Master and Disciple

Dawn broke. Not long after Chen Hao and the others departed, the origin qi in the area began to scatter, and the lingering bequest of the fallen Sun Moon expert vanished completely. The death of a single Sun Moon expert had enriched quite a few students. While the true powerhouses did not gain much, it had been a massive harvest for the weaker cultivators. The greater one's talent, the greater the gains from this occasion. Beside him, Xia Huyou drew a long, deep breath, absorbing the very last drop of origin qi, and sighed with emotion. "Having Sun Moon experts die is magnificent! It feels even faster than cultivating inside a mystic realm!" "..." Su Yu stared at him in silence. Why don't you ask your father to butcher a Sun Moon expert for you to cultivate with every day and see how that goes? Su Yu stood up, preparing to leave as well. Naturally, he could not do without Xia Huyou as his meat shield. Giving Xia Huyou that character technique had been protection money—and not just for a single instance. Using Xia Huyou as a shield now came without the slightest hint of guilt. On the Xia family's home turf, if you don't protect me, who will? Just as he was about to leave, two figures appeared before them. Wu Qi wore a faint smile as she looked at Su Yu. Wu Lan was beaming with joy, saying excitedly, "Su Yu, my willpower fullness has reached eighty percent!" Rapid progress indeed! Last time she had only been at seventy percent, and now she was already at eighty. Of course, that was still incomparable to Su Yu. If Su Yu had not been opening divine apertures, his sea of consciousness would probably be completely full by now. "Congratulations!" Su Yu offered his congratulations. It truly was not slow; in previous classes, that would have been exceptional. But in this year's class... forget it. Su Yu suspected that several people in their class could already break through to the Tengkong Realm, yet were deliberately suppressing their cultivation. Wu Lan wanted to say more, but Wu Qi gave her no chance to show off, saying with a faint smile, "Come with me!" Su Yu's eyes flickered slightly, and he nodded in gratitude. "Thank you, Teacher Wu!" He had seen Wu Qi once before at the Divine Character Competition. Originally, he had not known whether she was friend or foe, but this time he had seen Wu Yuehua fighting a bloody battle to help Teacher Liu. Su Yu knew then that the Wu family was likely not an enemy. Wu Qi telling him to walk with her was probably meant to offer some protection. His senior sister had not come this time. Su Yu knew it was likely because the injuries to her willpower had not healed. Even if Chen Yong knew of the opportunity, he might not have brought Wu Jia along; coming here would not have healed those wounds anyway. Without another word, Wu Qi turned and walked away. Su Yu pulled Xia Huyou along to follow. Wu Lan glanced at the two curiously—when had these two gotten so close? After a few steps, they ran into someone. Zheng Hong! Zheng Yuming's grandson, and a student of Elder Sun. At that moment, Zheng Hong was following a Lingyun Realm expert. Seeing Su Yu and his companions, his eyes flickered slightly. He nodded faintly to Su Yu, then greeted Wu Qi, "Greetings, Teacher Wu!" Wu Qi glanced at him, nodded, and said nothing. The Lingyun expert accompanying Zheng Hong also looked at Wu Qi, then at Su Yu, furrowing his brows slightly before quickening his pace to leave. Zheng Hong flashed an apologetic expression and hurried after him. Before Xia Huyou could even speak, Wu Lan blurted out, "He's no good!" "..." Su Yu chuckled. In your eyes, there are probably very few good people in the world. Sensing Su Yu's disagreement, Wu Lan said displeasedly, "It's the truth! He's Elder Zheng's grandson! Elder Zheng was beaten nearly to death because of you, yet he actually smiled at you—he's definitely up to no good!" "Elder Zheng was disciplined by the Academy Head. It had nothing to do with me." Su Yu maintained a gentle smile. "If Zheng Hong is broad-minded, he should understand that I'm not to blame. As a Civilization Master, I believe he is capable of figuring that out, which is why he showed goodwill toward me." "Su Yu, you're so stupid! You actually believe other people are broad-minded!" Wu Lan looked at him in sheer disbelief. How stupid can you get! You actually believe Zheng Hong has an open mind! Su Yu chuckled softly. "We're all classmates. We should treat people with kindness. Only then can we live happier lives." Wu Lan scoffed, turning her nose up at him and ignoring him completely! She had suddenly realized how stupid Su Yu was! Ahead of them, Wu Qi continued walking, not bothering to intervene in the slightest. A smiling tiger; a biting dog doesn't bark; two-faced... Did my foolish sister not know any of these common sayings? With the sheer ruthlessness Su Yu had shown on the arena stage, beating the students of the Single Divine Character Faction half to death, you call him stupid? He claimed to be kind, and you actually believed him? A few steps further, someone caught up from behind. Zheng Yunhui laughed boisterously from a distance. "Su Yu, Fatty Xia, let's walk together!" Saying that, the fellow came trotting over cheerfully. The moment he arrived, Zheng Yunhui began to complain, "Hey, you guys, with such a massive event happening, why didn't you call me? My old man was just regretting it, saying I actually missed out! Several Eternal divine characters detonated earlier. If I had gone, even if I couldn't absorb them, just nurturing my sea of consciousness a bit would've pushed me close to peak Yangxing!" Su Yu laughed softly. "I was planning to call you. Next time, then. Next time something like this happens, I'll definitely call you, so long as Brother Zheng doesn't mind!" "Of course I don't mind!" Zheng Yunhui chuckled. "What kind of relationship do we have? We're good friends! Whenever something good happens, remember to call your brother!" Then, with a mysterious air, he added, "Right now, I also have good news to share with my brothers! You know about the Sea of Consciousness Mystic Realm, right? Someone is preparing to open it, and there will be plenty of slots! If we get in, we might break through to Tengkong in an instant! What a magnificent place!" Xia Huyou seemed to know about it already and said nothing. Su Yu, however, paused slightly. "The Sea of Consciousness Mystic Realm?" "Yeah! You don't know?" Zheng Yunhui said with a laugh, "It's..." "I know of it. Isn't it extremely difficult to open?" "It is very difficult, but they're preparing to open it now! Brother Su, we have to find a way to get in!" Zheng Yunhui's eyes darted around. He glanced at Xia Huyou, then at Wu Lan, saying with a grin, "Classmate Wu Lan, if you enter the Sea of Consciousness Mystic Realm, you'll be able to break through to Tengkong in no time. Surpassing Su Yu will be as easy as one, two, three..." Wu Lan looked at him, puzzled. "How did you know I'm going in?" "..." Zheng Yunhui froze. What did that mean?! Wu Lan couldn't be bothered to pay him any more attention! So you didn't even know! Su Yu, on the other hand, was rather surprised. Wu Lan could go in? And she already knew in advance? Ahead of them, Wu Qi suddenly remarked coolly, "That was agreed upon before; now, it might not happen! Previously, they agreed to give five slots, but that was before this battle. Now... it's hard to say. They might go back on their word." Su Yu asked hastily, "Teacher Wu, are... they the ones opening it?" "Indeed!" Without looking back, Wu Qi said calmly, "Opening the Sea of Consciousness Mystic Realm is very complicated, requiring a massive amount of natural treasures! In addition, it needs several Shanhai experts to preside over the opening together. A few Shanhai experts isn't the difficult part; the main issue is that it requires a large amount of River of Heaven Sand, which is very hard to obtain." "River of Heaven Sand?" Su Yu looked toward Xia Huyou. Xia Huyou explained, "A rather special treasure that can absorb certain impurities, functioning like a filter to strain out impurities from willpower. Opening the Sea of Consciousness Mystic Realm requires a large amount of this treasure, which generally only comes from the Star Mansion." Up ahead, Wu Qi continued, "If they truly exhausted their fortunes, the academy has other powerhouses capable of opening the Sea of Consciousness Mystic Realm. The crux is that River of Heaven Sand is hard to come by!" Su Yu looked at Xia Huyou again. Xia Huyou shrugged. "Small quantities are fine, but large amounts are hard to buy. There are few sources for it. When geniuses obtain it, they usually direct it to laboratories and research institutes to create high-purity willpower research chambers." Su Yu thought of Bai Feng's divine character research lab. In that case, could there be River of Heaven Sand over there? "So opening the Sea of Consciousness Mystic Realm is difficult primarily due to material constraints?" "Right!" Xia Huyou nodded. Zheng Yunhui added hurriedly, "You have to understand, not just anyone can go to the Star Mansion. Only a handful of people go every ten years, and not everyone can bring it back. The Single Divine Character Faction has been powerful for decades, so many of their members have entered the Star Mansion and brought back plenty of River of Heaven Sand. That's why they have the capital to open the Sea of Consciousness Mystic Realm. Others simply don't have the means." Su Yu sighed helplessly. "What's the use of telling me? Given my situation, would they ever let me in?" As if! Zheng Yunhui urged hastily, "That's precisely why we have to find a way to get in! Su Yu, you can't give up on this chance! We can still fight for it. Didn't your grandmaster return? Have him throw a fit, cause trouble, pick a fight!" Zheng Yunhui egged him on. "Your grandmaster displayed tremendous might this time, defeating even two half-step Sun Moon experts. He's stronger than our Academy Head! Have your grandmaster barge right onto their doorstep and force them to give you three to five slots... I'll reserve one from you, how about two thousand merit points?" "..." Su Yu looked at him without saying a word, smiling with an expression of gentle warmth. Zheng Yunhui felt a chill run down his spine under that smile. Right, this guy was a sinister schemer; egging him on was obviously useless. Clearing his throat, Zheng Yunhui added, "Then convene an Elder Council meeting! Fight to make them surrender several slots! The academy has forty-two elders in total, and right now there are fewer than thirty present in the academy! As long as half of them agree, unless they cancel the opening entirely, there's still a chance." Zheng Yunhui grinned. "Tell me, if each elder could secure a slot, would they agree? Of course they'd be thrilled! The mystic realm doesn't belong to the Single Divine Character Faction alone. Strictly speaking, it originally belonged to your faction! They're paying to open it, but the mystic realm is public property!" Zheng Yunhui pressed on, "If those elders each secure one slot, that's only around twenty slots. Usually, fifty people can enter, so the other side can still send in around thirty people." At these words, Xia Huyou said softly, "This is actually workable!" A group of students who hadn't even reached the Tengkong Realm were standing here discussing how to manipulate the Elder Council meeting. If anyone overheard them, they would probably laugh their heads off! Yet Wu Qi, walking ahead, saw nothing amiss. The three behind her represented three different factions. As for her younger sister... she was just tagging along and probably couldn't even follow what they were saying. Xia Huyou smiled faintly. "Zheng Yunhui's idea truly has room for maneuver! Convene an Elder Council meeting to fight for the interests of every elder—those elders won't refuse! Powerful as the Single Divine Character Faction is, they wouldn't dare provoke public fury! Moreover, the elders can also contribute their strength to open the realm together, making it last longer!" "Right now, on the Single Divine Character Faction's side, only four elders—Zhou, Sun, Yu, and Li—are still able to act. Elder Zheng is injured, Elder Zhao is in seclusion, and Elders Ma and Fang are on the All-Heavens Battlefield. Four elders can barely maintain the operation and won't last long. The other elders can contribute!" Saying that, he added, "Zheng Yunhui, which elder can you get to help?" Since Zheng Yunhui had brought this up, he definitely had an elder backing him. Hearing Xia Huyou's question, Zheng Yunhui chuckled. "My master, of course!" "..." Right. Su Yu and Xia Huyou nodded; they had almost forgotten that this fellow had a master as well. They only remembered he was from the Zheng family, but he had indeed taken an academy elder as his master. Zheng Yunhui said excitedly, "Me, you, Su Yu, Wu Lan... plus Hu Qiusheng, Zhao Shiqi... If each of us reaches out, contacting one or two elders won't be difficult! Once we secure our slots, everyone will be happy! As for the Single Divine Character Faction... unless they refuse to open the realm! But if they don't open it to boost their people's strength, they won't be strong enough, and we can target them!" Zheng Yunhui laughed loudly. "If they don't let us in, we won't let them open it either. Our next step will be to copy Su Yu—hunt down their people every single day. The Single Divine Character Faction students on the Top 100 Rankings can look forward to getting thrashed daily! If we can't beat the ones at the top, can't we beat the ones near the bottom?" This guy wasn't a good person either! He couldn't be bothered to get involved in faction disputes, but when it concerned his own interests, he would jump right in! Zheng Yunhui continued, "The Sea of Consciousness Mystic Realm is of immense help to non-Tengkong students like us. The willpower there is exceptionally pure. Although we haven't opened divine apertures and can't absorb much, even passively absorbing it is far better than reading cultivation methods! Spending a day in the Sea of Consciousness Mystic Realm is probably better than reading thirty texts of will. More importantly, reading texts of will takes time and costs money..." Of course, if one had opened divine apertures, the benefits would be even greater. Su Yu pondered for a moment, then nodded. "I'll speak with my grandmaster. You guys have wide networks, so find ways to inform more students of the elders to see if we can fight for this!" He wanted to enter as well! However, fighting for a slot... his senior sister was heavily injured, and pure willpower would be wonderful for helping her sea of consciousness recover. If they could only secure a single slot, what would he do? Of course, they had to make this happen first. Over at the Divine Talisman Department, he could notify Zhang Hao. As for Hu Zongqi and Lin Yao, even if notified, they might not have a chance to enter. After discussing for a while, the group reached a consensus. Wu Qi remained silent the entire time, sighing with emotion inwardly. This batch of students truly was different. Still mere freshmen, yet each was bold enough to attempt manipulating the academy's highest governing body, the Elder Council meeting. In truth, it seemed it had already been manipulated once before. Otherwise, Su Yu wouldn't have been able to make the other side suffer so miserably last time. ... While Su Yu and the others were on their way back. At the same time. Inside the Director's Residence of the Yuqiang Department. Hong Tan frowned, looking at Bai Feng, who was battered nearly to a pulp. In a heavy voice, he asked, "Your divine characters were destroyed?" "Yeah." "Even your primary divine character is gone?" "Yeah." "..." Bai Feng spoke listlessly. He was fortunate not to have fallen unconscious. Had Director Ji not helped him stabilize his sea of consciousness, he probably wouldn't even be awake right now. Hong Tan's expression darkened further. "Xia Yuwen did this?" "He didn't have an easy time either..." Bai Feng smiled. "Master, that guy had nine of his apertures shattered by a single sword strike of mine, and several of his divine characters were destroyed. I doubt he's in any better shape than me..." "You..." Hong Tan scowled. Even your primary divine character has been shattered, yet you're still spouting arrogant nonsense! "Xia Yuwen..." Frowning, Hong Tan suddenly turned his head. "Director Ji, if I remember correctly, there's an election for academy head at the end of the year, right? I want to participate! I will run for vice head! And I'll challenge Xia Changqing!" Not far away, Director Ji was sipping his tea unhurriedly. Hearing this, he looked up. "You want to challenge Xia Changqing? He is a member of the Xia family, pushed forward by them to serve as their anchor in the Civilization Academy." "Xia Changqing..." Hong Tan chuckled coldly. "Xia Changqing's grandson reduced my disciple to this state. A third-stage Lingyun challenging an eighth-stage Tengkong—how splendid of him! In the past, out of respect for him being Senior Brother Yunqi's elder brother, I didn't want to bother with him. But he took that for weakness, actually thinking I was afraid of him?" Hong Tan ground his teeth. "For Brother Yunqi's sake, I won't kill him. But whatever state his disciple is in, he will be in the same! I'll cripple his primary divine character!" He was furious! Livid! His disciple, peerless in talent, had been crippled by Xia Yuwen. He hadn't known the details earlier, but now he was about to burst with rage! As for Xia Yuwen nearly being crippled, what did that have to do with him?! A Lingyun, a fellow claiming to be invincible within his realm, had nearly been beaten to death by his own disciple. That was his own incompetence; it wasn't as if his disciple had gone out of his way to challenge him. Director Ji said calmly, "If you're certain, then naturally there is no issue. Do as you wish!" Hong Tan snorted, his eyes chilly. Looking back at Bai Feng, he couldn't help scolding, "Couldn't you have swallowed your pride? Ruining yourself just for the sake of a Xia Yuwen—you fool, truly an idiot!" Bai Feng curled his lip. I'm already wounded like this, and you're still scolding me! "The Xia family... fine, I can't afford to curse the Xia family, but Xia Changqing's branch is courting death, damn them!" Hong Tan couldn't help cursing once more! "Do you have any divine characters left?" "A few." "Your sea of consciousness is severely damaged. Whether it can even recover is hard to say. Even if it does, your realm will drop. If you can recover to the third or fourth stage of Tengkong, consider yourself lucky. But with so many divine characters gone and your primary divine character destroyed, your divine character battle technique is ruined too..." A nameless desolation welled up within him! The same fate as his senior brother! Even more tragic than his senior brother—falling from a genius to mediocrity in an instant, perhaps inferior even to an ordinary Tengkong cultivator. This blow to his disciple was simply too devastating! Bai Feng couldn't say much. Although Director Ji had saved him, who knew where the man's allegiances truly lay? For now, he could only silently grieve alongside his master. Truly tragic—having shattered so many divine characters, he would have to outline them all over again. Truly tragic! "Master, my divine characters are ruined. Outlining new ones in the future will require spending money to buy texts of will. Could you give me some money? I'm completely penniless now..." Bai Feng spoke piteously. Hong Tan gritted his teeth and said, "Don't worry, I'll procure the texts of will for you! As many as you need! Even if I have to sell the research institute, I will help you recover!" "Thank you, Master. You're the best..." Though he said that, Bai Feng was speechlessly rolling his eyes inwardly. Selling the research institute is really all you can come up with! A dignified eighth-stage Shanhai expert, reduced to this level of capability? It seemed he was truly broke, not just pretending! Relying on his master was out of the question, but as for his student... tsk tsk. He had seen it last time: several dozen texts of will sitting in the storeroom! Since his disciple couldn't finish reading them all, as his master, he would reluctantly help him read a few more in the future! It seemed he would still have to rely on his disciple to support him! To the side, Director Ji smiled faintly. "Ruined is ruined; Civilization Masters aren't renowned for brute force anyway! Bai Feng, are you interested in coming to the Yuqiang Department to serve as the head of a divine character research institute? An intermediate researcher, with your own independent development group and an independent institute. You would only need to submit corresponding research results each year..." He extended an olive branch to Bai Feng! Being crippled didn't matter; his skills, vision, and knowledge remained intact. Coming to the Yuqiang Department would instantly elevate him to an intermediate researcher! That was a treatment usually reserved for late-stage Lingyun cultivators! Even Chen Yong was currently only an intermediate researcher; one could not become an advanced researcher without reaching the Shanhai Realm. At this moment, Hong Tan also looked at Bai Feng. He felt that if Bai Feng truly were ruined, perhaps... being at the Yuqiang Department would be better. Here, the Single Divine Character Faction wouldn't dare cause trouble, nor would anyone else. The Yuqiang Department was an official agency directly subordinate to the Great Xia Prefecture. Furthermore, it fell under the jurisdiction of the Quest Realm! Ji Hong had now entered the Sun Moon Realm. It could be said that wherever he was placed, he would be a lord of his domain. Strictly speaking, even people like Wan Tiansheng and Zheng Ping were subject to his oversight. Of course, the academy wielded immense authority, so Ji Hong couldn't truly control them, though managing smaller academies was no problem at all. However, that was before, when Ji Hong was not a Sun Moon expert. Now... if Ji Hong truly chose to intervene, it would be entirely legitimate. It would simply come down to whether Wan Tiansheng, Zheng Ping, and the others could contend with him. "The Yuqiang Department..." Bai Feng smiled. "Director Ji, how's the salary at the Yuqiang Department?" "As an intermediate researcher and institute head... earning a thousand merit points a year wouldn't be difficult!" "..." Bai Feng curled his lip. Too little. Although I'm broke, a mere thousand merit points? Forget it, I'd rather return to the academy and swindle Liu Hong. Wait, in their eyes, I'm ruined now. Would that bastard Liu Hong still be willing to let me swindle him? He had only been asking casually; he had no intention of joining the Yuqiang Department. Bai Feng chuckled and said, "Then forget it. Thank you for the promotion, Director Ji, but I think I'll return to the academy to retire in peace. Ruined is ruined, but my physical realm is still Tengkong. Even if my divine characters are destroyed, I'm still a Tengkong cultivator—it's not as if I have zero combat power!" Ji Hong did not press him. Continuing to sip his tea, he asked calmly, "Let me ask you something. Your divine character battle technique can be split apart—can the divine character base points used to outline the technique also be split?" "What?" Bai Feng feigned astonishment. "How could that be possible?! Once those base points are fixed, they're completely locked in place. Split them? How could that ever work!" "It's not possible?" Director Ji frowned slightly. "Bai Feng, if it were possible, you could conduct research in this direction. Perhaps it could resolve the problem of your shattered battle technique! If the base points could be dismantled, you could fill them in later. In the past, divine character battle techniques were fixed, yet you managed to split that..." Bai Feng explained, "It wasn't splitting the battle technique; it was just a recombination of properties. I condensed divine characters with similar traits together to form a new Dragon Slaying Sword. In essence, it was still a single sword, not multiple ones! It was merely a transfer of properties..." He offered a lengthy explanation, which was, of course, complete gibberish. It made sense on the surface, but in reality, it was pure nonsense. Explaining this now was pointless anyway, as he still didn't know where Director Ji stood. He would recover on his own first, and once successful, it wouldn't be too late to pass it on to his teacher and student. As for outsiders, they could wait until it was safe to make it public! "Just a transfer of properties?" Ji Hong was somewhat disappointed. While that was also a formidable technique, compared to dismantling divine character base points, it wasn't worth mentioning! Bai Feng lied through his teeth. "Yes! Impressive, right? This way, our Multiple Divine Characters Faction can transfer similar properties in the future. As long as we prepare a few more cultural weapons, we can completely use them as multiple divine character battle techniques!" Hong Tan snapped irritably, "And then detonate your divine characters just like you did?" "..." Bai Feng was speechless and couldn't be bothered to explain further. I detonated my divine characters with a purpose—who said we have to keep detonating them! Hong Tan pondered for a moment and said, "Forget it, don't worry too much! In past years, I also conducted research on divine character properties. Once you outline some new divine characters similar to your previous ones, I'll see if I can find a way to integrate them into your battle technique and help repair it." Ji Hong glanced at him, surprised. "It can be repaired?" "It depends. If the properties are similar, we can give it a try!" Hong Tan said in a deep voice, "We can strip the properties first and incorporate featureless divine characters into the base points. That will reduce repulsion to the bare minimum. Once they've fused for a period of time, I'll transfer the properties over. There's still hope of success!" "..." Ji Hong looked at the master and disciple. He had to admit, both possessed profound insight into divine character research. Among Civilization Masters today, very few still had the energy to conduct such advanced research. Years ago, when the path of civilization first flourished, there had been many such people. However, as techniques matured and cultivation methods were continuously deduced and established, far too few focused on research, simply because so much had already reached maturity! Once a system matured, many ceased striving for progress and merely followed the path paved by predecessors. Thinking of this, Ji Hong suddenly said, "If Bai Feng is to outline divine characters anew, it would be best not to outline characters from all races, especially divine and devil characters!" Bai Feng looked at him in surprise! What, you've noticed something amiss too? Hong Tan didn't seem surprised, sighing, "You've noticed it as well? Naturally, you've entered the Sun Moon Realm! The repulsion has increased, hasn't it?" "Yes." Ji Hong said calmly, "It has increased significantly. After the battle fifty years ago, someone likely set a trap! It wasn't like this in the past, but now... divine and devil characters carry repulsion. I nearly failed my breakthrough! Fortunately, at the critical juncture, I dismantled several divine characters outlined over the past few decades, which allowed me to succeed!" Bai Feng blinked, unable to resist asking, "What are you two talking about?" Hong Tan shook his head. "You wouldn't understand. Forget it, I'll explain it to you. We suspect that the original texts of will over the past several decades were tampered with. If one outlines divine characters over these fifty years, especially divine and devil characters, the repulsion intensifies, drastically increasing the difficulty of advancing to the Sun Moon Realm!" Bai Feng was stunned. Over the past several decades? That wasn't right! In his view, this wasn't an issue limited to the past several decades; divine and devil characters had always possessed this flaw! Yet listening to them now, it sounded as if the repulsion had intensified over these past fifty years. *A two-layered trap?* The thought suddenly crossed Bai Feng's mind! While everyone assumed only the divine characters from the past few decades had issues, they overlooked the fact that the earlier divine and devil characters were problematic as well! As a result, those Sun Moon experts, and even powerhouses who had entered the Invincible Realm through physical cultivation, would never suspect that the divine characters they had outlined earlier were flawed too! *But doing this, wouldn't they risk alerting the enemy?* *No...* Bai Feng suddenly realized something. Preventing the older generation of powerhouses from advancing to the Invincible Realm, while stopping the new generation of geniuses from outlining the divine characters of mighty races like the gods and devils... this ensured the older powerhouses could not take another step forward, and the newer geniuses remained weaker within their realm. Was this... an attempt to sever the legacy of Civilization Masters? *Did the powerful god and devil races do this intentionally? Intentionally letting everyone know they set a trap so everyone would discard god and devil characters... In doing so, the strength of the human race's rising generation would inevitably plummet! The only countermeasure would be using divine character battle techniques to bridge the gap!* *Yet coincidentally, numerous powerhouses of the Multiple Divine Characters Faction were slaughtered, and the faction was suppressed to the point of near extinction...* A realization dawned upon Bai Feng: the suppression of the Multiple Divine Characters Faction was definitely not the doing of the Great Zhou Prefecture alone! It wasn't a personal grudge; someone was fanning the flames from the shadows, with the hand of the myriad races suppressing the Multiple Divine Characters Faction! With that in mind, Bai Feng suddenly spoke up. "Director Ji, may I ask a question?" "Speak." "How many people are left in the Multiple Divine Characters Faction within the Human Realm?" "Do you mean above the Tengkong Realm?" "Yes!" Below Tengkong, they didn't even count as true practitioners of the faction. Director Ji quickly calculated. "Roughly five hundred people. I don't know the exact figure." "And fifty years ago?" "Fifty years ago..." Without waiting for Director Ji to answer, Hong Tan said, "Fifty years ago, there were a hundred and sixty-two civilization academies in the Human Realm, many of which specialized in the multiple divine characters path. Excluding those below Tengkong, there were roughly ten thousand experts above Tengkong!" Bai Feng said heavily, "Ten thousand! In other words, they've almost completely died off over these years?" Ninety-five percent dead! Hong Tan nodded. "In the battle back then, too many powerhouses fell. Afterward, successor strength lagged, and the heritage faltered. Over these fifty years, some died of old age, some fell in battle on the All-Heavens Battlefield, some were crippled, and some went mad... That's why our numbers dwindled further and further!" Bai Feng frowned. "Even so, could so many really have died? They were all experts above the Tengkong Realm. Isn't this mortality rate far too high?" Director Ji frowned. "High... Major battles on the All-Heavens Battlefield are frequent. Over these decades, the various prefectures have engaged in roughly a thousand battles large and small. The number of fallen warriors is a hundred times yours, and more of other types of Civilization Masters have died than your faction..." "The proportion is too high; I didn't say the absolute number!" Bai Feng clarified. Over fifty years, ninety-five hundred people had died. Was that a lot? Not really! That was less than two hundred a year across the entire Human Realm with all thirty-six prefectures. For each prefecture, that was six or seven deaths a year. Was that a lot? Truly not! However, the proportion was astronomical! In the Great Xia Prefecture alone, at least ten thousand died in battle each year! Among them were many Civilization Masters; several hundred dying was completely normal. The Great Xia Civilization Academy alone produced dozens of Civilization Masters every year, and with Jiutian, Wendao, and others, a rough balance was maintained. For the Great Xia Prefecture, where fighting was the fiercest, that was considered reasonable. A few members of the Multiple Divine Characters Faction among them would hardly draw any notice. Yet Bai Feng felt it was highly likely that someone was deliberately targeting them! No, once he had the chance, he would have to investigate whether there was anything suspicious about the deaths of those Multiple Divine Characters Faction Civilization Masters. Perhaps... he could deduce certain truths from it. For instance, which battles did they participate in? Where did they die? When those major battles erupted, which Invincible expert was overseeing them...? Perhaps... perhaps he could deduce the identity of that traitorous Invincible within the Human Realm! Bai Feng fell silent, not daring to say another word! Director Ji looked at him with furrowed brows and said nothing more. Hong Tan was lost in thought; the proportion of deaths truly was high, but to be frank, a few Civilization Masters from the Multiple Divine Characters Faction dying in each prefecture every year had previously seemed entirely normal to him. Their numbers were few because their legacy had faltered. If they had recruited large numbers of new students every year like the Single Divine Character Faction, no anomaly would have been apparent. Yet now that Bai Feng had raised the question, he couldn't help but ponder it. Dropping the topic, Hong Tan looked at Bai Feng. "Are you coming back with me, or recuperating here?" "Going back!" Bai Feng answered resolutely. Of course he was going back. Out here, who knew what the situation was, who was good or evil, or who was the pawn of that traitorous Invincible! He now understood somewhat why the news had not been leaked. Right now, anyone he looked at seemed like a pawn of that Invincible; he couldn't even bring himself to trust Ji Hong completely. And that was just him. If everyone knew and rumors spread, probably no one would trust anyone other than themselves. Suspicion was human nature! If even he felt this way, once the Invincible experts began suspecting each other, the trouble would be catastrophic. No wonder so many preferred to play dumb. Without concrete evidence and before unearthing the culprit, broadcasting the matter was truly unnecessary—it would throw everyone into panic far too easily! Hong Tan said no more. Grabbing Bai Feng, he looked at Ji Hong. "Director Ji, my thanks for this time!" Ji Hong waved a hand casually, unconcerned. Hong Tan did not linger, departing swiftly with Bai Feng. Once they were gone, Director Ji remained silent for a while, murmuring softly, "Is the proportion truly that high?" It was high, yet the absolute number of deaths wasn't overwhelmingly large. Over nine thousand people in fifty years! Some had died of old age, some from cultivation deviations, and some from their seas of consciousness collapsing... Compared to the casualties among warriors and other Civilization Masters, it was insignificant. The Multiple Divine Characters Faction had few people simply because their lineage had practically been severed over these decades. Previously, he hadn't considered it either; everyone thought having few people was only natural. Without successors, of course their numbers would dwindle! Tapping lightly on the table, Director Ji pondered for a moment... Forget it, he wouldn't report this. He would investigate it himself. Perhaps... there truly was something fishy going on.