Such Good Luck?

It was already afternoon by the time they returned to the research center. The academy's monthly examination was on the thirtieth, just the day after tomorrow. There were no classes that afternoon, and Su Yu was ready to head upstairs to continue cultivating the moment they got back. Even Bai Feng felt a trace of admiration for the kid's drive, but he called out to stop him nonetheless. "Don't push yourself too hard over the next couple of days. Make sure you get enough rest!" Bai Feng advised, "I checked your willpower earlier. You're not far from the Yangxing Realm now. The Yangxing Realm corresponds to the Wanshi Realm on the warrior path, but most Civilization Masters don't possess much combat power in the Yangxing Realm. In fact, they're quite frail—often weaker than a Qianjun..." "That's because during the Yangxing Realm, these students lack a great deal!" "A true Yangxing can fight a Wanshi, or even slay a Tengkong above their rank!" Bai Feng said seriously, "In the beginning, I took a hands-off approach with you. Once you reach the Yangxing Realm, you'll find yourself far busier than you are now, so cherish this time while you can! Treat the challenge as a bit of seasoning to spice things up. Relax a little, and don't take it too seriously." Su Yu nodded, not particularly concerned. How busy could it get? There were only twenty-four hours in a day; could he somehow make him work twenty-five? With that thought, another matter came to mind. "Teacher, you mentioned before that the War Academy and our Civilization Academy would hold some exchanges. Why haven't we heard anything about that?" "School just started, and everyone's cultivating. Who has the time for exchanges? At least give people some time to improve." Bai Feng chuckled. "As for exchanges, they have to wait until the geniuses over at the War Academy make progress and reach the Qianjun or even Wanshi Realm before initiating anything. What, can't wait to get beaten up? Don't think you're hot stuff just because you're at Qianjun Realm Stage Three. In previous years' exchanges, their side always sent Wanshi Realm warriors!" Su Yu clicked his tongue. "Wanshi? Those guys cultivate way too fast." "It's normal. They don't have to cultivate willpower. Geniuses enter the academy already at Qianjun; advancing to Wanshi after half a year is perfectly normal." "Understood." After exchanging a few more words, teacher and student each went about their own business. …… Three levels underground, inside the laboratory. Bai Feng sighed. Su Yu was progressing too fast. He had originally assumed Su Yu would need at least three months to reach the Yangxing Realm, but now it looked like ten days at most! Coincidentally, something had gone wrong on his senior brother's end again. A few of his plans were thrown into disarray! "That bastard Liu Hong, going into secluded cultivation at a time like this..." Cursing under his breath, Bai Feng made a call. A moment later, he changed his clothes and headed straight out of the lab. …… Cangshu Pavilion. One of the academy's vital grounds, no less important than the Secret Realm Area. On the top floor, inside a spacious office. Bai Feng pushed open the door and entered. Inside, a scholarly-looking man looked at him and said with a touch of concern, "Looking at you, have you been researching that stuff again these days? Aren't you afraid of working yourself to exhaustion?" "I'm fine!" Bai Feng replied casually. In front of Chen Yong, he was completely at ease. Back when he first enrolled, the first person to take notice of him had been Chen Yong, and he had nearly become Chen Yong's student. Once Bai Feng sat down and poured himself some tea with practiced ease, Chen Yong smiled, looking somewhat helpless. "Did you pawn off Teacher's things?" "No way!" Bai Feng denied it at first, but soon chuckled and said, "Yeah, I sold them. And truth be told, they fetched quite a bit! Senior Brother, how much is left on the deficit?" "Around five thousand merit points." "Still short that much?" Bai Feng frowned. After thinking for a moment, he said, "If all else fails, I'll make time to head to the All-Heavens Battlefield and kill a few more Tengkongs to make up the rest..." "Stop fooling around!" Chen Yong shook his head. "Even if you cover the shortfall, there's little hope of me keeping my position. What we consumed were original texts of the myriad races. They can make up any excuse—even if you pay back the merit points, the original texts are gone, and they can still find fault with that." Saying that, Chen Yong smiled. "That's why I didn't hand over the merit points you gave me before; I kept them all! While I'm still in this position, have that student of yours reach the Yangxing Realm as quickly as possible so he can view more original texts of the myriad races and outline divine characters. Since I'm going to lose the position anyway, we might as well take as much advantage of it as we can before I leave." "Senior Brother!" Bai Feng was unwilling to accept it. With a dark expression, he said, "By doing this, they're severing our very roots! Everyone knows what goes on with Cangshu Pavilion; they send their own people here too. If they really want to push it this far, making life miserable for us, then we won't let them have an easy time either! While you're still in charge, why not shut the doors entirely and keep their people out too!" "Stop talking nonsense!" Chen Yong scolded him. "The academy's purpose is to nurture geniuses. If you bar geniuses from entering, you disrupt their cultivation, and the loss falls upon the entire academy, the whole Great Xia Prefecture, and even the power of the human race..." Bai Feng said angrily, "The prosperous should aid the world, but we can barely protect ourselves right now—why should we care about them? It's not that I'm selfish; they aren't leaving us any way out! They're pushing us too far! If a fuss is going to be made, let's make it huge! As if we're afraid of them!" Chen Yong said softly, "Make a fuss? How? The Single Divine Character Faction has countless geniuses and experts. What about us? Five people! If it were you, choosing between the Single Divine Character Faction and the Multiple Divine Characters Faction, who would you choose?" "Is that guy surnamed Wan really going to do nothing?" Chen Yong chuckled softly. "I understand Principal Wan's thinking. If the Multiple Divine Characters Faction can struggle and survive, then there is a reason for it to exist. If it is eliminated, survival of the fittest dictates that the Multiple Divine Characters Faction truly is no longer suited for the academy!" "Bullshit!" Bai Feng cursed under his breath, deeply indignant. After a long pause, he spoke: "Originally, it wouldn't have been appropriate for me to bring this up now. But since things have come to this, there's no reason to hold back. Su Yu is progressing very quickly and will soon reach the Yangxing Realm. Once he enters the Yangxing Realm, I plan to have him formally begin cultivating multiple divine characters..." "Almost at Yangxing?" Chen Yong looked surprised. He quickly said, "Wasn't he just..." "That kid spends all day and night in the fragment chamber, cultivating like his life depends on it. His progress has been rapid." Bai Feng explained, then added, "What I'm fretting over now is which branch he should pursue. Should he cultivate the Dragon Slaying Technique like me, or cultivate both offense and defense like Teacher..." Chen Yong smiled. "Why can't he cultivate the power of defense like me?" "..." Bai Feng glanced at him, unwilling to deliver a direct blow. Only after a pause did he say, "Well... I think knowing how to fight is better. Being a turtle... *cough*, cultivating a Defense Technique dampens morale too much." Chen Yong glared at him. This kid just loved running his mouth! "Ask him for his own opinion; don't decide for him," Chen Yong said. "Each has its pros and cons. Take you, for example. You cultivate the Dragon Slaying Technique—your offensive methods are first-rate, but your other skills are lacking. If you were at the same stage as me, and you failed to overcome me in three strikes, I would surely kill you!" Bai Feng said helplessly, "Well, yeah. I can't break that turtle shell of yours, Senior Brother..." "Say that again?" Chen Yong glared at him. Bai Feng gave a dry laugh and quickly said, "Fine, I'll ask him when the time comes! But truthfully, I still hope he takes my path. In this day and age, what's the use of having strong defense? Look at you, Senior Brother—completely passive. Unless someone attacks you first, your hits are like tickles..." "Shut up!" Chen Yong snapped in mild annoyance, then continued, "You came looking for me because you want him to come to Cangshu Pavilion, right? No problem. Once he reaches the Yangxing Realm, send him over. Consuming a few more original texts won't make a difference." "That's great. I was worried earlier." Bai Feng breathed a sigh of relief, though he still felt resentful. His senior brother spoke lightly, but it looked as if he had already made up his mind to forfeit the post of Chief Curator. At this thought, Bai Feng asked, "How is Wu Jia?" "She's doing all right. Her recovery is going well; she should be mostly healed in about three months. It's just delayed her cultivation a bit..." "They've gone too far!" Bai Feng fumed. "Delaying three months during the golden period of cultivation! The students on the Top 100 Rankings will have advanced significantly, while Wu Jia remains stagnant. Even once she recovers, fighting her way back up will be extraordinarily difficult!" With that, his anger flared further. "Back when we fought them, I defeated their people many times. In most cases, I only inflicted light injuries unless I truly couldn't hold back. Yet the way they treat us now, they strike with heavy hands right out of the gate. Is this even competition anymore?" Shedding his usual easygoing demeanor, Bai Feng said irritably, "What are they trying to do? Wipe us out completely?" Chen Yong pressed his hand down, motioning for him to calm down for a moment. Once Bai Feng sat back down, Chen Yong said, "This matter... is also partly your fault for standing out too much! After enduring for so many years, why did you have to crush Hu Wensheng in a single strike this time, making them feel the pressure..." Bai Feng gritted his teeth. "Yes, I was impulsive! But my original intention was to show Su Yu that our Multiple Divine Characters Faction is powerful. Otherwise, that kid might really have run off to the Forging faction... We haven't had a new recruit in years! I was just recruiting one newcomer. If they hadn't pushed us, would we have needed to show off our strength to the outside world?" Chen Yong didn't say much until he finished. Then he said, "The opponent severely injured Jiajia because they couldn't hold back either. Jiajia is stubborn and refused to concede defeat, as you well know. When she was gravely injured under those circumstances, we had no room to complain." "Senior Brother, could you not be so soft?" Bai Feng said in exasperation, "You always find excuses for them. Are you on our side or theirs? That's just how they are—the softer you are, the more they bully you! I know the Multiple Divine Characters Faction isn't suited for widespread adoption, but is it really so difficult to let a few monstrous talents or top-high recruits join?" "They're just afraid. Afraid that if we rise again, they'll lose their power, lose their positions, and lose their current glory!" Bai Feng snorted. "The struggle nowadays hasn't been pure for a long time! Back then, they could grandly claim it was for the human race, for the Great Xia Prefecture, for the academy. Now... bullshit!" With that, he added, "Back in Grandmaster's time, weren't there plenty of cultivators in the Multiple Divine Characters Faction? Sure, most didn't achieve much and switched to the Single Divine Character Faction, but you can't deny that we were once glorious and mighty! If Grandmaster and several veteran elders hadn't fallen back then, would things ever have come to this?" "We aren't like Martial Uncle either..." Bai Feng brought up Liu Wenyan and sighed. "Martial Uncle's generation was ruined because their pursuit was different—they aimed higher. If you only look at the Lingyun and Shanhai Realms, we are clearly stronger, and we can still step into those realms..." The generation of Liu Wenyan had been crippled not because they cultivated too many divine characters. "As long as we don't take the path Martial Uncle and the others walked and simply tread the multiple divine characters path, it's no different from back then. How is that holding students back?" Bai Feng was still indignant. "The decline of the Multiple Divine Characters Faction was an accident, not an inevitability! As long as the entry threshold is set higher, ordinary students don't have to cultivate multiple divine characters anyway. Just because we're stronger at the same realm, shouldn't people even be allowed to learn about it?" He found it laughable! That was the very excuse the Single Divine Character Faction used to suppress them now! Claiming that being too strong would make the academy's students restless and unsettled! Nonsense! Bai Feng had always thought that excuse was utter bullshit! Of course, the Single Divine Character Faction had grounds to say so. Fifty years ago served as clear proof. They constantly cited that generation, but in truth, it had merely been a special case. Those people back then were just too dazzling! Indeed, a large number of students, dazzled by their brilliance, yearned to follow in their footsteps and wasted their prime years of cultivation. Chen Yong pressed his hand down once more. "Don't get worked up! Getting agitated won't change anything. When Master reaches beyond Shanhai, or when I step into the Shanhai Realm, things will naturally shift." "And how long will that take?" Bai Feng said gloomily. "Master has barely made any progress these past few years, and the same goes for you!" Chen Yong chuckled and dropped the subject, changing the topic: "I really didn't expect Su Yu to be approaching the Yangxing Realm so quickly. In the Yangxing Realm, our lineage requires robust, profound willpower to nurture more divine characters without burdening the sea of will..." After musing for a moment, a translucent jade bone appeared in Chen Yong's hand. "Give this to him for me. Consider it a meeting gift from his martial uncle!" "An Annihilation Divine Beast skull?" Staring at the small jade bone, Bai Feng was shocked. "Senior Brother, have you lost your mind? Giving this to Su Yu? Are you crazy?! Master gave this to you to celebrate your breakthrough into the Lingyun Realm..." "It's of little use to me if I keep it." Chen Yong smiled gently. "Originally, I intended to leave it for Jiajia, but... I feel she won't need it." Chen Yong sighed. "Jiajia is talented. Outlining ten divine characters to enter the Tengkong Realm is only a matter of time for her. But beyond that... it would be difficult! The burden on her sea of will won't be too heavy; she can handle it." "As for Su Yu, reaching Yangxing this quickly, and considering you said he outlined a divine character in a single day... he might outline more divine characters in the Yangxing Realm. With this, the burden will be lighter and much safer." "Senior Brother!" Bai Feng felt conflicted, but thinking of that student of his, who was genuinely so talented, he gritted his teeth and accepted the small, round jade bone. "Then I'll take it! That little bastard has no idea how much we've spent on him..." After cursing Su Yu, Bai Feng took a deep breath. "I'll push him to reach Yangxing as soon as possible, and then... see if he can make it onto the Top 100 Rankings before the end of the year. Ideally, he'll sweep through those bastards from that faction and help Jiajia fight her way back in. That way, Senior Brother won't have to face a second evaluation..." Chen Yong smiled. "Don't force him. Cultivation isn't achieved overnight, and damaging his foundation isn't worth it. Even if I truly lose the position, it doesn't matter. We haven't planned on taking in new people these past few years anyway. Without new students, Cangshu Pavilion has limited impact on us." "Understood!" Bai Feng said no more and stood up. "Then I'll be going. By the way, my research is on the right track. If you have free time, Senior Brother, you can come take a look. Don't stay cooped up here all day. This damn place... just looking at it annoys me!" Though Cangshu Pavilion was good, it didn't belong to them. Having to stare all day at those original texts of the myriad races without being allowed to read them made Bai Feng quite sick of the place. "Understood. Take care of yourself, and don't neglect your cultivation." "Got it!" Bai Feng turned and left. After he left, Chen Yong let out a sigh. At times... he even wanted to shut down Master's research institute! Last time the academy decided to shut down the institute... he had actually supported it. Bai Feng was stubborn to a fault. Because of this research institute, his cultivation had already suffered severely. Now that Master wasn't around, he had buried himself in it completely. If this continued, by the time Liu Hong and his peers reached Lingyun, Bai Feng might still be stuck in Tengkong. "If this goes on, the one you're holding back is yourself!" With a sigh, Chen Yong shook his head, hoping Bai Feng's student wouldn't turn out like him. While research was important and most Civilization Masters engaged in research, delving into something for decades without results was too much of a waste of his junior brother's talent. …… August 29th. The day before the monthly exam. Su Yu's willpower had advanced once again, reaching 49% fullness degree—just a single step away from the Yangxing Realm. He still hadn't managed to step into the Yangxing Realm before the monthly exam, yet such a rate of progress was already shocking! In the single month since entering the academy, Su Yu had gone from under 30% fullness degree to the threshold of the Yangxing Realm in the blink of an eye. This speed was terrifying enough! His physical cultivation had even reached Qianjun Realm Stage Three, which would put him among the very top tier even at a War Academy. On this day, Su Yu ran into Liu Hong, whom he hadn't seen in a while. They met on the road! "Greetings, Teacher Liu!" Though Su Yu secretly ground his teeth in hatred toward Liu Hong, he still had some sense when meeting him face-to-face. He couldn't afford to provoke Liu Hong, so he had to show proper respect. Liu Hong saw Su Yu and smiled, his grin as bright as ever. Glancing at Su Yu, noticing the yuanqi fluctuations around him, Liu Hong's eyes flickered. *He stepped into Qianjun!* *Fast!* No wonder Bai Feng valued him; the kid was indeed a genius. But the more talented, the better! Before Su Yu demonstrated his value and proved his monstrous talent, suppressing him... served no purpose, because others wouldn't know how remarkable he was. Before this, he had even planned to let Su Yu grow stronger. Now, Su Yu was advancing rapidly all on his own, which aligned perfectly with his expectations. Liu Hong halted his steps, and Su Yu had no choice but to stop as well. Looking at Su Yu, Liu Hong chuckled softly. "Not bad. I heard you and Lin Yao have agreed to a match. Is that true?" "Yes." Su Yu didn't deny it; there was no denying it anyway. Yet in his heart, he wondered: *What, are you going to stand up for your student? Did you see that I've reached Qianjun and want to put a stop to it?* Liu Hong had no such intention at all. Without defeating Lin Yao, Su Yu was merely a nobody. What would be worth suppressing? Even Lin Yao was hardly worth mentioning! Liu Hong's thoughts turned, and the next moment, he said with a mild smile, "Disputes between students have nothing to do with us instructors, so long as no lines are crossed. However... I just wanted to remind you not to get involved in such meaningless competition." Liu Hong shook his head. "You are all too weak. Right now, it's best to keep your head down and develop quietly. Don't be like your senior sister and get involved prematurely. Your senior sister being severely injured actually stems from you..." Su Yu frowned. Liu Hong smiled faintly. "Just an observation, that's all. Bai Feng went out of his way for your sake and put in quite a bit of effort. Unfortunately, it dragged your senior sister into it. Defeating Hu Wensheng slapped quite a few people in the face. Bai Feng is hard to deal with in the Tengkong Realm, your martial uncle is in the Lingyun Realm after all, and you are far too weak... As it happened, your senior sister was on the Top 100 Rankings. If they didn't vent their anger on her, who else could they target?" Liu Hong shook his head. "Bai Feng was rather selfish too. To secure that Mountain-Breaking Ox blood essence for you and make you recognize the strength of the Multiple Divine Characters Faction, he ended up screwing over his senior brother and your senior sister..." Su Yu's emotions surged. Forcing down the urge to smash Liu Hong's face in, he muttered in a low voice, "Teacher, I don't understand why you're telling me this!" "You don't understand?" Liu Hong chuckled. "You don't need to understand. I only want to tell you that your little tricks might work against Lin Yao, but against those students on the Top 100 Rankings... they fall far short! I simply can't be bothered to participate in the squabbles of people like you; I treat it as entertainment, which is why I don't care about any of it." "The Qianjun Realm... isn't bad. But among the geniuses of this class, someone has already stepped into Qianjun Realm Stage Seven. You are still far behind." Liu Hong remained all smiles. "Advise your teacher to keep a low profile, and that goes for yourself as well. Defeating Lin Yao won't accomplish anything anyway—it will only bring you bigger trouble. If I were you... losing to Lin Yao right now would be better. That way, hardly anyone would pay attention to you anymore." Su Yu clenched his fists, saying nothing! Liu Hong continued, "Worried they'll demand the Mountain-Breaking Ox blood essence from you? Don't worry, I'll advise Lin Yao to let it go. Your faction probably can't produce a second portion of Mountain-Breaking Ox blood essence anyway. Save those merit points to buy your senior sister some healing medicine." He spoke with utter kindness, as if taking Su Yu's every interest to heart. Yet the more Su Yu listened, the more stifled and humiliated he felt! Never before had he felt more aggrieved than in this very moment! Su Yu looked up at Liu Hong, glaring at that smiling face, wanting nothing more than to smash it to pieces with a single punch! "Teacher Liu! I... won't lose!" *Not only will I not lose, I will make you lose face!* *I will crush your student decisively and let you see that strength is strength, and trash is trash!* At this moment, he could hardly endure it any longer. Liu Hong's words pricked him again and again, stirring a storm within his chest. Liu Hong laughed, his smile radiant. "You kids simply refuse to listen to good advice. Your teacher has only good intentions, so don't always assume I'm trying to harm you. I've heard that you even had some friction with Chen Qi... He's at Qianjun Realm Stage Seven, and his Yangxing Realm cultivation is at the middle-to-late stage. Without the strength of the Wanshi Realm, you'll likely be brutally tormented and humiliated by him..." "Sigh, you've only just entered Qianjun. How could you possibly match him?" Shaking his head, Liu Hong walked away, sighing as he went, "If you truly want to participate in the academy's disputes, without the strength of the Top 100 Rankings, you simply don't qualify! You... are far too far behind, unless..." Su Yu couldn't hear the rest clearly. Vaguely, he caught Liu Hong mumbling to himself: "...unless you hit dog-shit luck and pick up that lost Sky-Breaking Slash in that dump of a library..." Su Yu blinked! *Sky-Breaking Slash?* *What on earth is that?* *From Liu Hong's tone, if I get it, there's hope of breaking into the Top 100?* *When in doubt, ask Xia Huyou!* …… After searching for a long while, Su Yu finally found Xia Huyou. Hearing his question, Xia Huyou answered right away, "You don't even know that? It's the martial technique paired with the War God Art!" "A paired method?" "A martial technique?" Su Yu was taken aback and asked, "Is Sky-Breaking Slash really formidable?" Xia Huyou said speechlessly, "Martial techniques depend on how you cultivate them—it depends on what level you master them to. How can you say whether it's formidable or not? But speaking of Sky-Breaking Slash, that reminds me of something. Not long ago during the black market raid, someone lost a Sky-Breaking Slash willpower text. Tsk tsk..." Xia Huyou chuckled. "Word is it was penned personally by a senior researcher from Jiutian Academy—a willpower text written by a Shanhai Realm expert himself! It was originally meant to be sold to those few monstrous geniuses this year, with the black market asking price going as high as 1,500 merit points. But during the raid, when the seller was on the run, who knows where he casually ditched it... They've been searching all over the place lately, and the academy has been looking for it too. It's hilarious!" "..." Su Yu was stunned. "Personally written... by someone in the Shanhai Realm?" "Yeah!" Xia Huyou sighed. "Many of the willpower texts sold by the academy were written by Tengkongs or Lingyuns. Ones truly written by a Shanhai Realm expert are far too rare! Demand vastly exceeds supply! Once one surfaces, even Lingyun experts might scramble to buy it. After all, insights vary across different realms." "That senior researcher from Jiutian Academy wrote one on a sudden whim for reasons unknown, and it was reserved well in advance and smuggled over to our side. Heh, and then the raid hit right away..." "Where was it dropped?" Xia Huyou replied exasperatedly, "How would I know? If I knew, I'd have gone looking for it myself! The academy is huge, and the Academy Guards were in hot pursuit that day. Who knows where it ended up!" "Has it still not been found?" "Nope!" Xia Huyou added, "Don't get any ideas. It's hard to say whether it's even real or fake. I even suspect someone pocketed it and claimed it was lost on purpose. After all, it's black market merchandise. If someone took it for themselves and used it secretly in private, no one would ever know!" Su Yu blinked. Liu Hong... Liu Hong had muttered that it was in the library? Was that real or fake? How did he know? Su Yu couldn't help asking, "Who was the seller peddling this willpower text?" "Why, looking to make a connection?" "Just asking casually!" Xia Huyou eyed him suspiciously and asked curiously, "Did you hear some rumors and want to gloat? Do you know it was Liu Hong's people who lost it?" "..." Indeed! Su Yu had just been wondering how Liu Hong knew where it was lost. Turns out it was his own people who lost it! *That guy... knows it was lost in the library, but hasn't found it yet?* The thought surged in Su Yu's mind. The library was not Cangshu Pavilion. The library was a place where ordinary books or discarded, useless willpower texts were stored. In that case, could that thing still be in the library? As for Liu Hong's final mutterings, his voice had been exceedingly faint. If Su Yu hadn't been paying close attention, he wouldn't have heard it at all. So, had Liu Hong unconsciously leaked the secret? "The library..." Su Yu's eyes gleamed brightly! A willpower text worth 1,500 merit points! More importantly, it would save him the merit points required to buy the paired martial technique, which itself was worth 200 merit points! No, the ultimate question was: did it only contain the Qianjun Realm portion? If it contained more than Qianjun—including Wanshi or even Tengkong... wouldn't he strike it rich? At that moment, Su Yu wished he could sprint straight to the library! However, seeing Xia Huyou staring at him with suspicion, Su Yu instantly suppressed his impulse and smiled. "So that's how it is. No wonder I heard my teacher say Liu Hong ran into some bad luck recently. Good... I'll take my leave first!" Su Yu left with feigned calm. Xia Huyou stared at his retreating back, scratching his head. "Could this guy know something?" "Could it be... he knows where that willpower text is?" Xia Huyou scratched his head again. *That can't be. Where would this guy get such good luck?* *I don't believe it. I was the one who just told him the news!*