My profession is too unique.

Chapter 120 A Battle of Dragons and Tigers? A Clash of Arch-Rivals?
The two walked through a place where discussions continued.

"I thought he wouldn't come."

"Unfortunately, Chu Xuan risked everything to obtain a top-tier profession, but this one hasn't made a move..."

"It's easy to talk when you're not in the situation. Do you think top professionals can just take a gamble like that? If you die, you lose everything."

"At the second tier, Chu Xuan was no match for Su Chen, but at the third tier, Chu Xuan caught up... This is truly a battle of dragons and tigers."

Normally, the vast majority of judges rarely discuss the core seed in public, not wanting to invite trouble.

But in the current situation, everyone is discussing it. In the crowded environment, the atmosphere is equally restless, and people inevitably say what they've been holding back.

The stadium was packed, and even the area under the ring was full of people standing.

Minglin didn't forget to turn around and tease, "See? When Chu Xuan is mentioned, you can't help but be brought up, and when you're mentioned, Chu Xuan can't help but be brought up."

Su Chen was completely speechless, but he couldn't control what others said.

Seeing his speechless expression, Minglin couldn't help but laugh:

"There's nothing we can do... It's because you all entered the court in the same year, both became Black Jade, and both were exceptionally made core seeds, and you just happened to be caught up in the reforms. This kind of bundled discussion will probably continue for a long time."

Unlike these core seeds, Su Chen and Chu Xuan are of similar age, and their relationship is more of a comparison.

In the past, the core seed players were of very different ages, so there was basically no discussion like this. It's rare to meet these two, and it's quite a novel experience.

The viewing area for them didn't have to be crowded with this group; at the very top of the seats on both sides, there was a sparsely populated area.

Even though the surrounding seats were already packed with people, no one moved over there.

“They’re all acquaintances…” Su Chen squinted and glanced around. Wei Yu Fan, Zhong Ming, Feng Ze, Ming Lin and himself, and Chu Xuan who hadn’t gone on stage yet, the core seeds were all there.

“Su Chen is here…” He Kang whispered in Wei Yufan’s ear.

His gaze swept across the passageway, and he saw Minglin and Su Chen climbing the steps. His expression changed slightly.

"I thought he wouldn't come," Wei Yufan said in a barely audible voice. "Did he think he was hiding well?"

He Kang, standing beside him, twitched his thick eyebrows and couldn't help but say, "He really didn't want to get involved in the struggle. Liu Chen cut off the Gu family's thunder core, and he didn't say anything."

“It’s precisely because he didn’t say anything that we can see his restraint.” Wei Yufan’s voice was cold. “Besides, since Chu Xuan is already on our side, we should give him some benefits.”

At this point, Wei Yufan couldn't help but think of Liu Chen, who was a sharp blade. Although he was somewhat wild, he was still quite capable.

Furthermore, he also has many drawbacks. He is easy to control, but Chu Xuan is much more difficult to control than Liu Chen.

"But it's not a bad thing either..." He glanced at Feng Ze not far away. Once Liu Chen becomes a core seed, whether he likes it or not, he will definitely fight against him, and some of his forces will also be split off.

Reforms, huh? The chief is really cunning.

Meanwhile, the newly promoted core seed, Feng Ze, stood by the railing, looking down. Even though he tried to conceal it well, his spiritedness still shone through.

"This is the core seed..."

Even though he has been a core seed for some time, he still expresses this heartfelt sentiment at similar moments.

In the past, he always stood behind Liang Jingcheng or among the unseen heads below, but now he was one of the focal points, the center of attention.

Out of the corner of his eye, he spotted Minglin and Su Chen getting closer and closer.

His gaze lingered briefly on Su Chen; his original target was either Su Chen or Chu Xuan.

As a newcomer, he was easy to bully, but the multiple battles between the four core seeds gave him another opportunity.

That was his original boss—Liang Jingcheng. After his strength was suppressed to the third tier, his performance was not as impressive as he had imagined.

Moreover, he has a unique advantage, namely his understanding of Liang Jingcheng.

Having followed him for many years, he had almost figured out all of Liang Jingcheng's abilities, but Liang Jingcheng didn't really know him very well.

Because of their different positions, Liang Jingcheng kept looking at the other three core seeds, or even those in higher positions, but forgot to look down.

"You guys are lucky..." He turned his gaze away from Su Chen.

The two had already arrived, and regardless of what they were thinking, they still had to greet each other.

Wei Yufan teased, "Junior Brother Su is like a dragon, appearing and disappearing without a trace. He's been in the Trial Court for almost half a year now, and I haven't seen him in total... um... three times?"

Su Chen shook his head helplessly and said, "I've seen Senior Brother Wei from afar several times. He probably didn't notice me."

"Haha... Looks like my eyesight will be better from now on," Wei Yufan laughed.

Apart from Wei Yufan, Feng Ze and Zhong Ming greeted him and then fell silent.

As the group was chatting, a shout suddenly came from below. It was Chu Xuan who had stepped onto the stage, leaping up and landing steadily on the platform.

His appearance hadn't changed, but the aura between his brows was quite different from a few months ago, carrying a hint of ruthlessness.

After scanning the surroundings, his gaze shifted to the higher ground, where he immediately spotted Su Chen.

"Here he comes..." Chu Xuan breathed a sigh of relief. He thought Su Chen would avoid this battle. "Does he really think this challenge has nothing to do with him?"

Thinking to himself, the fierceness on his face lessened considerably. There is great terror between life and death. This time, when he was promoted to the top profession, he had indeed walked on the edge of life and death. He had never faced death so directly before.

His advancement to the third rank also matured his mindset considerably, but his obsession did not diminish in the slightest; on the contrary, it grew even stronger.

"Today is the day to wash away the shame."

It was his obsession with washing away the shame that allowed him to survive the life-or-death crisis of promotion.

Chu Xuan withdrew his gaze, his eyes sharp, with a hint of the heroic spirit he displayed when he entered the assessment.

……

"This is Chu Xuan, Wei Yinshuo's student, with the talent of Ink Green."

The top floor of the Challenge Hall is a ring of sealed rooms. In one of these rooms, Chongjingtian is standing by the window, looking down at the arena.

The speaker was a middle-aged man who looked refined and easy-going. He wore black-rimmed glasses and his gaze fell on Chu Xuan on the arena. He nodded and said, "Indeed, he is a man of imposing presence."

“Shumo, you’ve just returned, there are some things you don’t know.” Chong Jingtian laughed, “This kid hasn’t even entered the courtroom yet, but with the help of a few of Lao Si’s men, he’s already gathered a large number of people. He’s quite a force to be reckoned with.”

Jiang Shumo, the presiding judge of the Ninth Trial Court, had only recently returned. "Chief Judge..." Jiang Shumo chuckled, "I've only just returned, and I'm not deaf. He wanted to make a name for himself, but Su Chen stole the spotlight. After entering the Trial Court, he remained quiet for a while, and recently he's been entangled with Wei Yufan again."

“You’re still the same.” Chong Jingtian sighed: “When you go to a place, you feel uneasy if you don’t know everything about it.”

“I wish I could become deaf, but too many people mention these two guys, so there’s nothing I can do.” Jiang Shumo spread his hands. “It does remind me of the rivalry between the Chief and Xia Hanshi back then, a fierce battle between dragons and tigers.”

"Unfortunately, the chief cannot accept students."

To ensure a relatively fair competition for the position of chief judge, all previous chief judges have been prohibited from accepting students; this is the rule.

“Back then…” Chong Jingtian’s eyes were unfocused, as if he was recalling something. He smiled bitterly and said, “The core seeds in the past fought each other, but they never broke each other’s relationship. There were very few major grudges between them.”

“But now…” he sighed, “it’s not a good thing that there are more and more talented people. Wei Yufan can probably mobilize as much power as any presiding judge now.”

“The undercurrents are getting more and more intense. If we don’t break them up soon, problems will arise sooner or later.”

Chong Jingtian shook his head helplessly. Ying Feng had been a core seed for nearly ten years, and there was more than one such person.

These were sensitive matters, so Jiang Shumo remained silent for a moment before asking, "Has that Su Chen arrived?"

“That’s the one next to Minglin,” You Shan pointed to him.

“…This one is even better.” Jiang Shumo’s eyes lit up. “He has regular features and is handsome. How did he end up in Lao Xia’s hands? He’s going to corrupt him.”

Chongjingtian's meaning was enigmatic: "This kid... is very cunning and keeps a deep eye on things. Guess... since he entered the Tribunal, he has had contact with other core seeds a few times."

"At most, it won't be more than ten times, even if you add everyone together."

Jiang Shumo asked in surprise, "He's quite different from Lao Xia. Which top-tier profession is he planning to advance to?"

"Top-tier profession?" Chong Jingtian's expression was strange. "Who told you he's going to advance to a top-tier profession?"

Jiang Shumo frowned: "Choosing a higher-level profession is tantamount to admitting defeat to Chu Xuan, and with such talent, Old Xia wouldn't allow him to back down, would he?"

"Xia Hanshi's tolerance towards him is beyond your imagination." Chong Jingtian thought of the day the Pang family was destroyed, when this old guy Xia Hanshi actually started to use his brain.

"Really?" Jiang Shumo was increasingly surprised, but he also said, "The future is long, there's no need to fight over temporary gains and losses."

“He might not lose…” Chong Jingtian shook his head. “Many people have forgotten that Su Chen can run two professions simultaneously.”

"Although the arena has its flaws and cannot accurately suppress mental resilience, which is somewhat disadvantageous to mental professionals, Chu Xuan has only just advanced to the third rank."

The arena is not perfect. If the professional rank is too high, it cannot be suppressed, and mental resilience is difficult to suppress precisely, after all, it is the most mysterious part of a living being.

For example, a fourth-tier professional can suppress their abilities to the first half of the third tier, but their mental resilience can only remain at the limit of the third tier.

However, mental resilience only affects mental attacks, and many mental test professionals have more than just mental attacks, or even no mental attacks at all, so the impact is not significant.

“Yes…” Jiang Shumo nodded, a hint of anticipation rising in his eyes. “I wonder when those two will fight. I hope I won’t have left by then.”

.........

"Xiong Tao, a fourth-tier professional... with Crimson Gold talent..."

Chu Xuan's enemy has arrived. He is a burly man, standing at least 2.5 meters tall, with well-developed muscles.

But once he stepped into the ring, his height shrank to two meters, and his vitality seemed to wane considerably.

Minglin looked at Zhong Ming beside him, "Are you confident?"

Xiong Tao is one of the other side's men, from a lower-level city. He is destined to be a top-tier professional at the first or second tier, and his presence is not very noticeable on a daily basis.

“If he were confident, he wouldn’t have challenged Chu Xuan.” Zhong Ming said bluntly, and Ming Lin chuckled, “That’s true.”

The battle had already begun on the arena. Xiong Tao was a physical combatant, but not an elemental type. His black mane covered his entire body at a visible speed.

These bristles gleam with a metallic sheen, their roots deeply embedded in the constantly expanding muscles, undulating in a wave-like pattern with each muscle movement.

The knuckles lengthened by two inches with a crackling sound, the nails thickened into a dark keratin layer, and the skin on the back of the hand continued to keratinize under the cover of hair, forming defensive scales similar to those of a reptile.

“The third-tier upper-level Ironmane Mad Bear, where weapons are not allowed in the challenge, gives him a certain advantage,” Minglin commented.

Su Chen looked on with considerable surprise. The major category of physical professions also included many subcategories, such as elemental professions and transformation professions.

Most of them are related to mutant species, while the higher-level ones are vaguely connected to some ancient myths, such as Teng Liang's ancient giants and Bu Siqi's profession, which are all of this type.

Both types have their advantages and disadvantages, but at least level three is required to have a transformation-type profession, which he had never heard of before in Nanfeng.

Chu Xuan's transformation was equally striking. His hair turned blood red, and bloody lines spread from his cheeks to his eyes. Two blood-red butcher knives, held by pythons, materialized in his hands.

"The Bloodthirsty Butcher..." Minglin and the others became much more solemn.

Wei Yufan said, "Chu Xuan has gone mad. We are all members of the Tribunal. What unresolved issues could there be? Why be so ruthless to yourself?"

"I heard that during the Blood Frenzy Trial, his heart stopped for thirty seconds and he almost didn't make it back."

Minglin frowned slightly. His self-destructive nature was a testament to his hatred for Su Chen. He couldn't help but say:

"No one would hold back during the assessment, Chu Xuan, don't you understand?"

The expressions on everyone's faces were varied, and even bystanders could understand why, since they weren't the ones who were embarrassed.

Wei Yufan then said, "During the assessment, it might have been an unintentional mistake, but last time I invited Junior Brother Su Chen to mediate, he didn't seem to have any intention of mediating."

Su Chen glanced at him, wondering what this guy meant by still pretending.

Not to mention that He Kang's words at the time were wrong, even considering Liu Chen's attitude when he came to the door later, he didn't think that Liu Chen was really there to mediate that night.

Seeing that Su Chen remained silent, Wei Yufan frowned slightly and said, "Unfortunately, it's too late to say anything now."

Minglin frowned subconsciously. Too late? What does that mean?
Before he could think it through, a commotion arose from below.

Sonorous!

A crisp clanging sound rang out from the arena as the butcher's knife, wreathed in blood and flames, slashed down. Xiong Tao crossed his arms to block the blow, the friction between his mane and the axe blade producing a piercing sound.

"Roar!" He roared, his right leg slammed into the ground, and his waist and hips twisted the axe blade, while his left claw swung towards the opponent's ribs.

Chu Xuan retreated, throwing out his twin swords. The blood pythons tore at the hilts, swirling and twisting. His left sword feigned an attack on the lower body, while his right sword silently circled behind Xiong Tao.

(End of this chapter)