Super Tycoon

Su Yu had only just set foot in the Great Ming Prefecture, yet it had already turned his worldview upside down. Overall, things seemed decent enough. The Multiple Divine Characters Faction probably wasn't being suppressed here… right? And yet, every single one of these people had frantically loaned money to Dean Hu, causing the man to lose over a million merit points and sell off everything he owned. Su Yu harbored serious suspicions that they had egged Dean Hu on intentionally. The academy had been mortgaged, the funding for next semester had been drawn in advance, and whatever would happen the semester after that remained anyone's guess. Dean Hu had been reduced to skipping meetings to dodge debt collectors. Through Zhu Tiandao's introductions and the idle chatter among the others, Su Yu became acquainted with many high-ranking figures of the Great Ming Prefecture. Director Hou of the Yuqiang Department, Head He of the Great Ming War Academy, Vice Head Wang of the Great Ming Civilization Academy… The principal head, Niu Baidao, hadn't shown up; rumor had it he was off gallivanting somewhere. After a brief exchange, Zhu Tiandao chuckled. "I know you aren't used to chatting with old fogies. Today was mainly for you to get your bearings and meet everyone. Hongliang, come in! Escort Su Yu to Tiandao Garden so he can rest. After rushing about for days, get some proper sleep! "Leave any other matters to Hongliang; he can handle them for you!" Zhu Hongliang stepped through the doorway. Su Yu offered his thanks once more. Having his own grandson attend to him showed that Zhu Tiandao held Su Yu in high regard. In truth, Su Yu really did need some time to digest all the information he had received. As a newcomer, being entirely in the dark about the Great Ming Prefecture was never a good thing. *** Once Su Yu had left, Zhu Tiandao snapped in exasperation, "Why did you all have to go and scare him for no reason?" Look at how terrified you made him! "Old Hu isn't nearly as useless as you made him out to be. If that spatial transference formation ever yielded results, nothing you've researched over hundreds of years would even compare…" An elderly man below retorted testily, "Research my foot! Only when one reaches the Invincible Realm can one touch space and time. Even the Quest Realm is working on it, and King Daming himself participated in person, yet so far they've only managed to produce a few simple transference talismans. A stable, large-scale spatial transference formation isn't that simple!" "Indeed. We did that for Su Yu's own good. Old Hu will see how talented Su Yu is and might swindle him into taking part. Great Ming recruited Su Yu, but certainly not so he could study spatial transference formations!" "..." One after another, the elders chimed in to counter Zhu Tiandao. Who was trying to scare Su Yu? They were simply warning the lad so he wouldn't foolishly walk right into Old Hu's trap. Setting aside the fact that a spatial transference formation burned through endless fortunes, the crux was that producing results was simply too difficult. Zhu Tiandao sighed. "I know it's difficult too, but I still held out some hope. Our Great Ming Prefecture claims to have a hundred flowers blooming in rivalry, but everyone… you know in your hearts that all of it consists of minor, unpresentable inventions. Research findings capable of truly altering the overarching situation are… exceedingly few in Great Ming!" The Zhu Family had sponsored a substantial portion of the spatial transference formation. Out of the million merit points spent, the Zhu Family had put up at least half. In the end… the money had gone down the drain. Not a glimmer of hope was in sight! The Civilization Masters of Great Ming were formidable, yet they lacked pillar-tier breakthroughs. Those nifty little gadgets were convenient for ordinary people, but for the higher-ups and the broader picture, their contribution was minimal. At those words, someone objected indignantly, "What is the Prefecture Lord saying? How can you claim we have no major breakthroughs? If nothing else, what about those Heaven-Devouring Ants…" Zhu Tiandao's face darkened. "You mean those things that nearly devoured tens of thousands of our own Tiandao Army?" To hell with that! They couldn't distinguish friend from foe! They couldn't be controlled! Once released, there was no way to rein them in. The elderly speaker looked sheepish, but quickly defended, "They aren't practical in full-scale battles, but they're fantastic for sneak attacks! Just send someone carrying an ant nest to charge into the enemy's main force and unleash the Heaven-Devouring Ants—it works like a charm!" Zhu Tiandao rubbed his temples in frustration. "Find a way to retrieve or control them first before bringing them up again. Otherwise, that thing is a walking disaster. The last time you unleashed them, it already drew complaints from multiple Invincible experts. Those things devour everything in sight. If too many are let loose on the All-Heavens Battlefield and end up wiping out minor races, we won't even know how to answer for it." "Then we'll keep looking for a way!" In truth, Zhu Tiandao also thought the concept was great; it was just that being uncontrollable made it far too troublesome. *** Setting aside the idle chatter of these dignitaries. At that moment, Su Yu followed Zhu Hongliang toward the rear courtyard of the Prefecture Lord Manor. Su Yu asked, "Tiandao Garden is inside the manor?" "Yes." Zhu Hongliang chuckled. "It's a wonderful place. Under normal circumstances, Grandfather only lodges guests in Tiandao Garden when Sunmoon experts come to visit." "I'm flattered." As Su Yu replied, he took in his surroundings. Compared to the Great Xia Prefecture, the slaughterous aura here was far weaker. It was not just the people; even the architecture felt considerably gentler. In Great Xia, one rarely saw such delicately carved and ornate buildings. Things were slightly more rustic there. In Great Ming, however, the path was flanked by pavilions, terraces, winding brooks beneath little bridges, and clusters of blooming flowers. It possessed more of the southern grace and less of the northern ruggedness. Seeing him observe the surroundings, Zhu Hongliang asked with a smile, "Su Yu, are you going to join the Great Ming Civilization Academy?" "Probably." "That Dean Hu of yours doesn't have a good reputation." "How so?" "He owes too much debt. He's a deadbeat." Su Yu smiled. "That is his business. His poor reputation has little to do with me." "But rumors outside say you're a prodigy of the Multiple Divine Characters Faction. Once you arrive, he will definitely seek you out." Su Yu said calmly, "Belonging to the same faction doesn't mean being in the same clique. The Single Divine Character Faction has so many members; could they all possibly belong to the same clique?" Zhu Hongliang nodded and dropped the subject. Soon, they reached Tiandao Garden. Su Yu had originally assumed it would be a small villa or perhaps just a detached courtyard. But once he arrived, he realized he had underestimated Great Ming. It was an enormous botanical estate. Guards stood outside the grounds. Within, numerous palace maids and attendants bustled about, scurrying back and forth. The garden contained numerous pavilions, little bridges over flowing streams, and a massive man-made lake. Zhu Hongliang gave a casual overview: "Tiandao Garden comprises thirty-six buildings with several hundred rooms. You can stay in whichever you like. Currently, no one else is residing here, so it's yours alone. Feel free to give instructions whenever you need something…" With that, he waved over a smiling elderly man who approached them. "This is Chief Steward Xie of Tiandao Garden. Come to him for anything you need." "Greetings, Your Highness! Greetings, Mr. Su!" The chief steward's smile never wavered. "If Mr. Su has any requirements, you need only summon this humble servant at any time…" Su Yu nodded without saying much. After walking for a bit, Su Yu spoke up: "Just find me any livable room. In addition, I'll trouble Chief Xie to prepare some flesh and blood for these little demons; they haven't eaten in a while!" He nudged the Suanni beside him with his foot. Chief Xie's expression shifted slightly. "Understood. This humble servant will make preparations at once." A Suanni! He had nearly overlooked it! One of the top hundred races, and in the ninth layer of the Tengkong Realm at that! This was no weakling; it was equivalent to a human genius at the ninth layer of Tengkong, capable of slaying ordinary Lingyun experts above its level. "I appreciate Your Highness's trouble. If Your Highness has other matters to attend to, you need not look after me…" Zhu Hongliang was speechless. I'm not busy! Fine, the guy didn't seem particularly keen on his company. Better to leave; they weren't well acquainted yet anyway. Zhu Hongliang did not linger and promptly departed. *** A few minutes later, Su Yu entered a small building. It was a three-story, classically styled building, though the interior furnishings were modern, equipped with every conceivable comfort. Having sent Chief Xie away, Su Yu sat down on the sofa and fell into deep thought. The Great Ming Prefecture… was completely unfamiliar. Unfamiliar surroundings, unfamiliar people. Everything was utterly alien! When he had first gone to Great Xia, that had been unfamiliar too, but at least he had known Bai Feng was waiting for him. Here, he had no idea what lay ahead. Zhu Tiandao gave him a favorable impression; he seemed pleasant and supportive. Yet all of that rested on certain prerequisites. "Strength…" Strength was the true foundation! Without strength, even if Zhu Tiandao valued him right now, if he failed to produce research results and lacked sufficient combat power, the Zhu Family would eventually cease supporting him. "The Multiple Divine Characters Faction in Great Ming is a complete pit…" Should he step into it? If he stayed out, he would fight alone. If he stepped in, perhaps he could rope in a seventh-layer Shanhai expert to charge the front lines on his behalf. This so-called charging the front lines was not about brawling, but about securing a voice in affairs. No matter how much of slackers the people of Great Ming were, conflicts of interest would inevitably exist. Not everyone could be a saint who was indifferent to personal gain. The only reason they slacked off was that their interests hadn't been threatened. Taking a deep breath, Su Yu pushed the thought aside. After a moment's consideration, a stack of merit cards appeared in his hand. Su Yu's eyes flickered. Merit cards could be used to transfer merit points, but they required passwords. Furthermore, his own merit card had been issued in Great Xia. Would Great Xia freeze it? Most likely not! As for the merit cards belonging to others, first, he didn't know their passwords; second, he didn't know whether Great Xia had blocked those cards and frozen their funds. He had quite a collection. They included cards belonging to academy students like Xia Qing, all of whom held high statuses. Su Yu guessed they likely possessed a substantial amount of merit points. Money was useful wherever one went. Even in Great Ming, Su Yu needed to spend money. He couldn't rely on the Zhu Family for everything. The more he asked for, the more debt he accumulated, and some debts were impossible to repay. "Passwords…" Su Yu stroked the long row of merit cards. Among them was even the card of Jin Yuhui, a Sunmoon expert. How many merit points were on it? How could he crack the passwords? After a moment's contemplation, Su Yu rang a small bell. The bell made no sound, but moments later, Chief Xie's voice sounded outside the door. "Mr. Su, do you require anything?" "Come in and speak, Chief Xie." Chief Xie quickly pushed the door open and entered with a slight bow. Su Yu smiled. "Don't be so formal, Chief Steward. I am merely a Yangxing student, while you are a distinguished Lingyun powerhouse. There is no need for such deference." "Mr. Su, propriety must be observed." Su Yu smiled and said no more, gesturing toward the sofa opposite him for the man to sit. Chief Xie said nothing further and sat quietly, his eyes showing a trace of surprise as he took in the row of merit cards on the coffee table. So many! Su Yu smiled. "I'm a newcomer to Great Ming and don't yet understand how things work here, but I know Great Ming possesses all kinds of ingenious methods. Chief Xie, there is something I'd like to ask. Is there any way in Great Ming to crack an enemy's merit card? In the campaigns against the All-Races Cult, some people have open identities with registered merit cards. How are those cracked?" "Mr. Su, under normal circumstances, once an identity is uncovered, the Merit Office can freeze the card directly." "What about private decryption?" "That…" Chief Xie hesitated briefly before explaining, "The military is capable of cracking them; otherwise, there would be no such thing as battlefield spoils after slaying an enemy. As for methods, there are many. The simplest is… asking the Merit Office to provide the password!" "..." Su Yu was speechless. That truly was simple. "What if I don't go through the Merit Office?" "That… ahem, officially, private cracking is not supported. However, within Great Ming, there are certain figures of unorthodox trades—thieves, essentially… I have some familiarity with them. A few among them know how to bypass the locks." "Could I trouble Chief Xie to find an expert in this field for me? I have quite a few merit cards that need decrypting." "Certainly. Please wait a moment, Mr. Su; I will send someone to fetch one immediately!" "Thank you for the trouble!" *** After exchanging pleasantries with Chief Xie, Su Yu saw him out and smiled. Great Ming… was truly interesting. He had guessed there might be decryption methods here, and sure enough, there were. After waiting in the room for about half an hour, Chief Xie returned with a refined, scholarly-looking man. The newcomer appeared somewhat ill at ease. Seeing Su Yu, a flash of astonishment crossed his face, but he said nothing. Su Yu wasn't interested in making small talk either. Pointing to the merit cards on the table, he smiled. "Can you crack these?" "That's simple…" The refined middle-aged man glanced at them and said, "These are unencrypted cards, and they're all older models. The owners were likely quite old. We're already on the third generation of merit cards now…" Chief Xie gave a dry cough. "Cut the chatter. Just crack the passwords!" "Yes, sir!" The man dared not utter another word. As someone from the criminal underworld, his legs had been trembling ever since he set foot in the Prefecture Lord Manor; how would he dare prattle on? Su Yu glanced at him; the man's cultivation was ordinary, only in the Wanshi Realm. Still, being a thief at the Wanshi Realm… well, to each their own. Su Yu didn't care to comment. The man brought out several devices, quickly slotted a card inside, and began testing. After about seven or eight minutes, the man wiped away cold sweat and said, "My lord, it's cracked!" Su Yu leaned in to look. The middle-aged man's eyes were filled with shock. Now that the merit card was unlocked, the balance was displayed on the screen: 38,000 points! "Zhou Pingsheng's card!" Su Yu remembered the card roughly. Glancing at it, he was rather surprised. This guy was truly a master of graft! Things like Mind-Nourishing Pearls and Shanhai-tier divine talismans all required massive amounts of merit points, and Zhou Pingsheng rarely ventured out. Even so, he had managed to amass 38,000 merit points. What an unbelievable embezzler! "Continue!" Without lingering on it, Su Yu instructed the man to keep cracking the cards. Tang Yunfei, 12,000 points. Qiu Yunhua, 6,000 points. Wang Ming of Wendao Academy, 8,000 points. Yu Hong, 23,000 points. Elder Li, 13,000 points. Old Zheng of the Great Shang Prefecture, 18,000 points. Cloud Tiger, Old Fox, and Savage Bull didn't have merit cards; their cards were held by the students, who were their masters. Once those were cracked, the sums were surprisingly large as well. Xia Qing, 30,000 points. Bai Ce, 35,000 points. Niu Zhen, 25,000 points. Additionally, the students from the Flying Wolf and Ironwing Bird races had 20,000 points and 18,000 points, respectively. These fellows had all come to study in the Human Realm, bringing substantial wealth with them. Most of it had been exchanged into merit points. The academy fees were high, so these points likely weren't everything; the remainder was probably in rare treasures, which they hadn't carried on their persons. As for the experts from the All-Races Cult, none carried merit cards. Instead, they held a different type of card: contribution cards. These were the universal currency of the All-Races Cult. As for who paid out those points, it was naturally the powerful gods and demons. These cards could also be used to withdraw contribution points, provided one found an All-Races Cult trading post. The three experts held a combined total of 50,000 contribution points. Of course, these couldn't be directly converted into merit points unless one found an All-Races Cult operative to covertly trade them for treasures. In addition, there was Chen Chen, whom Su Yu had slain. His card held little, just over 500 points, practically negligible. Beyond those, numerous Tengkong and Lingyun experts had been killed, and Su Yu had collected almost all their merit cards. The cards confiscated by Zhou Pingsheng and his cohorts had also ended up in Su Yu's hands, though those individuals held smaller sums. The last one opened was Jin Yuhui's merit card. This one had an enormous balance. As a Sunmoon expert, academy head, and veteran powerhouse who had spent many years at the peak of Shanhai, he had few expenses. A whopping 60,000 merit points had accumulated on it, and that wasn't even the entirety of his wealth; he likely had substantial treasures stored away in Great Xia. Adding it all together, there were roughly 320,000 merit points and 70,000 contribution points. And that was without Su Yu having obtained the card of the fifth-layer Sunmoon demon god, whom Zhu Tiandao had taken away directly. 320,000 points! The middle-aged man's face turned pale. He had figured out who this youth was! Su Yu! Unbelievable. What a monstrous killer. To have slaughtered so many people… it was terrifying, and every one of their merit cards was now in his grasp. Su Yu ignored him. Right now, his thoughts were on the Great Xia Prefecture. Great Xia hadn't frozen these cards. Su Yu chuckled. He wasn't sure whether Great Xia had simply forgotten in the chaos, or if they had… intentionally left them unfrozen. Since these cards had fallen into his hands, Marquis Xia could probably guess as much. Without wasting words, Su Yu went through the cards one by one, transferring all the merit points into his own account. His balance, which had previously been drained completely dry, shot up to an astonishing 320,000 points—the largest sum Su Yu had ever held in his life. At the end, Su Yu left one card behind—he wasn't sure whose it was, but it held about a hundred points. He casually tossed it to the middle-aged man and said calmly, "Thank you. Consider this your reward!" "I wouldn't dare! How could this humble one dare accept anything from my lord…" "Take it!" "Yes, sir…" The man didn't dare refuse any further. Clasping the merit card in his hands, he whispered, "My lord, those contribution points from the All-Races Cult… can actually be exchanged for merit points too." Su Yu's gaze flickered slightly. The man continued cautiously, "Well, some members in the All-Races Cult aren't truly loyal zealots; they're just scoundrels and swindlers. Some of them hide within various prefectures and run under-the-table exchanges between contribution points and merit points…" Su Yu nodded without comment and waved his hand. "Understood!" The man dared not say another word. Chief Xie swiftly had someone lead him away. Once he was gone, Chief Xie said with a smile, "Mr. Su, such people do exist within the All-Races Cult. Contribution points and merit points can indeed be converted, though they take a commission. However, if Mr. Su has your own channels, you can spend them directly rather than paying a fee to exchange them." Su Yu nodded. There was no rush; he wasn't short on money for now. 320,000 points was more than enough! Not only that, but Su Yu quickly asked, "Chief Xie, the merit accounting across the various prefectures is standardized, right?" "Yes." "Along the way, I slew numerous demonic beasts, All-Races Cult members, and traitors like Zhou Pingsheng. Can I exchange those for merit points as well?" "Of course!" Chief Xie explained, "The prefectures of the Human Realm are governed independently, but certain systems are unified—currency is one of them! It was instituted to facilitate trade, a system jointly created by the Quest Realm and the War God Hall back in the day. "The merit point system operates on the same standard!" Chief Xie added, "Your deeds count as military merits. Basic military merit rewards are actually funded and issued by the War God Hall and the Quest Realm, with the pool pooled collectively by all the prefectures. This was done precisely to provide opportunities for independent Civilization Masters and warriors. Otherwise, if someone killed an enemy in Great Xia and couldn't claim the reward in Great Ming, it would dampen their motivation…" Su Yu nodded. That made good sense. He hadn't looked into it deeply before. So the prefectures contributed to a shared fund overseen by the Quest Realm and the War God Hall, which then disbursed the points to those who earned them. That way, claiming merit points anywhere made no difference, placing no localized financial burden or resentment on the host prefecture. "My mounts killed quite a few enemies along the way. Do those count as mine?" He was referring to One-Eye and the others, who had slain multiple foes, including Shanhai experts—Cloud Tiger and the Shanhai expert from the Demon Scorpion Cult—as well as the ninth-layer Lingyun of the Ironwing Bird race. Meanwhile, Water Person and his group had also slain the ninth-layer Lingyun of the Black Panther race. "Of course! They count as Mr. Su's battlefield spoils!" Su Yu calculated the rewards. Slaying a Tengkong earned 100, 200, or 300 points for the early, mid, and late stages, respectively. For a Lingyun, the reward rose significantly to 1,000, 2,000, and 3,000 points. And for a Shanhai… that ranged from 10,000 to 30,000 points. The Shanhai experts One-Eye and the others had killed were in the early stage. Two Shanhai amounted to 20,000 points. Late-stage Lingyun, between Su Yu and Water Person's group, totaled four kills, yielding 12,000 points. Adding five or six other Lingyun kills, the total came to around 40,000 points. Not only that, but they had also killed many Tengkong-stage demons and attacking Tengkong cultists along the road, adding up to several thousand more points. All told, claiming 50,000 merit points should be well within reach, shouldn't it? Calculating it this way, Su Yu had made an enormous fortune this time—over 400,000 merit points, if those contribution points were included. On top of that, there were damaged cultural weapons and similar items. Plus the corpses of several great demons, alongside the bodies of those Tengkong beasts. As for other treasures, those people generally hadn't carried much with them. Add in the treasury of the Heavenly Archer Cult, which Su Yu estimated to be worth several hundred thousand merit points upon a rough inventory, and his total haul from this journey was close to a million merit points! Of course, that had come at the cost of twelve Shanhai and two Sunmoon deaths. Killing so many people only to yield under a million merit points… one would be better off researching cultivation arts; a single outstanding art could earn that much. No wonder the Civilization Masters of Great Ming were so reluctant to go to the battlefield. No matter how much one slaughtered, even slaying a few Sunmoon experts might not match the steady accumulation of income from developing practical little inventions over time. Killing people was truly the least profitable trade. Without further ado, Su Yu handed a single-use storage talisman to Chief Xie. "Chief Steward, could you help me liquidate these items? Including some of the damaged cultural weapons…" There was an enormous, messy assortment of goods that weren't of much use to Su Yu. It was better to convert them into merit points, and then see what he needed. Chief Xie said hurriedly, "A trifling matter! If it is inconvenient for Mr. Su to appear in person, just provide me with the recording crystals showing the kills of those demons and cultists, and I will handle claiming the merit points on your behalf…" "I'll trouble Chief Steward with it, then!" Su Yu was glad to be spared the trouble; this arrangement suited him fine. In addition, he hadn't liquidated the corpses of the great demons like Cloud Tiger. Zhu Tiandao had collected them earlier and later returned them to him; the only thing Zhu Tiandao had kept was the corpse of the Sunmoon demon god. Three carcasses of Shanhai great demons—these, Su Yu kept for himself. They might prove useful down the line. *** Thus, Su Yu did not leave the building, holed up inside his quarters. By evening, Chief Xie brought him a merit card loaded with exactly 50,000 merit points. Su Yu didn't ask whether Chief Xie had rounded it up intentionally. At this point, he possessed 370,000 merit points and 70,000 contribution points. He had three carcasses of Shanhai great demons, an assortment of treasures from the cult's treasury, several dozen texts of will he had brought with him, research materials carried over from Great Xia, and puppets gifted by Zhao Tianbing—all extremely practical assets. It was fair to say that Su Yu was now an outright super tycoon. Ordinary Sunmoon experts were definitely not as wealthy as him, unless they ruled an entire faction. A Sunmoon like Jin Yuhui, freshly advanced to the realm and serving as an academy head, had only accumulated 60,000 merit points. Once upon a time, Su Yu had fretted over mere single-digit merit points; in the blink of an eye, his wealth had multiplied to a terrifying degree. Yet Su Yu knew that his upcoming expenditures would not be small either. A research institute had to be built. No matter what outsiders speculated—whether about ancient ruins or ancient inheritances—he actually had neither. The cultivation arts provided by the golden album required capital to extract and adapt, and some arts required Su Yu to organize them himself. For example, the Five Elements Arts and the aperture fusion method had both been compiled by Su Yu before being refined together with Zhao Li. There were many other pursuits as well! Researching innate blood essences, splitting divine characters, forging weapons… He had promised Zhao Li that upon reaching the Lingyun Realm, he would assist him in forging an Earth-rank cultural weapon. "Great Ming Prefecture… a fresh start!" Su Yu took a deep breath. The danger had by no means dissipated. The present crisis was not merely the Single Divine Character Faction of Great Xia, but the Invincible lurking in the shadows, the attitude of the entire Human Realm toward the Multiple Divine Characters Faction, and, as Wan Tiansheng had pointed out, the targeting by all the myriad races. Because the rise of the Multiple Divine Characters Faction could herald the birth of an Invincible Civilization Master. The myriad races would never allow that! His two teachers were currently still stationed in the Vanguard Camp. "Great Ming… this is where I will build my strength!" Here, he had temporarily broken free from factional strife, but Su Yu had no intention of letting things end like this. There were still people who warranted his concern. If he had no one to worry about, he could go anywhere, do anything, and spend his entire life buried inside a research laboratory; he could easily endure that kind of solitude. "Teachers… you were irresponsible and abandoned me, but I still have to be responsible for you!" Su Yu let out a soft laugh. Whether it was Liu Wenyan or Bai Feng, encountering them in his life was a source of trouble, but also a stroke of fortune. That unreliable Teacher Bai Feng had perceived many things long ago, yet he had still passed on everything he had without holding back a shred. A drop of kindness received in need should be repaid with a gushing spring. In the end, Su Yu simply couldn't let go of these ties; he could never bring himself to be cold-blooded and ungrateful.