less than ten days, and Zhou Xian has already teamed up with several vice-ministers to cause a scene.”

“Did they find any Deceitful God Cultists?” Su Chen asked.

“They did find a few.” Fatty Sun’s face showed no joy. “But they were all small fry. Even in a normal year, we’d find a few. Besides, some of them were already being monitored internally.”

Su Chen understood. Old Yuan had made such a huge move but hadn’t gotten the results he should have. Naturally, the others wouldn’t let it go.

…

On the top floor of the Inspectorate, Yuan Chenyang stared coldly at the group before him.

Zhou Xian’s face was flushed red as he raged, “What in the world are you trying to do?!”

“The city is in chaos! Everyone is terrified for their own safety!”

“Better for everyone to be terrified than for all of us to be buried together!” Yuan Chenyang said in a low, heavy voice.

“Cut the crap! You’re not carrying Southwind City on your shoulders alone!” Zhou Xian retorted sharply, showing no fear. “When is this investigation going to end? If you don’t give us an explanation today, you might as well arrest us too!”

“That way our subordinates won’t think we’re all cowards who are afraid of you!”

The vice-ministers and high-level officials from several other departments stood behind Zhou Xian, their expressions equally displeased.

“You want an explanation?” Yuan Chenyang shot to his feet. His chilling aura forced everyone to take a step back. “I’ll give you an explanation!”

“Follow me!”

He walked straight out. The others looked at each other, and Zhou Xian snorted coldly before following close behind.

The group followed him deep into the Inspectorate’s morgue, which was filled with a dense, white mist.

CLANG!

Yuan Chenyang pulled out a corpse drawer. Zhou Xian’s brow furrowed. After a long moment, he said hesitantly, “Is this… Qi Chuan?”

’He’s really dead!’

Inwardly, Zhou Xian was not as calm as he appeared. Qi Chuan had been missing for days, and he’d had his suspicions.

“What do you mean by showing us this dead man?” Zhou Xian asked, displeased.

Yuan Chenyang stared straight at him for a long time before finally saying, “He isn’t important. But he was carrying a Deceitful Artifact that was already empty.”

“What!?” someone behind Zhou Xian exclaimed in shock. “An empty Deceitful Artifact?”

Zhou Xian’s face went pale with horror. His reaction seemed appropriate, yet also… not.

’How could it be… empty!?’

“Can you let us see it?”

Immediately, the vice-ministers’ confidence was not as strong as it had been when they arrived.

Yuan Chenyang pushed the corpse drawer shut and led everyone back to his office, where he casually tossed a metal box out of a drawer.

THUD!

The object hit the floor, and no one dared to pick it up. The onlookers’ faces twitched.

’That’s a Deceitful Artifact, and he just kept it in a drawer?’

“I told you, it’s an empty shell,” Yuan Chenyang said nonchalantly.

Zhou Xian was the first to pick it up. He examined it carefully, a puzzled look on his face, but inwardly he grew more and more alarmed.

’What’s going on? It’s really empty?’

’The Priest said the Sacred Artifact had disappeared. So it was the power inside that vanished. But where did it go?’

’What on earth did Qi Chuan do?!’

“This was found on Qi Chuan. Where did the power stored inside it go?” Yuan Chenyang scanned the crowd, his tone urgent. “Perhaps Black Tuo is about to sacrifice the entire city of Southwind at any moment!”

“And you people are here calling me to account!?”

Everyone was left speechless. After being led around by Yuan Chenyang and now faced with the existence of the Deceitful Artifact, they had completely lost the aggressive momentum they’d arrived with.

But soon, someone came to their senses. “But you’ve been investigating for so long and haven’t found any traces. If there really was a major plot underway, it couldn’t be this secretive.”

“Perhaps this thing was empty to begin with.”

“Or perhaps…” Zhou Xian suddenly spoke up, “…the real thief is crying ’stop thief!’”

Yuan Chenyang’s eyes narrowed slightly. He said flatly, “Think what you will. This is my evidence. Show me yours, and I’ll willingly surrender.”

Their reaction was just as he’d expected. After Su Chen’s assassination attempt, he had already been planning a massive investigation and was prepared to push it through with brute force.

He hadn’t expected the incident with Qi Chuan. The Deceitful Artifact was a rare piece of leverage; once he presented it, this group would have nothing to say.

“This will only shut us up.” Zhou Xian forced an ugly smile, put down the Deceitful Artifact, and turned to leave.

The vice-ministers exchanged glances and also left awkwardly.

Once outside the Inspectorate, Zhou Xian didn’t even say goodbye before getting into his car and leaving. His cheeks finally began to tremble uncontrollably.

“Su Chen…” He practically squeezed that name from his throat. He had received news when Qi Chuan was captured, but at first, he had only assumed it was Su Chen getting revenge after turning his fortunes around.

But he never imagined it would escalate to this point. The long-hidden Deceitful Artifact had been exposed, and what’s more, it had become an empty shell.

“What in the world… happened?!”

…

’It will only shut them up? What does he mean? Does he have another move up his sleeve?’

Yuan Chenyang kneaded his brow, also deeply confused. ’What is going on? There are no traces of any major operation in all of Southwind City.’

’They must have used the power in the Deceitful Artifact to do *something*.’

In the stairwell, a head peeked out cautiously. It was Su Chen.

He had no desire to wander around in front of Zhou Xian, so he waited until the man had left before coming up.