Chapter 476: Fear Not, Grandteacher Will Cover This Up! (3)
"How is Su Yu comparable to me? I am already a ninth-stage Infinite Strength cultivator. When I return home, I can get some divine or devil blood essence to push my body straight to the third or fourth stage during my advancement into the Skysoar Realm. How can he catch up to that speed?"
Xia Huyou grinned smugly. This was the benefit of being the descendant of an Invincible. What could anyone do about it?
Others would need to spend their own money for their cultivation resources. Meanwhile, he only needed to get what he wanted from home, directly reaching the third or fourth stage during his advancement.
At that time, his physical cultivation would be at the third or fourth-stage Skysoar Realm while his willpower cultivation would be at the eighth or even the ninth-stage Skysoar Realm. Hehehe...how could Su Yu compete against him?
He could even get a top-tier profound-grade weapon right after entering the Skysoar Realm. He would surpass Su Yu with the power of money!
"Idiot."
A disdainful voice rang out, interrupting Xia Huyou who was laughing to himself.
Holy shit!
Did Wu Jia just sneer at him?
He looked at Wu Jia gloomily and asked, "Do you know what your junior brother's real strength is?"
Wu Jia looked at him in astonishment, "You don't know that? He's unrivaled below the Skysoar Realm."
"..."
That was actually right.
Forget it. Xia Huyou decided to stop wasting time and resumed his cultivation.
This was a decent grotto.
His family needed to get something like this as well. Their existing grotto wasn't as good. He told himself that the next time his father, Xia Longwu, decided to cut someone down, he should cut down someone with a character that could turn into a similarly useful grotto. It would be even better if he could cut down an Invincible and get their family an Invincible grotto.
This was only a Sunmoon grotto. It was not good enough since it was only useful up to the Cloudbreach Realm. If they could cut down an Invincible for a grotto, that grotto would probably be good enough for even those at the Mountainsea Realm.
...
While Xia Huyou was busy indulging himself in all those random thoughts, Su Yu was running around the grotto.
Absorb.
And absorb.
All the single character faction members were greatly frustrated.
Zhan Hai, who was near the Skysoar Realm, was greatly frustrated as well.
Damn it! Just what was happening here?
Was there something wrong with this grotto?
Why was the supply of willpower so inconsistent? There were a few instances where they nearly suffered from cultivation deviation because of the abrupt cut in the supply of willpower.
Su Yu made sure to pay the beloved daughter of Director Ji some of his attention as well. He had emptied the willpower around her several times.
Since everyone else had received his love, he had to be fair and let her experience the same love as well, right? Sure, she was an honest girl, so she would probably demand for compensation from Zhou Mingren after leaving the grotto.
Ji Xiaomeng was a very straightforward person. After the willpower around her was emptied a few times, she decided to stop cultivating and ran off. Where was she going? She was looking for Zhou Pingsheng.
The strongest person in the grotto was Zhou Pingsheng.
Thus, she naturally had to get the help of Uncle Zhou to gather some willpower and stand guard for her while she was cultivating. Uncle Zhou was such a kind person. He would definitely agree to help.
Ji Xiaomeng was the sole individual who did not feel troubled over Su Yu's shenanigans. She decided to seek help immediately. If Zhou Pingsheng refused to help her...well, he should start preparing for an early retirement.
Xia Yuwen was also an option. For her, this was not an issue. She would definitely be able to get someone to help her so she was not worried at all.
...
None of that mattered for Su Yu. he continued roaming the grotto and emptying random areas of willpower.
In the blink of an eye, a day and a night had passed.
Over a period of 24 hours, he had pushed his total opened apertures to 71. He was one aperture away from fully opening all the apertures of his second cultural art.
"I'll try to open all the apertures of the third art by the end of the third day."
This was the goal Su Yu had set for himself. That was totally not a lofty goal. He only wanted to open 108 apertures. All his arts would require him to open 180 apertures. And he was only aiming to open 108 apertures for now. That was not ambitious at all.
He had entered the grotto with 44 apertures. Thus, he only needed to open 64 apertures while in the grotto. That translated to about 20 apertures per day. Easy. And thus, Su Yu worked even harder to meet this goal of his.
...
Outside the grotto.
It had been one full day.
Elder Sun and company had long reached their limits. At this point, Zhou Mingren was finally reaching his limit. He looked at Hong Tan.
Not far away, Hong Tan was smiling happily. Looking at the newly arrived elders, he said, "I need a few of you to help me with this. We only need to keep this up for a day."
Having said that, he stepped forth and received control over the grotto.
Zhou Mingren said nothing. Go ahead, Hong Tan. Let's see if he would enjoy this. There was a troublemaker constantly emptying random areas of willpower in the grotto. This fellow had been thinking that this was an easy job. Let's see how this person would react after experiencing it for himself.
With that, Zhou Mingren and his people retreated, leaving the grotto in the hands of Hong Tan and a few other elders. The moment Hong Tan took over, his willpower shook.
Fuck!
Zhou Pingsheng?
Was this fellow deliberately giving him trouble right after he took over as a show of dominance?
What a bastard.
Right after Hong Tan took over the grotto, a spot in the grotto was emptied of willpower.
Hong Tan held nothing back and instantly reduced the willpower density of several spots. These spots had enjoyed a comparatively higher density of willpower when Zhou Mingren and company were running the grotto.
Why should Hong Tan let those fellows benefit when he was in charge? Instead, he created a new spot with high willpower density before using his willpower to guide Su Yu over.
Pitiful kid. He must have spent an entire day not cultivating.
How pitiful.
Fear not. His grandteacher had finally arrived to save the day! His backer was here!
Hong Tan fearfully did what he wanted. With his willpower, he covered the senses of the other elders to prevent them from sensing what he was doing. He grinned happily. There was no way these people would be able to sense anything.
He was a pseudo Sunmoon. Unless Zhou Mingren returned to take control of the grotto alongside him, none of these elders would be able to sense what he was doing.
The most they could sense was the fact that he had dispersed the willpower at several spots. But that was only natural. It would be weirder if he allowed those places to enjoy a large concentration of willpower.
...
At the same time.
Inside the grotto.
Su Yu's heart thumped as he looked at the misty sky above him.
A line had appeared in the sky.
The line extended far into the distance.
That reminded Su Yu of something. It was the second day. Had his grandteacher taken over? He did not hesitate and followed the guidance of the line. Was his grandteacher finally here to give him special treatment?
Of course, Su Yu was not the only person who had noticed the line in the sky. The two Cloudbreach cultivators, Hu Wensheng and Xia Yuwen, had also noticed the line after the willpower density around them had dropped to normal. They immediately followed the line. Liu Hong's group was also doing the same.
By the time Su Yu arrived at his destination, he saw that some other people were already there. Zhou Pingsheng was there. This was actually the first time he saw Su Yu in the grotto. He had an unfriendly look in his eyes, but he said nothing.
Ahead of them, a mountain had appeared. That was a mountain formed of willpower. The Skysoars did not hesitate to rush toward the mountain. Su Yu did the same. As he approached the mountain, his eyes flickered as he took out a small saber. The moment the saber appeared, a tunnel opened up ahead of him.
"It's indeed Grandteacher!"
Su Yu was overjoyed. He followed his saber and before long, he was separated from everyone else.
He ignored them and continued ahead. By the time the saber stopped, he looked around and was overjoyed. His surroundings were filled with thick willpower. And the area seemed completely blocked off from the outside, making entry impossible for anyone else.
His grandteacher was truly amazing!
With this, even if others knew that this place had a lot of willpower, they could only wait outside and absorb a little bit of the dispersed willpower. Meanwhile, he could happily absorb inside the mountain. He held nothing back and activated all 71 of his apertures, instantly absorbing a large amount of willpower.
...
At the same time.
While Hong Tan was busy feeling sad for his pitiful little grandstudent, his heart jolted.
Holy shit!
Did he lead the wrong person inside the mountain?
Holy shit!
Who the fuck was that?
What was that absorption speed?
Please stop messing around with him. Wasn't this the same fellow from earlier? This was the same person who he had assumed to be Zhou Pingsheng. The way the willpower had been instantly emptied was an exact repeat of what had happened earlier.
But...he had used his light of Sunmoon to borrow the power of the first principal's character. That special mountain was the territory of the multiple character faction.
After all, this was a grotto left behind by the first principal. Thus, the multiple character faction knew more about it than the others.
He was certain that only those from the multiple character faction could enter. Had Zhou Pingsheng joined the multiple character faction? Or perhaps...there had been a misunderstanding. Su Yu was the bastard who had been creating all those troubles.
Hong Tan was greatly shocked. What should he do?
Was it Su Yu?
WIth his powerful cultivation, Hong Tan covered everything, not giving even Zhou Mingren the chance to pry into what was happening in the grotto while feigning a calm expression.
Fear not! That was no problem at all. Even if Su Yu was the culprit, his awesome grandteacher was here. There was nothing to fear! His grandteacher would back him up!
But while doing all that, Hong Tan continued grumbling inwardly. Was this really Su Yu? Was this really the kid?
Wasn't this absorption speed a tad bit too crazy? Wasn't this supposed to be the absorption speed of a Cloudbreach?
The immense absorptive force would erupt in bursts.
Every 15 minutes or so, it would happen, causing Hong Tan to shake. He continued cursing inwardly, asking himself if this was really Su Yu. That was way too fast. Was the kid not afraid of bursting apart from absorbing too much?
...
Meanwhile, Su Yu was having the time of his life.
His grandteacher was such a great person.
That old man had actually created this special zone for him to absorb as much willpower as he wanted. This felt amazing! He no longer needed to be afraid of getting discovered by others. He was able to freely absorb the willpower with all his apertures.
Not all the absorbed willpower could be used to open new apertures as some would go to waste. But Su Yu made good use of even the leftover by powering his hammer with the leftover willpower and hammering his sea of willpower, tempering his apertures, and purifying his willpower.
He would have an endless supply of willpower here so what was there to fear? After an hour, he finally opened the final aperture of his second art with a rumble. The final aperture had been rather difficult to open.
Su Yu did not even pause as he continued absorbing willpower to open the apertures of his third art. This time, his absorption speed was even faster than before. Thanks to his increased speed and the endless supply of willpower, he was able to open his 73rd aperture in less than half an hour.
74...75...
One aperture after another opened.
Eventually, Hong Tan grew numb.
He was starting to wonder if he could last one full day.
Holy shit!
He was a pseudo Sunmoon from the multiple character faction! He was a lot stronger than Zhou Mingren! Even someone like him was having a hard time lasting a day.
Was that crazy fellow really Su Yu?
He was using at least 50 percent of the willpower in the grotto to supply Su Yu alone. The single character faction had paid a large price to open the grotto. If this fellow was really Su Yu, then he was single-handedly milking the single character faction dry.
"It shouldn't be him, right?"
Hong Tan didn't even know if he wanted that person to be Su Yu anymore. The longer it went, the faster that person's absorption speed became. At this point, that absorption speed had reached the level of a ninth-stage Cloudbreach while it was only at the level of a sixth or seventh-stage Cloudbreach before.
If this continued, would that person reach the level of a Mountainsea? This grotto was not meant to sustain the cultivation of a Mountainsea!
"Holy shit! He wouldn't cause the grotto to collapse with his excessive absorption, right?" Read full story at novel(ꜰ)ire.net
Hong Tan was starting to panic. There were a lot of people in the grotto. Kid, if that was really him, he needed to calm down. If the kid really caused the grotto to collapse, those people would kill him!
Hong Tan even started to wonder if he should just grab the kid and flee. This was too terrifying.
He would cover for the kid. He would cover everything for the kid. He would not allow anyone to see or sense anything. Look at how relaxed he was! Su Yu was definitely not the culprit. It was Zhou Pingsheng. Yes. It was Zhou Pingsheng!
...
Meanwhile, nobody realized that the grotto was being pushed to its limits.
As a large amount of the grotto's willpower had gathered in the vicinity of the mountain, they were all cultivating near the mountain. Looking at the nearby Hu Wensheng, Zhou Pingsheng sneered inwardly.
Sure enough!
When he ignored this fellow earlier, the incidents had not stopped. The moment they were all here together, the incidents had stopped.
The students had stopped roaring in anger.
The people had stopped screaming in frustration.
Areas devoid of willpower had stopped appearing.
Hu Wensheng...hmph!
Chapter 477: The Grotto Is Collapsing (1)
Absorb!
Absorb more!
Absorb crazily!
Su Yu had not even considered the fact that his grandteacher was having a terrible time. What a joke. What was his grandteacher? His grandteacher was an expert capable of fighting Sunmoons!
He was only absorbing a tiny bit of willpower. And he wasn't even absorbing directly from his grandteacher. He was absorbing the willpower produced by the resources of the single character faction. It wouldn't affect his grandteacher, so he naturally wouldn't hold back.
Willpower saturation?
Willpower overflow?
Yeah. That would happen with how much willpower he was absorbing. Tʜe sourcᴇ of thɪs content ɪs noᴠelfire.net
But fear not! He had his little hammer!
Compress!
Purify!
He was uninterested in garbage willpower. He only wanted the purest of willpower!
All 80 of his apertures were full?
He couldn't absorb more?
Fear not!
He could open more! He could open even 180 apertures if he wanted!
With 80 apertures, his absorption speed was terrifying.
Even a regular ninth-stage Cloudbreach would only have 72 apertures opened.
Of course, since Su Yu's willpower was weaker in strength, his absorption speed was still incomparable to that of a ninth-stage Cloudbreach. But with 80 apertures, his speed was almost comparable to a seventh or eighth-stage Cloudbreach.
Continue!
Five hours...six hours...
This continued for 12 whole hours.
Little did he know, the materials supporting the opening of the grotto had been fully exhausted. The willpower expenditure was simply too high. At this point, Su Yu had opened a total of 100 apertures.
12 hours ago, he only had 71 opened apertures. In total, he had opened 29 new apertures. This was much faster than before. The thick willpower walls around him had thinned considerably.
And Su Yu's willpower had been tempered so much that he could no longer further temper them, forcing his willpower cultivation to reach 90 percent full. His willpower had turned extremely compact. If he continued tempering it, his willpower would probably turn solid.
But for willpower to turn truly solid, one needed to first reach willpower materialization. Since Su Yu had yet to achieve that, he could no longer continue tempering his willpower.
...
Meanwhile, Hong Tan felt like he was dying.
He kept telling himself that he was fine.
He could do this!
He needed to lie to everyone and show that he was fine!
He was really reaching his limit. The absorption speed was too fast. With 100 apertures, Su Yu was basically absorbing as much willpower as a Cloudbreach.
And that pressure was too much for the grotto to handle.
The grotto was on the verge of collapse.
Hong Tan knew that if this continued, the grotto would definitely collapse. But that couldn't happen while he was the one controlling it. He looked around before stopping on a certain elder. He would have to trouble Old QI for this.
Old Qi was Fatty Xia's friend. He would be the perfect person to take the fall for the grotto's collapse. He hoped that Old Qi wouldn't take it to heart. He was already at his limits.
Old Qi wouldn't be afraid of offending all these people, but Hong Tan was. The multiple character faction was already in a difficult position. Thus, Old Qi would have to take on this task.
Despite all those thoughts running through his mind, Hong Tan maintained a tranquil expression.
He removed some of the willpower around Su Yu and dispersed it all over the grotto to keep it operational, ensuring that nobody would notice that the grotto was on the verge of collapse.
Old Qi would take over a grotto that was a shell of its former self. The collapse would happen in the blink of an eye.
Of course, since Su Yu was the culprit, he had to notify the kid in advance.
He couldn't converse with the kid?
That wasn't an issue!
...
Inside the grotto.
Su Yu was still busy cultivating. He could sense that the willpower density around him had dropped, but he wasn't too bothered.
Suddenly, the willpower wall beside him rippled.
He looked up at the wall.
A word formed on it.
Run!
Yes, that was the word on the wall. Su Yu blanked out. What was that?
"Run!"
The word became clearer and clearer. Before long, the word rippled and was replaced by: Collapse.
Su Yu blanked out.
Holy shit!
What was the meaning of that? Was the grotto collapsing? Or was this spot collapsing? What the hell was that? Wasn't this a grotto left behind by a big shot Sunmoon? How would it collapse?
Su Yu had a lot of questions, but he calmed down and waited a short while. No new words appeared while the willpower wall kept thinning. He could already start to see some silhouettes through the wall.
He hurriedly covered his apertures with the shadow barrier generated by his deceit character. Then, he stood up while maintaining a calm expression. He nonchalantly strode through the wall.
The moment he walked out, everyone focused on him. Ji Xiaomeng, who was cultivating beside Zhou Pingsheng, asked curiously, "Why are you stopping?"
Everyone knew that Hong Tan was giving Su Yu special treatment. Zhou Pingsheng and the others were unhappy, but they also knew that they couldn't do anything to something produced by a pseudo Sunmoon. Even if they could do that, they would probably do so much damage that the grotto itself would fall apart.
Thus, none of them had bothered to attack the mountain even if they knew Su Yu was inside.
Su Yu flashed a genial smile and said, "I'm only at the Mental Tempering Stage. There is a limit to how much I can absorb. After reaching saturation, it's pointless to stay inside."
Su Yu looked at the people cultivating nearby and smiled, "I would like to express my thanks to the seniors from the single character faction. My willpower has reached 90 percent. I have benefited greatly from this grotto. I think I'm not that far away from the Skysoar Realm."
Both Hu Wensheng and Xia Yuwen only gave him a glance before ignoring him. Zhou Pingsheng had a cold expression, but he said nothing either.
Liu Hong had an amused look as he asked, "Su Yu, you're growing fast, but have you formed all your characters? Are you going to join our single character faction after your advancement?"
Su Yu laughed, "What are you saying? Am I not a single character faction member currently? Wait, that's wrong. We only have a character faction in the academy now. There are no longer single or multiple character factions."
"..."
Liu Hong laughed, but inwardly, he was suspicious. Why was the kid stopping? Had the kid really reached saturation? That was possible. After all, the kid had absorbed a lot of willpower. It wouldn't be too surprising if he had reached saturation.
Su Yu started leaving. While walking, he said, "I really need to thank you guys for the free entry into this grotto. I'm being earnest. I'm not being sarcastic."
Su Yu spoke with a solemn expression. He was serious! He was really thankful for them. These people sure were kind. It was only a pity that he had only opened 100 apertures. Why had his grandteacher told him to leave?
The grotto was going to collapse?
Really?
He had planned to open at least 108 apertures! Fortunately, his willpower was at a state of saturation, with all 100 of his apertures stuffed full with willpower.
This was still a decent harvest for him. After leaving the grotto, he would probably be able to open two or three more apertures after digesting all the willpower he had stuffed in his sea of willpower. There was always the option of going crazy one last time before leaving the grotto. Even if he couldn't open 108 apertures, he could accept leaving with only 105 apertures.
Su Yu started heading toward Wu Jia.
He completely ignored the group behind him. With a bunch of Skysoar and Cloudbreach cultivators there, these people would be fine even if the grotto collapsed.
As for Ji Xiaomeng and the other students there, they would be fine. Those Skysoar and Cloudbreach cultivators would protect them. If those single character faction members dared to let any harm fall to these students, they would probably die themselves after leaving the grotto.
After losing his daughter to a mere grotto visit, Ji Hong would definitely kill all of them in a fit of anger.
...
"Wu Lan!"
While on his way, Su Yu saw Wu Lan. He greeted her and smiled, "Have you reached saturation?"
Wu Lan glanced at him and decided to ignore him. She had reached saturation long ago! She was in the midst of nurturing her characters!
"Let's go together. The willpower here is too dense..."
Wu Lan was speechless. Was this guy stupid? Dense willpower would only make this a better cultivation environment! At first, Su Yu was inclined to ignore Wu Lan. But this girl was Wu Yuehua's grandniece. And Wu Yuahua was...his martial mother?
In a way, that was accurate.
Probably.
He wasn't too sure, but he knew that his Teacher Liu had a special relationship with Wu Yuahua. He felt pity for his Teacher Liu.
In the past, Teacher Liu had told him that all women were obstacles in cultivation. Perhaps these women were the reason why Teacher Liu had been stuck under the Skysoar Realm for so many years.
No wonder Teacher Liu had given him such a warning. He wouldn't doubt his Teacher Liu anymore. Teacher Liu was speaking from experience!
"Wu Lan, Xia Huyou said that you're garbage. He's planning to challenge you to a match. Do you know that?"
"..."
The moment those words were said, Wu Lan stopped cultivating and stood up. She coldly asked, "Are you speaking the truth?"
"Yes."
Su Yu said, "I met him earlier. In his words, you have been relying on your elder sister and grandaunt to act all cocky in the academy. He has been wanting to beat you up for a long time."
"Hmph!" Wu Lan snorted coldly and asked, "Where is he?"
"Ahead of us..."
Su Yu continued walking while sending a message to Xia Huyou.
Chapter 478: The Grotto Is Collapsing (2)
At the same time.
Xia Huyou checked his talisman. He had received a message from Su Yu.
"Wu Lan is going to challenge you to a match. I'm sorry. I was casually telling her how strong you are. I told her that you're not trash. For a high-middle student, you're pretty good. She disagreed and insisted on challenging you. I'm afraid you'll have to deal with her after this."
"..."
Xia Huyou wanted to punch someone in the face. How was that his fault? Instead of cultivating, why was Su Yu chatting with Wu Lan? Was that bastard deliberately doing this to mess with him?
Looking at the nearby Wu Jia, Xia Huyou flashed a wide smile and said, "Senior Sister Wu Jia, Su Yu just told me that he's returning with Wu Lan. He wanted me to remind you that you should watch your attitude around Wu Lan. She is a haughty person by nature and enjoys looking at someone with her nostrils. Don't mind her and don't provoke her...".
Wu Jia frowned and asked, "Why hasn't my junior brother told me that himself?"
"He felt awkward saying that himself." Xia Huyou had an embarrassed look as he said, "He's just worried that the two of you would get into an argument. Elder Wu is a friend of your faction. It would be awkward if the two of you get into a fight. Senior Sister Wu Jia, Wu Lan might even start picking fights after arriving. This is how she has always been. Don't mind her. But since she doesn't know you well, she might target me first instead to bait you into an argument. After all, she dislikes all women."
"Target you to bait me?"
Wu Jia frowned. Why would she care if this person was targeted?
Xia Huyou said, "That's how she is. She enjoys pretending to scold someone while scolding someone else entirely. She might call me a piece of trash right after arriving. In truth, she's talking about you. After all, well...you were seriously injured not long ago..."
Wu Jia's expression turned ugly.
Xia Huyou said, "Of course, she only has a bad temper. She is actually a nice person. And she worships experts. If you are willing to compare notes with her and teach her a lesson, she will immediately become docile in front of you."
After saying all that, Xia Huyou exhaled in relief. Go and fight. The two could fight to their hearts' content. He really couldn't be bothered to get into such a stupid fight.
That damn Su Yu was definitely doing that to screw with him. Thus, it was only fair that he used Su Yu's senior sister to solve this issue. He couldn't be blamed for that, right?
Wu Jia snorted and said, "I joined the academy before her. What's the point of comparing notes with her?"
"You're wrong, Senior Sister. You're not comparing notes with her. You're teaching her a lesson. You need to show her what's up or she will keep calling you garbage. Honestly, not even I can take something like that."
Xia Huyou continued instigating while Wu Jia remained silent. It was unknown if she had agreed or if she was planning to ignore Wu Lan. After a short while, Su Yu arrived. Sure enough, Wu Lan was with him.
At this time, Su Yu was busy notifying Zhang Hao and the others to stay somewhere with low willpower density. That way, they would be fine even if the grotto collapsed. The moment Wu Lan arrived, his gaze landed on Xia Huyou.
She had an unfriendly look in her eyes. But she was still polite enough to ask, "Xia Huyou, are you challenging me to a fight?"
Xia Huyou cursed inwardly.
Fuck!
Damn that Su Yu! He was right! Su Yu was trying to mess with him! Good thing he was smart!
"Not at all..."
Xia Huyou denied and laughed dryly before saying, "Did Su Yu tell you that? That's nonsense. In truth, I wasn't the one who had said those words..." He then glanced at Wu Jia.
He was basically hinting that Wu Jia was the person who had said those words. It wasn't him! It was Wu Jia! Pick a fight with her instead!
But after looking at Xia Huyou's indirect hint, Wu Lan cluelessly said, "So you don't have the balls to admit what you did? What a piece of trash. If you really want to fight, bring it on!"
"..."
Xia Huyou was speechless. He felt like he had just gestured at someone blind. Was she not getting the hint? She wasn't supposed to be this stupid!
Sure, her temper was bad, but she was actually quite smart. She only had a low emotional intelligence. How was she not getting the hint?
Before he could say anything else, Su Yu smiled, "Since Brother Xia has conceded, forget about it. Wu Lan, don't bother yourself with him. Brother Xia might talk a lot of trash, but he is a nice guy. Since we're all together, let us talk about what we have comprehended during our cultivation. We are on similar levels, after all..."
He could see that this fatty was trying to instigate his senior sister to face Wu Lan in his stead. What a black-hearted fellow! Wu Lan snorted. Meanwhile, Xia Huyou glanced at Su Yu before rolling his eyes. The two exchanged knowing looks.
Both of them were assholes, so neither could blame the other for what they did. Whatever. He couldn't be bothered to pursue this matter. He was more curious about the reason Su Yu had brought Wu Lan here.
Ignoring Wu Lan's disdainful gaze, Xia Huyou smiled and said, "Wu Lan, Senior Sister Wu Jia has something to say to you. The two of you should have a chat. I'll need to discuss something with Su Yu as well."
He then dragged Su Yu to the side. While walking, he whispered, "What are you doing? Are you treating me as a professional nanny? Are you trying to get me to take care of them both?"
"Nope."
Su Yu looked around before whispering, "Be careful. This place is going to collapse."
"..."
Xia Huyou was surprised. What did that mean? Collapse?
"How is that possible? No matter what, this place is a Sunmoon grotto. Unless its expenditure is too high due to an imbalance in willpower distribution that is interrupting the grotto's normal operation, it won't fall apart and throw everyone out of the grotto..."
But at that point, his eyes flickered. He stared at Su Yu in shock. Dang! That couldn't be it, right? This fellow had sucked the entire grotto dry? But that didn't make sense.
Even if this fellow had opened 40 or 50 apertures, he would only have the absorption speed of a ninth-stage Skysoar. This grotto shouldn't be so weak. Su Yu shrugged and gave no explanation.
That was what his grandteacher told him. How was he supposed to know why? In fact, he also believed that he had not absorbed too much willpower at all. For some reason, his grandteacher told him to run and claimed that the grotto was going to collapse. What could he do? He could only take his grandteacher's warning seriously.
"The details don't matter. I only know that this place is going to collapse." Su Yu added, "It probably won't happen now, but it will happen when the next elder takes over the grotto."
That was Su Yu's guess. His grandteacher wasn't stupid enough to take the blame for a mess like this. In fact, his grandteacher had probably told him to leave the mountain earlier to remove any suspicion from him as well.
With his departure, only a bunch of Skysoar and Cloudbreach cultivators were left near the mountain. If the grotto really collapsed, it would be their fault, not him! And his grandteacher was definitely not to blame as well!
That place had a high density of willpower. Those people had all gathered there and sucked the grotto dry, causing the collapse of the grotto. That wasn't even surprising. After all, all the Cloudbreach cultivators were there.
Xia Huyou understood the hidden meaning behind Su Yu's words. He asked, "So we still have some time?"
"Yeah."
Xia Huyou was speechless. Hong Tan was the one in charge of the grotto right now. Did this not mean that they were going to let someone else take the blame? Who would be the lucky person?
It wouldn't be Elder Qi, right? He remembered that this was the arrangement made by the elders. Elder Qi would be the one taking over after Hong Tan. He hurriedly took out a voice transmission talisman.
Su Yu looked at Xia Huyou in astonishment. Xia Huyou met his gaze and calmly asked, "Why are you looking at me like this? We can transmit messages outside the grotto as well. I'm going to notify Elder Qi to not get dragged into this mess. Let the single character faction enjoy it instead. They should have recovered enough after a day of rest."
Su Yu was dumbfounded.
Holy shit!
He had completely forgotten about this. He should have given his grandteacher a voice transmission talisman as well. With that, they wouldn't have needed to communicate with some vague willpower words.
He was somewhat speechless.
That thought had never crossed his mind. And it seemed like Hong Tan had never thought of that as well. Generally, most people wouldn't think of using a voice transmission talisman since a communicator was more than enough.
"Wait a moment..." Su Yu asked, "Will Elder Qi sell us out?"
"Of course not!" Xia Huyou said, "That's my seco--cough, cough. That's Marquis Xia's old friend. In reality, he can be considered the Xia Family's spokesperson in the academy. Of course, he isn't from Xia Yuwen's line. He is from our--I mean Xia Chan's line. He is the spokesperson of the main line of the family."
Su Yu was feeling tired just listening to Xia Huyou. This fellow sure was attached to the act of hiding his identity. Was this his final struggle before his identity was fully revealed? Why was he pretending even now? The two of them knew each other so well that it was pointless.
Xia Huyou sent the message while talking to Su Yu. After doing that, he said, "I need to look for Xia Chan as well. I don't want her to get injured. The collapse of a grotto isn't a big deal, but it is still able to give Mental Tempering Stage students some troublesome injuries. My second--Marquis Xia would not spare me if I ignored her. He would take it out on you as well. Kid, you won't be able to hide this from my...second grandpa."
Whatever. He was tired of pretending. It was way too tiring to keep up the act in front of someone who was already aware of his identity. ᴜᴘᴅᴀᴛᴇ ꜰʀᴏᴍ novel(ꜰ)ire.net
Su Yu rolled his eyes.
Was this fellow finally tired of acting?
"Sure, but don't make it too obvious. After all, Xia Chan has joined the single character faction..."
Xia Huyou was indifferent, "That's not an issue. The separation between single and multiple character factions is only a big deal for you guys. For the Xia Family, all of you are citizens of Great Xia. As long as the single character faction does not rebel against the Xia Family, they will be considered an ally. You don't need to worry too much about her. Just take you for an example. We're close, but it doesn't mean that the Xia Family will be close to you. Generally, the Xia Family tries to be fair. The only exception is when someone does something too excessive."
Su Yu nodded. That was understandable. In the Xia Family's point of view, both the single and multiple character factions would be their people as long as they avoid doing something like rebelling.
In Su Yu's opinion, the only reason the Xia Family seemed somewhat prejudiced against the single character faction right now was because the single character faction seemed to be getting closer and closer to Great Zhou. And that was not something the Xia Family was happy with.
Su Yu said, "Do what you want. Just remember to hide somewhere with low willpower density. That way, you won't suffer too much when the grotto falls apart. Just don't go to Zhou Pingsheng's place. Oh, take care of my senior sister and Wu Lan for me. I need to take another trip."
"Where are you going?"
Su Yu smiled, "I'm going to absorb more willpower. I can't let the willpower go to waste, right? I won't be able to absorb more after the grotto collapses."
Xia Huyou was speechless.
This fellow was so obsessed with squeezing every benefit he could get that he would risk his own well-being for it.
...
Su Yu was not concerned about Xia Huyou's thoughts. He went over and told Wu Jia to stay with Xia Huyou. He also spoke a little with Wu Lan. As for how Xia Huyou was supposed to keep Wu Lan with him, well, that was a problem for him to solve.
...
After leaving the group, Su Yu started roaming the grotto.
Whenever he arrived at a location with high willpower density, he would absorb the willpower there. He told himself that he was doing this for the good of everyone here. What if the high willpower density ended up hurting these people?
He was doing this for the greater good! In this manner, Su Yu absorbed a decent amount of willpower. Most people did not mind him.
At this point, most of the Mental Tempering Stage students had reached saturation. They were using their remaining time to nurture their characters instead of absorbing more willpower.
Chapter 479: The Grotto Is Collapsing (3)
While Su Yu was taking a stroll, Hong Tan was finding it harder and harder to hang on. This time, it wasn't Su Yu's fault. Rather, it was because the grotto had only been reduced to an empty shell of willpower, and that shell had been getting dangerously thin. Before long, the willpower would be completely exhausted.
The willpower that was supposed to last three days was emptying fast.
Seeing that the third day had yet to arrive, Hong Tan's willpower rippled slightly. Next, Chen Yong rushed over and anxiously said, "Teacher, I heard from Junior Brother. His injuries are flaring up again! You need to take a look at him!" Newest update provıded by NoveIꜰire.net
"What?"
Hong Tan blanked out and exclaimed, "His injuries are flaring up?"
He looked at Zhou Mingren and frowned, "Fine. I'll take a look. Old Qi, do me a favor and take over this grotto from me..."
Elder Qi smiled and said, "Sure. Don't worry. I'll help you..."
But immediately after, someone ran into the room while gasping for breath and hastily said, "Teacher, Little Nine broke a bottle of your experimental product. I don't know what happened, but he has fallen unconscious!"
"Fool!" Elder Qi furiously said, "That is a sleeping concoction meant to be used against Mountainseas. I need to leave as well. That damn bastard. I'll be sure to teach him a lesson when I return..."
But at that moment, he recalled something and hurriedly looked at Hong Tan.
The two looked at each other. Hong Tan's eyes flickered as he said, "Let's call Vice Principal Han or Vice Principal Su over..."
Nearby, Zhou Mingren frowned and unhappily said, "I'll do it."
Looking for the other two vice principals? What was the meaning of that?
The single character faction was the one who had opened the grotto this time. They had already reached an agreement and the two vice principals were not supposed to be involved. Since he had already recovered fully after resting for a day, he was more than capable of taking control of the grotto yet again.
"You..."
Hong Tan had a dissatisfied expression as he said, "Are you going to be targeting my people again?"
Zhou Mingren frowned, "The majority of the people in the grotto are from the single character faction. Your faction has so few people inside that it's almost negligible. I'm not about to waste my energy and time on something this trivial."
Since a majority of the people in the grotto were from the single character faction, it would not be easy for him to locate the few individuals that were actually not members of his faction.
It really wasn't worth the effort. He would need to spare a lot of energy for that. Perhaps only someone as unreasonable as Hong Tan would do something this pointless.
Hong Tan was about to say more when Chen Yong's anxious voice rang out, "Teacher, let's return first. I'll keep watch here instead. Junior Brother's injuries are very difficult to deal with!"
"Fine."
Hong Tan had a gloomy expression as he muttered, "It hasn't even been one full day..."
How regretful. He could no longer provide his two grandstudents with preferential treatment. He then left.
Zhou Mingren became the new controller of the grotto. Also exiting the room was Elder Qi. Both Elder Qi and Hong Tan exchanged knowing looks before flying away. This had nothing to do with them! The single character faction itself had resumed control over the grotto!
...
The moment Zhou Mingren took control, he frowned. The grotto was very unstable. What was going on?
But after giving the grotto a rough scan, he saw that the willpower was still quite thick. This shouldn't be a problem. Perhaps the grotto was still somewhat unstable because Zhou Pingsheng had absorbed too much willpower.
This shouldn't be too problematic. It was evident that Zhou Mingren was still weaker than Hong Tan. As a crafty old fox, Hong Tan had given the grotto a shell of willpower. At one glance, the grotto looked relatively normal, so Zhou Mingren wasn't too worried.
When he scanned the grotto, he found that a specific spot had a much higher density of willpower. But there were also a lot more people there. It would seem like all the Cloudbreach and Skysoar cultivators had gathered there.
He did not bother changing that. This would only make things easier to manage. After about half an hour, Hong Tan and Elder Qi returned. Elder Qi looked at Hong Tan with surprise. This fellow actually dared to return?
Hong Tan ignored the odd look Elder Qi was giving him. The moment he entered the room, he said, "It's not too serious. The brat is fine. Old Zhou, I can resume my task."
"There is no need for that." Zhou Mingren said, "Changing controllers frequently might also result in the collapse of the grotto."
Hong Tan frowned and said, "The second day is almost over so you might as well let Old Qi take over instead..."
Zhou Mingren was about to say something when Elder Qi laughed and said, "It's fine. Since Old Zhou can keep doing it, let him do it."
He was not interested in getting involved. Hong Tan was definitely not harboring any good intentions. This fellow had most likely returned to enjoy the show that would unfold. This was a fellow with a black heart! He even returned to fight over the control of the grotto to remove all suspicion from him.
...
At the same time.
After sensing the willpower flow in the grotto, Su Yu transmitted a message to Xia Huyou, "What did Elder Qi say?"
"Your grandteacher ran off long ago. He's currently waiting for the show to start."
Su Yu was very impressed. In that case, whatever happened next would be unrelated to his grandteacher, right?
"Prepare yourself. Don't get injured."
After giving Xia Huyou a reminder, Su Yu ran off toward the area with the highest willpower density. While traveling, he continued absorbing the willpower along the way, only leaving a small amount of willpower behind to continue masking the lack of willpower in the grotto.
He stopped not far away from the area with high willpower density. After checking his Perception Jade to ensure that nobody had noticed him, he started rapidly absorbing the willpower in the area.
His speed kept increasing.
Soon, the color of his Perception Jade started changing. Someone seemed to have noticed something. Instantly, Su Yu activated his deceit character and covered his entire body with shadow before fleeing.
With Su Yu's mad absorption, the entire grotto had been nearly emptied of willpower..
...
At the same time.
Zhou Mingren's expression changed.
An area in the grotto had suddenly been cleared of willpower. When he attempted to move some willpower elsewhere to balance out the willpower distribution in the grotto, he cursed. There was no willpower to be found!
The entire grotto was almost devoid of willpower! Zhou Mingren blanked out blankly before realization hit him. He turned his head and glared at Hong Tan.
Damn that bastard!
"People, support the grotto!"
Zhou Mingren suddenly yelled.
"The grotto is collapsing!"
The expressions of the elders changed upon hearing that.
Hong Tan and Elder Qi exchanged looks before stepping forth to help. While doing so, Hong Tan scolded, "Idiot! I told you to let me take over earlier but you insisted on doing it yourself! Damn it! If something happens to my grandstudents, I won't spare you!"
Zhou Mingren was so furious he felt like he was going to get a heart attack.
Fuck Hong Tan and all his ancestors!
Would Hong Tan really dare to take over if he had agreed to hand over control earlier?
Damn it!
That bastard had sensed something wrong long ago and had escaped promptly.
Damn it! Couldn't Hong Tan have given them a warning or something if the grotto was on the verge of falling apart? Instead, that bastard had used this chance to screw with him!
But Zhou Mingren did not have the time to play the blame game. His willpower erupted and forcefully stabilized the grotto before howling, "Everyone in the grotto, stop cultivating--"
Crash!
Before he could finish his words, a loud rumble resounded.
Boom!
A large shockwave spread through the room.
And a silhouette was spat out from the portal.
Whoosh!
One silhouette after another was spat out by the portal. Zhou Pingsheng and company were the first group to leave the grotto. All of them were coughing blood. These people had yet to reach willpower saturation. And the willpower around them had the highest level of density. Thus, they were still busy absorbing willpower when the grotto suddenly collapsed. As a result, all of them were badly injured.
Even with his heavy injuries, Zhou Pingsheng was using all his strength to protect a certain individual.
Inwardly, he was cursing. What happened? Why had the grotto collapsed suddenly?
The beloved daughter of Director Ji was right beside him. He was forced to take care of her. Fortunately, he was not too weak so he was capable of doing that much. But as a result, he wasn't able to protect himself well enough and ended up suffering a heavy injury.
The others weren't much better off than him. Every single one of them was coughing blood.
And every single teacher was protecting the students near them. Most of these students were from the single character faction. The teachers had called these students over after noticing that the area had a much higher density of willpower.
People were continuously spat out of the portal. The same happened to Su Yu. After the sudden and forced teleportation, he promptly coughed a mouthful of blood. Thanks to his blood character, this was something he could do any time he wanted.
He had a pale expression and a shaken sea of willpower. That was accomplished by smashing himself with his hammer. This trick had nearly failed due to how solid his willpower was. It was important that his willpower didn't look too stable or it would be too conspicuous.
Fortunately, after a few hammer strikes, he finally managed to shake his sea of willpower somewhat. He had a pale expression and a blurry look in his eyes as he had hammered himself so hard that he was starting to feel dizzy.
Boom!
Students were dropping on the ground all around Su Yu. Meanwhile, the experts were busy dealing with the grotto's collapse and couldn't spare any attention to them.
With a wave of his hand, Chen Yong gathered both Su Yu and Wu Jia to his side. Wu Jia was relatively fine. She was almost fully uninjured. But when Chen Yong's gaze landed on Su Yu, his expression changed to worry. His willpower instantly surged forward to help stabilize the kid's sea of willpower...
But the moment he did that, the look on his face changed.
Holy shit!
Solidified?
Was this a joke?
What the fuck?
Why was the kid's willpower so solid?
Were his senses lying to him?
With such a powerful willpower, could the aftermath of the grotto collapse even harm the kid?
Sensing something, Su Yu hurriedly hammered himself a few more times. He kept telling himself that he was injured. He had lost consciousness. He knew nothing. He had done nothing.
With the hammer strikes, his sea of willpower shook again as he coughed another mouthful of blood.
Chen Yong was dumbstruck.
Holy shit!
What was the kid doing?
But he quickly changed his expression and said, "Teacher, Su Yu is injured. I need to send him back first."
Hong Tan was still busy stabilizing the grotto. When he heard that, he turned his head and looked over. When he saw Su Yu, his expression changed as he said, "Alright. Go back immediately. I'll return shortly."
"Sure."
Chen Yong grabbed both Su Yu and Wu Jia before flying away.
They couldn't stay here for long. If someone decided to check Su Yu's status, everything would be revealed.
At this time, Zhou Mingren also shot Su Yu a glance. He saw that the kid had a pale face and an unstable sea of willpower. He snorted inwardly. It would seem like the kid had been seriously injured as well. He deserved it!
The kid must have gotten greedy and insisted on staying in an area with a lot of willpower. That was the only reason the kid would be injured so badly. He looked around and exhaled in relief. Things weren't too bad.
Due to a lack of willpower, the grotto had collapsed. But only a small number of people had been injured. Nobody was killed. And most of the victims were those from the single character faction. This wouldn't bring him too much trouble.
That thought had barely crossed his mind when a furious voice rang out, "Manager Zhou had been creating trouble everywhere and interrupting our cultivation. Not long after the disturbances stopped, the grotto collapsed. Teacher, I obtained nothing from this cultivation session. The single character faction needs to compensate us!"
"..."
Among the crowd, a Mountainsea elder blanked out slightly as he looked at Zhang Hao. The kid had obtained nothing from the grotto?
Zhang Hao had a furious look as he said, "Teacher, after entering, Manager Zhou has intentionally targeted me a few times. He eventually stopped, but I hadn't been able to cultivate for long before the grotto collapsed. I have gained nothing from this grotto!"
Immediately, a different voice rang out, "Same here!"
"Yeah, it's the same for me!"
"The willpower around me was emptied a few times in a row!"
"..."
The students of the other factions started complaining one after another.
The price of entry wasn't cheap! But after entering, they encountered trouble after trouble.
This was an opportunity given to them by their Mountainsea teachers. Some of their teachers had been forced to use the favor of a Mountainsea on top of paying a large price to get these slots. But after entering, they weren't able to cultivate peacefully. How would they be willing to accept this?
Ji Xiaomeng, who had received Zhou Pingsheng's protection, had a look of hesitation. After giving the ashen-faced Zhou Pingsheng a look, she softly said, "Uncle Zhou is a good man. I don't blame him. But they need to compensate me. I spent all my savings on that slot!"
The faces of Zhou Mingren and the others turned purple from anger.
Bullshit!
Had she even paid anything for the slot?
Nevertheless, they were still greatly troubled.
Elder Sun and the others had unsightly expressions. What the fuck happened? Why would the grotto collapse suddenly? A pseudo Sunmoon like Zhou Mingren wasn't even able to detect the collapse in advance? They felt terrible.
After paying such a large price to open this grotto, they had been able to earn the favor of a number of people with the slots they had sold. But now, they had earned the ire of all these people.
Chapter 480: Heavy Burden (1)
Inside the hall.
The single character faction was being held accountable.
All the students from the other factions were unhappy. Firstly, the grotto had not lasted three days. Secondly, there were many interruptions when they were cultivating.
Sure, these Mental Tempering Stage students did not need a lot of willpower since without apertures, they could only passively absorb willpower. But a lot of them were here to nurture their characters. That required a lot of willpower. And they had not been able to achieve their targets.
At this point, Zhou Mingren and the other elders had finally stabilized the grotto. The collapse earlier did not have much effect on the character that had formed the grotto itself. As a Sunmoon character, it wouldn't be so easily damaged. Unfortunately, they would not be able to reopen the grotto unless they used a large amount of materials once again.
In truth, even if the collapse hadn't happened, the grotto still wouldn't be able to last much longer. After all, there wasn't much willpower left in the grotto. Their initial estimate was to keep the grotto open for three days, but it hadn't even been two full days yet. This wasn't what these people had expected when they bought the slots to enter the grotto.
At this time, Hong Tan muttered, "They insisted on getting a few Cloudbreach cultivators inside. Look what happened. If there were only Skysoars and students inside, the willpower expenditure wouldn't have been so high."
He was actually right. The absorption speed of the Cloudbreach cultivators had played a large role in expediting the collapse of the grotto. Of course, the main culprit was a certain someone who had absorbed even more willpower than all the Cloudbreach cultivators.
In fact, they had reduced the number of people entering the grotto to allow the Cloudbreach cultivators they were sending in for this reason. They were worried that the willpower would be emptied too fast.
Zhou Mingren looked at Hong Tan and coldly said, "Previously, the grotto was already almost empty of willpower. Why hadn't you shut the grotto from further operation?"
Hong Tan had an innocent expression as he said, "When I left, the grotto was still filled with willpower. If those Skysoar and Cloudbreach cultivators had not absorbed so much willpower, how would the grotto have collapsed so early?
"With your strength, you can keep the grotto running even after the grotto runs out of willpower. Since you guys have promised to keep the grotto open for three days, just use more materials and open it up again."
He made it sound so easy. But that was only because he wasn't the one paying. Even the single character faction didn't have that much of those unique materials in stock. Otherwise, they would have opened the grotto long ago.
Zhou Mingren gave Hong Tan a deep look and said, "We all know what you're thinking. What's the point of acting all clueless? What is your goal here?"
None of them was an idiot. Everyone could see the truth.
Hong Tan smiled, "I have no goal. Since the grotto is out of willpower, it is naturally your responsibility to add more materials and reopen the grotto. This has nothing to do with me. Are you trying to say that I've intentionally exhausted the grotto's willpower to cause the collapse? It's clear that the Cloudbreach cultivators you sent in there were the reason for the collapse."
Zhou Mingren calmly asked, "How are you sure that it's the Cloudbreach cultivators? Maybe it's your people. Su Yu is an exceptionally talented young man. Is it not possible that he was the one who had been absorbing willpower all over the grotto, eventually causing the collapse?"
Hong Tan shrugged, "Sure. Whatever you say. Su Yu is such an incredible kid. He alone could absorb as much willpower as those late-stage Cloudbreach cultivators. He must have opened at least 100 apertures or this wouldn't have been possible. After all, he's still at the Mental Tempering Stage."
Hong Tan snickered and said, "In truth, Su Yu is actually a Cloudbreach in disguise. Are you happy with this explanation? Oh, and there's also Wu Jia. She's actually a Mountainsea in disguise. How's this for an answer?"
Zhou Mingren said nothing. There was really nothing he could say. If Su Yu was a Skysoar, it would be easier to lay the blame on him. But it was unreasonable to make a Mental Tempering Stage student the scapegoat.
In fact, the single character faction would turn into an even bigger joke if a mere Mental Tempering Stage student was actually the one who had caused the grotto to collapse. And everyone saw that Su Yu himself had been injured by the collapse. The kid was in such a bad condition that he had been brought away in advance.
Hong Tan said, "Old Zhou, this is not the time for you to pick petty fights with us. You should focus on dealing with your own trouble. Most of the people here are innocent. If you want to blame someone, blame that bastard who had been running around emptying random areas of willpower in the grotto. Why did you send someone with such a fast absorption speed into the grotto in the first place?"
That was the crux of the issue. The premature closure of the grotto was mainly the handiwork of that one asshole.
Zhou Mingren inhaled deeply and looked at Zhan Hai, Zhang Hao, and Xia Huyou before saying, "The grotto has indeed lasted shorter than our expectations. But I believe everyone here also understands that your slots had not been purchased with a proper price in the first place. At the price we had set, the slots might as well be free."
They were unhappy, but they couldn't help but nod in agreement. That was true. The single character faction had been using the slots to earn the favors of the various factions. Thus, the slots had been sold for relatively cheap prices.
"I will refund all of you at a later date." Zhou Mingren calmly said, "We won't take a single cent from all of you. The grotto might have ended earlier, but all of you must have still gained something from it. The interruptions shouldn't have been too serious. Consider this our gift for everyone as an apology for the bad experience."
Since he was offering full refunds, the others naturally had nothing to say. Even though the grotto had closed early, they had still benefited from it. At the very least, their willpower cultivation had all grown.
In fact, they were quite pleased to hear that they would receive their money back. Even those Mountainsea elders were nodding approvingly. One of them smiled and said, "Old Zhou, you misunderstood us. That wasn't what we were trying to see. We should thank the single character faction for opening the grotto and benefiting everyone. We were only feeling regretful at how the whole thing had ended. Do not misunderstand us, Old Zhou."
Zhou Mingren snorted inwardly. Misunderstanding? If he hadn't offered a full refund, these people would definitely not let the matter slide. This was still acceptable for him. The loss wasn't too big. Very few of the slots had been actually sold for money, anyway. And those slots hadn't been sold for much. In total, only about 10,000 merit points needed to be refunded.
The materials they had used to open the grotto were worth much more. Since they had lost the materials, adding 10,000 merit points on top of their loss was really not that big of a deal.
Hong Tan beamed and asked, "How about the 10,000 merit points provided by the academy? Since those merit points were meant to sponsor the tournament, maybe you should reward the top five students with the money instead?"
Zhou Mingren looked at Hong Tan and indifferently said, "The slots we gave out during the tournament were never meant to be given out. The chance to cultivate in the grotto for two days is enough for these students. They shouldn't get too greedy. Also, have we guaranteed that the grotto would stay open for three days? No! Hong Tan, I only agreed to refund them as compensation for the damage due to the collapse of the grotto. The time the grotto had stayed open has nothing to do with the compensation."
Hong Tan shrugged, "Sure. Most of the top five students are from your faction anyway. Su Yu is the only person from my side in the top five. Since you're not willing to compensate, forget it."
Zhou Mingren didn't even deign to give that a reply.
He looked at the crowd and said, "The grotto is now closed. I admit that this is a result of our carelessness. The collapse has affected everyone's willpower so all of you should return early and get a good rest."
He was basically indirectly telling these people to leave. Follow current novels on novel※fire.net
The others looked at each other. Before long, one of the elders said, "Sure. We'll be taking our leave, Old Zhou. However...it's time you clean your house. You have been the one to act as the scapegoat every single time. This is not right."
They all knew that this wasn't actually his fault, so they didn't say much. They were telling him to stop taking the blame for the few rats in his faction. He was a pseudo Sunmoon. But he had been reduced into a professional scapegoat by these idiots. These juniors were too unreliable. If they were in his shoes, they would have lost their temper long ago.
Zhou Mingren smiled and said nothing. He watched on as everyone left.
But when he noticed that Hong Tan was not leaving, he coldly asked, "Hong Tan, are you staying for dinner?"
Hong Tan indifferently said, "Sure. I'll be leaving as well. Old Zhou, take care of your health. Don't get too angry. Sigh. Some juniors are truly unreliable. That student of mine is the same. This is too worrisome. He's going to the Allheaven Battlefield soon..."
Hong Tan finally swaggered off. Right after he left, Elder Sun and the others snorted. There was something about that bastard's tone that they couldn't stand. But there really wasn't anything they could say.
At this moment, someone softly said, "Grandpa Zhou, I didn't pay for the slot, but I used all my savings and bought Grandpa Qi a gift for the slot. But it's too embarrassing to ask for the gift back..."
Only then did Zhou Mingren notice that there was still someone there. He looked at Ji Xiaomeng speechlessly.
Hiding behind Zhou Pingsheng, Ji Xiaomeng poked his head out and bashfully said, "Grandpa Zhou, don't misunderstand me. I wasn't asking for anything. But...wuwuwu...I really have no money left..."
She started sobbing. She had obtained the slot after giving Grandpa Qi a gift! But they had not offered to refund her anything! But the gift had already been given out. How was she supposed to ask for her money?
Zhou Mingren didn't know what to say. After a while, he forced himself to smile and said, "Xiaomeng, how much money did you spend on the gift?"
"30 merit points." Ji Xiaomeng answered, "I'm not lying! I even have the receipt! Do you want to check the receipt?"
"It's fine."
Zhou Mingren smiled, "You're a good child. Return and take a rest. I'll get someone to send you 30 merit points later."
"Thank you, Grandpa Zhou!" Ji Xiaomeng was overjoyed, "Grandpa Zhou is such a good person! Uhm...don't tell Grandpa Qi about this, ok? I don't want him to think that I'm a stingy person!"
"I won't."
Ji Xiaoment then bounced off happily.
30 merit points...
Zhou Mingren didn't know what to say. Was this daughter of Ji Hong really so innocent or was she faking it? He had thought that she would take this chance to demand a large amount of money from him, but she had only asked for 30 merit points.
She had waited until only the single character faction members were left before asking for only 30 merit points. She had helped them save face and asked for only a paltry sum of money. What else could he say?
In fact, Zhou Mingren even felt grateful that she had allowed him to solve this issue for only 30 merit points. Otherwise, this daughter of Ji Hong would not be so easy to deal with.
Finally, all the outsiders were gone. No, to be precise, Xia Yuwen was still there.
Looking at Xia Yuwen, Zhou Mingren smiled, "Yuwen, that was an embarrassing display. I hope the collapse hasn't affected you much."
Xia Yuwen nodded, "I'm fine. Faculty Head Zhou, this matter is unrelated to me, but I still need to say something. Don't turn yourself into a clown."
Zhou Mingren smiled, "Of course."
"I'll be taking my leave, then."
Xia Yuwen strode off with a calm expression with Zhou Hao behind him.
Finally, only the single character faction members were left in the room.
With a calm expression, Zhou Mingren scanned the crowd. He focused on Zhou Pingsheng for a while before asking, "Who was the one who had been absorbing willpower all over the grotto?"
Nobody said anything.
Zhou Mingren waited for a while before asking, "Wensheng, was that you?"
Hu Wensheng shook his head, "Teacher, I did nothing except cultivate in the grotto. I had only changed my location once after Hong Tan took over the grotto. He had created an area with a high level of willpower density."
Zhou Mingren looked at Zhou Pingsheng and asked, "Was that you, Pingsheng?"
Zhou Pingsheng lowered his head and said, "Teacher, I didn't cultivate on the first day, but I spent all my time cultivating with Junior Brother Liu and the others during the second day."
Zhou Mingren frowned. Liu Hong hurriedly said, "That's true. I was with Zhou Pingsheng during the second day. Senior Brother Wang, Senior Sister Chen, and the others were all with us as well."
Zhou Mingren looked at the people Liu Hong mentioned. Those were all Skysoars.
They nodded. One of them said, "Around the end of the first day, we all gathered up."
In other words, they were all cultivating together during the second day. Of course, the grotto had also been relatively calm during the second day with no instances of random areas constantly emptied of willpower.
These incidents had mostly happened during the first day. And Zhou Pingsheng had moved all over the grotto during the first day. On the other hand, Hu Wensheng had been cultivating at a single spot during that time. Naturally, Zhou Pingsheng was the most likely culprit.
Chapter 481: Heavy Burden (2)
Zhou Mingren smiled and said, "We opened the grotto so that everyone can grow from it. Anyone can benefit from absorbing more willpower. When cultivating in a grotto, it is definitely better for everyone to stay together. Otherwise, someone might end up running all over the grotto and creating an uneven flow of willpower, causing excessive waste."
He shot Zhou Pingsheng a glance before continuing, "I can see that all of you have benefited from the grotto. I am happy to see that. Although a mishap has occurred, as a whole, the result is still beneficial for us. Our goal would be met as long as all of you have benefited."
Elder Sun and the others looked at him. After a short moment, Yu Hong transmitted his voice, "Old Zhou..."
Zhou Mingren replied with a voice transmission, "Don't make a ruckus. It hasn't been easy for us to rebuild some confidence in our juniors. Do you want to escalate this and create even more disunity among the juniors? I know what you're thinking. All of you believe that Pingsheng was the culprit. He's not too smart, but he isn't this stupid either. I will pay the compensation out of my own pockets. I believe there is a misunderstanding somewhere..."
The elders were still somewhat unhappy, but what could they say after hearing that?
Zhou Mingren was right. Their faction was already in a mess. If they continued pursuing this matter, they would further reduce the confidence of their members in the faction. The people in the faction would only grow increasingly disappointed with their unreliable allies in the faction.
"Old Sun, take the students back. Whether you're going to be advancing, healing, or entering seclusion after this, all of you should get to it. You have all grown from the grotto visit. This is actually a good thing for us. I hope to see further growth from all of you."
While the single character faction members were leaving, Zhou Mingren said, "Pingsheng, Wensheng, and Liu Hong. Stay."
The three could only do as told.
After all the other members left, Zhou Mingren looked at Liu Hong and asked, "Liu Hong, the Cloudbreach Realm must not be too far away for you."
Liu Hong had a look of gratitude as he said, "It's all thanks to the care you have shown me, Faculty Head. Breakthrough won't be far away for me. After this visit to the grotto, I am confident I can make my breakthrough before long."
"Good."
Zhou Mingren nodded, "I am happy to hear this. Our faction will soon welcome a new expert. Liu Hong, Yuming is going to be heading to the Allheaven Battlefield soon. The position of faction master will be empty. Since you're going to be a Cloudbreach soon, who do you think is best suited to be the next faction master?"
Liu Hong hurriedly said, "Faculty Head, this is naturally up to you and the elders. I have no opinion on this. No matter who the new faction master is, I will serve him with all my effort..."
"You..." Zhou Mingren laughed, "You have such a sweet mouth. Since you're going to be a Cloudbreach soon, you are also an eligible candidate..."
"Faculty Head, please don't joke about this!" Liu Hong hurriedly said, "As of this moment, I am still a Skysoar. And I have never thought of that. Nor would I think about that. I am not capable of such responsibilities. Faculty Head, please don't say something like this..."
"Hahaha!"
Zhou Mingren laughed, "Look at how afraid you got. Don't worry. You may leave now."
"Thank you, Faculty Head!"
With a terrified expression, Liu Hong hurriedly left. Inwardly, he was cursing.
Faction master his ass! He had never considered this. That old man was basically using him to remind Zhou Pingsheng and Hu Wensheng that they were not the only candidates for the position. What a bastard.
The old man was trying to turn him into a buffer between the two! Sure enough, Zhou Mingren was an old, crafty fox. He had probably noticed the conflict between his two students and was setting Liu Hong up as a new target for them. What a bastard! Liu Hong ran off while cursing inwardly.
...
After Liu Hong left, Zhou Mingren's face turned cold.
He stared at his two students for a long while before coldly asking, "Who did it?"
Neither said anything.
"Pingsheng, say something."
With his head lowered, Zhou Pingsheng clenched his teeth and said, "I know you suspect me, Teacher, but it really wasn't me! I never planned to cultivate in the grotto. I only wanted to make sure that Su Yu wouldn't be able to benefit from it. Thus, I spent the first day looking all over the grotto for Su Yu. How would I be in the mood to absorb the willpower in the grotto?"
"Do you have anything to say, Wensheng?"
Hu Wensheng calmly said, "It's not me, Teacher. I am a fresh Cloudbreach, so it is very important for me to cultivate in a slow and steady fashion. Absorbing willpower in large bursts won't benefit me whatsoever."
"If it was neither of you, could Xia Yuwen be the culprit?" Zhou Mingren said, "Don't tell me that Xia Yuwen had done this to turn both of you against each other."
After a short silence, Zhou Pingsheng said, "Teacher, I had moved all over the grotto during the first day. I'm afraid everyone believes that I was the culprit. But if it was really me, why should I make it so obvious? Clearly, someone had framed me. Teacher, don't fall for that!"
Zhou Mingren sank into thought. Zhou Pingsheng was right. Was he the culprit just because he was the most suspicious person?
Was he really that stupid? If he was that stupid, he wouldn't have been able to become a seventh-stage Cloudbreach. Of course, it was also possible that he was trying to use this as reverse psychology and remove suspicion from himself.
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With a gloomy voice, Zhou Pingsheng said, "I don't know. Perhaps...it's Su Yu."
His tone turned deep as he mentioned Su Yu's name. Perhaps Su Yu was the true culprit. At this point, it didn't even matter if Su Yu was the culprit anymore. It was clear that it would be pointless to accuse Hu Wensheng.
Hu Wensheng said, "Senior Brother is right. Things are too suspicious. Someone must be deliberately confusing us. Teacher, the grotto had collapsed after Hong Tan took control. Su Yu might not be capable of this, but we don't know what Hong Tan is capable of.
"He is an expert of the multiple character faction. And the Willpower Grotto was left behind by a multiple character faction expert. It is possible that he has a way to remove the willpower in the grotto."
Zhou Mingren nodded pensively and said, "Yes. This shall be our official explanation. Hong Tan and Su Yu had colluded inside and outside the grotto to remove the willpower in the grotto, causing a collapse."
This would be their version of truth. It didn't matter if those two were the actual culprits. This was the only explanation Zhou Mingren could accept.
...
And thus, the single character faction had decided to make Hong Tan and Su Yu the scapegoat.
Meanwhile, Hong Tan was too occupied to care about that. At the moment, he was looking at Su Yu with doubt.
After a long while, he asked, "Are you awake?"
Su Yu had the urge to hammer himself a few more times. Why was his grandteacher staring at him like that?
He laughed dryly and said, "Yes, Grandteacher."
"You must have benefited greatly from the grotto, right?"
"Not bad."
"Not bad?" Hong Tan smiled, "Your so-called not bad is absorbing enough to collapse the grotto?"
"Uhm...Grandteacher...I..."
Hong Tan gave Su Yu a helpless look before saying, "How many apertures have you opened?"
"Quite a lot..."
"Quite a lot?"
Hong Tan smiled. The kid had been dishonest. He had definitely opened more than 36 apertures.
Since Su Yu wasn't willing to say much, Hong Tan did not force the issue. Instead, he said, "Don't expose your apertures. Otherwise, everyone will know that you were the culprit for the collapse. For now, everyone believes that it was Zhou Pingsheng. But anyone with a brain knows that unless Zhou Pingsheng was crazy, he wouldn't have done something like that. A lot of people are probably guessing that I have done something. I won't correct that. They can think what they want."
It was understandable that some people would suspect him. But their suspicion wouldn't be too strong since the incidents where random areas were being emptied of willpower had occurred during the first day. At that time, Hong Tan had yet to take over the control from Zhou Mingren.
Thus, some would also suspect that this was actually a result of the internal strife between the two students of Zhou Mingren. In any case, Hong Tan couldn't be bothered to care about these guesses.
"Just keep a low profile." Hong Tan exhaled and said, "I'll be entering seclusion in a few days. Your willpower is so solid that it's unbelievable. You have opened a lot of apertures and your willpower percentage is almost full. Are you preparing to break through?"
"Nope." Su Yu shook his head, "I aim to finish fusing my acupoints and enter the Infinite Strength Realm first. While doing so, I can keep forming characters. I'll try to push both my physical and willpower cultivation into the Skysoar Realm at the same time.
"As long as I remain under the Skysoar Realm, I won't be too much of a threat to the others. As a mere Mental Tempering Stage, I am a person of little significance. The moment I reach the Skysoar Realm, more trouble will come for me."
It would be better if he remained below the Skysoar Realm. This was not the correct time for him to break through. After all, he needed time to fuse his acupoints and form more characters.
According to Su Yu's plan, he would start working on his characters and acupoints next. Perhaps by the time he was at the ninth-stage Infinite Strength Realm, he would also have formed a decent number of characters and opened enough apertures. At that time, he could enter the Skysoar Realm and reach the ninth-stage Skysoar Realm in a single day.
He would instantly become a top expert among those in the same realm right after stepping into that realm. Doing this, he could also catch a lot of people by surprise.
He still needed to open 80 apertures and form 91 characters. Even with enough resources, he would require at least half a year to complete all that. As for the Infinite Strength Realm, Su Yu believed that he wouldn't need that long to reach it.
He did not intend to compete against the person from Great Zhou who had reached the Skysoar Realm in six months. Such competition was pointless. Half a year later when he jumped straight to the ninth-stage Skysoar Realm, that person might still be below the ninth stage.
Seeing that Su Yu had his own plans, Hong Tan did not say anything else about the topic. He said, "After entering the Skysoar Realm, you need to reforge your body. This step will even affect your future advancement into the Invincible Realm through physical cultivation. Thus, the better the blood essence used for this step, the better it would be. I don't know how long I'll be staying in seclusion. If you manage to enter the Skysoar Realm before then, look for Marquis Xia and buy some divine or devil blood essence on credit."
Su Yu blanked out. On credit? Would that work?
Hong Tan smiled, "It's fine. Just pawn something off to him. The Wentan Research Center would be perfect for that. He would agree. It's only some blood essence. If I happen to leave seclusion before your advancement, I'll try to get some first divine blood essence for you."
"If you end up buying from Marquis Xia, try to get some first divine blood essence as well. Original devil blood essence would work as well. These are the two strongest races among the various races. When you're trying to push your physical cultivation to the Invincible Realm, the stronger the blood essence you had used when forging your body, the more helpful it would be."
Su Yu nodded, "Thank you, Grandteacher. I understand."
"Also..."
After a short silence, Hong Tan said, "I won't leave my seclusion before reaching the Sunmoon Realm. Your martial uncle...likes to keep everything in his heart. Watch over him for me. If you notice him leaving the academy, notify Marquis Xia or Principal Wan. I don't want to find my student dead after leaving seclusion."
Su Yu's eyes flickered as he asked, "Grandteacher, you mean..."
"Your martial uncle has a heavy burden on him. He has been weighted down by this burden for a very long time. His talent is actually better than mine and your teacher. He should have entered the Mountainsea Realm long ago. But he stubbornly refused to break through. I already knew his plan a few years ago. He looks calm, but I'm afraid that he will throw caution to the wind and go crazy one day."
Hong Tan sighed and continued, "Also, avoid leaving the academy too often. If possible, avoid the Allheaven Battlefield. This is all I have to say. Our faction is too small so we don't really have anyone around to watch over you anymore. But you're a smart person..."
At that, Hong Tan paused again. After a while, he said, "If you encounter a great trouble you can't solve, you can go to the inner chambers of the prison zone and release the Mountainsea creatures in there.
"I have already reached an agreement with them. The moment you release them, they will receive their freedom. You will be the one to provide them free passage out of the Human Realm. If they end up doing anything to endanger humanity, we will be the ones to take the blame. Thus, you should know that you shouldn't release them unless absolutely necessary."
"Grandteacher..."
Su Yu was shocked. Releasing the Mountainsea creatures?
"Will the Human Realm allow me to return them to the Allheaven Battlefield?"
Hong Tan said, "Yes. Because those creatures have been registered as my mounts. I am a pseudo Sunmoon. They will show me this much respect. But as I said, any crime against humanity they commit will be blamed on us. You need to think it through before taking this route. After all, some of our enemies might take this chance to provoke them into doing something that will get us in trouble. Do you understand now?"
"I understand." Su Yu nodded solemnly.
Hong Tan stood up and started walking away. While walking, he said, "Enter seclusion for a few days. You can see your teacher off after that. Your willpower is too thick right now. If you walk around in your current condition, you will get exposed easily."
"Sure." Su Yu nodded.
At this moment, his good mood from having screwed the single character faction over had vanished. His two teachers were leaving. His grandteacher was entering an indefinite seclusion. And even his martial uncle might get embroiled in some trouble soon.
What a worrisome bunch of people! At such a young age, he actually had to carry such a heavy burden! Life was too hard for him!