The situation continued to ferment.
At the same time, the various major prefectures began disseminating the Primordial Spirit Cultural Art one after another, while Great Qin Prefecture and Great Ming Prefecture moved swiftly to promote the supreme version of the aperture fusion art—a cultivation technique renowned for completely suppressing aperture repulsion!
A frenzy for cultivation techniques swept across Great Ming Prefecture in an instant. When the prefecture's various war academies received the art, their elders were practically grinning ear to ear.
Great Ming Prefecture had not even circulated the low- and mid-tier versions of the aperture fusion art yet. Now they had no need to; the supreme version had arrived directly. Opening thirty-six apertures might not seem like an overwhelming number, nor was it small, yet it allowed one to almost bypass the Wanshi Realm entirely!
For warriors, this was far more appealing than the Primordial Spirit Cultural Art!
Furthermore, Great Ming Prefecture’s external promotion of the technique was not empty posturing. They cited a concrete example: Zhou Hao of Great Xia Prefecture, who cultivated the Thousand Mountains Art—a supreme Heaven-rank technique widely claimed to make breaking through to Wanshi impossible!
Yet now, after practicing the supreme aperture fusion art, he had effortlessly broken through to the ninth stage of the Wanshi Realm in under three months!
Zhou Hao had become immensely famous in Great Xia Prefecture.
Just on February 3rd, the new Top 100 Rankings of Great Xia Civilization Academy were released. Zhou Hao had defeated Jiang Mu on the arena stage, formally claiming the number-one spot on the Top 100 barely six months after entering the academy. Now, Great Xia War Academy was making constant overtures to recruit him.
Because Zhou Hao was an extraordinary warrior-path prodigy, Zheng Yunhui's grandfather had even approached Xia Yuwen several times, urging him not to ruin Zhou Hao's future.
If he transferred to the War Academy, Zhou Hao might very well become the next Huang Teng.
Naturally, Xia Yuwen simply ignored him.
If even the Thousand Mountains Art could fuse apertures with such ease, one could easily imagine just how potent this aperture fusion art truly was.
Meanwhile, the first batch of cultivators who had practiced the low- and mid-tier aperture fusion arts had gradually completed their aperture openings. Those with many overlapping apertures had finished some time ago, and over this period, the number of Wanshi Realm martial artists surged dramatically!
Among the general public, many warriors had once cultivated the Thousand Mountains Art in their pursuit of strength. Now, some of these warriors promptly began practicing the aperture fusion art. In the near future, top-tier Wanshi cultivators who wielded Heaven-rank cultivation arts might very well emerge.
As the aperture fusion art yielded results, Su Yu's name echoed across the Human Realm.
The Twin Wu Aperture Fusion Art, the Primordial Spirit Cultural Art, the Primordial Spirit Yuan-Purifying Art, and the Primordial Spirit Soul Devour Art—multiple techniques bearing the "Primordial Spirit" moniker—were stocked on the shelves of academies across several major prefectures.
Su Yu's fame skyrocketed!
Simultaneously, the story of Su Yu's conflict with Great Xia Prefecture spread far and wide, becoming common knowledge.
Many scoffed upon hearing Su Yu's name mentioned alongside them. Great Xia Prefecture's Single Divine Character Faction had been utterly blind, insisting on committing foolish acts and ambushing Su Yu, ultimately forcing him out of Great Xia Prefecture and straight into Great Ming Prefecture.
Nearly all of Great Ming Prefecture's cultivation techniques were being licensed and disseminated for free, whereas Great Xia Prefecture faced difficulties circulating them and had various obstacles imposed by Su Yu. They had brought it entirely upon themselves.
Had Su Yu remained in Great Xia Prefecture, all of these techniques would have been offered to Great Xia first.
How could things have ever reached this state?
...
Yuan Qingdong still did not step forward to apologize. Of course, he made no more arrogant declarations either; he had kept an extremely low profile over the past few days.
Yet keeping a low profile achieved nothing!
With his silence, Su Yu refused to license any techniques to the three academies. Right now, students across those three academies were seething with resentment!
Not only the Primordial Spirit Cultural Art, but even the supreme version of the aperture fusion art remained withheld from them.
"Kick the outsider out!"
Such cries erupted continuously across the three academies, impossible to suppress.
Meanwhile, the Xia family remained notably inactive.
...
Great Ming Prefecture.
Su Yu was actually rather puzzled. Several days had passed since he spoke with Marquis Xia, allowing plenty of time for things to develop, yet the Xia family showed no intention of bailing Yuan Qingdong out. Previously, Su Yu had said that once the Xia family reached an agreement with the Yuan family, he could lift the conditions binding Yuan Qingdong.
Yet the Xia family had not come to see him even now.
Su Yu could not be bothered to dwell on it. At the moment, he was focused on recruiting staff.
After talking about it for days, Su Yu finally met with the senior scholars today.
Drunken Star Pavilion, top floor.
Su Yu arrived alongside Wen Zhong. When they stepped inside, four elderly scholars were already present: three men and one woman. All were advanced in years, their hair silver-white, yet their demeanors remained refined and scholarly.
"Junior Brother Jin, Junior Sister Kong..."
Wen Zhong greeted them. Wen Zhong was older, nearing four hundred years of age, whereas these scholars were slightly younger, around three hundred.
As for their cultivation, none were particularly strong: two were at the seventh stage of the Tengkong Realm, one was at the eighth stage, and one was at the ninth stage.
Tengkong Realm cultivators did not typically live this long. On the warrior path, Tengkong cultivators generally had a lifespan of only about a hundred and fifty years, while Civilization Masters lived somewhat longer.
Most warriors at the Tengkong Realm lived around a hundred and fifty years.
Lingyun cultivators lived around two hundred years.
Shanhai cultivators theoretically lived around three hundred years.
Of course, these limits applied to warriors whose physical bodies had begun to decline and whose seas of will had long withered. Civilization Masters, endowed with formidable willpower, generally survived longer, and those who saw little combat lived longer still.
Yet a three-hundred-year-old Tengkong... had truly reached their utmost limit.
The end of their natural lifespan!
Their days were numbered.
Age spots were faintly visible on their faces, and one could even sense a faint whiff of decay—the unmistakable sign of a life drawing to its close.
The moment Su Yu saw them, a wave of emotion washed over him.
Not just them—Wen Zhong... did not have much lifespan left either. A warrior at the Lingyun Realm lived over two hundred years; even as a Civilization Master at the ninth stage of the Lingyun Realm, how much longer could Wen Zhong last?
Quite a few of Great Ming Prefecture's elder scholars were nearing the end of their lives!
Not only these individuals, but even Principal Hu Xiansheng would exhaust his lifespan if he failed to enter the Sun Moon Realm soon.
These elders likely had rarely participated in warfare, or perhaps had hardly fought at all; otherwise, they could never have survived this long.
Yet Su Yu found nothing improper about that. He had reviewed their records; making a contribution did not require fighting on the battlefield. The four Tengkong elders before him had contributed immensely to humanity.
Jin Sheng, ninth stage of the Tengkong Realm, was one of the creators of the civilization chronicle. Today, people could preserve the divine characters of Shanhai experts; though many methods existed now, the civilization chronicle had been the sole method in earlier years. Without it, none of those Shanhai divine characters would have survived to this day.
Kong Yuxian, eighth stage of the Tengkong Realm, was an expert in willpower extraction. She had proposed the pure willpower replenishment laboratories in use today and had been the first to discover the applications of Heavenly River Sand.
Wei Qi, seventh stage of the Tengkong Realm, was the creator of the Earth-rank technique, the Yuan-Recovering Art, which many people still cultivated today.
Cao Hui, seventh stage of the Tengkong Realm, was the creator of the Nine Stars Body Tempering Art. Many Tengkong warriors utilized this method; although its tempering effect was not exceptionally powerful, the process was straightforward.
All four elders had made substantial contributions in their respective fields.
The academy had spared no precious treasures to extend their lives over the years. Otherwise, even without combat, they would have passed away long ago.
Now, the academy had recommended these four to Su Yu with a glimmer of hope.
They hoped Su Yu might extend their lifespans and offer them an opportunity to break through.
Reaching the Lingyun Realm might grant them a few more years of life.
For a Civilization Master to enter the Lingyun Realm, they required third-tier willpower, third-tier divine characters, and the opening of at least thirty-seven divine apertures. These elders had attained the required willpower and opened their divine apertures, but their divine characters... had not reached the third tier.
The reason was simple: they had outlined far too many divine characters to nourish them adequately.
After reaching the Tengkong Realm and gaining longer lifespans, some elder scholars in Great Ming Prefecture frequently pursued all manner of ideas, outlining a wide variety of divine characters. They did not do this to become Multiple Divine Characters practitioners; they simply needed specific divine characters to aid their research.
As a result, their divine characters multiplied, but their willpower proved insufficient to nourish them all. Most remained at the first tier, a few reached the second tier, and virtually none could be nurtured to the third tier.
All four had outlined dozens of divine characters. Jin Sheng, for instance, had reportedly outlined more than thirty.
With over thirty divine characters, which he rarely focused on nurturing, and some even repelling each other in a chaotic mess, how could he possibly advance any to the third tier?
"Greetings, seniors!"
Su Yu bowed slightly. The elders returned his greeting with warm smiles. Jin Sheng, whose hair and beard were completely white, chuckled. "No need for such formality. Knowledge comes in its own order, and those who excel lead the way! Junior Brother Su, you needn't call us teachers. We are all fellow travelers on the Dao, and today is primarily an exchange."
Kong Yuxian must have been a great beauty in her youth, and even in old age, she possessed a gentle, kindly demeanor. She smiled and said, "Little Junior Brother Su, please sit. Senior Brother Wen, haven't seen you in days, yet you look so invigorated. It seems that aperture fusion art has left you thoroughly satisfied."
Wen Zhong chuckled. "Not bad at all! Junior brothers, junior sister, you all look a bit more worn down these days. Don't push yourselves too hard."
The elders all smiled faintly.
After gesturing for Su Yu to take a seat, Jin Sheng spoke candidly, "The prefectural head and Principal Hu both spoke with us, expressing their hope that we could serve as assistants in the Primordial Spirit Research Institute. To be frank, we are well advanced in years and lack the energy we once had. The primordial spirit apertures you study also don't align very well with our fields. Senior Brother Wen is an expert in that area, but we certainly are not..."
Wen Zhong interrupted, "If you don't feel like working, just say so. Why make excuses?"
Wen Zhong turned to Su Yu with a smile. "Junior Brother Su, ever since Junior Brother Jin created the civilization chronicle back then, he has focused on isolating and extracting divine characters. Over hundreds of years, his understanding of divine character traits has become consummate."
Pausing, Wen Zhong added, "Decades ago, when the Fifth Generation came to the Great Ming Civilization Academy, he discussed these matters with Junior Brother Jin. Later, Hong Tan introduced the fusion of multiple divine characters and trait transference... Not to belittle Hong Tan, but most of the preliminary work came from Junior Brother Jin's achievements. The Fifth Generation likely drew considerable inspiration from him."
Su Yu was both surprised and shocked. The Fifth Generation had consulted Jin Sheng on these matters back then?
Jin Sheng smiled. "Senior Brother Wen exaggerates. When the Fifth Generation visited, I had only the barest glimmer of inspiration and was merely spouting nonsense before him. What real results could I claim?"
Sighing, Jin Sheng remarked, "The Fifth Generation was truly a peerless genius! Later, when Hong Tan unveiled trait transference and divine character combinations, I realized the Fifth Generation had delved far deeper into the subject than I ever imagined. While dedicating himself to cultivation, he still managed to calm his mind and conduct research. Had he not perished, he would undoubtedly have become the Human Realm's first true Invincible Civilization Master!"
Regret lingered in his voice.
The Fifth Generation had actually been younger than him. When he died over fifty years ago, he was barely a hundred years old. Reaching such heights at just over a hundred made him look older than Xia Longwu did today, yet advancing on the path of a Civilization Master was significantly more arduous than the warrior path.
"Senior Brother Jin, have you been researching this all these years?"
Su Yu asked curiously, "Have you produced any results in this field? Please don't misunderstand, Senior Brother; I don't mean to question your accomplishments, I am simply curious. Divine character extraction, trait transference, combinations... these are topics of immense interest to our Multiple Divine Characters faction."
Indeed, he found the subject fascinating!
Jin Sheng chuckled. "True enough, I almost forgot that you are an expert in this area as well! Over the years, to speak of major results would be an exaggeration; divine characters are far too profound. My most significant discovery, however, is a rather peculiar phenomenon..."
He paused before continuing, "I have outlined a fair number of divine characters: god-race characters, demon-race characters, immortal characters, and human divine characters..."
"I discovered that divine characters belonging to races like the gods possess strong independence, whereas human divine characters possess strong complementarity!"
Seeing Su Yu listening attentively, he smiled. "Put it this way: why are god-race divine characters so powerful? Because they are independent! In other words, a single word forms a complete divine character. And why are human divine characters considered weak? Because they are complementary!"
Jin Sheng continued, "By complementarity, I mean that when you gather two human divine characters, you will find they become slightly stronger than a single one alone. Three become even stronger... Of course, I have only outlined six human divine characters myself..."
Jin Sheng hesitated briefly before adding, "According to my deductions and conjectures, human divine characters grow incrementally more powerful! In other words, when you outline more than ten human divine characters, or even more, their combined strength will not fall short of god or demon divine characters."
He shook his head and sighed. "However, outlining more than ten human divine characters consumes far too much time! That is the first issue. The second is that you will find that as your human divine characters increase, they exert a certain repulsive force against other divine characters."
Su Yu's eyes flickered. Jin Sheng continued, "I have also heard rumors suggesting that when Shanhai cultivators attempt to break through to the Sun Moon Realm, god and demon divine characters reject the human cultivator, preventing them from advancing. That is actually not true!"
"Others spin conspiracy theories, claiming the gods and demons laid a curse upon them. That isn't true either!"
Su Yu looked startled. "Not true? How can that be! Senior Brother, the repulsion from god and demon divine characters is something several Shanhai experts have experienced firsthand! Over the past fifty years, the difficulty of advancing from Shanhai to Sun Moon has skyrocketed..."
Jin Sheng smiled. "I know that. Of course, I am merely sharing my personal view! In my opinion, the god and demon races never cast any curse; doing so would have required an exorbitant price, far beyond what it was worth!"
"I believe the reality is this: it isn't god and demon divine characters rejecting humans... Well, perhaps that holds true at the peak of the Sun Moon Realm, but in the early stages, it is actually human divine characters repelling god and demon divine characters!"
Jin Sheng's eyes gleamed. "Fifty years ago marked a dividing line. Before fifty years ago, texts of will created by humans were scarce, and very few people outlined human divine characters; the mainstream back then was god and demon characters! But as subsequent generations developed, human texts of will multiplied, and that generation of cultivators from over fifty years ago all cultivated at least a few human divine characters."
A spark of realization flashed in Su Yu's mind, and he hurriedly said, "Are you saying that the Sun Moon experts from back then advanced smoothly because they had not outlined human divine characters, whereas today's peak Shanhai cultivators have all outlined a few human divine characters? So it is the human divine characters repelling the god and demon characters, rather than the other way around!"
"Precisely!"
Jin Sheng beamed. "You truly understand! That makes things much simpler. I believe that is the case because, according to my own experience, human divine characters possess an exclusionary nature!"
He pondered for a moment before adding, "In truth, I have always wanted to gather data to see whether those experts currently trapped at the peak of Shanhai possess human divine characters. If they stripped away their human divine characters, could they advance to the Sun Moon Realm?"
Jin Sheng sighed with regret. "I've heard people say it is best to strip away god and demon divine characters. That works too, but... doing so would cause their combat strength to plummet drastically, creating a sharp decline in the overall strength of Civilization Masters. The loss would be too severe! In that case, why not try stripping away their human divine characters instead? After all, for many people, outlining human divine characters was merely incidental and offered little boost to their strength..."
Su Yu's heart pounded.
Jin Sheng had reversed conventional wisdom, concluding that human divine characters were the ones exhibiting exclusivity!
And Su Yu found himself largely agreeing!
Back then, when he attempted to outline divine characters of other races, the golden album had shattered them. If that album functioned as a divine character, was it a human divine character?
Exclusivity!
It was not that god and demon divine characters repelled human characters; rather, human divine characters repelled god and demon characters. Consequently, when certain Shanhai experts attempted to break through, their divine characters clashed, and everyone instinctively assumed the god and demon characters were responsible because they were stronger.
A single human divine character, on its own, was indeed very weak.
Su Yu took a deep breath, looked at Jin Sheng, and nodded. "Senior Brother, I actually find your theory quite persuasive! I also believe that casting a curse on all their texts of will would have exacted too high a price from the god and demon races. Those experts who reached the Sun Moon Realm fifty years ago likely outlined very few human divine characters, if any... Given the right circumstances, we could investigate this."
Jin Sheng gave a bitter smile. "There is no way to investigate. Those who reached the Sun Moon Realm fifty years ago are either Invincibles or at the peak of Sun Moon; even mid-stage Sun Moon experts from that era are rare. Where could we possibly approach figures of that caliber? The same goes for those trapped at peak Shanhai fifty years later. Divine characters are deeply guarded secrets; even if you asked, no one would tell you."
Su Yu nodded and thought for a moment. "The best approach would be to find someone to test it on. Find a peak Shanhai expert, see if they possess human divine characters, strip those characters away, and see if they have hope of entering the Sun Moon Realm."
Stripping god and demon divine characters carried too high a cost.
God and demon divine characters formed the mainstream of human cultivation. If stripped away, a cultivator's combat strength would instantly collapse!
That was why the authorities in Great Xia, despite knowing repulsion existed, still could not bring themselves to abolish god and demon divine characters. Doing so would invite catastrophic trouble.
Yet abolishing human divine characters was feasible!
At the very least, most people rarely used human divine characters; they had merely outlined them by accident or convenience along the way.
Hardly anyone chose a human divine character as their primary divine character.
Su Yu pondered briefly, then turned to Wen Zhong. "Senior Brother, does our academy have anyone stuck at the peak of Shanhai? Since Senior Brother Jin suggested this, I think it might be worth a try..."
Wen Zhong looked exasperated. "Junior Brother, do you think peak Shanhai experts are like convicts in a penal battalion, available for you to experiment on at will? First, stripping divine characters is exceedingly difficult. Second, stripping a divine character causes severe backlash. Third, a peak Shanhai expert might not trust you in the first place."
How could anyone simply test such a thing on a whim!
Su Yu realized Wen Zhong was right. What a pity; they truly could have attempted it, provided that the little fur ball he was raising advanced to Shanhai and assisted by devouring the characters.
There was another method: disassembling and reassembling divine character battle techniques!
However, disassembling and reassembling currently seemed limited to the Lingyun Realm; performing it at the Shanhai Realm would likely prove exceedingly difficult. Bai Feng's notes had mentioned that he was still experimenting with it, and Chen Yong and Hong Tan had both attempted it later with limited success.
Of course, Liu Wenyan was an exception. On one hand, he possessed formidable divine characters, and on the other, he already had an inherent divine character battle technique. Furthermore, his current cultivation was only at the Tengkong Realm, making disassembly and reassembly viable for him.
He wondered if his teacher had deduced any more potent techniques lately.
Su Yu felt a touch of regret. Without Bai Feng around, he missed out on a lot of amusement. If Bai Feng were here, watching his teacher's jaw drop in shock was always entertaining. Moreover, Bai Feng truly had flashes of inspiration from time to time, putting forward astonishing insights.
As Su Yu was lost in thought, Jin Sheng smiled. "God and demon divine characters might allow humans to enter the Sun Moon Realm... In fact, it isn't just possible, it is certain! Most, if not all, previous Civilization Masters relied on them to reach the Sun Moon Realm. But I suspect the reason humans cannot step into the realm of Invincible Civilization Masters is tied to human divine characters!"
Wen Zhong frowned. "There is no way to verify that! Very few Civilization Masters use human divine characters as their primary characters. By your logic, even reaching the Sun Moon Realm would be difficult... Come to think of it, virtually no one has cultivated human divine characters to reach the Sun Moon Realm..."
"Exclusivity!"
Jin Sheng smiled. "No one outlines exclusively human divine characters. Even if someone uses a human character as their primary, they will inevitably outline god or demon characters as well. As a result, once they reach a certain stage, exclusivity inevitably arises! Human divine characters are actually very domineering!"
Jin Sheng added, "According to ancient legends, humanity held hegemonic dominance in the primordial era. If that is true, this makes complete sense! Some wonder if human divine characters were once sealed. I don't believe they were; humanity progressed from weakness to strength rather than possessing eternal power, so the incremental strengthening of their divine characters aligns with human nature and cosmic principles. Everything follows natural laws! When a human outlines enough human divine characters, those characters will inevitably grow stronger!"
Su Yu nodded repeatedly. "Indeed! I agree with Senior Brother Jin on this. I have never felt my divine characters were weak. Moreover, as I outlined more divine characters, I felt them growing increasingly powerful and advancing more easily... without placing an excessive burden on me."
At those words, Jin Sheng stared at him in surprise. "Junior Brother, do you mean...?"
"All the divine characters I outlined are human characters!"
Su Yu smiled. "Not many people know this, but I truly have only outlined human divine characters! Right now, I have outlined exactly ten. The incremental enhancement... I can sense it faintly, though the boost isn't overly dramatic yet. Even so, I find they are by no means weaker than god or demon divine characters. I don't know whether I am a special case or if this holds true for everyone."
The elders were astonished!
He had outlined exclusively human divine characters!
And he had already outlined ten of them!
This young man was a genuine genius.
Just how old was he?
Jin Sheng's interest was piqued instantly. "Junior Brother, may I join your research institute? I have studied a wide variety of subjects over the years. If you wish to deduce a spirit-fusion technique, I have researched that as well and can certainly be of assistance!"
Su Yu chuckled. "Having Senior Brother join us is more than I could ever ask for!"
Elderly scholars were quite easy to win over after all!
A casual chat had reeled one in already.
Furthermore, he had provided a fresh perspective: it was human divine characters repelling other divine characters, not other divine characters repelling human ones. There was a profound distinction between the two!
Jin Sheng's view was merely a deduction without hard evidence, but Su Yu felt quite confident in it because his own divine characters from other races had been shattered!
Finding a peak Shanhai expert to test it on was truly worth considering!
Perhaps he could ask Zhu Tiandao. Of course, that required the little fur ball to reach the Shanhai Realm first. If it had not reached Shanhai, shattering one's own divine characters would cause varying degrees of backlash, and any method involving backlash was not an ideal solution.
Great Ming Prefecture likely had quite a few such elder scholars stranded at the peak of Shanhai.
If they could all enter the Sun Moon Realm... Great Ming Prefecture would grow stronger, providing him with greater security in turn.
He had to focus on raising that little fur ball!
The little creature had been running wild lately, playing with a pack of small rabbits and puppies every day instead of cultivating or eating properly. That simply would not do!
Next, Su Yu began discussing research with the other elders.
When it came to studying cultivation techniques, Su Yu was in his element, holding his own with great fluency.
Whether it was divine apertures or origin apertures, he discussed them with ease.
Though Su Yu had not yet delved into body tempering methods, he harbored a keen interest. He engaged Cao Hui in a lengthy discussion and even received a copy of the Nine Stars Body Tempering Art gifted by Cao Hui.
Upon receiving the body tempering method, a thought occurred to Su Yu.
He had unlocked a portion of the Tengkong Realm illustrations in his golden album, and they did contain body tempering methods.
They could be unlocked using blood essence!
Could he potentially initiate body tempering ahead of time right now?
If he could temper his body in advance, what difference would remain between him and a Tengkong cultivator?
It was worth testing the results!
He had also unlocked parts of the Nine Origin Qi Transformations Art; unlocking the album up to the Lingyun Realm encompassed aspects of this technique as well.
Su Yu was never short of cultivation techniques!
What he lacked was a truly exceptional technique—one tailored perfectly to him!
From the moment he left in the morning, Su Yu spent five or six hours conversing with the elders before finally stopping, his mouth parched.
Done!
The four elders were indeed profoundly knowledgeable. While they did not necessarily revere Su Yu, they recognized that he was certainly no lightweight and possessed genuine accomplishments in several fields. While Su Yu had been assessing them, they had been evaluating him in turn.
Ultimately, all four agreed to join the Primordial Spirit Research Institute.
Their demands regarding compensation were modest.
With that, the Primordial Spirit Research Institute expanded to seven members: five senior scholars, plus Su Yu and Wu Lan.
The first major hurdle they needed to conquer was deducing cultivation arts, martial techniques, body tempering methods, and origin qi transformation arts that matched the aperture fusion art, aiming to form a complete system that could be widely disseminated across the Human Realm.
...
While Su Yu immersed himself in research, his burgeoning reputation and the widespread circulation of his cultivation techniques—whose importance had now gained universal recognition—meant that his fame was no longer confined to the human race.
Just as Su Yu was recruiting the elders, a meeting was taking place in an advanced stronghold of the All-Races Cult.
Deep underground, inside a grand hall, numerous projected silhouettes flickered into view.
None had arrived in person, yet many projections were present.
All of them were hazy and indistinct!
"The Primordial Cult Master has arrived, and the First Demon Cult Master has arrived as well..."
Inside the hall, someone chuckled. "Now that both cult masters are present, let us discuss Su Yu! Whether it is the Primordial Spirit Cultural Art or the aperture fusion art, everyone should understand by now that they are treasures—invaluable treasures! Su Yu truly has immense audacity to spread such techniques!"
"By now, several powerful races, including the gods and demons, have caught wind of this. Though it has yet to impact the Invincible realm... if this continues, the strength of the various human prefectures will surge dramatically in the coming years!"
Just as he spoke, an ethereal figure seated upon the throne of the Primordial Cult Master cut him off. "Spare the nonsense! Whether humanity grows strong or declines is of no concern to traitors like us. Everything we do is for profit..."
Nearby, the projected silhouette of Lan Tian, the First Demon Cult Master, chuckled. "Profit? No, we are acting to save humanity! Primordial, you are far too selfish!"
Silence fell over the hall.
The Primordial Cult Master ignored him. Everyone knew Lan Tian was a madman who constantly claimed everything he did was for humanity.
Lan Tian paid no heed to the silence and swiftly continued, "I know what you are planning, but Su Yu cannot be killed. I want to capture him alive and bring him into our camp! We need prodigies like him, talents like him!"
"First Demon Cult Master, you know as well as anyone how difficult it is to take him alive in Great Ming Prefecture!"
"I know, but doesn't that make it all the more challenging?"
Lan Tian smiled. "Capture him alive! If anyone attempts to kill him, I will not stand for it! I will take him alive and convince him to join us!"
No one indulged him. Soon, another voice spoke, "The god and demon races have offered a hefty price! For killing Su Yu, they are even willing to put up Sun Moon Xuanhuang Liquid as a reward. Everyone, we have gathered today to discuss whether to join forces, launch a surprise assault on Great Ming Prefecture, and eliminate Su Yu. One or two Sun Moon experts likely cannot pull it off; we must lure the snake from its hole and strike while diverting their attention..."
Sun Moon Xuanhuang Liquid!
The supreme treasure for strengthening aperture power after entering the Sun Moon Realm, a specialty of the formidable god and demon races, and extraordinarily precious!
To a Sun Moon cultivator, no treasure or cultivation technique surpassed an item capable of directly enhancing their personal strength.
"A surprise assault on Great Ming Prefecture?"
A voice spoke with an eerie, erratic timbre. "Great Ming Prefecture is no pushover. Zhu Tiandao at the ninth stage of the Sun Moon Realm is not someone to provoke lightly. Everyone, that is far too dangerous! I have no interest in an assault. An assassination, however... that might be worth a try!"
"An assassination it is, then! But I must remind everyone: do not send fools to throw their lives away. No one below the Shanhai Realm should attempt to assassinate Su Yu. When he killed Zhou Pingsheng back then, he may have relied on innate blood essence, but his own strength is formidable as well. Do not repeat the same mistakes and give him time. If we strike, it must be a guaranteed kill!"
"Furthermore, several demon beasts constantly accompany Su Yu. Among them, that water spirit possesses strength at the seventh stage of the Lingyun Realm. That must be taken into account!"
"..."
Information regarding Su Yu was shared continuously. They could not afford to alert the enemy. Attempting an assassination without absolute certainty would only put Great Ming Prefecture on high alert if the assassin died; the first attempt offered the best chance, and subsequent attempts would become exceedingly difficult!
"Do not post any public missions. Handle this strictly through internal communication, and only assign it to those at the Shanhai Realm. Do not let rumors spread wildly... Of course, we can moderately increase the bounty on Su Yu among ordinary missions to prevent an unnatural silence from drawing suspicion!"
As they conversed, Lan Tian's ethereal figure suddenly dissolved and vanished, leaving behind a faint chuckle. "Go ahead and try to kill him. I will persuade him instead. Let us see who succeeds first!"
With those words, his projection dissipated completely.
The moment he left, someone cursed, "That man is utterly insane! He truly treats himself as a saint!"
Persuade him? What nonsense!
Su Yu was currently held in high regard by Great Ming Prefecture, enjoying immense status and prestige. Why on earth would he defect to the First Demon Cult?
Did Lan Tian truly believe everyone was as deranged as he was?
People joined the All-Races Cult for profit; who cared about patriotism or saving humanity? If you truly cared for humanity, go fight the enemy on the All-Heavens Battlefield!
"Pay him no mind!"
The Primordial Cult Master stated coldly, "Gentlemen, strike if you wish, but ensure you do not implicate others, nor should you swarm into Great Ming Prefecture all at once. Great Ming Prefecture may very well have laid an inescapable net waiting for us to take the bait. Weigh the risks carefully before making your move!"
With that, the Primordial Cult Master's projection swiftly collapsed as well.
"That man... is truly enigmatic!"
Someone murmured in awe. Very few people had ever seen the true body of the Primordial Cult Master.
Chapter 285