Shatter Shanhai, Suppress Riyue, Battle Invincible

At the Research Center. Su Yu unrolled the Seeking the Secluded in Mountains and Seas Scroll. It was a very long piece of calligraphy. He studied and appreciated it for a while. He had to admit that his grandmaster's calligraphy was quite handsome—far better than Bai Feng's, at the very least. Sending his willpower into the scroll, he found nothing unusual. He could only sense the weight and rustic antiquity carried in the brushstrokes. These were words left behind by a Shanhai Realm expert. As for anything else, there was nothing. "Is there really a martial technique hidden here?" Su Yu felt a prickle of awe. For Hong Tan to have discovered nothing all these years meant that if something truly was concealed within, it had to have been inscribed by a Riyue expert, or perhaps even an Invincible one. At the very least, far stronger than his grandmaster! A drop of Dragon Silkworm blood essence appeared in his palm. Taking a deep breath, Su Yu dripped it onto the scroll. The instant the blood essence touched the surface, the scene before his eyes transformed! ... Su Yu's vision blurred. When his eyes focused again, he was no longer where he had been. All around him stretched an endless, empty void! The next instant, a tall man suddenly appeared in front of him. The man looked to be in his forties or fifties, his expression somewhat rigid, but upon spotting Su Yu, his eyes quickly lit up! "A human?" Su Yu started. What... what was this? "Do not be alarmed. I am merely a remnant strand of willpower!" The middle-aged man spoke impassively. "Obtaining this technique is your fortune! The one who held it previously was an alien. Is he dead?" "No..." "No matter!" The man wasted no time on pleasantries. Looking at Su Yu, he said in a resonant voice, "This technique is named *Time*." *Time*? Su Yu was dazed. He was still confused—was this the inner space of a willpower text? There was actually someone inside! Of course, willpower texts often held figures, but none of the previous ones could speak! This one could talk! "*Time*—the art of pursuing time itself, shattering samsara, chasing the stars and sun, one step into the past, one step into the future..." Now that was bragging on an astronomical scale! Su Yu was speechless. Who created this technique to boast so outrageously? "A peak mid-Heaven tier martial technique! Requiring one hundred and thirty-two apertures!" "Capable of shattering Shanhai and suppressing Riyue!" "..." Su Yu listened in silence. *Keep boasting. You might be an Invincible, so of course you can shatter Shanhai and suppress Riyue, but I certainly can't.* A mid-Heaven tier martial technique! It was undeniably powerful, but its effectiveness depended on who cultivated it and what realm they had reached. "This technique consists of merely three tiers!" "Thirty-six apertures per tier!" "The first tier: Shatter Shanhai!" "The second tier: Suppress Riyue!" "The third tier: Battle Invincible!" "..." Su Yu stood frozen. Those were the names of the tiers? They sounded domineering, but... if he actually shouted those names out loud in a fight, wouldn't someone beat him to death? He desperately wanted to mock it. He couldn't help recalling what Liu Wenyan had told him before: some Invincible experts had been chuunibyou in their youth, handing out wild, ridiculous names to their moves. Take the famous *Innumerable Saber Strikes of Heaven Cleaving*, for instance. This man's naming sense was entirely on par with that. If he ever called out these moves, Su Yu genuinely feared he would be killed on the spot; Shanhai and Riyue experts would pulverize him. "Open thirty-six apertures to complete the first tier, and leaping across realms to do battle will pose no difficulty whatsoever!" "A Qianjun fighting a Wanshi; a Wanshi fighting a Tengkong!" "..." The middle-aged man continued his explanation while Su Yu listened quietly. The scene shifted again. Points of light appeared along the man's legs, each marking an aperture. "Tier One: Shatter Shanhai. Thirty-six apertures opened across both legs, each leg forming its own system. These thirty-six apertures took me years of research to link into an integrated circuit..." The man launched into another bout of self-praise. In short, it was unimaginably strong. Once the first tier was mastered, fighting above one's realm was effortless. All it took was opening thirty-six apertures! Su Yu quickly compared them and felt a jolt of delight. "Twelve of these apertures overlap with the War God Art!" That meant to cultivate the first tier, he only needed to open twenty-four new apertures. As the man continued to speak, Su Yu suddenly felt dizzy! His willpower... was completely exhausted! The next instant, Su Yu's vision blurred. He found himself back where he started. The Seeking the Secluded in Mountains and Seas Scroll had returned to normal without the slightest anomaly, its drop of blood essence thoroughly consumed. "This..." Just as Su Yu was about to express his shock, a splitting headache hit him! The drain on his willpower had been enormous! Yet at that very moment, his willpower was also recovering rapidly, showing faint signs of growing stronger. Su Yu was startled! Invincible! A willpower text inscribed by an Invincible Realm expert! No wonder his willpower had run dry after only watching for a short while, and after enduring that clash of wills, though the expenditure was huge, the recovery rate was astonishingly fast as well. "This... is truly incredible!" Su Yu was thrilled. This felt even more potent than the fragment chamber. And... a divine character! His heart leaped. A willpower text written by an Invincible expert—could it be used to outline a divine character? "Probably not right now; that character might blast me to pieces!" Su Yu muttered to himself. Back when he absorbed the Shanhai Realm divine character for "Kill," his two existing divine characters had nearly lost the fight. Much less one from an Invincible Realm expert! Su Yu strongly suspected that if he outlined it, it would start directly as a Tier-2 divine character. "*Time*, Tier One: Shatter Shanhai!" Su Yu exhaled. What an arrogant name. The problem was, he couldn't actually shatter any Shanhai experts. "And the consumption is huge!" Su Yu sighed. A drop of blood essence, even if only at the Qianjun Realm, had barely lasted any time at all. Dragon Silkworm blood essence was far from cheap! It was extremely expensive! "Why would a technique created by a human require Dragon Silkworm blood essence to activate? How deep was the grudge to insist on killing Dragon Silkworms? Did this Invincible get beaten up by a Dragon Silkworm in the past?" Su Yu couldn't help wondering. ... At the very moment Su Yu was musing over this... In the Human Realm. At the pinnacle of a tower that pierced the heavens. Two figures were drinking tea and playing weiqi. Suddenly, one middle-aged man glanced toward the south and frowned slightly. "Who activated my *Time*?" "Hm?" The burly man across from him asked in surprise, "Didn't you say it was seized by an alien years ago?" If an alien took it, why look toward the Human Realm? "It's in the Human Realm!" The middle-aged man said calmly, "Could that alien have been slain, and *Time* recovered? My poor disciple... someone has finally avenged him!" The burly man chuckled. "What, thinking of taking it back?" "Forget it. Consider it my reward to whoever did it!" The middle-aged man smiled faintly. "I wonder who acquired it. I only hope they aren't some mediocre fool who tarnishes my name! Still, anyone capable of slaying that alien couldn't be weak; they shouldn't be mediocre." His expression turned cold. "The Xingyu Mansion will open again soon. This time, I will ensure our people slaughter them to their hearts' content inside to send off my disciple!" The burly man laughed heartily. "Come now, you're getting up in years. That disciple of yours... was simply outmatched. Being killed happens, and you couldn't have stopped it." He added, "Besides, that *Time* of yours is quite ordinary at best. Only the names sound loud." "Ordinary?" The middle-aged man scoffed. "Believe it or not, I can kick you back a hundred years into the past!" "Haha, try it then!" the burly man sneered. "If you can kick me back a hundred years, I'll burn incense to you as my ancestor!" "..." The middle-aged man couldn't be bothered to argue and resumed playing weiqi. After a while, he said, "The Dragon Silkworm King has gone into hiding lately. Find an opportunity to help me ambush it..." "It's been hundreds of years..." The burly man sighed helplessly. "You're still holding on to that? It only swallowed you into its belly once, and you didn't even suffer a loss..." "Hmph!" The middle-aged man glared, irritated. "It dared to swallow me; it will pay the price sooner or later!" The burly man gave up arguing. What a grudge-bearer! After all these centuries, the Dragon Silkworm King was sick of him. Whenever it sensed him coming, it fled on sight, yet he still kept chasing it. ... Su Yu had no idea any of this had transpired. Right now, his willpower was recovering swiftly. A moment later, he opened his eyes, beaming with joy! His willpower felt slightly stronger! It was very similar to the sensation he had felt after his first visit to the fragment chamber! "Invincible..." He didn't know whether the creator was an Invincible or a Riyue expert, but anyone daring to name the moves Suppress Riyue and Battle Invincible was very likely in the Invincible Realm. "I only need to open twenty-four apertures, so it's definitely worth a try!" "I still have plenty of Mountain-Breaking Ox blood essence." Su Yu contemplated entering the secret realm again to open those twenty-four apertures and master the first tier, Shatter Shanhai. It certainly wouldn't be weak! "I need to buy Dragon Silkworm blood essence, and blood essence from the Five Elements races..." Su Yu muttered, feeling an urge to cultivate immediately. A Heaven-tier technique—he was eager to see just how formidable it was. At present, he lacked a true finishing move. Perhaps this could become his trump card. "Thanks to the Suanni..." Su Yu paused, suddenly doing the math. He had fed them on the twenty-second, and it was now past midnight. That meant today was October first? "Phew, counting both ends, it's only been ten days!" Su Yu let out a breath of relief. Good thing he remembered. If he had gone straight into the secret realm, he might have spent several more days there. If he forgot again after coming out, half a month or a full month would have passed. It would be disastrous if they starved to death! "The Water Person is in the Lingyun Realm; I need its blood essence to activate the Lingyun Water Person album..." Though he couldn't use it yet, he would eventually. Once he reached the Tengkong Realm, he should be able to activate the Lingyun albums. ... A short while later, Su Yu arrived at the second basement level. The door opened. Having starved for days, the caged beasts seemed somewhat resigned to it. Habit was a frightening force. The Suanni looked thoroughly satisfied! Last time, it had provided Su Yu with information and received extra drops of yuanqi liquid, so life had been reasonably comfortable. Although three extra drops—at one drop every three days—should have only matched its standard allowance, this kid... wasn't he somewhat forgetful? Just look at the others, starved until they barely had the strength to breathe! "Kid Su Yu, you're here!" The Suanni was lively and energetic. Good thing he showed up! Its yuanqi liquid had just run out; if he had delayed any longer, it would have started starving too. The Shadow, the Water Person, the Fire Crow, White Li, and the Mountain-Boring Ox all perked up at that moment! The Fire Crow shrieked shrilly, "Su Yu, since you took over this place, I have received a single drop of yuanqi liquid! Are you truly trying to starve me to death?" It was too miserable! The others had received at least two drops, but it had only gotten one. It was utterly tragic! Su Yu didn't bother replying. As long as it could speak, it was fine. He looked at the Suanni and smiled. "Not bad! I retrieved that scroll, and there really was a technique inside. Excellent! Suanni, you've done well. You get an extra drop of yuanqi liquid this time, and next time I come, I'll bring you some meat. As for the rest of you... you know what to do!" With that, Su Yu said cheerfully, "I've obtained the martial technique and only need to open the apertures. Once I learn it, hehe... that enemy of mine is only at the eighth layer of Qianjun. I'll crush him sooner or later!" White Li no longer acted charming at all! Her voice was no longer pure and airy either! She said feebly, "Little Brother Su Yu, please give me an extra drop of yuanqi liquid too. I... I can trade techniques from the White Civet race. I really don't know human techniques, but I can write down our secret arts for you!" Su Yu rolled his eyes. "Drop the act. Do you take me for an idiot? What if you lace the willpower with deadly techniques and kill me? You're all so strong and I'm so weak; I'm not falling for that!" White Li wanted to weep! *I won't!* *Just give me something to eat! What good is one drop of yuanqi liquid every ten-plus days? We're really going to starve to death!* Earlier, they had contemplated escape. Now... forget it, just don't let them starve to death. He was far too irresponsible! Bai Feng had been irresponsible before, forgetting every now and then, but not like this. Bai Feng visited at least seven or eight times a month, averaging once every four or five days. Su Yu... hadn't even visited three times in a month! No, exactly three times this month. Bai Feng had handed over duties on the fourth, and now it was October first—exactly three visits. What if it stayed like this every time? He had promised to come once every three days, yet it became once every ten days. Who could endure that? The Shadow and the Water Person solidified their forms, staring pathetically at Su Yu. Damn it, they almost wished for death. Even a Lingyun expert could hardly hold out! The Mountain-Boring Ox ground its teeth and grumbled, "Give me twenty drops of yuanqi liquid, and I will condense a drop of blood essence for you. How about it?" Naturally, that was a terrible trade for the ox! Losing blood essence meant falling in strength. The problem was, if it didn't take the loss, it would starve. Without yuanqi liquid to replenish itself, it would eventually become a pile of dry bones. What good was high cultivation then? Su Yu glanced at it and brushed it off dismissively. "We'll see! I can't even use Tengkong blood essence. All of you are so strong, yet not a single one is in the Wanshi Realm. Tengkong blood essence would blow me apart. You clearly have bad intentions!" "..." The Mountain-Boring Ox felt unspeakably wronged! *Damn it, is it my fault that I'm strong?* *You're too weak yourself, what can I do about that?* "You... you could sell it and buy other blood essence!" The Mountain-Boring Ox said aggrievedly, "I'm in the Tengkong Realm. If you sell it, trading for ten drops of Wanshi blood essence would be easy..." Hearing that, Su Yu was struck with realization! He looked at the ox in astonishment. "You actually have a brain?" "..." The Mountain-Boring Ox wanted to cry! Wasn't that basic common sense? If it were truly stupid, how could it have cultivated to the Tengkong Realm? *You were the stupid one, yet you blame me for being smart?* Su Yu said no more and fed the Suanni two drops of yuanqi liquid. The Suanni was so moved it nearly shed tears. Pure bliss! Compared to the others, its life was heavenly. Two whole drops of yuanqi liquid! Giving away that technique had been totally worth it. That was four extra drops in total! A mid-Heaven tier martial technique in exchange for four extra drops of yuanqi liquid... The more it thought about it, the more the Suanni wanted to cry as well. Since when had Heaven-tier martial techniques become so dirt cheap? Su Yu ignored its feelings. After distributing the yuanqi liquid, he smiled. "I plan to enter closed-door cultivation soon..." Those words sent shockwaves through the cages! The beasts paled in horror! Closed-door cultivation! How long would that take? White Li rushed to say, "Little Brother Su Yu—no, Big Brother Su Yu! I... I will trade blood essence for yuanqi liquid! No, techniques, martial skills, anything! If necessary, I can even write our clan's foundational heritage art! If you turn it in to your academy, they'll reward you with thousands of merit points at least..." "Without any willpower mixed in, just purely the written technique..." Su Yu rubbed his chin, tempted. "A technique free of willpower..." That sounded quite good! Even if he didn't use it, submitting it to the academy should fetch a reward, right? Did the academy already possess these races' techniques? Maybe, maybe not. After a moment's thought, Su Yu said, "Then all of you write down some cultivation techniques from your races. I'll submit them to the academy to see if there's any reward..." He paused, then added, "How about this: for every one hundred merit points the academy awards me, I'll give you an extra drop of yuanqi liquid. If they don't give me any reward... well, sorry, my yuanqi liquid doesn't blow in on the wind!" The great demons were filled with helplessness and despair! *You bastard, does that yuanqi liquid even belong to you in the first place?* Still, Su Yu's move was undeniably shrewd. Submitting them to the academy! He refused willpower texts, so even if they tried to set a trap, without willpower woven into the text and with Su Yu not cultivating it himself, how could they possibly harm him? The Shadow's voice drifted out eerily. "The human race has fought us for centuries. You already possess most of our techniques. Even if you turn them in, you might not receive any reward. We know what one hundred merit points represent; the Civilization Academy will not give you that much." Su Yu smiled. "Is that so? Then write more! Even if they have copies, you can add your personal insights. Wouldn't that make them better? Insights from a native practitioner should be far deeper than ours. If you want to trap someone, just don't trap me. There are plenty of Shanhai experts in the academy—if you dare, go ahead and trick them into practicing it!" The demons fell into despair once more! Nonsense, were Shanhai Realm experts so easy to deceive? Su Yu grinned. "Do we have a deal? If so, start writing. Once they're written, I'll take them to the academy for rewards. I happen to be running low on funds; once I get the money, I can buy food for you!" The demons looked at one another. After a long silence, White Li said mournfully, "I'll write! I'll write! Big Brother Su Yu, once I write it and you get the reward, you must give me a few drops of yuanqi liquid. I really can't hold on much longer. My cultivation was weaker than theirs to begin with..." Su Yu chuckled. "Sure! Don't worry, I never lie! I'm just a little forgetful, but aside from that, I have no flaws." At those words, the demons nodded in unison. *Right, you're forgetful!* So forgetful that you routinely fail to feed us, and sooner or later several of us will starve to death. As Su Yu spoke, something crossed his mind. He turned to the Water Person. "Number One, can your Five Elements Race cultivate willpower from a young age?" The Water Person fell silent. "What, is it a secret?" The Water Person answered softly, "In a sense, yes. However... we are different from humans. We do not have distinct apertures, and our cultivation methods are entirely different from yours. Even if you obtain our arts, you will not be able to cultivate them." "No apertures?" Su Yu was startled. The Water Person added faintly, "Indeed. We are spirits born of the five elements. In a manner of speaking, our entire bodies are composed of apertures. Even we do not know precisely which apertures our arts open. Even if humans obtain them and study them for years, you will never be able to convert them into cultivation methods for yourselves." Su Yu's heart stirred. Others couldn't, but the golden album could! He felt confident the album would have no problem! Before reaching the Tengkong Realm, human willpower could only be cultivated passively, just like opening origin apertures in the body—the Origin Opening Realm was also passive cultivation rather than active. Yet back then, with the album's aid, Su Yu had achieved active cultivation. If so, why couldn't the same apply to willpower? Thinking of this, Su Yu said, "Number One, how about you write out the art you cultivate once for me? I'll look it over. Even if it's useless to me, it still carries considerable value. I'll give you one drop of yuanqi liquid for it!" The Water Person was rendered speechless! *A cultivation art of my Five Elements Race is worth only one drop of yuanqi liquid?* *Just how much do you look down on the Five Elements Race!* Knowing what it was thinking, Su Yu said casually, "You said yourself I can't cultivate it. Look at the Suanni—the Heaven-tier technique it gave me is something I can actually practice. Naturally, the value is different!" Resigned, the Water Person said, "Let me think about it!" With that, it dissolved into a puddle of water and spoke no further. Su Yu didn't press the matter. Once he got the Five Elements blood essence, he could unlock the cultivation methods anyway. Still, acquiring the original art from the Water Person would give him material to study and adapt later. The Yuan-Purifying Art he had passed to Hu Zongqi wasn't truly a proper art; it was crude and lacked a formal system. It merely explained how to open the apertures, where to open them, and how to link them... Of course, cultivation arts were fundamentally just that! It simply lacked the usual mystical flourishes. But anyone looking at the art Su Yu provided would know it had been compiled by an uneducated novice; upon receiving it, they might not even dare cultivate it. Hu Zongqi hadn't doubted it only because Su Yu had genuinely cleansed his own apertures, offering living proof, and Su Yu had no reason to harm him. He couldn't hand out arts like that in the future! One or two was fine, but if multiple arts read that way, anyone could tell they hadn't been adapted from manuals, but were based on firsthand experience running the apertures. That meant someone had experimented with them. Who? Hong Tan? Bai Feng? Or Su Yu? That would easily give away clues! Su Yu considered many angles. Without further delay, he went upstairs, grabbed paper and brush, and tossed them into the cages. "Write quickly. Write if you want to, or don't if you'd rather starve. Do you know human script? Ideally, write two copies: one in human language and one in your native script..." Just as he finished, White Li said mournfully, "Big Brother Su Yu, certain arts cannot convey their true essence unless written as willpower texts. Some cultivation methods simply cannot be expressed in words!" Su Yu believed that. Such arts truly existed, and in large numbers. Without a willpower text version, one couldn't learn them even if one held the manual. "Then write down whatever can be expressed in words!" Su Yu didn't mind. He casually tossed a drop of yuanqi liquid over and smiled. "White Cat, you're the most obedient. This is your reward!" Overjoyed, White Li snapped up the droplet with her mouth, nearly weeping with emotion. How pathetic! Who would have thought that a single drop of yuanqi liquid could bring an eighth-layer Tengkong expert to tears! "I'll write..." White Li was beside herself with excitement. She didn't even use the brush; her agile claws flew across the page, swiftly penning several techniques. "Brother, you need to open the outer divine talisman barrier to take these out..." At those words, Su Yu's eyes widened! Who was she trying to fool? "Try tossing them out!" "I really can't! If I throw them out, the lightning will blow them to ash. This divine talisman defense grid only allows things to be tossed in from the outside..." Su Yu thought it over and nodded without arguing. He hurried upstairs. A moment later, he returned. Holding an image recording jade talisman, he smiled. "Hold up the paper and stand close to the cage bars. I'll record an image of it..." White Li completely broke down! This kid was impossible! Obediently holding the paper up with her paws, she stood still as Su Yu captured several clear images, nodding in satisfaction. "Very good. I'll take this to the academy later to try submitting it. If there's a reward, I'll bring you something good to eat next time!" The Suanni couldn't resist speaking up: "Su Yu... uh... you promised to bring me some meat!" "No problem!" Su Yu agreed readily and left the detention area shortly after. Once he was gone, the pathetic White Li sighed. "No good! This Su Yu is extremely cautious! He isn't stupid either. If this continues, we won't have any chance at all, and we truly won't survive!" The Suanni also cursed under its breath, "I handed him a Heaven-tier martial technique, and he gave me a few drops of yuanqi liquid... What a shameless deal!" It grew frantic. "We can't keep going like this! Shadow, do you have any ideas?" The Shadow murmured eerily, "I do: give him blood essence! Mix some of your willpower into it. I know some of you even possess the ability to regenerate from a single drop of blood. As long as he takes the bait, we will have an opening!" It continued, "White Li, write more techniques for him. Let him taste the sweetness! Once he exchanges them for merit points, hook him step by step!" "Human desire is boundless. Once he tastes the sweetness, he will become increasingly greedy—greedy for our flesh and blood. Techniques can be recorded by image, but can flesh and blood be captured by an image talisman?" The Shadow said softly, "He will take the bait sooner or later! Take it slow. As long as he deactivates the outer divine talisman barrier, we have hope of escaping!" The great demons fell silent, offering no further dispute. ... In the living quarters. Su Yu reviewed the images on the recording talisman. White Li had written three techniques. After skimming them, Su Yu sneered! They were all useless, trash arts! Humans had probably captured copies long ago! "Still, it might be worth a shot..." He would try submitting them to the academy to see if they awarded merit points. If they did, it would be another source of income. Besides... if he ever ran short of merit points in the future, he could use the album to fabricate a relatively important art and turn it in for rewards, using the beasts as an excuse. Many people likely knew his grandmaster kept several great demons imprisoned here. "Good. That gives me a few more scapegoats. Any art whose origin is hard to explain can just be attributed to them!" Su Yu paid the matter no more mind. Deactivating the protective divine talismans? In their dreams! He was only in the Qianjun Realm; those Tengkong and Lingyun demons could squash him effortlessly. Su Yu wasn't stupid. He packed his belongings, making preparations to enter the secret realm again. "Once I cultivate *Time*, I might be ready to challenge the Top 100 Rankings!" The Top 100 Rankings! Su Yu took a deep breath. His target wasn't the tail end of the list, but Huang Qifeng. He knew that once he entered the Top 100 Rankings, Huang Qifeng and his group would certainly target him. In that case, he would cripple them first! The academy forbade crippling students permanently, but severe injuries... as long as they could still cultivate, that didn't count as crippled! Quickly dialing a number, Su Yu skipped the pleasantries and said immediately, "Dragon Silkworm blood essence—realm doesn't matter. Get me about a hundred drops right away. Of course, if it's above Tengkong, fewer drops are fine! Have you gathered the Five Elements blood essence yet? I need it immediately!" Xia Huyou asked in surprise, "You even want blood essence above Tengkong?" "Yes!" Su Yu clarified, "Only for the Dragon Silkworm. For the others, stick mainly to Wanshi!" "All right!" Above Tengkong was actually easier to source, though the price was exorbitant. For the top one hundred races, plenty of Tengkong-and-above combatants fought on the battlefield. "Dragon Silkworms are among the top one hundred races. I can get you some from the Tengkong Realm, but it won't be cheap. At the Tengkong Realm, god and demon blood essence costs over a thousand merit points per drop. Dragon Silkworm is cheaper, but still around one hundred merit points a drop..." "That expensive?" "That's considered cheap! Of course, do you want Fire Swine blood essence instead? I can sell you Tengkong Fire Swine blood essence for twenty merit points a drop!" "..." Su Yu was speechless. What would he do with blood essence from that garbage race! He had consumed it before and couldn't even activate a single page of the album. Pure trash! "Then... get me ten drops..." Su Yu couldn't help complaining, "Isn't that too expensive? Slaying a Tengkong only earns a hundred merit points, yet you're charging me a hundred merit points for a single drop of blood essence..." Xia Huyou sighed helplessly. "Big brother, that one-hundred-point reward for slaying a Tengkong is practically free money! The blood essence and materials are spoils of war. No one ever said killing a Tengkong only nets you one hundred merit points in total! Spoils are worth merit points too! So when you kill a Tengkong, your actual harvest is far more than a hundred points. Understand?" Su Yu was left without a retort. "Then get me ten drops. Can you secure the Five Elements blood essence?" "No problem, I'll deliver it to you shortly; I've already collected it. For the Five Elements races, two drops of Wanshi blood essence each for metal, wood, water, fire, and earth, at fifty merit points per drop. That's ten drops for five hundred points. Fifteen hundred points in total!" Su Yu felt a pang of heartache. After thinking for a moment, he asked, "Let me ask you: what's the market price for Mountain-Boring Ox Tengkong blood essence?" "Decent. The Mountain-Boring Ox belongs to the same genus as the Mountain-Breaking Ox and works well for Tengkong physical foundation building. Those who can't afford top-tier blood essence often buy Mountain-Boring Ox essence instead, and their ranking is relatively high. Early-stage goes for about sixty merit points a drop." "What about late-stage?" "Then it's pricey—around a hundred and fifty points!" "If I sell some to you, will you buy it?" "..." Xia Huyou froze. *You're selling to me?* *Where would you get that?* The next second, realization struck, and he asked in astonishment, "You don't mean the one in your Research Center, do you?" "Yeah!" "Don't mess around! You'd better not harvest that one. The Mountain-Boring Ox race possesses the ability to regenerate from a single drop of blood. Not every ox has it, of course, but their royal bloodline does. Be careful, don't do anything reckless!" Su Yu's eyes narrowed slightly! He had harbored that exact worry before. Now it seemed that ox... hehe, truly harbored wicked intentions! Offering its blood essence just to trade for yuanqi liquid. Su Yu had only asked out of curiosity; he had never intended to open the divine talisman barrier to accept its blood essence right now. Even if he did... he would drag Bai Feng along. Bai Feng had experience with that sort of thing; he routinely stripped skin, pulled sinew, and harvested blood essence. "All right, I understand!" Su Yu said no more. "Have the goods ready for me as soon as possible. Fifteen hundred merit points, right... Fine!" Su Yu gritted his teeth! Pay it! Wasn't it just money? Didn't he have plenty? Pour it all in! Once he mastered this Heaven-tier martial technique, he would go and rob it all back—ahem, win it all back one by one! "Minus fifteen hundred points, I'll only have a little over twelve hundred points left... I need to start budgeting!" Those twenty thousand merit points were truly close to running out. Even so, he still held plenty of Mountain-Breaking Ox blood essence and a massive hoard of willpower texts. He was still an undeniable tycoon; selling off those assets would bring in a fortune as well.