Chapter 353: The Powerful Soul Expanding Art (1)
Zhao Li had not expected Su Yu to be so shameless. This was too straightforward. He had thought that Su Yu would beat around the bush and try to obtain the inheritance indirectly. He had even thought of the tricks Su Yu could use.
For example, Su Yu could visit him more, learn more about weaponsmithing, and even spend some time fawning on him by cleaning the place and doing odd jobs for him. But instead of all that...this little bastard was directly asking for it without sacrificing anything! Zhao Li stared at Su Yu who was maintaining a simple and honest expression.
"Teacher, do my words make sense?"
"..."
"Sense my ass! Screw your sense!"
Zhao Li was getting really speechless.
He made his final struggle, "But you're not talented in weaponsmithing."
Teaching this kid would basically sever the Zhao Family's weaponsmithing legacy.
"Teacher, I believe I am still quite talented in weaponsmithing. I am capable of forming a lot of characters so I only need to dedicate a few of my characters to weaponsmithing and I'll be able to become a weaponsmith."
"..."
That...actually made sense. But Old Zhao still struggled with himself. Deep inside, he wanted to teach Su Yu as well. He would have chased Su Yu off otherwise. But he just couldn't accept the fact that he was going to teach someone who wasn't his direct student.
"You might not even be able to learn it. And advancement has never been easy for you as a member of the multiple character faction. After learning my cultivation method, you will be tempering your sea of willpower every single day. I reckon you can forget about entering the Skysoar Realm anymore. How are you supposed to help me complete my weapon?"
Su Yu smiled, "Teacher, I can do it. I'm very smart. As for the compression of my willpower, it doesn't matter. I only need to grow faster than the speed of compression."
"Su Yu, you're making it sound so simple, but prior to the Skysoar Realm, willpower can only grow slowly."
"Not at all." Su Yu said, "Teacher, look at me. I'm already at 70 percent willpower. After you hammered me previously, I dropped back to 50 percent but now, I'm back at 70 percent again. I feel like I'm growing too fast. I have been worrying about accidentally entering the Skysoar Realm before forming enough characters. Just look at me! I have grown by 20 percent in less than a month! Teacher, your hammering was too weak!"
Zhao Li's face changed. Only then did he realize something. Last month. Was it the 18th? On that day, Su Yu visited. At that time, he had hammered the kid, pushing the kid all the way back to the bottom of the Mental Tempering Stage. It had been 20 days since then.
In 20 days, the kid had grown his willpower by 20 percent? This was his growth after having his willpower compressed? Only then did Zhao Li start to realize something extremely important. Looking at Su Yu, his willpower spread over toward Su Yu. His powerful willpower wrapped around Su Yu and started charging Su Yu's willpower. Su Yu's willpower started counter-attacking and defending automatically.
Zhao Li maintained the pressure on Su Yu's willpower. He gradually increased the pressure, and eventually, Su Yu was drenched with sweat. At that moment, a layer of shadow that had been covering Su Yu's apertures finally dissipated.
When the first aperture appeared and revealed a weak absorptive force, Zhao Li instantly withdrew his willpower. He stared at Su Yu silently. Su Yu said nothing either.
After a long while, Zhao Li asked, "Have you swore fealty to the Xia Family?"
But he answered his own question, "No, that won't give you something like that. Are you Xia Longwu's illegitimate child?"
"..."
Su Yu didn't know what to say.
Clearly, Old Zhao had discovered something. And that something might be his opened apertures. Zhao Li had not performed a deep scan on Su Yu, but he knew that even in the entirety of Human Realm, there were very few cultural arts capable of opening apertures at the Mental Tempering Stage. Even the Xia Family of Great Xia would probably only have one such cultural art. In that case, where had Su Yu learned his cultural art?
Zhao Li stared at Su Yu for a while and asked, "You have an Invincible ancestor?"
Su Yu shook his head.
"You know an Invincible?"
Su Yu shook his head again.
"You're from the Myriad Race Cult...no, wait. Not even the Myriad Race Cult has something like this. The divines and devils will definitely not be willing to share such cultivation methods with their human worshippers."
He rejected that possibility. After exhaling lightly, he asked, "Is this your own fortuitous encounter?"
Su Yu said nothing.
"I'll consider that a yes." Zhao Li did not keep asking. He said, "If you want to learn the Soul Expanding Art, I can teach you. But...I won't acknowledge you as my direct student."
"Why, Teacher?"
Su Yu could not understand that decision. Hadn't Old Zhao been trying to get him as a student?
Zhao Li said, "I am not blind. I can see the conflict between the single and multiple character factions. Even 50 years ago, I was already an old man. If that person is still alive, he would be as old as me..."
Su Yu knew that Zhao Li was speaking about the fifth principal.
"I have known that fellow for many years. My father had even taught him before. I am very familiar with all his students. People like Liu Wenyan and Hong Tan are no fools. And they are definitely not weak.
"The multiple character faction has been forced to such desperate straits because they have not counterattacked instead of failing in their counterattack.
"Hong Tan is not a pedantic bookworm. Back then, Liu Wenyan was determined to walk the path of character inheritance. Hong Tan had the chance to walk the same path as one of the Sunmoon experts had picked Hong Tan as the successor. However, Hong Tan rejected the offer.
"I was present when that happened. I was the one who had stripped that expert's character from his destroyed weapon. He wanted to transmit his character to Hong Tan, but Hong Tan said that he wasn't going to walk this path. Since Liu Wenyan had decided to walk that path, the multiple character faction would still require someone to hold the fort in case Liu Wenyan failed.
"Not long after Liu Wenyan left, Hong Tan entered the Skysoar Realm. He is very young. He isn't even 70 this year. He entered the Cloudbreach Realm at 30, reached the Mountainsea Realm at 45, and stepped into the seventh-stage Mountainsea Realm at 60. Now, he is a peak eighth-stage Mountainsea cultivator...
"In fact, he is of similar age to Xia Longwu. They are actually from Xia Longwu's generation. In the eyes of the public, there is a misconception that Hong Tan is very old. Many even think that he is older than me."
Su Yu blanked out. Yeah. Even Su Yu himself had the same misconception. Hong Tan was very old. But if he actually thought about it, Hong Tan wasn't that old. He wasn't even 70!
Zhao Li said, "He has been able to remain patient for 50 years. All by himself, he has focused on only his research. So is he a sage or a pedantic fool? Or is he something else entirely?"
Su Yu did not say anything.
Zhao Li continued, "Therefore, what is the multiple charater faction waiting for? What are they afraid of? I am an old man, so I like to think more. Since you insist on remaining with the multiple character faction, I can still teach you, but I definitely won't acknowledge you as my direct student. I don't want to drag the weaponsmithing faction into the path of destruction."
"Teacher, I...I'm not learning anymore..."
"Why not?" Zhao Li smiled, "What's wrong with teaching a cultivation method? I even have some cultivation methods of Invincible experts. Are people going to make me a target of their anger just because of who I choose to teach? It's not that complicated. As long as the students I teach aren't my direct students, it doesn't matter who I teach. But remember this. Do not drag the weaponsmithing faction into your conflicts."
Su Yu did not know what to say.
Zhao Li exhaled and said, "It's fine. I can teach you the Soul Expanding Art right now if you want. I am only reminding you that you shouldn't assume that you are the only capable member of the multiple character faction. Don't think that you can change everything. You are just a weakling. You're not even a Skysoar cultivator. Don't think too much. People like Hong Tan and Liu Wenyan have been remaining patient for decades. People like Xia Yunji, Hu Ping, and Zhao Mingyue are still alive. The multiple character faction won't be destroyed so easily.
"If it really is going to be destroyed, they will definitely be able to shine one last time and dazzle the world before their destruction. The multiple character faction will only be truly destroyed when all these people are dead. As long as one of them is still around, then there is still a chance for the multiple character faction to rise again. If you don't see anyone doing anything, it can only mean that they are still patiently waiting for something."
Su Yu nodded and sank into deep thought. True. He had overestimated himself and underestimated those seniors. Even Teacher Liu was a Skysoar cultivator who was far stronger than him.
"I understand, Teacher."
"Good." Zhao Li exhaled, "Come with me."
He then stood up and went deeper into the building.
...
A few minutes later, Su Yu and Zhao Li arrived in an underground room. Su Yu had not expected that this research center would have such a large underground room under it. He was quite surprised. He had thought that Zhao Li's research center was built entirely above ground.
"The Soul Expanding Art is quite simple. You saw it in action before. It is essentially a hammer."
Hammer! Su Yu was inwardly rolling his eyes at the term. What a poor naming sense. It was totally uncool.
"Focus!"
Suddenly, a massive, shiny hammer appeared in front of Zhao Li.
"This is the foundation of the Soul Expanding Art. You need to forge a large hammer in your sea of willpower. With this hammer, you will be able to temper your willpower and strengthen your sea of willpower.
"A regular hammer won't work. It's not as simple as getting a cultural weapon in the form of a hammer. This hammer needs to achieve resonance with your sea of willpower. Only then can it temper your sea of willpower instead of damaging it when you hammer yourself..."
Zhao Li spent a long time giving a long explanation, but Su Yu still looked confused.
When Zhao Li saw that, he had a regretful expression as he said, "Forget it. You're too dumb. You're a little clever, but you lack wisdom. Fine, fine. I will stop talking. I'll split a small hammer out of my large hammer and give it to you. You can simply use my hammer and nurture it with your willpower. It is only a matter of time before it grows strong and large..."
Su Yu's mouth was agape. Had he been insulted? Teacher Zhao believed that he was too stupid to learn the cultivation method and had decided to simply give him a small hammer instead?
So was this little hammer an idiot-proof method of cultivating the Soul Expanding Art? Was learning this cultivation method so easy?
"Teacher, is this really fine?"
"Yeah." Zhao Li wasn't too worried, "As a weaponsmith, I am very proficient in splitting a single tool into multiple tools. You only need to adjust the frequency of the little hammer and ensure that it can resonate with your sea of willpower. It is actually very simple. After I split the little hammer out, you only need to take it into your sea of willpower and adjust the frequency in a direction that you feel comfortable with. I will teach you the adjustment method. And then, you only need to keep adjusting the frequency until you feel good. That is when you know that you have achieved resonance.
"Simply put, you need to reach a state where your sea of willpower will feel comfortable instead of suffering when hammering yourself. The tempo of hammering must feel as natural as breathing."
Su Yu nodded. He finally understood.