Chapter 122: Great Xia Cultural Research Academy (2)
Time passed quickly while the students talked among themselves.
The sky slowly darkened.
Before even reaching the capital city itself, Su Yu could already feel the bustling atmosphere in the air. They were currently at the outskirts of the capital city. The bus was traveling on a wide road framed by large trees.
The random buildings scattered about were clean and big. In some of the villages and towns they passed through, they could see many people practicing martial techniques. More and more vehicles could be seen on the road as well.
The further they went, the more bustling it was. Even some of the random towns they passed by were bigger and more developed than Nanyuan. Even at night, these towns were brightly lit and filled with pedestrians.
"We're nearing the capital city..." announced Li Yunfeng.
When Su Yu looked out the window at the nightscape, he was stunned. Was this the Great Xia City? He could sense the difference between this city and Nanyuan just by looking outside.
A lot of noise could be heard outside the bus. The cloudrush horse he had seen during the test previously could also be seen. These horses were carrying their riders and running rapidly on the road.
As someone who had opened a decent number of acupoints, he could sense that the source qi density in this area was far higher than anywhere else he had been to. There was no comparing this place with Nanyuan. In fact, the natural source qi density here was almost as high as the effect of source qi liquid when used in Nanyuan.
Some of the pedestrians he saw felt extremely strong. He could sense the concentration of source qi around Great Strength cultivators while Infinite Strength cultivators gave him the sensation of burning suns. And there were many such burning suns around.
Which meant that there were a lot of Infinite Strength cultivators around. And they were still not even in the capital city yet. Su Yu was not the only surprised student. A majority of the students in the bus were also exclaiming in admiration. They were simply being less obvious than Su Yu about it.
Of the 28 cities under Great Xia City's rule, many of them were powerful. But none could compare with the capital itself. Relying on those 28 cities alone, the Great Xia Prefecture wouldn't have been so powerful.
In front of the bus, the three Cloudbreach experts who had been relatively silent throughout the journey finally opened their eyes and exhaled in relief. They were finally safe. They had arrived at the outskirts of the capital city and were going to enter the city itself soon.
If even this place wasn't safe for them, then Great Xia might as well cease to exist. Unless the Myriad Race Cult wished to face total destruction, they would not dare to try anything here.
Sun Xia, the expert from the Nine Heavens Cultural Research Academy, said, "The capital is not a singular city. It is a greater city formed of a main city at the center surrounded by four sub-cities at the east, south, west, and north. Altogether, they formed the five major areas of the capital.
"The capital has 30 million residents. The war academies are mostly spread across the eastern district while the cultural research academies are spread across the western district.
"We will separate after entering the city. The cultural research academies are quite far away from the war academies. There will be some people coming to pick you up.
"You will be brought directly to your academies. Rest well tonight and don't wander off alone. The capital is a city that never sleeps. Even at night, the city is still bustling with activity. But even if you want to get to know this city, it is better for you to get properly settled down first before you start roaming around."
Su Yu was paying attention to the words when his attention was suddenly caught by something else. He was astonished. An incredible sight had appeared before him. The entire world seemed to have brightened up.
Countless flickering lights could be seen coming from the distant city, piercing through the darkness of the night. The city was incomparably big. It almost seemed boundless. There were city walls around the city, but the walls weren't too tall. And the walls were certainly not able to mask the thriving atmosphere behind them.
Since they were deep in the Human Realm, the city walls wouldn't be too tall. And the people here at the capital were confident enough in their own strength. Thus, they did not need excessively tall city walls.
Su Yu's entire vision was filled with lights. The resplendent lights seemed to stretch endlessly forward. When they arrived near the city wall, the gate Su Yu had expected to see was nowhere to be found. Rather, a massive road about 100 meters wide could be seen leading straight into the city.
There was a checkpoint outside the city. Some soldiers could be seen standing guard there. Some vehicles were allowed to enter after showing some documents. The road was further split into several paths such as the beast path, large vehicle path, small vehicle path, cultivator's landing zone, military path, and so on. The purpose of each path was clearly indicated.
Before long, the bus they were on reached the checkpoint. Li Yunfeng opened the window and showed a document to the soldier on duty. After checking the document, the soldier saluted Li Yunfeng before letting the bus through.
As the bus drove forward, Su Yu looked behind to see that an expert was flying down from the sky. The cultivator ultimately landed in the cultivator's zone before getting into a small car and drove off on a different path.
When Tao Xing saw what Su Yu was looking at, he smiled and explained, "For experts, it is better to either fly or go on foot in the wilderness. Vehicles will only inconvenience them. But in the city, they have to follow the rules and can't fly around willy-nilly, so they will use vehicles in the city instead."
Su Yu smiled and did not say anything. He wasn't surprised to see an expert driving. He was more surprised by the fact that cultivators at the Skysoar Realm and beyond could be seen so easily here.
One ought to know that in the entirety of Nanyuan, Xia Bing, Wu Wenhai, and Liu Wenyan were the only Skysoar cultivators. But here, he was able to see one before even going far from the city wall.
Next, rumbling sounds rang out. Su Yu looked behind again and saw about a dozen cloudrush horses running on the road, kicking a cloud of dust around them. Under the cover of the night, Su Yu couldn't get a clear look at them. However, he could still see the leader of the group flying off his mount before talking to the guards on duty. That was yet another Skysoar expert. Or maybe stronger.
Su Yu took a deep breath. The sky of the capital was indeed much higher than Nanyuan's. Excluding those on the bus, he had already seen two experts at the Skysoar Realm or beyond. He was both shocked and excited. This was the sight he wanted to see. Here, there were countless experts. That would both pressure and motivate him to work harder.
In Nanyuan, one did not need to be too strong to be considered successful. The Infinite Strength Realm was enough. In fact, Infinite Strength cultivators were the mainstay of Nanyuan. But here in the capital, the Skysoar Realm was merely the starting line.
...
A while later, the bus approached a different vehicle and stopped.
"War academy students, get on that vehicle."
At that command, 12 students got off the bus. A few people were on the other vehicle, in charge of escorting these students to their academies. Su Yu did not know these students well and had not conversed much with them. Thus, he only watched silently as they left. The students from the same cities were bidding each other farewells.
A few minutes later, the other vehicle left.
The door closed and Sun Xia said, "We'll be heading to the western district. When we reach there, those joining the Nine Heavens Cultural Research Academy will follow me while those joining the Daoseeking Cultural Research Academy will follow Commander Li. Those joining the Great Xia Cultural Research Academy will stay in the bus and follow Elder Zhao."
Of the remaining eight students in the bus, six of them were joining the Great Xia Cultural Research Academy. The other two academies were only receiving a student each.
One couldn't say that their choice to choose those two academies were right or wrong. Each person had their own choice. Perhaps they could go further in those two academies. After all, those academies were certainly offering more benefits to high-tier students.
Hu Zongji who had forced himself to remain silent for an entire day finally spoke again, "Third—Teacher Hu, can we move freely after reaching the academy?"
He was about to say third grandpa instead. Su Yu was aware of that. On the journey, he had figured out the relationship between the two. Hu Youhui was the uncle of Hu Zongji's father. He was also a seventh-stage Cloudbreach expert. Meanwhile, Sun Xia was only a second-stage Cloudbreach expert.
That was why Sun Xia was only a junior researcher while the other two were intermediate researchers. Zhao Li and Hu Youhui seemed to have similar status. However, they had not conversed much with each other.
Sun Xia clearly had the lower status as most of the mundane affairs during the journey were either handled by her or Li Yunfeng.
Hu Youhui frowned and said, "Yes, you can. But don't roam around if you don't know the place well."
He did not bother hiding anything and directly berated, "Where are you planning on going? Your elder brother is already waiting for you. Follow him when you arrive. Don't do anything before completing your registration tomorrow!"
Ho Zongji muttered in disappointment, "My friends are waiting for me. We agreed to gather up tonight."
Hu Youhui ignored him. The bus continued moving. Halfway, Sun Xia and Li Yunfeng left with two students. That left only six students, Zhao Li, Hu Youhui, and the driver on the bus.
...
After about half an hour when it was almost nine, they arrived. Su Yu blanked out when he was told to get off the bus. He thought that he was still in the middle of the city.
When he got off the bus, Zhao Li announced, "We have arrived at the academy."
Su Yu looked around. Weren't they still in the middle of the city? Where was the academy?
Looking at his confused expression, Zhao Li smiled and said, "This is the Great Xia Cultural Research Academy. We're at the Visitor Zone. Didn't we go through an iron gate earlier? That's the western gate of the academy."
Su Yu was truly stunned. They had been driving for more than 10 minutes after the gate before reaching the Visitor Zone. This place was filled with vehicles and people. He had thought that they were still in the middle of some commercial district. But they were actually in the academy?
Zhao Li said, "This is the outer area of the academy. The Education District? is not here. It is a few kilometers ahead of us. You will all be spending the night here. Tomorrow, you will finish your registration procedures. Only then can you be truly considered students of the academy."
Many other vehicles could be seen stopping nearby. Some people were walking with their luggages. These were probably new students like them. Many of them were driven here by their parents. These were most likely the local students.
Some were delivered here on buses like Su Yu's group, so these were probably the students from some other cities. A lot of them were staring around blankly like Su Yu. Zhao Li was standing with a few old men. After a short chat, more people arrived. These newcomers were youngsters.
"Junior brothers and sisters, come with me if your names are called."
"Line up here. Pay attention to the names being called. If you fail to follow, you'll have to find your own accommodation tonight."
These newcomers were all the older students of the academy. They started calling out students according to the lists in their hands.
Before long, Su Yu heard his own name.
"Nanyuan Secondary School, Su Yu."
"Here."
He hurriedly answered before walking toward a young woman. The woman looked at him and smiled before continuing with the roll-call. A short while later, about a dozen students had gathered around Su Yu.
"Alright. That's all."
The young woman smiled and introduced, "I'm Zhou Hui, your senior sister, a student of the mental tempering grade. Come with me. I'll take you to a meal. After that, you can settle down for the night. I'll come pick you up tomorrow morning. Don't run off by yourself. There will be a lot of people in the Visitor Zone these two days and things will be rather chaotic around here. If you run around and miss your registration, don't blame me for not reminding you about it."
As she spoke, she started leading the students away. Su Yu turned his head to look at Zhao Li. The old man, who was also looking at him, merely nodded with a smile instead of saying anything.
They were already in the academy. He would have plenty of chances to communicate with Su Yu later. He would let this kid get used to the new environment first.
Su Yu was slightly panicking. The familiar faces on the bus were nowhere to be seen. Even if that annoying Hu Zongji was here, he would find some comfort in the familiar face. But he was surrounded by total strangers. He instinctively tightened his grip on his saber anxiously.
Zhou Hui, who was leading the way, laughed and said, "Don't be nervous, everyone. I'm not a monster that will eat you guys. I only need to send you guys to the correct place to complete my mission. You're new here but you will get used to this place after a few days.
"By the way, be careful at night. A bunch of hungry wolves are waiting for you. Watch out for the senior brothers and sisters that might come looking for you late at night. Remember to never open your door..."
Su Yu shivered. Was this place so scary? He felt like he had entered a den of wolves. The world outside Nanyuan was wonderful. But it also felt very dangerous. Done with scaring the newbies, Zhou Hui giggled to herself. After a while, they arrived at their destination. A brightly lit building stood before them.
"Your group will be staying on the fifth floor. One room for each of you. Take your luggages up. The doors are all open. Pick your own rooms and come down for a meal when you're ready."
Su Yu and the students silently went upstairs.
...
After picking a room and shutting the door behind him, Su Yu heaved a breath of relief. He had been very nervous earlier. He wasn't even this nervous when facing the attack of the Myriad Race Cult.
Unfamiliarity, confusion, and curiosity...
He finally loosened up now that he was alone. He exhaled deeply, trying to calm himself down. Since he was already here, he had to overcome his nervousness quickly.
"Don't panic! Stay calm! You can do it, Su Yu!"