Chapter 393: More Changes (2)
The battle was turning more and more intense.
Su Yu frowned and looked at Marquis Xia. Just what was this person thinking? More and more Mountainseas were involved. If some of them really ended up dying, this would be a great loss to Great Xia. Was he really not going to do anything about this?
Meanwhile, Administrator Hu and Marquis Xia were conversing softly. Nobody apart from them could hear their conversation.
"Marquis, what now?"
Marquis Xia stayed silent for a short while before saying, "Where's Zhao Mingyue?"
"Still on the way..."
"Let Old Zhao tell his little sister to retreat with Liu Wenyan when she arrives and return to Nanyuan."
"Marquis..."
Administrator Hu looked at the marquis for a while. The look in his eyes changed slightly as he nodded. Shortly after, General Zhao frowned, looking like he had just heard something. He nodded and vanished into thin air.
...
The battle raged on.
Suddenly, someone appeared in the sky. The moment the newcomer arrived, someone shouted, "It's Zhao Mingyue! Stop her!"
"Fuck off."
A shout rang out in the air. Before Su Yu could see the newcomer, a massive staff swung down from the sky. With a bang, a Mountainsea was sent flying away. Then, a heroic woman landed on the ground. She had a murderous look in her eyes. She wasted no time talking and rushed straight toward Liu Wenyan.
The other Mountainseas tried to stop her but they were all kept occupied by the Mountainseas from the multiple character faction's side.
"Why are you still staying here? Come with me!"
Zhao Mingyue then started dragging Liu Wenyan away. Not far away, Wu Yuehua cursed under her breath. But she did nothing to stop them. She also agreed that it was time for Liu Wenyan to leave. A mishap might happen way too easily if he remained in the warzone.
Xia Yunji and the others also shouted to him, "Wenyan, leave first. With us here, none of them will be able to touch Ruoling's grave!"
"Stop them!"
A few Mountainseas shouted in alarm. If Liu Wenyan was allowed to leave the warzone, everything these experts had done until this point would have been for nothing. This time, the Xia Family had even opened a warzone for them to settle their dispute within the capital itself. This was an extremely rare chance for them.
Any other time, they would all have a lot of reservations when fighting. A fight was not too bad, but the moment someone was killed, the Xia Family would be dragged in. But today, the Xia Family had granted them the freedom to kill within the warzone. Thus, this was their best opportunity to capture or even kill Liu Wenyan.
While Zhao Mingyue was leaving with Liu Wenyan, a sigh rang out. Then, a massive banner that covered the sky itself appeared.
"Liu Wenyan, you should stay."
Zhao Mingyue frowned and shouted furiously, "Jin Yuhui, you dare obstruct us?"
That was the principal of the Nine Heavens Cultural Research Academy.
"Mingyue, all of you can leave except Liu Wenyan. Either that or you need to leave the character behind..."
An aged voice rang out from the sky. The Nine Heavens Cultural Research Academy's principal had made a move.
This was someone standing at the very peak of the Mountainsea Realm. Some people even suspected that he had entered the Sunmoon Realm and was merely keeping it a secret like Wan Tiansheng.
In Great Xia, Wan Tiansheng was known as the strongest cultural researcher. Right after him was the Nine Heavens Cultural Research Academy's principal, the second strongest cultural researcher.
As for people like Director Ji, they weren't really cultural researchers. Sure, they knew some willpower tricks, but they were still mostly focused on physical cultivation.
Liu Wenyan had been silent even when Zhao Mingyue was dragging him away. But suddenly, he raged, "Jin Yuhui! On what basis are you involving yourself in this? Our faction owes you nothing! It is the other way around! You have shamelessly taken the character fusion technique we developed and claimed to be one of the actual creators of the technique! Are you not ashamed of yourself?"
"Talk is meaningless."
Jin Yuhui did not even try to argue. He brandished his banner and sent it down at them.
"Break!"
With a roar, Zhao Mingyue shot up into the sky and struck the banner with her staff. The collision caused the world around them to shake while a loud rumble reverberated throughout the area.
The banner trembled slightly before fusing with several characters. The characters stabilized the banner, allowing it to keep pushing downward. Zhao Mingyue roared and clashed against the banner yet again. However, her opponent was too strong. She wasn't able to stop the banner. The moment the banner reached the ground, Liu Wenyan would be captured.
"Die!"
Zhao Mingyue roared furiously as a blinding radiance erupted from her staff. At the same time, a spear, a sword, and a cauldron shot toward the banner as well.
Even further away, Hong Tan, who was in the midst of fighting against Zhou Mingren, roared, "Jin Yuhui, you are courting death!"
Suddenly, Hong Tan's body enlarged. A massive giant appeared before everyone's eyes. The giant was holding a shield in front of his chest with his left hand. His right hand was holding a sword. He first blocked Zhou Mingren's attack with his shining shield before rushing toward the banner. With a swing, his sword qi swept through a distance of several kilometers ahead of him.
Crash!
The sword qi struck the banner and tore it apart.
"Cough..."
A cough sounded in the air. Jin Yuhui sighed, "Hong Tan, you have indeed hidden your strength..."
Right that moment, Zhou Mingren roared. Hong Tan was about to take another step forward when countless stone pillars appeared around him, trapping him inside.
With a frown, Zhou Mingren said, "Hong Tan, our fight has yet to end. Don't get distracted."
"Old dog, you're courting death!"
Hong Tan was furious. He pounded on one of the pillars with his shield. At the same time, he swung his sword, cutting several stone pillars down. Zhou Mingren did not mind. Suddenly, the world outside the pillars turned into a massive sea. Towering waves appeared and crashed down on Hong Tan.
...
At this time, Su Yu approached Zheng Ping again and softly said, "Grandpa Zheng, the battle is so intense. Are you not going to share your thoughts about it?"
Zheng Ping had an odd look on his face. Share his thoughts? This kid was clearly confused by what he was seeing and was trying to fish for information. This was quite a shameless kid.
But since he was quite free, Zheng Ping did not mind. He said, "The newcomer is Jin Yuhui, the principal of the Nine Heavens Cultural Research Academy. He is a peak Mountainsea. Or to be precise, he is pseudo Sunmoon. Of the people present, the three strongest individuals are Hong Tan, Jin Yuhui, and Zhou Mingren. All three of them are pseudo Sunmoons."
"The sword and shield in Hong Tan's hands are his character technique. Zhou Mingren has eight characters. The pillars were formed by his stone character. This sea was generated by his wave character. But none of the two are his main Divine Character. His main Divine Character is the sun character. The moment this character appears, it would signify that the fight has reached its climax."
Su Yu asked, "Why did Jin Yuhui involve himself in this?"
"That's a grudge from the previous generation. When the fifth principal was around, Jin Yuhui was suppressed too badly. And this fellow has been studying the fusion of characters for many years. Previously, your faction released the results of your research on character fusion before ending the project. Jin Yuhui is very interested in that topic. Since the fifth principal's character might contain the secrets of character fusion, it is not surprising that he is getting involved as well."
Su Yu nodded, "Grandpa Zheng, Teacher Liu Wenyan had the chance to leave earlier. Why had he not left? Would he be fine as long as he can leave the warzone?"
"Leaving?" Zheng Ping shook his head, "That is no longer possible after he left Nanyuan. In truth, Nanyuan is a cage for him. By leaving the cage, he regains his freedom. But at the same time, he loses his protection. During the past 50 years when he had stayed in Nanyuan, barely anyone had dared to create trouble for him there.
"But it has been 50 years. The patience of many people is running thin. Thus, his only options after leaving Nanyuan are handing over the character or crushing the greed of these people. Otherwise, returning to his peaceful life would be impossible."
Su Yu frowned. He looked at Liu Wenyan who was standing under the banner. Zhao Mingyue and the others were strong, but they still weren't Jin Yuhui's match.
"What's the cultivation of Senior Xia Yunji and the others?"
"Around seventh-stage Mountainsea."
Zheng Ping had sharp eyes. He said, "If they really use all their strength, they could probably display the strength of a ninth-stage Mountainsea. But I have a feeling that there are still some issues with their characters. They won't be able to keep fighting for long. They have not fully assimilated their inherited characters."
He then sighed, "It really is not worth inheriting these characters, after all. Without these characters, these fellows would have been able to reach the seventh-stage Mountainsea Realm at the minimum by now relying only on themselves. In fact, those inherited characters would only be worth it if they are already Sunmoons right now."
Five decades were more than enough for these people to reach their current levels of cultivation relying on their talents alone. Thus, inheriting those characters back then had been a wrong choice.
"Back then, the inherited characters were meant to help them rapidly reach the Sunmoon Realm, not keep them at the Mental Tempering Stage for 50 years. There really are a lot of issues with this plan. What a pity."
Zheng Ping sighed regretfully. But he didn't really care too much about this. This was how cultural researchers had always been. For the sake of testing a single theory, they were willing to sacrifice countless energy and resources. They could blame no one if they ended up failing.
Clearly, this plan with the inherited characters had failed. And it was truly regretful as even today, a lot of people were still eagerly waiting for the result of that experiment.
Yes, Zhao Mingyue and the others had returned. But they were only Mountainseas with unstable combat strength. If this was the result of this plan, then there was no longer any need for anyone else to carry out such inheritances in the future.
Su Yu was also feeling regretful. They had failed to enter the Sunmoon Realm, wasting 50 years of time. Back then, every single one of these geniuses were stronger than Hong Tan. But now, Hong Tan had instead become the strongest. For the sake of this plan, these people had suffered the blame of numerous people and countless humiliation for 50 years. It was really not worth it.
And many of the students who had been picked for the plan had already passed away in obscurity. For example, Zhang Ruoling, the person who was buried here.
Su Yu couldn't allow himself to keep brooding. He hurriedly said, "What are they going to do after capturing Teacher Liu? Are they going to kill him?"
"Since Liu Wenyan is not materializing the character for them, it is hard to say what these people will do..."
Su Yu said, "Grandpa Zheng, are none of you disappointed with Great Xia's decision?"
Zheng Ping helplessly said, "Let me put it this way. Strictly speaking, we are all the soldiers of the Xia Family. And if they are not interfering, then we have to follow their lead. I do sympathize with you, but I can't help you guys. This is the same for Old Zhao and Old Hu as well. Each of them have a family member involved in the conflict. Do you think they don't care?"