Stage Four Qianjun

Going to class during the day, no one came looking for trouble. It hadn't been long since enrollment, and most students were still in a period of intense cultivation. Only when people ran into minor bottlenecks or began vying for the Top 100 Rankings would the advanced class truly get lively. As for the divine character competition Liu Hong had mentioned, it was indeed just a minor contest. It wasn't any kind of formal tournament, merely an incentive set up by the academy. There was still some time before the competition, so Su Yu was in no rush. He would wait until Bai Feng came out before asking about it. *** Xia Huyou's efficiency was remarkably swift. Su Yu had spoken to him on the sixth; by the eighth, the sixty drops of Mountain-Breaking Ox blood essence were in his hands. Xia Huyou had even thrown in an information dossier free of charge. The guy couldn't wait for Su Yu to stir up some trouble. Wen Tan Research Center. Only now did Su Yu realize just how powerful the Single Divine Character Faction truly was! The faction's current leader was Zhou Mingren, a Stage Nine Shanhai expert. Besides Zhou Mingren, there were several other Shanhai Realm experts. Of course, in practice, these powerhouses no longer involved themselves much with daily matters. The person currently handling internal academy affairs for Zhou Mingren's lineage was not Zhou Mingren himself, but a Shanhai Realm cultivator named Zheng Yuming. Zheng Yuming, Stage One Shanhai. Senior researcher, newly promoted elder of Heart Cultivation Pavilion, Zhou Mingren's eldest disciple, and branch head of the Single Divine Character Faction... This was the first time Su Yu learned there was such a title as branch head. It wasn't an official title, but rather the term used privately within each lineage for the person in charge. The Multiple Divine Characters Faction also had a branch head—not Hong Tan, but Chen Yong. People like Hong Tan had generally moved beyond that level and rarely meddled in mundane matters. The primary duty of a branch head was to handle miscellaneous affairs, acting essentially like a head steward. In the Single Divine Character Faction, Zheng Yuming was that branch head. Naturally, now that he had reached the Shanhai Realm and become an elder, in a few years he would likely step down as branch head to focus entirely on his duties as an elder. "Zhou Mingren has six direct disciples. Zheng Yuming, Shanhai Realm." "Hu Wensheng, Stage Nine Tengkong." "Xia Chan, Stage Seven Qianjun." Aside from those three, there was another one Su Yu knew: "Zhou Pingsheng, Stage Seven Lingyun." Six direct disciples: four remained at the academy. Of the other two, one had already fallen, while the other was serving in the Demon Suppression Army and rarely returned to the academy, so Su Yu didn't pay much attention to him. Xia Chan went without saying—newly admitted, with no small status. In truth, Zhou Mingren hadn't taken any students for many years; Hu Wensheng had been the last student he accepted, until Xia Chan came along. Su Yu had originally assumed Liu Hong was Zhou Mingren's student, but it turned out he wasn't. Liu Hong was the student of another elder in the Single Divine Character Faction. However, that elder's lifespan was nearing its end, and he rarely showed his face these days. Ever since accepting Liu Hong, he hadn't appeared in the academy for nearly five or six years, and the specifics were unknown. Thus, while Liu Hong was a genius of the Single Divine Character Faction, he wasn't Zhou Mingren's direct disciple. Their generation was centered on Hu Wensheng. "Zhou Mingren's generation consists mainly of Shanhai Realm cultivators." "His direct disciples span various cultivation realms." "Of the four direct disciples still at the academy, all except Xia Chan have taken students. Between the three of them, their quotas are completely full." Academy regulations stipulated that assistant researchers could take only two students, primary researchers four, intermediate researchers six, and senior researchers had no limit. Previously, Zheng Yuming had only been an intermediate researcher. Like Zhou Pingsheng, both had six students. Hu Wensheng had two students, of whom Chen Qi was just one. Thus, in the third generation of direct lineage, they only had fourteen disciples. Among them, eight had not yet reached the Tengkong Realm, while the other six were already in Tengkong. After all, Zheng Yuming had already reached Shanhai, and Zhou Pingsheng was at Stage Seven Lingyun. Su Yu focused his attention on these eight. Excluding Chen Qi, seven remained. Lin Yao didn't count; he was Liu Hong's student, not part of Zhou Mingren's direct lineage. "Seven people..." Seven who hadn't reached Tengkong. And among them, four were actually on the Top 100 Rankings! Tens of thousands of students in the academy hadn't reached Tengkong, yet the Top 100 Rankings held only a hundred spots. For Zhou Mingren's lineage alone to claim four spots out of eight—a fifty percent ratio—was genuinely terrifying! Reading further, Su Yu discovered he had still underestimated them! It wasn't that the remaining three hadn't made the rankings; rather... they were over thirty years old! They had likely been on the list before and had aged out! Because the Top 100 Rankings was reserved exclusively for students under thirty. "They only recruit geniuses, and they have abundant resources, so it makes sense. As for Chen Qi... among these eight, he's the worst off, and his talent was only graded mid-high." At this moment, Su Yu suddenly understood Chen Qi's restless anxiety. Chen Qi had wanted to use the Mountain-Breaking Ox blood essence for foundation establishment, to become stronger and fight his way into the Top 100 Rankings to earn more recognition. In their generation, including Chen Qi, there were only five direct disciples under thirty. Four had made the Top 100 Rankings, and only Chen Qi hadn't! How could he not be anxious? "Truly formidable!" Su Yu had originally wanted to deal them a blow, but he realized he had genuinely underestimated this faction. Their strength was intimidating. Eight third-generation students below Tengkong, and Chen Qi turned out to be the absolute bottom feeder, the only one not on the rankings. And that was just Zhou Mingren's branch. On their side, there were multiple Shanhai Realm masters. Masters teaching disciples, disciples teaching their own disciples—it was impossible to count how many people they actually had. "Huang Qifeng!" Su Yu's gaze suddenly caught a name, and his expression darkened. "Huang Qifeng, twenty-three years old, five years at the academy, ranked seventy-ninth on the Top 100 Rankings. One month ago, defeated Wu Jia to claim her spot." In just a single line, Su Yu's expression turned grim! It was him! The last time he went to the Cangshu Pavilion, he had heard that heart-wrenching coughing from the senior sister he had never met. Competition for the Top 100 Rankings naturally involved fighting. Inflicting such severe injuries, however, was abnormal. Unable to hold back... was a convenient excuse. But was Huang Qifeng truly unable to hold back? Su Yu couldn't say for sure, but his assessment was that ninety-nine times out of a hundred, that wasn't the case! "Stage Nine Qianjun, ninety-five percent willpower fullness. Primary divine character: Demon Race 'Fight' divine character, focused on combat, exceptionally fierce and brave in battle!" This was the intelligence Xia Huyou had gathered. Powerful. At Stage Nine Qianjun combined with a divine character, this guy was stronger than an ordinary Stage Two or Three Wanshi. "Elder Zheng Yuming's closed-door disciple!" Closed-door disciple! Su Yu understood what that meant: the final disciple. Of course, it was also possible that back when intermediate researchers could only take six students, Huang Qifeng was Zheng Yuming's sixth student, which also qualified him to be called a closed-door disciple. "Huang Qifeng..." Su Yu stared at the name for a long time. This was the guy who had severely injured his senior sister. His martial uncle wore a gloomy frown, and his teacher was filled with indignation, yet neither could do anything to him. The academy's rules stood in the way, preventing them from retaliating. If not for the constraints of those rules, students wouldn't enjoy such safety; while rules restrained others, they restrained them as well. Unfortunately, the Multiple Divine Characters Faction truly had no way to touch him. He hadn't reached Tengkong, Wu Jia was severely wounded, and Su Yu had only just enrolled. Who could do anything to him? "Bastard!" Su Yu cursed under his breath. I'll remember you! Just you wait! Defeating Wu Jia would have been one thing—inferior skill was part of competing for a spot on the Top 100 Rankings, and disputes were completely normal. But leaving Wu Jia so gravely injured that she needed three months to recover was no light wound. The slash Su Yu had delivered to Chen Qi last time, paired with pills, would take Chen Qi three days at most to recover. Su Yu had completely crushed Chen Qi. Even then, it was merely three days. Three months... just how grievous a wound was that? Su Yu took a deep breath and packed his things. "Blood essence, the War God Art willpower text, the Sky-Breaking Slash willpower text..." Having packed these essential items, he considered for a moment and also brought along his two Qianjun Realm original racial texts, then walked out of the Research Center. He had originally thought he could pick on a few weaker ones in that lineage. As it turned out... he had thought too far ahead. The weakest one, Chen Qi, had already been thoroughly battered by him. Unless he went looking for trouble with Liu Hong's other disciple, he was simply no match for the rest of them. Even with Wanshi Realm blood essence, it wouldn't be enough! *** Outside, darkness had already fallen. This was the first time Su Yu had wandered the campus at night. His destination: the Secret Realm Area! There were too many people during the day, and Su Yu didn't want distractions. In the dead of night, there shouldn't be anyone, right? In the Secret Realm Area, the garrison guards were on watch. Su Yu swiped his card, reported his intended secret realm, and was granted entry. This time, he came alone. In the distance, the small cottage of the Yuan Qi Secret Realm drew near. Just as Su Yu reached the cottage door, someone walked out from inside. Seeing Su Yu, the person froze slightly and spoke: "Su Yu?" Hearing the voice, Su Yu looked up, equally surprised. "Chen Qi?" He hadn't expected to run into Chen Qi here! Enemies truly crossed paths wherever they went! Chen Qi's face looked rather gloomy. Glancing at Su Yu, he was utterly surprised. Why was this guy here? Hadn't he just broken through? Why was he back in the Secret Realm Area already! Chen Qi's gaze wavered as he swept his eyes over Su Yu, saying in a sullen tone, "A genius... really is different, huh? Looks like you're heading into the Yuan Qi Secret Realm to cultivate?" Su Yu didn't take the bait, making to walk inside on his own. Seeing him head inside, Chen Qi said faintly, "Su Yu, you injured me, and I lost the Mountain-Breaking Ox blood essence, but none of that really matters! The faster you progress, the sooner your bad luck will arrive!" "You want to break into the Top 100 Rankings?" "Once you actually get onto the rankings, that's when your misfortune truly begins!" "Academy rules dictate that Top 100 students cannot take the initiative to challenge other students. But once both parties are on the rankings, challenges can be issued at will..." Su Yu glanced back at him, frowning slightly. "What do you mean?" Chen Qi said coldly, "Su Yu, progressing too quickly isn't necessarily a good thing! Unless... you're confident you can crush certain people. Otherwise... just wait to suffer the same fate as Wu Jia!" Su Yu's brow furrowed, his voice dropping. "Chen Qi, are you threatening me?" "Threatening you?" Chen Qi laughed. "Not a threat. Why would I threaten you? It's completely pointless! My items are gone, my merit points are lost, and in the short term, there's no way I can break into the Top 100. Why would I threaten you?" Chen Qi laughed with a touch of malice. "I only hope... you don't go challenging the Top 100 Rankings so soon! If you lose... then what does that make me, Chen Qi? A useless piece of trash? An incompetent fool? Or... absolute scum!" "Su Yu, you don't understand. You really don't!" "Right now, I want you to climb higher, to have a smoother path, to defeat some of those bastards and tread over them! Not to defeat me only to get crushed immediately after—because that would only prove that I, Chen Qi, am a genuine failure and mediocrity!" Chen Qi said in an eerie voice, "If you lose so quickly and so miserably... I will end up in a far worse state than you! Right now, I actually hope you can trample some of those bastards underfoot. That way, it will only prove that you, Su Yu, are strong—not that I, Chen Qi, am useless." Hearing this, Su Yu paused. There's such a logic? Chen Qi added in a low voice, "When you challenge the Top 100 Rankings, watch your back. Some of those guys have far more power than meets the eye. Wu Jia climbed up there on pure ability and was even preparing to challenge students in the top sixty. And yet... she was defeated so horribly. Do you really think that was an accident?" "Some people exist specifically to snipe geniuses!" "Don't lose too quickly..." Chen Qi's faint laughter echoed as he walked away into the distance. Running into Su Yu here had been unexpected for him as well. Surprise aside, he also knew Su Yu was entering the secret realm to cultivate and increase his strength. At Su Yu's level, his ultimate goal was naturally the Top 100 Rankings. If Su Yu lost... Chen Qi's eyes darkened. If Su Yu lost, it would prove nothing—Su Yu was young, and losing wouldn't ruin him. But for Chen Qi... he would be nailed to the pillar of shame forever! To be defeated so utterly and decisively, only for Su Yu to be casually crushed by someone else—what would that say about him? In a large faction with many members, internal conflict was inevitable. And even more severe! There were faction resources, and everyone was eligible to claim them. Who would get them, and who wouldn't? It certainly wouldn't be Chen Qi! A guy who had folded so easily to Su Yu—a guy who lost to their rival—had no right to touch those resources! Without the blood essence, having lost his merit points, Chen Qi was currently living a life lower than a dog's. His clan blamed him; his teacher had entered seclusion; his senior martial brothers called him trash; and over at the Great Xia Association, though they hadn't proven whether he was behind the drugging, their attitude toward him had completely shifted. Despised by everyone! Without entering the Top 100 Rankings, students just like him were a dime a dozen in the academy. Why should anyone value Chen Qi? Even breaking into the Top 100 Rankings myself wouldn't be enough. Su Yu has to show himself to be even stronger—so overwhelmingly strong that no one can suppress him! Only then will they understand that it's not because I, Chen Qi, am useless, but because Su Yu is simply too terrifying! Since he had no way of proving his own strength in the short term, he could only prove the strength of his rival. Once other people in the faction also suffered at Su Yu's hands, would they still have the right or the face to mock him? The harder they laughed now, the harder they would fall later! *** "Using his rival's strength to set off his own?" At that moment, Su Yu understood what Chen Qi meant. It was just like when he fought Chen Qi before—using Chen Qi's strength to highlight his own, and then turning around to deal a psychological blow to Lin Yao. "Interesting..." Su Yu suddenly realized that there were very few fools in the Civilization Academy. Perhaps they were arrogant at first, but after getting slapped in the face, these people quickly adjusted themselves without relentlessly throwing tantrums or tangling endlessly. Lin Yao had been like this, and so was Chen Qi. After their defeats, they didn't constantly look for trouble with Su Yu or refuse to let it go. Instead, they quickly adjusted their mindsets: strengthening themselves on one hand, and finding ways to reclaim their lost face on the other. And that method was simple... let Su Yu become even stronger! "What bizarre logic!" Chen Qi had clearly just left the Yuan Qi Secret Realm. The guy possessed quite a fortune; even at this point, he still had the funds to visit the secret realm, though whether it was free or paid was anyone's guess. Inside the cottage, the two elderly caretakers were still present. Having sensed Su Yu before he even entered, they were not surprised to see him, merely somewhat taken aback. The old man surnamed Huang spoke up: "You were only in there a few days ago. Are you sure you want to go in again? It hasn't even been ten days since the last time. When you advanced to Stage Three Qianjun, you expended an immense amount of energy, and you probably haven't even familiarized yourself with your apertures yet. You want to go in now?" He was offering some advice, telling him not to squander his resources. One hundred merit points was no small sum. Slaying an early Tengkong cultivator yielded roughly that many points. The Multiple Divine Characters Faction wasn't wealthy, so why waste it like this? "Elder, I did the math," Su Yu replied with an honest smile. "One hundred merit points buys twenty drops of Yuan Qi liquid. As long as I absorb enough, it's not a loss. I don't think I'll lose out..." Old Huang didn't know whether to laugh or cry, explaining, "That's how people put it, but in reality, Yuan Qi liquid holds immense value for the Kaiyuan Realm. In the Qianjun Realm, you can absorb worldly Yuan Qi on your own, so the cost-effectiveness is low—it's not worth spending merit points on." Pausing, he added, "Even if you absorb the equivalent of twenty drops of Yuan Qi liquid, spending one hundred merit points is still a loss. Doesn't your faction have that filtration chamber? Cultivating beside it isn't bad at all." Su Yu scratched his head and smiled. "Elder, I still want to give it a try. Last time I was here, I noticed my cultivation was very fast, and opening apertures was fast too. I was wondering if the Yuan Qi Secret Realm helps with opening apertures, so I wanted to test it again." At those words, Old Huang didn't argue further. After thinking it over, he said, "What you say is true. The Yuan Qi Secret Realm is formed from divine characters, so it indeed offers some help in opening apertures. However, if you don't stay long enough and can't open new apertures, your existing ones will quickly fill with Yuan Qi. Without opening new apertures, your time inside will be limited, and the help will be limited as well." "Understood!" Su Yu nodded. "Elder, let me try it just this once. If the results aren't good, I won't come back next time." "Very well!" Old Huang stopped trying to persuade him and checked Su Yu's profile. He nodded; not bad, his accumulated merit points had exceeded one hundred. "One hundred merit points. Remember, don't wander off. Stay within the Qianjun Area. There's no one inside right now..." "Got it!" No one inside was the best! Su Yu was delighted. With no one around, he could cultivate without restraint. Following the same method as last time, he stepped through the door. His surroundings spun, and Su Yu found himself once again within the Yuan Qi Secret Realm. *** Inside the cottage. Once Su Yu had entered, Old Huang spoke up: "Old Nie, what do you think?" "About what?" "That Chen Qi kid..." Old Nie dismissed it casually. "Stop fussing over every little thing. It's just squabbles among kids; why bother meddling?" Old Huang hesitated before continuing, "It's not that I want to meddle, but if they keep fighting like this, it won't end well for anyone. Do you think we should intervene?" "No competition means no pressure!" Holding the opposite view, Old Nie replied bluntly, "I believe only fierce fighting produces true experts! Honestly, I find the Civilization Academy rather lacking in that regard. Everyone schemes too much and thinks too much. If you ask me, since Chen Qi lost to Su Yu, he should fight him to the bitter end. Instead, this kid wants Su Yu to defeat others just to prove he isn't weak... It's the mindset of a coward!" "He lacks grit!" Old Huang said helplessly, "You can't look at it like that. Is blindly being aggressive really a good thing? In the academy, you get another chance. On the battlefield, that gets you killed!" "Then what else is there to say?" Old Nie countered directly. "As long as nobody dies, if someone ends up crippled, so be it. Better to live as an ordinary person in the rear than die on the front line." Seeing his stance, Old Huang said no more. After a quiet moment, he suddenly asked, "How long do you think he can last this time?" "An hour, probably. Without opening new apertures, the duration is even shorter. An hour isn't short at all." "True. The boy was still too impatient." "..." The two chatted for a bit, then quieted down once more, closing their eyes to cultivate and leaving Su Yu to his own devices. *** "No one's here—awesome!" At this moment, Su Yu was overjoyed. There was nobody in the Qianjun Area! This time, he really needed to cultivate properly. Ever since experiencing the explosive progress here, taking two or three days to open an aperture by the filtration chamber felt slow to him. If that speed were made known, it would already terrify people. Yet to Su Yu, it still wasn't fast enough! Out of 108 apertures, he had only opened 38 so far, leaving 70 to go! At one every three days, that would take seven whole months. To challenge the Top 100 Rankings, he would need to reach at least Stage Seven Qianjun first. That meant opening 84 apertures; Su Yu was still far from it. Sitting cross-legged, he unfurled the first chapter of the War God Art willpower text—the Qianjun Realm portion written by Bai Feng with familiar characters. The Sky-Breaking Slash willpower text was unrolled alongside it. A drop of Wanshi Realm Mountain-Breaking Ox blood essence went into his belly. This time, it wasn't for cultivation, but to unlock the Wanshi Realm cultivation method of the Mountain-Breaking Ox. "Mountain-Breaking Ox (Stage Two Wanshi): Basic Skill: Mountain-Breaking Strike (Unlocked via blood essence) Basic Yuan Art: Body Strengthening Art, Wanshi Chapter (Unlocked via blood essence)" Sure enough, the information had changed. Although it cost one drop of blood essence, Su Yu felt no heartache at all. Next, it was time to display his full capabilities! Swallowing another drop of blood essence, he circulated the Body Strengthening Art. One by one, apertures within his body were temporarily opened. Under the observation of his Tengkong-level willpower, Su Yu's entire body radiated brilliant light, with over a hundred apertures open across his flesh! These hundred-plus temporary apertures rapidly absorbed the surrounding Yuan Qi, which was exceptionally dense in this realm. Gathering the Yuan Qi, he began scouring his thirty-ninth aperture. With more than a hundred apertures taking in Yuan Qi at extreme speed, the Yuan Qi slammed violently against the aperture. Within Su Yu's body, a previously dim aperture gradually began to glow. Over ten minutes later, a rumble resounded! The aperture opened! The power of the blood essence was also quickly exhausted. Su Yu was elated. Even though it had drained an entire drop's power, one drop opening one aperture was already deeply satisfying. Before this, when cultivating on his own, he had needed to devour two or three drops of Ironwing Bird blood essence just to have a chance of opening an aperture. Even if two or three drops of Ironwing Bird blood essence weren't necessarily worth one drop of Mountain-Breaking Ox blood essence, the key was speed! It saved time! "There are still fifty-eight drops of blood essence left. If I can open fifty-eight more apertures..." Su Yu's jaw dropped. Could he open ninety-seven apertures this time? Of course, he knew that was impossible, yet he still couldn't hide his excitement. Even if he didn't open fifty-eight, fifty-seven would do! "Stay low-key, stay low-key. I can't open them too fast, or they'll dissect me for study. If all else fails, I can open some apertures for the Body Strengthening Art or the Thunder Yuan Saber..." Su Yu comforted himself. Stage Six Qianjun at most—he wouldn't push beyond that, it would be too frightening. If there was leftover blood essence, he would find a way to open other apertures. Worst case, he could return next time and cultivate all the way to Stage Nine Qianjun. Su Yu's plans were wonderful! Reality, however, proved he had gotten ahead of himself. *** One hour later, Su Yu had consumed six drops of blood essence and opened four apertures, bringing his total to forty-two. Two hours later, he had consumed a total of thirteen drops of blood essence and opened three more apertures, reaching forty-five in all. Three hours later, twenty drops of blood essence were consumed! By this point, Su Yu was opening the final aperture of the War God Art's fourth stage—the forty-eighth aperture. While cultivating, he observed the War God Art willpower text penned by Bai Feng. The willpower text shimmered with light as Su Yu kept his eyes fixed on the figure of Bai Feng cultivating within it. A double boost! As for the massive consumption of willpower, he didn't care at all. As Su Yu rapidly absorbed and contemplated the willpower text, Bai Feng's writing visibly began to dim, undergoing enormous exhaustion. And at this moment, within the War God Art, a single character gradually began to fade! "Battle!" While the aperture continued to open, Su Yu could already feel a divine character gradually taking shape and outlining itself! His fourth divine character was forming right now! "Battle!" Within his sea of will, just as the character formed, the "Kill" divine character flashed. With a soft poof, it pierced through "Battle" without Su Yu expending any effort. The next moment, rather than shattering this new character, the "Kill" divine character hoisted the "Battle" character like a father hauling around a disobedient son, dragging it directly into the small saber. The small saber shimmered slightly, and the "Battle" divine character behaved like an obedient baby, finding a fundamental node of light and hunkering down inside. Su Yu watched, dumbfounded! That works too? Is it really that weak? No, it wasn't that the divine character itself was weak; it was that his teacher's writing... was too weak, wasn't it? A divine character penned by someone in the Tengkong Realm was utterly fragile when facing one crafted by a Shanhai Realm expert! In Su Yu's perception, among his four divine characters, the "Blood" character was probably the strongest, nearing Tier Two. Next was "Kill", followed by "Thunder", and finally the frail "Battle" character. "Blood" was strong because it had absorbed so much blood and so many residual divine character traces; it inherently possessed absorption properties. As for how to strengthen "Kill", Su Yu guessed that it likely required more battles and slaughter to hone it to Tier Two. Just as Su Yu's mind wandered, a resounding boom echoed within his body once more! The forty-eighth aperture opened! Stage Four Qianjun! At this moment, a surge of Yuan Qi converged and surged through Su Yu's physical body, tempering his flesh yet again as some tainted blood seeped from his pores. Three hours had already elapsed since he entered! *** Inside the cottage. The two old men exchanged a look, stroked their beards, and continued cultivating with eyes closed. The ones who had predicted an hour earlier... definitely weren't them! That kid wasn't human! On his second visit, he had lasted three hours again. It was practically cheating! Don't tell me he's going to stay for five hours like last time? From the looks of it, when he came out this time, his gains would be anything but small. Sighs! Laments! They began to understand Bai Feng a little. No wonder he had boasted so much the last time he came; how could he not brag? Who liked getting slapped in the face? Fortunately, Su Yu hadn't heard their earlier one-hour estimate, and there were no outsiders present. Otherwise, how embarrassing would that have been? "Next time this kid comes, no matter the circumstances, let's just guess twenty-four hours! If he can't stay twenty-four hours, he's incompetent!" Both of them entertained the exact same thought. If I say one hour, you slap my face. If I say twenty-four hours, let's see you try slapping my face again! Even as the thought arose, other reflections followed. A genius—this kid was indisputably a genius, not a bit inferior to that monster from the War Academy. That one reached Lingyun in eight years! How many years would Su Yu need? How many years would Bai Feng need? It would be quite a sight if master and disciple both advanced to Lingyun together a few years down the line! By the fifth hour, when Su Yu still hadn't emerged, Old Huang was no longer surprised. He said, "Should we report this upward? Su Yu is definitely a cultivation genius in the physical path. He might be more suited for the War Academy..." Old Nie snapped, "As if our academy doesn't produce powerhouses of the physical path! Report it... if we report it, Vice Principal Zhou and the others will find out too. Is that appropriate? Right now, I'm more worried that excessive suppression might waste his talent!" Old Huang hesitated for a moment, then nodded. "Then we won't report it. From what I can tell, this kid isn't so simple and honest. Last time, he won quite a few merit points from Chen Qi and the others. Having the merit points to come here means his accumulated merit level meets the requirement too. This kid... looks like a ruthless character to me. Barking dogs don't bite, but silent dogs do... I'd wager he's seen blood and killed people!" Over one hundred accumulated merit points! More than fifty of those were recorded as assistance in slaying enemies, though the details weren't specified. Calculating from the timeline, Su Yu was only in Kaiyuan back then! In Kaiyuan, assisting in killing enemies and earning over fifty merit points? If anyone believed this guy was just an honest, naive kid, Old Huang would slap them silly! Did that fool Chen Qi guess how ruthless this kid was when he ran into him, or did he not? Most likely, he had! Otherwise, Chen Qi wouldn't have said those things. He had clearly realized something. Su Yu had already been here once and used up the free opportunity gifted by the academy. To return so soon clearly meant he had accumulated enough points on his own! At this moment, Old Huang shook his head with a self-deprecating laugh. He realized his own reaction time wasn't as fast as these youths. Only now had he caught on to this. The moment Chen Qi laid eyes on Su Yu, he had probably realized it. Coupled with having been defeated by Su Yu and feeling scammed, he understood Su Yu's character all too well. "This disposition of his..." Old Huang muttered, "actually reminds me of someone..." "Who?" "Wan Tiansheng!" Old Huang whispered, "A dog that bites... ahem! Before Principal Wan became principal, he was also exceptionally low-key and looked thoroughly honest. But once he took office, everything changed! Acting like some kind-hearted gentleman, when everyone knows how viciously he strikes." "Principal Wan?" Old Nie pondered and laughed. "He's not even that vicious. Heheh, you don't know... If we're talking about smiling tigers and silent dogs that bite, Principal Wan of the Great Xia Prefecture ranks second. The one ranked first... is doing business!" "Him?" Old Huang raised an eyebrow. "I've heard some rumors. Are they true or false?" "True. Though, you'd better just forget them. That person... strikes ruthlessly! Everyone only knows he loves fleecing people of money. Heheh, he's far more adept at fleecing lives than coins!" Old Nie spoke with a hint of trepidation, transmitting his voice: "Don't go spouting this outside. That man is petty-minded. Calling him Fatty Xia doesn't bother him so long as you haven't taken advantage of him. But if you take advantage of him... you're in for a world of pain!" Old Huang nodded hastily, recalling certain rumors. Could it be they weren't just rumors after all? Thinking of this, he let out a sigh. "We're not strong enough... perhaps because our hearts aren't black enough..." His thoughts raced. Look at these people: every one of them smiled brilliantly, but their inner ruthlessness was terrifying. Principal Wan loved to smile; Marquis Xia loved to smile; those who smiled at the drop of a hat... were frightening! Terrifying! And that kid who just went inside... seemed quite fond of smiling too! Damn it, people who love to smile are rarely good people! Old Huang cursed in his heart. At his advanced age, it was only now that he finally saw the pattern. The next moment, he thought of someone else and asked abruptly, "Did Liu Wenyan like to smile back then?" "He liked it quite a bit..." "Figures!" Guessing what Old Huang was thinking, Old Nie chuckled and added, "Liu Hong loves smiling too..." "Don't smile! You're creeping me out right now!" "..." Old Nie was speechless. This old bastard, I rarely smile once in decades, and you still have to give me grief!