Truly Fragrant!

Back at the Research Center, Su Yu began preparing for the Divine Character Competition. He currently controlled four divine characters. It wasn't an overwhelming number, but for a new student, it was certainly formidable. There might be a few freshmen in this class who had more than him, but they wouldn't exceed the fingers of one hand. "Both my 'Kill' and 'Blood' characters have advanced to Tier-2." Inside the fragment chamber, Su Yu frowned slightly. Tier-2 divine characters were powerful—considerably stronger than Tier-1—yet they consumed more willpower and were more difficult to control. "On top of that, I'm still lacking something." The "Blood" character focused on illusions and blood absorption. The "Kill" character focused on killing intent. The "Thunder" character focused on lightning. The "Battle" character was still weak and felt somewhat ordinary. "Of the four divine characters, the only one truly geared for direct combat is 'Thunder'!" The others could be used in battle, but they lacked a direct offensive application. The "Thunder" character, on the other hand, carried thunderous might and possessed powerful destructive properties. "It'd be best if I could outline another divine character with heavy lethality!" Su Yu fell into thought. It needed strong lethal power. He actually thought a character like "Power" would be good, or perhaps "Burst" or "Explode." Characters like those were the most likely to grant high offensive properties. "Kill" was also fine, but his "Kill" character mainly manifested killing intent rather than outright execution power. He didn't know whether he simply hadn't unlocked that aspect yet or if it didn't possess it at all. With these thoughts in mind, Su Yu cultivated in the fragment chamber for a while before heading into the filtration chamber. At that moment, a text of will lay open before him. He had purchased it from Xia Huyou. In fact, Su Yu had bought a total of twenty copies. *Thousand Pound Art*—a common cultivation method found on the market. These copies were about on par with the *Kaiyuan Art* Bai Feng had casually dashed off back then. Without blood essence added, their shelf life was brief. Written purely with willpower on basic material, they depleted rapidly. After ten or so readings, the attached willpower would likely be drained dry, turning them into ordinary paper. Su Yu studied it intently. With willpower in the Yangxing Realm, reading such texts wasn't particularly difficult. He comprehended it bit by bit, feeling out every detail. This time, outlining a divine character on the first try didn't happen. He couldn't tell whether his understanding was insufficient or the text was just too poor. It shouldn't be that the text was too poor; otherwise, he wouldn't have been able to comprehend the "Blood" character back then. Su Yu wasn't in a hurry and took his time. If he finished ten or so read-throughs without outlining one, he could just switch to another copy. Now that he had plenty of texts of will, he had nothing to worry about. ... While Su Yu was quietly cultivating, several young men and women had gathered inside a small villa in the Special Class District of Yangxing Garden. Chen Qi was among them. In the spacious living room, Chen Qi sat on the outermost edge. At that moment, there were six people in the room. The Single Divine Character Faction had a total of fourteen third-generation cultivators belonging to Zhou Mingren's direct lineage. Six had already reached the Tengkong Realm, while eight had not. Presently, six of those eight non-Tengkong students were assembled. Chen Qi sat in the corner with his head lowered, keeping his mouth shut. Of the six, two were over thirty years old. Among the four under thirty, he was the only one who hadn't made it onto the Top 100 Rankings. After the group made small talk for a while, a young man with an arrogant air looked at Chen Qi and asked indifferently, "Junior Brother Chen, did Martial Uncle Hu say when he'll come out of seclusion?" "No," Chen Qi replied, falling silent immediately after. The arrogant young man frowned slightly and remarked, "By the way, Master and the others haven't shown up much lately. I heard they're working on some kind of research. Before leaving, he told me to keep a close eye on Wu Jia and Su Yu from the Multiple Divine Characters Faction. Wu Jia is basically crippled now. You fought Su Yu—how did he feel to you?" "I lost." Chen Qi remained taciturn. The young man grew displeased and said in a low voice, "Junior Brother Chen, everyone already knows that! Everyone also knows about you setting up Lin Yao, so there's no need to bring that up. I'm asking you: what do you think of Su Yu's strength?" "Decent." "..." The young man was irritated and snapped, "Can't you say a few more words?" He was fed up with Chen Qi's attitude! They hadn't called him here just to hear him utter "decent" or "not bad." The young man said coldly, "When Master went into seclusion, he told me to be careful. He said Su Yu has already secretly reached the Qianjun Fifth Layer and commands a Tier-2 divine character. He might challenge the Top 100 Rankings at any moment!" At these words, the others looked surprised. Chen Qi was also shaken. Qianjun Fifth Layer already? And a Tier-2 divine character? That freak Su Yu was unbelievable! "Junior Brother Huang, is that true?" a glamorous female student in the crowd asked. The young man nodded slightly. "It's true. Otherwise, why would I bother paying attention to someone who hasn't even entered the Top 100 Rankings? The kid isn't weak. Master said it's only a matter of time before he enters the rankings—probably within the next two months!" He continued, "When dealing with the Multiple Divine Characters Faction, we must strike them down completely! Elder Hong is away right now, which makes this the best opportunity to suppress them! "Let their legacy end with Bai Feng's generation!" The young man spoke calmly, as if it were only natural. No one else objected. Huang Qifeng was Elder Zheng Yuming's personal disciple. Even though some of them were stronger and older than him, when it came to status, Huang Qifeng stood above them. Zheng Yuming had taken on six disciples. Four had reached the Tengkong Realm, and one was older and still hadn't reached it, essentially having been given up on. Therefore, among the disciples who hadn't reached Tengkong, Huang Qifeng wasn't the strongest, but his status was the highest. Apart from Chen Qi, the others present were all disciples of Zhou Pingsheng. Huang Qifeng looked at Chen Qi again. "When you fought Su Yu last time, did you feel like he was hiding his strength?" "I don't know," Chen Qi answered quietly. Huang Qifeng's displeasure deepened, and he said coldly, "I'm trying to determine whether he reached the Qianjun Fifth Layer before your fight and was playing the fool all along, or if he broke through after your fight! Do you understand?" Chen Qi muttered, "My skills were inferior, and I lost in a single move. How do you expect me to evaluate him?" Huang Qifeng looked thoroughly annoyed! After asking all this, the guy maintained this useless attitude. Anyone who didn't know better would think he was a Tengkong cultivator! Beside him, the female student said with distaste, "Junior Brother Chen, losing is one thing, but did you fail to gather even a single shred of information?" Chen Qi looked up at her, waiting a moment before speaking. "You said it yourself—I lost. What was there to gather? After consuming blood essence, Su Yu possesses Wanshi-level combat strength. Isn't that obvious to everyone? What else is there to ask? He hasn't entered the Top 100 Rankings, so asking is pointless anyway. Are you telling me you can actively challenge him?" Huang Qifeng said indifferently, "Why not? If he actively challenges us, there won't be any issue!" Chen Qi frowned. "Senior Brother Huang, you severely injured Wu Jia last time. Pavilion Master Chen and Assistant Bai are probably already furious. If you hurt Su Yu too..." Huang Qifeng snapped impatiently, "I don't need you to lecture me! Besides, are we supposed to be afraid of their revenge?" Chen Qi said no more. Huang Qifeng pondered for a moment, then said, "Get Xia Chan to test him, or find a way to force him into challenging us early. We'll cripple him so he can't survive here! The Multiple Divine Characters Faction was basically wiped out long ago. Now they're taking in new students, trying to rekindle dead ashes?" Huang Qifeng sneered disdainfully. "Their branch consumes an absurd amount of resources. They claim their combat strength is great, but in reality, it's nothing special. Bai Feng consumes more resources than Xia Yuwen, but is he Xia Yuwen's match? "Their so-called divine character battle techniques are flashy and impractical! Outlining a massive pile of useless divine characters achieves nothing at all! "Simplifying the great dao and focusing on a singular path is the true way forward for a cultivator! "Back when the Multiple Divine Characters Faction was in charge of the academy, how many Shanhai cultivators were there? How many Lingyun cultivators were there? "Now, the academy has dozens of Shanhai cultivators. Why? Because the resources their faction used to hoard were distributed evenly to other branches, allowing so many Shanhai experts to emerge! The Multiple Divine Characters Faction held back the entire academy—even all of humanity!" Huang Qifeng spoke with grand eloquence! These words weren't his alone; the entire Single Divine Character Faction repeated them. The academy had been powerful in the past, but not like today, with Shanhai experts everywhere. In their eyes, where did all these Shanhai cultivators come from? They came from reallocating the resources the Multiple Divine Characters Faction used to consume, allowing others to break through. Otherwise, if the Multiple Divine Characters Faction had continued to press down on them and devour all the resources, how could anyone else advance? By the same logic, the new generation couldn't be allowed to have anyone from that faction either! If that faction took all the resources, what would be left for them? They were bottomless resource pits! Blood essence, texts of will, original racial texts, and even cultural weapons—the Multiple Divine Characters Faction consumed far more of everything than anyone else. Chen Qi curled his lip. Huang Qifeng caught the expression, his eyes turning cold. "Does Junior Brother Chen have a different opinion?" Chen Qi replied flatly, "None. How could I? The Multiple Divine Characters Faction ought to die out! Past glory belongs to the past! If they still dwell on former days instead of moving on, who else should perish but them?" He offered a superficial agreement, though inside he scoffed. Nothing but high-sounding rhetoric! They had no say in the grand schemes of the higher-ups. Huang Qifeng hadn't reached that level either. Suppressing Su Yu and Wu Jia was merely his way of ingratiating himself with the experts above. Acting so righteous while doing it was downright sickening. When doing dirty work behind closed doors among their own, did he really need to sound so noble? Who was fooling whom? Huang Qifeng snorted and glared at him with disdain. "Naturally. Even in the same cultivation realm, their faction is inferior to me! As for you... humph! What an embarrassment!" Chen Qi quietly clenched his fists, rage burning inside him. Just because he had lost once, these people treated him with endless contempt. Weren't they simply relying on having entered the academy a few years earlier? Huang Qifeng had been enrolled for five whole years. What right did he have to act arrogant? Even compared to Wu Jia, she had only been here for a little over two years. You enrolled three years earlier than Wu Jia, and you're the student of a Shanhai expert, yet you haven't even broken into the top fifty of the Top 100 Rankings. How do you have the nerve to call someone else useless? Five years, and you're the real waste of space! Thinking this, Chen Qi held his tongue. The more Huang Qifeng looked at him, the more annoyed he felt. Sensing an ill intention behind Chen Qi's gaze, he gave a cold sneer and ignored him. After a few more exchanges, Huang Qifeng said, "Chen Qi, you've had contact with Su Yu before. Keep an eye on him these coming days! Also, Wu Jia has withdrawn from the Top 100 Rankings, so I have no excuse to cause trouble for her. You're the only one here qualified to challenge her, so I'm leaving that to you!" Chen Qi frowned. "Watching Su Yu is fine; I can keep an eye on him! But Wu Jia is injured and staying inside Cangshu Pavilion right now. How am I supposed to cause trouble for her?" Huang Qifeng replied casually, "Just go right up to her. What does it matter if you confront her in front of Chen Yong? Would Chen Yong dare lay a hand on you? Does he not want to stay at the academy anymore?" "..." Chen Qi was furious. "And what if he does attack?" He knew what Huang Qifeng was after! It would be best if Chen Yong attacked, giving them an excuse to expel him! But wouldn't he be the sacrificial lamb? Do you take me for an idiot? Provoking an injured student right under the nose of a Lingyun Ninth Layer expert—did he think Chen Yong was a corpse? Huang Qifeng was vicious, deliberately sending him to his death! Huang Qifeng said calmly, "He won't dare. If he makes a move, the Multiple Divine Characters Faction is truly finished!" "I'm not going!" Chen Qi stood up immediately. "If you want to go, go yourself! Huang Qifeng, don't push it too far! Withholding my resources is one thing, but expecting me to march to my death? Keep dreaming!" Chen Qi snorted, swept his gaze across the others, and sneered. "Huang Qifeng, you scoundrel, your schemes are venomous and you don't even bother hiding how you screw over your fellow disciples. When I plotted against Lin Yao, I at least kept up appearances. If I'm a petty villain, you're a hypocrite—no, you're not even worthy of being called a hypocrite. Disgusting!" With that, he turned on his heel and walked out. Huang Qifeng glared at his retreating back and said chillingly, "Chen Qi, your master is in seclusion. Now, when I tell you to do something, you make excuses. Fine! Until your master emerges, don't expect to receive a single shred of resources or a single merit point!" Chen Qi ignored him, gritting his teeth, his gaze sharp and cold. He was no pushover either! Huang Qifeng was using his status and strength to humiliate him in every way, and Chen Qi currently had no means to settle the score. However... he wouldn't let this go. Just you wait! Sometimes, so-called allies were far more ruthless and underhanded than real enemies! Among the fourteen third-generation direct disciples, eight had not reached Tengkong. Three were over thirty and had practically been written off. Of the remaining five, if they pushed him out, the other four could split all the branch's resources among themselves. Why wouldn't they do it? As for himself, he still had a senior brother among those four. However, that senior brother hadn't shown up today. Chen Qi didn't know what he was thinking and harbored no hope in him anyway. ... Stepping out of the Special Class District, Chen Qi looked back and sneered. His master was foolish to let these people push him around. Sooner or later, he would end up just like Liu Hong. They were all direct disciples of Principal Zhou, yet Zheng Yuming had become an elder and faction leader, Zhou Pingsheng was deputy director of Cangshu Pavilion, and his own teacher, Hu Wensheng, was nothing—holding no status in the faction. In the past, he had at least been able to suppress Bai Feng. Now... aside from entering seclusion to attempt a breakthrough to Lingyun, he had no other way out! Huang Qifeng and the others lived in the Special Class District, while Chen Qi could only live in the High Class District. It wasn't a matter of money; his master had urged him not to live too close to Huang Qifeng and the others, telling him to yield... *Master, you're far too soft!* Chen Qi cursed inwardly. Give these people an inch, and they'd take a mile. Otherwise, how could Huang Qifeng act so arrogant? After walking a distance further, Chen Qi dialed a number. After waiting a moment, he said in a heavy voice, "It's Chen Qi!" On the other end of the line, Su Yu was momentarily stunned. "Huang Qifeng has his eyes on you! He's not at the Qianjun Ninth Layer—he's at the Wanshi Second Layer! His willpower is at 96% capacity, and he has three divine characters: the Demon Race's 'Fight,' the Dragon Race's 'Strengthen,' and a third one. I don't know exactly what the third is, and probably few people do, but I know roughly what it does... It's related to restraint. He is very strong!" Su Yu remained silent. Chen Qi didn't mind and continued, "Huang Qifeng wants to crush you and Wu Jia before Elder Hong returns, making sure you can never enter the Top 100 Rankings. Ideally, he wants to force you to drop out or switch factions so he can use you as stepping stones for his advancement! "Of Elder Zheng's six students, he's the weakest. After five years, he still hasn't reached Tengkong, so he's getting anxious. He needs more support, but without Tengkong strength, his best chance right now is to thoroughly suppress you and drive you to despair! "He's watching you now and knows you've reached the Qianjun Fifth Layer and possess a Tier-2 divine character. Your hidden cards are already exposed. The day you try to enter the Top 100 Rankings is the day he moves against you... He might even arrange for people to provoke you before then!" After a brief silence, Su Yu asked slowly, "How many apertures did he merge to break through?" "Nine!" Chen Qi said coldly, "He merged nine apertures to advance. Don't underestimate him. Not many Civilization Masters merge nine apertures. His main strength isn't his physical body anyway. His 'Fight' divine character makes his combat strength terrifying. His actual prowess is likely comparable to a Wanshi Fourth Layer—a genuine Wanshi Fourth Layer!" Su Yu thought for a moment, then asked, "Is he rich?" "..." Chen Qi was speechless. He said in a deep voice, "Yes, but don't get any ideas! Su Yu, I know you're confident and proud, but you're no match for him!" Su Yu chuckled. "I know that. Thanks for the heads-up! I wasn't planning on fighting him anyway. I'm not strong enough yet, and taking a step back makes the sea and sky wide. You didn't really need to warn me specially." With that, Su Yu asked curiously, "When he defeated my senior sister, was he really unable to hold back?" "..." Chen Qi was exasperated. "Of course not! Do you even need to ask? He's considerably stronger than Wu Jia. How could she possibly be his match?" "Understood!" Su Yu smiled. "Alright, thank you. Even though I know you're not doing this out of the goodness of your heart, it doesn't matter. By the way, are there any people from the Single Divine Character Faction among the freshmen? Direct disciples, I mean." "Xia Chan..." "I already know about her. Anyone else?" "One more!" Chen Qi thought for a moment before saying, "Zheng Hong! That monstrous talent in your class. He's Elder Zheng's grandson, but he keeps a very low profile. His goal isn't you; he entered the academy targeting Xia Chan and Wan Mingze. But right now, it's hard to say, so watch yourself!" Zheng Hong! Su Yu was surprised. That exceptionally low-profile guy—of the six monstrous talents in their class, he was by far the quietest. Su Yu had some understanding of Xia Chan, Zheng Yunhui, Zhao Shiqi, Wan Mingze, and Hu Qiusheng. Only Zheng Hong remained practically forgotten, keeping an unimaginably low profile. Even the intelligence Xia Huyou had gathered for him lacked any details on Zheng Hong. Su Yu frowned. "Zheng Hong is Elder Zheng's grandson?" "Yes!" Chen Qi said in a low voice, "Not many people know this! Huang Qifeng let it slip by accident once. As Elder Zheng's personal disciple, he's very familiar with Elder Zheng's household. Over the years, Zheng Hong hasn't studied under Elder Zheng, but under Elder Sun." Su Yu realized! The Single Divine Character Faction had multiple Shanhai experts, including one surnamed Sun, and another surnamed Zhao, who was Liu Hong's teacher. So that was how it was! A student of Elder Sun... Su Yu really hadn't paid attention to that, having kept his eyes locked onto Zhou Mingren's branch. "Understood, thank you!" Su Yu offered his polite thanks and hung up the call. ... Back in the Research Center, Su Yu chuckled and sighed, "What a mess!" The Single Divine Character Faction was a mess internally. Zhou Mingren, Elder Sun, Elder Zhao... These people didn't seem entirely of one mind either. Look at how Liu Hong was being pushed aside. That much was clear to see. Earlier, Chen Qi had plotted against Lin Yao, and now Huang Qifeng seemed to be targeting Chen Qi; otherwise, Chen Qi wouldn't have leaked information to him... Su Yu strongly suspected that without the Multiple Divine Characters Faction around, these people would beat each other's brains out! "My teacher and martial uncle lived pretty comfortably in the past... I'm starting to wonder if Principal Zhou and the others did that on purpose!" At this moment, a faint idea crossed his mind. They had deliberately avoided crushing Bai Feng and the others! Otherwise, according to Bai Feng, the Multiple Divine Characters Faction had it terrible. If that were truly the case, how had Bai Feng managed to avoid major trouble? Creating an external enemy helped maintain peace within their own Single Divine Character Faction. "Grandmaster... might just be a target, an external lightning rod!" Hong Tan's impression on Su Yu was that of someone who ignored external affairs and cared only about research. In Su Yu's eyes, squeezing out such a person should have been child's play. Yet after all these years of turmoil from the Single Divine Character Faction, Hong Tan remained firmly at the academy. Were they taking it easy on him, or was this grandmaster he had never met truly formidable? "Let's wait a bit longer!" Su Yu suppressed his impulse! Once he purified his yuanqi, obtained a Heaven Rank cultivation art, and outlined a few more divine characters, he would go cause trouble for them! As long as they had money, it was fine! Indeed, the Single Divine Character Faction was wealthy. Right now, he didn't feel like doing mission quests, nor could he enter the All-Heavens Battlefield. Without income, sitting around and depleting his savings wouldn't do. The Single Divine Character Faction was his prime target to open up a new revenue stream! Doing missions right now was out of the question, and the Multiple Divine Characters Faction was poor, so he could only rely on them to support him. "Zheng Hong... Liu He... and Yang Sha..." Yang Sha was Liu Hong's eldest disciple. One step at a time! Su Yu was in no rush. Plundering money required taking them on one by one, from weakest to strongest. He couldn't leave anyone out, or it wouldn't be cost-effective. As for whether Liu Hong was an undercover agent... that had nothing to do with merit points. Even if he was, didn't they hold different identities right now? They had to put on a show for others, right? By robbing Liu Hong's students, wouldn't it make it easier for Liu Hong to conceal his identity? Su Yu felt completely justified. *I'm helping you protect your cover, Instructor Liu. Aren't I considerate?* While mulling these things over, Su Yu continued studying the text of will. As he read, his expression shifted slightly. Was a divine character about to form? "What's this..." "Did I comprehend its true essence?" "This character... can't possibly suit me!" "Yin!" Yes, *yin* as in insidious, overcast, and underhanded! Su Yu furrowed his brows. What was the meaning of this? I was just thinking about that for a second. Why were you in such a hurry to jump out? Am I really desperate for this one character? I still need ninety-four characters; would I care about missing this one? Su Yu rolled his eyes and muttered, "It's not *yin* as in sinister; it's *yin* as in shadow! It must be a divine character with concealment properties. Yes, that's definitely it!" After comforting himself with a few words, Su Yu refused to admit he was an underhanded person! He, Su Yu, was upright, bright, cheerful, honest, and dependable, practically devoid of flaws and never one to deceive anyone. This character had to have formed because he had comprehended the true essence of concealment attributes. The next moment, several divine characters leapt out inside his sea of will! The "Kill" character flared with killing intent, instantly causing the newly arrived character to wilt. It was tiny and feeble. The "Blood" character circled the "Yin" character once, seemingly finding it boring, and hopped back into the divine character battle technique saber. Little Brother "Thunder" was eager to try striking it, but seeing the newcomer already paralyzed with fear, it lost its chance and retreated rather unhappily. Su Yu was utterly speechless. Was it really this weak? Why did it feel completely incapable of resistance! It wasn't even as resilient as the "Battle" character had been last time. The person who wrote this text of will was probably weaker and even more irresponsible than his own teacher! The "Yin" character suffered almost no damage. After being kicked a few times by Little Brother "Battle," it voluntarily hopped into one of the divine character frameworks, lying down obediently. At that moment, a realization surfaced in Su Yu's mind. A divine character property! "Huh?" Su Yu paused, slightly stunned! What was this... The property of this divine character was absolute garbage, but... but while it was garbage, it actually seemed somewhat useful to him! "Creates a layer of shadow barrier..." With a flick of Su Yu's willpower, his vision darkened slightly, obscuring his eyes. Of course, he knew this property was weak and of little use. However... however... it seemed capable of covering other things! The next instant, inside Su Yu's body, the previously opened apertures that were shining brightly were suddenly shrouded by dark veils. The apertures instantly dimmed! Su Yu muttered, "Why did my mind immediately jump to obscuring apertures..." That had been his very first thought! Honestly, he hadn't planned on playing the pig to eat the tiger, but the moment the shadow barrier appeared, that notion had popped into his head. Using such a weak barrier against an enemy wouldn't even be as effective as his illusion property. Yet using it on himself to wrap around his apertures seemed remarkably fitting! Su Yu let out a long breath. *A garbage divine character, useless through and through. What's the point of hiding apertures?* *I walk upright and sit straight. Why should I fear others knowing my strength?* *Ridiculous!* Even as he thought this, his willpower surged, and shadow barriers materialized within his body one after another, enveloping aperture after aperture. The originally brilliant 108 apertures gradually grew dim. Twelve dimmed, then twenty-four, then thirty-six... Until only seventy bright apertures remained, Su Yu stopped concealing them. The willpower consumption was negligible, and maintaining it continuously wouldn't be difficult at all. "Qianjun Fifth Layer, just shy of the Sixth Layer!" "Unless an expert extends their willpower deep inside and breaks through my shadow barrier, they won't see through it. But doing that would mean making a mortal enemy!" When Old Huang and the others probed him, it was merely a basic willpower inspection. Breaching a student's shadow barrier would count as an outright attack. For a powerful expert to attack him would violate academy regulations and carry severe punishment! Su Yu grinned, showing his teeth. It was a passable function, he supposed. He had read through three texts of will and only managed to capture a divine character from this one. Oh well, having something was better than nothing. Now, he controlled at least five divine characters, which was quite good. "Once 'Yin' reaches Tier-2, it might even be able to block forced inspections from Tengkong experts!" Su Yu murmured to himself. Advancing this divine character to Tier-2 actually sounded pretty nice!