Chapter 105: Dragon's Lair (1)
Su family's residence.
Ever since Su Yu had discovered that he could study myriad race original texts, he had transformed into a shut-in again. He spent all his time staying at home reading and practicing the Lightning Source Blade.
On the 29th of June, he took a trip to his school. The War God Technique had arrived. Liu Wenyan had notified him to pick it up.
...
Liu Wenyan's home.
Su Yu had a book in hand and a joyful expression on his face. This was the basic cultivation method of the military, the War God Technique. It was a technique published by the War Shrine, one of the holy lands of humanity.
The War Shrine was a mysterious place. There were mentions of this place in some ancient records, but nobody knew its actual location and how it functioned.
Su Yu only knew that the various prefectures of the Human Realm generally acted independent of each other. But during critical moments, the War Shrine and Knowledge Seeking Realm would show up and lead the whole of humanity against the enemies of humanity. There were countless experts in these holy lands of humanity.
There were very few mentions of these holy lands in the ancient records. According to the rumors, they even had plenty of super experts at Great Xia King's level in there. These holy lands held the true trump cards of humanity.
Looking at Su Yu's joyful expression, Liu Wenyan said with a regretful tone, "It's too bad I've never practiced the War God Technique. I can't write its willpower text for you. Without a willpower text, this might be a very difficult cultivation method for you to cultivate."
Su Yu did not mind. He smiled and said, "Instructor, I'll only have some trouble opening acupoints without a willpower text. It will be fine. I just need to be patient and put some time into it."
"It's good that you can think that way. Bai Feng should have been the one to help you with this. However, you've yet to join the academy so there is the possibility of you getting a different teacher instead. There is no need to influence your decision making for the sake of one willpower text.
"Although I've never practiced it, I still know the War God Technique quite well. Since this is your first time seeing it, let me give you a rundown."
"Thank you, Instructor."
Su Yu was very happy to hear that. After all, even with a book in hand, one might not be able to learn the contents of the book.
With a teacher, even if the teacher had not practiced the method before, Liu Wenyan was still an experienced cultural researcher of over 70 years old. A guidance from a person like this would be much more helpful than him diving in blindly.
...
After about an hour, Su Yu was starting to gain an initial understanding on the first stage of the War God Technique. For the basic War God Technique, he needed to open 72 acupoints in total. With 9 stages in the Great Strength Realm, he needed to open 8 acupoints per stage.
In truth, he could already be considered a Great Strength cultivator the moment he opened his first acupoint. But at the same time, he was also still not a true Great Strength cultivator. That was because without opening and linking all eight acupoints, he would not have the strength of a proper Great Strength cultivator.
Only by linking the eight acupoints into a circuit would his source qi start flowing through them. At that time, he would be able to strengthen his body with blood essence and gain the combat strength of a Great Strength cultivator.
Thus, someone would only be officially considered a Great Strength cultivator after opening all required acupoints for the first stage. And by opening 16 acupoints, he would reach the second stage. By the time he opened 72 acupoints, he would be a ninth-stage Great Strength cultivator.
"But even after opening eight acupoints, I can't break through. I need to wait for the advanced version and open four more acupoints before doing so. Otherwise, I'll be stuck with the regular version during the Great Strength Realm."
"As for the Lightning Source Blade, I need to open twelve acupoints to start practicing the second move. Apart from the eight basic Source Opening acupoints, I only need to open three more acupoints. Two of them overlap with the required acupoints of War God Technique. Thus, I only need one extra acupoint to learn the second move."
Su Yu left Liu Wenyan's home and started making plans for his cultivation. During the next month, he would be very busy. He needed to open acupoints and study original texts. One month was actually very short.
While walking, he suddenly thought of something and went to the Resource Department instead. There, he purchased 12 drops of iron-winged bird blood essence. With that purchase, he had 30 merit points left.
"Twelve drops of blood essence and three drops of source qi liquid. I should have enough to open eight acupoints, right? No, I need to open one more for the saber technique, so nine in total."
Su Yu himself was unsure if he could do all that in a month. He finally realized how expensive physical cultivation was. Pure cultural researchers sure had it easier. They only needed to read.
Of course, the myriad race original texts were not cheap either. Furthermore, these texts were consumables with limited shelf life.
He had checked with Liu Wenyan earlier. His mentor confirmed that these original texts were indeed consumables. As for how long they could last, it would depend on how frequent he studied them. That bone fragment of his could probably last about a dozen more times before breaking apart.
...
"Yu, where did you go so early in the morning?"
Chen Hao was visiting again. This fellow had vanished for two days after the examination. Nobody knew where he went to party and celebrate the end of the examination.
When Su Yu saw that fellow waiting in front of his apartment block, he said, "During this month-long holiday, cultivate at my place. You will provide food and do my laundry. I'll help you open your eye acupoints."
"..."
Chen Hao was stunned for a long while before finally saying with a sullen face, "Yu, I don't have any pocket money anymore. I spent all of them."
"Cut the crap. Are you doing this or not? If not, feel free to leave."
Su Yu couldn't be bothered to persuade Chen Hao. He was going to focus on cultivating next and the source qi around him would definitely be thick thanks to his source qi liquid. His home would have a much better environment than other places. And yet this fellow had the gall to hesitate. Su Yu wouldn't have bothered giving him this offer if they weren't good friends.
Chen Hao nodded gloomily and said, "How did you know that my father gave me more rewards? Don't tell me you were talking to him!"
"Huh? Your father beat you up again?"
Su Yu was astonished. Chen Hao had performed decently in the examination. Why did his father beat him? The so-called reward Chen Hao mentioned was usually what he would get when his father tried to placate him after beating him up.
"You have no idea!"
Chen Hao grumbled and started explaining what happened. Su Yu raised his brow. He was quite surprised to learn about Chen Qinghe's thoughts.
After a while, he exhaled and said, "Your father is right. I haven't even reached the capital but I'm already feeling a great pressure. That teacher of mine does not seem to be a regular person. He has been creating troubles all over the capital. Because of him, I've gotten myself a large number of enemies even before entering the capital."
People like Zhou Tianqi and Wu Lan were only here because of Bai Feng. Without Bai Feng, they wouldn't have noticed a little genius of a small city like him. That so-called teacher of his had brought trouble to him. Of course, the trouble wasn't that big, but he had still lost some merit points because of it.
Chen Hao lowered his voice and said, "Yu, this fellow sounds so troublesome. Why don't you ignore him and look for a different teacher..."
Su Yu shook his head but didn't say anything. He started climbing the stairs.
Following behind him, Chen Hao asked curiously, "Was I wrong, Yu?"
"You're both right and wrong. This is a lot more complicated than you've imagined.
"Firstly, Bai Feng is a genius of the cultural research academy. He is also a teaching assistant. His teacher is an expert of the academy. If I go back on my words now, I'll offend him.
"Secondly, Instructor Liu has taught me for so many years. He is my mentor in the path of cultural research. He also has a close relationship with Bai Feng. In truth, I've already been labeled as someone from their faction. I have no choice but to join them. Nobody else will accept me. Even if they do, they probably won't teach me properly.
"Thirdly, the amount of troubles Bai Feng can get into far exceeds what a mere assistant researcher can get involved with. There is definitely something else about these troubles I'm not aware of. As a genius assistant researcher, sticking with him will bring me both danger and opportunity.
"Fourthly, even if there is internal turmoil in the academy, the scope of the conflicts will be limited. Things are not as bad as the rumors. The level of danger is actually lower while the amount of opportunities there are even more plentiful.
"I am not someone with a cultural research inheritance. I don't have a powerful family as my backer. Bai Feng will be a good patron to have. Not only can I not refuse him, I must unwaveringly stand at his side. Whoever tries to steal me from him, I'll refuse. If I can do this, for Bai Feng, this will be the equivalent of sending help during his moment of need.
"Sure, I can look for a more ordinary researcher to be my teacher and cultivate peacefully for a few years. But I will also miss out on a lot of opportunities because of that choice. Is that worth it? Just for a few years of comfort?"
Su Yu shook his head, "Hao, I'm not reconciled to that. I want to be strong as well. I want to grow rapidly!
"Risk and opportunity come hand in hand. This is basically an investment."
Chen Hao only understood half of what Su Yu was trying to say. He scratched his head in confusion and said, "So...will anything bad happen to you?"
"Not for now. Since the cultural research academy is still standing despite the stiff internal competition, the higher ups clearly still have things under control. Furthermore, the prefect is still around. The academy is located in Great Xia. As long as the prefect is around, nothing too bad will happen."
"Yu, you really think a lot!"
Chen Hao praised with a look of worship. He would never think about all that. After all, all that was still too far away from his current life.
Su Yu smiled, "It's not that I think a lot, but you think too little. If people like us want to climb higher, we need to grab any opportunity available to us. And an opportunity will not drop from the sky. Even if it does, you need to grab it to actually get it."
Chen Hao scratched his head in confusion again before saying, "Yu, what should I do in the war academy then?"
"Just be yourself. You shouldn't try to scheme. You don't have any talent in that."
Su Yu opened the door to his house and said, "Just focus on cultivating. Work hard and grow strong. That's all you need to do. With one of us in a cultural research academy and the other in a war academy, we can share our information and help each other. Some resources might only be available in the war academy. If your level is high enough, you will be able to purchase them for me.
"Your father was right. At the capital, you'll have to spend less time with me. If anyone asks, just pretend like we're regular ex-schoolmates. That way, nobody will care about us..."
"Ok. Got it." Chen Hao nodded. He didn't understand exactly what Su Yu's plan was, but he still somewhat got what Su Yu was trying to say.
"As a fifth-stage Source Opening cultivator, you're too weak. Try to open your eye acupoints during this month and reach the seventh-stage. With that cultivation, you won't be at the bottom of the pack in the academy. Instead, you'll be at the middle of the pack. That way, you might be able to gain more opportunities."
"Seventh-stage..." Chen Hao was not confident. "Can I do it? It's very hard to open acupoints."
"You can. Us Nanyuan locals lack source qi. With source qi, you can cultivate with half the effort and twice the result. During this month, work hard and you'll have the chance to break through."
Su Yu turned around to face Chen Hao and patted his shoulder before solemnly saying, "Hao, if you're not strong enough, I won't be able to rely on you. I won't even have a backup plan if I mess up.
"You need to grow strong and do well in the war academy. If one day I find myself eliminated by the stiff competition in the cultural research academy, I can still go look for you in the war academy."
Chen Hao was starting to get nervous, "Yu, why does the capital feel as dangerous as a dragon's lair?"
"It is a dragon's lair! At the very least, that's the case for me."
Su Yu seriously said, "I am going to compete against the geniuses, the chosen sons of heaven, and the freaks of this era. It is a dragon's lair for me. At times, you need to stand up and compete. Otherwise, you won't get anything!
"No matter how big of a genius you are, if you don't show your talent and value, nobody will care about you."
Chen Hao nodded. "Ok. I'll cultivate hard!"
"Good. When I reach the cultural research academy, I'll try to get some willpower texts that can aid in physical cultivation for you as well."
Su Yu guessed that he would be able to get those willpower texts easier in the cultural research academy. Without willpower texts, Chen Hao's cultivation speed would be very slow. With willpower texts, he would be able to give Chen Hao a boost.