Chapter 565: Southbound (1)
Time passed.
Morning arrived.
It was the 26th of December.
Life continued as usual in the Great Xia Cultural Research Academy. Everything appeared to be the same.
There were only four days left in the year 350 of the Anping Calendar.
After the end of the month, the academy would be on a break for half a month. The students would be able to return home and visit their loved ones. Classes would only resume at the middle of January.
Thus, a lot of the students had been packing up and preparing for their return to celebrate the new year. Since they were cultivators, they would rarely take long holidays. After four days, the new year would arrive. That would also be the anniversary of Great Qin as the Anping Calender had started after Great Qin was founded.
Source Soul Research Center.
A few individuals were talking about the upcoming holiday and New Year celebration.
Wu Jia smiled cheerfully and asked, "Junior Brother, are you going back home for the New Year celebration? Since your father is not home, will you be celebrating in Nanyuan? You will probably take around three or four days for the mission, right?"
Su Yu had just arrived from upstairs. Since Wu Jia's parents had passed away a long time ago, she had been celebrating the previous New Year's days with Chen Yong.
In the past, their grandteacher would also be around. Bai Feng would also be celebrating with them since his home was too far. This was very common in the academy. Those whose homes were too far away would remain in the academy.
This was Su Yu's first year in the academy. Bai Feng was away while their grandteacher was in seclusion. And even Su Yu was returning to Nanyuan. Thus, Wu Jia was wishing that Su Yu would return in time to celebrate the new year with them.
Hearing the question, Su Yu smiled and replied, "Senior Sister, I doubt I can return in time. It doesn't matter since as cultivators, we are accustomed to loneliness." He spoke in a joking tone.
Wu Jia did not think too much about it. She merely spoke with a slightly regretful tone, "Come on, finish your mission faster and you will be able to return in time. Nanyuan isn't that far away. If you ride an earthdragon beast, you can make the trip in only one day."
"But an earthdragon beast will attract too much attention." Su Yu looked at the others and said, "On the day we opened this research center, I bought everyone here a meal. The research center will temporarily cease operations after today. Of course, all of you can still stay here if you want, but I won't be around...Thus, let's have another meal together tonight."
That was a farewell dinner. The others did not object to it. Wu Jia and Wu Lan started talking in excitement about what to eat for dinner. Hu Qiusheng maintained his silence. Jiang Mu said nothing as well. As for Xia Huyou and Zhao Ming, both of them were absent.
***
The day passed uneventfully. Before anyone knew it, the sky had turned dark. Inside the dining hall, the atmosphere was quite warm and cozy.
Su Yu raised his cup and said, "I will be leaving for my Nanyuan mission soon. This is my toast to all of you."
He emptied the cup.
"Thank you for all your help. Thank you for your support during our time together."
Su Yu smiled and said, "When I first entered the Great Xia Cultural Research Academy, I was a clueless bumpkin. Thanks to all your help, I was able to establish myself in this academy. I have learned a lot from all of you. Thank you, everyone."
He drained another cup of wine.
Su Yu would rarely drink in the past, but tonight, he downed cup after cup of wine. A smile was constantly maintained on his face. Eventually, the group started sensing that something was off.
"Junior Brother..." Wu Jia persuaded, "You're setting off soon. You should drink less."
"It's fine. As a cultivator, I can take this much liquor."
Finally, he set the cup down and said, "I guess this is farewell. We have drunk and eaten our fill so I guess this is the perfect time for us to say our farewells. Friends, let's meet in the future again if fate allows it."
After saying that, Su Yu picked up his bag and stood up. The others wanted to see him off, but he stopped them with a wave of his hand before stepping away.
Outside the research center, Su Yu turned around. All his friends were standing at the entrance. He waved at them once again before leaping onto the back of the waiting suanni. At the moment, the suanni was not as shiny as usual. For some reason, his coat of fur looked grayish in color instead of the usual gold.
After slinging the bag over his shoulder, Su Yu took out his saber. Without saying anything, he tapped on the suanni's torso with his legs. The suanni said nothing and ran off. In the blink of an eye, they disappeared in the distance.
"Junior Brother..."
Wu Jia called out loudly, but Su Yu did not stop.
In front of Source Soul Research Center, Wu Jia looked in Su Yu's direction blankly. Suddenly, she asked, "Will he...return?"
She didn't know what Su Yu's plan was, but earlier, Su Yu had said that they would meet again if fate allowed it. The others sank into silence. Neither Hu Qiusheng nor Xia Huyou said anything.
Xia Huyou was wondering if Su Yu was really going out on a trip to lure all his enemies out of hiding. That might not be the case. Was Su Yu...leaving?
Finally, his thoughts cleared up and realization hit him.
His mood turned sullen, and he didn't know what to say.
At the same time, Wan Tiansheng was overlooking the entire capital from atop the Heart Cultivating Pavilion. When his gaze landed on the figure moving rapidly through the academy, he sighed.
At the same time, inside the Discipline Hall, a solemn and cold Old Huang could be seen. A thorough audit would be performed next month. It was time to clear the academy of its tumors.
At the same time, inside Zhao Li's research center, he was hammering a weapon again and again. His entire body was dripping with sweat, but he continued working tirelessly without saying anything.
At the same time, inside the books depository, Chen Yong was seated with his eyes shut. His aura roiled with intense undulations.
***
At the academy's entrance, twelve students were waiting.
Some were riding on cloudrush horses, some were standing on their two legs, and some were riding some other beasts.
After scanning the crowd, Su Yu urged the suanni forward and announced, "Let the journey begin."
With that, the suanni shot off. Behind him, the group hurriedly followed.
The sky horse youth followed slightly behind Su Yu and said with a smile, "Impressive. This is a suanni, right? You actually have a suanni mount? Us sky horses are faster than suannis, but we're not as impressive in combat..."
Su Yu said nothing.
The sky horse youth's excitement was dampened somewhat by the lack of reply, but he was not too bothered. When his gaze landed on the small bull hanging on the suanni's body, he asked curiously, "Is this...a mountaindrill bull? You brought a mountaindrill bull with you as well?"
Su Yu remained silent. The white civet and the fire crow were not brought with him as one was left with his senior sister while the other was left with his martial uncle. All the other beasts had been brought with him.
There was also the little furball that nobody could see. The furball had turned Su Yu's head into a nest, but since he was maintaining his incorporeal state, nobody could see him.
The sky horse youth was very talkative, but Su Yu remained silent as he focused on his Perception Jade. The city was filled with pedestrians even late at night. But as Su Yu's group was traveling at a rapid pace, the pedestrians all made way for them.
From the symbols on the clothes of Su Yu and company, many people guessed that this was probably a group of elite students out on a mission. Thus, they did not mind making way for these students.
All the members of the group moved rapidly regardless of whether they were travelling on mounts or running themselves.
Before long, they reached the city gate. There, Su Yu stopped and looked back one last time. He could still see the towering Heart Cultivating Pavilion far in the distance. The brightly lit prefect's manor was also visible.
This is farewell. Let's meet again if fate allows it.
Then, Su Yu turned around and said, "We depart."
White robes fluttering in the wind, Su Yu sped off.
Tonight, Su Yu had departed the city.
"Su Yu has left."
"Su Yu is out of the capital."
"..."
Message after message was sent following his departure.
Su Yu had left the capital. This was a freak, a super genius who had slain Skysoars at the Mental Tempering Stage and created the acupoint fusion method. At that moment, every single expert in the Myriad Race Cult received a notification.
A reward of fifty thousand merit points for the capture of Su Yu.
A reward of thirty thousand merit points for the murder of Su Yu.
Target's combat strength evaluated at seventh-stage Sksoar Realm.
Priority rating: Mountainsea
Danger rating: Cloudbreach ᴜᴘᴅᴀᴛᴇ ꜰʀᴏᴍ novel fire.net
Target has departed the capital to head toward Nanyuan.
Su Yu's profile in the cult was instantly updated, and the bounty on him was adjusted accordingly. And these messages were not being sent in only a single sect. Rather, they had been sent to most of the cultists operating within Great Xia.
Numerous cultists were shocked to see the series of messages. The greed in their hearts was triggered. The bounty was crazy. Thirty thousand for killing him and fifty thousand for capturing him.
Such a bounty had been issued before, but the target of that bounty was a Mountainsea. This time, it was only a Mental Tempering Stage student. It seemed excessive, even if the target was a super genius.
It was as though a rock had been thrown into a calm lake. Chaos was imminent. Wealth proved to be extremely enticing. Even if these people knew that this would be an extremely dangerous mission, countless people still started moving due to the attractive reward.
One would need to traverse over a thousand kilometers to reach Nanyuan from the capital. And a long stretch of the journey would be made in complete wilderness. The eight students in Su Yu's group were not mentioned in these messages. Even the people in charge of sending these messages had neglected those students.
Of course, the upper echelons of the cult were aware of the other students, but the lower members were only meant to serve as cannon fodder. What was the point of telling cannon fodder too much?
These weaklings' sole function was to test the security around Su Yu. It would be for the best if they could expose all of Su Yu's trump cards.
Chapter 566: Southbound (2)
Beifeng was a city not far away from Nanyuan. At the moment, two figures appeared with a flicker atop the city wall. One was a man while the other was a woman. The old woman was none other than Yu Hong and the old man was the visitor from Great Shang.
Gazing in the capital's direction, the old man smiled and said, "What a surprise. A mere Mental Tempering student has actually caused such a storm."
For the sake of a single Mental Tempering student, Great Xia's single character faction had lowered themselves to seek his assistance.
Yu Hong smiled and said, "Old Zheng, he's not a simple Mental Tempering student. Is a Mental Tempering student still a Mental Tempering student if he's capable of killing Skysoars? If he is allowed to grow, he will become the second Liu Wenyan. No, he will be even more terrifying than that. After all, Liu Wenyan had not been able to become a Skysoar back then. But this student will be able to easily enter the Skysoar Realm.
"We're not trying to kill him out of shame. We are stopping the multiple character faction from gaining another leader. News of Su Yu has just started spreading yet the multiple character faction of the various prefectures is starting to stir. They all believe that hope has arrived for them."
First, Liu Wenyan had given them a tiny bit of hope. Yet the second person to give them hope was neither Hong Tan nor Liu Wenyan. It was Su Yu.
A super genius had emerged. Once again, the multiple character faction of Great Xia had produced a genius with both wit and strength, someone capable of leading the entire faction. This super genius had subjected Great Xia's single character faction to great trouble. One ought to remember that a single spark could start a prairie fire.
Sure, they were trying to kill Su Yu due to their personal grudge, but one thing was of utmost importance: they couldn't allow this young man to grow into the spiritual leader of the multiple character faction. Otherwise, more trouble would ensue in the future.
That youth had accomplished that much at the Mental Tempering Stage. What would happen when that youth reached the Skysoar Realm? And beyond that, there was the Cloudbreach Realm. What could they do then?
Yu Hong didn't even want to imagine a future like that. Furthermore, Su Yu's rise had also caused the multiple character faction to show signs of revival after so many years of inactivity.
Yu Hong softly said, "Old Zheng, we're doing all this for humanity. The multiple character faction can't be allowed to rise. They can't be allowed to become the mainstream of willpower cultivation. Otherwise, humanity would suffer great losses. The divines, devils, and even the immortals who are usually uninvolved in our conflict with the devils and the divines had once said that the multiple character faction members are butchers that would require a lot of slaughter for their growth. Thus, their growth would herald the emergence of a war of the myriad realms...
She solemnly said, "The multiple character faction has not been suppressed for so many years out of any individual's selfish desires. We are only trying to buy more time for humanity. With more time, we can gain even more strength. We don't want to see the multiple character faction rise again and experience a repeat of the tragedy back then where even Invincibles were killed..."
She sounded extremely righteous. Old Zheng nodded in agreement. But in truth, they were merely finding excuses for their actions.
Of course, not everyone was using those words as an excuse. Some truly believed so. They were able to see that for some reason, the major races were afraid of the multiple character faction, but they still believed that the emergence of the multiple character faction should not be allowed as that would only anger the major races. For many people, the potential of future salvation could not be compared to the extension of their current peace.
Sure, doing this was akin to drinking poison to quench one's thirst. Everyone knew that. But so what? Nobody wanted to participate in a war that would engulf the entirety of the Myriad Realms.
They had enjoyed three hundred years of peace. They were more than willing to sacrifice the multiple character faction to extend this peace. For the divines and the devils, a century or even a millennium was nothing. In that case, wasn't better to delay the war by a century or even a millennium? Why must they take the initiative to end the peace if they could extend it?
Old Zheng said, "He has a Mountainsea with him?"
"A third-stage Mountainsea."
"He sure isn't holding back for this trip of his." Old Zheng laughed. "But the myriad race students with him are escorted by five Mountainseas and three Cloudbreach cultivators. That would be quite troublesome."
"Don't worry. They won't be trying too hard." Yu Hong indifferently said, "Of course, we still need to keep a few individuals occupied. That old fogey from the sky horse race would definitely make his move. There's also the mountain antelope race...these two races would definitely do their best to stop us."
Old Zheng nodded. He suddenly asked, "Do you think Su Yu's ruin is an Invincible ruin? Or is it a Sunmoon ruin?"
Yu Hong shook slightly. She turned and looked at Old Zheng.
With a calm expression, Old Zheng said, "He has definitely inherited a ruin. Anyone with an eye could see that. He is most certainly heading toward his ruin during this journey. Even if you have been silent about it, I can see this much. Elder Yu, it's not fair if only Great Xia's single character faction gets to enjoy this harvest, right?"
"What do you want?"
"If the ruin is within Great Xia's borders, I doubt we can get anything. I'm not asking for much. If there is a Sunmoon Divine Altar in the ruin, we only need a couple of slots."
Yu Hong coldly asked, "Are you taking advantage of us?"
"You misunderstand me, Elder Yu." Old Zheng smiled, "We're family, so it's only fair that we share our wealth. Also, it is risky for me to make a move within Great Xia. Are you trying to make me work without compensation just because we're family?"
Yu Hong sank into silence. After a moment, she said, "Everyone wants to enter the Sunmoon Realm. If there is really a Sunmoon Divine Altar in there, I doubt it would be able to host too many people. How about this? For every three individuals it can host, you can get one of the slots."
"Deal."
Old Zheng smiled with a satisfied expression. That was enough for him.
Yu Hong snorted inwardly. She knew that these Great Shang fellows were greedy.
Moving on from the topic, she said, "We need to force them to split up. It would be even better if we could separate the sky horse fellow from the group before attacking Su Yu. We also need to force his Mountainsea to come out of concealment. Even now, we have yet to discover that hidden Mountainsea."
Not even people like them could easily detect a Mountainsea who was trying to hide. There were also some Mountainseas who could hide from anyone below the Sunmoon Realm with their special abilities. Thus, they needed to sow chaos.
Old Zheng nodded in agreement. He asked, "Would the Myriad Race Cult still dare to conduct a large-scale operation in Great Xia?"
"Some are definitely afraid, but there will also be people who are brave enough to try this thanks to the large bounty." Yu Hong smiled, "Also, the mission has not only been issued to the cultists within Great Xia. Starting from two days ago, the cultists in the surrounding prefectures have already received the mission."
Yu Hong sneered, "With the reward, even a Mountainsea can try to make further advancement. And they only need to deal with Su Yu. We are sure that Hong Tan is in seclusion. Without Hong Tan, what are they afraid of?"
"How about Zhao Mingyue and the others?"
"Don't worry." Yu Hong said, "They have yet to fully fuse their characters. They are still licking their wounds."
"What about Principal Wan and the Xia Family?"
"Principal Wan won't leave the academy. And would someone like Marquis Xia leave the capital? No!"
Old Zheng was still worried. He said, "We still need to be cautious. We are targetting Su Yu's ruin, but the others aren't completely blind either."
Yu Hong nodded and said, "Don't worry. We will take everything into consideration."
"Alright."
After a short chat, the two vanished again with a flicker. They wanted to expose the Mountainsea guarding Su Yu and figure out the other trump cards Su Yu might have. Also, was that Mountainsea his only guardian?
***
The suanni was running rapidly as the wind whistled past him. Mounted atop the suanni was a cautious Su Yu. Under the dark night, his white robe continued fluttering about.
"Stop!"
As Su Yu raised his hand, the other students stopped. The ones who had been running on foot appeared to be gasping for breath. The sky horse youth scanned their surroundings and said, "Su Yu, can you slow down a bit? Why are you moving so fast? I didn't even get the chance to enjoy the scenery."
Was this still the promised scenic tour? He felt like he was going to die from exhaustion.
Su Yu ignored the complaint and continued studying his surroundings. He then said, "Seniors, please hold back if you encounter enemies below the Cloudbreach Realm. I need to wash my blade with some blood. These blind fools would be a nice tribute to my blade."
A voice came from the sky, "Well said, young friend."
The sky horse youth appeared confused. At this moment, a few corpses dropped down from the sky. A voice rang out, "These are probably the scouts from the cult. They sure are courageous. They thought they could hide from us."
Hearing that, the sky horse youth was overjoyed. He exclaimed, "Those fools were actually trying to pry on us?"
How courageous. Were they not scared of death?
But Su Yu wasn't surprised. Death? Tens of thousands of merit points were on the line. Such a temptation could persuade even a coward to try their luck. Furthermore, the single character faction had probably instigated them into making a move by hiding some crucial information. Follow current ɴᴏᴠᴇʟs on novel★fire.net
Su Yu could imagine that if he was a cultist, he would be more than willing to try his luck in killing a mere Mental Tempering student for such a massive reward, especially if he was in need of money.
Succeeding was basically the same as winning the lottery. One ought to know that excluding the investment in his research center, even someone like Su Yu had yet to spend fifty thousand merit points for his cultivation thus far.
Su Yu did not say much. He turned around, looked at everyone, and said, "Since we are all out here to temper ourselves, we shouldn't be avoiding all danger. You guys can deal with enemies under the Skysoar Realm. I can deal with those at the Skysoar Realm. How do you expect to grow strong without staining your blade with blood?"
Li Minyu smiled and asked, "Would the cultists below the Skysoar Realm even dare to make an appearance?"
She did not think so. Since Su Yu was capable of killing even Skysoars, would those below that realm dare to come here and throw their lives away?
"There are idiots everywhere." Su Yu did not think that all cultists below the Skysoar Realm would be too scared to try something. There were bound to be some idiots who were confident they could take advantage of the chaos and reap some profit.
The world was a large place. And not everyone was smart.
After a short rest, Su Yu drank some water, looked around, and said, "We will be entering an area of pure wilderness after this. Keep an eye out, everyone."
With that, the suanni continued moving forward. The others hurriedly followed behind them.
Half an hour later.
With a slash of Su Yu's blade, blood splattered onto the ground. Immediately after, a few individuals charged over from all directions. He brandished his saber and weaved among the attackers. In the blink of an eye, dozens of corpses were added to the ground.
After looking around, Su Yu calmly said, "These are not cultists. They are merely some local bandits."
These bandits were courting death. They had probably spent their time robbing passing merchants all this while. But today, they had picked a fight with someone they shouldn't. Even the strongest among them was only a ninth-stage Infinite Strength cultivator.
That was enough to rob some traveling merchants, but this was the wrong group for them to target. Su Yu alone was enough to wipe them all out. The other students were no longer looking at Su Yu with the same expression as before.
What an intense killing intent. He had instantly killed dozens of people without as much as a frown.
Chapter 567: Southbound (3)
High in the sky, the dao protectors were also conversing with each other through voice transmissions.
"This Su Yu is very murderous. Sure enough, the multiple character faction is filled with psychopaths."
Those bandits had been killed in the blink of an eye. Su Yu was definitely aware that these weren't cultists, yet he had shown no mercy. As bandits, these people wouldn't even be executed upon capture.
A different dao protector said, "So be it. A genius would not be able to grow without tasting blood. But this kid is indeed a tad bit too murderous. Didn't he say that he would let the others deal with those below the Skysoar Realm?"
Nobody said anything. Su Yu had probably fought personally because he believed that the others might spare the attackers. Thus, he had decided to deal with the attackers himself and kill them all to save time.
Suddenly, one of them asked, "Why are all the beasts in the wilderness so aggressive recently?"
Not far away, ashy fog could be seen rising into the sky. A group of beasts were charging toward Su Yu's group, looking like they had been provoked by something.
Looking at the incoming beasts, Su Yu's eyes flickered. When he gazed at the students behind him, Zhou Hao said, "These are ash rhinoceroses. Their strength generally varies between the Great Strength Realm and the Skysoar Realm. This is one of the stronger beasts you can encounter in the wilderness. In fact, they are quite common. For some reason, this group has been provoked..."
He cautiously said, "Someone must have ruined their lair in secret. Be careful."
At least seventy or eighty ash rhinoceroses were charing in their direction. These beasts were massive, and they looked rather strong. The leader of the group was a Skysoar beast. In the wilderness, a group like this could be considered quite strong. After all, this was the Human Realm. Thus, Skysoar beasts were very rare.
With a smile, Su Yu tapped at the suanni's torso and said, "Charge."
The suanni charged forward unhesitatingly. The saber in Su Yu's hand started shining. In the blink of an eye, Su Yu arrived in front of the beasts. The leader roared and rammed its head in Su Yu's direction with bloodshot eyes the moment it saw Su Yu.
"Die!"
With a flash, the saber cleaved forth and separated the massive head of the beast from its body. Next, Su Yu soared into the sky and stabbed his saber into a different beast. A loud pop sounded.
The beast burst apart, allowing a small silhouette within its body to shoot toward Su Yu with a pair of daggers.
With a cold snort, Su Yu utilized the Suppressing Sunmoon move. That was the second move of the Time technique. He was able to activate it instantly, stomping the attacker right into the ground. With a rumble, the ground solidified while the small silhouette burst apart.
That was an assassin. This assassin was decent at concealment, but he was too impatient. He had sent his senses over to spy on Su Yu, allowing Su Yu to detect him immediately. Just like that, a fifth-stage Skysoar assassin that had killed even a seventh-stage Skysoar before was killed.
With a wave of his hand, a dagger and a merit card flew into Su Yu's hand. With a smile, Su Yu sent his saber into the sky. Then, lightning bolts rained down on the beasts, instantly killing a large number of them.
Only then did the other students arrive. They started engaging the beasts in battle. But a few of them were constantly looking at Su Yu in shock.
Ji Xiaomeng asked curiously, "Is that really a Skysoar? Did you stomp him to death? A Skysoar? How did you even notice him?"
"That beast looked fat."
Su Yu gave a random excuse. This group of beasts was not too weak. The leader of the beasts was even strong enough to contend against a seventh-stage Skysoar. Coupled with that assassin, it wasn't surprising that a regular Skysoar could be killed with this encounter.
But Su Yu was no ordinary Skysoar.
"This is probably a cultist."
Someone here just to assassinate him was very likely to be a cultist. Su Yu was sure of that. He couldn't even be bothered to waste his time on investigation. He only needed to know that these attackers were his enemies and kill them all.
This was what he wanted when he requested that the dao protectors allow the weaker attackers to approach them. He wanted to temper his blade. Having reached the ninth-stage Infinite Strength Realm, Su Yu wanted to use slaughter to finish the fusion of the acupoints for his techniques. With sufficient slaughter, he would naturally be able to grow more. And fusing more acupoints would also increase his offensive strength.
This journey to the south was also a journey for him to strengthen himself. Thus, he would be more than happy to see more enemies. It would be even better if he could fight some eighth-stage or ninth-stage Skysoars. He really wanted to see if he could kill such opponents without relying on blood essence.
While the others were fighting the remaining beasts, Su Yu took out a jade talisman and placed the Skysoar beast into the talisman. This was a one-use storage talisman Su Yu had purchased. This talisman could only used for storage for now. The moment he took out the items within, the talisman would be destroyed.
The talisman had quite a large storage space.
Since this was a Skysoar beast, he would put it away to extract its blood essence later. The blood essence of a Skysoar beast wouldn't be cheap. He could also use the corpse to claim the merit points promised for any enemy slaughtered.
Su Yu would naturally not mind having more money in his pocket. Additionally, he would also be rewarded for the Skysoar cultist he killed. He would note this kill down and claim the reward at a later date. After all, he could do so in any human prefecture.
As for those below the Skysoar Realm, he didn't have much interest in them. It wasn't like he could earn much from killing enemies of this level.
After a while, he looked around and noted that all the beasts had been killed. Zhou Hao in particular, was extremely speedy when killing these beasts. He had been aiming exclusively at the Great Strength and Infinite Strength beasts. Fighting Zhou Hao was akin to suicide for these beasts.
"Beast disturbance...but they're coming straight at me..."
A different question appeared in Su Yu's mind. Was this the work of the hidden assassin? Or was there a different reason? He was a well-read person. He was aware of some items that could drive some beasts into madness.
Was someone in the group carrying such an item? Was that why the beasts had decided to attack them? Or was this the work of his enemies? Was Xia Qing and her friends carrying something like that? For origınal chapters go to noveⅼfire.net
He looked at the group and sneered inwardly. Apart from a select few of them, everyone else was suspicious. Even among the humans, he was suspicious of everyone except Zhou Hao.
"This won't be a peaceful trip. So be it."
Su Yu smiled. This might be a good thing for him. As a cultivator, was he supposed to reach the Invincible Realm through meditation alone? No, slaughter was required as well. Slowly, the blood around them vanished.
Su Yu was allowing the blood character to absorb all the blood around them. If his blood character could reach the third tier, it would also benefit him even if it would put more pressure on his sea of willpower. At the third tier, the blood character could probably fool even Cloudbreach cultivators with its illusions.
After the battle, everyone stopped moving. They were tired. Every single one of them was gasping for breath.
However, some of them had actually slacked during the fight. For example, Ji Xiaomeng. She had spent the entire fight facing only a single beast. Even after the fight, she had spent a long time crouched beside the beast's corpse to study it.
Su Yu couldn't be bothered to say anything. He would be happy as long as she didn't create trouble for him.
The panting and blood-soaked Zhou Hao said, "We aren't even that far from the capital yet. If this continues, we will probably take several days to reach Nanyuan."
The battle had been tiring. They needed some time to recover as well.
Su Yu smiled, "It's fine. We are supposed to be killing beasts for this mission anyway. The more we kill, the better the reward would be."
Seeing that Su Yu himself was in no rush, Zhou Hao said nothing else. He sat down cross-legged and started recovering his strength through meditation. The others did the same. Su Yu was the only exception as the short fight was not enough to exhaust him.
High in the sky, someone said through a voice transmission, "This kid sure is impressive. He killed a fifth-stage Skysoar like he was killing a chicken. Is he really a Mental Tempering student?"
No, right? They felt like Su Yu would need less effort to kill a Skysoar than they would need to kill a Great Strength cultivator. Of course, a large part of Su Yu's combat strength came from his cultivation at the ninth-stage Infinite Strength Realm.
He was also at the peak of the Mental Tempering Stage. And he had opened over 300 acupoints. Even his cultivation method was a top-tier heaven-grade method. And he also had a heaven-grade martial technique. One could say that he was already standing at the very peak of his peers.
"Old horse, why don't you go ahead of us and scout the path? That fifth-stage Skysoar assassin was almost able to hide from me. It's better for us to start scouting ahead..."
"Me? What if something happened to my prince during my absence?"
"Don't worry. There are so many Mountainseas here. We won't neglect him."
"Fine. I'll go..."
Su Yu was unaware of the conversation between the Mountainseas. But he wasn't bothered about them either. His hope did not lay on these dao protectors. If his guesses were right, these dao protectors would probably start splitting up before long. That was understandable.
Standing there, Su Yu waited as the others rested. Meanwhile, the suanni was stealing glances at Su Yu as his heart thumped madly. He had witnessed something incredible today. Were Skysoars so easy to kill?
No wonder this fellow had talked about killing him so many times. This human was a monster.
Chapter 568: Caught Up (1)
Su Yu's killing intent had indeed been very intense during the journey. This was an opportunity for him. A chance to fight this much was very rare in the Human Realm. He would need to travel to the Allheaven Battlefield if he wanted to fight and slaughter to his heart's content like this in the future.
Since his enemies were still unsure of his true strength, they would continuously send people his way to test his strength.
After about half an hour of rest, Su Yu announced, "Let's resume our journey."
"Already?" The sky horse youth stood up and grumbled, "Can't we rest through the night?"
Su Yu looked at the sky horse youth sternly and said, "You can stay here alone if you want."
"I—"
The sky horse youth shut his mouth after noticing Su Yu's glare. That was somewhat scary. Why was Su Yu being so fierce? Was Su Yu not aware that the sky horse race was an ally of Great Xia? What a terrible temper.
Su Yu ignored the sky horse race and leaped onto the back of the suanni. Once again, the team set off.
As they travelled, Su Yu remained alert. Unfortunately, it was hard for him to determine if the Mountainseas the Perception Jade was detecting were friends or foes. After all, their hidden protectors were Mountainseas as well. The only enemies he could confidently detect in advance were Skysoars.
"The Perception Jade still lacks an important ability. It needs to be able to record the aura of each individual as well..."
If there was such a function, there would be no confusion. As it was, things were quite confusing. Even when there were Mountainseas prying on him, he wasn't able to see who these Mountainseas were.
The group traveled under the dark of the night. Along the way, they also encountered other travelers. These were mostly the traveling merchants.
Su Yu did not approach any of these groups. But these groups were also extremely cautious. They would continue traveling in silence instead of greeting each other. This was the wilderness. It was the generally accepted practice to not rashly approach strangers while traveling in the wilderness.
After about three hours, they were attacked by yet another group of berserk beasts.
Blades danced everywhere.
Endless slaughter ensued.
The more Su Yu killed, the thicker his killing intent became. Among the beasts he killed, there were even a few Skysoar beasts. The Time technique required 132 acupoints. Each level required 44 acupoints. There were only three levels in total.
Generally, only those at the Mountainsea Realm would start fusing the acupoints of their martial techniques. Meanwhile, Su Yu was already starting to fuse the acupoints of his techniques at the Mental Tempering Stage.
He was doing so even in the midst of battle. He was aiming to fuse all forty-four acupoints of the first level into one acupoint.
It wasn't even important if he could really accomplish that for now. The more acupoints he fused, the stronger he would be. Thus, he had been working hard despite the drop in source qi density after leaving the capital. It wouldn't be an issue anyway since he had brought a decent amount of source qi liquid that was formed by Mountainseas with him.
He would have more than enough source qi for his needs.
Some of the acupoints overlapped with the acupoints of his cultivation method and he had already fused them with other acupoints. Thus, he left these acupoints alone for now. It wouldn't be too late to bring them all together at the final step when he was fusing all forty-four of the acupoints into one.
The suanni could sense that Su Yu was cultivating while traveling. Thus, he slowed down somewhat and tried to ensure a smooth journey. In any case, it wasn't like the suanni could continue running at top speed.
He was a ninth-stage Skysoar. The other members of the team were either travelling on foot or riding some cloudrush horses. None of them could keep up with the suanni.
Seeing that the others were having difficulty keeping up, Su Yu tossed the miniature bull out. As the bull enlarged, he said, "Xia Qing and the others who can no longer run, get on the bull."
Xia Qing glanced at the mountaindrill bull. The bull remained silent even when he was being treated as a mount. He waited obediently for Xia Qing and the others to get on his back.
"Brother Su, is this proper?"
Xia Qing hesitated. This was a Skysoar beast. The mountaindrill bull race was also ranked much higher than their races. For the beast races, this could be considered a breach of etiquette.
Su Yu frowned and chided, "Stop wasting time. Like we agreed, you will all be following my orders during this mission. Xia QIng, Li Minyu, and Ji Xiaomeng. Get on the bull. You're light enough that the bull won't have an issue carrying all of you. If you exhaust yourself too much, how are you supposed to fight later?"
While he was saying that, he sent a voice transmission to the mountaindrill bull, "Keep an eye on them. If anyone acts suspiciously, kill them."
The mountaindrill bull did not reply. He merely cursed inwardly. He knew that this fellow wasn't such a kind person. So there was a reason for this generosity.
This fellow had acted like he was offering them a mount out of kindness, but in truth, he was treating them as hostages. The bull couldn't help but wonder how many of these people would die by the end of the journey.
The three mentioned names were initially mounted on cloudrush horses. But those horses had since died from exhaustion. Thus, they had been running on foot. Since Su Yu had said that much, they did not hesitate and leaped onto the back of the mountaindrill bull.
This was a ninth-stage Skysoar mountaindrill bull. When he enlarged his body, he could easily carry ten people on his back.
Seeing this, the concealed dao protectors started conversing through voice transmissions again, "The human race is indeed powerful. Both the suannis and the mountaindrill bulls are powerful races. But both of them have turned into Su Yu's mounts. Sigh."
The person who had spoken had complicated emotions.
A different dao protector replied, "There's no helping it. This is the Human Realm and the human race is a major race. Isn't that why we're here? Sure, everyone is saying that we're here as allies, but in truth, we're more like vassals than allies..."
At this time, a different dao protector said, "Stop talking. Everyone, if you wish to grumble and complain, do it when you return. Don't do it here."
"Old Antelope, your race is suited as a mount as well. Why haven't your race sent some juniors over to serve as mounts?" teased one of the dao protectors.
The old antelope snorted coldly and said, "Old Fox, stop trying to incite disharmony. Don't try anything funny and stop wasting your breath. If you don't enjoy your time in the Human Realm, feel free to leave. Don't drag the rest of us down with you."
Just listen to what these people had been saying. If they were so unhappy with their status here, they could simply leave the Human Realm.
It was fine if they gossiped behind closed doors, but there were so many of them here. If one of them leaked the contents of this conversation, their relationship with the human race might deteriorate.
The old antelope said, "So far, only a bunch of fools have attacked. But it is clear that the cult is really aiming to kill this kid. And they are also aware that we're here. Keep an eye out, everyone. If they're really trying to kill this kid, they must have devised a plan to deal with us as well."
The antelope did not dare to be careless. It wasn't like nobody knew that these myriad race students were traveling with Su Yu. According to the rules, the myriad race students were allowed to bring their dao protectors along when traveling outside the academy.
If the Myriad Race Cult wanted to kill Su Yu, they would take these dao protectors into consideration as well. But the antelope believed that the cult would probably not dare to launch a serious attack as there were five Mountainseas and three ninth-stage Cloudbreach cultivators in their group.
Nevertheless, they still needed to be cautious. There was no guarantee that the upper echelons of the cult would make an appearance, but anything could happen. It would be too late for them to do anything if Su Yu was killed. Nothing would change even if they could ultimately kill the murderer.
There were eight dao protectors in total, consisting of the experts from the cloud tiger, fox, barbaric bull, iron-winged bird, sky horse, mountain antelope, black panther, and sky wolf races. Among these dao protectors, those from the iron-winged bird, black panther, and sky wolf races were in the Cloudbreach Realm. The rest of them were Mountainseas.
The antelope said, "Try to keep your mouths shut. I believe some Great Xia Mountainseas are monitoring us as I sensed some unknown Mountainseas earlier. Watch what you say."
He had sensed at least one Mountainsea tailing them after leaving Great Xia. He was not able to detect the exact location of the extra Mountainsea, but he was sure they were being monitored. After all, so many myriad race Mountainseas were traveling together. Great Xia would definitely keep an eye on them.
The dao protectors were actually well aware of this. The cloud tiger Mountainsea said, "We're only escorting the young geniuses of our races out on a mission. Even if Great Xia has numerous experts, they won't send too many of them here. I reckon there are only one or two Mountainseas monitoring us. Perhaps there's only one. What do you think, Old Antelope?"
"I suppose."
The antelope Mountainsea did not say much, but he was also certain that Great Xia wouldn't spare too many Mountainseas just to monitor them. Great Xia was large. They wouldn't have that many spare Mountainseas to spare on this monitoring mission.
These dao protectors would be fine unless they started causing trouble The hidden Mountainseas were only here to deter them, not assassinate them. While they were talking, sounds of explosions suddenly erupted beneath them.
Amid the explosions, the suanni leaped into the air. Numerous craters could be seen on the ground. At the same time, a dense fog appeared around them.
"Poisonous fog."
Su Yu warned as his source qi erupted. With the Pure Source Art, he purified the poisonous fog around them. But right at that moment, his heart skipped a beat. The little hammer immediately appeared and slammed down toward a seemingly empty spot in the air.
The air undulated before a cultural weapon appeared out of nowhere. The weapon instantly broke apart. Then, the air continued undulating as a Mountainsea appeared and shot into the distance. At this time, a dao protector's voice rang out, "It's a Cloudbreach. Be careful. The black panther is giving chase."
A Cloudbreach. And a cultural researcher at that. For origınal chapters go to N0veI.Fiɾe.net
Su Yu frowned, but he said nothing. When he landed on the ground, he scanned the group around him. The others looked to be in a sorry state as nearly all the cloudrush horses in the group had died.
The sky horse youth couldn't help but complain, "Have they gone crazy? They are really sending so many assassins after you? Su Yu, just how many enemies do you have?"
This was supposed to be a scenic tour for him! Why were there so many enemies? They were still within Great Xia yet enemies at the Cloudbreach Realm were already starting to appear. He had nearly been killed by the explosions earlier.
Fortunately, someone had pulled him out of harm's way at the last moment. He felt a lingering fear as he thought of that. He was also starting to regret following this team.
Su Yu ignored the sky horse youth. The Cloudbreach that had just attacked them wasn't weak. That attack had been launched from afar to test their defenses. As a result, one of their dao protector had been lured away.
Su Yu's eyes flickered as he said, "Seniors, cease all pursuit lest this is a diversionary tactic."
"Alright."
Someone gave a short reply.
Su Yu said nothing else. But at this point, he was certain that the iron-winged bird, fox, barbaric bull, and cloud tiger races were colluding with the single character faction. He was still unsure about the other four races, but he still wouldn't fully trust them.
It was possible that even the four races he had identified as enemies were meant to be diversions as well. There might be more hidden enemies among them. Thinking about it, his enemies had truly put a lot of effort into killing him. Just how many Mountainseas had he attracted with this trip of his?
Su Yu sneered inwardly. What a pity that they were still in Great Xia and the Xia Family was still laying low. If he was already in Great Ming, with Zhu Tiandao's assistance, he could probably lure out even more enemies and kill them all.
At present, Great Xia would only kill when required instead of actively seeking enemies to kill. Most experts of Great Xia would only do something when the cult pulled something major. Then again, the cult did not have much strength in Great Xia so they were rarely able to do something big enough to attract the attention of these experts.
Since the populace of Great Xia greatly despised the cult, recruitment within Great Xia had been very difficult for cultists. While thinking about all that, Su Yu resumed the journey.
Even poisonous fog and explosive talismans had been utilized. The cult had expended quite a lot of effort to deal with him.
Chapter 569: Caught Up (2)
At the same time.
Somewhere far away.
Yu Hong was frowning as she floated high in the sky. She said, "We won't be able to detect anything even if we continue doing this. Since everything is happening right in front of the dao protectors, they won't be able to justify not helping. Even if the cult is trying to kill him, they wouldn't dare to send too many people here. Most of these attackers are some rogue experts."
The so-called rogue experts were either the members of some minor sects or the opportunists who were acting alone to take advantage of the chaos. The true experts of the major sects had yet to make an appearance.
Old Zheng smiled and asked, "What do you have in mind?"
Yu Hong did not give an immediate reply. She scanned the area before asking, "Just how many hidden Mountainseas do they have around them? I can sense that there is more than one. I don't know if this is an observer from the Xia Family or Su Yu's beast protector. Old Zheng, I'll have to trouble you with the Mountainsea from the Xia Family. Try to lure him away later."
She had already detected the Mountainsea from the Xia Family. That expert had not been too focused on hiding himself. After all, he was here to supervise the dao protectors of the students. Thus, he had not bothered with thorough concealment.
Old Zheng nodded and said, "Sure. But not now. We're still testing their defenses and that Mountainsea won't make an appearance so easily. But Elder Yu, the two of us won't be enough. Even if there is an agreement between you and those fellows, they will still lend a little bit of help to Su Yu unless they wish to openly turn against him."
"Don't worry. We have more people."
Yu Hong did not say more. There would naturally be more people apart from the two of them. Both the discovery of a ruin and the murder of Su Yu were major events. A lot of people believed that with five Mountainsea dao protectors, Su Yu would be safe. She intended to use this opportunity to kill Su Yu when everyone was getting overconfident.
***
Deep at night.
The past few hours of travel had been uneventful.
Chen Chen had been traveling on foot. He suddenly suggested, "Junior Brother Su, let's take a rest. Everyone is exhausted."
Su Yu looked back and saw that Chen Chen was already gasping for breath. The others weren't any better off. Thus, he nodded and agreed, "Sure. Let's take a short rest. Don't you have a mount, Senior Brother Chen?"
"I have a ninth-stage Infinite Strength beast tamed, but that's not a suitable mount. This beast is more suited for combat."
At that explanation, Su Yu nodded and said nothing else. At that point, all their cloudrush horses had perished.
Apart from Su Yu, only the three mounted atop the mountaindrill bull were not traveling on foot. The sky horse youth was a unique exception as he himself could be considered a mount so he wasn't as exhausted as the others. Since they had not been attacked for a few hours, he actually appeared quite relaxed. The source of thɪs content is novel{f}ire.net
The moment he heard that they were resting, he grinned with joy. Since it was late at night, he took off his hood, revealing his true appearance. He looked the same as a young human, with the white tail behind him being the only difference between him and a regular human.
Not long after they started resting, a loud explosion erupted from afar. Then, a massive silhouette appeared before them. With a roar, the gigantic silhouette swung a large axe down, causing a series of rumbles. Then, a blood moon rose in the sky before vanishing.
"Senior Great Mountain!"
The distant giant glanced at Su Yu and spoke loudly in the common language, "It's fine. It's a random attacker. Don't worry about it. Hehe...A blood devourer has actually sneaked into the Human Realm. You better tell those fellows to be careful."
After saying that, the massive silhouette vanished. Zhou Hao and the others looked at Su Yu, but he remained silent.
At this time, a voice transmission reached him, "Young Friend, is that your dao protector?"
"Yeah." Su Yu replied, "Please forgive me for keeping this from you. Senior Great Mountain prefers solitude. What was that blood moon earlier? Was that a cultist?"
"I think so. That person has the strength of around the fourth or fifth-stage Mountainsea Realm. He is not weak at all."
Someone else explained, "That's a blood devourer. The blood devourer race is a major race. This is probably someone from the Blood Devourer Sect. He was actually able to sneak near us. Fortunately, Brother Great Mountain discovered him before it was too late."
Su Yu frowned and spat, "The Myriad Race Cult is truly audacious. They actually have the guts to send a Mountainsea here? Seniors, try to stick together. Senior Great Mountain will remain further away to scout around us. We don't want to give the enemies a chance to split us up."
"Sure. If this is what you wish, we will do our best to cooperate with Great Mountain. With us working together, it won't be hard to take that blood devourer down."
That blood devourer was absolutely not weak. And that Great Mountain was quite strong as well. Su Yu was probably telling the truth when he said that this was an expert that had dropped a few stages from the fifth or sixth-stage Mountainsea Realm.
But since that Great Mountain had exposed himself once, the other dao protectors were able to start keeping an eye on him.
This Great Mountain was a member of the mountain giant race. That was a very powerful race. Hong Tan had actually captured such an individual to be used as Su Yu's dao protector. How very surprising.
***
"Mountain giant race!" Yu Hong frowned and said, "It is likely that he used to be a fifth or sixth-stage Mountainsea, but he has since dropped in strength. That Hong Tan sure is crazy. He had actually captured an expert like this?
"And there's also someone from the blood devourer race...is that someone from the Blood Devourer Sect? They seem quite capable since they could even smuggle a member of the blood devourer race into the Human Realm."
Old Zheng smiled and said, "That's not surprising. Just not long ago, a few Sunmoon divine skywings had sneaked into Great Xia. We all know that there are six paths connecting the Human Realm and the Allheaven Battlefield. But I suspect that there are probably seven of them. The First Divine Sect or the Original Devil Sect is probably in control of the seventh. Those fellows wouldn't have been able to sneak into the Human Realm so easily otherwise."
Yu Hong nodded in agreement. She wasn't too surprised to hear that as a lot of people suspected the same.
"That blood devourer is not weak at all. And he is also quite gutsy. He actually dared to approach the group even with so many Mountainseas in the area."
"The blood devourers have always been known for their courage." Yu Hong laughed and said, "This is good for us. With the appearance of a Mountainsea blood devourer, the other fellows might not be able to stay patient anymore."
Old Zheng stayed silent. That blood devourer had shown up way too early. He would need to be careful from now on. If he caught the attention of Great Xia, he would not be able to escape death. After all, a Mountainsea from the Xia Family was still nearby.
At the same time.
The blood devourer who had made a short appearance earlier was in the midst of flying away. He had the appearance of a cold youth. Suddenly, he frowned and asked, "Who is this?"
"Greetings, expert from the blood devourer race." A silhouette appeared in the air. With a smile, the newcomer said, "The Blood Devourer Sect generally operates in Great Han. They are rarely seen in Great Xia. Thus, it is truly a surprise to see you here, friend."
Bloodmoon coldly said, "Is Great Xia yours?"
"How would I dare make such a claim?" The newcomer said, "You saw it yourself. The target is protected by multiple Mountainseas. You won't be able to take Su Yu down alone. Also, killing Su Yu is not our only goal. Since you tried to conceal yourself near them instead of directly attacking, you must be aware of the real goal as well, right?"
Bloodmoon sneered and asked, "Are you trying to rope me in? No thanks. We will talk with our fists. There is only one ruin while all Mountainseas wish to enter the Sunmoon Realm and pursue Eternity. How are we supposed to share the spoils if so many of us work together?"
After saying that, Bloodmoon flew away.
The newcomer remained patient. With a smile, he said, "This is a ruin within Great Xia. We can only grab what we can before fleeing. Are you thinking of occupying the ruin? Have you forgotten about the Xia Family? Since we are going to forcefully break the ruin and reap what we can, it naturally doesn't matter that we need to split the spoils multiple ways."
Bloodmoon said nothing and continued flying. But suddenly, he stopped and spat, "Piss off. Keep following me and die."
"Why must you reject me, friend? Nobody can succeed alone. We would only stand a chance if we join hands with the experts of the various sects. Friend, if you remain stubborn, we might not be willing to stand with you in the event of danger."
"Is that a threat?"
"No, I wouldn't dare. But you are too impatient. I'm afraid that you would ruin things for all of us."
"Hmph!" Bloodmoon snorted and said, "Why are you hiding your appearance like a thief? Who are you?"
"Deputy sect master of the Blood Fire Sect."
"Oh, Blood Fire Sect...Your sect master was an idiot. He was killed by Xia Longwu not too long ago. Why is your sect still so active?"
"Since you're aware of the potential danger, why do you insist on working alone? Our sect master was a Sunmoon yet even someone like him had been killed so easily. Let's work together. Since we're all operating within Great Xia, we need to be cautious lest all of us perish in the Xia Family's hands."
Bloodmoon coldly asked, "How many Mountainseas do you have? How do I know if your group has reached an agreement beforehand? You can have me fight for you first before stabbing me in the back. None of us is a fool so stop playing tricks with me. Who among us can truly trust the others?"
"True." The deputy sect master said, "But there is no need for trust between us. We only need a plan and a tiny bit of organization. How can we hope to capture Su Yu by working alone? And what's the point of fighting among us if we can't even capture Su Yu?
"Capturing Su Yu is the crux. And this matter is a lot more complicated than you thought. We're not the only ones keeping an eye on Su Yu. Some other people have been attracted as well. This involves a ruin. Do you really think that it won't attract more attention?"
Chapter 570: Caught Up (3)
After thinking about it, Bloodmoon sneered, "Are you talking about the single character faction? Do they even dare to make a move? This is Great Xia. Are they not afraid of dying after the Xia Family finds out the truth?"
"Heh, unless they can find actual evidence, the Xia Family won't be making a move based on pure suspicion."
Bloodmoon sank into a momentary silence. He then asked, "How many Mountainseas do you have?"
"Three including myself. If you're willing to join us, there will be four of us. There aren't more as some are too far away from Great Xia. Nobody would be hanging around Great Xia for no reason unless they're feeling suicidal. Even now, I'm being very careful. I wouldn't dare to do anything rash in Great Xia."
Bloodmoon sneered. Yes, this person was indeed cautious. After all, even this person in front of him was merely a character projection instead of a real person. It wasn't even a clone.
"How are we supposed to stay in touch?"
"Voice transmission talismans. We will all remain near Su Yu so coverage won't be an issue."
He tossed a talisman over to Bloodmoon. After checking over the talisman, Bloodmoon burned the talisman with a clump of red flame before finally putting it away.
"How should I address you, Brother?"
"Bloodmoon. What's your name?"
"Bloodmoon...what a coincidence since my sect has the word blood in its name as well. You may address me as Blood Rakshasa."
Bloodmoon said nothing. With a sneer, he flew off.
After Bloodmoon left, Blood Rakshasa sank into thought. This was quite suspicious. Why was a blood devourer here? He had never heard about the blood devourers setting up shop in Great Xia before.
"Even the blood devourers are here. This ruin...sure is attractive."
So did Su Yu have a ruin? For many people, the answer to that was a resounding yes. How would he have been able to open his acupoints so easily otherwise?
Opening hundreds of acupoints in a few months? If he had stopped at a hundred or even two hundred, that would still be acceptable. Many other geniuses would be capable of doing so given enough time. But he had opened more than three hundred acupoints. And that had happened in less than six months. Nobody would believe that he had no ruin.
This was very similar to how numerous Invincibles had emerged from the ancient ruins back then. Nowadays, these ancient ruins were becoming increasingly rare as more and more had been discovered and exploited.
Since Su Yu had a ruin in his possession, who wouldn't long to snatch the ruin from him? Even the Xia Family was searching for that ruin.
Nobody knew for sure if the ruin was actually within Nanyuan, but that city had been put under tight security. It would be hard for them to get anything if the ruin was really there. But their chance would come if the ruin was actually outside Nanyuan.
They couldn't resist taking this risk. As long as the ruin was outside Nanyuan, anyone could get a chance to obtain it and the inheritance inside. Or perhaps they could capture Su Yu and gain the knowledge inside Su Yu's head. Perhaps Su Yu knew a lot more than he had let on. It was very likely that the acupoint fusion method had also originated from the ruin.
***
Su Yu's dao protector had been exposed. He had an unsightly expression, but he remained silent. He waited until everyone was done resting before resuming the journey. With the loss of the majority of their mounts, their speed had dropped significantly.
Suddenly, Su Yu asked, "How did the blood devourer enter the Human Realm? I heard that the Blood Devourer Sect is only active in the north. Great Xia is a southern prefecture. Why is there a blood devourer here? It hasn't even been long since I accepted this mission. And one would need to take a much longer time to reach here from the north."
His gaze landed on Xia Qing. The look in his eyes turned unfriendly. Xia Qing's heart skipped a beat when she saw that. She hurriedly explained, "Brother Su, there is also a possibility that the blood devourer might have been hiding in Great Xia before this."
Su Yu frowned, but he said nothing. Meanwhile, Xia Qing cursed inwardly. Was he suspecting her as the leak? But she knew that she wasn't the leak. Was it the single character faction? That must be it!
If they contacted the northern cultists right after receiving her message, the northern cultists would have enough time to head down south.
Su Yu said nothing else. Leveling accusations against the others was truly a very useful trick to clear any suspicion about him.
Bloodmoon...was one of his three beast protectors. The three were respectively Bloodmoon, Great Mountain, and One-eye. Bloodmoon did not even have a Demon Subduing Ring on him. Would that be sufficient for him to fool the hidden enemies?
Su Yu was unsure, but there was no harm in giving it a try. Even if Bloodmoon was eventually exposed as one of his beast protectors, it wouldn't be a big deal. With Great Mountain exposed and Bloodmoon sent away, he wondered if One-eye had gained anything as well.
***
While Su Yu was thinking about One-eye.
Not far away from them was a valley littered with corpses. But not everyone in the valley was dead. There were some survivors, but they were all kneeling on the ground while trembling with fear.
Standing ahead of them was a frail figure with white hair and a slight slit on his forehead. The slit suddenly opened to reveal an eye. The eye gazed at the crowd as the individual spoke, "All who defy me shall die. Only those who obey me can live."
One-eye coldly said, "How dare pieces of trash like you disobey me? If it wasn't for the fact that the devileye race does not have any presence here, garbage like you wouldn't even be qualified to serve me."
Among the kneeling individuals, one of them fawningly said, "Lord, it would be my honor to serve you! But we are the members of the Divine Blaze Sect. If we betray them..."
"Betray?" One-eyed interrupted, "What about the divine blaze race? What the fuck is the big deal about them? You are all traitors of humanity. Why does it matter which race you serve? Do you think that the divine blaze race would wage a war against the devileye race because of garbage like you?"
With a casual wave of his hand, a pile of valuable natural treasures appeared on the ground. He sneered and said, "This is my reward for you. The devileye race has decided to open a sect in Great Xia. You will be the founding members of this sect. You!"
He pointed at a random Cloudbreach and said, "You shall be the master of this sect. If our mission is successful, I would bestow upon you more rewards."
"Thank you, Lord!"
The Cloudbreach was overjoyed.
As for his betrayal of the Divine Blaze Sect...nonsense. At the end of the day, he was still serving the myriad races. The devileye race was a powerful race, so he definitely wouldn't mind serving them. It didn't even matter who he served as long as his master was generous.
"Don't worry. All of you will be amply rewarded upon the completion of this mission." ᴛhis chapter is ᴜpdated by novｅlfire.net
One-eye looked at the group and coldly said, "As for those trying to feign obedience before betraying me, I'll kill all of you. Since we still lack manpower, go out there and start recruiting. Since we're starting a sect, manpower is very important."
"Lord!" The newly appointed sect master hurriedly said, "There is a group of people nearby. They have a decent number of Skysoar and Cloudbreach cultivators among them. This is a group led by the traitor of the Blood Fire Sect, Xue'e. They tried recruiting us before, but since Xue'e had offended the Great Xia Cultural Research Academy, we didn't dare to work with him. If you require manpower, I can try to contact him."
"Blood Fire Sect?" One-eye sank into silence momentarily before nodding in agreement, "Sure."
A ray of light shot up from the eye on his forehead and landed on the people before him. After doing that, he said, "If you're confident you can escape or betray me, you are free to give it a try. If you are good enough to survive the Eyeflame of the devileyes, I wouldn't mind sparing you."
They trembled in fear, but none dared to say anything. They could only blame luck for this encounter. At this point, they couldn't even betray this new master of theirs anymore. Whatever. For them, it really didn't matter that much who they served. They only cared about the benefits they could gain.
"Alright. Time for you to get out of my face."
None dared to remain after that. All of them vanished in the dark of the night. As for One-eye, a torrent of fire shot out of his third eye and reduced all the corpses around him into ashes.
"Devileye Sect?"
One-eye smiled. How interesting. He then looked in a certain direction. That crafty brat sure was gutsy. Was he not afraid that they would flee or go into concealment in the Human Realm? Was the brat so sure that they would help him?
"Hong Tan..."
As he muttered that name, he snorted coldly. That was an enemy he wouldn't forgive. And the grandstudent of such an individual was most definitely a scumbag as well. But when he recalled the confidence Su Yu was displaying, he sighed. Forget it. There was no need for him to court death.
All this was merely a farce. The prelude to a slaughter.
The prefect of Great Ming was personally making a move. Thus, beast protectors like them were probably all under the monitoring of that prefect. Since Su Yu was the architect of this entire scheme, would he have no contingencies in the event of their betrayal?
It was very likely that the Xia Family, Wan Tiansheng, and the Zhu Family were all keeping a close watch on them.
One-eye sneered. Those fools. So many of them would die this time. Even if there was a ruin, one needed to be alive to make use of it, right? This was a scheme. Even if there was really a ruin, would Su Yu really take them to the ruin?
"Starfall Mountain..."
That place should be renamed the Land of Death instead. There, they would enter the borders of Great Ming. The Zhu Family would then be free to act. Did those idiots believe that the Zhu Family would remain silent after so many years of silence?
Well...if One-eye was being honest, even he himself didn't think that the Zhu Family would do anything. If Su Yu hadn't reached an agreement with the Zhu Family beforehand, it was very likely that the Zhu Family would really do nothing.
All those fools were too caught up in their own plans.
Great Ming King...After recalling that name, One-eye decided that he should be even more careful. Was it possible that Great Ming King himself was waiting in Great Ming?
If that was the case, One-eye would need to display even more obedience.
Chapter 571: Continuous Fishing (1)
Apart from what One-eye and Bloodmoon were doing, the exposure of Great Mountain was also part of Su Yu's plan. He had to expose his so-called trump cards to his enemies. It would be even better if he could show a bit more and tell his enemies that he had no other trump cards. His enemies would definitely be pleased to find out about that.
The existence of the shadow and the water elemental was the second set of trump cards he was prepared to reveal. Since the Mountainseas wouldn't dare to openly pry on him for now, it was likely that the two still remained unknown. And if they were revealed as well, his enemies would believe that this was the end of Su Yu's trump card and he would be helpless against them after this. Using some less important secrets, he would hide other secrets.
This was Su Yu's goal. He would lure his enemies in. If his enemies did not take the bait, how would he gain the excuse to kill them? If his enemies did not take the bait, the two experts sent by Xia Huyou would only focus on protecting him instead of killing his enemies for him.
If his enemies did not take the bait, the sky horses would not help him either even if they were truly friendly toward humanity. He would be able to take this chance to force some people to stand on his side for now. He needed to do all that. Thus, he needed to ensure that he wouldn't accidentally scare his enemies off.
Furthermore, if his enemies did not take the bait, the Zhu Family wouldn't have a good excuse to attack either. Was it a crime for the elders of the single character faction to take a stroll outside the academy? Before making a move against Su Yu, they could even shamelessly claim that they were there to protect him.
"I need to give them the opportunity to make a move against me."
He didn't care about the weaklings. He wanted the Mountainseas to attack him. He aimed to kill with a borrowed knife. Of course, to accomplish this, he had to achieve a tough act of balancing to not get himself killed.
It would be even better if the single character faction sent a Sunmoon after him, but the premise for that was for the Sunmoon to attack after reaching the Starfall Mountain. At that time, the Zhu Family would be able to openly act against that expert.
Thus, one could say that this was also a gamble on Su Yu's part. He was betting on the lack of information on his enemies' part.
Very few people knew that this was going to be a one-way trip out of Great Xia for Su Yu before going under the Zhu Family's wings. Otherwise, the Zhu Family would probably be too lazy to do anything unless the fight was brought to their capital.
If news about his defection to Great Ming were leaked, none of his plans would work anymore. Everyone in Great Xia believed that Su Yu would not defect to other prefectures. After all, Great Xia was very powerful and all his backers were in Great Xia. It wasn't like he had suffered too big of a loss in Great Xia yet. Why would he want to leave? And this was what he relied on to make this plan work.
***
The group continued traveling while Su Yu was thinking about his plan.
This was definitely a dangerous plan. But it was impossible to drag a few Mountainseas down without bracing some danger. He needed to take risks for greater rewards.
Apart from the Mountainseas, he also wanted to know if there would be any Cloudbreach cultivators making a move against him. For example, he wanted to know if Zhou Pingsheng would be there.
What must happen for these Cloudbreach cultivators to make an appearance? Their Mountainseas needed to be occupied, forcing the Cloudbreach cultivators to make a move to kill him since Skysoars wouldn't be able to kill him. And in such a situation, who would be the most likely Cloudbreach cultivator to make a move? Official source ıs NoveI-Fire.ɴet
Zhou Pingsheng!
As Zhou Pingsheng was a seventh-stage Cloudbreach, nobody would doubt his ability to kill Su Yu. Considering how much Zhou Pingsheng hated Su Yu, he would not let go of a chance to make a move against Su Yu.
Thus, Su Yu needed to ensure that all his Mountainseas were occupied. That was the only way to lure Zhou Pingsheng and the other Cloudbreach cultivators out. That was the only chance for him to take them out.
Was Zhou Pingsheng nearby? Very likely.
After all, he was the intermediary between Xia Qing and the single character faction. With how much he hated Su Yu, he had definitely arrived. He was merely hiding somewhere unknown for now.
Su Yu continued traveling while thinking.
Slowly, the attacks on them subsided. That was mainly because the rogue cultivators had been slowly gathered up by some other people, One-eye being one of them. Of course, some idiots would still appear now and then to attack the group. But that was basically the act of throwing their lives away.
***
Spluuurt!
After killing a random assassin hiding inside a hollow tree, Su Yu indifferently gazed at the mountain ahead of him.
At this time, the sun was starting to rise again.
Over the span of one night, Su Yu's group had traveled over 500 kilometers. If they maintained this speed, they would reach Nanyuan in around ten hours. After a night of travel, most of the people in the group were greatly exhausted. And a lot of them were already soaked in blood. At this time, the blood-soaked Zhou Hao approached Su Yu and said, "There is a mountain ahead of us. That is a good ambush location. Should we take a detour?"
"We have five, no, six Mountainseas with us and we're still within Great Xia's borders. Why should we take a detour?"
Su Yu disagreed. Why should he take a detour? Those Mountainseas would ensure his safety before reaching the so-called ruin. In that case, he wouldn't mind using these Mountainseas to get rid of some cultists and earn some merit points for himself.
He wondered if there was a cult stronghold nearby. Wouldn't it be great if he could wipe out a stronghold or two with the help of these Mountainseas as well? After all, these Mountainseas wouldn't allow him to die before reaching the ruin.
Sure, those Mountainseas had been trying to test Su Yu's strength, but they definitely didn't intend to kill him so early.
Right before stepping onto the mountain path, Su Yu said, "Seniors, there is a mountain ahead of us. I believe things will get dangerous. Before that, we will be taking a short rest. Is any senior willing to scout ahead in the meantime?"
A silhouette appeared in the sky as an old man said, "I'll go."
Su Yu could sense that this person was a Mountainsea. After taking a closer look, he found out who this person was.
After all, information on these myriad race dao protectors was available for the Xia Family. And with Xia Huyou's help, Su Yu had been given the basic information regarding these dao protectors as well.
The dao protector from the sky horse race.
Su Yu's expression remained the same. It was unlikely that the sky horses were his enemies, but he still couldn't be sure.
"Which race are you from, Senior?"
"The sky horse race."
After a short thought, Su Yu said, "I see. Please be careful, Senior. All Mountainseas can fly, but mountainous terrain is still a difficult terrain for those from the sky horse race. That blood devourer from earlier could very well be hiding somewhere ahead of us. It would be better if you go with someone good with this terrain."
A different voice laughed and said, "Don't worry, Young Friend. With all of us here, would that person dare to show up? In the event of an attack, we can cover this short distance and provide backup immediately."
With a helpless tone, Su Yu said, "I'm just worried that any attack would be a ruse to lure all of you away..."
The old man had nothing else to say.
The expert from the sky horse laughed and said, "Sure. Fellow Daoist from the iron-winged bird race, why don't you go with me? You are good at flying so you might be able to detect any hidden enemies in advance. It would be embarrassing if we do end up falling into some ambush."
"Sure."
The iron-winged bird dao protector was only a ninth-stage Cloudbreach so there was no need to worry about him. In any case, they had agreed to not send any real experts out before reaching the ruin. As far as the iron-winged bird was concerned, they were only scouting ahead to put Su Yu's heart at ease.
The air warped as two experts flew toward the mountain ahead of them. Su Yu said nothing else and sat down before taking some food from one of the bundles hanging on the suanni's body. He started eating alone.
"Why are you eating something like this?" The sky horse youth asked curiously, "Can't you afford better food?"
"..."
Su Yu said nothing. It wasn't like he would enjoy the food these horses enjoy.
"Su Yu, what's the point of opening so many acupoints? With your talent, you could have reached the Skysoar Realm long ago."
Su Yu smiled, "What about the Skysoar Realm? I've killed plenty of Skysoars."
The sky horse youth found himself completely speechless.
At this time, Xia Qing walked over and offered some food to Su Yu. He waved his hand and said, "Just eat your own food. It is not a good idea to eat the food of others while traveling in the wilderness. This is a basic rule of survival out here."
At that, the sky horse youth turned stiff. He was just about to accept the food offered.
Xia Qing smiled and stopped offering them food. After pushing some hair from her face aside, she asked, "Brother Su, are we near Nanyuan?"
"If everything proceeds smoothly, we should be able to arrive by tonight."
At the same time, Su Yu used voice transmission, "Remind the seniors to be careful. All our Mountainseas have been exposed. After seeing the number of Mountainseas we have, our enemies might have figured out something."
Xia Qing nodded. She said, "Brother Su, we're still in Great Xia's borders so our safety is still somewhat guaranteed. But that will no longer be the case after leaving Great Xia. We won't be required to leave Great Xia for this mission, right? I heard that Nanyuan is located near the border. Things will get troublesome if we have to go outside Great Xia."
"It depends." Seeing that everyone was listening to the conversation, Su Yu smiled and said, "Nanyuan is not too far from Great Ming. We probably won't need to leave Great Xia, but if the beast disturbance originates from Great Ming, we might need to cross the border for a bit. Of course, you are all free to stay in Nanyuan if you feel unsafe."