A Shut-In Wants to Go Out

April 25. Su Yu walked out of the Pavilion of a Hundred Dao and returned quietly to the Primordial Spirit Research Institute. This time, he had stayed in the Pavilion of a Hundred Dao for twenty-five days, repeating weapon-forging tasks for twenty-five straight days. At this moment, his mind was brimming with all kinds of forging methods and forging processes. No one else could persistently forge weapons non-stop for twenty-five days like him. Not even Zhao Li! Zhao Li had not opened as many divine apertures as he had, nor was Zhao Li's recovery speed as fast. Su Yu's willpower recovered even more quickly. If Zhao Li truly depleted his willpower, he would likely need to recuperate for a very long time. Su Yu had no such need. Fifty-first floor—a mid-grade Profound-rank weapon forger. Of course, the Pavilion of a Hundred Dao was virtual after all. To complete the forging of an actual Profound-rank weapon, Su Yu still needed to test it several more times to grasp the difference between real and virtual objects before he could truly become a mid-grade Profound-rank weapon forger. In the Pavilion of a Hundred Dao, on the fifty-first floor, Su Yu had forged a cultural weapon bearing forty-six gold patterns, which was also his current peak. He could not push any higher. His degree of control was insufficient, his experience was lacking, his willpower was not strong enough, and he lacked the requisite reservoir of knowledge. Even so, Su Yu was thoroughly satisfied. His progress was unimaginably swift, though it had cost quite a bit of money. Naturally, during these twenty-five days, he had not forged weapons the entire time. He had also healed his wounds and tempered his body. It was just that his body tempering speed had been dragged down a little; at this moment, Su Yu had only just completed his seventh temper. He had already completed his fifth temper long before challenging Shan Xiong, yet in over a month, Su Yu had only completed two more. His Heaven Yuan Qi was completely exhausted! He had given a portion to Hu Qi, and Zhu Tiandao had consumed some during the demonstration in the Quest Realm. Su Yu had not yet refined the mid-to-late Lingyun Mountain-Breaking Ox blood essence, but the Heaven Yuan Qi he had previously extracted was thoroughly spent. Once the remaining Mountain-Breaking Ox blood essence was fully extracted, it would yield roughly the equivalent of fifty Heaven Yuan Fruits. Su Yu felt that with his current physical body, he should be able to withstand late Lingyun essence. After all, having completed seven tempers, he was far stronger than an ordinary seven-temper practitioner, easily rivaling the physical bodies of weaker Lingyun cultivators. Absorbing a few drops of mid-to-late Lingyun blood essence should not cause him any harm. “The equivalent of one hundred and fifty Heaven Yuan Fruits... I used about one hundred and twenty myself to complete seven tempers. Add to that the heavenly rules reward from that day, and each body temper requires about twenty fruits' worth. My body tempering consumes double what an ordinary person needs!” Su Yu sighed. Extracting the equivalent of one Heaven Yuan Fruit currently cost him an average of around 1,000 merit points. With twenty fruits per temper, the cost of a single temper was 20,000 merit points. The blood essence he had exchanged for last time should theoretically have been enough to complete ten tempers, but he had given part of it away. Whatever was left would only yield enough for about one or two tempers. At best, completing nine tempers would completely exhaust all his savings. Of the 1.26 million merit points Marquis Xia had given him, he had given 1 million to Hu Xiansheng, spent 200,000 previously, and spent 20,000 on the Pavilion of a Hundred Dao. With the remaining 40,000 merit points, he had bought some goods and supplied several items to the institute, leaving him with practically nothing now. “Seventy-two tempers... At present, it seems I still need at least 1.3 million merit points or so. “Time to ask the Manor Lord for my share!” Su Yu calculated the figures. His Primordial Spirit Cultural Art, Primordial Spirit Aperture Opening Art, and the highest version of the Dual Wu Aperture Fusion Art had all been distributed through the Great Ming Prefecture. Several months had passed by now, and even the Primordial Spirit Aperture Opening Art, which had circulated for the shortest time, had been out for nearly two months. They should have generated quite a fortune by now, right? The complete Primordial Spirit Cultural Art was priced at 100 merit points. Su Yu had not set the price high for the Primordial Spirit Aperture Opening Art either, also pricing it at just 100 merit points. Of course, for academies and the military, the price was heavily discounted—a flat seventy percent off. As for the fusion art, even its highest version was priced at only 50 merit points. The creator was entitled to forty percent of the revenue. Su Yu made a rough estimate. The cultural art likely saw fewer sales since Civilization Masters were a minority, but the Primordial Spirit Aperture Opening Art would definitely have massive numbers. For every person who purchased it, he received 40 merit points. Of course, within Great Ming, there was a thirty percent discount because Su Yu had stated so himself, which still gave him 28 merit points, while for the military, his cut was 12 merit points. If one hundred thousand people exchanged for it, even if they were all from the military, Su Yu would still receive 1.2 million merit points in royalties. “That's seriously lucrative!” Su Yu felt a wave of emotion as he recalled arts like the Myriad Characters Scripture and the War God Art. Those charged far more than his did! Having circulated them for so many years, just how much wealth had the Quest Realm and the War God Hall accumulated? One had to realize that the Quest Realm and the War God Hall were also entitled to take twenty percent of the revenue from cultivation arts. If the creator was one of the two sacred lands themselves, they could claim sixty percent. And those two sets of arts had been distributed for several decades now, nearing a full century. Even if they only netted 50 points per practitioner, with a million people across the entire Human Realm learning them every year, that was 50 million points of annual revenue. Over decades... Su Yu drew a sharp breath. It was likely in the billions of merit points. Merit points were not issued haphazardly. They were issued by the two sacred lands only after assessing the value created by cultivators through various criteria. With the various prefectures acting as overseers, the purchasing power of merit points was absolute. With billions of merit points in play, even as the creators of the currency, the two sacred lands could not fabricate or distribute them recklessly, or they would destroy the economic system of the entire Human Realm. All these years, their earnings had been so immense, but now... had he ruined that for them? Su Yu recalled Wen Zhong's warning that day: he had shattered some people's golden rice bowls. Previously, when the Zhou and Yuan families kept quiet, he had not paid it much mind. But thinking about it now, he had shattered a market worth billions of merit points. Could those people truly not harbor hatred toward him? “I still need to be cautious!” Musing over this, Su Yu stepped into the research institute. Wu Lan happened to be coming downstairs. Seeing him enter from outside, she was somewhat surprised. She looked up at the upper floor, then glanced at Su Yu, opening her mouth in slight bewilderment. After a long while, she spoke up. “When did you come out?” Wasn't he in closed-door seclusion? “I came out this morning to get some fresh air.” “This morning?” Wu Lan looked at him suspiciously. “I was playing with the little fur ball on the first floor all morning. How come I didn't see you come down?” “I went out last night.” “Last night?” Wu Lan pondered for three seconds, then realization dawned. She cast him a look of utter disdain. “You're injured, yet you spent the night out? Going to that kind of place while injured... Su Yu, the more I get to know you, the more I realize you're just like the rest—a shameless degenerate!” Su Yu thought about it for a moment before finally understanding what she meant. Speechless, he could not be bothered to explain. Let her think whatever she wanted. He cut straight to the point. “Cut the nonsense. Have there been any results on your end lately?” “No,” Wu Lan said with a headache. “We've been researching the Spirit Fusion Art lately. Senior Brother Wen and the others are focusing primarily on that area right now. They've completely abandoned researching the primordial spirit apertures. After all, compared to the primordial spirit apertures, a spirit fusion art is probably more suitable for everyone. Besides that, they're developing the next version of the Dual Wu Aperture Fusion Art to see if they can create a 72-aperture or 108-aperture version to help Shanhai cultivators quickly fuse their apertures. The current version doesn't offer much help for Shanhai cultivators fusing into a single aperture.” Everyone had given up on the primordial spirit apertures. Su Yu had asked them to drop it. He already had some clues himself and did not need them to waste their energy. Since the elders had all pivoted to researching aperture fusion arts, and Su Yu might indeed need a divine aperture fusion method soon, he had no objections. The same went for a higher version of the aperture fusion art—if they developed it, Su Yu could enjoy the fruits of their labor. It remained to be seen whether they would yield any results, though. If they couldn't, Su Yu would still have to experiment step by step on his own. “While I was in seclusion, did anything else happen?” “There was!” Wu Lan said with gloating relish. “Over in the Great Zhou Prefecture, several intense battles broke out recently. A member of the Heavenly Eye God Race at the eighth stage of the Sun Moon Realm spied on the Great Zhou Prefecture from afar, and Zhou Polong struck him down! “Over in the Great Zhou Prefecture, Manor Lord Zhou Potian dispatched an army over the past few days to purge the All-Races Cult members in the surrounding areas. “Oh, right, some assassins also appeared in the Human Realm recently, assassinating several Shanhai experts. Every prefecture is on high alert. Those assassins might belong to the Six-Winged Divine Cult. Those guys are completely mad! A few days ago, General Zhao and the others cornered them and killed several Shanhais. The remaining two Sun Moons were on the verge of disaster, but... they were rescued! The All-Races Cult actually deployed eight Sun Moon experts to save them... It even alarmed the Great Han King!” As Wu Lan spoke, she sighed. “Never mind the Great Zhou Prefecture's misfortune, but the Human Realm has truly become far too chaotic lately! I heard the All-Races Cult formed a Cult Master Council, and their Sun Moons are operating together now, so none of them will be caught isolated anymore. “Also, powerful experts from the myriad races have sneaked in as well. In recent days, their experts have been quite active. “Furthermore, monster race and aquatic race unrest has broken out across the three great seas of the Human Realm. Word is that experts from the myriad races snuck over and struck deals with them. “On top of that, the Great Xia Prefecture is actually admitting god and demon race students! They're probably already on their way. Marquis Xia is truly shameless!” Su Yu offered a moment of silent pity for Marquis Xia. Was it truly Marquis Xia's idea? Whatever, let it be him. Since an exorbitant tuition fee had been collected and word had it that Marquis Xia pocketed the sum, he was the one taking the blame. He would undoubtedly be cursed to death by the people of the Great Xia Prefecture. Now, whenever anyone in Great Xia opened their mouth, Xia Xiao'er was bound to come up. “Down with Xia Xiao'er” had practically become a catchphrase. “What about my teacher and the others?” “Teacher Bai and the others are preparing the academy. Nothing much has happened to them for now. I heard that Vice Manor Head Yuan Qingdong has kept quiet lately too.” Su Yu nodded. “Any news about Manor Lord Xia Longwu?” Last he heard, Xia Longwu had left the Great Xia Prefecture. “None. No one knows where the Manor Lord ran off to!” Wu Lan shook her head, then quickly added, “Oh, right, there's another thing. You know that Wan Mingze, right? He actually broke through to the Tengkong Realm! Didn't he cultivate your Primordial Spirit Cultural Art? That guy took a few people and started roaming the Human Realm. He's totally naive. I heard he's running around to various academies looking for geniuses, claiming he wants to form a Youth League to accompany him to the battlefield... saying he wants to break the barriers between the prefectures and form a Human Realm Youth Allied Army.” Su Yu paused slightly. A Human Realm Youth Allied Army? This... He recalled how Wan Mingze had constantly tried to persuade him back then. Put aside internal strife, unite against external threats, join a third party, and tear down divisions... Was he already beginning to do it? He had only just reached Tengkong! Su Yu was actually not optimistic about his chances, but hearing this, he could not help but ask, “How did it go?” “I told you he's naive!” Wu Lan curled her lip. “He's still wandering the Human Realm. I heard he's only convinced seven or eight people so far. They're all idealists, mostly commoner cultivators, plus a few opportunists who think that since he's Academy Head Wan's grandnephew, he has family wealth, so they're just tagging along for the ride.” She looked down on the idea completely. A mere Tengkong wanting to form some Youth Allied Army—who did he think he was? Even if Su Yu and Shan Xiong went out to form one, barely anyone would pay them any heed, let alone Wan Mingze, who had virtually no fame outside the Great Xia Prefecture aside from being Wan Tiansheng's grandnephew. “Youth Allied Army...” Su Yu murmured softly. Breaking the barriers between the prefectures through the younger generation? Wan Mingze was being far too simplistic! Unless those youngsters were top geniuses from every prefecture backed by formidable powers, there was hardly any hope of pushing the various prefectures toward complete unification. As things stood, the armies of each prefecture fought their own battles. Only in an emergency on the battlefield did the Great Qin King have the authority to command the military forces of every prefecture. What could Tengkong cultivators accomplish? The strongmen serving the two sacred lands were all at the Tengkong Realm, numbering in the hundreds of thousands. What influence could someone at Tengkong exert? He was not optimistic. Despite his doubts, Su Yu silently wished him well. Xia Huyou had once said that Wan Mingze was either a hypocrite or a saint. Whether hypocrite or saint, since he had taken action and made the first move, Su Yu wished him success. Even if his goal was to unite the human race, Su Yu hoped he would succeed. The factions of the Human Realm were far too fractured. If he truly had the capability to unite humanity and pool the entire race's strength to resist the myriad races, Su Yu would acknowledge him as a real man, even if he ended up as the sole king of mankind. Thinking of his former classmate, who had set out across the Human Realm to lobby geniuses across all prefectures the moment he stepped into Tengkong, Su Yu still felt a twinge of admiration. Wan Mingze... hopefully he could achieve some results. “Did he come to the Great Ming Prefecture?” “No, he headed north along the route and didn't come south.” Wu Lan smiled. “It's not like he has no support either. Somehow, that guy managed to persuade Jiang Mu and Hu Wensheng's senior disciple, Guo Shengquan, to support him and travel with him. Both of them have stepped into the Tengkong Realm now as well.” “Senior Brother Jiang Mu went too?” “Yup!” Wu Lan smiled. “He probably envies that roaming knight-errant lifestyle. Senior Brother Jiang always loved reading all sorts of travelogues, as you know.” Su Yu nodded. That was true. When Jiang Mu joined the Primordial Spirit Research Institute, that was the specialty he had brought up. He had read thousands of travelogues, and he had been the first to mention the matter concerning Bai Tianhao. “Oh, right...” Wu Lan added, “And that former number one on the Top 100 Rankings, remember him? Zhan Hai went along too! That Wan Mingze is seriously persuasive, actually managing to pull people away!” Zhan Hai! Su Yu smiled. Even that guy had gone. Wan Mingze truly had some skill. Of course, speaking of pulling people away... Su Yu shot a glance at Wu Lan. Didn't you follow me to the Great Ming Prefecture too? “Any news of my martial uncle?” “None!” Wu Lan said, puzzled as well. “The two Sun Moons from the Six-Winged Divine Cult were rescued, and their Shanhais were wiped out, yet there's still no word of Director Chen. Could he have been...” She did not finish her sentence. Could he have been killed? Otherwise, he shouldn't be in much danger now! Why hadn't he shown up yet? Su Yu said with a smile, “Nonsense. He's probably hiding somewhere and doesn't know that the Sun Moons from the Six-Winged Divine Cult fled...” Though he said that, a faint worry lingered in his heart. “What about my senior sister?” “Still in seclusion, probably!” Wu Lan shook her head. “I don't know the details. There hasn't been any news of her for days. Elder Hong is there, so she's probably fine.” “All right, I understand.” Having caught up on the events of the past month, he found quite a lot had occurred. In summary, the world had grown even more chaotic. The All-Races Cult had united, experts from the myriad races had snuck into human territory once more, and turmoil had erupted over in the Great Zhou Prefecture. In short, peace was nowhere to be found. “I'll probably still need to heal for a while. You should step it up too and get stronger as soon as you can. If you really can't open all seventy-two divine apertures, it doesn't matter—just advance to Tengkong directly...” “No way!” Wu Lan refused. “I'm still waiting to finish outlining my divine character so I can extract willpower to make myself advance!” Then keep waiting! Su Yu could not be bothered to persuade her. This woman had previously claimed she wanted to enter Tengkong, only to turn around and change her tune. Women, hah! He grumbled internally. Wu Lan, oblivious to his thoughts, asked, “When will you be finished healing?” “About two to three months.” “Still that long?” “Yeah.” “Alright then, go back into seclusion. We'll keep working even without you. I'll keep an eye on things for you!” “...” Su Yu let out a laugh. Fine, suit yourself. After chatting a bit and brushing her off with a few noncommittal replies, Su Yu quickly walked out again. He was heading over to ask Zhu Tiandao for money; he needed to purchase large quantities of blood essence and some forging materials. He had acquired plenty last time, but he had entrusted Xia Huyou to take them back to the Great Xia Prefecture as a gift for Zhao Li. *** Great Ming Prefecture, the Manor Lord's Residence. Su Yu faced almost no restrictions entering the residence and was quickly waved through by the guards. At the entrance, he bumped into Zhu Qingyan. Seeing Su Yu now, Zhu Qingyan wore a somewhat complicated expression. After defeating Shan Xiong, the impression Su Yu left on everyone had undergone a massive shift. Everyone knew Shan Xiong was a genius, yet he had still lost to Su Yu... Zhu Qingyan sometimes wondered what it would be like to find a man like Su Yu. Shang Tianjiao of the Great Shang Prefecture had thrown caution to the wind for Shan Xiong. To Zhu Qingyan, who had never left her home prefecture but had read plenty of romantic novels from the streets, the idea of roaming the ends of the earth with a hero must feel wonderful—even if Su Yu had not yet wandered to the ends of the earth. While she was lost in thought, Su Yu caught sight of her, immediately took a turn, and gave her a wide berth. Zhu Tiandao had mentioned last time that Zhu Qingyan wanted to hook up with him, and Su Yu still remembered it. Women were stumbling blocks! No romance! He had gotten used to Wu Lan because she never talked about such things. As for Zhu Qingyan... best stay away from her. Su Yu was naturally aware of what had happened between Shang Tianjiao and Shan Xiong. He felt that the reason Shan Xiong had not been as strong as expected was probably due to Shang Tianjiao's influence having affected him; otherwise, Shan Xiong might have been even more formidable! Seeing him dart away so fast, Zhu Qingyan could not help but curse under her breath. What was wrong with this guy?! Running the moment you see me—did I offend you? *** Su Yu did not care what she thought. Soon, he found Zhu Tiandao in the back garden. Old Zhu was fishing. Seeing him arrive, he smiled and asked, “How are your injuries?” “Not bad. I'll recover in a few months.” “...” Zhu Tiandao could not help but silently curse. Bullshit! A few more months? He could already sense that at least half of the 144 Yuan apertures the kid had detonated were restored. The further along it got, the easier it became. At most, he would surely be fully healed within a month. He recovered ridiculously fast! Even Zhu Tiandao felt envious! Not only were his apertures almost healed, but his physical body also seemed sturdier. No, his willpower seemed to have improved as well. When others went into seclusion to heal, they genuinely healed. Su Yu, on the other hand, spent a month in seclusion, and not only were his wounds mostly healed, but his strength also felt substantially elevated. Su Yu dispensed with pleasantries and got straight to the point. “Manor Lord, my recent healing has consumed quite a lot of resources. Last time, I gave all the merit points Great Xia gave me to Director Hu. On your side, could you give me a portion of the royalties from those cultivation arts?” “Why talk about royalties... Just tell me what you need, and I'll give it to you. What's the big deal...?” Zhu Tiandao was exceedingly generous. We're not short on money! Su Yu smiled. “Blood essence—massive amounts of blood essence, endless blood essence. I've run out of Heaven Yuan Qi for body tempering and have no blood essence left either. God and demon blood essence would be best, and I need a lot.” “...A lot...” Zhu Tiandao glanced at him and did the math. An ordinary person needed ten drops of blood essence for one body temper. For Su Yu... double that! Killing one primordial god or demon at the Tengkong Realm would probably suffice for one temper, right? Going by that logic, slaying thirty or forty should be enough, assuming Su Yu went for thirty-six tempers. Thirty or forty... Forget it. If the Great Ming Prefecture slaughtered that many primordial gods and demons, a Sun Moon or even Invincible battle would likely break out. Those primordial gods and demons had such small populations. Better to just give him money and let the kid figure it out himself! “Splitting the money... Some prefectures haven't settled their accounts yet, but we've settled the first-quarter earnings from several of them. The host prefectures retain thirty percent, and the academies withhold ten percent...” Zhu Tiandao continued, “A total of 6 million points was settled, but only forty percent actually reached us, which is 2.4 million points. In addition, on Great Ming's side, due to the discount, the settlement came out to 1.4 million points. Your forty percent cut is 560,000 points. All told, if you need it now, I can settle 2.96 million merit points for you.” Nearly three million merit points! And it had only been this long! Utterly terrifying! Many places had yet to settle their accounts. From this, one could see just how much revenue those cultivation arts could generate for Su Yu. However, Su Yu was aware of the standard procedure and spoke up. “Of the forty percent settled from those other prefectures, according to the rules, since I belong to Great Ming, I can only take fifty percent of the funds collected, splitting it evenly with my host prefecture in exchange for Great Ming's backing to ensure the arts circulate without being pirated.” In other words, the Great Ming Prefecture guaranteed that his arts could circulate without piracy and held infringers accountable—things Su Yu could not do alone. Therefore, he had to split the funds collected from the other prefectures fifty-fifty with Great Ming. Zhu Tiandao had seemingly omitted this! Without a major prefecture's backing, if other prefectures condoned piracy of your arts, there was nothing you could do unless you stopped creating arts entirely—which meant zero revenue. Because of this, when commoners created arts, they often opted for a buyout by powerful figures. Just like Su Yu had previously sold the buyout rights for two versions of his aperture fusion art directly to the Great Xia Prefecture; whatever happened afterward had nothing to do with him, though Su Yu had still reserved the right to collect 1 merit point per copy. If other prefectures pirated it down the line, Great Xia would pursue the matter. Similarly, for the other arts currently circulating, if other prefectures dared pirate them, Great Ming would hold them responsible. Zhu Tiandao chuckled. “There's no need for that. It's nothing. Great Ming's cut from our own prefecture is more than enough—at least enough to support those tens of thousands of strongmen!” The revenue from a single prefecture for a few cultivation arts was enough to support tens of thousands of strongmen. One could see how immense the profits were! “Let's stick to the rules!” Su Yu said with a smile. “Manor Lord, don't break the rules just for me. 1.76 million merit points is plenty!” Zhu Tiandao did not insist. He chuckled. “Alright, that works too. Whatever you're short on, just come find me.” With that, he paused. Forget it, best not say more. He had just been proven wrong a moment ago! When Su Yu asked for god and demon blood essence, Zhu Tiandao had naturally thought of primordial god and demon blood essence, which he didn't have in such large quantities, so it was better left unsaid. Su Yu soon said, “I'd like 1.5 million in merit points. For the rest, if you have blood essence from Tengkong and Lingyun creatures like Mountain-Breaking Oxen, Iron-Wing Birds, or Cloud Tigers, you can give me some equivalent to that value.” “You want that much?” Zhu Tiandao was taken aback. This kid wanted a massive amount—260,000 merit points worth! Su Yu smiled. “Yes, I need to extract some innate blood essence next, and that consumes an enormous amount.” “Alright. We don't have much Mountain-Breaking Ox essence left; someone went on a massive buying spree recently, so we have almost no stock. We have plenty of the others, though.” Su Yu nodded. Xia Huyou had bought it up—who else could it be? That guy had long reaches, maintaining channels even here in the Great Ming Prefecture. “Then I'll have someone deliver it to you later. You brat... you can earn, but you sure can spend. 260,000 merit points is no small sum.” After chuckling, Zhu Tiandao was about to say a few more words when Su Yu promptly added, “Additionally, could I trouble the Manor Lord to supply me with 100,000 merit points worth of forging materials? Anything from Yellow rank to Profound rank—I need them all.” “Hmm?” Zhu Tiandao paused. “Didn't you obtain a huge stash from the Heavenly Bow Divine Cult's treasure hoard back then...?” “I gave it away!” Damn! Zhu Tiandao had to admit this kid was truly a lavish spender. Several hundred thousand merit points worth of materials! He just gave them away? Then again, this guy had just insisted on taking 1.2 million fewer merit points. When Su Yu was stingy, he could infuriate people to death; when he was generous, he could terrify them. Without even asking, Zhu Tiandao knew who he had given them to! Zhao Li! That pauper of a fellow had somehow forged good ties with Su Yu. Hundreds of thousands of merit points gifted away just like that. Was this batch meant for Zhao Li too? He did not pry into details, leaving it to Su Yu's discretion. “I'll have it delivered together later. Anything else you need?” To a major prefecture, several hundred thousand wasn't truly astronomical, but to Su Yu as an individual, it was an astronomical sum. Su Yu thought it over. Did he need anything else? After a moment of contemplation, he nodded. “I also need a batch of Shanhai blood essence. Not much—about ten drops of each race, spanning as many races as possible. First-stage Shanhai is preferred, though second or third stage will do at a stretch!” “To make innate blood essence? You can produce Shanhai-tier innate blood essence?” Zhu Tiandao was inwardly shocked. That was the first thought that struck him. Su Yu smiled, offering no answer. Alright, Zhu Tiandao stopped asking, but shock rippled through him. A thought crossed his mind: could he really craft it? And if he did, could Su Yu... actually use it? If he used it, wouldn't he be able to unleash Shanhai-tier combat strength? Holy crap! You're just a youngster! How old are you?! “Alright, you don't need to pay for these. I have plenty in stock, and ten drops per race isn't much.” “Then... thank you, Manor Lord!” Su Yu stood on no further ceremony and took his leave shortly after. Once he was gone, Zhu Tiandao stroked his chin and murmured, “Preparing so much blood essence, even preparing Shanhai blood essence... Is he... preparing to head out?” Otherwise, carrying Shanhai blood essence served little purpose unless he was researching it, but there was no need to ask for every single race. He couldn't fathom it, but he had a distinct hunch: this kid... wanted to go out! “Go out... to the Great Xia Prefecture? “Or somewhere else? “Is he trying to run? That shouldn't be it; I haven't mistreated him, have I?” Zhu Tiandao sank into thought. Su Yu had released quite a few cultivation arts by now. Whether he possessed even stronger arts was hard to say, but by all rights, his immediate value had been largely extracted. Yet Zhu Tiandao didn't view it that way. Cultivation arts aside, the kid's inherent talent and personal strength made him worthy of Great Ming's full-scale investment. He couldn't let him slip away! “The outside world is a total mess right now—so perilous! For this kid to head out is far too dangerous!” Zhu Tiandao muttered to himself. But forbidding him from leaving would make it seem like he was imprisoning him. What a headache! Tapping lightly on the stone table, Zhu Tiandao called out after a long pause, “An Ying!” “Milord!” The void rippled faintly, and a moment later, a black figure materialized, kneeling on one knee. Zhu Tiandao said coolly, “Shadow Su Yu for the foreseeable future; no need to follow me. Unless it's a fatal crisis, do not reveal yourself.” “Milord...” An Ying said in a low voice, “Milord, my duty is to protect you. How can Su Yu's safety compare to yours?” “You, protecting me?” Zhu Tiandao chuckled. “You're only at the seventh stage of the Sun Moon Realm—protect my ass! Doing odd jobs is more like it! Still, your concealment arts have reached the pinnacle. Follow him, and don't worry about anything else. Only step in if he encounters a crisis he cannot handle, and don't show your face even then. If this brat wants to slip out, he surely has some confidence in keeping his identity hidden. Don't tail him too closely, lest you expose him. Of course, no one knows of your existence, so even if you're exposed, they might not realize you're with Su Yu.” Unable to disobey, An Ying could only nod. “Understood!” He then added, “If he goes to the All-Heavens Battlefield, I won't be able to sneak through the entrance. Milord, what should I do then?” Near the entrance to the All-Heavens Battlefield, there were Invincibles stationed. Unless he took the passageway controlled by the All-Races Cult—the trouble was, no one knew where it was, and who knew if Invincibles of the myriad races were guarding the other end? “That's true...” Zhu Tiandao pondered for a moment before smiling. “Still, only Invincibles and a handful of exceptionally strong ninth-stage Sun Moons could detect you. If you sneak through, so be it. Carry my insignia. Even if an Invincible spots you, they generally won't make a fuss. If they ask, just say you're carrying out a mission on my orders.” “Understood!” “Go on!” Zhu Tiandao said, then suddenly added, “Also, don't harbor any improper thoughts. If he heads toward some ruins... just stand guard outside.” Zhu Tiandao's voice turned indifferent. “An Ying, entering ruins doesn't guarantee you'll become an Invincible, understand?” “I would never dare!” Zhu Tiandao nodded and smiled. “I trust you wouldn't. Reaching the Invincible Realm... takes time regardless, doesn't it? I would still be able to find you.” “I understand!” Zhu Tiandao waved his hand slightly, and An Ying vanished instantly. Zhu Tiandao chuckled. That kid wouldn't be able to run. Even if he wanted to slip away, he would have to ask An Ying first. If he couldn't get away, let him go wherever he pleased; with a seventh-stage Sun Moon like An Ying watching over him, there shouldn't be much of an issue. *** Meanwhile. Su Yu felt a faint flicker of sensation. He kept walking without betraying any emotion, but suspicion brewed in his heart. A Sun Moon watching me? A secret Dao protector from the Great Ming Prefecture? Right inside the Great Ming Prefecture, under Old Zhu's very nose, why suddenly assign a Sun Moon to keep eyes on me? Is that necessary? “The perception jade is still rather troublesome. Hopefully it can be improved—at least to indicate whether it's one Sun Moon watching or two, and whether it's the same person. All it does is change color every time; it's damn unreliable!” Su Yu was utterly exasperated. It was completely inconsistent. Lately, his perception jade changed color constantly. There was nothing he could do about it; inside the academy, experts scanned him all the time—some were security guards, while others were just casual sweeps passing over him. By now, it changed color so often that Su Yu couldn't even muster any excitement. “Before leaving, I can ask Senior Hu Qi if she can make some modifications. She should be coming out of seclusion soon. Can an Earth-rank weapon forger improve it?” The perception jade was of no low rank. Hopefully she could! Its early-warning capability was still first-rate, and it could prevent him from being tracked. Leaving the Great Ming Prefecture this time, he didn't want anyone to know, nor did he want protection. Even if it was well-intentioned, it was unnecessary. As long as he hid himself well, no one would discover him. Having someone follow him would only cause trouble. If a powerful expert following him was detected, it would draw even more suspicion to his identity. “Extract the Heaven Yuan Qi from the blood essence, temper my physical body one more time, modify the perception jade, outline a few divine characters... and then I can leave the Great Ming Prefecture!” Su Yu felt an eager anticipation. Truth be told, since he had begun cultivating, he had never once gone out to train on his own. On the journey from Starfall Mountain to the Great Ming Prefecture, a massive group of experts had just been slain, and Director Hou had accompanied him the whole way, so he hadn't been alone either. Thinking about it, he was truly something else—already capable of battling Lingyun cultivators, yet he had never once ventured out on a solo trial. “Eight tempers for my physical body, a few more tempers on the road... By the time I reach the All-Heavens Battlefield to find Dad, I might be able to swallow Shanhai blood essence. Unlocking the Shanhai catalog will grant me Shanhai-tier combat strength in a pinch, making me a formidable power on the All-Heavens Battlefield.” Right now, it felt like Shanhais and Sun Moons were everywhere, but that was only because the circle he interacted with was too high-level. Manor Lords, cult masters, descendants of Invincibles... It would be bizarre if those people weren't strong! Out on the All-Heavens Battlefield, there wouldn't be so many experts clustered together. Powerful experts only gathered with other powerful experts. If one didn't reach into that echelon, running into a Shanhai was already encountering a top-tier powerhouse. “I'm finally heading out. I need to prepare thoroughly. I'm actually getting a little excited!” Su Yu felt a quiet surge of exhilaration. Having stayed cooped up for so long, he genuinely wanted to go out and see the world. By now, he felt his horizons were somewhat narrow. Only reading books without practical experience meant that no matter how many books he read, it was difficult to truly grasp certain feelings. “Still, I need an identity... preferably one that can withstand an investigation. I'll have to rely on Principal Niu to arrange that for me. After all, I'm risking my neck venturing out just to fetch Heaven Yuan Qi for his old friend! “Dad, I'm coming to find you!” Su Yu murmured in his heart. It had been a whole year since they last met; he truly missed his father. *** At the same time. All-Heavens Battlefield, Eastern War Zone, the Great Xia Prefecture's base camp. Su Long reclined on a chair in the courtyard, staring up at the sky, his thoughts drifting. What was that brat up to right now? The last piece of news he had received said the kid had nearly beaten that Shan Xiong to death, suffering injuries himself and detonating 144 Yuan apertures. Just hearing about it made his heart ache. That boy had detonated more apertures than his father had ever opened! Was he alright? A month had passed; how were his injuries? That Great Zhou Prefecture was truly inhuman! My son is such a good, well-behaved boy, yet you went and attacked him—what a bunch of bastards! Served that fellow right to be beaten within an inch of his life by my son! Word was that Zhou Polong guy was in a bit of trouble... Served him right! Sending your apprentice to beat my son—if I weren't so weak, I'd cause trouble for you too! On this day, father and son both longed for each other. Yet they were separated by the barrier of the heavens.