Women Are All Roadblocks

After chatting with Zhou Hui for a while, Su Yu and the other newcomers gained a general understanding of the academy's situation. Although it was only basic information, it helped ease the students' anxiety. As for the rumors circulating outside regarding factional struggles within the academy, Zhou Hui had touched upon them briefly: they had nothing to do with them. In other words, none of them were qualified to get involved! Outsiders claimed the academy's struggles were brutal, but that applied only to the strong, to geniuses. Mediocrities... weren't worthy! When she said this, Su Yu remembered, Zhou Hui had actually seemed somewhat envious. "Struggles? If the fighting ever targeted me, I'd die laughing!" At that moment, Zhou Hui had genuinely looked envious. Being targeted in a struggle meant you were a genius, a monstrous talent, a powerhouse—someone of tremendous value! Without that value, nobody in the academy would even bother with you. Who would waste time on a mediocrity! Geniuses, monstrous talents, powerhouses—none of them were bored enough to waste their breath on mediocrities. Even suppressing you would be beneath them; you simply didn't qualify. So by Zhou Hui's logic, if you truly felt the tension of academy infighting, congratulations: you had become an important figure in the academy! It also represented authority, strength, merit, and a voice! Zhou Hui's words brought Su Yu a sudden realization. It felt like clouds parting to reveal the sun! Before, he had been overthinking and digging himself into a dead end. Even though he had come to the Great Xia Civilization Academy, Su Yu had still harbored some dissatisfaction toward the academy's internal strife. He had felt things shouldn't be like this, especially when even new students were subjected to that suffocating pressure. Yet now, hearing Zhou Hui put it that way, he understood. It wasn't that the academy was dragging ordinary students into the conflict, but rather... that he was simply too exceptional! An exceptional person, student or not, would inevitably be pulled in. Merit, cultivation methods, resources—geniuses demanded a great deal of them, and powerhouses demanded even more. When you wanted so much, if you didn't fight for it, did you expect pies to fall from the sky? If one was like Zhou Hui and the others, content with demanding several tens or a hundred merit points over a few years, who would think you were asking for too much? Could Su Yu be satisfied with such a meager amount? He had already spent seventy or eighty merit points during this brief period alone! *** Back in his room, Su Yu sat in quiet contemplation for a while, feeling enlightened. A faint smile appeared on his face. When looking at things from a different angle, one reached entirely different conclusions. Exhaling softly, Su Yu put the matter out of his mind. He picked up the *Great Xia Civilization Academy General Handbook* beside him and began reading. *** *Academy Section.* The academy was divided primarily into eight major areas: the Teaching Area, the Commercial Area, the Residential Area, the New Student Reception Area, the Secret Realm Area, the Preaching Area, the Heart Cultivation Pavilion, and the Retirement Area. The New Student Reception Area was where Su Yu was staying now, responsible for welcoming incoming students and accommodating visiting parents. The Preaching Area was mainly where experts might deliver public lectures. With good luck, one could observe powerhouses writing willpower texts on-site or explaining confidential knowledge, all free of charge. The Heart Cultivation Pavilion was where the academy's core leadership resided. The Retirement Area was quite literally for retirement; many older students of the academy lived there, forming a self-contained community and representing a massive faction within the institution. As for the other areas, their names made their purposes self-evident. The Great Xia Civilization Academy was immense; according to the description, it was no smaller than the main urban district of Nanyuan! Its population was enormous as well! Students under thirty numbered nearly twenty thousand! These were considered the academy's new generation. In cultivation, a decade was not a long time, so those under thirty held great potential. Those aged thirty to fifty numbered nearly ten thousand, while those over fifty accounted for close to twenty thousand more! Being over fifty meant one's potential was essentially exhausted, making Manifestation virtually impossible. Liu Wenyan achieving Manifestation was an exception, or rather an exceedingly rare opportunity available to only a select few. All told, the academy had nearly fifty thousand students! And many students over thirty were married with children. Factoring in their families, academy staff, instructors, researchers... The entire academy was home to nearly a hundred thousand people! Its scale was staggering! In the Commercial Area, many shopkeepers were family members of students, instructors, or researchers. These people were inextricably bound to the academy. "A hundred thousand people..." Reading this number, Su Yu was thoroughly stunned. A single academy boasting a population of a hundred thousand! Although Nanyuan was said to have a population of one million, a large portion lived outside the city walls. That million included all surrounding villages, towns, and even those who had already departed Nanyuan. Only about three hundred thousand actually resided in the main city. Yet the Great Xia Civilization Academy, an academy rather than an official city, housed a hundred thousand people. It was practically a small city in its own right! After skimming through the Academy Section, Su Yu quickly turned to the Figures Section. *** *Figures Section: Headmaster* Headmaster: Wan Tiansheng. Great Xia Civilization Academy, Sixth Headmaster. Strength: Unknown. Rumor had it that when he took office fifty years ago, he was at the peak of the Shanhai Realm; Headmaster Wan was forty-eight years old at the time. The description of Wan Tiansheng was brief. Only now did Su Yu learn that Headmaster Wan was actually ninety-eight, nearly a centenarian. And fifty years ago, he was already at peak Shanhai Realm. What about now? Nobody knew! Wan Tiansheng had stayed in the academy for fifty years and hardly ever fought anymore. No one knew the depths of his power; even if someone did, it wasn't something ordinary students could learn. Once someone reached the Shanhai Realm, the human race kept their information vague and ambiguous to keep enemies in the dark. "Makes sense. Without that kind of strength, he couldn't have become headmaster fifty years ago." Su Yu wasn't particularly surprised. Wan Tiansheng had taken up the academy's mantle fifty years ago and had practically turned the tide; without absolute strength, he could never have done it. By now, he might well have reached the pinnacle. As for the legendary Invincible Realm, Su Yu dared not even speculate. *** *Figures Section: Deputy Headmasters* The Great Xia Civilization Academy had three deputy headmasters. First Deputy Headmaster: Zhou Mingren (Peak Shanhai Realm) Second Deputy Headmaster: Xia Changqing (Peak Shanhai Realm) Third Deputy Headmaster: Su Ziming (Peak Shanhai Realm) The three deputy headmasters had minimal descriptions, and their true strength was largely speculative. The only one with a few extra sentences was Xia Changqing—a member of the Xia family, the very Xia of the Great Xia Prefecture. The subsequent senior researchers were not listed in their entirety; only a few prominent ones were briefly introduced. Su Yu spotted a familiar name! Senior Researcher: Hong Tan. He already knew this was Bai Feng's teacher, Liu Wenyan's junior fellow disciple. "Hong Tan, senior researcher of the academy's divine character path, Shanhai Realm eighth layer, skilled in the path of divine character fusion, Vice Dean of the Divine Character College." The dean position was concurrently held by First Deputy Headmaster Zhou Mingren, as Su Yu had read earlier. The Divine Character College was the headquarters of the divine character faction. However, the notes mentioned that Hong Tan rarely involved himself in administrative affairs. Over the years, he had accepted only Bai Feng as a student and had rarely shown his face in public since. Su Yu continued reading and spotted another name. Senior Researcher: Wu Yuehua. "Wu Yuehua, senior researcher of the divine pill path, Shanhai Realm eighth layer, skilled in pill refinement." The description was brief, but an extra line was appended at the end: "Great-aunt of the genius teaching assistant Wu Qi." Wu Qi! Su Yu knew this name: Wu Lan's older sister, an academy genius. Many people had compared Wu Qi to Bai Feng before, implying clearly that Bai Feng was inferior to her. "The Wu family!" Su Yu let out a soft breath. No wonder Wu Lan had so much confidence. Having a great-aunt at the Shanhai Realm eighth layer, it would be strange if she lacked backing! If Su Yu possessed such a backer, he would be brimming with confidence too. After scanning the senior researchers, Su Yu turned to the section on intermediate researchers. "Zhao Li, intermediate researcher of the weapon forging path, skilled in weapon forging, Lingyun Realm seventh layer, a master figure of the Forging faction, eccentric personality." "Eccentric?" Su Yu raised an eyebrow. He hadn't sensed that much eccentricity from him. However, Zhao Li ranked near the very top of intermediate researchers, among the top three. This surprised Su Yu; he had assumed the man was just boasting, but he was evidently formidable. He browsed further and was surprised not to find any entry for Hu Youhui. This meant... Researcher Hu didn't stand out among intermediate researchers. Despite being in the Lingyun seventh layer, he hadn't even earned a profile. Su Yu didn't dwell on the junior researchers. Soon, he flipped to the page for assistant researchers. "Xia Yuwen, assistant researcher, Tengkong ninth layer, member of the Xia family, ranked first on the Top 100 Rankings before graduation, number one teaching assistant of the academy." "Hu Wensheng, assistant researcher, Tengkong ninth layer, ranked second on the Top 100 Rankings before graduation, number two teaching assistant of the academy." "Wu Qi... Tengkong eighth layer..." ... "Bai Feng... Tengkong seventh layer..." Su Yu checked the list; Bai Feng didn't rank particularly high among teaching assistants, sitting at eleventh place. However, several people ahead of him were quite advanced in age and were powerhouses at the Tengkong ninth layer. If Bai Feng's own claims held true, among those under thirty, he should rank in the top five. Xia Yuwen, Hu Wensheng, Wu Qi... only these few stood above him; the rest couldn't match him. "Seems he really is impressive..." After reading the profiles, Su Yu realized that Bai Feng reaching the Tengkong seventh layer was genuinely extraordinary. He was so young, and very few people under thirty managed to reach the Tengkong Realm at all. He also spotted the name of Bai Feng's old rival, Liu Hong. He was actually at the Tengkong seventh layer too! Ranked fourteenth, trailing Bai Feng by just a little. Earlier, Researcher Huang had told him that Liu Hong was only at the Tengkong sixth layer and that he shouldn't worry because Liu Hong was no match for Bai Feng. Now seeing that Liu Hong had also reached the seventh layer, Su Yu couldn't help marveling. It seemed these geniuses advanced rapidly. Liu Hong truly counted as a genius; if he didn't, Bai Feng couldn't either. *** Aside from the researchers, the most renowned ranking among the current, non-graduated students was the Top 100 Rankings. The Top 100 Rankings excluded those in the Tengkong Realm and students over thirty. The one ranked first was named Zhan Hai. Character Cultivation stage, willpower fullness 99%, twenty-six years old. He followed the divine character path and possessed three divine characters, all exceptionally powerful; the specific characters and their properties were unknown. Not only was he at the Character Cultivation stage, but his warrior path was also formidable: a warrior of the Wanshi ninth layer. The file assessed that Zhan Hai likely intended to achieve physical Tengkong first before attaining willpower Tengkong, thereby stacking body castings. Of course, the odds weren't high. If he didn't advance to Tengkong in a year or two, he would have no hope of catching up to the monstrous talents ahead like Bai Feng. By the time you finally reached Tengkong, they would already be in Lingyun; stacking body castings wouldn't make up the difference. Besides, those people were monstrous talents too, with their own specialties. "Zhan Hai..." For the researchers, Su Yu merely browsed. As for Zhan Hai, Su Yu didn't know him and had no desire to, but he was curious: what were the rewards for the number one spot on the Top 100 Rankings? *** Soon, Su Yu found what he was looking for! "Top 100 Rankings: Records the top one hundred students under thirty years of age!" "Students with accumulated merit exceeding 100 points may challenge ranked students." "Each challenge costs 10 merit points. If the challenge fails, the merit goes to the challenged student! If successful, the challenger retains the merit." "The Top 100 Rankings are tiered every ten ranks: Ranks 91–100 receive a monthly stipend of 3 merit points." "Ranks 81–90 receive 4 points per month." ... "Ranks 21–30 receive 10 points per month." "Ranks 11–20 receive 15 points per month." "Ranks 4–10 receive 20 merit points per month, plus one Wanshi Realm original text." "Top Three receive 30 merit points per month and one Wanshi Realm original text; maintaining a top-three rank for six consecutive months grants one entry into a secret realm! Retaining first place for six consecutive months awards one drop of god and demon blood essence!" ... Su Yu stared in disbelief! The rewards were astounding! For the top three, thirty merit points a month, plus a Wanshi Realm original text—every single month! Back in Nanyuan, even a Qianjun Realm original text cost over thirty merit points. How much would a Wanshi Realm text cost? That alone brought the monthly reward to well over a hundred merit points! Holding a top-three spot for six months earned entry into a secret realm, to say nothing of the first-place prize: god and demon blood essence! Su Yu shook his head. "Has nothing to do with me, nothing to do with me at all. My goal is to enter the top hundred as soon as possible. That's an extra three merit points a month..." It didn't seem like much, but distributed monthly, that was thirty-six points a year—hardly a trivial sum. Where else could a student at the Character Cultivation stage get so much merit at once? Su Yu managing to obtain so much earlier had been pure luck. Had he not cooperated with the Longwu Guards and City Guards, killing a high-layer Qianjun powerhouse on his own would only have yielded three merit points. It was equivalent to killing a high-layer Qianjun every month just to get three points. For a student at the Character Cultivation stage, killing a high-layer Qianjun was no simple feat. In the Great Xia Prefecture, you might not even get such an opportunity. Unless you ventured beyond the city walls into the wilderness to hunt down All-Races Sect members—but going out there, you were just as likely to be the one who died. "Work hard to enter the top hundred!" Su Yu turned his gaze to the very last name on the Top 100 Rankings: Lin Qing! "You're the one!" Rank 100 on the Top 100 Rankings: Lin Qing, fifth-year student, peak Character Cultivation, warrior path Qianjun seventh layer... Yes, even the dead-last ranked student was this strong! Almost everyone in the top hundred was at peak Character Cultivation. The few who weren't had reached the Wanshi Realm physically, making them equally terrifying. This Top 100 Rankings could practically be translated into the War Academy's Wanshi Rankings; anyone who hadn't reached Wanshi or lacked Wanshi-level combat prowess couldn't make the list at all. "Wanshi combat strength..." Su Yu took a deep breath. Of course, he didn't possess that right now. Even if he consumed blood essence to unleash the explosive force of a Qianjun seventh layer, backed by divine characters, he could at best contend with a Qianjun ninth layer. But once he faced a Wanshi... Su Yu had witnessed a Wanshi cultivator erupting with full might last time. A group of high-layer Qianjun experts had surrounded him, yet suffered heavy casualties, and a single mistake could have allowed the enemy to turn the tables. When Su Yu disrupted him for just a fleeting moment back then, his head had nearly exploded. Back then, the opponent had been a pure warrior. Students at the Civilization Academy, by contrast, had formidable willpower. Even Lin Qing at rank one hundred was at peak Character Cultivation; Su Yu's divine character disruption might fail completely or even suffer backlash. If so, he had zero hope of fighting her. "Rank one hundred... I'm still falling short. Once my body reaches Qianjun, my willpower attains Character Cultivation, and my two divine characters grow stronger, only then can I hope to challenge her!" Su Yu took a deep breath and clenched his fists, steeling his resolve. Being broke was too hard! As for Lin Qing being a woman... what of it? He couldn't care less. Girls didn't give him merit points. Teacher was right: women were all roadblocks on the path of cultivation. Look at that—the one blocking him right now was this Lin Qing. *** At the same time. Residential Area, Teaching Assistant Area. Inside a small villa. Wu Lan looked at the young woman beside her, full of fighting spirit. "Sister Qing, I'll be challenging you soon! Just you wait!" Lin Qing possessed an intellectual smile and a gentle demeanor. She chuckled softly. "Lanlan, amass one hundred merit points first before talking. By the time you've accumulated a hundred points, I might already be in the top fifty." Wu Lan clenched her small fist, refusing to concede. "It won't take long! Besides, I'm at Character Cultivation too. In a while, I might reach peak Character Cultivation, and then I can take on far more missions..." With that, her blood surged with excitement. "Sister Qing, I've thought it all through! Once registration is done, I'm going out on missions with the Prefectural Army..." ... Lin Qing looked at her in surprise, then said with lingering dread, "Nonsense! You want to take part in operations with the Prefectural Army?" "Of course!" Wu Lan said excitedly, "That's the only way to pile up merit points fast! I know this guy—so weak, his willpower was only at twenty percent! Yet he took part in an operation with the Wind Arrest Hall and even killed a Wanshi! He racked up ten extra merit points, even higher than mine..." ... Lin Qing stared at her, pausing for a long moment before saying, "I'm telling Teacher!" Her teacher was none other than Wu Qi. A monstrous genius who had reached the Tengkong Realm at twenty! She had taken up the role of teaching assistant upon reaching Tengkong and had accepted Lin Qing five years ago. Now Lin Qing had broken into the Top 100 Rankings; leave alone teaching assistants, even the students of ordinary junior or intermediate researchers couldn't necessarily produce a top-hundred ranker. Wu Lan retorted dismissively, "If that guy could do missions, why can't I? I know, all of you think I don't understand anything. Why wouldn't I? Life-and-death tempering is the best way to strengthen oneself! "Aren't you all just scared I'll die on a mission? If I really die, that's just fate! If my sister hadn't gone on missions back then, she wouldn't have reached Tengkong so early either!" Lin Qing tried to dissuade her: "Lanlan, you've just entered the academy. Your physical body hasn't even broken into Qianjun. Going on missions now is pure folly—it's seeking your own death." "He didn't have Qianjun either..." "Who are you talking about?" "Su Yu!" Wu Lan puffed up in indignation. "That guy from Nanyuan! The student Assistant Bai Feng is taking in!" "Su Yu?" Lin Qing muttered the name, then quickly said, "It's different, Lanlan. Students from small towns don't treat their lives as precious when fighting for a future and a way out. You started from a high point, which is an advantage of your own. Why play to your weaknesses instead of your strengths, insisting on competing with him on that ground..." Wu Lan frowned. "I don't care! Anyway... anyway, I'm keeping my eyes on him! Last time he got first place while I was only second, and he laughed so insolently! I have to win back my face! The face I lost, I'll take back myself!" Seeing her like this, Lin Qing said nothing more, but she resolved in her heart to inform her teacher the moment she emerged from secluded cultivation. She couldn't allow Wu Lan to act recklessly! The Wu family's principle was to avoid dangerous missions until reaching Tengkong; everything could wait until one attained Tengkong. If something happened to Wu Lan during a mission, that would be a catastrophe. As Lin Qing was still pondering this, Wu Lan added, "Since my sister hasn't come out yet, I'll head back first. That guy has probably arrived too, and he's definitely cultivating in secret. I'm going back to cultivate as well!" ... Lin Qing didn't know whether to laugh or cry. Did someone need to cultivate in secret? Wu Lan had truly picked a bone with Su Yu. "Don't rush off in such a panic, Lanlan. If you really find him an eyesore, I can deal with him for you..." "No way!" Wu Lan fumed, "I want a fair competition! I'll defeat him! Then I'll laugh arrogantly in his face, make him furious, make him mad! From now on, I won't take any merit points from home! I'll accumulate them myself, become strong on my own, and defeat him!" ... Lin Qing felt helpless, finding it thoroughly childish. Refusing family merit points—was this supposed to be her way of proving herself? Wu Lan was still too young, too impulsive, and too naive. Compared to her teacher, the difference was night and day. Leaving talent aside, the gap in temperament was vast. When Wu Qi entered the academy, people had constantly tried to provoke her too. Being born into the Wu family was her capital to begin with; why make things difficult for herself over the chatter of outsiders? If Wu Qi had acted like Wu Lan, she never would have reached where she was today, becoming one of the academy's foremost genius teaching assistants. Lin Qing offered no further counsel; she couldn't persuade her anyway. All she could do was wait until her teacher emerged from seclusion. This time, when Teacher emerged, perhaps... she would be at the Tengkong ninth layer! At the thought, Lin Qing felt a surge of excitement. If Teacher attained the Tengkong ninth layer and she herself could quickly advance to Tengkong, Teacher could be promoted to a full researcher, and she would receive even more support and nurturing.