Chapter 152: You Don't Understand Us Geniuses (1)
"I think I offended him..."
Su Yu muttered to himself as he walked. He had definitely offended Chen Qi with what he said. But Chen Qi wasn't fully right when he claimed that Su Yu had ruined his future. To be precise, Hu Wensheng was the one who had ruined his future. Hu Wensheng had been too confident when accepting Bai Feng’s challenge.
Then again, Su Yu also guessed that the blood essence had probably been purchased with Hu Wensheng’s own merit points. The blood essence had yet to be given to Chen Qi. Strictly speaking, Hu Wensheng hadn't ruined Chen Qi's future either since the blood essence wasn't Chen Qi’s yet. One could only say that at times, luck played an important role in cultivation as well.
Su Yu could understand wanting to buy the blood essence back. If he was in Chen Qi's position, he would probably do the same. But Su Yu did not think that Chen Qi should place his anger on Su Yu after failing to buy the blood essence.
"If it happened to me..." Su Yu gave it some thought and muttered, "I'll swallow my anger and take my revenge on Bai Feng in the future when I gain the strength to do so."
In the end, the blame should lay on Bai Feng. If Bai Feng had not challenged Hu Wensheng, none of that would have happened. Bai Feng alone had caused Hu Wensheng to lose face and Chen Qi to lose his blood essence. Shouldn't Bai Feng be Chen Qi’s target instead?
"Fearing the strong and bullying the weak. I suppose that's human nature."
Su Yu did not look down on Chen Qi for his choice. He clearly wasn't Bai Feng's match, so he naturally had to look for a weaker target. If Chen Qi was someone who would look for Bai Feng even though he clearly wasn't Bai Feng's match, Su Yu would probably suspect that Chen Qi had lost his mind from cultivating too much.
"This isn't a big deal. It is impossible to not have enemies when you walk the path of cultivation."
Su Yu was already used to this. Back when he was in Nanyuan, due to Liu Wenyan's favoritism, many students were unhappy and envious of him. He still remembered how Zhou Chong would always throw words of insults at him. In the end, he had incited Chen Hao to beat Zhou Chong up.
Su Yu was definitely not a forgiving person. He also wouldn't act like a saint and stop going to Liu Wenyan's place just because some students were envious of him. In fact, he did the exact opposite and had been a very efficient bootlicker of Liu Wenyan over the years.
While he was deep in thought, someone suddenly jumped out in front of him.
"Su Yu, who did you offend?"
"Are you a ghost or something?"
Su Yu cursed. He was speechless when he saw that the newcomer was Xia Huyou. He had just arrived outside block 3. Why did this fellow jump out suddenly?
Xia Huyou grinned and said, "Classes start tomorrow. I know you'll come back today so I've been waiting for you here."
"Why are you waiting for me?"
"Business!" Xia Huyou was all smiles as he said, "Su Yu, have you received the blood essence? Why don't you sell me the mountrainbreak bull blood essence?"
The look in Su Yu's eyes changed. It seemed like this blood essence had caught the eyes of many people.
"And what is your offer?"
Xia Huyou smiled and offered, "Three merit points per drop—"
"Scram!"
"Five!" Xia Huyou hurriedly said, "Five per drop! You can get Infinite Strength blood essence for the same price! Su Yu, you can get 500 merit points in total!"
"Piss off."
Su Yu couldn't even be bothered to give any other reply and started climbing the stairs.
Seeing that, Xia Huyou became even more desperate as he said, "Su Yu, don't be like this. Eight merit points! Eight per drop! That's a really high price! If you're willing to sell more, I can give you an even higher price!
"Ok, ok! Ten! I really can't offer a higher price or I won't be able to sell it. Not many students in the academy can afford 1,000 merit points anyway. They would need the support of their family to make a purchase this big..."
Su Yu turned around and looked at Xia Huyou. After thinking for a bit, he asked, "Is the mountainbreak bull blood essence really this valuable?"
"Not really. It's just rare. It also happens to be one of the best options for body forging during the Great Strength Realm. In fact, the average cultivator wouldn't really care about body forging during the Great Strength Realm. The geniuses are the main users of this blood essence...
"It's understandable. Geniuses naturally wish to surpass their peers at all levels. A regular student would be happy with a normal Great Strength blood essence. As for the blood essence of top 100 races, it can further strengthen your body and simplify the process of acupoint opening. That's why the geniuses prefer using the blood essence of the stronger races.
"The mountainbreak bull might be at the bottom of the top 100 races, but it is a race born with a powerful physique. Their blood essence is the most optimal choice for Great Strength body forging.
"Those at the Infinite Strength Realm and above don't need this thing. Those at the Great Strength Realm but aren't geniuses don't need it either. Thus, it only has a niche market. But due to how rare Great Strength cultivators of the top 100 races are, this blood essence is quite valuable.
"As for why it's so expensive when it serves such a niche market, it's really simple. Geniuses are simply rich. Even if they come from poor families, as geniuses, they naturally have their own backers. Just look at you. You're poor, but your teacher has invested in you, right?"
Anything would be valuable if it was useful for geniuses. It didn't matter how practical something was. If it was useful for geniuses, it would be expensive. Why? Because geniuses were rich. Even poor geniuses would have backers who were willing to pay for them.
In the eyes of the ordinary people, these items were basically luxury goods. You wouldn't need them to live your life, but they would be nice to have. Su Yu nodded and did not ask anything else.
When Xia Huyou saw that Su Yu was starting to climb the stairs again, he rushed forward and asked, "Su Yu, are you selling or not? You're still in the Source Opening Realm so you won't be forging your body anytime soon. You can wait until the ninth-stage Great Strength Realm before forging your body. It is very rare to see 100 drops of this blood essence in the market at once. You can sell it for a good price now and slowly gather enough blood essence for your own body forging after this."
Su Yu turned his head and looked at Xia Huyou. With a slight anger in his tone, he said, "The blood essence isn't mine. It belongs to Teacher Bai Feng."
"That's the same as belonging to you." Xia Huyou laughed and said, "Someone has offered a high price to take it off your hands. Su Yu, why don't you sell it to me for now? I promise to buy 100 drops of this blood essence in a year and give them all to you on top of 300 merit points. What do you think? Consider this a loan to me. I'll return it with interest!"
Su Yu was getting tired of the conversation. It would seem like a lot of people wanted to get their hands on the mountainbreak bull blood essence. Since this fatty was only a businessman, Su Yu couldn't even be bothered to get angry at him.
In fact, Chen Qi had also given a similar offer earlier, but he was not talking with the tone of a businessman. Rather, he talked with the tone of someone who wouldn't take no for an answer. There was still a difference between him and Xia Huyou.
"A year?" Su Yu furrowed his brows and said, "Are you sure I'll still be in the Great Strength Realm after one year?"
Xia Huyou blanked out slightly.
"Can't I reach the Infinite Strength Realm in a year?"
Xia Huyou blinked and awkwardly said, "Uhm...to tell you the truth...reaching the Infinite Strength Realm isn’t easy."
"If Liu He can reach the Infinite Strength Realm in a year, why can't I?" Su Yu snorted and said, "If you fail to gather enough blood essence then, what am I supposed to do? Also, I want to forge my body at the very start of the Great Strength Realm. Do you think I'm very far away from that realm?"
The more Su Yu spoke, the more he believed that the blood essence should belong to him. Only after saying all that did he stop to consider the possibility of that not being the case. If the blood essence really wasn't prepared for him, it would be really awkward.
But since everyone believed that to be the case, Bai Feng wouldn't do anything else with the blood essence, right? How embarrassing would it be if he ended up not receiving the blood essence? Perhaps...he should visit Bai Feng tomorrow and butter him up?
If Bai Feng really decided to not give Su Yu the blood essence, there wasn't anything he could do about it. After all, he had already received what Bai Feng promised previously. Bai Feng had never promised any blood essence to him.
The more Su Yu thought about it, the more awkward he felt. He might end up offending a bunch of people for nothing. That would be a shame. But Xia Huyou did not share the same opinion. Who was Bai Feng going to give the blood essence to if not Su Yu?
It was only some Great Strength blood essence. For someone like Bai Feng, mountainbreak bull blood essence was basically the same as fire hog blood essence. Both were in the Great Strength Realm and the fire hog blood essence might be even better for his experiments.
Even if he didn't give the mountainbreak bull blood essence to Su Yu, he would still give it to some other genius instead of wasting it by using it like some ordinary blood essence.
Xia Huyou softly asked, "Su Yu, how many acupoints have you opened?"
"Hmm?"
"You must be cultivating the War God Art, right? We all cultivate the same method. How many acupoints have you opened?"
Su Yu gazed at Xia Huyou and smiled, "I'll sell that information to you for five merit points."
He remembered that this fatty was also an information broker.
"Come on! You asked me so many questions previously. Didn't I answer them all for free?"
Xia Huyou flashed an honest smile and said, "We're friends. It's not like I'll tell anyone if you tell me."
"Are you sure?"
"Cough." Xia Huyou whispered, "Fine, five merit points. But after paying you, I'll be able to start selling this information, alright? You can't object if I sell this information! Also, make sure you're not lying to me. Otherwise, my reputation would be ruined!"
Su Yu gave it some thought and said, "Sure. But you need to give me the names of the ones who bought my information."
"I can't do that. Customer confidentiality is very important."
Xia Huyou refused unhesitatingly. He grimly said, "Su Yu, customer confidentiality is my top priority. I can't do that. The moment I start betraying the information of my customers, I won't be able to continue doing business. For businessmen like us, reputation is very important. We can haggle over prices, but leaking the information of our customers will only kill our own business.
"Think about it. If I tell you the names of those who had bought your information, should I also tell others what you bought from me? If others learn of the cultivation methods of martial techniques you bought from me, wouldn't that give them a chance to target your weakness? There are things that only the buyer and seller should know. That is the reason why Xia Family's business has been able to last hundreds of years."
Su Yu laughed and said, "Isn't that because of the monopoly on the supply of things you can only get from the battlefield?"
Xia Huyou had an awkward look as he said, "Yeah, that is one of the reasons. But even with monopoly, there are businesses from the other prefectures with their own supply network in Great Xia too. Why haven't our customers left us for the other businesses? Because of our reputation! Our stuff might be slightly more expensive, but we are reliable! Am I right?"
Su Yu thought about it and nodded in agreement. In fact, after hearing all that, Su Yu's trust on Xia Huyou had increased. Of course, he still wouldn't fully trust the words of a businessman.
"I'll sell this information to you for 10 merit points. You can sell it and I guarantee the information you peddle will be right. However, you need to know that I'm in my growth phase. The information might be true now, but it might change after a while."
"I understand that," Xia Huyou laughed. "That will only serve as a reference. Nobody would fully rely on the information they buy. Ten merit points is acceptable to me. Tell me. A lot of people are interested in you right now. All thanks to your teacher's performance today, your information is worth that price."
"Seven acupoints. If I'm cultivating the ordinary War God Art, I would be one acupoint away from completing the first stage."
"Dang!"
Xia Huyou was shocked. Su Yu had opened seven acupoints? That was way too fast! It was rumored that this fellow had only reached the ninth-stage Source Opening Realm during the entrance examination.
Xia Huyou made a short calculation. The examination was held at the end of June and it was now early August. It had only been a little bit over a month.
This fellow had not only completed his Source Opening cultivation, he had even opened seven additional acupoints beyond the Source Opening acupoints. On average, this fellow had been opening one acupoint every five days.
No wonder. It was no wonder that this fellow was confident that he might no longer be in the Great Strength Realm after one year.
Previously, this fellow was learning by himself. Now that he had entered the academy and was supplied with enough resources and source qi, he could progress much faster. Out of the 108 acupoints of the advanced War God Art, he still lacked 101 acupoints.
In the Great Strength Realm, the speed of acupoint opening would remain relatively similar from the early stages until the later stages. Although acupoint opening would be harder during the later stages, one would have more strength, resulting in a similar acupoint opening speed despite the increased difficulties.
"With Su Yu's previous acupoint opening speed, he would be able to enter the Infinite Strength Realm in 500 days...But he's now in the academy so he could cultivate even faster."
Xia Huyou instantly understood why Su Yu wasn't willing to sell the blood essence despite the high price. That was because Su Yu was really confident that he could reach the Infinite Strength Realm in a year.
"Also, he still has two opportunities to enter the secret grottos. Those grottos can also increase his cultivation speed."
The look in Xia Huyou's eyes changed at that realization. WIth a friendly smile on his face, he said, "Don't sell your blood essence. Be sure to not sell it. It's very rare. If you sell it, you might not be able to gather enough for your own usage. To get 100 drops, you need to kill at least 10 mountainbreak bulls. But how are people supposed to look for that many Great Strength mountainbreak bulls on the battlefield?
"Assistant Hu Wensheng was able to get all that blood essence because their faction is big and they have an extensive network. That is not applicable for your faction. You don't even have any network in the battlefield. You won't be able to buy that much. Even the Xia Trade Company can't get much of that blood essence each year..."
Xia Huyou grinned and said, "You should reach the Great Strength Realm as fast as possible, forge your body, and showcase your prowess. I believe I can make a fortune from you!"
Su Yu looked at the chubby guy speechlessly. What was the meaning of this? He was going to get strong while this fellow was going to earn money?
Xia Huyou continued grinning until they reached the corridor leading to their rooms. There, he hurriedly said, "I'll transfer the 10 merit points to you. I never lie when it comes to doing business! Su Yu, if you want to buy the information of the other students, feel free to look for me. For example, the freaks in this batch. I have their information."
"No thanks."
It wasn't like Su Yu had nowhere to spend his money. He had no need for the information of the freaks for now. He would leave that for the future.
He was in a good mood after earning 10 merit points. Xia Huyou was indeed rich. Selling this fellow a little bit of information was enough to earn him as many merit points as he could get from killing an early-stage Infinite Strength enemy.
After this transaction, he had 120 merit points in his pockets. But he also needed to buy some Infinite Strength blood essence. He had used two out of the five drops he had bought recently. Of the remaining three, he needed to keep at least one for emergencies.
"Xia Huyou, buy me some early-stage Infinite Strength iron-winged bird blood essence."
"You're buying more?"
Xia Huyou was astonished. Why was he buying so much Infinite Strength blood essence? And why was he buying only iron-winged bird blood essence?
"Do you really want to know?"
"Cough, cough. Forget it. How many drops do you want?"
Su Yu made a short calculation. He only needed enough to support his cultivation for a month. If he was going to use a drop per day, he would require 30 drops. But that felt a tad bit too extravagant. Previously, he had only intended to use a drop every three days. But now, he was starting to feel some pressure. The pressure on him was getting quite heavy.