My Professions Have Too Much Personality

His body slowly floated up from the stone platform. It moved sideways, then flipped over. All his movements had an indescribably bizarre quality.

The surroundings were deathly silent. Countless pairs of fanatical eyes converged from all directions. The two people beside him had already prostrated themselves. "We respectfully welcome our Lord’s divine descent!"

The naked man looked down at his own body. Black matter wove together, forming a hooded robe over him. The blackness of his skin gradually faded, revealing a normal, flesh-colored tone.

He opened his mouth and spoke in a hoarse voice, "It has been a long time since I last descended upon the mortal realm."

By the time he finished speaking, his voice had become deep and resonant. Even the blackness in his pupils receded, making him appear like a normal human.

He raised a hand, studying it carefully. He turned it over, then over again. A series of CRACKLES and POPS emanated from all over his body, as if it were adapting, or perhaps being reformed.

After a moment, he reached out and grabbed at the empty air. Space wrinkled like a curtain, and he pulled out a spherical object radiating a brilliant light.

"A Heart of Spiritual Light... enough to elevate a Tier Eight Netherworld Creature to Tier Nine..." Black Tuo murmured to himself. As he closed his palm, the Heart of Spiritual Light vanished.

At that moment, one of the men prostrated on the floor took out a thick scroll of paper from his sleeve and offered it up. "My Lord, this is the information you had us collect."

Black Tuo glanced down. An Invisible Power wrapped around the scroll, and by the time it reached his eyes, it had already unfurled.

With just a single glance, all the information recorded on it flooded into his mind.

It was information regarding the Bronze Sect. Most of it came from the Prophet Council, as Black Tuo had no contacts within the Bronze Sect itself.

It could hardly be considered secret; most of it was common knowledge.

"Interesting." Black Tuo’s eyes flickered, his gaze falling on one of the names. "Su Chen. Defeated a Divine Dawn Level Tier Six while at Tier Five. No wonder he could devour a part of my consciousness when he was so weak. He’s growing too fast..."

’Which old ghost’s spiritual imprint is behind this?’

’The one who purified the Fog Ashes... could it be him?’ The thought suddenly struck Black Tuo. His eyes glinted. It didn’t seem impossible.

’Once the Heart of Spiritual Light is delivered, I’ll be able to confirm it. But regardless of whether it’s him or not, I must take this person with me.’

"Has the identity been arranged?" Black Tuo glanced at the prostrated Believers.

A Believer responded, "It has been arranged. This body you inhabit is the head of the Dark Moon Group. You are qualified to bring a junior with you to the Bronze Sect to attend the Peak Star Conference."

Black Tuo nodded. Just as he was about to say something, his expression suddenly changed. He abruptly looked up in a certain direction, his face filled with shock and doubt. "Another part has been purified?"

The surrounding Believers didn’t know what had happened. They simply gazed at the great and mighty figure with extreme fanaticism, ceaselessly chanting their prayers.

’How long has it been? What method has the Bronze Ancient King mastered?’

Black Tuo’s brow furrowed. The Fog Ashes had been purified twice in a short period. What’s more, the portion purified this time was the Fog Ashes that directly enveloped the Flame Fire, its intensity far beyond what had been purified before.

’What person or object could accomplish such a feat? And how was it purified?’

He had originally thought that purifying the weakest level of Fog Ashes was the limit, but now...

He couldn’t think of any method to directly counter the various situations the Fog Ashes created for humans.

"This isn’t good news." A dark light flashed in Black Tuo’s eyes as he murmured, "This means a portion of the Bronze Ancient King’s attention will no longer be tied up by the Flame Fire’s situation. That’s quite disadvantageous for my plans."

However, he was a renowned Great Deceitful God, after all. Black Tuo quickly adjusted his mindset.

Although this was the first time in his long existence that Fog Ashes had been purified, his near-eternal life, reliant on the Nether Fog, gave him countless chances for error.

’Trying to cause the flame to fall again will be difficult. But for now, figuring out how the Fog Ashes were purified is the most important thing.’

’And then there’s this Su Chen...’

After some thought, Black Tuo spoke. "Let’s go. To the Bronze Sect."

"Yes." The Believer prostrated beside him hurriedly responded, rising to lead Black Tuo to the starship’s docking area.

Even a Great Deceitful God had to abide by the rules of reality when they descended upon it.

...

’What a commotion,’ Su Chen was secretly astounded. He looked at the spot where the Bronze Ancient King had been sitting cross-legged, feeling a little uncertain. ’Nothing bad is going to happen, right?’

He scanned the Ancient King Hall, his gaze falling on the several statues to the side. He walked over to the statue that served as the Spiritual vessel for the Great Venerable Red Flame Thunder Resonator and patted it, producing a THUDDING echo.

As if in response, the statue began to glow and shake nonstop.

"So this is what you call a foundation," Su Chen couldn’t help but sigh with emotion.

Besides these few statues, there was nothing else special in the Ancient King Hall. After walking a full circle, he returned to the spot where the Ancient King had been sitting.

"This Fog Source..." Su Chen stretched out his hand, looking at the Fog Source in it. It was about the size of his fist, pure and bright.

’It should be fine to let the Great Venerable eat this, right?’

He reasoned to himself that since he had purified the Fog Ashes surrounding the Flame Fire, he had solved a major problem. ’Besides, the Ancient King didn’t say anything when I was holding the Fog Source earlier. He must have tacitly given it to me.’

After a moment of deliberation, Su Chen didn’t hesitate and directly fed it to the Great Venerable to devour.

The Fog Source crumbled in his hand, transforming into wisps of fog that entered his body. The panel immediately reacted—

[The Great Venerable Red Flame Thunder Resonator has completely devoured the Fog Source. It faintly conveys an uncontrollable sense of craving. It wishes for you to make contact with the statue that carries External Spirituality.]

’What does that mean?’

Su Chen was hesitant. ’Can it create some kind of synergy?’

He glanced at the crimson statue, a little hesitant. ’Nothing will go wrong, right?’

Although he was thinking this, his body was quite honest, and he walked over step by step.

’This is the Ancient King Hall, Great Venerable. You’d better be careful. Don’t screw me over.’

Su Chen warned inwardly as he placed his hand on the statue.

In an instant, the text on the panel pulsed again—

[The Great Venerable Red Flame Thunder Resonator is attempting to communicate with the External Spirituality...]

Su Chen’s eyelid twitched. His palm suddenly became scalding hot and numb. A peculiar power surged up his arm, entered his body, and then vanished into some imperceptible place.

The text on the panel trembled nonstop—

[The Great Venerable Red Flame Thunder Resonator is fusing with the External Spirituality. An unknown change has occurred. It will take some time to finish. It expresses its gratitude for your help.]

[Acquired Infernal Thunder Fury (One-time use): Can fuse three un-ascended professions of similar affinity, simultaneously erasing all requirements.]

[Acquired Molten Flame (One-time use): Can fuse a profession of similar affinity that is not part of a Holy Profession Sequence into a Holy Profession.]

[Acquired Power of Resonating Thunder (One-time use): Call upon the name of the Great Venerable Red Flame Thunder Resonator to receive aid.]

A long string of text appeared on the panel, all of it good stuff spat out by the Great Venerable.

’But...’ Su Chen was still a bit dazed. ’Did the Great Venerable just eat the Spirituality?’

’This...?’ He stared for a good while before it sank in. `Infernal Thunder Fury` was an enhanced version of a similar previous reward, upgrading from fusing two professions to three.

`Molten Flame` was also great. Adding a profession of similar affinity to a Holy Profession Sequence would increase its strength. His first thought was to add the Gourmet to the Permanent Body Sequence.

And the last one went without saying; it was probably for saving his own skin.

Su Chen muttered under his breath, ’Oh, Great Venerable, these rewards are great and all, but why did you have to eat the Spirituality?’

[The Great Venerable Red Flame Thunder Resonator has fallen into a state of silence. For a short time, it will be unresponsive to the outside world.]

’Is it undergoing a metamorphosis? It shouldn’t be able to transform to the Moonlight Tier so quickly, but since it devoured the External Spirituality, there’s bound to be some kind of change.’

With that thought, Su Chen looked up helplessly at the now completely ordinary statue before him. The Spirituality it once housed was gone.

This was a core part of the Bronze Sect’s heritage, passed down through generations. This time it wasn’t lost; it was truly devoured, licked clean.

’How am I going to explain this to the Ancient King later?’

Su Chen sighed. If he had to keep bluffing, he was running out of material.

Although he thought this, Su Chen glanced at the rewards on the panel and couldn’t bring himself to be too hard on the Great Venerable. After all, while it did eat things, it also spat out real rewards.

’If I had to choose again...’

Su Chen looked down at his own hands and sighed softly. ’I just purified the Fog Ashes, so I’m a great hero, so to speak. Even though I got rid of the Spirituality, the problem... shouldn’t be too big, right?’