Chapter 38 - 38

Chapter 546: Cold Night (3)

It was a sleepless night for many people. They weren't able to get a good rest. And right after the sun rose, all these people left their beds.

A lot of them had spent the night awake. News of what happened the day before was still spreading.

Great Xia was a powerful prefecture. A super genius had appeared there. Something like this would spread all over the Human Realm in no time, just like how the feats of the single character faction genius from Great Zhou had spread all over the Human Realm. That genius had been traveling south to challenge numerous experts. And he had a lot of attention on him.

Now, Great Xia had also produced a super genius. This super genius had killed Skysoars at the Mental Tempering Stage. Additionally, this genius had also created the acupoint fusion method and some other cultivation methods. Thus, this super genius was also starting to receive a lot of attention.

...

Qian Zhihua. New ɴᴏᴠᴇʟ ᴄhapters are published on ⓝovelFire.net

This was a normal student of the Great Xia Cultural Research Academy. The only thing different about him was the fact that he came from Great Ming. He had a part-time job. It wasn't a big deal.

His job entailed recommending Great Ming to the geniuses in the academy, telling these geniuses that Great Ming was very welcoming toward talented individuals. A lot of people knew about his part-time job. Even Great Xia itself was aware of that.

There were such individuals in all the academies. They were basically recruiters. They would try to trick—cough, cough, recruit as many people for their home prefecture as they could.

If they tried hard enough, they would still be able to find some unhappy geniuses. And any successful recruitment would result in a decent reward. Qian Zhihua had entered the academy for three years, but he had not been able to recruit anyone. But he didn't mind. He was paid by Great Ming to attend Great Xia Cultural Research Academy, so he had nothing to lose.

The only reason Qian Zhihua had been picked for this task was his honest appearance. Great Ming believed that their recruiting efforts in the past years had failed because all their agents looked too shady.

Zhu Tiandao had even considered sending some attractive schoolgirls out as agents. But he ultimately gave up on that thought because it wouldn't look good on him.

Qian Zhihua was the person who had contacted Su Yu before this. He had never imagined that he would be successful. He had only aimed to establish a friendly relationship with Su Yu, nothing else.

What a joke. Su Yu had a grandteacher who was on the verge of reaching the Sunmoon Realm. He also had a martial uncle who was on the verge of reaching the Mountainsea Realm and a teacher who had slain a Cloudbreach before. A lot of people attached great importance to him. He had the support of some elders and the friendship of several geniuses. And he was incomparably strong. Would someone like that consider leaving? Dream on!

During his previous meeting with Su Yu, he had only been trying to leave an impression of himself in Su Yu's mind. If it wasn't for his status as Great Ming's agent, a regular student like him wouldn't have been able to even get in touch with a super genius like Su Yu.

He was also aware of what had happened the previous day. He had been there to watch the show. That was such a great show. Su Yu alone had completely crushed the spine of all single character faction geniuses. What an overbearing performance.

Di Feng would be a top student if he was placed in the Great Ming Cultural Research Academy. Well, there was no helping it as Great Ming was a weak prefecture. Even excluding Di Feng, any of the top 10 students here could easily become the number one student in Great Ming.

That was the only reason why back then, Zhu Tiandao had tried so hard to have Great Xia join hands with them for the next opening of the Luminous Domain Mansion. He was able to maintain a smile on his face even when Xia Longwu had treated him so coldly.

Zhu Tiandao was still willing to pay even after receiving all sorts of insults from Xia Longwu. What could he do if his prefecture was weak? If they went alone, the mortality rate of their students would be very high. They needed the assistance of Great Xia.

Qian Zhihua had never imagined that he would be able to poach one of these geniuses. All he had done was build a friendly relationship with these geniuses. Perhaps that would prove helpful in the future.

The moment he woke up, he started hearing about the events the day before. He wasn't too interested in the gossip. He was personally there to witness the whole thing, so there was no need for him to listen to these rumors.

As for the task of gathering information for Great Ming, well, that wasn't his job. He wasn't a spy. Someone else would do that. He was only here to poach geniuses. In fact, news of what happened had probably reached Great Ming already by now.

"Su Yu...what an impressive individual."

Qian Zhihua was staying in a small room in the Mental Tempering Garden. There was no helping that since Great Ming was too stingy to rent him a villa. Qian Zhihua had grumbled many times that they wouldn't be able to recruit any geniuses being so miserly with money.

In his opinion, Great Ming was terrible at building their public image. Listening to his neighbors who were loudly talking about Su Yu instead of the anniversary, he felt somewhat gloomy. Weren't these people there as well? They had personally witnessed everything. What was there to talk about?

"The acupoint fusion method is incredible, but it is a pity that I can only cultivate the version with 18 acupoints. I heard there is a genius version with 30 acupoints. I wonder if Great Ming can get the right to distribute this method. Lord Prefect better get his hands on this distribution right or Great Ming would only fall further behind Great Xia."

There was also a rumor that above the genius version, there was a super version.

According to the rumor, this was a version Su Yu personally used. Only a few individuals were allowed to cultivate it. This version was terrifyingly effective in helping with acupoint fusions. But this wasn't something Qian Zhihua could even dream of getting.

Just as he was about to leave to take a walk, someone knocked on his door. He blanked out slightly. Who was it? But since this was the academy, he wasn't too worried about his safety.

When he opened the door, he saw nobody outside. He blanked out slightly. Just as he was about to curse about the pranksters, a puddle of water turned into a human in front of him. Qian Zhihua was completely stunned.

Su Yu!

Holy shit!

Why was he here?

"Su...Su..."

He didn't even know what to call Su Yu. Should he call Su Yu his junior brother? That seemed improper. But he couldn't call Su Yu senior either, since Su Yu was younger. If he called Su Yu lord, it would sound too disgraceful. How...should he address Su Yu?

Qian Zhihua felt like he was dreaming. This felt like someone who was talking about a superstar just a moment ago to find the superstar suddenly appearing in one's house. He felt overwhelmed by the favor from a superior individual. He was shocked.

"Are you not inviting me in?"

"Oh...oh...yeah..please..."

Qian Zhihua hurriedly invited Su Yu in. With a smile, Su Yu stepped inside and the door closed behind him.

"You're from Great Ming?"

"Y-yeah. I-I'm from Great Ming. But I'm studying here..."

Su Yu smiled, "Don't be nervous, Senior Brother Qian."

"I'm not nervous."

Qian Zhihua exhaled and told himself that he wasn't nervous at all. This was merely someone who had killed a few Skysoars. He was capable of doing so as well. In his dreams, of course.

"Su...Su..."

"Just call me Su Yu."

"Su Yu..." Qian Zhihua was relieved. With a simple expression, he said, "I was too surprised to see you. So why are you here?"

"Can you contact someone with more say from Great Ming?" Su Yu smiled, "I am very interested in your proposal, Senior Brother Qian."

Qian Zhihua was stunned. Proposal? What proposal?

Fuck!

He remembered!

Su Yu...couldn't be talking about the matter of joining Great Ming, right?

Qian Zhihua was stunned. He had merely said those words out of habit. He had never hoped to poach Su Yu. It wasn't that Su Yu was unqualified to be poached. But Su Yu was too great to be poached.

"S-Su Yu, stop joking with me. I--"

"I'm not joking." Su Yu smiled, "Of course, I don't want everyone to know this and I need to talk with someone with actual authority. It would be even better if I could talk to someone from the Zhu Family. My strength is nothing special, but I have more to offer than my strength. To be blunt, I have produced the most remarkable research result of the year in the field of cultivation method creation. I believe I will be able to become a full researcher soon if I remain in Great Xia. In fact, I might even be promoted to an intermediate researcher before long..."

Qian Zhihua felt like crying. Stop messing around! Su Yu's strength wasn't special? If Su Yu's strength wasn't special, how about him?

Su Yu smiled, "This is why I'm here today. Feel free to contact me once you find someone with more authority."

He tossed a voice transmission talisman over and said, "I'll be troubling you, Senior Brother Qian."

"Sure, sure..."

Immediately after, Su Yu turned into a puddle of water before disappearing from the room. Qian Zhihua was completely stunned.

Holy shit!

What technique was that?

No, that was a racial ability, right?

No, Su Yu hadn't used any blood essence before using that ability...

His brain was unable to process what he saw.

He was incomparably shocked. Su Yu...was defecting—no, leaving Great Xia for Great Ming. He...had poached a super genius? Qian Zhihua swallowed as his heart thumped rapidly. Did he strike the jackpot?

He was the one to poach Su Yu! He didn't want to think about the reasons for Su Yu's departure. He only knew that if he passed this news back to Great Ming, it would immediately capture the attention of a big shot.

Su Yu was right. His strength was valuable, his talent was also valuable, but his genius in research was even more valuable.

"I'm rich!"

Qian Zhihua was wild with joy. He also felt happy for his pitiful home country. Great Ming was finally getting a genius!

Hahaha!

One would forever remain a guest in a foreign land. Great Xia was powerful and flourishing, but Qian Zhihua still missed his home country and the people there. Great Xia was too dangerous a place. This was a terrifying place. Perhaps after this mission, he could finally return!

With an excited heart, Qian Zhihua cautiously left the academy while trying to avoid any notice. This was something he needed to directly report to a superior. And that superior must be important enough to prevent leakage. Who could be more important than Great Ming's ambassador to Great Xia?

Chapter 547: Value (1)

To the south of Great Xia's capital was Nanyuan. And to the south of Nanyuan was the Starfall Mountain. If one went further south, one would reach Great Ming. Great Ming was massive. It also had a large population. There were only 28 cities in Great Xia, but there were 76 cities in Great Ming.

Unfortunately, Great Ming wasn't too strong. Of the 36 human prefectures, Great Ming wasn't the weakest, but it also wasn't the strongest. It was ranked middle in terms of strength.

If one was too weak, one would be known for it.

If one was too strong, one would also be known for it.

If one was right in the middle, it would be very hard for one to catch any attention.

A prefecture like this would not be the pick of geniuses. But they also weren't able to produce their own geniuses. Even the weaker prefectures had an easier time recruiting new talent. Some of the more regular geniuses wouldn't be too special in Great Xia or even a place like Great Ming, but when they joined a weaker prefecture, they would be given the best treatment the prefecture could afford.

And these regular geniuses were not good enough to catch Great Ming's eye. Thus, Zhu Tiandao had spent many years trying to poach talented individuals to no avail.

Great Ming. Capital.

The capital of Great Ming was known as Tiandu.

Tiandu was an extremely large city with a population of nearly 100 million people. It was also a rich and flourishing city. It lacked the austere atmosphere that was so prevalent in Great Xia. The Zhu Family was not as militaristic as Great Xia, nor were they as scholarly as Great Zhou.

Thus, Tiandu gave off the impression of a regular city where cultivators and commoners alike mingled.

...

In the middle of Tiandu stood a massive palace.

This was the residence of the Zhu Family.

Great Ming King was actually very strong. Among the older Invincibles, he was ranked quite high. Unfortunately, his descendants were quite average.

He had two sons. The eldest son had passed away at nine after setting a historic record of being the first human who had bathed in the blood of divines and devils to enter the Great Strength Realm in one day. But he had died immediately after.

The second son was Zhu Tiandao. He wasn't young, but he wasn't too old either. He was only around 90 years old. He was a Sunmoon, but he was weaker than Xia Family's Xia Longwu and Zhou Family's Zhou Potian.

In short, he was average. The second generation of the Zhu Family was average. The third generation was average as well. As for the fourth generation...well, it was pointless to talk about them.

Zhu Tiandao was greatly saddened by this fact. He felt extremely helpless. Each generation was weaker than the previous generation.

Everyone said that the second generation was uninspiring. Everyone said that he was worse than his elder brother. But fuck all those people! His elder brother had died at nine. Why the fuck were they so sure that his elder brother was better?

And the generation after him, his son and daughter...were also uninspiring in terms of strength.

The third generation had yet to produce even one Sunmoon even though they were from Xia Longwu's generation. There were only a few Mountainseas among them. This was too pitiful. How could they serve as the future of the Zhu Family?

As for the fourth generation...it was even worse. There were only three individuals in the main branch's fourth generation. The strongest among them was only a Cloudbreach.

Inside a garden.

Zhu Tiandao was sighing endlessly. "That damn fatty is getting too greedy. He's selling the distribution right within Great Ming at a million merit points for the weaker version. For the stronger version, he's asking for three million. On top of that, he has also attached numerous other miscellaneous fees. How am I supposed to keep living like this?"

The old men in front of him were turning a deaf ear to his grumblings. But they couldn't deny that the fatty was indeed very greedy.

Zhu Tiandao grumbled, "That Su Yu is so dumb. Why doesn't he focus on cultivation instead of wasting his time creating these cultivation methods? And why must he sell the rights to the Xia Family? Is that his family? He should have held an auction for the rights. Why had he given Fatty Xia the rights for free? Does he even have a brain in that skull of his?"

He kept grumbling about Su Yu again and again. Su Yu was a pig. A dumb pig. That dumb pig should have auctioned his cultivation methods. Great Ming was not even that far from Great Xia. If that pig had held an auction, Zhu Tiandao would definitely have participated in it. Wouldn't it be nice to earn more money?

One of the old men couldn't take it anymore and coughed before saying, "Prefect, please watch your language."

"Heh."

Zhu Tiandao snorted, took a look at the latest intelligence report, and sneered, "Serves him right. He's being suppressed by the single character faction. Is the Xia Family doing anything for him? Hah! Serves him right for being so dumb. Why had he offered the good stuff to Great Xia? He should have offered it to me instead!" Tʜe sourcᴇ of thɪs content ɪs novelfire(.)net

The old men were speechless. This fellow was only saying all that out of jealousy. If Su Yu was someone from Great Ming, he would have gone mad from sheer joy.

These people were already used to Zhu Tiandao's antics. Before long, one of them, a scholarly-looking individual, smiled and said, "This Su Yu is indeed incredibly talented. His talent in cultivation method creation has probably originated from the multiple character faction. I find it hard to believe that he alone could come out with such a perfect cultivation method. Of course, I don't deny that everything is possible. What I value more is his talent, even if it is quite likely that his strength has originated from some sort of inheritance."

He waved the folding fan in his hand and sighed, "He has only joined the academy for four months yet he has grown from the Source Opening Realm to his current level where he has opened 320 acupoints.

"How terrifying. He has basically opened an average of three acupoints per day. On top of that, he has been keeping up with his willpower cultivation. His willpower is as strong as a Skysoar's. He has seven or eight second-tier characters. Even at the Knowledge Seeking Realm, you won't be able to find someone like him."

One would not be able to achieve all that from an inheritance alone. Talent was needed as well. Su Yu was someone with both luck and talent. Unfortunately, he wasn't fully lucky as he was being subjected to intense suppression in Great Xia.

If he had been born 50 years ago during the fifth principal's era, he would probably be lauded as the number one youth of Great Xia. He might even be the leading figure among the younger cultural researchers of the entire human race.

Zhu Tiandao disagreed, "He's only a lucky person who had stumbled upon some inheritance. There's nothing special about him. If you ask me, he's worse than some of the geniuses in our Great Ming. The masses simply enjoy exaggerating the truth too much..."

Suddenly, the voice transmission talisman of the scholarly man blinked. With a frown, the scholarly man picked up the talisman to take a look.

Zhu Tiandao continued belittling Su Yu. In his words, Su Yu was untalented. It did not matter how impressive Su Yu was.

At this moment, with an odd look in his eyes, the scholarly man said, "Prefect, stop talking for a moment..."

"What do you want?"

Zhu Tiandao was still not done with his complaints. At the moment, he was busy grumbling nonstop like an enraged wife of a cheating husband. There was no helping it. He was too jealous.

That damn Fatty Xia had asked for four million merit points from him. He was practically bursting with rage. Thus, he couldn't resist grumbling about Su Yu. In his eyes, Su Yu was someone from Fatty Xia's side. Damn that bastard!

The scholarly man said, "Prefect, the person you're scolding...seems...quite interesting."

"Hmm?"

"The kid you're scolding...seems to be...considering joining us."

The scholarly man wasn't too sure. He looked at Zhu Tiandao. Zhu Tiandao stared at him. The other people in the garden also stared at the scholarly man. What?

With an uncertain tone, the scholarly man said, "This is a message from Great Xia. It's the ambassador. He said that Su Yu had contacted one of our men and asked to join Great Ming. He wishes to negotiate with someone from Great Ming about his move..."

"..."

Silence descended.

After a while, Zhu Tiandao nodded and flashed a genial smile as he said, "Smart choice. I have never met Su Yu before, but I can see that he is a good kid with a good head on his shoulders. Great Ming is the correct choice. Great Ming is the best place for him. Yes. Exactly."

The others stared at him silently. Those...weren't his words earlier.

Zhu Tiandao ignored the rest of them and stood up. He started pacing with a wide smile on his face, "This is an excellent choice. I have been curious about the report on what happened yesterday. That kid had remained patient for several months. Why did he go crazy yesterday? So it turns out he has decided to leave. I knew it! My intuition was right!"

Zhu Tiandao grinned, "What conditions do you think the kid would raise?"

After a short silence, the scholarly man said, "Prefect, I'm not worried about what he would ask for. I'm more worried about the reprisals of the single character faction after he joins us..."

Zhu Tiandao exclaimed in astonishment, "Are you talking about those fellows from the Great Ming Cultural Research Academy? Unlikely. Those old fogeys are like me. We're easy-going and kind."

"I'm talking about those from Great Xia and Great Zhou."

Zhu Tiandao blanked out slightly before saying, "Are you thinking straight? They should be celebrating the fact that I'm leaving them alone. Would they dare to create trouble for me? So does Zhou Polong still want to affirm his dao or not? As for Great Xia, does Xia Longwu still want to affirm his dao?"

Zhu Tiandao laughed and said, "Old Hou, you worry too much. Us of the Zhu Family has nothing to ask of them. Would the single character faction dare to provoke us? No matter what, my dad is the number two expert of the Knowledge Seeking Realm. If they dare to create trouble, we'll just beat them to death. Do you think we're like Great Xia?"

Zhu Tiandao curled his lips and said, "And it will be quite a while before it's my turn to affirm my dao. I've just reached the ninth-stage Sunmoon Realm. I don't even know when my advancement will happen. I'm not like Xia Longwu and Zhou Polong. If I'm being honest, that damn fatty from Xia Family might even affirm his dao before me."

Toward the end, his voice turned sullen. That might really happen.

Chapter 548: Value (2)

Zhu Tiandao moved on from the topic and muttered to himself, "So he's coming to Great Ming. What a great choice. That's such a smart decision. I love geniuses with a good vision like him. Acupoint fusion method? No, I only need a few dozen cultivation methods similar to the Soul Devouring Art. This is one impressive kid. He's already capable of killing Skysoars. I reckon he can start killing Cloudbreach cultivators in two years."

Zhu Tiandao's eyes were shining as he said, "Isn't the Luminous Domain Mansion opening in two years? What a nice timing. When I went looking for that brute Xia Longwu previously, he was so cold..." ᴛʜɪs ᴄʜᴀᴘᴛᴇʀ ɪs ᴜᴘᴅᴀᴛᴇ ʙʏ noⅴelfire.net

The scholarly man interrupted, "Prefect, that wasn't what you said. You told us that Xia Longwu begged you to work with him..."

"Did I?"

Zhu Tiandao denied. That was an embarrassing past. What was the point of harping on it?

Suddenly, Zhu Tiandao laughed, "Interesting. Really interesting. What a smart kid. I did not expect him to leave. But that's understandable. By taking a step back, he obtains a bigger space to grow. He could always take his revenge a few years later. So the time has come for us to negotiate. He's trying to see our sincerity..."

The scholarly man nodded, "I'll go, Prefect. I'm afraid there would be a lot of trouble following Su Yu. We need to clean all the trouble behind him. I doubt he would be willing to leave without a guarantee..."

The scholarly man was surnamed Hou, the director of Great Ming's Talent Fostering Bureau. He was a Sunmoon. In the past, the Talent Fostering Bureau director of Great Ming had always been stronger than Great Xia's director. But after Ji Hong's breakthrough, that changed. Ji Hong was much younger than Director Hou, so his talent was quite incredible. They could display a lot of sincerity by having Director Zhou personally meet Su Yu.

But Zhu Tiandao laughed and said, "Nope. I'll go. You're not enough. Fatty Xia is a very difficult opponent. There's also Wan Tiansheng there. That's a thorny individual as well. They might not be willing to release him. I'll go personally."

"Prefect!"

The others were alarmed. The scholarly man hastily said, "Prefect, it is right to show respect for the wise. But it's not proper for you to personally negotiate with a student. Firstly, Su Yu might end up forgetting himself due to arrogance. Secondly, Su Yu might end up looking down on Great Ming. Thirdly, that would result in rumors. For the prefect of Great Ming to personally poach a student...that would ruin your reputation too much."

Zhu Tiandao did not seem to agree, "It's fine. Things will be much easier if I go myself. Great Xia wouldn't dare to create trouble for me. But if it's you...we don't know what would happen. I can't be bothered to play around with those people. At worst, I'll grab Su Yu and run. What are they going to do? Kill me? Are they not afraid that my father would hold back while keeping watch over Xia Longwu's advancement in the future and get him killed?"

He then sighed, "We can only blame the useless youths of Great Ming for this. If the youngsters in Great Ming are more talented, why would I be this desperate? If I have a son like Xia Longwu, I could send my son instead. Why would I need to do everything myself?"

The old men still couldn't accept it. One of them said, "But Prefect, it isn't proper for you to go. I can go instead."

"You? Forget about it. You're an old bag of bones. At your age, you shouldn't be going to Great Xia and give them the chance to pressure or bully you. Those Great Xia fellows are all incredibly arrogant."

Zhu Tiandao smiled, "Let's end this discussion here. I'll go. During the attack on Xia Longwu previously, I was there even though I hadn't done anything. Thus, they still owe me a favor. They won't be too disrespectful toward me."

The others looked at him with odd expressions. Something wasn't right. Back then, this prefect had bragged that apart from the sect master, all the intruding divine skywings were killed by him. Xia Longwu was the one who had shamelessly stolen his spoils of war.

Why...did that change into him not doing anything? This prefect should learn to not contradict himself like this in the future.

Zhu Tiandao did not care about any of that. With a smile, he said, "I have some free time on my hands right now so I might as well go. Alright guys, I'll be going now. I hope that kid can give me some surprise. Sigh. The youngsters of Great Ming are getting worse with each passing generation. I guess that's because life here is too peaceful. Don't you think that it's time for us to throw a savage into the mix and change things?"

"..."

The others shook their heads. The prefect should forget about that. With the prefect's nature, any change would only serve as an annoyance. Zhu Tiandao said nothing else. With a smile, his body flickered before vanishing. He had left without any hesitation. The old men looked at each other in dismay.

"Old Hou, is this a scheme or something?"

Director Hou laughed and said, "What kind of a scheme could it be? It's unlikely. I'm only worried that the prefect would attract more trouble. Su Yu has humiliated the entire single character faction. He also has a close relationship with Liu Wenyan. I'm just worried that they would drag Great Ming into this conflict."

"True. But the prefect was right as well. The single character faction, including their Invincibles, wouldn't dare to lightly provoke neutral parties like us."

They shook their heads and decided to stop worrying. This wasn't a big issue. There was no need for them to worry too much.

The Zhu Family did not have any family members trying to get into the Invincible Realm. Thus, they could keep to themselves and mind their own business. If the others started creating trouble for them, they could simply give those people a good slap to shut their mouths."

Great Ming was practically unaffected by the struggle between the single and multiple character factions.

Even during the previous battle involving Liu Wenyan, nobody from Great Ming was there. In short, everyone in Great Ming was easygoing. They only cared about minding their own business and living in their own bubble.

"That kid seems like a troublemaker as well. He's also very talented and strong. Since the prefect is going personally, it's clear the prefect really wants that kid. And when the kid gets here, you guys should keep an eye on your juniors. I'll be blunt. This kid is a murderous butcher. He is someone who had killed the number one student of Great Xia Cultural Research Academy just like that. Make sure your juniors do nothing stupid when he gets here."

The others nodded.

True.

That kid was a ruthless individual.

He had killed the top student just because he wanted to kill. And after doing that, he actually started planning to leave, giving everyone in Great Xia the middle finger. It was clear that he was no pushover.

If they were being honest, Great Ming was still weaker than Great Xia. That referred to the average strength of their people. It wasn't that they lacked cultivation methods or resources. The main issue was the culture here. The people here were less warlike.

Great Xia was very warlike. They had been warring for hundreds of years. All their people were militarized. Even the single character faction people that Su Yu looked at with disdain were individuals who were used to public executions. Even the girls of Great Xia would be expressionless when witnessing a murder.

If Su Yu had killed Di Feng and Wang Zhen in Great Ming, the sight of that was probably enough to make some people throw up. That was the truth. They wanted to change Great Ming, but this was a culture that had been established for hundreds of years. It wasn't so easy to change.

The old men exchanged gazes. They were going to be welcoming a ferocious beast soon. Although Su Yu was still very weak compared to them, they still couldn't afford to belittle him. Just look at how eager Zhu Tiandao was. That prefect was mad with joy. They wouldn't want to make things hard for the prefect and get themselves in trouble.

...

They were right.

At that moment, Zhu Tiandao was flying through the air while happily giggling to himself. This was such a great win. Great Xia should totally continue their internal struggles. Holy shit. What an incredible win.

Not only had they gained a super genius, they had also gained a research specialist.

Even if Su Yu had benefited from the multiple character faction's accumulation, the multiple character faction itself had not released any groundbreaking research results in years. The moment Su Yu appeared, one shocking result after another was released. That could only prove that he was also very talented in research.

"Bai Feng should have been ours as well."

Zhu Tiandao grumbled to himself. Damn it. That fellow had been poached by those damn bastards. Sure, he never thought much of Bai Feng back then, but recently, Bai Feng had killed a Cloudbreach and defeated Xia Yuwen. When Zhu Tiandao received news of that, he was furious. He was so furious he nearly gave those Bai Family bastards in Great Ming a beating.

They were already very lacking in talent. It wasn't like there was no multiple character faction in Great Ming. Why had those bastards allowed Bai Feng to leave? He had only spared them a beating because it wasn't proper for him to be doing something like that.

That damn fifth principal was truly an annoying fellow. What was he doing stealing his talent even after dying? Fortunately, it seemed like a reversal was happening. Zhu Tiandao was giddy with joy.

The air rippled as he moved over a hundred kilometers in an instant. Before he knew it, the massive Starfall Mountain was already ahead of him. He did not give the mountain a second look and continued his journey.

Before long, Nanyuan appeared before him. He glanced at the city and curled his lips in disdain. A few Mountainseas were hiding in the city. There was even a Sunmoon there. Was Great Xia looking for Su Yu's ruin? That ruin was his!

He was just about to leave when an old man appeared before him. The moment the old man saw him, the old man bowed, "Prefect Zhu!"

"Be at ease."

Zhu Tiandao was about to leave after saying that.

The old man hurriedly said, "Lord Zhu, are you visiting the Great Xia City?"

Zhu Tiandao was still in a good mood. With a smile, he said, "Nope. I'm going to Great Shang. I'm only passing by. Why are you stopping me? Do you need my help with whatever you're looking for?"

Right after saying that, he switched direction and flew toward Nanyuan.

The old man was alarmed and hastily said, "It's fine, it's fine, there is no need to trouble yourself, Prefect Zhu. You must have something important to do so we won't be wasting your time here."

Zhu Tiandao laughed, "Fine. But this Nanyuan has an auspicious aura around it. I reckon there's a big treasure hidden in it. But since you guys are here, I won't do anything. Bye."

He vanished. The old man did not stop Zhu Tiandao, but he still sent a message to the capital. Why had Zhu Tiandao entered Great Xia for no reason? Going to Great Shang? What did Great Shang have that Zhu Tiandao was personally visiting that place?

The old man was confused, but he wasn't too bothered. Zhu Tiandao was a prefect. It was not his place to question someone like Zhu Tiandao.

Chapter 549: Value (3)

Great Xia City, capital of Great Xia.

Marquis Xia checked his voice transmission talisman with an expressionless face.

In front of him, Administrator Hu softly said, "Marquis, what are your thoughts about Su Yu? You should have stopped him last night. This is unfavorable for his growth. He is still too young. He does things without considering the consequences."

"You're wrong. He already considered the consequences." Marquis Xia indifferently said, "He knew the consequences. Old Hu, it's time for you to change your mindset that a genius of Great Xia will forever remain a genius of Great Xia and nothing can change that."

That was the truth. A lot of people were taking that for granted. In the eyes of many people, Su Yu would not leave. How was that possible? This was Great Xia, a top three prefecture, a superpower. Su Yu was born here. He grew up here. His loved ones, his teachers, all of them were here.

Him? Leaving? What a joke. Where could he go? Great Zhou? That would be suicide. Great Qin? Was he supposed to switch to physical cultivation there? Great Xia was the most suitable place for Su Yu. Thus, he would never leave.

Administrator Hu blanked out slightly. Then, the look in his eyes changed as he asked, "You mean...he's leaving?"

He had not expected this. He was shocked. Su Yu was leaving?

"Yeah." Marquis Xia calmly said, "Why should he stay? Unless the Xia Family or Wan Tiansheng helps remove the obstacles in front of him, he won't stay. But is that possible?"

"That won't be possible for now..."

"Exactly." Marquis Xia sneered, "In that case, he might as well go somewhere else. There will be a place out there where people don't care about the single character faction. There will be a place out there where he will be given enough space to do what he wants."

"But..." Administrator Hu looked distressed as he said, "Is this a good thing? Marquis, if we let him go..."

"It would be a massive loss for us?" Marquis Xia smiled, "Let it be. Everyone has their own fate. Since you're incapable of providing what he wants, just let him go. Zhu Tiandao is coming personally for him. If you try to force him to stay, you might end up developing a grudge instead. We might as well let go of him while there is no bad blood between us. I suppose this isn't a bad thing for all of us."

Administrator Hu had a helpless look as he asked, "Prefect Zhu is coming personally?"

"Yeah." Marquis Xia laughed, "Let it be."

Administrator Hu looked at Marquis Xia in astonishment. This wasn't like the marquis at all. Wasn't the marquis going to use this chance to earn some money from Prefect Zhu?

Marquis Xia seemed to know what Administrator Hu was thinking. With an exhausted voice, he said, "Don't look at me like this. It's pointless to rip Zhu Tiandao off. He would probably tell Su Yu immediately that the Xia Family has sold him off. In that situation, the final bit of link between us and Su Yu would be severed."

Yes, he enjoyed doing business. He loved money. But everything he did was for the sake of Great Xia. He only wished to make Great Xia stronger. Su Yu's departure wasn't something he wanted to happen. But there was nothing he could do about it.

If he tried ripping the Zhu Family off over this, they might agree to pay. But in doing so, he would completely sever the link between Su Yu and Great Xia. There was no guarantee that Su Yu would be a future Invincible, but he had a very high chance of reaching that realm.

Why sever the relationship with such an individual for some money? Liu Wenyan, Bai Feng, Xia Yunji...The multiple character faction was filled with outstanding individuals. It was not worth ruining their relationship with the multiple character faction for some money. He wasn't stupid.

With an exhausted heart, Marquis Xia stood up and waved his hand, "Just pretend we don't know he's here. Remember to assign Su Yu's father sufficient protection. If he dies, Su Yu will really turn into an enemy. Chop off any hand the single character faction stretches into the military."

"Try to fulfil any of his requests for now. He will probably be leaving before the end of this month. It's up to him."

"I understand."

Administrator Hu sighed. This was very regretful. Before long, he left the room. But shortly after he left, someone else appeared in the room. The newcomer sat down without hesitation and started feasting on the food there.

"Xiao'er, a bottle of liquor please."

"..."

Marquis Xia swore that if this wasn't his father, he would have beaten this fellow to death.

"Old man, how's the matter concerning Longwu's security? Is his safety guaranteed? Don't just focus on eating!"

Great Xia King nonchalantly said, "Yes. Of course. Do you think your old man has been doing nothing? Don't worry."

"You said the same thing when my eldest brother tried to affirm his dao back then."

Great Xia King stiffened slightly, but he soon snorted and said, "Xiao'er, you're getting very brave nowadays. You have been scolding your old man every single day."

Marquis Xia ignored those words and sighed, "My eldest brother is dead. If something happens to Longwu as well, can you face my eldest brother in the afterlife?"

While eating, Great Xia King said, "What are you worried about? If he dies, he dies. You will take the mantle. With his death, I will have no other misgivings. My Sky Sundering Saber will be unsheathed. Nothing can make me stop. Who would dare to push me that far?"

"Sure, sure, keep bluffing."

"Bluffing?"

Great Xia King glared at Marquis Xia. After stuffing a large chunk of meat into his mouth, he said, "Do I need to bluff? They can try me if they want. I already reached an agreement with Geezer Zhou to not involve ourselves in all other matters. I will help during the advancement of those from his family and he will help during Longwu's advancement. Just stop worrying."

"You should stop saying that. You said the same thing back then. In the end, my eldest brother died."

Marquis Xia sighed. His old man was too unreliable.

"Your eldest brother..." Great Xia paused slightly before saying, "Forget it. If he dies, he dies. Without his death, Longwu wouldn't have been so strong. And it's not like he had died for nothing. He had dragged a lot of enemies to the afterlife with him."

Marquis Xia sighed yet again and said, "Is Great Zhou King really not the mastermind?"

"How am I supposed to know that?" Great Xia King said, "Who knows what that old fart is thinking? Perhaps even the death of his younger brother was a scheme. Who knows? Don't think about it too much. Just be careful."

At this point, Great Xia King was finally done eating. He grabbed Marquis Xia and wiped his oily hands on Marquis Xia's body before tossing Marquis Xia aside. He then said, "I took a look at that Su Yu kid. He's decently talented. He might have received some character inheritance. But I can't get involved in this since I still need to go to the Allheaven Battlefield for some other business. I don't have enough time to do anything."

His face turned solemn as he said, "The two old fogeys of the first divine race and the original devil race have not been seen for a very long time. I need to perform some investigation. You will need to keep an eye on Great Xia. Let those people be for now. Longwu's advancement is our current priority. As for everything else...put them aside for now."

"I know."

"You need to cultivate faster as well." Great Xia King said, "Try to affirm your dao as soon as possible. That way, you can replace Longwu if he really ends up dying. And if even you end up dying, well, your old man will have no other misgivings. I will shock the world and kill a few Invincibles at one go."

"..."

Marquis Xia was tired of speaking to his old man. He said, "Old man, stop cursing your own son. I'm your sole remaining son. Who would be there to witness your greatness after I'm dead?"

"True." Great Xia King nodded with a smile, "That makes sense. I was just rambling so don't take it too seriously."

He stopped slightly as he seemed to have sensed something. With a smile, he said, "This kid from the Zhu Family is quite interesting. Whatever. I'll let him be. I need to leave immediately so do what you think is right here. Remember to keep a list of names for me. Note down the name of every single individual who deserves to die. Send the list to me when you're done. I'll take a look when I'm free."

Marquis Xia nodded and asked, "So are we still leaving Zhou Mingren and his people alone?"

"Yes. We can't touch them for now." Great Xia King stood up and started walking away. While walking, he said, "What's the rush? These are all small fries. Just ignore them for now. Your old man won't make a move lightly. If I'm making a move, I'll only be moving against a truly big fish."

He vanished.

Marquis Xia sat down helplessly. Staring at the mess on the table, he shook his head. The old man was still as sloppy as ever. It was a pity that despite his strength, he was still so barbaric. Right after that thought crossed his mind, a large, golden hand appeared in the air and slapped the back of his head.

"Xiao'er, if you keep talking bad about your old man, I'll beat you to death."

After saying that, Great Xia King finally left for real.

Marquis Xia rubbed the back of his head and sighed. He gave up. It was pointless to grumble about that old man. Thᴇ link to the origɪn of this information rᴇsts ɪn Nove1Fire.net

...

At the same time.

Zhu Tiandao had just arrived at the capital.

He was quite surprised. Was nobody trying to stop him? What an interesting choice by the Xia Family. So they were going to let him get Su Yu for free? He couldn't be bothered to think too much so he entered the Great Ming Embassy.

...

Great Xia Cultural Research Academy.

Su Yu was busy cultivating. The exchange students from the Great Xia War Academy had arrived, but he was not interested in that. He was still waiting for a reply.

Right at that moment, his voice transmission talisman lit up.

"Night. Third floor of Xia Restaurant. Let's talk."

Su Yu's eyes flickered. This was fast. A representative had arrived so soon? Or perhaps this representative was already in Great Xia? After all, this was too fast. It hadn't even been that long since his talk with Qian Zhihua.

He was quite surprised by the efficiency. But since it had happened so fast, the representative might be someone unimportant in Great Ming.

"Well, I'll see what happens later."

He exhaled and walked out of the cultivation room. When he saw his senior sister and Wu Lan who were still busy working, he sighed and apologized inwardly. He was going to leave.

But...he would definitely return one day! There was no doubting that. He had too much unfinished business in Great Xia. His home was here. His father was here. His teachers and friends were here. Thus, he would return.

On that day, he would no longer need to worry about suppression. He would no longer be afraid of taking a step outside the academy. He was tired of being trapped in this tiny academy. Yes. For him, the Great Xia Cultural Research Academy was too small. This was a small pond inhabited by a bunch of dragons. He couldn't get what he wanted here.

Inside the data room, Wu Lan and Wu Jia looked at Su Yu curiously. For some reason, he felt different today. That look in his eyes...seemed really sorrowful.

Yes. Sorrow.

With one look at that pair of eyes, the two started feeling a sense of sorrow without even knowing why.

Chapter 550: The Easygoing Great Ming (1)

Walking out of the research center, Su Yu noticed that the academy was still bustling with activity. But he didn't care. He had someone he needed to meet. Since Great Ming's representative was already here, it meant that his departure was drawing near. Thus, he needed to start his preparations.

After a while, he noticed that a lot of students viewed him with fear more than respect. A lot of people were avoiding him out of fear. They were no longer as relaxed around him as before.

Some were fearful of him, but some were simply afraid of getting involved with him. They didn't want to get implicated with him. The single character faction might have suffered greatly, but there was no denying that there were still over a hundred researchers and multiple elders in their ranks.

Su Yu did not care. He continued minding his own business.

Suddenly, sounds of cheering erupted not far away from him. He looked over and noted that it was the Dao Preaching District. Only then did he recall that this was the day the war academy students came for a student exchange.

He was quite surprised that the exchange had not been canceled or moved to a different date after what he had done.

It wasn't that he had an inflated opinion of himself, but he had just killed two Skysoars the day before. A huge ruckus had ensued. But the war academy had still proceeded with the student exchange like nothing had happened.

Su Yu smiled. He could guess what those people were doing. They were using this event to draw attention from what had happened the day before. The war academy might not be willing to come now, but to lighten the effect of what happened, they had still carried on the exchange.

"Is Xia Qing there?"

Su Yu was on his way to see Xia Qing. After noticing so many people in the Dao Preaching District, he started wondering if Xia Qing was there as well. After thinking for a bit, Su Yu smiled and changed directions.

...

Dao Preaching District.

The exchange matches had started.

In the ring, a new student of the war academy had just kicked a cultural research academy student out. With a hearty laugh, he said, "Too weak! This is too weak. He can't even take a beating. No wonder everyone says that the cultural research students are all akin to chicks."

The student in the ring was behaving very arrogantly. This was also a scene that would appear each year: a scene where the war academy students rain insults on the cultural research academy students.

"Any other challengers? A bunch of garbage that can't take any beating. You guys are too weak."

That person was arrogantly throwing insults at the cultural research academy when he noticed the crowd parting. Then, a youth clad in white walked over with a calm expression. The youth said nothing, acting like he was only here out of curiosity.

After overhearing some whispers from the crowd, the youth in the ring instantly swallowed the insults he was about to throw. He was on the verge of calling all the new students trash, but upon hearing a certain name, he started sweating.

He had nearly forgotten about a certain individual. Was that person participating in the exchange matches as well?

The youth in the ring was unsure, but he was quick to change his words, "In your batch, apart from Su Yu, everyone else is garbage. You are a waste of all the food your parents had used to raise you."

Near the ring, Su Yu laughed in amusement. When he saw fast the youth had excluded him in the barrage of insults, he could only say that not all these war academy students were brainless.

He did not care much about what was happening. He already saw several cloaked individuals in the crowd. Those were probably the foreign students. At this moment, the youth in the ring stopped talking. The crowd also stopped making noise. Everyone focused on Su Yu. Was he entering the ring? It would be great if he could enter the ring and these the war academy students a lesson!

There were also a lot of war academy students in the crowd. All of them looked at Su Yu solemnly. Would he enter the ring? If that was the case, they would be the ones being beaten today instead of the other way around.

Sure, the war academy had also produced some powerful geniuses this year. But they weren't confident these geniuses could be stronger than Su Yu. They were self-aware enough to not overestimate themselves that much.

Su Yu was someone who had easily killed third-stage Skysoars. Not even a sixth-stage Skysoar dared to face him in battle. Who among them could stand against Su Yu? The bustling arena instantly sank into silence with Su Yu's arrival.

Not far away, the elders of the two academies were in the middle of conversing among themselves. Noticing what was happening, they also focused on Su Yu. His arrival had completely changed the atmosphere of the exchange.

Noticing all the eyes on him, Su Yu smiled and said, "You guys continue. I was passing by so I came over to take a look out of curiosity."

He was telling them that he was not interested in these exchange matches. As long as the war academy students didn't pick a fight with him, he wouldn't waste any time with this event.

He then gave the cloaked students a slight nod and the distant elders a slight bow before leaving.

He had left almost immediately after arrival. Even so, the entire atmosphere there had changed. The youth in the ring who was still so spirited earlier curled his lips. Suddenly, this entire thing felt pointless. What was the point of insulting all these people?

In the end, he still wouldn't be Su Yu's match. Su Yu alone had suppressed all the students his year. The favorite annual event of the war academy each year had suddenly turned meaningless this year.

...

Meanwhile, Su Yu had tossed the matter out of his mind. He continued his walk in the academy.

He would take the initiative to greet every single student and teacher of the single character faction he met along the way. Of course, his greeting sounded incredibly sarcastic in their ears.

The single character faction felt so humiliated that they wished they could hide in a hole and bury themselves. In their opinion, Su Yu was deliberately doing this to annoy them. And in a way, they were right. Su Yu was trying to deepen their hatred toward him. Before long, a cloaked student appeared behind Su Yu.

"Brother Su, are you looking for me?"

That was the question Xia Qing had whispered after scanning their surroundings. Su Yu had suddenly went to the arena before giving her a nod. She was a smart person. She was able to immediately realize that Su Yu was probably there for her.

As for the effect of his appearance on the students there, Su Yu really couldn't be bothered to care.

In fact, Xia Qing had originally considered trying to fight in a match or two. But when she saw how everyone was losing interest after Su Yu's appearance, she lost interest as well. Thus, she left and came looking for Su Yu.

Su Yu answered in a low voice without even looking behind him, "Yes. Let's have a chat later in the evening. This is not a good place to talk."

He added, "Be careful. I have thoroughly offended the single character faction with what I did yesterday. If Princess Qing is worried, you don't need to meet me. I don't want to implicate you needlessly."

"No worries. Brother Su's trouble is the same as my trouble."

Xia Qing agreed readily. Regardless of her actual decision, she would first make a promise.

"Sure. See you later."

"Alright!"

...

After a short chat, the two parted ways.

Before long, Su Yu arrived at the Mental Tempering Garden.

Near a rock garden.

Zhang Hao was waiting while scanning his surroundings. A short while later, Su Yu arrived. ᴛhis chapter is ᴜpdated by novel★fire.net

Zhang Hao had a complicated look in his eyes as he said, "Brother Su, you sure did something shocking yesterday."

Su Yu laughed, "It's no big deal. I thought you would be at the Dao Preaching District."

"It's pointless." Zhang Hao said, "With you reigning at the top, a lot of the geniuses have lost interest in the exchange. It's pointless since ultimately, none of us can surpass you. Even a victory over the war academy students feels pointless."

He moved on from the topic and asked, "Brother Su, are you here to ask about the long-distance transmission talisman?"

"Yes."

"Such talismans can already be found in the market, but they are expensive. You need thousands of merit points for one of them. And similar to communicators, they can be unreliable at times. If I'm being honest, something like this is not worth the money."

"It's fine. Just make a few of them for me." Su Yu said, "I need you to craft these talismans yourself. I don't want anyone to leave a backdoor on these talismans."

"Alright." Zhang Hao nodded and said, "Brother Su, take this advice from me. You need to stay in the academy for some time. Don't go on a long journey."

He was worried since Su Yu had suddenly asked for long-distance talismans. This fellow wasn't planning to go on a long journey, right?

"Don't worry. I know what I'm doing." Su Yu said, "I'll need you to pay for these talismans first. I'll pay you back later..."

"Don't worry about it. If you're short of money, you can delay the repayment."

Zhang Hao wasn't worried. Would Su Yu scam him out of only a few thousand merit points? He was more than happy to have Su Yu owe him money.

He had heard about how Su Yu owed Zheng Yunhui a debt of tens of thousands of merit points and that debt was going to be repaid with the Pure Source Art. That was basically an act of throwing money at people.

Thus, he would be glad to see Su Yu owe him money as well. Perhaps Su Yu would be willing to repay him with the opening method of several apertures instead. That would be incredible.

After a short chat, Su Yu said, "The Mutual Aid Club will be issuing some new missions soon. Pay close attention. You might find something you're interested in."

"Sure."

Su Yu said, "This is not the only reason I'm here. I have been attracting too much attention recently. For the safety of myself and the people around me, the Mutual Aid Club might need to go into concealment for some time."

"I understand."

Zhang Hao nodded. He could understand that choice. However, he still didn't know the identity of any other member of the Mutual Aid Club. He only knew that Su Yu was probably a very important member.

A short while later, Su Yu left. He did not meet Lin Yao and Hu Zongji. He only sent them a message telling them to pay attention to the missions that were going to be issued in the club soon. Since he was going to leave soon, he intended to give these people some benefits before leaving.

He wouldn't give them those benefits directly. Instead, he was going to use these so-called missions as the guise. He would give them an opportunity to purchase some cultivation manuals, including the cultural art, through the mission rewards.

Chapter 551: The Easygoing Great Ming (2)

Su Yu continued his casual stroll through the academy. He went near Zhao Li's research center a few times and hesitated about entering before ultimately turning away. He would put aside the visit. Perhaps he could visit right before his departure.

As Teacher Zhao had a bad temper, Su Yu was actually quite scared of telling him about the departure. Teacher Zhao had placed a lot of hope in him and had even permitted him to claim that he was a part of the weaponsmithing faction if needed.

"Forging an earth-grade cultural weapon..."

Su Yu muttered to himself. He would return. And he would help his Teacher Zhao complete that weapon. He was not strong enough to do so now. He had been too busy recently to the point where he didn't even have the chance to strengthen his grasp of the art of weaponsmithing. If he insisted on helping now, he would only make things worse.

...

That day, he walked all over the academy, taking a look at some people and some places.

When night arrived, he set off with the shadow and the water elemental and left the academy under the cover of night.

He had spent the day walking all over the academy. All the single character faction members in the academy would go far away whenever they encountered him. Even those who had been paying attention to him previously had probably lost interest. After all, he had spent the entire day annoying them.

...

Xia Restaurant.

This was a large restaurant in the center of the city. The capital city was a city that never sleeps. Even at night, the streets were still full of people.

This was Su Yu's very first time taking a stroll outside the academy. Yes. This was the very first time he had done something like this. After arriving at the capital, he had only left the academy a handful of times. He had left once during the warzone incident and once for the Myriad Race Pit visit. Apart from that, he had spent all his time in the academy.

Tonight, he was finally able to take in the sight of the flourishing capital city. The city was brightly lit even at night. And pedestrians filled the streets. There were people everywhere.

This was a bustling city, and this was a scene Su Yu never had the chance to enjoy. Alongside the streets were numerous shops. In front of these shops, shopkeepers were loudly advertising their wares. Sounds of laughter and clinking glasses could also be heard from some of these shops.

Numerous private dojos could also be seen. Even among the common populace, there were a lot of cultivators. It was late a night, but sounds of people grunting while training could be heard. This was Great Xia.

Sure, Great Xia was a complicated place, but that mostly applied to the upper echelons. The common folk had mostly remained the same over the years. They were still martial lovers and hot-blooded.

With one clarion call, Great Xia would be able to raise an army of millions. This was the reality. There were retired soldiers everywhere. Su Yu's father was one such example. With one command from Great Xia, all these retired soldiers would gladly pick up their weapons again. This was Great Xia.

Su Yu walked slowly amid the crowd in his green robe, looking completely inconspicuous. Before long, a large restaurant appeared before his eyes.

Xia Restaurant.

He raised his collar even as his deceit character continued covering his face with a thin layer of shadow. He couldn't understand why they were meeting here. And he also didn't know who he was meeting. This place was too busy. It did not seem like a suitable place to talk.

The moment he stepped into the restaurant, one of the employees stepped forward to greet him. But right that moment, a middle-aged man who had been waiting there stepped forth and smiled, "Is this Mr. Su?"

"Yes."

"This way, please. The lord is already waiting upstairs."

Su Yu was shocked to see the middle-aged man. That was a Mountainsea. Yes. A Mountainsea. Both the water elemental and the shadow had informed him of it. But he himself had also noticed it thanks to the Perception Jade.

Was the person even a Mountainsea was addressing as the lord a peak Mountainsea or a Sunmoon? Who was it?

Su Yu's expression did not change as he followed the middle-aged man. He wasn't too worried. This was a restaurant opened by the Xia Family. Unless one was suicidal, nobody would dare to assassinate him here.

Not even the First Divine Sect master would be brave enough to attack Su Yu in a restaurant operated by the Xia Family in the capital of Great Xia. Nobody would be able to survive such an attempt.

...

Third floor.

Inside a large room, Zhu Tiandao was leisurely drinking tea and looking at the scenery outside the window while humming a song. He looked to be in a great mood.

When he heard the sounds of approaching footsteps, he smiled and said, "Come in."

The door swung open.

Under the middle-aged man's lead, Su Yu entered.

When Su Yu's gaze landed on Zhu Tiandao, he found the man familiar. However, he couldn't recognize who this person was. The pictures of all the prefects were available to the public, so Su Yu would probably realize who this person was if he was in Great Ming. But this is Great Xia so the thought hadn't really crossed his mind. Even so, he was able to sense that this was someone important. Official source ıs novel·fire·net

"Lord, I shall be taking my leave..."

Zhu Tiandao nodded. Looking at Su Yu, he smiled, "Su Yu, if you don't mind, can you let the two little fellows on you go with him for now? Let's have a private meeting. It feels somewhat uncomfortable to have outsiders listen while we talk."

Su Yu was shocked, but he still nodded in agreement. At the next moment, both the shadow and water elemental revealed themselves. They were trembling with fear as they gave Zhu Tiandao a slight bow as a sign of respect.

Then, the shadow merged into the middle-aged man's shadow while the water elemental turned into a drop of water on the man's body. With a smile, the middle-aged man retreated and shut the door.

"Lord..."

Zhu Tiandao interrupted and said, "There is no rush. Take a seat and enjoy the night view of Great Xia first."

Su Yu walked over and sat down in front of Zhu Tiandao. The table was filled with food and drinks.

Zhu Tiandao smiled, "That fatty from Xia Family sure is greedy. He's charging 100 merit points for some beast meat like this. This is truly excessive."

Su Yu nodded, "You're right, Lord."

Marquis Xia was indeed a greedy merchant.

Zhu Tiandao smiled, "You're quite gutsy, kid. You dare to even talk badly about Fatty Xia?"

Su Yu was quite surprised. How had this person sensed his thoughts when he was thinking about someone else?

Zhu Tiandao laughed, "Kid, that expression on your face is too obvious. You had agreed with me that Fatty Xia is greedy. Am I right?"

Su Yu smiled and nodded, "Yes. Marquis Xia may be greedy, but he is also fair. At the very least, he can rip everyone off in a way that you can't argue against it."

"True. That's a special talent of his." Zhu Tiandao asked, "So how do you feel after getting your cultivation methods scammed by him?"

"It's no big deal." Su Yu softly said, "The acupoint fusion method is good, but it only took me a week to make. With only a week's worth of work, I was able to settle a debt of 300,000 merit points and receive follow-up income in the future. The future income should be pretty large as well."

"Do you know how much he's selling the right of distribution to Great Ming alone?"

"A million merit points?"

That was Su Yu's guess, but Zhu Tiandao soon told him the truth, "A million for the inferior version. Three million for the superior version."

Su Yu was speechless. How greedy. He took a sip of the tea to calm himself. That Fatty Xia—cough, cough. That Marquis Xia was truly greedy. There were 36 human prefectures. And he was charging so much for only the distribution right of a single prefecture.

"Of course, this distribution right is an everlasting one. So it's not overpriced." Zhu Tiandao smiled, "Great Ming can still afford this much money. We're not as poor as Great Xia. I reckon Great Xia's treasury is already empty after so many years of war. If it wasn't for Fatty Xia and his greed, Great Xia would have lost the ability to pay their soldiers long ago."

Su Yu did not say anything about that. Since he knew nothing about the matter, it was pointless for him to talk about it.

Zhu Tiandao smiled and asked, "Do you know who I am?"

"No, Lord. But you are definitely an important person in Great Ming."

"You're pretty good at talking." Zhu Tiandao laughed, "I am surnamed Zhu. I am the someone from Zhu Family's main branch. Can you guess who I am?"

Su Yu inhaled in shock. He stood up and bowed, "I offer my greetings to Lord Prefect."

He was able to immediately guess who this was. A Sunmoon of Zhu Family's main branch. Only one person could fit those criteria: Zhu Tiandao, prefect of Great Ming.

This had completely surprised Su Yu.

In truth, he already had some guesses after entering the room. But finally, his guesses were confirmed. This was Zhu Tiandao, not someone from a branch family. He was surprised and shocked.

He had never imagined that the prefect himself would come to meet him. These prefects were basically the highest ranked humans below the Invincibles. Their status was higher than even the other regular Sunmoons.

Zhu Tiandao smiled, "I believe this is enough to show you Great Ming's sincerity. You are free to voice any conditions you have. But I wish to ask you something. What can you bring to us? Would you return to Great Xia after I painstakingly help you grow? That would be a total loss for me, right?"

Su Yu nodded and said, "Let's put my strength aside for now. And let's put the future aside as well since nobody can predict the future. I will talk about one thing. There are three versions of the acupoint fusion method. The Xia Family has only received the rights for the first two versions. They have a copy of the best version as well, but they do not have the distribution right for it. I still hold full rights over the best version. And this is a version capable of fully removing the repelling force for Infinite Strength cultivators."

Zhu Tiandao's eyes flickered. Heavens. So there was really something better out there?

"How many acupoints does it require?"

"36."

"How many overlaps with the War God Art?"

"18."

"So you only need to open 18 new acupoints?"

"Yeah."

Zhu Tiandao inhaled in shock, "Are you willing to sell the rights to the Zhu Family?"

"Depends." Su Yu said, "I'm afraid that I will die after distribution starts."

"That won't happen." Zhu Tiandao said, "We are not the Xia Family. All those people who have offended the Xia Family are not necessarily unafraid of them. Rather, they know that the Xia Family has too many misgivings and would put up with them. That's not the case for our Zhu Family. Even Invincibles will need to think twice before offending us. Things won't end well for them, regardless of who they are."

Yes, the Zhu Family was weaker than the Xia Family as a whole. But they had nothing to lose. And that was the most terrifying enemy one could get.

Su Yu nodded. He said, "Additionally, I once sold the Xia Family a foundation cultural art with 36 apertures. They have not received the distribution right as well."

"..."

Zhu Tiandao inhaled deeply and said, "Looks like what I'm about to offer next won't be attractive to you. As a cultural researcher family, we have a foundation cultural art with 24 apertures. I wanted to use it as part of my offer, but looks like you're a more surprising kid than I thought."

Great Ming King of the Zhu Family was a cultural researcher. Thus, they had a foundation cultural art in their family. But Su Yu actually had a cultural art that was even better than theirs.

Chapter 552: The Easygoing Great Ming (3)

Su Yu smiled, "I was born with an innate talent in the comprehension of cultivation methods. I am good at deducing the cultivation methods of the myriad races. Additionally, the multiple character faction specializes in producing ability blood essence. With this skill, I can perform a deeper analysis of the cultivation methods and racial abilities of the myriad races. This counts as one of my abilities as well, right?"

"Yes." Zhu Tiandao nodded. With a shocked expression, he said, "You are truly talented. Forget about your martial talent. Your research talent alone is more valuable than even a million-strong army."

The Xia Family was too dumb. They had actually treated a super genius like this so poorly that he was leaving. Sure, Xia Longwu wanted to affirm his dao, but there was the option of gritting their teeth and fighting it out, right? Served them right for feeling so terrible.

Zhu Tiandao smiled, "This much is enough You can raise any condition you have. As long as it's nothing too excessive, I can agree to everything."

Analyzing the cultivation methods of the myriad races.

Holy shit!

What manner of an ability was that?

This kid was a walking treasure vault!

Su Yu said, "Lord, I am capable of analyzing the myriad races, but some of the unique skills of my faction can't be taught to outsiders. This includes the ability blood essence production method. Those things are not my creation so it's not my place to teach them."

"That is only natural."

Su Yu exhaled in relief. He added, "Also, I am only considering joining Great Ming for freedom. Thus, Great Ming is not allowed to pressure me too much. As for Great Ming's single character faction..."

"Just pretend they don't exist." Zhu Tiandao smiled, "Those people are all...very relaxed. To speak the truth, I'm happy with that, but I'm also greatly troubled because of that. They are basically a bunch of bookworms."

He sighed and said, "There are advantages and disadvantages to the struggle between the single and multiple character factions. If the scope of the struggle is kept within a certain limit, it can be a good thing. But the premise of that is the existence of struggle."

He grumbled with resentment, "But the cultural researchers of Great Ming...do not struggle."

There was so much bitterness in those words that Su Yu blanked out slightly.

Zhu Tiandao helplessly said, "In the other prefectures, the people will compete against each other. But Great Ming is akin to a pool of stagnant water. We have a bunch of old geezers who spend all their time reciting poetry, drinking wine, enjoying life, and debating with each other. That's the furthest they would go. Waging a war of words. In terms of fighting...I honestly suspect that our cultural researchers have forgotten how to fight. Of the various prefectures, Great Ming has the lowest number of cultural researchers in the army.

"There are a lot of cultural researchers in Great Ming, but these people have a very good relationship with the war academies. The moment a conflict breaks out, these fellows would provide cultivation methods, tactics, techniques, weapons, and all sorts of support except manpower."

In other words, in the event of war, the cultural researchers would provide material support but not manpower support. The warriors could do all the fighting. For Great Ming's cultural researchers, it was the job of those brutish warriors to fight. Meanwhile, they were all refined scholars who only needed to help with logistics.

Su Yu was completely speechless. Were things really this bad? Wasn't that a tad bit too easygoing of them? Did those cultural researchers really believe that they were weak scholars?

Zhu Tiandao sighed, "Therefore, you don't need to worry about conflict in Great Ming unless you're the one starting a conflict. In fact, I would be more than happy to see that. But let me warn you that even if you start picking fights, they might simply ignore you like you're a madman. It's that simple. There is a multiple character faction in Great Ming as well. There aren't a lot of them. They have around 50 to 60 members. They aren't really living a good life, but things are not that bad for them either. These people are all bookworms that don't enjoy leaving their homes..."

"..."

Su Yu was completely speechless.

After a long while, he asked, "Lord, is Great Ming capable of surviving in the Allheaven Battlefield?"

"Of course." Zhu Tiandao smiled, "We don't fight much, but don't make the mistake of thinking that we are weak. Our warriors are quite impressive, even if willpower cultivation is supposed to be our main legacy."

After all, the Great Ming King was a cultural researcher and the number two expert of the Knowledge Seeking Realm. But the other cultural researchers of Great Ming were truly unreliable.

Instead, their warriors were stronger. After all, these warriors were supplied with good equipment, excellent cultivation methods and techniques, plentiful pills, numerous mounts, and a large supply of talismans. Apart from cultural researchers, their military had everything.

After picturing all that, Su Yu said, "I think I finally understand why my teacher came to Great Xia."

Zhu Tiandao was speechless. But he still nodded in agreement, "You're right. Things are too stagnant in Great Ming. Your teacher wanted to grow rapidly. Thus, Great Xia was the right choice."

"Are you not afraid that I would change my mind after learning about all that?"

Zhu Tiandao appeared unworried, "What can you do here? If you're from the single character faction, I would agree that you should stay. Since you're not, you should leave as soon as possible. The internal struggle here is too intense. More importantly, you're still too weak to participate in the struggle."

Su Yu nodded. Zhu Tiandao asked, "Any other conditions? Just tell me everything at once. If possible, we can even leave straight away."

Su Yu smiled, "Lord, I need to wait until the end of the month before I can leave."

Zhu Tiandao frowned, "Why?"

"My senior sister is in the Top 100 Ranking. I need to watch over her. I also have some other matters to resolve. I am unwilling to leave just like this. Even if I have to leave, I still need to vent some of my anger. I am a petty person. Since I have been forced to leave, I will have my revenge."

"This..." Zhu Tiandao considered it before saying, "It's easy for us to back you in Great Ming, but it's not proper for us to do anything within Great Xia. It's taboo to interfere in the internal affairs of a different prefecture."

Su Yu nodded, "I understand. Thus, I won't make things hard for you, Prefect. If it's convenient for you, can you send some people to back me up at the Starfall Mountain? I'm afraid that true experts would appear there to deal with me. I doubt the truly strong ones would dare to make a move within Great Xia's borders."

"No problem." Zhu Tiandao rubbed his chin and said, "Kid, make sure to not die on the road. That would be such a loss for me."

"That won't happen. If that really happens..." After a slight pause, Su Yu said, "Then it's fate. That would only happen if I am lacking in luck, strength, and planning. And without all that, I am merely a fool who deserves death."

He was the one setting up this trap. If he ended up killing himself with it, then he deserved it. Even if he could survive this time, it would only be a matter of time before he killed himself with his stupidity.

Zhu Tiandao laughed, "Sure. I am quite interested in seeing what you can do. Anything else?"

"I intend to reopen my Source Soul Research Center in Great Ming. I need a lot of data, cultivation manuals, and some top-secret information. I also need some human willpower texts..."

"How many do you need, exactly?"

"At least 100 of them."

"What about the ranks?"

"Any rank will do. I only need them to be willpower texts."

"That's not a problem at all."

Zhu Tiandao laughed. That was really not an issue for him.

"I also need a large amount of blood essence for my research..." Su Yu explained, "Regardless of whether it's ability blood essence research or the analysis of the myriad race cultivation methods, blood essence is required."

Zhu Tiandao smiled, "As long as you're not asking for excessively rare blood essence, that won't be a problem. Of course, for divine and devil blood essence, the lower-ranked ones will be easier to get. After all, we don't really fight them that much."

Su Yu was happy to hear that. He nodded, "That would be enough."

But he quickly opened his mouth again, "No, there's one more thing. I need to have a few researchers assigned to my research center as well. I don't need them to be strong, but I need people good at talent management and research."

"This..." Zhu Tiandao thought about it and nodded, "Sure. We have a few old fellows who aren't too strong and are so old that they are probably going to die soon. We might as well let them retire at your place."

Su Yu was speechless. What? ʀᴇᴀᴅ ʟᴀᴛᴇsᴛ ᴄʜᴀᴘᴛᴇʀs ᴀᴛ Novᴇl_Fire(.)net

"They are basically fools who spend all their time reading and accumulating knowledge instead of cultivating."

Zhu Tiandao helplessly said, "Don't look at me like that. We have a lot of people like that. For them, cultivation is boring. Thus, their lifespan is short. Those old fellows are near the end of their lifespan, but they are incredibly knowledgable individuals."

This time, Su Yu remained stunned for quite a while.

Impressive.

So in Great Ming, all cultural researchers viewed themselves as weak scholars? No wonder there was no internal struggle. In fact, did they even have the strength to struggle internally?

"Lord Prefect, how many elders are there in the Great Ming Cultural Research Academy?"

"16."

"..."

Wow. What a pitiful number. That was about half of Great Xia Cultural Research Academy's number.

"Are all of them Mountainseas?"

"Fourteen Mountainseas and two ninth-stage Cloudbreach cultivators."

Zhu Tiandao coughed awkwardly and said, "That's not too bad. Some of the weaker prefectures probably have around three to five elders in their academies so we can be considered quite strong."

But for some reason, he couldn't say that confidently. But their Great Ming King was really the number two expert of the Knowledge Seeking Realm, second only to Great Zhou King.

"How about the principal..."

"You're talking about Old Niu?" Zhu Tiandao coughed awkwardly and said, "He's in the middle of a vacation. He will probably return soon. But he's absolutely not weak. He's a third-stage Sunmoon. Even among the other Sunmoons, he's considered a veteran since he has been in the Sunmoon Realm for a very long time.

Veteran? So how old was that principal? Was he so old that he was nearing the end of his lifespan as well? Su Yu finally understood why Great Xia was viewed as a strong prefecture.

Just the Great Xia Cultural Research Academy alone had double the number of Mountainses in Great Ming Cultural Research Academy. They also had multiple Sunmoons. Yes. Multiple. Wan Tiansheng was one. But could Hong Tan and Zhou Mingren be considered regular Mountainseas? They could basically be viewed as Sunmoons already.

There were also the Nine Heavens Cultural Research Academy and Daoseeking Cultural Research Academy. Together, they had around 30 elders as well. If even the Great Ming Cultural Research Academy was so weak, what about the other academies in Great Ming?

Su Yu couldn't resist asking, "Lord Prefect, can these elders fight?"

"..."

Zhu Tiandao remained silent for a long while before answering, "Cultural researchers are meant to be the torchbearers of civilization. They are not very good at fighting, but they are still Mountainseas so they won't be helpless."

Su Yu nodded in understanding. So it was likely that these elders weren't very good at fighting.

Su Yu asked, "Prefect, would it be fine for me to enter the Allheaven Battlefield after joining Great Ming?"

"Of course." Zhu Tiandao said, "I checked your profile. Your father is in the Devil Subduing Army. That won't be an issue. I can transfer him to Great Ming. He can even retire immediately if he wants."

"Forget about that."

Su Yu was certain that his father would not agree. He would have retired in Nanyuan otherwise.

Zhu Tiandao smiled, "Is that all?"

"Yeah."

"Alright." Zhu Tiandao said, "None of that is an issue. If you do well, I have a young granddaughter that you can even take as your wife. If you're willing to marry into the Zhu Family, you might even be appointed the next prefect."

Su Yu looked at Zhu Tiandao's face. He did not remark about it. He merely said, "I only have cultivation in my heart."

"..."

Holy shit.

Zhu Tiandao cursed inwardly.

Holy shit!

This damn kid had first looked at his face before saying something like that. What was the meaning of that?