Delicious Soul? Black Tuo's Attention

"Vagrants?" Zhang Hengyu was startled. "Didn't you say vagrants can't enter the Tribunal?"

"It's not that they can't enter." Zhang Yunqing looked irritated. "It's just that their status comes with limitations. Take the Sixth Presiding Judge, for example. With his strength and merits, if he weren't a vagrant, he would have become the Chief Presiding Judge long ago."

"Besides, his violent temperament may well be related to his experiences as a vagrant. He sees us as the exploiting class, and whenever he carries out missions, he readily kills the local higher-ups."

"If his parents hadn't been killed by the Weird God Cult, he might even have joined them."

At this point, she looked at her younger brother again. "This Presiding Judge likes taking exceptionally gifted people as students. Fortunately, you only have Brilliant Silver talent."

Zhang Hengyu fell silent.

"Don't tell Father about this. At least, it can't come from us," Zhang Yunqing reminded him.

Faced with such a clear instruction, Zhang Hengyu quickly nodded.

"So it's come to this..." Zhou Xian stood before the window, his cheek twitching slightly.

The entire room was icy cold. On the metal platform behind him lay Zhou Zong's nearly rigid corpse.

Although Yuan Chenyang had been transferred away, Zhou Xian's sense of crisis had not diminished in the slightest. Zhang Hongbo was an even more troublesome problem than Yuan Chenyang.

Fortunately, this man had always sought stability. Perhaps Zhou Xian still had a sliver of hope.

"The Holy Word Stone is gone. The Spatial Crystal is gone. Even one of the two weird artifacts has become an empty shell..." A long, distant sigh suddenly came from behind him. "How impressive. Sacrifice three things, lose all three."

Zhou Xian's pupils contracted. He turned around, and his face grew even more horrified. The one speaking was actually his son, whose head had been half shattered?

"Who are you?" Zhou Xian shouted grimly.

"You already know the answer in your heart. Why ask?" the other replied calmly.

"Black Tuo Priest." Zhou Xian's expression turned ugly. He knew this was the person who had been in contact with him all along. "Have you come to hold me accountable?"

"No..." Zhou Zong shook his head stiffly. "The great Sovereign deeply understands the pain of losing your son. He has given you a chance to atone for your sins with merit."

Zhou Xian silently clenched his fists. When he had first come into contact with them, he had hesitated. Now, there was no chance of getting out.

Zhou Zong's mouth kept opening and closing, making Zhou Xian's heart twitch. "When the great Sovereign happened to cast his gaze down, he discovered a very delicious soul here. You need to find it."

"A delicious soul?" Zhou Xian was confused, then suddenly asked, "Do you know why the weird artifact became empty?"

"Because the corruption failed." The priest did not hide it. "That delicious soul has an extremely strong resistance."

The corruption failed?

Zhou Zong's heart shook violently as a name suddenly surfaced—Yuan Chenyang!

He actually possessed such ability?

The priest's voice seemed to come from somewhere even more distant. "You need not concern yourself with anything else. As long as you find him, the great Sovereign will grant you one small wish. For example... bringing your son back to life."

A brilliant light abruptly flashed in Zhou Zong's eyes. Yuan Chenyang's name was about to leave his lips, but the priest immediately added:

"But you only have one chance. Even I cannot be certain whether the target is what the Sovereign needs. If you sacrifice the wrong person, the great Sovereign will be enraged. You and I will both die."

The name Yuan Chenyang was swallowed back down. Zhou Xian stared at his son and nodded heavily. "I understand."

As Zhou Zong lay back down again, Zhou Xian's expression shifted. Yuan Chenyang had already left. If he wanted to get to the bottom of this, he could only start with the others.

The next day, Yuan Chenyang left his loyal Inspection Department and headed to guard the ruins.

According to Fatty Sun, who came later to deliver his potions, Zhou Xian had strongly argued at the council meeting that he should temporarily take charge of the Inspection Department, only to be rejected by Zhang Hongbo.

"Good thing it wasn't him..." Fatty Sun said with lingering fear. "Everyone knows he thinks you stood by and watched his son die. If he really took over the Inspection Department, none of us would have an easy time."

"Besides, the suspicion that he's involved with the Weird God Cult hasn't been cleared. How could they possibly let him take charge?"

Fatty Sun muttered with him for a while, his attitude unchanged. Before leaving, he kindly advised, "Little brother, don't just stay cooped up in your room training all the time. If it goes on too long, something will go wrong with you. Go out for a walk when you have the chance."

Just as Yuan Chenyang had said, he had only been transferred away for a while. It was not as if he would never return.

"Brother Sun..." Su Chen stopped him again and asked, "Do we have ranked weapons here?"

Weapons were undoubtedly a good way to increase one's strength. He only had an iron chain on him.

Fatty Sun stopped and replied matter-of-factly, "Of course. We're a violent institution, after all."

"If you need a first-rank weapon, I can probably think of something. But second-rank ones are rather troublesome, and don't even think about third-rank ones."

"Alright." Su Chen was clearly disappointed. First-rank items would not improve him much.

"Can't be helped. We can still make first-rank weapons ourselves. For second and third rank, we can only rely on Ying Feng." Fatty Sun changed tack. "Though there are weapon crafters on the black market too. You can commission one there, but the price is a bit..."

"Handmade?" Su Chen was surprised.

"That's more or less what it means." Fatty Sun nodded. "High-rank weapons are difficult to mass-produce, so they can basically only be handmade."

"What profession is required?" Su Chen could not help asking.

"Little brother, every trade has its specialty." Fatty Sun tried to dissuade him. "That kind of profession consumes a great deal of time and energy."

Su Chen said he was merely curious. Fatty Sun helplessly explained, "Most weapon crafters use [Engineering Apprentice] as the foundation for their first-rank profession."

"The one Teacher gave me?" Su Chen's expression turned strange.

"Mm." Fatty Sun nodded. "The job requirements aren't difficult, but that's only the foundation."

"As for the second-rank advancement profession, I'm not too sure."

Second-rank professions were not something Fatty Sun could obtain. Even Old Yuan would have to go through the proper procedures.

There was no rush for this matter. After seeing Fatty Sun off, Su Chen skillfully downed a vial of Black Flame and Spirit Light potion.

Spirit Light was also a first-rank potion, but it was of better quality. Perhaps because he was about to be rotated out, Old Yuan had obtained it easily.

Blazing heat scorched his body, and his mind became highly active. Su Chen entered the gravity room and began training with a huff and a puff.

Not long after Yuan Chenyang left, Zhang Hongbo arrived at the Inspection Department that was not quite so loyal to him and summoned everyone at section-chief level and above for a meeting.

The meeting itself was simple: stabilize morale, gather the investigators, make sure everyone performed their duties, and so on.

"Um, Section Chief Sun... stay behind."

After the meeting ended, Fatty Sun, who had blended into the crowd, was called out.

Gulp!

Fatty Sun's throat bobbed. Under everyone else's puzzled gazes, he turned around with a chrysanthemum-like smile. "City Lord, you called for me?"