I Might Not Be Able to Keep a Low Profile Anymore

Having finished his announcements, Liu Hong departed shortly afterward. The rest of the morning was filled with classes taught by other instructors. Just like the intermediate class, these were foundational courses, though considerably deeper, delving into knowledge regarding willpower. *** Returning to the Research Center, Su Yu initially intended to check in with Bai Feng, but Bai Feng was once again conducting research in the third basement laboratory. After some thought, Su Yu decided not to disturb him. As for the detention area, Su Yu had no immediate plans to go there either. He would let those creatures stew for a while first. Visiting too frequently was not a good idea, and at the moment, he had no pressing demands for them. Su Yu was not overly concerned about being the advanced class monitor. There were not too many students. Even if it was run like the intermediate class, it would be far easier than before. Taking advantage of the remaining time, Su Yu headed up to the second floor and resumed his cultivation. *** With Su Yu reaching Stage Three Qianjun, the cultivation speed of the *War God Art* had gradually begun to slow down. Even with the aid of Ironwing Bird blood essence, he realized that after entering the Qianjun Realm, the cultivation of the Ironwing Bird's *Yuan Absorption Art* was falling short of expectations. It was nowhere near as fast as when he cultivated the *Body Strengthening Art* with Mountain-Breaking Ox blood essence back then. Moreover, cultivating the *Yuan Absorption Art* lacked that sensation of physical tempering. The *Body Strengthening Art* was different; whenever he cultivated it, he could distinctly feel his physical body growing stronger. Strictly speaking, at the same cultivation level, the effect of the *Yuan Absorption Art* was inferior even to the *War God Art*. After all, the *War God Art* was a peak Earth-rank cultivation method, whereas the *Yuan Absorption Art* was merely a peak Profound-rank method. The Ironwing Bird was merely a weak race, far inferior to the Mountain-Breaking Ox of the Top 100 races. *I need Mountain-Breaking Ox blood essence, preferably early-stage Wanshi Realm.* Su Yu reached a conclusion. Using Mountain-Breaking Ox blood essence, he could strengthen his body while cultivating at high speed—at least thirty percent faster than his current pace. The academy's prices were far too steep! He had to find that fellow Xia Huyou! Comparison made all the difference. Having cultivated with Mountain-Breaking Ox blood essence before, Su Yu was simply not satisfied with the Wanshi-level *Yuan Absorption Art*, even though it was still quite fast. *In the Qianjun Realm, Mountain-Breaking Ox blood essence works better. In the Wanshi Realm, perhaps the cultivation method of another race will suit me even more.* *In other words, every realm might have different racial methods best suited for me.* *The Mountain-Breaking Ox is the strongest in the Qianjun Realm, so what is the strongest in the Wanshi Realm?* This thought suddenly occurred to Su Yu. If he used different cultivation methods across different realms to temper his body, could he become the absolute strongest among his peers? *The Body Strengthening Art opens 126 apertures and is a mid-tier Heaven-rank cultivation method. I can feel where those apertures are located... In truth, I could cultivate the genuine Body Strengthening Art.* *Even without blood essence to unlock it, if I open all 126 apertures myself, I can cultivate it without relying on blood essence at all.* Over the past few days, Su Yu had been pondering these matters. The *War God Art* was good—exceptional, even. However, far too many people cultivated it, making it unremarkable. Every genius was cultivating it. Under such circumstances, Su Yu possessed no competitive edge over others. Meanwhile, prominent clans possessed their own exclusive ancestral cultivation methods. For instance, the Xia family's *Innumerable Saber Strikes of Heaven Cleaving*. As for transition issues, Su Yu was not particularly worried. For example, he could continuously unlock the *Body Strengthening Art* up to whatever realm of blood essence he could obtain. As long as he possessed Mountain-Breaking Ox blood essence at the Wanshi and Tengkong Realms, he could keep unlocking it progressively higher. *Switch cultivation methods?* The thought flashed through his mind, but he quickly shook his head and dismissed it. Switching methods meant sacrificing a great deal. For instance, accompanying martial techniques and willpower texts—once he switched methods, he would no longer be able to utilize them. *Unless...* An idea sparked in Su Yu's mind. Unless he opened an extensive array of apertures that encompassed the apertures of all these cultivation methods. That way, he could switch between any method at will. *You think I'm cultivating the War God Art?* *Wrong!* *I'm cultivating the Body Strengthening Art!* *You think I'm cultivating the Body Strengthening Art?* *Wrong again, I'm cultivating the Yuan Absorption Art!* *If I could truly open numerous apertures and encompass various methods, that would be formidable...* Su Yu envisioned it: whenever an enemy assumed he was practicing a certain method and formulated a countermeasure, he would inwardly sneer—sorry, you guessed wrong! *I could even deliberately reveal a flaw. If they thought destroying a certain aperture would cripple me, that would be hilarious. The ultimate way to catch people off guard!* Cultivation methods inevitably possessed flaws, more or less. A universal method like the *War God Art* had very few weaknesses—otherwise it would not have endured to this day—yet it still had vulnerabilities. Enemies had likely thoroughly researched them long ago. If Su Yu deliberately exposed a weakness for an opponent to exploit and target his aperture... he would give them a rude awakening! *Opening too many apertures wastes too much time and resources, though...* Su Yu soon shook his head with a touch of helplessness. Opening apertures required resources and time. Su Yu was certain he was not the only person to ever contemplate this! Yet the 108 apertures required for the Qianjun portion of the *War God Art* alone were already a massive handful for anyone. Who would have the spare capacity to practice other cultivation methods? By the time you finished cultivating another method, you would still be in the Qianjun Realm while others had already advanced to the Wanshi Realm. At that point, being able to catch people off guard would hardly matter. Everyone understood that opening more apertures strengthened one's yuan qi, even if they didn't form an integrated circulation system. But who would bother opening useless apertures for no reason? It required resources and time! *Still, I bet some people definitely open extra apertures!* He was certain that some individuals opened extra apertures. When two warriors at the same realm fought using the same cultivation method and martial techniques, the outcome boiled down to who possessed a deeper foundation. More opened apertures, greater combat experience, and sharper weapons were all part of that foundation. While he hadn't heard of such practices at the Civilization Academy, the War Academy certainly had people like that! Just as students in the Civilization Academy might outline extra divine characters. *The Stage Nine Qianjun geniuses of the Civilization Academy might not be limited to 108 apertures. They might have 120, or even 130!* No one had mentioned this to Su Yu; it was entirely his own deduction. He felt his reasoning was sound. *If time and conditions permit, I should open some extra apertures too. I already know quite a few cultivation methods.* Furthermore, Su Yu possessed an advantage far greater than anyone else: whenever he cultivated using blood essence, those apertures were temporarily unlocked automatically, giving him a crystal-clear understanding of their exact locations. Knowing those apertures and how their circulation operated was functionally equivalent to mastering the willpower texts of those methods. Step by step, Su Yu was unlocking the capabilities of his illustrated album. Borrowed power was, after all, only temporary. What was truly his own was authentic. If he could open the apertures and master those cultivation methods himself, why rely on consuming blood essence? At that moment, thoughts raced through Su Yu's mind. His training grew even more rigorous! He needed to reach Stage Nine Qianjun as soon as possible, open more apertures, and become an invincible powerhouse among Qianjun cultivators. Or advance quickly to the Wanshi Realm and become a Stage Nine Wanshi powerhouse. Reaching the Tengkong Realm would require substantial preparation, after all. *** Throughout September 5th, Su Yu never ran into Xia Huyou. It wasn't until September 6th, when he visited the Yangxing Garden, that he finally crossed paths with him. After just a few days, the fellow seemed to have gained even more weight. Spotting Su Yu, Xia Huyou rushed over as if greeting a long-lost relative. "Su Yu, I finally found you! You have no idea—I got scammed on the betting pool last time! The academy raided it, and I lost over ten thousand merit points..." Su Yu said speechlessly, "Do you take me for a fool who can't do math? The pool totaled twelve thousand merit points. I heard most people bet on Lin Yao to win, right? You didn't have to pay out on those, did you? At absolute most, you lost five thousand!" Xia Huyou gave an awkward chuckle. This guy was obsessively sharp with merit points, calculating it down to the exact figure. It was indeed roughly as Su Yu had calculated. "Even so, I suffered devastating losses!" Xia Huyou lamented with a mournful face. "The academy is ruthless. I'm drowning in debt right now..." "Save the sob story!" Too lazy to humor him, Su Yu walked up the stairs and said, "Call everyone to class. From now on, I'm leaving that duty to you." "What?" "I'm the advanced class monitor. Handing it to you—got a problem with that?" Xia Huyou blinked. "You're class monitor again?" "Yeah, that bastard Liu Hong stitched me up!" Su Yu didn't care to elaborate. Xia Huyou chuckled, not taking it too seriously, and smiled. "Fine by me. In truth, there's no need to round up the advanced class. Let them attend or skip as they please. If you badger them, they won't thank you; they'll just get annoyed. "As for Assistant Instructor Liu, don't worry about him. Advanced class students are all like this. Could he really make trouble for you over something like that?" Su Yu nodded slightly without saying much. After walking a few steps, he lowered his voice. "Can you procure a batch of Mountain-Breaking Ox blood essence for me?" "That's tough..." "Not Qianjun Realm—Wanshi Realm!" Su Yu stated bluntly, "Early-stage Wanshi, and it has to be cheap! Give me a fair price! We've done several deals already, totaling over a hundred merit points, and that figure will only grow. I'm only in the Qianjun Realm, Xia Huyou. Give me a fair price, and we can build a long-term partnership. Down the road, we can do deals worth thousands or tens of thousands!" "Wanshi Realm Mountain-Breaking Ox blood essence..." Xia Huyou frowned slightly. "To be honest, if you were asking for blood essence from the Top 100 races at the Tengkong Realm, that wouldn't be difficult! But Qianjun and Wanshi are truly hard to come by, and the price can't be brought down easily. "On the All-Heavens Battlefield, many legions belonging to the Top 100 races are actually vassal forces. You almost never encounter their true racial legions. Qianjun and Wanshi cultivators rarely appear in public view. Tengkong cultivators, on the other hand, are fairly common. You frequently encounter Tengkong and Lingyun cultivators from the Top 100 races..." Su Yu raised an eyebrow. "You can obtain blood essence from the Top 100 races at the Tengkong Realm and above?" "Sure can. You need some?" "No!" Su Yu had merely asked out of curiosity. At his current level, consuming Tengkong Realm blood essence would likely cause him to explode before the album could even absorb it. The album required time to absorb it, after all. He had calculated that at early-stage Qianjun, early-stage Wanshi blood essence was optimal. At mid-stage Qianjun, he could consider mid-stage Wanshi. A single major realm higher was sufficient! To consume Tengkong Realm blood essence, he would need to reach the Wanshi Realm at the very least. Xia Huyou didn't probe further, whispering, "I'll do my best to collect Wanshi Realm Mountain-Breaking Ox blood essence for you! The academy's official price is fifteen merit points per drop..." "Too expensive!" Su Yu cut him off directly. "Don't quote academy rates to me!" "Of course!" Xia Huyou beamed. "How about this: since I want your long-term business, I'll give you a genuine discount—thirteen merit points per drop. An absolute steal!" "Still too expensive!" "It really isn't!" Xia Huyou explained. "Blood essence doesn't come easy. Slaying a Wanshi Realm Mountain-Breaking Ox yields around ten drops at most. And the Mountain-Breaking Ox belongs to the Top 100 races! The blood essence requires extraction, transportation, preservation, labor costs... Charging you thirteen points a drop—is that really expensive? "The academy's prices are already considered cheap. If you try buying on the outside, it's far worse—you'd struggle to buy it even at twenty points a drop!" Xia Huyou said helplessly, "It's not like you've never bought things outside. The academy already subsidizes us. And our black market dealings, frankly speaking, are mostly just to offload goods that are inconvenient to sell through official channels, which is why the prices are lower." Su Yu asked in surprise, "Does the Xia family have goods that are inconvenient to sell?" Xia Huyou smiled. "Not the Xia family, but many others..." Seeing Su Yu's confusion, Xia Huyou explained, "Think about it: we aren't the only ones who can enter the All-Heavens Battlefield. Anyone can go! People head out, hunt powerhouses of the myriad races, refine blood essence on the spot, and bring it back. But according to the rules of the All-Heavens Battlefield, even if you slay enemies from the myriad races, your loot must be cataloged, and you have to pay taxes when returning from the front lines... "After all, maintaining the military requires those contributions. You're only able to roam freely on the All-Heavens Battlefield because the military's experts hold the line, giving you the chance to hunt your foes. Isn't that how it works?" Su Yu nodded slightly. He hadn't considered this before, but it made total sense now. His eyes flickered. "You mean some people sneak items back without paying taxes?" "Exactly!" Xia Huyou nodded, smiling. "More often than not, the military turns a blind eye to this. After all, life isn't easy for anyone, and hunting the myriad races is a good thing. The regulations are mainly aimed at major commercial firms, like our Xia family or the trading houses of other prefectures. "As for solo travelers, the military rarely bothers them. However, regulations forbid private sales. Using it for your own cultivation is fine, but if you sell it openly, do you think the commercial firms that paid taxes will sit by idly?" Now Su Yu understood completely, nodding once more! The rules were fairly accommodating: hunting the myriad races contributed to the war effort, so using the spoils for personal cultivation or giving them to family was perfectly fine. However, if you sold them publicly without paying taxes, your costs were far lower than those of the tax-paying commercial firms. If that went unchecked, the firms would naturally be displeased. Disrupting the market and driving down prices would also reduce the military's tax revenue, jeopardizing military stability—a colossal issue. Thus, the only outlet was the black market! It was illegal! If it got raided, you had no grounds to complain. The impact was limited, and the various prefectures carried out sweeps every now and then. Su Yu nodded to himself, harboring a hunch that the Xia family's presence in the black market wasn't merely about turning a profit. It was likely more about monitoring the flow of resources! Whenever solo travelers brought back rare, precious resources through unofficial channels, the Xia family would be the first to know. With that in mind, Su Yu asked, "There are solo travelers on the All-Heavens Battlefield?" "Of course!" Xia Huyou replied as if it were obvious. "Certainly! Not everyone is a soldier. As long as you submit an application and register, you can go to the All-Heavens Battlefield. Naturally, going alone carries an astronomical mortality rate! That place is chaotic, crawling with experts." Su Yu felt a slight stirring in his heart. If individuals could go alone, then what about his father...? Xia Huyou possessed his background file and could guess what he was thinking. "Don't even think about it right now. Wait until you reach the Tengkong Realm! If you roam alone below the Tengkong Realm, you won't even be able to run away. At least once you reach Tengkong, you can flee faster!" "Understood!" Su Yu nodded. "Wanshi Mountain-Breaking Ox blood essence might not necessarily be harder to come by than Qianjun. Ten merit points per drop!" "Su Yu, leave me some profit margin! Every time you do this, I make next to nothing..." Ignoring his whining, Su Yu calculated briefly and said, "If you're selling, I want sixty drops! Six hundred merit points! Xia Huyou, I'm only at Stage Three Qianjun, yet my total transactions with you are approaching a thousand merit points. Honestly, among Qianjun and Wanshi cultivators, how many trade in larger volumes with you than I do? "Those wealthier than me don't lack resources! "Those who lack resources don't have the money!" Su Yu smiled. "Speaking of the future, trading with me is far more worthwhile than dealing with those so-called prodigies. They have their clans and clan powerhouses; do they need to buy through you? The primary clientele of the black market ought to be people like me!" Xia Huyou chuckled. The logic was sound. Su Yu understood the situation clearly. Six hundred merit points was indeed a major transaction. The wealthy didn't need him, and the needy couldn't afford him. "Fine, Su Yu. I consider you a friend. Since you put it that way, I'll invest in the future in the hope of making big money down the road. For six hundred merit points, I'll find a way to get you sixty drops of blood essence!" Xia Huyou sighed. "Selling Wanshi at the Qianjun price—Su Yu, I'm truly taking a loss just to win your business!" "Thank you!" Su Yu let out a breath and expressed his gratitude. Even though Xia Huyou was a merchant, saving three hundred merit points in one go was no small sum. At one drop per day, that would last two months. Cultivating with Mountain-Breaking Ox blood essence continuously for two months should accelerate his progress significantly, right? *Ideally, I could cultivate in a secret realm...* Thinking of this, Su Yu asked, "What are the requirements to cultivate in the Yuan Qi Secret Realm?" "Simple. Over a hundred accumulated merit points, and a payment of one hundred merit points per session." Xia Huyou smiled. "Do you have over a hundred accumulated points?" "Yes!" Su Yu nodded. Placing first in the monthly exam contributed to accumulated merit, and the three merit points for class monitor counted as well. Genius stipends did not, of course—class monitor counted as a duty, the monthly exam as academic performance, while genius stipends were supplementary. Factoring all that in, Su Yu's accumulated merit points indeed exceeded one hundred. Su Yu suspected that very few among this year's freshmen had surpassed a hundred accumulated merit points. Sure enough, Xia Huyou looked envious upon hearing this. "You've already surpassed a hundred? You bastard... that was fast! Kaiyuan and Qianjun cultivators almost never have the opportunity to accumulate merit. I've only accumulated fifty-six points so far, so I can't enter secret realms. Barely anyone in our class can. "Xia Chan doesn't seem to have reached a hundred yet either, though after another month or two, once everyone gets their accumulated scores from the monthly exams, they should be able to go." Provided they scored well! Those who didn't make the top ten received no rewards, making accumulating merit points even harder. At this stage, Su Yu was likely the only freshman truly eligible to enter. That was primarily because he had earned forty-two merit points in one go during his journey to the academy—an exceptionally generous reward. Su Yu said nothing, his thoughts churning. He still possessed 346 merit points, sixty drops of Wanshi Realm Mountain-Breaking Ox blood essence on the way, and several drops of Ironwing Bird blood essence. Going to the Yuan Qi Secret Realm might not match the intensity of his initial breakthrough, but his cultivation speed certainly wouldn't be slow. A breakthrough was different—it was an explosive period of rapid growth. Even under normal circumstances, cultivating in the Yuan Qi Secret Realm was vastly faster than outside. *I just need to stay vigilant; it's best if no outsiders are around!* *I can cultivate there three times!* Su Yu was reluctant to waste too much time opening apertures, and the Yuan Qi Secret Realm was the best option! Spending that much money was painful, however! Over nine hundred merit points was an immense fortune! Su Yu was certain that even those prodigies would struggle to produce so many merit points. As for Chen Qi and his cohort, they had only produced that much because it was designated for their foundation establishment. A clan would support you once, but they wouldn't back you indefinitely! By now, Su Yu had gained some insight into prominent clans. They were thoroughly pragmatic! They might give you one thousand merit points for foundation establishment, but if you failed or your foundation ended up weak, not only would they withhold future sponsorships, they might cut off your living stipends entirely. When they were generous, they were immensely generous; when they were ruthless, they were equally heartless. *Spending so much without any steady income...* Su Yu felt a headache coming on! Just like his teacher, his lineage seemed destined to be impoverished. To think he had previously believed over a thousand merit points would be inexhaustible! *I need to fight my way onto the Top 100 Rankings as soon as possible, take first place in the monthly exams, keep serving as class monitor, and participate in every competition with rewards!* *Also, windfalls... it would be best if a few more came along!* *Liu Hong is wealthy and constantly targets me... He has students, and his younger brother is bound to be rich too...* At that moment, Su Yu thought of Liu Hong's faction. Not just them—there was also Zhou Pingsheng's faction and Principal Zhou's faction; none of them were good people. They had been bullying his lineage relentlessly! Looking back at Xia Huyou, he said, "Gather some intelligence for me. Everything related to Zhou Pingsheng, Liu Hong, Hu Wensheng, and their circle—primarily their students and disciples whose strength hasn't reached the Wanshi Realm, or who have only just entered Wanshi..." "Huh?" Xia Huyou paused, then grew slightly excited. "Planning a heist?" He added eagerly, "I have the perfect candidate! Xia Chan! She's Principal Zhou's student and naturally at odds with your lineage. She's strong and impossibly proud. If you challenge her, she definitely won't refuse, and she'll be fully confident of winning! Defeat her, and we strike it rich!" "..." Su Yu said speechlessly, "Aren't both of you from the Xia family?" "So what? The Xia family is massive, and I'm not from the direct line. Who cares about her!" "You dare open another betting pool?" "Why wouldn't I?" Xia Huyou grinned. "As long as we're careful, nothing will happen! Su Yu, are you confident? If you are, I can find you an opponent every single day. If you feel embarrassed about issuing challenges yourself, no problem—I'll have people manipulate public opinion to make them challenge you..." Xia Huyou chuckled slyly. "Their money is free for the taking! Su Yu, I told you before: in this academy, how can you establish yourself without being ruthless? Don't feel any guilt about plundering their resources... That's how academy rules work. Resources are concentrated in the hands of a select few geniuses. If you don't take them, others won't hesitate to take yours!" Su Yu exhaled. "Gather the intelligence first and hand it over later. I'll review it before deciding! Earlier, I used blood essence to unleash Wanshi-level combat strength, so they won't be careless." "True enough..." Xia Huyou felt a tinge of regret. What a pity. Su Yu's genuine strength was insufficient; relying on blood essence was still somewhat unreliable. The two chatted a bit longer before heading toward the classroom building together. As for the other classmates, no one walked in groups this time. There weren't many students to begin with, and many resided in the superior and special districts. Su Yu didn't bother playing the nice guy; those students were excessively aloof, and he might not even find them if he went looking. *My plans might need to change...* Along the way, Su Yu felt somewhat helpless. He might not be able to keep a low profile anymore. His strength simply wouldn't permit it! No, rather, his merit points wouldn't permit it!