Gathered Under One Roof

At the gates of Liu City. Su Yu strode inside. This was his first time visiting Liu City, and his initial impression was that it was bustling with life. Not a bad place! There were quite a lot of people. This was also the biggest difference between here and an ancient city. Because of the death qi, people usually wouldn't enter an ancient city unless they had no choice or sought refuge, so there were never that many people. Liu City was not like that. It wasn't an ancient city, so it was far livelier. Moreover, this place was predominantly human. Foreign races were rare, and even when present, they were neither as numerous nor as brazen as in other places. After all, this was human territory—just as gods, demons, and immortals ruled the other three major regions, where outsiders kept a much lower profile. Some people noticed Su Yu, but paid him no mind. Some seemed to recognize his face, slightly surprised that this guy would come to Liu City, but they didn't bother getting involved. With the deaths of so many people, the conflict between the single divine character faction and the multiple divine character faction was gradually fading into the past. In the Great Xia Prefecture, the multiple divine character lineage had been completely severed and was no longer offered. Was this a victory for the single divine character faction? No, it was a loss for the entire divine character discipline. The Great Xia Prefecture could no longer claim to be the realm's premier bastion of civilized heritage, because the peerless divine character masters were gone. Su Yu paid none of this any heed. Wearing Liu Hong's face, he headed straight for the Castellan's Residence. Liu Hong and Bai Feng had colluded before; Su Yu knew this, so impersonating Liu Hong to see Bai Feng was nothing out of the ordinary. The Castellan's Residence of Liu City looked even larger than the one in the ancient city. Its architectural style was somewhat rugged. At the gate stood several guard soldiers. Their strength was decent—all in the Tengkong Realm—but they looked exceedingly slack. When Su Yu sensed their aura, they carried the distinct scent of vultures. Having encountered vultures before, he knew they had that thuggish air. The first time he had left the human base camp, he had been tailed by a vulture, who followed right behind him waiting to scavenge his corpse. Seeing Su Yu in fluttering white robes with the refined air of a Civilization Master, the guards quickly sized him up and broke into flattering smiles. "My lord, who are you looking for?" Su Yu smiled faintly. "Is Bai Feng here?" "Researcher Bai? Yes, yes, he's here! May I have your name, my lord, so I can announce you?" "Liu Hong!" Without wasting any breath, the soldier hurried inside to report. Liu Wenyan and the others had only just returned, so their structure and systems were very rudimentary. The guards were merely vultures and lone wanderers recruited at random; no one had paid much attention to formalities. Before long, the soldier came back out. The moment he stepped outside, he wore a hostile expression. "Researcher Bai says to get lost. He's busy and has no time for you!" "..." Su Yu sighed inwardly. How heartless. How could his teacher be so merciless toward Liu Hong! Look at me—when I entertained Teacher Liu, I was truly courteous! I personally welcomed him into the Castellan's Residence and even served him tea. You, on the other hand, just told him to get lost. Utterly heartless! Chuckling softly, Su Yu called out with a laugh, "Little Bai, I have business with you! Come out and chat!" The next instant, a figure flashed into view. Bai Feng had been busy discussing the extraction of willpower with Wu Lan. Looking thoroughly disgruntled, he snapped, "Liu Hong, what are you doing here? Looking to die? Don't talk to me. Get lost right now—I don't have time for you!" Mid-tirade, Bai Feng suddenly cleared his throat and said, "Come on in!" A complete one-eighty. It wasn't that Su Yu had exposed his disguise. Rather, a wisp of Heaven and Earth Profound Light was swirling around Su Yu's fingertips. Though Bai Feng was wealthier than before, a strand of Heaven and Earth Profound Light was still nothing to sneeze at. Bai Feng touched down and gave a dry cough. "You're already here—why be so polite!" As he spoke, his hand reached toward Su Yu's fingers. Su Yu felt weary. True to form, his teacher had never abandoned his original nature. Offer him money and he was all smiles; without it, he wouldn't even give Liu Hong a chance to speak. Indeed, this approach worked wonders when dealing with Liu Hong. What did you say? Can't hear you! You brought cash? Come inside and let's talk! At the gate, the guards stared in bewilderment. That worked too? The soldier who had just barked at Su Yu felt a twinge of panic and looked at Bai Feng. Bai Feng nonchalantly instructed, "Next time you see this fellow, tell him to scram if he hasn't greased your palm. If he offers a bribe, you may come report to me!" "..." Talk about blunt! Su Yu chuckled. "Brother Bai, you're far too pragmatic!" Bai Feng sneered. "The only reason I haven't beaten you to death is that you handed me plenty of merit points in the past. Seriously, how are you so good at staying alive? Zhou Pingsheng is dead, Zhou Mingren is dead, Yu Hong is dead... A whole crowd of people kicked the bucket, yet you're still kicking!" Su Yu smiled. "Thanks to Brother Bai's gentle care!" "Tch!" Bai Feng scoffed, leading the way as he said, "Speak your business quickly. I'm busy and don't have time to shoot the breeze with you! If you have nothing, get lost immediately!" "For one strand of Heaven and Earth Profound Light, you could at least let me say a few words, couldn't you?" Su Yu smiled. "Brother Bai has finally stepped into the Lingyun Realm. I haven't even had the chance to congratulate you." "Who are you mocking?" Bai Feng erupted in fury! Who the hell are you mocking? What's wrong with me having just reached Lingyun? Is being Lingyun embarrassing? Just who are you mocking? "..." Su Yu was at a loss for words. What a fiery temper. He wasn't usually this touchy—was it reserved for Liu Hong, or had he been provoked recently? Not wanting to drive him completely mad, Su Yu smiled and said, "I didn't mean anything by it. By the way, are Instructor Liu and Elder Hong around?" "Ha!" Bai Feng sneered. "You still want to see them? Fine. Give me ten strands of Heaven and Earth Profound Light and I'll take you there. If you're not afraid of dying, feel free! I can't be bothered with you, but you've been running around swindling people all day, claiming to be Senior Martial Uncle Zhang Ruoling's disciple. We haven't even settled that score with you yet!" With a snort, he added, "Let me ask you: what's the deal with your multiple divine character battle technique? I heard descendants of Invincibles across various prefectures were tricked by you. You went around claiming to belong to the multiple divine character faction—count your lucky stars you haven't been beaten to death!" Su Yu smiled. "Don't mention it. Let's go see Elder Hong and the others first!" "You really want to go?" Bai Feng asked in surprise, "You're not afraid of being beaten to death?" "How could that happen? Elder Hong isn't that kind of person!" Bai Feng looked at him strangely. Was this guy truly fearless of death? Bizarre. Su Yu didn't mind. Walking alongside him, he said with a smile, "Brother Bai, let's just go see them, it'll be fine! By the way, I heard the quotas for the Star Residence Mansion have been distributed. Did you get one, Brother Bai?" "None of your damn business!" Bai Feng glanced sideways at Su Yu. "Are you going in too?" "We'll see." Su Yu asked with a grin, "By the way, Brother Bai, I heard your cousin is going in too?" "None of your damn business!" "Is your grandfather coming as your Dao protector?" "None of your damn business!" "..." Su Yu chuckled. "Look at you. I just heard the old master's health isn't too great..." Bai Feng frowned. "Are you looking for a beating, or are you looking to die?" "Nothing like that!" Su Yu beamed happily. Watching his teacher get riled up was genuinely satisfying. Before long, he followed Bai Feng into the rear garden. He saw quite a few people and felt a flicker of surprise. Why was Wu Lan here? Looking closer, Wu Jia was here too. And those demon beasts! A whole group of familiar faces! Wait, that pig-like thing—was that the Suanni? Su Yu felt utterly baffled. How had it grown so unsightly? In the past, the Suanni had looked rather decent—even if good looks were all it had. Why was it so deformed now? At that moment, Liu Wenyan and Hong Tan glanced over. Both looked surprised. They turned to Bai Feng. Why had he brought Liu Hong along? How strange! Besides, coming to Liu City, wasn't this fellow afraid of being thrashed? Even though Liu Hong had mostly just antagonized Bai Feng without committing any atrocities, he had risen to a high rank within the single divine character faction later on. Now, almost everyone of high status was dead. Figures like Zheng Yuming and Hu Wensheng kept extremely low profiles, yet this guy was as flamboyant as ever. Just as Su Yu was about to speak, he heard Wu Lan saying to Hong Tan, "Beating Su Yu to death won't help! I don't know the specifics either. Elder Hong, stop asking me. If you want to beat him to death, go to the ancient city and do it yourself!" "..." Su Yu was speechlessly amused. I just arrived—what on earth were you talking about? The second I walk in, I hear about you beating me to death! Wu Lan spotted Su Yu too, glanced at him dismissively, and squatted back down to play in the dirt. She was fascinated by the soil of the All-Heavens Battlefield. Over there, Hong Tan dropped the topic and looked at Su Yu, asking calmly, "Liu Hong, what brings you here? Do you have business?" Su Yu cupped his hands with a smile. "A small matter. Just now I heard Wu Lan say that Elder Hong wants to beat Su Yu to death. What happened? I'm quite curious." "..." Hong Tan looked at him with a slight frown. We're having a family conversation—is it your place to pry? He glared at Bai Feng, frowning. Why bring this fellow here? Su Yu chuckled warmly. "I'm genuinely curious! Su Yu is such a wonderful person, such a good child—gentle, refined, obedient, filial, and handsome to boot. He respects his elders, honors his parents, and treats everyone with utmost kindness. Why would you want to beat him to death?" "..." Silence fell! At that moment, everyone stared at Su Yu with utterly bizarre expressions. What the hell? Had this guy lost his mind, or had his flattery of Su Yu reached such shameless heights? Liu Wenyan gave Su Yu a strange look, while Hong Tan also appeared suspicious. Liu Wenyan suddenly asked, "What comes after the fourth slash?" Su Yu laughed. "What fourth slash? We were discussing Su Yu! That man Su Yu is destined for greatness! I've always thought highly of him. I believe he is the hope of the human race, the hope of the myriad realms, a future Invincible..." "..." Hong Tan, Liu Wenyan, Chen Yong... The group exchanged glances. They were somewhat uncertain. Was Liu Hong insane, or was Liu Hong not Liu Hong... Surely not? Wasn't that brat in the ancient city? Beside him, Bai Feng froze, staring blankly at Su Yu. After a long pause, he suddenly blurted out, "Liu Hong, the fuck are you playing at? Are you the real Liu Hong?" Suspicion flared! Could it be Su Yu? Yet would Su Yu... would it make sense for him to blow his own trumpet so shamelessly? Nobody could possibly be this shameless, right? Not only was Bai Feng uncertain, everyone present wasn't sure if this was truly Su Yu. Wu Lan and Wu Jia also looked over in curiosity. What was going on? The several great demons were completely dazed, clueless as to what was happening. Su Yu beamed broadly. "What's the matter with you all? That man Su Yu—the first time I laid eyes on him, I knew he was a dragon and phoenix among men! Of course, dragons and phoenixes can't even compare to him; he's far superior, practically peerless in heaven and earth!" "..." Hong Tan gave him a doubtful look. Suddenly, he struck a palm toward him! Su Yu smiled, not flinching in the least. When the palm landed, with a loud bang, Su Yu was shattered to pieces. Hong Tan was stunned! Liu Wenyan suddenly grabbed toward the scattered flesh and blood. In an instant, the flesh gathered and reformed into a person, who said with a chuckle, "How cruel!" Liu Wenyan grabbed directly toward him! Confinement! Blood qi surged. The divine character "Shock" pulsed, shattering his confinement. Liu Wenyan's eyes flashed, and he unleashed an icy freeze. Meanwhile, nearby, Chen Yong chuckled and flicked his fingers, sending cords lashing out to bind Su Yu. Over there, Hong Tan snorted. Kid, trying to play with us? Competing in divine characters? Your strength might not be weak, but when it comes to divine characters... you still have a long way to go! "Lock!" With a low bark, the void congealed like a set of shackles. Flames rose from Su Yu, melting Liu Wenyan's freeze. The two divine characters "Break" and "Blade" erupted, severing Chen Yong's cords. His Five Elements divine characters flared, trapping the "Lock" character... Each person unleashed their distinct divine character abilities. To the side, Bai Feng's eyes darted. Just as he prepared to intervene, Su Yu casually tossed out the divine character "Suppress." With a boom, it slammed Bai Feng flat against the ground. Bai Feng's face flushed scarlet, so furious he nearly vomited blood! Holy shit! The next instant, he roared, "Let me up!" Su Yu stopped immediately, turned toward Bai Feng, and sheepishly recalled his divine character. Can't take a joke? If you can't take it, don't join in. Wanting to play along but throwing a tantrum when you lose—people like that were the most annoying. Only then did Bai Feng scramble to his feet, fuming with rage. Looking at Su Yu and then at the others—all of whom were laughing—Bai Feng barked in exasperation, "That's too much! You unfilial disciple, turning on your master!" Hong Tan chuckled. "You simply haven't mastered your craft! A single divine character, barely entering the fourth tier, pinned you down. If you ran into a Shanhai Realm expert, wouldn't you fold instantly?" "I'm only at the first stage of Lingyun!" Bai Feng retorted furiously. I'm weak—why should I fight a Shanhai? Hong Tan sighed with regret. "Those on the Heaven Ranking at the first stage of Lingyun can usually fight early Shanhai cultivators..." Screw you! Bai Feng cursed internally. It's not like I'm on the Heaven Ranking. By now, everyone knew Su Yu's identity. Over there, Wu Jia came to her senses and exclaimed in delight, "Junior Brother!" Only Wu Lan went right on playing with her dirt. Su Yu laughed. "Wu Lan, you didn't fail to recognize me, did you?" Wu Lan looked up, bewildered. "Of course I recognized you. The moment you started singing your own praises, I knew it was you. What of it?" Why don't you have any reaction at all! Su Yu was speechless. Wu Lan couldn't be bothered to pay attention to him, returning to her soil. After playing for a bit, she suddenly frowned. "Strange. Hasn't the All-Heavens Battlefield only been open for a few hundred years? Why does this soil smell full of dead men's blood, as if it's been soaked for far longer than a few centuries..." "..." The group stared at her in silence. Did she seriously turn playing with dirt into an art form? Wu Lan didn't mind. Standing back up, she saw everyone staring at her and asked curiously, "What? Is there dirt on my face?" She wiped her face. Seeing them still staring, she cursed inwardly: Are they sick in the head? What are they staring at! Still staring! Su Yu chuckled, while Hong Tan and Liu Wenyan exchanged glances, shaking their heads slightly. This girl... was beyond help. Never mind! Su Yu smiled and let it go. Greeting his senior sister, he reached out with one hand toward the Suanni. The beast tried to dodge, but Su Yu instantly scooped it up and squeezed it into a ball. Su Yu laughed. "This thing has gotten fat. I haven't been here in a long time; tonight, I'll braise some pork for everyone!" "No, my lord! Spare me!" The Suanni was frightened out of its wits and shrieked in terror, "I was wrong! I was truly wrong! I'll never dare do it again! I'll never steal food again, and I'll never sneak into your room to sleep in your bed again! I was wrong, I shouldn't have done it, please spare me, my lord! The Mountain-Boring Ox did it too—it's gotten fat as well, my lord..." Su Yu paused, snorted, and hurled the Suanni away. It slammed directly into the Mountain-Boring Ox, which had burrowed into the earth with only its head poking out. The ox groaned, its skull nearly cracked open, but it didn't dare make a peep. The Suanni was also filled with dread. Holy crap, had Su Yu gotten this strong? Terrifying! By now, who wouldn't know this was Su Yu? Su Yu soon regained his smile, dropped his disguise to reveal his true face, and looked at the crowd. "Teachers, elders, I have returned!" Liu Wenyan smiled faintly. "Have you grown so accustomed to impersonating people? You rascal!" Su Yu chuckled sheepishly. "Aren't I too widely hated? If I walked out as myself, Invincibles would probably line up to assassinate me." Nearby, Bai Feng scolded crossly, "You disrespectful brat! Next time you disguise yourself and put on airs in front of me, I'll kick you out of the multiple divine character faction!" Mortifying! He got tricked every single time without exception. The worst part was, he couldn't see through it! Every time, he fell for it hook, line, and sinker! The more he thought about it, the angrier he got! In his rage, he kicked out at Su Yu. With a thud, a sharp pain shot through his toes. He cursed wildly in his head: Nobody treats their teacher like this! Su Yu merely laughed it off, unbothered. Looking back at Wu Lan, he asked curiously, "Earlier you said Martial Grandfather wanted to beat me to death. What did I do? I haven't done anything recently, have I?" Wu Lan replied casually, "Nothing much. I told him you attracted tons of divine character battle techniques to me, so Elder Hong said he'd smash your dog head!" Hong Tan was speechless. I said I'd beat Su Yu to death, not smash his dog head. Why did you add words of your own! Su Yu understood and laughed. Dropping the matter, he looked at everyone with a sigh of emotion. "This time... we're pretty much all gathered together!" Turning to Chen Yong, he sighed. "Senior Martial Uncle, I'm sorry I couldn't avenge you personally. Zhu Tianfang wiped them all out at once. But I did kill Jinyi!" Chen Yong nodded slightly and smiled. "It's fine, as long as they're dead! I couldn't slaughter those beasts myself, so having you do it is the same. Fenhai is dead, Jinyi and Yinyi are dead... A heavy weight has finally been lifted from my chest." Su Yu smiled, not mentioning the markings on the tombstone. There was no need. Why add to their worries? Hong Tan also smiled. "This is a good thing. Let's not dwell on that—sit down and talk! You rascal, you're always so elusive, more mysterious than any of us. But... your divine characters are truly formidable. I can see most of them have reached the fourth tier. Your willpower must be at the ninth stage of Lingyun by now?" "Yes!" Su Yu nodded. Liu Wenyan frowned slightly. "Why does it feel excessively powerful? Did you consume Sun Moon Xuanhuang Liquid to strengthen your divine apertures?" "Yes." "Reckless!" Liu Wenyan shook his head. "Aperture fusion will be much harder now! Don't always think divine characters don't matter or that Civilization Masters can't advance anyway. It's not like that! Your physical body is strong, but if your body is powerful while your willpower lags behind, your flaws will be too obvious, your shortcomings too great! You're fine for now, but once you enter the Invincible Realm, if your willpower remains in Lingyun... you won't even be able to tear through the River of Time! You'll be an easy target!" Su Yu nodded. To the side, Chen Yong suddenly smiled. "Back when you completed outlining your divine character battle technique, Bai Feng and I asked you how many characters you outlined, and you said two nines, right?" "Yes." Chen Yong gave a half-smile. "Two nines? What kind of two nines? You claimed even a battle technique with twenty divine characters was mediocre—so what did 'two nines' mean?" Bai Feng remembered that as well and couldn't resist cursing, "Dammit, not a single word out of your mouth is true! You even lied to your own teacher!" Su Yu put on an innocent look. "It was the truth! Who lied? Two nines—a divine character battle technique of ninety-nine characters!" "..." The garden fell dead silent. Su Yu continued innocently, "I never lied from the start. But back then, you were all discussing it so passionately: the Fifth Head had only twenty-two, Teacher Liu had eighteen, Martial Grandfather had fourteen, and Teacher, you had it worst with only twelve... I couldn't just come out and say ninety-nine, could I? What if Teacher exploded on the spot from anger?" "..." Bai Feng's face turned ugly. His battle technique only had twelve base divine characters. Naturally, he had outlined more than that, but those lacked systemic harmony and could only be attached onto the technique rather than serving as its core foundation characters. Now that Su Yu brought it up, he recalled what happened back then and cursed again! Then again, even if Su Yu had said ninety-nine back then, Bai Feng wouldn't have believed him. Pure nonsense. So that was what "two nines" meant all along! Hong Tan, however, frowned slightly. "Ninety-nine... Leaving aside how this technique came about, your battle technique is abnormal!" Liu Wenyan nodded as well. "It is abnormal—there's an issue! Under normal circumstances, divine character battle techniques are composed of even numbers. Odd numbers are exceptionally rare! They do exist, of course, but an odd number often signifies a flaw! Yet with so many divine characters, how could it be flawed?" Bai Feng waved it off. "It's completely normal! In the end, the characters fuse into one! Though... ninety-nine characters really defies common sense..." Pondering for a moment, he quickly said, "Two possibilities. Either his innate divine character has manifested, or there's still another divine character residing in his head occupying the battle technique without him knowing!" "..." Su Yu froze, looking at him. Honestly, he had never considered this issue. Was there really something wrong with ninety-nine? Yet hearing everyone mention it now, it was true: the Fifth Head had twenty-two, Liu Wenyan had twenty, Hong Tan had fourteen... Everyone had an even number, while he alone had an odd number! And without even hesitating, Bai Feng had tossed out an answer! An answer that rattled Su Yu to his core. I... might actually have a hundred divine characters. Perhaps there was one inside him that he didn't know about, occupying his divine character battle technique—for instance... the golden atlas! He couldn't help staring at Bai Feng. Seeing him stare, Bai Feng snapped irritably, "What are you looking at! Is it so strange that you might harbor another divine character? I've wanted to slice open your sea of will for ages! A battle technique of ninety-nine characters... yet its actual power is shockingly weak. Your technique has an issue—it's incomplete. It probably won't unleash true might until every single character is outlined and the final one takes its place! Right now, it only seems formidable because you have a pile of fourth-tier characters and willpower far too monstrous for a Lingyun!" "Under normal circumstances, with so many fourth-tier characters, a ninety-nine-character battle technique, constant compression via the Expanding Will Art, abundant divine apertures, and even having consumed Sun Moon Xuanhuang Liquid, it's bizarre that you can't fight a Sun Moon expert! The multiple divine character faction boasts being invincible in the same realm! Even if we might not necessarily match those peerless prodigies or hold our ground against the Heaven Ranking, your situation is different. In my eyes, your ninth-stage Lingyun willpower alone shouldn't fall short of Moduona! But without relying on your physical body, could you beat that Moduona?" Su Yu shook his head. He couldn't! At his current willpower strength, going all out, matching a sixth-stage Shanhai was already an achievement. When Moduona was at the ninth stage of Lingyun, he had a shot at slaying a Sun Moon cultivator. There was simply no comparison! Bai Feng expounded grandly, "Don't be in such a hurry, and don't spend all your days obsessing over fleshly cultivation! The physical body... to be blunt, it's useless! After a thousand or ten thousand years, the body withers and decays. Only the sea of will and the spirit endure eternally! Brat, physical cultivation is for brute boors!" "..." Su Yu muttered faintly, "Every Invincible of the human race achieved their status through physical invincibility." Teacher, you're going to get beaten to death. Keep your head down! Bai Feng started to argue, hesitated, and finally muttered sullenly, "So what? The reason humanity cannot dominate the heavens is precisely because we have no Civilization Master Invincible! I've always felt that a Civilization Master Invincible could overturn the entire situation. Even if they couldn't activate suppressive power, they would still transcend the current physical Invincibles!" Su Yu smiled. "Teacher, the other races have Civilization Master Invincibles too, but they don't seem overwhelmingly stronger, and they aren't necessarily superior to physical Invincibles." "What the hell do you know!" Bai Feng scoffed dismissively. "It's bound to be different! The Civilization Master Invincibles of the other races... strictly speaking, only count as single divine character Invincibles. Across all races, not a single true multiple divine character Invincible has ever emerged! So we are different!" Fine, whatever you say. Hong Tan didn't join that debate, asking quizzically instead, "Why did you leave the ancient city at a time like this? It's very dangerous. Do you have business with us?" "Nothing much. I came mainly to take care of a matter related to Teacher." Su Yu explained, "I suspect Teacher Bai's grandfather opened his yang aperture and is on the verge of being drained to death—drained by his own aperture! I gave it some thought, and perhaps converting him into an ancient city resident is the only way to save him. Alternatively... a Half-Emperor could seal it, but a Half-Emperor's seal isn't a permanent solution, only good for a short time." Su Yu briefly laid out the circumstances. Bai Feng frowned. "My grandfather... Now that you mention it, I don't know the exact details either. But before I came to the Great Xia Prefecture, I did see my grandfather a few times. Each time, the old man only exchanged a few words through the chamber door, then went quiet. He hasn't left seclusion in years. Putting it that way, I can pretty much guess what's going on!" Hong Tan nodded. "That patriarch of the Bai family... I met him years ago. He opened quite a few yuan apertures and should be fairly strong. When I saw him several decades back, he was likely already at the seventh stage of Shanhai. That was ages ago, and his talent was solid. The Bai family's talent has always been decent..." "Teacher, the Bai family's talent is absolutely top-notch, alright!" Bai Feng said gloomily, "Our ancestor could battle a seventh-stage Shanhai cultivator while only at the ninth stage of Lingyun! He achieved that purely on physical strength with very few body refinings. If he had undergone more body refinings, he would've been slaying Sun Moon cultivators long ago!" Everyone chuckled. Liu Wenyan said with a smile, "Since Su Yu has deduced this, it's very likely true. Bai Feng, why don't you contact the Bai family? Of course, whether they agree depends on their own choice. Converting into an ancient city resident... is something many people are unwilling to accept." Bai Feng nodded. "Alright, I'll contact them. They probably won't refuse. If my grandfather really is in that state, this might be his opportunity! Even this kid Su Yu didn't die, so my grandfather will be fine!" What kind of talk was that! Bai Feng paid it no mind and asked, "Are you heading into the Star Residence Mansion this time?" Su Yu chuckled. "We'll see. I can't tell you—you're too weak, Teacher. An Invincible could easily detect your thoughts." "..." Fuck you! Bai Feng cursed frantically in his heart. You used to despise me behind my back, and now you're despising me right to my face! Unfilial brat! Traitor to your master! Deserving of a thousand deaths! Su Yu grinned. "See? Teacher is cursing me right now. Even I can sense it, let alone an Invincible." Bai Feng was speechless. Was it really that obvious? How tragic! When you're too weak, knowing secrets is useless—you can't keep them, and people can sense them right off you. Hong Tan and Liu Wenyan both laughed and didn't press the matter. Su Yu was right about some things: for the weak, knowing was pointless. You didn't even possess the qualifications to keep a secret. Liu Wenyan let the subject drop and asked, "Is everything alright on your end?" "I'm fine, I can hold the fort! Unless the death qi becomes too much for me to bear!" With that, Su Yu thought for a moment and said, "I'll pass an art to you. Teacher Liu, you, Martial Grandfather, and Senior Martial Uncle—the three of you can try cultivating it. Forget my teacher; he's too weak, and it would be bad if he exposed it. I want to see if you three can cultivate it successfully." Bai Feng's expression turned grim, glaring at him with an urge to throttle him! Su Yu laughed. "Teacher, I don't mean to look down on you. You're a genius, a researcher! Why bother cultivating arts? Just focus on research. I believe you can become the premier researcher across the heavens!" Bai Feng huffed! Su Yu didn't dally. Using voice transmission, he swiftly imparted the method of reversing yuan apertures to them. The art wasn't difficult—just a straightforward reversal of apertures. The reversal between life and death! Liu Wenyan and the others were all geniuses and quickly grasped the underlying principles. Liu Wenyan began attempting it, but the moment he tried, with a sudden boom, one of his apertures ruptured, and he spat out a mouthful of blood! Su Yu was startled. Hong Tan and Chen Yong immediately halted their cultivation and turned to Liu Wenyan. Liu Wenyan coughed, blood dripping from his lips. Frowning, he raised a hand and said, "Don't cultivate it!" He looked at Su Yu, furrowed his brows, and hesitated. "It won't work—there's an issue! Two possibilities: first, we haven't been transformed by dead spirits..." "That's not it!" Su Yu said urgently, "When I learned it, I hadn't been transformed by dead spirits either!" "Then it's the second!" Liu Wenyan said gravely, "It's likely because our apertures haven't been opened completely. I felt immense resistance! Upon reversal, the yuan aperture burst directly. It feels as if something is missing—perhaps because the apertures aren't complete enough to establish a total connection!" Su Yu paused. "You mean it requires the Great Circulation apertures?" "Yes!" Liu Wenyan nodded. "Most likely!" "Then... you could all open the Great Circulation apertures..." Liu Wenyan shook his head. "Don't be foolish. Knowing the locations of apertures doesn't mean you can just open them all! Aperture opening has its limits. The human race knew of plenty of apertures before—over three hundred! Yet who has actually opened over three hundred apertures?" He looked at Su Yu, hesitating before saying, "Just because you can open them doesn't mean everyone can! You're either exceptionally gifted, or... your bloodline has something peculiar, or there's another reason. Opening the Great Circulation apertures is definitely not as simple as knowing where they are!" At this point, Bai Feng chimed in, nodding, "Exactly! This brat definitely has issues. I suspect his bloodline is tied to ancient great demons. Su Yu, draw some blood and let me study it! I won't dissect your sea of will anymore—let me just see if there's anything strange about your blood." Su Yu gave Bai Feng a flat look. Are you serious? You aren't just saying this out of spite to get back at me, are you? Liu Wenyan chuckled. "Forget it, don't give it to him. If someone steals it, it'll cause endless trouble—you could be tracked or even cursed. Blood is something best kept to yourself. Bai Feng is far too weak; if he gets killed, your blood will be snatched away!" Hong Tan nodded in agreement. "Senior Brother is right. If you want to research it, do it yourself! Bai Feng is too weak!" Chen Yong chimed in, "Junior Brother is indeed on the weaker side. Su Yu, handle your blood carefully. Even during intense battles, never leave blood behind!" Wu Jia added, "Martial Uncle had better not study Junior Brother's blood. Junior Brother is comparable to a Sun Moon expert; Martial Uncle might not even be able to analyze Sun Moon blood!" "..." Bai Feng was stunned. What was this? Just a moment ago it was only Su Yu calling me weak, and in the blink of an eye, the entire lineage is chiming in. Am I really that weak? I've reached Lingyun! At Lingyun, I can take on at least the fourth or fifth stage of Lingyun! What do you all mean by this? Never mind the others, but his little martial niece—a newcomer to Tengkong—had the gall to mock her martial uncle? Su Yu shrugged and looked at Bai Feng: I wasn't the one who said it. Teacher, everyone is saying you're weak! Bai Feng ground his teeth and roared, "I'm going to the Star Residence Mansion this time! I won't return until I reach Shanhai!" Bullies, the lot of them! I'm a genius too! How did it come to this? Back in Tengkong, I defeated Hu Wensheng with a single sword strike, and nearly executed Xia Yuwen in Tengkong—a guy who even made the Yellow Ranking! I was far more gifted than him! If I don't count as a genius, how many among the myriad races across the heavens are more gifted than me? He felt suffocatingly aggrieved! After painstakingly breaking through to Lingyun, these people had battered his confidence to the point where he wanted to drop dead. It was Wu Lan who showed a shred of pity, chiming in, "Teacher Bai, you don't need to take it to heart. Senior Martial Sister Kong told me that being weak doesn't matter. If your strength is weak, you can take the research path. Everyone needs you, so it's fine if you're weak! Teacher Bai is on the weaker side, but you can be like me—we can walk the research path together. I think that's how Civilization Masters ought to be..." No matter how she spun it, it always circled back to those two words: you're weak! Bai Feng was on the verge of tearing his hair out, while Su Yu couldn't help bursting into laughter. Soon, everyone was laughing. Bai Feng was speechless. A bunch of bastards, making a laughingstock out of me! After joking around for a bit, Bai Feng couldn't be bothered with them anymore and muttered gloomily, "Then I'll go contact the Bai family and see if my grandfather can make it. My only worry is that he can't even move. I'll have him come as quickly as possible!" Su Yu smiled. "Alright, then I'll wait here for a few days until Grandfather Bai arrives!" "Piss off! You have to call him Great-Grandfather!" Bai Feng snapped in irritation. Fucking taking advantage of me again—I'm your teacher, not your brother! With a deep sigh, he lamented how he had less and less dignity as a teacher with each passing day. Utterly tragic. Having finished speaking with his teachers and elders, Su Yu turned toward the great demons in the garden with a smirk. It was about time to deal with these fellows too. At that moment, in the distance, the great demons were shivering violently. What are you looking at now? The Suanni had forcibly slimmed itself down by a large margin, filled with immense regret. If I had known earlier, I never would've gotten fat! He wouldn't really be eating braised pork tonight, would he?