Chapter 19 - 19

Chapter 426: Out of Seclusion, Encounter, Annoying Each Other (1)

Su Yu was still unaware of everything that was happening in the academy.

He received no further message. After receiving the previous message, he had only told Xia Huyou to watch over his senior sister so that she wouldn't fall into someone's ploy.

His acupoints were being opened one after another. This had continued for several days. He had also completed the cultivation of the Body Strengthening Art. It had greatly increased his acupoint opening speed.

One ought to admit that this cultivation method of the mountainbreak bulls was really too suitable for opening acupoints.

Yet the mountainbreak bull race was at the bottom of the top 100 races. What a waste of the amazing cultivation method they had. Then again, opening acupoints faster might be pointless for them since they didn't have enough top experts. That was understandable.

A faster acupoint opening speed would only grant them some advantages at the realms below Mountainsea. Beyond that level, one's advancement would start relying on many other factors.

260 acupoints.

This was the total number of acupoints Su Yu had opened. He had long finished all his blood essence. He had been forcefully opening his acupoints with source qi alone. The five elemental blood essence had also helped him opened four apertures. That put his total opened apertures to 44.

He had yet to finish opening all the acupoints of the Sky Sundering Saber. He remained calm as he studied the Sky Sundering Saber's willpower text repeatedly. He had been reading this text for several days. Slowly, a character appeared in his sea of willpower.

"Break!"

After blood, lightning battle, kill, deceit, and saber, Su Yu welcomed another character: the break character.

Since this willpower text was written by Xia Longwu, this break character was also extremely powerful.

After absorbing the intent of the crushed Eternal characters previously, all six of Su Yu's characters had improved significantly. Among them, the blood character had reached a level where it could withhold its presence. Although it had yet to become a third-tier character, it had still grown much stronger than before.

The lightning character had successfully become a second-tier character.

In total, Su Yu had three second-tier characters and four first-tier characters, including his newest break character, a peak first-tier character.

"Xia Longwu..."

Su Yu exhaled deeply. He was slightly surprised. Xia Longwu was actually a cultural researcher.

That alone wasn't too surprising. A lot of warriors cultivate their willpower as well. That was very common. But since Xia Longwu's willpower text could help him form a peak first-tier character, then that could only mean that Xia Longwu had reached no lower than the Mountainsea Realm in willpower cultivation.

For someone cultivating both paths, that was actually very impressive.

"Seven characters."

Recently, he had not been able to find enough time to study willpower texts. Even so, he had still been able to form seven characters. And a decent number of them were at the second tier. Even the weakest of them was already at the peak first-tier.

From tiers alone, he was already comparable to some regular Skysoars.

His willpower had reached around 80 percent. He was confident that his willpower was stronger than even those with 99 percent willpower. Only those who had also tempered their willpower could compare with him.

260 acupoints and 44 apertures...

Su Yu felt like with his current strength, he could even enter the top 10.

Some of the weaker Skysoars, such as his father who would only be able to enter the Skysoar Realm with 36 acupoints, would not have more than four acupoints fused per stage. Su Yu felt like even if his father was already a Skysoar, he could still defeat his father with his current strength.

"I have only been in the academy for less than three months."

Su Yu himself was alarmed by his growth. Of course, he was aware that he had exhausted a large amount of resources to reach this level. But he was still quite surprised by the fact that he could now challenge the weaker Skysoars. It was no wonder that those super geniuses could easily challenge those above their level.

Powerful cultivation method, powerful martial techniques, powerful physical body, powerful destructive force...

If he couldn't defeat those who had advanced with some weak cultivation methods with all that, he would be truly useless.

"I still need 28 acupoints."

The Body Strengthening Art also had a lot of overlapped acupoints, so he had been able to finish cultivation this art relatively easily. Now, he was only 28 acupoints away from completing the Sky Sundering Saber's cultivation.

That would push his total opened acupoints to 288.

He even wondered if he should open all the acupoints for the second level of the Time technique as well. That would bring his opened acupoints up to 300.

"It's already the 16th today..."

After some thought, Su Yu decided that he still had enough time. The tournament was still a few days away.

This time, some of those old students would also be joining the tournament. And those were the people who were truly at the peak of the Mental Tempering Stage. Without enough strength, he might not be able to defeat them.

There was no way he was going to miss out on the Willpower Grotto. He had opened 44 apertures, but he didn't have much options in willpower absorption. The willpower in the fragment room was too impure. Furthermore, he also didn't want to empty that room of willpower.

"Willpower Grotto. With five slots up for grabs, I need to enter the top five during the tournament. Even the elders who already have a slot will probably still send their stronger students to participate in the tournament.

Even people like Zhan Hai might be in the tournament. With someone as strong as him, the elder would be able to get another slot from the tournament. Nobody would refuse the chance to get more slots.

Zhan Hai was the number one student in the top 100. He was someone who had fought a Skysoar without suffering a defeat. He was a peak Mental Tempering Stage and ninth-stage Infinite Strength cultivator. He was very strong.

And there were other students as strong as him in the academy. Su Yu naturally had to grow as much as he could before the tournament.

Even ignoring all the old students, new students such as Wan Mingze and Xia Huyou were probably near the Skysoar Realm as well. People like Zheng Yunhui were slightly weaker than the likes of them, but you never knew what trump cards they were hiding.

These were all people with strong backers, powerful backgrounds, and ample resources. Su Yu refused to believe that they wouldn't stop improving while he himself was improving.

Thus, he continued opening acupoints.

261...262...

Time passed slowly.

Without blood essence, Su Yu's absorption speed was slower than before even with the Body Strengthening Art. He could only open one acupoint per hour on average. Of course, this was already an incredible speed compared to the other cultivators.

Large amount of source qi continued converging on him as he cultivated. The acupoints within his body constantly worked to absorb and purify the source qi around him.

...

Outside the grotto.

A student walked out sullenly and asked, "Teacher, is there a Skysoar cultivating at the Infinite Strength Zone? That person's absorption speed is way too fast. It almost felt like all the source qi in the zone was rushing over toward that person. This is...too...unfair!"

He wanted to curse at someone. He had paid 200 merit points to enter. But before he could cultivate much, someone started plundering all the source qi in the area. How was he supposed to continue cultivating?

Thus, he was forced to leave not long after entering. The source qi in the area was moving way too fast for him to do any proper cultivation.

Old Nie was also feeling quite helpless. He could only smile and said, "Someone must have entered the wrong zone. I'll issue that person a warning. Since the efficiency of your cultivation this time has dropped by around 50 percent, I'll give you a refund of 100 merit points."

"Thank you, Teacher."

The student was overjoyed to hear that.

This was actually a generous compensation. Although his cultivation had been interupted, he had still lasted several hours in there. Thus, with this refund, one could even say that he had profited.

After the student left, Old Nie frowned.

It would seem like he really needed to send that kid to the Skysoar Zone next time. With hundreds of acupoints, the kid could absorb source qi as fast as those Skysoars. If this continued, the other students in the Great Strength and Infinite Strength Zones would have no way of cultivating.

Even more annoying was the fact that the little bastard had paid only 100 merit points to enter each time. Why? Because the little bastard was still a Great Strength cultivator! A Great Strength cultivator with hundreds of acupoints!

Old Nie didn't know whether to laugh or cry. He had never encountered a person like this before. Apart from the human experts that had lived during the time when humanity had first started cultivating, very few people would waste their time opening hundreds of acupoints. They might as well put that effort into entering the Infinite Strength or even the Skysoar Realm.

"Is the kid really planning to reach a point he can punch above his level and fight a Skysoar?"

Old Nie shook his head. In his opinion, this was pointless. The kid would be better off focusing on his 144 acupoints and enter the Infinite Strength Realm directly. With Su Yu's talent, he would have reached around fifth-stage Infinite Strength Realm by now if he hadn't delayed his advancement.

After six more months, the kid could probably even enter the Skysoar Realm with just his physical cultivation alone. And he wouldn't even be one of those weak Skysoars with terrible foundations. He would be a powerful warrior with 144 acupoints.

While Old Nie was thinking, Old Huang arrived.

The moment Old Huang entered the room, he grumbled, "Life here is so much better. The Discipline Hall has too many trivial affairs to handle. And the first case I encounter after joining is that troublesome scandal. After I announced the changes of the year end review, those elders have been glaring at me everywhere I go. If they could kill with eyes, I would have died a hundred times over by now."

The previous hall master, Old He, was someone who would always smooth things over and not offend anyone. He had been living a rather relaxed life despite his position as the hall master.

He had plenty of time to engage in all sorts of hobbies like raising birds, drinking tea, and walking his dog. He had the reputation of being a friendly old man. Everyone was already used to the easy-going Discipline Hall. But the moment Old Huang took office, he announced a strict audit. Everyone was naturally having trouble adapting to his style. ᴜᴘᴅᴀᴛᴇ ꜰʀᴏᴍ Nove1Fire.net

Chapter 427: Out of Seclusion, Encounter, Annoying Each Other (2)

Old Nie smiled, "Hadn't you complained that life here is too boring? Well, your wish has been fulfilled. You can finally live a busy life. Aren't you happy?"

"Nonsense." Old Huang changed the topic as he solemnly said, "You heard as well, right? So what's your opinion?"

"Zhou Mingren isn't so stupid. Zhou Pingsheng also isn't that dumb. It is normal for them to provoke Wu Jia and Chen Yong. But do you believe that they would drag the entire academy into this as well?"

"No, I don't."

Old Huang shook his head. He was no fool. How would he believe that?

Not even Elder Qi believed that. Follow current novᴇls on novel[f]ire.net

That was why only the students were subjected to harsh punishments in the end. Everyone else was let go since Zhou Mingren himself had taken the blame and allowed them to remove him from his position as a vice principal.

Despite the apparent conclusion of the matter, everyone knew that it was very possible that Huang Hao's memories might have really been altered.

Old Huang said, "Who do you think did it?"

Old Nie thought for a bit and said, "Someone from the multiple character faction. Maybe it was Hong Tan. Maybe it was Chen Yong. Or...maybe it was that person."

As he said that, he pointed in the Heart Cultivating Pavilion's direction with his chin.

Either it was someone from the multiple character faction or that fellow was doing something in the shadows again.

"I suspect the same."

Old Huang nodded and said, "That was why I ended the investigation. Even if we continue, it would be hard to find the truth. It's better to calm the disturbance and set an example out of someone first."

Old Nie nodded and said, "As long as you can give a fair judgment, it is enough. We can't be too biased. We only need to follow the rules. There might be some holes in the rules. And people might make use of the rules. But we shouldn't be the ones to challenge the rules."

"Don't worry. I understand." Old Huang moved on from the topic. He asked, "Is that kid still in there?"

"Yeah."

Old Huang exclaimed, "He sure is tenacious. He is clearly intent on squeezing every last worth out of the 100 merit points he paid to enter. I won't be able to stay here for long. It's not proper for me to say much to the multiple character faction, but remind the kid on my behalf when he comes out. Tell him to not do anything stupid. I won't spare them if they cross the line. If someone has really altered Huang Hao's memories, that would be greatly illegal."

Old Huang's eyes turned aggressive as he said, "We can't do anything now since we have no proof. And there is no way for us to find the truth without the help of an Invincible. But if it was really someone from the multiple character faction, tell the kid to be careful."

He would not tolerate having the memories of their students tampered with.

Even if he was personally biased toward the multiple character faction, the bottom line was still very important. Without the bottom line, the academy or even the Human Realm would descend into chaos.

It was all thanks to the bottom line that Liu Wenyan had been able to live this long.

Otherwise, he would have died long ago despite Great Xia King's protection.

Old Nie nodded, "I'll remind him."

"Good. I'll be taking my leave now."

Old Huang wasn't staying for long. He was only here to deliver Su Yu this reminder. Since Su Yu was still in the grotto, there was no need for him to stay any longer.

Seeing how busy Old Huang was, Old Nie laughed. After staying in the Grotto District for decades, Old Huang was finally able to find something to get busy with. That old man must be pretty satisfied with his new job.

"Hong Tan...Chen Yong..."

Old Nie sank into thought. Was it them?

Or was it Wan Tiansheng?

...

18th of October. Early in the morning.

Initially, Su Yu had planned to enter seclusion for only three days. But he ended up extending his seclusion.

He had spent five full days in the grotto.

Early morning of the 18th, when Old Nie was sipping on a cup of tea, his eyes flickered as the door leading to the grotto opened.

The instant Su Yu stepped out, the look in Old Nie's eyes changed. He felt like he was looking at a burning stove instead of a human. A raging storm of source qi that was as blinding as the sun accompanied the figure stepping through the door.

When Su Yu approached him, it was as though a primordial beast was approaching him instead.

"Hmm?"

Old Nie recovered from his reverie after a short instant. When he looked at Su Yu again, the kid seemed to have returned to the usual friendly Su Yu with a smile on his face and an elegant white outfit.

Old Nie gave Su Yu a deep look.

Meanwhile, Su Yu was slightly absent-minded. Five days. Finally, he was out of the grotto.

"Teacher, has Teacher Huang left?"

"Yeah."

Old Nie spent some time studying the kid before softly asking, "You completed your cultivation?"

"Yeah." Su Yu nodded, "The cultivation has been smooth. The Source Qi Secret Grotto is such a great place."

It was an awesome place!

Old Nie laughed. Of course it was a great place. The kid had paid only 100 merit points to cultivate in there for five days. This was only a treatment he could get in the academy.

After checking the condition of the grotto, Old Nie said, "When you grow strong, don't forget to repay the academy. You have consumed too much source qi. This grotto is not your personal cultivation ground. If all our students start doing the same thing, the grotto will collapse sooner or later."

Su Yu felt somewhat embarrassed to hear that. He hurriedly said, "I will! Thank you, Teacher!"

"Don't thank me." Old Nie took a sip from his cup of tea before slowly saying, "This is the way of the academy. Geniuses will get more than the others. But these geniuses will also repay the academy in the future. This is a virtuous cycle that can go on forever. It doesn't matter if you can take a lot more than others right now. Just remember that you are also enjoying the things left behind by your predecessors."

Su Yu nodded.

All these grottos were formed by the characters of their predecessors. He was aware of that, so he did not object to Old Nie's words. As for the matter of repayment, he had to grow strong first, right?

Suddenly, Old Nie said, "Remember to follow the rules when you're in the academy. These rules aren't here to restrict you. They are here to protect you. Rules are the best protection for the weak. Without the restriction of rules, the experts will be able to do everything they want. The weak will be completely helpless."

Su Yu nodded.

"When you're weak, you enjoy the protection of the rules. When you grow strong, the rules will restrict you. Do not think that this is unfair. And do not think that you are the only one who is suffering from injustice in the world. Because the experts are the ones who the rules are restricting the most."

Su Yu nodded. He was starting to get what Old Nie was trying to say.

Old Nie calmly said, "We can't really do too much. But at the very least, we still have some power in the academy. If you want to kill or make a move against someone, that is your prerogative. But never forget the rules."

Su Yu nodded.

"This applies to you, to your teacher, to the multiple character faction, and to the single character faction. Otherwise, Zheng Yuming wouldn't have been injured and exiled to the Vanguard Regiment. That is the price he has to pay for breaking the rules. You guys will also pay a price for breaking the rules."

Su Yu nodded before saying, "Teacher, I don't intend to break the rule. You're saying this because..."

"Just a reminder. That's all."

"I understand."

Su Yu nodded. Had someone from the multiple character faction broken the rules during his absence? He could guess why Old Nie was telling him all that.

"Is it grandteacher or martial uncle?"

His teacher was still injured, so he doubted it was his teacher. And when he recalled what he heard about his senior sister, he wondered if it was his martial uncle.

Seeing that Su Yu was about to leave, Old Nie decided to say one more thing, "You must have left your seclusion to join the tournament for the slots. But a lot of people are aiming for the slots as well. Su Yu, where it is possible to let people off, one should spare them. Some of the old students view this as their final chance. They might end up somewhat heavy-handed. But try to be less heavy-handed yourself if possible."

Su Yu nodded and flashed his honest smile, "I will! Apart from those who are intentionally trying to harm me, I will be lenient toward the others. I understand that everyone needs to strive hard for their own opportunities. If I'm an old man who is still stuck below the Skysoar Realm, I would be even more anxious than them. It is understandable that they won't let go of this chance."

"Good. You can leave now."

Old Nie waved his hand, sending Su Yu off. As long as Su Yu understood what he said, everything would be fine.

He was worried that Su Yu would be needlessly cruel and harsh during the tournament and ended up crippling some old students. Sure, those people weren't strong and were generally viewed as trash, but being too cruel wouldn't be good for Su Yu's reputation.

As for why Old Nie was confident Su Yu was stronger than those old students...he didn't even want to think about it anymore.

A Mental Tempering Stage and Great Strength student was actually capable of giving him the illusion of facing a primordial beast after exiting seclusion. Would someone like that be weak?

The kid had spent only a few days to cultivate the Sky Sundering Saber, a cultivation method requiring 144 acupoints. That was simply scary.

He could only hope that the single character faction would stop doing stupid things. They better let the tournament proceed normally instead of rigging the matches and sending some people after Su Yu. It was very likely that they would be the ones to suffer.

Chapter 428: Out of Seclusion, Encounter, Annoying Each Other (3)

"Junior Brother Su!"

"Junior Brother, you were missing for a few days! Did you go into seclusion?"

"..."

While walking, Su Yu encountered some other students. Many of them took the initiative to greet him. And he returned the greetings with a friendly smile on his face.

Suddenly, his voice transmission talisman vibrated. He did not take it out and continued heading back to the research center.

But after taking a few steps, someone appeared in front of him. With a wide smile, that person said, "Su Yu, you have skipped classes for several days. Why hadn't you applied for a leave?"

Su Yu narrowed his eyes and plastered a smile on his face as well. "Teacher Liu! You sure have a lot of free time nowadays! It almost feels like I can encounter you everywhere I go!"

Liu Hong replied, "Not at all. I've been very busy. After all, I'm in charge of organizing the tournament. This is a mere coincidence. By the way, are you signing up for the tournament? If you are, just tell me directly. You don't need to waste your time taking the trip over there to sign up."

"There is no need to trouble you, Teacher. I can go there and register myself."

Su Yu said nothing else after that.

Liu Hong's tone shifted as he said, "Aim to enter the Skysoar Realm as early as possible. That is the real start of the path of cultivation. Don't you think that it's boring to keep staying at the Mental Tempering Stage?"

"I will."

"Good. By the way, Shan Tianhao's grandson is on his way to Great Xia. What a pity that your teacher is now a cripple. I wonder if that fellow will challenge me when he arrives now that Bai Feng is already a cripple. I'm quite worried, you know? Both Wu Qi and Hu Wensheng are on the verge of advancing, leaving me as the only suitable target in the Skysoar Realm. This is really quite scary..."

Su Yu smiled, "Teacher Liu is mighty and formidable. How would you be afraid of a little kid?"

A toying look appeared on Liu Hong's face as he said, "However...he's your enemy. Not mine. Su Yu, why don't you take him on? It might be fun."

"You overestimate me, Teacher. I am only at the Mental Tempering Stage. Why throw my life away like that?"

"What a pity."

Liu Hong smiled and started walking away. Before leaving, he said, "Oh yeah, I'm planning to change the tournament rules into something more fun."

Su Yu turned his head and looked at Liu Hong.

Liu Hong continued walking away while indifferently saying, "To make things interesting, I have decided to change the format into team battles. Thus, the final winning team will get all five of the slots. Wouldn't that be a lot more fun? With this format, even a weakling stands a chance to get a slot. Won't things be a lot more unpredictable this way?"

Liu Hong smiled, "That way, no single strong individual will be guaranteed a slot. I am not allowing strong individuals to dominate the tournament. I am forcing everyone to fight in teams of five. If I want to go even crazier, I can even force everyone to fight with random teammates. For example, I can get you into a team with Di Feng. Won't that be fun?"

"..."

Su Yu stared at Liu Hong, his eyes turning cold.

Liu Hong continued smiling as he said, "Of course, that's only an example. Di Feng has been banned from all academy grottos. But the single character faction does not lack students. Meanwhile, your faction does not have enough student. Secret Character Grotto...isn't this an interesting tournament?"

"You will have to take your enemies alongside you as you crush all competition and win the slots. How fun."

"..."

Su Yu frowned. Just what was this fellow trying to do?

Liu Hong said, "How about taking Yang Sha, Liu He, and Lin Yao with you? Win and get a few slots for them. What do you think?"

Su Yu's eyes turned frosty.

This bastard!

Liu Hong continued, "This is interesting, right? If you win, I will benefit from it. If you lose, I won't lose anything. It's not like they would be able to win anything if they join the tournament alone. I can even tell the others that I'm doing this to drag you down. Tsk tsk. What a beautiful plan."

"..."

Fuck!

Su Yu wanted to punch someone in the face.

How could someone be so shameless?

Liu Hong was right. By assigning those students to Su Yu's team, the single character faction would believe that he was deliberately dragging Su Yu down. With these teammates, there was no way Su Yu could win a slot.

All by himself, he had to carry four trash teammates to victory during the tournament. How could someone even win in such a situation? And even if Su Yu ended up winning, nobody would blame Liu Hong. They would only blame Su Yu's opponents for being too useless.

After all, with his trash teammates, each match was akin to one versus nine. If they could lose even in that situation, what would they be except trash?

Su Yu gloomily asked, "Just what are you trying to do, Teacher Liu?"

"Nothing."

Liu Hong smiled and explained, "We are enemies. Isn't this normal? However...the truth is that I am giving you an opportunity."

Su Yu frowned.

"Think about it. With such weak teammates, you have to be more heavy-handed in order to protect your teammates, right? Nobody will blame you if you hurt your opponents too much. After all, with four deadweights dragging you down, nobody can expect you to hold back, right? But if you fight alone and harm an obviously weaker opponent too much, your reputation will be ruined."

At this point, Liu Hong switched to voice transmission, "We're on the same side. Have you forgotten? Those fellows dare to rob my teacher's grave. I have to take revenge, right? Little Su Yu, I'm doing this for your own good!"

Su Yu cursed inwardly. Good his mother! This bastard was obviously laying down a trap for him. In this situation, regardless of his result, Liu Hong would be the one to benefit.

If Su Yu won, his people would win some slots. If Su Yu lost, he could claim the credit of suppressing Su Yu. Thus, regardless of the result, Liu Hong would not be blamed.

On the other hand, if the tournament was held with the regular format and Su Yu won, as the organizor, the single character faction would definitely place the blame on Liu Hong.

"Teacher Liu, do you want me to start loudly announcing your plan?"

"Feel free to do it." Liu Hong grinned, "Will anyone trust you? Stop dreaming. Su Yu, who would believe that an ally would assign four deadweights to your team? I'm the only one who will do this. Because I trust you. I am confident you can win. Can't you see the trust I'm placing on you?"

"..."

Su Yu felt like he was going to get a heart attack from his anger. He really wanted to beat this bastard to death.

"Don't worry. How about this? I'll assign three of them to you instead. You can decide on the final member. Don't pick someone too strong and I will be able to get it done. If you win, you can get someone on your side a slot as well. Do you feel better now? I only want three slots. In any case, I already have a slot for myself so I don't really care."

With an unfriendly gaze, Su Yu said, "Teacher Liu, you're too smart to stay a teacher. You should join the Myriad Race Cult instead. I believe you can even become a sect master in the cult."

Liu Hong replied, "You're right. I can really give this a try. Maybe I can establish a sect and scam some resources from the myriad races. Yes, I can really do this. In fact, a lot of people are doing this. Thanks for the reminder. Do you want to join me? Let's found a small sect together! What do you think?"

"..."

Su Yu was getting tired of talking to Liu Hong. He felt like he was already quite a smart person. A lot of people in the academy felt like idiots to him. But this fellow...had he won even once against this fellow in a battle of wits?

Sure, he had scammed a lot of merit points with his fake formula, but one should remember that Liu Hong had participated in that transaction with zero cost. The single character faction was the one paying while Liu Hong himself had earned a lot as well.

"Don't look at me like that." Liu Hong smiled, "We're on the same side. I will keep the final spot of your team empty. Feel free to contact me when you make up your mind. If you don't contact me, I'll have no choice but to assign the final team member for you as well. Don't worry. I'm a fair person."

Su Yu ignored Liu Hong and walked away.

Behind him, Liu Hong laughed and said, "Remember to win! I only have one little brother and two students. Their lives have been too hard. I am not capable enough to send them into the grotto. I'll have to trouble you. Thank you, Student Su Yu!"

"..."

Su Yu cursed endlessly as he stomped off.

Bastard! Asshole! Scoundrel!

He swore to beat that fellow to death one day!

He would definitely do it!

No one was better at annoying others than that fellow.

He had planned to fight steadily and grab a slot for himself. But with this arrangement, how could he still guarantee a victory? Even if he did win, he still needed to let Liu He and the others benefit from his hard work. That wasn't even a victory he would celebrate. He would only be willing to carry his teammates to victory if all of them were his own people.

"Right, Lin Yao can already be considered my own people. As for Liu He and Yang Sha..."

Looking in Liu Hong's direction, Su Yu snorted. Fine. Since they were going to compete in acting, so be it! He could play the game as well. He would turn everyone around Liu Hong into a member of the Mutual Aid Club! Let's see how Liu Hong would like that! The

Chapter 429: The Final Member (1)

While walking, Su Yu was deep in thought.

Liu Hong...

What an interesting person.

Was Yang Sha and the others assigned to him because Liu Hong believed that he could win? Or was it simply for the sake of dragging him down?

At this moment, Su Yu was finally sure that neither the single or multiple character factions mattered to Liu Hong. He only cared about himself. As long as he could benefit from something, he wouldn't care about both factions.

"Single character faction...heh."

Su Yu snickered. There were actually quite a lot of people like Liu Hong in the single character faction. But that was also understandable. The bigger a faction was, the more trouble one would be able to find in it. That was normal.

Back when the multiple character faction was at the top, such internal struggles would probably happen frequently as well. They were only united now due to their small size. Internal politics would definitely start happening once they reached a certain size.

...

Wentan Research Center.

Su Yu had been away for a few days. He wondered if Bai Feng was still in the research center. But when he saw the dusty living area, he concluded that Bai Feng had probably left.

Hong Tan was probably not around as well. Perhaps he had left to help Teacher Liu get his characters in order. Only Bai Feng and Hong Tan had the skills required to do something like that.

Su Yu wasn't too bothered by their absence. Suddenly, he recalled something. Had his teacher and grandteacher fed the beasts while he was away? It had been quite a while since he last visited them.

Su Yu had been busy after the return of his grandteacher. Subsequently, he had entered seclusion. It had been nearly 10 days since he last fed them. During his last visit, he was there to ask the water elemental some questions. A few of them had been fed, but the mountaindrill bull and the others had not been given anything.

"Is the suanni still alive?"

Su Yu decided that it was time to pay them a visit. What if his grandteacher had forgotten about the beasts as well? It wouldn't do to let those beasts starve to death.

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Prison zone.

The door swung open. When Su Yu walked in, the suanni was silently sprawled on the floor with fear on his face. When he saw that it was Su Yu, he exhaled in relief.

Good.

Su Yu looked at the suanni curiously and remarked, "Wow, you're still alive."

"..."

The suanni wanted to roar, to curse at someone, to tear this bastard apart. But he didn't have the courage to do any of that. He sorrowfully said, "I'm still alive. After all, the suanni race is quite valuable as a research subject."

"True." Su Yu nodded.

The mountaindrill bull hurriedly said, "Su Yu, give me a drop of source qi liquid. I still have an old hideout at the Allheaven Battlefield. I hid a lot of treasures in there. I can give you the map for only a drop of source qi liquid!"

The fire crow also shouted, "Give me a drop as well! I have a lot of treasures! Do you want the fire of the fire crow race? You can use it to burn the willpower of your opponents! I have a lifebound fire. If I refine your cultural weapon with it, you will be able to attach the flame to your weapon for a willpower-burning effect."

Su Yu said in astonishment, "Why didn't you say that earlier? What a pity. I already have the Soul Devouring Art. You know what that is, right? That's the cultivation method of the soul devouring bugs..."

"That's a trash race!" The fire crow said, "I know that race. Apart from the mother bug, all the other bugs are useless. They need tens of thousands of them to kill only one Skysoar. But the lifebound fire of my race is capable of directly burning one's sea of willpower. That trash race is incomparable with us. They can only corrode one's willpower, not the sea of willpower. We can harm the root of power while they can only harm the power itself. It's different."

The fire crow was getting very anxious. It had been a few months. He was really on the verge of being starved to death. Su Yu really wasn't afraid of starving him to death. Since Su Yu took over the task of feeding them, he had only been given two drops of source qi liquid. And it had been quite a while since he was last fed.

Su Yu raised his brow, "Really? You can burn seas of willpower directly? Why isn't your race a top 100 race then?"

The fire crow replied, "We are quite good at dealing with cultural researchers, but our bodies are too weak. We can't handle strong warriors. All the top 100 races have powerful warriors and cultural researchers. But we are definitely the bane of all cultural researchers."

In fact, the fire crow race wasn't weak. They had a rank of 418 among the various races.

And they had relied only on their willpower to reach that far.

The fire crow said, "Our Fire Crow King once killed an Invincible cultural researcher just with his lifebound fire. He is incredibly powerful. Even a cultural researcher with a higher cultivation level won't be our match..."

Su Yu curiously asked, "But won't it be much easier for you to kill warriors with their weak willpower?"

"It doesn't work that way." The fire crow explained, "Warriors have thick source qi and powerful bodies. It will be very hard to kill them just by burning their seas of willpower. As for cultural researchers, they will be rather helpless with their weak bodies after having their seas of willpower burned..."

He was desperately trying to please Su Yu. He said, "I can't give you my lifebound fire. There is also no way for you to learn our racial abilities. But I can refine your cultural weapon for you. After the refinement, your weapon will gain the ability to burn seas of willpower."

"So is this burning ability a source qi technique?"

"No, it's a soul technique..." The fire crow explained, "In the Myriad Realms, the techniques used by cultural researchers are collectively known as soul techniques since they rely on soul apertures. As for warriors, their techniques are known as source techniques since they rely on source acupoints."

Su Yu rolled his eyes, "Do I need you to tell me something so basic? Do you think I don't know something like that? Also, can your refinement help me burn even the seas of willpower of Skysoars?"

"Sure." The fire crow said, "I am a seventh-stage Skysoar. Although I am the weakest here, I can give your cultural weapon the ability to burn the seas of willpower of those at the first three stages of the Skysoar Realm. Each refinement will last a month. Of course, if you use your weapon frequently, the power of the fire will deteriorate faster."

"Are you sure?" Su Yu wasn't convinced. He asked, "Are you telling me that your race is capable of helping weaker cultivators fight those above their level by refining their weapons?"

The fire crow said with indignation, "I'm telling the truth! But generally, we will only use our lifebound flame when we are fighting to the death. And we won't easily offer to refine the weapons of others. But I want to stay alive! So I'm making this offer!"

Yes. It was that simple. He wanted to keep his life. As for the exhaustion of his lifebound fire, it was pointless to talk about that. What was the point of having a robust lifebound fire if he was dead?

In a nearby cage, the mountaindrill bull hurriedly said, "My race, the mountaindrill bull race, has powerful bodies. We are the best for physical chores. Do you want me as a mount? The mountaindrill bulls are the best mounts you can find."

As a ninth-stage Skysoar, the mountaindrill bull was stronger than the fire crow. Among the prisoners, he was ranked fourth. At this point, face and prestige no longer mattered to him. If he didn't think of something, it was only a matter of time before he starved to death. The fire crow could help with weapon refinement, but he did not seem capable of anything else.

The mountaindrill bulls were known for their powerful bodies, but the mountainbreak bulls were better in regards to that. And their racial abilities also weren't too powerful. Strictly speaking, this was a race without anything special about them.

Nevertheless, they were pretty good at surviving. The human race needed to reach the Sunmoon Realm before they could regrow their bodies from a drop of blood. Meanwhile, the mountaindrill bull race could start doing so at the Skysoar Realm if one was lucky.

"Mount?" Su Yu laughed and said, "I'm afraid of death. Who knows if you'll turn against me the moment I release you?"

"No, I won't!" The mountaindrill bull promised, "The beast tamers of the human race are very powerful. I am willing to accept a beast tamer contract..."

"We'll see."

"Su Yu..."

Su Yu impatiently said, "You're too ugly to be my mount. Do you understand now? You don't look mighty enough. With one look, everyone knows you're from a weak race. The suanni race is better in that aspect. They have a good physical appearance..."

The suanni stared at Su Yu blankly. No! Absolutely impossible! He would rather die than be a mount!

Su Yu was unbothered. He said, "Stop wasting time. We'll talk about this again some other time. I still needed you guys previously, but honestly, you are no longer useful to me now."

Su Yu spoke with an indifferent tone, "I'm starting to find you guys weak. Even the water guy is only a seventh-stage Cloudbreach. There really isn't anything special about that. Recently, your Grandpa Su has provoked a lot of enemies. And these enemies aren't even Great Strength or Infinite Strength cultivators. I can deal with such weaklings myself. But my recent enemies have all been Mountainseas and Sunmoons..."

The mounts were all dumbfounded.

Su Yu smiled and said, "You guys continue serving as blood suppliers. I will continue finding time to feed you guys. I might not be your match now, but it won't be long before I surpass all of you. Honestly, what's the point of keeping beasts who are even weaker than me around? Am I supposed to raise you like livestock and slaughter you for meat?"

The water elemental couldn't stay calm anymore. He assumed a humanoid form and asked after some hesitation, "You're...near the Skysoar Realm?"

"Yes." Su Yu smiled and said, "If I hadn't stopped to cultivate a powerful cultivation method, I would probably be a Skysoar warrior already."

As he said that, his body shook.

All the acupoints in his body activated. A total of 300 acupoints were shining brightly inside his body.

This was the result of cultivating the Sky Sundering Saber and the second level of the Time technique.

300 acupoints!

Su Yu nonchalantly asked, "Do you see this? I have opened 300 acupoints. This is what a true genius looks like. The weakling in your eyes might not be a true weakling. When I finish fusing my acupoints and enter the Infinite Strength Realm, even regular Skysoars might not be my match."

All the beasts were shocked.

Chapter 430: The Final Member (2)

The shadow hurriedly revealed himself and asked, "You must be messing with us, right?"

"What a joke." Su Yu sneered. "You're a bunch of prisoners. Why do I need to lie to you? I have only been spending so much time here with you guys because I happen to have some free time. If it wasn't for the sake of practicing the Soul Expanding Art, my willpower would have reached the Skysoar Realm long ago."

After saying that, a powerful burst of willpower erupted from him. His willpower was much stronger than regular peak Mental Tempering Stage cultivators. With 44 apertures and a sea of willpower that had been tempered for about a dozen times, his 80 percent willpower was almost as strong as second-tier willpower.

The only reason his willpower was still at the first-tier was because it had not achieved materialization. Next, a thick killing intent rippled out, electrical currents cackled, and illusions danced around him.

Su Yu smiled and continued, "I have even obtained several second-tier characters. For me, the Skysoar Realm is nothing special."

"..."

The beasts stared at him and sank into silence. With this display, Su Yu was definitely near the Skysoar Realm.

The water elemental softly asked, "You have been hiding your strength from us since the beginning, right? You're not a new student, right?"

"Wrong. I'm a new student." Su Yu smiled, "I am merely a much bigger genius than you have imagined. Also, my backer is much stronger than you have imagined. My first teacher killed a Sunmoon with a single strike just a few days ago. He is Liu Wenyan of the multiple character faction and the first student of the fifth principal. I wonder if you know his name.

"That is only my willpower teacher. As for my physical cultivation, the Xia Family regards me highly enough to have Prefect Xia, someone on the cusp of entering the Invincible Realm, personally teach me the top-tier Sky Sundering Saber."

As he said that, a saber appeared in his hand. This was the cultural weapon he had named the Sealing Saber.

"Kill!"

With a roar, an intense killing intent surged out. Without even swinging the saber, the entire room was flooded with source qi, willpower, and killing intent.

The water elemental sighed.

Freak!

Just this killing intent alone was enough to directly crush the seas of willpower of ordinary Mental Tempering Stage cultivators.

Strong.

This person was probably already the strongest within the same cultivation level.

The water elemental and the shadow were finally taking Su Yu seriously. Their contempt from before had vanished completely. The water elemental said, "Looks like we have underestimated you. It is clear that you have never trusted us from the beginning. That's understandable. If you're that stupid, you wouldn't have been able to win the favor of those experts.

"Su Yu, since you're not hiding your strength anymore, be frank with us. Tell us what you want. We only want to live. What do we need to give to keep our lives?"

Su Yu smiled, "That's more like it. Before this, you guys have been really arrogant just because you're in the Skysoar and Cloudbreach Realms. When I become a Skysoar myself, I can kill even Cloudbreach cultivators! I am only here because I am still slightly interested in you guys. When I lose interest, you guys will all turn into food." Latest content publıshed on N()velFire.net

The suanni was no longer arrogant. He solemnly asked, "What do we need to give to live on?"

Su Yu said, "There is no rush. I have already asked my grandteacher to register all of you as mounts. I will come again when I need you. For example, I might need to leave the academy for missions. At that time, I can take you guys with me. Of course, you guys are too crafty. I might not be able to trust you guys. It is very likely that you will turn against me after leaving the academy. Sure, you won't be able to leave the Human Realm alive after killing me, but my life is much more valuable than pieces of trash like you guys. That won't be a fair trade."

The beasts were visibly angered by that statement.

Su Yu coldly said, "Am I wrong? What are you within your respective races? Are you the elites of your races? The royals of your races? The descendants of Invincibles? If you're really that special, you wouldn't have ended up here. As for me, I have the backing of the Xia Family and the multiple character faction. Mountainsea, Sunmoon, and Invincible experts regard me highly. Is there a need to compare the worth of our lives?"

The beasts said nothing. They might be geniuses, but the Invincible Realm was too far away from them.

Su Yu flicked a few drops of source qi liquid to the beasts before saying, "Alright. Don't be angry. That was just a joke. We'll talk more next time. Don't die. You will have hope as long as you stay alive. Hope will only truly extinguish when you lose your life."

After saying that, Su Yu turned around to leave. The fire crow hurriedly said, "How about my offer?"

"I'll think about it. If possible, I can take you to Grandmaster Zhao Li, the son of the fourth principal, for a checkup to prevent any tricks from you. You know who Zhao Li is, right? That's my teacher as well."

The fire crow hesitated slightly and said, "The descendant of Great Xia Cultural Research Academy's fourth principal, Three Days Zhao?"

Three Days Zhao?

Su Yu frowned. The fire crow saw the displeased expression and hurriedly explained, "That's what the myriad races used to call him. He had a source character that could provide him with unending source qi. He also had a robust willpower. He once fought a peak Sunmoon for three days and three nights before exhausting that opponent to death. Of course, he had also suffered greatly from that battle. Ultimately, he perished. This is a title given out of respect, not disrespect."

Su Yu was shocked to learn all that. He really didn't know about that. The fourth principal had actually perished together with a peak Sunmoon. When experts fought, a result could often be decided instantly. A fight that could last three days and three nights would usually only appear in legends.

Yet the fourth principal had actually achieved such a feat. He wasn't even a peak Sunmoon, right?

"I see. Yes. It's him. He's my weaponsmithing teacher." Su Yu smiled and said, "Looks like the fourth principal is still quite famous. It's good that you know who he is. Teacher Zhao is an expert in weaponsmithing. Since you're offering to refine my weapon...If you can catch Teacher Zhao's attention, I'll send you to him as a helper. You can become his little fire pet. What do you think?"

The fire crow didn't know what to say. Little fire pet? What was that?

He could only helplessly said, "If Lord Zhao does not mind having me around, I am naturally willing to serve him."

"We'll see."

Su Yu did not give a definite answer. These beasts needed to have their pride tempered. They had always felt superior when facing him, viewing him as a weakling with no experience. They believed that they only needed to give him some small benefits to win him over.

Today, Su Yu had told them that they were nothing. And after some time when he grew more, they would be even more useless.

...

Su Yu left.

After he left, the shadow sighed, "We have been tricked. He had known our intentions since the beginning. He had only been playing around with us. Everyone, time for us to find our own way out. He is right. When he reaches the Skysoar Realm, would he still need us?"

"Look at Bai Feng. Before entering the Skysoar Realm, he was very interested in us. But after reaching the Skysoar Realm, we had turned into blood suppliers. When Su Yu becomes a Skysoar, the same will happen."

Their value would only drop the stronger these people became. In Hong Tan's eyes, they were only blood suppliers and test subjects of his students. They were probably more useful to him as food than anything else.

As one's strength changed, one's knowledge would grow. And the way one viewed the world would change as well. When Su Yu reached Hong Tan's level, a few Skysoar and Cloudbreach beasts would be nothing for him.

"Shadow, what do you mean?"

The shadow said, "Nothing. But I am a natural assassin. I am not suited as a mount. And the human race does not have the habit of taking humanoid life forms as mounts. Thus, this isn't the path for me. I'll have to see if this person has any dirty deeds he needs done. If he does, then I will have something to offer."

The water elemental said, "I am also great at assassinations."

The white civet's flirtatious voice rang out, "I'm good at it as well."

The shadow said, "Let's see if he intends to do something like that. I think he does. Otherwise, there wouldn't be any point in telling us clearly about his background, his backers, and his talent. But it's clear he also has a lot of enemies."

"Would he dare to raise his own assassins within the Great Xia capital?"

The mountaindrill bull had just asked the question before the suanni chided, "You are truly stupid. As long as he conducts his business outside the cities, why would the authorities care? This kid is too good at acting. Maybe he's acting weak to bait some of his enemies outside the city. At that time, we would be put to use. The multiple character faction is too small. Their members are strong, but they have too many eyes on them. It is clear he's trying to create a secret force that can be used to protect himself or stab someone in the back."

The shadow said, "Exactly. I believe this is what he intends to do. He might be young, but he is as crafty as an old fox. He is also patient. This is a much harder person to deal with than Bai Feng."

The suanni rolled his eyes and said, "Do we need you to tell us that? At the very least, Bai Feng would be afraid of starving us to death. But this kid really doesn't care one bit. In his eyes, as long as we lose our value, we no longer exist. All of us can see this."

"I didn't realize that..."

The mountaindrill bull muttered softly. How had they realized all that?

The suanni was speechless. He decided to ignore the dumb bull.

The shadow said, "Time for us to think about our own futures. I am thinking of finding a job for myself as well. It has been too many years. I'm already sick of this cage..."

If they failed to earn Su Yu's favor, would there be a next new student for them to curry favor with?

They didn't have much time left.

Su Yu might really completely lose interest on them after reaching the Skysoar Realm. They had to fully submit to him before that time. This was their final opportunity.

...

Upstairs.

Su Yu had a smile on his face. He wasn't too bothered about the beasts. It was pointless to keep acting dumb in front of those beasts. Being honest with them would only make things more interesting.

Two of them were at the Cloudbreach Realm while the other four were Skysoars. The weakest of them was a seventh-stage Skysoar. This was actually quite a formidable force to have.

The multiple character faction was too small. That was the truth. Even if Su Yu was considered an important student, it would be a dream to receive protection if he needed to leave the academy. They simply didn't have enough manpower. Thus, taming those beasts would be a good option.

But it wasn't easy to tame these ferocious beasts. Thus, he had to be careful around them. He tossed the matter out of his mind and took out a voice transmission talisman.

"Brother Lin, have you registered for the tournament?"

"No. Brother Su, I can't win so what's the point? I'm too weak..."

"It's fine. Just register for it. I already made some arrangements. This tournament will be in the form of team battles. Teams of five will be formed. You will be assigned to my team. I will lead you to victory."

Chapter 431: The Final Member (3)

"Are you telling the truth, Brother Su?"

"Of course." Su Yu said, "Who else do you want to bring along for the ride? Feel free to tell me about it. I'll try to get them into my team as well. Don't pick strong students. I need weaker students to give them an impression that you guys are trying to drag me down. I can't have the others figuring out the relationship between us, right?"

Meanwhile, Lin Yao was completely stunned. His imaginations ran wild. Was the Mutual Aid Club really so influential? Su Yu could actually control the format of a tournament organized by the single character faction?

Right, his teacher was one of the organizers as well. Perhaps...his teacher had a hand in this?

That must be it!

At that, Lin Yao asked, "Brother Su, you'll even allow me to take someone with me? Will that affect your plan?"

"Don't worry about it."

"Then...what do you think about my senior brother?"

"Yang Sha?"

"Yeah."

"Sure." Su Yu replied, "But we need to ensure that he is one of us as well. You can tell him a little bit about the Mutual Aid Club. But don't tell him about me. Just let him know that he will be guaranteed a slot. That much is enough. As for whether he's willing to believe it, that's up to him. You can even consider developing him as your downline and recruiting him into the club. But remember, only a single line of communication can be maintained. Once he joins, he will be directly under you. He won't be able to contact any of the other members."

Developing his own downline? Lin Yao's heart thumped. Had he reached a level where he could develop his own downlines now?

"Brother Su...would this be too early? Why don't I observe and test my senior brother more. If I really find him suitable, I'll recruit him. If not, then you don't need to give him this spot in your team."

"Sure. Do what you think is right."

After ending the call with Lin Yao, Su Yu smiled. There was no need for him to show his face to everyone. That would make him look like a pleb. Unimportant individuals like Yang Sha could be handled by Lin Yao.

And even if Yang Sha ended up exposed as a member of his secret club, it would not affect him. He would be fine so long as Lin Yao kept his mouth shut.

"Liu Hong..."

In truth, he was also quite happy to see Liu Hong's position in the single character faction strengthening. That way, Liu Hong would serve as a good shield. Without a strong position, Liu Hong wouldn't have been able to do anything to him through this tournament so easily.

His best counter against this ploy was to challenge the Top 100 Ranking and enter the top 10 or even the top 3 and establish that he could win the tournament even alone. With that established, he would then be able to spread news about Liu Hong's ploy. Only then would people believe his words and question Liu Hong.

But right now, nobody knew Su Yu's real strength. As for Liu Hong's confidence in him, that might not even be true confidence. Liu Hong could very well be doing something as simple as spreading his eggs in multiple baskets. He had nothing to lose since his little brother and students wouldn't be able to win the tournament anyway.

"It would be great if I could get this selfish person into a position of power. If he becomes the faction master, things would be even more interesting. When trouble comes knocking, that fellow will be the first to run."

Su Yu smiled. Of course, he wouldn't underestimate any opponent. Although he had grown considerably during his seclusion, a lot of old students would be participating. He was not afraid of the single character faction if it was one on one fights. But if it was one against five, things could still get dangerous.

The other participants would definitely pick strong students as their members. Naturally, luck would play a bigger role if the teammates were really picked at random.

"Since this is a tournament organized by the single character faction, the academy might turn a blind eye if they play some tricks during the team allocation..."

Su Yu exhaled deeply. The other higher ups of the academy would be more than happy to see one less competitor for their people. They would be more than happy to see him saddled with weak teammates. None of them would really speak up for him.

They would probably only speak up if people like Zhan Hai were also assigned weak teammates. Otherwise, they would keep their silence. That was the reality of things.

All that was actually part of the rules of the game.

The single character faction was allowed to do this because the tournament was organized by them and the slots were supplied by them. Any other faction could do the same if they were willing to pay as well.

"Who should I pick as the final teammate?"

Su Yu sank into thought. He needed a more reliable person as the final teammate. He couldn't rely only on himself.

People like Zhang Hao had most definitely been given their own slots. They might not participate in the tournament. But even if they were participating, it wouldn't be too proper for Su Yu to drag them into the desperate matches that he was going to face.

"That person needs to be strong, not afraid to fight all out, and not afraid of death. And that person also needs to be immune to the single character faction's reprisals after the tournament..."

Suddenly, a name appeared in Su Yu's mind.

His eyes flickered as he smiled. Interesting. Would that person be interested to join?

...

Deep at night.

Mental Tempering Garden.

Su Yu was knocking on a door.

A gloomy voice rang out from behind the door, "Who is it?"

"It's me."

After a momentary wait, the door swung open. As usual, Zhou Hao was clad in a simple martial outfit. He was looking at Su Yu with doubt and caution in his eyes.

"Can we talk inside?"

Zhou Hao moved aside, allowing Su Yu to enter. But every move of his radiated caution.

Su Yu!

Su Yu was actually visiting him!

What was Su Yu planning to do?"

"Have you recovered?" Su Yu looked at Zhou Hao's arms before sitting down. He smiled and said, "Your teacher is still stuck in a limbo of despair. But you seem to be recovering nicely instead of sinking into despair after your defeat."

"Despair?" Zhou Hao had a stubborn expression as he said, "As long as I am still alive, why should I despair? I am already used to near-death experiences."

"Used to it...yes. Adaptability is indeed a terrifying force." Su Yu smiled, "Sit down. Why are you being so cautious? This is the academy. What can I do to you?"

Zhou Hao said nothing and sat down opposite him.

"Do you want more strength?" Su Yu started.

Zhou Hao calmly replied, "That was the only reason I came out of the wilderness."

"Do you dare to fight with your life on the line?"

"What do you think?"

Su Yu smiled and nodded. "You do. I don't know what is going on with your teacher, but I reckon he can't spare you any attention anymore. Someone like you would probably be ruined without the help of your teacher. You won't be able to get more resources, progress, or cultivate your willpower. I know about the Thousand Mountain Art you cultivate. It is an art famous for causing its cultivator to be stuck below the Infinite Strength Realm. That must be why you have come to the academy. But now, you have yet to find a way to cultivate your willpower, right?"

Zhou Hao said nothing. Xia Yuwen was indeed ignoring him. After all, Xia Yuwen himself was still bedridden. Zhou Hao had basically been abandoned.

"Do you know about the tournament for the slots of the Willpower Grotto? In the grotto, you can grow your willpower rapidly and catch up with those old students. Otherwise, you would probably be stuck in the Great Strength Realm for life."

Zhou Hao asked, "Are you asking me to join the tournament?"

"Yes. Join my team." Su Yu said, "Teams of five will be formed for the tournament. I will need to carry three deadweights with me. I don't want the fourth person to be a deadweight as well. You are not too impressive, but you currently lack a backer. You also have no resources or background. But you are fearless in fights. I need someone like you. Even if you end up killed during the tournament, I won't feel anything. You're the perfect candidate."

In truth, Zhou Hao was actually very strong. He was probably stronger than even some students in the top 30. More importantly, this guy was a savage during combat. He was fearless. Each attack of his would be launched with the intent to kill.

During his match with Su Yu, he had been willing to fight on even after suffering crippling injuries. He was an incredibly troublesome opponent to face.

Zhou Hao grinned, "I heard that a lot of experts will join the tournament. Can the two of us win?"

"Why not?" Su Yu said, "As long as you have the guts to obstruct the opponents I need you to obstruct, I am confident we can win. For example, an opponent like Zhan Hai. I will need you to obstruct him while I deal with his team. We can naturally win after that. But if you fail in your task, our chances will become much lower."

"Zhan Hai?"

"Number one in the top 100. A student who had fought a Skysoar without losing before. Can you obstruct someone like him?" Su Yu said, "If you can, then we can cooperate. If you can't, things will be more difficult for us."

"Someone capable of fighting Skysoars..."

Zhou Hao's face turned solemn. But after a while, he grinned again as he asked, "Can we kill during the tournament?"

"You're aiming to kill him?"

"No. But if we can't kill during the tournament, he will have some misgivings when I fight him in a suicidal manner. In that scenario, I am confident I can keep him occupied for some time."

Zhou Hao added, "A cultivator without the courage to kill isn't scary. As long as there is fear, openings can be found. Truly scary cultivators are those without fear. If he dares to kill, I won't be able to hold him down."

Su Yu nodded. "You're right. He wouldn't dare to kill. Don't worry. Your teacher's heart might be dead, but he is still alive. Zhan Hai wouldn't dare to kill you. If he is weaker, maybe he won't have as many misgivings. But you're only a Great Strength cultivator. He won't dare to be too heavy-handed..."

"If that's the case, I'll be able to stop him."

Su Yu smiled and said, "Fine. I look forward to working with you."

He stood up and said, "If you want a slot, then you need to fight hard. If you're not interested, forget it. You can try to get a slot from your teacher. Maybe you can get one without fighting." New ɴᴏᴠᴇʟ ᴄhapters are published on novel⦿fire.net

Zhou Hao grinned and said, "I prefer fighting with my life on the line for what I want."

Su Yu also smiled, "I like to do that as well. It feels much better to get what I want with my own hands. Unfortunately, you're too weak. I'm afraid this will be the only time we can work together. Remember to not provoke me anymore in the future. I know you're not afraid of death. But I am afraid of death. Although I am no stranger to death, I am still afraid of death. Due to my fear of death, I prefer killing those who can pose a threat to me."

With a smile on his face, a thick killing intent burst out of Su Yu's body before vanishing. The killing intent was so intense that even Zhou Hao took a step back by instinct.

His face turned solemn.

Su Yu had grown even stronger than before.

"People who lack strength will need to put their lives on the line for more opportunities. I am here for you because you are not afraid of doing that. If you're not willing to do so, don't blame me for abandoning you."

Su Yu smiled before walking out of the door. Zhou Hao was actually a very good partner. As an opponent, he was scary and troublesome. But as a partner, he would be very useful. Su Yu loved working alongide fearless people like Zhou Hao.

In terms of strength, Zhou Hao might even be weaker than Qiu Yi. But if the two fought, Qiu Yi would be the one to die.

Strictly speaking, Zhou Hao was very similar to Su Yu.

Su Yu was also fearless and crazy in combat. He had died way too many times in his dreams, to the point he was numb to the fear of death. As for Zhou Hao, he was also someone who had experienced the threat of death many times. If Su Yu guessed right, this fellow had probably grown up in a den of beasts.

Or he might simply be a feral child who had grown up in the wilderness where demonic beasts were more frequently seen.

Chapter 432: So Pitiful (1)

After meeting Zhou Hao and reaching an agreement with him, the 19th arrived.

The tournament would be held on the 20th.

Only when Su Yu met Xia Huyou on the 19th did he realize what had happened during his seclusion.

...

Su Yu did not spend much time talking with Xia Huyou and went to the books depository instead.

Books depository. Top floor.

These two days, Wu Jia had been staying indoors. Chen Yong had been using the time to teach her about the ignition of blood essence.

When Su Yu arrived, Chen Yong invited him to sit down with a smile and asked, "You're out? How's your cultivation of the Sky Sundering Saber?"

"Martial Uncle, I finished cultivating it."

Chen Yong was slightly stunned, but he quickly recovered and sighed as he said, "What a genius. The path of willpower has actually delayed your progress. If you had concentrated on physical cultivation, you would probably be a Skysoar already."

In only a few days, this kid had completed the cultivation of the Sky Sundering Saber. If he wasn't a genius, who could be called a genius? Chen Yong was in awe of Su Yu's talent.

Su Yu smiled and said, "Not really. Without the multiple character faction, I wouldn't have gotten all these opportunities. I wouldn't have gotten the chance to meet the Xia Family and learn their cultivation method."

Grotto, merit points, Sky Sundering Saber...

If he hadn't joined the multiple character faction, he would have a much harder time getting access to all that.

Without the fake formula he sold, where would he have gotten his first windfall? How could he have obtained the chance to enter the grotto so frequently? People had only believed in his fake formula due to the multiple character faction's reputation.

Chen Yong smiled and said nothing else.

Beside them, Wu Jia curiously asked, "Junior Brother, are you at the Infinite Strength Realm already?"

"Nope."

"No? Oh..."

Wu Jia sounded slightly disappointed, but she was also relieved. She said, "I'm going to reach that realm soon. I formed another character recently. I now have eight characters."

Su Yu smiled and said, "Incredible, Senior Sister!"

Wu Jia's character technique wasn't a particularly powerful one. It only required 10 foundational characters.

Although Bai Feng had come up with the disassembly method, Chen Yong still requested that Wu Jia walk the stable path and form 10 characters before her advancement. That way, she would be able to strengthen those 10 characters during her breakthrough.

She would definitely need way less time forming more characters now than she would forming and advancing new characters to the second tier after her advancement.

Wu Jia was happy at first, but she soon turned gloomy as she said, "Even after growing stronger, I am still as strong as a top 70 student. And that is only if the top 100 are still at the same standard as before. In truth, everyone is growing as well. I might not be as strong as a top 70 student anymore."

Everyone was growing.

She had spent two months recuperating, delaying her own cultivation. Even if she were as strong as a top 70 student before, her new strength might not be enough for her to maintain the same ranking.

Su Yu comforted her, "Don't worry. You will be able to catch up with everyone soon, Senior Sister. By the way, Martial Uncle, has Grandteacher taught Senior Sister the Heaven Shaking Sutra?"

Chen Yong gave him a deep look and said, "A cultivation method is not something that can be taught lightly. Su Yu, think it through before making this decision."

Chen Yong knew very well that the actual owner of the cultivation method was Su Yu, not Hong Tan. And a cultivation method couldn't be taught lightly.

Even the basic version of Xia Family's cultural art was not something that would be taught to anyone easily. Only their direct descendants from the main branch would be taught that cultural art.

Even Xia Chan was not taught that cultural art previously. She had only been taught that art recently after Xia Huyou obtained a better alternative with 36 apertures. From this, one could see how important cultural arts were.

Chen Yong knew about that cultural art as well, but he didn't ask for it. Nor had he asked for it to be taught to Wu Jia. If that was really something from the multiple character faction's predecessors, it would be fine. But it wasn't.

Su Yu smiled, "Martial Uncle, cultivation methods exist to be cultivated. Senior Sister has a slot to the grotto, right? With this cultivation method, she might even be able to open dozens of apertures in the grotto."

The Willpower Grotto would be a great opportunity for her to grow.

If she missed this grotto, it would be hard to find another opportunity where she could open so many apertures at once.

Chen Yong inhaled lightly and said, "You know how valuable this cultivation method is. It was why the Xia Family had agreed to teach you the top-tier Sky Sundering Saber so easily. Otherwise, Marquis Xia would have given you a much harder time before giving you the Sky Sundering Saber."

In truth, this cultural art was almost equal in value to the Sky Sundering Saber.

Su Yu smiled and said, "That is why I want Senior Sister to cultivate it as well. I wouldn't have dared to reveal it otherwise. Now that the Xia Family knows the cultural art as well, even if the others know about it, they have to consider the consequences before trying to snatch it."

Since the Xia Family already knew the cultural art, it would be more acceptable for the multiple character faction to know it as well. Otherwise, they would need to be constantly cautious of the hidden enemies that might try to snatch their cultural art.

Beside them, Wu Jia looked completely lost. She asked, "What Heaven Shaking Sutra?"

Chen Yong softy said, "A foundation cultural art with 36 apertures. It is comparable to a top-tier heaven-grade cultivation method in value. It was something your junior brother obtained through one of his fortuitous encounters. It didn't come down from the predecessors of our faction. Now, your junior brother is offering it to you..."

Su Yu hurriedly corrected, "Martial Uncle, that was a cultivation method created by both Grandteacher and Teacher..."

"..."

Chen Yong laughed and said nothing else to Su Yu. He looked at Wu Jia and said, "Your junior brother does not wish to see you miss out on this opportunity. If you are lucky, you might even be able to open 36 apertures with this cultural art in the grotto. With 36 apertures, you can rapidly reach the ninth stage after entering the Skysoar Realm. At that time, you only need to cultivate the Myriad Text Sutra and accumulate more strength to break through into the Cloudbreach Realm."

That was why foundation cultural arts were so coveted.

At the Mental Tempering Stage, apertures were much easier to open. If one could open 36 apertures during that time, one would instantly reach the ninth-stage Skysoar Realm the moment one's willpower and characters reached the corresponding level.

Although most foundation cultural arts did not have follow up arts for one to cultivate at higher cultivation levels, it did not matter. With 36 apertures opened, one would be able to open the Myriad Text Sutra apertures easily. And the early advancement into the ninth-stage Skysoar Realm would also grant one more strength for self defense. Chapters fırst released on NoveI[F]ire.net

Even after moving on from the foundation art to the Myriad Text Sutra, one would still be stronger than other cultural researchers in the same level. Any foundation cultural art was an invaluable treasure.

Wu Jia looked at Su Yu in astonishment. Her junior brother was actually so lucky? Of course she knew about foundation cultural arts. But she had not expected her junior brother to have one in possession. And now, she was going to receive it as well...

She suddenly slapped the back of Su Yu's head and chided, "Junior Brother, have you lost your mind? Why did you trade something like this for a different cultivation method? Physical cultivation methods are not valuable at all! The Xia Family has taken advantage of you!"

Wu Jia had a look of heartache as she said, "You should have cultivated it in silence and reached the ninth-stage Skysoar Realm without anyone knowing. At that time, even Invincibles might try to recruit you..."

Su Yu laughed, "Senior Sister, what's the point of getting recruited by Invincibles? Great Xia King is an Invincible. Should I pay him to be my teacher with the cultural art?"

"You should! He would definitely agree!"

Su Yu smiled, "Senior Sister, what's the point? Buying the position of a student like this will only hurt my own reputation. It has no substance to it."

Wu Jia gloomily said, "But you're very talented. Teacher has been repeating over and over how talented you are. Since you are always being bullied with us, you might as well find an Invincible to be your teacher and leave the multiple character faction. I have been wanting to leave for a while. What a pity that I can't bring myself to leave Teacher. Why would I want to be a member of the multiple character faction otherwise?"

Chen Yong rolled his eyes and said, "Lass, I'm still here."

Wu JIa grumbled, "Even if you're here, I'm speaking the truth. Junior Brother is so impressive, but he is being constantly suppressed because of us. He would have been treated like the most valuable piece of treasure if he hadn't joined us."

Chen Yong had nothing to say. He felt quite helpless.

Su Yu smiled and said, "Senior Sister, the multiple character faction is a good place. We don't have a lot of people, so nobody is around to fight us for resources. The moment something happens, our backers will come immediately. Why? Because Martial Uncle and Grandteacher have no other successors. They have no choice but to back us up. Just look at the pitiful single character faction members. They have too many people. You can kill a few of them and their teachers will need to think about consequences and worth before actually doing anything. Why? Because they have too many members. A few dead members won't be that big of a deal."

"That's true."

After thinking about it, Wu Jia nodded in agreement. She seemed to have completely forgotten about the cultural art already.

Su Yu was starting to get a headache speaking to his senior sister. He said nothing else and gave Chen Yong a jade talisman. Accepting the talisman, Chen Yong gave Su Yu a look before sighing. He said nothing.

Su Yu wasted no time and asked, "Martial Uncle, is Zhou Pingsheng still the deputy head manager?"

"Yeah."

"I heard that his student, Di Feng, and a few others were talking drivel all over the academy. There is no need for you to waste your time on them. These people are incapable of doing anything apart from running their mouths around. Even then, they aren't really that good even when it comes to talking."

Su Yu sounded somewhat disappointed as he said, "I wanted to use the tournament tomorrow to teach them a good lesson. It's a pity that the Discipline Hall has suddenly punished them. These sorts of punishments won't really hurt them. They are completely pointless. These people won't remember these punishments. They are very forgetful. Before long, they will put this incident behind them. And because of these punishments, my plan to act against them has been delayed as well."

Wu Jia was about to say something when Chen Yong smiled and said, "You are all fellow students. There is no need to be too harsh against them."

"True. I doubt those students have the guts to provoke you. It must be Zhou Pingsheng. That fellow is clearly not a good person. What a pity. He has been let off too easily this time."

As Su Yu said that, he focused on Chen Yong's face. But Chen Yong was expressionless.

Su Yu said, "But this fellow is really quite useless. This is the same guy who lost tens of thousands of merit points to me in a scam not long ago. What a piece of trash. There is no need for you to do anything to him, Martial Uncle. I will deal with him sooner or later."

Chen Yong gave Su Yu a deep look. With a simple and honest smile, Su Yu said, "Don't worry, Martial Uncle. People like him are too power hungry. He cares too much about fame and wealth. And now, he has lost both fame and wealth. People like him will probably blame everyone in the world except himself for his current predicament."

Chen Yong frowned slightly. Su Yu continued, "People like him will eventually die because of his own greed."

Chen Yong stared at Su Yu for a very long time before smiling, "You're right."

Su Yu also smiled, "Therefore, you don't need to waste any time on him. The multiple character faction is already too small. It is not worth losing more people over someone like that."

"You..."

Chen Yong then looked at his confused student before smiling. Su Yu was very smart. But he still preferred his own student. It was very tiring to be too smart as smart people would always think too much.

This kid would probably be the future of the multiple character faction. But he still felt closer to his dumb student. And he also felt more accomplished teaching someone like her. He couldn't help but pity his junior brother. With a student like Su Yu, one would probably have the urge to cough blood on a daily basis.

Chen Yong moved on from the topic and asked, "Are you sure you're joining the tournament tomorrow?"

"Yeah." Su Yu nodded and said, "Liu Hong is turning the tournament into team matches. Everyone will be split into teams of five. He is probably preparing to put some deadweights in my team."

Chen Yong frowned and said, "He's rigging the matches?"

"I think so."

"How audacious of him." Chen Yong coldly said, "I'll be there tomorrow. Let's see how he's going to pull that off."

Su Yu smiled and said, "Don't get angry, Martial Uncle. It's not necessarily a good thing to expose him. This will ruin the tournament that so many people are looking forward to. The single character faction can simply decide not to hold the tournament anymore. In any case, some of the elders have already been given some slots so those elders won't care. This will only turn the public against us, even if the single character faction will also attract some hostility because of it."

There was really no need to escalate this issue. The single character faction could simply refund the 10,000 merit points sponsored by the academy and cancel the tournament. The elders that mattered already had their slots anyway, so the single character faction would still be able to open the grotto despite the cancellation of the tournament.

If needed, they could give even more slots to some elders to shut their mouths. As for the students, they would place the majority of their blame on Su Yu and the multiple character faction instead of Liu Hong. That was how humans were.

And that would be the consequences of making a fuss about the matter. As for Liu Hong, he wouldn't suffer either way.

Chen Yong frowned and said, "Then we won't participate."

"No!" Su Yu smiled, "I need to join. I can't let them have a good time. Don't worry. I am still confident. But I do need to trouble you for something."

"Yes?"

"I am thinking of sending the fire crow to Teacher Zhao Li. Teacher and Grandteacher are both not around. Can you help with the transportation?"

"Fire crow?"

"Yeah. Hes offering to refine my cultural weapon with his lifebound fire. I don't trust him so I would prefer to have Teacher Zhao around. After all, he's a master smith."

"Sure..."

Chen Yong was quite surprised. "The fire crow is actually willing to refine your weapon with his lifebound fire? He will lose a lot doing that. How did you persuade him?"

"I had a talk with him about the future. He was moved by my sincerity."

"..."

Chen Yong completely ignored all of that. What a load of nonsense!

...

Half an hour later.

Wentan Research Center. Prison Zone.

Chen Yong had an indifferent look as he opened cage number six.

The fire crow remained completely still. With a casual wave of his hand, Chen Yong grabbed the crow in his hand. His grip was so tight that the fire crow's tongue was sticking out of his mouth. He seemed to have been turned into a meatball by Chen Yong.

With the meatball in hand, Chen Yong looked at the water elemental and demanded, "Give me some water essence."

The water remained silent.

Chen Yong opened the cage and said, "So are you giving the water yourself or do you want me to take the water from you?"

"Chen Yong..." The water elemental softly said, "If I give you more water essence, my cultivation will drop..."

"You sure talk a lot."

With a snort, Chen Yong grabbed at the water elemental. The water elemental struggled as best as he could, unleashing a burst of willpower that gave Su Yu the illusion of facing a furious sea.

But that illusion only lasted for a split second. In the blink of an eye, the illusion had been crushed. In Chen Yong's hand was a clump of rubbery substance. As he squeezed, a drop of transparent water came out.

Then, Chen Yong threw the rubbery clump back into the cage before locking it again. All the other beasts were shivering in fear.