My profession is too unique.

Chapter 157 In the Underworld

Some distance from Yingfeng, on a canyon, Xia Hanshi coldly looked down.

Through the thin mist, a small settlement can be seen in the canyon below, with stone houses made of "aurora stones" that emit a shimmering glow, connected together to separate living areas.

But at this moment, thousands of residents below were like manipulated puppets, frozen in the ground in the same kneeling posture, their knees sinking deep into the soil, their spines bent into stiff arcs, and their hands hanging limply at their sides.

All the withered bodies were precisely aligned with the central area, forming concentric rings.

The skin of these worshippers tightly covered their bones. Their eye sockets were sunken into dark voids, and the center of the circular array was empty, with only dark red energy imprints remaining on the ground.

"Sigh..." A sigh came from beside Xia Hanshi, "How many places is this now?"

Because of the fog, such settlements are very common, and people have lived there for generations and are very resistant to moving to nearby cities.

“The twenty-second spot…” Xia Hanshi’s withered cheeks were like frozen stone. “Judging from the marks on the ground, it belongs to the ‘scarlet’ color.”

“Black Tuo, Scarlet, Dark Plague, Cunning Fox…” Yuan Poshan frowned. “Four strange gods. After the failed sacrifice in ten cities, they have started searching for these small gathering places on a large scale again.”

"These gathering places are too scattered, and we have almost no way to defend against them. Could it be... that they are really going to start that holy feast?"

"There still seems to be no trace of the Faceless Ghost followers," Xia Hanshi suddenly asked.

Yuan Poshan frowned. "Has the Faceless Ghost been eliminated?"

……

"Your Excellency Su Chen, I am Gong Yun, a talisman master."

Su Chen looked at the woman in front of him. Her gray-white fitted dress reached her ankles, outlining her slender figure, and her long black wavy hair fell to her chest.

"Please come in." Su Chen stepped aside, while Gong Yun smiled gently. "I was sent by the Analysis Department to construct the 'Concealing Breath Seal' for you."

“I know, they’ve already told me.” Su Chen nodded.

"Then they must not have told you that I came voluntarily, right?" Gong Yun smiled slightly.

"No, not at all," Su Chen said casually. "Where would you like to start working?"

"Anything is fine." Gong Yun's eyes sparkled. "However, you'll need to take off your top temporarily. Where would be a convenient place for you?"

"Then let's do it here." Su Chen immediately took off his shirt, revealing his well-defined upper body. His chest and abdominal muscles were clearly sculpted, exuding explosive power.

His chest rose and fell slightly with his breathing, and pale blue veins of light appeared and disappeared beneath his skin, as if liquid lightning was flowing within them. This was because he had just finished the Thunderous Body Tempering Technique.

Gong Yun was taken aback, her eyes subconsciously scanning the area before she licked her lips. "Then let's do it here."

She stretched out her finger, its tip shimmering with a pale golden light, tracing intricate paths in the air to form a symbol. It landed below Su Chen's collarbone, and fine ripples immediately spread across his skin, like pebbles being thrown into a calm lake.

More runes were imprinted into the body, and the pale golden lines began to extend automatically, like living vines that wandered along the muscle texture.

Gong Yun's methods were also quite extraordinary. She focused all her attention on the light threads generated by her fingertips, which resonated with the patterns on Su Chen's body.

The runes gradually disappeared into the skin, leaving only faint golden veins on the surface, rising and falling slightly with the rhythm of breathing.

It took a good half hour to finish completely, and Gong Yun's fair cheeks were covered with beads of sweat.

"Alright." After saying these two words, Gong Yun's slender body swayed, almost falling over, but seeing that Su Chen was standing still, she couldn't help but feel disappointed and straightened up again.

"Does this reduce the danger when I enter the Netherworld?" Su Chen asked, looking down at his skin that shimmered with golden light.

“Yes, this talisman can conceal life force, but you still need to be careful. It only reduces it to the best of its ability, not completely isolates it,” Gong Yun cautioned. “Also, this talisman can only last for half a month.”

"I will come again in two weeks if you need."

Su Chen nodded to indicate that he understood. Gong Yun stood there for a long time without moving. Seeing that the other party had already put on his clothes and had a "Why are you still here?" expression on his face, she felt sorry for him.

I heard that this core seed isn't a womanizer; if you can hook up with him, you'll really soar to new heights.

"Then I'll be going now." Gong Yun said goodbye reluctantly.

Su Chen couldn't wait to get into the gravity chamber. After closing the door, he sat cross-legged on the ground and tentatively activated the "seals" on his body. Then he drew a series of symbols on his chest.

Entering the Underworld is as simple as the Trial of Whispers; it only requires a few simple symbols.

This time, unlike the trial of delirium, he could clearly feel himself stepping into a certain boundary, and his body gradually became cold.

He was surrounded by a grayish-white color until the scene in the gravity chamber completely disappeared, and he found himself in an unknown place.

It stretched far into the horizon, boundless, and he could hardly see any color; the sky remained perpetually overcast.

The most eerie thing was the gray-white wisps of mist floating in the air, which moved like living tentacles.

"This is the Netherworld we enter under normal conditions? This fog looks a lot like the fog in the real world. Could it be that the fog in the real world leaked out from here?"

Su Chen looked around and tried to take a couple of steps. Looking down at his body, it felt surreal, like a floating cloud.

His mental energy was slowly draining away. He had to return to reality before it was completely depleted, or he might be stuck here forever.
The thought barely crossed his mind when a burst of crimson lightning exploded before his eyes.

"Your mental skills are still intact." Su Chen felt much more at ease.

"The essence of spirit is born from the gathering place of spiritual remains. Its colors are colorful, like a rainbow, and it has a strong attraction to creatures of the underworld."

Su Chen pondered for a moment, looking left and right, then in front and behind. He was having trouble making a decision; they all looked the same, so which way should he go?

There wasn't even a coin toss.

Just then, his gaze sharpened, and not far away was a gray-black creature, curled up, its body emitting gray-white mist, with three or four tails, like a fox.

Most creatures in the underworld have only instincts, not consciousness.

"Perfect, let's give it a try..." Su Chen's heart stirred slightly. He returned to reality first, his body gradually disappearing into the spatial interlayer before arriving in the Netherworld.

"Stupid." Su Chen was speechless. This time, he had come from a different place.

But he soon spotted another creature from the underworld.

Immediately, his body began to change; his facial features disappeared, and he became a faceless ghost priest.

The transformation had barely begun when the creature, which had been crawling on the ground and looked like a tortoise, suddenly leaped up and darted away at incredible speed, disappearing from sight in no time.

“This…” Su Chen raised an eyebrow, “A follower of the Ghost God is here, so influential?”

Su Chen couldn't help but recall the true form of the strange god he had seen during the Whispering Trial, and it seemed... it should be the same.

"Most creatures in the underworld have no consciousness; only at a certain level can they develop extremely faint consciousness."

Su Chen looked around at the boundless surroundings. "This place is too big. It's almost impossible for me to find the essence of spirituality on my own."

He came up with a plan, a risky one, but worth a try.

"I need to think this through carefully." He pondered, "First, I need to make sure my mental strength can keep up. I need to stay here for a long enough period of time."

He tried to activate the abilities of the Reverse Origin, and through some unseen intuition, he quickly discovered that a surge of spiritual energy, from who-knows-where, was rising up.

"If I can still use it, that's good. It means that I can hold on for a much longer period of time."

Having confirmed this, Su Chen returned to reality and emerged from the spatial interlayer. "Although staying in the spatial interlayer also consumes mental energy, the time spent in the Netherworld in priest form might be very long, and my physical appearance would also change. It would be troublesome if someone inexplicably barged in, so it's better to be safe."

After a moment's thought, he slowly erased the symbols that had just been engraved on his body.

After considering the steps, Su Chen took a deep breath and immersed himself in the Netherworld once more.

This time, his bright and vibrant mental energy was not concealed, and Su Chen could clearly sense a faint malice emanating from him.

Some of the Netherworld creatures that had been lying prone on the ground nearby began to move.

After annihilating several Netherworld creatures with crimson lightning, Su Chen shook his head, "No, this is still too slow."

Suddenly, he leaped up, and crimson lightning spread out, forming a lightning prison, his spiritual aura spreading out without any concealment.

Soon, Su Chen sensed the tangible malice coming from all directions, and chilling auras emanated from him.

"...a sweet scent..."

“…rob…rob…”

“…Delicious…Delicious…”

Amidst this frenzied and bewildering malice, there is one thing in common: covetousness.

A black lightning bolt roared, and Su Chen's heart skipped a beat. A rotting black giant bird appeared in the sky at lightning speed, its wingspan reaching tens of meters, and its ferocious cry was terrifying.

"This aura, in reality, is comparable to a fifth-tier professional." Su Chen's eyes were solemn.

This was only the first. The ground shook, and then a giant with two heads, one large and one small, strode in, roaring. You couldn't understand what it said, but you could strangely sense its meaning.

"My...my...my..."

Both creatures harbored a naked desire for Su Chen, and at the same time, they discovered each other. Black lightning intertwined, and the ground rumbled.

"The spirit of a living person is like a big piece of fat meat inside." Su Chen really didn't expect the effect to be so good.

He didn't wait any longer, and immediately disguised himself as a faceless ghost priest, exuding a sinister and eerie aura.

Visibly, the two Netherworld creatures stopped their standoff and turned to look at each other. Terror appeared in their six pairs of eyes of different sizes, and they let out cries and howls.

"...Faceless!"

"...Faceless!"

Su Chen could sense their mental fluctuations, and seeing that they were about to run away, he immediately shouted, "Come back!"

Although I couldn't understand his words, I could sense the fluctuations in his consciousness.

Both creatures paused, and after a brief struggle, fear prevailed. The black giant bird folded its wings and trembled, while the giant squatted on the ground with its two heads drooping, not daring to move.

"They were actually scared like that?" Su Chen was surprised; the effect was even better than he had imagined.

"Come here, all of you..." He emitted a mental wave, and the giant and the black bird reluctantly moved closer.

"What are your names?" Su Chen asked, only to be met with silence.

Su Chen asked again, "Why are you so afraid of me?"

"Faceless...faceless..."

The two responded simultaneously, and Su Chen frowned, "The consciousness of beings at this level is so weak."

He had originally wanted to ask about the situation here, but judging from the looks of it, he probably didn't know anything.

"Do you know the essence of the spirit?" he asked.

The two creatures fell silent.

"Troublesome..." Su Chen sighed helplessly and could only try his best to give a simple description of the general appearance.

The blackbird remained bewildered, but the two-headed giant emitted a wave of energy, saying, "Eating...delicious."

"I ate." Su Chen remained silent, sighed helplessly, looked around, and then logged off.

They tried the same method several times and changed locations several times, but still couldn't find any clues about the "spiritual essence".

"This is really troublesome. I wonder how big this Netherworld is." Su Chen rubbed his temples, gulping down compressed nutrient solution, waiting for it to be absorbed, stored, and then converted back out.

In this way, he can quickly recover his physical and mental strength.

For several days in a row, Su Chen stayed in the gravity room without going out, constantly logging in and out, searching for spiritual essence.

Even training was temporarily put aside, since the improved talent gained after becoming a [Spiritualist] was enough to make up for the time lost.

Unfortunately, they still came up empty-handed.

"It's so hard to find, how did Yuan Du even find it?" After logging off to rest again, Su Chen couldn't help but wonder, as the knocking on the door kept going on.

When she opened the door, she saw Minglin, who looked rather unwell. He only relaxed a little when he saw Su Chen: "I thought you weren't here."

"Did you need something?" Su Chen asked as he invited him in.

"You didn't know?" Minglin asked in surprise, then shook his head. "That's true, you probably didn't even notice."

"What's wrong?" Su Chen raised an eyebrow.

“That Hongxuan has started issuing challenges,” Minglin said in a deep voice.

"A challenge?" Su Chen recalled the person he had seen when he was paying his respects to Wei Yinshuo.

"If you're going to challenge me, then so be it. Didn't you say you've sparred with me before?" Su Chen asked, puzzled.

“It’s different.” Minglin shook his head. “In the past, even at the same level, because everyone’s professional development level was different, there was a gap in strength. Sparring was just sparring, and no one would take it seriously. But it’s different now.”

"He wouldn't..." Su Chen's expression was strange.

“That’s right, challenge the arena,” Minglin said coldly.

"Why do people from Yuandu also like this kind of thing?" Su Chen said speechlessly.

“Yuandu has always been considered to be weaker than Yingfeng in overall strength. Now that they have the opportunity, they will naturally try to outdo us.”

Minglin's expression was solemn: "That Hongxuan is very strong. Many of the inner court's seedlings have made moves against him, and none of them are a match for him. I'm afraid he will be very difficult to deal with."

"If Feng Ze takes the stage today, he'll probably be forced to reveal a lot of his tricks. Should we go and take a look?"

Su Chen shook his head and said, "Forget it, I'm not interested."

"You..." Minglin was speechless, knowing that he probably couldn't persuade Su Chen, so he had no choice but to leave.

"A challenge?" Su Chen's expression flickered after seeing Ming Lin off.

(End of this chapter)