Who Would Believe That!

The figures of parents faded from view. The familiar streets gradually receded into the distance. Some felt sorrowful, while others buzzed with excitement. Inside the rudimentary truck carriage, the seats were small and cramped. It was impossible to recline, leaving everyone no choice but to sit upright. After sitting for a while, some could no longer hold back. Up ahead, Zhou Chong turned to look at Chen Hao, a provocative glint in his eyes. "Chen Hao, I heard the Longwu Academy and the Great Xia War Academy are right next to each other. Once we get to the Great Xia Prefecture, if we ever run into each other, don't you dare go telling people we were classmates." Chen Hao looked up, swept a glance over him, and replied in dead earnest, "You bet! I can't afford to lose face like that. You can't even beat a girl in a fight, so don't you dare go around telling people you know me." "..." Subtle snickers rippled through the carriage. Zhou Chong flushed bright red, snapping in irritation, "Who says I couldn't beat her? I was just being the bigger person and didn't want to stoop to fighting a girl. A real man doesn't fight women!" "I don't believe you!" Chen Hao shook his head. "Unless you beat one right now to show me. There are girls right here on this truck!" At that, several girls cast disdainful glares in their direction. Two complete idiots! Zhou Chong felt utterly exasperated. Did this guy even understand what he meant? *I'm a student of the Great Xia War Academy, and you're at Longwu Academy. Don't you feel inferior to me at all?* With the two bickering back and forth, the stifling atmosphere in the carriage dissipated, turning noticeably lively. Beside Su Yu, a petite girl couldn't help glancing at him and whispered, "Classmate Su Yu, are you really at the ninth stage of the Kaiyuan Realm?" Su Yu nodded slightly. He didn't recognize this girl and hadn't seen her around Nanyuan Academy; she was likely from one of Nanyuan's other academies. Nanyuan did not have only one secondary academy; Nanyuan Secondary Academy was simply the largest and most prestigious. "Ninth-stage Kaiyuan... that's amazing!" Envy shone in the young girl's eyes. "I heard you placed first in the entrance assessments for both the Civilization Academy and the War Academy. Why did you choose the Civilization Academy?" "I like studying," Su Yu said with a light smile, offering a perfunctory answer. The girl didn't doubt him, though she sighed regretfully. "What a shame. If someone at the ninth stage of Kaiyuan went to a War Academy, you'd definitely break through to the Qianjun and Wanshi realms in no time. I've heard the Civilization Academy doesn't prioritize martial cultivation at all." "It doesn't matter. Serving humanity from behind the front lines is just as meaningful." After their brief exchange, others who had been keeping an eye on Su Yu chimed in. A boy with a crew cut sitting to the right spoke up: "Su Yu, I heard that during the exam, you clashed with the people from the Great Xia Prefecture. They won't come looking to cause trouble for you once we arrive, will they?" At those words, many turned their eyes toward Su Yu. During the delegation's visit from the Great Xia Prefecture, several of their geniuses had been thoroughly humiliated by Su Yu. Would they seek revenge against him? Su Yu smiled. "I doubt it. It was just a war of words." He made it sound trivial, but everyone else knew full well that several of those students had failed to get accepted because of it. Using Chen Hao and Zhou Chong's spat as an icebreaker, the students began chattering away. Every single one of them harbored immense yearning for the Great Xia Prefecture. It was the heart of the entire prefecture, teeming with experts and boundless opportunities... Su Yu listened in silence, rarely offering an opinion. Most students heading for the Civilization Academy were like this, quietly observing, while those bound for the War Academy preferred gossiping and discussing recent news. *** Within the convoy, on an open-bed truck, Xia Bing rubbed his long saber, vigilantly scanning the surroundings. By now, the convoy had already exited the city gates. The road was still relatively clear, but this was only the outskirts; the journey ahead would not be anywhere near as smooth. Nanyuan was roughly 1,500 li away from the provincial capital of the Great Xia Prefecture, situated at the prefecture's outer border. If the roads remained unimpeded, a single day would be enough to reach the capital. However, travel time could never be calculated so simply. Blocked roads were common, often forcing them to stop, make repairs, or even abandon vehicles and march on foot. Departing several days ahead of schedule was precisely meant to buffer against such unforeseen delays. Beside Xia Bing, a centurion of the City Guards looked at him with admiration and offered, "Sir, why don't you rest for a while? Leave the scouting and vigilance to us City Guards!" "No need." Xia Bing surveyed their surroundings and exhaled softly. "Focus your protection on Vehicle Number One, but keep a tight watch on the other vehicles as well. Don't let anyone fall behind! Every year around this time, trouble stirs up. We cannot be too careful." The centurion nodded solemnly, then added, "In previous years, whenever something happened, it was usually in the other major cities. Incidents near Nanyuan are quite rare." Xia Bing stayed silent. Student convoys from other major cities were indeed targeted far more frequently, while Nanyuan was rarely bothered. That was an indisputable fact. Because Nanyuan's students were weak and held little value. In other large cities, students at the seventh stage of Kaiyuan or higher were common. Killing a single one of those geniuses yielded more merit than wiping out Nanyuan's entire cohort. This year, however, was different. Xia Bing said in a low voice, "Stay alert. This year is not like the past! High-tier academy recruits are thorns in the All-Races Sect's side, and Nanyuan has one this year!" Hearing that, the centurion fell silent. Nanyuan hadn't produced a high-tier recruit in years, and this year had brought forth a double high-tier. It truly was trouble. A high-tier recruit was considered genius material even in the Great Xia Prefecture. Difficult to assassinate in the provincial capital, wouldn't they be an easy target here in Nanyuan? A Tengkong Realm Longwu Guard personally acting as a Dao Protector this year was largely because of Su Yu. In ordinary years, a ninth-stage Wanshi City Guard commander was more than enough to oversee the escort, without dispatching a Tengkong expert. Su Yu remained completely unaware, assuming this was standard escort protocol. In reality, the Longwu Guards stationed in Nanyuan were tasked with safeguarding the entire city, not a single student convoy, and would never leave Nanyuan lightly. After a brief silence, the centurion murmured, "Other major cities also have high-tier students, while we only have Su Yu. Sir, after suffering such heavy losses in the Great Xia Prefecture last time, the All-Races Sect wouldn't dare strike again so soon, would they?" Xia Bing snapped in a low voice, "Do not leave things to chance! Whether they come or not, remain on high alert! Safely escorting these talented students to the academies is our primary mission. Follow orders!" "Understood!" The centurion promptly saluted and relayed instructions over the vehicle's transceiver to the personnel on the other trucks. Escorting these two hundred students safely to the Great Xia Prefecture was their main objective. Yet within this objective, high-tier recruit Su Yu was an exceptional case. Should danger arise, the City Guards and Longwu Guards would execute a priority directive at critical moments. Their top priority would be securing Su Yu's evacuation, after which they would consider the other students. Such was the importance and privilege accorded to a high-tier student. Nanyuan hadn't seen one in far too long. "Roughly four hundred li ahead lies another major city, Tianshui City. Once we get there, we can establish contact and see if we can travel alongside their student convoy to the capital. Merging our forces will ensure a higher degree of safety." Checking the time, Xia Bing added, "If all goes smoothly, we should reach Tianshui City's borders within five hours. Keep everyone sharp during these next few hours!" "Understood!" "I'm going to check on the rear vehicles. Stay watchful." With those words, Xia Bing leapt into the air, soaring across the sky. The occupants of the truck stared in sheer envy until Xia Bing touched down onto one of the trailing vehicles before tearing their eyes away. *** Out in the wilderness. On a small hill, several shadowy silhouettes flickered. "Everyone, are we still taking action this year?" After a brief silence, a sinister voice rasped, "The Tianyi God Sect has already been annihilated, and the Great Xia Prefecture is a tiger's den! This year, word is that even the minor city of Nanyuan has a Tengkong-level Longwu Guard protecting their convoy. What do your respective factions say?" "Our Dao Lord's stance is to abandon this year's ambush plan!" A woman answered with a chuckle. "The Great Xia Prefecture has been thoroughly provoked. On the All-Heavens Battlefield, the prefecture recalled the Longwu Guards, and nobody knows where their main force is lying in wait right now. It's not worth risking our necks just to kill a few fledglings." A Dao Lord held a position comparable to a prefectural governor, serving as the chief representative of a given sect within the Great Xia Prefecture. A minor city was overseen by a hall master, usually at the Tengkong Realm, whereas a Dao Lord governed an entire prefecture's branch, their strength ranging from Shanhai at the strongest to Lingyun at the weakest. The woman's sect had clearly abandoned this year's hunting operation. The first speaker sneered darkly, "Your Cloud Rat God Sect has always been so cowardly! Xia Longwu is in seclusion, and that pig-headed Marquis Xia is currently in charge. Do you really think he has the foresight to arrange an ambush with the Longwu Guards outside the capital? "This year is our golden opportunity! With Xia Longwu absent, if we can wipe out the geniuses of the twenty-eight cities, the Great Xia Prefecture will lose at least dozens of future Tengkong experts over the next twenty years!" The woman didn't take offense, chuckling lightly. "Only the cautious survive. The Tianyi God Sect was powerful and flamboyant, rooted in other prefectures for years, yet look what happened as soon as they set foot in the Great Xia Prefecture... Heads rolled, and their sect was wiped out! Even their sect master fell, along with multiple God Race warriors... Our Cloud Rat God Sect isn't as mighty as them, nor are we as reckless." With a smirk, she added, "We won't be participating in this year's plan. If your Blood Fire Sect wishes to act, no one will stop you." The Blood Fire Sect was the very faction that had previously teamed up with the Tianyi God Sect to attack Nanyuan. The woman knew that everyone in that sect was a lunatic. Utterly mad! They inherited the brutal nature of the Blood Fire Demon Race, wild and violent to the core. Following the destruction of the Tianyi God Sect, they had suffered heavy losses as well, yet instead of shrinking back in fear, they had deployed even more forces into the Great Xia Prefecture. They wanted to take advantage of Xia Longwu's seclusion to reclaim their lost face. The woman had no intention of joining their madness and seeking an early grave. Xia Longwu might be in seclusion, but the foundation of the Great Xia Prefecture remained rock-solid. Laying low and biding their time was the right path; provoking the Great Xia Prefecture right now was simply begging for destruction. The Blood Fire Sect operative snorted in displeasure, not bothering to waste further breath on her. The Cloud Rat God Sect was weak anyway, hardly his target partner. A moment later, he continued, "Wiping out the geniuses of twenty-eight cities is naturally impossible—just a figure of speech. But our All-Races God Sect has suffered countless losses in the Great Xia Prefecture year after year, with casualties piling up. Now other prefectures are questioning our competence, and fewer new recruits are joining. "The eradication of the Tianyi God Sect has dragged the prestige of the All-Races God Sect through the mud! "If we don't reclaim our honor, then... our All-Races God Sect will slide into decline!" The sinister man sighed. "My Blood Fire Sect isn't acting out of mere vengeance. I am fully aware that the Great Xia Prefecture has laid a trap, waiting for us to dive right in! They surely think our target is Nanyuan. That tiny city produced a genius this year who scored high-tier on the War Academy assessment, top-high on the Civilization Academy assessment, and even outlined a divine character... "That news was broadcast far and wide! "While it might seem normal, by all rights, a prodigy of that caliber should have been secretly escorted to the academy by Great Xia Civilization Academy experts. Yet this year, there was no movement from them at all..." The man laughed wickedly. "It's bait! Set out precisely for us to bite!" At those words, another voice rumbled, "If so, does Hall Master Xue E still plan on proceeding with the hunt?" "Why wouldn't I?" The man replied, "Since they cast their bait, why shouldn't we bite?" He smiled cruelly. "What my Blood Fire Sect loves most is slaughter! A world without bloodshed is terribly dull! The Blood Fire Sect will dispatch operatives to strike Nanyuan's student convoy, but... they are not our primary objective! "Feigning an attack in the east while striking in the west—who doesn't know that trick? "Our real target... is Beifeng City, the second-largest city in the Great Xia Prefecture!" The man let out a chilling, malicious laugh. "A small squad of cultists will strike Nanyuan to lure out the hidden ambush forces, while we descend upon Beifeng City! They will never expect us to dare target Beifeng! "Beifeng City is less than five hundred li from the provincial capital, protected by at least five Tengkong experts, and likely shadowed by one or two Lingyun experts! "In past years, we never attacked Beifeng City. Because of that, Beifeng looks down on us, ignores us, and over the years, they've grown hopelessly complacent! "Cities like Nanyuan and Tianshui, precisely because they lack power and were attacked in the past, are perpetually on edge, making an ambush or surprise assault extremely difficult... "If we launch a sudden blitz on Beifeng City," the man pressed on briskly, "we are guaranteed a massive achievement! Beifeng produces a wealth of talent, second only to the capital itself. They have nearly ten high-tier students and over a hundred mid-tier ones. Slaying a single high-tier student earns at least thirty contribution points, equivalent to killing a seventh-stage Wanshi cultivator! "Killing a mid-tier student yields five contribution points. Two of them equal an early-stage Wanshi... "If we wipe out Beifeng City's convoy," he stated grimly, "the contribution points will easily surpass a thousand. Add in the Dao Protectors we kill, and the reward will exceed two thousand points! "Moreover, Beifeng is affluent. Those geniuses will be carrying willpower texts, original all-races cultivation manuals, graded weapons, and yuanqi liquid... Add it all up, and a successful raid will net at least five thousand contribution points!" In the shadows, breathing grew noticeably heavier. Five thousand contribution points—the All-Races God Sect's contribution points were virtually equivalent to merit points. That meant five thousand merit points! Equivalent to the bounty for slaying fifty newly ascended Tengkong experts! Killing a Lingyun cultivator started at merely five hundred points, while a Shanhai cultivator was worth roughly five thousand. Yet how difficult was it to kill a Shanhai expert? This was merely a student convoy. No matter how strong their escort, it was nowhere near as terrifying as facing a true Shanhai master. Someone's breath hitched as they blurted out, "Beifeng's escort is formidable. We'd need at least three Lingyun cultivators and five or six Tengkong experts to guarantee a swift wipeout. But deploying such firepower will leave each of us with barely any share of that reward." "Ignorant!" the Blood Fire Sect man sneered. "If we wipe out Beifeng's geniuses, do you think our superiors will be stingy with rewards? Five thousand points is merely our baseline haul. If we pull this off, the high command's reward will at least double to ten thousand contribution points! "The foot soldiers below will get at most a thousand between them, leaving the rest for the likes of us... That's around a thousand points per person! How many years would it normally take you to earn that much?" Breathing turned even more ragged. A thousand contribution points was an astronomical sum to them. Sometimes, a Tengkong operative executing a mission only received a few points, or at most a few dozen. Any mission offering over a hundred points required staking one's very life. An early-stage Tengkong was worth a hundred points. The two were practically equal. Earning a thousand points normally meant killing ten Tengkong cultivators and risking one's life ten times over. Here, it required risking it just once! The man barked in a low tone once more, "Are you in or out? If we succeed, perhaps even the Tianyi God Race will bestow divine rewards! We will have avenged them. To rebuild the Tianyi God Sect, the Tianyi God Race won't be petty. If anyone has the ambition... they could even take the lead in rebuilding the Tianyi God Sect and establishing their own branch!" "Xue E, do you harbor such ambitions yourself?" Xue E replied nonchalantly, "Who doesn't want to rise higher? Does it make any difference whether I sell my life to the Blood Fire Demon Race or the Tianyi God Race? Heh, people like us are destined to have no place among humanity. Since that's the case, who I serve... depends entirely on who offers the higher price! "If I can lead the reconstruction of the Tianyi God Sect, I'm certain to receive massive patronage. Perhaps I could swiftly break through to the Shanhai Realm, or even beyond!" Xue E made no attempt to conceal his ambition, his eyes burning with greed and anticipation. "When the sect is rebuilt, endless resources will pour in. If anyone is willing to join me... the founding patriarch of a branch enjoys benefits that latecomers can never match!" "Xue E, aren't you afraid the Blood Fire Sect will come after you?" Xue E sneered. "Afraid of what? My life is cheap. If I succeed, I'll be the head of an entire branch! The Blood Fire Sect wouldn't dare touch me then! If I fail, I'm still a Lingyun expert; does the Blood Fire Sect suddenly not need people like us to bleed for them? It's just talk; I haven't actually betrayed them yet. Are they going to execute me over that? "This isn't the Demon Realm of the Blood Fire Demon Race; this is the Human Realm. Is it worth the effort to hunt me down? It would be far smarter to keep me alive and doing their dirty work, wouldn't it?" Sounding slightly impatient, Xue E continued, "Weigh the choice for yourselves. However... none of you are permitted to leave over the next few days. If you have errands, my subordinates can handle them for you. Even if you don't participate, leaving is forbidden!" No one objected. Staying confined for these few days was standard protocol to prevent leaks. "Xue E, ambushing Beifeng City is feasible, but the Blood Fire cultists sent to hit cities like Nanyuan must be sufficiently strong. Otherwise... it'll be obvious at a glance that they're disposable pawns, putting all of us in grave danger. Can you manage that?" "Naturally!" Xue E chuckled darkly. "The Tianshui Hall Master has always been at odds with me. He's at the sixth stage of Tengkong; how about letting him lead the team? Nanyuan only has one early-stage Tengkong Longwu Guard. Handing him that kind of credit on a silver platter—would he really turn it down? "If any of you have rivals or enemies, feel free to toss them at the other cities. Striking Nanyuan alone might not draw enough attention, but hitting multiple locations will force whatever traps they've laid out into the open. Only then will we be truly safe!" Silence fell over the gathering. In an environment like theirs, who didn't have a few mortal enemies? It was usually inconvenient to eliminate them, but using this opportunity to purge their rivals was by no means a bad idea. *A thousand contribution points for raiding Beifeng City...* *Or even becoming the founding patriarch of the rebuilt Tianyi God Sect!* Ambition stirred within several minds. Xue E wasn't deceiving them. The Tianyi God Race was desperately in need of local representatives. Since their previous sect had been dismantled, they had no organizational structure left. Anyone who defected now was guaranteed to be heavily relied upon. Beifeng City had enjoyed peace for years, while Nanyuan's sudden broadcast of a genius seemed blatantly staged. It truly might be bait. Attacking Nanyuan might actually prove far more hazardous than ambushing Beifeng City. Conventional logic dictated that they wouldn't dare attack Beifeng, but... who said they had to follow convention? At that moment, the branch leaders of each sect gathered there were thoroughly swayed. Xue E smiled wickedly to himself, knowing they would agree. The prize was simply too great! So grand that their greed would inevitably overcome their caution. If they weren't greedy, why would they have joined the All-Races Sect in the first place? "Nanyuan... bait..." Xue E turned his gaze toward the south, snickering under his breath. Savoring a whole flock of geniuses was far more satisfying than swallowing a single prodigy; the Great Xia Prefecture had sorely underestimated his appetite. "A top-high genius... already outlined a divine character..." Xue E scoffed. Who did they think they were fooling? As if a godforsaken ditch like Nanyuan could produce a top-high genius! Ten to one, it was a deliberate rumor leaked to reel them in. Who would believe that! Killing a top-high genius was worth a hundred merit points, equivalent to slaying a Tengkong expert! Did they invent a top-high genius simply because top experts wouldn't be tempted by anything less? "You underestimate me!" Xue E puffed with pride. Had they claimed it was Tianshui City, he might have believed it. But Nanyuan City? Did the Great Xia Prefecture take the All-Races Sect for absolute fools? Unfortunately, there truly were fools in the All-Races Sect who bought it hook, line, and sinker. Xue E felt a surge of intellectual superiority and contempt. Why on earth did anyone take the idea of Nanyuan producing a top-high student seriously? For the All-Races Sect to truly compete against the various prefectures, there was still a long road ahead; only when those idiots died off could the organization truly prosper.