Su Yu Enters the Prefecture

After chatting with Director Hou for a bit, Su Yu felt his mood lift considerably. With it being the New Year, having someone to talk to made a world of difference. Even though he was still… slightly doubtful about the Great Ming Prefecture, when he thought about it, Zhu Tiandao was from Great Ming too. He was a ninth-layer Sunmoon expert and a Civilization Master, yet hadn't he been terrifyingly lethal when killing people? What was there to worry about? It could only be said that a portion of Great Ming's people were slackers, but not all of them. This Director Hou was a Sunmoon expert as well, so he ought to be quite formidable too, right? Director Hou chatted with him for a while before remarking, "Su Yu, it would actually be fine even if you didn't enroll in the academy. Setting up a private research institute of your own would amount to the same thing." Su Yu smiled. "Better not. Setting up a private one isn't very convenient. Besides, I'm actually lacking in many areas; I still need further study." That was the truth. Su Yu hardly believed he knew everything now. He was still far from it. If nothing else, back in the Great Xia Prefecture, students like Hu Qiusheng possessed a far broader scope of knowledge than he did. Hearing Su Yu say this, Director Hou chuckled as well. That was fine too. Soon, he asked again, "Do you want me to take you straight to Tiandu Prefecture now? Perhaps you could still witness the bustling New Year's Eve festivities there." "No, thank you." Su Yu shook his head and smiled. "Let's take our time walking there. That will give me a chance to get familiar with the Great Ming Prefecture along the way. If you wish to head back, Director, feel free. Really, in Great Ming, who would dare mess with me now? I have several demon beasts with me, after all." Director Hou did not reply to that. *If you haven't reached Tiandu Prefecture, like hell I can leave.* If he returned and something happened to Su Yu on the road, wouldn't the Prefecture Lord skin him alive? Since Su Yu had no interest in heading to Tiandu Prefecture immediately, Director Hou didn't mind chatting with him. He soon remarked, "Setting Civilization Masters aside, we're well aware of certain issues ourselves. In terms of pure combat prowess, Great Ming's Civilization Masters don't hold the advantage. "Of course, Great Ming boasts a wide variety of Civilization Masters, something Great Xia can never match. Over there, divine character masters are the mainstream, while other factions have very few people." Su Yu nodded. That was indeed true. In Great Xia, whether it was the Single Character Faction or the Multiple Character Faction, both had served as leaders in different eras, while other factions—such as beast taming and weapon forging—occupied subordinate positions. Director Hou smiled. "Don't think that just because King Daming is a Civilization Master, our warriors in Great Ming are weak. Quite the opposite! The more types of Civilization Masters we have, the more theories and factions involved, the stronger our warriors become! "In the Great Ming Prefecture, there are three extraordinarily powerful armies. "Ranked first is the Great Ming Iron Cavalry!" Su Yu nodded. "I've heard of them. An army mounted on demon beasts, considered cavalry. Their numbers are small, but their combat power is immense. On the All-Heavens Battlefield, they're considered a frontline legion, rumored to be capable of matching the Dragon Martial Guards." "The Dragon Martial Guards?" Director Hou shook his head. "If you're talking about the visible division of the Dragon Martial Guards, going up against the Great Ming Iron Cavalry would be suicide. The true might of the Dragon Martial Guards lies in their Hidden Guards. The Hidden Guards have plenty of Sunmoon experts, and Tengkong is practically the baseline. That is Great Xia's true elite." Su Yu nodded again. He hadn't known about the Hidden Guards before and had only learned of them recently. Xia Wen and Xia Wu were effectively members of the Hidden Guards—exceptionally strong, at the Shanhai Realm. The elderly Sunmoon expert in Nanyuan was also a powerhouse from the Hidden Guards. "Our Great Ming Iron Cavalry isn't large, only numbering five thousand men. Tengkong experts serve as common soldiers, Lingyun experts serve as centurions, and Shanhai experts serve as chiliarchs! There is one commanding general and two deputies, all of them in the Sunmoon Realm! Fully equipped—their armor, weapons, divine talismans, medicinal pills, and mounts are all top-tier!" Su Yu was stunned. "Five thousand Tengkong experts?" "That's right!" Director Hou said proudly, "This is a force on par with the Dragon Martial Hidden Guards, built up over more than three hundred years in the Great Ming Prefecture. Honestly, among warrior armies, its ranking is near the very top—no weaker than the Dragon Martial Guards, and no weaker than Great Qin's Iron Eagle Guards." Now that he finally had a chance to show off, he chuckled cheerfully. "Every soldier in the army is equipped with a mount based on the one-horned golden bull. They charge through enemy lines, invincible in battle!" "A one-horned golden bull?" Su Yu glanced at the foolish ox lying nearby eating its fodder. The Mountain-Boring Ox quickly raised its head, looking rather innocent, and hastily spoke up: "There are many ox tribes. I know the one-horned golden bull. Their horns are sharp, and their charging ability is first-rate. But their ranking isn't that high; if classified, they're in the top thousand." That was still quite impressive! Su Yu was mildly surprised. Back in Great Xia, he truly hadn't paid much attention to such things. To think the Great Ming Prefecture possessed such an iron cavalry! Pleased with himself, Director Hou smiled again. "That's the first—an elite legion! The second is our conventional force, the Tiandao Army..." Su Yu froze for a moment. Director Hou gave a light cough and lowered his voice. "The name was changed a few decades ago. Great Xia had the Dragon Martial Guards, didn't they? Manor Lord Xia had his Dragon Martial Guards, and our Prefecture Lord is a man who cares about his pride too..." Understood! Seeing that Xia Longwu had renamed his army, Zhu Tiandao had renamed his own. The Tiandao Army could be seen as Great Ming's equivalent of the Demon Suppression Army. "The Tiandao Army isn't small either—five hundred thousand soldiers with standard military equipment. They're considered a top-tier second-rate army. In terms of strength, they aren't much different from the Demon Suppression Army, but their fighting spirit is slightly inferior, which is why the Demon Suppression Army is generally regarded as first-rate nowadays. "The third is the Great Ming Army, our prefectural army. It's also quite large, five hundred thousand strong. Just like the Tiandao Army, the prefectural army is stationed within Great Ming's borders, equipped with conventional gear. Their fighting spirit is slightly lacking, but their equipment is entirely first-rate!" Having heard him mention 'inferior fighting spirit' several times, Su Yu couldn't help asking, "Director, if their fighting spirit is lacking... aren't Great Ming's warriors supposed to be strong?" "It's not entirely that their fighting spirit is poor..." Director Hou found it awkward to explain. After pondering for a moment, he said, "It's more that they rely quite heavily on external aids. When it comes to raw, straightforward hand-to-hand combat, they're always a bit hesitant. Great Ming has one quirk that draws criticism: before a battle, our Civilization Masters will pull out a huge pile of bizarre gadgets and give them to the army..." Director Hou smiled wryly. "Take a battle from three years ago, for example. The Tiandao Army clashed with a ten-thousand-man god race brigade. While both sides were locked in fierce combat, a Civilization Master stationed with the army somehow dug out a contraption. By sheer accident, he unleashed hundreds of millions of flying insects, nearly devouring both sides whole! Both armies scattered and fled in panic. To this day, that area remains a dead zone, where countless flying insects devour everything in sight, sweeping across the All-Heavens Battlefield. I hear even Invincible experts have been dispatched to handle it..." It was utterly helpless. Director Hou was at a loss for words. Great Ming wasn't weak, but when they went to war, their opponents had headaches, and Great Ming had headaches too. Some of the Civilization Masters stationed in the military frequently pulled off bizarre stunts. Like those bugs, which had nearly consumed the Tiandao Army as well, attacking friend and foe without distinction—complete nonsense. Su Yu remained silent. Three strong armies, their overall power far from weak, but their fighting spirit was lacking. When going to war, they preferred to rely on external items, waiting for the Civilization Masters to pull out treasures before fighting. "Does Great Ming have many enemies on the All-Heavens Battlefield?" "That..." Director Hou thought it over before replying, "It's hard to say. The All-Heavens Battlefield is rather chaotic. Broadly speaking, it can be divided into four major theaters: east, south, west, and north. The human race is stationed in the Eastern Theater, the god race in the Western Theater, the demon race in the Southern Theater, and the immortal race occupies the Northern Theater... "Of course, that's just a general division. Other races are mingled throughout these theaters. "Fighting on the All-Heavens Battlefield generally serves three purposes. First, eliminating enemies! Second, searching for ruins! Third, invading minor races!" Su Yu knew the first, but the second surprised him slightly. "There are ruins on the All-Heavens Battlefield?" "The Star Mansion is one of them. You know about that, right?" He smiled and continued, "As for the third, it's very simple. Some minor races accidentally open passages leading to the All-Heavens Battlefield. Once discovered, powerful races will invade. Although these minor races usually have realm suppression and restrictions, they don't do much good." Director Hou explained, "For instance, some small race might occupy an entire realm, but the strongest individual in that realm is only at the Shanhai Realm. When Sunmoon experts from the god or demon races enter, they're suppressed down to Shanhai. But so what?" If you lacked sufficient strength, even with suppression, they would still beat you down! Taking you over was effortless! "These small realms often contain rare treasures, and some people will even refine an entire realm directly. That's why, on the All-Heavens Battlefield, once those minor races are discovered, even if they seal their passages, they might still be breached and invaded. Consequently, minor races usually attach themselves to powerful ones, paying annual tributes to the various great races!" Su Yu fell silent for a moment. "Does the human race do this too?" "Yes, the human race invades small realms as well." Director Hou said with a faint smile, "Otherwise, how could we sustain the expenses of these massive armies? Slaughter alone won't pay the bills! Every great prefecture has invaded several small realms..." At this, Shadow spoke up: "That is true. Years ago, my Shadow Realm was also invaded. However, my Shadow Realm possessed many experts and powerful realm suppression. The demon race lost three Sunmoon experts, and when an Invincible expert attacked, our race repelled him. Only then did they acknowledge the Shadow Realm's independence." "Isn't the Shadow race one of the top hundred races?" Su Yu asked. "Someone dared to invade even you?" Shadow replied in a hollow tone, "Top hundred... is really just a general term. Typically, any race with an Invincible king presiding over it is regarded as a top hundred race, even if ranked past a hundred. The Shadow race has only the Shadow Ancestor at the Invincible Realm. With so few Invincibles, we aren't particularly strong among the top hundred..." That was why others dared to invade! They weren't like the human race, which had suddenly produced so many Invincibles over three hundred years ago, almost leaving the invading races utterly stunned. Director Hou smiled and elaborated, "On the All-Heavens Battlefield, races with Invincible experts can usually remain independent. Even for powerful races like the gods, demons, or humans—who have quite a few Invincibles—invading someone else's major realm means facing strong suppression, which typically reduces your cultivation by an entire major realm. "An Invincible entering is suppressed to Sunmoon. If they have an Invincible presiding over their realm, you would need to send at least ten Invincibles to attack, all suppressed to Sunmoon, to besiege them before having any hope of conquering it. It's simply not worth the heavy casualties." Therefore, any race with an Invincible was considered a powerhouse. Their overall strength might be inferior to yours, but if they retreated into their home realm, you would have to pay tenfold the price to attack them, making it entirely unprofitable. "Then the human race..." Su Yu frowned. "The human race has so many Invincibles. Even without realm suppression, their losses would still be immense. Why do they keep fixating on the human race?" "This may be related to certain ancient legends. Additionally, ruins and inheritances within the Human Realm are coveted by the various races." Director Hou explained, "A ruin capable of giving birth to dozens of Invincibles all at once—if it were you, wouldn't you covet it?" "No, I wouldn't." "..." Director Hou was speechless. *If you don't know how to converse, keep your mouth shut.* "The ruins in the Human Realm certainly haven't been fully explored. Some powerful ruins might not have surfaced to this day. To claim powerhouses don't covet them is impossible. Coupled with the lack of realm suppression, allowing them to unleash their full power, attacking the Human Realm is only natural. "Furthermore, it's said the Human Realm contains certain special treasures that hold considerable temptation even for mighty races like the gods and demons. That's why they've kept their eyes locked on us all these years." Su Yu nodded, thought for a moment, and asked, "I've always been curious about something, Director. When humans enter other major realms, are we subject to realm suppression?" Others faced no suppression entering the Human Realm, but what about humans going to other realms? "That is another reason the human race is targeted—there is none." Director Hou chuckled. "Humans are unique, and the Human Realm is unique. That very fact has become a major reason why other races fear and suppress us. When experts from the Human Realm enter other realms, they aren't suppressed either. If they didn't keep us down, wouldn't the human race end up ruling the all-heavens?" Shaking his head, Director Hou sighed helplessly. "The human race loves peace and wouldn't attack other major races without good reason. Why must they be like this?" "..." Silence fell. At this moment, Su Yu finally understood why the god and demon races were able to win over so many allies. *Holy crap!* An Invincible human who entered another major realm remained an Invincible. How could the top hundred races not be terrified? Of course they were terrified! When the gods or demons attacked, it cost ten of their Invincibles to take down one of yours, so they were hesitant. When the human race came, they could fight you one-on-one! They had no choice but to try and destroy the human race! Su Yu considered this and asked, "Are most of the current top hundred races our enemies?" "Yes!" Director Hou smiled. "It can't be helped; we didn't want this either. But humans are inherently unique, so what can we do? We can't very well wipe ourselves out, can we? That's why many great prefectures currently act amiably, so others don't assume we intend to invade. Great Xia fights so aggressively—how could they not be singled out? Any prefecture with too much offensive drive is bound to become a target." Only today did Su Yu truly grasp how deeply the human race was feared! No wonder the myriad races frequently collaborated to prevent new Invincibles from rising among humans. It all stemmed from fear! The human race had allies too, but races with Invincibles were generally unwilling to ally with humans. Simply put, humans possessed too much deterrence and suppression against them, making those races uneasy. The gods and demons were mighty, but they were unwilling to trade ten Invincibles for one. With humans, however, they didn't need ten—two entering your realm would spell disaster! …… Director Hou and Su Yu talked for a long time. They spoke of the Great Ming Prefecture, the Human Realm, the All-Heavens Battlefield, and other major realms. He had traveled to many places. Director Hou was actually quite old, merely looking young. If Great Ming had an abundance of anything, it was old-timers. Many experts who had helped King Daming establish the prefecture were still alive. Great Xia was different. After fighting wars for years, they had many rising powerhouses among the younger generation. Many of their older generation had perished in battle. In Great Ming, Director Hou, Principal Niu, and several other Sunmoon experts had mostly risen during the early days of the prefecture's founding. Over the past few decades, hardly any new powerhouses had emerged. To put it nicely, they possessed deep heritage; to put it harshly, there was a gap between generations. Great Xia was somewhat similar, but their so-called generational gap referred to the truly young—those under fifty. In Great Ming, that definition had to be extended by another fifty years; anyone under a hundred was still considered part of the new generation. …… Su Yu spent the final night of year 350 of the Anping Calendar in idle conversation, which did much to dispel his homesickness. January 1st, Year 351. On this day, Su Yu set out once more, heading toward Tiandu Prefecture. Meanwhile, news concerning Su Yu, the Great Xia Prefecture, and the dispute between the Single and Multiple Character Factions began spreading among the common people. "Great Xia is truly ruthless!" "Just yesterday, they executed a massive batch of experts. A whole bunch of Shanhai cultivators died..." "Tsk, tsk. Great Xia really has plenty of powerhouses. After executing so many, they still have heaps left!" "I heard that Su Yu came to the Great Ming Prefecture. That kid is ruthless too—he got so many Shanhai and Sunmoon experts killed in one go..." "What's a Sunmoon?" Someone asked out of curiosity, prompting an old man to chuckle and gossip: "Above Tengkong is Lingyun, and above Lingyun is Shanhai. Only by breaking through Shanhai can one glimpse Sunmoon! Like the sun and moon suspended in the sky, suppressing the world! For example, our Prefecture Lord is a Sunmoon expert!" Just like Su Yu in the past, many ordinary youths hadn't seen much of the world and had no idea what Sunmoon meant. Of course, here in Great Ming, people generally understood Lingyun and Shanhai, unlike Su Yu back in Nanyuan, which had been too remote and weak. Walking along the road, Su Yu listened to the surrounding discussions and smiled faintly. The Xia family had certainly cracked down hard. Naturally, it wasn't solely for his sake. The Xia family actually had Su Yu to thank, because he had handed them a blade! Without Su Yu as a pretext, had the Xia family executed those people so wantonly, it would have provoked outcry and condemnation across the entire Human Realm! Now, however, because of the recordings, the entire Single Character Faction throughout the Human Realm had fallen silent. No one spoke out. Even if some harbored complaints, they only voiced them in private; no one openly criticized Great Xia. With such brutal bloodshed, hardly anyone uttered a peep—which was completely uncharacteristic of the Single Character Faction. Not to mention the Single Character Faction alone—under normal circumstances, had anyone dared to execute so many, the entire civilization sector would have risen in protest! Now, a Sunmoon expert had turned traitor, colluding with demon gods, alongside more than a dozen Shanhai traitors. After such a massive betrayal, if the Xia family hadn't killed, they would have been looked down upon. Having executed so many, even those who felt dissatisfied had to swallow it down. *Xia the Second certainly has clever methods. He instantly flipped the situation and weeded out a batch of disobedient fellows.* Su Yu smiled. Marquis Xia truly had a few tricks up his sleeve. Of course, it might have been Xia Longwu's decision. Right now in Great Xia, heads had been rolling for days. Yet the populace didn't feel the bloodshed was excessive; instead, their blood boiled with pride. *Good riddance, well executed!* The people of Great Xia were immensely proud! They believed it was merely those rotten eggs causing trouble, not reflective of their Great Xia. The public's ire was no longer aimed at the Xia family; instead, they directed all their energy toward frantically scouring Great Xia for the All-Races Sect. Over the past two days, a dozen more strongholds had been destroyed, and over a hundred cultists captured, kicking off another round of beheadings. It had to be said that keeping some All-Races Sect strongholds around had served a purpose: whenever something went wrong, executing a few cultists quickly pacified the public. There was a reason the All-Races Sect didn't dare spread openly in Great Xia. Too many of them had died, and they had died far too miserably. This was the last major city before Tiandu Prefecture; the next one would be Tiandu itself! It was about five hundred li away. Su Yu climbed down from the Suanni. The Suanni looked dusty and gray, currently radiating no golden light, so the pedestrians paid it little mind. Su Yu walked into a restaurant. With the New Year, the restaurant was lively and bustling. At this moment, a storyteller was even performing inside. The moment Su Yu reached the second floor, he heard the old storyteller slam his gavel, declaring in an excited voice, "No sooner said than done! Su Yu reversed heaven and earth, unleashing the Hundred Cracking Strikes of Heavenly Thunder, sending Zhou Pingsheng flying back while spitting blood..." On the second floor, several diners were listening, and someone interrupted with a laugh, "Cut the nonsense! What 'Hundred Cracking Strikes of Heavenly Thunder'? How would you even know?" "Nonsense yourself! If you don't want to listen, get out!" The storyteller retorted indignantly, "How could I not know? On that very day, I was near Starfall Mountain! Su Yu roared it at the top of his lungs—how could I have missed it?" "Baloney! I remember clearly that you were right here storytelling that day!" "You're just nitpicking!" the storyteller snapped. "That day, I projected my avatars across the thirty-six prefectures and roamed the Human Realm in my dreams! Could anything, big or small, escape my notice in this realm?" "..." The crowd roared with laughter. The storyteller paid them no heed, finishing his passage before adding, "Right now, that Su Yu has likely entered Tiandu Prefecture! Winds and clouds are stirring in Tiandu! Everyone from Great Xia is a born killer! Slaying a Lingyun expert while only at Character Cultivation—an unprecedented marvel! I've heard that if Su Yu doesn't kill someone every day, his hands start itching! Ladies and gentlemen, if you have children in Tiandu, notify them at once: that Su Yu is eighteen feet tall and slaughters people like mowing grass..." "Old sir, how do you know he's eighteen feet tall?" Su Yu asked with a chuckle. "Although his face wasn't visible in the recording, his height looked quite normal." "What would a wet-behind-the-ears kid like you know!" The storyteller laughed. "That was his Art of Cosmic Transformation! I once saw his true form—he was as tall as a giant..." Su Yu couldn't help but chuckle. Fine, he knew nothing. *Eighteen feet tall, slaughtering people like mowing grass—sure, whatever you say.* The people in Great Ming were truly idle enough. A blatantly fabricated tale, yet an entire room full of people sat listening intently. The recording had likely spread across the Human Realm; all these people had probably seen it, yet they still insisted on listening to a storyteller spin wild tales. They all knew it was fake, but they loved hearing it anyway. Ignoring Su Yu, the storyteller continued, "Enough about Su Yu for now; once he paints Tiandu red, we shall resume! Today, let us speak of Bai Junsheng, one of Tiandu Prefecture's Eight Talents! Just two days ago, this Bai Junsheng broke through to Tengkong in a single day, instantly reaching the third layer! Two days ago, he was clamoring about surpassing his cousin Bai Feng; yesterday, upon learning Su Yu was Bai Feng's disciple, he claimed to be Su Yu's uncle! He used that pretext to pay a visit and beat up Zhu Hongliang, another of the Eight Talents! When Zhu Hongliang tried to fight back, Bai Junsheng bellowed, 'Su Yu is my nephew! If you dare hit back, your life is forfeit!' Tsk, tsk... scaring Zhu Hongliang into fleeing in utter disgrace..." Su Yu was speechless. Was that real or fake? Bai Junsheng? Someone from the Bai family? Zhu Hongliang... could he be from the Zhu family? Could the so-called Eight Talents of Great Ming really be this bored? *Who's your nephew?!* Below the stage, a diner laughed heartily. "What was Zhu Hongliang afraid of? Hit him back! Doesn't Zhu Hongliang have a Shanhai great demon? Release it to beat up Bai Junsheng!" "Hahaha!" Many burst into laughter! "Come on, Zhu Hongliang's Shanhai demon does nothing but eat. You expect that thing to fight? It's only good for getting beaten!" "..." Once again, Great Ming expanded Su Yu's horizons. What kind of Shanhai demon was that? Was beating a Tengkong expert really that hard? Besides, if this Zhu Hongliang couldn't even handle Bai Junsheng, his own strength was probably mediocre. Had he tamed that Shanhai demon himself, or had his clan done it for him? As he pondered, a sudden thought struck him. He heard the storyteller chuckle, "Speaking of this Shanhai demon, I must say a few words. Don't look down on its combat ability—it doesn't know how to fight, but its defense is terrifying! It eats endlessly, with thick hide and tough flesh. That day, I saw a Sunmoon grandmaster slash down with a sword; the beast merely let out a yelp, went right back to sleep, completely unscathed! "It's precisely because of this that it was judged to be a Shanhai great demon—and that's more than enough! If that beast could actually fight, it wouldn't be Shanhai anymore; it would be Sunmoon!" "..." Su Yu's heart stirred. Could he be talking about an iron-eating beast? Invincible defense, attack power... practically zero. He had previously asked Xia Huyou to search for one, but none were found; they were virtually unseen on the All-Heavens Battlefield due to their scarce numbers. Su Yu wanted to find one because entering the Tengkong Realm through physical cultivation required forging the physical body, shedding one's mortal frame and replacing the blood. The iron-eating beast possessed a nearly invincible physique. It might be due to some innate talent or special cultivation technique. Body-forging methods were extraordinarily precious. *Shanhai Realm?* If it was Shanhai, it might be a bit too strong. A Lingyun one would be fine; he could consume its blood essence to test it out. Listening a bit longer, Su Yu shook his head, finished his meal, stood up, and took the Suanni downstairs. Soon, Su Yu rode away on the Suanni. Meanwhile, on the second floor, a collective sigh of relief suddenly swept through the room. One diner complained, "Old man, are you insane? You dared to talk back to him? Wasn't that Su Yu just now? Scared the life out of me—I could feel his murderous intent surging from across the room! Thank heavens he didn't snap. If he had butchered the restaurant, wouldn't we all be dead?" "..." The storyteller replied morosely, "I noticed! Didn't I change the subject right away? I even flattered him by saying he killed Zhou Pingsheng in three moves! If not for me, all of you would be dead! That homicidal maniac held back his killing intent entirely thanks to my quick wit!" With that, the storyteller wiped his brow and added, "Didn't I deliberately mention that Bai Junsheng claimed to be his uncle? I saw his baleful aura erupting! Bai Junsheng is finished—if not dead, then crippled! Let's have someone pass him a message to run away. That fellow picked on my granddaughter a few days ago, but getting him killed by Su Yu wouldn't be right either..." "You old geezer, you have a truly vicious heart!" "I'm merely borrowing a knife to kill someone! Forget it, Su Yu just arrived in Tiandu; he might not dare kill anyone right away. After all, Bai Junsheng is his teacher's cousin... But with a homicidal maniac entering the prefecture, Tiandu is in for a storm!" "That's an exaggeration, isn't it? He's only at Character Cultivation." "Nonsense! Does anyone in your family slay Lingyun experts at Character Cultivation?" "..." A chorus of gasps followed. Indeed, how could he be a normal Character Cultivation cultivator? Tiandu was bound to be thrown into chaos. A moment later, a diner chuckled. "Whatever, let's just eat. What does it have to do with us? Though honestly, this Su Yu doesn't look all that ferocious, does he? He's actually quite handsome..." "Shallow! How can you judge a person by their appearance? Though truth be told, he does look decent. My daughter is in Tiandu as well; if we could take him into our family, tsk, tsk—stationing him at the front gate would keep both gods and ghosts away!" "..." By now, Su Yu had long departed. Otherwise, based on those remarks alone, he would have beaten a few of them up today just to vent. *The folks in Great Ming... are really too idle!* …… The Suanni sprinted ahead. A few hours later, a massive city loomed before them! Enormous city walls! Unlike Great Xia, which had no walls and merely maintained checkpoints at several entrances, Tiandu Prefecture had erected city walls several dozen meters high. Before Su Yu even reached the gates, an astonishing sight greeted him: an immense, ferocious demon beast was charging toward the city entrance! Su Yu was startled. *A demon beast attack?* He saw no master! *A wild demon?* Just as he wondered, the massive demon beast came to a halt. A hatch suddenly opened on its belly, and a dozen people walked out. One of them glanced back at Su Yu, noticing that he was riding the Suanni, which appeared quite small at the moment. The person shook his head, looking somewhat sympathetic. *So poor.* Ignoring Su Yu, the leader raised a hand, and the enormous beast instantly shrank, transforming into a small block of metal that the man tucked into his robe. "Brother Wang, we're heading in!" The man greeted the gate guards and quickly led the young men and women inside. Faintly, Su Yu heard them chatting: "Did you see that? The guy outside just now—must be an outsider, right? He looked frightened by our riding beast, like he was ready to run. So silly!" "Yeah, an outsider. Clueless, riding a tiny demon beast. Clearly someone broke. He probably couldn't afford a riding beast puppet, so he caught a little wild demon outside." "So pitiful!" "Yeah, he's not very old either. Looks quite pitiful." "..." *Damn it!* Su Yu was dumbfounded. *What the hell?!* *I'm being looked down on?* *I'm poor?* *I'm pitiful?* *The demon beast I'm riding is garbage?* This was a Suanni—a creature of the top hundred races, at the ninth layer of the Tengkong Realm! A bunch of Character Cultivation, Qianjun, and even a few Opening Yuan juniors were looking down on him? *Holy crap!* And that riding beast had actually been a puppet! *Damn, I thought it was a real demon beast; it looked so lifelike!* Su Yu looked down at the dusty gray Suanni beneath him and sighed. It did look that way. The Suanni was so small and scruffy, appearing genuinely pathetic without an ounce of prestige! Compared to that gigantic riding beast, it truly looked rather useless! Beneath him, loneliness flickered in the Suanni's eyes. *I'm weak?* *I'm a little wild demon?* *Believe it or not, I could swallow all of you in one gulp!* *I am a mighty demon of the ninth layer of Tengkong, a genius demon who once entered the Star Mansion and slew the inheritor of an Invincible! You dare call me useless?* *These Great Ming folks have no discernment whatsoever!* Su Yu gave a quiet laugh and put it out of his mind, riding the Suanni toward the city gates. Intriguing—this Great Ming Prefecture was turning out to be quite interesting. Seeing once was better than hearing a hundred times! Even that riding beast seemed like a fine invention to Su Yu. He would have to acquire one for himself later. Ahead, three enormous characters hung above the entrance: **Tiandu Prefecture**. The guards stationed at the gate were quite capable, yet devoid of any harsh, combative aura. The moment Su Yu arrived, several of them seemed to receive a voice transmission. The next instant, the massive central gates swung wide open! Flanking the central gates were side entrances, which everyone else had been using. Yet now, the main gates stood wide open! The guards instantly straightened, their expressions turning solemn. "Master Su, please enter the city!" *Master?* Su Yu smiled faintly. Around him, passing pedestrians cast astonished glances. "Who is that? They actually opened the main gate for him." "A Shanhai expert?" "This is treatment reserved for Shanhai cultivators or senior researchers!" "Master Su... so young. I've never heard of him..." "Could it be Su Yu?" The moment those words were spoken, an abrupt hush fell over the crowd. Su Yu, the genius of the Great Xia Prefecture, had entered Tiandu Prefecture! Paying them no heed, Su Yu dismounted from the Suanni and strode through the gates. Taking a deep breath, he thought to himself: *Tiandu Prefecture, I have arrived!*