Liu Wenyan had already arrived in Great Xia Prefectural City. Even though Su Yu didn't know the exact details, he knew his teacher had set out two days ago alongside the old prefect.
Cangshu Pavilion.
Su Yu decided it was best to speak with his martial uncle. At the very least, Martial Uncle possessed the strength of the Lingyun Ninth Layer.
As for his own teacher... he should just stick to doing research. He was a bit too weak.
Tenth floor.
Wu Jia wasn't there; she had gone to class.
Chen Yong remained fairly calm upon hearing Su Yu say that Liu Wenyan had likely arrived in the Great Xia Prefecture.
Seeing Su Yu's worry, Chen Yong said softly, "It's fine. Martial Uncle isn't alone in holding up the sky now that he's returned. I know Elder Sun and several others stepped out, but they just came back, and they didn't gain any ground."
"Martial Uncle, you knew?"
Su Yu was surprised. He had thought Chen Yong was completely in the dark.
Chen Yong replied calmly, "I didn't know for certain; Martial Uncle didn't inform me. But if multiple elders in the academy were drawn outside at the same time and some returned wounded, it's nine times out of ten because Martial Uncle came back."
He smiled faintly and added, "Don't worry. There are still several elders in the academy who support him—they're his closest friends! Elder Wu of the Divine Pill faction, Elder He of the Beast Taming faction, Elder Fan of the Divine Talisman faction, and even Vice Prefect Su, who rarely shows his face. Back in the day, all of them were Martial Uncle's friends."
Su Yu was somewhat taken aback. Teacher Liu had that many Shanhai friends?
His mind eased a little!
If that was the case, things shouldn't be too bad, right?
With so many formidable figures as Teacher Liu's friends, there was real backing.
"Martial Uncle, didn't they say before that Teacher Liu wouldn't come back? Why did he suddenly return now?"
Chen Yong let out a soft breath. "Someone forced your Teacher Liu to return..."
"Zhou Mingren?"
"Not necessarily him alone."
Chen Yong sighed. "Zhou Mingren... As a person, there's no need to be overly hostile toward him. He isn't particularly broad-minded, but he's easily satisfied. The Single Divine Character Faction having reached this stage was already enough for him, and becoming vice prefect was enough for him as well. However, he can't withstand the people fanning the flames behind him—including Zheng Yuming, Xia Yuwen, and some shadows from the Great Zhou Prefecture."
Chen Yong thought for a moment before continuing, "Perhaps someone promised him something, or gave him an opportunity to advance to the Sun and Moon Realm. Otherwise, Zhou Mingren had no intention of wiping us out completely at the start."
Su Yu nodded, not pressing further.
It was simply too far above his level!
Now that he knew Liu Wenyan had strong backing, Su Yu felt far more at ease. "Martial Uncle, then I won't worry about it. I couldn't meddle in that anyway, so I might as well focus on cultivating!"
"Mm. Your task is to cultivate; leave everything else aside. If things really blow up, an ordinary cultivator in the Yangxing Realm can't change anything anyway."
"Understood!"
Su Yu nodded, then asked curiously, "Martial Uncle, may I ask... what do you lack to advance to the Shanhai Realm?"
"Shanhai..."
Chen Yong smiled. "Shanhai isn't actually that difficult. Tier Four divine characters, Tier Four willpower, and having your divine apertures begin merging into one just like in the Wanshi Realm—that is Shanhai! So the conditions to reach Shanhai aren't hard at all..."
*Not hard at all?*
Su Yu looked at him with utter astonishment!
Saying that, how were those who hadn't entered Shanhai supposed to feel? Besides, Martial Uncle, you haven't entered Shanhai yourself!
Chen Yong gave a soft laugh. "Still don't understand? It's just like the Wanshi Realm. Some merge twelve apertures into one, while others merge two into one. When Shanhai merges divine apertures, some merge more, and some merge fewer. Naturally, the time required to enter Shanhai varies."
Su Yu nodded and glanced at Chen Yong.
Cultivating the Myriad Characters Scripture opened a total of seventy-two divine apertures. According to that logic, the absolute peak would be merging eight divine apertures into one, making for the highest-tier Shanhai.
Could Martial Uncle be aiming to merge eight apertures into one?
Was that why he had never stepped into the Shanhai Realm?
"Martial Uncle, that's how it is for Civilization Masters. What about warriors?"
"Warriors?"
Chen Yong smiled. "For them, it's somewhat simpler. In the Tengkong Realm, they temper bone, exchange blood, and cleanse marrow.
"In the Lingyun Realm, their yuanqi undergoes transformation—one transformation per layer, nine transformations in total, turning current yuanqi into true tianyuan qi!
"In the Shanhai Realm, they also merge apertures. Wanshi merges apertures until at least nine are left. Once they reach Shanhai, a single aperture opens, and a hundred apertures awaken.
"As for Sun and Moon and Eternal, those are beyond what I can understand."
Su Yu nodded silently, absorbing the lesson.
Those realms were still far from him. Gaining a general understanding was enough; there was no need to delve too deeply right now.
Now that his martial uncle believed there was no need to worry, he wouldn't dwell on it either.
...
Leaving Cangshu Pavilion, Su Yu hesitated for a moment before dialing a transmission.
Had Teacher Liu reached Great Xia Prefectural City?
Perhaps... Teacher Bai really could resolve his divine character blockage.
If the obstruction left behind by the Fifth Generation Head Prefect's legacy divine character could be undone, would Teacher Liu become even stronger?
This time, there was no prompt saying there was no signal.
After a brief moment, the call connected, and Liu Wenyan's hearty laughter came through. "Su Yu, is something the matter?"
"Teacher..."
Su Yu considered his words before speaking. "Teacher, Teacher Bai told me he wanted to invite you back to take a look at Wen Tan Research Center. We recently deduced a very powerful technique called the Soul Devour Art that can mutate yuanqi, but Teacher Bai said he hasn't fully perfected it yet and wondered if you could offer some advice."
"The Soul Devour Art?"
Liu Wenyan looked surprised. He glanced toward Wu Yuehua and the others. Wu Yuehua nodded and transmitted her voice: "The Soul-Devouring Insect's yuan art has the effect of mutating yuanqi."
Liu Wenyan nodded, still somewhat astonished. "You two even managed to deduce an insect race's technique?"
He truly was a little surprised.
Techniques of the insect race were among the hardest for humans to decipher due to their drastically different physiological structures.
"Teacher, Teacher Bai is remarkably capable when it comes to research, but there are still several bottlenecks he hasn't solved, which is why he wants your opinion..."
"Me?"
Liu Wenyan chuckled. "What advice could I possibly offer? That fellow Bai Feng—I certainly underestimated him... I don't have time to go over to your side right now..."
Nor could he.
Staying in the outer district was fine, but if he entered Wen Tan Research Center, many people wouldn't let him pass. And once inside, there was Wan Tiansheng, who strictly enforced rules. As long as Liu Wenyan remained holed up inside Wen Tan Research Center, Wan Tiansheng would never permit any fighting within the academy.
"Teacher, if you can't come over, how about I have Teacher Bai go to Nanyuan to find you!"
Su Yu said, "Teacher Bai is quite anxious. It's partly my fault—not long ago, I said I wanted to put it up for auction, but when I asked, I found out it wasn't finished, so Teacher Bai got all worked up..."
"You brat..."
Liu Wenyan was rendered speechless. It wasn't even perfected, yet you dared talk about putting it up for auction?
Besides, it seemed Bai Feng treated this kid quite well, involving Su Yu even in deducing a technique like this. And when Su Yu tried to auction an unfinished technique—likely on his own initiative—Bai Feng hadn't even settled scores with him?
After a moment of thought, Liu Wenyan said, "Tell you what, I'll find some time to call you back. Right now isn't very convenient."
"All right then, Teacher. I'll get in touch with you later."
...
Hanging up the call, Liu Wenyan asked with intrigue, "Yuehua, you know Su Yu, right? Does Bai Feng really value that kid that much?"
"Su Yu?"
Before Wu Yuehua could speak, the burly, middle-aged He Qi beside them laughed and said, "Brother Liu, I know Su Yu! There are hardly any people in the academy who don't know him! So he's your student, Brother Liu. No wonder... I was saying Bai Feng and his lot couldn't possibly teach a student like that..."
Liu Wenyan laughed. In truth, he hadn't taught Su Yu that much.
Just some basic foundational knowledge. How did that mean Bai Feng couldn't have taught such a student?
"Su Yu... is actually well-known?"
Liu Wenyan grew curious. "Did he make the Top 100 Rankings?"
"Far more than that!"
He Qi chuckled loudly. "That kid is amazing. Not only did he charge into the Top 100 Rankings, but he also made Zhou Mingren's bunch lose face and stirred up a mountain of trouble for them! The reason that old fellow Zhou Mingren didn't show up this time was probably because he's busy cleaning up all that mess..."
He briefly recounted the stir Su Yu had caused in the academy. Liu Wenyan listened with an expression of pure astonishment. "He changed that much?"
Was this still the Su Yu from his memories?
He had only been here a short while—how had he changed so dramatically!
Already at the Qianjun Ninth Layer!
Defeating the thirty-eighth rank on the Top 100 Rankings and leaving Zhou Mingren thoroughly embarrassed—it genuinely caught him off guard.
He couldn't help but sigh with emotion!
He truly hadn't expected this. Earlier, Su Yu had said he was doing fairly well; looking at it now, it was far beyond "fairly well."
He didn't ask further. Right now, he had no way of entering the academy.
Besides, there was no need to drag Su Yu and Bai Feng into these matters.
The two of them were simply too weak!
Even Bai Feng, at the Tengkong Eighth Layer, wasn't enough to make a difference.
...
Inside the academy.
Su Yu hung up the transmission, thought for a moment, and swiftly headed toward the research institute.
Teacher Liu wasn't coming... Did he have concerns?
Since he wouldn't come, he'd send his teacher over instead!
Quickly returning to the research center, Su Yu went straight to the third underground level.
As always, Bai Feng was working relentlessly like a machine, toiling on his research without sleep or rest, completely oblivious to the outside world. Even if the heavens fell out there, he might not notice.
Sensing Su Yu's arrival, Bai Feng turned around rapidly and said with pleasant surprise, "Little Yu, your teacher has discovered something new again! I just dismantled the Dragon Slaying Sword..."
Hearing this, Su Yu nearly jumped out of his skin!
Was he out of his mind?
That was his divine character battle technique!
"Teacher, take it easy! Don't end up killing yourself..."
"Cut the crap!"
Bai Feng couldn't be bothered to argue. A miniature sword appeared in his palm as he said excitedly, "Brat, watch closely!"
With a few swift maneuvers, he dismantled the Dragon Slaying Sword right before his eyes!
Indeed, dismantled it!
Su Yu was utterly stunned. A divine character battle technique could actually be dismantled?
Bai Feng laughed heartily. "Impressive, isn't it? I didn't just pull out a single divine character—I dismantled the entire thing, battle technique and all! Pretty amazing, right? What divine character battle technique, what immutable template—it's all nonsense!
"I can reassemble it whenever I want!"
As soon as he spoke, the little sword that had been taken apart into pieces snapped back together.
"I can even morph it at will!"
Saying that, Bai Feng fiddled with it a bit more, and the small sword morphed into a saber.
"As long as the anchor points remain, you can shape it however you want based on those anchors!"
While tinkering, Bai Feng said in a grave tone, "However... I've discovered a few drawbacks! When I assemble the Dragon Slaying Sword, there's no discomfort whatsoever. But once I assemble something else, there's some discomfort, and a degree of repulsion appears!
"First, the divine characters belong to different races!
"Second, the character tiers are uneven.
"Third, the strength of divine characters across various races differs..."
He paused, looked at Su Yu, and said, "You insisted on using human divine characters. I've noticed something: when a divine character battle technique is reassembled, human divine characters produce the least repulsion, while god and demon race characters produce the greatest repulsion..."
He continued, "I suspect divine characters from the god and demon races naturally reject us. The god and demon divine characters I outlined have constantly produced a faint resistance that I never noticed before!"
Bai Feng muttered to himself, "Is it because human divine characters are too weak that they don't produce strong repulsion? Or is it that divine characters from races like gods and demons simply aren't suited for us?
"Right now, if I hadn't reassembled the battle technique, I wouldn't have sensed any repulsion at all. It would probably stay that way even in the Lingyun or Shanhai Realms. But once one reaches Sun and Moon, I suspect this repulsion will intensify, making it utterly impossible for us to use their characters to advance to Invincible!
"Is something wrong with human divine characters, having been weakened? Or is there an issue with god and demon characters, making them inherently unsuitable for us?"
...
Bai Feng muttered line after line to himself, already completely forgetting Su Yu's presence.
Su Yu, meanwhile, was secretly astounded. Ever since he had reminded Bai Feng of the connection between divine characters and innate abilities, his teacher seemed to have unlocked an entirely new pathway, digging deeper and deeper into the research.
"Teacher!"
"Oh!"
Bai Feng snapped back to his senses, looked at Su Yu, and exhaled. "Don't rush. You need to outline eighteen divine characters anyway, so there's plenty of time. Take it slow, don't rush! On my end, I'll test it further. If it doesn't work, I'll cripple a few divine characters and see if I can make up for them later."
Su Yu gasped!
Cripple divine characters?
Teacher... wasn't actually going to get himself killed, was he?
"Teacher, don't be hasty about that. Something has happened!"
Su Yu hadn't intended to say too much, but seeing that Bai Feng was ready to cripple his own divine characters, how could he keep it hidden? He hurriedly explained the situation.
Finally, he urged, "Teacher, you definitely can't go getting yourself killed right now. Who knows how much trouble is heading our way next!"
"Martial Uncle came to the Great Xia Prefecture?"
Bai Feng raised an eyebrow. "I said before that some people's goal wasn't us, but forcing Martial Uncle out into the open to make Master act... Looks like he really did come!"
Although Bai Feng didn't know every detail, he was far from stupid. He snorted coldly. "A bunch of bastards. When all is said and done, they're still eyeing the divine character left behind by the Fifth Generation. Perhaps the Fifth Generation truly touched upon some secret regarding the Eternal Realm for Civilization Masters!"
Su Yu frowned. "Aren't they being too short-sighted? If there really is a way to advance to Invincible, I'd think that any Civilization Master with a solution wouldn't hoard it like a cherished broom."
He certainly wouldn't!
A Civilization Master advancing to the Invincible Realm would be blazing a path forward for many peak Sun and Moon experts who had been forced to switch to the warrior path. So long as it didn't compromise their own core secrets, there would be no reason to hide it if a method existed.
After all, the myriad races possessed their own Eternal Realm Civilization Masters.
The human race had none!
What reason was there to hide it away?
Bai Feng let out a breath. "Who knows? Maybe it isn't short-sightedness, but a refusal to let the human race produce its own Eternal Realm Civilization Master in the first place."
"This..."
Su Yu thought back to what his martial uncle had said about someone potentially stealing the Fifth Generation's research back then, and he fell silent.
Bai Feng didn't dwell on it. Inhaling deeply, he said, "Since Martial Uncle is here, I'll have research material! That's great—it saves me from getting myself killed and letting you inherit my estate..."
Su Yu inwardly grumbled. *Wake up, you don't have an estate!*
*The only research center doesn't belong to you; it belongs to Grandmaster.*
*If you die, you leave nothing behind.*
Paying no mind to Su Yu's thoughts, Bai Feng said briskly, "Then I'll go find Martial Uncle shortly. Once I leave, I might not be able to return right away. Be careful, and stay inside the academy! No matter how much chaos erupts outside, do not step out!"
Bai Feng added solemnly, "Martial Uncle was forced out of Nanyuan, which clearly means something else is brewing! Things won't stay quiet for long. Cultivate diligently in the academy. If you run into trouble, find your martial uncle. He can't leave right now—if he leaves, Cangshu Pavilion might be taken over by others..."
"Understood, Teacher. Be careful out there!"
"Don't worry, it's nothing!"
Bai Feng didn't seem particularly concerned and began packing up some equipment and tools.
As he packed, he continued, "Listen closely: a divine character battle technique is likely the embryonic form of an innate divine character! Innate divine characters... they might very well be the key to advancing to Invincible!
"Advancing to Invincible as a Civilization Master is bound to be difficult! I suspect all divine characters must belong to the same race, and all of them must reach Tier Six! Only then can one truly step into Invincible!
"The Fifth Generation was powerful—terrifyingly powerful. I suspect some of his divine characters had already reached Tier Six! Tier Five is what we call an eternal divine character, but that's actually inaccurate! The Fifth Generation had plenty of Tier Five characters and probably some Tier Six as well, but he didn't reach it across the board, which is why his advancement failed!
"The Fifth Generation's failure wasn't just because he was ambushed!
"Additionally, I need to see what his primary divine character actually was. I'll tell you over transmission, but I won't say it too plainly; you'll have to read between the lines!
"If the Fifth Generation's Tier Six character was a human divine character, that proves humans can step into the Eternal Realm as Civilization Masters, but the Fifth Generation might have run into an issue he hadn't fully thought through..."
Bai Feng spoke in a hurried, scattered manner, as if desperate to pass on all his research findings to Su Yu in one breath.
Su Yu frowned. "Teacher, stop talking like this. Everything will be fine!"
He knew what Bai Feng was doing: he was afraid he wouldn't make it back.
Bai Feng barked, "Cut the crap! The Fifth Generation was full of confidence back then too! Before attempting his breakthrough, he passed nothing down, choosing to wait until he succeeded—and in the end, everything was lost! We cannot repeat his mistake!
"Also... there's one more thing I need to tell you. If real trouble hits, go find Wan Tiansheng for help!"
"What?"
"Wan Tiansheng!"
Bai Feng said in a heavy voice, "Before your grandmaster left, he told me that if there was trouble, I should seek out Wan Tiansheng! Wan Tiansheng shouldn't be an enemy. Back in the day, he had a fairly good relationship with the Fifth Generation. Of course, Wan Tiansheng wasn't always at the academy; he spent some time furthering his studies in the Quest Realm and only returned after the Fifth Generation met with disaster.
"His return to the Great Xia Civilization Academy was partly at the request of the Quest Realm. What deeper transactions were involved, I don't know, but remember this... that fellow might very well be an expert of the Multiple Divine Characters Faction!"
"Ah?"
Su Yu stared in shock!
The Multiple Divine Characters Faction?
He actually wasn't entirely clear on what system Wan Tiansheng cultivated; the records didn't say much. However, he had vaguely heard people say Wan Tiansheng belonged to the Single Divine Character Faction, albeit a systematic branch of it.
How had he become part of the Multiple Divine Characters Faction?
"What's there to be surprised about!"
Bai Feng said dismissively, "There isn't really that big a difference between the Single and Multiple Divine Character factions! When someone in the Single Divine Character Faction cultivates enough characters to form a system, if they continue adding divine characters to that system before entering Tengkong and exceed ten characters, that becomes a multiple divine character battle technique! We're just relying on our predecessors by picking templates directly, whereas Wan Tiansheng likely formed a template of his own!"
Su Yu was dazed. *Formed his own template?*
True!
In a way, he had done something similar. Of course, he hadn't formed it entirely on his own, but he hadn't inherited a template from the Battle Technique Wall either; it had been modified by the golden album into a divine character battle technique.
In that case, Wan Tiansheng truly might have created his own divine character battle technique template?
Then... wasn't that monstrously talented?
Bear in mind, that had to be accomplished before entering Tengkong!
"Teacher, were all the templates on the Battle Technique Wall created by predecessors before entering Tengkong?"
"Not all of them. Some were created after reaching Tengkong. Even if they couldn't use the templates themselves, it didn't stop them from designing them..."
Having finished packing his things, Bai Feng took a deep breath and said, "Just remember my words and don't meddle in anything else! In this academy, as long as you follow the rules, nothing major will happen to you. No one would dare defy the world to act against you openly!
"Your martial uncle is still holding down the fort in the academy. And if all else fails, just announce you're leaving the Multiple Divine Characters Faction; it's no big deal. Doesn't Old Zhao want to take you as a disciple anyway? What's the fuss!"
Su Yu gave a wry smile. "Teacher, could you not make this sound like a life-and-death farewell? Don't jinx yourself, or something really might go wrong!"
Bai Feng glared at him!
After a brief pause, he added, "Right, I need to give you the keys to the cages in the detention area! You can unlock the cages. Those great demons aren't stupid—if you run into real danger, let them loose!"
Bai Feng said seriously, "Tell them that if they help you, you'll grant them the status of tame beast demons so they won't be killed! If they refuse, even if they escape, they will surely die!
"Those creatures possess intelligence; they know how to make a choice! Tame beast demon status isn't something just anyone can apply for. Your grandmaster prepared ahead of time, using his elder status over the years to secure several mount quotas. All you need to do is go register them!"
With that, he tossed a token to Su Yu.
A silver-white token.
On one side was the character "Hong," and on the other was the massive pavilion of Xiuxin Pavilion.
"This is your grandmaster's identity token. You can take it directly to the academy registry!"
Bai Feng let out a breath. "If you're genuinely worried about safety, release the demon beasts. At the very least, they possess the strength of the Lingyun Realm! As for how to guard against a backlash, that's up to you. Escaping means death, while obeying means living; if they aren't completely brainless, they'll know what to choose. Paint them a nice picture, like promising when they can return directly to the All-Heavens Battlefield..."
"Got it!"
Su Yu was somewhat surprised. It turned out Grandmaster had long since applied for mount statuses for them. That way, letting them out wouldn't result in their immediate execution.
Having finished his instructions, Bai Feng hoisted a large pack onto his shoulder and grumbled, "Su Yu, if you get the chance in the future, outline a divine character meant for storing things! Eternal divine characters can store items, but for others, unless it has a specialized property, it won't work. You'd better get one, or else carrying bags and packs whenever you go out leaves you with no face at all. It doesn't suit our stature!"
Su Yu's eyes lit up. That made sense!
Civilization Masters were supposed to possess an otherworldly, transcendent grace.
Hauling around heaps of bags and packs completely ruined their prestige.
"Teacher, are there many divine characters with that kind of property?"
"Some, but not many. For example, characters like 'wrap,' 'contain,' 'pack,' or 'void' might have spatial properties. Of course, it's not guaranteed; it depends on luck!"
Bai Feng rattled off a few characters casually, then said impatiently, "I'm off, then. Time to go study Martial Uncle... wait, no, time to save Martial Uncle!"
With that, he took off running!
Su Yu stood dumbfounded!
Given how somber his teacher had sounded earlier, he had genuinely thought Bai Feng might never return. But seeing his frantic, excited demeanor now, there wasn't a trace of worry on his face—it was purely the exhilaration of spotting a brand-new lab rat.
*I suspect you aren't afraid of dying at the hands of the Single Divine Character Faction; you're afraid of dying at Teacher Liu's hands!*
Treating Teacher Liu like a lab rat... Su Yu also felt the odds of him coming back in one piece were remarkably slim.
What a headache!
How had he ended up with such an unreliable teacher? Whatever, he would just mind his own business!
Chapter 177