Chapter 399: A Saint Or A Sham (2)
In the war academy, only a super genius would be able to afford spending a large amount of resources for their body forging. An example of such a person was the freak from Bai Feng's generation.
A normal student would have no hope of getting an expensive body forging. With Zhao Li's token, Su Yu could send some people into the grotto. Of course, he still needed to be careful lest rumors started flying.
Chen Hao was about to speak when Su Yu contacted him with the sound talisman, "Don't talk. Don't tell anyone you're looking for me at the cultural research academy. Just notify me in advance and I'll get someone to pick you up."
After messing with the talisman for a bit, Chen Hao also learned how to use it. But the voice transmission took some time. Only after a short while did it connect, "Alright. I understand. Yu, let me tell you about a good method to increase your cultivation speed. You can pretend to help your teachers clean their dwellings. There, the environment would be good and the source qi would be plentiful. You can cultivate much faster there!"
"..."
Su Yu was completely speechless.
Oh you sweet summer child.
Fast his ass!
A place like that would be filled with experts. Sure, the ambient source qi there would be dense, but would a student be able to compete against these experts in terms of source qi absorption?
But this fellow had indeed progressed quickly. After thinking for a bit, realization hit Su Yu. Old Xie was helping him? Probably. Without Old Xie's help, how would Chen Hao be able to reach the Great Strength Realm so quickly?
Of course, the cultivation method he used had also played a big part in his speed. That was a cultivation method with only 72 acupoints. Thus, he only needed to open 8 acupoints per stage.
Initially, Su Yu wanted to give Chen Hao the earth-grade War God Art. But after some thought, he gave up on that thought. It wasn't like Old Xie didn't have something like that. Since he had not provided it to Chen Hao, then it could only mean that Chen Hao's speed would probably be too slow with that version. That would only slow down his progress.
True. Without resources, strong enough talent, and a backing, one wouldn't even be able to utilize a heaven-grade cultivation method. It was simply not possible for Chen Hao to open that many acupoints. Just because one opened only 72 acupoints did not mean that one would have no future.
Sure, one might be weaker than others with better cultivation methods. But one would be able to grow at a decent pace and perhaps even reach the Invincible Realm eventually. Even a weaker Invincible would still be an Invincible. In front of any Invincible, the Sunmoon Realm was nothing.
Only top geniuses would aim to become the strongest in the same cultivation level. That was not a requirement for Chen Hao. Pursuing something like that would only slow his growth.
"Got it. By the way, I have a War God Art willpower text and a Skybreak Technique manual as well. I can share them with you later when you come to the cultural academy."
"Skybreak Technique? What's that?"
"..."
Su Yu had nothing to say. Just what had this fellow been doing for the past two months? Why was he so clueless about everything? Then again, it was understandable. He was already a first-stage Great Strength cultivator. He must have spent all his time cultivating instead of learning about other stuff.
Su Yu decided to stop talking and focus on his cultivation. He had already absorbed a decent amount of character intent of the destroyed Eternal characters from the warzone, allowing him to open a decent number of soul apertures. Even now, his sea of willpower was in the process of digesting his gains from earlier. With the boost from this new environment, he started opening his apertures rapidly.
33 apertures, 34 apertures, 35 apertures...
After a while, his sea of willpower shook. The 36th aperture had been opened.
Rumble!
In his sea of willpower, the 36 apertures connected with each other and formed a cycle. Instantly, Su Yu's willpower absorption speed rose sharply.
Xia Huyou was in the midst of absorbing willpower beside Su Yu when the look in his eyes changed. He looked at Su Yu and cursed before asking, "You formed a system with your apertures?"
Forming a system was the sign that one had successfully cultivated a cultivation method.
Holy shit!
Had this fellow opened 36 apertures? That was inconceivable. That was way too fast.
Xia Huyou himself had absorbed a decent amount of willpower and a little character intent from the warzone earlier. And he had gained a lot from that. In fact, he had benefited so much that he had finally completed the cultivation of his 18-aperture cultural art.
But what was up with Su Yu? This fellow had actually completed the cultivation of a 36-aperture cultural art!
Su Yu ignored Xia Huyou. He had already opened over 20 apertures previously. What was so surprising about him opening the remaining apertures now?
With a system formed with his apertures, the speed of his willpower absorption increased sharply. Worried that he would attract unwanted attention, Su Yu moved closer to Xia Huyou. This way, even if someone detected the movement of willpower, it would be blamed on Xia Huyou, not him!
In his sea of willpower, the little hammer was hard at work, tempering the newly absorbed willpower.
Compress!
In fact, the short period of willpower absorption had pushed Su Yu's willpower to 90 percent full. That was too fast. Even Su Yu himself was alarmed. It would be troublesome if he accidentally entered the Skysoar Realm.
Thus, he was working very hard to compress his willpower with the hammer. And the process was causing him great pain. As a result, he started sweating heavily. However, he did not stop and continued the compression process.
Compress! And compress!
From 90 percent, it dropped to 85 percent, 80 percent...
And finally stopped at 75 percent. That was the limit. Su Yu could no longer compress his willpower further. Only then did he start absorbing more willpower to open more apertures. There was no way he was going to let this perfect cultivation environment go to waste.
After all, he had a lot more apertures to open. He had only opened 36 out of 180 apertures! Thanks to his linked apertures, he was able to rapidly absorb willpower. One ought to know that even a ninth-stage Skysoar would generally only open 36 apertures.
That was not to say that Su Yu was already a ninth-stage Skysoar. But if he was to break through right this instance, his willpower would shoot straight to the peak of the second tier. His characters would also be instantly elevated to the peak of the second tier. After meeting both those requirements, he would already be qualified to be considered a ninth-stage Skysoar.
Of course, 36 apertures were truthfully not a lot. If he continued cultivating the same cultivation method at the Cloudbreach Realm, he would probably be stuck unless he cultivated the Myriad Text Sutra on top of this 36-aperture cultural art.
At the moment, the area was filled with people. A majority of them were students. There were also a small number of Skysoar and Cloudbreach cultivators cultivating there.
It was worth noting that at the Skysoar and Cloudbreach Realms, the density of source qi and willpower might not necessarily help one advance into the next realm. One needed to first meet all the requirements for the breakthrough.
With their characters, apertures, and willpower to work on, these people would mostly absorb enough to reach willpower saturation before stopping.
...
Time passed. One hour. Two hours. And eventually, morning arrived.
At that moment, someone finished his cultivation and approached Su Yu. Su Yu stealthily hid his apertures and switched to absorbing source qi instead.
"Su Yu."
Su Yu looked up at Wan Mingze and smiled, "Brother Wan!"
Wan Mingze had a solemn face as he said, "I heard of what happened last night. Teacher Bai has been seriously injured. Even after recovering, he might not be able to return to the academy anymore. He would probably be sent to the Allheaven Battlefield. Do you want to reconsider my previous proposal?"
"To join the neutral faction?"
"Yeah."
Su Yu smiled, "Neutral faction. Previously, you said that Xia Yuwen was a part of this faction as well. But he's not neutral anymore."
That faction was simply a joke. Wu Qi and Xia Yuwen were in the neutral faction. But Xia Yuwen had still decided to move against Bai Feng.
Su Yu did not know the exact details of what had happened since he had not seen it with his own eyes. But from what Zheng Ping said, Xia Yuwen had indeed been injured from the fight.
"That's why he's no longer one of us."
"Oh? Is the neutral faction not avenging him?"
"He has received his injuries from participating in an internal conflict. Why should we avenge him?"
"So the goal of the neutral faction is to hug trees and not strive for anything?"
"No. Our focus is the Allheaven Battlefield."
Su Yu smiled, "That sounds great. But I'm afraid of getting stabbed in the back. Vice Principal Xia Changqing was a part of the neutral faction, right? He is no longer neutral. He's supporting Xia Yuwen in the struggle for the position of the prefect. And Xia Yuwen has probably been reduced into a cripple. If I join now, I will probably end up targeted."
"That won't happen."
"Can you even speak on behalf of the faction?"
Wan Mingze solemnly said, "Yes. I'll put it this way. The neutral faction exists in all academies. This is not something we have founded ourselves. Instead, those in the Knowledge Seeking Realm are the ones leading this operation. Our main goal is to stop the conflict between the single and multiple character factions. We do not wish to see this conflict affect the students who are unwilling to get dragged into these internal conflicts.
"Although the Knowledge Seeking Realm has not moved directly to end the conflict all these years, they have been protecting the students who wish to cultivate without disturbance. This is the Knowledge Seeking Realm's response to the conflict between the two factions."
Realization dawned on Su Yu.
So that was why. He had been curious about the confidence of this so-called neutral faction. So it was actually led by the Knowledge Seeking Realm. No wonder. But that also proved that the Knowledge Seeking Realm was very clear about the conflict between the two factions. Yet they had not done anything to stop it.
Su Yu didn't know if, like the Xia Family, their hands were tied, or if they were simply deliberately allowing the conflict to fester and spread.
"I'll think about it." Su Yu smiled, "In my current situation, even if I stop creating trouble, others will continue targeting me. I don't think I should join and attract more trouble to your faction."
"Su Yu, these conflicts should never have involved the students. You can join us for now and return after reaching the Skysoar or the Cloudbreach Realms. We won't stop you. I am sincerely hoping that you can really consider our offer."
Wan Mingze sounded really earnest. He did not wish to see Su Yu be disrupted from his cultivation. It wouldn't be too late for Su Yu to rejoin the conflict at the Skysoar or the Cloudbreach Realms. As a genius, he was worthy of this special treatment.
This was actually something good for Su Yu. And Su Yu understood that. He felt slightly guilty for being so indifferent toward someone offering help and said, "Thank you, Brother Wan. I'll be honest then. I enjoy these conflicts. Without these conflicts, how should I grow? How can I gain more benefits? My teacher is now a seriously injured person. My first teacher has also been seriously injured. Even my senior sister is still recuperating from her willpower injury. I don't know a lot of people yet the ones closest to me are suffering. Am I supposed to just leave them behind?"
Impossible!
He paused to think before saying, "Brother Wan, do you think the single character faction will stop targeting us after this?"
"No." Wan Mingze said, "Unless Instructor Liu hands over the character or reveals it to everyone, this can't be resolved so easily."
"There you have it."
Su Yu did not say anything else. Yes, those people wouldn't be willing to give up. But Su Yu also wasn't willing to just put this behind him. He would pursue his vengeance against every single one of those people.
Great Xia was not a lawless place. The warzone had been removed and the rule of law had returned. Within Great Xia, those at the Skysoar Realm and above couldn't touch him. In that case, what was there for him to fear?
Wan Mingze was regretful. He said, "Fine. I'll respect your choice. But don't forget that our door will always be open for you. When you need to, feel free to join us. We have the support of the Knowledge Seeking Realm while you're a genius. You will definitely be welcomed. The conflict between the single and multiple characters faction is no longer a single conflict over orthodoxy. It has devolved into a conflict of personal grudges, benefits, power, and status. It is no longer something purely about cultivation.
"I don't know what the Knowledge Seeking Realm is thinking, but if a day comes when I manage to enter the Knowledge Seeking Realm and gain some power there, I will definitely suggest that they put an end to this."
"That's an ambitious thought." Su Yu smiled, "But power is something you can only get by fighting for it. Brother Wan, do not put the Knowledge Seeking Realm on a pedestal. Conflict is inevitable as long as people are involved. Ultimately, power rules over everything."
"In my opinion, the current chaos within the Human Realm is mainly due to one reason: the lack of a supreme expert capable of suppressing everyone. Or to be precise, the Human Realm is not faced with enough danger yet."