"Xu Siyuan..." He thought for a moment before asking with some uncertainty, "Is Xu Heng your..."

"He is my father..." He Kang understood immediately, his expression softening with nostalgia. "I remember when I was a kid, I was always following your father around..."

Though a generation separated him and Xu Siyuan, he was only eight or nine years older than Xu Siyuan’s father.

"My father mentioned you often as well." Xu Siyuan looked excited, quickly raising his wine glass.

"Put it down. You don’t look like you can hold your liquor, and this Fengzhu Wine..." He Kang glanced at the bottle on the table and shook his head.

"It’s not cheap, and even Tier Two Professionals can’t handle much of it. We’re both from the old hometown, there’s no need to be so formal."

Meanwhile, the one-armed, middle-aged man sitting on the other side looked a little embarrassed.

"A Silver Talent..." He Kang mused. "That’s pretty good. I estimate the Judicial Court’s assessment will take three or four months at a minimum. If you run into any trouble in Yingfeng, you can come find me at the Court."

"Okay." Xu Siyuan readily agreed, sitting down beside the one-armed, middle-aged man.

After another round of toasts, the atmosphere grew much warmer. Suddenly, the young man sitting beside He Kang lowered his head and activated his constantly vibrating wristband. His eyes flickered, first with shock, then with undisguised envy.

Closing the screen, he leaned over to He Kang and said, "I just got word. Lord Su Chen has already advanced to Tier Four."

"Tier Four!?" He Kang froze mid-drink, a look of astonishment on his face. The chatter at the table died down, and all eyes turned to him.

"Is it true? How could he be so fast?" he couldn’t help but ask.

"It’s all but confirmed. The message is from Lord Wei Yufan’s people," the young man confirmed with a nod.

"Unbelievable..." He Kang’s expression was complicated as he set down his glass.

He had been with the Judicial Court for many years and was only a Tier Four Professional. Su Chen, counting generously, had only been here for about a year.

"Su Chen? He’s advanced to Tier Four?"

"So fast?"

The others at the table, who held various posts in Yingfeng, began whispering among themselves in astonishment.

"What is it?" the one-armed man asked cautiously.

"It’s nothing..." He Kang waved a dismissive hand, but Xu Siyuan leaned in and asked quietly, "Brother Kang, is this Su Chen... very strong?"

The words had barely left his mouth when the table fell silent. Xu Siyuan felt a pang of alarm. "Did I say something wrong?"

"No, no." He Kang chuckled. "Considering your circumstances, you shouldn’t have a problem getting into the Judicial Court. I suppose it’s fine to tell you."

"Lord Su Chen is one of the Judicial Court’s six Core Seeds. He is also..." He Kang’s expression grew complex once more. "Right now, he’s one of the top candidates to become the Chief Judge."

’The Chief Judge...’ The one-armed man swallowed hard. The City Lord of their Ancient River City was merely the student of one of the nine Chief Judges in the Judicial Court.

He Kang continued, "He only joined the Judicial Court last year, but during his assessment, he revealed his Ink Jade Talent, which stunned everyone. He even outshone Zhu Xuan, another highly anticipated individual who possessed an Ink Jade Level Talent."

"After joining the Judicial Court, he kept a very low profile and never went looking for trouble. When he advanced to Tier Three, he defeated Zhu Xuan again, crushing him completely."

"And not long ago, he defeated a Disciple from the Yuan Capital—a man who possessed a Scarlet Talent."

"And now, he’s actually reached Tier Four." He Kang marveled once more. He refused to believe Su Chen would sacrifice long-term potential for short-term speed by choosing a low-difficulty Tier Four Profession.

’It has to be a Tier Four Upper-tier Profession at the very least.’

The men who had been working in Yingfeng nodded along, as they were all familiar with these stories.

But the newcomers from Ancient River City just looked bewildered, not showing much shock.

The things He Kang was describing were so far beyond their frame of reference that it was difficult for them to truly appreciate just how astonishing it all was.

The only one who seemed to have a sliver of understanding was the one-armed man, and his expression was one of pure shock.

A Tier Four Professional was on the same level as his own City Lord, and according to He Kang, Su Chen was only about twenty years old.

"...Su Chen?" Xu Siyuan wore the same blank expression, but his mind was racing.

’I know that name,’ he thought. ’He was mentioned in intelligence reports back before the Faceless Ghost Followers were completely wiped out.’

’The reports said Black Tuo seemed to value him greatly. It was surprising, but I didn’t think much of it back then.’

’He even managed to defeat Hongxuan... And Hongxuan supposedly mastered the Professional Fusion Ability, something that shouldn’t even exist on Red Thunder Star, yet he still lost.’

’Su Chen...’

"...It’s a shame Su Chen doesn’t like to form factions, otherwise I’d suggest you try to follow him," He Kang said with a sigh.

Xu Siyuan nodded eagerly, asking with feigned curiosity, "He sounds amazing. Are all Ink Jade Talents that powerful? What happened to that other one, Zhu Xuan?"

’I was the one who made Meng Qi’s plan, and getting close to Zhu Xuan was the first step. To find out what happened to Meng Qi, I have to start with Zhu Xuan.’

’The last report I got said Meng Qi killed Zhu Xuan and became a Core Seed in his place.’

"Zhu Xuan?" He Kang’s expression flickered at the name. He grew somber and sighed. "He’s dead."

"Dead?" The group from Ancient River City looked astonished.

It wasn’t a secret in Yingfeng. He Kang had met Zhu Xuan a few times and felt it was a shame, so he elaborated a little.

He kept talking, eventually bringing up Meng Qi.

But this matter concerned several Chief Judges, as well as the honor of the Chief Judge.

He Kang spoke evasively, saying only that a department head, Teng Liang, had discovered something amiss and executed the person on the spot.

’Teng Liang...’ Xu Siyuan’s eyes glinted. He finally had a name.

After that, He Kang refused to speak another word on the subject. Once the meal was over and everyone had their fill, the group dispersed. As he watched He Kang depart, Xu Siyuan pondered, ’A Tier Five Professional... able to see through the disguise of a Faceless shell?’

’Teng Liang... Su Chen’s senior brother. And Su Chen is being watched by Black Tuo...’

He vaguely sensed a connection in all of this... Huh?

All at once, his pupils constricted. He suddenly looked off into the distance. ’Where did that Believer’s aura come from?’

He could feel the presence of a Faceless Ghost Follower in that direction—a Priest Level one, it seemed.

Instantly, he retracted his entire aura, concealing it deep within his host body. 𝗳𝚛𝚎𝚎𝘄𝕖𝕓𝕟𝕠𝚟𝚎𝕝.𝗰𝕠𝐦

He wasn’t one of those naive Low-Tier Followers. A Faceless Ghost Priest appearing out of nowhere could be a trap set by the people of Yingfeng.

The upper echelons of Yingfeng were gradually departing. He couldn’t afford any slip-ups at such a critical time.

’It vanished?’

A moment later, his suspicion grew. ’Is it a Believer who was captured by Yingfeng? But don’t they usually execute them on the spot?’

Low-Tier Followers were all fanatics. Once captured, they wouldn’t say a single word. The shackles of their faith made it impossible to search their memories—the very attempt would kill them instantly.

’This Faceless Priest being kept alive... it’s strange.’

’I’ll wait. Just a bit longer...’ he murmured to himself.

...

「Several days later」

Inside a public training room at the Judicial Court. This area was designated for ordinary Judicial Guards and Judges.

Recently, however, most of the personnel had been reassigned elsewhere, leaving the room deserted.

"Junior Brother, are you ready?" Bu Siqi asked, strolling casually around the edge of the training area with his hands clasped behind his head.

In the middle of the training floor, Su Chen wore a metal blindfold. It was covered in multiple layers of inscribed patterns that pulsed with a faint glow, completely sealing off his external senses.

He had also voluntarily suppressed his Spiritual Power, leaving him unable to perceive any disturbance in the outside world. Yet, faint black arcs of electricity still danced across the surface of his skin.

Receiving no response, Bu Siqi stopped walking. His eyes narrowed. With a flick of his finger, a condensed beam of crimson light shot through the air.

The crimson beam didn’t fly straight. It snaked through the air like a living viper, its path erratic, leaving a dark red afterimage in its wake.

Just as expected, Su Chen made no move to react as the attack closed in.

BANG!

The crimson beam slammed into his skin, instantly causing a massive burst of black electrical arcs. The viscous crimson energy and the inky black lightning intertwined, then quickly dissipated into nothing.

"What in the hell is that defense?" Bu Siqi’s eye twitched. That hadn’t been his full-power attack, but it was close.

’It didn’t even make Su Chen flinch?’