Development Progress 50%: Wind Armor

Bai Fengxi, beside him, froze with her teacup raised halfway to her lips, her eyes filled with astonishment.

"Red gold! Red gold!"

"If Zhang Hongbo and the others find out, their expressions will be priceless!" Yuan Chenyang abruptly rose to his feet, his face flushed as he waved his arms and paced back and forth. He looked as though he were about to lose his mind.

"Teacher..." Su Chen called.

"Oh, oh..." Only then did Yuan Chenyang realize he had lost his composure. After calming down, he said, "No, this can't be exposed for now."

"Those old schemers in the city might not be willing to see someone with red-gold talent emerge."

Yuan Chenyang was agitated as he sorted through his thoughts. "Ying Feng, you have to go to Ying Feng... A red-gold spiritual talent—wasting even a year would be a sin..."

"No, his refugee background is still a hidden danger."

Bai Fengxi could not help but ask, "Even red-gold talent can't cover up the issue of him being a refugee?"

"You don't understand." Yuan Chenyang shook his head. "Most refugees have no attachments, and because of their upbringing, they harbor resentment that is difficult to erase. They are easily swayed by the Weird God Cult, and may even seek them out on their own."

"Take this kid, for example..." Yuan Chenyang pointed at Su Chen, half-joking and half-serious. "I can't figure out what he's thinking. Maybe one day he'll want to destroy Southwind City too."

"I'm not crazy." Su Chen shook his head.

"I was just saying..." Yuan Chenyang casually skipped over the subject. "These are all lessons from history. Whether they're trained from childhood or only after reaching adulthood, six or seven out of ten will develop problems..."

"Even if they make an exception and train him because of his red-gold talent, the Tribunal still won't allow him to hold certain key positions in the future."

Su Chen understood this phenomenon. Refugees had their own distinctive group traits. Because they had lived difficult lives from childhood, usually without parental bonds, their values had already taken shape.

Investing in them halfway through yielded very little return.

If he had not shown Yuan Chenyang a top-tier first-tier profession, it was hard to say whether the man would still have this attitude toward him.

"Unfortunately, his records have already entered Southwind Academy. Changing them now would require going through Zhang Hongbo."

Yuan Chenyang's expression shifted unpredictably. "If we want to change them this year, someone capable of suppressing Zhang Hongbo will have to step in, alter the records at the root, and eliminate any future trouble."

"But to contact Ying Feng, we have to go through Zhang Hongbo. The people Ying Feng sent this time aren't the teacher either."

Because of the fog, long-distance communication and travel came at a high cost.

"Hmm, there's still a chance..." Yuan Chenyang clapped his hands as an idea suddenly struck him. "The ruins!"

"There should be advanced communication equipment at the ruins. Once we rotate over there after a while, we can use it to contact the teacher and have him find a way to come over."

"Then we'll see if Zhang Hongbo still dares to pull any tricks."

The reason they had been delayed for so long after returning was not entirely because of Su Chen. More importantly, it was because of the ruins.

The suspicion surrounding Zhou Xian made it impossible to take him out again. Zhang Hongbo had therefore left him and Zhou Xian behind, while taking the head of the Patrol Department to inspect the ruins.

But the two of them could not remain outside forever. They would rotate shifts with him.

"Teacher, there's no rush. At worst, I'll wait a year. For the sake of stability, there's no such thing as wasted time." Su Chen instead reassured him.

He had the panel. Steady progress was the right path, and waiting a year was no problem.

Yuan Chenyang paused slightly, looked at Su Chen, then shook his head with a laugh. "I actually have less composure than you. You're right. There's no need to be in such a hurry."

He was increasingly satisfied deep down.

"This must remain secret. His silver-brilliant physical talent can be revealed, but his red-gold spiritual talent absolutely must remain hidden." He warned them again, his expression solemn. "To be honest, there may be a serious problem within the city."

"The Black Tuo Believers have actually infiltrated the City Patrol Guard. Cockroaches have spread throughout Southwind City, and high-level spiritual talents are also the Weird Gods' favorites."

Su Chen and Bai Fengxi both nodded. Yuan Chenyang trusted the two of them, but he deliberately emphasized it to guard against any possibility.

"At the moment, the best spiritual profession I have on hand is only Arcane Apprentice..." Yuan Chenyang pondered.

"Teacher, I've already taken the Arcane Apprentice profession," Su Chen interrupted.

Bai Fengxi pressed her lips together slightly. Su Chen, just what other secrets are you hiding?

"You already took it?" Yuan Chenyang paused, though he was not too surprised. He merely came to a realization. "No wonder you wanted a meditation method."

"I understand. I'll find one of each for you." Yuan Chenyang calculated. "However, information on the second-tier profession Arcane Scholar is in the Research Department. The director is Jiang He's father, so it won't be easy to get in a short time."

"If you want to cultivate both, there may be a support profession that suits you very well."

Before Yuan Chenyang could finish, he hurried away in a rush.

Su Chen could not help but sigh. Having connections really did feel great.

"Old Bai..." Su Chen suddenly turned his head and met Bai Fengxi's gaze. "Staring at me again."

Bai Fengxi stood up as if nothing had happened and returned to her room.

"If the head wasn't shattered... there would still be hope. But with the head smashed like this, revival is impossible."

In the secret chamber, Zhou Xian's eyes were bloodshot. Before him floated a black vertical pupil, from which an intermittent voice emerged.

"Zhou Zong had more than just the Holy Word Stone on him. He also had a spatial crystal. It couldn't have disappeared for no reason!" Zhou Xian looked haggard and had lost considerable weight. "I shouldn't have... shouldn't have used Zhou Zong as the vessel!"

The voice from the vertical pupil was calm. "If Zhou Zong had not been the vessel, your suspicion would have been even greater."

"Yuan Chenyang!" Zhou Xian growled in a low voice. "That old beast—I want him dead, and that little beast too!"

"Of course..." The voice in the black pupil remained calm. "But I suggest you first clarify every detail of what happened that day and find the whereabouts of the spatial crystal."

[Sky-Rending Warrior profession development progress has reached 50%. Profession ability awakened—Wind Armor: The power of the gale protects my body.]

Su Chen withdrew from the strange training posture. His whole body felt as though it were about to tear apart, and a small puddle of sweat had already formed beneath him. He looked at the line of text on the panel.

"A new profession ability..."

It had been nearly ten days since he returned from outside the city, and the development progress of [Sky-Rending Warrior] had reached 50%.

After catching his breath, his thoughts stirred. Though there was no wind in the room, air currents gathered around him, forming a continuously flowing cyan barrier over the surface of his body.

"It can probably block some small-caliber firearms." Su Chen poked it with something. It was quite sturdy.

"This is what a top-tier profession is like. It covers speed, strength, and defense..." he could not help but remark.

Strongman specialized in strength. Even Skystrider leaned toward speed, with a bit of strength added in, while defense was not involved at all. [Sky-Rending Warrior], on the other hand, was extremely well-rounded.

"According to the records, awakening another profession ability is a turning point. As physical strength rises, development efficiency will decrease considerably."

"Perhaps switching training methods would also help—constantly using new stimuli to train the body."

Su Chen opened the panel. The new training methods had arrived two days ago, carefully selected by Yuan Chenyang.

[Body-Tempering Method—Proficiency: 2%]

[Hellfire Meditation Method—Proficiency: 6%]

Both were F-rank. The limit that first-tier professionals could train in was F-rank. Even most second-tier professionals used F-rank methods, while higher-level training methods were much rarer.

The development progress of [Mystic Artificer] had finally advanced as well, reaching 10%.

Of course, the Revitalizing Potion had contributed to that too. Old Bai's stockpile was nearly drained by him.

As for the support profession Yuan Chenyang had mentioned, the records were still being updated, and the proper procedures had to be followed.

He gulped down a Blood-Activating Potion he had "snatched" from Old Bai. Sure enough, he could feel that its effect had weakened considerably, and its stimulation had greatly decreased.

"No wonder the latter half of profession development needs the assistance of Blackflame Potion," he mused to himself.

Beep beep—

The Message Communicator sounded. When he opened it, it was Old Yuan—

"The procedures are complete. Your records have been sealed, and no one can view them. Go report to the Inspection Department. I've already arranged everything. Just go through the process, and I can give you [Gale Hunter] as well."

"Got it." Su Chen replied.

Southwind Academy only held information on first-tier professions. Information on second-tier professions was almost entirely kept by Southwind City's major institutions.