Molten Stone Power

I wonder if Su Chen has drawn out Qi Chuan's people.

After returning to the academy, Jiang He saw Su Chen leave with Bai Fengxi.

She had long learned from her father about the appearance of the ruins. This city patrol had only lasted a day or two, so Qi Chuan's people probably had not made their move yet.

Or perhaps they already had. She would find a chance to ask him.

"Perfect..." Jiang He licked her lips.

"An Azure-Scaled Lion pack, and its leader was even a second-rank mutant. Have you ever seen one? At the most dangerous moment, it was less than half a meter away from me..."

"You have no idea how dangerous things were back then. Luckily, Brother Su turned the tide..."

Jiang He stopped in her tracks and glanced toward a small group that had just gathered in the distance. Someone in the group was animatedly spraying saliva as he spoke.

"Liu Liang..." Jiang He recognized him. He was also one of the students who had left the city this time.

"Who is Brother Su?" someone asked blankly.

"You don't know Brother Su..." Liu Liang's eyes widened. "Su Chen!"

"Oh, Teacher Jiang He's pretty boy!" someone said in realization.

"What pretty boy? Watch your mouth!" Liu Liang snapped angrily. "Brother Su took out the entire Azure-Scaled Lion pack by himself, except for the leader. The whole fight took less than ten minutes."

"What? Really?"

"He's that strong?"

Cries of surprise rose one after another. Jiang He's pupils contracted. He had wiped out the Azure-Scaled Lion pack?

That kid was actually this strong.

"And that's not all..." Liu Liang put on a mysterious expression. "You know about the theft case at our school some time ago, right?"

Everyone nodded like pecking chicks.

"Brother Su solved that too!" Liu Liang declared proudly. "Brother Su is Vice Principal Yuan's student. He secretly infiltrated the city patrol team and found the stolen items in one stroke. Even the City Lord praised him highly."

Jiang He stiffly turned her head. Yuan Chenyang's student? Secretly infiltrated? What was all this nonsense?

"Hey..." Liu Liang's eyes sharpened as he spotted Jiang He standing at the edge of the crowd, and he immediately shouted excitedly, "Sister-in-law!"

Sister-in-law? Jiang He's face darkened as she hurried away.

It was not as though no one had called her sister-in-law before, but no one had ever called her that from Su Chen's side. She had her pride too.

The crowd reluctantly withdrew their gazes from Jiang He's graceful retreating figure. Someone suddenly said, "So Su Chen isn't Teacher Jiang He's pretty boy?"

"Bullshit!" Liu Liang spat angrily. "Brother Su is a dashing ladies' man, and he and Teacher Jiang are... in cahoots... no, mutually in love. How is he a pretty boy?"

"From now on, whoever calls Brother Su a pretty boy again will answer to me!"

Yuan Chenyang's home was also a standalone villa deep within Southwind City. There was no mistress of the house, so it felt empty and spacious, with many rooms.

"Old Bai..." Su Chen called out. After learning Bai Fengxi's identity, he did not mind calling her Martial Uncle, but Bai Fengxi seemed unable to accept it and still told him to call her Old Bai.

"No need for formalities among family. Do you have any powerful spiritual meditation methods?"

Taking a mile when given an inch... Bai Fengxi grumbled inwardly before pondering. "You want to cultivate both the physical and spiritual professions at the same time?"

"Isn't that standard for geniuses?"

What kind of theory was that? Bai Fengxi shook her head. "Let's first see what your spiritual talent is like. If it's not good enough, don't waste your time."

Su Chen was quite curious. "Does this talent have any classification standards?"

"Ordinary talents are generally divided into Bronze, Brilliant Silver, Crimson Gold, and so on..." Bai Fengxi explained. "The quality of a talent mainly determines the speed at which you cultivate training methods, while also affecting the progress of profession development."

"There are also some special talents..." She paused before continuing, "For example, those that are extremely compatible with certain specific professions. But those are very rare."

The two discussed it for a while. Before long, the door opened.

But it was not Yuan Chenyang who returned. It was...

"Brother Su Chen?" Little Pigeon ran over excitedly, then abruptly stopped in front of Su Chen. "Why are you here?"

Su Chen grinned and pinched Little Pigeon's cheek. "I came to see how you've been doing. Living in such a big house must be pretty comfortable."

Little Pigeon unhappily slapped his hand away. Bai Fengxi, meanwhile, said gently, "He'll be living here from now on."

"Huh?" Little Pigeon was startled. She scrutinized the two suspiciously, then frowned. "Brother Su Chen, what did you use your body for this time?"

Bai Fengxi's fair cheeks visibly stiffened. Su Chen said irritably, "Kids shouldn't talk nonsense."

"When you made me carry bricks before, you didn't think I was a kid. You even made me carry two more." Little Pigeon scoffed.

"The more you carry, the more you earn."

"Miss, sir, will you be having dinner tonight?" the servant who had brought Little Pigeon back asked.

Bai Fengxi came back to her senses. "He needs nutrient solution too. Don't prepare it only for Little Pigeon."

Su Chen closed his mouth just as he was about to speak. That had been his plan too.

The three chatted noisily for a long time, though Little Pigeon did most of the talking herself.

After dinner, Yuan Chenyang still had not returned. Bai Fengxi led him to a room that had been cleaned up.

"Do you have any body-tempering potions?" Su Chen called out to stop her.

Bai Fengxi glanced at him. "Wait."

Not long afterward, she brought him a bottle of Blood-Activating Potion.

"Blood-activating..." Su Chen was a little disappointed, but he still said, "Thanks."

Bai Fengxi left speechlessly.

The room was not small. Su Chen gave it a quick look before taking up his stance and pouring the Blood-Activating Potion into his mouth. A familiar surging sensation coursed through his body.

For four or five days in a row, Su Chen remained here. For some reason, Yuan Chenyang never returned.

He drank seven or eight servings of Bai Fengxi's Blood-Activating Potion, to the point that whenever she saw Su Chen knocking on her door, her face would darken.

That day, Su Chen sat cross-legged on the floor, his skin having turned crimson-red. Magma-like patterns had nearly spread across his entire body. He gritted his teeth, and the moment sweat emerged, it turned into vapor and vanished.

Suddenly, Su Chen's movements froze. A stabbing pain ran through his entire body as the magma patterns on his skin completely spread across him. Then, his whole body felt as if it had entered a hot spring.

[Molten Stone Training Method—Master]

[Ability acquired—Molten Stone Power: molten magma courses through the body, skin as tough as stone]

The moment the Molten Stone Training Method reached the Master level, its acquired ability showed immediate results. Su Chen felt an intense numbness in his skin, as though ants were crawling through his muscles. The sensation lasted for quite some time before finally fading.

"As tough as stone..." Su Chen stroked his skin and could clearly feel his outer layer hardening.

He casually grabbed a dagger and tested it against his skin. It only left behind a white mark.

Even a first-rank profession known for its defensive power would only be this good, right? Su Chen could not help thinking, his gaze toward the panel growing even more fervent.

He had already figured out that other training methods could indeed potentially give rise to unusual abilities.

But every one of them required extensive time and study, and there was no guarantee that an ability would emerge. The process was highly random.

Yet he only needed to raise one to the Master level for an ability to naturally emerge. No one could compare to such an advantage.