Starting as pearl divers, they have endless jobs.

Chapter 13: Another Job Change
Name: Chen Ye

【Occupation: Thief (lv3)】

[Talent: Light as a feather]

[Skills: Skillful Hands lv9, Swift Blade lv8, Leaping Roofs lv3]

The changes on the panel were clearly visible.

The thief's profession leveled up, and his skills in scaling walls and leaping across rooftops also improved, undoubtedly thanks to last night's trip to the Lu residence.

Chen Ye understood that upgrading the profession panel couldn't be done by just burying himself in hard work; practice was the key.

Last night's infiltration and delivery of the letter, though seemingly simple, was a complete thief operation, and the experience gained was far more valuable than half a month of hard training.

Meanwhile, within the Lin family compound, a gloomy and desolate atmosphere prevailed.

In the main hall, Lin Hong stared bloodshot at his daughter, who was kneeling on the ground, her hair disheveled and her cheeks swollen. His eyes held no trace of their former affection, only icy disappointment and overwhelming rage.

"You wretched child! You have utterly disgraced the Lin family!"

With a roar, he grabbed the teacup on the table and smashed it on the ground, shards of porcelain flying everywhere.

Lin Yan trembled, but still held her head high, "Father, I've been wronged! Someone is trying to harm me, the Lu family is going too far!"

"Injustice?" Lin Hong laughed angrily. He walked up to Lin Yan step by step, looking down at her. "Even now, you still dare to be stubborn? If you hadn't had an affair and gotten pregnant, would the Lu family have gone to such lengths, even willing to break off the engagement? Do you think the whole world is stupid?!"

He suddenly raised his hand, ready to slap her again.

But looking at his daughter's tear-streaked face, he still couldn't bring himself to do it; his hand trembled violently in mid-air.

Finally, he dejectedly lowered his hand, his voice filled with exhaustion and resolve.

"Somebody come!"

Two burly women immediately walked in.

"Take the Third Miss back to her boudoir. Without my order, she is not to step out of the room even once!" Lin Hong's voice was as cold as ice. "Also, go and invite the best doctor in the city. Tell him that the Third Miss has caught a cold and is feeling unwell."

He paused, and every word seemed to be squeezed out from between his teeth.

"Tell the doctor to use the best medicine, and absolutely... make sure that bastard in her belly doesn't see the light of day tomorrow!"

"No, Father! You can't do this to me!" Lin Yan finally felt fear. She struggled frantically, crying out, "That's your grandson, Father!"

"I, Lin Hong, have no such grandson!" Lin Hong roared.

"Mother, say something!" Seeing that she couldn't beg Lin Hong for mercy, Lin Yan immediately turned her attention to her mother.

But her mother sat motionless in the chair, her head bowed as she twirled her prayer beads and muttered incantations, as if she were in a meditative state.

Without further hesitation, the two old women grabbed Lin Yan and dragged her to the backyard. The shrill cries gradually faded away and eventually disappeared.

That evening, a bowl of dark, medicinal soup was forcibly poured into Lin Yan's mouth.

After the excruciating pain came only a cold, empty void.

She lay on the bed, her face ashen, but her eyes burned with a frenzied hatred. She couldn't understand how things had been exposed. How did the Lu family know so much?

"Mengtao..." she called weakly.

Mengtao, the personal maid, knelt by the bedside, crying, "Miss, I'm here."

"Go, go out and find out who... stabbed you in the back, at all costs!" Meng Tao obeyed and left, returning a day later with the news.

“Miss, it’s all over the place now. They’re saying that the Lu family received an anonymous letter that details everything about you and that young master at Fayuan Temple. The Lu family followed the letter and found out all about it…”

Fayuan Temple!
Upon hearing those three words, Lin Yan frantically searched her mind for anyone who might harm her.

Were they her close female friends with whom she usually didn't get along? Or her father's political enemies?
She considered countless possibilities, but she never imagined that the culprit behind all of this would be the little pageboy she had casually framed and who had long since died in a mass grave.

For a high-class young lady like her, the life or death of a servant is not even worth a moment in her memory.

Unable to find her enemy, her pent-up resentment burned like a wildfire without roots, relentlessly tormenting Lin Yan beyond recognition.

Meanwhile, the Lin family mobilized all its resources in an attempt to suppress the scandal. But public opinion is not so easily silenced.
This scandalous affair has become the hottest topic of conversation among the people of Beijing, with various versions of anecdotes emerging one after another. Lin Yan, the third young lady of the Lin family, has become a synonym for promiscuity and shamelessness, her reputation utterly ruined.

Half a year has passed in the blink of an eye.

As spring turned to summer, the turmoil in the capital gradually subsided. Although the Lin family's scandal remained a topic of ridicule, it was no longer the focus of attention.

In the past six months, Chen Ye has practically turned himself into a cultivation machine.

During the day, he mingled with Fang Tao and others in the city, studying the essence of mastery, using wealthy but unscrupulous merchants and domineering bullies as his practice targets. His methods became increasingly unpredictable, often taking the most vital items from his targets while chatting and laughing.

At night, when all is quiet, he transforms into a phantom of the night, leaping and twirling across the rooftops, practicing his flying leaps and turning the entire rooftops of the southern city into his training ground.

With each swing and slash, the thin-bladed knife in his hand seemed to become an extension of his own arm.

Finally, one night six months later, when Chen Ye finished his last practice and quietly returned to his cabin from the rooftop, a series of notification sounds exploded in his mind.

[Skill: Miraculous Hands has been upgraded to lv10 (max level)!]

[Skill: Quick Blade has been upgraded to lv10 (max level)!]

[Profession: Thief has reached level 5 (max level), meeting the advancement requirements. Would you like to change professions?]

coming!

Chen Ye's heart skipped a beat. Suppressing his excitement, he immediately murmured in his mind, "Yes!"

The next moment, three completely different streams of information flooded into Chen Ye's mind, transforming into three brand-new career options, which quietly floated in his sea of ​​consciousness.

Option 1: Mechanical Hand

[Description: In your eyes, everything in the world is made up of mortise and tenon joints, springs, and hinges. Locks are language, traps are puzzles. You are born with the ability to understand their structure and dismantle their core.]

[Professional Talent: Intuitive and Dexterous – You possess an innate and extraordinary intuition and perception of all machines, mechanisms, and locks, enabling you to quickly discern their structural weaknesses and operational principles.]

Option Two: Night Stalker

[Description: Night is your domain, shadows your royal robes. You will transform into the purest stealth, walking between moonlight and shadow, your footsteps unheard, your tracks untraceable.]

[Talent: Child of Shadows—You are a darling of the shadows, born to merge with darkness. Your presence, voice, and form are greatly suppressed in the shadows, making you almost undetectable.]

Option 3: The Thousand-Faced Person

[Description: One face, one identity. Your voice, gait, and demeanor are all disguises. You can be royalty or a commoner, switching between countless identities to achieve unparalleled goals.]

[Professional Talent: Faceless Disguise - Your ability to disguise and imitate will be innate, allowing you to easily change your temperament and demeanor, making your disguise flawless and extremely difficult for others to detect.]

(End of this chapter)