Chapter 274: Terrifying Life Form (2)
Su Yu sighed.
5,000 merit points. He felt like that price was going to kill him. He should probably be strong enough to barely withstand the might of late-stage Infinite Strength blood essence now, right? The little bit of power that would leak out of the blood essence before his book consumed it would probably be within his limit.
Xia Huyou said, "Also, I have also gathered 20 willpower texts for you. They are worth 2,200 merit points. Do you still want them?"
"..."
Su Yu gritted his teeth and nodded, "Yes!"
"Then you will need to pay me 7,200 merit points." Xia Huyou was in a great mood, "As for the samples of different blood essence you told me to gather, I have gathered 400 different types of blood essence recently. All of them are at the Infinite Strength Realm. Only a few are in the Infinite Strength Realm. I can sell them to you for cheap. You only need to pay me 1,000 merit points. Are you interested?"
"Yes!"
Su Yu's heart was breaking.
8,200 merit points! That was so painful.
Xia Huyou softly said, "Come on. Let's get your product. Su Yu, you must have nearly finished all the money you have, right? Looks like you have earned a lot from that job." Su Yu couldn't even be bothered to give a reply. He was too busy sulking over all the money he was going to spend.
After deducting the 8,200 merit points he was spending this time, he would have 2,670 merit points left.
And he had to keep that to buy the Mountainsea Peace Seeking Stratagem in case he lost the tournament. He also needed to leave some to buy the five elemental blood essence. As for the water race fellow in the prison zone, that fellow was a Cloudbreach cultivator. Even if he gave Su Yu his blood, Su Yu wouldn't be able to use it.
Just like that, the 20,000 merit points he had recently earned were finished. Of course, he had not spent them for nothing. For example, the 40 willpower texts he had bought were definitely valuable items.
If Su Yu was an unambitious person, he could probably start planning his advancement into the Infinite Strength Realm already.
After collecting his purchase from Xia Huyou, Su Yu carefully returned to the research center. Along the way, he acted like he was a thief who was returning after a big haul. He only exhaled in relief after he was back in the research center.
He still needed to be careful since he was buying from the black market within academy grounds. Although things seemed to be peaceful recently, he still needed to be careful lest he lost everything.
300 drops of mountainbreak bull blood essence, with 200 drops of middle-stage Infinite Strength blood essence and 100 drops of late-stage Infinite Strength blood essence. Additionally, he had also obtained 20 willpower texts and 400 types of different blood essence.
He was in no rush to use these blood essence samples for now. He didn't want to mess up his recently purified source qi yet.
"I should have bought some clearbright bird blood essence as well. Otherwise, the next time I consumed so many different types of blood essence, my source qi would be filled with impurities again. The next time I enter the grotto, I need to remember to bring some clearbright bird blood essence with me. That would save a lot of my time."
Su Yu was not planning to use these blood essence samples for now. He was keeping them for his next visit to the Source Qi Secret Grotto. He would also wait until he got the heaven-grade martial technique so he could cultivate the technique in the grotto as well.
Thus, during his next visit, he would either open the heaven-grade martial technique's acupoints or the acupoints of the five elemental race's cultivation method. But since he didn't even have any five elemental race blood essence yet, there was no rush.
He only had 2,670 merit points left. The more he thought about it, the gloomier he felt. In the blink of an eye, he had used over 10,000 merit points. He was only a Great Strength cultivator but his expenses were akin to that of a Mountainsea expert.
Of course, the money spent had indeed brought him bountiful rewards. He had been able to grow at an incredible speed. He had spent only a single month to go from ninth-stage Source Opening Realm to the ninth-stage Great Strength Realm. That was an unimaginable speed.
"I have basically spent a billion dollars for this advancement speed."
Su Yu sighed.
He couldn't help but to wonder if he was a spendthrift.
Was this even worth it?
If he only cultivated his physical body and neglected his willpower, his cultivation would probably be a lot cheaper. Alas, he was cultivating both paths. And he wanted to advance rapidly in both paths as well. Thus, he had no choice but to spend his money.
That night, he maintained his usual intense training regime. But he also went to bed earlier since he needed enough rest for the tournament the next day. As for the monthly examination, it was no longer as important for him. He only needed to avoid getting the bottom 10 position.
30th of September.
The weather was excellent, with the sun shining brightly in the sky.
Su Yu walked out of the research center. The tournament was not going to be held in the Education District. Rather, it was going to be held in the Grotto District. That was because the miniature grotto used for the tournament was housed there.
Apart from those small buildings, the Grotto District also had some larger buildings. In truth, the smaller the building, the more powerful the housed grotto would be. That was because a stronger grotto would blend better with space itself, taking less space in the physical world.
Meanwhile, the weaker grottos would waste a lot more space in the physical world.
Secret Character Hall.
This was the venue of the tournament. Today, apart from the teachers of the Character Faculty, the teachers of the other faculties had arrived as well. The students had yet to arrive, but the instructors and researchers were arriving one after another.
Character Faculty, Pillmaking Faculty, Weaponsmithing Faculty, Beast Taming Faculty...
The people from all the faculties were present.
The other faculties had far fewer students than the Character Faculty. In fact, the Character Faculty alone had as many students as all the other faculties added together. Some faculties would have less than 10 students in their senior class. Even so, the researchers of all these faculties had still arrived to enjoy the festivities.
At this time, a researcher from the Willpower Faculty teased, "Liu Hong, where are the Cloudbreach cultivators of your Character Faculty? They're having you host this tournament? Did they all leave for some treasure hunting?"
Liu Hong smiled, "It's not like this is a major tournament. It's merely a game between the new students. There is no need to place too much importance in it."
"Is that so?" The other person grinned, "I heard that Elder Hong's grandstudent is participating in this tournament as well. And you guys are deliberately using the Mountainsea Peace Seeking Stratagem as the reward for this tournament. Are you not bored of playing all these cheap tricks?"
Liu Hong smiled, "It's merely a normal reward. It's not that deep. That is a willpower text left behind by a Mountainsea. Even if its willpower has been drained, it is still a treasure. Can you deny that?"
The other person wanted to continue making fun of Liu Hong, but at that moment, a certain individual stepped through the door.
When Liu Hong saw the newcomer, he was astonished. Why was she here? Liu Hong was not the only one who was shocked. A few of the Cloudbreach cultivators who had been standing around silently were also astonished.
A middle-aged woman from the Pillmaking Faculty exclaimed, "Junior Sister Wu, why are you here?"
Wu Qi nodded with an indifferent expression and said, "My little sister is participating. I'm here to take a look."
She then looked at Liu Hong and said, "You're hosting this tournament?"
Liu Hong coughed and nodded.
"The full researcher promotion evaluation is starting soon. Don't waste all your time on useless matters like this."
Wu Qi said, "I thought you said that you're going to suppress Bai Feng's student so much he can't grow? But I'm hearing that he actually placed first during the monthly exam. You're basically wasting your time for nothing."
Liu Hong was speechless. Was it proper to say all that in such a public setting?
Wu Qi did not seem to care about Liu Hong and the others. After saying what she wanted to say, she sat down. When she saw Liu Hong looking at her, she asked, "Why are you looking at me? Is Bai Feng making a move against you?"
The two had reached an agreement that if Bai Feng looked for Liu Hong, Wu Qi would be in charge of stopping Bai Feng. Everything else was unrelated to her.
She was allowed to spend some time studying one of Liu Hong's Divine Characters. And the price for that was her help if Bai Feng made a move against Liu Hong.
"Not yet..."
Liu Hong answered helplessly. Why did this sound like a conversation between a subordinate and a superior? With him being the subordinate? This woman was getting more and more domineering.
Meanwhile, the others decided to ignore what the two were talking about. One of them smiled and said, "Wu Qi, I heard Xia Yuwen has broken through into the Cloudbreach Realm. He will be returning from the Allheaven Battlefield soon. Are you going to break through soon as well?"
Wu Qi nonchalantly replied, "I still need some time. Maybe around half a year. I'll be visiting the Allheaven Battlefield soon as well."
She then asked, "Why are there no myriad race students here in this tournament? I'm actually quite interested in what they can do."
Liu Hong said, "Their strength is uneven. Some are already near the Skysoar Realm."
"Near the Skysoar Realm but still below the Skysoar Realm, right?"
Wu Qi did not accept that reason. But she stopped talking and shut her eyes to wait while resting. Liu Hong was feeling rather uncomfortable around her.
Outside.
Su Yu and the other senior class students arrived one after another.
Su Yu was about to step inside the building when someone suddenly called out behind him, "Su Yu!"
He turned around and asked in astonishment, "Liu Ke, you're here as well?"
This was the timid and petite girl who he met when he first arrived at the academy. Was she joining the tournament as well?
Liu Ke said, "Yeah. The Pillmaking Faculty is taking part in the tournament. Since we don't have a lot of students, I have no choice but to participate."
She looked at Su Yu curiously and said, "Su Yu, I heard about your victory over Chen Qi. You seem to be very incredible nowadays?"
"I'm not that good." Su Yu smiled, "That's only a spar. I had also relied on some external strength so it didn't really count."
"Just reaching the Great Strength Realm is already an impressive achievement. I'm still stuck at the eighth-stage Source Opening Realm."
Liu Ke was at the sixth stage when she first joined the academy. She had advanced by two stages in two months. That was actually a decent speed, but it was incredibly slow when compared with someone like Su Yu.
While they were talking, Wu Lan walked over and looked at Su Yu smugly, "Su Yu, if we encounter each other in the tournament, I will defeat you!"
She then swaggered off.
Liu Ke looked at Wu Lan doubtfully and asked Su Yu, "Did...she not notice me?"
Wu Lan had acted like she was not there at all. Was Wu Lan's eyesight bad? If Liu Ke hadn't stepped aside, Wu Lan would have stepped on her foot.
Su Yu shrugged, "Don't be sad. Anyone below the high-high evaluation is basically air in front of her. You don't exist. She treats everyone in our class the same as well. You're not the only one who has received this treatment."
Liu Ke was left speechless. She had not expected such a person to exist. That was...truly amusing.
Su Yu also didn't know whether to laugh or cry. In fact, Wu Lan was already being nice to Liu Ke. At the very least, she wasn't facing Liu Ke with her nostrils. Wait...Liu Ke is pretty short. So...she was probably being faced with Wu Lan's nostrils anyway.
At that thought, Su Yu softly whispered, "In our class, she has a nickname. Nostril Woman. You can call her that behind her."
Liu Ke instantly stepped away from Su Yu. She looked at him cautiously. That was so mean. How could they give such a nickname to a girl?
This Su Yu was indeed not a good person. With that thought, Liu Ke stomped off, leaving a confused Su Yu behind. What happened? It wasn't like he was the one who had come up with that nickname. The nickname came from Jia Mingzhen!
"Sure enough, women can't be reasoned with."
Su Yu muttered to himself. His teacher was right. All women were obstacles to cultivation. Just look at that. He was chatting nicely to her when she suddenly ran off for no reason. She didn't even bother telling him she was leaving. How rude.
He had just muttered those words when a cold snort rang out beside him.
Xia Chan was there with an unfriendly expression on her face. She walked away without even sparing Su Yu a glance.
Su Yu had an aggrieved expression. That was uncalled for! Why was she snorting at him? How had he provoked her?
Just what was happening? It was so early in the morning. He hadn't even done anything. How had he provoked three women out of nowhere?