Fate Brought Us Together

That night, no senior brothers or sisters came knocking on doors as Zhou Hui had joked. It was a peaceful night. *** Early the next morning, when Su Yu came downstairs, he saw that Zhou Hui had already arrived. "Bring all your luggage!" Zhou Hui was speaking to the students, projecting her voice: "Once we enter the Main Campus, you won't be able to stay here anymore. Regular stays cost money! "Bring your merit cards, bring your bank cards, bring your registration certificates!" Zhou Hui shouted her reminders, and all around them, other senior brothers and sisters were doing the same, constantly reminding the students to take their belongings. "We're boarding Bus 18 later. Don't get on the wrong one! "Registration is centralized, and arrangements are centralized! As for your specific college assignments and choices, some of you have already been directly assigned, while others can choose freely!" *** Amid the bustling rush, Su Yu and the others quickly grabbed something to eat before boarding the bus. There was still some distance between the New Student Reception Area and the Main Campus. If they were to walk instead of ride, some physically frail students might genuinely struggle to make the trip. In a War Academy, such a thing generally never happened. Soon, Su Yu and his group stepped out of the hotel. A long line of buses stretched down the street outside the entrance. The entire avenue was filled with students. There were fewer than two thousand new students in total. While some had reported straight to the Main Campus, nearly a thousand were gathered here in the reception area. Each vehicle seated around twenty passengers, and there were over fifty buses lined up along the road. Su Yu glanced around. He didn't know if the group from Nanyuan had arrived yet or if they had run into trouble along the way, but with so many people, he couldn't spot any familiar faces. *** Before long, everyone boarded. Seeing that Liu Ke was petite yet carrying two large suitcases, Su Yu considered lending a hand. But the moment he moved toward her, she eyed him with total vigilance, terrified he might charge her merit points. Amused and at a loss, Su Yu gave up on helping. *Do I really look like a villain?* Once on board, Zhou Hui took a quick headcount and spoke promptly: "When we register later, don't wander off! Also, if you run into senior students in the academy whom you don't know, don't talk to them too much." Zhou Hui looked solemn. "To put it bluntly, our academy has no shortage of lunatics! There are even those whose willpower collapsed under backlash. Sometimes you can't tell them apart from normal people. If you don't provoke them, you're fine, but once you get tangled with them and get beaten to death, sure, they'll get into trouble, but you'll just be dead!" Her expression grew even more grave. "I'm being serious, so don't take this lightly! Among those whose willpower collapsed, there are even researcher-level figures. You ought to know how strong they are! A casual strike from one of them, and you're done for! "Of course, this doesn't happen often, but it really has happened before. Consider yourselves warned: if you bring trouble upon yourselves, no one is going to pity you!" The students immediately sobered up, no longer treating her words as a joke. Looking somewhat frightened, Liu Ke asked, "Senior Sister, then those people... doesn't the academy manage them?" "Of course it does!" Zhou Hui said in exasperation, "But it's not like the academy can inspect everyone every single day. Some people enter seclusion for a long time and come out suddenly insane. If they don't have an episode, who would know? And once an episode strikes... it means someone's getting hurt. How do you expect them to manage that?" Liu Ke turned pale. "We won't run into one, will we?" Zhou Hui chuckled. "Don't say things like that. The more you talk about it, the easier it is to run into them!" She was merely scaring the freshmen; there weren't actually that many madmen. New students were notoriously disobedient. The talented ones were arrogant beyond measure, which made them the biggest headache to deal with. Her group had two high-tier students, so it was best to give them a scare in advance. The bus slowly started rolling. Dropping the topic of lunatics, Zhou Hui began introducing the grounds as the bus moved: "In the future, whenever your families come to visit, they can stay here in the New Student Reception Area. If you go out on missions and return late, you can stay here too. "Also, there's plenty of food here, and it tastes pretty good. Senior students like coming over to eat as well. This is the academy's famous food street." Zhou Hui licked her lips and smiled playfully. "Come here when you want to eat. The Commercial Area won't do; that place mainly sells cultivation resources. The New Student Reception Area is where you go for entertainment, food, and drinks. There are plenty of clothing shops, too—the girls can come here to shop for clothes..." At these words, several female students immediately took interest. Zhou Hui said with a grin, "Up ahead, there's a shop called Women's Haven. The clothes are gorgeous and cheap. If you have time, go check it out. Mention my name when you go, and you'll get a discount!" Having grown familiar with her since yesterday, one student chuckled softly, "Senior Sister, do you get a kickback if we mention your name?" Zhou Hui brushed it off nonchalantly. "Who cares about that tiny kickback? Clothes barely cost anything! They genuinely look good. Even if we take kickbacks, it's usually from partnering with high-margin merchant houses." Turning her gaze toward Liu Ke and Su Yu, she teased, "If any of you want to buy original cultivation manuals, weapons, blood essence, pills, or talismans, come find me! I can introduce you to the right places! "And if you lack merit points but have cash, you can come to me as well. Certain resources in the academy can be bought with money as long as they aren't strictly restricted. "Oh, right! If anyone wants to trade merit points, you can come find me too!" Liu Ke gasped in shock. "Senior Sister, trading merit points is illegal!" Zhou Hui laughed. "That only applies to large-scale transactions! Small-scale private trades are fine! If a student can't even afford meals or clothes and only has a tiny bit of merit points left, trading them for cash—can you really stop them? "Some students come from humble backgrounds, and their parents run into trouble back home that requires money. If they don't trade merit points, what else can they do?" Zhou Hui sighed. "If there were any other way, nobody would want to trade merit points. But what choice is there?" The others fell silent. Su Yu, however, asked with curiosity, "Then what volume counts as large-scale?" "Anything over a hundred points, and you'd better watch out for being targeted!" Zhou Hui cautioned, "Once a single transaction exceeds a hundred points, the merit card triggers an alert mechanism and gets monitored." "What's the exchange rate like?" Zhou Hui smiled. "Merit points are an absolute necessity; money... not so much! Trading merit points has always been a grey area. On the black market, the rate is generally around thirty thousand coins per point. Depending on circumstances, if someone is in desperate need, people have bought them for fifty thousand." "Fifty thousand!" Su Yu clicked his tongue. That was immense. It truly was a grey area—the price spread was enormous. Liu Ke asked, puzzled, "Even if you get merit points, if your accumulated merit points don't meet the threshold, you still can't buy anything." Zhou Hui looked exasperated. "You think people with merit points can't find things to buy? Take me, for example. I can buy original manuals for the Wanshi Realm. The academy gives us a quota of one per month, roughly a hundred merit points each. But that's only for those whose accumulated merit points qualify; those who don't qualify can't purchase them... "If I buy one and someone offers me cash, I won't bother with him! But if someone is willing to pay me two hundred merit points for it, would I sell it?" Zhou Hui smiled craftily. "Reselling these items makes money too! Of course, the quota is limited! You can only do it once a month, and the rigid demand isn't massive. One manual a month—truth is, other people can't even use them up, and those who can use them usually meet the accumulated merit threshold anyway." She paused, then continued, "There are people in the academy who specialize in this business! Every month, they investigate what students are lacking and what resources have the greatest rigid demand, then organize people to purchase and resell them... The academy turns a blind eye most of the time. But if you have bad luck and get busted, you'll take a massive loss!" Zhou Hui shook her head and sighed. "Last time, a bunch of us organized a large-scale trade, and the academy cracked down on it. Over a hundred students lost nearly ten thousand merit points between them. We didn't even have a place to cry!" A student asked hurriedly, "The academy actually investigates?" "Nonsense, of course they investigate!" Zhou Hui ground her teeth. "And the academy is wicked about it! Whistleblowers receive one percent of the seized merit points as a reward! Last time, someone definitely reported us in secret, bagging nearly a hundred merit points in one go! Whoever snitched better hope their identity is never discovered, or else... the guys who took heavy losses will beat them to death!" She had clearly lost some points herself, though probably not many; she didn't look particularly wealthy. Inside the bus, Su Yu shook his head with a quiet smile. It seemed this business was far from easy! When the academy left it alone, it was fine. But once they investigated, the losses were devastating. Could the academy really not know when you redeemed resources within its walls? They simply couldn't be bothered normally. Once transaction volumes grew too large, the academy pulled the rug out from under them, knocking them back to square one overnight. That was truly miserable. As they chatted, the Main Campus came into view. They knew it was the Main Campus because there was another gate. Calling it a gate wasn't entirely accurate—a massive ceremonial archway served as the entrance, manned by soldiers clad in standard-issue armor. Su Yu knew these weren't City Guards or Prefectural Army troops, but the academy's own Academy Guards. A Civilization Academy possessed the authority to establish its own guard force. Here at the Great Xia Civilization Academy, a thousand Academy Guards protected the entire institution, with many powerhouses among their ranks. At the gate stood eight guards. To Su Yu's senses, each gave off a dazzling point of light. That was a manifestation of the Wanshi Realm or higher! All eight were at or above the Wanshi Realm. "Off the bus!" Zhou Hui called out and was the first to hop down. The others followed closely behind. *** A moment later, everyone lined up to enter. While Su Yu's group stood in queue, a crowd surged in from behind. "Make way!" Amid shouting, a group of young men and women in splendid, luxurious attire walked over. Leading them was a man in his thirties who looked straight ahead, striding directly toward the gate. "Open the gate!" Su Yu and the others were queued up for the main gate, but at that command, a side door beside the entrance was opened. A murmur of discontent rippled through the queue. "They don't have to line up?" Those young men and women were clearly new students. Some were pulling suitcases, their ages were young, and some were gazing curiously in all directions. Weren't they freshmen too? Several students in Su Yu's group grew dissatisfied and asked, "Senior Sister, what's going on?" Zhou Hui replied, "Ignore them, those are newcomers from the Beifeng Association! The academy has these regional associations, as you probably already know. These associations paid money, so they get preferential treatment and can take a special passage." Someone grumbled in annoyance, "That works too? The academy takes any kind of money!" Zhou Hui chuckled. "If you're rich, you can cut in line too. They've got money to burn, so who's going to stop them? They just insist on putting on a show. You should know that opening a special passage like this costs at least a hundred merit points each time! Are you willing to pay that?" "..." Everyone fell silent! Of course they weren't willing! Waiting a bit in line was fine. Whoever wanted to be an idiot could go ahead and pay! Su Yu smiled wryly. To generate revenue, the academy truly spared no effort. Opening a gate cost a hundred merit points—worth three to five million coins on the black market. It was practically highway robbery. Yet people willingly lined up to pay it, so why would the academy refuse? The sense of injustice in the group dissipated; it was just people having money to burn! Envy was one thing, but they had paid for it, and nobody was stopping you from doing the same. Pay the fee, and you wouldn't have to wait in line either. Just as the Beifeng Association passed through, another crowd swarmed forward. This time, Su Yu spotted an acquaintance: Hu Zongqi! That guy was actually in the group. Was this the Tianshui Association, then? Beside Hu Zongqi walked a smiling young man who bore some resemblance to him. As he walked, he called out clearly, "We are the Tianshui Association! Junior brothers and sisters, if you're interested, you can apply to join us. Anyone with an evaluation of mid-high or above is eligible to apply! "The Tianshui Association frequently organizes free lectures, inviting prominent researchers to impart knowledge. Students from outside Tianshui City are welcome to apply as well!" The young man shouted a few times, and without waiting for a reaction, led his group through the side door. Beside him, Hu Zongqi was glancing around when he suddenly spotted Su Yu in the crowd. A grin split his face, full of pride. He didn't greet Su Yu, but his expression clearly showed he felt entering first without lining up gave him immense face in front of Su Yu. *Look at that, I don't have to wait in line!* *So what if you got a top-high rating? You're still waiting outside in line to get in.* Su Yu merely smiled and paid him no heed. What an idiot. What was so great about entering early? Didn't it cost money? Would the Tianshui Association spend a hundred merit points just to show off without squeezing it back out of new students like him? Who would run a losing business? If they did, these associations would have gone bankrupt long ago! No sooner had that group passed than another arrived. This contingent was massive, clustering around several youths at the front like stars surrounding the moon. "People from the Great Xia Prefecture are here!" "This year's elite students from the Great Xia Prefecture!" "The one leading them... is that Liu He?" "Who's Liu He?" "Rank eighty-seven on the Top 100 Rankings! His elder brother is the genius teaching assistant Liu Hong. This guy fought his way onto the rankings not long after entering the academy. He's formidable!" Several senior students began gossiping, many turning their eyes toward Liu He at the front of the group. A student from the Top 100 Rankings! At the Great Xia Civilization Academy, every single person on the Top 100 Rankings commanded respect and envy. Liu He looked quite young. Su Yu paid a bit more attention; Liu He's brother, Liu Hong, seemed to have bad blood with Bai Feng. "Senior Sister, do you know him?" Su Yu asked Zhou Hui in a low voice. Zhou Hui whispered back, "Of course. He's on the Top 100 Rankings, how could I not know him? That guy is a genius. He only entered the academy last year and made the rankings within six months. A little over a month ago, he successfully challenged the eighty-seventh rank, breaking straight into the top ninety. "He entered last year with a mid-high rating, and it caused quite a stir back then. Teaching Assistant Liu Hong negotiated with Teaching Assistant Bai Feng, asking him to take his younger brother as a student, but Bai Feng refused. It became a huge sensation. Once Liu He made the Top 100 Rankings, he announced publicly that he thanked Teaching Assistant Bai Feng for having the discerning eye not to accept him!" Zhou Hui lowered her voice further. "Everyone knows he was mocking Assistant Bai!" Su Yu raised an eyebrow. There had been an episode like that? Earlier, Bai Feng had claimed that plenty of academy geniuses wanted to study under him, but he hadn't bothered to entertain them. Turns out it was actually true. This Liu He had a genius teaching assistant for an elder brother, yet when he tried to apprentice under Bai Feng, he got rejected. It was a vicious slap to the face. Having made the Top 100 Rankings, Liu He likely still harbored resentment; otherwise, he wouldn't have uttered such words. Over by the front, Liu He walked with a cold, stern expression, looking straight ahead. He didn't care in the slightest about the murmurs around him. Only when he reached the side door did he suddenly turn around, glancing toward the crowd still queuing, and said coldly, "Have the people from Nanyuan arrived?" Nobody made a sound. "Not here?" Liu He muttered to himself, unbothered, then spoke aloud: "Nanyuan produced a top-high student this year named Su Yu. Quite remarkable! Teaching Assistant Bai Feng took him under his wing in advance. Very good! "A genius like that will surely have smooth sailing in the academy, with the Tengkong Realm within easy reach! "I've heard people say that a top-high evaluation from Nanyuan is far stronger than any monstrous talent elsewhere—simply because he came from Nanyuan!" Liu He said indifferently, "If he's here, everyone should learn well from him! I'll be waiting for him on the Top 100 Rankings! I hope he can surpass me as quickly as possible, lest people think Assistant Bai lacks discernment and misjudged his student! "Assistant Bai is very capable. I hope this classmate named Su Yu won't embarrass him!" With that, Liu He stepped through the door. His words caused a small stir in the crowd. A top-high genius? A student of the genius teaching assistant? Stronger than even monstrous talents? Naturally, they understood what Liu He meant. On the surface it sounded like praise, but in reality, he was waiting to slap Bai Feng in the face. *You looked down on me back then, and now you've taken a genius student. I'll be waiting for him on the Top 100 Rankings—can he even make the cut?* At the same time, he drew aggro toward Su Yu: *You're supposedly stronger than the monstrous talents of the Great Xia Prefecture, but can you bear such a reputation?* In the distance, a youth beside Liu He chuckled. "Brother Liu, why bother making things hard for a freshman? Those guys from the Xia and Hu families won't take it seriously anyway. Be careful they don't turn around and cause trouble for you instead..." Liu He said calmly, "I'm not so weak as to fear a few newcomers! If those families come looking for me, I'll show them who not to mess with! As for Su Yu... I don't care how strong or talented he is, but I refuse to let everyone use me as a stepping stone to highlight his greatness!" He, Liu He, a student on the Top 100 Rankings, had been rejected by Bai Feng. Yet Bai Feng had accepted Su Yu! Now, within researcher circles, people loved comparing him to Su Yu to make Su Yu look good, which infuriated Liu He. It was just like his older brother—people always loved using Liu Hong to highlight Bai Feng's brilliance. *You being geniuses is your own business. Why should you step on us to rise!* Liu He said no more. In truth, he didn't care to waste thought on Su Yu, but his elder brother had instructed: since they were at odds with Bai Feng, seize every chance to slap Bai Feng in the face without fear! If Bai Feng gave them no face, they had no reason to give Bai Feng any either! It was no secret that Liu Hong and Bai Feng disliked each other; everyone knew they were bitter rivals. With these thoughts in mind, Liu He walked onward, saying, "Su Yu is merely a freshman, not worth mentioning. Don't waste too much energy on him. If you cross paths, just teach him a small lesson. Your task is to break into the Top 100 Rankings as soon as possible. The more of our people on the list, the more secure our standing in the academy!" "Don't worry, Brother Liu. We'll do our best to break into the Top 100 within a year!" "I hope so." Liu He held little real hope. These were all freshmen; breaking into the Top 100 within a year... did they think everyone was like him? Although many among them were high-tier students, the academy enrolled over a hundred high-tier students every year. If making the Top 100 were truly that simple, the rankings wouldn't be the coveted goal of every student in the Great Xia Prefecture. *** At the same time. Zhou Hui and the others turned to look at Su Yu in astonishment. Su Yu of Nanyuan! Was it him? Zhou Hui and Liu Ke had already suspected as much, but the other students had never imagined it. Now, their gazes toward Su Yu were filled with strange complexity. Liu Ke asked worriedly, "Su Yu, are you the Su Yu he was talking about?" Su Yu smiled and gave a slight nod, not denying it. "Then you... you..." Liu Ke didn't know what to say, whispering, "Then you've offended him terribly." Su Yu chuckled. "I don't even know him. How could I have offended him terribly?" Liu Ke lowered her voice. "With what he just said, won't those monstrous geniuses come looking for trouble with you...?" Su Yu laughed despite himself. "Come looking for trouble with me over a single comment from him? If so, they aren't monstrous talents, they're fools. And when it comes to dealing with fools... I think I'm fairly decent at it!" Su Yu shook his head, still smiling broadly. "A true monstrous talent wouldn't target me; they'd target Liu He! A person's achievements match the height of their vision. Anyone who actually comes after me... can hardly be called a monster. At best, they just started with slightly better foundations. People like that don't scare me." He meant every word. If someone picked a fight with an inferior rival over simple provocation—at least in terms of examination scores, his top-high evaluation lagged behind theirs—then what kind of monstrous talent were they? Impetuous, unable to keep their composure, easily provoked—Su Yu genuinely had no fear of such people. If someone tried to bait him by claiming a mid-high student was far stronger than him, would he go out of his way to cause trouble over mere words? Not unless that person provoked him directly! Beside him, Zhou Hui gave him an odd look before breaking into a teasing smile. "Junior Brother Su, not bad at all! When Liu He spoke earlier, even I felt a bit intimidated. I didn't expect you to be unbothered in the slightest..." She looked at him with keen curiosity. "Junior Brother, are you really a top-high student?" "Yeah." "I heard... ahem, I heard from others that the civilization chronicle broke during your assessment. Is that true?" "Probably." "Then..." Zhou Hui pried eagerly, "did you really fall short of the top-high standard?" At this, everyone nearby leaned in with interest, turning to watch Su Yu. Su Yu smiled. "Asking me is useless; you'd have to ask the examiners! However..." Pausing, he added with a grin, "I believe my results were quite solid. A top-high evaluation shouldn't be too far off. If anyone thinks they can take my place, they're welcome to try!" He spoke casually, but inwardly, anger burned. *Did you really think I got top-high purely on luck?* Hu Zongqi thought so, and others thought so too—everyone believed that if they had gone to Nanyuan, they could have achieved top-high as well! What were they dreaming of? Wu Lan was considered a genius, wasn't she? Yet in Nanyuan, she had barely scraped into top-high. And long before that, Wu Lan had already been rated mid-high in the Great Xia Prefecture. *I'll keep a low profile for a few days, reach Qianjun as soon as possible, and nurture my willpower in Character Cultivation... When the time comes, I'll challenge the Top 100 Rankings directly. Liu He... fine. After Lin Qing, you're next!* Su Yu ground his teeth in annoyance. When all was said and done, he was only eighteen. Being questioned again and again naturally stoked his temper. When Liu He had called out just now, Su Yu hadn't bothered to reply. His cultivation was weaker, his status lower; stepping forward to make a scene and spout empty threats was pointless. A biting dog doesn't bark... ahem, a low-profile person has no need for harsh words. When certain of victory, stepping on his face and beating him senseless—that was what a real man did! *Hu Zongqi, Liu He—I'll remember both of you!* Su Yu opened a little mental ledger. Hu Zongqi could be handled with a simple beating, but Liu He deserved a severe thrashing! *Plus Zhou Tianqi and his gang...* *Maybe Liu Hong too... beat the young, and the old comes running...* *Should I add Hu Youhui to the list?* Su Yu fell into deep thought. He felt he really ought to prepare an actual ledger and take a page from Chen Hao's book: record everything, then track them down one by one for payback. Chen Hao's dream was to take revenge on his father by finding every chance to empty his old man's secret savings. Su Yu's ambition, naturally, was somewhat grander. It would be best to completely clean out their fortunes! *** Seeing Su Yu lost in thought, the others assumed he didn't want to dwell on the matter, so they tactfully dropped the topic. Still, with a top-high student among them, they couldn't help paying him a bit more attention. *** At the same time. Deep within the academy, inside a research institute, Bai Feng answered a call. Pale-faced, he let out a yawn. "School's starting? Already?" "Liu He made harsh threats?" Bai Feng paused. "Who's Liu He?" "..." On the other end of the line, the informant froze for a moment before finally replying, "Liu Hong's younger brother!" "Oh, right, right, got it!" Bai Feng complained, "Can you not give me the names of strangers? Just say Liu Hong's brother and be done with it! I have so much on my plate—how do I have time to memorize their names? Next time, remember: for the Xia family, just say Xia Yuwen's nephew, brother, or grandson, whichever it is. Same for the Hu family... Just don't say their actual names, or I won't remember at all. "Su Yu has arrived, right? Did the kid stand up for himself just now?" "..." "He didn't?" Bai Feng muttered, "Why so low-key? Acting mature beyond your years isn't good! Challenge Liu Hong's brother to a fight directly! What's there to be afraid of? Issue a duel, set a match for three months from now, whoever loses is the other's grandson... Now that's what I call momentum!" The person on the line sounded exhausted. "Bai Feng, he just enrolled! Liu He has been here for a year! And he made the Top 100 Rankings!" "The Top 100?" Bai Feng said dismissively. "What does the Top 100 count for? It's not like he's in the top ten. Anyone near the bottom is trash! The top ten might be somewhat tricky, but beyond the top ten, they're all trash—my words!" "He just enrolled!" The person on the line snapped, "Do you even understand what I'm saying?" "Right, right, true enough. No matter, beat him up in a few months until he can't take care of himself..." With that, Bai Feng added quickly, "Alright, keep an eye on him for me first. I'll be out in a few days. Remember, don't let anyone poach him. If anyone tries to steal him away, go find Su Yu and tell him I guarantee he'll break into the Top 100 Rankings within three months." "Can you stop bragging?" "What's there to fear? It's not like he knows I'm bragging! If he can't do it in three months, that's his own incompetence. Would he have the nerve to blame my teaching?" Bai Feng concluded hurriedly, "Enough talk, I'm close to a breakthrough here. If that brat Su Yu dares run off, I'll break his legs! If it weren't for him, would I have needed to stay cooped up in the lab for months without stepping outside?" "Isn't that trouble you brought upon yourself!" The person on the other end chided angrily. If you hadn't tricked our teacher into leaving, how could it have come to this? You brought it entirely on yourself! Bai Feng didn't bother arguing further and hung up abruptly, muttering, "This won't do. In a few days, I'll give that kid some brief training and throw him into the lab to do odd jobs. I'm so busy I barely have time to sleep. Working twenty hours a day—he should be able to handle that, right?" He calculated in his head and decided four hours of sleep ought to suffice! A genius needed proper tempering. Without tempering, how could they grow? Sleeping four hours a day wouldn't kill anyone. "People fight tooth and nail just to enter this lab. You're getting a bargain, you know that?" Bai Feng comforted himself with the thought. *That kid is dirt poor and has never seen real money. If I tell him I'll pay him five merit points a month, he'll probably die laughing!* *As for those merit points... Liu Hong will foot the bill, of course!*