Come Back Next Time

Floor 40. Flames blazed with brilliant fury! It was about to advance! Before Su Yu could think or do anything, the void trembled, and a thunderous rumble boomed in his ears! *** At the same time. Outside the Baidao Pavilion, the sky suddenly dimmed for a moment. The next instant, the void quivered, and a golden cloud drifted downward. It drifted straight toward the Baidao Pavilion! "What on earth?" "A celestial phenomenon?" The area it covered was small, spanning only a few meters, but at that moment, it still shocked countless onlookers. What was going on? Just as everyone wondered, Niu Baidao chuckled and said, "Floor 40! Su Yu truly is a monstrous talent! Today calls for universal celebration! The Manor Lord of the Great Ming Prefecture sends his blessings and congratulations to Great Ming Academy! Many thanks, Manor Lord!" As the words fell, Zhu Tiandao, who had just arrived, suppressed his inner shock and manifested himself. He laughed heartily. "Indeed, it calls for universal celebration! Su Yu's scholarship in research reaches celestial heights! Little did we imagine that his personal strength on the path of civilization would be just as extraordinary! A worthy occasion to celebrate!" With that, copious drops of yuanqi liquid rained down from the sky, accompanied by an eruption of yuanqi. The students cheered in unison! "Long live the Manor Lord!" Laughing jovially, Zhu Tiandao waved his arms, showering down endless yuanqi liquid that enveloped the golden cloud. The next instant, the yuanqi condensed into clouds of its own, transforming into clumps of golden mist that floated down. He projected his voice with a loud laugh. "Students and teachers, keep up the good work! The Great Ming Prefecture does not place combat power above all else, yet I still hope every one of you can carve out a realm of your own in your respective fields! All hundred paths and hundred crafts can prove the Dao! Su Yu has skipped past two whole cultivation realms—Tengkong and Lingyun—to step into Floor 40 of the Baidao Pavilion. His talent knows no bounds! I hope none of you will reject or alienate him simply because he hails from the Great Xia Prefecture. The human race under heaven is one family; there is no need to make distinctions between us!" Zhu Tiandao sounded magnificent and open-minded, but beneath that exterior, he was frantically sending voice transmissions: "What's the situation? Did Su Yu break through, or what the hell happened? That looked like a Lingyun breakthrough! An ancient race?" "It might be that little fur ball. I sensed that Su Yu brought it in with him!" "Holy crap, it really is an ancient race... Wait, no, for this to happen, its lineage must be terrifyingly strong—there might even be a living Half-Emperor among them! Damn it all, this breakthrough might just attract that Half-Emperor's attention! Holy... shit!" Zhu Tiandao said in shock, "That race definitely has Invincibles! What realm of Invincible? The Invincibles of an ancient race are never weak!" Half-Emperor was an honorific title, whereas Eternal was a cultivation realm. Half-Emperors varied in strength, but... if you were not an Invincible and tried calling yourself a Half-Emperor, an Invincible would swat you to death. A breakthrough into Lingyun had actually summoned a celestial phenomenon! That was the hallmark of immense might! Not only was the little fur ball powerful, but its entire race was formidable as well. If the little fur ball were merely strong on its own, there would be no celestial phenomenon. The underlying mechanics were hard to fathom, but the manifestation of an omen meant the little fur ball's breakthrough had received the blessing of its race's Half-Emperor. Breaching the void and spanning across worlds, the omen descended! Zhu Tiandao cursed inwardly! Which ancient race was this? He had never heard of it! Could it really be just as his old man said—that several hundred years ago, such an entity had briefly appeared, drained an Invincible dry, and vanished into thin air? Damn it! Terrifying! It wouldn't come to the Great Ming Prefecture, would it? Probably not! The human race possessed quite a few Invincibles. No matter how bold that existence was, it would not dare run wild in the Human Realm. Infiltrating a Sun Moon expert was one thing, but if an Invincible dared sneak in, they might never leave! *** At that very moment, in the endless void. In a picturesque small realm. Heaven Yuan Fruits hung from a tree, cluster upon cluster. A giant fur ball opened its eyes. In its gaze, time reversed, rewinding to a year ago. A year ago, while it was fast asleep, a passage opened in the sky. A little fur ball sleeping atop its head saw the passage open and revealed a look of curiosity. Seeing that the giant fur ball was still asleep, it soared out. Moments later, the passage closed. Time flowed on, and the visions blurred. Vaguely, it saw a few scenes, though none were distinct. After a long while, another image emerged: someone was holding a hammer, smashing the little fur ball while firelight flickered across its body. "Innate divine character..." The little fur ball had swallowed an immensely important innate divine character. And that hammer... some kind of special divine skill? The images came to an abrupt halt! The giant fur ball gazed up at the sky. After a long silence, it spoke in an obscure, incomprehensible tongue: "Lingyun already?" So fast! It felt as though it had only dozed off for an instant! When that realm passage opened, it had not paid attention, and the little one had actually run off. "Human Realm!" "Land of Pilgrimage!" "Innate divine character!" "..." After muttering for a moment, the giant fur ball rolled its eyes slightly, bit off a Heaven Yuan Fruit, and sank into deep thought. And this pondering... might last several years or even decades. Should it go bring the little one back? As for those Invincibles in the Human Realm... Who would dare stop me from retrieving my child? If we talk things out reasonably, it shouldn't be much of an issue. Currently contemplating! As for when this contemplation would end, that was hard to say. *** Floor 40. Thunder boomed in Su Yu's ears! The next instant, a golden cloud descended from above. Under Su Yu's stunned gaze, the cloud dissolved into yuanqi, into willpower... Holy crap! Heaven Yuan Qi! At this moment, Su Yu sensed it—that was Heaven Yuan Qi! I'll take that! "Mine!" The little fur ball cried out. This was its own; it knew it was meant for it! "You just sucked mine dry!" Su Yu shouted, before saying in utter shock, "How did your breakthrough trigger a celestial phenomenon?" "Don't know!" The little fur ball had no idea. How would it know? It smelled delicious, so eat first, ask questions later. The cloud was rapidly devoured by the young man and the ball. Su Yu had not settled on a body-casting method yet and did not employ one, so he simply absorbed it raw! His flesh trembled, blood and qi surged, and aperture after aperture was cleansed. Exhilarating! Su Yu felt tremendously invigorated. He had not actually absorbed that much—most of it had gone straight into the fur ball. In the blink of an eye, the cloud was more than half bitten away by it, and in another blink, the cloud was practically finished! Su Yu was speechless. "How can you eat Heaven Yuan Qi?" "Yummy!" "Did you succeed in advancing?" "Don't know!" The little fur ball did not know whether it had advanced either. In any case, it was still a fur ball, though it seemed a little bigger. Before, a single palm could squeeze it entirely; now it was slightly larger, roughly the size of an apple, and one palm could barely hold it. The cloud was soon completely consumed. Su Yu felt thoroughly refreshed! Even his battered "Fire" divine character had been mended considerably, though it was not yet fully restored. This time, whether in terms of willpower or Heaven Yuan Qi, what he absorbed amounted to less than a tenth of what the little fur ball took in. This fellow was simply too voracious! If it still hadn't reached Lingyun after this, there was no justice under heaven! Even so, Su Yu felt his physical body had grown much stronger. His divine apertures were far brighter as well! All 180 divine apertures had been opened, but they were not yet completely linked. Thirty-six of them were still slightly dim. Su Yu was in no rush to link them up; he worried that once he did, he might lose control and instantly break through into the Tengkong Realm! That would not be ideal! He had to wait until his "Fire" divine character was fully restored at the very least! Su Yu was even wondering: when he broke through to Tengkong, would he skip straight into Lingyun? For a civilization master, the gap between Tengkong and Lingyun lay in willpower rank, divine character rank, and the number of divine apertures. Su Yu was certain that once he stepped into Tengkong, his divine characters would reach Tier 3, and his divine apertures were already plentiful. He just didn't know whether his willpower could reach Tier 3. If it could... would that make him a Lingyun? The very thought was frightening! Yes, even he found it frightening. Forget it, no use dwelling on it. Skipping straight to Lingyun was not necessarily a good thing anyway. The stronger one was, the harder it became to outline new divine characters. He should take his time to polish himself and outline enough characters first. At the very least, he should outline more during the Tengkong stage, rather than finding himself still stuck with just eleven divine characters upon reaching Lingyun. Momentarily, Su Yu finished absorbing. The little fur ball finished as well! Before Su Yu could make a move, with a soft smack, the little fur ball crashed onto the ground, flattened into a squashed cake of fur! Su Yu: "..." The little fur ball: "..." Su Yu was utterly exasperated. "Do you have a death wish or something?" Just now, this fellow had suddenly lunged toward his sea of will. The result was plain to see: the golden booklet flashed with golden light and repelled the creature instantly, nearly flattening it into a pancake! The little fur ball looked aggrieved. "Smelled even better!" It couldn't help itself! On top of that, feeling it had grown stronger, it wanted to take a bite, only to get smacked down again! Su Yu was secretly alarmed as well. In the past, whenever this fellow squeezed into his sea of will, he could still sense something pushing its way in. Now... he felt next to nothing! It was getting more and more terrifying! If this race truly possessed Invincibles, which civilization master could possibly counter them? An Invincible civilization master encountering one would probably be driven to tears. Of course, since he had not reached that realm, Su Yu could only speculate. Floor 40 had been sucked dry. Right now, a faint trace of willpower still drifted in the void. Su Yu absorbed a bit of it, slightly replenishing his deficit, and cursed, "You ate my Fire character! If you don't make up for it, we're not leaving!" That damned little fur ball gave Su Yu an immense headache. It was only advancing to Lingyun now; what would happen when it advanced to Shanhai later? He constantly felt he couldn't afford to keep it! Not just him—who on earth could afford to keep it? Look at what it ate! Willpower, divine characters, Heaven Yuan Qi... What family could afford to supply all that? He lingered a little longer until time ran out, and Su Yu stepped onto Floor 41. As for the little fur ball, it concealed itself back inside his sea of will to avoid provoking penalties from the Baidao Pavilion. *** The trial continued. Outside, Zhu Tiandao and the others gathered. Zhu Tiandao had glossed over the matter for the crowd, but he still couldn't resist muttering a curse under his breath: "Where the hell did that thing come from? It's been following Su Yu since Starfall Mountain!" "I heard Hong Tan caught it." "That fellow Hong Tan never does honest work from morning till night! What on earth did he catch? Did he kidnap the descendant of an ancient race?" Zhu Tiandao's head throbbed! Totally unhinged! You don't just go around capturing things like this. Ancient races were lineages that had existed since antiquity. The Primordial Demon Race and the Primordial God Race counted, though certain offshoots within the god and demon races did not. Most ancient races boasted ancient Invincibles. They were respectfully addressed as Half-Emperors! Such races were exceptionally thorny to deal with. Even if they had only one Half-Emperor and no other Invincibles, within their own realm, they were truly unrivaled. Even if seven or eight Invincibles entered, their strength would be suppressed, and they would likely be beaten to death. Unless dozens of Invincibles charged in together, capable of slaying the opponent even under suppression, or simply shattered that realm altogether! Certain smaller realms could indeed be shattered if enough Invincibles attacked. Others could not! In grand realms like those of the gods or demons, entering with dozens or even hundreds of Invincibles might still fail to break through. Otherwise, their own Invincibles would have ruptured the realms long ago. Niu Baidao was equally speechless. "That fellow Hong Tan... he really does have a penchant for curiosities. He dares to snatch anything!" With that, Niu Baidao thought for a moment and added, "It's best if its race is large in number. If they lose one or two, no one will care, assuming the youngster is just out gaining experience in the world. Then it won't be much of an issue." If the population was large, the Half-Emperor might sense something faintly, but wouldn't pay it too much heed. Just pray it wasn't the kind of family with only a handful of members! That would be disastrous! That would mean the Half-Emperor already knew the situation, had pinpointed the little fur ball's location, and knew it was in the Human Realm... That was where real trouble lay. An Invincible could descend upon the Human Realm at any moment. Zhu Tiandao sighed helplessly and soon said, "Fortunately, we managed to cover it up; hardly anyone knows. That kid Su Yu better watch his step. Once he reaches the All-Heavens Battlefield, there might be an Invincible keeping an eye on him!" "Then we just won't let him go..." Before Niu Baidao could finish, Zhu Tiandao cut him off: "If he were purely a researcher, that would be fine. But he isn't! His personal strength is terrifyingly formidable, invincible among his peers. Do you think someone like him can stay cooped up in a research institute for his whole life?" Nonsense! If one lacked strength, fine. But when one possessed such power, who would willingly remain trapped in a lab forever? Both men fell silent. Zhu Tiandao couldn't be bothered to say more and rubbed his temples. "Forget it, that's not our most pressing concern right now. Why hasn't that kid come out yet?" Niu Baidao was even more depressed than he was! "How should I know! That kid has crossed the line! Feasting for himself wasn't enough, he had to bring that little creature in to gorge as well! That's the foundational heritage of our academy!" Feasting by himself was one thing; no matter how much Su Yu consumed alone, there was a limit. Now, he had brought the little fur ball along to feast, feeding it straight into the Lingyun Realm! Unbelievable! Why didn't you just drag a few more inside while you were at it? *** Inside, Su Yu actually entertained that exact thought. He felt he could hardly take in any more! Had he known earlier, perhaps he could have brought Water Person and Shadow inside to feed. Free benefits were free benefits, after all. This Baidao Pavilion was simply incredible! By now, Su Yu had fought his way to Floor 44. Just reaching Floor 44 had already restored his "Fire" divine character nearly back to Tier 1. Reaching Tier 2 would probably take a little longer. As for his other divine characters, Su Yu could sense that many were already close to the pinnacle of Tier 2. His "Blood" divine character was truly on the verge of reaching Tier 3. Su Yu was debating whether he should let the "Blood" character advance. If it advanced, he worried that a Tier 3 divine character would be difficult for him to control, potentially causing internal friction. "Let's restore the Fire character first, and push the rest to the pinnacle of Tier 2. After I break through to Tengkong, I might suddenly gain eleven Tier 3 divine characters!" Su Yu calculated for a moment. By now, the divine characters he encountered were all Tier 3. Floor 44 was roughly equivalent to the second or third stage of Lingyun. Beyond Floor 45 lay the mid-stage of Lingyun. Floor 50 marked the late-stage of Lingyun. "Perhaps I don't need to keep revealing divine characters later on... This place is truly remarkable. Next time I'll start from scratch and forgo divine characters entirely—I should craft weapons instead!" Su Yu had always wanted to improve his weapon-crafting skills, but had never found the time or opportunity. Now, he saw the light. If he took weapon-crafting assessments the whole way through here, his improvement would certainly be immense, perhaps allowing him to rapidly elevate his crafting level. One could enter three times a month... and this was only his first. Even if there were no milestone rewards on the tenth floors next time, it wouldn't matter. He hadn't entered solely for those rewards in the first place! He came to elevate his own proficiency! During this trial, he had opened a staggering sixty-five divine apertures. Su Yu was currently in an exceptional mood. With his spirits lifted, he fought with even greater vigor. Divine characters erupted! Eleven divine characters formed the seal saber, clashing against one divine character after another. Their traits combined continuously as Su Yu experimented with different ways of releasing their powers. He weighed his strengths and weaknesses. Characters like "Break", "Saber", and "Thunder" all boasted immense explosive power, yet they still lacked something. Not fierce enough! "Combinations!" Su Yu had a vague idea. He lacked certain combinations. Because the single-character faction could not form divine character battle techniques, their divine characters were highly complementary to enable combinations. Su Yu, possessing an integrated divine character battle technique, had never paid much attention to that, leaving his individual characters somewhat disorganized. He had simply outlined whatever came to mind! "The Thunder character should be combined with others, like the Thunder Yuan Saber... For the divine skill Thunder Yuan Saber, it would be best to outline a 'Yuan' character. I wonder if they could instantly combine into a saber, converting a martial technique into a divine skill!" A thought struck Su Yu. Techniques like Time—why couldn't they be executed through divine apertures and divine skills? Couldn't they erupt via willpower and divine apertures? With divine characters assisting the combination! Before he knew it, Su Yu had fought his way to Floor 49. By now, he was struggling, fighting with immense difficulty. Floor 49 was the exclusive domain of sixth-stage Lingyun, where the opposing divine characters were extraordinarily potent. Even combined, Su Yu's eleven divine characters were no match for his opponent. He was being beaten back step by step! His "Fire" divine character had fully recovered by now. It felt great—it had completely restored in just nine floors. With his divine character battle technique combined with his strength on the warrior path, if he went all out, he could probably defeat this mid-level Tier 3 divine character. Yet... there was no point! Even if he fought his way to Floor 50, he had no immediate need for the rewards right now. It would be a waste! Such an opportunity only came once per milestone. "Should I save it for next time?" Su Yu pondered. Perhaps coming back once he was fully prepared would be more appropriate. For instance, after breaking through to the Tengkong Realm. Then both his willpower and divine characters could absorb the rewards to advance. Today, he had absorbed to his absolute limit; absorbing any further would be wasteful. "How about waiting until I reach Tengkong, then charging straight to Floor 60 to test the waters? If I stall at Floor 60, I can rake in a massive profit all at once!" Floor 60 was the boundary dividing Lingyun and Shanhai. Su Yu was actually entertaining that thought! Fighting up to Floor 60 to spar against a Shanhai. Of course, that would have to wait until after he reached Tengkong. "Shanhai..." At this moment, Su Yu—who was clearly still only at the Nature Nourishing Realm—suddenly felt that Shanhai was not so unattainable after all! He now had a fair assessment of his own strength. With his divine characters complementing his physical body, fighting a sixth-stage Lingyun was probably feasible... Of course, a real person was a real person, and a divine character was just a divine character. Moreover, the Baidao Pavilion only manifested virtual divine characters; living opponents were far harder to deal with. Against a seventh-stage Lingyun, if he truly encountered one, his chances were slim. Back then, he had slain Zhou Pingsheng only because the man had suffered a backlash, his willpower completely drained to activate that divine talisman. Su Yu's current strength was definitely not weaker than it had been that day. On that day, he had swallowed concentrated blood essence, whereas today he had consumed none. "Lingyun combat strength... Combat strength against a mediocre sixth-stage Lingyun is roughly equivalent to a superior genius at the third or fourth stage of Lingyun. Compared further, perhaps... I could fight Liu Hong to a draw?" Even Su Yu was somewhat taken aback by his own evaluation. He felt his power was roughly on par with a monstrous genius at the first stage of Lingyun. In other words, freshly advanced geniuses like Wu Qi, Liu Hong, and Hu Wensheng were probably around his level of strength. Of course, he was likely no match for Xia Yuwen. Xia Yuwen's defeat at Bai Feng's hands had been an anomaly; in a rematch, even if Bai Feng retained his original strength, he would most likely be pummeled to death. That trick worked only once; it was useless a second time. Su Yu felt a brief moment of daze. Indeed, Wu Qi had only left her name on Floor 49. And he... was currently trading blows with the divine characters of Floor 49. Without realizing it, had he already grown this strong? Opening 360 yuan apertures and 180 divine apertures at the cost of countless resources and steep sacrifices had truly not let him down! *** Outside, no one could tell what floor Su Yu had reached. The only thing they knew was that he had passed Floor 40. Beyond that, Su Yu was clearing floors too slowly for his name to appear on the rankings. He might still be grinding away on Floor 41, or he might have reached Floor 59. In any case, it couldn't be Floor 60—hardly anyone ever reached Floor 60. Naturally, the crowd assumed he hadn't even reached Floor 50, as there weren't many names on Floor 50 either. That was the domain of seventh-stage Lingyun! The Great Ming Prefecture didn't have many seventh-stage Lingyun experts, though quite a few elders had their names etched up there. "This suspense is killing me! What floor did that guy actually reach?" "It's already the evening of the 14th. Should we have another bonfire party tonight?" They had partied for two nights already; what was one more? Someone suggested, "How about making February 12th through the 14th an official holiday? How about calling it the Bonfire Festival? To commemorate Su Yu's trial! That guy might become a Sun Moon or Invincible powerhouse in the future—establishing a festival in his honor makes total sense, doesn't it?" "Good point!" Someone echoed the sentiment, then quickly added, "Those of you who bet Su Yu wouldn't reach Floor 40, stop stalling! Regardless of when he comes out, he's already passed Floor 40! Those who owe a streak run naked, those who owe crossdressing put on dresses... get moving!" "Exactly, hurry it up, don't drag your feet!" "..." They were utterly thrilled. Amidst the crowd, Wu Lan followed Wen Zhong and glanced around, unaccustomed to the atmosphere. She muttered, "Back in the Great Xia Prefecture, if Su Yu cleared Floor 40, everyone would be looking grave!" The rise of a monstrous genius who suppressed his entire generation would impose immense pressure on the civilization masters of the Great Xia Prefecture! They would all think about rushing off to cultivate! We're done for; with a genius like this around, how can the rest of us survive? Yet here... the Great Ming Prefecture was actually preparing to host a Bonfire Festival! Wen Zhong chuckled. "Different places have different customs. At Great Ming Civilization Academy, people don't walk the exact same path. If you excel on the path of divine characters, these people won't think you're inherently superior to them. If someone says he can brew ten thousand kinds of wine, can you? If you can't, then you're not better than him!" Such was the way of the hundred arts and hundred paths. Wu Lan grew thoughtful. After a moment, she asked, "Is that really how it is? In your eyes, combat prowess isn't the sole metric. But on the All-Heavens Battlefield, is being skilled in all those things actually useful? In the Great Xia Prefecture, everyone's goal is to head to the All-Heavens Battlefield..." Wen Zhong smiled. "If everyone goes off to fight, what happens to logistics? What happens to supplies? Why did the Great Xia Prefecture start cutting back on battles last year? Do you really think Manor Lord Xia didn't want to fight? Why has Marquis Xia resorted to swindling and scamming time and again? Among the descendants of Invincibles, Marquis Xia has the foulest reputation, notorious for insatiable greed. But all the money he squeezed—did he spend it on himself?" Wu Lan fell silent. Wen Zhong continued, "Anyone with eyes can see that the Great Xia Prefecture can't afford to fight anymore!" "Then... what about the Great Qin Prefecture?" Wu Lan asked in confusion. The Great Qin Prefecture was constantly waging war too! "The Great Qin Prefecture..." Wen Zhong thought for a moment before saying, "The Great Qin Prefecture is poor as well; their treasury is empty too. But they have one distinct advantage: military rule! All resources in the Great Qin Prefecture are under martial control! The Great Xia Prefecture still keeps wealth among the people; the common folk are reasonably well-off, and some prominent clans have capital and reserves. The Great Qin Prefecture... frankly speaking, is even poorer than the Great Xia Prefecture!" The only reason they could keep fighting was that the Great Qin Prefecture had fewer prominent clans, and their resources were tightly controlled, preventing things from looking overly strained. He continued, "The Great Qin Prefecture also has fewer civilization masters. With fewer civilization masters, the resource consumption of warriors is actually smaller. The Great Xia Prefecture, on the other hand, has plenty of civilization masters. Manor Lord Xia had grand ambitions and wanted to walk on both legs, yet supplies couldn't keep pace. He wanted the people to live well, yet refused to adopt the Great Qin Prefecture's martial rule. As a result of being overly ambitious, their situation has become far more strained than Great Qin's." Wu Lan nodded, but after a long pause, she still murmured dejectedly, "I still feel the Great Xia Prefecture is better." That was her homeland! "The Manor Lord simply wanted everyone to live a better life, not subject to the strict controls of the Great Qin Prefecture. That kind of life lacks freedom..." Wen Zhong chuckled. "To each their own path. Manor Lord Xia's intentions were noble, but alas... some things cannot be satisfied on all fronts, and in the end, one may be left with a somber conclusion. It cannot be helped. The Great Xia Prefecture held on for decades, fought for centuries, and has reached its limit." Wu Lan nodded, then thought for a moment and whispered, "Actually... I think the Manor Lord is still too soft-hearted. The Great Xia Prefecture has many experts staying in the rear. If they were all deployed to the All-Heavens Battlefield, they could secure far more resources!" "Take my Wu family, for example. We have Sun Moon, Shanhai, and Lingyun experts, yet only my father went to the All-Heavens Battlefield, while my sister only visits occasionally. Hardly anyone else goes... That's far too few! They should all go..." Wen Zhong was rendered speechless! Say that in your own home, young lady... You're truly ruthless. Aren't you afraid your own clan will beat you black and blue? Dragging all of them to the All-Heavens Battlefield! As the two conversed, a figure flashed at the entrance of the Baidao Pavilion! Su Yu! Su Yu was out! Floor 49! In the end, Su Yu had conquered Floor 49, but chose not to proceed further and stepped outside. There was no need to keep fighting! Doing it merely for a ranking was completely meaningless. What he wanted were tangible benefits! Next time—when he returned next time, he would continue fighting, continue shearing the wool. *** The moment Su Yu appeared, Niu Baidao and the others arrived instantly. Old Yun glanced at Su Yu, but before he could speak, Su Yu bowed respectfully and expressed his gratitude: "Thank you for your guidance, Elder! I gained immensely this time, all thanks to your reminder!" Many thanks! What a good man! Old Yun felt a lump of frustration catch in his throat. I only reminded you that clearing floors wasn't the goal, hinting that you should reap some benefits—I never told you to shear the wool so ruthlessly! Whenever students or teachers entered for the first time, he offered that same reminder, but how many actually took it to heart? Su Yu had taken it to heart entirely! Not only had he listened, but on his very first attempt, he had mastered the art of stalling floors! Old Yun couldn't help asking, "Have you watched others stall floors before?" "No. Can other people stall them too?" Su Yu was surprised, but then nodded. True enough, there were plenty of smart people out there! Self-taught! Old Yun choked on his breath once more! Damn it! You've never seen it even once, yet you figured it out on your own and mastered floor-stalling on the fly! You really are a genius! Not just an ordinary genius, but a top-tier genius at exploiting loopholes! Though these thoughts swirled within him, he said nothing aloud, secretly stealing a glance at the Void Mirror—Floor 49! Once again, he felt the urge to curse up a storm! You magnificent bastard! You slaughtered your way to Floor 49! And you're truly just a Nature Nourisher! He repeatedly probed with his senses, yet found himself unable to discern Su Yu's exact cultivation realm; it seemed real yet illusory! What realm was this kid actually at? At that moment, Zhu Hongliang came running over, asking eagerly, "Su Yu, what floor did you reach?" "Nothing special..." Su Yu smiled. "The later stages were too difficult; I couldn't push through. I've made up my mind: this first time was just testing the waters. Next time, I'll start from Floor 1 all over again! This Baidao Pavilion is truly useful! No mystic realm can compare. King Daming is truly incredible!" After offering that praise, he voiced his plan. Next time, he would start from Floor 1 again! This time, there were many things he hadn't tried. He hadn't tried weapon crafting, nor beast taming. Next time, he could bring the Suanni or the Mountain-Boring Ox along to try beast taming. Not only that, Su Yu felt that next time, he could try clearing floors purely using willpower without relying on divine characters. Or perhaps purely using his physical body. This Baidao Pavilion was simply wondrous! The moment he said this, the faces of several old men twitched. Damn it, you want to start from Floor 1 again next time? And Su Yu wasn't done calculating. He added, "Clearing floors awards merit points, right...?" At those words, none of them could hold back anymore! Things had already reached this point; you've practically sheared the Baidao Pavilion bald, and you're still obsessing over those few merit points? Have some shame! Niu Baidao walked over as well, feeling utterly exhausted. "Su Yu, attempting the trials too frequently yields little benefit. Rest more, digest your gains..." Su Yu nodded and smiled. "Thank you, Academy Head, I'll keep that in mind! I'll wait at least three or four days before coming back; I won't enter tomorrow..." You might as well have said nothing at all! Zhu Hongliang couldn't hold back his curiosity and asked once more, "What floor did you actually reach?" Su Yu glanced sideways at the crystal stele. Fortunately, his name wasn't on it. These people must have seen him pass Floor 40, right? Su Yu smiled. "Floor 41!" Lying through his teeth! Old Yun made yet another discovery: while others couldn't wait to boast about clearing higher floors, this guy... fabricated lies without blinking an eye. "Floor 41... You only cleared one more floor after that? That's really slow!" Zhu Hongliang sounded somewhat disappointed. I thought you had cleared past Floor 45 at least! Su Yu smiled faintly. "Not bad, I'll work harder next time!" Work hard to reach Floor 60 and test his mettle against a Shanhai! He truly wanted to experience the strength of a Shanhai, though in an actual fight, he was afraid of being beaten to death. Besides, he needed to reach Tengkong first. By now, everything was prepared! Furthermore, once he returned, he needed to link all 180 divine apertures together and see whether the primordial spirit aperture truly existed! At this moment, Su Yu was practically bursting with anticipation. Could discovering the primordial spirit aperture truly change anything? Could he swiftly acquire the combat strength to battle a Shanhai? Between himself and people like Wu Qi, who was stronger? He wanted to test all of it. Perhaps he could find an opportunity to spar with a few of them! Why hasn't the Star Mansion opened yet? He truly wanted to test himself there!