Thanking Academy Head Niu Once More

Bai Feng was feeling depressed, but Su Yu had no time to worry about that. Now that all 360 origin apertures had been opened, his thoughts turned toward body casting arts. In addition, he needed to open his divine apertures. It was already nearly mid-February, yet he had opened very few divine apertures—only 115 so far. He was still a full sixty-five short of the required 180. The Sea of Consciousness Mystic Realm! Unless the realm was opened for him once again, he had no fast way. Yet opening it required a massive amount of Heavenly River Sand. Even if the Great Xia Prefecture genuinely delivered the realm to him, Su Yu would never be able to gather enough sand. Su Yu had inquired about it in the Great Ming Prefecture as well. They had some, but very little. The reason was simple: Great Ming rarely harvested much from the Starfall Mansion. Whatever little they did have had already been used up. Before long, however, Su Yu thought of a new approach. …… Inside the research institute. Su Yu was studying several sets of body casting arts he had just acquired. When the topic drifted to the Sea of Consciousness Mystic Realm, Jin Sheng, who was standing nearby, asked with some confusion, "Why not go to the Baidao Pavilion? Go clear the trials! As a Civilization Master, do you really plan on sitting in meditation every single day? What a waste of time! If you head over to the Baidao Pavilion as a divine character master, you're bound to receive a substantial gift of willpower!" The Baidao Pavilion! Hu Xiansheng had mentioned it on the second day after school started. Su Yu had initially planned on checking it out, but had ended up forgetting all about it amidst the recent flurry of business. Hearing Jin Sheng mention it now, he asked in surprise, "The Baidao Pavilion can help open divine apertures?" "Of course!" Jin Sheng nodded. "People like us aren't particularly fond of regular cultivation, and opening divine apertures is a pain. Great Xia has its Sea of Consciousness Mystic Realm, but we here in Great Ming have the Baidao Pavilion—and it's strictly better, never worse! "Assuming, of course, that you can clear enough levels." With that, Jin Sheng chuckled. "Great Xia still hasn't said a word about delivering the mystic realm to you. Are you still going to release that cultivation technique of yours?" "Let it brew for a few more days!" Su Yu smiled. "Don't let Yuan Qingdong catch a breath. Let it simmer, and make the Single Divine Character Faction force him to provide the subsidies. If there's no subsidy, what is there to release?" "Junior Brother, you really are..." Jin Sheng held back the words 'ruthless and black-hearted.' Yuan Qingdong was truly down on his luck for having crossed Su Yu. Su Yu smiled, but then his expression darkened noticeably. "What's wrong?" Jin Sheng looked baffled. Why had this kid's mood shifted on a dime? "It's nothing... just Martial Uncle Feng Qi's situation." Su Yu had only met Feng Qi once, so there was no deep emotional bond between them. Yet back then, in a moment of dire peril, Feng Qi had stepped forward to rescue him. That was a favor owed. Su Yu had originally assumed Feng Qi was merely living under an alias, but learned later that he held a far deeper cover: an undercover operative planted inside the Six-Winged God Cult by Martial Uncle Chen. And now, his identity had been blown! Word had just arrived from the Great Xia Prefecture. Feng Qi's fate was unknown, and he was likely being hunted down by a Sun Moon realm combatant. Martial Uncle Chen Yong had already left the academy to mount a rescue, perhaps harboring thoughts of vengeance as well. The expert who had murdered Wu Jia's parents had hailed precisely from the Six-Winged God Cult. Hearing this, Jin Sheng hesitated before saying, "I've heard about that too. Leave it alone! It's a trap, absolutely a trap! It's bait to lure you out. You can't handle it, and you must not get involved! Junior Brother Su, over the past few days, people have repeatedly tried to infiltrate the academy, and the guards have already slain several infiltrators... You cannot afford to act rashly!" He adopted a solemn tone. "It's far too obvious, and the news traveled too quickly. If it isn't aimed at you, it's aimed at Chen Yong! If a Sun Moon expert pursuing Feng Qi genuinely wanted him dead, he would have been killed long ago. The fact that he hasn't been finished off by now makes no sense!" He wasn't wishing for Feng Qi's death, but the whole affair was unnatural. A Sun Moon was in pursuit, yet Feng Qi had narrowly cheated death multiple times, with rumors leaking out each time along with a rough location. What was that if not a trap? Now that the news had reached Su Yu, Jin Sheng urged, "You're far too weak; even if you go, it'll be useless against a Sun Moon! You can't even ask others for help..." Just as Su Yu opened his mouth, Jin Sheng added in a low voice, "I know the Manor Lord and the Academy Head both hold you in high esteem! If you truly beg them, they might intervene and step in to rescue him. But... the moment they leave, there won't be many Sun Moon experts left in the Great Ming Prefecture! Luring the tiger away from the mountain—you surely understand the concept!" Could Su Yu succeed if he asked for help? Undoubtedly! Zhu Tiandao and Niu Baidao would almost certainly agree. But once they departed, the defensive framework of Sun Moon combatants protecting Great Ming would develop glaring holes. Zhu Tiandao was at Ninth Layer Sun Moon. Niu Baidao was at Seventh Layer Sun Moon. They were currently the two strongest figures in Great Ming. As for the War Academy, its academy head wasn't particularly strong—only at the peak of Shanhai. Generational turnover there was rapid and deaths were frequent, while the vast majority of their powerful warrior path experts were stationed on the All-Heavens Battlefield. Sun Moon experts like Director Hou were not high-stage Sun Moons. If high-stage Sun Moon assailants launched a sudden raid on Great Ming while those two were absent, defending the prefecture would prove extraordinarily difficult. Su Yu nodded. He was no fool. That Martial Uncle Feng Qi had survived until now might be luck, but it was just as likely that he was bait. Just as Su Yu sought to bait enemies into Great Ming, weren't those people hoping to bait Su Yu away? Even if Su Yu didn't dare leave, someone else certainly would. Chen Yong! If Chen Yong was used as the lure, what choice would Su Yu have? Would he seek reinforcements? From whom? Zhu Tiandao or Niu Baidao would probably be the best options! After a moment of silence, Su Yu asked, "Did Yuan Qingdong do this on purpose? Senior Brother Jin, do you think he intentionally leaked Martial Uncle Feng Qi's identity?" "Hard to say!" Jin Sheng shook his head. "It's difficult to verify. But he knew about the feud between Chen Yong and the Six-Winged God Cult, and knowing Feng Qi's identity, he could easily deduce that Feng Qi was Chen Yong's plant. Yet he deliberately revealed that Feng Qi had saved you... Before that, the Six-Winged God Cult probably had no idea who he really was." Once Feng Qi's identity was exposed and linked to Chen Yong, who wouldn't realize he was a spy? Had Yuan Qingdong deduced it beforehand? Nine times out of ten! In that case... the man was either tied to the All-Races Cult or borrowing a blade to kill. The probability of an outright alliance was low; descendants of Invincible clans were rarely so foolish as to leave behind such a massive vulnerability. That left murder by a borrowed blade! Yuan Qingdong had arrived at Great Xia fully prepared to target Chen Yong. It was inevitable! With Hong Tan in secluded cultivation and Chen Yong stepping into Shanhai, who else would he target? He aimed to eradicate the very root of Great Xia's Multiple Divine Characters Faction. And now, Chen Yong had walked straight into it. Even knowing full well it was likely a trap! Feng Qi was his friend, someone who had remained dormant in the Six-Winged God Cult for years on his behalf. Their original goal had been to find opportunities to ambush and slay high-ranking members of the cult together. In truth, quite a few had fallen over the years. Striking from the shadows in tandem with Feng Qi, Chen Yong had slaughtered many of them. Of the group responsible for murdering Wu Jia's parents back then, only the mastermind remained alive today. Yet the moment Feng Qi's identity was exposed, those past deaths were instantly recognized as calculated killings rather than accidents. The Six-Winged God Cult likely wished for nothing more than to execute Chen Yong to eliminate future trouble! Su Yu let out a sigh. Peace was never an option! "I wonder if a cultivation technique could be traded for a few Sun Moons to intervene..." Su Yu muttered to himself. His cultivation was inadequate; he could contend with Lingyun, but Shanhai was out of reach, and facing a Sun Moon meant being instantly annihilated. Showing his face would accomplish nothing besides courting disaster and burdening his martial uncle. Even so, he couldn't just sit by idly. Perhaps trading a cultivation technique for the intervention of a few Sun Moons was viable! Jin Sheng pondered for a moment. "That might be exceedingly difficult. Techniques are usually traded for money. To hire a Sun Moon to act... The Six-Winged God Cult is by no means weak. In truth, they rank just behind the Primordial God Cult and the Primordial Demon Cult." It was a massive cult! They had more than one Sun Moon in their ranks! Rumor had it that members of the Six-Winged God Race had personally entered the Human Realm, slipping in just like the demon god had back then. Facing an organization of that caliber was perilous. "The other prefectures are utterly useless. Why can't they just wipe them out?" Even the home front was denied tranquility! Jin Sheng chuckled. "Don't speak in anger. Plenty have actually been eradicated; otherwise, they wouldn't be creeping in through secret infiltration, but launching a full-scale invasion! Once a Sun Moon conceals themselves, tracking them down is terribly difficult." "Then when the Six-Winged God Cult's Sun Moon revealed himself this time, why hasn't anyone gone to hunt him down?" Su Yu was still disgruntled. With the rear insecure, was nobody managing it? "Someone has—Yuan Qingdong!" Jin Sheng said with faint amusement, "He stated publicly that he would step forward to mount a rescue. He's a Sun Moon himself, and since he volunteered, well, Sun Moons are tied to specific duties. Everyone else has assignments to attend to..." "And they actually believed him?" Su Yu felt entirely drained of words to complain! Believed him? Bullshit! The man was blatantly harboring malice! Jin Sheng comforted, "Don't worry too much. If Yuan Qingdong genuinely encounters their Sun Moon, he will fight! This isn't some clandestine matter; everyone is watching. If he crosses paths with an enemy Sun Moon, he's obligated to attack." "Which means he'll almost certainly never 'cross paths' with him!" Su Yu sighed powerlessly. Nine times out of ten, that was how it would go! Knowing full well this fellow was deliberately stirring up trouble with foul intentions, yet having no way to pin him down was thoroughly infuriating. If all else failed... Su Yu thought for a moment and asked, "Senior Brother, do you think Director Hou could handle them if he stepped forward?" "You want to ask Director Hou to intervene?" "Yes." "Hard to say, but you could try. If Director Hou leaves, the fallout wouldn't be too severe." So long as Zhu Tiandao and Niu Baidao stayed put, the overall impact would be minimal. Su Yu nodded slightly, resolving to try later. Whether it was Feng Qi or Chen Yong, he didn't want anything happening to either of them. He had to redouble his efforts! As for that bastard Yuan Qingdong, Su Yu would make him pay sooner or later. Did being a Sun Moon make someone so extraordinary? And then there was his grandmaster, who still hadn't broken through seclusion. Jin Yuhui had advanced with such ease, so why was it taking his grandmaster—a true member of the Multiple Divine Characters Faction—so long? Always half a beat behind, leaving Su Yu thoroughly exasperated. Forget it, let Grandmaster take his time in seclusion. Su Yu pushed the thought aside. For now, he had to put the matter on hold. The only thing he could do was seek outside help while strengthening himself—and not just himself, but his allies as well. There were certain matters he couldn't handle personally. For instance, despite his strength, he dared not step outside the Great Ming Prefecture; doing so would get him killed. And he lacked friends in Great Ming. That would never do! He needed to recruit people of his own! Pondering this, Su Yu glanced at Jin Sheng. Jin Sheng was currently occupied—not with ordinary research, but with studying the little fur ball. "Senior Brother, this little fur ball has swallowed quite a few divine characters, yet it still hasn't advanced. Why is that?" Jin Sheng possessed deep expertise in the field of divine characters and had spent the past few days studying the tiny creature. Before he could answer, the little fur ball blinked its eyes and piped up in a milky voice, "Didn't taste good!" It hadn't tasted good, so it hadn't leveled up! If it tasted good, it would advance! "Get lost!" Su Yu showed no mercy. "Last time, you devoured every last divine character in the Wen Tan Research Center, yet you're still stuck in Tengkong!" "Not tasty..." Su Yu was speechless. After a moment, he said, "Senior Brother, you have quite a few divine characters. Because of their sheer numbers, they clash with one another, making them difficult to nurture. Why not let the little fur ball eat some of them? That way, your remaining divine characters can reach Tier Three, and you'll be able to enter Lingyun." The little fur ball also blinked at Jin Sheng, sizing him up as edible. Jin Sheng chuckled helplessly. "I went to great pains to cultivate those divine characters, and you want to feed them to your pet? Still, you have a point. Having too many characters of diverse racial origins causes massive conflict. If some could be devoured without side effects, it really would aid my advancement." Just as Su Yu thought he was agreeing, Jin Sheng shook his head. "Don't eat mine. I still need them to assist with my research!" Jin Sheng chuckled and continued, "This little creature's failure to advance isn't due to a lack of food, nor is it because it 'doesn't taste good.'" After assessing it, he explained, "There are probably no historical records regarding its race. It should belong to an ancient species. Moving from Tengkong to Lingyun requires a warrior to undergo physical shedding and transformation, whereas a Civilization Master must reach specific thresholds in willpower, divine characters, and divine apertures. "This creature can be treated as a Civilization Master—or even as a divine character itself. However a divine character advances, that is how it advances. "Relying purely on devouring makes advancement difficult." Su Yu hurriedly asked, "Senior Brother, how can I help it advance then?" Jin Sheng pondered briefly before saying, "Nurturing and comprehension! Take it along to the Baidao Pavilion, keep your 'fire' divine character continuously active, and find a spot inside with the densest concentration of willpower. If you're willing to part with it... you could even let it consume a portion of your 'fire' divine character, then restore it yourself afterward. If you do that, its chances of advancing will be very high!" Su Yu possessed uniquely blessed conditions! Without Su Yu, the little fur ball was simply too young and its comprehension of the dao of cultivation far too shallow. Advancing was naturally difficult! If it wanted to reach Lingyun on its own, fine—decades or even centuries of aging would eventually allow it to break through naturally. But right now, it couldn't. This race only grew formidable with age. How old was the little fur ball really? "Consume my 'fire' character?" Su Yu bared his teeth. That was treating his own divine character as fertilizer! Meanwhile, the little fur ball cheered excitedly, "Tasty!" Jin Sheng laughed. "In its eyes, an innate divine character is delicious—far superior to characters outlined later on. And among innate characters, this flame of enlightenment, this flame of legacy, offers it the greatest benefit! "Junior Brother Su, if you truly raise this little fellow to Lingyun, you won't lose out!" Jin Sheng smiled. "Right now, there are many people in the same boat as me, trapped between Tengkong and Lingyun. Senior Brother Wen Zhong, for example! His divine characters are one aspect, but the difficulty of fusing his divine apertures is another. "This little creature can devour divine characters silently without any backlash. That makes it ideal for old folks nearing the end of their lifespans. When life is almost exhausted, shattering a divine character is suicidal—the backlash alone would kill them! "From what I can tell, you aren't content to lie low forever. Relying on others is never as good as relying on yourself. By offering this as compensation, you might just win the loyalty of several experts..." Having interacted with Su Yu for several days, the experienced elder could read much of Su Yu's mind. Unless driven to absolute desperation, this young man hated asking for favors, preferring to resolve issues himself rather than rack up debts of gratitude. Jin Sheng added, "Junior Brother, you lack neither techniques, nor merit points, nor unique capabilities. You have strength, talent, and renown... you have it all. The only thing you lack is time! "Meanwhile, what many of those old fogies lack is an opportunity, a single chance! "Rather than waiting for death, they'd prefer to take a gamble!" Su Yu nodded slightly without answering. It was the truth. Jin Sheng's words reminded him of the three great demons: Single Eye, Ju Shan, and Blood Moon. Those three were still in the Great Xia Prefecture. Su Yu had asked once, and Zhu Tiandao had replied that they were waiting for an Invincible expert to seal their memories—at least sealing away the divine character disassembly art and the fact that Su Yu had opened 180 divine apertures. Once those two points were sealed, the rest didn't matter. King Daxia had yet to return, so they probably had to wait a while longer. Jin Sheng was right: relying on others was never as good as relying on oneself. Asking for help time after time meant incurring favor after favor. When he asked Zhu Tiandao for assistance, some matters didn't truly require the Manor Lord's personal involvement; the problem was that Su Yu simply had nobody else to turn to. The more debts of gratitude he accumulated, the harder they would be to repay in the future! …… Filing every task into his memory, Su Yu realized how busy he was. He had to visit the Baidao Pavilion. The little fur ball needed to advance. He had to decide which body casting art to adopt, or simply deduce one himself. Having acquired the body casting arts of the Primordial God Race and Primordial Demon Race, Su Yu had activated and examined them using blood essence. After testing them, he possessed a general understanding of how they worked. They were rather preposterous! It wasn't that they lacked strength—they were exceptionally powerful, genuinely capable of thirty-six castings. The crux of the problem was... damn it all, according to the insights granted by the golden album, casting one's body via these two races required three things: first, he could initiate the casting directly with blood essence; second, he had to travel to the God or Demon Realms to harvest primordial heavenly origin qi; third, he could substitute an astronomical quantity of heavenly origin fruits as raw material. To hell with that! Su Yu knew all about heavenly origin qi and heavenly origin fruits. It was the purest form of origin qi between heaven and earth, naturally generated and free of any taint. A human consuming a single heavenly origin fruit could effortlessly open origin apertures in the Kaiyuan Realm. One had to remember that active cultivation was impossible in Kaiyuan, yet that item could open apertures on its own. Heavenly origin fruits were extraordinarily rare. Certain prominent clans might possess a few, but their value was sky-high. Earth origin fruits, on the other hand, were relatively common; Su Yu himself owned a large chest of them, used for opening apertures after reaching Kaiyuan. A single earth origin fruit could open roughly one or two apertures. According to Su Yu's assessment, using the body casting arts of the God and Demon races to temper the physical body would consume an endless amount of heavenly origin qi. God and Demon blood essence... Su Yu faintly understood now. When humans used blood essence for body casting, what they extracted was likely the heavenly origin qi locked within the blood. Every living being possessed heavenly origin qi! It was merely a matter of quantity! It depended on their environment and strength. Why were the blood essences of the Primordial God Race and Primordial Demon Race the most effective? Because their environments were different. Both the Primordial God Realm and the Primordial Demon Realm produced heavenly origin fruits. It was easy to imagine that the gods and demons raised there were bathed in heavenly origin qi from infancy. How could their blood essence not be formidable for tempering the body? The results were naturally first-rate! Yet where was Su Yu supposed to get that much? Was he supposed to rob the Primordial Demon Realm or the Primordial God Realm? Weighing everything, utilizing the blood essence of those races was the superior option. Alternatively, even if he didn't use their blood essence, the blood of other gods, demons, and alien races still contained heavenly origin qi—it was simply more impure, making extraction necessary! "Heavenly origin qi, heavenly origin fruits, blood essence extraction..." Su Yu calculated how he should temper his body. Using blood essence directly was actually quite effective. When absorbed by the album, it essentially extracted the heavenly origin qi within the blood for him to absorb and forge his body. "If I consume the blood essence of other races and then cultivate the body casting arts of powerful races like the gods and demons, can I extract their heavenly origin qi as well? Could that aid me in cultivating those multi-stage body casting arts?" Su Yu had never actually tested this. Body casting arts did not involve origin apertures directly, yet they remained intimately tied to cultivation techniques, requiring apertures to cooperate in converting origin qi. When humans devoured blood essence, they relied on these body casting arts to mobilize specific apertures, breaking down the blood essence to provide heavenly origin qi for body tempering. In other words, even if warriors who opened thirty-six apertures were handed divine or demon blood essence, they had to grind it down slowly! Take his father, for instance! The Great Xia Prefecture had granted him ten drops of god race blood essence. If he used that blood essence for body tempering, he would have to spend ages grinding, digesting, and breaking down a single drop into heavenly origin qi. A body casting art... At this moment, Su Yu saw through to its essence: it was simply a method of utilizing apertures to break down and harness blood essence, or rather, heavenly origin qi! Su Yu had consulted Cao Hui, the creator of the *Nine Stars Body Casting Art*, on this very topic. It was purely an application of apertures! How to employ apertures to break down blood essence swiftly and efficiently, achieving high utilization and rapid conversion—that was the hallmark of a superior body casting art! As for the number of castings, the difference between thirty-six and nine castings was straightforward. With a nine-casting art, once the body underwent nine castings, any further heavenly origin qi extracted and broken down provided virtually zero benefit to the body. The conversion rate became too poor because the physical form had grown too robust. A thirty-six casting art, by contrast, maximized the efficiency of those apertures to continue breaking down blood essence, generating massive amounts of heavenly origin qi. Looking past the surface to the core, Su Yu's grasp of cultivation techniques had grown far deeper than the average person's, bolstered by his widening horizons, the vast library of techniques he had reviewed, and his firsthand practice. Many Civilization Masters were mere theoreticians, whereas Su Yu was a thorough practitioner who could personally test every single technique. Even Cao Hui, creator of the *Nine Stars Body Casting Art*, had experienced few body casting arts firsthand. Su Yu, on the other hand, had personally tested over thirty different varieties within the span of a few days. That wasn't something Cao Hui could replicate, as Cao Hui would have had to cultivate each one himself. "I possess a natural advantage in aperture conversion... after all, I've opened so many apertures. Yet the efficiency still doesn't match using blood essence directly!" Inside the secret chamber. A sudden inspiration struck Su Yu. Perhaps he could make clever use of the album, treating it as an intermediary extraction machine. By combining the album with his own apertures, could he mass-produce heavenly origin qi? "I don't even have to use this heavenly origin qi myself. I could harvest and store it, or even forge my own heavenly origin fruits!" Su Yu's eyes lit up! Was it feasible? He could certainly try! The further he progressed, the more the wondrous nature of the album revealed itself. Many of its uses required his own ingenuity to develop. "If I possessed an abundance of heavenly origin qi, I could cultivate whatever body casting art I pleased. I could even supply some to others, or disguise it as heavenly origin fruits to sell!" "Could this work?" At this thought, Su Yu stopped deliberating and produced a drop of low-grade blood essence: that of an Iron Wing Bird. He possessed a substantial stockpile of it. This material required at least the Tengkong Realm to activate. Body casting arts likewise only appeared at the Tengkong level. Swallowing a drop of Tengkong-level Iron Wing Bird blood essence, he activated the *Iron Wing Nine Castings Art*. It was a low-tier body casting art limited to nine castings—thoroughly mediocre. Su Yu didn't mind. The casting art began circulating rapidly. He caught the sensation! It shared a connection with the Iron Wing Bird's *Qi Gathering Art*. The apertures opened by that technique seemed to be exuding something. Gradually, Su Yu sensed a distinct change! A faint current of qi circulated through his body, then began merging into his flesh, strengthening his physical form! "It really is true!" "Heavenly origin qi! It's heavenly origin qi strengthening the body! A body casting art truly is paired with an aperture-opening technique!" No wonder techniques were categorized into complete sets. If they didn't belong to the same lineage, the body casting art likely couldn't achieve complete synchronization, resulting in reduced efficiency and lower conversion rates. "Can I extract this heavenly origin qi?" The *Iron Wing Nine Castings Art* was too inferior. Tempering his body with such an art would hit a ceiling at nine castings, which held zero appeal for Su Yu. He continued experimenting! Wisps of heavenly origin qi drifted out from his apertures once more. Su Yu attempted to force this qi outward, gradually driving a portion of it from his frame. Yet the moment it left his flesh, a soft hiss sounded as it dissipated into the air, instantly degrading into ordinary origin qi! Su Yu's eyes flickered. Was this heavenly origin qi? Once divorced from blood essence and the physical vessel, it rapidly degraded into regular origin qi? How did the God and Demon races preserve it then? He could extract it without running the full cultivation art; the present challenge lay in preservation! If he solved that... Su Yu could hardly fathom the possibilities! Damn it, even low-tier beasts like the Fire Porcine had heavenly origin qi that could be extracted from their blood essence. Even if the yield was minuscule, the difference in cost was astronomical. Why would he need god or demon blood essence then? He could just extract vast amounts of heavenly origin qi from Fire Porcine blood essence. Obtaining that was hardly difficult, so wouldn't he have an inexhaustible supply? When the time came, he could temper his body however he pleased! "Preserving heavenly origin qi!" Su Yu's eyes gleamed. How could he preserve it? Just as he was pondering, a thump rattled the door outside. A moment later, the little fur ball phased straight through the solid door of the secret chamber and bounced inside. Su Yu's expression changed! Before he could lash out, the little fur ball squeaked in haste, "Smelled it! Delicious! Tastes like home! Delicious!" "Hmm?" Su Yu blinked, surprised. The little fur ball babbled anxiously, "Tasty, sweet, gone! Dissipated!" "Heavenly origin qi?" Su Yu was startled. Heavenly origin qi was supposed to exist only within powerful realms. The Human Realm reportedly had some, but only within specific regions of the two Sacred Lands—an extreme rarity. Did the little fur ball's home have it as well? Then again, hadn't it claimed its father was called a Half-Emperor? Damn it, did this God-Devouring Race truly hail from a formidable realm? "Don't you eat divine characters and willpower? You can eat heavenly origin qi too?" "Eat..." the little fur ball hurried to say. "Can eat! Eating it makes me strong too!" It could eat heavenly origin qi as well. If he couldn't find a place dense with willpower to help it advance, placing it in an area rich in heavenly origin qi would also do the trick. "Get lost, I don't even have enough for myself!" Su Yu frowned. He had no way of storing it, so where was he supposed to get any to feed the creature? With that thought, his eyes flickered. "Fur ball, do you know how to store this stuff?" "Huh?" "The moment it touches the outside world, it dissipates into ordinary origin qi. Do you know how to preserve it?" The little fur ball blinked. "Eat! Give it to me, keep it in my tummy!" Su Yu glanced at it, then suddenly remarked, "I get it! Divine characters! Existing between the illusory and the real, divine characters should be able to store this substance!" The little fur ball might not have been lying! Existing between the corporeal and incorporeal, it might genuinely be able to store it in its belly. Of course, once the creature swallowed it, getting it back would be another matter entirely. Su Yu ignored its plea, but the suggestion had sparked an idea. Divine characters! Perhaps he could use divine characters to store it! Once he resolved the preservation of heavenly origin qi and used it to fuel top-tier body casting arts, he would never have to worry about consuming immense amounts of blood essence for body tempering. Naturally, unlocking the body casting arts in the album still required Tengkong blood essence, which was no small expense. He needed to earn money! Those techniques had been sold, but the payments hadn't fully cleared yet. "Earn money—earn a fortune. Nurture the little fur ball, then find a way to subdue a few powerful experts... I need my own subordinates so I don't have to beg others... Perhaps the Mutual Aid Society should make a reappearance!" Su Yu's eyes gleamed. A Mutual Aid Society, or an Anti-Single Faction Society. This time, he would conceal his identity as much as possible while issuing missions, such as eliminating scoundrels, and even accomplishing things he couldn't do in broad daylight! "I could even establish an All-Races Cult faction!" His gaze turned sharp. Naturally, an undercover one—using thugs and traitors to fight fire with fire! Isn't your Six-Winged God Cult trying to kill my martial uncle? How about I send my cult to raid your headquarters? Slaughtering your members on sight, seizing territory, and plundering followers—nothing personal, just capitalizing on your vulnerability now that humanity has its eyes on you! Standing alone, no matter how strong one was, there were boundaries one could not cross. For instance, if he wanted to kill Yuan Qingdong, he needed evidence, justifiable cause, and precautions against an Invincible expert! But... what if Yuan Qingdong was assassinated by the All-Races Cult? Thoughts raced through Su Yu's mind. "I am willing to follow the rules, yet others refuse!" "Using rules to constrain me time and time again while leaving those people unchecked is unjust!" "If they can borrow the banner of the All-Races Cult to kill, why... can't I?" Su Yu looked down at the little fur ball. Used properly, this creature was a priceless treasure. Perhaps it could be used to bring a cohort of experts to heel! The prerequisite was that they had to be controllable. Even heinous criminals could be brought into the fold. At this moment, Su Yu's mindset underwent a shift. Why had he come to the Great Ming Prefecture? Wasn't it to grow strong? Building an influential faction was another form of strength! A Mutual Aid Society in the light, an All-Races Cult branch in the shadows—operating across both realms, handling dirty work and clean work alike. And right now, he possessed the conditions to do so. Just as Jin Sheng had noted, Su Yu held the trump cards required to set things in motion. 'Could Senior Brother Jin Sheng's underlying message have been precisely this?' Su Yu sank into thought. Had Senior Brother Jin Sheng dropped those hints under the instructions of the Academy Head or someone else? It had to be! I understand now! It was almost certainly the Academy Head. Head Niu had taught him how to exert overwhelming pressure last time, and now he had prompted Senior Brother Jin to hint at operating across both light and shadow. As expected of an old fox of an academy head! Thank you, Academy Head! …… "Achoo!" Upstairs, Jin Sheng sneezed. Old age was catching up; his body really wasn't what it used to be! He sighed faintly. As for hinting at anything... what nonsense was that? …… At the same time. On Yuexin Island, Academy Head Niu furrowed his brows. Who was thinking about him? The sensation felt exceedingly complicated. It didn't seem like malicious scheming, but someone thinking of him in such a convoluted manner left him feeling vaguely unsettled. What did I do? Who on earth could it be?