Multi-Divine Character Fusion

Back in Room 609, Su Yu reviewed everything that had transpired today, turning over whether any of it might have been inappropriate. Pressing Bai Feng for benefits might displease him, or it might not. Either way, Su Yu had saved himself a hundred merit points—that was a real gain. "If Bai Feng gets upset over this..." Su Yu muttered to himself. He paused, his expression hardening with resolve. That would only prove Bai Feng was petty to begin with, and taking him on as a student had not come from genuine sincerity anyway. If the worst came to worst, he simply would not ask Bai Feng for anything ever again. Apprenticing a top-high genius was meant to grant that genius better opportunities and superior treatment in the first place. Otherwise, why would so many students be so eager to find a mentor? Medium- and low-grade students had virtually no chance, while high-grade geniuses earned that opportunity precisely to secure advantages. Between master and disciple, it had always been a matter of mutual benefit. When a student achieved great things, the teacher reaped immense gains as well. After weighing the pros and cons for a while, Su Yu set his mind at ease. ... In the afternoon. Xia Huyou arrived. Knocking and stepping through the door, Xia Huyou wore a look of deep worry as he grumbled, "The academy's gone completely mad! They've been cracking down on the black market like crazy lately. Thank goodness I only brought a few things, or I might've been dragged down today too!" Su Yu could not care less about that. If the black market was truly wiped out, he could always redeem items through the academy instead—it would just cost a little more. "Where are the goods?" "Right here!" Xia Huyou took off his skullcap, revealing quite a few items stuffed inside. Speechless, Su Yu remarked, "You really know how to hide things." "If you said it was for your own use, could they actually confiscate it?" He did not buy Xia Huyou's excuses. How could they possibly be that strict? If things were really that rigid, no one would be able to cultivate anymore. Would carrying a few items around count as black-market dealing? "You don't understand..." Xia Huyou chuckled. "The academy has inspectors. They know who the likely couriers are, and people from our Xia family are prime targets. Getting caught would be a massive headache." "Let's make the trade!" Not wanting to waste words, Su Yu took the items. In total, there were only two bottles. One bottle of blood essence, and one bottle of yuanqi liquid. Blood essence was easy to identify, as it always carried the physiological traits of the demon beast. Naturally, one still had to guard against counterfeits. Su Yu felt it for a moment; the energy within was exceptionally dense. It was vastly stronger than Qianjun Realm blood essence—it had to be from the Wanshi Realm. A golden Ironwing Bird manifested within the blood essence. The yuanqi liquid was even easier to identify. After inspecting both items and confirming they were genuine, Su Yu finally took out his merit card to conduct the trade with Xia Huyou. With thirty merit points transferred away, Su Yu had 110 merit points remaining. The merit points awarded by the academy had arrived in his account, giving Su Yu a solid measure of confidence. It would be enough for the short term. Xia Huyou glanced out of the corner of his eye at Su Yu's merit card, sneaking a look at the balance, and inwardly rejoiced. There were still 110 points left—not bad at all! Had this fellow not exchanged for a cultivation technique? "Su Yu, do you want the advanced version of the War God Art?" Xia Huyou lowered his voice. "I can find other channels to exchange it for you at a very cheap price." Su Yu frowned. "No need! When it comes to cultivation techniques, the academy's official ones are more reliable!" There was no guaranteeing the authenticity of an outside technique. He would never carelessly cultivate a technique from an uncertain source. Besides, he already had access to one. Since Bai Feng had promised to provide it, there should not be any major issue. Xia Huyou felt a twinge of regret, but he did not dwell on it. He smiled and said, "Fine, let's drop that. Do you need anything else? Just say the word!" "Nothing for now!" Su Yu prepared to cultivate. Over the past two days since matriculation, his cultivation speed had been sluggish and somewhat delayed due to the lack of blood essence and yuanqi liquid. As he spoke, Su Yu suddenly asked, "By the way, do you know where Assistant Researcher Bai Feng's research institute is located?" "Hmm?" Xia Huyou looked at him, his eyes lighting up. "You've been granted access to the research institute?" "No, just asking." "Don't lie to me!" Xia Huyou said excitedly. "It has to be true! Su Yu, how about we collaborate? We could resell research materials from the institute..." "Get lost!" Even with Su Yu's generally good temper, he could not hold back a curse at this moment. Angrily, he snapped, "Piss off! Tell me or don't!" This guy had lost his mind! Even if Su Yu did not understand the full importance of a research institute, he knew how catastrophic it would be to traffic its research materials. If critical findings were leaked, it could cost him his life. This guy was a ruthless merchant through and through! Xia Huyou gave a sheepish grin. "Don't get mad, I was only joking! Even if you dared to sell, I wouldn't dare to buy. If Master Hong Tan found out, he could literally kill people. I wouldn't dare touch that stuff." With a sigh of admiration, Xia Huyou added, "Su Yu, Master Hong Tan's research institute is incredible! Granted, it hasn't produced many results in recent decades, but several decades ago—tsk, tsk—it was famous throughout the Civilization Academy!" "Famous?" Curious, Su Yu asked, "Famous in what way?" "To give you an example..." Xia Huyou chuckled. "Take one of the courses currently taught at the academy: divine character characteristic fusion! Several decades ago, the Human Realm was already researching the path of divine character fusion, but back then, it was just crude divine character fusion! "Yet several decades ago, Master Hong Tan's side unveiled a brand-new research breakthrough: characteristic fusion, or rather, characteristic transfer!" Xia Huyou said earnestly, "Put simply, a single divine character can possess multiple characteristics, but some of those characteristics offer no benefit and instead interfere with the others. In the past, such a divine character was practically ruined. "Back then, however, Master Hong Tan proposed a method to transfer characteristics rather than forcefully fusing the divine characters themselves! For instance, take a 'Blade' divine character whose characteristic is sharpness. Such a divine character is pure and formidable! But once it gains another characteristic, like fragility, it's completely ruined!" Xia Huyou remarked with feeling, "Sharpness is a powerful trait, but no matter how sharp a divine character is, if it's attached to a weapon and develops a fragility characteristic, either the weapon shatters, or the blade qi crumbles before it can even strike! Wouldn't you say such a divine character is ruined?" Su Yu nodded and said in a heavy voice, "So those characteristics can actually be transferred?" "It wasn't possible several decades ago," Xia Huyou said with a smile. "Now it is. Of course, the difficulty is immense, and it's easy to destroy the divine character, but at least there's a chance. That was one of the breakthroughs from Master Hong Tan's research institute back then—it was astounding!" "Master Hong Tan couldn't have been that old back then, right?" Su Yu said hesitantly. "How many decades ago are we talking about? At most, Master Hong is in his seventies this year, isn't he?" "That's right, he was very young back then..." Xia Huyou laughed. "That's why he has been a senior researcher for so many years—it was tied directly to that breakthrough. Naturally, he didn't do it entirely on his own. Back then, Master Hong inherited a portion of the Fifth Head's research findings... and refined it from there." Su Yu raised an eyebrow. Promptly, he asked, "Master Hong is connected to the Fifth Head?" "You didn't know?" Xia Huyou looked surprised. "He was a student of the Fifth Head, and Instructor Liu Wenyan was one as well. Didn't you know?" "I never asked." Su Yu brushed it off casually, but he took note of it. Naturally, the research institute was the more important matter. Su Yu had not expected that it had once produced such an achievement. Characteristic transfer! That was truly remarkable! Divine characters were vital. For anyone outlining a divine character, nurturing and outlining it required time and opportune fortune. If a characteristic turned out bad, the character was ruined, wasting both time and destiny. But if a characteristic could be altered, the divine character could become a far better match for oneself. Exhaling, Su Yu stopped inquiring about that and said instead, "Just tell me the location." "The location... It's very easy to find. It's in the research base south of Heart Cultivation Pavilion. There are several research institutes over there. Master Hong Tan's is called the Wen Tan Research Center. You'll find it the moment you arrive." "Wen Tan Research Center?" Su Yu felt a hint of curiosity. Did that 'Wen' stand for divine characters, or was it from Liu Wenyan? Nodding slightly, Su Yu asked again, "Teacher Bai Feng said his side is very poor because all their resources are poured into the research institute. Is that true?" "That... It's true!" Xia Huyou nodded. "Their faction... no, I should say your faction now—it's quite broke! That single research institute nearly dragged your entire line to ruin. It didn't have to be like this; back when divine character characteristic fusion succeeded, your faction received massive resource investments. "In the end... who knows what Teacher Hong Tan was thinking, but he insisted on researching something else. Decades later, after sinking countless resources into it, there still hasn't been a single breakthrough. Now, they're so poor they can barely afford to eat..." Xia Huyou said regretfully, "Otherwise, your faction would still be exceptionally wealthy." "Our faction..." Su Yu hesitated. "You all keep saying that, but I don't really understand. What kind of faction is ours, exactly?" "The Multi-Divine Character Fusion faction!" Xia Huyou chuckled. "That's what outsiders call it. You have to understand, although the Divine Character College researches divine characters, under normal circumstances, three to five are plenty. Some people stick to just one—if that single divine character is powerful enough, it represents everything! "Your faction, on the other hand, loves outlining multiple divine characters. And by multiple... I don't mean just a few!" Xia Huyou complained, "It's a ton. Back before Bai Feng reached the Tengkong Realm, he seemed to have outlined twelve divine characters. Outlining a single divine character consumes a lot of time, and then you have to nurture and temper it. To outline so many... if his talent hadn't been genuinely monstrous, reaching Tengkong? Keep dreaming! "That's why your side doesn't have many people, and very few ever reach Tengkong." Xia Huyou lowered his voice. "In the past, there were actually quite a few people, but later on, some couldn't bear it anymore. Feeling it was a waste of time, many ran away! In your faction, if you haven't outlined at least ten divine characters, they generally won't let you advance to Tengkong. Even if you're ready to break through, they won't let you. Tell me, who could put up with that?" Su Yu frowned. "Did it really have to be like that? If someone can clearly break through to Tengkong, why forbid it? Can't they just outline divine characters after reaching Tengkong?" "How should I know? There are too many factions in the academy, and each has its own secret arts. Some things are never shared with outsiders." Xia Huyou shrugged. "So your faction isn't considered strong in the Divine Character College, but because Elder Hong is around, its status remains quite high. In the past, they could still recruit a few students every year, but after so many people ran off, your faction mostly stopped recruiting." Recruiting people meant spending resources to cultivate them. Yet halfway through, the students would run away, sending the prior investment down the drain. In the later years, Hong Tan's lineage naturally stopped taking on students. Bai Feng had the quota to recruit two students, yet he had left those spots vacant the entire time, refusing whoever applied. That was one of the reasons. "Ran away..." Su Yu murmured, then asked, "Was there no consequence to running away?" Xia Huyou chuckled. "Under normal circumstances, of course you can't run off. But your faction refused to let them advance to Tengkong, so what could you do if they left? The academy wouldn't let geniuses waste their time stuck before the Manifestation stage either. Truth be told, Elder Hong has quite an eye—several students who ran away later manifested and advanced to Tengkong!" Xia Huyou laughed. "Right now, several official researchers in the academy originally hailed from your faction. A few assistant researchers too! But... Bai Feng usually ignores them. Their relations aren't great, and he refuses to acknowledge them as part of your lineage." "Then how many people do we have left?" Curious, Su Yu wondered how many people were left in Bai Feng's lineage. "Let me think..." Xia Huyou calculated for a moment and held up a chubby hand. "What does that mean?" "Five!" Xia Huyou laughed heartily. "Counting you, five!" "Hmm?" Su Yu was stunned. "You mean there were only four before?" "That's right!" Xia Huyou smiled. "Elder Hong, Bai Feng, an elder martial brother of Bai Feng's who is currently an official researcher in the Lingyun Realm and has taken a student of his own, and now you. Five!" Su Yu's face turned green. Five people constituted an entire faction? He had thought Bai Feng's side was some grand, prominent faction! In the end... there were only five people? And that included himself! "How can there be so few? Elder Hong has been at the academy for so many years..." Xia Huyou said in exasperation, "Didn't I just tell you? There are no resources to nurture them! All the money was sunk into the research institute, and their standards are ridiculously high—if you haven't outlined enough divine characters, they won't let you advance to Tengkong. Back and forth it went until everyone ran off, and later, Elder Hong lost the heart to recruit disciples. How could the numbers not dwindle?" "Still..." Su Yu was at a loss for words! Even so, five people was far too few. "Fewer is good!" Xia Huyou consoled him. "It's actually great. Look at it from another angle: fewer people means less infighting, fewer disputes, and minimal competition. When Elder Hong returns, he'll often give you personal guidance. In other big factions, heh, who would have time to pay attention to you? "Take Head Zhou's side. He has dozens of direct students himself, and his students' students number in the hundreds—the entire faction exceeds a thousand people... Do you think Head Zhou has time to look after all of them?" Xia Huyou comforted him, "Aside from being a bit broke, everything else about your faction is great. Besides, you're not genuinely poor! Just wait for the day Elder Hong can't keep the research going and sells off the institute... Tsk, tsk, that will bring in at least several hundred thousand merit points! If he shares just a slice with you, you'll be rich!" "..." Su Yu shot him a look. Why did those words sound so utterly wrong? It felt as if he had joined this faction just to wait for an inheritance! Xia Huyou did not care in the slightest what Su Yu was thinking. He chuckled, clicking his tongue. "Seriously! Quite a few people wanted to join this faction before, but they were actually just waiting for it to go bankrupt! Waiting for Elder Hong to fail to hold on, so he'd sell the institute or open it to the public and recruit investors. When that happens, there'll be money—a real fortune! "What a pity. They waited and waited for decades, and there still haven't been any results." Su Yu found it strange. "Then why not open it to the public?" He felt that allowing more people to join should not be a big deal. After all, research breakthroughs at the academy ultimately had to be reported to the authorities anyway. "There are many reasons. First, Elder Hong has high standards; not just anyone is qualified to collaborate with him. "Second, the cost is too steep. In the past, someone wanted to buy a stake, and Elder Hong demanded dozens of gods and demons... complete corpses, or living ones if possible! "Third, Elder Hong is exceedingly picky about people; ordinary folks aren't allowed inside. If you want to send someone in, they must have outlined at least ten divine characters—and I mean before reaching Tengkong. Otherwise, they aren't allowed to participate in the project. Who would agree to that?" Xia Huyou sighed with emotion. "One thing led to another, and after all these years, no partner could ever be found. Nobody could accept his conditions, so it reached an impasse." Su Yu began to understand. He also vaguely realized that Bai Feng's faction truly was rich, but that wealth was not in liquid cash. It had all been poured into the research institute! As for the exact amount, it was likely an astronomical figure. Otherwise, with a Shanhai Realm expert, a Lingyun, and a Tengkong, none of whom supported freeloaders—having only a single student before Su Yu—how could they possibly be this broke? Several hundred thousand merit points... Xia Huyou's claim that selling the research institute could fetch several hundred thousand points might truly not be an exaggeration. A Shanhai Realm powerhouse spending decades pouring everything into a single project—the cost invested was bound to be staggering. In several decades, without doing anything else, just synthesizing yuanqi liquid would have netted a massive fortune. Five people... Su Yu repeated the number silently, not knowing whether to laugh or cry. It was simply too few! Letting out a breath, Su Yu thought for a moment and asked again, "One more question: is our faction being targeted by someone?" "Hmm?" Xia Huyou glanced at him, flashed a grin, and gave a light cough. "Hard to say. I'm not entirely clear on that." "What's there to be hesitant about?" Su Yu said sternly, "You even know classified information. I don't believe you don't know this!" Xia Huyou gave a sheepish look. "It's really hard to say. Talking about this stuff... offends people." "You've already said enough. Do you think I won't find out on my own later?" Su Yu said in a heavy voice, "Being secretive will only offend me instead. Is that worth it?" "You really are something..." Xia Huyou said helplessly. "This kind of intelligence usually costs money! Fine, I'll give it to you for free this time, but next time you ask about such things, I'm definitely charging!" With that, Xia Huyou began, "This counts as a grudge among the older generation. Strictly speaking, it started back in the Fifth Head's era! But fifty years ago, it reached its absolute peak, nearly tearing the entire academy apart... "As for the exact details, I genuinely don't know. The people from back then remain tight-lipped about it! All I know is that Instructor Liu Wenyan was expelled from the academy back then. And not just him—many other older-generation geniuses were expelled as well!" Xia Huyou lowered his voice. "Back then, the path of divine character fusion and the Multi-Divine Character path were wildly popular in the academy. Under the Fifth Head, this faction was the academy's absolute mainstream! Head Zhou and the others were all considered part of the Single-Divine Character faction. Of course, 'single-divine character' doesn't literally mean just one; it generally meant having fewer than ten... "I heard that during the Fifth Head's era, their side was heavily suppressed. Or rather, maybe not suppressed, but looked down upon as trash for not outlining many divine characters, so they weren't given much in the way of resources. Anyway, it was miserable for them. But then something went wrong with the Multi-Divine Character path, and a huge batch of geniuses was ruined, allowing their side to rise instead... You know how it is. With decades of bad blood, how could the two sides ever reconcile?" Su Yu grasped the general picture. Back then, Head Zhou and the few-character faction were seen as useless, and during the Fifth Head's era, they were constantly suppressed or ostracized. Then the Multi-Divine Character faction suffered a catastrophe, their geniuses were ruined, and Head Zhou's side rose to prominence. Naturally, they showed no mercy to the Multi-Divine Character faction. "Head Zhou... Vice Head Zhou Mingren?" Su Yu murmured. Connecting the clues one by one, he quickly pieced together the puzzle. Then he recalled what Xia Huyou had just said: their faction had over a thousand people, while his own... had five! Su Yu did not know whether to laugh or cry. How truly miserable. It seemed this so-called "Multi-Divine Character Fusion faction" was worse off than even the Forging faction, which at least had plenty of members. Fifty years ago, geniuses were expelled... Su Yu thought of Liu Wenyan and murmured in his heart: *Was Teacher also a genius back then?* *Expelled from the academy?* *If that was the case, why did he keep cultivating students for the academy all these years?* *Didn't he feel any hatred?* *Or were there details in this that I don't understand at all?* His head began to ache from the thoughts, so Su Yu pushed them aside. Let Elder Hong and Bai Feng worry about such matters. For now, he was not qualified to fret over them anyway; he was only concerned that he might get dragged in and have his cultivation hindered. Still, seeing that Bai Feng was alive and kicking, Su Yu was not overly worried. There might be conflict between the two sides, but if Bai Feng could survive and become a genius assistant researcher, Su Yu certainly would not fare poorly either. ... Starting that afternoon, Su Yu began resting and building up his strength. He replenished his yuanqi, preparing to activate the Wanshi Realm booklet page. If he consumed Wanshi Realm blood essence and the booklet failed to absorb it, he would be severely injured. Those in the Qianjun Realm generally only consumed Qianjun Realm blood essence to cultivate. Furthermore, Su Yu was not even at the Qianjun Realm—he was merely at the Kaiyuan Realm. If the booklet did not absorb the Wanshi blood essence, he would be in deep trouble. The violent energy of the blood essence could tear through his body; even if it did not cause him to explode, severe injury was virtually guaranteed. Waiting until night fell, Su Yu calmed his mind and fell into contemplation as he stared at the Wanshi Realm Ironwing Bird blood essence before him. All five drops were from the early Wanshi Realm. As for whether it was First Layer or Third Layer, that was hard to tell. Within a minor realm, energy fluctuations in blood essence were fairly similar; unless the producer explicitly labeled it, an ordinary person could not tell the difference. "Hopefully it's Wanshi First Layer..." Su Yu was not hoping for Third Layer; First Layer was better. Given his current strength and physical toughness, even if he activated Third Layer, his body might not be able to withstand it. Whether it was the explosive power or the rate of yuanqi absorption, it would be difficult to bear. First Layer, however, was worth a try. With that thought in mind, Su Yu gritted his teeth, tipped the bottle, poured out a drop of blood essence, and swallowed it whole! *Boom!* The energy of the blood essence erupted the moment it entered his body. A tremendous force surged violently within him, and in an instant, Su Yu felt as though his flesh was about to tear apart. Drops of bright red blood seeped onto his skin. The next instant, that immense force abruptly vanished! Within his mind, the golden booklet gave a faint shimmer. Flushed red, Su Yu panted violently. The instantaneous burst of power from the Wanshi blood essence had still exerted tremendous pressure on him. ... At the same time. Inside a courtyard at Heart Cultivation Pavilion. Wan Tiansheng was reading a book when his gaze suddenly turned toward Character Cultivation Garden. Brow furrowing slightly, he murmured, "What was that energy eruption...?" The next moment, book still in hand, he appeared high above Character Cultivation Garden. Sweeping his gaze around, his eyes soon locked onto Building 3. "The new student, Su Yu?" "Consuming Wanshi blood essence to cultivate?" "The power of a special divine character?" "Did Liu Wenyan... pass down that divine character?" Wan Tiansheng muttered, uncertain. The Multi-Divine Character Fusion faction's research into divine characters was profound and enigmatic. Ever since Liu Wenyan, the leader of that faction, was expelled fifty years ago, the Multi-Divine Character Fusion faction had fallen into decline. "Su Yu..." As a top-high genius, Su Yu had not completely escaped Wan Tiansheng's notice, but now, he garnered a few degrees more scrutiny. Liu Wenyan had sent many people over the years, but nothing unusual had ever occurred. Tonight, however, the Kaiyuan Realm Su Yu had swallowed Wanshi blood essence to cultivate—that was exceedingly peculiar! The brief fluctuation of energy just now had not been the power of blood essence; it was a completely different force, extraordinarily unique, which was why it had caught his attention. "A special divine character?" "A fused divine character?" "Or... something else?" Wan Tiansheng fell into thought, then smiled faintly and drifted away. The Multi-Divine Character faction had kept a low profile for all these years. Were they finally preparing to make a comeback? A resurgence would not be a bad thing. In fact, he hoped to see this faction surge once more. They had remained silent for too long; any longer, and the faction would be on the verge of extinction. As for Su Yu... he could simply keep a closer eye on him going forward. If that particular divine character was involved and he intervened recklessly, Hong Tan would certainly not let the matter rest if he found out. Hong Tan, Wu Yuehua, and several other pavilion elders were all keeping their eyes on Liu Wenyan. Though Liu Wenyan was no longer at the academy, as the leader of that era, many were still waiting for his return. Wan Tiansheng was not in the mood to spar with them right now—let Zhou Mingren's side deal with that headache!