Chapter 326: Label Me (1)
Su Yu couldn't be bothered to argue with Xia Huyou. Since his friend was insisting, then he would just pretend to be clueless. Even if Xia Huyou was really an important member of the Xia Family, Su Yu did not care.
The Xia Family had a decent reputation. They had been running Great Xia for over 300 years yet rumors of them bullying the weak had never appeared. In fact, if they had a bad reputation, some experts would have probably rebelled long ago.
Su Yu did not insist on sticking to the topic. He said, "I asked you to gather some five elemental blood essence for me. How is that going?"
"I got some, but not much." Xia Huyou helplessly said, "The five elemental race is truly too rare. Also, each of them are very strong. And you only want Infinite Strength blood essence. I can't get much even after collecting from the other prefectures."
Five elemental blood essence wasn't cheap. For a single drop of Infinite Strength five elemental blood essence, Su Yu needed to pay 50 merit points.
Su Yu was planning to buy some and activate their cultivation methods before using the period of time when those cultural arts were active to open some soul apertures. As long as he could open 36 soul apertures, he would be able to start actively cultivating his willpower without the help of blood essence.
"Cut the crap. How much have you gathered?"
"At the moment, 60 drops in total."
That was not enough for Su Yu. According to his calculation, he would probably need two or three drops to open one soul aperture. With 60 drops, he would only be able to open around 25 apertures.
"Give me the 60 drops first and try to get at least 40 more drops for me."
He would probably need at least 100 drops to meet his target.
Suddenly, he asked, "Have there been talks about soul devouring bug ability blood essence lately?"
Xia Huyou narrowed his eyes and smiled, "Yes. In fact, even some people outside the academy are asking about this. Most of them are trying to find out if this is actually a willpower ability instead of a martial ability. If it is, then it would be useless for warriors. If not, then the warriors would be even more interested in it."
Su Yu smiled, "It's not a willpower ability. It is a unique martial ability capable of harming willpower."
"..."
Xia Huyou sank into thought. It was a martial ability. He had already guessed the same. According to the Xia Family's records on the soul devouring bugs, this was a species with weak willpower. The soul devouring liquid they used to corrode willpower shared a lot of similarities with source qi.
In truth, the Xia Family had their own in-house researchers as well. After all, they couldn't completely rely on outsiders in matters involving research.
"Martial ability..." Xia Huyou said, "Su Yu, this ability would be much more valuable as a martial ability than a willpower ability. You're not stupid so you know what this means. Of course, the production cost and actual level of the produced blood essence will also affect the value, but..."
Su Yu smiled, "I know. If it's just a normal ability blood essence, it's nothing. But what if I say that we have successfully discovered the acupoints of the Soul Devouring Art? Humans will be able to open the required acupoints to change their source qi into one that can harm willpower. What do you think?"
"Huh?"
Xia Huyou stared at Su Yu in alarm.
"Are you telling the truth?"
Humanity has never stopped trying to convert myriad race cultivation methods into human cultivation methods. In fact, many of the existing cultivation methods and martial techniques in the Human Realm had been obtained in this manner.
But this had mostly been limited to the larger life forms that were closer to humans physically. Life forms like the soul devouring bugs were too different from humans so their cultivation methods were much more difficult to derive.
Furthermore, it was extremely hard to obtain the willpower texts of the soul devouring bugs. Of course, humanity still had some willpower texts from the soul devouring bugs. In the past, some humans had been able to kill some female soul devouring bugs to obtain some willpower texts of that race.
Xia Huyou said, "Is it even possible to derive a version of their cultivation method that is suitable for the human race? Are you sure that this method will help someone harm willpower with only source qi?"
He understood how important this cultivation method would be if Su Yu was telling the truth.
Su Yu said, "We have yet to perfect the cultivation method. My grandteacher has been studying the soul devouring bugs for 30 years. My teacher is also an expert in this subject. Or should I say he is a genius in this subject. Afer countless attempts, he has finally derived some required acupoints of this cultivation method."
Xia Huyou nodded. Nobody would deny that Bai Feng was a genius. Even previously when Bai Feng was only a sixth-stage Skysoar, he was already known as a genius teaching assistant. His strength was not the only reason he was known as a genius. His ability in research also played a role in that.
Xia Huyou inhaled deeply and said, "And you're saying this because..."
"Transaction." Su Yu said, "Although we have yet to complete this cultivation method, I am confident that we will be able to complete it soon. But I am still hesitating about whether we should release it.
"If we release it, the human race as a whole will gain an increase in strength. Sure, not everyone would be willing to open additional acupoints, but some would still be willing to do so.
"But how can we ensure the benefits of our research center after releasing it? Are we going to start charging copyright fees like all the other copyrighted cultivation methods? We have created this method to deal with the enemy cultural researchers, but for outsiders, they will probably believe that we are betraying our fellow cultural researchers. That will only put us in a difficult situation."
Xia Huyou clearly disagreed. He even looked furious as he said, "Why care about what those people think? This is Great Xia! Great Xia of the Xia Family! You must definitely release the method! If you're afraid of trouble, sell the rights to the Xia Family! We will be in charge of releasing it!"
Increasing the strength of humanity was something every single ruling family of the human race was trying to do. This would be an extremely important cultivation method since it would grant part of the human warriors a trump card against cultural researchers.
Of course, not everyone was capable of opening additional acupoints. But some geniuses would definitely not mind doing so, especially when this cultivation method was an effective counter toward cultural researchers.
Xia Huyou said, "Elder Hong is not back yet. Will he...change his mind after he returns?"
Things would be troublesome if that was the case. After all, he was an eighth-stage Mountainsea cultivator. This was essentially an act of using trickery to purchase a cultivation method he had created while he was away.
The Xia Family was not afraid of him, but that would still cause a lot of dissatisfaction among the people they ruled over. The cultural researchers would definitely use this chance to create a big ruckus and give them more trouble.
Su Yu shrugged, "That's unrelated to me. My teacher said that it's fine. He said that he is the biggest contributor to the project. Before my grandteacher left, he had agreed to give my teacher full control over the project."
"That's great to hear! That's great!" Xia Huyou nodded joyously, "Su Yu, the copyright fee is a long term business. I'm not going to scam you. Releasing the cultivation method through charging copyright fees will benefit your faction more. Even your descendents can continue profiting from this. But we never know what will happen in the future. And you never know if you can even live that long..."
"..."
Su Yu looked at Xia Huyou with an odd gaze. He felt like this bastard was cursing him to die young.
Xia Huyou coughed awkwardly and said, "That's not what I mean. What I'm trying to say is, this is the result of your research center, not the result of any individual member. Thus, individually, you might not be able to earn much from charging copyright fees. You might as well sell the copyright of this thing for one big profit. That way, you would be able to get a bigger share in a shorter period of time."
"And how much are you offering?"
"5,000 merit points..."
Su Yu had to resist the urge to punch this fatty to death.
"Are you sure?"
Xia Huyou awkwardly said, "The soul devouring bug cultivation method might come with the ability to alter the nature of source qi, but I believe that it won't require too many acupoints. And the soul devouring bug race isn't a powerful race. Thus, we might need an entire army cultivating it to use it effectively. Basically, we need numbers for it to work, like how the bugs will only be scary in great numbers.
"But opening additional acupoints have always been something only geniuses can do. Thus, it is impossible to create an army of cultivators with this cultivation method. In truth, this cultivation method isn't as important as it seems."
That actually made some sense. But Su Yu would not believe that this cultivation method was only worth 5,000 merit points. What a joke.
Xia Huyou said, "I'm being serious. We have yet to try distributing it so we don't even know how hard it is to learn. 5,000 merit points is already a good price. You need to know that back then, the Great Strength Art series of cultivation methods that everyone is cultivating nowadays have only been sold for the price of one Skysoar beast..."
Su Yu rolled his eyes. He was aware of that incident. He didn't need this fatty to tell him that.
"We'll see." Su Yu did not waste his time haggling. He said, "We haven't even completed the method yet. When we do manage to complete it, I will try cultivating it for myself before we make our decision."
Xia Huyou grew anxious. He hurriedly said, "Alright. 10,000 merit points. I really can't give you a better offer. If you're selling, you should sell to the Xia Family. Don't sell to the academy. The academy is filled with cultural researchers so they might decide to let the cultivation method rot in some storage. That way, the human race wouldn't benefit from it."
"Is the academy so short-sighted?"
"You never know." Xia Huyou shook his head, "We might claim that human warriors and human cultural researchers are on the same side, but do you think that is really the case? Even siblings of the same family will have a hierarchy among themselves. Do you think that there won't be any conflict between two different cultivation paths?"
Su Yu nodded. That was true. If cultivators of two different paths were to claim that they were family, that was definitely a lie.
Cultural researchers might look down on warriors, but that was also the case the other way around. The cultural researchers had always addressed the warriors as brutes while the brutes had always addressed the cultural researchers as delicate flowers.
If it was a regular cultivation method, it didn't matter. After all, a lot of the cultivation methods in circulation had been created by cultural researchers as well. But a cultivation method that could harm cultural researchers might not be something the cultural researcher community was willing to share.
Su Yu couldn't be bothered to say more at this point. He ended the topic, "I'll see. The research is not complete anyway. But you need to help me in the meantime. Suppress all those noises so that nobody will come after us."
"Sure." Xia Huyou promised, "No problem. I'll talk to a few Xia Family experts. You will be able to continue your research without disturbance. I hope you can complete the research soon."
"I will."
Su Yu nodded. He had only told Xia Huyou this much to get some help in stopping others from disturbing him before he could complete the research. The Xia Family was the actual number one warrior family in Great Xia. As the ruling family, they would be more than happy to see the number of experts growing in their territory. They wouldn't care if the experts were warriors or cultural researchers.
The two continued chatting for a short while. Su Yu did not try to recruit Xia Huyou into his club. He was an important person in the Xia Family. That was a dangerous identity.
Xia Huyou was an experienced and knowledgeable person with an important identity and a powerful backer. Su Yu did not have the courage to recruit Xia Huyou at this time. Someone like this really didn't need any help from him. And some of the things he could offer would only attract more suspicion from Xia Huyou.
It would be fine if he only came up with one or two cultivation methods. But what if he came up with dozens or hundreds of cultivation methods? Was he some sort of god? Were everyone idiots who were incapable of realizing that something was wrong with him?
"Give me the five elemental blood essence."
"It's at my place. Come with me. For 60 drops, the price is 3,000 merit points. Of the 7,000 merit points I owe you, I still owe you 4,000 merit points."
Su Yu nodded.
"Help me get some soul devouring bug blood essence and clearbright bird blood essence. And don't forget the usual mountainbreak bull blood essence."
Su Yu wanted to purchase more blood essence. It would be the best if he could produce some actual ability blood essence of these races. If he was really able to do so, he could then start claiming that in the process of his research, he had also derived a version of their cultivation methods suitable for human practice. That way, he would be able to avoid suspicion.
When Su Yu received the five elemental blood essence, he exhaled in relief. Hopefully he could open more soul apertures. Even if he couldn't open enough to form a system, more opened apertures would only increase the speed of his passive absorption and hasten his willpower growth.
He wanted to reach the Skysoar Realm as soon as possible. He did not intend to be stuck at the Mental Tempering Stage for several years. Just forming multiple Divine Characters was time consuming enough. With weak willpower, he would probably be stuck for several years.
And when he thought of the possibility of being stuck for decades like his Teacher Liu, he shivered. That would be too miserable.
When Su Yu was about to leave, Xia Huyou asked, "By the way, are you sure you're going to accept the challenges of those students tomorrow?"
Su Yu smiled, "Of course. Oh, it would be even better if the elder meeting starts after I defeat a few opponents. That way, they might notice that I really care a lot about my reputation after observing a few matches. They will be relieved to find that I would rather fight until death than to concede. Satisfied that their scheme is working, they will definitely be in a good mood and disregard the rest of the matches."
The plan wouldn't work if Su Yu started conceding from the very first match. He had to first give them some assurances. He had to show them that he was a genius student! He was unwilling to concede! Conceding was the same as killing him! He would fight for victory!
Xia Huyou grimaced. Damn it. This fellow was such a scumbag. With that, the elders were probably going to ignore whatever disturbances that might arise subsequently.
At that thought, he asked, "Are you not going to get your martial uncle involved as well? He's a ninth-stage Cloudbreach cultivator. Maybe you can get him to seal the area around the ring to ensure that the elders won't notice anything. Even if they notice some disturbances, they wouldn't dare to actually send their senses over for fear of becoming a second Zheng Yuming."
"..."
What a scumbag. Su Yu cursed inwardly. Was this guy not ashamed of calling him a scumbag? This fellow was an even bigger scumbag!
Martial uncle...That was a good idea. The Zheng Yuming incident had happened not long ago. With Chen Yong's appearance, even if they created a large disturbance, would the elders dare to force their willpower through the seal unless there was a massive disturbance?
No, they wouldn't. Who would want to be the second Zheng Yuming? And by the time they finished their meeting, everything would be over.
The two looked at each other and smiled. Su Yu said, "My martial uncle isn't cheap to move. He will require a fee of 3,000 merit points. What do you think?"
"..."
Xia Huyou blinked, "I'm paying?"
"Yeah."
"Why?"
"Because you're going to earn big from the single character faction. Is that a good enough reason? I'm only going to make a small profit. Is a ninth-stage Cloudbreach cultivator supposed to work for free?"
"..."
That made a lot of sense! But after a short calculation, Xia Huyou cursed inwardly. Damn it! He hadn't even earned anything yet but he already had to pay so much money. Would he even make a profit at the end?
He looked at Su Yu speechlessly and said, "What if I fail to get anything at the end?"
Su Yu smiled, "There is always risk in business. If you don't even have the courage to take some risk and invest, how are you supposed to grow your business?"
"You..." Xia Huyou inhaled deeply and said, "Do you want to join the Xia Trade Company? I can give you a position. Don't worry, it won't be a low position. If you do well, you might even be promoted into the person in charge of an entire prefecture."
"Not interested."
Su Yu shook his head. Turning him into a businessman? Don't joke around! He was a man destined to become an expert!
At that thought, he said, "Do you know where Zhang Hao is staying?"
"Huh? You're looking for him?"
"Not really. I need to get in touch with someone from the Talisman Faculty. Since I know him, I might as well look for him."
"Faculty Talisman? Are you buying talismans?"
Su Yu stared at Xia Huyou with a smile. Xia Huyou's expression turned awkward. He decided to not ask more. There was no need for him to know too much. He wasted no time and gave Su Yu Zhang Hao's address.
Mental Tempering Garden. Special zone.
Freaks like Zhang Hao all lived here. Some of the older genius students under the Skysoar Realm also lived here. For some reason, Xia Huyou had not been spending much time here.
When Su Yu arrived, the sky was already dark. After passing through the security checkpoint, he entered the special zone. Walking along the tiny path, he couldn't help but to admire the beautiful environment of the special zone. There was also ample source qi in the air.
This was indeed a good place to cultivate. No wonder all these fellows were living here. A rent of 100 merit points per year was not cheap at all.