Chapter 533: Test (1)
Su Yu had tossed the matter of the foreign students to the back of his mind.
He didn't care if they were scheming against him. He didn't care if anyone else was scheming against him. He would simply kill any enemy he could. As for the ones he still couldn't kill, he would kill them in the future. This was what he had learned from Wan Tiansheng!
At the entrance of the research center, he saw Zhang Hao.
A smile appeared on Zhang Hao's face for a split second before vanishing. He handed a merit card to Su Yu and said, "This is for what happened."
Su Yu said, "Do you want to go inside?"
"It's fine."
He then turned and left.
Su Yu laughed. Since Zhang Hao was still maintaining the act, so be it. In truth, this was really no big deal. But it also wasn't a bad thing that Zhang Hao was still pretending to be hostile toward him. Perhaps some people would try to recruit Zhang Hao as a result of this.
He walked into the research center while checking the merit card. After connecting it to his own card and checking the balance, he was overjoyed.
10,000 merit points.
The Zhang Family had probably rounded the number for him. For eliminating 5 enemy Skysoars, he was eligible for a reward of 1,200 merit points. The Zhang Family had also promised a reward of 5,000 merit points. Was it possible that they had obtained 3,800 merit points from raiding the 5 Skysoars?
Probably. If that was the case, the 5 Skysoars were really quite rich. On average, each of them would have a savings of around 800 merit points.
...
Su Yu stepped through the door.
Xia Huyou was still there. He was busy playing a card game with Zheng Yunhui.
Su Yu was completely speechless.
Wasn't the prefecture's anniversary tomorrow? As the son of the prefect, why was this fellow so free? There was also Zheng Yunhui. Why were these fellows so free?
"Why are you guys still playing your card game here?"
Zheng Yunhui smiled, "We're taking a break. Work-life balance is very important, you know. There's nothing for us to do anyway. We're still so far away from your source soul acupoint..."
After completing the acupoint fusion method, Su Yu had not given them any new assignments. Thus, these people were quite free. The source of this content ɪs novelꞁire.net
Naturally, Wu Lan and Wu Jia were very busy. Ever since they had received Su Yu's praise and had the acupoint fusion method named after them, they had been busy gathering and organizing any information about the myriad races they could find.
Su Yu had requested that they assign every single cultivation method into a relevant category. This was a massive undertaking, so those two had a lot of work to do, unlike the others.
Su Yu found himself somewhat speechless. He decided to move on from the topic and asked, "Fatty, how much did I owe you?"
"It's not much. Don't worry about it. We're family."
Su Yu rolled his eyes, "I'm paying you back. Are you trying to make me pay you with the 36-acupoint version of the fusion method instead?"
"..."
Xia Huyou laughed dryly. Yeah, that was his plan.
How smart!
He was learning from Zheng Yunhui, who had not mentioned the money owed to him even once. That fellow was waiting. Su Yu had promised to pay him back in three months. And it had been a month. After two more months, he would be able to get the Pure Source Art for free.
"Wow, you're amazing. You found some money to repay your debt?"
Xia Huyou was feeling quite sorrowful. He really didn't want to collect this debt. At the very least, he didn't want to collect it in the form of money.
He enjoyed having Su Yu owe him money. Just look at what happened the previous time Su Yu owed him money. The Xia Family had obtained the acupoint fusion method because of a debt. The Zheng Family was going to get the Pure Source Art soon. Even the Soul Devouring Art had been obtained by the Xia Family thanks to a debt.
Thus, all these people were very willing to have Su Yu owe them money. Things would be much harder for them if he no longer owed them money.
"So?"
"9,000 merit points."
Su Yu said nothing and tossed his newly received merit card over and said, "As for the remaining 1,000 merit points, pay Wu Lan before paying Hu Qiusheng the rest."
"There is really no need for this..."
Meanwhile, Zheng Yunhui was overjoyed. So Su Yu still didn't have the money to repay him. Good!
Su Yu ignored their reaction and thought about something before saying, "Out of the 5,000 merit points Xia Yuwen gave us, 3,000 had been spent on Zhou Hao. We have around 2,000 remaining. Fatty, buy me some blood essence with that money. I'll give you a list later."
He had opened a lot of new pages before this, but he did not have the blood essence to test all those abilities and cultivation methods. There were about 90 of them. With 2,000 merit points, if he was willing to buy the lower-tiered blood essence, he would be able to gather all the blood essence he required.
He couldn't be bothered to save up his money. Money was meant to be spent. Just look at how casually he was spending tens of thousands of merit points like nothing. He was a lot more generous than even some Mountainseas.
"Also, since the Xia Family has started disseminating the acupoint fusion method, I am eligible for one merit point per person taught as per our agreement. Don't forget my share."
Xia Huyou hurriedly said, "Of course. But generally, we will be making our payment once per year. If you need money, I can lend you some. I'll just take the money from your cut at the end of the year."
"Sure."
At this time, Jiang Mu, who had been staying silent, asked, "Su Yu, have you entered the Infinite Strength Realm?"
"I'm now a fourth-stage Infinite Strength cultivator."
They all looked at each other. That sure was fast. It had happened in the blink of an eye.
"How about you, Xia Huyou?"
"I..." Xia Huyou laughed dryly. "I've just reached the Infinite Strength Realm."
Su Yu did not believe a word of that. Bullshit!
This fellow was already on the verge of completing his first stage of fusion a while ago. But he had probably slowed down somewhat to open the acupoints required for the fusion method. In that case, he might have really reached the Infinite Strength Realm not long ago.
Whatever. In any case, Xia Huyou would still be able to reach the ninth-stage Infinite Strength Realm in a short amount of time.
Su Yu wasn't too bothered about their cultivation. Instead, he asked, "It's the prefecture's anniversary tomorrow. Is Great Xia King returning?"
"I think so."
Xia Huyou said, "I wonder if Great Grandpa would return with some treasures this time. During the 300th anniversary, he returned after chopping a chunk of space out of the Golden Peng Realm. That chunk of space had been converted into a new grotto of the academy. I wonder if he would do something like this again."
Su Yu recalled hearing about that before. When he thought about it, he remembered that Liu Wenyan was the person who had told him about it.
No wonder the story sounded familiar. Great Xia King had once chopped an entire chunk of space out of the Golden Peng Realm just to get them a new grotto. What a ferocious individual.
With that reminder, Su Yu also grew excited.
For the 350th anniversary, Great Xia King would probably return with something good as well, right? Su Yu wouldn't get anything, but he did not mind. He would be happy with just getting to look at the treasure and broaden his horizons.
While they were chatting, Hu Qiusheng came down from upstairs. He looked as scholarly as ever, but a trace of helplessness could be seen on his face. When he saw Su Yu, he smiled and said, "Su Yu, give me a separate lab. Those two...are complaining that I'm getting in their way."
Sigh.
An elegant genius like him was actually being looked down on by those two.
When Su Yu heard that, he was somewhat speechless. He nodded and said, "Sure. There are a few rooms on the second floor. Just pick an empty room for yourself. We still have plenty of room."
"Thanks."
After some thought, Hu Qiusheng said, "Su Yu, we are still cultural researchers. You are going to focus on the source soul acupoint next, but I don't think it's going to be easy. I believe our immediate goal after this should be an aperture fusion method instead."
Hu Qiusheng solemnly said, "Since you can come up with something like the acupoint fusion method, it might also be possible for you to come up with an aperture fusion method as well.
"Sure, that would only be useful for those at the Mountainsea Realm and above, but I suggest that we start working on it now. It would be too late to start when we're all Mountainseas."
The eyes of the others lit up upon hearing that.
Xia Huyou stopped his card game and stood up before saying, "Su Yu, I agree! We can only rely on you for the source soul acupoint, but I think we can work together for the aperture fusion method instead. Maybe you can use the same method you used to produce the acupoint fusion method to make an aperture fusion method as well."
Su Yu thought about it for a while and said, "Aperture opening is a lot harder. Even if we manage to produce an aperture fusion method, if it requires 36 apertures, very few people would be able to even cultivate it..."
Of course, that wouldn't be an issue for him.
That was something that couldn't be spread widely. Then again, Su Yu didn't really care if it could be spread widely or not.
Thus, he nodded, "Sure. Let's start with the preparatory works. We're in no rush, but there are too few aperture fusion methods out there for our reference. The difficulty would probably be higher."
The human race had quite a lot of acupoint fusion methods available. Thus, he had been able to use those methods as references while making his own. But aperture fusion methods were much rarer.
"Let's try."
The others were getting excited. This was related to the actual path they were walking. It wasn't that physical cultivation wasn't good, but these people were all cultural researchers, including Zheng Yunhui who was known as a brute by the people in the academy. Even someone like that wished to do better in his willpower cultivation.
With stronger willpower cultivation, at the very least, his characters would be stronger. For example, that healing character of his could be pushed to the second or even the third tier. At that point, he would probably obtain the ability to regrow his body from a drop of blood earlier than he was supposed to. That was basically the same as gaining additional lives.
Thus, they were overjoyed when Su Yu agreed. They had developed a high level of confidence in Su Yu when it came to research.
Suddenly, a voice came from upstairs, "I am going to be the leader of this project's Breakthrough Team as well!"
"..."
Su Yu smiled, "We're still at the preparatory stage so there is no Breakthrough Team yet. For now, we will be gathering materials and information. For example, we need the blood essence of races proficient at willpower cultivation. And we need time to gather all that. These materials are a lot harder to gather. We need to take this slow."
He was in no rush. After all, he would only start fusing apertures at the Mountainsea Realm. And he was still very far away from that realm.
After dealing with Wu Lan, Su Yu beckoned at Xia Huyou, "Fatty..."
"Are you going to stop with that!"
Xia Huyou was furious. He had ignored Su Yu a few times, but Su Yu continued calling him fatty.
"Cough, cough. Huyou, let's have a chat."
"That's more like it."
Feeling much better, Xia Huyou followed Su Yu into a nearby room with a smile.
Chapter 534: Test (2)
Inside the tea room.
After pouring Xia Huyou a cup of tea, Su Yu poured himself a cup of tea and sipped on it while thinking.
Xia Huyou waited patiently.
A short while later, Su Yu placed the cup down and said, "The tallest tree always attracts the most wind. With the creation of the acupoint fusion method, my enemies are starting to view me as a thorn in the flesh."
Xia Huyou nodded in agreement.
"What do you think about the single character faction? Are they looking at me from the point of view of humanity as a whole and viewing me as someone who can help increase the strength of humanity? Or are they looking from their own point of view, seeing me as a danger that might resurrect the multiple character faction and grow to a point where we are as strong as we were 50 years ago or even strong enough to sever their legacy?"
Xia Huyou said nothing.
Su Yu stared at him.
After a short silence, Xia Huyou smiled bitterly and said, "What do you think? Su Yu, don't bother asking something like this. I'll be blunt. Very few people are capable of seeing things from the perspective of humanity as a whole. This applies to you. Be honest. Do you see things from the perspective of humanity as a whole when you do things?"
Su Yu smiled, "Nope. I will first think for myself before for humanity as a whole."
"There you have it." Xia Huyou helplessly said, "Thus, it's pointless to ask this question. The single character faction members will think for themselves first and think for their faction second. Everyone else comes third."
Su Yu nodded. "So do they want me dead?"
"Don't worry. Inside the academy or even the capital, they won't have the guts to do that."
Su Yu calmly asked, "What if I leave the capital? What if someone from their faction makes a move on me? Of course, I'm not scared of that. I'm confident I can survive an attack from them. But what will Great Xia do if that happens?"
"You're talking about an attack outside a city?"
"Yeah."
Xia Huyou asked again, "Is it within Great Xia's borders?"
"Probably not."
The Starfall Mountain was a border region, but strictly speaking, that region belonged to Great Ming.
Xia Huyou frowned and solemnly said, "This will be difficult. To speak the truth, if they dare to make a move inside the capital...well, what we do depends on the identity of the attacker. If the attacker is an important individual, we will perform an investigation. If the attacker isn't an important person, we will also perform an investigation to make sure that it's not the cult trying to sow chaos. But outside a city, especially when it's outside Great Xia itself, we usually ignore such affairs..."
Su Yu said, "In other words, Great Xia will most likely ignore it if it happens in the wilderness?"
"Pretty much." Xia Huyou explained, "The exception is when it involves the cult. Otherwise, it is only a conflict between fellow humans. And to be perfectly honest, conflict exists everywhere. The Human Realm would have been unified long ago otherwise. This is especially true for us cultivators. It's impossible to avoid conflict. Most of the time, the various prefectures will turn a blind eye to these conflicts that happen in the wilderness."
Su Yu sank into thought.
After a short while, he said, "In other words, anything goes in the wilderness?"
"I guess you can say so. After all...we can't control everything. Of course, if you manage to find solid proof, we will still do something. After all, you have been attacked for no reason."
"If I have proof of their attack, what would Great Xia do?"
Xia Huyou thought about it and said, "The attacker will die. But if there is a mastermind, it would be hard for us to do anything unless you can prove the involvement of the mastermind. After all, conspiring to kill a genius student is a great crime."
He looked at Su Yu and solemnly asked, "You plan to leave and make yourself bait to deal with them once and for all? Su Yu, don't take this risk. There is no need for that."
"I know what you're thinking. The single character faction's reputation has been ruined recently. If they continue acting as they are, they will fall apart sooner or later. There is no need to put yourself in danger. You would only be able to get the attacker punished. It would be too hard for us to do anything about the conspirators that had not personally attacked..."
Su Yu frowned, "Is it really that hard? Does this mean that I have to stay in the academy forever? After all, they can simply sacrifice a Cloudbreach to end me once and for all."
Xia Huyou nodded. That had always been the practice for any conflicts happening in the wilderness. Of course, it would be an entirely different matter if the attack happened within the academy itself.
He said, "I doubt they would take this risk. After all, it's not like there are no experts in your faction. They definitely understand that killing you would be the same as an all-out war with no bottom line. Elder Hong is still around. If he starts killing without reservation, how many people can stop him? Do they intend to hide in the academy forever?"
Xia Huyou did not think that they would go that far.
But Su Yu believed that he should never overestimate the intelligence of the single character faction. He said, "Maybe you're right. But I can't rely on their intelligence for my own safety. Perhaps they believe that they can kill me undetected..."
Xia Huyou looked at Su Yu solemnly for a long while before saying, "You mean..."
Su Yu calmly said, "I'm going to lure them out. Even if I can't implicate all of them, I'll make them suffer a big enough loss to hurt them. It is fine for me to kill the person attacking me, right?"
"Yeah."
"Is an ancient ruin enticing enough a bait?"
Xia Huyou sank into silence. Was that enticing? That was extremely enticing. The discovery of any ruin would be followed by a series of conflicts. After all, each ruin would represent the appearance of a new Sunmoon or even an Invincible.
That was how powerful the inheritance of an ancient ruin could be. Who wouldn't want to get a ruin for themselves?
Su Yu said, "What if I have a ruin..."
"You're revealing it?"
Xia Huyou exclaimed in shock, "Why don't you get the Xia Family to excavate it for you? We will follow the rules and give you a fair share."
Su Yu smiled. If even the Xia Family believed that he had a ruin, a lot of people probably believed the same as well. He reckoned that some people were already searching Nanyuan for the supposed ruin. An ancient ruin was truly too enticing.
Xia Huyou said, "Su Yu, there is no need for this! If you expose your ruin, you will attract a lot of people. Even if it's within Great Xia, the Xia Family's hands would be tied. According to the rules, a lot of experts would be allowed to compete for the ruin."
Xia Huyou believed that Su Yu was taking a risk out of desperation. He wanted to expose his ruin to lure the single character faction out. This was too dangerous. It was not worth it if he had to expose the ruin just to deal with the single character faction.
After doing so, Su Yu would not live another day in peace. More importantly, someone else might snatch that ruin from Su Yu. Was Su Yu so confident that he could keep the ruin for himself? Even an existence like the Xia Family might still be forced to share the ruin with some outsiders.
When Su Yu saw Xia Huyou's reaction, he was somewhat speechless. There was no ruin. He had never seen a ruin in his life. The only thing he had seen was the buried treasure of the Divine Skywing Sect.
Su Yu couldn't be bothered to explain himself. he said, "I'll only spread the rumor in a small circle. Do you think this is enough to make them move? Since a ruin is supposed to be kept secret, I doubt they would spread the rumor, right? Furthermore, spreading the rumor takes time. When enough time passes and it is proven that the ruin does not exist, the matter would end."
"You..."
Xia Huyou frowned, "You're fishing. But firstly, you might not be able to survive the attack. Secondly, if you do end up killing the attacker, the other single character faction members would never agree to cease hostilities with you."
"It's not like we're not hostile toward each other right now." Su Yu snorted, "Do you think that I want to coexist with them peacefully? They are definitely trying to end me while I'm still weak. Similarly, I am also trying to give them a heavy blow while they are still underestimating me because of my weak cultivation level."
There were benefits to having a low cultivation level. His enemies would not overestimate him. If Su Yu really managed to reach the Skysoar or the Cloudbreach Realm, he might turn into a target for many Mountainseas or even Sunmoons.
But at his current level, he wouldn't encounter anyone higher than the Mountainsea Realm. At this point, Xia Huyou finally understood what Su Yu was trying to do.
He exhaled and said, "You want to fish, but are you not afraid of fishing something big enough to eat you instead? You simply want to know what the Xia Family thinks about this before doing it, right?"
"Yes."
Xia Huyou sank into silence. After a short moment, he said, "The Xia Family 's stand is simple. We will deal with the one to break the rules. It doesn't matter if someone is baited to break the rules. Any rulebreaker will be punished. This applies to them and you. This is the Xia Family's position when it comes to the rules of Great Xia.
"Even if I dislike how they are consorting with Great Zhou, I still need to be patient. Why? Because they are not openly doing anything against us. In truth, even if they really get together with Great Zhou, what can we do since we are the ones who have failed to keep our talent with us? At most, we will remember this grudge. We are all fellow humans. Movement between perfectures is completely normal. Do you understand?"
Su Yu nodded. He asked, "Would rumors of a ruin be enough to attract the Mountainseas of the single character faction?"
"Yes." Xia Huyou confidently said, "There is no doubt of that."
"How many people do you think they would send?"
"That...is hard to say. At least two of them."
Su Yu nodded with a pensive look, "Got it."
"Su Yu..." Xia Huyou said, "If you ask me, you are at a stage of rapid growth. You are better off staying low key. These people will receive their due sooner or later."
"I don't like wasting time." Su Yu calmly said, "This is the perfect time to do this. If I wait until I grow stronger, these people would no longer be the only people I need to face. I don't want to get stabbed in the back during a critical moment. Similarly, they are also afraid of getting stabbed by me."
Su Yu seriously said, "The relationship between us has already deterioted to a point of no return. A peaceful solution is no longer possible. Can't you see that, Xia Huyou? After the previous battle, our hostility has reached the higher level. The harder you try to suppress our conflict, the more intense it would be.
"I understand that the Xia Family wishes to suppress the conflict. But do you think it's possible? My teacher killed some of their people. They want to kill my teacher. They want to snatch the fifth principal's character. Suppressing the conflict won't solve anythinng."
"But you..." Xia Huyou still believed that Su Yu was too weak to get involved.
Su Yu shook his head, "I don't want to take part in it. But I need to leave one day. I can't stay in the academy forever. I can't stay passive and wait for them to do something before defending myself. Just look what the foreign students and the cult did."
"This is only my speculation, but the moment the cult attacked, I started suspecting the single character faction.
"I only want to know the Xia Family's position. And I'm told that the Xia Family does not involve itself in what happens in the wilderness. But if I can find solid proof that they had indeed tried to assassinate me, the Xia Family would punish them, right?"
"Yeah."
Xia Huyou nodded. Definitely. If there was no proof, the Xia Family would not have a good excuse to do something. With solid proof, they would definitely do something to protect the prestige of Great Xia.
This was enough for Su Yu. He had not expected the Xia Family to side with him. He only needed the Xia Family to be willing to punish them.
"I understand. That's all."
When Su Yu stood up, Xia Huyou hurriedly said, "If you're really doing this, I can't represent the Xia Family, but I can give you some help on behalf of myself. The Xia Family is neutral, but I don't need to be neutral."
"And how do you intend to support me?" Su Yu smiled, "Can you support me with a Sunmoon?"
"Don't joke around." Xia Huyou was speechless. Where was he supposed to find a Sunmoon? Furthermore, the movement of a Sunmoon would attract a lot of attention.
After inhaling deeply, Xia Huyou said, "I have two Mountainsea guards. These are the experts personally raised by the Xia Family. I can lend them to you to protect you when you leave. This is the only thing I can do. If your enemies are really sending Mountainseas against you, the Mountainseas would definitely stay hidden initially. Mountainseas are different from Skysoars. Any action taken by a Mountainsea represents an escalation. This is the only thing I can do. You will need to rely on yourself for the rest." ᴜᴘᴅᴀᴛᴇ ꜰʀᴏᴍ ⓝovelFire.net
Su Yu nodded, "I understand. If they can kill me with a Skysoar, there would be no need to send a Cloudbreach. This would make it easier for them to escape responsibility. Similarly, if a Cloudbreach would suffice, they wouldn't send someone above that level. The Mountainseas would only make a move when the Cloudbreach cultivators fail. Because their involvement signifies escalation. Am I right?"
"Yeah."
Since Su Yu had decided, there was nothing else he could say. With nothing else to say, Su Yu left the tea room. After Su Yu left, Xia Huyou rubbed his face with an exhausted expression.
He had been honest. In his opinion, Su Yu should be given more support and a safe environment to grow. But the Xia Family as an entity could not be biased. Just because Su Yu viewed the single character faction as the villain did not mean that everyone else believed the same. As the rulers, the Xia Family must be neutral. Thus, this was the most he could do.
"This is so annoying..."
Xia Huyou muttered to himself. Why couldn't these people coexist peacefully? The myriad races had picked the right strategy. By not applying much pressure on the human race, humanity started fighting among themselves endlessly. Xia Huyou clenched his teeth in anger. He would rather the myriad races attack them directly. That way, humanity would no longer waste its energy on internal conflicts.
Chapter 535: Top Hundred Banquet, Anniversary Day (1)
Inside the research center.
Su Yu was in deep thought.
After a long while, he stood up and walked outside.
...
A few minutes later.
Wentan Research Center. Prison Zone.
Su Yu went straight to the point and said, "Suanni, I will be going on a trip soon. You will be my mount for the trip." Fresh chapters posted on novel~fire~net
The suanni nearly teared up upon hearing that. Su Yu had finally remembered him!
"Alright!"
The suanni agreed easily. After Su Yu moved out, both the water elemental, shadow, and fire crow had left as well. The beasts left behind had been living in constant fear.
The mountaindrill bull yelled out in agitation, "Lord, suannis look good, but they are terrible as mounts. The mountaindrill bulls are better! You can't find better mounts than us!"
Yes. They were so desperate they had to start fighting to become a mount.
The white civet grew anxious as well. But she was unsuitable as a mount so there was no way she could compete against the two. Thus, she hurriedly said, "Lord Su, Young Miss Wu still lacks a guardian pet. I can be her guardian pet!"
With her good looks, that was the most suitable role for her. If she was the only one left behind, she would definitely die.
Su Yu smiled and nodded, "Sure. White cat, my senior sister stays with my martial uncle. Think it through. Don't be rash lest you lose your life."
"I wouldn't dare do anything rash!"
The white civet was overjoyed. Finally, she could leave this place.
Su Yu looked at the mountaindrill bull and said, "You're a ninth-stage Skysoar and a member of the 182nd ranked race. But you feel very weak for me. Is a genius of a top 200 race so weak? If that's the case, there is no need for me to keep you around. Your role is overlapping with the suanni."
In Su Yu's eyes, the more honest someone seemed, the more unreliable someone was. The mountaindrill bull race's rank wasn't low at all. As a member of a 182nd ranked race, this bull actually felt like a weakling. There seemed to be nothing special about this bull.
Could Su Yu even put his trust in a mountaindrill bull so weak? He would rather trust the suanni.
After a short silence, the mountaindrill bull said, "Lord, it's not that I'm weak. But compared to the others, the mountaindrill bull race specializes in something entirely different. The shadow and the others are good at assassination. The suanni is good at direct offense. I'm not good at any of that. From my name, you should know that our race is good at traversing. We can drill through mountains. We can escape easily the moment we get underground. And no matter how tall a mountain is, we can easily drill through it."
Su Yu frowned. This was something he had never considered before.
"In that case, your race should be very strong in a mountainous area?"
"You can say so."
The mountaindrill bull said, "We might be big, but we're not good at offense. The mountainbreak bulls are better at offense as they are good at crushing mountains. Unlike them, we drill through mountains and are more focused on concealment. In fact, among the bull races, we are the concealment specialists..."
Su Yu nodded. That could be useful.
Mountainous region...Starfall Mountain. That was a mountainous region.
"Ninth-stage Skysoar..."
Su Yu gazed at the bull who was bad at offense.
He smiled, "Mountaindrill bull, if you can survive 10 punches from me, I will believe that you are decent at protecting yourself."
"Lord..."
The mountaindrill bull opened his eyes wide and looked at Su Yu in suspicion.
He was a ninth-stage Skysoar. Even if he had been weakened due to his imprisonment, he was not someone a mere Great Strength student like Su Yu could contend against. Had the kid advanced?
"Lord, your current strength..."
"Fourth-stage Infinite Strength Realm."
Fourth-stage Infinite Strength Realm!
After thinking about it, the mountaindrill bull asked, "Lord, you won't be using your willpower, right?"
"I won't." Su Yu smiled, "I'll only use my physical strength. So do you agree?"
"I...agree."
Ninth-stage Skysoar versus fourth-stage Infinite Strength. The mountaindrill bull knew that Su Yu was very talented with a lot of opened acupoints. But he was not too weak himself. He was pretty good defensively. He wasn't afraid of that. It was only 10 punches.
"Good. I'll temporarily release you. Shadow and water guy, keep an eye on him."
Su Yu smiled. The shadow and water elemental were still with him. He opened the cage. When the mountaindrill bull stepped out, he grew slightly excited. There was a moment where he considered running away. He even considered killing Su Yu before running.
But the thought was erased the moment he appeared. He wasn't even sure if he could kill Su Yu. For the sake of preserving their lives, the shadow and water elemental might kill him instead.
"Lord...let's start."
The mountaindrill bull did not waste any time. A faint golden light erupted from his body. When he stood up, he was at least two meters in height. He looked much smaller when he was suppressed in the cage.
Su Yu said nothing and gathered some source qi around his fist.
His vitality erupted.
His acupoints activated.
But with the shadow barriers around his body, none of that was visible.
Abruptly, he threw a punch out.
Boom!
A punch landed on the mountaindrill bull's head.
"Mooo!"
The mountaindrill bull groaned in pain and took a few steps back in shock.
Was this an Infinite Strength cultivator?
Nonsense!
This was definitely a Skysoar!
He was still in a weakened state due to the long imprisonment. After taking that punch, he was slightly dizzy. He was still busy thinking when another rumble rang out. The second punch had arrived.
The mountaindrill bull only had enough time to take a step back and cover his head in a layer of golden light.
Boom!
Boom!
Boom!
The loud rumbles reverberated in the room. Punch after punch was thrown rapidly. Each punch was launched with all Su Yu's strength. With the sheer number of acupoints he had opened, he had plenty of source qi to spare.
Nine consecutive punches were thrown.
At this point, a clear fist mark could be seen on the mountaindrill bull's head. In fact, the mark was deep enough to reveal his bones. Blood was also seeping out of that wound.
With a roar, Su Yu threw his final punch.
Boom!
The mountaindrill bull was sent flying before crashing into the cage. He stared at Su Yu blankly.
Meanwhile, Su Yu frowned. He had overestimated himself. The mountaindrill bull had allowed him to attack freely, yet he had only managed to leave a fist mark on the bull's head.
Sure, the bull was a ninth-stage Skysoar, but in practice, he only had the strength of around seventh-stage Skysoar remaining. And Su Yu had actually failed to blast the head apart in 10 punches.
Su Yu was unhappy, while the mountaindrill bull was completely stunned. The other beasts did not make a single sound.
Fourth-stage Infinite Strength Realm!
What joke was that?
One ought to know that the mountaindrill bull race was a top 200 race good at defense. And any beast captured by Hong Tan was a genius. This applied to the mountaindrill bull. He had 110 opened acupoints. That was comparable to someone cultivating a heaven-grade cultivation method.
But someone like that had been sent flying by Su Yu. That...was too strong.
The mountaindrill bull stood back up while the fist mark on his head vanished. He sighed and said, "If you never said that you're a cultural researcher, nobody will believe that you're a cultural researcher. You have the offensive strength of a Skysoar."
Or to be precise, the offensive strength of an above average Skysoar.
Su Yu was still dissatisfied. He said, "My offensive strength is still too weak. But it's fine. I'll reach the ninth-stage Infinite Strength Realm soon."
Yes, it wouldn't take long. Even outside a grotto, his acupoint fusion speed was still fast. He could easily advance a stage every five days or so. The beasts sank into silence.
Looking at the big fellow in front of him, Su Yu said, "Can you shrink? Just grow big again when we leave the academy."
"Yes..."
The mountaindrill bull did not say anything and hurriedly reduced his size. This was something he could control. Before long, he turned into the size of a regular tiger, looking less burly than before.
But when Su Yu looked at suanni, he couldn't help but think that the suanni still looked better.
Look at the shiny, golden body. With one look, one would know that this was a member of an impressive race. Of course, the mountaindrill bull would be the better choice if he wanted to stay low-key. The suanni was not suited for something like that.
Su Yu did not put the mountaindrill bull back into the cage. Instead, he went straight to the rear room. After he left, the beasts looked at each other in silence. Both the shadow and water elemental had been left behind as well. They started conversing through voice transmission.
"Is he really at the Infinite Strength Realm?"
"Old bull, was that an act?"
"..."
The mountaindrill bull gloomily said, "No. He is really very strong. His burst of strength is at the level of a Skysoar. I wasn't able to defend myself in time against 10 consecutive punches. Not only is his offensive power strong, he can also keep it up for a long time."
320 opened acupoints had granted Su Yu an incredible level of endurance. By the time he finished throwing a punch, he would have recovered at least half of the source qi he used for that punch. He could also supplement himself with the source qi from the acupoints that were not a part of his circulation system.
"A warrior with less than 100 acupoints will probably not be his match even at the fourth or fifth-stage Skysoar Realm. Taking his willpower into consideration, you can basically see him as a fifth-stage Skysoar."
The beasts sank into silence. The water elemental and shadow said nothing. When Su Yu killed a fifth-stage Skysoar previously, he had launched a surprise attack. It was different this time. That fellow was growing too fast.
"He's looking for those fellows?"
"Is he planning to do something soon?"
"..."
The beasts were busy talking among themselves when a childlike voice rang out from a nearby cage. The owner of the voice was speaking in the common language.
"You...I...want leave...as well..."
The beasts blanked out slightly before looking at the cage at the back of the room. It was the little furball.
The shadow exclaimed in surprise, "You know the common language?"
"I...hear you...talk...learned..."
Once again, the beasts blanked out. That was impressive. The mountaindrill bull and the others had probably been chatting with each other every single day. After all, life here was too boring. But this little furball had learned the language from that?
"How is it possible..."
How was one supposed to learn a language without any basic knowledge or a shared language?
The little furball blinked before saying, "Willpower...sensory...guess..."
The beasts finally understood. That fellow was very sensitive toward the changes of willpower. Through that, he had guessed the meaning behind each word spoken, allowing him to learn the language. With this language, one would be able to converse with almost all races in existence.
The suanni asked curiously, "So what are you? Soul devourer race? You sound impressive, but be careful of the divine race lest they eliminate your race after hearing about it."[1]
"Soul devourer...not...is...am..."
The little furball suddenly got anxious as he didn't know how to properly introduce himself. Thus, he gave up and hurriedly said, "I...want...leave..."
"That's not up to us."
The suanni was also still in a cage. He helplessly said, "That fellow is the one in charge. This is his house so we need to listen to him. Why are you in such a rush? We have been locked here for so long that we have been greatly weakened. That was why we compromised. You shouldn't compromise so easily!"
Just how many days had this furball been here? Why was the furball in such a rush to bow? Just stay here for a while longer. Otherwise, they would all feel terrible. If this fellow was going to leave after a few days, how would they, prisoners of many years, feel?
While the beasts were conversing among themselves, Su Yu came out. He had a smile on his face. It seemed like his conversation with the Mountainsea beasts had been productive.
He was about to leave when an unknown voice rang out, "Yummy...I...want leave..."
Su Yu looked at cage number seven in astonishment.
It was the little furball.
Soul devourer race!
That fellow knew how to speak?
Or to be precise, did this fellow know the common language?
"Are you calling me?" Su Yu asked in astonishment, "You know the common language?"
"I...learn!"
The little furball looked at Su Yu while blinking his tiny eyes. He did not want to stay in the cage.
Su Yu frowned and shook his head, "Nope. We still don't know your race well. And you can invade one's sea of willpower. You're too dangerous."
Hong Tan was too busy cultivating to perform any research on this little fellow, but Su Yu knew how dangerous this furball was. Sure, the furball was only a Skysoar, but he could invade seas of willpower. That alone was a terrifying ability. And Su Yu didn't even have a way of restraining something like this.
The little furball did not seem to understand what Su Yu was saying. He repeated, "Leave...good?"
"Not good." Su Yu helplessly said, "You can be very helpful. But the issue is that you're too dangerous. We'll see. Suanni and mountaindrill bull, you guys will stay here for now. You can take the time to teach this fellow the common language."
The suanni and mountaindrill bull felt very helpless. Why did they need to be teachers now? After giving the little furball one more look, Su Yu exhaled deeply. This was a very powerful monster.
At the Skysoar Realm, this furball was capable of entering one's sea of willpower and devouring the characters inside. Defending against a move like this was extremely difficult. If he could subdue this soul devourer for himself, he would obtain a super trump card against cultural researchers.
Just imagine a Skysoar taking out their characters to attack when the characters vanished into nothingness. Would that Skysoar be stunned?
Regardless of whether one was a transformation master, a beast tamer, or a pillmaker, one would still require Divine Characters to fight. And a lot of people only had a single character that also served as their main Divine Character. Having a counter for Divine Characters would basically turn one into a bane of all cultural researchers.
With the furball, Su Yu could instantly eliminate a cultural researcher's method of offense. And a cultural researcher without their characters could be defeated easily.
Su Yu wanted to know more about the soul devourers, but this little furball only had a small mastery over the common language. It was too hard to converse with this little fellow. The furball could understand less than half of his words most of the time. Thus, he gave up on trying to learn more about the little furball.
...
After leaving the research center, Su Yu started his daily cultivation routine.
Meanwhile, the entire Great Xia was in a festive mood.
Colorful banners could be seen everywhere.
They would celebrate the prefecture's anniversary tomorrow.
1. The soul and divine here uses the same character in Chinese with different meanings. ☜
Chapter 536: Top Hundred Banquet, Anniversary Day (2)
4th of December.
Great Xia's anniversary celebration.
The academy was full of joy.
Early in the morning, the academy was already filled with unceasing cheers.
The Source Soul Research Center had also been decorated for the occasion. When Su Yu walked out of his cultivation room, he stumbled upon Wu Lan and the others who were busy decorating the building. Thanks to the decorations, the research center was looking quite festive as well.
Su Yu smiled and waved at Wu Jia, "Senior Sister!"
Wu Jia ran over and happily asked, "Junior Brother, are you going out later? The capital will be very lively today..."
"I won't be going out." Su Yu smiled and said, "Senior Sister, I'm afraid you won't be able to go out as well."
"Ahh?"
Wu Jia looked dispirited. She couldn't leave?
Su Yu exhaled lightly and said, "Senior Sister, it's the 4th of December. We only have 26 days left before the year ends."
"..."
At that, Wu Jia recalled something. Her expression turned anxious as she said, "Yeah..."
"You need to start challenging the top 100."
Yes. She had to do it.
Su Yu said, "Martial uncle is an intermediate researcher and the head manager of the books depository. You have been in the academy for over two years. Martial Uncle does not have any other recent achievements he can use as a substitute for the performance of his student. If you don't challenge the ranking, he might even end up demoted from the position of intermediate researcher. In that situation, keeping the books depository would be even harder. This year's evaluation is going to be much stricter. Forget about the second evaluation. Even the first evaluation is hard to get through."
According to Old Huang, he would focus on cracking down on corruption during the first evaluation. But if one could plug the holes, they might be given a second chance. After all, there was no way they could punish all their higher-ups in one go.
At the second evaluation, things would be different. If any wrongdoing was found during the second evaluation, one would be held accountable. That was no longer a matter of plugging the holes.
Different researchers would be faced with different levels of evaluation depending on their levels. Chen Yong could be considered one of the upper echelons of the academy, so he would also be subjected to a strict evaluation. Thus, if Wu Jia couldn't get into the top 100, Chen Yong would encounter trouble during the evaluation.
Wu Jia completely forgot about playing around. She hurriedly said, "You're right, Junior Brother. I'll do it today!"
"Alright." Su Yu nodded, "It's the anniversary day today. The academy will be paying more attention to the challenges performed today. The judges will be a lot more careful. Even if you encounter someone you can't defeat, there is no risk of injuring yourself heavily. This is actually the safest time to challenge the ranking.
"And since it's the anniversary day, Great Xia King himself might visit the academy. All the top 100 students will be present so you will also have more flexibility on who you challenge."
Otherwise, one would normally be forced to waste time and wait or challenge a different student if the student they challenged wasn't around.
At this time, Jiang Mu walked over and asked, "You're challenging the ranking today?"
This wasn't proper, right? It was the anniversary day. Was it proper to challenge the ranking today?
"Yes." Su Yu said, "We don't have much time left. We still have 26 days before the month ends, but all challenges will end on the 25th. Thus, we only have 21 days.
"If she loses now, she can continue trying. But if she waits until the final three days, she might be able to win two consecutive matches and keep her ranking until the following match. But would things be so smooth? After the first victory, someone would definitely appear to obstruct her climb."
"And all these people are waiting for the 22nd. I can't let things play out according to their plans."
At this time, Hu Qiusheng and Wu Lan had also walked over. Xia Huyou was not around as he was probably very busy today.
Hu Qiusheng frowned and said, "Today is indeed a good day to challenge the ranking, but what would you do after today? Those challengers would still appear. You might as well wait until the 22nd and try your luck. You only need two victories to get a three-day immunity."
That was a benefit meant to help newly ascended challengers. That had been Wu Jia's initial plan. Thus, she looked at Su Yu inquiringly. Should they wait? She wasn't weak at all. Not only had she reached the Infinite Strength Realm, but he had also opened some apertures, reached peak Mental Tempering Stage, and formed nine characters.
If she really couldn't get into the top 100, she could even push herself and try to enter the Skysoar Realm within the month. After her advancement, her performance in the top 100 would naturally not be a part of her teacher's evaluation anymore.
Su Yu smiled, "It's better to play it safe. If we wait until the last minute, there would be too many variables. In truth, I want to see what the single character faction is going to do after we disrupt their initial plan."
Seeing that he was so confident, the others stopped persuading him.
Hu Qiusheng said, "The single character faction does not have a lot of options when it comes to removing Senior Sister Wu from the ranking. Those with enough strength to do so are only Di Feng, Qiu Yi, Chen Huan, Liu He, and Guo Shengquan. The rest are probably not her match anymore, including Huang Qifeng. After missing the Willpower Grotto, he can no longer defeat Senior Sister Wu."
But that was still quite a lot of people. Of the five, apart from Qiu Yi, the rest had entered the Willpower Grotto previously. And Qiu Yi was already strong even before this.
Hu Qiusheng looked at Su Yu and asked, "Are you going to fight as well?"
Su Yu did not answer the question. He looked at Wu Jia and said, "Senior Sister, I can't be the one to do everything. That would be an insult to your hard work. But if Di Feng tries to drop his ranking to challenge you, I'll wait until he reaches my rank before crippling him."
He would be more than happy to do things fairly. As long as Di Feng did not do something like dropping rank to challenge Wu Jia, Su Yu would not be bothered to do anything. Su Yu was still unable to challenge the 1st ranked Di Feng as he was still ranked 30th.
But if Di Feng started dropping ranks, Su Yu would not hold back. He couldn't be bothered to climb the ranking, but he wouldn't mind giving Di Feng a beating.
Wu Jia clenched her teeth and said, "Don't worry, Junior Brother! I'm not afraid of them! Even if Qiu Yi drops her ranking to challenge me, I'm not scared!"
Su Yu smiled, "That is only natural. My senior sister is great."
But according to his guess, Di Feng was probably the person with the highest chance of defeating Wu Jia. Thus, sending him after her would be the safest choice for them.
Qiu Yi's chance of victory would not be as high.
"Defeating Di Feng..."
After defeating Di Feng, the single character faction would realize that not even Di Feng could suppress him anymore. At that time, who would they send after him? They might no longer be confident with Skysoars. Perhaps they would send their Cloudbreach cultivators? And ordinary Cloudbreach cultivators wouldn't do either.
They needed some capable individuals. People such as Liu Hong, Zhou Pingsheng, or Hu Wensheng would be perfect.
Liu Hong was too crafty to participate in something so stupid. Thus, their best option would be the two students of Zhou Mingren.
Numerous thoughts appeared in Su Yu's mind. Dealing with Di Feng was not enough for him. At most, he would only be able to implicate someone like Zhou Pingsheng with Di Feng. But if he could involve the students of Zhou Mingren himself, things would be different.
That was the core of the single character faction. The significance of his involvement was a lot bigger.
...
House of Hundred.
As it was the anniversary day, even the House of Hundred looked a lot more peaceful than before as there were very few challenges on this day.
A Top Hundred Banquet would be held at the House of Hundred later today.
Su Yu had already received a notification the night before. According to the message, Great Xia King himself might show up. Even if he did not show up, there would be a representative from the Xia Family present to see the top 100 students. These students represented the future of Great Xia. Thus, doing this was necessary.
Outside the House of Hundred, a large screen had been set up. On the screen, Marquis Xia and the upper echelons of Great Xia could be seen. All of them were smiling and talking as they greeted the soldiers of Great Xia.
Including those from the Devil Subduing Army, the Martial Dragon Guards, the Great Xia Army, the Windcatcher Department, and the city guards of the various cities, there were millions of soldiers in Great Xia.
Nanyuan was so small that it was more like a village than a city among the 28 cities of Great Xia. Even so, there were still a lot of soldiers stationed there when one included the guards and those from the Windcatcher Department.
Thus, greeting the soldiers was not a part they could skip when celebrating the anniversary of the prefecture. This act of inspecting the various armies would also ensure that the various armies had maintained their combat strength. Due to Xia Longwu's seclusion, morale had dropped slightly among the soldiers. Thus, the Xia Family was using this chance to repair morale. ᴛʜɪs ᴄʜᴀᴘᴛᴇʀ ɪs ᴜᴘᴅᴀᴛᴇ ʙʏ novel★fire.net
If Great Xia King could show himself today, they would be able to raise morale and keep it at a high level for quite some time after this.
This was what Su Yu and company saw when they arrived.
A scene of joy and harmony.
Looking at the smiling face of Marquis Xia on the screen, Su Yu smiled. He did not pay the screen much attention and entered the House of Hundred. Everyone was present during the anniversary day. How convenient.
Wu Lan and Wu Jia stayed outside as only top 100 students could enter the House of Hundred.
...
House of Hundred's main hall.
A lot of top 100 students were already there. Some were paying attention to the show on the screen while some were conversing with each other.
A lot of them were surprised to see Su Yu's group.
Soon, someone greeted him with a smile, "Su Yu, you guys are here."
That was Wan Mingze.
Su Yu returned the greeting with a smile. He scanned the room and noted that Di Feng wasn't around. However, there were other single character faction members there. Both Qiu Yi and Huang Qifeng were present as well.
Su Yu wasted no time and went straight to the registration counter. The person inside was fully focused on the television. When he heard the sound of footsteps, he turned his head and looked over.
"Student Su, the banquet will start tonight. If you're hungry, you can grab a light meal first and spend some time with the others..."
He thought that Su Yu was here to ask about the banquet.
Su Yu smiled and said, "Teacher, almost all the top 100 students are here today. My senior sister wishes to challenge the ranking today. Could I trouble you to contact the referees?"
"..."
The hall instantly sank into silence. Challenging the ranking today? What was Su Yu trying to do?
The teacher was also stunned. He asked with hesitation, "Su Yu, do you want to do this another day?"
Su Yu smiled, "Nope. The war academy students will be here starting tomorrow, right? I don't know how long they will stay here. Rather than embarrass ourselves in front of outsiders, we might as well do this today."
The teacher nodded, "Alright. I will contact the referees. Su Yu, who is Wu Jia challenging?"
Su Yu asked, "Are there any single character faction members in the bottom 10?"
The teacher checked the list and nodded, "Yes. Zheng Hong in the 97th place and Yu Tong in the 91st place."
"Yu Tong? What's her relationsip with Elder Yu?"
"They're from the same family. They're a few generations apart, but they're relatives."
At this time, a girl in the hall stood up and said coldly, "I am Yu Tong. Su Yu, you intend to have Wu Jia challenge me?"
Su Yu turned his head and smiled, "Can't she challenge you?"
Yu Tong coldly said, "Of course she can. I welcome her challenge. I am in a good mood as it's a day of celebration. Your faction better not create trouble or don't blame me for not showing mercy."
Su Yu unhurriedly said, "How is challenging the ranking creating trouble? A challenge match is fair as one's ability will determine the result. I'm only afraid that some people would shamelessly call their seniors for help after losing. And if those seniors can't help, they would get some shameless people to drop their ranks and avenge the loser.
"How about this? None of us will drop our ranks today. If you agree, I will be willing to accept the result of her challenge even if she ends up losing."
"I—"
"Cough."
Yu Tong was about to answer when someone interrupted her. They couldn't agree. That wasn't something they could agree with. If Wu Jia managed to get into the ranking, they would have to start dropping their ranks so that they could challenge her. Their sole goal was to keep her out of the ranking.
Su Yu smiled, "See? You guys are the ones not willing to fight fairly. What can I do about this? You guys are the ones creating trouble, not me. Otherwise, with my senior sister's strength, she would have been able to enter the ranking easily."
Yu Tong snorted and said, "Get her to defeat me first before saying something like that."
Yu Tong had entered the academy the same year as Wu Jia. Thus, she believed that she was not weaker than Wu Jia. Sure, Wu Jia had a higher rank previously, but things had changed since then.
All of them had been growing constantly while Wu Jia's progress had been delayed due to her injuries. And Yu Tong was also one of the students who had been able to enter the Willpower Grotto previously. She had gained a lot from the benefit and she was confident she could defeat Wu Jia.
Su Yu did not waste his time saying anything else and looked at the teacher, "My senior sister will be challenging her. We'll start after a referee arrives. I hope my senior sister will be able to join the banquet later."
He had decided to come at this time because he was also interested in attending the banquet.
He had heard that Great Xia King might be here. Most of the time, Great Xia King would not arrive empty-handed. As one of the students here, he might be able to get something good from Great Xia King.
Nobody knew if they would be able to get massive benefits from Great Xia King's gift, but a gift was a gift. Nobody would say no to that. Meanwhile, the expressions of the top 100 students started turning solemn.
It would seem like this wouldn't be a peaceful day. If Wu Jia lost, the matter would probably end immediately. But if she won, a lot of trouble would follow.
People like Di Feng and Qiu Yi would probably start dropping ranks to challenge her. This was even more important today as they would not allow Wu Jia to attend a banquet where Great Xia King might be present.
The students started notifying the people they knew about the challenge. Perhaps a big show would unfold on this day of celebration.
Chapter 537: I've Decided, Kill Di Feng! (1)
House of Hundred.
Shortly after, some other people arrived.
These were the people from the Discipline Hall.
Old Huang had personally come as well. He ignored everyone and beckoned at Su Yu. When Su Yu saw that, he hurriedly ran over.
At the corner of the hall.
Old Huang looked at Su Yu solemnly and said, "It's the anniversary day. If you insist on letting Wu Jia fight today and end up escalating things, it won't benefit anyone. Do you understand me?"
"I understand."
"Then why..."
Su Yu softly said, "This is my final attempt. I want to see if Great Xia King is enough to give them pause. This is the anniversary day. And we are going to be challenging the ranking normally. If they are willing to play dirty and drop ranks to block my senior sister even today, it could only mean that they don't care about anything anymore. There is no longer anything to salvage."
Su Yu paused slightly before continuing, "If that's the case...I will stop holding back."
If that was the case, it was time for him to eliminate them thoroughly. And that was accomplished through killing.
This was the anniversary day and Great Xia King himself might show up. If those people were willing to play dirty even on this day, it was clear that those people no longer cared about keeping up the pretense.
They only cared about their rivalry with the multiple character faction.
In that case, Su Yu would fully consider these people as his enemies. If hostility was inevitable, he might as well go all out. Official source ıs Nove1Fire.net
Old Huang sighed, "There is no need to go that far."
Su Yu calmly said, "Like I said, we are going to challenge the ranking normally. If my senior sister loses, she can only blame herself for lacking the ability. If she wins, she deserves her position. If they drop ranks to stop her, it shows that they no longer have any misgivings. In that case, I shall go all out as well."
Su Yu looked at Old Huang and smiled, "Elder Huang, I don't want this to happen either. I am only here today to take a look at the single character faction's actual position. The result of my senior sister's challenge does not matter. Not even my martial uncle's position as head manager matters. I only want to see if the hostility between us has really reached the point of no return."
"At worst, I'll just switch to a different academy. I doubt we will fail to find a new academy to join. If the Nine Heavens Cultural Research Academy is useless, we can simply join a war academy. If not, we can also join Great Ming."
Su Yu said, "I did my research about Great Ming. They are hungry for talent. And the single character faction isn't too powerful there. Of course, they're not weak too. But the situation there is less complicated and the internal conflict there is less intense. The multiple character faction still exists there. They are quite poor, but that's fine since they can only blame themselves for their inability to earn money. From what I know, they are not being suppressed over there..."
Old Huang blanked out.
He felt terrible to see things come to this. He asked, "Are you...planning to join Great Ming?"
Su Yu seemed melancholic and hesitant. After a long while, he nodded, "I am considering that. The suppression on us is too heavy in Great Xia. The Xia Family and Principal Wan might look like they are on our side, but...I can feel that they are using us as bait. I can feel that very clearly."
He exhaled deeply and said, "Teacher Liu couldn't bear to leave the Great Xia Cultural Research Academy. My grandteacher couldn't bear to abandon what the fifth principal built. But I don't care about all that! I'll be blunt and say that if the Zhu Family of Great Ming cares about talent at all, they would not allow someone like me to be suppressed repeatedly."
Su Yu looked up and met Old Huang's eyes, "Therefore, if I can't get a satisfactory answer today, I will leave the capital and head south. I will enter Great Ming to seek survival and protection."
"..."
Old Huang's expression changed. He gazed at Su Yu for a very long time.
Su Yu wanted to leave! He was actually thinking of leaving!
"Su Yu...why...there is no need..."
He had personally witnessed Su Yu's growth. But today, Su Yu was saying that he was leaving. He did not want to stay in Great Xia anymore.
Su Yu's eyes turned slightly red as he softly said, "I don't want to leave. My father is in Great Xia. My teacher, my martial uncle, my grandteacher, my friends, and my senior sister are all here...But perhaps...it is time for me to leave."
A bleak smile took form on Su Yu's face as he said, "I feel restricted here. I can't fully make use of my talents in Great Xia. This pond is too deep. There are too many Mountainseas and Sunmoons. We have plenty of geniuses and experts. I have done my best and given everything I could just to gain the support of some people. But...that support is nowhere to be seen."
Su Yu grinned, "You, Senior Nie, Teacher Zhao, Xia Huyou, and some other people are all good people. You are all supportive of me. I know that a lot of people are friendly toward me. But I still want to leave. Because...none of you are the decision-makers."
"..."
Old Huang's emotions turned complicated. "Are you serious? Your Source Soul Research Center has just been founded. Are you really leaving now? You have just produced your first research result and built your own research team. Are you leaving all that behind?"
Su Yu sank into a short silence before saying, "I have yet to decide. Today will decide what I do. When I first founded the Source Soul Research Center, I did it because I intended to stay here long term. However, after releasing the acupoint fusion method, I still did not receive what things I deserved. At that time, I realized that some people want more than what I had imagined."
He was talking about Wan Tiansheng and the Xia Family. They wanted more. The acupoint fusion method alone was not enough for them to bet on him. But Su Yu was unwilling to give more. Merit points, glory, and honor are pointless for him.
Those were not the things he wanted. He only wanted the guarantee of the Xia Family and Wan Tiansheng.
He didn't know what agreement his grandteacher, Liu Wenyan, and the others had reached with the Xia Family and Wan Tiansheng. But he knew that the agreement was not something he wanted.
In the past, the thought of leaving for Great Ming would occasionally appear in his mind. On this day, that desire to leave had reached a very strong level. The Xia Family was filled with good people, including the Great Xia King. Wan Tiansheng was decent, and he did not hate this principal.
In fact, there weren't many people in Great Xia he truly loathed. Even someone like Liu Hong was only viewed as a slightly annoying person instead of someone he loathed.
But the people of Great Xia kept refusing to put their bet on him. They kept telling him to wait. To wait for the future before they resolve everything once and for all. He did not want to wait. He was afraid that he wouldn't even live that long. Eventually, his trust in Great Xia collapsed.
At this point, he was better off leaving this place for a clean start. Perhaps he could still stay hopeful about the future of Great Xia with some distance between him and Great Xia.
Looking at Old Huang, he clenched his teeth and said, "Teacher, I hope you can keep this a secret. I will go on a long journey in the near future."
Old Huang stayed silent.
After a long while, he nodded.
He would keep it a secret.
Su Yu looked in the direction of the Heart Cultivating Pavilion. Had the principal heard him? Did the principal really not care? He had taken out his cultural arts and other cultivation methods. Were the cultural arts and acupoint fusion method not enough?
It was Great Xia's anniversary today!
And Great Xia King would return!
If the single character faction dared to play dirty even on this day, should they even stay hopeful that these people would change their ways?
Should he even remain in a Great Xia like this? What could he even get from such a Great Xia?
Perhaps the journey to the Starfall Mountain would be a new start for him.
In fact...he had already been contacted by someone from Great Ming. But he needed time, more guarantees, and a confirmation before he could make up his mind.
Great Ming was too unfamiliar to him.
Who would be willing to abandon their home and go to a foreign land? He naturally didn't want to do so. He really wanted to stay.
His loved ones and friends were all the people of Great Xia. But his loved ones had all gone to the battlefield. His friends were helpless. His faction was being suppressed while he was already thinking of leaving.
His martial uncle and grandteacher sounded really tough when they were talking, but they would not leave. And the upper echelons of Great Xia were also sure that those two wouldn't be willing to leave.
But that was not the case for Su Yu. This was the perfect opportunity for him to leave. When Invincibles and Sunmoons were still viewing him with disregard, he could freely leave. He would go to a brand new world, seeking a fresh start.
He would simply return when he finally rose to a position of power. He was not interested in staying and being suppressed endlessly, constantly worrying that he would be stabbed in the back.
Old Huang was saddened, reluctant, and disappointed. He was feeling multiple emotions at the same time. A genius, a freak, an exceptional freak, was saying that he wanted to leave. This genius would rather depart his home and go to a foreign place than stay in Great Xia.
Old Huang looked in Heart Cultivating Pavilion's direction.
Were they really giving up on Su Yu just like this? Could they really do this? Was the acupoint fusion method not enough to change the minds of these people? Were people like Old Huang simply incapable of understanding what those people were thinking, or were those people simply too cold-blooded?
At that thought, the words of persuasion he wanted to say died in his throat. He didn't want to say anything. He couldn't bring himself to say anything. What had Su Yu obtained from the Great Xia Cultural Research Academy?
Opportunities to enter the grottos.
Anything else?
But every single student could enter the academy grottos. That wasn't even a special benefit for Su Yu alone. Anyone with enough total earned merit and merit points would be able to enter the grottos. Thus, one could say that Su Yu had given a lot but received nothing in return.
If all he wanted was to enter some grottos, he didn't even need to join the Great Xia Cultural Research Academy. He could join any other academy for the same benefits.
He was someone brought into the academy by Bai Feng and Liu Wenyan. But both of them were no longer in the academy. Hong Tan couldn't really replace Bai Feng and Liu Wenyan as the level of familiarity between him and Su Yu wasn't high enough.
Old Huang could clearly feel the disappointment and despair in Su Yu.
Chapter 538: I've Decided, Kill Di Feng! (2)
Su Yu was disappointed with Great Xia. He had lost all hope in the Great Xia Cultural Research Academy. He was slowly sinking into despair.
"You—"
Old Huang's voice was stuck in his throat for a long while. His eyes turned slightly red as he eventually said, "You're right. You have my support. I will write a letter of recommendation for you. Back then, I fought alongside a few Mountainseas from Great Ming Cultural Research Academy on the battlefield. If you go there, you can show them my letter to get some assistance from them..."
He looked at Su Yu with sorrow in his heart. Su Yu was going to leave. Would there be a miracle today? Would someone appear to stop everything today?
The more Old Huang thought about it, the less hopeful he was. Perhaps Su Yu was right. Nobody would stop the single character faction. Wan Tiansheng was the protector of the rules. Dropping ranks to challenge a different student was not against the rules. The Xia Family would forever be neutral. As a neutral party, they wouldn't involve themselves even if this wasn't right.
A bleak smile appeared on Old Huang's face as he said, "This...is probably a good choice. Great Ming's prefect, Zhu Tiandao, is a good man. He is also an interesting man. He attaches great importance to talented individuals. He is hungry for talent. Unfortunately, due to the lack of strength of Great Ming, he has never been able to attract enough geniuses. You will be able to earn his favor in Great Ming.
"The Xia Family has too many misgivings. To produce their second Invincible, too many things are happening in the background. Some people are afraid of them. Some people don't want to see a second Invincible in their family. I know you're resentful, but do not resent the Xia Family. The advancement of Prefect Xia into the Invincible Realm...is a lot more complicated than it seems.
"Remember this, kid. Not everyone wants to see the birth of a family with two Invincibles. The Zhou Family is the perfect example of what would happen when you try to produce additional Invincibles."
Old Huang was especially talkative today, even touching upon topics that should have been taboo. He gloomily said, "Great Zhou...Zhou Family...sigh. Two Invincibles per family. Three Invincibles per family...hehehe. Zhou Polong wishes to affirm his dao and enter the Invincible Realm? Zhou Potian wishes to affirm his dao as well? Nah. They can only wait patiently."
The smile on Old Huang's face turned slightly wild as he said, "Don't blame the Xia Family. I am not trying to find excuses for them, but Prefect Xia wishes to affirm his dao. Thus, he can't afford to offend too many people before that. Or else, he would die during his advancement."
He would definitely die.
Su Yu's heart trembled.
"He could not afford to show his stand. He could not afford to show any bias. Even if he is unwilling, even if he is indignant...his hands are tied. All for the sake of a successful advancement."
Old Huang looked at Su Yu, sadness in his voice as he said, "It's this simple. Do you understand now? But the Zhu Family has no such misgivings. Great Ming King is also very strong. But Prefect Zhu Tiandao is probably 100 years away from his dao affirmation. Thus, the Zhu Family has nothing to fear. They have an Invincible, but they don't need to please everyone because they don't have someone waiting to advance into the Invincible Realm. They have nothing to ask from others, but others have a lot to ask from them. Do you understand now?"
Su Yu understood. At this moment, a lot of his questions had finally been answered. For the sake of dao affirmation. All for the sake of dao affirmation.
Because of that, Xia Longwu disappeared from the public eye. Because of that, Great Xia stopped being hostile toward the myriad races. Because of that, the Xia Family was trying to avoid offending some people.
Thus, they wanted him to wait. It wasn't that they couldn't see his value. But they still needed him to wait. Even after what he produced, he still must wait.
Everything would need to wait until Xia Longwu's advancement.
Realization dawned on Su Yu.
All his doubts were dispelled. He had always been confused about Xia Family's attitude. But Old Huang had dispelled his confusion.
After a short silence, Su Yu asked, "What about the principal?"
"He's probably waiting for the same thing. He's buying time for the Xia Family. Even if he wants to cleanse the academy, it won't happen now. Perhaps you can see a result in a year or two."
Su Yu's mood turned bleak.
Wait.
Was a year or two long? Not at all. But he didn't want to wait any longer. If he was given enough support, he would be able to reach the Skysoar, Cloudbreach, or even the Mountainsea Realm in no time.
He finally understood that he had only been disrupting the plans of the principal and Xia Family with what he had done. Perhaps...his departure would benefit everyone. He had overestimated his importance. The more outstanding he was, the more hatred he would attract, and the more difficult a position he would put the Xia Family and the principal in.
Finally, Su Yu smiled and nodded, "I understand, Elder Huang."
It seemed like leaving was already a foregone conclusion. The only question was whether Great Ming would be his destination. That place...was too unfamiliar.
Great Ming King, Zhu Tiandao, and the Bai Family of his teacher. All those people were in Great Ming.
Still smiling, Su Yu glanced at his senior sister who was waiting outside the building. Suddenly, he felt empty inside. He would leave soon. Would his senior sister go with him? His martial uncle would probably not leave. And his martial uncle could probably take good care of his senior sister, right?
His grandteacher would still be around as well. ʀᴇᴀᴅ ʟᴀᴛᴇsᴛ ᴄʜᴀᴘᴛᴇʀs ᴀᴛ novel·fire·net
There was also Wu Lan...but that fellow had her Wu Family here. Perhaps his departure would be a good thing for them as well. He would only attract countless trouble here, forcing people like Wu Yuehua to fight for him.
There was no need for him to worry about Xia Huyou. That was Xia Longwu's son. Was there a need to worry about him?
There were also Zheng Yunhui and Jiang Mu...But neither were the people he needed to worry about. At that realization, Su Yu smiled again. He seemed to be the one who would bring them trouble instead of the other way around.
Lan Tian Research Center...Source Soul Research Center...
Su Yu turned somewhat absent-minded.
Lan Tian had betrayed Great Xia. Would his departure be viewed as a betrayal as well?
At this moment, he had decided to leave Great Xia. Perhaps...this was really a form of betrayal. After all, there were still some people who had put a lot of effort into helping him here.
There was Lin Yao, who had foolishly believed in his Mutual Aid Club. There was Hu Zongji who had worked very hard for the Mutual Aid Club. Perhaps he could leave some things behind for them before leaving.
He owed Great Xia nothing. The acupoint fusion method alone was enough to repay whatever he owed Great Xia. As for his teachers...he believed that they would support his decision.
There was also Teacher Zhao...the teacher who had been so kind to him. He could only apologize to Teacher Zhao.
Su Yu had yet to leave, but he could already guess what would happen later today.
...
At that moment, when the others looked at Su Yu again, he seemed somewhat different.
It felt as though he had been relieved from a heavy burden. He seemed a lot more relaxed than before. This was the very first time Su Yu had emanated such a free and unfettered sensation.
He had remained cautious for way too long. He was tired of that. A life where he was afraid of leaving the academy, afraid of accepting any missions, afraid of showing his true potential, afraid of letting people discover his weakness. All that because some people were targeting him. They were focusing on every action he took.
But today, he could finally let go of himself. He could finally fight to his heart's content. He could vent all his feelings. A smile bloomed on Su Yu's face. When his gaze landed on the crowd and Di Feng who had just entered the room, his smile grew wider. When Di Feng noticed that, he frowned. But Su Yu no longer cared.
...
At the same time.
Heart Cultivating Pavilion.
Wan Tiansheng stared at the sky in silence for a very long time. What he saw might not be true.
Sure, he did see the kid as a Mountainsea. But he did not know the location of the scene he saw.
He had not seen the kid's departure.
He had not seen the kid leaving home in disappointment.
"Su Yu..."
He sounded helpless.
Why had the human race turned into something like this? Had humanity forgotten the pain from over 300 years ago after centuries of peace? The myriad races were still out there. Had everyone forgotten? Who should take the blame for Su Yu's departure?
Him?
Perhaps.
With a sigh, Wan Tiansheng shook his head and returned to his book.
Outside the window, a silhouette appeared. The silhouette smiled and said, "Everyone has their destiny. Perhaps this departure is also his destiny. I heard what he said. Let it be. This might be what fate has intended for him."
Wan Tiansheng smiled, "Is that so? Since you're back, why haven't you shown yourself, Great Xia King?"
The silhouette stepped through the wall to enter the room, as though there was nothing in his way. Behind him, the window and wall were still the same even after he stepped through them.
"Why should I show myself?"
Great Xia King had a square face that gave him a stern look. One could find a great resemblance between him and Xia Longwu. A smile appeared on that face as he said, "I'm here to watch a play. Mark my words. The day Longwu attempts his dao affirmation is the day I start my slaughter. I have only done all this to protect Longwu during his advancement. I have stayed patient for 50 years. Regardless of the result of Longwu's advancement, that will be the day I unsheath my blade."
"If that's really the case, why bother sheltering Liu Wenyan? You're creating trouble for yourself."
Great Xia King laughed, "Do I, Xia Wushen, need to consider the feelings of others before I do something as trivial as sheltering one man?"
"Why don't you extend your protection to Su Yu, then?"
Great Xia King replied, "He still has a path ahead of him. Liu Wenyan's path has ended. Since the kid has other options, why stay on this ship that might be overturned at any time? Old Zhu is a good man. Sure, he is quite greasy, but a greasy man knows how to live a comfortable life. He never involves himself in politics, but he has great strength. Who dares to provoke someone like him? This is a good thing. It is safer for the kid to be with Old Zhu than me."
Wan Tiansheng said nothing.
Great Xia King turned around to leave. Before leaving, he softly said, "I know you are planning something, but I need you to stay patient for now. I need Longwu to complete his advancement. Without his advancement, we will have one less Invincible. How can we compete without enough firepower?"
"Alright."
Wan Tiansheng smiled and bowed as Great Xia King left.
Nobody saw Great Xia King. Nobody dared to pry upon him. Nobody was capable of seeing him.