Chapter 40: Work Hard, Kid (2)
Toward the end, Liu Wenyan's tone turned regretful as he said, "I've only freshly materialized my willpower. I've also spent too much time in Nanyuan so I'm a bit outdated. Times are changing, and the path of cultivation is also changing. There are things you can only learn in the academy.
"During the coming month, stop working on Divine Characters. Place your focus on your willpower. That is the foundation of everything."
"I understand, Instructor."
"Also..." Liu Wenyan hesitated slightly. "Your talent in willpower cultivation is rather ordinary, but your Divine Character formation is incredible. I don't know if this is good or bad, but that can be considered a unique talent as well. With this unique talent, you can probably get a good teacher in the academy.
"Bai Feng wanted to accept you as his student. I had thought that you should be thankful for such a good opportunity. But now...I don't know what to do."
Su Yu had a doubtful expression.
Liu Wenyan had a helpless smile as he said, "I am wondering if I should tell Bai Feng's teacher about you. If I do, he would definitely accept you as a student. But...he might not be a better teacher than Bai Feng."
Liu Wenyan sighed, "He has a lot of students. He is also very powerful. He might not have a lot of free time in the academy. He won't be able to place much focus on you. He is a Mountainsea Realm cultural researcher. He will take trips to the Allheaven Battlefield, to the deep seas, to many other places. Thus, your time with him will be limited.
"Although Bai Feng is only a Skysoar cultivator, he will spend more time in the academy. In your early stages, he will be able to give you more help. And at the latter stages...in truth, when you reach the Skysoar Realm, even his teacher will provide you with guidance since you're essentially his martial grandson. A genius will receive care no matter where they go."
Liu Wenyan was very angry with Bai Feng before, but after thinking about it, he still needed to consider things on behalf of Su Yu. Bai Feng was weaker than his teacher, but Bai Feng had no student. He also had more free time. He would be able to give Su Yu more help. And when Su Yu was strong enough, he would naturally be able to start learning from Bai Feng's teacher as well considering he was Bai Feng's student.
After giving it some thought, Liu Wenyan slowly said, "In fact...there is a different option. You can become a student of Bai Feng's teacher and have him order Bai Feng to teach you as your senior brother. But you have to pray that Bai Feng will actually be willing to do so instead of beating you up in anger."
Su Yu coughed before looking up helplessly, "Instructor, if I do that, I think he'll kill me. Teacher Bai Feng is ready to accept me as his student. If I suddenly become his junior brother and still want him to teach me, that would be...pushing it too far, right?"
Liu Wenyan said nonchalantly, "That's a choice for you to make. In fact, Bai Feng will be fine. But this fellow...will need to focus on his breakthrough into the seventh-stage Skysoar Realm soon. After that, he will also need to focus on getting into the Cloudbreach Realm. You need to consider this properly. He might not have a lot of time for you as well."
Su Yu nodded. That was true.
"Well, you still have some time left before you have to pick a teacher. Those two are not the only researchers in the academy. Don't reveal your Divine Character to anyone. Keep it as a trump card.
"Even during your entrance exam, do not reveal it. You can consider saying that you have only formed one or two strokes of a Divine Character. That will be fine. Cultural research academy, war academy, it doesn't matter. You might encounter danger no matter which academy you enter."
Liu Wenyan sighed and said, "Su Yu, remember this. You never know what's in a person's mind. Most humans might be on your side against the other races, but that is not the case for all humans. Otherwise, something like the Myriad Race Cult would not exist.
"There are many sects and factions in the cult. Some of them are very well hidden among humanity. For them, killing weak geniuses that have yet to grow are totally worth their time. It is understandable for you to reveal some of your talent as you need to gain attention and support for your cultivation. But always hold something back."
Liu Wenyan sternly said, "Holding something back might end up saving your life one day. Feel free to show off your ability. Prove that you're worth cultivating. But keep some trump cards hidden. You might be able to use these trump cards to turn the situation around when it matters."
"I understand, Instructor." Su Yu hurriedly nodded. He was aware of that.
"Good." Liu Wenyan had a gratified smile as he said, "Go back and continue cultivating. Also, since you've completed a Divine Character, for the coming month, you can start following me to the Windcatcher Department."
"Windcatcher Department?"
"Yeah. Although we have defeated the Myriad Race Cult during their previous operation, some of the people in charge of causing chaos around the city have still escaped. Even now, the city is still trying to capture them. Their hands are drenched in the blood of the innocent. We can't spare them.
"You will be working with the Windcatcher Department to capture these traitors. I want you to...experience more. You performed well by killing one in the school, but that's far from enough. Before entering the academy, I want you to see enough blood that the sight of blood will no longer cause you to be nervous.
"Cultural researchers will be required to kill as well. In fact, they need to kill a lot. Only the weakest of cultural researchers can keep their hands clean. They are basically useless. I don't want to see you becoming one of them. I want you to step onto the path of the strong.
"Apart from the fact that you were able to complete a Divine Character in one day, feel free to reveal all your other talents. Show off as much as you want during the exam. Stand out from the rest and gain the attention of the academy. Make them give you the support you deserve. That is what you should be doing. Why? Because you don't have a Mountainsea expert as a father.
"Crush all those geniuses at the capital, advance, and rise. I won't be able to give you too much help. Work hard. The harder you work now, the more you'll gain in the future."
Su Yu was trembling. From his instructor’s words, he had a feeling that he had a month of suffering ahead of him.
…
Outside Nanyuan City, in a small village.
A silhouette jumped forward in an attempt to escape from something. Right that moment, the silhouette turned sluggish. A massive iron-winged bird appeared before his eyes, charging straight at him. Alarmed, he instinctively moved aside. While he was still midair, sounds of something cleaving the air rang out.
"Arrgh!"
The sense of crisis instantly cleared the man's mind. With a roar, he calmed himself and swung his saber to the left. Someone was ambushing him!
"The active duration is so short..."
Beside the man was Su Yu, the ambusher in a gray outfit. He was only a Great Strength cultivator, and his illusion had only lasted for a split second. Sure enough, his Divine Character was still too weak and his illusion was not believable enough. But he had still attacked first and was the ambusher. Even if his opponent had reacted quickly, he was still faster.
Splurt!
Sounds of a metallic object slicing into flesh rang out, followed by a crack as the entire left arm was sliced off his opponent's body. Immediately after, the saber held in his opponent's right arm came near his neck. He retreated rapidly while creating illusions to distract his opponent.
Hundreds of demonic beasts charged at the man. Even though he knew he was looking at illusions, he was still a Great Strength cultivator. He was unable to stay fully calm and his body instinctively tried to dodge.
That allowed Su Yu to fully disengage from this opponent. At this point, he was already drenched wet with sweat. Why was his instructor still not helping him? By the time this opponent adapted to his illusions, he would no longer be able to handle this opponent without using blood essence.
In fact, if he had used blood essence for his previous attack, he would have been able to kill that opponent with one slash. As a Source Opening cultivator, his strength and speed were not enough. It was already very impressive that he could slice an arm off with that attack.
Su Yu continued falling back. The intense pain cleared the man's head, slowly dispersing the illusions. The man's eyes were red as blood constantly poured out of his stump.
Glaring at Su Yu with his red eyes, he roared like a cornered beast, "Die!"
The man madly charged at Su Yu. He wasn't going to survive this. He had already been on the run from the Windcatcher Department for a while. Now that he had lost an arm, there was no way he was going to survive. In that case, he might as well drag this bastard down while he could.
Source Opening? It was then that he realized something. He had actually been ambushed by a Source Opening cultivator.
"Absorb faster! Come on, do it!"
While running, Su Yu made his blood character absorb the blood of his opponent. Even an injured Great Strength cultivator wasn't someone he could defeat. More and more blood flowed out of the man's stump.
The man could feel his life draining away. He could also feel that the speed with which he was losing blood was increasing. With a roar, he increased his speed. His eyes were red and he was determined to kill this bastard.
The more strength he used, the faster he bled. He was able to rapidly close the gap between them. That caused Su Yu to grow even more anxious. If this person did not die soon, he would probably be the one to die.
Hum!
When Su Yu heard the sound of a blade slashing down behind him, he rolled on the ground, frantically moving away from the blade. After being chased for so many years in his dreams, he had gotten quite good at running away.
Although he would end up getting killed in all his dreams, he had gained the ability to roughly judge the type of attack being used behind him just by listening to the sounds. After making several rolls on the ground, his face was cut by the sharp stones on the ground. However, he ignored all that and stood up before running again.
The blood character was still busy absorbing his opponent's blood. The exhaustion of his willpower caused Su Yu to turn pale as he continued sweating non stop. Behind him, the man roared miserably as his vision turned blurry from blood loss.
"Don't...even think of running!"
The man continued chasing Su Yu.
...
"Instructor Liu, are we not going to make our move yet?"
Not far away, Chief Zeng Hua of the Windcatcher Department was standing beside Liu Wenyan. The enemy was on the verge of death and was determined to kill Su Yu who was only a Source Opening cultivator. If this continued, things could get dangerous.
Liu Wenyan remained silent. This was still not the time to make a move. In any case, he had reached the Skysoar Realm through willpower cultivation. The enemy was less than a hundred meters away from him. He could instantly freeze this opponent if he wanted so he wasn't worried.
He wanted to see just what Su Yu could do. In fact, Su Yu had already exceeded his expectations. As a Source Opening cultivator, this kid had actually managed to sever an arm of a sixth-stage Great Strength cultivator. That was amazing.
While Liu Wenyan was deep in thought, the cult member caught up to Su Yu yet again. Liu Wenyan was about to make his move when Su Yu suddenly turned to face the enemy, looking like he was going to fight it until the end.
"He's getting impatient..." Liu Wenyan remarked. But immediately after, Su Yu roared, "Don't kill him. Capture him alive!"
The man was swinging his saber at Su Yu when he heard the shout. His heart trembled as he heard the sound of something moving rapidly behind him. Even though he was already prepared to die, he still attempted to dodge the incoming attack. Su Yu took the chance to turn around and run away.
After moving out of the way, the sound from the man's back vanished. The sound he heard earlier actually came from Su Yu's illusion. Not far away, Su Yu was running with all his strength, rapidly moving over a dozen meters away.
"I'll kill you!"
The man roared in fury. He had been tricked.
"Why is he so energetic?" Su Yu complained while gasping for breath. That person had lost so much blood. Why was he still so energetic? Were all Great Strength cultivators so hard to kill? Didn't his previous victim die after a single slash?
He had heard that one of the opponents he had killed at the secondary school was a seventh-stage Great Strength cultivator. After that event, he stopped fearing Great Strength cultivators. But today, he learned just how wrong he was. Without blood essence, without ambushing, even third-stage Great Strength cultivators could kill him easily.
"Can you be faster with the blood absorption?"
].
Su Yu roared furiously at his blood character. This little brother of his was too useless. And it dared to call itself a Divine Character? Just look at how big the wound was. With a wound that big, this character had only been able to slightly increase the speed of blood loss. What a useless Divine Character.
The character was working very hard. Unfortunately, it was too weak. Su Yu's willpower was also too weak. Thus, the character was starting to turn dim from all the exhaustion. Its strength had weakened considerably.
Behind Su Yu, the sound of a blade being swung rang out once again. Without any hesitation, he rolled on the ground. The saber struck the ground, sending pebbles flying everywhere. Some of the sharp pebbles cut into his face and neck, leaving numerous bloody scars on him.
However, Su Yu ignored all that as he rolled madly on the ground. He even abandoned his saber while rolling. After several rolls, he got back on his feet and started running again. He cut an incomparably sorry figure.
"Bas...tard!"
The man was incredibly furious for failing to kill Su Yu. This kid was only a Source Opening cultivator but was incredibly slippery. Due to his serious injuries and intense pain, the man's speed had dropped considerably. The man was starting to lose his vision from losing too much blood. Seeing that his target had escaped yet again, the man let off a final wail.
Then, he stopped running. Utilizing all the strength he had remaining, he threw his saber forward. The man stared at the saber in desperation, hoping to see the result of the throw only to collapse onto the ground before he could see anything. Even as a sixth-stage Great Strength cultivator, he was still a man, not a god. He couldn't survive losing so much blood.