Candlefire Mental Training Method

"Blood... Blood Oath Contract!" Jiang He gritted her teeth and forced out the words. "I can make a Blood Oath Contract with you. If you die, I die too."

"Live and die together." Su Chen stopped when he heard of this so-called Blood Oath Contract, but he immediately thought of ways around it.

Still somewhat dissatisfied, he asked, "I want the kind that lets me control your life."

"There is no such thing. At least, I can't do it, and neither can you." Jiang He forced herself to explain. "This is the best solution I can think of. There are indeed ways around it, but they come at an enormous cost."

Su Chen looked at her and figured this was probably as far as it could go. He did not want to leave Southwind City either. That would truly be a dead end, so he could only take some risks.

"Then let's begin." Su Chen nodded.

Jiang He's tense body visibly relaxed. She let out a breath and said, "You'll have to wait. The Withered-Grass Potion is still taking effect, and my mental strength is severely depleted."

Su Chen was somewhat uneasy, but then he recalled the resistance he had shown under Jiang He's AOE attack just now.

That should have been a mental attack. Even before I became a professional, my resistance was stronger than a Rope Master's. Maybe it's because I transmigrated here.

This is a perfect chance to test her...

With that thought, Su Chen said nothing more. He merely walked to one side, picked up his clothes, then gathered the rope Old Ghost had dropped on the floor.

Hmm?

[First-tier Item—Blue-veined Hemp Rope: A special rope made by soaking Blue-Veined Grass in black oil for three days before weaving it. Can be controlled by a Rope Master.]

He could identify items too? Su Chen was surprised. He casually touched several other things, but only the two garments that could blur one's silhouette gave him prompts.

[First-tier Item—Shadow-Hiding Garment: Clothing made primarily from Shadow Wolf hide.]

It seemed only items of this tier gave prompts.

"Do you know who wanted to kill you?" He found a place to sit and looked at the two corpses on the ground.

Jiang He was rubbing her temples. Her clothes had long since been torn to tatters, exposing large swaths of skin, but she paid it no mind. At his question, a trace of venom appeared on her face. "Though I've made quite a few enemies, there aren't many who would insist on killing me."

"You seem to be married, right?" Su Chen suddenly brought it up.

"What do you mean?" Jiang He turned sharply toward him, suspicion and alarm in her eyes.

"Nothing. They say spouses are both the closest and most distant of relatives. If one spouse is harmed, isn't it natural to suspect the other?" Su Chen said casually.

"That Withered-Grass Potion had to be swallowed, right? There are only a handful of people who could have drugged you."

"And that Old Ghost said that if you died, your family and academy would quickly put the matter to rest. But he never mentioned whether your husband would do the same."

"Logically speaking, if you died the way he described, your husband should have been the one who cared most."

Jiang He's expression shifted slightly. Old Ghost had indeed said that, but the situation had been so perilous that even she had forgotten it. She had not expected Su Chen to remember.

"Was it him... Would he dare?" Jiang He murmured softly, her gaze sweeping over the pool of wine-red liquid on the floor.

"If it was him, he definitely had a reason. Your reputation isn't great, so it probably wasn't because of a green hat. Think carefully." Su Chen reminded her again.

He wanted to figure it out as well, because the person behind this had clearly plotted against him too. Since neither of them had died today, there would likely be more to come.

"Could it be..." Jiang He suddenly raised her head, as if realizing something. "Third-tier profession—Arcane Weaver!"

"Hm?" Su Chen looked at her. Jiang He seemed slightly agitated.

"A month and a half ago, my father told me the family would select three people for focused training and support them all the way to becoming Arcane Weavers."

"He had been pulling strings for me. Half a month ago, he told me it was nearly settled. I'm my father's only daughter. The slot had already been secured and the price already paid. Even if something happened to me, my father would not simply hand it over to someone else."

"He should get it."

"It must be him!" Jiang He was nearly certain, though she could not help but feel confused. "But where did he get the ability to hire two professionals... And this matter was a family secret. My father only told me. I never told him."

Seeing that Jiang He had sorted through her thoughts and roughly identified the suspect, Su Chen did not continue helping her analyze it. He merely asked, "How do you advance to Arcane Weaver?"

"This..." Jiang He shook her head. "I don't know either. Arcane Weaver is an advanced profession of Arcane Scholar. I don't even know how to advance to Arcane Scholar."

"That information is absolutely confidential."

Arcane Apprentice, Arcane Scholar, Arcane Weaver... They should be part of the same profession system.

After folding the hemp rope and the Shadow-Hiding Garment together, Su Chen found that they did not take up much space. He asked, "Then how do you become an Arcane Apprentice? You should know that much."

Jiang He hesitated briefly before speaking. "First, your mental strength must reach a certain standard. Then you have to pass the Whispering Trial."

Su Chen frowned slightly. "Reach a certain standard? How is that measured?"

Jiang He hesitated. Su Chen made as if to stand, and her eyelids twitched. A first-tier profession was not that great a secret.

"The Candlefire Mental Training Method..." she hurriedly said. "If you can complete ten cycles of construction within one minute, that is enough."

"You have it, right?" Su Chen held out his hand.

Arcane Apprentice was a high-level first-tier profession. It was definitely stronger than [Strongman].

"I do..." At that point, Jiang He simply said, "It's in the study. Come with me."

"These corpses..." Su Chen pondered.

"You don't need to worry about them. I'll deal with them tomorrow." Jiang He seemed to have recovered some of her spirit, regaining some of Violet's bearing.

She picked up the silver bracelet from the ground and slipped it onto her wrist. A grayish-yellow virtual projection immediately appeared above it, though the image was very blurry.

Su Chen's expression turned strange for a moment as all sorts of memories surfaced in his mind. This world seemed rather peculiar.

Following Jiang He out of the room, Su Chen realized this was not the living room, but the basement.

The servants had long since gotten off work. The house was empty, solemn, and imposing.

The two walked up the stairs. A huge wedding photograph hung in the stairwell. It showed a man and a woman; the woman was Jiang He, smiling happily.

The man was handsome as well, with a gentle smile. His most striking feature was his pair of pale blue eyes.

Su Chen deliberately stared at them for a few moments.

Upon reaching the study, Jiang He took a book from the safe. It was not very thick, only a few thin pages.

"I can't let you take it outside. If you want to practice it, it would be best to memorize it here." She could not help emphasizing, "Every faction investigates this kind of profession information very strictly. Taking it out would be trouble for you too."

Su Chen accepted it and roughly flipped through it. This thing was similar to a meditation method: one had to sketch the image of a candle flame within one's mental realm, then imagine being burned by it.

Of course, it was not purely based on imagination. It described several mental nodes and a few tricks, such as using a real candle flame for simulation first.

It seemed...

Su Chen closed his eyes and gave it a brief try, imagining his mental strength outlining a candle flame, gradually drawing its outer form, then its temperature...

Boom—

Su Chen only felt his head grow hot before he abruptly opened his eyes, uncertain and alarmed.

"It's normal not to be able to form it on your first attempt. An ordinary adult would need at least three to five months to complete the first construction. Even though you're already a first-tier professional, you'll still need more than ten days of practice."

"You only need to memorize it roughly. Once you enroll at Southwind Academy as an auditor, you can come ask me anytime..." Seeing Su Chen's expression, Jiang He could not help trying to reassure him, afraid he would forcefully take the book away.

Su Chen remained silent. This thing truly was not difficult for him. Was this a small gift from transmigration?

The so-called ten cycles meant constructing the candle flame ten times in succession. He had just constructed it once and felt no pressure at all.

The only thing he needed to care about was time. One minute was a little short.

At that thought, he suddenly sensed something and swiftly opened his skill panel.

Sure enough, aside from the Strongman profession, there was now another separate skill.

[Candlefire Mental Training Method—Beginner: 50%]