Chapter 215: Fourth-Stage Great Strength (2)
Outside, the sky was already dark.
This was Su Yu's first time roaming the campus during the night. He was heading straight toward the Grotto District.
There were too many people around during the day. Su Yu didn't want to visit during the day as he didn't want to be disturbed during his cultivation. He reckoned that the grotto should be quite empty late at night.
Grotto District, security checkpoint.
After swiping his card and stating his purpose of visit, Su Yu was allowed passage. This time, he had arrived alone. He slowly approached the small building housing the Source Qi Secret Grotto.
Su Yu had just arrived at the building entrance when someone walked out of the door. When that person saw Su Yu, he called out in surprise, "Su Yu?"
When Su Yu heard that voice, he looked up and exclaimed in astonishment, "Chen Qi?"
He had not expected to meet Chen Qi here. It would seem like fate truly enjoyed bringing foes together. Chen Qi had a rather gloomy expression, but he was also surprised to see Su Yu.
Why was Su Yu there? Hadn't he broken through not long ago? Why was he here at the grotto again?
Chen Qi sized Su Yu up and sullenly said, "Are geniuses...really so different? You're entering the source grotto again?"
Su Yu did not bother giving an answer. He continued walking forward.
Chen Qi looked at the departing Su Yu and said, "Su Yu, you might have injured me and severed my chance at getting the mountainbreak bull blood essence, but that really isn't such a big deal. The faster you grow, the faster trouble will come.
"Are you aiming to get into the Top 100 Ranking? When you do get into the ranking, your suffering will arrive. The academy has a rule stating that top 100 students are not allowed to challenge students not in the ranking. But once you're in the ranking, those strong students can start challenging you as well..."
Su Yu looked at Chen Qi with a frown and said, "What are you trying to say?"
Chen Qi coldly said, "Su Yu, don't grow too fast. It might not necessarily benefit you. Unless...you are confident you can defeat some fellows, you would only end up like Wu Jia."
Su Yu said, "Chen Qi, is that a threat?"
"Threat?" Chen Qi laughed. "No. Why do I need to threaten you? It's pointless. I already lost both the blood essence and my merit points. I won't be able to get into the top 100 anytime soon. So why would I threaten you?"
Chen Qi had a sinister smile as he said, "I only hope that...you don't challenge the Top 100 Ranking so early. If you are defeated too quickly, what would that mean for me, your defeated opponent? Am I a piece of trash? Am I worthless? Am I a waste of air?
"Su Yu, you don't understand. You really don't understand. At this point, I only hope to see you go further, to see you grow smoothly and defeat some fellows. I want you to step over some of those fellows and climb to the top. I don't want to see you suffer a defeat right after defeating me. That would only prove that I'm truly worthless."
"I will only suffer more the easier you're defeated. But if you manage to defeat some of those assholes, then nobody can deny that you are strong. I would no longer be the garbage that had been defeated by you. I am merely someone who has been defeated by a talented genius."
Su Yu blanked out slightly. That was quite a surprising line of thought.
Chen Qi said, "Be careful when you challenge the top 100. Some fellows are stronger than they look. Wu Jia had relied on true strength to get in the ranking. She had been preparing to challenge the top 60 students. But in the end, she suffered such a terrible defeat. Isn't that surprising? You need to know that some students exist for the sole purpose of sniping some geniuses from the ranking. Don't lose too quickly..."
Chen Qi left, his laughter resounding in the air. He was quite surprised to see Su Yu here. He could see that Su Yu was probably aiming to increase his strength. A student at Su Yu's current level would definitely be getting ready to challenge the Top 100 Ranking.
If Su Yu ended up defeated…
A gloomy look appeared on Chen Qi's face. If Su Yu was defeated, it wouldn't mean anything for Su Yu. He was still very young and new. A defeat did not matter. But for Chen Qi, Su Yu's defeat would turn him into an even bigger disgrace.
After all, he had suffered a miserable defeat in Su Yu's hands. And if Su Yu ended up suffering a miserable defeat when fighting someone else instead, what would that mean? It was not necessarily a good thing for a faction to be too big. The internal competition might get too great.
Everyone in the faction had the right to get the resources of the faction. In that case, who should get them? Well, Chen Qi definitely wouldn't be that person since he was someone who had been defeated by Su Yu. He was no longer worthy of their support after his defeat. Without blood essence and merit points, he was basically akin to a stray dog.
His family was blaming him for his defeat, his teacher was in seclusion, his senior brother was calling him garbage, and even the Great Xia Club was treating him differently even though they had not confirmed that he was the one who had drugged Lin Yao. He had earned everyone's ire.
Without entering the Top 100 Ranking, the academy had way too many students similar to him. Why should they look highly upon him then?
"At this point, not even the Top 100 Ranking can repair my reputation. Su Yu need to perform even better. He needs to be so strong that nobody can suppress him. Only then would they understand that I'm not garbage. Su Yu is simply too strong."
Since he couldn't prove himself anytime soon, he could only place his hope on the opponent who had defeated him. After the others in his faction also suffered defeats under Su Yu, would they still dare to throw insults at him? The more arrogant these people were right now, the more terrible their fall from grace would be.
"Using the strength of his opponent as a proof of his own strength?"
Su Yu also understood what Chen Qi was trying to do. That was previously similar to what he did when he fought Chen Qi previously, proving that he was stronger than Lin Yao.
"Interesting..."
Su Yu suddenly found that there weren't a lot of fools in the cultural research academy. Perhaps these fellows would be very prideful in the beginning, but after suffering defeat, these fellows were able to quickly adjust their mindset instead of pestering their opponent endlessly.
That was the case for both Lin Yao and Chen Qi. After their defeat, they stopped looking for Su Yu. Instead, they quickly adjusted their mindset and focused on strengthening themselves and repairing their reputation. And the easiest way to repair their reputation was to have Su Yu further showcase his strength.
"What an odd logic."
Chen Qi had clearly just visited the Source Qi Secret Grotto as well. That fellow was truly quite rich. He could still afford to visit the grotto even in his current condition. Su Yu wondered if Chen Qi had to pay to enter or if he was entering for free.
The two old men were still present in the small building. The two had already sensed Su Yu earlier so they were expecting him when he walked in. But they were quite surprised to see him back so fast.
Old Huang said, "It has only been a short time since your last visit. Are you sure you want to visit again? It has been less than 10 days. Previously, you advanced straight to the third-stage Great Strength Realm after using a considerable amount of resources. You might not even be that familiar with your new acupoints yet. Are you sure you want to enter again?"
He was basically advising Su Yu to not waste his resources entering the grotto again so fast. He needed to pay 100 merit points to enter. That wasn't a cheap price. Even after killing an early Skysoar cultivator, one would only earn that much. The multiple character faction wasn't rich. Why waste his merit points like this?
"Teacher, after my calculation, 100 merit points is the value of 20 drops of source qi liquid. As long as I absorb enough source qi, this would be worth it. I believe I can absorb enough..."
Su Yu had an honest smile as he said all that.
Old Huang did not know whether to laugh or cry. He explained, "Sure, but source qi liquid is only valuable for those at the Source Opening Realm. At the Great Strength Realm, cultivators can actively absorb source qi so it will be less valuable. Merit points are more useful in comparison. Thus, even if you can absorb as much source qi as what 20 drops of source qi liquid can supply, this would still be a loss. Your faction has a filter room right? That is a decent place to cultivate."
Su Yu scratched his head and said, "Teacher, I still want to give it a try. During my previous visit, I found that I can cultivate very fast here. I can also open my acupoints quickly in the grotto. I suspect that the grotto can help in opening acupoints. Therefore, I'm here to test that out."
Old Huang did not persuade Su Yu to leave any longer. He said, "You're right. This grotto was formed out of a Divine Character. It is indeed helpful for acupoint opening. But if you can't stay long enough, you will only have your existing acupoints filled without any new acupoints opening. In that scenario, you won't be able to gain that much from the grotto."
"I understand." Su Yu nodded. "Teacher, I'll give it a try. If it doesn't work well, I'll just not come in the future."
"Fine."
Old Huang said nothing else and checked Su Yu's updated profile. He nodded with praise. Su Yu had already accumulated over 100 total earned merits.
"100 merit points per entry. Remember, don't roam around. Just stay in the Great Strength Zone. It's empty right now."
"I understand."
It would be even better if the place was empty. Su Yu was overjoyed. If there was nobody there, he would be able to cultivate without fear.
The same thing happened. The world blurred around him as he stepped through the door. Once again, he found himself within the Source Qi Secret Grotto.
...
Inside the small room.
After Su Yu entered the grotto, Old Huang said, "Old Nie, what do you think?"
"What?"
"Chen Qi..."
Old Nie indifferently said, "Don't get shocked by every little thing. It's merely the scheme of a brat. Why do you care that much?"
Old Huang hesitated slightly before saying, "I don't really care, but I'm worried that the effect of excessive internal conflict would be bad. Should we do something about it?"
"They won't have any pressure without any competition." Old Nie had a different opinion. "I believe that only with intense competition would a true expert emerge. In fact, I don't think the way they do things here isn't too good. Everyone is too busy scheming. If it's up to me, Chen Qi should have kept going after Su Yu after his defeat. But instead, that brat wants Su Yu to defeat others to prove that he's not weak instead. That's how cowards think. He lacks courage."
Old Huang rolled his eyes. He said, "You can't say that. Is it really good if someone only knows how to be unyielding? In the academy, they can still survive. But on the battlefield, they will die."
Old Nie said, "Exactly. Here, they can choose to fight until they are completely ruined. Better do that here than to do that on the battlefield and die. They're better off living the life of a commoner behind the front line."
Old Huang had nothing to say.
After a short silence, Old Huang said, "How long do you think he can stay this time?"
"About an hour. If he can't open new acupoints, he'll probably come out even faster. It would already be quite impressive if he can stay for an hour."
"True. That kid is too impatient."
After a short chat, silence returned as the two forgot about Su Yu and returned to their cultivation with their eyes shut.
...
"It feels great to be here all alone!"
Meanwhile, Su Yu was feeling greatly excited inside the grotto. The Great Strength Zone was empty.
This time, he would be able to cultivate to his heart's content. After experiencing the rapid growth in the grotto previously, even the filter room felt slow to him. And that was despite the fact that he could open one acupoint every three days there.
In truth, that was already a terrifyingly fast speed. But for Su Yu, that wasn't fast enough. Out of 108 acupoints, he had only opened 38. He still needed to open 70. If he could only open one every three days, he would need to spend seven months opening acupoints.
To challenge the Top 100 Ranking, he had to be at least at the seventh-stage Great Strength Realm. Thus, he had to open 84 out of 108 acupoints before he could do so. He still had a long way to go.
He sat down cross-legged and opened the War God Art's willpower text. This was a Great Strength willpower text written by Bai Feng, so the handwriting on it looked familiar. The Skybreak Technique willpower text was also opened. Next, he swallowed a drop of Infinite Strength mountainbreak bull blood essence. This time, he was using it to activate the mountainbreak bull's cultivation method.
Mountainbreak bull (Second-stage Infinite Strength Realm)
Racial abilities: Mountainbreak (activate with blood essence)
Foundation source art: Body Strengthening Art (activate with blood essence)