Forgetful Su Yu

Killing intent boiled, and piercing cold gripped the air! "Teacher!" Su Yu let out a low growl as his vision gradually cleared. Then he realized something was wrong—was he flying? Startled, he sensed that someone was carrying him by the collar. He hurriedly turned his head. Had he not looked, it would have been fine, but looking... nearly made his jaw drop! "Teacher, you're still alive?" Bai Feng was utterly speechless. What kind of talk was that? Were you just itching for your teacher to hurry up and die? Cultivators in the Tengkong Realm could not fly indefinitely, especially while carrying another person. Seeing that Su Yu had regained his senses, Bai Feng found a secluded spot, landed, and casually tossed Su Yu down. "What was wrong with you just now?" Bai Feng was also puzzled. How had this kid suddenly had a breakthrough to a tier-2 divine character today? "Teacher, back there, they said you were killed by the Single Divine Character Faction..." Su Yu explained, feeling rather awkward. Bai Feng froze for a moment, completely at a loss for words. "No matter how much guts they have, they wouldn't dare lay a hand on me inside the academy. Where's your brain?" Su Yu kept his mouth shut. Earlier, he had been overcome with panic and fury. Beyond that, there had been guilt. The reason he hadn't doubted the rumor the moment he heard it was... he had just swindled a massive fortune out of them. Eighty thousand merit points! In their humiliated rage after losing eighty thousand merit points, killing Bai Feng... seemed far from impossible in Su Yu's eyes. That was why he had been so angry, panicked, and guilt-ridden! Bai Feng shot him a glance, thoroughly exasperated. Walking forward, he said, "Let's talk back at our place. Did the plan succeed? Is that why you thought they'd retaliate against me?" Chuckling, Bai Feng added, "What were you thinking? For such a pittance of merit points, even if they found out, they wouldn't dare make a move inside the academy." He still didn't know how much Su Yu had actually conned out of them. The original objective had been to scam Liu Hong, and they hadn't planned on setting too high a price. On one hand, Bai Feng felt his student was a bit foolish; on the other, he felt touched. The boy had genuinely thought he was dead, which had provoked his divine character into breaking through. "Was it your 'Kill' character that broke through just now?" Bai Feng asked curiously. Why wasn't it the "Blood" character? "Yeah!" Right now, Su Yu also felt a throbbing fullness in his head. Both of his divine characters had actually reached tier-2. The "Kill" character in particular had progressed far too fast. He needed to increase his willpower as soon as possible. Otherwise, having more divine characters wouldn't be of much use. Bai Feng nodded. Seeing Su Yu lost in thought, he smiled. "An unexpected pleasant surprise. Divine characters are like that—sometimes intense emotional shocks trigger breakthroughs. Willpower, divine characters, and mental resolve are all interconnected!" After offering this explanation, he added, "Still, your situation is very rare! It can be considered a tempering of will achieved through self-deception. It probably won't happen a second time." Su Yu nodded and couldn't help asking, "Teacher, what happened to you earlier? Everyone was spreading rumors that you... that you died." "..." Bai Feng's face darkened! He cursed inwardly! You're the ones who died! "Utter nonsense! When I came out of seclusion earlier, I felt I had gained some insights, so I just cultivated on the spot. Those bastards have nothing better to do than spout rubbish!" Bai Feng was annoyed, though he didn't tell his student about his embarrassing mishap. As for who had ambushed him... he actually had a few guesses. Whoever taught him a lesson hadn't injured him at all. It shouldn't be an enemy or an adversary, but it wasn't one of their own either. Thinking along those lines, could it be one of those academy elders who had ties to his faction? Had he somehow provoked them? So they made him suffer a bit? The list of suspects narrowed instantly. Before long, he considered who in the academy would actually pull such a stunt, and his target gradually locked in! Wu Yuehua! Bai Feng felt fairly certain. He cursed silently. That old woman was truly bored out of her mind. I didn't even provoke you! Earlier, Martial Uncle had mentioned finding someone to give him trouble. Could Martial Uncle have put her up to it? Bai Feng had a grievance he couldn't voice. He had no choice but to swallow this bitter pill. Unless he took revenge on Wu Qi... but the problem was, he might not even be able to beat her. "Cultivating?" Su Yu had his doubts. Cultivating by lying on the ground? Earlier, it looked like Bai Feng had been lying flat on the ground! Bai Feng said indifferently, "Of course it was cultivating. I gained a lot this time and broke through to the eighth stage of the Tengkong Realm! As for you, don't go believing every rumor you hear next time. There are too many idle people in this academy who love nothing more than gossiping!" "Rumors stop with the wise. As a Civilization Master, you must have your own judgment and not blindly believe idle talk!" Su Yu nodded, feeling somewhat sheepish. "Teacher, I was just anxious. Plus, with what happened earlier, I thought they..." Then he added angrily, "It's their fault for going too far. They injured Senior Sister before, so I thought they were at it again!" Bai Feng chuckled and said no more. He was in a reasonably good mood! It was a good thing that his student cared about him. By now, the two had almost reached the Research Center. Only then did Bai Feng recall the business from before his seclusion. "Did the plan succeed this time?" He added, "You look like you're still carrying injuries—a few broken bones. How did the fight with Zheng Yunhui go?" "I lost!" Su Yu answered. Bai Feng wasn't surprised; being inferior to Zheng Yunhui was only normal. What he didn't know was that Su Yu had nearly won, nor did he know that Zheng Yunhui had not only reached the eighth stage of Qianjun but had also temporarily opened apertures to approach the ninth stage, ending up with worse injuries than Su Yu. "Did Liu Hong take the bait?" "No!" Su Yu sounded dejected. "He didn't take the bait, and he even scammed us once!" As he spoke, the two entered the Research Center. Su Yu briefly recounted what had happened earlier. Bai Feng's eyelids twitched as he listened. Eighty thousand! You bunch of bastards truly dared to make such demands! Eighty thousand merit points! "So... you only got 5,000 merit points, and Liu Hong took 40,000?" Bai Feng was already itching to go settle scores with Liu Hong! Damn it, scamming my student out of that much was way too much! Taking half! Su Yu gave a simple, honest smile. "No. Afterward, I went to see Teacher Liu, and he gave me some more merit points." "Hmm?" Bai Feng was taken aback. "How much did he give?" Su Yu glanced at him cautiously and whispered, "15,000..." Bai Feng was stunned once again! Was Liu Hong an idiot? Giving you 15,000—did you think I would believe that? Well, he had to believe it! At this moment, he felt a bit dazed. Would that scoundrel Liu Hong actually spit out meat that had already entered his mouth? Su Yu briefly explained what followed. In the end, he hesitated before asking softly, "Teacher, is there... some kind of deal between us and Liu Hong?" "What?" Bai Feng had been dazed by his student's methods and shocked by how underhanded these kids could be. Hearing this, he was jolted. What did you find out? Su Yu thought for a moment and hesitated. "Liu Hong said he might not necessarily be our enemy." As for being an undercover agent... Su Yu maintained some skepticism about that. According to Liu Hong, Bai Feng wasn't aware of it—only Grandmaster Hong knew. Bai Feng raised an eyebrow and remained silent for a while before saying, "That fellow has a silver tongue. Don't take him seriously. No matter what he says, just treat it as nonsense! To deal with Liu Hong, there's one best method: be direct!" "Direct?" Su Yu didn't understand. Bai Feng chuckled softly. "Simple. Straightforward and blunt! Don't listen to anything, don't worry about anything. Just remember one rule: if you mess with me, I beat you! If you don't mess with me, I still beat you—unless you give me money. It's that simple!" "..." Su Yu didn't know whether to laugh or cry. That really was direct! Bai Feng couldn't care less about what Liu Hong said. Whatever came out of Liu Hong's mouth, he wouldn't believe a word. That was his way of navigating the world! Since I consider you insidious, I won't believe a single word you say! If it benefits me, I'll listen. If it doesn't, I'll treat it like wind past my ears. That was why throughout all their clashes over the years, Liu Hong had always come out on the losing end. Liu Hong's schemes and sweet talk had no effect on Bai Feng unless they offered real, tangible benefits. It was as simple as that. Bai Feng hadn't expected so many things to happen during his few days in seclusion. He felt some regret; had he known, he wouldn't have gone into seclusion. Then, remembering that Su Yu had earned so much this time, Bai Feng felt delighted and said, "Little Yu, you knew your teacher broke through, so you specially prepared a gift for me, right? You were the one who said you'd split half the merit points with me..." "Ahem!" Su Yu coughed awkwardly. "Well, Teacher, I gave your share to Martial Uncle. Martial Uncle said he'd hold onto it for you!" "..." Bai Feng stared at him, his gaze going blank. What did that mean? "Well, Teacher, logically your half should be 17,000 points, so I ought to give you another 3,000 points..." Bai Feng looked at him gloomily. I thought I was going to strike it rich this time! Only 3,000 points left? Still, something was better than nothing, and it was more than he had originally expected. Not bad, a profit either way. Just as that thought crossed his mind, Su Yu added stiffly, "But this morning, Martial Uncle specifically called me on the comm. He told me not to give you any more merit points, said I should keep them for myself, and mentioned that you don't need merit points right now, Teacher..." "..." Bai Feng said in shock, "Who said that?" "Martial Uncle Chen." "Cough, cough, cough!" Bai Feng nearly choked to death. Pure nonsense! I'm broke as hell, alright?! Yet thinking about arguing with his student over this, he couldn't bring himself to do it. Bai Feng forced a smile, though he was cursing inwardly. Why did today feel so cursed? He had been in great spirits after breaking through, but all of a sudden, everything had gone sour! *Twenty thousand points... This kid has so many merit points, he can't possibly spend them all!* *Whatever, let him hold onto them for now. When I'm truly broke, we'll talk!* Bai Feng wasn't in an extreme rush. With so many merit points, the boy couldn't spend them all anyway. When he genuinely ran short down the line, he could ask then. Dropping the topic so he wouldn't look too petty and mercenary as a teacher, Bai Feng cautioned, "Spend them carefully. Don't let those people from the Single Divine Character Faction notice anything amiss. Having Liu Hong running interference right now is a good thing. The later they realize the truth, the more time we have to grow." Bai Feng smiled. "Once I reach the ninth stage of Tengkong and you reach the peak of Yangxing, we won't need to fear them at all! As long as we have no rivals among our peers, they can't do a thing to us. After all, the academy still has other elders, and the Academy Head is still around. Do they really dare turn heaven and earth upside down?" Su Yu nodded. Then Bai Feng grew solemn. "Su Yu, a divine character breaking through isn't necessarily a good thing! You need to outline many divine characters. Bearing eighteen was already a heavy burden, and now you have tier-2 divine characters on top of that. That will make nurturing your divine characters even harder, placing immense strain on your sea of will!" "Try not to keep nurturing this tier-2 divine character. Its lethality is slightly higher, but since your willpower isn't strong enough, its increase in power is limited and still inferior to a true tier-2 character." "The gains don't make up for the losses. Do you understand what I mean? An accidental breakthrough is fine, but don't blindly chase tier-2 breakthroughs!" Su Yu nodded. He understood this. Having said his piece, Bai Feng planned to head over and shake down Liu Hong a bit, so he didn't linger. Just as he was about to leave, he suddenly asked, "Right... did you feed those fellows in the underground detention area?" "I did!" Su Yu answered hurriedly, then gave a slight jolt. He had fed them once! However... that seemed to be back on the ninth. What date was it today again? "Teacher, is today... the twenty-first?" "You're asking me?" Bai Feng was speechless. I was in seclusion, alright?! Despite the thought, he nodded. "Should be!" "..." Su Yu fell silent. It should be fine. Last time they hadn't been fed for ten days, and they hadn't died. This time was only twelve days... whatever, he would go feed them later, so it should be fine. He figured Bai Feng probably forgot to feed them often too. Those creatures had such a low presence and didn't offer any benefits. Su Yu had been busy with the duel and scheming against people over the past few days, so how could he have had time to attend to them? Bai Feng seemed to notice something and gave a light cough. "Uh... don't let them die! If you go too far, we'll both be in trouble once your grandmaster returns!" Seriously, don't overdo it! Why did it feel like you were genuinely about to starve them to death?! Su Yu smiled sheepishly and said nothing. *I just forgot, that's all. I've been too busy recently, with too many things happening.* "Uh... Teacher, I'll go feed them in a bit." Just as he spoke, his comm device chimed. Su Yu checked it, then hurriedly looked at Bai Feng. "Teacher, I have something else to handle. If you don't need anything, I'll go take care of it first." "Go on!" Bai Feng waved his hand. Su Yu bolted off like a streak of smoke. Xia Huyou was getting anxious, still waiting for him. As for the detention area, he could just feed them when he came back tonight. As he left, Su Yu reminded himself not to forget tonight, or it would be hard to explain if he actually starved those creatures to death. *I'll feed them when I get back tonight!* With that thought, Su Yu rushed away. …… In the detention area. At this moment, even the Shadow could barely take it anymore, speaking in a faint, eerie voice, "We seem to have ended up with a particularly unreliable and irresponsible fellow. If this continues, we really will die..." "Next time..." The Golden Lion said weakly, "Next time he comes, I'll offer benefits. I won't ask to be let out—just give me some food. I'm dying!" What was the point of holding out for more? Forget about letting us out—please, just come feed us on time, I'm begging you! The others didn't speak at all, choosing to conserve what little energy they had. Who knew when that kid would show up? Didn't talking expend energy too? They really were about to starve to death! …… Teaching Area. Su Yu arrived once more. Xia Huyou said in exasperation, "Your teacher is fine, so why did you run off so fast? I told you, don't go believing every rumor around the academy!" "Ahem!" Su Yu cleared his throat. Xia Huyou asked curiously, "People over there were just saying a student had a breakthrough with a divine character. Was that you?" "No." Su Yu shook his head. "It was just the character from last time. Don't you already know about it?" "Oh!" Xia Huyou nodded. He did know about that one—the character that created illusions. It seemed those people had misunderstood, so he didn't pay it much mind. A tier-2 divine character was very powerful, but against illusions, one just needed to be a bit more vigilant. Su Yu's character itself didn't seem to possess much offensive lethality. Not wasting any time, Su Yu quickly said, "Just as I mentioned before: 500 drops of Mountain-Breaking Ox Wanshi Realm blood essence. Also, one drop each of blood essence from other races, Qianjun and Wanshi Realms, whatever you can buy..." Xia Huyou said helplessly, "You left so fast earlier, I didn't even get to finish! Su Yu, do you know how many races there are? If nothing else, the Xia Trading Company alone sells blood essence from 879 races!" "Qianjun blood essence is cheaper; the lowest is 1 merit point, while the expensive ones, like the Mountain-Breaking Ox, are around 10 points a drop." "But for the Wanshi Realm, some are even more expensive than the Mountain-Breaking Ox..." Xia Huyou calculated for a moment and said, "If you want to buy them all, that's at least over ten thousand merit points. Are you sure you want to buy?" Over ten thousand merit points! Su Yu opened his mouth. That was nearly a thousand species! And he wanted Wanshi Realm ones, which naturally wouldn't be cheap. Over ten thousand... forget it. Su Yu couldn't bear to spend that much. Helpless, Su Yu said, "Then forget the Wanshi Realm ones. Give me one drop of each for the Qianjun Realm. How much will that cost?" "That isn't expensive." Xia Huyou replied, "Blood essence from races outside the top hundred isn't pricey. Even for the top hundred races, 10 merit points per drop is the ceiling. Of course, that excludes the top ten like the gods and demons, which you can't buy anyway." "Let me calculate. If you really buy all of them, it'll come to around 2,000 merit points." Su Yu still felt the sting. So expensive! Yet he hoped to unlock more pages in the illustrated manual and activate more cultivation arts. After thinking it over, Su Yu gritted his teeth and nodded. "Then I'll take them!" Xia Huyou grinned. Excellent, that made 7,000 merit points in total! This kid Su Yu had truly raked it in this time! "Do you need anything else?" Xia Huyou pitched, "Your bones are fractured. Even though they've been set, recovering won't be easy. I can recommend a few pills and natural treasures. Take them, and you'll fully recover in no time!" "How much?" "Cheap! Around 100 merit points, and you'll fully recover in three days without any lingering side effects!" Su Yu ground his teeth. Cheap, my foot! One hundred merit points was no small sum. Su Yu let out a breath, not bothering to banter with him, and continued, "Right, I need more human willpower texts. What's the going rate outside right now?" "For the Qianjun Realm, anywhere from 100 to 300 points. Wanshi Realm texts are around 300 to 500. Tengkong Realm texts start above 500, and Shanhai Realm ones start at a thousand minimum!" Xia Huyou explained, "It depends on the content. For example, the previous Sky-Breaking Slash only described moves for the Qianjun and Wanshi Realms, but because it was written by a Shanhai Realm expert, it was worth around 1,500 points!" These items didn't just depend on the writer's cultivation realm; they also depended on what was written. Su Yu nodded slightly. After a moment of thought, he said, "I don't care about that. The content doesn't matter to me—even the cheapest willpower texts will do. Get me several dozen copies. How much will that cost?" "Several dozen copies?" A huge deal! Xia Huyou exclaimed in surprise, "What do you need so many willpower texts for? To outline divine characters? Su Yu, honestly, I advise you to just attend public lectures. It's much cheaper. Buying them is far too expensive..." Even the cheapest willpower texts cost over a hundred merit points. It was simply too costly! Su Yu took a deep breath. He had no other choice; he needed to outline many divine characters. Without willpower texts, it was impossible. Texts from the myriad races wouldn't do; they had to be human. Yet human texts didn't last long, so even Cangshu Pavilion had very few human willpower texts stored. Usually, they were written on the spot. But where would Su Yu find the time to audit lectures every single day? Moreover, if he outlined a divine character, others would notice. The characters in the text would dim! Doing it once or twice was fine, but if he succeeded every single time... he would be finished! The entire academy would know that every time Su Yu went to read a text, he outlined a divine character. How could he explain that? Where did all those divine characters go? Therefore, Su Yu could only buy and read them on his own. He wanted to attend public lectures too, but his abilities simply didn't allow him to be that conspicuous! "Cut the chatter. First, buy... buy thirty copies!" Su Yu thought for a moment and said, "I want the cheapest ones, the kind that cost 100 merit points each. Get me thirty copies, as long as they aren't duplicates. Three thousand merit points should be enough, right?" "That works!" Xia Huyou nodded, grinning ear to ear! These lowest-tier willpower texts were often written as practice by Tengkong Realm cultivators and couldn't be sold. If someone actually bought them, it was pure profit. Adding it all up, Su Yu's single transaction amounted to ten thousand merit points! A massive transaction, a truly grand move! This guy was genuinely willing to splurge. Su Yu sighed. Twenty thousand points had felt like an enormous sum. Yet... once he started spending, it felt rather modest. He hadn't even bought much—just 500 drops of Mountain-Breaking Ox blood essence and a bunch of garbage willpower texts, and already ten thousand merit points were gone. "Right, throw in some of that healing medicine... on your dime, as a freebie!" Xia Huyou looked conflicted. After a long while, he whined with a mournful face, "Brother, I'm only making a hundred points or so on this. If you do this, I won't make any profit at all." Su Yu stared at him, while Xia Huyou continued to cry poverty. After a moment, looking as if he had just lost a hundred million, Xia Huyou gritted his teeth and said, "Fine, I'll give it to you!" Su Yu rolled his eyes. Only a ghost would believe you were making that little. Ten thousand merit points! Su Yu exhaled, feeling that even twenty thousand wouldn't be enough! Willpower texts in particular were far too expensive. The key issue was that once spent, the money was truly gone; human willpower texts would dissipate over time. Furthermore, if he actually outlined divine characters from them, he couldn't resell the texts. Otherwise, it would cause huge trouble. Once a character was outlined, the writing dimmed, and anyone could tell at a glance which character had been claimed. He couldn't even resell them! It would expose his secrets! "Twenty thousand points..." Su Yu felt bitter inside. He had thought it was a tremendous fortune, but when it came down to trading, he realized it wasn't much at all. Su Yu didn't plan on spending the remaining ten thousand points all at once. Who knew what lay ahead? Five hundred drops of Mountain-Breaking Ox blood essence might not even be enough! …… Having concluded the deal with Xia Huyou, Su Yu prepared to head back. On the way, he seemed to spot an acquaintance. Even from a distance, Su Yu recognized the person approaching. Just as he was about to speak, the person spotted Su Yu as well—and abruptly spun around and fled! Su Yu choked back the greeting on the tip of his tongue. What was that about? I haven't provoked you recently, have I? …… In the distance. Wu Lan ran like the wind! Humiliation, indignation, unwillingness, despair, anguish, struggle—her pride had been shattered to pieces! *Why did I only reach the second stage of Qianjun?!* *Su Yu definitely knows!* *He's doing it on purpose to mock me!* *He smiled—he smiled so arrogantly...* Wu Lan was utterly distraught! She had broken through to the Qianjun Realm, even entering a secret realm to do so, fully confident that she would emerge at the third stage—one hundred percent confident! In the end... she had barely opened twelve apertures, scraping into the second stage of Qianjun. The moment she exited seclusion, she had wanted to die. Why?! Now, running into Su Yu, she was certain he was there specifically to laugh at her. How could she not run? It was too humiliating; she had lost all face! …… Su Yu couldn't fathom why Wu Lan was running, but he didn't dwell on it. He just found it strange. *I haven't offended her recently, have I?* *Whatever, forget it.* *Wait, what was I thinking about just now? What did I plan to do when I got back?* After that disruption from Wu Lan, he had completely forgotten. Su Yu scratched his head. He distinctly remembered needing to do something. He usually had a good memory—why had he been so forgetful lately? "Is it because my divine characters are too strong and my willpower isn't strong enough, suppressing my thoughts?" Su Yu muttered to himself. Maybe. It probably wasn't anything important anyway. If he forgot, so be it.