Chapter 556 - 307: Holy Profession Information
Within a certain level, the strength of these professions was more or less the same. Su Chen just wanted two decent ones to eventually meld into it.
"Is there anything else I can help you with?" Luo Shuhang asked tentatively.
"I don’t really need any professions for the time being," Su Chen said after a moment of thought. "However, I do have some questions about Holy Professions. How much do you know about them?"
"Holy Professions?" Luo Shuhang hesitated, looking a bit helpless. "Information related to Holy Professions is all classified. Even though we’re from the Professional Analysis Department, we don’t know much. But you can ask your questions first. I might know the answers."
"Captain Luo, we’re acquaintances now. You don’t need to be so tense," Su Chen said, a bit exasperated at how defensive the man was. He offered a word of reassurance.
"I’m not nervous," Luo Shuhang said quickly. Su Chen could afford to be casual and treat him with courtesy, but he couldn’t afford to be careless.
Seeing this, Su Chen didn’t press the matter and asked directly, "The Holy Profession I’ve chosen requires five special professions from the basic categories to be melted."
"Do all Holy Professions require five professions, or is it just the one I’ve chosen?"
Hearing this, Luo Shuhang breathed a sigh of relief. He had thought Su Chen was going to ask about some deeper secret, but this was fairly basic knowledge.
He replied without much hesitation, "To melt a Holy Profession, five professions is the minimum. It’s impossible to succeed with fewer than five."
"In that case, does melting more professions make the Holy Profession stronger?" Su Chen asked, following the thread of conversation.
"Naturally," Luo Shuhang nodded, but quickly clarified, "but ’the more, the better’ only applies to special professions with similar affinities."
Thinking of his own situation, Su Chen asked, "What happens if their affinities aren’t similar?"
"If the affinities aren’t similar, blindly stacking them isn’t actually a good thing..." Luo Shuhang frowned in thought for a moment before figuring out a simple way to explain. "Let’s take the three major physical categories as an example: defense, strength, and speed."
"If you want to melt a speed-type Holy Profession and add a profession that increases defense, the resulting abilities will be skewed. You won’t be able to achieve the ultimate in speed, as some of the potential might be diverted to the defensive aspect."
"I see," Su Chen frowned slightly. "So, does that mean there can’t be any deviation at all?"
"Not exactly," Luo Shuhang shook his head again. Perhaps feeling his words were contradictory, he quickly added, "Using the same example, melting a defense profession into a speed-type Holy Profession is not good, but melting a strength profession might not be impossible."
"For example, if it enhances leg strength, that can, to some extent, benefit one’s explosive speed."
"Oh," Su Chen said, a flash of understanding in his eyes. "So you’re saying this ’similar affinity’ doesn’t necessarily refer to the category? What does it refer to, specifically?"
Luo Shuhang gave a wry smile. "Compatible professions are an extremely complex subject. In short, when you want to melt a Holy Profession, you have to look at the ultimate purpose. Let’s go back to the speed-type Holy Profession."
"Strictly speaking, there are actually three different types of professions: those that increase burst speed for a short time by damaging the body, those that increase speed by imbuing oneself with elements like wind and lightning, and those that increase speed by merging with external objects."
"But they can all be melted together because their ultimate purpose is to increase speed."
Su Chen seemed to grasp some of it, but not all. He muttered to himself:
’No wonder all the major powers—be it on Red Thunder Star, within the Sect, or elsewhere in the Dust Star Sea—all maintain a large staff of professional analysts.’
He probably hadn’t fully appreciated it before. After all, with his panel, he didn’t have to worry about the details; he could just grab professions and refine them all at once.
But for others, the distinctions made a world of difference.
Enhancing burst speed would inevitably affect the body. The more abilities one had, the greater the consumption. Too slow, and you couldn’t keep up with your opponent; too fast, and you couldn’t react in time. Everything had to be analyzed clearly.
’As for myself...’ Su Chen thought about the Holy Profession he had been planning to melt with Blood Burner as its core.
’I’ll probably have to remove Wind Dancer.’
Whether it was Blood Burner, Tyrant, Soldier Master, or even Vajra Venerable, their ultimate purpose was unquestionably to increase physical strength.
But Wind Dancer was a complete mismatch. Melting it in might not be a good thing. There was no need to divert the ability’s strength to speed. If he wanted to focus on speed, he could just pursue a relevant Holy Profession directly.
’Even if I remove Wind Dancer, with three from Soldier Master, three from Vajra Venerable, plus Tyrant, that’s still seven professions. That’s enough for the melting, so it’s not a big problem.’
With this in mind, Su Chen asked another question:
"Are there Tier divisions among Holy Professions? For example, based on the number of professions melted, like Middle Level, High Level, and so on."
"No..." Luo Shuhang shook his head. "A Holy Profession is a Holy Profession. Although they are extremely strong, the Power they display varies depending on the person. Some of it is also related to one’s Main Profession. It’s hard to create a clear classification, even based on the number of professions melted."
"Then what is the Holy Profession Chart published by the Prophet Council based on?" Su Chen was a little confused.
"Oh, you mean that chart..." Luo Shuhang thought for a moment. "The Prophet Council naturally has all sorts of channels for gathering information."
"However, the professions on that chart are actually strongly correlated with the Morning Star Chart. For example, the current number one, the God-defying Halberd, is the Holy Profession of the number one on the Morning Star Chart, the Rebellious God King. It’s hard to say whether it made the Rebellious God King, or the Rebellious God King made it."
"So that’s how it is..." Su Chen understood. It was impossible to measure these Holy Professions in isolation. The strength of the professions melted into them varied, and combined with each person’s different Main Profession, it could easily lead to subtle differences in strength.
Moreover, related information was a secret, so there was no way to have a fair and impartial classification system.
Su Chen asked curiously, "Then, from what Captain Luo knows, what’s the highest number of professions melted into a single Holy Profession?"
"That would probably be the Shen Family’s Holy Profession. It requires six Mental Tier professions," he said, lowering his voice. Discussing the Holy Professions of other families within the Sect was a rather sensitive topic.
"Spirit-Control is melted from six professions," Su Chen said, surprised. But what surprised him even more was that the highest number Luo Shuhang knew of was merely six. He had expected something like seven or eight.
"It’s not easy to stack professions for melting a Holy Profession," Luo Shuhang explained, seeing Su Chen’s surprise. "Having a similar affinity also means being extremely hyper-specialized, which can severely affect one’s overall combat strength."
"If there really were a Holy Profession melted from seven or eight compatible professions, I imagine only the Royal Court would have the resources to cultivate such a person."
"Only the Royal Court can do it? What do you mean?" Su Chen asked, not understanding.
Luo Shuhang explained, "The Royal Court has an enormous store of Morning Star Tier professions, enough for as many as eight individuals. Before the Lost Flame incident, there were five Morning Stars in the world."
"When they conduct a massive screening to find Star Seeds, not all of them end up in the Royal Family or noble houses. Some come from humble backgrounds, yet happen to become Star Seeds. To the Royal Court, these are incubators for cultivating Holy Professions."
Su Chen’s heart skipped a beat. "You mean, they have them continuously take on similar, compatible professions, rather than adjusting based on their own situation, all to cultivate an exceptionally strong Holy Profession?"
"Correct," Luo Shuhang nodded. "But it’s not all bad. The interests involved are complex. I’ve only heard bits and pieces."
Su Chen grew thoughtful. The Royal Court’s situation was unique and unlike the Sect’s.
Someone like Wei Zhenghong, though he didn’t have much backing, became Chu Lingyuan’s student after becoming a Star Seed. There was a personal bond of mentorship there, making a situation like the Royal Court’s unlikely to happen.
The two chatted a while longer about Holy Professions, mostly covering basic information. Luo Shuhang wasn’t privy to the more important secrets.
"You don’t have to see me out. I can leave on my own," Luo Shuhang said quickly as Su Chen stood up to escort him.
"It’s no trouble," Su Chen waved his hand.
Luo Shuhang felt it would be improper to refuse and was somewhat overwhelmed by the honor. When they reached the port, he bid a hurried farewell, boarded his Flying Device, and leisurely flew away.