Claiming Credit

While Su Yu and Chen Hao were dividing the loot... Inside the instructor office. Bai Feng looked rather bored. Sitting on a small chair in the office, he watched several people argue endlessly. Once they had mostly finished, he chimed in, "Uncle-Master, are we still taking the reserve students from Nanyuan Academy?" "Taking them for what? Living in the Great Xia prefectural city doesn't cost funds?" Liu Wenyan snapped back at him. Bai Feng wore a helpless look. *You were the ones who brought up sending them earlier; I was just asking.* "Then has Uncle-Master's physical body tempering been settled? Does Nanyuan have any powerful blood essence or origin qi pills for you to use?" The moment he said this, the old principal froze and offered a dry laugh. "Well... Researcher Bai, look... how about the Civilization Academy..." "No need to beg them!" Liu Wenyan said dismissively, "I can temper it slowly. Now that my will has manifested, there's no rush." Bai Feng hurriedly said, "Uncle-Master, you can't put it that way. Without powerful blood essence to aid your body tempering, your physical body might not even reach the level of an ordinary Tengkong physical cultivator, which will have a massive impact on your future. "The stronger the blood essence, the greater the help to you. If there were Tengkong Realm god-demon blood essence to temper and forge your foundation, with your powerful willpower, you'd even have a chance to instantly forge a foundation of the Tengkong third stage." In the cultivation of the path of will, the physical body was not emphasized in the early stages. Yet once reaching Tengkong, it had to be taken seriously; this was the beginning of building the physical foundation. The stronger the god-demon blood used at this moment, the firmer and richer the foundation forged would be. Liu Wenyan acted as though he had heard nothing. God-demon blood? Tengkong Realm god-demon blood! Where would one find that! Killing a single god or demon on the All-Heavens Battlefield was exceedingly difficult. What was more, most gods and demons on the All-Heavens Battlefield were above Tengkong. One that was too strong wouldn't be suitable, yet one that was too weak wouldn't do either; the Tengkong Realm was the ideal choice. Liu Wenyan had never even considered using god-demon blood to build his foundation. Even in the Civilization Academy, barely a few people each year could use god-demon blood for foundation building. It was simply too rare! Seeing that Liu Wenyan was ignoring him, Bai Feng pondered and said, "Teacher seems to still have a few drops of Tengkong Realm flying tiger blood essence. Flying tigers are also very formidable, with extremely tough bodies. How about Uncle-Master has a word with Teacher..." "Scram!" Just as Liu Wenyan finished cursing, the old principal said with great excitement, "Flying tiger? The blood essence of a flying tiger, ranked thirty-second among all races?" "Yeah." "Old Liu!" The principal urged excitedly, "Stop letting your pride get in the way! Relying on yourself, relying on our Nanyuan, where would you get the blood essence of a race ranked in the top hundred of the All-Races List? Even if a flying tiger isn't quite on par with gods and demons, the difference isn't huge! Using it to build your physical foundation would allow you to step straight into the second or even third stage of Tengkong. You're already up there in years—do you really want to waste years in the early stages of Tengkong?" Without powerful blood essence to build his foundation, forging only a Tengkong first-stage body, even with Liu Wenyan's powerful willpower, advancing to the third stage would take at least five years, perhaps even ten. He was already in his seventies. How much time did he have to waste? To the side, Squad Leader Xia Bing of the Longwu Guards parted his lips, hesitating. After considering it, he said in a gruff voice, "Instructor Liu, flying tiger blood essence is indeed very strong. I think it would be best to ask for a few drops from the Civilization Academy to build your foundation. The All-Races Sect has infiltrated the Great Xia Prefecture now, and Nanyuan's strength is limited... We will need Instructor Liu to look out for us." Building a foundation with flying tiger blood essence would yield Tengkong second stage with bad luck, or third stage with good luck. Moreover, with such a robust foundation, breaking through to the middle stage might only take a few years. A few years down the line, Nanyuan would have an additional middle-stage Tengkong powerhouse and wouldn't be struggling to even mount a defense as it was now. Liu Wenyan ignored them, turned to Bai Feng, and frowned. "There's no need for you to worry about these things. Bai Feng, how many people does the Civilization Academy plan to recruit in Nanyuan this time?" "Around ten." Bai Feng smiled. "Is Uncle-Master planning to squeeze a few more in?" Liu Wenyan did not take the bait and asked again, "How many are recruited in total?" "Around two thousand. However, five hundred spots are allocated to other prefectures, and the remainder belongs to the Great Xia Prefecture. The Great Xia Prefecture recruits about fifteen hundred in total. Proportionally, the prefectural city takes roughly a thousand each year, and the rest is split among the twenty-eight cities." Among the twenty-eight cities, Nanyuan was the smallest and weakest, which was why its quota was the lowest. Around ten—that was the number of students the Great Xia Civilization Academy admitted from Nanyuan each year. "We need to add a few more this year!" Liu Wenyan stated, "At least two more!" "Uncle-Master, I don't have the authority to decide that..." "An assistant researcher has at least two recommendation quotas. Since you conveniently killed a Tengkong fourth stage, trade your quotas for it." "Uncle-Master, aren't you being unreasonable? I was the one who killed him. If I hadn't come, none of you would have been able to kill him either..." "That's right, I'm being unreasonable!" Liu Wenyan made no bones about it. "Nanyuan lost more than ten students this time, and the students are in low spirits. This is Nanyuan's responsibility, and it is also the Great Xia Prefecture's responsibility. The Great Xia Prefecture failed to send reinforcements in time—that was a failing! "Shouldn't we add a few spots so the students can move past this slump as quickly as possible?" Bai Feng opened his mouth, feeling somewhat helpless. Although he rarely used his two quotas, if he gave them away as favors, they carried substantial weight. Forget it. Bai Feng conceded reluctantly, "Fine, Uncle-Master. Nanyuan gets two additional spots. But the prerequisite is that they meet the basic requirements. Otherwise, it won't work—even if they get in, they'll be kicked out." Liu Wenyan finally broke into a smile. "Of course! As for these two basic quotas, one goes to Su Yu, and the other to Liu Yue!" "..." Everyone turned to look at him. What a sly old fox! Those two were practically guaranteed admissions anyway. Giving them the recommendation quotas made it a sure thing. Once they were admitted, they wouldn't take up Nanyuan's native quota. That way, Nanyuan would have two more students entering the Great Xia Civilization Academy this year. Bai Feng was obviously aware of this as well; the academy had that list of candidates. Hearing this, he didn't know whether to laugh or cry. "Whatever you say. That's fine too. That way, if those two achieve good results after entering the academy, it'll count as my credit." This wasn't bad; at least he wouldn't be embarrassed. It spared him the humiliation of recommending someone with terrible grades who might be expelled later. Liu Wenyan smiled and added, "That settles it then. Also, since they're entering under your quota, go give them some guidance so nothing goes wrong and they fail the assessment. If that happens, I won't let you off!" "Uncle-Master, this..." Bai Feng looked thoroughly exasperated. "I'm a researcher, and they're just intermediate academy students..." The gap was enormous! Did they really need his guidance? "*Assistant* researcher!" Liu Wenyan gave a pointed emphasis. Assistant was primary, researcher was secondary—got it? "Fine, fine, fine. Since Uncle-Master has spoken, no problem. Have them come find me later. I'll stay here for two or three days before leaving; I'm a bit tired from rushing over anyway." Now Liu Wenyan was pleased. Waving his hand dismissively, he shooed Bai Feng away. "Burning the bridge after crossing it!" Bai Feng muttered, leaving the room in resignation. Once he was gone, the old principal couldn't help but chuckle. "Old Liu still carries the most weight. Now the academy can produce two more talents!" To the side, Xia Bing, straightforward as ever, said in a muffled voice, "It's Senior Researcher Hong's face he's respecting." "What did you say?" Liu Wenyan shot him an unfriendly glare, and Xia Bing immediately shut his mouth. *It's the truth, though. Can't a man even speak it?* If not for that, Bai Feng wouldn't have given him any face at all. Even if he had reached the manifestation stage, Bai Feng wouldn't have cared. Despite his thoughts, Xia Bing didn't press the matter and changed the subject. "Someone just reported that two All-Races Sect cultists were killed near the cafeteria. One died under an academy combat saber, and the other had his heart crushed by a claw technique. At the time, there were no instructors, City Guards, or Wind Arrest Hall personnel nearby." Liu Wenyan looked at him, frowning. "So what if there weren't? Does killing All-Races Sect cultists require identification?" "Don't misunderstand, Instructor Liu. I'm just concerned someone might be lurking within the academy." He continued, "However, their strength shouldn't be too formidable. There was likely an element of sneak attack involved, making it more probable they're in the Qianjun Realm." "Has anyone reported it to claim credit?" "Not yet. It's still being tallied." The old principal thought for a moment and said, "If it's someone in the Qianjun Realm, tracking them down won't be easy. Even if a Qianjun Realm cultivator is hiding here, it's no big deal. The academy isn't so helpless that it can't handle a Qianjun cultivator. Old Liu has broken through, so even a Wanshi Realm cultivator wouldn't pose a threat. "There's no need to investigate for now, nor is there any need to worry. Perhaps it was a parent who slipped in and killed them; that's entirely possible." The principal didn't pay it much mind. It was very likely a parent who, worried about their child, had rushed over and slain the cultists. Now that the incident was over, trespassing on academy grounds wasn't something to brag about, so quietly slipping away wouldn't be surprising. "True enough." Xia Bing acknowledged with a nod and smiled. "Let's wait and see later if anyone comes to claim credit. My concern is that a student might claim it. Falsely claiming credit is very troublesome. After all, it's the higher academy assessment period right now; if exposed, the student would face serious repercussions." "What student would be foolish enough to falsely claim credit!" The old principal dismissed the idea. If a parent killed the enemies and let their child falsely claim the credit to secure a War Academy quota, being caught would carry severe penalties. Liu Wenyan said impatiently, "Don't be so absolute. It's not impossible that someone got lucky and killed one. Of course, if someone really comes to report it, just look into it. There's no need to make a fuss." The matter was dropped. The old principal assumed no student would dare claim credit, but in reality, a certain student was wandering around nearby at that very moment, waiting for the corpses to be incinerated before reporting his deed. *** By the time the cleanup concluded, evening had fallen. Su Yu didn't head home with Liu Wenyan this time. Liu Wenyan was very busy, so Su Yu didn't disturb him. Once the lockdown was lifted, Su Yu returned home. Arriving back, he found that a thin layer of dust had already settled over the house after a few days away. Only after stepping through his front door did Su Yu let out a long breath. Today, he had killed two people. In front of Chen Hao, he hadn't shown any abnormalities, but internally, his emotions had been churning violently. He was not a soldier, just an ordinary intermediate academy student. Killing for the first time, how could he remain completely unaffected? *I got lucky. If my luck had been slightly worse, I would have been killed today.* Especially the first guy. At the time, even Su Yu had almost believed he was a teacher looking for students. Had he truly bought it, both he and Chen Hao would be dead by now. *Even though I can unleash the striking power of Qianjun seventh stage, the gap between me and the Qianjun Realm is still too vast. The moment the opponent reacts, I'm dead meat.* *My strength is still not enough. Only the strong can decide the outcome of a battle.* *If Instructor Liu hadn't broken through, Nanyuan Academy would have been finished this time. No, Bai Feng arrived as well, but all of this proves that only the powerful can decide the direction of a war...* He had many realizations today. What ultimately determined the flow of battle were those Tengkong Realm powerhouses. If City Lord Wu Wenhai and Squad Leader Xia Bing of the Longwu Guards had been killed, Nanyuan would have had no way to fight back. Just like the Tengkong cultists of the All-Races Sect: once one of them was killed, their forces collapsed like a landslide, one man turning the tide of the entire battle and resulting in the total annihilation of the All-Races Sect forces. *So... Dad really is just cannon fodder on the battlefield.* Su Yu grew worried. Today had merely been a small local skirmish in Nanyuan, while his father was on a super battlefield involving the myriad races of the heavens. That was on an entirely different scale from the minor clashes here! *Even Tengkong cultivators don't amount to much over there. A place like Nanyuan had seven Tengkong fighters today; on the All-Heavens Battlefield, any random battle might involve dozens or even hundreds of Tengkong combatants.* *I was thinking too simply before. Even if I get a chance to do an internship after reaching the War Academy, what could I possibly accomplish? What can a Qianjun or Wanshi cultivator do?* *I need to reach at least Tengkong. Only Tengkong cultivators have mobility and can be considered the backbone on the All-Heavens Battlefield.* Su Yu thought through many things. In the end, it all boiled down to strength—the faster, the better; the stronger, the better. *I need to continue using blood essence to cultivate!* At present, he had five drops of blood essence in his possession: three looted, and two traded for before the battle. "260,000 Anping coins, 10 gold coins, 5 drops of blood essence, 5 body-tempering pills, 7 merit points, one secret manual, one martial skill..." This was Su Yu's entire net worth at the moment. Among them, he couldn't use the body-tempering pills right now; those were used by Qianjun Realm cultivators. Their value wasn't low, costing roughly thirty thousand coins each at the Xia Trading Company. "Two drops of Ironwing Bird blood essence will both be used for cultivation. Later, I'll go exchange for a few more... No, I'll buy a few more. I shouldn't spend all my merit points; I need to keep some for self-defense." He had to keep a few drops for emergencies, just in case there were still All-Races Sect operatives hiding in the shadows. "Time to keep cultivating!" Deeply conscious of how weak he was—not even measuring up to cannon fodder—Su Yu no longer hesitated. Over the past few days at Liu Wenyan's place, he hadn't dared to use blood essence to cultivate, but now that he was back home, he had no such reservations. Swallowing a drop of blood essence, the surrounding origin qi quickly gathered toward him just like before. His nine apertures emitted a faint glow, and his right ear aperture trembled and surged, showing signs of opening. During his previous one-hour cultivation session, Su Yu had lasted less than half the time. This time, the duration stretched a bit longer. The *Yuan Absorption Art* was the basic foundational technique of the Ironwing Bird race. Its speed of absorbing origin qi was not fast, but precisely because of this, it was suitable for Su Yu at his current stage. *** After about forty minutes, Su Yu stopped cultivating. His right ear aperture hadn't opened this time, but Su Yu sensed that with one more attempt, he stood a good chance of opening it and reaching Kaiyuan fifth stage. However, his body was somewhat overloaded, and it was no longer suitable to continue cultivating today. "Tomorrow when I get back, I'll consume another drop of blood essence. Tomorrow, I have hope of reaching Kaiyuan fifth stage!" Su Yu was delighted. Kaiyuan fifth stage! The Kaiyuan Realm showed few outward signs, making it difficult for ordinary people to detect. There were students at Kaiyuan fourth stage at Nanyuan Academy, but whether there were any at Kaiyuan fifth stage was unknown; some preferred to hide their strength and stun everyone during the assessment. At any rate, at this stage, no one in Nanyuan Academy was known to have reached Kaiyuan fifth stage. Having finished his cultivation, Su Yu finally had time to examine the three looted drops of blood essence and the cultivation manual. *** While Su Yu was examining these spoils... At Nanyuan Academy, night had fallen. Inside the instructor office. Chen Hao had been brought in! This fellow had hung around the whole time, waiting until the corpses were incinerated before immediately rushing to claim credit, which resulted in him being hauled off to the instructor office. The old principal and Liu Wenyan were personally conducting the interrogation! The old principal's nose was practically crooked with anger as he asked sternly, "You killed him?" "Yeah!" "Falsely claiming credit brings severe punishment, do you know that?" "I know!" Chen Hao nodded. He knew that, but if Yu killed him... then it was the same as him killing the guy. It didn't count as false credit, so he felt no psychological burden. Besides, Yu had taken his secret stash of money, so he had traded for it. Yu didn't want the credit, and letting it go to waste would be a shame. He had traded more than ten years of his savings for it—how could it not count as his credit? Therefore, at this moment, Chen Hao stood completely untroubled. *I didn't falsely claim credit!* *I even helped Yu draw the enemies' attention. I contributed too! Drawing the attention of two people—put together, that counts as killing one, perfectly reasonable.* The old principal looked at Liu Wenyan. Liu Wenyan was tugging at his beard so hard he almost yanked it off. It felt like... the boy wasn't lying! The old principal caught his look and was somewhat bewildered. *Did I misjudge him? Is this Chen Hao kid actually that scheming?* *He doesn't look it, though!* *How could a kid in his teens possess such deep cunning?* "Tell us, how did you kill him?" "Yu and I were hiding together in the cafeteria. Someone suddenly barged in pretending to be a teacher. Yu saw through him and tricked him into thinking other people were hiding elsewhere. That idiot foolishly followed Yu, and I chopped him to death from behind with a saber..." Chen Hao kept it simple, because Su Yu had instructed him to keep the story brief. If it was too complicated, he feared this blockhead wouldn't remember the details and would reveal flaws. "Su Yu?" Liu Wenyan asked. "Yeah." "The two of you were together?" "Yeah." "Why were you carrying a saber? The combat instructors said you two borrowed a combat saber early on..." "Yu said he broke through to Kaiyuan fourth stage, but I didn't believe him, so I went to the combat training room with him to spar. He said he wanted to keep a low profile, so we came out looking for a place to spar..." "Kaiyuan fourth stage?" The old principal said in surprise, "He's reached Kaiyuan fourth stage?" "Yeah, he's cultivating really hard now. It probably has to do with Uncle Su going to the All-Heavens Battlefield." The old principal nodded in understanding. It wasn't entirely unexpected; going from the third to the fourth stage, breaking through around now with a bit of luck was normal. Su Yu was quick-witted. He probably hadn't put much effort into cultivation before, so reaching the third stage earlier hadn't been slow either. Liu Wenyan thought for a moment and asked, "How did you swing the blade at the time?" "Just like this!" Chen Hao gestured with his arms. He had witnessed how Su Yu slashed back then, so as an eyewitness, he naturally knew the motion. Xia Bing, who had remained silent on the side, nodded slightly upon seeing this. As a Tengkong Realm Longwu Guard, he had sharp judgment; the saber technique that felled the man had indeed looked roughly like that. Liu Wenyan added, "Another person was killed outside the cafeteria. Was that your doing too?" "Huh?" Chen Hao pretended not to understand. He couldn't claim that one. As Yu had warned, killing one could be written off as a fluke; killing two would get him dragged away to be studied. Liu Wenyan smiled. "You only killed one?" "Yeah." "You hacked that guy to death in a single strike. Do you know how strong he was?" "No idea. I didn't have time to ask before chopping." "..." The old principal was almost exasperated into laughter. He said crossly, "Then why are you only coming to claim credit now? Why didn't you come earlier?" "I was terrified." Chen Hao wore an honest, simple expression and replied earnestly, "It was my first time killing someone, so I was pretty scared. I almost peed my pants and hadn't gotten my wits back until now... But I didn't actually pee my pants, really!" The old principal ignored him and swept his gaze over the boy, noticing faint bloodstains on his clothes. He frowned slightly. *Did this kid really hack the guy to death?* "Where's Su Yu?" "He went home. Yu said splitting the merit points with him was enough; the credit for the kill belongs to me. But since he contributed the brains, we have to split the merit points." "That kid!" Liu Wenyan laughed. "So you take the credit, he takes the merit points—you get bonus points for the War Academy, while he takes the practical benefit?" "Yeah." Liu Wenyan looked at the old principal, then at Xia Bing. The old principal was at a loss for words. After a moment's consideration, Xia Bing spoke up. "Have you ever practiced claw techniques?" "Nope." "When your saber came down, how did it feel?" "Didn't feel much. I was too scared at the time. It got a little stuck—his neck was really tough!" "Where's the saber?" "I just returned it to the combat department." "Did your father come to the academy?" "No, I just called him. My dad said he's working overtime at his department. The deputy head of the Traffic Supervision Department is my dad." Xia Bing said in a deep voice, "Someone, go check his father's whereabouts!" "Yes, sir!" A Longwu Guard outside responded. After about three or four minutes, someone reported back, "Chen Qinghe has remained at the Traffic Supervision Department without leaving. During the battle, he was commanding from the department to maintain traffic order in Nanyuan." "Understood." Xia Bing glanced at Chen Hao, who gave an innocent grin. After considering it, Xia Bing looked at the two older men. "Let the academy and the Longwu Guards sign a joint document confirming he made the kill. Slaying a Qianjun seventh stage cultist during wartime grants a student thirty bonus points and three merit points." Turning back to Chen Hao, he added, "Also, another person died near the cafeteria. If you two killed that one as well, that would be sixty bonus points and six merit points. With sixty bonus points, unless you're an absolute idiot, you're guaranteed entry into the War Academy." "Ah, there was another one?" Chen Hao said with genuine regret, "Can that count as mine too? Is nobody claiming it? How about... I don't want the merit points, can I just get the sixty bonus points?" Xia Bing was speechless. The old principal and Liu Wenyan were equally at a loss. What was this boy dreaming about? If the one in the cafeteria had been killed by Chen Hao and Su Yu, who had killed the one outside? Liu Wenyan shook his head slightly. Forget it, no need to dwell on it; it wasn't a major issue anyway. Still, the fact that Chen Hao had managed to kill a Qianjun seventh-stage All-Races Sect cultist was rather unexpected. *I'll ask Su Yu tomorrow and see what he says.* Thinking this over, Liu Wenyan nodded. "Sign the certificate. The time, location, and circumstances all match up. The spoils have been handed over, and the saber is accounted for. Unless someone else steps forward to claim credit later, there's no need for further investigation." Xia Bing nodded. Killing a Qianjun cultivator was nothing remarkable; the only reason the three of them took it seriously was that the killer was a student. Otherwise, whoever claimed credit wouldn't matter in the least. With that, the matter was settled. Once Chen Hao had left merrily, the old principal suddenly asked, "Old Liu, do you believe him?" Liu Wenyan replied nonchalantly, "Whether I believe it or not doesn't matter. Whether he's a genius or mediocre will become obvious once he reaches the War Academy. If a mediocre person insists on forcing his way in, he can't blame anyone if he ends up dying. Besides, Su Yu was there at the time. With his sharp mind, who knows how he might have set a trap to kill the guy? There's no need to look too deeply into it." "True. There's no need to publicize this either, lest we invite retaliation from the All-Races Sect. We also shouldn't let other students try to imitate it; such behavior is far too dangerous." The old principal smiled as he spoke. "Speaking of which, Old Liu, that student of yours really takes after you—calculating down to the bone. Passing on the bonus points and taking the merit points instead. He's taking the Civilization Academy exam anyway, so he doesn't need bonus points." Liu Wenyan smiled, then retorted with a chuckle, "That just shows his capability. Could you have killed a Qianjun cultivator while in the Kaiyuan Realm?" "..." The old principal fell silent. Both men soon smiled. There was no need to probe deeper; in any case, the academy might have one more student entering the War Academy this year. Xia Bing had endorsed it, and that was enough. The Longwu Guards carried tremendous authority. Trying to bribe the Longwu Guards was far more trouble than simply spending that money to grease palms at the War Academy directly; after all, plenty of people paid massive sums in donations to enter each year. To the side, Xia Bing ignored the two of them. Having signed the document, he turned to leave. Reaching the door, he paused to reflect before saying, "I believe he was involved, but whether he delivered the kill isn't certain. If it wasn't him, it was that Su Yu. Since Su Yu hasn't come forward to claim credit, it can go to him. However, lacking the talent and the strength while insisting on going to the War Academy might not be a blessing. I hope you two will make that clear to him." "We will." Xia Bing said no more. There were still many questionable points, such as who had killed the person outside, but just as the principal and Liu Wenyan had noted, it wasn't particularly important. One chose one's own path; as long as he didn't regret it in the end, that was all that mattered.