He'd been about to ask where it came from, but the words that left his mouth were: "You want to sell this?"
"Mm." Su Chen put on a bashful smile. "I don't even know where the black market is, and I'm young — I'm afraid someone would rip me off."
"If it's not too much trouble, after selling it, could you buy me some Black Flame Potions?"
'Putting on quite the act,' Old Sun thought, suppressing a smirk. After a moment's consideration, he said, "If what you need is potions, don't bother selling on the black market. Just file it as a seizure."
"Seized items surrendered to the department earn internal merit points at fifty percent of market value. But this thing is classified as contraband — there's no official market price. I can bump the assessment up for you."
"Potion-type consumables can be redeemed with internal merit points, also at fifty percent of market value. And you'll get a small commendation on top of it."
'Two birds, one stone.' Su Chen immediately grasped the elegant logic and was genuinely impressed. "Thank you, Brother Sun."
"Small matter. I'll handle it." Old Sun shuffled out with his trademark smile.
Since becoming Yuan Chenyang's student, everything seemed different.
Su Chen sighed to himself, rested briefly, and once the time was right, headed out to the location listed on the invitation.
The Qing'an Hotel sat at the heart of Nanfeng City, practically directly beneath the artificial light source.
Although it was evening, the area blazed with light. Private hovering cars of various designs came and went, their passengers disembarking in fine attire.
Su Chen arrived at the front entrance in a Supervision Department vehicle and looked up. Suspended in the sky above was the city's artificial light source.
Officially called the "Vault Light," it wasn't something Nanfeng City had the technological capacity to produce — it came from Yingfeng.
From what he'd gathered, much of Nanfeng City's technology originated from Yingfeng — an incomprehensibly vast metropolis that governed Nanfeng and other cities like it.
He presented his invitation, and an attendant escorted him upstairs. The banquet was being held in a dedicated private hall. The moment the doors opened, soft music drifted out. Quite a few guests had already arrived, all of them young.
As the door swung open, the scattered conversations halted. Every pair of eyes swept toward him — curious, bewildered, astonished...
"Ah, the esteemed Su Chen!" Someone spoke up enthusiastically and strode forward, introducing him to the others. "This is Inspector Yuan's new student. He's the one who went undercover, recovered the stolen Saint Word Stone, and slaughtered the pack of Azure-Scaled Lions."
Some nodded in recognition, some remained indifferent, some grew even more intrigued.
The name wasn't unfamiliar. Almost everyone here knew it — Zhou Zong hadn't been dead for long.
Despite their differing thoughts, they introduced themselves one after another. Yuan Chenyang's student had earned the right to stand among them.
"...Shi Haoqiang."
"Second son of the Exploration Department's Deputy Minister."
"...Zhu Mingxu."
"Eldest son of City Patrol Chief Zhu."
"...Tian Lan."
"Third daughter of Research Department Deputy Minister Tian."
Each time someone approached, the person beside Su Chen murmured their background.
After introductions were done, the group scattered. Nobody lingered to chat with him — except for the young man at his side.
"Haven't introduced myself yet. Du Yu." He sported a crew cut and sharp eyes. He lowered his voice. "My father is one of the deputy ministers of the Supervision Department. Also one of Inspector Yuan's old subordinates."
'Ah — judging by his background, he's on our side.' Su Chen understood.
"Don't take it personally. They just don't know you well yet." Du Yu offered casually.
He said this because the others had clustered into small groups of two and three, leaving their corner conspicuously empty.
Su Chen didn't mind. These second-generation elites all had impressive pedigrees — some of their fathers were on the same level as Old Yuan. There was no reason for them to go out of their way for him.
'Steady nerves...' Du Yu looked at him with some surprise. What he hadn't mentioned was that part of the chill owed to Su Chen's refugee status.
More people trickled in. The two found a corner and settled in.
"This is good stuff... this meat is really tender..." Su Chen sampled the food without restraint. Since transmigrating, the best meal he'd had was the one at Jiang He's place.
An occasional covert glance swept his way, followed by a quiet shake of a head.
The banquet's atmosphere remained subdued — until:
"Hengyu's here!"
Someone called out, and the apathy seemed to melt off their faces. They made for the entrance with quick, eager steps and broad smiles.
"Zhang Hengyu..." Su Chen looked over, curious about this prodigy who had inadvertently taken the fall for him twice.
The resemblance to the City Lord was unmistakable — five or six out of ten features matched. But his demeanor seemed cold, face expressionless, eyes scanning left and right.
Behind him stood a tall woman wearing a warm smile, her crimson lips vivid, eyes magnetic enough to draw you in.
Gulp!
Su Chen clearly heard the sound of someone swallowing beside him.
Under Su Chen's disdainful gaze, Du Yu coughed out a sheepish grin and hastily explained, "That's Zhang Yunqing. Terrible personality — she's put every one of us in our place at some point."
"Of course, that kind of big-sister type was pretty lethal for us back then."
"Though..." Du Yu shifted topics, feigning deep thought. "She left for Yingfeng ages ago and came back suddenly four months ago. Nobody knows why."
Zhang Hengyu and Zhang Yunqing's arrival gave the banquet a focal point. Everyone gravitated toward them.
Zhang Hengyu looked uncomfortable with the attention, but Zhang Yunqing was perfectly at ease, peppering the conversation with amusing anecdotes and keeping the mood warm.
As the discussion deepened, Zhang Yunqing brought up Yingfeng, and Su Chen listened attentively.
The gap between the bottom rungs and this crowd wasn't just a bit of wealth, a bit of power, a bit of talent.
Much of what Zhang Yunqing spoke about was virtually inaccessible to Su Chen through any other means.
Even some of the things these people had been casually discussing earlier were news to him.
For instance — peak 1st-tier classes.
Only now did Su Chen learn that even in Yingfeng, peak 1st-tier classes were exceedingly rare, with seemingly no more than five in existence. Each was tightly controlled and granted only after layers of vetting.
But at the 2nd tier, they weren't rarer — in fact, they were somewhat more numerous. The 3rd tier, however, grew scarce again.
"The 1st tier is the foundation of all classes. It's like perfecting something within an extremely limited scope — incredibly difficult," Zhang Yunqing explained. "At the 2nd and 3rd tiers, the stage grows considerably larger, making peak-tier classes relatively easier to emerge."
"That said, 'easier' is still relative."
'No wonder Old Yuan had that reaction...' Su Chen clicked his tongue. If he hadn't pinned the peak-tier class's origin on Yuan Chenyang, the consequences would've been serious.
He wasn't sure if it was his imagination, but while Zhang Yunqing spoke about this, her gaze kept flicking in his direction.
"But at any given tier, don't be overly fixated on peak-level classes. I've seen plenty of talented people throw themselves at peak-tier requirements." Zhang Yunqing's expression turned somber. "Only to die trying to meet the advancement conditions."
"Peak-tier classes are powerful, yes. But their difficulty is nearly double that of a superior-tier class."
Su Chen agreed wholeheartedly. He'd nearly died during the Mystic Artificer induction.
She emphasized further, "Moreover, no matter how powerful a lower-tier class is, it can barely hold its own against even an ordinary class one tier higher."
"Is Zhang Hengyu alright in the head?" Su Chen leaned in and whispered. "He's been staring at me this whole time."
Du Yu had been enraptured by the big-sister's gentle lecture. Hearing this, he glanced over and broke into a grin. "That's just curiosity."
"My father mentioned it — if not for your refugee status, the Yingfeng nomination this year might not have been his."
"He's a bit rigid. That kind of hollow victory doesn't sit well with him. I'd bet he wants to beat you head-on to prove himself."
"You all know about this too?" Su Chen was surprised.
Du Yu waved it off. "It's only circulating among the upper echelons, don't worry. Since the City Lord already agreed, no one's going to poke that particular tiger."
"He doesn't know I took down the entire Azure-Scaled Lion pack except the leader?" Su Chen countered.
"That actually happened?" Du Yu was stunned.
Su Chen fell silent.
Du Yu stared at him, then explained, "The rumors flying around are too wild. They say you wiped out the whole pack in under a minute, even scared the leader into fleeing. That's 2nd-tier professional territory."
Su Chen understood. There had been plenty of witnesses, but the exaggerated rumors had ironically undermined the truth's credibility.
Most people here probably didn't actually believe it.
"A toast to Hengyu's smooth journey in Yingfeng..." Zhang Yunqing raised her glass, and the crowd followed suit. Attendants wove between guests, distributing drinks.
Su Chen and Du Yu didn't stand apart. They casually picked up glasses from a passing attendant.
But the moment they raised them, Su Chen's expression shifted. His left hand shot out and seized Du Yu.
Du Yu looked dazed — before he could process what was happening, a tremendous force wrenched him backward, sending him flying.
Simultaneously, Su Chen's right hand was already raised. Without a sound, blue-gold metallic threads had coiled around his arm.
Clang!
Sparks flew. The attendant at his side — who had seemed perfectly harmless — had produced a slender dagger from beneath the metal serving tray. It gleamed a venomous green, already thrust at Su Chen's torso.
At the same instant, another attendant launched an attack from the opposite direction.
"You're dead!" Su Chen's eyes blazed with killing intent for a split second as he locked on with a Mental Piercing Spike.
The frontal attacker's expression glazed over, and he froze in place.
Su Chen twisted at the waist and drove his fist backward.
Crack!
A wet, muffled crunch of shattering bone. The attacker behind him caved inward at the chest, eyes bulging, and went limp without a sound.
A tendril of metallic thread separated from his arm, coiled around the dagger, and with a violent jerk, sent it flying like a dart. It struck the frozen attacker square in the skull — hilt-first.
Thud!
The man toppled backward, blood streaming from his forehead.
Su Chen's actions had all unfolded in a single heartbeat. By the time Du Yu regained his bearings, all he saw were two bodies on the ground.
"A-assassins!?" He stammered, then cried out in alarm.
He was a 1st-tier professional himself, and he'd barely registered what happened.
The others only now turned around, bewildered. They took in the sight of Su Chen — blood dripping from his arm — and the corpses at his feet. A collective chill ran through them.
Zhang Hengyu's pupils contracted. Zhang Yunqing's captivating, almond-shaped eyes narrowed.
Whoosh—
From behind the curtains nearby, a shadow burst forth — slithering like a venomous snake, silent and patient, having lurked for this one lethal strike.
Its speed was so extreme that Su Chen could barely react.
'A 2nd-tier professional!' That was the only thought in his mind.
But faster than his thought was the sight of the assassin flying backward.
Boom!
The figure slammed into the wall and stayed there, embedded in the crater, blood trickling from the corner of its mouth.
Su Chen looked at the figure standing before him, a gleaming, freshly polished bald head catching the light.
'I knew it...' He suppressed a smirk, but let excitement surge into his voice. "Teacher!"
"Black Buddha will watch you forever!" The figure pinned to the wall shrieked, pupils riddled with blood-red veins, gaze locked on Su Chen. "You ruined Black Buddha's plan! Black Buddha will never let you go — just wait to die!"
The assassin broke into maniacal laughter. Blood seeped from his pupils. His body convulsed, and he gradually went still.
Bang!
The banquet hall doors were suddenly thrown open. Fully armed Supervision guards streamed in and began processing the bodies.
"This one's still alive," a guard reported — it was the one Su Chen had struck in the head with the dagger's hilt.
"Oh..." Yuan Chenyang glanced over. "Take him back for interrogation."
Only then did the rest of the guests snap out of their stupor.
"Inspector Yuan, what was that about?" Zhang Yunqing approached to ask, her gaze sweeping over Su Chen with a hint of displeasure.
"Nothing special. Just an assassination." Yuan Chenyang's face was impassive.
'Just... an assassination?'
The crowd looked at Su Chen with complicated expressions. Judging by where the bodies had fallen, it had been a hair's breadth from tragedy.
Yet Su Chen had neutralized both attackers in the time it took the rest of them to turn their heads. The speed of his reflexes and the decisiveness of his kills sent a chill down every spine — and he looked completely unbothered.
'Is this the refugee mentality? They're all this ferocious?'