Just Demanding It Anyway!

When Su Yu found Xia Huyou, the youth had just woken up and was still in a daze. It was simply too late—nearly four in the morning. Xia Huyou had dragged himself out of bed half-asleep, but Su Yu was wide awake. Just as Su Yu was about to speak, his heart jolted! What was that? A faint wisp of mist curled around Xia Huyou, slowly absorbed by him, before quickly vanishing into nothingness. *An opened divine aperture!* Su Yu had just opened twenty divine apertures himself, so he was intimately familiar with that state. That faint mist had clearly been drawn in from somewhere moments ago. Tengkong? Su Yu was secretly stunned! Was Xia Huyou in the Tengkong Realm? No, that wasn't right! If he had reached Tengkong, his willpower would be fully accumulated and manifested, stepping into Tier 2, which felt noticeably different. Unless Xia Huyou was so powerful that he concealed his true strength beyond anyone's ability to see through it. If he wasn't in Tengkong, then... that meant this guy had opened divine apertures. He possessed a cultural art for the Yangxing stage! Su Yu was astonished. Hadn't people said there were no cultural arts for stages below Tengkong? Or rather... they did exist, but were monopolized by the great clans? So Xia Huyou knew one because he was an important figure in the Xia family? "Su Yu, in the middle of the night like this, couldn't whatever you have to say wait until tomorrow?" Xia Huyou yawned, looking drowsy. Did Su Yu ever sleep? As for the meager bit of willpower he had absorbed upon waking, Xia Huyou didn't think much of it. Su Yu wasn't Tengkong and couldn't sense anything. It had been just a trace, absorbed in an instant. Even a Tengkong wouldn't notice it unless they were paying close attention. Keeping his composure, Su Yu smiled and said, "There's just too much going on, sorry to bother you! Huyou, let me ask you something. Do you have basic cultural arts for sale? The kind for cultivating divine apertures during the Yangxing stage." "No!" Xia Huyou answered point-blank, "How could something like that ever be for sale..." Su Yu cut in, "Meaning such things really do exist?" Lowering his voice, Su Yu asked, "You're well-informed. Tell me, does the Human Realm really have this kind of cultural art?" Xia Huyou scratched his head and gave a simple, honest chuckle. "Of course they exist, but they're generally closely guarded family secrets! With so many Invincible experts out there, someone was bound to deduce basic cultural arts suited for us to cultivate..." "If Invincibles deduced them, why haven't they been spread widely like basic yuan arts?" "It's completely different!" Xia Huyou shook his head. "Put it this way—anyone can become a warrior! But only a tiny handful can ever become Civilization Masters! And that tiny fraction stands at the very pinnacle of society. Those studying to become Civilization Masters either come from prominent clans or inherit a long lineage of Civilization Masters. There are wild practitioners who rise from nothing, but they're a minuscule minority! "Even if basic cultural arts were made public, commoners wouldn't be able to get them, couldn't learn them, and lack the resources to practice them anyway. In the end, they would still end up in the hands of the great clans." Growing a bit more awake, Xia Huyou continued, "If that happened, social stratification among Civilization Masters would only become more rigid! Keeping them unshared isn't necessarily a bad thing! Naturally, selfishness plays a part too. Every Civilization Master clan wants its own members to be stronger, just like how warrior clans keep their secret arts within the family." Xia Huyou smiled. "No cultivation art is ever shared universally. It's the same for every race. Powerful races like the gods and demons don't pass down their supreme arts to ordinary members of their species either." Su Yu nodded slightly. "So that means such cultural arts truly do exist, right?" "Most likely!" Xia Huyou gave an ambiguous answer. Su Yu pondered for a moment. "What if an art like that were leaked to the world?" Xia Huyou thought it over. "Then the number of Civilization Masters would increase down the road, resource competition would become fiercer, and texts of will wouldn't be enough to go around. Of course, those are the downsides. There would be upsides too: Civilization Masters would reach Tengkong faster, build combat capability sooner, and save time for breaking through to higher realms in the future." He smiled and added, "Su Yu, nobody sells this stuff, so forget about it. Besides, even if they exist in the Human Realm, there probably aren't many. Usually, clans won't even teach them to every member of their own bloodline." Xia Huyou shook his head. "Let me tell you, expecting everything to be openly shared is impossible right now—unless the human race is truly pushed to the absolute brink, forced to unite against the myriad races with one shared heart in the face of annihilation. By then, cultivation arts won't matter anymore. "Right now, however, humanity is still one of the ten strongest races. While our situation isn't great, we still win more than we lose on the All-Heavens Battlefield. Expecting techniques to spread freely under these conditions simply isn't realistic." "Is our situation really that good?" Su Yu said impassively, "If things were truly that fine, the Demon Suppression Army wouldn't have issued veteran mobilization orders several times in a row, and my father wouldn't have returned to the battlefield at nearly fifty years old!" Xia Huyou looked slightly embarrassed. He gave a soft cough. "The Demon Suppression Army's situation is a bit unique. That's... mainly because Great Xia Prefecture fought too many campaigns in recent years, and countless major battles broke out. As you know, Great Xia Prefecture is belligerent. I... Manor Lord Xia has a fiery temper. He can't stomach any grievance and refuses to compromise. The moment someone provokes him, he deploys troops. That's why the Demon Suppression Army suffered heavy casualties and had to draft troops to replenish their ranks." Su Yu sank into thought before asking, "So the other prefectures haven't suffered much?" "Not much!" Xia Huyou shook his head. "Other prefectures fight too, but strictly speaking, the races they battle aren't particularly formidable. Only our Great Xia Prefecture faces off against the powerhouse races like gods and demons for the most part!" "Why?" Xia Huyou sighed. "Why else? It has to do with King Daxia's temperament! He's the type who says, 'You don't dare? I do!' You don't dare garrison this spot? I insist on stationing here! You don't dare trigger a conflict? I'm hitting back regardless... Several generations of Xia manor lords have shared that exact temperament. As a result, our front lines kept stretching farther, pushing deep into the All-Heavens Battlefield. Naturally, we run into more powerful races." "Don't the other Invincibles intervene?" "They do, but Invincibles only oversee battles at the Invincible tier. They won't interfere too heavily in the conflicts below." Seeing Su Yu's confusion, Xia Huyou added, "Of course, more major battles isn't entirely bad. At least we gain more combat experience, which yields a higher probability of producing experts. Great Xia Prefecture operates a bit like raising venomous insects in an urn..." Having nothing to hide, he said bluntly, "Survival of the fittest! Great Xia Prefecture has the highest chance of producing top experts on the All-Heavens Battlefield! The overall strength of Great Xia Prefecture remains top-tier! Among the thirty-six prefectures of the Human Realm, Great Xia Prefecture has consistently ranked in the top three!" "Thirty-six prefectures of the Human Realm?" Su Yu frowned. "Why thirty-six? The books say thirty-eight prefectures." Xia Huyou scratched his head. "I was talking about the great prefectures, not the minor ones. There are two minor prefectures in the Human Realm that aren't described in much detail in the books. One is the All-Heavens Prefecture, which is the region where the passage between the Human Realm and the All-Heavens Battlefield is located. "The other is the Twin Saints Prefecture, which is the core of humanity, housing the two sacred grounds! Both the War God Hall and the Quest Realm are located there." Su Yu nodded and said dryly, "I know that. So you weren't including those two. I was wondering if Great Xia Prefecture had grown so strong that it was second only to the Twin Saints Prefecture..." "There isn't much difference anyway!" Xia Huyou shrugged. "If nothing else, Great Xia Prefecture ranks right near the very top in combat power and number of experts! Another is Great Zhou Prefecture, an established powerhouse that has plundered even more resources from the All-Heavens Battlefield than we have, so they have plenty of experts as well." "Besides Great Xia and Great Zhou, who else is in the top three?" "Great Qin Prefecture!" Xia Huyou answered directly, "They're formidable too. King Daqin's combat strength is considered top-tier even among Invincibles!" Su Yu considered this. "Does that mean between the two sacred grounds, there are thirty-six experts in the Invincible Realm in total?" "That I don't know." Xia Huyou laughed. "Nobody knows that except the Invincibles themselves! First, someone might have fallen without word getting out, or someone might have recently broken through to Invincible without anyone knowing. Besides, not all Invincibles establish a great prefecture..." Xia Huyou smiled. "If you've read history, you should know that over three hundred years ago, founding the great prefectures was an act of necessity. Experts from the myriad races had stormed into the Human Realm, wreaking havoc everywhere. Several Invincibles had no choice but to step forward and establish great prefectures to protect regional peace." Su Yu nodded slightly. He was familiar with that period of history. Naturally, the books only gave a very generalized account. In fact, many questions were left unexplained. For example, how did those Invincibles over three hundred years ago break through? Where did they come from? Where had they studied? Were there any experts from the era before that in the Human Realm? In short, it was all exceedingly vague. Whenever it involved the combat capabilities of those Invincibles, the books described things with utmost obscurity. Su Yu didn't press further. He had obtained a general understanding of the situation. At this moment, he was also guessing that this guy... was very likely Xia Longwu's son. What a shame! Xia Longwu was someone Su Yu had once admired the most! Whenever he appeared on television, he was overwhelmingly majestic—the kind of ruler under whose command heads rolled. He was the powerhouse whose sheer presence kept the All-Races Sect from daring to show their faces in Great Xia Prefecture! Could such a formidable expert, such a dignified sovereign, have a son who looked like... this clown? It was hard to believe! Of course, Su Yu wouldn't expose him. He was roughly eighty percent certain, and knowing was enough. If he exposed the truth, this guy would be the crown prince of Great Xia Prefecture—would Su Yu have to bow and salute him every time they met? "Let's not talk about that. I still had four thousand merit points left with you from last time, right? Did you purchase the blood essence I asked for?" "I bought some. For Mountain-Breaking Ox blood essence, I got you a hundred drops of late-stage Wanshi for two thousand merit points. For Soul-Devouring Insect blood essence, I got you five hundred drops of Qianjun Realm for fifteen hundred merit points. With the remaining five hundred merit points, I secured ten drops of Five Elements race blood essence—from the Fire Spirit race." *And just like that, it's all gone!* Su Yu felt helpless. This fellow worked fast! His calculations were precise too—he had spent the entire sum in one shot! Not a single point over, not a single point under! "The Mountain-Breaking Oxen at the front didn't rebel?" Xia Huyou laughed. "What are you imagining? It's just some blood essence; not that many were killed. The Mountain-Breaking Oxen are merely among the top hundred races—don't think too highly of them. Our human race is one of the top ten! A massive number of our people die in battle every year too; a Mountain-Breaking Ox's life isn't worth more than a human's. "Of course, their population isn't particularly large, and their baseline starts at Qianjun, which makes them slightly stronger than humans. On our side, we have to go through Kaiyuan. Many powerful races don't have a Kaiyuan stage at all." Su Yu didn't dwell on that topic, though the merit points from his previous dividend were now completely spent. After thinking for a moment, he said, "My teacher told me before that once I reach Tengkong and cultivate the *Myriad Characters Scripture*, I can open divine apertures. But absorbing willpower will cause divine apertures, just like yuan apertures, to become filled with chaotic willpower. With your vast experience, do you know how to expel this chaotic willpower?" "You've certainly asked the right person!" Xia Huyou chuckled. "There isn't just one way to resolve chaotic willpower—there are several. "First, medicinal pills! The Divine Pill Department has a pill capable of expelling this chaotic willpower called the Mind-Focusing Pill. It comes in tiers; a Tier-2 Mind-Focusing Pill corresponds to the Tengkong Realm. The price is steep, though—one hundred merit points per pill. The effect is... decent. One pill can purify three to five divine apertures. "Second, talismans! Over in the Divine Talisman Department, they have a type of purification talisman. It's single-use and can be used to cleanse divine apertures. The price is about the same as a Mind-Focusing Pill. "Third, continuously scouring them with extremely pure willpower can flush out the impurities. "Fourth, a few rare heavenly treasures can resolve the issue. "Fifth, cultivation arts..." "Cultivation arts?" Su Yu was clearly more interested in that. He asked, "There are cultivation arts that can solve this?" "Yes!" Xia Huyou thought it over. "Of course, I don't possess such an art, nor can I buy one. But someone has it. Rumor has it King Daming has an art like that specifically for purifying willpower. Direct descendants of the Zhu family in Great Ming Prefecture should have that art passed down to them, which is why Civilization Masters of their lineage have relatively pure divine apertures." *Forget it, King Daming...* Su Yu had nothing to say to that. Techniques belonging to an Invincible clan obviously wouldn't be casually taught to outsiders. "Do the myriad races have cultivation arts like that?" "They should. I don't know the exact details, but some races that specialize in cultivating willpower might. I'm not sure if the Five Elements race has one..." Su Yu didn't know either. He only knew the innate skills and basic cultural arts of the Five Elements race; that didn't mean he knew all their cultivation arts. Blood essence only unlocked basic cultural arts and innate skills, not the additional cultivation arts or martial skills they practiced. If it worked that way, it would be downright terrifying. Su Yu didn't ask further. He would look into it himself later, or ask Bai Feng. There was no rush anyway. Although his divine apertures had a fair amount of impure willpower, he had no intention of breaking through right now, so he didn't need to worry about impurities hindering his future just yet. At present, he still had over five thousand merit points left—five thousand, plus three hundred or so on hand. After a moment's thought, Su Yu asked, "Huyou, if I want to advance to the Wanshi Realm, what kind of aid do you think would help me break through better and faster?" "You're preparing to advance to Wanshi?" Xia Huyou was startled at first, but then found it completely natural. Since Su Yu had already reached ninth-stage Qianjun, wanting to advance was only logical. "Advancing to Wanshi, as you know, is about merging apertures. But you must merge ten or more apertures to truly be considered Wanshi. The number of merged apertures heavily influences your combat strength! "It's best to merge all the apertures of a given layer into one. For instance, the first layer of the *War God Art* has twelve apertures; it's best to merge all twelve. That way, when you attack, the yuan qi across the apertures gathers effortlessly, flowing smoothly without stalling or snagging." Xia Huyou explained briefly without belaboring the point, as Su Yu likely understood this already. After thinking for a moment, Xia Huyou said, "As for things that help with advancing to Wanshi... the finest supplementary item would probably be a Glazed Fruit!" "Glazed Fruit?" Su Yu searched his memory but hadn't heard of it. Compared to descendants of great clans, his breadth of knowledge still lagged far behind. As for book learning... it was impossible for Su Yu to be versed in everything. "Right! It's a fruit that makes your body like colored glass once consumed, turning your entire body translucent. At that point, your apertures undergo a degree of solidification. Merging apertures during that state produces the least repulsive force!" "The least repulsive force..." Lost in thought, Su Yu said slowly, "When merging apertures, they repel each other. Could one substitute the Glazed Fruit with a divine character to achieve solidification or weaken the repulsive force through other means?" "That works!" Xia Huyou nodded. "If you have a suitable divine character, it's definitely feasible. The problem is, you might not have such a divine character." "Understood!" Su Yu didn't press further. Glancing at the sky, he saw dawn was approaching. He said, "Leave the goods with you for now. Deliver them to the entrance of the Wentan Research Center later. A lot of people have their eyes on me lately, and I'd rather not get ambushed on the road!" "All right!" Xia Huyou nodded in high spirits, having concluded another deal. Besides, Su Yu still had plenty of merit points on hand, meaning more business ahead. "Wanshi..." After Su Yu left, Xia Huyou muttered under his breath. That guy was a Civilization Master, yet his physical body cultivated like a warrior's—wasn't he worried about neglecting his willpower training? …… Su Yu wandered slowly through the academy in the early morning air. Xia Huyou was, in all likelihood, Xia Longwu's son. How else could he know a Yangxing cultural art? Of course, the possibility that the guy was a powerhouse above Tengkong couldn't be ruled out, in which case Su Yu would have nothing to say. Yet to reach Tengkong at such a young age... being such a monster also made it very likely he was Xia Longwu's son. *Sure enough, people from great clans are truly adept at disguises.* Xia Huyou's willpower was definitely far greater than what he let on! Su Yu had no way of judging his true strength. Perhaps he was even stronger than Wan Mingze, and perhaps... Su Yu himself might not necessarily be able to overpower him. *Every single one of them hiding and concealing themselves—what are they playing at?* Su Yu muttered internally. There were several others in his class like that too, draped in mystery, keeping everyone in the dark about their true strength. They didn't challenge the rankings, just stayed hidden, for reasons nobody knew. Then again, considering himself, well, he was hiding plenty of things too. For instance, he hadn't told a soul about the twenty divine apertures he had just opened. After wandering the academy grounds for a while, waiting until daylight broke completely, Su Yu finally headed toward Zhao Li's research institute. …… "What a rare guest!" Seeing Su Yu, Zhao Li teased him with a chuckle. Su Yu felt a bit embarrassed. He only came when he needed something; usually, he rarely dropped by. In this so-called minor specialization, he barely even attended the foundational lectures these days. "Teacher, I..." "It's fine!" Zhao Li truly didn't mind. He chuckled, "Brat, if you still had the time to attend forging classes on top of everything else, I'd have to kneel in admiration! You have to cultivate, outline divine characters, and enhance your willpower... and in such a short span, you even fought your way onto the Top 100 Rankings, all within barely two months of enrolling!" He genuinely wasn't bothered. Su Yu was immensely busy, a fact obvious to anyone. Especially considering Su Yu had participated in several research projects, reaching his current level of cultivation had already dropped plenty of jaws. If he could still take minor classes in forging at this point, Su Yu would be a god, not a man! As Su Yu stood there in utter embarrassment, Zhao Li casually shut the main gate of the institute's courtyard, walking inside as he spoke. "Out with it. What is it this time? Recasting a cultural weapon? No need to rush. You probably haven't outlined many divine characters yet, and it was recast not long ago. Come back to me once you have more than ten divine characters." "Teacher..." Su Yu hesitated before speaking. "Teacher, I came to ask if there's any way to enter the yuanqi secret realm directly without having accumulated merit points." "Don't you have enough already?" Zhao Li looked surprised. "Your accumulated merit points are plenty; even I know that! Don't tell me... you're trying to get in for free?" Su Yu grinned innocently. "If it could be free, that'd naturally be best!" "You..." Zhao Li was struck speechless, chuckling in disbelief. After a moment, he said, "You probably know the situation by now, right? Let me tell you: my father, the fourth manor head of the academy, was the one who left behind that divine character. In truth, I've never interfered with it because he used the academy's resources to grow strong, and he represented the Great Xia Civilization Academy... Of course, strictly speaking, the secret realm ought to belong to me. Otherwise, several Invincible clans would be making trouble for me by now. If the family of a powerhouse cannot enjoy the benefits brought by that powerhouse, what meaning is there in becoming strong?" Zhao Li didn't care much about what others thought. He continued, "A hundred merit points per entry really isn't much. Maintaining the secret realm costs resources. The academy makes some revenue, but in reality, it's very little—scant, even!" Su Yu nodded and said in a low voice, "Teacher, it doesn't matter if it can't be free. My plan is to send a few good friends of mine in to cultivate. The fees will be paid as usual, but their accumulated merit points aren't enough. As you know, accumulating merit points before reaching Tengkong is simply too difficult." "It wasn't difficult for you, brat!" Zhao Li chuckled and said, "Fine, paying the hundred merit points is to keep the secret realm running long-term. As long as the fee is paid in full, we can open a back door regarding the accumulated points..." With that, he rummaged through his battered sofa for a moment before fishing out a pitch-black medallion. "Use this, and you can bring people in! The ones guarding the secret realm are Little Huang and Little Nie; they know how things are..." *Little Huang... Little Nie!* That sounded indescribably awkward to Su Yu. Little Nie was fine, but Little Huang... If he remembered right, the old man living next door back home had named his dog that. "Thank you, Teacher!" Pushing the thought aside, Su Yu quickly took the medallion, his face lit with joy. This was fantastic! It allowed him to bring people inside. Even though they still had to pay, it saved endless hassle. Relying on Hu Zongqi, Lin Yao, and the others to accumulate merit points on their own—when they couldn't make the top ten of the monthly exams, couldn't break into the Top 100 Rankings, and couldn't take on missions—would take until the year of the monkey! The medallion felt cool to the touch. There wasn't much ornamentation on it—just a hammer, accompanied by the character "Zhao." Overjoyed, Su Yu said hurriedly, "Teacher, thank you for the trouble! By the way, after you hammered me a few times last time, I discovered my willpower had grown significantly stronger. When I checked earlier, I found my willpower had already reached the peak of Tier 1." "Peak of Tier 1?" Zhao Li thought for a moment and nodded. "Not bad! But my few hammer blows didn't have that dramatic an effect. It has to do with your own foundation; your willpower was already somewhat tempered to begin with. I merely made it more condensed." "Teacher, was that the effect of the Expanding Will Art?" "Mm." Zhao Li wasn't surprised that Su Yu knew about it; if Su Yu hadn't figured it out by now, he would be a fool. Smiling faintly, Zhao Li said, "Regretting it now, aren't you? If you had majored in the Forging faction back then, I would have passed the Expanding Will Art to you. Now, you can only passively enjoy the benefits of a few hammer strikes. You should know that once you cultivate it, a giant hammer automatically forms within your sea of will, tempering your sea of will day in and day out!" Su Yu gave him an odd look. *Meaning... Teacher Zhao gets hammered by a mallet every single day?* Under his gaze, Zhao Li was speechless. He smiled faintly and said, "What are you staring at? Thoroughly tempered and refined—that's what a true sea of will looks like! Even a Shanhai couldn't shatter my sea of will. That's the advantage of the Expanding Will Art! "Willpower is divided into tiers: Yangxing is Tier 1, Tengkong is Tier 2, Lingyun is Tier 3, Shanhai is Tier 4, and Sun-Moon is Tier 5... Currently, the highest is the peak of Tier 5! Although I'm in Lingyun, my willpower reached Tier 4 long ago!" Su Yu asked in surprise, "Then why haven't you reached Shanhai, Teacher?" "Shanhai..." Zhao Li pondered for a moment, shaking his head with a sigh. "You've been enrolled for this long, so you ought to know a few things. Advancing requires your willpower, divine characters, and divine apertures to all meet the standard. Years ago, I failed in forging an Earth-rank cultural weapon, which prevented my primary divine character from advancing! My primary divine character is currently only at the peak of Tier 3, unable to reach Tier 4. What's more... back then, in order to step into Shanhai in one fell swoop, I fused my primary divine character into that cultural weapon. Now that the weapon is ruined, I... have no hope of reaching Shanhai in this lifetime!" In truth, a sliver of hope remained, but the chances were slim. He didn't care that much anymore. He had felt dejected in earlier years, but now, he left it to luck. Perhaps one day that cultural weapon would complete its advancement, allowing his primary divine character to advance alongside it and carry him into the Shanhai Realm in a single stride! Only now did Su Yu understand why Zhao Li had never stepped into Shanhai! What staggering audacity! He had actually fused his primary divine character into a cultural weapon. No wonder... no wonder he was a hundred and twenty years old... *cough*, no wonder he hadn't managed to advance. "Teacher, then why aren't you at the ninth stage of Lingyun?" Zhao Li said offhandedly, "It's the result of the Expanding Will Art. Originally, I was. But after failing the breakthrough, my sea of will couldn't expand. Meanwhile, the Expanding Will Art kept hammering away every day, compressing my willpower. Over time, unable to fill my current sea of will, my cultivation dropped back down to the seventh stage of Lingyun." Now Su Yu understood completely! This man had previously reached the ninth stage of Lingyun! Yet because he failed to enter the Shanhai Realm, while the hammer kept relentlessly pounding his willpower, the compression caused him to fall back to the seventh stage of Lingyun. "Then... will it keep dropping?" "No!" Zhao Li chuckled. "There has to be a limit. If it compressed any further, my willpower would solidify. Compressing down to the seventh stage of Lingyun is already the absolute limit." Su Yu was genuinely intrigued now. "If it's compressed to such an extent, wouldn't you instantly become a formidable powerhouse among Shanhais the moment you break through?" "Not necessarily that exaggerated..." Zhao Li chuckled. "Though in terms of sheer density and strength, once I reach Shanhai, an ordinary third-stage Shanhai might not be my match. As for mid-stage Shanhai, that's another realm altogether." "Teacher, what exactly went wrong with that cultural weapon of yours? Why did it fail?" Seeing that Zhao Li was in a talkative mood today, Su Yu couldn't resist prying further. Zhao Li fell into recollection. Only after a long silence did he speak. "When I forged it back then, my stamina ran short toward the end. By all rights, an Earth-rank cultural weapon requires seventy-three gold lines to qualify... In truth, I was capable of forging it, but I was too ambitious, too greedy. I thought I could forge even more gold lines!" Zhao Li shook his head and sighed. "I was overconfident. I used only the finest materials, preparing it for an eventual upgrade into a Heaven-rank cultural weapon down the line! Inscribing gold lines was far more difficult, and because I fused my primary divine character into it, resistance arose, multiplying the difficulty. By the time I reached the seventy-second gold line, I couldn't hold on anymore. Trying to forge the seventy-third line resulted in failure. The weapon failed to advance, and because the materials were too formidable, they ended up trapping my primary divine character inside..." Zhao Li exhaled slowly. "Now, unless that cultural weapon is shattered, there's no way out. But once shattered, my primary divine character would be grievously wounded, and I can't bear to destroy it anyway. So I simply leave it as is, nourishing it day by day. Perhaps if luck strikes, it might advance on its own one day." "..." Su Yu scratched his head. "Teacher, can't the cultural weapon be recast?" "It can!" Zhao Li glanced at him. "However, my current strength is inferior to what it was back then. Recasting gold lines—as you saw last time—is far more difficult! Unless someone assists me in recasting it. There is a fellow in Great Xia Prefecture who possesses that capability..." "That Earth-rank weapon forger?" Zhao Li curled his lip. "That's him! But I can't be bothered to deal with him. That bastard... has been coveting my primary divine character and my Expanding Will Art all along. I'd rather never advance than turn to him!" Zhao Li shot him a glance, speaking with regret, "You, brat, have formidable willpower. If you could advance to Lingyun, cultivate my Expanding Will Art, and then assist me in recasting, there would still be hope... How about this: once your Multiple Divine Characters Faction goes extinct, why don't you come over to my side?" "..." Su Yu chuckled awkwardly. *Teacher, listen to what you're saying—goes extinct... how exactly would it go extinct?* Su Yu scratched his head and said quietly, "Teacher, how about... you pass the Expanding Will Art to me now? Once I reach Lingyun, I'll assist you! I cultivate very fast; I'll be Lingyun in no time!" Zhao Li stared at him, dumbfounded! *Holy hell!* *This kid's skin is thick as a fortress wall!* Su Yu gave a dry laugh. "Teacher, don't look at me like that. I'm being serious—I really cultivate fast!" "Get lost!" Zhao Li snapped in annoyance, "You're not even my personal disciple! If I teach you, how am I supposed to take on a final legacy disciple?" Su Yu said with an easy grin, "Teacher, from the look of things, you aren't planning to take on an apprentice anytime soon anyway. Why not make do with me for now? The Multiple Divine Characters Faction has already been banned and disbanded—it's not official anymore. In reality, my primary specialization is the Forging faction! Did you forget?" "..." Zhao Li was struck dumb. *Really?* *Can you even twist it that way?* Come to think of it, the Multiple Divine Characters Faction was gone. The specialization Su Yu was officially registered under at the academy was indeed the Forging faction, not the Multiple Divine Characters Faction—though Su Yu was formally affiliated with the Divine Character College. Zhao Li scratched his white hair. *Is that true?* *This kid counts as someone from the Forging faction, not the Multiple Divine Characters Faction?* *Why does something about this feel completely wrong?!*