The Art Is Complete

Yangxing Garden. Su Yu made no effort to conceal his movements. While the sky was still bright, he headed straight for Zhou Hao's residence. Along the way, he ran into several familiar students and exchanged nods with them. Su Yu remained as affable as ever, appearing completely unaffected by the recent turmoil. Watching him head in that direction until he knocked on Zhou Hao's door, some people grew suspicious. Had those two hooked up? It was just like last time! During the contest for the quotas, the two of them had likely reached a tacit understanding in advance, teaming up at the very end to face Zhan Hai. Otherwise, they could never have coordinated so well. Yet during their very first fight, they had battered each other half to death. How had they gotten on good terms already? People simply couldn't make sense of them! …… Outsiders couldn't understand, and Su Yu had no intention of explaining anything. Let them think whatever they liked. As for Zhou Hao, he paid no attention to such matters at all. Opening the door and seeing Su Yu, he frowned slightly. He took half a step back, his nose twitching faintly, and muttered in a low voice, "You killed someone!" Su Yu raised an eyebrow. *Do you have the nose of a dog?!* "No, I just got stained with a bit of blood earlier." How many days had passed already? And he could still sense it? This fellow's senses were far too sharp. Zhou Hao didn't press the matter. If Su Yu denied it, so be it. "Something you need?" "Yes!" Zhou Hao said nothing more and, without any hesitation, turned and walked inside. Su Yu followed him in, not caring whether anyone saw them. "It's broad daylight. If someone spots us, won't your teacher give you trouble?" Su Yu chuckled. Zhou Hao sat down, glanced up at him, and said calmly, "My teacher is more magnanimous than you think." "I find that hard to believe." Zhou Hao dropped the subject. If he didn't believe it, so be it. Xia Yuwen was Su Yu's enemy, so Su Yu naturally viewed him as petty. But in Zhou Hao's eyes, Xia Yuwen was decent enough. People had different perspectives, and he had no interest in correcting Su Yu. "Speak." Zhou Hao watched Su Yu sit down and pour himself some tea, feeling a bit speechless. *We aren't that close, and this isn't your house.* Su Yu poured himself a cup, sat down, and got straight to the point without wasting words. "Do you want to pursue the warrior path or the Civilization Master path?" "Doesn't matter. As long as I become stronger!" That was Zhou Hao's answer. Su Yu nodded. "Then do you think the warrior path can make you stronger faster, or the Civilization Master path?" "The warrior path." "Then do you want to enter the Wanshi Realm?" Zhou Hao looked at him and said in a low voice, "The Thousand Mountains Art has no way to fuse apertures. But that doesn't matter. I am currently opening the apertures for the War God Art. I've already opened one hundred and sixty-eight apertures, and I will open all the War God Art apertures very soon!" Su Yu was a little surprised. "You've opened twenty-four more apertures?" Since their first battle, barely over a month had passed, yet this guy had opened twenty-four yuan apertures. At that rate, he was opening one every two days? "Yes." "You plan to advance to Wanshi using the War God Art?" "Yes." "The War God Art opens one hundred and eight apertures and only fuses twelve. Don't you think that's too weak?" Zhou Hao frowned slightly. "I don't. The number of fused apertures doesn't determine strength." "Fusing more apertures builds a better foundation. It's not like we're incapable of fusing more, so why settle for something second-rate?" Zhou Hao felt somewhat stifled and grumbled, "The Thousand Mountains Art cannot fuse apertures. As for other Heaven-rank cultivation arts, my teacher only has the Heaven-Cleaving Blade, and that cannot be passed down. The Xia family won't allow it." It was that simple. Understood now? Su Yu tried to drive a wedge between them. "Stop joking. Your teacher definitely knows other Heaven-rank arts; he just won't teach you. Even I have quite a few. Could your teacher, a Lingyun of the Xia family, really have no other Heaven-rank arts?" "……" Zhou Hao just stared at him. *I may not like talking, but I'm not an idiot.* *Is it really appropriate to stir up trouble so bluntly?* Su Yu chuckled. "Don't look at me like that. Your teacher is my enemy. What's wrong with me badmouthing him a bit?" Without dwelling on it, Su Yu quickly continued, "No more nonsense. I came to ask you to test a cultivation art. One that can let your Thousand Mountains Art fuse apertures. The effects are exceptional—no doubt about that! Of course, the technique's circulation is roughly fine, but it has only been tested on a model, never on a human body. If you agree, you'll be the first!" Before Zhou Hao could reply, Su Yu added, "There's a hundred percent chance you'll agree, of which I have no doubt! But we need three rules. First, you must not pass this art to anyone else!" "Second, if you accept this time, I will come to you again for future cultivation art tests!" "Third, once you cultivate this art, you cannot use it against me, my friends, or my family." Su Yu stated bluntly, "Agree, and I'll teach you right now so we can test the results on the spot. If you don't agree... then forget it." Zhou Hao fell silent. After a long while, he spoke. "The first and second conditions are fine. The third... my teacher told me to deal with you..." Su Yu laughed. "Fine, let's modify it. You are only permitted to target me. I'm not afraid! To be blunt, you... are still lacking a bit! Since you guessed that I killed someone, you should know who I killed. If you insist on seeking death, I won't stop you, so there's no need to hold you back." Zhou Hao stayed silent for a moment before nodding in agreement. Su Yu actually had some faith in the word of someone like him. This type of person was ruthless enough and reckless enough with his own life, but he was still missing one thing—he wasn't shameless enough. Of course, if Zhou Hao was merely faking it, Su Yu would accept the loss. It was just a single cultivation art. Even if it truly leaked... so what? Not bothering to waste any more words, Su Yu looked around and said, "It's not safe here. Come to my research institute, lest anyone spies on us!" "Alright!" Zhou Hao stood up without even asking what was unsafe about this place, what the art's effects were, or what would happen if something went wrong. Being able to fuse apertures... that alone would rapidly boost his strength, allowing him to enter the Wanshi Realm and advance using the immensely powerful Thousand Mountains Art. That would make him even stronger than ordinary cultivators who practiced top-tier Heaven-rank arts. …… Soon, the two walked out the door together. There were people along the path, but Zhou Hao didn't care. He followed behind Su Yu in silence. Su Yu didn't mind either, chatting and laughing as they walked. "Your teacher might already know by now and be preparing to beat you to death." Zhou Hao remained silent. "Boring! Fine, give me your teacher's communication number." "What for?" "Hurry up. It's not like I can beat him to death through a voice transmission, can I?" "……" Speechless, Zhou Hao recited a number. Su Yu pulled out his communication talisman and quickly dialed the number. A moment later, a deep voice came through: "Who is this?" "Greetings, Teacher. It's Su Yu!" "……" On the other end, there was a brief silence before Xia Yuwen asked in a low voice, "What is it?" "The Primordial Spirit Research Institute has developed a technique that can assist in aperture fusion. It might allow the Thousand Mountains Art to fuse apertures. I want to use Zhou Hao as a test subject, but you need to cover a portion of my development costs—five thousand merit points. Zhou Hao is not allowed to pass the art to anyone else, and I need a commitment from you, Teacher!" Xia Yuwen scoffed coldly. "Quite an appetite!" Su Yu laughed. "My appetite really isn't large at all! Teacher, if Zhou Hao succeeds and enters the Wanshi Realm with the Thousand Mountains Art, you know how strong he'll be. Once he reaches the Wanshi Ninth Layer, those people on the current Top 100 Rankings... that Zhai Feng fellow is absolute trash. Zhou Hao could beat him to death in three punches!" "Besides, your reputation out there right now is terrible, Teacher. Holding back your own student—a genius and a powerhouse aiming to compete for the position of Manor Lord, yet acting so selfish even toward your own student. Do you really expect anyone in the Great Xia Prefecture to support you?" Su Yu chuckled. "Teacher, look further ahead. Just because you reach Invincible doesn't mean people will definitely follow you! No matter how strong you are, the human race has plenty of Invincibles. Why should I follow you? If you really become the Manor Lord of the Great Xia Prefecture, the worst I can do is leave. Talented people are wanted everywhere! Can you really kill every talent in the Great Xia Prefecture? Do you honestly think reaching Invincible lets you do whatever you want?" Su Yu continued with a laugh, "Right now, your student is stuck in Qianjun. He might have to advance using the War God Art, which not only wastes time but leaves him weaker than before, squandering his talent. Teacher, for five thousand merit points, I hand you a future powerhouse who can fight on your behalf across the lands. What's wrong with that?" "……" Xia Yuwen said nothing. After a spell of silence, he spoke: "Once he successfully advances, I will give it to you!" "Teacher, paying now costs five thousand merit points! If it's a guaranteed success, it'll be ten thousand. The choice is yours!" Su Yu then laughed again. "Of course, you don't actually have to pay, Teacher, because Zhou Hao makes an excellent test subject. Even if you don't pay, I'll still use him for testing. But from your perspective... if you pay, you're paying to resolve your student's predicament. If you don't... then the credit is entirely mine. Brother Zhou and I will be like family from now on, so if he turns around and beats you to death later, Teacher, please don't take offense." "……" Behind him, Zhou Hao glanced at Su Yu, feeling deeply stifled, though he still didn't say a word. On the other end of the line, Xia Yuwen was also holding back a mouthful of rage, saying coldly, "Are you threatening me?" "You misunderstand, Teacher!" Su Yu sounded utterly innocent. "I was just telling Brother Zhou that his teacher... isn't as great as he thought. He even told me his teacher was wonderful and forbade me from speaking ill of you. I just thought he might be too naive and had misunderstood you..." "Hmph!" Xia Yuwen sneered. "Su Yu, having a sharp tongue is no virtue!" "Teacher, show a little tolerance. Since when is having a sharp tongue a bad thing? Does the Great Xia Prefecture only need people who know how to fight? Doesn't it need people for external negotiations? Doesn't it need people to do business and earn money, or to pacify the populace? Is fighting all there is? If that's how you think, Teacher... then I don't see the Manor Lord's seat ever falling to you. Do you honestly think the higher-ups of the Great Xia Prefecture are idiots? That just because you have strength, they'll make you Manor Lord? If you become Manor Lord, the Great Xia Prefecture will slide straight from the top three to dead last!" Su Yu laughed. "Teacher, am I making sense? Back then, you injured my teacher so severely, yet I never said I'd cut off all ties with you forever. I'm even helping your student advance right now. Don't you think someone like me would make an ideal strategist or advisor for you? If you truly become Manor Lord in the future, giving me Chief Hu's current position would actually be pretty good. Buying the bones of a thousand-li horse for a thousand gold pieces would effectively help you establish prestige—showing you can even recruit your enemies and entrust them with heavy responsibilities!" Su Yu sighed with emotion. "From what I see, the most critical reason you've been losing ground in the competition lately is that you lack an advisor-type figure. Teacher, recruit some real talent instead of knowing only how to fight all day long. If you want to emulate Manor Lord Xia, you have to emulate the whole picture. Even Manor Lord Xia found Chief Hu to hold the helm!" "……" Xia Yuwen grew irritated. He huffed and said coldly, "Five thousand points, a deal. You pass it to Zhou Hao. Su Yu, there's no need to bait me. This is merely a transaction; Zhou Hao... owes you nothing!" "No problem!" Su Yu laughed. "Alright then, let's leave it at that! Zhou Hao and I were conducting a transaction to begin with; I never expected him to owe me anything. However, the art must not be passed to outsiders. Teacher, you should know that in the Human Realm, cultivation arts have patent rights. If it's passed around without my permission, I can file a complaint. Don't ruin your own reputation over a single cultivation art!" An instant later, Su Yu added, "Even though your reputation isn't that great already!" "……" "Su Yu, do not test my patience repeatedly!" Xia Yuwen replied in a frigid tone. "Alright, I admit my fault!" Su Yu conceded with absolute promptness, chuckling. "Teacher, I was wrong. I shouldn't have said that. Honest advice grates on the ears... perhaps you don't care to hear it, so consider me meddlesome! Still, I really must add one more thing: Teacher... you're truly foolish! The Single Divine Character Faction clearly has ties with the Great Zhou Prefecture. As someone in the Great Xia Prefecture aspiring to become Manor Lord, you actually keep in touch and cooperate with them... Aren't you afraid that once Manor Lord Xia emerges from seclusion, he'll cleave you in two with a single saber strike? You're leading a wolf into the house! Sigh, failing to understand such simple logic. Vice Manor Lord Xia didn't even remind you—does he think it doesn't matter, or does he believe Manor Lord Xia and Marquis Xia are magnanimous enough not to care? Even the Great Xia King probably doesn't want the Great Zhou Prefecture meddling in our affairs. Everyone outside can see it clearly, yet you can't?" Su Yu's tongue was remarkably agile as he quickly added, "Teacher, could it be that you're just putting on an act? Trying to set up a trap for the Great Zhou Prefecture?" "……" Xia Yuwen hung up directly. Too noisy! What an utterly exasperating fellow! Su Yu laughed and looked back at Zhou Hao. "See? Your teacher treats you pretty well. He paid up, so you don't owe me any favors, and you don't have to feel bad. If you want to strike at me in the future, don't hold back. I won't show mercy either; when it's time to kill you, I'll kill you." Zhou Hao remained silent. After walking for a while, he suddenly said, "My teacher paid, so since I'm testing the art for you, you should pay me some compensation!" "……" *Damn!* Su Yu was stunned. *You... actually know how to bargain?!* What a shock to his worldview! Zhou Hao said calmly, "Under normal circumstances, testing a cultivation art for someone comes with compensation." "Your art is classified, and it benefits me, so normally no payment would be required. But my teacher paid!" That sounded completely logical! Su Yu found himself unable to refute it! After pondering for a moment, Su Yu nodded. "Fair enough. How about this: I will teach you the Yuan-Purifying Art as compensation! We'll call it even. Any art I teach you is strictly limited to your own cultivation. Deal?" "Deal!" He didn't even ask what the art did, but from the name, he could roughly guess. It had to be quite good. Su Yu laughed. "If you pass my art to anyone else, I will kill you openly and honorably. Even the Great Xia Prefecture won't hold it against me. I'm stating this clearly up front!" Zhou Hao said nothing. Say whatever you want! He didn't like talking to Su Yu anyway. Since he couldn't out-argue him, he simply wouldn't speak. If a day came when they truly fought to the death, charging forward to hack away would be all that mattered. There was no need to speak with him. …… Continuing along, they reached the Primordial Spirit Research Institute. Su Yu sighed with emotion once again. Earning money really seemed quite simple—one just had to find the right person and the right angle. That fellow Xia Yuwen was cold and arrogant, and extremely wealthy. Asking him for money had a high chance of success. Of course, one couldn't ask without a reason, or the man would hack you to death with a single strike. Without a reason, it was robbery. With a reason, it was an exchange of benefits. They entered the building. In the main hall, Zheng Yunhui and Xia Huyou were playing cards, with Zhao Ming there as well! Su Yu was utterly speechless! These three deadbeats weren't doing any work at all! Freeloaders! Seeing Su Yu lead Zhou Hao through the door, Xia Huyou chuckled. "What's this? You brought this fellow here to be a guinea pig? You plan to test an art?" Testing cultivation arts was very common. After all, they had brought over dozens of arts during the past few days. Did Su Yu want to find someone to try them out? "Yeah." Su Yu gave a brief response, ignoring him, and quickly said, "Zheng Yunhui, go activate the grand formation to prevent eavesdropping!" Zheng Yunhui paused, turning his head. "You created a new art?" If it were an old one, there would be no need for such caution. "Yeah." Everyone stared at him at once. *Stop joking, it's only been a few days.* Then, all of them suddenly looked at Zhou Hao with sympathy. *Holy crap, Su Yu is truly ruthless. He's only been researching for a few days, and already he's creating his own cultivation art? He doesn't treat people as human beings at all!* Well, Zhou Hao was the one testing it anyway! Zhou Hao hadn't felt much at first, but now, being stared at with such sympathy—as if he were already a dead man—he felt slightly uncomfortable. It was quite awkward! Zheng Yunhui said directly, "Su Yu, even though this guy is your rival, he's still a good test subject. Isn't it a bit much to just screw him over and get him killed like this? Even if he doesn't die and only blows up a few apertures, it'll take him forever to recover. That's going to delay things!" Su Yu smiled faintly. "It's fine. If he's done for, you'll be the next test subject!" "……" Zheng Yunhui fell silent. *Holy shit, what are you thinking?!* *Do I look stupid?!* Clearing his throat, Zheng Yunhui chuckled. "Count me out. Though seriously, there are plenty of people in the War Academy who could give it a shot. There are plenty of fellows who aren't afraid to die; just give them money. Some people specialize in testing cultivation arts for others." Su Yu couldn't be bothered to entertain him. Heading down toward the basement, he said, "Activate the formation!" "Alright!" Zheng Yunhui agreed, while Xia Huyou and the others stood up out of curiosity. "Can we come watch?" A new cultivation art! Deducing a new art wasn't inherently special. Tossing together a few dozen apertures and picking a random circulation route counted as a new art too. As for whether someone died from it... that wasn't the point. So none of them found it strange that Su Yu had devised a new art. They were simply wondering whether it would shatter Zhou Hao's apertures into pieces. …… Soon, everyone trooped down to the basement. Seeing Zhou Hao, Wu Jia let out a huff, but her face quickly broke into delight. She felt her junior brother was intentionally getting revenge, which was wonderful. She loved this approach—grudges had to be repaid! Making him test a new art was exactly right! Zhou Hao was stupid enough to accept, so he deserved it! Wu Lan held her chin high, frowning. "It's only been a few days. Deducing a new art already—can it even be used? It doesn't matter if Zhou Hao dies, but if he does, will our research hit a bottleneck?" Xia Huyou chuckled. "Trying it out is fine. Su Yu has gathered quite a few arts these past few days and tried a lot of things himself. The first art he comes up with might have some issues, but Zhou Hao has opened so many apertures that blowing up a few won't kill him. Stop scaring him!" "……" Inside the small laboratory, Zhou Hao kept his head lowered, remaining completely silent. He could hear them! The room wasn't soundproof! *Can't you all shut up?!* He truly hadn't been worried or scared at all earlier, but right now... he was panicking! Su Yu was speechless as well and spoke up: "Everyone, quiet down. It's no big deal. Besides, Zhou Hao might not even be able to open it right now; he might not have opened all the apertures I need!" Saying so, Su Yu handed his circulation diagram to Zhou Hao and asked, "How many apertures have you opened?" Zhou Hao took it and scanned through. Having opened one hundred and sixty-eight apertures, his count wasn't small. Comparing them now, he quickly said, "Twenty-six of them overlap. Ten are not yet opened." "That many?" Su Yu frowned. "How long will it take you to open them?" "At least twenty days!" "Just through brute-force cultivation?" "Yes." Su Yu was speechless, and the group outside was equally stunned. They felt thoroughly crushed! *Damn!* *You can open them through brute-force cultivation in just twenty days?!* Su Yu, however, couldn't wait that long. "Fatty... cough, Huyou, go get five Earth Origin Fruits. With those to assist him, he can open them very quickly!" "……" Xia Huyou stared at Su Yu in surprise, his expression turning solemn. "Are you serious?" Zheng Yunhui had consumed those before, given to him by Liu Hong. Five hundred merit points each! One fruit could help open one or two apertures, but the price was exorbitant. Five of them meant two thousand five hundred merit points. Zhou Hao taking twenty days to open them on his own meant each day of cultivation was worth one hundred and twenty-five merit points. Killing a low-layer Tengkong cultivator only yielded one hundred merit points. "His teacher paid for it, so it's fine!" Su Yu wanted efficiency; he didn't care about the cost. Twenty days was too long; he couldn't wait. Demanding money from Xia Yuwen had also been based on his rough estimation that supplementary resources would be needed. Zhou Hao remained silent. Xia Huyou adopted a serious look. "Did you really deduce a viable cultivation art?" Otherwise, Su Yu had to be insane! Spending several thousand merit points on a haphazardly cobbled-together art just to let Zhou Hao open apertures? "Hurry up!" Su Yu snapped impatiently. "I'm paying for it, not getting it for free. Just go fetch them! Hurry. He usually doesn't use these resources to cultivate, so using them should let him open apertures very quickly. Earth Origin Fruits worth two thousand five hundred merit points... he might be able to finish opening them by tomorrow morning!" Compressing twenty days down to one day to open ten apertures, at the cost of an extra two thousand five hundred merit points. Whether this trade was a gain or a loss, in the eyes of a Sunmoon expert, Su Yu would probably look like a madman squandering money like water. Yet to Su Yu, twenty days... was truly too long. If the art succeeded, confirming it twenty days earlier was far more important than two thousand five hundred merit points. Speechless, Xia Huyou quickly made a call and gave a few instructions. Soon, everyone in the basement grew solemn. This was no joke! Su Yu was serious. He truly intended to test a new cultivation art, and not just to screw Zhou Hao over—he had actually created one! After ending the call, Xia Huyou quickly asked, "They'll be delivered shortly. Su Yu, can I take a look at the art?" Su Yu glanced at the group and nodded. "You can all look, but let me make one thing clear: no sharing it with outsiders! If anyone leaks it and I find out, this will be our final cooperation—we won't need to work together ever again! Furthermore, even if it truly succeeds, this art will most likely not be spread outside, because I have several reduced versions that might be auctioned off to raise funds for continued research!" At these words, everyone turned grave. *He values it this much?* Xia Huyou said nothing more and quickly snatched the circulation diagram from Zhou Hao. After studying it for a while, he frowned. "Thirty-six apertures! Isn't that too many? For an auxiliary art, opening thirty-six apertures puts it at the absolute peak grade!" "Yes, it is the peak grade!" Su Yu said with confidence. "If it succeeds, it might directly suppress all repulsive force. When that happens, fusing apertures will be effortless. Fusing three or five apertures a day won't be an issue. Even if someone cultivates the Heaven-Cleaving Blade, they could finish the first layer in three days and enter the Wanshi Ninth Layer within a month!" "……" Xia Huyou stared at him as if looking at a fool! *Holy crap!* *Do you really think our family's Heaven-Cleaving Blade is trash?* *How long have I been cultivating it, and even now I've only just fused fifteen apertures? The final one will take quite a while longer.* *And you're claiming you can finish fusing all the apertures within a month to enter the Wanshi Ninth Layer?!* Su Yu didn't care about his skepticism and continued, "If that's the case, I recommend everyone switch cultivation arts to Heaven-rank arts! The reason people didn't cultivate Heaven-rank arts before was because aperture fusion was difficult. But once aperture fusion is no longer hard, cultivating a Heaven-rank art will make you vastly stronger!" "As for Heaven-rank arts... just ask the Xia family. Obtaining a Heaven-rank art from the Xia family shouldn't be out of reach!" "……" The others stared at him. It was easy to talk when he wasn't the one doing the hard work—did opening apertures not take time? Xia Huyou didn't care much about that and said in a deep voice, "If it really can weaken the repulsive force, opening apertures after reaching Wanshi wouldn't be too late either. One could reach the Wanshi Ninth Layer first, hold off on advancing to Tengkong, and open and fuse more apertures later. It would amount to the same thing!" Was this really true or false? He fell into deep doubt, while Wu Lan asked curiously, "Did you deduce this all on your own?" "More or less. I had help from a few experts, but mainly the information and materials everyone gathered were useful and gave me a lot of inspiration!" Su Yu offered a word of praise before quickly adding, "If the art succeeds, I've already thought of a name: the Dual Wu Aperture Fusion Art, to commemorate Senior Sister's and Wu Lan's tremendous contributions to this art. Because this art is enough to change the cultivation history of the entire human race..." At those words, the two women were completely stunned! The *Dual Wu Aperture Fusion Art*! The others were equally shocked. *Holy crap, do you really have to go that far?* An instant later, Wu Jia gasped in delight, "Junior Brother, will it really be called that?" "Yes!" "Junior Brother... you're simply wonderful!" Wu Jia was overjoyed, while Wu Lan was completely dazed. *Elder Sister, Grand-Aunt, I... I created a cultivation art!* *An art that will change the entire human race!* *I'll... leave my name in the annals of history!* She was thoroughly dumbfounded, completely unable to process her thoughts. Her mind spun in a haze of sheer disbelief, feeling only that she was far too incredible, and that this research institute was the place that would change the destiny of her entire life! No one would ever say she only relied on the Wu family again! She was a genius! The art she created would change the cultivation history of the entire human race! …… Su Yu and the others paid no attention to that. Soon, Xia Huyou's person arrived and delivered five Earth Origin Fruits. Su Yu wasted no words, tossing them directly to Zhou Hao. "Absorb them quickly and open your apertures!" "If there isn't enough yuanqi, you can go to a secret realm to cultivate..." "No need!" Zhou Hao licked his lips, feeling a surge of excitement. He had heard of Earth Origin Fruits before, and here, he was receiving five at once! Clearly, Su Yu held immense expectations for this art! His earlier unease vanished completely in an instant. Su Yu wouldn't pay such a steep price just to play a prank on him. …… Zhou Hao began cultivating, and Su Yu didn't idle either; he also began cultivating to open the apertures he had yet to unlock. Ever since practicing the Body Strengthening Art, his speed at opening apertures had also become remarkably fast. Both of them cultivated at an astonishing pace. The others glanced between the two. Zhou Hao was consuming Earth Origin Fruits, so his speed was understandable, but Su Yu... what on earth was going on? All the surrounding yuanqi was being devoured by him. This fellow was truly terrifying! A monster who had opened over three hundred apertures was indeed frightening. As the two cultivated, the ambient yuanqi proved insufficient, so large quantities of yuanqi liquid were consumed. Yuanqi liquid was a staple for any research institute, and the Primordial Spirit Research Institute had a substantial stockpile, all supplied by Xia Huyou. One hour passed, then two... Everyone kept quiet, occasionally going upstairs for a stroll. No one made a sound; they all simply waited. …… Fifteen hours later. Zhou Hao opened his eyes. All five Earth Origin Fruits had been completely absorbed. At that moment, Su Yu opened his eyes as well. Over the course of fifteen hours, consuming a large amount of yuanqi liquid, he had opened two more apertures, bringing his total to three hundred and ten. Going to a secret realm would have been faster, but Su Yu couldn't be bothered to go lately. There were too many people there, which brought too much trouble. "Finished opening them?" "Yes!" Zhou Hao said excitedly. "The Earth Origin Fruits are very effective. The first one helped me open three apertures, though the ones after were slightly less potent." Xia Huyou and the others rolled their eyes! *Damn!* They had used them before too. Usually, getting two apertures out of the first fruit was already great, yet he had opened three! Su Yu didn't dwell on it and said quickly, "Then don't waste time. Give it a try right now!" "Alright!" Zhou Hao said no more. He had already studied the art earlier. Although it wasn't a text of will and merely a simple aperture connection diagram, once the apertures were opened, it made no difference to him. To demonstrate the effect, he lit up his apertures. One, two... Everyone's hearts rose into their throats! Whether it could circulate was the first hurdle. As for whether it would be effective, that could only be seen after it began circulating. An hour later, Zhou Hao, attempting it for the first time, was drenched in sweat and still hadn't completed the connection of all thirty-six apertures. A first attempt was inherently a process of trial and error; circulating through a brand-new route was extraordinarily difficult. Su Yu said in a deep voice, "Don't rush. Take it slow. Get the art circulating first!" Zhou Hao remained silent, attempting it again and again, lighting up the apertures one by one. After another half an hour, with a deep rumble, all thirty-six apertures lit up simultaneously! "It worked!" The others were overjoyed. Although they hadn't seen the final results yet, the thirty-six apertures were successfully circulating together. That alone was the greatest success! This meant the cultivation art was viable! "Go fuse the apertures! Use this art to suppress the repulsive force!" Su Yu remained calm. As long as it could circulate, he was largely confident. He felt reassured now; he could try it himself later. He just hadn't opened all thirty-six apertures yet, so he would have to wait a little longer. "Alright!" Zhou Hao wasted no words. In the next moment, another sixteen apertures lit up across his body. These were the apertures for the first layer of the Thousand Mountains Art. Among the sixteen apertures, two began moving toward each other. Before they even drew close, everyone felt a tremendous repulsive force pushing them apart. Right at that moment, the other thirty-six apertures erupted with a powerful suppressive force! Instantly... the two apertures slammed together! This did not mean they were fully fused, but... it meant the repulsive force had been suppressed! Now, all that remained was to grind and blend the two apertures together until they truly became one. In that instant, the entire basement turned terrifyingly quiet! Everyone saw it with their own eyes! That immense repulsive force had been directly suppressed! It was gone! Heavy breathing echoed through the basement. One gasp after another broke out as everyone was seized by profound shock. *This is impossible!*