Turbulent winds and surging clouds swept across Great Xia Prefecture.
Yet at this moment, Su Yu was merely a tiny ripple in this vast ocean; a single cresting wave could snuff him out.
Su Yu paid no mind to what was happening outside; cultivation was the foundation of everything.
As for conspiracies and schemes, they all served to make one stronger.
If you were not strong, even the most brilliant schemes amounted to nothing—you were still destined to be swatted to death with a single palm.
A basic cultural art was his primary task going forward.
Although the Five Elements blood essence he had commissioned Xia Huyou to purchase had not yet arrived, Xia Huyou had already traded sixty drops of blood essence to him earlier, which was enough for the time being.
Inside the fragment chamber.
Su Yu returned to the mindset he had maintained when he first entered the academy, cultivating with diligence. His progress was simply too slow. He could not even defeat the top thirty of the Top 100 Rankings, which felt completely unacceptable to him.
As for having enrolled only two months ago... that did not matter!
What mattered was—had nobody noticed he was already provoking peak Shanhai experts?
...
Inside his sea of will, blood essence was digested.
Thirty-six temporary divine apertures opened!
The moment these apertures opened, they swiftly formed an integrated system, breathing like living lungs as they drew in and exhaled the scattered willpower within the fragment chamber.
"It's a bit impure!"
Su Yu suddenly realized. This scattered willpower was not pure enough and difficult to absorb. Even with thirty-six apertures open, his absorption speed remained sluggish.
"Still, it's not bad!"
Su Yu was not picky. He did not use it to strengthen his willpower; instead, he used the absorbed willpower to temper his divine apertures, grinding away at the first one bit by bit.
Opening divine apertures!
Once he opened thirty-six divine apertures, he would be able to actively cultivate willpower.
The progress was very slow.
Divine apertures were much harder to open than physical apertures. Su Yu had attempted it multiple times over the past few days without success. Now, leveraging the power of blood essence, he absorbed willpower drop by drop to grind away at the aperture.
Gradually, the first divine aperture showed signs of opening.
Originally, because it had only been temporarily opened, the aperture had been dim, but now it gradually grew luminous.
One drop of blood essence was exhausted!
Without wasting a second, Su Yu quickly swallowed a second drop.
By the time the second drop was spent, the divine aperture had been polished until it gleamed dazzlingly. The next instant, his sea of will gave a slight tremor, followed by a resonant boom!
It felt as though Su Yu's soul had detached from his physical body!
In that instant, he seemed to behold a vastly wider world, his soul—or rather, his willpower—drifting freely.
A divine aperture had opened!
The first divine aperture was officially opened!
Su Yu looked down upon his own body, experiencing a sensation akin to an out-of-body state.
An out-of-body experience!
A thought struck Su Yu. Indeed, wasn't opening divine apertures simply opening the apertures of the soul?
Willpower could well be understood as the soul.
"Willpower manifestation... willpower aperture opening..."
In that fleeting daze, Su Yu felt an epiphany dawn upon him.
Why could one only open apertures after manifestation?
Because only after manifesting could a cultivator perceive their willpower as a concrete reality and locate where the apertures actually were—was that it?
Without prior experience practicing a cultural art, how could anyone know where the apertures in the sea of will lay?
They could not even see them!
"So even if I deduce a cultural art for others to cultivate, without experience, they'd probably find it very hard to truly open them, needing vast amounts of time and energy..."
As this thought crossed Su Yu's mind, his soul snapped back into place the next instant!
Opening his eyes, everything felt different!
Before, he could not see willpower; it was like air—you knew it existed, but you could not see it. Yet at this moment, he could faintly make something out.
The surrounding space was filled with wisp after wisp of mist-like substance.
That was willpower!
Like thin vapor, willpower could be felt, and now he could also catch a faint glimpse of it. This was normally an ability unique to the Tengkong Realm.
No wonder only Tengkong cultivators could discern someone's willpower fullness level.
It was because they could literally see it!
Su Yu was overjoyed. Those wisps of mist were currently flowing toward him, yet they felt murky and impure.
"Isn't there any pure willpower around?"
Right then, Su Yu thought of a place!
Bai Feng's small research lab!
Inside, all the willpower had been purified. Would the willpower in there be different?
At that thought, Su Yu abruptly stood up. Go take a look!
See what made purified willpower different!
...
On the third subterranean level.
Bai Feng had begun testing divine character combinations of other races again, thoroughly absorbed with zero attention to spare for anything else.
Outsiders could not enter this lab.
Those who could were either his own people or enemies so unimaginably powerful they could swat him dead with a single palm. Hence, he had no need for vigilance; if an enemy truly broke in, being vigilant would not stop him from getting swatted anyway.
Bai Feng vaguely sensed someone coming in. It was likely Su Yu, so he did not bother looking up and kept tinkering with his research.
And what was Su Yu doing at this moment?
Drooling!
Milky white!
Yes, in his eyes, the lab was filled with a milky-white mist that looked utterly delicious!
It was extraordinarily pure!
It was just like his Yuan Qi. If the willpower in the fragment chamber was like his Yuan Qi before purification, then the willpower here was like his Yuan Qi afterward.
The purity was simply incomparable!
Right now, his single opened divine aperture was slowly and actively absorbing that milky-white vapor.
A shiver ran through Su Yu's entire body!
Pure bliss!
He almost cried out aloud!
Holy crap, the disparity was ridiculous. Upstairs, absorbing it had felt sickeningly uncomfortable, almost nauseating. But down here, taking it in felt unbelievably fantastic!
A single divine aperture did not absorb much anyway. Su Yu cast a guilty glance over at Bai Feng. *Teacher didn't notice, right?*
*I'm just having a taste!*
*Getting a feel for the difference between pure willpower and chaotic willpower.* From the looks of it, the difference was truly massive.
...
Bai Feng genuinely had not noticed. Su Yu could not actively absorb willpower anyway, so why would he pay attention? Still, he sensed that Su Yu had not left and assumed the kid was watching his research. A wave of gratification washed over him: *This kid actually knows to take an interest in his teacher's research findings.*
After a while, when Bai Feng was mostly done, he turned to look at Su Yu, only to find him standing there dazed with a silly grin on his face.
"What are you doing?"
Bai Feng called out, and Su Yu snapped back to reality!
He secretly let out a breath of relief. Fortunately, he had just been digesting that tiny smidgen of pure willpower and had stopped absorbing, or it would have been troublesome if his teacher noticed.
Not daring to admit he had come down for a taste, Su Yu chuckled sheepishly. "Teacher, I feel like staying here makes my willpower really comfortable. Would cultivating here be faster?"
"Don't even think about it!" Bai Feng snapped irritably. "Of course it's comfortable, and it would definitely be a bit faster, but you're not allowed to cultivate here! Cultivating willpower and contemplating articles of will here would cause willpower from the articles of will to dissipate, spoiling the purity of the willpower in this room and making it unsuitable for preserving divine characters."
"Understood!" Su Yu nodded hastily, then asked curiously, "Teacher, where can one find willpower like this?"
Bai Feng gave him an odd look. "You can't actively absorb it right now anyway, so why do you care so much? When you can't absorb it actively, everywhere is the same—all you need is willpower pressure to temper yourself against."
"No, Teacher, I'm just curious and asking! Don't always tell me I don't need to know!"
Fair enough!
Bai Feng nodded. As a teacher whose duty was to impart knowledge and resolve doubts, he ought to answer. "You won't find this lying around anywhere; it has to be purified! Of course, different places have varying levels of willpower purity. For instance, our fragment chamber is slightly purer than the Cangshu Pavilion, and the Cangshu Pavilion is better than the scrap heap over at the library."
Bai Feng explained, "If we measure purity by percentages, our fragment chamber is at fifty percent, the Cangshu Pavilion at forty, the library at thirty, and this lab is at a hundred percent! Of course, the academy also has the Sea of Consciousness Mystic Realm. The willpower purity in there isn't low either, around eighty percent, which is already very good!"
"The Sea of Consciousness Mystic Realm?"
"Yeah," Bai Feng said casually. "It's considered a fairly high-end mystic realm, left behind by the first-generation Principal! The first generation also belonged to the multiple divine character faction. The Sea of Consciousness Mystic Realm is rather unique; it wasn't formed from a single divine character, but a combination of several. You could even say it was essentially the first generation's sea of will. But because there are so many divine characters, opening it is troublesome and burns through a massive amount of resources."
Su Yu nodded, looking forward to it. "Can we go inside?"
"Sure!" Bai Feng replied casually. "As long as you have money. Opening it once costs roughly... let me calculate, roughly seventy to eighty thousand merit points. Not too much! About fifty people can enter at a time. You could charge an entry fee of a thousand merit points per person and give it a try!"
Su Yu was speechless!
*Teacher, stop joking around.*
Bai Feng scoffed. "Go in? Go in my ass! Besides, opening that place requires several Shanhai experts to maintain it. Did you think anyone could just open it on a whim? Money alone isn't enough, so stop dreaming!"
Su Yu felt sullen. *Why do you have to shoot me down? I was just asking.* "Teacher, is purification difficult?"
Bai Feng shot him a glance and said testily, "Don't aim too high too soon! Purifying it isn't difficult—it just costs a lot of money. For example, shattering several hundred articles of will, extracting their willpower, and stripping away the impurities pass after pass. That roughly leaves behind some pure willpower."
Su Yu clicked his tongue!
What a luxury!
Was this room made like that? It devoured money like water!
"Teacher, have all the divine apertures of your Myriad Characters Scripture been opened?"
Bai Feng wanted to curse this student of his. So annoying! You are not even in the Tengkong Realm, so why do you keep asking about all these useless things? Little bastard! Cursing internally aside, he still answered, "The Myriad Characters Scripture opens seventy-two divine apertures. Opening divine apertures is rather difficult. We Civilization Masters generally only need to open thirty-six at the Tengkong stage to form a great circulation. Upon reaching the Lingyun Realm, we open the remaining thirty-six to form an even greater circulation."
"Opening thirty-six is enough?" Su Yu was somewhat surprised and could not help asking, "Then are the ranks of Tengkong Civilization Masters calculated based on the number of opened divine apertures?"
"Pretty much, plus willpower rank," Bai Feng said nonchalantly. "For example, if you open four divine apertures, your willpower reaches Tier-2 low-grade, and you have a divine character that enters Tier-2, that counts as the most standard Civilization Master at first-stage Tengkong Realm!"
Su Yu blinked. *Just like that?*
"Does it count without manifestation?"
"Nonsense!" Bai Feng said, growing irritated. "How could it count without manifestation? Without manifestation, your willpower can't reach Tier-2, and your divine apertures can't be opened, so how could you count as a Civilization Master?"
He began suspecting someone had swapped his disciple out! The boy was not stupid, so why was he asking such idiotic questions?
Helpless, Su Yu hedged, "But I feel like my willpower is very strong. It's already at peak Tier-1, and I have Tier-2 divine characters. All I'm missing are divine apertures. If I open divine apertures one day, does that count as Tengkong?"
"Open your head!" Bai Feng rolled his eyes. "If your willpower truly reached Tier-2, you'd be able to manifest it..."
Su Yu paused. "Teacher, would that count as entering Tengkong? But what if my willpower reaches Tier-2 before I finish outlining my divine character battle technique?"
Bai Feng froze slightly too!
True, this kid Su Yu's willpower was remarkably resilient!
After pondering for a moment, he shook his head. "It won't happen. If your sea of will hasn't been filled to capacity, it can't overflow to manifest. At most, its strength might rival Tier-2, but it won't truly step into Tier-2. Manifestation only occurs when your sea of will is completely full and willpower overflows!"
Su Yu instantly breathed a sigh of relief!
*That's good, then!*
Bai Feng was exasperated. This kid acted as though he were worried about advancing to Tengkong ahead of time. *Do you really think you have what it takes? With your meager fullness level...*
Just as he thought this, he looked at Su Yu again and paused, bewildered. "What's with you? Why does it feel like your willpower fullness increased a bit again?"
Su Yu grinned sheepishly. "I made a bit of progress while cultivating in the fragment chamber just now."
Then, leaning in conspiratorially, he whispered, "Teacher, lately I've been talking with the Water Person down in the basement. The cultivation arts of the Five Elements race can actually open divine apertures at the Yangxing stage! Teacher, do you think I'd be amazing if I learned it?"
"..." Bai Feng had a splitting headache. "Learn my foot! Who doesn't know that the Five Elements arts can open apertures in Yangxing? I know it too! I even know the genuine Water Art! The academy even has original copies of the Water Art and the other four elemental arts. Go ahead and learn them, then! If you master it, I'll bow to you as my master, how about that?"
Learn his ass!
Scram!
This little bastard was getting way ahead of himself, daydreaming about nonsense all day long.
Right after thinking that, Bai Feng suddenly paused and looked at him, murmuring, "Did you learn their innate skill, open some aperture, and feel like you can deduce it?"
The groundwork had to be laid properly.
Su Yu nodded and lowered his voice. "I've consumed Five Elements blood essence before. Their innate skills are very peculiar—turning into water, turning into metal. It's very difficult for humans to use them, almost impossible for the physical body, but willpower can adapt to change its form based on them."
Whispering even lower, Su Yu said, "So I was wondering if I could deduce a Five Elements art. Teacher, do you think it's possible?"
"Stop whispering like that!" Bai Feng said, speechless. What was he doing? Acting like a thief!
After some thought, he shook his head. "It's different! Whatever, try it if you want. Even if you actually deduce something, you might not be able to open the apertures anyway. But let me warn you: no reckless fooling around! Cultural arts correspond to the sea of will, which is far harder to heal than the physical body. Your Senior Martial Sister Jiajia injured her sea of will and hasn't recovered after months. You don't want to set yourself back months, do you?"
Su Yu nodded obediently, then asked, "Teacher, if I really do deduce it, can I teach it to Senior Sister?"
"No!" Bai Feng snapped without hesitation. "Teach my ass! Even if you actually figure it out, you must keep it an absolute secret! Keeping it secret isn't necessarily a bad thing, and if word gets out, it certainly won't be good. Let me tell you, there are vastly more Yangxing cultivators among all the races than among humans. Just think about it: if the other races get their hands on it, heheh... you're dead meat!"
"Then what about the Soul Devour Art?" Su Yu asked. That was also an immensely powerful technique!
Bai Feng shook his head. "That's different. The Soul Devour Art is a martial skill corresponding to human apertures..."
"Aren't cultural arts the same?"
Bai Feng froze, scratched his head, and pondered. "I suppose that's true; the sea of will differs across races too! Still... you're not allowed to spread it around recklessly!"
As he spoke, he froze again.
*He hasn't even researched or deduced it yet—why am I talking like this? Acting like I actually believe he can deduce it! Am I the teacher or is he? Seriously!*
Shaking his head, Bai Feng felt he had been completely muddled by the boy. He snapped, "Cut the crap! Even if you really deduce it, don't pass it around unless you're certain it won't cause trouble, that nobody will come after you, or that you can shoulder any trouble that comes your way!"
Su Yu smiled sheepishly. *Never mind then; I definitely can't shoulder that.*
Still, he said with a hint of regret, "That's such a pity. The human race surely has some powerful cultivation arts that people dare not reveal for all kinds of reasons. What a waste."
"Not necessarily a pity!" Bai Feng chuckled. "Once you reach that level, someone will naturally pass them down to you—depending on your performance! For example, our Multiple Divine Characters Faction actually has a cultivation art, quite a formidable one, but I'm not teaching it to you right now."
"What art?" Su Yu's interest was piqued instantly!
"The God Nourishing Art. It's specifically used to nourish divine characters. Otherwise, with so many divine characters, how could we strengthen them quickly? Forget about it for now, though. Finish outlining your divine character battle technique first. If I taught it to you now and you nourished all your characters into Tier-2 divine characters, just see if you'd ever be able to complete that outline."
Su Yu felt a flicker of excitement. There was an art specifically for nourishing divine characters?
"Teacher, Wan Mingze has three Tier-2 divine characters. I don't even have as many as him."
"Three?" Bai Feng was slightly stunned and murmured slowly, "Three Tier-2 divine characters... Wan Mingze... Principal Wan's family?"
"His elder brother's grandson, apparently."
Bai Feng frowned slightly. "During the Yangxing stage, having one Tier-2 divine character nourished is seen occasionally. Two is also seen—you're an example. But three... three Tier-2 divine characters... Watch yourself and stay far away from him!"
"Why?"
"He might very well be an underhanded schemer!" Bai Feng explained. "To nourish three Tier-2 divine characters means his willpower had a good shot at advancing to Tengkong long ago. To suppress his breakthrough, he burned massive amounts of willpower nourishing divine characters instead! People who suppress their advancement like that are either aiming to be invincible among their peers or preparing to screw someone over."
Bai Feng did not care too much, remarking casually, "Invincibility among peers, invincibility in Yangxing... seems rather pointless to me, though I can't rule out the kid having grand ambitions. But the most likely reason is to blindside someone."
"Blindside whom?"
"You, of course!" Bai Feng said as if it were obvious. "You aren't in Tengkong, so Tengkong cultivators in the academy can't lay a hand on you. He isn't in Tengkong either, so he can! Keep your guard up. Most people like him are groomed specifically to deal with non-Tengkong fighters. It might well be that Wan fellow's handiwork, prepared to deal with someone."
"It wouldn't be me, would it?"
"Who knows!" Bai Feng lapsed back into his irresponsible demeanor and waved a hand. "If not you, then maybe to deal with those brats at the War Academy? Or those bastards among all the races? There's definitely a reason like that; otherwise, this Wan whatever-his-name-is would have probably advanced to Tengkong long ago!"
Su Yu was astonished. That was a thing? Could Wan Mingze have reached peak Yangxing long ago, but because nourishing those Tier-2 divine characters consumed too much willpower, his cultivation level fell back?
Bai Feng added, "Your class has all sorts of weird freaks; none of them are quite normal! That guy with the fake name last time wasn't normal. And that brat from the Zheng family isn't an easy target either—he might be hiding something. Then there's this Wan kid. Oh, right, and as for the Xia family..."
Bai Feng mused suspiciously, "Xia Chan from the Xia family—I originally thought Zhou Mingren would use her against you, but now it doesn't seem like it. Xia Chan... I saw her once last time. Her strength is decent, but that's about it. To think the Xia family doesn't have an exceptionally monstrous genius this year..."
Bai Feng shook his head, not bothering to care. Who knew what was going on with the Xia family?
But Su Yu thought of Xia Huyou. That guy felt even stronger than Xia Chan—just an intuition.
"Teacher, have you heard of Xia Huyou?"
"No."
"Is there someone like that in the Xia family?"
"How would I know? I'm not that familiar with them. I only know Xia Longwu, Xia Changqing, Xia Xinyi, Xia Yuwen..."
Fine, he had asked for nothing.
"Does the Prefecture Head have descendants?"
"A son, I think?" Bai Feng said uncertainly. "He's a big shot; your Grandmaster might know, but I never looked into it. The Xia family's direct lineage usually hides deep to avoid being targeted by enemies. After all, if enemies can't touch the Prefecture Head, settling for his son is a decent alternative. To really know about such things usually requires being in the Shanhai Realm, and your teacher here isn't Shanhai."
Su Yu nodded again, skepticism lingering in his mind. Xia Huyou was Xia Longwu's son?
Didn't seem like it!
Xia Longwu was wise and martial, tall and imposing, iron-willed and resolute, extraordinarily powerful...
Would his son really be a sorry sight like Xia Huyou?
He didn't buy it!
After chatting a bit more, Su Yu ran back upstairs to cultivate—opening divine apertures!
Besides opening divine apertures, he also needed to open other physical apertures, like the apertures for the Soul Devour Art. Last time he had not learned it yet; otherwise, once those apertures opened and his Yuan Qi mutated to coat his willpower, beating Wang He would not have been nearly as troublesome.
He would have beaten him until he wailed, sweeping in with a whip-kick to take his life!
Su Yu had gone all out last time, so everyone knew his strength now. If anyone targeted him again, their counter would undoubtedly be stronger.
He had to strengthen himself!
Every three days apart, he would gain another trump card. Anyone who judged him by his past strength would not even know how they died.
"As long as I grow stronger fast enough, your intel on me will be useless!"
"Xia Huyou still owes me four thousand merit points, and Martial Uncle will transfer five thousand merit points to me, which makes nine thousand merit points."
Su Yu pondered whether he should enter a mystic realm again. To open divine apertures, and also open physical apertures. Furthermore, once he opened a few more physical apertures, he had to consider aperture fusion; advancing to the Wanshi Realm was an appealing prospect as well.
"In terms of martial skills, I have Time, Sky Breaker Slash, and Thunder Yuan Saber, but I don't know any willpower martial skills."
Another thought occurred to Su Yu: perhaps he needed to get a willpower skill to cultivate. Otherwise, relying solely on divine characters and raw willpower to fight enemies offered no overwhelming advantage.
"I've unlocked so many atlas pages; surely there's an innate willpower skill among them? Once I open more divine apertures, maybe I can use one. If my willpower can execute martial skills, its lethality will skyrocket!"
Su Yu felt a headache coming on, always feeling there were not enough hours in the day!
Too many things to do!
Over the past few days, he rarely even attended basic classes, and he did not know if he could still collect next month's merit stipend for being class monitor—three merit points were still three merit points, after all.
"And for willpower cultivation, even if my sea of will reaches saturation, I might not be able to bear ninety-nine divine characters. Expanding Will Art..."
Su Yu thought of Zhao Li. *Should I ask Teacher Zhao to hit me with a few dozen more hammer strikes?*
He could not shake the feeling that after being hammered last time, his sea of will had expanded, growing tougher and packing greater explosive power.
As Su Yu cultivated, he contemplated his upcoming goals.
The strength of the top thirty in the Top 100 Rankings!
Ideally, the strength of the top ten, capable of trading blows with a Tengkong cultivator.
As for reaching the Tengkong Realm... that was still far off. His ninety-nine divine characters had not budged much lately; it seemed he would have to carve out substantial time to read those articles of will. Buying a massive batch without reading them was simply too wasteful.
...
The night passed without event.
In the blink of an eye, it was October 7.
At this moment, a battered truck rattled and bumped along the road, heading toward Great Xia Prefecture.
...
At the same time.
The All-Heavens Battlefield, entrance to the Human Realm.
Hong Tan walked toward the entrance in high spirits. Just as he reached the gate and flashed his identification badge to leave, a Shanhai realm expert guarding the entrance said in a deep voice, "Are you Senior Researcher Hong Tan of the Great Xia Civilization Academy?"
Hong Tan glanced at him. The man was not familiar—probably a shift change. Not thinking much of it, Hong Tan nodded.
"A major battle has broken out in the territory of the Heavenly Eye God Race. According to battlefield military orders, Researcher Hong is required to deploy and reinforce immediately..."
Hong Tan asked in surprise, "Over by the Heavenly Eye God Race? Isn't Great Zhou Prefecture garrisoning that area right now? I'm a researcher from Great Xia Prefecture..."
"Military orders from the front line: all Shanhai cultivators must deploy as reinforcements!"
Hong Tan scratched his head. Military orders... Fine, then he had to go. If he did not, the old Invincible ghost guarding the front line would beat him to death.
"All right then. By the way, check for me if there's been any news from Great Xia Prefecture recently, or if anyone is looking for me..."
"There is no news whatsoever..."
Just as the man finished speaking, Hong Tan froze.
*Did you even check?*
The Shanhai guarding the post said calmly, "I've been keeping track the entire time; there's no need to check!"
Hong Tan frowned at him and suddenly demanded, "Where is the front-line requisition order?"
The Shanhai expert said nothing more and presented a military order.
Hong Tan took one look and abruptly cursed, "Piss off! This isn't an order from an Invincible! This is a requisition order from the Commander-in-Chief of the Great Zhou Army—what the fuck does that have to do with me? What is the meaning of this? If the Commander-in-Chief of the Demon Suppression Army called upon Great Zhou's Shanhai cultivators, would Great Zhou's Shanhai go?"
Hong Tan was furious!
*Scared the crap out of me!*
He had thought it was an order from an Invincible expert, but it turned out to be from the Great Zhou Army. What did that have to do with him? The various prefectures held no command over one another. Only an Invincible order compelled all human forces on the battlefield to obey. As for an order from the Great Zhou Army, out of humanitarian sympathy he could choose to offer aid, but if he did not want to... nobody could dictate a thing to him!
Hong Tan glared at the Shanhai, frowning as he snorted coldly. "Let me tell you, don't play tricks with me! Trying to draft me with a Great Zhou Army order? Tell that guy to come back once he enters the Invincible Realm! Until he does, he has no right to mobilize me! Is that bastard looking for trouble?"
The Shanhai opposite did not take the bait, saying calmly, "Even if it isn't an Invincible order, can Researcher Hong truly stand by and watch comrades die?"
"Bullshit, cut the crap!"
Hong Tan was not falling for this. Had something happened in Great Xia Prefecture?
"Where is the person from Great Xia Prefecture stationed here?"
Hong Tan bellowed. Soon, a figure appeared.
Hong Tan swept a glance over him and snapped irritably, "Ma! You're here! I thought you were dead! Great Zhou Prefecture is trying to conscript me—did you know that? You've completely thrown away Great Xia Prefecture's face! I'm going to file a complaint against you the moment I get back! Is Zhou Mingren pulling shady moves at the academy again, trying to hold me back?"
The Shanhai surnamed Ma chuckled and denied it. "How could that be? There really is some trouble over on Great Zhou's side that needs your help. You... why don't you have a shred of compassion?"
"Get lost! Look how broadly you're smiling—I suspect you're gloating!"
Hong Tan could not be bothered to engage him. This man was also an elder of the Great Xia Civilization Academy, but an expert of the Single Divine Character Faction. The two had been at odds for years!
With a hunch forming in his mind, Hong Tan did not bother saying anything more and strode toward the exit.
Elder Ma smiled and said, "Hong Tan, the Human Realm passage requires a few days of repairs. Wait a few days before leaving. Since you have time to kill anyway, why not head over and take a look? Saving a life is better than building a seven-tiered pagoda..."
Bang!
Hong Tan slapped him down with a single palm!
With a thunderous boom, Elder Ma was pinned to the ground beneath an enormous mountain, struggling desperately but completely unable to get up.
Around them, one Shanhai expert after another appeared, none uttering a word.
Hong Tan yelled in fury, "Don't think I'm a pushover! 'Repairs' my ass, who are you trying to fool? I might not be able to kill Zhou, but you think I can't handle you, Ma? Did you really take me for an eighth-stage Shanhai soft persimmon you can squeeze at will? Believe it or not, I'll go straight to an Invincible right now to settle this! You dare block me? Are you tired of living?"
With that, he kicked Elder Ma, who was still pinned beneath the illusory mountain, sending him flying!
Glancing at the person who had handed him the requisition order earlier, he snorted and cursed, "Great Zhou Prefecture better not push people too far! If worst comes to worst, I'll go to the War God Hall and have King Daxia stand up for me! You've bullied us for so many years—enough is enough, it never ends! Just because I couldn't be bothered with you, you've gotten addicted, haven't you? Out of respect for past ties all these years, I didn't want to make a fuss, so you take advantage of me again and again?"
Hong Tan was livid!
"Let me tell you, if I arrive late and anything happens to my disciples, I'll make you pay!
"And another thing—about my senior martial brother! I'm warning you, don't try your underhanded shit with me! Surely among the Invincibles there are still a few who care about their reputation! The Liu family saved so many people; do the Invincibles not remember a shred of gratitude? Looking the other way on ordinary days is one thing, but if anything happens to my senior brother, I'll throw caution to the wind and broadcast across the entire Human Realm how you bastards leave people to die, how ungrateful you are, with your vile, petty faces, plotting against a hero of humanity just to scheme for my master's divine character—"
A resounding bang!
Hong Tan vanished!
He was swatted flying by a colossal palm, sent soaring straight through the Human Realm passage and cast into the Human Realm.
The next moment, another gigantic palm descended!
The Shanhai who had presented the order earlier was instantly smashed to pieces!
Yet another palm slammed down, and Elder Ma's physical body exploded, divine characters scattering in disarray.
"Insolent chatter!"
"Making a racket on the All-Heavens Battlefield—what a disgrace! If this happens again, the Great Zhou Civilization Academy shall be eradicated!"
A cold snort shook all four directions!
A moment later, a voice said faintly, "King Dazhou, rein them in. Take your squabbles to the rear. If something like this happens at the front line again, your Great Zhou Prefecture army will be pulled back, and Great Zhou Prefecture will be sealed off for a century!"
The moment these words were spoken, everyone fell dead silent, terrified into hushed stillness.
Sealing Great Zhou Prefecture for a hundred years... with no supplies, no resources entering or leaving, Great Zhou Prefecture could practically declare its extinction.
"Understood!"
A sigh drifted over. The two Shanhai experts who had just been shattered to pieces restored their physical bodies in the next instant, faces ashen. Yet another palm descended, grabbed both of them, and flung them deep into the All-Heavens Battlefield!
"Slay one Shanhai, and your offenses shall be pardoned!"
The two vanished from the spot in an instant!
Calm returned. Around the area, several Shanhai experts and even a few Sun Moon Realm experts showed a flicker of envy in their eyes.
Invincible experts!
The Eternal Realm!
As for the two Shanhai experts thrown into the Vanguard Camp... no one cared about them; nobody could be bothered.
It was entirely expected. If Hong Tan had not kicked up a fuss, that would have been one thing, but once he did, those two were doomed.
This was the All-Heavens Battlefield, not the Great Zhou or Great Xia Prefectures.
Invincible experts patrolled the surroundings at all times. Stirring trouble here meant the Invincibles would not even bother mediating—they would just throw you to the front line; if you survived, fine, and if you died, that was that.
That person from the Great Zhou Civilization Academy was not an Invincible yet, and even if he were, he had no authority to intervene here.
As for that guy Hong Tan... wasn't he supposed to be an honest, mild-mannered man?
How had he blown his top all of a sudden?
He had even cursed the Invincibles to their faces, and conveniently, the fallout had landed squarely on those two.
Chapter 172