Chapter 397: Fishing In Troubled Waters (3)
Xia Yunji paused to let out another cough. His face paled somewhat as he said, "But you need to be careful lest you get yourself assassinated. Is that fellow...the same bastard from back then?"
"Definitely." Hong Tan nodded, "That Fatty Xia is still trying to smooth things over. First Divine Sect? Sect master? If I am that sect master, I would go and dig up the Xia Family's ancestral tombs in anger. He is being made a scapegoat for everything that is happening."
Right that moment, Marquis Xia landed beside them.
With a dark expression, he said, "What else could I have done? So all of you are not completely in the dark, are you? So you're aware that there is an Invincible keeping an eye on all of you? Is the Xia Family really so unworthy of trust? Not even Yunji has told us anything about this."
Xia Yunji smiled, "Xiao'er..."
"Do you want to spar with me?"
Marquis Xia's face fell.
"Cough, cough. Second Brother, yes, this is the right way to address you, right?"
Marquis Xia was actually two years older than him. Xia Yunji had merely been used to calling him Xiao'er since their childhood. After correcting himself, Xia Yunji said, "It's not that I don't trust you or Uncle. I believe a lot of people have their doubts about this matter. But...there is no way to resolve this."
Xia Yunji helplessly said, "How can we resolve this? Investigate every single Invincible in existence? We won't be able to find anything. This person had only moved once 50 years ago and had gone silent since then. During the incident, a lot of Invincibles were moving from their posts. Some were in seclusion, some were in the Allheaven Battlefield, and some were carrying out missions in the various minor realms. How are we supposed to find the truth?"
"He said that he has a grudge with the fifth principal."
Xia Yunji smiled bitterly, "It's not like you don't know the fifth principal. He has plenty of enemies. Apart from the multiple character faction and a small number of single character faction cultivators, he has offended way too many people."
"But not many of his enemies are Invincibles."
"Yes, but how do you know if that person was telling the truth?" Xia Yunji shook his head, "And if we really want to pursue this line of thought, the fifth principal did not even have an enemy among the Invincibles with a grudge serious enough to kill. We don't know if that is merely a misdirection. Have you discovered no new clues from this battle?"
Marquis Xia shook his head.
"Then what's even the point of forcing Wenyan to leave Nanyuan?"
Marquis Xia frowned, "What do you mean? That wasn't even me! I don't have the time to do something like that. And this grave digging idea wasn't even mine. I had merely pushed it along. I suspect Wan Tiansheng is the actual culprit who had pushed for this battle to happen."
Xia Yunji frowned, "Wan Tiansheng? What is he trying to do? Even if that fellow really did show up, who among you could even deal with him? Is Uncle in the prefecture?"
His uncle was none other than Great Xia KIng. But even with Great Xia King around, it still wasn't enough. An Invincible was basically impossible to capture.
"No. But we have Longwu here. The fight won't be completely hopeless with Longwu around."
Marquis Xia explained, "The old man is in charge of keeping his eyes on some suspects to further reduce the list of suspects. Over these years, we have been able to greatly reduce the list. We can't investigate openly, but we can still do it secretly. The old man has been acting senile for a couple of years now, challenging people to a spar randomly all the time. With that excuse, he has been able to force some people to fight him with their full strength. If his opponent this time is really the person we're looking for, no clones would have been sent here. The old man still has sharp eyes. He will be able to notice that."
He said, "It's not like this is completely unexpected. That person won't be so careless. He definitely won't come personally." Googlᴇ search novel{f}ire.net
He sighed, "But that person is really not holding anything back. Three whole Eternal characters have been sacrificed for this. Even for an Invincible, this would be quite a big loss as well."
Wu Yuehua furiously said, "Since you're unsure if that person would come, why still set this up? Are you trying to kill Wenyan?"
Marquis Xia merely rolled his eyes and mumbled something about women under his breath.
"I told you, I wasn't the mastermind! I only helped the plan along! Also, if Liu Wenyan continues hiding himself, that person would probably lose patience and head over to Nanyuan himself. The old man has been busy lately and can't keep watching Liu Wenyan from the dark."
"Even if we will end up alerting that person, there is still a need to scare him somewhat so that he would stay patient for a while longer. Also, is Liu Wenyan supposed to keep hiding away?"
In the beginning, Great Xia King would frequently return to the prefecture. And back then, the Liu Family was still powerful. Thus, Liu Wenyan still enjoyed their protection despite his exile.
But now, the Great Xia King had gotten increasingly busy. Thus, alerting the traitor wasn't necessarily a bad idea. That would force the traitor to hold back instead of secretly killing Liu Wenyan in Nanyuan.
With a resentful tone, Marquis Xia said, "There is definitely something different about that character of Liu Wenyan. That person wouldn't have been so fixated on him otherwise, to the point an Invincible is actually trying to kill a much weaker cultivator. I suspect the data he stole back then is incomplete. Perhaps what he lacks is related to this character. That is why he has risked exposing himself to snatch the character."
The others said nothing. That made sense. It was very likely that the stolen data was incomplete. Or perhaps the information wasn't useful without the character. Hence, that person had been so obsessed with Liu Wenyan, to the point where he was willing to spend so many years plotting against Liu Wenyan.
Wu Yuehua said, "Let's ignore that fellow for now. How about Zhou Polong? Just what is he trying to do?"
"Don't ask me." Marquis Xia said, "It's not like I know him that well. Just be careful when it comes to that fellow. He is either aiming to bait that fellow out or trying to destroy your faction. In truth, both options seem acceptable for him. After all, you guys are the reason his father is dead..."
"What did you just say?" Wu Yuehua was furious.
Hong Tan helplessly said, "How is that our fault?"
Marquis Xia shrugged indifferently, "In any case, it has nothing to do with me. To speak the truth, I have a guess at what Zhou Polong's actual goal is. He probably won't let this rest unless Liu Wenyan hands over the character. He might not even need that character for his advancement into the Invincible Realm. That character is simply the perfect tool to bait that person out of hiding."
Indeed, Zhou Polong's goal wasn't too hard to guess. He also wanted the character. With the character, he could use it both for his own advancement and as bait. Either way, the character was very useful for him. And the hidden Invincible also needed that character. Everything that had happened today was proof of that.
Thus, if Zhou Polong couldn't find that person, he would once again set his eyes on the character. If Liu Wenyan was unwilling to hand the character over, then Zhou Polong would simply choose to snatch it.
In any case, he was probably one of the few people with an actual valid reason to snatch the character.
Hong Tan said, "This is all so troublesome. That damn Zhou Polong. We told him long ago that we don't have the data. As for the character, it still can't be materialized. But he still insists on creating trouble. And now, I have exposed my true strength. When he finds out that I have been concealing my strength, he would probably think that I have been lying to him about everything."
"Have you not been lying to him?" Marquis Xia beamed, "Your multiple character faction has quite a lot of secrets. Ability blood essence, character fusion, character technique disassembly..."
"Disassembly what?" Hong Tan said, "My character technique has always existed as a pair. This is a single set of sword and shield. What nonsense are you talking about?"
He thought that Marquis Xia was referring to him. Wu Yuehua and the others merely looked at him with disdain. Why was he still acting?
Hong Tan was astonished, "Why are you looking at me like this? I'm serious. My character technique is really a set!"
"How about Bai Feng?"
"What about him? That stinky brat's character technique is a sword, right?"
"Oh?"
The others laughed. He Ji said, "Stop pretending. One sword? He has revealed four Dragon Slaying Swords so far. But I think a few of them have been destroyed..."
He worriedly asked, "Will Bai Feng be fine? Director Ji took him..."
"Wait!" Hong Tan was alarmed, "Four swords? Several destroyed swords? Taken by Director Ji? What are you talking about? "
The others looked at him again. Was he really unaware or was he pretending? If he was really still pretending, then this would be too excessive. Why was he lying to even his own people?
"Disassembly..." Hong Tan suddenly thought of a possibility and asked, "He disassembled the Dragon Slaying Sword?"
"Yeah..."
"Holy shit!" Hong Tan was alarmed, "That brat was too rash! Was he not afraid of killing himself with his experiments? So is he dead?"
"No. But he was seriously injured with multiple characters destroyed. He was taken away by Director Ji."
They looked sad as they thought about this. They didn't know if recovery was still possible for Bai Feng.
At this time, Hong Tan could no longer spare his senior brother any attention. After thinking about it, he tossed his senior brother to Wu Yuehua before running off. "Take care of my senior brother! I'll go take a look!"
He ran off without any hesitation. Meanwhile, Liu Wenyan was cursing inwardly.
He opened his eyes and coughed a mouthful of blood before saying, "Yunji, I need to heal up. Build a temporary house for me. I need a place to rest..."
Xia Yunji stared at his friend speechlessly. What was the point of building a house? This fellow had clearly recovered enough. Liu Wenyan merely glared at him with threatening eyes.
Hurry up! Without a house to hide himself in, three pairs of eyes would be constantly on him, making him feel uncomfortable.
"Fine. He Ji, you help me build a house..."
When He Ji left to build the requested house, Liu Wenyan coughed a mouthful of blood and fainted once again. He would not regain his consciousness before the house was built. Wu Yuehua and the other two women merely glared at him. But none bothered to say anything.
To the side, Marquis Xia had been silently enjoying the show. At this time, he said, "You guys better stay in the capital temporarily. It will be even better if you enter seclusion. Or else, this matter will be very hard to resolve. Also, your incomplete assimilation of those characters are too embarrassing. You guys better take some time to stabilize your cultivation after that exertion."
After throwing the watermelon skin in his hand on the ground, he said, "Also, remember to pay up for the things you broke today."
"And Liu Wenyan, you killed two Mountainseas. Stop pretending to be unconscious. You need to kill 20 enemy Mountainseas as punishment. If you can't do that, then just stay in the Vanguard Regiment for life."
"In truth, this is good for you. The eyes of many Invincibles are always on the Vanguard Regiment so you will be much safer there. You can take Bai Feng with you as well. That brat will definitely receive a lot more attention after this. For the two of you, the Allheaven Battlefield is safer than the Human Realm. There are too many Invincibles there. Nobody will dare to act rashly there."
Nobody objected.
Marquis Xia continued, "The Zhou Family will definitely continue looking for trouble. It won't be good for you guys to stay in the Human Realm. In all honesty, nobody can spare the time to look after you guys all the time.
"Yunji, you killed a Mountainsea earlier. And you guys had killed three Mountainseas. The Xia Family won't be able to resolve this without sending you guys to the Allheaven Battlefield."
Xia Yunji nodded, "I understand. I'll leave with Wenyan after recovering from our injuries. Hong Tan needs to stay. If all of us leave, then there won't be any of us left back home. No matter what, we still have a few people here, such as Chen Yong, Chen Yong's student, and Su Yu. We need someone to watch over them."
"Sure."
Marquis Xia did not mind. He had been walking while talking and he had already walked quite far away. Suddenly, he turned around and said, "By the way, you guys might not be aware of this. That Su Yu might be Liu Wenyan's illegitimate child."
Right after saying that, he ran off.
"I"
Liu Wenyan abruptly opened his eyes and cursed, "Screw you and your ancestors!"
"I'll be sure to pass your words to my old man!" Marquis Xia roared with laughter.
"I..."
Liu Wenyan was so furious that he suddenly coughed a mouthful of blood before fainting for real. Wu Yuehua looked at the others before giving Liu Wenyan's chest a pat with her palm, forcing a mouthful of stuck blood to flow out. With that, Liu Wenyan woke back up.
"Your son?"
But Liu Wenyan insisted on pretending to be unconscious. What a stupid question. That was definitely not his son. But how was he supposed to explain something like that? That was most certainly a slander!
Wu Yuehua coldly said, "No wonder. You have not contacted me for decades. For the sake of Su Yu, you had actually called me before he even entered the academy just so I could watch over him in the academy. That was the second time you have ever called me over the past 50 years."
Liu Wenyan felt extremely sullen. That was not true! Forget it. This woman was unreasonable. It was pointless for him to explain.
Nearby, He Ji had just returned after building a house. He asked in astonishment, "He's Big Brother Liu's son? No wonder he's so talented! The apple doesn't fall far from the tree, after all. No wonder he looks like a replica of a younger Big Brother Liu."
"I"
Liu Wenyan had the urge to open his eyes and hack He Ji to death with his axe. This fellow was actually adding oil to fire! Why was this fellow so good at this?
They started laughing, but suddenly, Wu Yuehua said, "Old Su wasn't here. Anyone know what's up with him?"
Vice Principal Su.
Previously, this person was also one of their supporters. But he had been absent today.
He Ji sighed, "Forget it. Let him be. Xia Yuwen is trying to become the next prefect. To secure his support, Xia Changqing offered to have Su Meng marry Xia Yuwen. That is such a good plan. Xia Yuwen would first take Su Meng as his wife before taking the girl from the Ji Family as his second wife. That way, he would be able to rope in a peak Mountainsea and a Sunmoon. Those two coupled with Xia Changqing would form a rather powerful support base for his struggle over the position of the prefect."
"Hmph!"
Wu Yuehua snorted, "That fellow can keep dreaming. He even set his eyes on Little Qi before. Why doesn't he look into a mirror first?"
They stopped talking about Vice Principal Su.
At this time, He Ji teased, "Yuehua, Bai Feng is a decent young man..."
"He's not good enough to catch Little Qi's attention." Wu Yuehua proudly said, "And he's too weak."
"He defeated Xia Yuwen. He's definitely not weak..."
"Who knows what his future would look like? Maybe he's already a cripple." Wu Yuehua then said, "Su Yu would be a good choice. He is both talented and tenacious..."
They all stared at her blankly. Was she serious? Was she only suggesting this after hearing that Su Yu might be the illegitimate child of a certain someone? If so, then that was a truly terrible idea.
After all, if Su Yu was really that someone's illegitimate child, then Su Yu could actually be considered a generation above Wu Qi. The seniority would be all messed up. Liu Wenyan decided to keep pretending to be unconscious.
There was nothing he could say here. He would allow these people to say whatever they wanted. Then again, he was quite surprised to see Su Yu's arrival. That was truly a gutsy kid.
But that had also proved how loyal that kid was toward those close to him. Unfortunately, he would need to leave for the Allheaven Battlefield soon. He would have no chance to spend more time with the kid.
Chapter 398: A Saint Or A Sham (1)
Outside the capital city.
Su Yu was still cautiously sticking close to Xia Huyou.
At this point, Xia Huyou really didn't know what else he could say about how cautious Su Yu was anymore. While running, he said, "Too many experts have shown up today. Nobody will dare to make a move against you today. I am confident enough to bet my surname on that. If I'm wrong, I'll follow the surname of the attacker."
While speaking, he rolled his eyes. Would anyone dare to try anything today? The Blood Fire Sect's sect master was probably only here to enjoy the show. But he ended up killed. Of course, Xia Huyou himself was unclear if that was really the truth.
The Blood Fire Sect was filled with fools And their leader was a warlike person. Apart from a small number of members, most of their members were brutes. Thus, it was very possible that their sect master had really come over to enjoy the show. Who would have expected that Xia Longwu would cut that sect master down with one hit?
Even a Sunmoon had perished today. Who would still dare to risk doing anything today? Numerous Mountainseas and a decent number of Sunmoons had shown themselves tonight. Who would dare to create trouble in such an environment? But Su Yu did not care. He was not going to let go of his human shield.
Xia Huyou was completely speechless. He gave up and continued running while sending his willpower into a jade talisman. After a while, his eyes lit up as he exclaimed, "Holy shit! It's real!"
He looked at Su Yu, "Did the fifth principal leave this behind?"
"Guess."
"Fortuitous encounter? You just got it? I never heard of Bai Feng knowing something like this."
Xia Huyou said, "It can even open 36 apertures. Why are you so generous today?"
This was a treasure!
Su Yu smiled, "We are brothers. We should share everything. Your dad is my...adopted dad. Your grandpa is my adopted grandpa. And your second granduncle is my adopted second granduncle."
"..."
Xia Huyou was completely speechless. This bastard had definitely discovered his identity. Just listen to the words coming out of this fellow's mouth!
"Do you want my wife as well?"
"Absolutely not!"
"Oh, good." While running, Xia Huyou said, "I have a question. Why is this manual only showing 35 apertures? Where are the instructions for the final aperture? Without the final aperture, I don't think these apertures can be joined into a system."
"Your dad is still not my adopted dad yet. When he becomes my adopted dad for real, I'll give you the instructions for the final aperture."
"..."
Xia Huyou felt like cursing. Forget it. He would settle with 35 apertures for now. He was going to take some time opening them anyway. He would think about this again after opening all of them.
But without linking the apertures into a system, the effects of these 35 apertures would be greatly weakened. They might not even be as useful as his existing cultural art with 18 apertures.
Finally, Xia Huyou started detecting waves of dense source qi ahead of him. He said, "Don't reveal my identity to outsiders! That can get me killed easily!"
"Don't worry. You're my brother. Will I harm my brother?"
Xia Huyou was getting tired of speaking with Su Yu. He felt like he should perhaps consider maintaining some distance with this fellow. This guy was way too good at taking every single advantage he could find.
Out of nowhere, his dad had turned into this fellow's adopted dad. That was the prefect of Great Xia, an expert on the cusp of entering the Invincible Realm. He actually dared to call someone like that his adopted dad?
The two chatted while running. Finally, they arrived. But someone was already there before them. Su Yu blanked out in surprise.
Not far away, Liu Hong grinned before flashing them a genial smile, "Su Yu is here. Student Xia Huyou is here as well? Come on. Let's cultivate together. A Sunmoon has perished to grant us this blessing. This is a very rare gift."
"Holy shit!"
Su Yu really didn't know what he should say about Liu Hong. This fellow was actually the first to arrive the moment there were some benefits to be gained.
"Teacher Liu, why hadn't you gone over there?"
While asking, Su Yu sat down cross-legged and started absorbing the willpower and source qi in the air. The air was thick with energy. This felt even better than the Source Qi Secret Grotto, and the source qi here also felt purer. Time to open some acupoints and apertures!
Liu Hong smiled, "That place was filled with experts. A little shrimp like me won't make any difference there. That is a conflict between people of their generation. It really has nothing much to do with us." ʀᴇᴀᴅ ʟᴀᴛᴇsᴛ ᴄʜᴀᴘᴛᴇʀs ᴀᴛ N0veI.Fiɾe.net
At this time, more people arrived. Lin Yao and Yang Sha.
The moment they reached, they asked in excitement, "Teacher, will my cultivation speed increase if I cultivate here?"
A warm smile appeared on Liu Hong's face as he said, "Of course. I came earlier to check this place for dangers. The moment I was sure this place was safe, I notified the two of you. Cultivate well. Don't waste this opportunity."
"Thank you, Teacher."
The two were incredibly excited. When Lin Yao saw Su Yu, he revealed a smile. But when his gaze landed on Xia Huyou, the smile vanished. That was an outsider! He couldn't expose his relationship with Su Yu!
Liu Hong was able to see all that and could only curse inwardly. He could no longer be bothered about his student's relationship with Su Yu. He returned his focus to absorbing the willpower in the air. He didn't care too much for source qi. Instead, he cared a lot more about willpower. The willpower leaking out of a dead Sunmoon was extremely pure.
As for Lin Yao and Yang Sha, well, they should be happy with absorbing a little bit of source qi. They probably wouldn't be able to get much of the willpower. They could consider this a sort of nourishment for their sea of willpower since they didn't have any soul apertures they could use to absorb willpower.
Gradually, more and more people arrived.
Wan Mingze, Hu Qiusheng, Zhao Shiji
Under the lead of their elders, these genius students arrived one after another.
Apart from them, the other students were also starting to arrive. In fact, there were not only students in the area.
But these outsiders did not dare to go deep into the area and only stayed at the outskirts. A Sunmoon had perished here today. They had no idea what had happened and wouldn't dare to rashly enter this place. If it wasn't for the fact that the students of the academies had all entered the place, they wouldn't even dare to approach this place.
Su Yu silently absorbed the willpower in an inconspicuous manner. A Sunmoon had perished here. The willpower in the air was dense enough that as long as he was careful, nobody would notice him.
Suddenly, someone called out behind him in joy, "Yu!"
Su Yu recognized that voice. When he turned around, sure enough, it was Chen Hao. Su Yu was very surprised. Why was Chen Hao here? This wasn't a place just anyone could come. In fact, the Martial Dragon Guards had already arrived to set up a perimeter around the area.
Apart from people like Su Yu who had arrived early, most of the other students had only arrived under the lead of some experts. How did Chen Hao manage to enter this place? When Su Yu gave Chen Hao another look, he was even more surprised. This fellow had reached the Great Strength Realm!
First-stage Great Strength Realm!
Sure, that wasn't too high a cultivation level, but this cultivation speed was still quite astonishing. Not long had passed since the two of them had arrived at the capital. Only after exhausting countless resources did Su Yu manage to reach the ninth-stage Great Strength Realm. And this fellow had actually managed to reach the first-stage Great Strength Realm.
Chen Hao did not have that many thoughts in his mind. He was about to run over in excitement when he recalled something. He hurriedly calmed down and nonchalantly walked over before sitting down. While absorbing source qi, he whispered, "Yu, will this level of interaction between us be fine?"
He still remembered that his father had reminded him many times to not stick too close to Su Yu. Su Yu was speechless.
"It's fine. This is a normal interaction between fellow students. What's so weird about having a conversation when seeing each other?"
He ignored Xia Huyou's curious gaze and asked, "Who brought you here?"
"Teacher Xie!" Chen Hao softly said, "Teacher Xie has some connections among the Martial Dragon Guards so we were allowed to enter. Yu, did you sneak in as well?"
Sneaking in? Xia Huyou looked at that fellow with an odd gaze. Did Su Yu even need to sneak? The multiple character faction was the main reason for everything that had happened today. Even if Su Yu came alone, the Martial Dragon Guards would not stop him from entering.
"Teacher Xie?"
Su Yu was quite surprised. When he looked at the perimeter, he saw Teacher Xie chatting with some of the Martial Dragon Guards there. He was quite surprised, but he said nothing.
He casually tossed a jade talisman to Chen Hao. When Chen Hao picked the talisman up, Su Yu softly said, "This is a sound talisman. We can use this to converse everywhere within the capital city."
"Oh."
Chen Hao hurriedly put that away. But he was curious why they would need this when they could call each other with communicators. He concluded that cultural researchers were simply a weird bunch. Because of that, his childhood friend Yu had also been turned into a weird person.
"What cultivation method are you cultivating?"
"War God Art."
"Which version?"
"What?"
"How many acupoints?" Su Yu was somewhat speechless. The answer was already clear. This fellow probably cultivated the basic version with 72 acupoints.
Sure enough, Chen Hao answered, "It's incredible! It has 72 acupoints!"
Incredible his ass!
"What blood essence did you use to forge your body?"
"I have yet to forge my body..."
One could forge one's body at any time as long as one was still in the Great Strength Realm. For example, Chen Qi had only prepared for his body forging after reaching the seventh stage. There was no rush.
After thinking about it, Su Yu gestured to his friend to use the talisman. Chen Hao merely held it in hand. He didn't know how to use it.
Su Yu felt a headache coming. He said, "Willpower...scratch that. Activate it with your source qi."
Chen Hao did not have any willpower. No, that wasn't completely accurate. Willpower was something everyone possessed, but for most people, their willpower was too weak for them to detect.
"Ok..."
Curious, Chen Hao did as told. A short while later, his jaw dropped. Incredible! He could read some messages through the talisman!
"Just focus on cultivating first. When you have some time, come look for me. Stay low key. I'll help you forge your body."
What was the best location for body forging? The Source Qi Secret Grotto! And what was the best blood essence for body forging? Mountainbreak bull blood essence!
Chapter 399: A Saint Or A Sham (2)
In the war academy, only a super genius would be able to afford spending a large amount of resources for their body forging. An example of such a person was the freak from Bai Feng's generation.
A normal student would have no hope of getting an expensive body forging. With Zhao Li's token, Su Yu could send some people into the grotto. Of course, he still needed to be careful lest rumors started flying.
Chen Hao was about to speak when Su Yu contacted him with the sound talisman, "Don't talk. Don't tell anyone you're looking for me at the cultural research academy. Just notify me in advance and I'll get someone to pick you up."
After messing with the talisman for a bit, Chen Hao also learned how to use it. But the voice transmission took some time. Only after a short while did it connect, "Alright. I understand. Yu, let me tell you about a good method to increase your cultivation speed. You can pretend to help your teachers clean their dwellings. There, the environment would be good and the source qi would be plentiful. You can cultivate much faster there!"
"..."
Su Yu was completely speechless.
Oh you sweet summer child.
Fast his ass!
A place like that would be filled with experts. Sure, the ambient source qi there would be dense, but would a student be able to compete against these experts in terms of source qi absorption?
But this fellow had indeed progressed quickly. After thinking for a bit, realization hit Su Yu. Old Xie was helping him? Probably. Without Old Xie's help, how would Chen Hao be able to reach the Great Strength Realm so quickly?
Of course, the cultivation method he used had also played a big part in his speed. That was a cultivation method with only 72 acupoints. Thus, he only needed to open 8 acupoints per stage.
Initially, Su Yu wanted to give Chen Hao the earth-grade War God Art. But after some thought, he gave up on that thought. It wasn't like Old Xie didn't have something like that. Since he had not provided it to Chen Hao, then it could only mean that Chen Hao's speed would probably be too slow with that version. That would only slow down his progress.
True. Without resources, strong enough talent, and a backing, one wouldn't even be able to utilize a heaven-grade cultivation method. It was simply not possible for Chen Hao to open that many acupoints. Just because one opened only 72 acupoints did not mean that one would have no future.
Sure, one might be weaker than others with better cultivation methods. But one would be able to grow at a decent pace and perhaps even reach the Invincible Realm eventually. Even a weaker Invincible would still be an Invincible. In front of any Invincible, the Sunmoon Realm was nothing.
Only top geniuses would aim to become the strongest in the same cultivation level. That was not a requirement for Chen Hao. Pursuing something like that would only slow his growth.
"Got it. By the way, I have a War God Art willpower text and a Skybreak Technique manual as well. I can share them with you later when you come to the cultural academy."
"Skybreak Technique? What's that?"
"..."
Su Yu had nothing to say. Just what had this fellow been doing for the past two months? Why was he so clueless about everything? Then again, it was understandable. He was already a first-stage Great Strength cultivator. He must have spent all his time cultivating instead of learning about other stuff.
Su Yu decided to stop talking and focus on his cultivation. He had already absorbed a decent amount of character intent of the destroyed Eternal characters from the warzone, allowing him to open a decent number of soul apertures. Even now, his sea of willpower was in the process of digesting his gains from earlier. With the boost from this new environment, he started opening his apertures rapidly.
33 apertures, 34 apertures, 35 apertures...
After a while, his sea of willpower shook. The 36th aperture had been opened.
Rumble!
In his sea of willpower, the 36 apertures connected with each other and formed a cycle. Instantly, Su Yu's willpower absorption speed rose sharply.
Xia Huyou was in the midst of absorbing willpower beside Su Yu when the look in his eyes changed. He looked at Su Yu and cursed before asking, "You formed a system with your apertures?"
Forming a system was the sign that one had successfully cultivated a cultivation method.
Holy shit!
Had this fellow opened 36 apertures? That was inconceivable. That was way too fast.
Xia Huyou himself had absorbed a decent amount of willpower and a little character intent from the warzone earlier. And he had gained a lot from that. In fact, he had benefited so much that he had finally completed the cultivation of his 18-aperture cultural art.
But what was up with Su Yu? This fellow had actually completed the cultivation of a 36-aperture cultural art!
Su Yu ignored Xia Huyou. He had already opened over 20 apertures previously. What was so surprising about him opening the remaining apertures now?
With a system formed with his apertures, the speed of his willpower absorption increased sharply. Worried that he would attract unwanted attention, Su Yu moved closer to Xia Huyou. This way, even if someone detected the movement of willpower, it would be blamed on Xia Huyou, not him!
In his sea of willpower, the little hammer was hard at work, tempering the newly absorbed willpower.
Compress!
In fact, the short period of willpower absorption had pushed Su Yu's willpower to 90 percent full. That was too fast. Even Su Yu himself was alarmed. It would be troublesome if he accidentally entered the Skysoar Realm.
Thus, he was working very hard to compress his willpower with the hammer. And the process was causing him great pain. As a result, he started sweating heavily. However, he did not stop and continued the compression process.
Compress! And compress!
From 90 percent, it dropped to 85 percent, 80 percent...
And finally stopped at 75 percent. That was the limit. Su Yu could no longer compress his willpower further. Only then did he start absorbing more willpower to open more apertures. There was no way he was going to let this perfect cultivation environment go to waste.
After all, he had a lot more apertures to open. He had only opened 36 out of 180 apertures! Thanks to his linked apertures, he was able to rapidly absorb willpower. One ought to know that even a ninth-stage Skysoar would generally only open 36 apertures.
That was not to say that Su Yu was already a ninth-stage Skysoar. But if he was to break through right this instance, his willpower would shoot straight to the peak of the second tier. His characters would also be instantly elevated to the peak of the second tier. After meeting both those requirements, he would already be qualified to be considered a ninth-stage Skysoar.
Of course, 36 apertures were truthfully not a lot. If he continued cultivating the same cultivation method at the Cloudbreach Realm, he would probably be stuck unless he cultivated the Myriad Text Sutra on top of this 36-aperture cultural art.
At the moment, the area was filled with people. A majority of them were students. There were also a small number of Skysoar and Cloudbreach cultivators cultivating there.
It was worth noting that at the Skysoar and Cloudbreach Realms, the density of source qi and willpower might not necessarily help one advance into the next realm. One needed to first meet all the requirements for the breakthrough.
With their characters, apertures, and willpower to work on, these people would mostly absorb enough to reach willpower saturation before stopping.
...
Time passed. One hour. Two hours. And eventually, morning arrived.
At that moment, someone finished his cultivation and approached Su Yu. Su Yu stealthily hid his apertures and switched to absorbing source qi instead.
"Su Yu."
Su Yu looked up at Wan Mingze and smiled, "Brother Wan!"
Wan Mingze had a solemn face as he said, "I heard of what happened last night. Teacher Bai has been seriously injured. Even after recovering, he might not be able to return to the academy anymore. He would probably be sent to the Allheaven Battlefield. Do you want to reconsider my previous proposal?"
"To join the neutral faction?"
"Yeah."
Su Yu smiled, "Neutral faction. Previously, you said that Xia Yuwen was a part of this faction as well. But he's not neutral anymore."
That faction was simply a joke. Wu Qi and Xia Yuwen were in the neutral faction. But Xia Yuwen had still decided to move against Bai Feng.
Su Yu did not know the exact details of what had happened since he had not seen it with his own eyes. But from what Zheng Ping said, Xia Yuwen had indeed been injured from the fight.
"That's why he's no longer one of us."
"Oh? Is the neutral faction not avenging him?"
"He has received his injuries from participating in an internal conflict. Why should we avenge him?"
"So the goal of the neutral faction is to hug trees and not strive for anything?"
"No. Our focus is the Allheaven Battlefield."
Su Yu smiled, "That sounds great. But I'm afraid of getting stabbed in the back. Vice Principal Xia Changqing was a part of the neutral faction, right? He is no longer neutral. He's supporting Xia Yuwen in the struggle for the position of the prefect. And Xia Yuwen has probably been reduced into a cripple. If I join now, I will probably end up targeted."
"That won't happen."
"Can you even speak on behalf of the faction?"
Wan Mingze solemnly said, "Yes. I'll put it this way. The neutral faction exists in all academies. This is not something we have founded ourselves. Instead, those in the Knowledge Seeking Realm are the ones leading this operation. Our main goal is to stop the conflict between the single and multiple character factions. We do not wish to see this conflict affect the students who are unwilling to get dragged into these internal conflicts.
"Although the Knowledge Seeking Realm has not moved directly to end the conflict all these years, they have been protecting the students who wish to cultivate without disturbance. This is the Knowledge Seeking Realm's response to the conflict between the two factions."
Realization dawned on Su Yu.
So that was why. He had been curious about the confidence of this so-called neutral faction. So it was actually led by the Knowledge Seeking Realm. No wonder. But that also proved that the Knowledge Seeking Realm was very clear about the conflict between the two factions. Yet they had not done anything to stop it.
Su Yu didn't know if, like the Xia Family, their hands were tied, or if they were simply deliberately allowing the conflict to fester and spread.
"I'll think about it." Su Yu smiled, "In my current situation, even if I stop creating trouble, others will continue targeting me. I don't think I should join and attract more trouble to your faction."
"Su Yu, these conflicts should never have involved the students. You can join us for now and return after reaching the Skysoar or the Cloudbreach Realms. We won't stop you. I am sincerely hoping that you can really consider our offer."
Wan Mingze sounded really earnest. He did not wish to see Su Yu be disrupted from his cultivation. It wouldn't be too late for Su Yu to rejoin the conflict at the Skysoar or the Cloudbreach Realms. As a genius, he was worthy of this special treatment.
This was actually something good for Su Yu. And Su Yu understood that. He felt slightly guilty for being so indifferent toward someone offering help and said, "Thank you, Brother Wan. I'll be honest then. I enjoy these conflicts. Without these conflicts, how should I grow? How can I gain more benefits? My teacher is now a seriously injured person. My first teacher has also been seriously injured. Even my senior sister is still recuperating from her willpower injury. I don't know a lot of people yet the ones closest to me are suffering. Am I supposed to just leave them behind?"
Impossible!
He paused to think before saying, "Brother Wan, do you think the single character faction will stop targeting us after this?"
"No." Wan Mingze said, "Unless Instructor Liu hands over the character or reveals it to everyone, this can't be resolved so easily."
"There you have it."
Su Yu did not say anything else. Yes, those people wouldn't be willing to give up. But Su Yu also wasn't willing to just put this behind him. He would pursue his vengeance against every single one of those people.
Great Xia was not a lawless place. The warzone had been removed and the rule of law had returned. Within Great Xia, those at the Skysoar Realm and above couldn't touch him. In that case, what was there for him to fear? The rıghtful source is NoveI(F)ire.net
Wan Mingze was regretful. He said, "Fine. I'll respect your choice. But don't forget that our door will always be open for you. When you need to, feel free to join us. We have the support of the Knowledge Seeking Realm while you're a genius. You will definitely be welcomed. The conflict between the single and multiple characters faction is no longer a single conflict over orthodoxy. It has devolved into a conflict of personal grudges, benefits, power, and status. It is no longer something purely about cultivation.
"I don't know what the Knowledge Seeking Realm is thinking, but if a day comes when I manage to enter the Knowledge Seeking Realm and gain some power there, I will definitely suggest that they put an end to this."
"That's an ambitious thought." Su Yu smiled, "But power is something you can only get by fighting for it. Brother Wan, do not put the Knowledge Seeking Realm on a pedestal. Conflict is inevitable as long as people are involved. Ultimately, power rules over everything."
"In my opinion, the current chaos within the Human Realm is mainly due to one reason: the lack of a supreme expert capable of suppressing everyone. Or to be precise, the Human Realm is not faced with enough danger yet."
Chapter 400: A Saint Or A Sham (3)
Su Yu shook his head. He had finally understood something. From all the battles, struggles, and chaos, he had realized something. All these conflicts were merely the precursor to the rise of a true overlord.
The human race still lacked a super expert that could suppress everyone with force. Without someone like that, those arrogant experts would never lower their heads to anyone. Nobody would unconditionally obey the orders of others. That was also the reason for the lack of unity among the various prefectures of the Human Realm.
The two holy lands might be powerful, but the holy lands were also comprised of the top experts of the various prefectures.
For example, Great Xia King was a member of the War Shrine. But he would naturally prioritize Great Xia in his considerations. Similarly, Great Zhou King would prioritize Great Zhou.
That would only change when someone strong enough to suppress all these Invincibles appeared. Someone who could truly force the entire human race to heed his commands. Only then would the chaos end. Only then would all these internal struggles end.
These internal struggles would serve as the grindstone to produce the ultimate expert that could rule over them all. And if even Su Yu could realize that, then the Invincibles had most certainly realized the same. They had reached the same conclusion long ago.
That was why they had allowed all these internal conflicts to happen. They only ensured the unity of humanity at the front line. Back home, the human race was allowed to continue struggling against each other.
In fact, if it wasn't for the threat of the myriad races, the Human Realm would have devolved into a civil war long ago.
Thus, one could say that the threat of the myriad races was actually a good thing for the human race. It allowed humanity to maintain their unity at the front line. After all, the Invincibles knew that if they fell in the front line, then it would no longer matter who the leader was back home anymore.
Wan Mingze was a smart man. He was naturally aware of all that as well.
The look in his eyes changed as he nodded, "You're right. But all the Invincibles are super experts. Who among them can fully suppress the others? Therefore, I wish to educate everyone on the danger coming from the Allheaven Battlefield, the looming threat of the myriad races, and the difficult position our military is in. Starting from our generation, I wish to unify the majority and join hands against external enemies."
Wan Mingze earnestly said, "I know. You might think that I am merely dreaming. But I need to remind you that the various forces of humanity aren't really as friendly with each other as you thought. Things are still not too bad in Great Xia's military. But for some prefectures, even their military on the front line had devolved into a mess of internal conflicts. Some are even starting to doubt the threat posed by the myriad races."
Wan Mingze sighed, "People should start planning for danger in times of safety. Alas, a lot of people have already forgotten that. If this continues, the Human Realm will be in danger. The Invincibles are aware of this change of attitude as well. That is why they have been pushing for a union of the various prefectures. They know that this can't continue."
"If they really want to achieve unity, just start more wars with the myriad races."
Su Yu was acting like it was an easy thing to do. Wan Mingze couldn't even be bothered to offer a retort. He sighed, "I will stop bothering you, then. Brother Su, I wish you a smooth path of cultivation."
He then looked at Xia Huyou and softly said, "Brother Xia, if a day comes where...Basically, I hope that the Xia Family can consider things from the perspective of the entire human race when the day comes."
Xia Huyou rolled his eyes.
"Go tell the other families this. It's not like we are the ones pushing for this. Like Su Yu said, we need enough external pressure for everyone to let go of their grudges. Either that or we need a supreme expert to rise and suppress everyone. Otherwise, do you think it's really possible that the Xia Family will willingly bow and become the little brother of someone not stronger than us?"
That was impossible.
From this, it was clear how difficult it was for the Human Realm to achieve unity. That was basically the stance of every single ruling family in the Human Realm, such as the Xia Family, the Zhou Family, the Zhu Family, the Qin Family, and so on.
Why should they play second fiddle? Wan Mingze left with a dispirited look on his face.
After Wan Mingze left, Xia Huyou said, "He is either a saint or a super hypocrite. I truly hope to see him rise in power. I think he's planning to roam the Human Realm and persuade the various experts to unify against external threats. That's actually a good thought, but it's too hard. Not even becoming an Invincible is that hard."
So was he a saint or a hypocrite? It was too early to judge. Wan Mingze was still too weak. Thus, one would not be able to get a glimpse at his true ambitions. He would probably start revealing more about himself after growing stronger.
Xia Huyou suddenly said, "He's on the verge of reaching the Skysoar Realm. This fellow is far stronger than you have imagined. His willpower is at peak first-tier. His Divine Characters are at the second tier. I believe he is actually strong enough to enter the top 30 of the ranking. He is also suppressing his willpower to delay his breakthrough."
Also suppressing. Note the keyword. Also. Who was the other person? Was it Su Yu or was Xia Huyou referring to himself?
"Suppressing his cultivation? Is he plotting against someone?"
That was also Bai Feng's guess.
"Not necessarily." Xia Huyou explained, "That depends on whether he has a foundation cultural art. If he has one, then he is probably planning to break through after opening more apertures. That will save him a lot of time at the Skysoar Realm. He is probably aiming to directly skip a few stages and reach the fourth or fifth stage upon breakthrough. After all, his cultivation speed will drop after entering the Skysoar Realm."
"Since he is claiming neutrality and even claiming to represent the neutral faction, I suspect that he has caught the favor of an old fossil from the Knowledge Seeking Realm. His teacher could very well be an Invincible."
"If that's the case, then he probably has a foundation cultural art." Su Yu said, "Yes, he has no teacher in the academy! Wait, but how does he have a junior brother?"
"He has a teacher in the academy." Xia Huyou said, "The principal is his nominal teacher. But the principal has been completely ignoring him. Is his actual teacher is even someone from the academy?"
"..."
Right! Su Yu only remembered that Wan Mingze had a teacher in the academy but he had instinctively neglected who that teacher was. That teacher was Wan Tiansheng! In that case, then Wan Tiansheng could very well not be his true teacher.
Everyone had instinctively believed that his teacher should be Wan Tiansheng due to their relationship. Perhaps Wan Mingze was really the student of an Invincible.
Beside them, Chen Hao's jaw had dropped a while ago. What were they talking about? Skysoar, Mountainsea, Invincible...Knowledge Seeking Realm, neutral faction, conflict between single and multiple character factions, struggle between the prefectures...What the hell was he listening to? ɴᴇᴡ ɴᴏᴠᴇʟ ᴄʜᴀᴘᴛᴇʀs ᴀʀᴇ ᴘᴜʙʟɪsʜᴇᴅ ᴏɴ novel※fire.net
"Yu, have you reached the Great Strength Realm?"
Chen Hao was whispering. He felt like he was listening to a fantasy story earlier so he was trying to make things clearer.
A random student had walked over to have a talk with them. And next, this fatty beside Yu claimed that the random student was near the Skysoar Realm and was the student of an Invincible. What the hell did that even mean?
When that random student who Chen Hao personally believed was more handsome than his friend Yu was speaking, Chen Hao understood every single word the student spoke. But at the same time, Chen Hao also had no idea what that handsome student was talking about.
Su Yu glanced at Chen Hao and replied, "Yeah."
"Are you in the Infinite Strength Realm already?"
"Nope."
"Oh...I see. I was scared for a moment. I thought you're already at the Infinite Strength Realm."
Chen Hao heaved a breath of relief. Phew.
"But I can already kill seventh-stage Infinite Strength cultivators. I can probably enter the top 10 of your academy's Infinite Strength Ranking. Am I great?"
"..."
Chen Hao said nothing. He had reached source qi saturation long ago. At this moment, he silently stood up and walked away without giving Su Yu a second look. He was feeling sullen. So he decided to stop talking to Su Yu. But Su Yu received a message in his sound talisman.
"You were lying to me, right? Yu, we are brothers. Can you please console me?"
"Yes. I was lying. You're not even in the Great Xia War Academy. Your academy only has the Dragon Tiger Ranking. In your academy, I think I can enter the top five."
Not far away, Chen Hao staggered. He turned around and shot Su Yu a look of grief. Those words were not comforting at all! He walked out of the perimeter. There, Old Xie was waiting.
Looking at Chen Hao's sad face, Old Xie asked curiously, "What's up?"
"Teacher, I opened four acupoints."
"Not bad."
"Teacher, do you think I can challenge the Dragon Tiger Ranking?"
Old Xie rolled his eyes, "Challenge my ass. Even the student ranked 100th can defeat you in one move."
"Then how strong does one need to be to enter the top five of the ranking?"
"How strong? At least seventh-stage Infinite Strength Realm with a minimum of 10 fused acupoints per stage. You can forget about this. You only have 72 acupoints so you won't be able to fuse more than 8 acupoints. Strictly speaking, you're an Eight Strength warrior, not a true Infinite Strength warrior. This is your limit. Even at the ninth-stage Infinite Strength Realm, you will still have a hard time reaching the top five."
Even at the ninth stage, Chen Hao would still be someone who had fused eight acupoints to advance. He was definitely not a match for true Infinite Strength warriors.
Looking at Chen Hao's dispirited look, Old Xie comforted him, "It's fine. Since you can't beat them at the Infinite Strength Realm, just aim to reach the Skysoar Realm faster and beat them up. If they manage to reach the Skysoar Realm, just rush to the Cloudbreach Realm and beat them up. What's so special about those geniuses? Being a genius does not guarantee faster advancement. Their talent only helps them in the far future where they will be able to enter the Sunmoon and the Invincible Realms with their talent. It's not like you can reach those realms so why worry about that? Just beat them up during the Mountainsea Realm and below before they manage to reach the apex of their cultivation."
Old Xie's comforting words were not comforting at all. The old man had so nonchalantly pointed out that he wouldn't be able to reach those realms.
Chen Hao sullenly said, "Teacher, stop consoling me."
He did not need these kinds of comforting words. This teacher was even worse than Su Yu.
Old Xie smiled, "I'm serious. Don't be discouraged. You can't beat them now so just leave your hope for the future. You never know what will happen. Do you know this? Our Great Xia King had only opened 36 acupoints at the Great Strength Realm. He was able to cultivate until the peak of the Cloudbreach Realm with that many acupoints.
"Only after entering the Mountainsea Realm did he start opening more acupoints. Sure, at that level, acupoint opening is hard. But he is strong enough to fight for more resources. And he also has the lifespan to slowly improve. Thus, his Sky Sundering Saber slowly improved from the yellow grade to the profound grade, to the earth grade, and finally, the heaven grade. He has been growing one step at a time. Believe in yourself. You might be the next Great Xia King."
This time, Old Xie's words worked. Chen Hao became completely pumped and motivated.
Yes!
He also wanted to keep advancing until the Mountainsea Realm before opening new acupoints. He also wanted to slowly develop a profound-grade cultivation method into the earth or even the heaven grade!
Meanwhile, Old Xie was sighing inwardly. Silly kid. Those were only words meant to comfort him. Don't take those words seriously.
There were probably hundreds of millions of people dreaming of achieving the same. But for a lot of people, even the Skysoar Realm was unreachable. They could forget about the higher realms.
These people should not be planning for the Mountainsea and Sunmoon Realms this early like those geniuses.
Those geniuses were only opening so many acupoints at this stage to build their foundations for the future. They were preparing themselves for the Mountainsea Realm, to reach a level where they could contain all their methods and techniques within a single acupoint.
As for students like Chen Hao, they should be content with the Skysoar Realm. As a Skysoar, Chen Hao could already be the mayor of a city like Nanyuan. Sure, Nanyuan was a small city. These students might not like a place like that. But even in the bigger cities, a Skysoar would still be able to become an influential official.
And in the army, a Skysoar could become a 1000-man commander. That was already a good career prospect. Old Xie had never envisioned Chen Hao to reach for the skies in the future.
"Go back and focus on your cultivation. I'll try to get some good stuff for you."
Old Xie started speaking with an enigmatic tone, "With my connections, I can get you some blood essence of a top 1,000 race. You can forge your body with that. Remember to pay me the money for the blood essence in the future."
"Body forging?"
Chen Hao suddenly recalled something. Su Yu seemed to have told him to visit the cultural research academy for his body forging?
"It's fine, teacher. I can deal with this myself."
"You fool! Don't tell me you're planning to use some fire hog blood essence?"
Old Xie sighed. This silly kid. The fire hog blood essence was truly too trashy. Why was this kid giving up on himself already? The top 1,000 race blood essence he could find would still work splendidly!
Chen Hao scratched his head. He had no idea what Su Yu was giving him as well. He would simply use whatever Su Yu told him to use. Wait, he seemed to remember that Su Yu was very poor as well. Whatever. He would wait and see.
Chapter 401: Teacher And Student (1)
Not long after Chen Hao left, the density of the source qi in the air started dropping. The overflow brought about by the death of a Sunmoon was coming to an end.
The death of this one Sunmoon had benefited a decent number of students. The experts weren't able to gain much from this, but the weaker cultivators were able to gain a lot. The more talented one was, the more one would be able to gain.
Beside Su Yu, Xia Huyou inhaled deeply and took in his final strand of source qi and said, "It sure is nice to have a dead Sunmoon. This feels even faster than cultivating in a grotto."
"..."
Su Yu looked at his friend silently. Sure. Maybe he could try getting his dad to kill one Sunmoon per day for his cultivation.
Su Yu stood up to leave as well. Naturally, he couldn't leave without his beloved shield, Xia Huyou. He had given Xia Huyou the cultural art as the protection fee. And he had not intended to use Xia Huyou as the shield only once. After making the payment, he no longer felt any guilt using Xia Huyou as the shield. After all, this was the Xia Family's turf. Who else could he use as protection if not Xia Huyou?
He was just about to leave when two individuals appeared in front of him. Wu Qi was looking at Su Yu with a smile on her face.
Wu Lan had a joyous look as she said in excitement, "Su Yu, my willpower has reached 80 percent full!"
That was actually a fast growth. Previously, she was still at 70 percent. Not long had passed and she had improved to 80 percent. Of course, she was still not as fast as Su Yu. If Su Yu hadn't been spending his time and effort on apertures, he would have probably reached 100 percent acupoint by now.
"Congratulations!"
Su Yu congratulated her. This was really not slow. If she was in any previous batches, she would have probably been one of the best. But since she was in this batch...forget it. Su Yu suspected that there were a few students in his class that were already capable of advancing into the Skysoar Realm. All those people were merely suppressing their advancement.
Wu Lan was about to keep speaking when Wu Qi interrupted her, "You can return with me."
Su Yu's eyes flickered as he nodded, "Thank you, Teacher Wu."
He had seen Wu Qi once during the character tournament. Initially, he didn't know if this would be a friend or an enemy. But after seeing Wu Yuehua fight for the multiple character faction, he knew that the Wu Family was most likely a friend. And Wu Qi had probably asked him to return with her as a form of protection.
Su Yu's senior sister was absent the entire night. He knew that that was most likely due to her willpower injury. Even if Chen Yong knew about this place, he would probably not bring her over since this place wouldn't help her with her injury anyway.
Wu Qi did not waste any time and immediately turned around to leave. Su Yu hurriedly dragged Xia Huyou along as he followed behind Wu Qi. Wu Lan looked at the two curiously. Since when were these two so close?
After walking a short distance, they encountered someone.
Zheng Hong. Zheng Yuming's grandson and Elder Sun's student.
In front of Zheng Hong was a Cloudbreach expert. When he saw Su Yu's group, his eyes flickered before he gave Su Yu a slight nod. He also greeted Wu Qi, "Hello, Teacher Wu."
Wu Qi glanced at him and nodded, not bothering to say anything. The Cloudbreach with Zheng Hong looked at Wu Qi first before looking at Su Yu. He frowned slightly before increasing the pace of his walk. Zheng Hong had an apologetic look as he also hurried away with the Cloudbreach.
Before Xia Huyou could open his mouth, Wu Lan said, "This is not a good person."
"..."
Su Yu laughed. In her eyes, most people were probably bad people.
Seemingly having sensed Su Yu's disapproval, Wu Lan unhappily said, "Was I wrong? He is Elder Zheng's grandson. And Elder Zheng was nearly killed because of you. Yet he can still smile at you? Clearly, he's not a good person!"
"Elder Zheng was taught a lesson by the principal. That has nothing to do with me."
Su Yu smiled, "If Zheng Hong is broad-minded, he would know that this is not my fault. As a cultural researcher, I believe he is able to understand that. That's why he is still friendly toward me."
"Su Yu, you're too dumb. How can you believe that he is broad-minded?"
Wu Lan had a look of disbelief. This guy was so dumb! He actually believed that someone could be broad-minded?
Su Yu laughed, "We're fellow students. We should treat each other with kindness. That's how we can get a happier life in the academy."
Wu Lan snorted disdainfully and faced Su Yu with her nostril. She decided to stop talking with him. Suddenly, she found that he was really stupid. In front of them, Wu Qi continued walking silently. She couldn't even be bothered to join the conversation.
Smiling tiger, a silent dog that bites, a hypocrite...
Did that dumb sister of hers not understand the meaning of those terms?
Just look at how ruthless Su Yu was when he was in a ring. Look at the fates of the single character faction students that had fought him. Was someone like that stupid? Just because he claimed that he was friendly, she believed him?
As they continued walking, someone suddenly joined their group. From far away, Zheng Yunhui's hearty laugh rang out as he said, "Su Yu, Fatty Xia, let's walk together!"
He ran over while shouting.
The moment Zheng Yunhui arrived, he complained, "Why hadn't any of you informed me when something so big was happening? My grandpa was still regretting the fact that I wasn't there. A few Eternal characters were destroyed earlier. If I was there, I would be able to nourish my sea of willpower even if I couldn't absorb anything. That alone would probably be enough to push me to the peak of the Mental Tempering Stage."
Su Yu smiled, "Next time. I'll be sure to call you along the next time something like this happens. As long as you don't mind moving with me."
"Of course I won't." Zheng Yunhui smiled, "Look at our relationship. We are best friends. If you have something good, don't forget your good brother, Zheng Yunhui."
He then spoke with an enigmatic tone, "In fact, I have something good to share right now, brothers! Do you know about the Willpower Grotto? It is going to be activated again! And there are plenty of slots! If we can enter, we might be able to instantly enter the Skysoar Realm! That is an excellent place for cultivation."
Xia Huyou was already aware of that so he did not react.
But Su Yu blanked out as he asked, "Willpower Grotto?"
"Yeah. Don't you know that?" Zheng Yunhui smiled, "It's..."
"I know about that grotto. But isn't that grotto hard to open?"
"Yeah, but they are really going to open it this time. Brother Su, we need to find a way to enter."
Zheng Yunhui's eyeballs spun around as he first looked at Xia Huyou before looking at Wu Lan. He smiled, "Student Wu Lan, you can probably reach the Skysoar Realm after entering the Willpower Grotto. At that time, surpassing Su Yu will no longer be a problem."
Wu Lan looked at him with an odd look and asked, "How do you know that I'm entering that grotto?"
"..."
Zheng Yunhui was stunned. What? Wu Lan couldn't be bothered to give a reply. So he didn't know. Su Yu was astonished. Wu Lan could enter? And she had been informed about the grotto in advance?
Wu Qi suddenly said, "She was guaranteed entry before this, but things might change. Previously, they promised us five slots. But that was before the battle. Now...they might go back on their words."
Su Yu hurriedly asked, "Teacher Wu, they...are the ones opening the grotto?"
"Yeah." Wu Qi did not even look at him as she replied, "The process of opening the Willpower Grotto is a complicated one. And it requires a lot of precious resources. It even needs several Mountainseas working in tandem to maintain its activation. That isn't the difficult part. The most difficult part is the large amount of riversand needed for the activation. That is a very rare resource."
"Riversand?"
Su Yu looked at Xia Huyou inquisitively. Xia Huyou explained, "It's a unique treasure capable of absorbing impurities. It is basically akin to a filter that can filter the impurities out of willpower. And you require a large amount of riversand to activate this grotto. Generally, this resource can only be found in the Luminous Domain Mansion."
In front of them, Wu Qi added on to the explanation, "Of course, the academy has experts capable of opening the grotto if they are willing to spend all their wealth on it. But the thing is, the riversand is very rare." Thᴇ link to the origɪn of this information rᴇsts ɪn novel(ꜰ)ire.net
Su Yu looked at Xia Huyou.
Xia Huyou shrugged, "I can get you a small amount of riversand, but it is too hard to get a large amount of it. This thing is too rare. Most of the time, the riversand would be directly moved into labs, research centers, and high purity willpower production centers the moment some are found."
Su Yu recalled Bai Feng's laboratory. He wondered if he could find some riversand in there.
"In short, it's very difficult to open the Willpower Grotto? And the main restriction is resource availability?"
"Yeah." Zheng Yunhui said, "You need to know that the Luminous Domain Mansion is not a place anyone can go. Every 10 years, only a small number of people can enter. And not everyone can return from that place with riversand. The single character faction has flourished for decades. Because of that, they have been able to send a decent number of people into the Luminous Domain Mansion. Because of that, they have a decent supply of riversand, allowing them to activate this Willpower Grotto. Not everyone else can afford to do the same."
Su Yu helplessly said, "Why even bother telling me this? Do you think they will actually let me enter?"
That was impossible.
Zheng Yunhui said, "That's why you need to find a way to enter! Su Yu, you can't give up on this chance! We should still try fighting for it! Isn't your grandteacher back? Get him to throw a temper tantrum, pick fights with them, and create troubles for them."
Zheng Yunhui continued instigating, "Your grandteacher has just demonstrated his incredible strength, defeating two pseudo Sunmoons in a row. He is even stronger than our principal. Just get your grandteacher to beat them up and force them to give you three to five slots. I will book one of these slots in advance. What do you think about 2,000 merit points?"
"..."
Su Yu looked at Zheng Yunhui. He said nothing. He only maintained a gentle smile on his face. Looking at that smile, Zheng Yunhui felt his scalp go numb. Yes. This guy was a treacherous snake. His instigation was obviously useless against this person.
He coughed awkwardly and said, "We'll call for a meeting of elders! Force them to make a few slots available for those not from their faction! The academy has 42 elders. Less than 30 of them are currently in the academy. As long as we can get half the elders to agree, the single character faction would have no choice but to offer some slots to the public unless they decide to not open the grotto anymore."
Chapter 402: Teacher And Student (2)
Zheng Yunhui smiled, "If each elder is promised one slot, do you think we can get some elders to agree? They will be more than happy to stand with us. This grotto does not belong to the single character faction. Strictly speaking, this grotto should belong to your faction instead. Sure, they are paying to open it. But the grotto is not their private property.
"If we need to give those elders one slot each, we will lose around 20 slots. Generally, around 50 people can enter the grotto each time. Thus, there will still be around 30 slots left after that."
Suddenly, Xia Huyou said, "This is actually a good idea."
Just like that, a group of students who weren't even Skysoars yet started talking about how they were going to control a meeting of elders. If an outsider was to hear their conversation, that person would probably roll on the ground laughing.
But Wu Qi, who was walking ahead of them, did not think that there was anything wrong with this. The three kids behind her represented three different powers. As for her little sister...forget about it. She doubted her little sister could even understand what they were talking about.
Xia Huyou smiled, "Zheng Yunhui's idea is actually quite good. Call for a meeting to fight for some benefits for the elders. There is no way those elders will refuse this. The single character faction might be strong, but they still wouldn't dare to offend everyone in the academy. And those elders might even help with the activation, allowing them to keep the grotto open for a much longer time."
"Currently, the single character faction only has Elder Zhou, Sun, Yu, and Li in the academy. Elder Zheng is still injured. Elder Zhao is in seclusion. Elder Ma and Fang are at the Allheaven Battlefield. With these four elders, they won't be able to keep the grotto open for too long. The help of other elders would be much appreciated. Yunhui, which elder can you get to help with this?"
Since Zheng Yunhui had made such a suggestion, he had naturally obtained the support of some elders.
He grinned, "My teacher!"
"..."
Right. Su Yu and Xia Huyou nodded. They had almost forgotten that this fellow was also someone with a teacher. They had only remembered that he was from the Zheng Family and completely forgot that he had an elder as a teacher as well.
Zheng Yunhui said in excitement, "The three of us plus Hu Qiusheng, Zhao Shiji, and the others. We can all get at least one or two elders to help each. We will fight to get at least one slot for each elder. That would please everyone. As for the single character faction, the only way they can refuse this is to cancel the opening. But in truth, if they don't open the grotto and increase the strength of their weak students, the solution is simple. We will just start targeting their students."
Zheng Yunhui laughed heartily, "If they don't let us enter, we will also make it so that they can't open the grotto as well. Next, we will learn from Su Yu and stomp all their students in the top 100. Even if we can't defeat some of their higher ranked students, we can still defeat some of the lower ranked ones."
Yes. This guy was a scumbag as well. Normally, he couldn't be bothered to get involved in the factional struggles. But since this concerned his own interests, he would naturally get involved.
Zheng Yunhui said, "The Willpower Grotto is very beneficial for students below the Skysoar Realm like us. That place is filled with pure willpower. Even without any apertures, just passively absorbing the pure source qi in there would grant us more benefits than reading willpower texts. A day in the grotto is probably better than reading 30 willpower texts. And reading willpower texts is very time consuming and expensive."
And naturally, the grotto would be even more beneficial for those with opened apertures.
Su Yu thought about it and nodded, "I'll talk to my grandteacher. You guys are a lot more connected so try to contact more students and elders about this."
He was definitely interested in the grotto. As for the slots...his senior sister's willpower injury was quite heavy. Pure willpower would be quite helpful in her recovery. What would he do if he could only get one slot?
Then again, they had to first focus on making this happen. He could also notify Zhang Hao from the talisman faction. As for Hu Zongji and Lin Yao, there was no guarantee that they could enter even if they were informed about it. After a short discussion, they reached an agreement.
Wu Qi had remained silent, but inwardly, she was actually quite impressed. The students of this batch were indeed different from the other batches. These were all first year students. Yet every one of them was incredibly gutsy. They had the courage to even manipulate the decision making of the academy's higher ups.
In fact, this seemed to have already happened once before! Su Yu wouldn't have been able to subject the single character faction to such a massive loss by surrendering thousands of times otherwise.
...
While Su Yu and company were on their way back.
Talent Fostering Bureau. Director's residence.
With a deep frown, Hong Tan looked at Bai Feng who looked more like a mass of flesh and solemnly asked, "Your Divine Characters have been destroyed?"
"Yeah."
"Even your main Divine Character?"
"Yeah."
"..."
Bai Feng replied with a weak voice. One could consider him lucky by even being able to stay conscious. Thankfully, Director Ji had helped stabilize his sea of willpower or he would probably remain unconscious even now.
Hong Tan's face turned even more unsightly as he asked, "Xia Yuwen did this?"
"He's probably not feeling very well right now either..." Bai Feng laughed, "Teacher, that fellow has all nine of his acupoints broken by a single strike of my sword. Even a few of his characters were broken. I don't think he's doing much better than me..."
"You..."
Hong Tan frowned. This kid had lost even his main Divine Character. Why was he still being all smug here?
"Xia Yuwen..."
Hong Tan suddenly turned around and asked, "Director Ji, if I remember things right, the vice principal selection is happening at the end of the year, right? I will be participating. I will challenge Xia Changqing." Thıs text ıs hosted at noᴠelfire.net
Not far away, Director Ji was calmly sipping on a cup of tea. He looked up and asked, "You're going to challenge Xia Changqing? He's a member of the Xia Family. He is the Xia Family's representative in the academy."
"Xia Changqing..." Hong Tan smiled, "His grandson had reduced my student into this state. A third-stage Cloudbreach had actually challenged an eighth-stage Skysoar. How shameless. I never bothered standing against him in the past because he is Senior Brother Yunji's elder brother. But does he really believe that I'm afraid of him?"
Hong Tan clenched his teeth, "I won't kill him out of respect for Senior Brother Yunji. But he will definitely suffer the same fate as my student. He will need to lose his main Divine Character."
He was furious.
Very furious.
His student was a talented young man with a bright future. But someone like that had been crippled by Xia Yuwen. Earlier, he still wasn't aware of the extent of his student's injuries. But now, he was filled with rage.
As for the fact that Xia Yuwen himself was nearly crippled as well, that did not matter. A Cloudbreach known to be the strongest among his peers had nearly been killed by a Skysoar. Who else could the Cloudbreach blame but himself? He could only blame his own incompetence. It wasn't like Bai Feng was the one who had picked a fight with Xia Yuwen.
Director Ji said, "If you're sure, go ahead and do it. I don't care."
Hong Tan snorted coldly. He looked at Bai Feng and scolded, "Couldn't you have taken a step back? You have crippled yourself to deal with a mere Xia Yuwen. You're indeed dumb."
Bai Feng merely curled his lips. Why was his teacher still scolding him when he was so badly injured?
"The Xia Family...forget it. I can't afford to scold the entire Xia Family. As for Xia Changqing's line, screw all of them!"
Hong Tan couldn't stop himself from cursing.
"Do you still have any characters left?"
"A few."
"With your heavy willpower injury, I don't even know if you can recover anymore. Even after recovery, your cultivation level would probably drop. In fact, you should be celebrating if you only drop to the third or fourth stage. But without your characters and main Divine Characters, your character technique is probably already crippled..."
He was feeling rather sorrowful. He was basically seeing a repeat of his senior brother in Bai Feng. In fact, Bai Feng was in an even worse situation. From a genius, he had transformed into a weakling that could no longer defeat even ordinary Skysoars. This would be too great of a blow for this genius student of his.
Bai Feng couldn't really say too much here. Although Director Ji had saved him, who knew what this director was thinking? He could only accompany his griefing teacher silently. How pitiful. Yes. He was really very pitiful. He had to spend some time forming so many new characters. What a tough life.
"Teacher, after losing so many characters, I'll probably need to spend more money buying willpower texts in the future. Maybe you should give me some money? I'm currently broke..."
Looking at Bai Feng's miserable appearance, Hong Tan clenched his teeth and said, "Don't worry! I'll provide you with willpower texts. You can get as many as you want. Even if I have to sell the research center, I'll help you recover!"
"Thank you, Teacher. You're the best..."
Inwardly, Bai Feng was rolling his eyes. Apart from the research center, what else could his teacher sell? As a majestic eighth-stage Mountainsea, was this all his teacher could do? Well, at least this proved that like his teacher was really poor instead of pretending to be poor.
It was clear that he could no longer rely on his teacher. But he did have a wonderful student. Tsk tsk, he still remembered seeing dozens of willpower texts in the storeroom. There were too many willpower texts there for his student to finish reading. As the teacher, he naturally had to share the burden of his student and read some of those texts. It would seem like he could only rely on his student.
Director Ji smiled and said, "If he has really been crippled, so be it. For a cultural researcher, combat strength is not everything. Bai Feng, are you interested in joining the Talent Fostering Bureau as the head of our research center? You will be promoted into an intermediate researcher and be given your own research team to lead. You only need to provide the bureau with some research results each year..."
Yes. He was trying to recruit Bai Feng. It did not matter if Bai Feng was already crippled. He still had his brain. That alone was enough to give him an instant promotion into an intermediate researcher at the Talent Fostering Bureau.
Normally, only late-stage Cloudbreach cultivators could receive such a promotion. Even Chen Yong was still an intermediate researcher. Generally, one wouldn't be promoted into a senior researcher before reaching the Mountainsea Realm.
Hong Tan looked at Bai Feng. He believed that Bai Feng was already a cripple. Perhaps...the Talent Fostering Bureau would really be a better choice. There, the single character faction would no longer dare to pick on him. In fact, he would be protected from almost all other factions so long as he joined the Talent Fostering Bureau. After all, the Talent Fostering Bureau only answered to the government of Great Xia.
Apart from the government, they only answered to the Knowledge Seeking Realm. As a Sunmoon, Director Ji Hong could also be considered a big shot in the entirety of Human Realm.
Strictly speaking, even people like Wan Tiansheng and Zheng Ping were under his jurisdiction. Of course, the academies were powerful entities as well so in practice, Ji Hong couldn't control them too much.
But that was before Ji Hong revealed his strength as a Sunmoon. Now that he was officially known as a Sunmoon, he had the strength and the status to actually get involved in the affairs of the academies. Of course, how much he could do would ultimately depend on whether he could prevail over the likes of Wan Tiansheng and Zheng Ping.