Chapter 336: Words Can Also Kill (2)
One teacher and one student engaged in a battle of words. Both were constantly dancing around the loopholes of the rules.
One argued that no frame of time had been given when the rewards were promised.
One argued that no transaction was happening. Everyone had simply lost the willpower texts they had borrowed from their friends.
In any case, Su Yu was going to make sure the single character faction would bleed this time. He would ensure that they would bleed massively. They would not be able to get off easily.
Since those people were trying to annoy him by offering rewards for his defeat, he was more than happy to play that game. He happened to be very good at annoying others as well.
At that moment, even the elders had been reduced into background characters. None of them said anything, allowing the two youngsters to go at it. As elders, it would be too embarrassing if they had to personally argue against a kid.
"Su Yu, this is still not acceptable. We promised to reward the ones capable of defeating you with one willpower text per victory. Transferring the rights to the reward...is not acceptable. In the academy, buying and selling cultivation methods in private are not allowed. This naturally applies to the rights to obtain cultivation methods as well. The only way you can transfer the rights is by paying the copyright fee.
"And the payment must be made to the academy. Take the War God Art as an example. To teach someone else this method, you need to first be qualified to do so. On top of that, you also need to pay a fee of 100 merit points. Only then can you get the rights to teach it. As a student of the academy, are you not aware of this?"
Xia Huyou was greatly troubled upon hearing those words. Was Liu Hong trying to ruin this transaction? Was he supposed to pay the fee of 100 merit points for each student selling their rights to him? That would only push his cost to an unreasonable level.
Su Yu smiled, "I know all that. But there are two editions of the War God Art. One is the profound-grade edition and the other is the earth-grade edition. You were referring to the earth-grade, but I wasn't talking about that. Also, I never said that you can only borrow War God Art willpower texts from your friends.
"They can always use the Great Strength Art instead. This is a public cultivation method in the entire Human Realm. It can be taught for free. Since you guys have not mentioned any specific willpower text when offering the reward, then everyone can simply ask for Great Strength Art willpower texts as the reward.
"As long as the elders are willing to write, it doesn't matter if it is the Great Strength Art or even the Source Opening Codex. A willpower text is still a willpower text. But be sure each willpower text is a peak Mountainsea willpower text. That is something you guys did specify when promising the reward. Don't forget that."
"..."
Liu Hong looked at Su Yu and smiled. But inwardly, he was cursing. Well done, little bastard! He seemed really well-versed with the academy rules. Both of them were using the rules as the basis for their arguments.
Listening to them, many people had an illusion that the rules had basically been created for people like these two. In their hands, the rules were akin to toys.
Heart Cultivating Pavilion.
Wan Tiansheng was staring at the sky blankly. Were there...so many loopholes in the rules? Were the rules...so lax? Why did it feel like those two bastards could play with the rules as they wished? It almost felt like the rules only exist to serve them! He shook his head and started contemplating the matter of rewriting the academy rules.
Near the challenge ring.
Liu Hong stopped arguing with Su Yu and transmitted his voice to Zhou Mingren, "Faculty Head, this fellow is very difficult. He is clearly encouraging the students to sell the debt to the students from the major families and have those families create trouble for us. Most of the students will be happy with a free class, but I'm afraid some will not be satisfied with just that."
At this time, Zhou Mingren had calmed down considerably. He said, "Those willing to attend the free classes may leave now. Often, researchers will share some of their own unique experiences during their classes. This is not something you can get with just some merit points. But if you don't mind waiting, you are free to wait for me to finish writing the willpower texts..."
He stopped and looked at the students. Many of them started hesitating, and some even started feeling fearful upon meeting his gaze. Before long, the students started leaving.
Instantly, over a thousand students left. And some who wanted to stay also decided to leave after seeing that so many students were leaving. They were only here to get some benefits for themselves. They should know when to stop.
If they keep pushing it, they might end up with nothing even after offending these experts. That would not be worth it. There was strength in numbers, but the numbers were clearly decreasing. No matter what, they had already gained something today. This was good enough for them.
Su Yu was truly incredible. Many of them couldn't help but to admire Su Yu. He had dug a big hole for the single character faction this time. All their researchers were forced to open a free class each. Sure, that was nothing, but some people were unwilling to conduct even a single free class.
Su Yu was not surprised to see so many people leaving. He did not think it was wrong for them to leave. It was a good thing that those students knew when to stop. As for the ones left behind, they were either the ones with good backgrounds or those looking to sell the debt to someone else.
For those without strength or background, a single free class was good enough. And these students weren't really that important for Su Yu's plan anyway.
The ones left behind were those with proper backers. These were the ones truly difficult to deal with. Zhou Mingren did not know what kind of cost he needed to pay to resolve this issue.
Nevertheless, the elders of the single character faction were still relieved to see so many students leaving. Good.
Previously, there were too many students around. They really didn't know what they should do with all those students. Thus, they were happy to see more than half of those students leaving. It would seem like Liu Hong could really be quite useful at times.
As for Liu Hong, he smiled and said, "Looks like the remaining students are prepared to claim your willpower texts. Think carefully, students. Remember that you are not allowed to buy or sell willpower texts. Sure, borrowing the Great Strength Art or the Source Opening Codex is fine, but the moment you involve yourself in a transaction, you might not be able to hide it. The academy has a monitoring system in place to detect all illegal transactions. If you are caught, you might end up getting nothing from this. You might even end up punished. Don't blame me for not reminding you when that happens."
After he said that, more students hesitated and left. He made sense. There was a monitoring system in place to detect any illegal transactions. They could be caught easily when transacting in merit points. And if they were caught, they would end up with nothing.
More and more students left. Su Yu was indifferent. Since Liu Hong was really so good at talking, he should continue talking. Let's see if he could really make all the students leave.
Meanwhile, Liu Hong was feeling very troubled. Even after all that, there were still about 600 students left.
These were either the students of Mountainsea or Cloudbreach cultivators or those with the backing of the military such as the Devil Subduing Army or the Martial Dragon Guards or the juniors of some powerful families and individuals.
These students were the ones who were truly difficult to deal with. Just a free class was far from enough to satisfy them. They were here for peak Mountainsea willpower texts. Such a text would have a value of thousands of merit points. The single character faction wanted to dispose of them with one free class? Dream on!
Su Yu was still smiling brightly. These people were the ones who truly mattered. There were still hundreds of them here. And the single character faction still owed them hundreds of willpower texts. How should they solve this issue?
Reneging on the debt? Then they might as well declare war against every single family in Great Xia. Sure, it was an exaggeration to call that a war, but at the very least, Zhou Mingren would invite the displeasure of these families.
Even if they kept silent, they would probably remember this grudge. The grudge would slowly fester. In the future when these people and Zhou Mingren had to fight alongside each other, these people might even end up as the ones to deliver Zhou Mingren a knife to his back.
Suddenly, Su Yu asked, "I have a question. So is the offer of one willpower text per victory against me still valid? If it is still valid, then I will continue accepting challenges after today. If not, then it's fine. Since a certain someone is thick-skinned enough to go back on their words, then I suppose it also won't be surprising for that someone to change his mind so soon after making a decision."
"..."
Was the offer still valid? Nonsense. Of course it was no longer valid!
And Su Yu was clearly waiting to deliver a slap to their face by making them withdraw their own offer. That offer was meant to trouble Su Yu, but he was perfectly fine. Instead, they were the ones to suffer.
Liu Hong smiled, "That offer was made to encourage all students to work harder, including you, Su Yu. You kids are simply too willful. You don't understand the intention behind our offer. In that case, we might as well cancel the offer."
"So you have the final say now?" Su Yu looked at Liu Hong with a curious expression and asked, "Since when were you the faction master of the single character faction? Or are you perhaps the faculty head or the vice principal? Teacher Liu, I'm not looking down on you, but you're only a teaching assistant. Are you qualified to make this decision for the single character faction? Do you have the authority to cancel an offer made by the faculty head? Are you the acting faculty head? Or the acting vice principal? Ohhh, I understand! You are replacing Elder Zheng as the faction master!"
Su Yu assumed a shocked expression as he hurriedly said, "Congratulations, Faction Master Liu!"
"..."
Liu Hong had the urge to run over and kill the kid right then and there. To hell with that! Who the fuck wants to be the faction master?
Suddenly, Su Yu had a new idea. He smiled, "Faction Master Liu, don't tell me that the previous incident was the reason for your promotion? Don't tell me that you have actually been rewarded for losing your faction over 40,000 merit points?"
The moment those words were said, Zhou Mingren and the others frowned. What was the meaning of that? Before this incident, none of them would take Su Yu's words seriously. He was unworthy of their attention.
But now, only a fool would continue looking down on this kid. 40,000 merit points? What was the kid talking about? They had not lost that much money. The biggest recent expense was the 100,000 merit points they had spent to buy something.
And that something...originated from Su Yu. At that thought, the expressions of the elders changed as they glanced at Liu Hong. Prior to this, they had never doubted Liu Hong. But now...what was the meaning behind Su Yu's words?
Meanwhile, Liu Hong was cursing inwardly. Screw you! Su Yu had decided to throw caution to the wind! Since he had already offended the elders badly, he decided that he was no longer afraid of having his previous scam exposed.
In any case, there was no way Zhou Mingren and the other elders would let the incident today slide. Thus, he might as well expose the previous scam and screw Liu Hong over in the process.
"Su Yu, stop talking nonsense..."
Su Yu smiled, "What did I say? I said nothing. I will never do anything that is against the rules. But I really need to thank you. I wouldn't have been able to improve so quickly without your help. Thank you."
Su Yu then leaped off the ring and said, "I still have something to take care of so I'll be taking my leave. Bye. I have been busy with research recently. I can't afford to waste more time on these challenges. By the way, please spread this news for me. The Wentan Research Center has successfully derived the Soul Devouring Art. With this cultivation method, you can alter your source qi and grant it the ability to burn and corrode willpower. We will be holding an auction for the copyright of this cultivation method soon.
"This is a martial cultivation method, not a willpower or martial technique. Don't forget this. For warriors, this will be an excellent weapon against opposing cultural researchers in the battlefield. We welcome all buyers. Regardless of whether you are from Great Xia or a different prefecture, everyone is allowed to attend the auction. We hope to spread this cultivation method and increase the overall strength of humanity.
"For a period of time after this, the multiple character faction and Wentan Research Center will become the center of attention in the Human Realm. Some people should think carefully before trying to pull anything stupid against us lest you end up offending all human warriors in existence.
"As for the willpower texts, you guys can deal with it yourselves. I won't be getting involved in that matter. I still need to participate in the final experiments of the Soul Devouring Art. Thank you for the 40,000 merit points. We have only gotten half of the total amount, but that is enough. Without that injection of funds, we wouldn't have been able to complete our research on the Soul Devouring Art so quickly."
Su Yu then drifted away, his white clothes flowing behind him. Chen Yong followed behind him silently, as though he was the student here. In truth, he was only there to ensure Su Yu's safety. Everyone was in stunned silence.
Suddenly, Zheng Yunhui exclaimed, "The Soul Devouring Art can alter one's source qi?"
"Yeah."
Su Yu answered without even looking at him.
"How many acupoints?"
"36. And almost half of them are overlapped acupoints."
"So it actually only requires around 18 additional acupoints?"
"Pretty much."
Zheng Yunhui's expression changed as he ran off unhesitatingly. He needed to go home and look for the old man. A cultivation method that could alter source qi. Not only that, but it could grant one's source qi the ability to harm willpower. Holy shit. This was an incredible cultivation method.
It required less than 20 additional acupoints. Sure, it wasn't easy opening that many acupoints, but for geniuses, this was a great opportunity for them to further increase their strength. This method would only grant them an additional trump card against cultural researchers.
Some other people were also silently leaving the area. Some were leaving to notify their families, and some were leaving to notify their backers. For warriors, this was a massive opportunity.
Zhou Mingren's eyes flickered. He understood what Su Yu was trying to do. The kid had chosen this time to make this announcement. Clearly, the kid intended to turn the multiple character faction into the center of attention. Was the kid trying to prevent him from carrying acts of revenge?
Zhou Mingren and the other elders remained silent. They would think about revenge later. The appearance of the Soul Devouring Art would attract numerous gazes toward the Wentan Research Center. More importantly, would the transmission of that cultivation method harm the single character faction? And what were they supposed to do with the remaining students?
Zhou Mingren was about to take this chance to leave when a shy girl among the crowd said, "Faculty Head Zhou, I only want three willpower texts. I only won three times. Su Yu told me to win ten times but I refused."
The girl had a timid face. When Zhou Mingren's gaze landed on her, she looked like she was about to cry as she said, "I won all the matches myself. My dad never gave me any merit points yet he keeps demanding me to grow strong. I only have three merit points left and all of them have been spent on this...Grandpa Zhou, are you going to renege on this?"
Zhou Mingren suddenly found the girl familiar-looking.
Beside him, a researcher said through voice transmission, "This is Ji Xiaomeng, the youngest daughter of the Talent Fostering Bureau's director."
Finally, Zhou Mingren recalled who she was. This was the youngest child of that old fellow, also his sole daughter. As this was a daughter he had gotten at an old age, he doted on her very much. During her tenth birthday, he had invited numerous experts over to celebrate her birthday.
He treated this daughter much better than his other children. So it was this girl? Zhou Mingren's head hurt. Damn it! Damn that Su Yu!