You Look Great When You're Shameless

Clearing the battlefield, scouring for surviving remnants of the All-Races Sect. Soon, calm returned to the area. Every member of the North Squad bore wounds as they prepared to head back. In the transport vehicle. This time, Su Yu shared a ride with Captain Liu. Blood stained Captain Liu's left arm, yet the iron-blooded giant seemed entirely numb to the pain, even joking with Su Yu along the way. "Your old man used to brag about how he killed a Wanshi while in the Qianjun Realm until practically all of Nanyuan knew about it. Look at me—I took down a Wanshi today, and I'm not half as arrogant as your dad." Su Yu, who had felt somewhat sorrowful, could not help but smile at the captain's words. Captain Liu had struck him as intensely stern before, but now he seemed like a completely different person. Vaguely, Su Yu understood: he had earned the man's respect. Previously, in Captain Liu's eyes, he was just a burden and a liability—someone who might need the Wind Arrest Hall to bail him out at a crucial moment and disrupt their tactical deployment. Yet today, Su Yu had played an instrumental role in killing a Wanshi. Had he not disrupted the cultist leader for that critical split second, the Wind Arrest Hall would have suffered heavy casualties, even if that Wanshi had still fallen in the end. Not wanting to gossip about his own father, Su Yu changed the subject. "Captain Liu..." "Just call me Uncle!" Captain Liu was no longer stern at all. He was thoroughly cordial as he laughed. "We're like family here, and you're not an official Wind Arrest Hall member anyway. No need to stand on ceremony!" "Uncle Liu." Su Yu did not put on airs either, voicing his doubts. "There were quite a few All-Races Sect members this time, and they even had a Wanshi overseeing them. If they had banded together and fought us off side by side in that courtyard, I don't think the Wind Arrest Hall would have taken them down so easily, would they?" Captain Liu nodded in firm agreement. "Naturally! If they had held the courtyard under that Wanshi's command, as long as the frontline fighters held out for a moment while the Wanshi ambushed us, our North Squad probably would have lost over half our men today." "Then..." "You want to ask why they were so foolish as to scatter and run?" Liu Pingshan let out a sneer. "Because they're afraid of dying! Who in the All-Races Sect isn't afraid of dying? Holding out? Holding out means the people in front have to put their lives on the line. Why should I risk my neck? When disaster strikes, it's every man for himself! If I don't hold the line and run instead, I have a chance to live. "But if I hold out, the ones taking the brunt of the attack will definitely die!" Liu Pingshan scoffed, "The All-Races Sect does have elite units with considerable strength! But they lack the will to fight to the death—they have no resolve to lay down their lives. Of course, a few lunatic cults have battle units like that, but those are only deployed in large-scale wars. "With small outfits like this, don't count on them throwing their lives away for anyone. Fighting when the wind is at their back is fine, but the moment they feel the slightest chance of defeat or death, they collapse instantly!" Liu Pingshan looked at Su Yu and said earnestly, "That's why I say the All-Races Sect is merely a petty nuisance! No matter how many experts they have, as soon as they suffer a setback, they crumble on the spot! But a regular human army would never do that! We can fight winning battles, and we can fight battles of utter desperation! "Warfare, at its core, involves a kind of momentum!" Liu Pingshan looked at Su Yu, his expression suddenly turning solemn. "As long as that momentum remains, even if you are outmatched in strength, there is always hope of turning the tables! Surmounting impossible odds, triumphing with fewer numbers—every such victory carries this momentum! You can cut down as many of us as you want, but you will never break us! "Elite human legions, like the Longwu Guards of the Great Xia Prefecture, will fight to the very last man without breaking! Meanwhile, in some ragtag legion, an army of a hundred thousand might completely collapse after losing just ten percent of its numbers! "On the battlefield, those who truly fight to the death are always the minority!" Liu Pingshan paused in thought before adding, "If you ever get the chance to go to the All-Heavens Battlefield in the future, you'll realize that when two armies of a hundred thousand clash, the heaviest casualties don't occur on the front lines. They happen when one side breaks and the enemy pursues them in a rout. "That's why the very first thing human soldiers are taught upon entering the All-Heavens Battlefield is never to break formation! The ones charging on the front lines are always seasoned veterans—veterans with over ten years of experience, the cream of the crop, the kind who won't break even if half their comrades fall! "If rookies charge at the front, a heavy casualty rate will cause them to drag the entire legion down with them. There have been plenty of cases where soldiers panicked, turned around, and shattered their own army's battle array!" Su Yu nodded. Liu Pingshan had cleared up his confusion. Earlier, he had wondered whether the All-Races Sect had panicked and whether that Wanshi had been foolish. Why hide? If the man had led a charge straight out, he might have had a genuine chance of escaping, or even turning defeat into victory. Now Su Yu understood: the crux lay in... the fear of death. No one was unafraid of dying. Were Liu Pingshan and his comrades unafraid? They were afraid too! What made the difference was principle, perseverance, conviction, and the courage to fight! "Uncle Liu, are human legions the strongest on the All-Heavens Battlefield?" "Cough, cough..." Liu Pingshan looked a little embarrassed. After a moment's consideration, he chose to be candid. "I don't want to mislead you. If you weren't going to the All-Heavens Battlefield, I wouldn't mind bragging a bit. But there's a chance you might go, so I can't steer you wrong. "On the All-Heavens Battlefield, human legions are extremely resilient and have immense combat power. But to say we're invincible would be overestimating ourselves. "The God Race, the Demon Race, the Monster Race, and even some smaller races all have elite legions of their own! "They are also exceptionally capable fighters!" Liu Pingshan said in a deep voice, "Years ago on the All-Heavens Battlefield, I encountered a thousand-strong unit of Motian Guards. At the time, I was serving in the Mountain Shaking Army. We numbered ten thousand against their one thousand, with most combatants at the Qianjun and Wanshi Realms. We met at Fenglong Gorge and clashed head-on! "In the end... the Mountain Shaking Army wiped out those Motian Guards at the cost of four thousand casualties!" Liu Pingshan sighed with emotion. "Those foes truly knew how to fight. Toward the very end, I remember only a single expert at the Tengkong Third Layer was left alive. At that point, he still had a chance to escape because our side had suffered catastrophic losses as well. Yet... that fellow launched a final charge. When he died, he was facing us, not running away with his back turned... "In that battle, the Mountain Shaking Army was pushed nearly to the brink of collapse. In the end, our commander arrived and buried them in Fenglong Gorge with his own hands. Aside from their weapons and other spoils, all their corpses were buried on that spot rather than harvested." Harvesting corpses was actually a massive source of spoils. Yet in that battle, although the Motian Guards were enemies, they had displayed awe-inspiring valor. The Mountain Shaking Army ultimately gave up harvesting their remains and buried them instead. Su Yu let out a slow breath. So on the All-Heavens Battlefield, other races also possessed legions that fought without fear of death. In truth, that was to be expected. It was just that the Great Xia Prefecture primarily publicized human invincibility on the battlefield. Liu Pingshan continued, "Of course, such legions are rare, existing only among the elite of each race! While humans have powerful armies, we also have relatively weak ones. Not every legion can be an elite force. We shouldn't sell ourselves short, but once you step onto the battlefield, don't become overconfident and think the myriad races are nothing special... "If that were truly the case, we would have stormed the homeworlds of the myriad races long ago, instead of being locked in a stalemate with them on the All-Heavens Battlefield." Su Yu nodded. As they chatted, the vehicle entered the city. ... Inside the city, everything remained calm. A small-scale skirmish outside the walls did not draw much attention. However, a few more vehicles had appeared on the streets, arriving from the Great Xia Prefecture. People from the Great Xia Prefecture had already begun arriving. With the assessment date drawing near, it was about time for them to show up. Captain Liu noticed them as well and spoke up. "You don't need to worry. It won't even matter if you don't take the assessment. This time, you assisted us in slaying a Wanshi and personally killed a Qianjun Sixth Layer cultivator. Factoring in your previous contributions, once it's all reported, being admitted into the Civilization Academy or the War Academy without an examination won't be a problem at all." If Chen Hao heard this, he would probably lose his mind. Exempt from testing! A guaranteed admission! If Chen Hao knew, he would surely lament how different two people's fortunes could be. Bai Feng had originally offered such quota recommendations to Su Yu and Liu Yue. Now, Su Yu's own accumulated merits had reached the threshold for test exemption, showering every single opportunity upon him alone! The strong only grew stronger; blessings followed upon blessings—such was the way of the world. Su Yu pondered for a moment before speaking. "Uncle Liu, regarding assisting in the kill of that Wanshi, could you only credit me with merit points? I'm afraid that if word gets out, I'll be targeted for revenge. After all, I'm only in the Kaiyuan Realm. It would draw too much attention." "If you don't care about bonus points on the exam, then it shouldn't be an issue." Liu Pingshan smiled. "Certain institutions can only view merit points, not the specific details of how they were earned. The merit system is managed by the military, and no other organization has the authority to pry into it. It's under the direct jurisdiction of the Prefect. Short of a spy infiltrating the highest ranks of the military, no one from the All-Races Sect could ever uncover the details." Su Yu breathed a sigh of relief. He wanted the merit points, but he worried about attracting unwanted attention, which could be disastrous. A Kaiyuan cultivator assisting in slaying a Wanshi? How did he assist? How much effort did he exert? If word truly spread, what if the All-Races Sect dispatched a Wanshi or even a Tengkong expert to assassinate him? Therefore, keeping a low profile was best. Of course, he still had to claim the merit points. For one thing, they raised his rank; for another, the points themselves could be exchanged for resources he needed. "For your solo kill of a mid-stage Qianjun, that's two merit points. Assisting in slaying a Wanshi—an initial Wanshi Realm opponent—usually starts at ten points. But since we killed above our realm, the points will be doubled. Additionally, we wiped out an enemy stronghold, which comes with extra bonuses..." Not wanting Su Yu to think he was hoarding credit, Liu Pingshan said solemnly, "So all told, the merit reward for slaying this Wanshi will come to around twenty-five to thirty points. Of course, if a Tengkong expert had intervened, it would have strictly been ten points. Merit points aren't entirely fixed. "Your disruption at the end was a tremendous help. However... Xiao Chen and the other brother... Su Yu, according to regulations, a share must be set aside for the fallen. So when all is said and done, awarding you five merit points is about the limit." Five merit points? Su Yu was slightly taken aback. It was not too little; it was far too much. He had merely created a distraction from the perimeter, yet this was equivalent to slaying five early-stage Qianjun enemies. "Uncle Liu..." Liu Pingshan interrupted him. "Don't think it's too little. Your total merit reward this time will come out to around seven points. In addition... you cannot receive any share of the spoils. I hope you can understand that. Of course, if there are future operations where the Wind Arrest Hall officially invites you to participate, you will be eligible for a share of the loot." This, too, was the rule. Su Yu had come along on his own initiative today. It was already generous of the Wind Arrest Hall to let him join the operation, so he had no right to share in the spoils. If anyone could, half the population of Nanyuan would have rushed over long ago. However, if the Wind Arrest Hall launched a major operation and found itself short-handed, it would invite outside fighters. Only then would those participants be entitled to a cut of the spoils. Liu Pingshan clapped Su Yu on the shoulder once more and smiled. "Next time there's a smaller operation against a minor stronghold, I'll have someone notify you as an official invitation. Then you can share in the spoils. This time, don't fight over it with the other brothers." Actively inviting a Kaiyuan cultivator... That was unprecedented. In the past, when real trouble arose, they had occasionally invited late-stage Qianjun experts or higher to assist, while anyone below the Qianjun Seventh Layer stood almost zero chance of being invited. Su Yu had nothing more to say. In truth, he felt he had already been given a great deal. Seven merit points! Combined with the three points he had previously earned from the Wind Arrest Hall, his hunts against the All-Races Sect with them had yielded ten merit points in total. Learning myriad-race languages had earned him eighteen points, and killing the infiltrating Qianjun had granted him three points, meaning Su Yu had actually obtained thirty-one merit points altogether. Of course, he only had ten points left right now, not counting the seven he was about to receive. His cumulative merit tally stood at twenty-eight points—the credit from Chen Hao counted toward Chen Hao's cumulative total, not Su Yu's. Amassing twenty-eight cumulative merit points while still in the Kaiyuan Realm was exceptionally rare, unless one had mastered twenty-eight different myriad-race languages, which was technically possible. As they spoke, the vehicle arrived at the Wind Arrest Hall. Everyone disembarked. Zeng Hua, the Hall Master of the Wind Arrest Hall, was already waiting outside the doors. Seeing Liu Pingshan and the others step down, Zeng Hua gave a slight nod. When his gaze fell upon Liu's arm, a flash of heartache appeared in his eyes. With his Qianjun Ninth Layer cultivation, Liu Pingshan was considered a formidable combatant within the Wind Arrest Hall. Now that his right arm was ruined and his combat strength severely diminished, Liu Pingshan would likely have to take early retirement. As the two bodies were unloaded from the vehicle, Zeng Hua let out a heavy sigh and bowed respectfully without uttering a word. He nodded toward Su Yu, then signaled for Liu Pingshan to head inside to talk. Su Yu did not linger, leaving the Wind Arrest Hall shortly thereafter. ... Nanyuan Academy. Liu Wenyan let out a sigh of his own. But immediately after sighing, he cursed under his breath, "Foolish nonsense!" He sighed over the sacrifice of the two Wind Arrest Hall members, but he cursed Su Yu for acting like an absolute lunatic! With such feeble willpower, the boy had actually dared to interfere with a Wanshi? That was courting death! With the slightest slip-up, if the opponent possessed even modest willpower and launched an immediate mental counterattack, Su Yu's meager willpower would have been obliterated in an instant, reducing him to a raving lunatic or a drooling idiot! Fortunately, that cultist followed the warrior path and had virtually no foundation in willpower. Yet one had to remember: many who could not cut it at the Civilization Academy ended up switching to the warrior path midway through, and quite a few students in the Character Cultivation stage of the Civilization Academy did the same. Against their willpower, an encounter would have meant certain death for Su Yu! Liu Wenyan could only count his blessings that Su Yu had not crossed paths with someone like that today. But could he rely on luck every time? For a Kaiyuan cultivator to go up against a Wanshi was simply far too perilous. "Still... not bad at all." After finishing his scolding, Liu Wenyan smiled again. At the very least, the kid had backbone! At that critical juncture, he hadn't wet his pants in fear, and he had even volunteered to step up and help. That showed responsibility and courage. "Assisting in the kill of a Wanshi while still in the Kaiyuan Realm... This kid is getting more exceptional by the day. I'm almost reluctant to send him off to the Civilization Academy..." The old man muttered to himself, before cursing again in frustration. "What right does that brat Bai Feng have to teach him... Someone like Wan Tiansheng would be barely qualified!" After venting, he quickly consoled himself. "Oh well, keeping a low profile is fine too. Bai Feng's potential isn't bad either. If worse comes to worst, his teacher can step in to instruct the boy." After mumbling to himself for a while, Liu Wenyan picked up the communicator on his desk, hesitating for a moment. A few moments later, he dialed a number. The call connected promptly, but there was only silence on the other end. Liu Wenyan remained silent as well. After several dozen seconds of quiet, he finally spoke. "One of my students, Su Yu, has tremendous potential. When he arrives at the Civilization Academy, give him... some care and protection." "Liu Wenyan, are you begging me?" "I'm not begging you!" Liu Wenyan snapped angrily, "There's no way I'd beg you! You're brainless, an idiot! I'm simply asking you to look out for an outstanding student!" The voice on the other end came through again. "Beg me, and I'll look after him. Otherwise... I'll make life difficult for him. This is the first time in all these decades you've ever asked me for anything." "Beg you, my ass!" "Is cursing the only thing you've learned in the past several decades?" Liu Wenyan felt a surge of shame and irritation, barking, "Wu Yuehua, are you looking for a fight? Do you think I, Liu Wenyan, can't find anyone in the Great Xia Prefecture willing to help me?" "You could find people, but... would you actually go to them?" the person on the other end said calmly. "Aside from me, who else could you turn to? That junior brother of yours? The one surnamed Hong recently went to the All-Heavens Battlefield, and who knows if he'll ever return alive. Are you sure you want to look for him?" "Huh? He went to the All-Heavens Battlefield?" "Yes. He's likely heading to a newly discovered realm. There's no telling which year or month he'll make it back." Liu Wenyan frowned, not bothering to pry further. He said briskly, "Cut the chatter, that's enough of that! Also, are you damn well stupid? Who the hell asked you to repay my merit points for me? You tell Wan Tiansheng that whatever he took from me, he'd better spit it back out!" Liu Wenyan fumed, "Fifty thousand merit points, not even counting everything docked from me over all these years—it adds up to sixty or seventy thousand! He'd better spit it all back out sooner or later, or don't blame me for getting nasty!" "Are those points yours? Did you pay those fifty thousand merit points?" "Nonsense! If they were used to clear my debt, whose would they be if not mine?" "..." Silence lingered on the line before the voice finally spoke. "Since when did you become so shameless..." "I've always been shameless!" Liu Wenyan retorted irritably, "If I cared about face, I would have hidden away in some deserted corner of the world until the day I died back then! Why the hell would I still be staying in the Great Xia Prefecture? If I cared about face, I wouldn't have called you! I tossed my shame aside ages ago!" "..." After a moment, the person on the line let out a soft sigh. "The way you look when you're being shameless... I'd really love to see it. Are you ever coming back?" "I'm not going back!" Liu Wenyan's tone remained harsh. "What would I go back for? To be mocked and sneered at? Wan Tiansheng doesn't want to see me back there either! If I returned, he'd spend every waking hour picking on me!" With that, Liu Wenyan added hastily, "I can't be bothered to talk about this anymore. Just look out for the kid. I'm only worried about someone targeting him; you don't need to meddle in anything else. Oh, by the way, I'm a bit short on cash lately... Send me a few hundred drops of god-demon blood for body casting. Once I have money, I'll pay you back." "Liu Wenyan... you look so shameless that I desperately want to come see it in person! How about I deliver it myself? I want to see if you'd dare say that to my face!" "Why do you talk so much damn nonsense!" Flustered and exasperated, Liu Wenyan barked, "Just have someone send it over, or forget it! You think I'm desperate for a few drops of god-demon blood? I don't need it. I just figured it would go to waste in your hands..." *Beep, beep, beep...* The call disconnected. Liu Wenyan froze for a second, then rubbed his weathered face vigorously. His old cheeks burned bright red with sheer embarrassment. What a disgrace! How could I have said such things? Since when did I become so brazen? "Sigh, it's all Old Wang's bad influence!" Liu Wenyan sighed deeply. Let the Old Principal take the blame—he had spent the last several decades far too deeply influenced by that old codger.