Chapter 110: Departure (2)
Nanyuan Secondary School.
The principal lamented, "Yet another batch of students has left for the capital. Sigh."
Year after year, a large number of Nanyuan students traveled to the capital. But the result was that some would die, some would be crippled, some would become citizens of the capital, and some would give up on cultivation. Very few of these Nanyuan students would actually rise to prominence.
Batch after batch of ambitious and lively students had been sent to the capital, and batch after batch of students had sunk into depression or given up on their ambitions. The principal was already numb to that, but he still couldn't help feeling helpless.
Liu Wenyan looked at the departing vehicles and calmly said, "This is their path. A path they must experience in life. Ultimately, very few would be able to go far on this path. People like us...are all the losers of this path."
The principal did not remark on that. Instead, he asked, "Are you really not returning to the academy? Su Yu has left. I doubt you have taught a student so outstanding before. As for the upcoming students, I'm afraid they won't even be as good as Liu Yue and the others. It is a waste for a Skysoar cultural researcher like you to stay here."
"There is no rush. I haven't finished forging my body. In the meantime, it makes no difference where I stay."
The principal curiously asked, "What blood are you using to forge your body?"
Liu Wenyan had not applied for any blood essence from him. Where was this fellow getting his blood essence?
"Why must I use blood essence? I can rely on myself." Liu Wenyan spoke with a carefree tone, "How can us cultural researchers forge our body with blood essence? Source qi alone is enough."
The principal was suspicious. Was this fellow telling the truth? Forging body with source qi? Was he serious?
"Old Liu, I heard that a woman visited you not long ago. She doesn't look like a local..."
"Bullshit!" Liu Wenyan raged, "Who's spreading lies? I, Liu Wenyan, am a pure and outright man. How can I let a woman enter my home?"
When the principal saw that Old Liu was getting angry, he stopped asking. However, he couldn't help feeling curious about Old Liu. That old fellow was actually not asking for any blood essence from him. Could that visitor perhaps be here for blood essence delivery? If she wasn't a local, she was most likely someone from the capital.
"Old Liu, how many of these students do you think can reach the Skysoar Realm in the future?"
"It's hard to say." Liu Wenyan was relieved to see the principal changing the topic. He sighed and said, "We can celebrate if there are three to five of them. In truth, we're lucky if even one or two of them can reach that realm. And if we exclude Su Yu, I'm really not sure if even one of them can become a Skysoar cultivator."
Over the years, batch after batch of students had been sent to the capital. Very few of them were able to reach the Skysoar Realm.
He arrived in Nanyuan over 40 years ago. He had also educated over 40 batches of students. Of these students, over 200 of them managed to enter the Great Xia Cultural Research Academy. Less than 5 had graduated.
The Great Xia Cultural Research Academy would accept nearly 2,000 new students each year. In contrast, only about 50 students would graduate each year. Basically, only one out of forty students could graduate.
And the rate would be even lower if only the Nanyuan students were taken into consideration. Over the past 40 years, only 3 of them had managed to reach the Skysoar Realm. In truth, that wasn't even considered a small number for a place like Nanyuan.
One of them had perished on the battlefield, one was holding a leadership position in the army, while one was staying in the academy as a teaching assistant. That teaching assistant had been stuck at the Skysoar Realm for decades. Clearly, he could no longer go further.
Not a single true genius had appeared from Nanyuan before. For a place like Nanyuan, the Skysoar Realm was an unreachable height. But at the capital, a Skysoar cultivator was nothing special.
…
The parents were no longer visible. The familiar streets were gradually left behind. Some were sad. Some were excited.
The seats in the crude trucks were small. The passengers were forced to sit perfectly straight at all times.? After a while, someone finally couldn't take the silence anymore.
From the front of the truck, Zhou Chong turned around to look at Chen Hao with a look of provocation. He said, "Chen Hao, I heard the Martial Dragon War Academy is near the Great Xia War Academy. When you see me in the future, be sure to not tell anyone that we used to be schoolmates."
Chen Hao looked up at Zhou Chong and seriously said, "That is only natural! I won't be able to take that humiliation. You can't even beat a girl. Remember to pretend you don't know me in the capital."
"..."
Soft laughter rang out.
Zhou Chong's face turned red as he angrily said, "Who says I can’t beat a girl? I merely disdained fighting a girl!"
"I don't believe you." Chen Hao shook his head and said, "Unless you can prove yourself. We do have some girls in this truck."
The girls looked at the two with disdain. Two idiots. Zhou Chong was also feeling rather gloomy. Did this fellow not understand the meaning behind his words? He was a Great Xia War Academy student while Chen Hao would be a Martial Dragon War Academy. Wasn't it obvious that he was superior to Chen Hao?
With the two bickering against each other, the mood in the truck became lighter.
Beside Su Yu, a petite girl looked at him and softly asked, "Student Su Yu, have you reached the ninth-stage Source Opening Realm?"
Su Yu nodded. He didn't know this girl. He could not recall seeing her before either. She was probably a student of a different secondary school. After all, there were other secondary schools in Nanyuan. The Nanyuan Secondary School was merely the biggest and most reputable one.
"Ninth-stage Source Opening Realm? That's amazing!" The girl praised enviously. She said, "I heard you placed first for both the war and cultural research exams. Why did you choose to enter the cultural research academy?"
"I love reading." Su Yu smiled and gave a perfunctory answer.
The girl found nothing wrong with that answer. She said regretfully, "What a pity. With your cultivation, you can definitely reach the Great Strength and the Infinite Strength Realms soon after entering a war academy. I heard that the cultural research academies don't care about cultivation."
"It's fine. I can still contribute to humanity from behind the front line."
A lot of the students had been paying attention to Su Yu. At that time, a short-haired boy said, "Su Yu, I heard that you offended the people from the capital during the exam. Won't they target you when you're there?"
A lot of people looked over, anticipating Su Yu's answer. A few of the genius students from the capital were screwed over badly by Su Yu during the examination. Would they take revenge on him?
Su Yu smiled, "I doubt so. It's merely a small argument. There is no need for them to go that far."
He made it sound so simple, but the students around him were aware that because of him, some of those geniuses had even failed to join an academy.
With Chen Hao and Zhou Chong taking the lead, the students started talking among themselves.
They were filled with longing for the capital. That was Great Xia's seat of power, a place filled with experts and opportunities.
Su Yu merely listened to the conversations silently while remaining relatively silent. In fact, most of the cultural research students were behaving similarly. They only listened silently. The war academy students were more active, talking about some rumors they heard in excitement.
...
On a convertible truck, Xia Bing was wiping his saber while cautiously observing his surroundings. At this moment, the convoy had left the city. The roads were in good condition, but they were still near the city. The roads further ahead would be in less ideal condition.
There was a distance of about 1,500 kilometers between Nanyuan and the capital. Nanyuan was basically located at the border of Great Xia. If they could travel unobstructed, they could reach the capital in a day.
But unfortunately, that was not how travel in this era worked. More often than not, these long-distance convoys would encounter situations where the road was damaged halfway, forcing them to stop and readjust or even abandon their vehicles. They had set off a few days earlier precisely to account for any unexpected incidents.
Beside Xia Bing, the 100-man commander of the city guards looked at him with admiration and said, "Sir, why don't you go get some rest? Just let the city guards keep watch."
"It's fine." Xia Bing looked around and exhaled, "Prioritize truck #1 but don't forget to keep an eye on the other trucks as well. Make sure nobody falls behind. This is the time of the year where chaos would frequently erupt in the wilderness. It never hurts to be careful."
The commander nodded solemnly and said, "In the past years, the other cities are the ones suffering from the chaos. Nanyuan's convoys have rarely encountered any trouble."
Xia Bing did not say anything. The student convoys of the other students would frequently be attacked while the same rarely happened to Nanyuan's convoys. That was the truth. Why? Because Nanyuan students were weak and were not high value targets.
In the other cities, there were plenty of students at the seventh-stage Source Opening Realm and above. Often, killing one of such students would grant the cult members more contribution than eliminating the entire Nanyuan convoy. But that wasn't the case this year.
Xia Bing said with an overcast tone, "Just be careful. It's different this year. All the high-tier students are priority targets of the cult. This year, we have one such student in the convoy."
The commander sank into silence. It had been many years since a high-tier student had appeared in Nanyuan. This year, someone with high-tier evaluation for two examinations had appeared. This would indeed be troublesome.
After all, high-tier students could be considered geniuses even in the capital. These geniuses were hard to kill in the capital. But what about Nanyuan? In fact, Su Yu was the main reason why a Skysoar expert and the Martial Dragon Guards were involved in this escort mission this year. In the former years, these escort missions would mostly be led by an Infinite Strength commander from the city guards.
Su Yu was unaware of that. He still thought that this was just a normal escort mission. In truth, the Martial Dragon Guards stationed in Nanyuan were in charge of the entire city's security, not the security of a mere student convoy. They wouldn't leave the city lightly.
After a short silence, the commander softly said, "The other cities have high-tier students as well while we only have Su Yu. Sir, the cult had suffered gravely in Nanyuan not long ago. Will they still come?"
Xia Bing berated, "Do not put your hope on luck! Regardless of whether the cult is coming or not, you still need to be on high alert. Notify the men to keep watchful eyes at all times. Our main goal is to safely escort the genius student to the capital. Obey your orders."
"Roger."
The commander immediately passed on the order to the rest of the crew through the intercom. Their main mission was to escort the 200 students to the capital.
But among the students was a special existence called Su Yu. As a high-tier student, in critical moments, the city guards and the Martial Dragon Guards would prioritize him. Only after ensuring his security would they focus on the other students.
This was the special treatment of high-tier students, and from that, one could see just how important high-tier students were. It had been many years since a high-tier student had emerged from Nanyuan.
"After about 400 kilometers, we will reach Tianshui City. There, we can get in touch with the city and ask if we can join their convoy to the capital. If we can link up, we can better ensure the security of the convoy."
Xia Bing paused to check the time before saying, "If everything goes smoothly, we can reach Tianshui's borders in five hours. Have the men be on high alert during this period of time."
"Roger."
"I'll check the back of the convoy. Continue keeping watch here."
Xia Bing then rose into the air. The others looked on enviously until Xia Bing landed on a different truck. Only then did they withdraw their gazes.