Chapter 583 - 320: How Did You Do It?

Lanhai’s expression was grave. He had rushed over after receiving the news, clad in special combat armor. Behind him, squads of elites with fierce auras pushed through the crowd.

"How did Su Chen become number one?"

The list was extremely eye-catching; it was impossible not to notice it upon arriving. Lanhai stared at the two dazzling words at the top. He was a little surprised, but not entirely.

After all, Su Chen had defeated Wei Zhenghong earlier, and now he had beaten He Muyang. It seemed plausible enough.

What surprised him was the name in second place. ’How is it Qin Tianlin? That guy actually managed to defeat He Muyang too?’

Lanhai was genuinely surprised. He didn’t slow his pace as he mused inwardly, ’He’s not to be underestimated. Is this Qin Yun’s doing? Or some other factor? It seems I’ll have to keep that other matter under wraps for a while.’

His son seemed to have colluded with a Deceitful God and gotten Qin Guang killed. While cleaning up the mess, Lanhai had stumbled upon something else.

A few months ago, the Qin Family had secretly gathered a group of crippled former members of the Holy List, but there had been no news of them since. Something had probably gone wrong.

He had been hesitating on how to handle this matter. Should he hold onto the information and wait for the right price, or reveal it to get on Chu Lingyuan’s good side?

The Qin Family’s influence hadn’t waned; it was better to keep it quiet.

As these thoughts raced through his mind, he kept up his pace, passing through layers of the Town Guard Army until he reached Chu Lingyuan’s side. He glanced at the fully-armed, middle-aged man next to him—the other deputy commander of the Town Guard Army, Wan Chen’s father.

"Commander Lan..." Chu Lingyuan nodded.

Lanhai asked in a low voice, "Venerable, why the sudden emergency lockdown order?"

Chu Lingyuan’s voice was heavy. "Qin Tianlin is dead."

"Dead?"

Lanhai almost thought he had misheard. He sought confirmation again, and when Chu Lingyuan nodded, he felt a momentary daze. He couldn’t help but look up; the name was still flashing on the list.

"How could he die here?" Lanhai’s voice was strained. Qin Tianlin was no ordinary figure; his status was revered, and his future was boundless.

’Who would dare assassinate him? Another Sect? The Royal Court?’

"Black Tuo acted personally, assassinating Qin Tianlin. Although the Bronze Ancient King did his best to save him, he couldn’t turn the tide," Chu Lingyuan said, his expression grave.

"Black Tuo acted personally?" Lanhai swallowed hard, growing even more stunned. ’How long has it been since that Great Deceitful God made a move himself?’

Chu Lingyuan gave a brief explanation before issuing orders, "We’ve confirmed that Black Tuo’s flesh-and-blood body was Zhao Cheng, the head of the Dark Moon Group. The first reports have come in. Of the core personnel who came with Zhao Cheng, only corpses remain."

"Our top priority is to determine if there are more Deceitful God’s Followers on Dragon Abyss Star. Commander Lan..."

Just as Chu Lingyuan was deploying his forces, a subordinate rushed over to report, "Venerable, we just discovered that the Dark Moon Group’s delegation is on the Level 3 observation list."

"Level 3 observation list?" Chu Lingyuan paused, surprised. Only those with suspicious activities would be placed on the Level 3 observation list.

This meant someone in the Sect had noticed something was off about the Dark Moon Group long ago, but Black Tuo had made his move before they could finish their investigation.

’To think someone could actually detect a Great Deceitful God in hiding,’ Chu Lingyuan marveled inwardly.

"Who submitted the suspicious activity report?" he asked.

The subordinate quickly replied, "It was Level 5 squad leader Ming Lin of the patrol team, along with his team member, Teng Liang. The report states that Teng Liang had a vague feeling something was wrong with the Dark Moon Group."

"Captain Ming Lin quickly paid them a visit to investigate, but he didn’t find anything unusual at the time. He just submitted the report as per standard procedure."

"Paid them a visit to investigate?" Chu Lingyuan was astonished. "So this person came face-to-face with Black Tuo. The patrol team actually has someone with such talent."

Lanhai’s expression flickered. He said in a low voice, "Venerable, those two seem to be Su Chen’s people. They both come from his home planet and are very close to him."

"Su Chen’s people?" Chu Lingyuan gave Lanhai a surprised look, then became thoughtful. "That Red Thunder Star... it truly is a place of remarkable people."

The fact that the Dark Moon Group had already been flagged for observation eased Chu Lingyuan’s heavy heart considerably.

A Great Deceitful God in hiding is inherently difficult to detect, so the people in charge of screening couldn’t be blamed—it wasn’t a failure due to incompetence. But Qin Tianlin was dead, after all, and that was by no means a good thing for the Bronze Sect.

Bringing this up at least showed that his subordinates were doing their jobs.

...

"Something big seems to have happened."

Further away, a few people were gathered together, their demeanor different from that of the ordinary Professionals. "Does anyone know what’s going on? Even the Bronze Ancient King made a move."

"This is what I saw when I rushed over after hearing the commotion. News should get out soon. Since this is the heart of the Sect, it probably isn’t a huge deal."

"Shouldn’t you all be more concerned about those two?" someone said, pointing to the list with a meaningful smile. "It was one thing to be suppressed by He Muyang and the others, but isn’t it a bit too embarrassing to be outranked by two Tier Sixes?"

"Even if you all want to hide your strength, you shouldn’t just hand over the glory to them. What if a Star Lord emerges from among you? Wouldn’t that just be boosting those two’s fame for nothing?"

Beside him, a man with a square jaw and a sturdy build spoke bluntly, his voice deep, "Shen Jiqing, if you can’t stand it, why don’t you do something about it yourself? You should have completed your Melting Holy Profession long ago, right?"

"Brother Luo, you must be joking. How could I have possibly completed it?" Shen Jiqing said, waving his hands dismissively.

"I am, however, quite curious as to how those two actually did it."

"Oh?" Shen Jiqing’s interest was piqued. He looked at the speaker, whose skin had a faint metallic sheen and whose pupils were dilating and contracting. "Your Excellency Hou Yu, finally decided to stop hiding?"

Hou Yu shook his head, his voice a low, magnetic rumble. "It’s not about hiding or not. I’m just going to test them out. Besides, only victories leave a battle record. Losses don’t."

"If you don’t want to reveal too much, you just have to pull back at the last moment and concede."

Hearing this, the others’ eyes lit up. It would be a lie to say they weren’t curious about Su Chen and the other person’s situation.

They all knew what He Muyang was capable of. The fact that two Tier Sixes could surpass him was truly tantalizing.

Fighting a Tier Six for first place in the preliminaries wouldn’t be very satisfying even if they won, and it would expose their true strength. Conceding at the last moment was indeed a good idea.

Luo Chen looked up into the distance. "Let’s wait a bit. The arena is temporarily locked down."

...

"I’m going to see my master," Qing Cang said as he dropped Su Chen off at the Floating Island and stepped out of the Flying Device.

Before Su Chen could respond, he eagerly tore open a current of wind and shot straight toward the Flame Fire.

A fierce wind battered his face. Su Chen raised his head and watched Qing Cang depart, the recent events flashing through his mind.

HUFF... He let out a long breath, collected his thoughts, and turned toward the main building. ’Once I get the Morning Star Essence, I can use the Profound Celestial Instrument. A Divine Dawn Level Talent is within my grasp.’

He was very much looking forward to it. The Permanent Body he would gain later, and even the Great Venerable Red Flame Thunder Resonator’s ability to perform an early Melting Holy Profession, both required the ability to ignite the Morning Fire as a foundation.

’However...’ At this thought, Su Chen paused. He suddenly realized there was another problem. ’Old Hei is dormant right now, so I can’t keep milking him for Divine Blood. It seems I’m short on fuel.’

’Looks like I’ll have to turn my attention to other Deceitful Gods.’

’Hmm...’ Su Chen’s mind stirred. ’It seems I haven’t "fostered my relationship" with the Faceless Ghost in a long time. After getting a portion of Divine Blood from him last time, I cut off all contact.’

’If the Faceless Ghost finds out that Black Tuo suddenly attacked the Bronze Sect Headquarters, had a sliver of his consciousness extinguished by the Bronze Ancient King, and was forced into a short period of dormancy...’

’...he should be quite impressed with his Believer’s efficiency.’

Having dealt with Black Tuo for so long, Su Chen had accumulated a lot of experience and had already thought of an angle.

’But the Faceless Follower I’m impersonating is a High Priest. If a High Priest suddenly appears out of nowhere, wouldn’t the old Faceless Ghost get suspicious?’

’He’d have some memory of a Believer at that level, right?’

’I’ll have to find some time to figure it out. I wonder if I can disguise myself as a Priest again.’ Su Chen wasn’t sure. ’The disguise ability should be backward-compatible, but I’ve never actually tried it before.’

Running on muscle memory, Su Chen pushed open the door to the training room, his expression flickering. ’However, if I use the Profound Celestial Instrument to reach the Divine Dawn Level, it’ll probably be hard to hide it from that Lu Huai. And if I can’t hide it from him, it’s the same as hiding it from no one...’