Extrapolating

In a small village outside Nanyuan City, a figure leaped into the air, fleeing rapidly. Just as he took flight, the figure suddenly froze. A massive Ironwing Bird abruptly appeared before his eyes, swooping down to slaughter him! Terrified, the man instinctively drew back. Still suspended midair, he plummeted toward the earth. Right at that moment, the whistle of metal slicing through the air came from his flank. "Hah!" The crisis of impending death snapped the middle-aged man back to his senses. With a furious roar, he suppressed the panic in his chest and swung his saber to the left! An ambush! *The freeze was so brief...* Nearby, Su Yu, who had been lying in wait clad in dusty gray clothes, had that thought flash through his mind. *This guy is only in the Qianjun Realm, yet he snapped out of it in an instant. Sure enough, the illusions created by the divine character still aren't strong or realistic enough.* However, Su Yu had struck first from the flank. Swift as the man's reaction and saber swing were, he still wasn't faster than Su Yu. *Slash!* The sound of metal biting into flesh rang out, followed by a sickening crunch of broken bone. The man's left shoulder severed completely, and his arm dropped to the ground. Yet in the very next instant, the long saber in the man's right hand slashed toward Su Yu's neck. Su Yu retreated rapidly, continuously conjuring illusions before the man's eyes to scatter his focus. Hundreds of demon beasts charged forward to tear into him. Even though he knew deep down they were illusions, the man was only in the Qianjun Realm after all, incapable of standing firm as a mountain. His body shifted slightly to dodge the rushing beasts. With that slight dodge, Su Yu managed to evade the man's heavy saber, sweat drenching his forehead. *Why hasn't Teacher come down to save me yet!* *Once this guy gets used to the illusions, there's no way I can hold out against a Qianjun cultivator unless I devour blood essence for an explosive boost.* Had he swallowed blood essence to burst with power earlier, he could have cleaved the man dead in a single strike. But being in the Kaiyuan Realm, his explosive power and speed fell short. To sever one of the man's arms in that opening blow was already remarkable. Su Yu continued to back away! The searing agony had completely sobered the man up, and the illusions were already dissipating. With bloodshot eyes, the man suffered from his severed left shoulder, blood continuously pouring out. His blood-red eyes glared at the retreating Su Yu, and he let out a beastly roar: "Die!" Throwing all caution to the wind, the man lunged madly after Su Yu! He wasn't going to survive this anyway! He had already been hounded by the Wind Arrest Hall; now, with an arm severed, he had virtually zero chance of making it out alive. Since that was the case, he might as well slaughter the bastard who ambushed him first! Kaiyuan! He had actually been ambushed by a Kaiyuan cultivator! "Drain it! Hurry up and drain it!" Su Yu wheeled around and bolted, all while manipulating the "Blood" character to siphon blood. Even an injured Qianjun cultivator was far beyond what he could handle. From the wound at the man's shoulder, blood spouted incessantly, flowing faster and faster. The man felt his life slipping away and sensed his blood draining at an accelerated rate. Roaring in fury, he pushed his speed even further. Eyes blazing crimson, he was dead set on killing the bastard in front of him! The more power he unleashed, the faster his blood drained. Yet the distance between Su Yu and him closed rapidly. Su Yu panicked. Before the man died of blood loss, Su Yu might well be hacked to death! *Hum!* Hearing the whistling descent of the blade, Su Yu reacted instantly, dropping into a frantic roll across the dirt to dodge the strike. Having been hunted down in nightmares for so many years, he had picked up a trick or two when it came to running for his life. Though those dreams always ended in his death, Su Yu could roughly predict how his pursuer would strike even without looking back. After rolling several times, sharp gravel sliced into Su Yu's cheek, but he didn't have time to care. He scrambled up and kept running. The "Blood" character was still frenetically drawing out the man's blood. The heavy drain on his willpower left Su Yu's face pale, sweat dripping relentlessly. Behind him, having failed to cleave Su Yu in two, the man let out a shrill roar. His vision was already beginning to blur—he had lost far too much blood. "Don't you... dare run!" The man bellowed and charged after him once more. ... "Instructor Liu, are you not going to intervene?" Nearby, Wind Arrest Hall Master Zeng Hua looked toward Liu Wenyan. The cultist was fighting like a cornered beast, hell-bent on killing Su Yu. Su Yu was, after all, only at the Kaiyuan Realm; if this went on, he would be in grave danger. Liu Wenyan remained silent. It wasn't time yet. Besides, with his Tengkong-level willpower and the enemy less than a hundred meters away, pinning the man in place instantaneously would be effortless. Naturally, he was in no hurry. He wanted to see just how far Su Yu could push himself. Even now, the boy had far exceeded his expectations. A Kaiyuan cultivator ambushing someone at the Qianjun Realm—specifically the sixth stage of Qianjun—and managing to lop off an arm was already astonishing. Just as Liu Wenyan was mulling this over, the man caught up to Su Yu once again. Liu Wenyan readied himself to strike, but right at that moment, Su Yu suddenly spun around as though preparing to fight to the death. *Impatient...* Liu Wenyan silently evaluated. Just as the thought crossed his mind, Su Yu abruptly shouted, "Don't kill him! Take him alive!" The man's heavy saber was already bearing down on Su Yu, but hearing those words, panic seized his heart. A rushing wind whistled behind him! Even though he had already resolved to die, the threat of an attack from behind caused him to instinctively dodge aside. Meanwhile, Su Yu turned on his heel and fled once more. The man dodged, but there was no further movement behind him. In that split second, Su Yu had used his willpower to simulate an illusion, stirring the air just enough to manufacture a false alarm. Up ahead, scrambling on all fours, Su Yu had already put another dozen meters between them. "I'll slaughter you!" The man roared in fury, realizing he had been duped. "How does he still have so much strength?" Panting heavily, Su Yu thought, *He's bled so much, yet he's still this vigorous? Is a Qianjun cultivator really this hard to kill?* *Didn't I kill them with one slash last time?* Back at the academy, he had ambushed and killed two Qianjun cultists, and later learned they were at the seventh stage of Qianjun. Because of that, he hadn't held much fear toward the Qianjun Realm. But today... Su Yu realized how wrong he had been. Without devouring blood essence for an explosive burst, and without a lethal ambush, let alone the seventh stage, even a cultivator at the third stage of Qianjun could slaughter him in no time. *Drain faster!* Su Yu roared in his mind. Little Bro 'Blood' was far too disappointing. And it called itself a divine character! *With such a massive wound on him, you're accelerating his blood loss at a snail's pace. You're practically a piece of trash divine character!* The "Blood" character was also doing its utmost to drain, but it was simply too weak. Su Yu's willpower was feeble, and he had nurtured the character for too short a time. After several bursts, the "Blood" character had grown considerably dim. At this moment, its power was nowhere near what it had been. From behind, the whoosh of a blade rose again. Without a second thought, Su Yu threw himself into another roll. The saber struck the earth, sending sharp pebbles scattering everywhere. The jagged stones grazed his cheeks and neck, opening thin lines of blood. Su Yu couldn't care less. After rolling frantically for a bit, he scrambled with hands and feet, dropped his saber entirely, and bolted for his life. He looked utterly pathetic! "Bas... tard!" Failing to cut down Su Yu after several strikes, fury surged in the man's chest. His target was just a Kaiyuan cultivator, yet slippery as an eel. Coupled with his severed left shoulder and grievous injuries, the excruciating pain severely slowed his reaction speed. Now, darkness was creeping into the man's vision; he had lost far too much blood. Watching his prey slip away once more, the man let out a final, beast-like roar! In the next instant, he stopped chasing! With a metallic hum, he hurled the long saber forward! The instant the saber flew from his hand, the man stared desperately ahead, wanting to see the outcome, but his body collapsed to the ground with a dull thud! A cultivator at the sixth stage of Qianjun was still human, not a god. Bleeding out like that, he could hold on no longer. *Hum!* The screech of cutting air tore from behind. This time, Su Yu couldn't react in time. He sensed the danger, but his body couldn't keep up. The next instant, he felt the icy edge of the blade graze his back. *I'm dead!* The thought flashed across his mind, but in the next second, the long saber froze in place. Not far away, Liu Wenyan felt pleased inside, yet no joy showed on his face. He walked over with a frown and said, "You can't even deal with a crippled piece of Qianjun trash? This was just cannon fodder from the All-Races Sect! Far inferior to someone of the same realm in the Wind Arrest Hall or the City Guards... not to mention the Prefectural Army, the Longwu Guards, or the frontline legions!" "Any soldier hardened on the frontlines could kill him effortlessly, even if they were weaker than him!" Liu Wenyan wore a look of utter displeasure! Beside him, Wind Arrest Hall Master Zeng Hua didn't know whether to laugh or cry. The man had been at the sixth stage of Qianjun! What realm was Su Yu at? Kaiyuan Realm! And not even the eighth stage, but the seventh stage! He had nearly driven a sixth-stage Qianjun cultivator to his grave, yet this old instructor was still dissatisfied. And comparing him to frontline veterans, no less! What a joke. Even on the frontlines, without reaching the fourth stage of Qianjun, killing that cultist would have been virtually impossible. In terms of physical conditioning, reaction time, and explosive power, Su Yu lagged far behind his opponent. If not for his bag of tricks, he would have been chopped down the moment his ambush landed, let alone killed the man! Looking utterly disheveled and covered in cuts, Su Yu panted heavily and smiled wryly upon hearing that. "Teacher... *pant*... his vitality was too tough. He wouldn't die no matter how long it took, and I had no chance to land a second blow." "You only get one strike!" Liu Wenyan neither agreed nor disagreed. "When the weak seek to leap ranks and kill the strong, opportunities don't last forever—there's only that single split second! If during your ambush, while he was dazed, your blade had struck his head instead of his shoulder, he would already be dead!" "Do you think that on a battlefield, an enemy will grant you a second chance?" "In that one moment, if he doesn't die, you do!" "Either don't ambush at all, or prepare thoroughly for a fatal strike! Don't gamble with your life!" Liu Wenyan said sternly, "So in the end, your timing and judgment were lacking. If I hadn't stepped in, his dying strike would have killed you!" Su Yu pulled a long face and nodded, tacitly acknowledging the criticism. "Middle-stage Qianjun is worth two merit points. But since I had to step in at the end, you receive one merit point. Any objections?" "None!" Su Yu shook his head. Getting one merit point wasn't bad at all. Late-stage Qianjun was worth three merit points, while early-stage was only one. This was equivalent to killing someone in early-stage Qianjun. Only now did Su Yu truly understand just how difficult it was to earn merit points. Previously, mastering a language rewarded him with one point; it merely took a lot of time. But killing... that required putting one's life on the line! If the Civilization Academy followed this same standard, expecting students whose willpower hadn't even reached Manifestation to earn merit points, how many of them could actually kill a Qianjun cultivator? Even on the battlefield, for a Qianjun soldier to kill an enemy Qianjun was no easy feat. Licking blood from the blade's edge, slaying an enemy yielded three merit points at most. It showed just how precious they were. Liu Wenyan let slip a faint smile, quickly suppressing it as he spoke again: "Whenever you can solo-kill a middle-stage Qianjun on your own, consider yourself graduated! And not like today, where you nearly got yourself killed!" "In combat, you can use any means necessary!" "This is a life-and-death battlefield, not an arena sparring match. Don't worry about the means; we only care about the result!" Liu Wenyan gave Zeng Hua a parting nod and spoke as they walked, "When creating illusions, why do you always only think of demon beasts attacking? There are countless kinds of illusions, and not everyone is afraid of demon beasts." "You could conjure up a beautiful woman without any... ahem, you know!" "You could also conjure an image of me—I'm in the Tengkong Realm. Though of course, my fame isn't wide enough. You could simulate the city lord; he should recognize him. Don't you think he'd be terrified if he saw a Tengkong cultivator?" "Illusions take many forms. Don't limit yourself. I find your thinking too rigid right now—all you know is simulating demon beasts tearing into people. It's completely lacking in creativity!" Su Yu seemed deep in thought, then whispered, "Teacher... um... a beauty without... ahem, I've never seen one. Even if I simulated it, it wouldn't be realistic. How about I..." "Nonsense!" Liu Wenyan snapped in reprimand, then cleared his throat and coughed lightly. "I was just speaking off the cuff—don't look into it! Don't you dare get any funny ideas, kid!" Liu Wenyan regretted it a bit. *Why did I blabber about that just now?* *If this kid actually runs off to that kind of place and his old man finds out, will his father charge back from the frontlines to settle the score with me?* Su Yu obediently nodded, his eyes darting as he asked again, "Teacher, what do you think? Next time, if I simulate Prefect Xia, would anyone believe it?" "..." Liu Wenyan glanced at him sideways. *This kid certainly has guts.* Xia Longwu was the Prefect of the Great Xia Prefecture. How did this kid lack even a shred of awe or reverence? Su Yu continued, "Tell me, if I simulate Prefect Xia, would the enemy be scared to death? Or would they find it too unbelievable? Maybe... add a woman beside him? If they bumped into Prefect Xia on a date with a woman, don't you think they'd be dumbfounded?" Liu Wenyan tugged at his beard. *Well, well, learning to extrapolate, aren't you!* The core issue was: *Kid, do you realize you're courting death?* Of course, right now this kid was leagues away from Xia Longwu. But if Xia Longwu ever saw it one day... Liu Wenyan couldn't imagine the consequences. "*Cough, cough*, do whatever you want!" Liu Wenyan didn't want to say more. He had merely dropped a hint, and the kid was already creating entire scenarios. What else could he say? As he was thinking, Su Yu didn't pursue that topic further and steered back to business: "Teacher, I looked at the examination schedule for this year yesterday. The top scorer in the War Academy exam gets three drops of yuanqi liquid..." Liu Wenyan looked at him. *What are you trying to say?* "Do you think if I take both exams and take first place for the War Academy, they'll give me the yuanqi liquid?" By 'first place', he meant first place in Nanyuan. First place in a small city; this yuanqi liquid reward was provided by the Nanyuan City Lord Manor, not the War Academy. The War Academy hardly cared about the top rank of a small city, unless one took first place across the entire Great Xia Prefecture. Liu Wenyan was at a loss for words. "You want to swindle the reward?" "Teacher, it's not swindling. The examination guidelines don't state that passing means I have to enroll. If I get accepted but choose not to go, I still qualified, right?" "Are you so certain you can take first place?" Nanyuan might be small and lacking in geniuses, but... but this kid really seemed to have a shot at first place. This was only Nanyuan, after all, not one of the major cities. At the Kaiyuan seventh stage, it was more than enough. Liu Wenyan shot him another glance. Lately, he felt this student of his was really letting loose. He even dared to hustle rewards now! Liu Wenyan fell into deep thought. *When did this start?* *Oh, right. It seems to have started the day I called him too indecisive. The kid changed after that. He certainly isn't indecisive now—he's alarmingly blunt, scheming to hustle rewards without a second thought.* "Suit yourself!" Liu Wenyan couldn't be bothered to argue further. "Just make sure it doesn't interfere with your Civilization Academy exam. Also, if you swindle that reward, Wu Wenhai might not care, but whoever places second will probably want to hack you to pieces." Su Yu didn't care. Three whole drops of yuanqi liquid! His entire life savings could barely afford three drops; he'd be a fool to pass up free loot. "There's a time difference between the two exams. I checked; the schedules don't conflict." Su Yu weighed it over and felt it wasn't a problem. If applicants couldn't take both, the academy wouldn't have allowed students to register for two tracks in the first place—it was designed to give students options. And Su Yu had previously registered for both the Civilization Academy and the War Academy, so he was fully eligible. Today was already June 1st; not much time remained until the exams. Over these past ten-plus days, he had been following Liu Wenyan around various areas hunting down All-Races Sect cultists. Though Su Yu hadn't made many moves himself, he felt he was getting close to the Kaiyuan eighth stage. Perhaps with a few more cultivation sessions and devouring a few more drops of blood essence, he would advance to the eighth stage. At the Kaiyuan eighth stage, who in Nanyuan could stand as his match? First place was in the bag! A chance to grab three drops of yuanqi liquid for free—why wouldn't he? Liu Wenyan said nothing more, feeling as though he had led the youth astray! What a pure and honest kid he had been, and now he was picking up all kinds of absurd notions—all taught by him! He just hoped the brat wouldn't go running off to those shady establishments right now to ogle unclothed vixen spirits. Liu Wenyan grew a little worried. *He wouldn't actually go look, would he?* "Su Yu, before your willpower reaches Manifestation, it's at its most volatile. If you succumb to worldly women, you'll be practically ruined, understand? That is why your teacher has remained unmarried all these years. Keep that firmly in mind!" Su Yu blinked. *There's a rule like that?* *I've never heard anyone mention that before!* Of course, he only knew two Civilization Masters: Liu Wenyan and Bai Feng, and Bai Feng had only taught him for a single day. Since Liu Wenyan said so, Su Yu couldn't dispute it. "Understood. If anyone tries to seduce me, I'll hack her to death!" Su Yu nodded solemnly. Before Manifestation, if anyone dared sabotage his Great Dao of willpower, he would show no mercy! "..." Liu Wenyan realized he had misspoken yet again! *A model teacher... next time, I really can't speak so carelessly. If this kid... fails to find a wife in the future... fine, at worst, this old man will introduce one to him!* Exasperated, Liu Wenyan thought: *Teachers aren't supposed to lie. I must be careful next time—I definitely can't talk nonsense with this kid anymore.*