Honestly, Su Chen hadn’t expected Teng Liang to bring him more Deceitful God’s Power.
’Old Xia must have suggested it. He’s so reliable,’ Su Chen mused. This was an unexpected windfall.
The sealing method for Deceitful Artifacts from Red Thunder Star probably couldn’t compare to the ones Ming Lin bought from the black market.
That was why he didn’t dare let Teng Liang take them out right there. Instead, he led him back into the Nether Tower to make the exchange.
"Thank you for your trouble, sir."
After completing the exchange, Su Chen escorted Teng Liang out of the Nether Tower before heading back inside. The process of absorbing the Deceitful God’s Power was something he had to hide, even from Teng Liang.
Now that he was alone, Su Chen couldn’t help but rub his hands together. He took out the Deceitful Artifacts he had just stored and laid them out before him.
Then, he took out the metal box that held the letters and picked them out one by one.
The first one was from Xia Hanshi—
"To my disciple, Su Chen..."
Su Chen absorbed the Deceitful God’s Power while he read the letters.
"...I’m doing fine on Ying Feng. You have to be okay too, Brother Su Chen..."
He read until the very last one, which was from Xiao Gezi.
Su Chen let out a long sigh, placed the letters back in the box, and stored it away carefully.
’Red Thunder Star is still too dangerous...’ Su Chen couldn’t help but think.
But right now, the Bronze Sect was facing a crisis brought on by Qin Yun, and it was hard to say what the exact situation was.
Even though he had already established a foothold here and could bring most of the people from Red Thunder Star over, he still hadn’t made a decision after careful consideration.
The Nether Fog was certainly dangerous, but it was also a natural barrier, isolating them from some of the dangers of the Dust Star Sea.
Nothing was likely to happen on Red Thunder Star in the short term, so it was better to wait.
His thoughts shifting, his gaze fell upon his panel.
The considerable amount of Deceitful God’s Power indirectly proved that without the Nether Fog to hinder them, Chong Jingtian and the others were having great success in crushing the Deceitful God Sect.
It consisted mostly of Low-tier Deceitful God Power. By his rough estimate, it was enough to forge one of each type of essence.
Considering this was the haul from just half a year, it was already quite impressive.
’With this, and what I’ve accumulated recently, I have about two portions of each type of essence.’
He had more or less gathered what was needed for the Soldier Master and Holy Mark Physician.
Normally, a single Profession only required one portion each of Faceless Ghost, Crimson, and Sly Fox Essence to complete the initial preparations.
Sometimes, the Crimson Essence could even be omitted.
Of course, that was only for the time being. There would be more requirements later, so he definitely couldn’t stop selling the Netherworld Mother Stones or purchasing Deceitful God’s Power.
The Soldier Master advancement still required a weapon, as well as meeting the requirements for Spiritual stripping and fusion.
’I should be able to advance soon after I get back from Canglan Star.’
After tidying up, he walked out of the Nether Tower. Simply welcoming Teng Liang, Bu Siqi, and the others would not have required seven days of his time.
The reason he had told Zhou Yunyang and the others not to visit for at least a week was because he needed to make a trip to Canglan Star.
’By my calculations, the Faceless Ghost and the Black Tuo Divine Son should be arriving soon as well.’
He definitely couldn’t cut it too close; it would be a huge hassle if he missed them.
Su Chen mulled it over and sent a message to Chu Ran, forwarding the information on Teng Liang’s group. He had them assigned to the patrol team.
At the same time, he promoted Ming Lin to captain and placed Teng Liang’s group under his command, which would make managing things more convenient.
...
The next day, once he had finished his preparations, Su Chen set off for Canglan Star with Ming Lin.
However, a small hiccup occurred. Given his status, leaving Copper Heart on short notice required him to file a report.
It was only because Canglan Star was relatively close to Copper Heart and guarded by Advanced Professionals. If his destination had been farther away, he would have had to report the reason for his trip—a rather troublesome process.
’This Star Seed status can be a real restriction sometimes.’ Su Chen felt helpless. After submitting all the necessary paperwork, which took up the better part of the day, he finally received permission to travel to Canglan Star.
"This is the spaceship you told me about? The one that cost fifty million?"
In the Star Port, Su Chen stared at the narrow, gray-black spaceship parked in a berth. It didn’t look very large, probably less than twenty meters long, and its hull was covered in mottled patches from repairs.
Ming Lin looked equally helpless. "And this was with the internal Sect discount. I got it for half off. The original price is over a hundred million star coins."
The ship looked unremarkable, but its price was exorbitant. After all, it had to travel through Teleportation Routes, and ordinary materials couldn’t withstand the spatial pressures involved.
It was a necessary investment to facilitate Ming Lin’s sales runs.
"Alright." Su Chen shrugged and followed him onto the ship. The interior was so cramped that the sleeping quarters were just pods.
Luckily, the jump didn’t take long—only about half a day—and they emerged from the Star Gate at Canglan Star.
A green planet materialized before them. Its most striking feature was three colossal mountain ranges that spanned its continents.
Under the light, the ridgelines shimmered with the telltale reflection of metallic ore veins, while a massive, continuously rotating cyclone churned at the equator.
’So this is Canglan Star.’ Su Chen gazed down from the Star Port. The planet’s landmass was enormous, covering over seventy percent of its surface and giving rise to a wealth of rare minerals.
He glanced around. Countless fortress-like Star Ports were wedged into the planet’s outer atmosphere like metal spikes, their surfaces plated with light-refracting prismatic armor.
Honeycomb-like docking platforms extended from the flanks of the ports, and ships weaved between them in an orderly fashion, their engine flares tracing a glowing web of flight paths.