My Professions Have Too Much Personality

Over a month passed in the blink of an eye.

On this day, inside the training room, Su Chen opened his eyes. The swirling Flame Thunder around him instantly receded into his body, his skin emitting a fluorescent glow.

He opened his panel and glanced at it. His development progress had already reached 80%.

’I estimate I can max it out in another month. When that happens, I’ll make a trip to the Creation Copper Heart. I’ve heard the time-flow rate inside can be pushed as high as 1:10.’

’That means I can complete six months of refinement in just half a month. Strictly speaking, the only thing I’m missing for the Thunder Ash World Master is this Celestial Forged Object... but...’

A flicker in his eyes, Su Chen tidied himself up and walked out of the training room, heading to the port.

He didn’t have to wait long before a Flying Device came wobbling over. With a CLANG, it docked with the port’s rail, and the cabin door opened.

Ding Fan hurried out carrying a long, slender metal case, an overwhelmingly flattered expression on his face. "Oh my, sir, why are you waiting for me here? It’s my fault, my fault. I should have notified you after I arrived."

"You’re too kind, Steward Ding," Su Chen said with a smile, his eyes landing on the slender metal case in the steward’s hands.

Ding Fan had already raised it. He flicked a latch with his finger, and the lock popped open. Inside lay a slender iron rod, about one and a half meters long.

Its surface was wreathed in the crimson light of Flame Thunder, a shifting pattern of interwoven dark red and bright yellow. It flickered and flowed ceaselessly, as if an electric current were coursing through it.

The surface was covered in pits and bumps, with sharp, metallic growths protruding in some places.

"This is the Celestial Forged Object?" Su Chen was quite surprised. "It’s even a Flame Thunder Dual Element item. What a coincidence, huh?"

He looked at Steward Ding. A Flame Thunder Dual Element item was practically tailor-made for him. Although his class had no elemental requirements, outsiders didn’t know the specifics.

An item that was such a perfect match couldn’t possibly have been found by chance within the last month.

Steward Ding smiled mysteriously. "Nothing gets past you, sir. Our logistics department has channels with all the major merchant guilds and various factions. I put the word out, paid a bit of a premium, and managed to track this down."

"Thank you for your trouble," Su Chen said sincerely.

Steward Ding waved his hands dismissively, closing the case and handing it to Su Chen. "It was nothing."

After Su Chen took the case, however, a hesitant look appeared on his face. "But..."

Seeing this, Su Chen tactfully picked up the thread. "Don’t worry, I’ll pay for it in star coins. Roughly how much will it be?"

"About 200 million star coins. There’s no rush. You can also pay with contribution points, or wait a while." After saying that, Steward Ding lowered his voice, "Sir, you should be careful these days."

"Have you heard something, Steward Ding?" Su Chen asked, seeing his deliberately grave expression.

"That Qin Guang seems to have you in his sights," Steward Ding said, sounding a bit helpless. "He almost intercepted this item when it was being delivered. Luckily, I was keeping a close eye on it and beat him to the punch."

"He’s a clever one, though. He went to logistics, demanding to redeem this item. But our Hall Master is on our side. He gave Qin Guang a dressing-down and told him to get lost."

’Qin Guang... it’s him again.’ A cold glint flashed through Su Chen’s eyes.

Then, Steward Ding added helplessly, "It’s my fault for being careless, too. I had my people start searching right after I left you last time. Anyone determined enough could have easily investigated and found the connection to this Celestial Forged Object."

"You’re being too hard on yourself. An open attack is easy to dodge, but a hidden one is hard to guard against. There’s no need to blame yourself," Su Chen said, shaking his head.

’He knew what Ding Fan was thinking. It was just a way to make Su Chen owe him another favor. That was understandable, of course. When you do a job for someone, you have to make sure they know it.’

"But this is as far as he can go. He wouldn’t dare to do anything too outrageous," Steward Ding added reassuringly.

Su Chen remained noncommittal and changed the subject. "Steward Ding, I have 20 Netherworld Mother Stones here. Would that be enough to cover the cost?"

"Twenty Netherworld Mother Stones?" Steward Ding’s eyelid twitched. He already knew that this Star Seed would occasionally produce a Netherworld Mother Stone to exchange for contribution points.

But producing twenty at once still stunned him. For a moment, he even suspected they were from the Sect’s own internal supply.

But he quickly dismissed the thought. He was one of the logistics Stewards. A resource as scarce as the Netherworld Mother Stone was always kept under strict guard.

Some of the older, more established families might be able to resell them, but while Su Chen’s status was high, his foundation was shallow. He didn’t have the manpower to pull something like that off.

"Don’t tell me... you found all of these in the Nether Realm?" Steward Ding asked cautiously.

Su Chen just smiled faintly, saying nothing more.

"Hmm..." Steward Ding considered for a moment. "The Sect is short on Netherworld Mother Stones, so of course they can cover it."

He didn’t really care where they came from, as long as they weren’t leaking from the Sect’s internal stores.

Thinking of this, he decided he would still go back and have someone help him take stock of the inventory, just to be sure.

Su Chen took out 20 Mother Stones and handed them to Steward Ding. They exchanged a few more pleasantries before Su Chen watched him depart.

"Qin Guang... Qin Guang... What a pain in the ass."

Su Chen glanced up at the sky. The three satellite cities were stationary, as a new one was under construction. Gazing into the distance, he could faintly make out the glint of a metal framework.

’That guy isn’t qualified to live in Copper Heart. He lives at the Qin Family’s garrison on Cloud Dragon Star...’

’There’s no need for me to take that risk...’ Su Chen retracted his gaze and started walking toward the Nether Tower. He already had a rough idea of how to handle the situation.

...

’He’s actually appeared twice in a row...’

Lan Hao watched the figure appear in the Nether Fog, and his heart sank. The last time, he’d been ordered to gather information. What was it going to be this time?

"I never thought I’d see you twice in a row." A fawning smile spread across his face—the kind of expression that would have been unthinkable for him in the past, but had now become commonplace.