Leaving Seclusion, A Chance Encounter, and Mutual Disgust

Su Yu was unaware of the upheaval in the academy at this moment. No one had sent him any messages either. Nor had he done anything beyond asking Xia Huyou to look out for his senior sister to keep her from getting tricked. Apertures were opened one after another. Days had passed! Successfully cultivating the Body Strengthening Technique had greatly accelerated Su Yu's aperture-opening speed! It had to be said that the Mountain-Breaking Ox race's technique was exceptionally well suited for opening apertures. And yet the Mountain-Breaking Ox race barely ranked within the top hundred of all races. What a waste of their technique. Of course, racial differences might explain it; opening apertures quickly did not amount to much for the Mountain-Breaking Ox race if they lacked top-tier experts. This was only natural! Opening apertures granted an advantage before the Shanhai Realm, but once in Shanhai, it was no longer a question of how many apertures one opened. Two hundred and sixty apertures! That was the number of apertures Su Yu had opened by now. His blood essence had run out long ago, and right now, he was relying purely on ambient yuanqi to force them open. Dozens of drops of Five Elements racial blood essence had also allowed him to open four more divine apertures. His opened divine apertures had reached forty-four! Yet the apertures for the Sky-Opening Saber were still not completely opened. Su Yu steadied his mind, studying the Sky-Opening Saber's text of will again and again. He had been examining this text of will for several days now. Gradually, within Su Yu's sea of will, a divine character emerged. "Break!" Following Blood, Thunder, War, Kill, Yin, and Saber, Su Yu had outlined another divine character—the "Break" divine character! Because it was penned by Xia Longwu, the "Break" character was exceptionally powerful. Last time, having absorbed the divine charm of an Eternal divine character, Su Yu's six divine characters had all made significant progress. Among them, the "Blood" divine character's divine light had turned restrained; while it hadn't yet reached Tier 3, it was far stronger than before. The "Thunder" divine character had benefited as well, stepping directly into Tier 2. Now, Su Yu possessed three Tier-2 divine characters and four Tier-1 divine characters. Including the newly outlined "Break" character, they were all considered at the peak of Tier 1. "Xia Longwu..." Su Yu let out a breath, feeling a little surprised. Xia Longwu was a Civilization Master! That in itself was not surprising; warriors frequently cultivated the civilization path as well. But to allow him to outline a peak Tier-1 divine character, Xia Longwu's rank as a Civilization Master had to be at least Shanhai! A Shanhai Civilization Master—for someone pursuing it as a secondary discipline, that was already formidable! "Seven divine characters!" Su Yu exhaled. Recently, he hadn't spent much time reading texts of will, yet he had still outlined seven full divine characters. Many were Tier 2, and the weakest were at the peak of Tier 1. Judged purely by tier, he was already no worse than some Tengkong Civilization Masters. His willpower fullness barely hovered around eighty percent, but Su Yu believed its intensity was definitely greater than those whose willpower was at ninety-nine percent, unless they had also tempered their willpower. Over 260 yuan apertures opened, over 44 divine apertures opened... At this moment, Su Yu felt confident that his true strength could break into the top ten of the Top 100 Rankings. Against weak Tengkong cultivators—like his dad, who had advanced with only thirty-six apertures, merging at most four into one to become a four-shi Tengkong—Su Yu felt that even if his dad reached Tengkong, he wouldn't necessarily lose! "Less than three months since entering the academy!" Su Yu was secretly astonished! Of course, he knew he had consumed vast resources. But possessing the strength to challenge Tengkong experts at this stage still amazed him. No wonder they said geniuses could easily fight across realms. Powerful techniques, powerful martial skills, a powerful physical body, powerful burst capacity... With all this, if he were still inferior to those who advanced using just any casual technique, that would be pathetic! "Still twenty-eight apertures to go!" The Body Strengthening Technique shared overlapping apertures, with a significant degree of overlap. Right now, opening twenty-eight more yuan apertures would allow Su Yu to fully master the Sky-Opening Saber. Once he finished cultivating the Sky-Opening Saber, his opened apertures would reach 288! Su Yu even contemplated opening all the apertures for the second level of *Time* in one go, pushing his count past 300! "Today is the sixteenth..." Su Yu calculated. There were still a few days before the competition began. Plenty of time. Some senior students would participate this time—individuals who had truly cultivated to the pinnacle of the Yangxing Realm. If he didn't become stronger, how could he be certain of beating them? He had to enter the Sea of Consciousness Mystic Realm. With forty-four divine apertures open, Su Yu currently didn't have that much unowned willpower to absorb. The debris room in the research center was too chaotic, and he couldn't keep siphoning from it forever without draining it dry, which would be bad. "The Sea of Consciousness Mystic Realm!" Five slots. He had to place in the top five at least. Even if certain elder committee members had slots, they would probably have their strongest students enter the fray. Including people like Zhan Hai! Powerful people who could take first place and claim another slot—none of them would mind having extra slots. Zhan Hai, rank one on the Top 100 Rankings, who had fought Tengkong cultivators without losing! Ninth-stage Wanshi, peak Yangxing, exceptionally strong. And he wasn't the only one like that. How could Su Yu not strive to grow stronger? Setting aside the senior students, even among this year's freshmen, Su Yu guessed that Wan Mingze and Xia Huyou were both close to Tengkong. Zheng Yunhui and the others were a bit weaker, but they might well possess hidden trump cards. Each of them had backing, backgrounds, and resources; Su Yu didn't believe they would remain stagnant. Back to opening apertures! 261, 262... Time ticked by. Without blood essence, although Su Yu utilized the Body Strengthening Technique, his progress was noticeably slower than before. Blood essence still sped things up considerably. On average, he could only open about one aperture per hour. That was already blazing fast! Vast torrents of yuanqi surged toward him, devoured, absorbed, and purified by his hundreds of apertures! ... Outside the mystic realm. A student walked out, looking utterly distraught. "Instructor, did someone in the Tengkong Realm sneak into the Wanshi area to cultivate? They're snatching yuanqi way too fast! The yuanqi is whooshing straight over there! This is... this is absurd!" He wanted to curse! "I spent two hundred merit points to get in here, and before I could even cultivate for long, someone started violently plundering all the yuanqi. How am I supposed to cultivate like that?" Before he had spent much time at all, he was squeezed out. The turbulence in the yuanqi was just too fierce! Old Nie felt helpless inside as well, but smiled and said, "They probably entered by mistake. I'll warn them! For this session, your merit cost is halved. I'll refund you one hundred merit points." "Thank you, Instructor!" The student was overjoyed! Not bad at all—he got half refunded. Although his cultivation was disrupted, he had still lasted several hours. He had made a profit! After the student left, Old Nie frowned slightly. That kid... next time, he really had to send him to the Tengkong area to cultivate! Hundreds of apertures open, stirring up yuanqi and devouring it faster than Tengkong experts. If this kept up, Qianjun and Wanshi students wouldn't be able to cultivate at all. Yet the worst part... this bastard only paid one hundred merit points each time because he was in the Qianjun Realm! A Qianjun who had opened hundreds of apertures! Old Nie was caught between laughter and tears; such a sight was virtually unheard of. Aside from the earliest generations of experts, what later cultivator would open hundreds of yuan apertures? Given that kind of time, anyone else would have already reached Wanshi or even Tengkong! "Is he really planning to challenge Tengkong across realms?" Old Nie shook his head slightly. In his view, it wasn't particularly meaningful. Even if Su Yu could fight a Tengkong across realms, wouldn't it be better to steadily open 144 apertures, step straight into Wanshi, and with Su Yu's talent, he'd probably be at the fourth or fifth stage of Wanshi by now? In six months or a year, the kid could have physically stepped into Tengkong! And not a weak one, either, but a formidable warrior who had opened 144 apertures! Just as he was thinking, Old Huang arrived. As soon as he stepped through the door, he grumbled, "You have it easy! The Court of Inspectors has way too much nonsense! I just took office and already ran into such a headache. When I announced a thorough investigation, those elders glared at me like they wanted me dead these past couple of days!" The previous head of the Court of Inspectors, Old He, never offended anyone and spent every day smoothing things over. He lived a very easy life! He had plenty of time for tea, birds, and dog walking—a typical nice guy, and everyone had grown used to it. Now that Old Huang took over and wanted to make big moves, naturally the others weren't accustomed to it. Old Nie smiled faintly. "Didn't you complain that staying here was too leisurely? Now that you've got work to keep you busy, you're still unhappy?" "Cut it out!" Old Huang's gaze turned solemn as he said, "You heard about what happened, right? What do you think the deal is?" "Zhou Mingren isn't that foolish, nor is Zhou Pingsheng stupid enough to go that far. Goading Wu Jia and Chen Yong would be normal, but dragging in the entire academy—do you believe that?" "I don't!" Old Huang shook his head. He wasn't an idiot; how could he believe it? Not just him—Elder Qi and the others who assisted in the investigation that day didn't believe it either. In the end, only the students were punished, and because Zhou Mingren bowed his head and resigned as vice principal, it gave the Great Xia Prefecture an explanation. Yet everyone knew in their hearts... Huang Hao might truly have been tampered with. Old Huang continued, "Who do you think it was?" Old Nie pondered for a moment. "One of those in the Multiple Divine Characters Faction. Either Hong Tan, or Chen Yong, or... that person!" He jerked his chin toward Xiuxin Pavilion! If it wasn't someone from the Multiple Divine Characters Faction, it was that person playing tricks! "I think so too!" Old Huang nodded. "That's why I didn't keep digging. Pushing further wouldn't yield results anyway. Better to punish a few to warn the rest and settle the matter first!" Old Nie nodded. "Maintaining fairness is enough. Don't be too biased. Everything has rules! Rules might have loopholes, and people might exploit those loopholes—that's a flaw in the rules. But do not violate the rules yourself!" "Don't worry, I know!" Old Huang dropped the topic and asked briskly, "That kid hasn't come out yet?" "Not yet." Old Huang sighed with emotion. "He can really stay! He won't rest until he squeezes every last drop out of those one hundred merit points!" Then he said hurriedly, "I have to head back soon. It's not appropriate for me to speak to the Multiple Divine Characters Faction directly, so remember to remind that kid not to mess around. If they break the rules, I won't let them off either! If Huang Hao's memory was truly altered... that's a crime!" Old Huang's eyes turned sharp. "There's no evidence right now, so let it be. It's impossible to investigate unless an Invincible expert steps in to inspect him slowly. But if it was done by someone from the Multiple Divine Characters Faction, they'd better watch their step!" Altering a student's memory was intolerable! Even if his heart leaned toward the Multiple Divine Characters Faction, there were lines that could not be crossed. Otherwise, the entire academy and the entire human race would fall into chaos. Liu Wenyan was able to live to this day and inherit the fifth principal's divine character precisely because the rules protected him! Otherwise, even if King Daxia shielded him, he would have died long ago. Old Nie nodded. "I'll remind him!" "Good. I'm off!" Old Huang didn't linger; he had come solely to pass along this message. Since Su Yu hadn't come out yet, there was no need to say more. Watching him hurry off, Old Nie chuckled. Old Huang had spent decades in the Secret Realm Area, and now that he finally found something to do, it suited his temper after all. "Hong Tan... Chen Yong..." Old Nie mused in his heart. Was it them? Or Wan Tiansheng? ... Early morning, October 18. Su Yu had originally planned to exit seclusion within three days, but it had taken far longer. From start to finish, he had stayed inside for five full days! On the morning of the eighteenth, Old Nie was sipping tea when his gaze suddenly flickered. The door opened! The moment Su Yu emerged, Old Nie's expression shifted! He felt as if he were looking at a blazing furnace! Yuanqi soared to the heavens, dazzling beyond measure! Su Yu walked forward, yet in Old Nie's eyes, it seemed like an ancient demonic beast pouncing forward. "Huh?" Old Nie snapped out of it in an instant. Looking again, there was nothing unusual. It was still Su Yu, smiling, cloaked in robes as white as snow! Old Nie gave Su Yu a deep look. Su Yu felt somewhat dazed as well. Five days! He was finally out! "Instructor, did Instructor Huang leave?" "Yes!" Old Nie studied him for a moment and murmured, "You succeeded in your cultivation?" "Yes!" Su Yu smiled and nodded. "Went quite smoothly. The Yuanqi Mystic Realm really is a wonderful place!" A super wonderful place! Old Nie smiled faintly. Of course it was wonderful. One hundred merit points had bought him five full days of cultivation. Only an academy would allow this; try doing that on the outside, keep dreaming! Sensing the mystic realm, Old Nie suddenly said, "When you grow strong, you'll need to give back resources to the academy! You devoured far too much yuanqi. This mystic realm isn't for you alone. If all tens of thousands of academy students were like you, the realm would collapse!" Su Yu felt a bit embarrassed and hurried to say, "I will. Thank you, Instructor!" "Don't thank me." Old Nie picked up his teacup, took a sip, and spoke leisurely. "In the academy, geniuses consume more. When they become strong, they feed back into the academy, creating a virtuous cycle! It's fine for you to consume so much now; just don't forget that these resources were left behind by predecessors for all of you." Su Yu nodded repeatedly. The academy's mystic realms were formed from the divine characters of predecessors; he was well aware of that, so he said no more. He would worry about repaying it once he became strong! With that said, Old Nie added, "In the academy, abide by the rules! They aren't meant to restrict you, but to protect you! Rules actually exist to protect the weak. Otherwise, if the strong were unrestrained and ran wild, would the weak have any room left?" Su Yu nodded again. "When you are weak, the rules protect you; likewise, when you are strong, the rules restrict you. Don't think it's unfair! And don't think you are the only one in the world who suffers injustice. In truth, those who feel the greatest sense of injustice are the strong." Su Yu nodded once more, vaguely grasping his meaning. Old Nie said calmly, "People like us can't govern too much, but the academy remains within our jurisdiction! If you want to kill or scheme against someone, that's your business, but remember—the rules!" Su Yu nodded again. "You must follow them, your teacher must follow them, the Multiple Divine Characters Faction must follow them, and the Single Divine Character Faction must follow them. Otherwise, Zheng Yuming wouldn't have been severely injured and exiled to the Vanguard Camp! Violating the rules carries that price. The same goes for... all of you!" Su Yu nodded again, this time speaking up: "Instructor, I have no such intentions, nor do I plan to breach the rules. Are you implying...?" "Just a reminder, nothing more." "Understood!" Su Yu nodded. Did that mean someone from the Multiple Divine Characters Faction might have violated academy rules during the few days he was away? He basically understood what Old Nie was getting at! "Grandmaster, or Martial Uncle?" As for his teacher, Bai Feng was heavily injured; he wouldn't have had the energy to mess around outside. Reflecting on how his senior sister had been provoked earlier... could it have been Martial Uncle? Seeing Su Yu prepare to leave, Old Nie pondered for a moment and added, "You're leaving seclusion for the slot competition, I take it. You're fighting for slots, and so are others. Your goals are the same. Su Yu, when you can let someone off, let them off. Some of the older students see this as their only chance and might fight ruthlessly. If you can avoid dealing lethal blows, try to show some restraint!" Su Yu nodded with a disarming smile. "Of course! Unless they do it deliberately, if they're just fighting to win, I can understand. If I were in my seventies or eighties and still hadn't reached Tengkong, I'd be anxious too, and I wouldn't pass up an opportunity like this!" "Go on!" Old Nie waved his hand. As long as he understood. He was worried Su Yu would be too ruthless and cripple a bunch of senior students. Even though their strength was modest and many dismissed them as useless, being too vicious wouldn't reflect well on Su Yu either. As for why he was certain Su Yu was stronger than them... Old Nie couldn't even be bothered to explain. A student in the Yangxing and Qianjun Realms who gave off the impression of a tiger bursting from its cage the moment he left seclusion—how weak could he possibly be? Opening 144 apertures for the Sky-Opening Saber in just a few days was terrifying! Hopefully, the Single Divine Character Faction would be smart this time and compete normally. If they really planted people to target Su Yu, they would probably end up suffering terribly. ... "Junior Brother Su!" "Junior Brother, haven't seen you in days. In seclusion?" "..." Along the way, Su Yu ran into several classmates, and many greeted him. Su Yu smiled and replied to each one. The transmission talisman on his person vibrated slightly. Su Yu didn't take it out to look, continuing toward the research center. After a few paces, someone appeared ahead, smiling. "Su Yu, skipping class for several days without even asking for leave?" Su Yu narrowed his eyes and smiled. "Instructor Liu, you're really free! How is it I run into you everywhere?" Liu Hong chuckled. "Not free at all; I've been swamped lately! Isn't the slot competition waiting for me to preside over? Busy as can be. But running into Student Su is quite fortuitous. Su Yu, do you want to sign up? If so, just tell me and I'll register you so you don't have to make another trip." "No need to trouble you, Instructor. I can sign up myself!" Su Yu replied with a smile and said nothing more. Liu Hong laughed and remarked faintly, "Advance to Tengkong soon. Tengkong is where things truly begin. Staying in Yangxing, don't you find it boring?" "I will!" "Good. By the way, Shan Tianhao's grandson is already on his way to the Great Xia Prefecture. What a pity your teacher was crippled. When that guy arrives, who knows if he'll challenge me. I'm honestly worried. Wu Qi and Hu Wensheng are both just one step away from advancing, so as a Tengkong, I'm quite terrified..." Su Yu smiled. "Instructor Liu's combat strength is unmatched. Would you really fear a greenhorn?" Liu Hong said playfully, "But... he's your enemy, not mine. Su Yu, how about you take the fight and have some fun?" "Instructor overestimates me. I'm only in Yangxing; why would I court death?" "What a shame!" Liu Hong gave a chuckle and said as he walked, "Forgot to mention, I plan to alter the tournament rules this time to make things a bit more interesting!" Su Yu glanced sideways at him. Liu Hong paid it no mind, continuing as he walked, "To make the competition more thrilling and fun, I thought about organizing five-person team battles. That way, the last surviving group wins everything and sweeps all five slots! Isn't that more entertaining? Doesn't it give the weak a chance to turn the tables? Isn't it far more unpredictable?" Liu Hong chuckled. "That way, no one who's overly strong is guaranteed a slot! No, I won't run it like that. I insist on five-person team battles. And if I want to make it even wilder, we can randomly assemble five-person teams. For instance, pairing you with Zhai Feng and his group—wouldn't that be fun?" "..." Su Yu turned to look at him, his gaze turning chilly. Liu Hong chuckled. "Of course, Zhai Feng is just an example. He can't enter the mystic realm now anyway. But the Single Divine Character Faction isn't short on people, whereas you don't have anyone. Su Yu, don't you think this tournament sounds fun?" Liu Hong sighed with feeling. "Truly fun! Carrying your own enemies, slaughtering your way to the top to seize slots—so entertaining!" "..." Su Yu furrowed his brows. What was this fellow trying to pull? Liu Hong smiled and murmured, "How about I assign Yang Sha, Liu He, and Lin Yao to you? Win and take a few slots. What do you think?" Su Yu's eyes turned frosty! This bastard! Liu Hong chuckled. "Interesting, right? If you win, I get a share of the winnings. If you lose, I don't lose anything. It's not like those guys could win a slot on their own anyway! Plus, I can tell everyone I deliberately dragged you down... tsk, tsk, pure bliss!" "..." Fuck! Su Yu felt like cursing out loud! How could someone be so shameless? Yes—if Liu Hong assigned those people to him, the Single Divine Character Faction would view it as blatant sabotage of Su Yu, ensuring that Su Yu had zero chance of winning a slot! One person carrying four deadweights, and deadweights from the enemy camp no less... how the hell could anyone fight like that?! And if Su Yu still managed to win under those conditions, no one would blame Liu Hong; they would only think his opponents were utter garbage! It would be equivalent to Su Yu fighting one against nine, and if they still lost, what were they if not useless trash! Depressed, Su Yu asked in a low voice, "Instructor Liu, what are you trying to do?" "Nothing at all!" Liu Hong laughed. "We're enemies; isn't scheming against you only natural? But... in truth, I'm creating an opportunity for you!" Su Yu frowned. "Think about it. Your teammates are so weak, their lives in danger at any second. If you strike harder and dirtier to save your teammates, that's completely justified! No one will blame you for being ruthless when you're carrying four deadweights, right? But if you were alone, obviously stronger than everyone else, and still fought dirty... your reputation would be ruined!" Liu Hong sent a faint voice transmission: "We're on the same side, remember? Those bastards dared to dig up my master's grave; shouldn't I take revenge? Little Su Yu, I'm doing this for your own good!" Su Yu cursed furiously in his heart! Good for my ancestors! This bastard was just out to screw him over. No, regardless of whether he won or lost, Liu Hong won. If Su Yu won, Liu Hong's people would split the slots. If Su Yu lost, it would be credited to Liu Hong's scheming; he could go claim credit from the Single Divine Character Faction, boasting how easily he had neutralized Su Yu! That way, even if something went disastrously wrong in the competition, it wouldn't matter. No one would blame him as the organizer. Otherwise, if Su Yu won alone and took a slot, the Single Divine Character Faction would surely vent their rage on Liu Hong as the organizer. "Instructor Liu, believe it or not, I can shout this out loud right now..." "Go ahead and shout!" Liu Hong laughed. "If you shout, will anyone believe you? Come on! Su Yu, what ally would ever saddle you with four burdens? Only I would! Because I trust you. I believe you can win. See how much confidence I have in you?" "..." Su Yu felt an urge to strangle him on the spot. He wanted nothing more than to beat this bastard to death! "Don't worry. I'll arrange three. Who do you want for the last one? Don't pick anyone too strong. I'll arrange it for you. If you win, you get an extra slot. Isn't that great? Three is enough for me anyway; I'm definitely getting in myself!" Su Yu stared at him with an unfriendly gaze for a long while before finally saying, "Instructor Liu, with your intellect, you shouldn't be a teacher. You should join the All-Races Sect. You'd make a fine sect master!" At those words, Liu Hong remarked pensively, "That makes a lot of sense. Next time I'll give it a try and see if I can start a sect to swindle some resources. Actually, quite a few people do that. Thanks for the idea. How about I bring you in as a partner and we start a small sect together?" "..." Su Yu felt exhausted. He had always considered himself clever; compared to him, most people in the academy felt like naive rookies. But this guy... had he ever won an exchange against him? Last time, he might have walked away with a heap of merit points, but don't forget, Liu Hong hadn't invested a single cent of his own and ended up profiting enormously! "Don't look at me like that!" Liu Hong smiled. "We're on the same team. I'll hold that last slot for you. Find me anytime. If you don't... I'll arrange it myself. I'm a man of my word!" Su Yu ignored him and strode off. Behind him, Liu Hong chuckled and called out, "Make sure you win! I only have one younger brother and two students, and life is tough for them. On my own, I can't get them all in. Su Yu, I'm counting on you! I've placed all my bets on you!" "..." Su Yu cursed under his breath as he walked, his chest burning with fury. Bastard, scoundrel, son of a bitch! I'm going to beat him to death sooner or later! Definitely! This guy was better at sickening people than anyone else; all of Su Yu's good mood had vanished. He had planned on securing a slot peacefully, but with Liu Hong meddling, how could things be peaceful? Even if he won, he would have to share slots with Liu He and the others... winning wouldn't even feel satisfying! Unless... they were all his own people! "Right, Lin Yao counts as my man now. As for Liu He and Yang Sha..." Glancing back toward where Liu Hong had left, Su Yu snorted. Want to act? Fine, let's put on a show. I'll recruit your entire family into the Mutual Aid Society and see how pleased you are then!