Just How Many Points?

When Su Yu woke up, darkness had already fallen. The previous agony was completely gone; he felt only refreshed and invigorated. At this moment, he was no longer in the grand hall, but in the living quarters. He glanced at where he had slept—a worn-out sofa. Su Yu gave a faint smile and looked around, but didn't see Zhao Li. Su Yu was in no hurry to leave either. He focused his senses on his cultural weapon. The next moment, a small black knife materialized before him. It didn't feel vastly different from before, yet it felt somewhat more condensed and solid, imparting a dependable feeling. "Awake?" While Su Yu was examining it, Zhao Li strode in and said calmly, "Try attaching a divine character to it!" With that, he added, "Try attaching a single divine character!" Su Yu thought for a moment, then attached the "Thunder" divine character. It felt noticeably easier than before. Then, the divine character erupted! *Rumble!* With a resounding boom, lightning surged, casting flashing light and shadow across the living area as the air exploded with crackling force! Zhao Li remained unfazed. With a sweep of his willpower, he extinguished the lightning. "How is it?" Su Yu was already thoroughly shaken. He felt that the power of his lightning had increased considerably. Moreover, it felt far easier to control! "Teacher..." Su Yu's eyes widened, and he hurried to ask, "Is a cultural weapon's effect really this strong? I feel a massive boost. If my destructive power was ten before, it's at least twelve now!" "That's normal," Zhao Li said calmly. "Otherwise, why would Civilization Masters need cultural weapons? A low-grade Profound rank cultural weapon can sell for thousands of merit points. If it didn't have that value, who would buy one?" Hearing this, Su Yu felt a touch of regret. "I remember I only took twenty-nine strikes..." Zhao Li's face darkened, ignoring him. Su Yu quickly said, "Teacher, you added a lot of materials for me. How many merit points do I owe?" With that, he looked at Zhao Li and said sincerely, "Teacher, I'll pay for the materials myself. As for the crafting fee, I can't afford you yet. Could Teacher waive it?" Seeing him like this, Zhao Li let out a wry chuckle. Su Yu was right; he truly couldn't afford Zhao Li right now. With the mere 180 merit points on him, hiring a weapon smith approaching Earth rank was simply out of the question. Seeing how candid he was, Zhao Li thought for a moment and smiled. "Fine, then I won't charge you a crafting fee! For four divine characters, I added four specialized materials, plus a few materials to stabilize the cultural weapon. I'll charge you at cost. Just give me 120 merit points." "120 points..." Su Yu felt a pang of heartache, but said nothing. He promptly took out his merit card and transferred 120 points to Zhao Li. Zhao Li smiled, not minding, and said, "Your cultural weapon is close to Profound rank now, but it cannot truly advance yet, otherwise you wouldn't be able to control it. Consider it a quasi-Profound rank." A so-called quasi-Profound rank had roughly the power of Profound rank, but could be wielded by someone in the Yangxing Realm. Such an item was actually more precious than a low-grade Profound rank weapon! It was equivalent to a level-30 weapon that could be equipped at level 20; its practical value surpassed that of a genuine low-grade Profound weapon. Of course, Zhao Li couldn't be bothered to mention that. This weapon embryo had originally been a peak Yellow rank embryo of the highest tier. "In the future, as you outline more divine characters, you can gradually add them. Once you finish outlining your divine character battle technique and fuse the cultural weapon with it to forge a custom weapon truly your own, only then will you be able to unleash your full power!" Su Yu hurriedly nodded. Zhao Li looked outside and said, "Head back. It's getting late. When you have time, study more knowledge of the Forging faction. It's good to understand material properties so you won't fail to recognize treasures when you encounter them outside." "Teacher, then I'll take my leave. Thank you for your trouble!" "Go on!" Zhao Li waved his hand and watched Su Yu leave. Once he was gone, Zhao Li exhaled softly. He couldn't dwell on it; the more he thought about it, the more regretful he felt. Such good potential! Every time he thought of this, he felt an urge to beat Bai Feng to death. Sitting on the sofa, Zhao Li lifted his teacup and sipped tea. A giant hammer surfaced in his eyes, his willpower churning. Where no one could see, the massive hammer struck his sea of willpower again and again. Expanding will! 120 years old, son of the fourth head prefect, seventh layer of Lingyun. His cultivation was very slow! Yet there was a reason for that slowness. Other people's sea of willpower was a bowl; his sea of willpower was... a giant vat! Zhao Li didn't care either. Cultivation realms weren't really that important. Forging was all about endurance. Otherwise, what good was reaching the Shanhai Realm? Even if your willpower was strong, if it lasted only three to five minutes, how the hell could you forge a cultural weapon! As the giant hammer hammered his sea of willpower time and again, Zhao Li remained nonchalant, sipping tea and pondering things. With more than twenty base divine characters in the divine character battle technique, could that kid bear it? "Expanding Will Art..." Zhao Li murmured. Should he... pass it to him? He felt somewhat unwilling! Somewhat reluctant! Somewhat resentful! Moreover, strictly speaking, the Expanding Will Art was not necessarily a good thing. The sea of willpower expanded and the foundation grew profound, but what use was a profound foundation if expanding the sea of willpower slowed down one's advancement? Take him, for instance—he was still only at the seventh layer of Lingyun to this day. His seniority was very high; strictly speaking, he was a generation above even Wan Tiansheng. Yet the other man had reached Shanhai long ago, while he remained in Lingyun. No matter how strong a Lingyun was, it was still Lingyun. Against Wan Tiansheng, he'd be slapped to death with a single palm. And... there was also the lifespan limit. Civilization Masters usually didn't care much about the decay of their physical bodies, but as age advanced, their sea of willpower would gradually wither too. In the Lingyun Realm, the theoretical limit was living to 200 years old. The theoretical limit for Shanhai was 300 years old. But in reality, could anyone truly live that long? Of the Shanhai experts born after Year 50 of the Anping Era, how many were still alive today? In the Tengkong Realm, living to 150 was already quite good. In a few more years, if he didn't advance to Shanhai, his sea of willpower would begin to decay as well. Of course, with his profound foundation, even if it decayed, he would still possess immense combat prowess when his time came. That was something others couldn't match. "Let's wait and see..." Zhao Li closed his eyes and stopped thinking about it. The Expanding Will Art was not necessarily a good thing; sometimes it only harmed people. For a divine character master like Su Yu who walked the path of combat, advancing too slowly was not good. The path of combat often involved battle and hovering on the brink of death; they needed to advance by leaps and bounds. Refusing Bai Feng back then had partly been for this reason. Hong Tan only saw greater endurance, unaware that if Bai Feng had cultivated the Expanding Will Art, he might still be running in circles in the Yangxing Realm right now. Nothing grew strong for free! To gain, one had to give. ... Wen Tan Research Center. Fragment chamber. Su Yu's eyes held an unusual look. At this moment, he finally felt the difference! "My willpower... fullness level dropped?" Su Yu had been lost in thought for a long time! Yes, his willpower fullness had dropped! Before, it had been at 55%, but now... it looked roughly around the level of having just entered the Yangxing Realm. Su Yu's expression was complicated. Of course, he could sense that his willpower hadn't actually weakened, yet its fullness percentage had dropped. What did that mean? His limit had increased again? Su Yu didn't know whether to laugh or cry! What did Old Zhao do to him? Did that hammer strike push up his capacity limit? He had finally raised his fullness to 55%, only for it to plummet in the blink of an eye. "The limit increased... the fullness dropped, but my combat strength didn't decline." It should be a good thing, right? Su Yu weighed it in his mind and felt it was positive, but he was still somewhat depressed. *I feel like my breakthrough to Tengkong will be delayed again.* "Just entering Yangxing is great too—perfect for playing the pig to eat the tiger! And it's not even me pretending to be a pig; it really is only this full..." Su Yu didn't dwell on it further. This time, instead of stopping at the first area of the fragment chamber, he stepped into the second area! Waves of powerful willpower began battering him. Su Yu unleashed his willpower, resisting the pressure as he cultivated. Ten minutes, half an hour... Su Yu realized he could hold out much longer than before. He didn't feel his limit approaching, but he could sense that the willpower onslaught now caused him less of the tearing agony he had felt previously. Thus, only when he could no longer bear it did Su Yu withdraw. Once his willpower recovered, he vaguely felt his willpower fullness had increased, more so than before. For the same 1%, he felt that the current 1% was stronger than the 1% from back then. "The cultural weapon grew stronger, and my willpower grew stronger..." Su Yu used his consciousness to sense Little Brother "Blood". Was this fellow ever going to advance or not? If it reached tier two, his combat strength would increase yet again. At the very least, the power of illusions would be greater! Entering the filtration chamber, Little Brother "Blood" began absorbing blood essence again, while Su Yu also began swallowing blood essence to cultivate. After using up the blood essence on hand today, he would be completely out. He only had 60 merit points left... "Broke again!" Over a thousand merit points, spent just like that. Su Yu felt utterly helpless. Putting that aside, Su Yu cultivated while studying the second stance of the Sky-Breaking Slash. Sky-Breaking Slash used sixteen apertures for each stance. The second stance—Life Snatching! Opening thirty-two apertures, after breaking through the barrier and shattering the enemy's defense, the second stance was truly meant to take life! Break defense first, then take their life! The first stance was not useless; it had its own purpose, primarily breaking defenses—just like that day when a single strike shattered all of Chen Qi's defenses. "The second stance is all about killing!" Su Yu vaguely understood how to use his "Kill" character. Opening thirty-two apertures—Su Yu had already opened all thirty-two of these apertures. What he needed to do now was connect them into an integrated system. Without the aid of the Sky-Breaking Slash willpower text, he would have had to figure them out one by one. With it, Su Yu saved a tremendous amount of time. "Opening apertures, raising willpower, strengthening divine characters, learning martial arts..." At this moment, Su Yu was busy beyond measure! So busy he truly didn't want to sleep! Only past three in the morning did Su Yu force himself to rest, lest he literally die of exhaustion. That night, the dream that visited every few days came again. In the dream, Su Yu was still killed. In the past, he would have jolted awake in shock. Now... it didn't seem as painful. His body trembled slightly, and Su Yu went back to sleep, sleeping soundly. ... September 17th. As usual, Su Yu arrived early at the classroom. Wu Lan beside him had also arrived early. Su Yu rarely conversed with her, but today, Wu Lan took the initiative to speak. "Su Yu, I'm breaking through in two days!" "This time, I'm reaching Qianjun stage three!" Wu Lan looked proud! *I'm catching up to you!* She had been at the ninth layer of Kaiyuan when she entered the academy and cultivated the advanced version of the War God Art. By today, she had finally opened twelve apertures! She was about to enter the third stage of Qianjun! Su Yu glanced at her, speechless. Are you sure? What massive confidence! Are you sure you can open another twenty-four apertures once you enter the secret realm? Why in this woman's eyes did Qianjun skip straight to stage three, with no concept of stage one or stage two? "What blood essence are you using?" "Mountain-Breaking Ox blood essence, of course!" Wu Lan answered as if it went without saying! Naturally, she was a genius, so of course she used Mountain-Breaking Ox blood essence. Su Yu felt weary. Look at Chen Qi, look at Lin Yao—they fought tooth and nail for Mountain-Breaking Ox blood essence. Her family was truly wealthy; she casually talked of Mountain-Breaking Ox blood essence without a second thought. "I remember you telling me once that you wouldn't accept support from your family?" Wu Lan's face flushed, and she said in embarrassed annoyance, "Yes, I didn't want it! I borrowed it... No, my grandaunt insisted on lending it to me!" "..." Su Yu cursed inwardly. You can actually say that out loud with a straight face? "Insisted on lending it to you"? Give me a dozen grandaunts like that! "Who's your teacher?" Su Yu suddenly remembered something—he had never asked who the class students' teachers were. "My sister!" "..." What a convoluted relationship! Su Yu felt tired! Your sister is your teacher... Fine, one gets used to it. The academy didn't strictly care about such formalities anyway. "Is your sister very strong?" Su Yu had no interest in Wu Lan's advancement; he was more intrigued by that previous generation of legendary students. Bai Feng... after spending so much time around him, Su Yu didn't feel anything special anymore. Hu Wensheng had been defeated in a single strike, shattering the myth and losing much of Su Yu's respect. Liu Hong... was a shameless scoundrel whom Su Yu despised. Of that generation, there were two he hadn't seen yet: Xia Yuwen and Wu Qi. "Of course!" Mentioning her sister, Wu Lan said proudly, "My sister is at the ninth layer of Tengkong, and Lingyun isn't far off! Your teacher is no match for my sister; she could defeat him in a single move!" "Heh." Su Yu let out a dry laugh and stopped asking. Never mind, nothing useful would come of this. He had just been curious. "Su Yu, once I reach Qianjun stage three, I'll let you know that I'm very strong too!" "Right, you're very strong!" Su Yu nodded. *Wait until you get there first.* Besides... once you reach stage three, I'll probably be at stage six or even stage seven. That should be achievable, right? You just keep chasing! Just as they were speaking, Xia Huyou entered through the door and waved at Su Yu. Su Yu frowned slightly and stood up to walk out without making a sound. ... "Su Yu, are we still brothers?" "What?" "Are you going to duel Zheng Yunhui?" "No such thing." "You're lying to me!" Xia Huyou put on an injured expression. "I've caught wind of things. I, Xia Huyou, am the academy's intelligence broker, and you're keeping secrets from me! Not only did I hear about this, but I also found out you two have a wager. Is it Sky-Breaking Slash?" He didn't know the exact details, only that there was supposed to be a wager between the two. It was probably Sky-Breaking Slash! Su Yu wore a smile and said, "Who told you that? Pure nonsense! Also, don't even think about running a betting pool. It's useless. Even if we do duel, it won't be public. We won't fight in front of outsiders." "So there really is a duel?" Xia Huyou's interest was instantly piqued. "Are you confident? That guy... I suspect he might reach Qianjun stage eight. He probably won't be attending class these next two days. Qianjun stage eight... he could actually hope to clash with someone on the Top 100 Rankings." "We'll see!" Su Yu didn't want to say more. This matter was a trap, and Xia Huyou had better not get involved. Just as he was about to leave, Xia Huyou suddenly said, "Su Yu... don't do anything foolish! You have a boundless future. There's really no need to let anger get the better of you and ruin your prospects over a momentary grudge!" Su Yu turned his head! He glanced at Xia Huyou. The smile had vanished from Xia Huyou's face as he said in a low voice, "The rumors... I can hear bits and pieces! I hope it isn't true, or else... if you lose, it'll stir up huge trouble!" Su Yu smiled. "Am I that kind of person?" Xia Huyou looked at him, temporarily at a loss for words. Su Yu suddenly became curious. "How many merit points can you mobilize?" "For what?" "Drive up the price, how about it?" Without another word, Xia Huyou's expression changed, turning thoughtful. He pondered, connecting the various clues. After a while, Xia Huyou whispered, "During inspection... someone will be peeping!" "It's fine!" Su Yu gave a chuckle. He was prepared. He wasn't afraid! "Understood!" Xia Huyou grinned. "You're even telling me this?" "Didn't you say we're brothers?" Su Yu's gaze held an unusual glint. "Besides... it's real!" "..." Xia Huyou's face changed again. What did he mean? With what Su Yu said just now, he had assumed it was fake, but how had it suddenly become real again? "Su Yu..." Su Yu smiled faintly. "I'm certain I won't lose! But if I really do lose... well, the Multiple Divine Characters Faction is tough to survive in anyway. I've been pondering a question: If I... switch over to the Single Divine Character Faction now, will I still have a future?" Xia Huyou frowned and stared at him! Su Yu spoke no further and turned to leave. Xia Huyou felt a massive headache coming on. Was it real or fake in the end? Truth mixed with falsehood—at this point, he couldn't tell either! ... On the 17th, Su Yu opened another aperture, bringing his count to sixty-four opened apertures. With his remaining 60 merit points, he sought out Xia Huyou again and traded them all for Iron Wing Bird blood essence—twenty drops in total. At this point, Su Yu didn't have a single penny left! On the 18th, Su Yu took a leave of absence. That day, he cultivated from morning to night! Drop after drop of blood essence was consumed. Rotating between the filtration chamber and the fragment chamber, he cultivated tirelessly. Out of the twenty drops of blood essence, Su Yu used eight that day! However, the results were somewhat underwhelming. Cultivating at such high intensity consumed massive resources, yet after an entire day, Su Yu only barely managed to open a single aperture. Although he didn't spend as much as he would have in the secret realm, not to mention the expenditure of time and energy, strictly speaking the cost was still considerable—at official prices, eight drops of blood essence would cost forty merit points. On the 19th, Su Yu remained on leave, continuing his secluded cultivation! That day, he opened another aperture, consuming nine drops of blood essence. Only three drops remained! As for Su Yu, he had opened sixty-six apertures. The resources he had originally prepared to cultivate to the sixth stage of Qianjun were completely exhausted, and he was still six apertures away from stage six. This speed was already extraordinarily fast. For an ordinary person in the Qianjun Realm to open an aperture took at most a month, or at least ten to fifteen days. Relying on blood essence to activate the album, Su Yu's cultivation speed was ten times faster than that of geniuses on his level. ... While Su Yu was in seclusion, faint whispers of rumors began circulating among a specific group of people. Liu Hong's office. The door was pushed open. The next moment, Zhou Pingsheng strode inside. "Senior Brother Zhou..." Liu Hong hurriedly rose and smiled. "What brings Senior Brother Zhou to grace my humble place today..." "Please, take a seat!" Liu Hong quickly played host. Zhou Pingsheng didn't beat around the bush; as soon as he sat down, he asked, "Is the duel between Su Yu and Zheng Yunhui real?" "What?" "Liu Hong!" Zhou Pingsheng said displeasedly, "At this point, you're still hiding things from me?" Liu Hong laughed and said, "Has Senior Brother misunderstood something? You mean the duel... Well, there is such a thing, but it's just children playing house. I had practically forgotten about it. Why did Senior Brother bring it up all of a sudden?" Zhou Pingsheng said coldly, "Children playing house? I caught wind that this is no mere child's play! The wager those two made... is anything but small!" "A wager?" "Liu Hong, don't play this game with me!" Zhou Pingsheng said crossly, "You acquired quite a lot of resources for Zheng Yunhui on the black market. Do you really think I don't know?" Liu Hong smiled. "That did happen. Zheng Yunhui wants to challenge the Top 100 Rankings, so he asked me to procure a batch of items..." "Does he have merit points?" Zhou Pingsheng snorted softly. "You paid for those, didn't you?" "Yes, but he borrowed it from me, with interest..." "You're still playing dumb with me!" Zhou Pingsheng said in rising anger. "Liu Hong, are you worried I'll steal your credit? Ridiculous! Do I need to? I'm only concerned you'll ruin a major matter! If the rumors are true, then this time, we must obtain that item at all costs!" "You actually didn't report it and reached an agreement with Zheng Yunhui in private. What are you trying to do? Keep it all for yourself?" Liu Hong frowned and said slowly, "Senior Brother, that was never my intention. It's just that the matter hasn't been confirmed yet. It's hard to tell truth from falsehood, and I remain skeptical. Su Yu might not actually take that item out... If I report it now and it turns out to be fake, wouldn't that make me a laughingstock?" Hearing this, Zhou Pingsheng's brows furrowed slightly. He said slowly, "That's true. Do you think it's real or fake?" "Well..." Liu Hong smiled wryly. "I really can't say for sure. For now, I've made a tentative deal with Zheng Yunhui: if it's real, he'll sell it to me for fifty thousand merit points! If it's fake... what he took from me, he'll spit back out sooner or later!" "Actually, even if Senior Brother hadn't come, I was planning to ask Senior Brother to come along in a couple of days..." Liu Hong said with some embarrassment, "My pockets are empty; how could I handle this on my own? I don't have the capital! Besides, my strength is low, so it's hard for me to distinguish the real from the fake. If I get duped... I'll be in deep trouble. So verifying its authenticity will have to rely on Senior Brother!" Liu Hong continued earnestly, "Senior Brother oversees the Cangshu Pavilion and is exceptionally knowledgeable. When it comes to experience and insight, Senior Brother is undoubtedly the most knowledgeable in our faction! I just wasn't sure. It felt too easy..." Liu Hong frowned. "I really wasn't hiding it from Senior Brother. I truly felt it came too easily. Something we've been desperately seeking, and yet it might fall into our hands through Su Yu..." Liu Hong smiled bitterly. "Senior Brother, do you think I'd dare recklessly report it at a time like this? If it turns out to be fake, it would be humiliating!" After listening to this, Zhou Pingsheng nodded slightly. Then, he smiled and said, "No matter. You have a point. Over these years in the Cangshu Pavilion, I have gained some discernment! When the time comes, I'll go verify its authenticity..." Liu Hong added, "Senior Brother, should we also call a few professionals in this field..." "No need!" Zhou Pingsheng shook his head. "Too many people lead to loose lips. That would only make things worse!" "Then about those fifty thousand merit points..." Liu Hong said awkwardly, "I certainly can't afford that. How about Senior Brother gets in touch with Zheng Yunhui directly and makes the exchange..." With that, looking a bit sheepish, he added, "I previously advanced two thousand merit points..." Zhou Pingsheng thought it over, then shook his head. "I cannot show my face; you can do it! You run black market dealings, so it passes as a black market transaction. If I show my face... that would be problematic! If an investigation turns it up, it'll be troublesome!" He then frowned. "Isn't fifty thousand too much? Zheng Yunhui's appetite is too big!" He planned to lurk in the shadows. As for showing his face... Liu Hong would do it, of course! If caught, Liu Hong would be the one taking the fall. "Fifty thousand isn't much..." Liu Hong forced a bitter smile. "At first, he opened his mouth and demanded one hundred thousand! I told him that was impossible, but he said he understood the importance of this item. If genuine, it's worth a million!" Liu Hong said fretfully, "I bargained with him for ages, and he even brought up the Xia family... Left with no choice, I had to agree and bargained it down to fifty thousand. If Senior Brother feels that's inappropriate, then should I... go talk to him again?" Zhou Pingsheng frowned. "Forget it. Delays bring danger! Besides, don't get too deeply entangled with the Zheng family!" Then he said, "I'll go find Senior Brother Zheng. I can't produce this many merit points either!" Just as he was about to leave, Liu Hong suddenly said with a touch of embarrassment, "Senior Brother... um... could we report it as fifty-two thousand points? One thousand of that... is for Senior Brother, and I... have really been a bit tight on cash lately!" "..." Zhou Pingsheng suddenly chuckled. "Fine! You... What about the things Old Zhao left behind..." "Those can't be touched! My teacher is still in seclusion!" Liu Hong said hastily. "Senior Brother, I have principles! Just report two thousand extra, and I'll only take one thousand..." Zhou Pingsheng smiled, nodded, and said nothing more before striding out the door. Fifty-two thousand? It was clearly sixty thousand points! Giving Liu Hong a thousand was fine; he had done all the groundwork so far, so he had to be given a taste of the sweetness.