Chapter 653 - 354: Suspicion, Who Exactly Is It

Below, a purple pillar of flame shot into the sky. The illusory sky shattered, dissipating into Flowing Light. It was the work of the Spirit of Sun; its nostrils flared, blowing out two streams of air before it retreated back into the palace.

"If this guy is a Deceitful God, how could he make a deal with the Spirit of Sun? Or maybe this Spirit of Sun isn’t as smart as I thought and got tricked..."

Su Chen glanced at the top of the tower, which had returned to calm, and slowly descended to the ground. He let out a long sigh of relief. Fortunately, despite some unexpected twists, his identity remained hidden.

"That Residual Spirit probably knows I’m not some Moonlight Tier Professional, which is why he did this. After all, he knows the Spirit of Sun has an age limit. Sensing that someone has gained its approval would definitely arouse his suspicion.

"But he will still cover it up. He can’t tell the truth, or he wouldn’t be able to explain it to those Ancient Kings."

His eyes flickered as he looked at the [Power of Taixu] on his status panel.

"I wonder if this thing can deduce the origins of that Residual Spirit. Deducing himself?" Su Chen muttered under his breath, returning to the vicinity of the tower.

He adjusted his mindset. With his physical condition mostly recovered, he headed to the third floor of the tower, found a room, and walked in.

***

"What on earth are you doing?"

Outside, the brilliant flames erupting from Sun gradually vanished, shrinking until only a single spark remained.

Below, Qin Yun was panting heavily as his consciousness returned to his body. Having followed Sun, he had seen clearly that what it did was definitely not just confirming if a Chosen One had been born.

"What did you do?" Just as his voice faded, identical interrogations echoed around him. Several Ancient Kings had already arrived, surrounding them with cold expressions.

"I’m searching for that guy’s origins." The purple flame seemed to have shrunk a bit, and the voice transmitting from it was somewhat weak.

"What’s the point of finding out his origins?" Zhenwu Ancient King shook his head. He had already concluded that the person was a Moonlight Tier powerhouse from the Abyss Realm.

"A speculation is just a speculation; it’s best to confirm his identity." Sun’s reasoning was flawless.

"If that’s all, what’s the situation?" Hanhai Emperor’s eyes flashed.

"I expended some power to perform a deduction, but whether it yields results is up to fate." He was also feeling helpless.

"Up to fate?" Profound Celestial Ancient King frowned. The projection overhead was far too blurry; nothing could be seen clearly.

The spark flickered in silence. The Spirit of Sun was extremely wary of him; the slightest movement had gotten him expelled. Right now, he couldn’t control the deduction process and could only watch helplessly.

"Hmm, there’s a change," Bronze Ancient King suddenly spoke.

In the projection overhead, as that black mist-like substance surged in, a semblance of an image finally appeared. However, it was extremely blurry. They could faintly make out some purple flames, but that was all.

"You used a Chosen One as an anchor to try and deduce the other party’s identity and origins, but what is that black substance?" Bronze Ancient King asked, seemingly casually.

"Some kind of power I once captured, specializing in deduction and divination," Sun explained briefly.

Bronze Ancient King shook his head. "It’s too blurry."

"It starts out like this. Once the anchor is located, it will gradually become clearer," a confident voice emanated from the spark.

The other Ancient Kings looked up, equally curious about what would emerge from the projection.

"What exactly are you doing?" Qin Yun asked telepathically, taking advantage of the moment to catch his breath. "Don’t try to deceive me with the same nonsense you used to fool these guys. Don’t forget what I said last time."

Sun hesitated briefly before saying, "That guy probably isn’t a Moonlight Tier Professional. He gained approval, which means he might be younger than either of us imagined."

"Young?" Qin Yun was astonished. "Then how did he get in? This is the Sun Flame! Was he sent in by an expert from the Abyss Realm using some special means?"

"I’m not sure," Sun replied hesitantly. "It’s hard to say if he’s even from the Abyss Realm. If they really had the means, they wouldn’t have just sent one person in and acted so secretively about it."

"Are you saying this person is a Professional from the Dust Star Sea?" Qin Yun was stunned.

"Highly likely," Sun responded.

"There’s a Professional like that in the Dust Star Sea?" Qin Yun was somewhat skeptical. He looked up, noticing that the scene indeed seemed to be growing clearer.

At that exact moment, the image suddenly trembled. Cracks spider-webbed across its surface, and the incredibly blurry picture vanished, completely collapsing.

"This..." Sun was appalled, the spark instantly flaring up high. "The deduction failed? How... how is this possible..."

Hanhai Emperor shook his head, somewhat disappointed. The other Ancient Kings also retracted their gazes. After all that effort, this was it?

"How could this happen?" Sun found it incomprehensible. He had not only invested the power he accumulated this time but also expended some Origin Power. That was the very energy sustaining his existence—every bit used was gone forever.

Let alone an ordinary Professional, even for a Moonlight Tier powerhouse, he could trace exactly which hospital they were born in. It was impossible for Sun to glean absolutely no clues.

But right now...

"Alright, let’s hurry up and hit the road to the Bronze Sect."

Zhenwu Ancient King urged. Since it was confirmed that this person could gain approval, he, who considered himself no less capable, was confident he could do the same. He was growing increasingly impatient.

The others were similarly anxious.

Sun found it hard to calm down. He couldn’t make an issue out of this and attempt further deductions in the short term, otherwise, these guys would definitely realize something was amiss.

"Forget it. He only gained approval. Once I take over Su Chen’s body, I’ll have plenty of ways to deal with him," he thought.

However, the sting of loss this time still pained him. If there was one silver lining, it was this: "At least it made these guys believe even more firmly that a Moonlight Tier could gain approval."

***

The palace doors were pushed open, and Su Chen walked out, holding a bottle of pitch-black potion.

[Profound Crow Potion: Produced by the Abyss Holy United Organization. Concocted using the core of a Profound Crow. Applicable to Tier Seven Professionals. It can randomly boost Main Profession development progress by a minimum of 5% and a maximum of 15%. Limited to one use per person.]

"It’s clearly an upgraded version of the Celestial Star Potion and works on Tier Seven Professionals." This was the reward from the palace behind him.

"From the looks of it, the palace I picked earlier was indeed the most intense among those scattered below," Su Chen thought. "The tier of this item is on par with Perfect-Level Deceitful God Source Power. I’m afraid it must be quite precious in the Abyss Realm.

"Even for me right now, this single bottle is enough to save nearly a year of time. If used in the later stages of development, its value will be even higher."

With a flip of his palm, Su Chen stored it away. Now was not the best time to use it.

Boosting his development progress in the early stages wouldn’t bring him too significant of a benefit. Since this item could only be used once per Tier, he had to wait until his development reached the latter half to maximize its effect.

***

Several days later.

A Flying Device wobbled as it approached the Floating Island ahead, automatically merging into the port’s docking track. With a light tremor, it came to a complete halt.

The cabin door opened with a HUM, and Chu Ran stepped out.

He glanced left and right, sighing with emotion. "Old Su is as frugal as ever. Aside from mechanical constructs, there isn’t even a single woman here. No wonder he’s so fierce."

His eyelids twitched as he spotted Su Chen walking out of the main building, and he called out enthusiastically, "Old Su!"

"What brings you here?" Su Chen was rather surprised. He had only returned from the Sun Flame yesterday and hadn’t stayed inside for too long.

He had come out precisely to gather information on whether that Residual Spirit had any other schemes brewing.

Chu Ran explained, "The Ancient Kings are arriving today, and it also concerns the new format for the Peak Star Conference. It seems it’s about to start, so Old Wei specifically asked me to notify you."

Su Chen couldn’t help but be astonished. "Arriving today? Wasn’t it estimated to be several days from now?"

Chu Ran scratched his head, equally puzzled. "Yeah, the original estimate was seven days later. Who knew these Ancient Kings would be in such a hurry? They actually crossed the Star Gate with their physical bodies and arrived early."

"In such a hurry..." Su Chen pondered. "It seems that after the last ’verification,’ they firmly believe what Sun said, making them even more anxious."

Su Chen was momentarily speechless. Fortunately, he hadn’t stayed immersed in the trial. Otherwise, if the Sect couldn’t find him, they might have notified the Ancient Kings.