Su’en currently only has three choices to advance to the second-tier professional: the inner city, the guild, and the black market.

The inner city is temporarily not considered, so there is only the black market and the guild.

The advancement of professions in the outer city is completely unregulated. Whatever conditions there are, one can advance accordingly, without any system.

Many times, even if the profession and talent do not match, there is no choice but to waste one’s own potential.

If Su’en wants to advance through the resources within the Cross Society, then he must first become a captain and gradually gain contributions and resources.

However…

Even the captains of the Cross Society have very limited choices for advancement. It is always the same two or three dozen paths that the cadres already have, and most of them are common ordinary professions.

Puppeteer?

That kind of niche profession, Su’en has never heard of it in the entire Cross Society, so naturally it does not exist.

In fact, just the first-tier profession choices recorded by the “Alchemy Guild” alone have more than eight thousand, and there are also thousands of second-tier profession paths…

And those rare professions passed down from ancient times are even more dazzling.

Su’en does not want to waste his talent and potential in vain.

So, in fact, the only option in front of him is to try his luck in the black market.

Instead of groping around on his own, it is better to ask someone with experience and connections.

Mr. Emirich, the former vice dean of the Black Tower Alchemy Academy, is obviously the most suitable person.

…….

Su’en arrived at the black market and went straight to “Rosen’s Alchemy Shop”.

He left a message for the boss, saying that he wanted to see that gentleman.

Then he went around various shops in the black market as usual, hoping to find suitable curse materials and mechanical parts for himself.

Passing by the bulletin board, the original owner’s wanted notice had already been pushed into a corner.

Tasks that have not been found for clues for a long time will gradually be forgotten.

This is also the situation that Su’en wanted to see.

And among the top few, except for a new “S-class” wanted criminal who is unfamiliar, the rest are all familiar faces.

The one at the top is still that mysterious woman.

Now the amount of her bounty has soared to a sky-high price of three million lisuo for providing information.

Su’en thinks that if such a high bounty has not found any clues, either that woman has gone to the outer city or she has hidden herself like him, changing her appearance.

Su’en didn’t look much and went to the “Whitebeard Mechanical Materials Shop” in the lower level of the black market.

The boss of this shop has wild channels for goods. The two body training devices he found before came from this shop. This time, he didn’t expect his luck to be good again. He actually found a “Cheetah IX Miniature Six-Cylinder Steam Boiler” that was scrapped by the inner city military industrial plant. It is small in size, the price is beautiful, and it can still be used after repairs.

Su’en bought it and planned to bring it back to use as a power boiler for his “Iron Man II”.

It’s a coincidence that after buying the things, he planned to return to Green Street, but unexpectedly, when he passed by “Rosen’s Alchemy Shop” again, he saw a familiar figure in a cloak.

“Sir?”

Su’en walked over and tentatively called out.

The cloaked figure turned his head, although his face couldn’t be seen clearly, his voice was very familiar and still gentle: “Heh… the boss just told me that you wanted to see me, I didn’t expect you haven’t left yet…”

Su’en confirmed the identity of the person in front of him and directly stated his purpose, “I’m sorry, there are indeed some things that I need to trouble you with.”

After all, the other party is a top-tier professional, and he is so polite to him, a low-tier professional. Su’en also returned the courtesy with a polite greeting.

The cloaked figure nodded, “Let’s talk while walking…”

The narrow alchemy shop where they could barely stand is not suitable for chatting.

……..

The two walked on the streets of the black market, talking quietly.

Su’en expressed his desire to learn some systematic alchemy knowledge.

The cloaked figure was not surprised, and even had a bit of a “willingness to help” meaning, “Knowledge is precious. But when I meet someone who sincerely wants to learn, I am willing to give some guidance.”

“Thank you.”

Su’en listened and didn’t expect him to agree so readily.

Thinking of his position as the dean, it is not surprising.

The cloaked figure continued, “But if it’s systematic knowledge, there is too much of it. Alchemy, enchantment, plant cultivation, runes, alchemical spells, machinery, forging, mysticism, medicine… what the outside world generally refers to as alchemy is divided into more than ten disciplines at the Black Tower Academy. Which one do you want to learn?”

Su’en had a jumble of knowledge in his mind, and if he had to choose, he wanted to learn alchemical spells and mechanical knowledge… but if possible, he wanted to refer to all of them.

It is impossible to digest so many categories of knowledge just by self-study with textbooks.

But Su’en has the “Reaper of Death”.

If it were someone else, the cloaked figure would probably think they are too greedy. But looking at Su’en, he said this sentence, “Hehe… I don’t know why, but I always feel that you will give me a big surprise in the future.”

He didn’t refuse either and casually agreed, “That’s easy. I happen to have a set of teaching materials that I used before, which can be considered the most complete and suitable introductory learning materials in the entire Old Lingdun. I don’t need them anymore, so I can give them all to you.”Su’en listened and said, “Thank you for your generosity. It is already rare to gain some knowledge in the outer city.”

The cloaked man didn’t seem to mind and smiled, “After all, my original name was a bit troublesome. You can call me ‘Mr. Black’.”

He spoke casually, without any fear or hesitation like other wanted criminals, and said, “I’m just giving you a few books, which is not enough to repay the favor I owe you. So… I think you still have something to ask me.”

As always, a gentleman who didn’t want to take advantage of others.

Su’en wasn’t surprised when he heard that the other party understood “mind reading”.

He didn’t show much emotion and went straight to the point, “As you know, people in the outer city have little knowledge about high-level professions. I would like to ask, what are the considerations for advancing to the second rank? Or… do you know the choices for advancing to the second rank as a puppeteer?”

“Oh? When it comes to this question, it seems that no one can give you a better answer than me.”

Mr. Black smiled, seemingly self-deprecating his previous profession as a teacher.

…….

“After becoming a professional, the subsequent advancements are actually to obtain the necessary abilities for your main profession. There is no fixed path for advancement, it depends on how you plan your future profession.”

Mr. Black looked at Su’en and continued, “For example, for a normal puppeteer, the second rank path may choose to fuse curses related to ‘enhanced perception’, ‘enhanced skills’, and ‘puppet element control’ to improve the control and combat abilities of the puppets. But for some special puppeteers who lack attack methods, they may choose more advanced auxiliary abilities, such as ‘multi-tasking’ and ‘space control’. After all, the ability to control multiple puppets is also a standard for measuring the strength of a puppeteer. And some puppets with special rules cannot be stored in a storage ring, so spatial abilities are also useful… There are also powerful combinations such as ‘corpse research’, ‘mind control’, ‘element annihilation’, ‘reverse alchemy’, and so on…”

“So many choices?”

Su’en listened and felt a sense of enlightenment.

He didn’t know that there were so many considerations for advancing to the second rank.

“That’s why I said it depends on your own future career planning, so you can make a better choice…”

Mr. Black didn’t continue and said, “If I go into more detail, it will be too much and can’t be finished in a short time. As far as I know, there are more than thirty types of second rank abilities suitable for puppeteers. Of course, the rarer the ability, the harder it is to find the corresponding cursed items. In the end, it depends on your own abilities and choose the best. Sometimes, career advancement also requires some ‘luck’.”

“I see… Thank you for clarifying, sir.”

Su’en listened to these words and felt that it was the right choice to ask this “Mr. Black”.

…….

At this moment, Mr. Black seemed to have thought of something and suddenly said, “However… you are very special. I have a small suggestion for your future career planning.”

Su’en thought he had figured something out and restrained his emotions again, saying, “Please tell me.”

“Well… it’s ‘mental control’.”

Mr. Black said, looking at Su’en as if observing something.

After a moment of contemplation, he continued, “I found that you have a problem. That is, you have very good control over your emotions. You are the only novice I have seen who makes me feel that mind reading is limited. I noticed it when we were at the Gingko Street Apartment last time, but I didn’t figure it out…”

Su’en listened, his face showing a slight change.

It was not surprising that someone who was very skilled in mind reading could see this.

Mr. Black suddenly changed the topic, apparently having figured it out, and said seriously, “You have suppressed some of your emotions in exchange for a constantly calm state. But this long-term suppression is very dangerous and even fatal for your mental state. The more you suppress, the more deadly the backlash…”

“…”

Su’en listened to these words, his eyes narrowing slightly.

Mr. Black pointed out the hidden danger that even the psychologists in his previous life didn’t notice.

He didn’t think there was anything to hide and calmly said, “I didn’t expect to live long before, and I didn’t care. But now…”

In his previous life, he had no interest and didn’t expect anything for the future no matter how long he lived.

But now, in this mysterious world, he was a bit reluctant to just die like this.

Since Mr. Black brought up this topic, Su’en guessed that he might have a solution, so he asked, “So… Mr. Black, do you have a solution?”

“For us alchemists, this may not be a bad thing…”

Mr. Black neither nodded nor shook his head and said, “If I’m not mistaken, your mental power before employment should be much higher than that of an ordinary person.”

Su’en smiled without confirming or denying, half-jokingly said, “May I ask, Mr. Black, are you a doctor?”

Mr. Black didn’t mind and corrected, “No, my profession is a ‘Scholar’. But when it comes to those miscellaneous rumors, ancient alchemy knowledge, and medical mysteries… in the whole Old Lingdun City, there are not many people who know more than me. So it’s not wrong to think of me as a doctor.”Su’en heard these calm words, but they sounded domineering, and a sense of admiration suddenly arose in his heart.

He finally understood that the heavy temperament on Mr. Hei was like this.

It turned out to be profound knowledge, which gave him a pair of eyes that seemed to see through everything in the world.

Mr. Hei continued, “The solution is actually quite simple.”

Su’en listened attentively, “Please tell me more.”

Mr. Hei said, “The root cause lies in ‘control’.”

Su’en: “…”

Mr. Hei continued, “Relying solely on one’s willpower cannot control that kind of violent backlash. Therefore, you need to rely on some external forces, such as mental power secret techniques.”

“Mental power secret techniques?”

Su’en frowned as he listened.

This was another blind spot in his knowledge. Even in any of the memories he had stripped away, no one knew about this concept.

Mr. Hei seemed to sense his confusion and explained, “This is a field that only high-level professionals are qualified to explore. Even in the inner city, it is a ‘forbidden technique’ restricted from spreading by the higher-ups of the Black Tower.”

“Forbidden technique?”

Upon hearing this, Su’en realized that he had probably come into contact with some high-level secrets.

“I have read ancient books and learned that ancient alchemists of higher ranks often practiced mental meditation secret techniques to increase their mental power and control it. It is also used to release high-level spells… Forget it, those things are too advanced for you now, and it would be meaningless to say them. It would only bring you trouble.”

When Mr. Hei said this, he seemed to have some concerns and didn’t say much more. “Just know that by learning a suitable mental secret technique, you can control that chaotic part of your mental power.”

“I see…”

Su’en suddenly realized that there was a cure for his “condition”.

But even though ancient alchemists could practice it, why was it classified as a “forbidden technique” by the Black Tower?

Suddenly… he felt like he had guessed a part of the reason why Mr. Hei had defected.

Upon hearing this, Su’en looked at Mr. Hei again, seemingly expecting something.

“I have indeed been exploring a mental secret technique, but it is extremely dangerous and not suitable for you.”

Mr. Hei saw through Su’en’s thoughts and shook his head slightly, smiling, “I only mentioned this to let you know that if you encounter similar secret techniques in the future, you can pay attention… The ‘Dawn City’ in the underground has been discovered, and a large number of ancient relics have been excavated. There will also be many good things appearing in the black market recently. Perhaps you can find a suitable mental power secret technique for yourself before finishing your collection in the inner city…”

“Dawn City?”

“Yes… It is a newly discovered large-scale ancient ruin underground. Not many people in the outer city know about this news, but it should spread soon.”

“Oh…”

Su’en’s first reaction was the ancient ruins he had traveled to.

But what he cared more about was the “mental power secret technique”.

He didn’t lack mental power, in fact, he had a lot of it.

As the S-rank talent “Reaper of Death,” every time he harvested soul fragments, it would increase his mental power a little. Although the amount of mental power he could extract from ordinary people’s bodies was decreasing, his current mental power value had already reached 75 points, more than double what it was when he first advanced as a professional!

However, this doubled mental power value did not bring Su’en double benefits.

It wasn’t that he didn’t have enough mental power, but that he couldn’t use it.

But just like a handful of loose sand, no matter how much he wanted to use it, he couldn’t hold much with his own hands…

He had felt that something was missing before, and now he realized that there was indeed a concept of “mental power secret technique” in this world.

…….

As they walked and talked, half an hour had already passed.

Mr. Hei seemed to have no intention of continuing, and said, “The more you understand the path of alchemy, the more doubts you will have, and it is impossible to explain them all. After you finish reading those textbooks, I can guarantee that you will probably need ten times or even a hundred times more knowledge to unravel the mysteries…”

“I don’t mind if you come to ask me. But meeting with me frequently will bring you a lot of trouble. So, as the final part of repaying the favor, I can introduce you to a place where you can access advanced knowledge…”

Su’en asked, “Is there such a place in the outer city?”

“Yes, it’s in the black market.”

Mr. Hei said, “It’s not a taboo organization, just a small circle for advanced professionals to communicate. Generally, only second-tier professionals are qualified to receive invitations. I happen to be going there now, so you can come along.”