Chapter 247: Sullen Victors (1)
Mental Tempering Garden.
Instead of going to meet Liu Hong directly, Su Yu went to meet Lin Yao.
...
"Student Lin Yao."
Looking at Lin Yao who was stunned after seeing him, Su Yu flashed a big smile and earnestly said, "I am here today to apologize to you."
"..."
Lin Yao was still stupefied.
What was happening today?
Has the sun risen from the west?
Su Yu was...apologizing to him?
Su Yu softly said, "I have been tossing and turning in my bed for the past few nights. That day, I shouldn't have humiliated Brother Lin that way. I already found out that someone else had set you up that day. It was Chen Qi!"
Lin Yao's face finally changed. He clenched his teeth and said, "Yes! It was him! It was that damned bastard!"
But he was still confused as to what Su Yu was doing here.
Su Yu took out the leftover materials from the fake blood essence production and earnestly said, "I took 300 merit points from you previously and unfortunately, all those merit points have been used up. These things might not be worth 300 merit points, but they should still be able to compensate you somewhat for your losses..."
Lin Yao was stunned yet again.
Just what was going on?
He was still completely clueless.
Su Yu seriously said, "It is better to squash enmity rather than keep it alive. Is there some massive grudge between the two of us?"
Lin Yao shook his head.
"Has any of us done anything unforgivable toward the other?" Su Yu said, "The conflict between the single and multiple character factions is the conflict of the previous generation. We are new students. What is our main goal here? Strength! Growing strong is our ultimate goal! In that case, what do you think we can get by continuing this pointless feud?"
"..."
Lin Yao was completely speechless.
He looked at the things Su Yu had taken out. There were all sorts of materials in that disorderly bundle, but Lin Yao was still quite knowledgeable so he was able to determine that they were worth at least 200 merit points with a simple look.
These materials were quite valuable. That was especially true considering Su Yu's background. Although he had earned a decent amount of money from his previous fight, a cultivator could never have enough merit points. Thus, it probably had been rather hard for him to gather all these things.
This was a truly sincere apology! He wasn’t speaking empty words!
Lin Yao was feeling rather awkward. But at the same time, he also felt somewhat uneasy. He said, "Su Yu, just be honest. What do you want?"
Su Yu hesitated for a while before saying, "I only want to meet Teacher Liu once. I am only a student. I hope he can stop targeting me."
He smiled bitterly and said, "I don't want to be a class monitor anymore. It is too tiring. I haven't been able to even find the time to cultivate. But without anyone introducing me, Teacher Liu would probably ignore me if I go alone. After all, I had humiliated you previously. He probably doesn't like me that much."
Su Yu earnestly said, "I originally planned to look for Liu He, but he...looks down on me. It is pointless for me to look for him. That is the same as asking for humiliation. These days, I have learned more about your personality. In all honesty, the two of us are very similar. We are both here to work hard and grow strong. Even the incident with the mountainbreak bull blood essence is only for the sake of growing strong...We're the same kind of people. Therefore, I believe that you will understand me, Brother Lin."
Lin Yao finally understood why Su Yu was here. His mood turned melancholic. He looked at Su Yu with sympathy and sighed, "Yeah. Growing strong is our ultimate goal. Factional struggles, life and death, suppression and conflicts...Even within the single character faction itself, there are numerous internal struggles."
He was really feeling very melancholic. His teacher was one of those who had been suppressed in his own faction. Lin Yao himself had also been stabbed in the back by Chen Qi who was from the same faction as him. Fortunately, he had been warned beforehand.
Apart from fighting against others, they were also fighting among themselves. As for Su Yu's multiple character faction, it was in too miserable a state for them to fight among themselves.
Despite his sympathy, Lin Yao still frowned and said, "It's not a good idea for me to take you to my teacher. I might anger him..."
Su Yu helplessly said, "No, that won’t happen. I don't need you to say anything for me. Just tell Teacher Liu that...I apologized to you. Tell him that I have even compensated you. Teacher Liu is a magnanimous person. He won't bother holding a grudge against a little student like me."
Su Yu once again raised the bundle of materials he was holding. They were worth around 200 merit points.
These were the materials that had all been bought right in front of Zhou Pingsheng and the others. Oh Lin Yao, please accept them. Please do. Everyone knew that Su Yu had left with these materials. Come on, Lin Yao. Accept them.
When Lin Yao saw Su Yu's helpless expression, he said, "It's not that bad to be a class monitor. At worst, you can just go through the motions..."
"That is naturally possible for you, Brother Lin. But not me. I had offended you. For Teacher Liu, that is the same as disrespecting him. A mere student like me couldn't afford to disrespect a Skysoar."
Su Yu clenched his teeth and continued, "Take me to Teacher Liu! I'll kowtow to him and apologize for my behavior!"
"..."
That was too excessive. Lin Yao knew that for a genius, kowtowing was worse than being killed. If he was in Su Yu's position, would he be willing to do so? Absolutely not!
"Su Yu!"
As a child of an influential family, Lin Yao had the pride and grace befitting his identity. He wouldn't have paid 300 merit points to Su Yu despite having their fight canceled otherwise.
Originally, he hated Su Yu. But now, a sense of grief suddenly welled within his heart. Just like this, a genius had been forced into desperation. Surviving in the academy was truly too difficult.
"Forget about the gift. I..."
"No!" Su Yu hurriedly said, "You must accept them! I know they're not enough. I'll pay the rest in the future. Merit points do not fall from the sky. How could I take your 300 merit points when we hadn't even fought?" Su Yu solemnly said, "I won't return Chen Qi his money! He is a treacherous snake who sets up even his own people. I look down on him. But Brother Lin, I misunderstood you previously. I've come to learn more about you. It is understandable that you have your pride as a child of an influential family. But you are not a bad person!"
Su Yu sighed, "I still remember our first meeting. You were willing to pay for the blood essence instead of forcing me to do something I don't want to. I was too narrow-minded. It was my fault for forcing you to fight me."
"..."
The praise was too much. Even Lin Yao was starting to feel embarrassed.
"Uhm...I shouldn't have acted the way I did either," Lin Yao awkwardly said. "To speak the truth, I thought that you're not as talented as me. I believed that it's a waste to let you have the blood essence. I wasn't looking down on you. Good things should always belong to geniuses."
He exhaled and continued, "But subsequently, I learned of your outstanding talent. Thus, I realized that you deserve the blood essence as well. You need it as well! I was too hasty in my judgment!"
"In truth, after you defeated Chen Qi, I came to learn that someone like you will only serve as my source of motivation. As for the grudge between us, it's nothing serious. At most, I only want to defeat you to prove myself. Teacher told me the same thing. I should make you my goal. A victory now is not equal to a victory of a lifetime."
Lin Yao smiled, "Therefore, I have been very motivated to cultivate recently. I'm going to reach the second-stage Great Strength Realm soon."
Su Yu smiled, "I'm happy that there is no longer any misunderstanding between us. I'm honestly surprised that you're so reasonable, Brother Lin. I had thought that you would chase me away today..."
"Why would I?" Lin Yao laughed, "Genius Su is personally here to apologize to me. I should be honored. How about this? It is inconvenient for you to visit my teacher during the day. There are too many eyes around. And my teacher might not necessarily be around. Wait until tonight. I'll take you there."
"Thank you, Brother Lin!" Su Yu hurriedly thanked before insisting that Lin Yao accept his gift.
Lin Yao's face fell as he said, "Brother Su, what is the meaning of this? Are you looking down on me?"
"No." Su Yu shook his head, "I understand what you mean. But even if you don't care about these things, how about Teacher Liu? I need a favor from you. Can you...take these things with you tonight?"
He awkwardly said, "Just let Teacher Liu see them. You don't need to mention them. That would make things awkward. Teacher Liu is a smart man. With one look, he would understand my meaning. I don't want him to think that I'm only saying empty words. That wouldn't be good."
"You're right." Lin Yao gave it some thought and agreed, "I'll be accepting these, then. I might not care about it, but my teacher still cares about face. I'll take these with me tonight. Let Teacher see that you're sincere. I believe he won't hold his grudge against you..."
Then, his tone turned solemn as he said, "Brother Su, there is something I'm not sure if I should say."
"Please do speak your mind."
"The multiple character faction used to be strong, but it has truly declined. In the academy, the single and multiple character factions have been fighting each other for many years. I am not telling you to change your faction, but I need to remind you to not get involved in that fight. For example, there are some individuals in the Top 100 Ranking that you should avoid if possible."
Su Yu nodded and said, "Thank you for the reminder. I don't want all this conflict either. I only want to cultivate peacefully. Alas..."
He sighed. Endless sorrow could be heard in his sigh.
So what if he was a super genius?
So what if he could grow rapidly?
The academy was akin to a bucket of dye. When one entered the bucket, one could no longer avoid being dyed in the color of the academy.
At that moment, Lin Yao suddenly felt thankful for the fact that he was a member of the single character faction. Sure, there were some internal struggles within the faction, but his life was still much better than Su Yu's.
Su Yu's life was truly...too difficult. On one hand, he had to deal with factional struggles. On the other hand, he had to deal with the lack of resources. Furthermore, he had to withstand the suppression of experts while trying to compromise and survive.
He did not have a powerful backer. He did not have enough resources. He did not have a wealthy family. Suddenly, he felt bad for even accepting the materials Su Yu had given him. And when he thought of how Su Yu was going to bend over backwards to apologize to Liu Hong tonight, his sympathy deepened.
Looking at the bleak Su Yu who was walking away from him, Lin Yao muttered to himself, "It doesn't matter if you are a great genius with peerless talent. Even someone like that has to bow in front of the cruel reality. This is the type of grief only geniuses understand."
He felt bad for Su Yu. As of that moment, all the previous hatred he had for Su Yu vanished completely. After witnessing a student who was stronger and more talented than him being forced to lower his head like this, Lin Yao found his mood turning melancholic.
"Damn this world! Can't geniuses just cultivate in peace?"
He slammed his door shut, seemingly trying to vent his anger at the unfair world.
Today, Su Yu lowered his head after being defeated by his teacher. How about him? He felt like he was looking at his future self in Su Yu.
"Teacher, you can't lose!"