Chapter 416: Teaching (1)
Su Yu had no idea what just happened. He only knew that his head was hurting. In his dazed state, he seemed to hear some people talking. When he was finally able to open his eyes, he saw that he was seated on a chair. He seemed to have fallen asleep.
Fallen asleep?
Impossible!
He was here to meet Marquis Xia. How could he fall asleep for no reason? And his head was hurting badly. Had he been ambushed? But wasn't his grandteacher right beside him?
It was then that he noticed that his grandteacher was chatting with a fatty. That fatty was none other than Marquis Xia.
Marquis Xia turned to look at Su Yu with a smile and asked, "You're finally awake? Children nowadays sure cultivate hard. You worked yourself too much. Your sea of willpower nearly exploded from overworking itself. Don't be so ridiculous in the future."
Su Yu stared blankly. What was the meaning of that? He had suffered from cultivation deviation? But that shouldn't be the case. Although he had cultivated very hard, he didn't feel any discomfort at all.
Despite his suspicion, Su Yu stood up and bowed before saying, "Greetings, Marquis."
"You may rise."
Marquis Xia had a gentle expression as he said, "No need for the formalities. Just be careful when you cultivate in the future. You're lucky that happened when you were in the prefect's manor. What if you were on a battlefield? You would lose your life."
Su Yu looked at Hong Tan blankly.
Had he really suffered from cultivation deviation?
Hong Tan did not meet his grandstudent's gaze. For some reason, he was extremely focused on the chess pieces in front of him. He had been playing chess with Marquis Xia prior to this. As for the fact that Su Yu had been knocked unconscious, whatever. What could he do if the ambusher was a Sunmoon?
Su Yu was suspicious, but since he had no idea what was wrong with himself, he could only say, "Thank you for the reminder, Marquis."
Marquis Xia nodded and said nothing else. Inwardly, he was greatly overjoyed. This was the sweetest form of revenge. After hitting someone, that someone still had to thank you!
After a light cough, Marquis Xia pushed the chess board aside and messed up the chess pieces on it. Not waiting for Hong Tan to say anything, he asked, "You want to learn the Sky Sundering Saber?"
Su Yu nodded and replied, "Yes."
"Do you know how many editions the Sky Sundering Saber has?"
"No."
Marquis Xia explained, "The Xia Family is not stingy with what we have. Over the years, we have taught a decent number of people the Sky Sundering Saber. The stronger Great Xia is, the stronger the Xia Family will be. As long as you're not a traitor or a piece of trash, the Xia Family will be willing to teach you."
"There is no need to explain further our reason for refusing to teach a traitor. As for a piece of trash, we can't have someone untalented learn our Sky Sundering Saber and embarrass us outside, right?"
He smiled and continued speaking, "According to your grandteacher, what you want isn't the regular Sky Sundering Saber. Instead, you want the 144-acupoint version. Am I right?"
"Yes."
"I can see that you've opened a lot of acupoints. So you are probably capable of opening the 144 acupoints of this cultivation method as well. But how many of these acupoints will you be able to fuse in the future?"
"Don't tell me that you will only fuse seven or eight acupoints for your advancement into the Infinite Strength Realm. With a 144-acupoint cultivation method, you need to fuse at least 16 acupoints. That is the maximum number allowed by this cultivation method. Since cultural researchers do not focus on physical cultivation, even their geniuses will mostly stop at 10 acupoints. But even that is enough to make someone a true Infinite Strength cultivator."
"The Xia Family's cultivation method is not something we teach for fun. Thus, there are more people in the war academies who have been taught our cultivation method while in cultural research academies, very few people apart from those from the Xia Family know our cultivation method."
Su Yu solemnly promised, "If you're willing to teach me this cultivation method, I will naturally try to fuse 16 acupoints for my breakthrough."
"Try?" Marquis Xia smiled, "That is not enough. You must do it. If you fail, the Xia Family will take the cultivation method back from you. How do we do that? We will cripple the 144 acupoints you have opened through this cultivation method and make you shift to a different method. Even if you already know the method, you won't dare to openly use it anymore."
Su Yu looked at Hong Tan. His grandteacher smiled and explained, "This is indeed one of the rules of the Xia Family. But you're not required to fuse the maximum number of acupoints. Generally, you will be left alone as long as you can fuse 12 or more acupoints. Am I right, Marquis?"
Marquis Xia replied with a lazy tone, "If you're going to fuse only 12 acupoints, you might as well stay with your War God Art. Opening fewer acupoints will only make acupoint fusion easier. Why bother with the Sky Sundering Saber?"
Su Yu solemnly said, "Marquis, if the Xia Family is willing to teach me this method, I will stop using the Sky Sundering Saber if I fail to fuse 16 acupoints for my breakthrough. What do you think about this?"
Marquis Xia smiled and said, "All geniuses will say the same when they meet me. Over these years, there has been no lack of confident geniuses who are sure they will be successful. They all believe that the Sky Sundering Saber is nothing special. To speak the truth, even in the Xia Family itself, very few people actually cultivate the best version of the Sky Sundering Saber. Since you wish to be taught, I can give you a chance. I need to give you a test."
Test!
Su Yu respectfully said, "I am willing to take the test."
"You sure are confident." Marquis Xia smiled and casually tossed a metallic ball out. The moment the ball landed on the ground, it transformed into a puppet."
"Defeat it and I'll give you the cultivation method. If you fail, go right back where you came from."
At that, the puppet threw a punch at Su Yu.
Su Yu was about to use his willpower when the marquis said, "Use your physical cultivation. The Sky Sundering Saber is a physical cultivation method. There is no need to use your willpower here."
Su Yu hurriedly retreated.
Rumble!
The puppet's punch landed on Su Yu's previous position, creating a violent shockwave of air. Even from further away, Su Yu could feel the immense power behind that punch.
This was an Infinite Strength puppet! Definitely! Not daring to be careless against such an opponent, Su Yu stomped on the ground and appeared behind the puppet with a flicker. He sent his palm out.
But two additional arms appeared from within the puppet and punched at Su Yu. With a boom, Su Yu was pushed several meters back. His right arm had not fully recovered, and with this exchange, it was starting to hurt more and more.
...
"Marquis, this kid is only a Great Strength cultivator. It's fine if you want to use an Infinite Strength puppet, but why use a sixth-stage Infinite Strength puppet? This is too excessive."
Hong Tan was speaking through voice transmission. Marquis Xia rolled his eyes and replied, "Is the Xia Family's cultivation method something you can learn so easily? This is only the start. Even defeating this puppet will only qualify him for a high-tier heaven-grade version. The top-tier version will require him to defeat a seventh-stage Infinite Strength puppet."
"You're being unreasonable." Hong Tan helplessly said, "He's only a Great Strength student."
"If he's not monstrous enough, he should forget about our Sky Sundering Saber. Even if I agree to teach him, my old man won't."
While the two were talking, Su Yu had already exchanged dozens of moves with the puppet. The puppet's body was too hard. Su Yu felt really helpless. Not only was this puppet strong, but it was also made of unknown materials that gave it an incredibly hard body.
He was able to land a few strikes on the puppet, but all his attacks had basically bounced off. And attacks targeting acupoints were also useless against this puppet.
Su Yu activated his eye acupoints and stared at the puppet closely. After a while, he started retreating, moving so fast that he was leaving a string of afterimages in his wake. He stopped facing the puppet head on and started moving in circles around it instead.
"This thing is definitely being powered by some energy source. I only need to exhaust that energy source."
This was Su Yu's plan. He was still a ninth-stage Great Strength cultivator, so he wouldn't be able to deal with an opponent this sturdy even with the large number of acupoints he had opened.
Drag it on! He was going to drag this out. He had 186 opened acupoints, granting him a large supply of source qi. He would use this advantage to tire this puppet to death.
...
"He's quite fast. What heaven-grade technique has he cultivated?" Marquis Xia nodded as he praised.
Hong Tan answered with a smile, "Time."
"Oh, that old man's technique?" Marquis Xia laughed, "With that fellow's inheritance, this kid will probably have a lot of trouble with the silkwrym race when he finally enters the Allheaven Battlefield."
"So what? We're not scared of them." Hong Tan indifferently said, "Even the Silkwrym King no longer dares to show up anymore. There is nothing to fear about them."
"Silk Destroying King...I don't know what to say about him."
Marquis Xia shook his head. Invincibles would very rarely hold a grudge to such an extent. He had suffered one loss at the hands of the Silkwrym King and he had spent the next hundred years taking his revenge on the Silkwrym King. The silkwrym race was truly unlucky to have provoked someone like him.
The two chatted as they watched the fight. After about half an hour, Su Yu was already breathing heavily. He was still running circles around the puppet. With a smile, the marquis suddenly flicked his finger, granting the puppet a boost in speed and strength.
Seventh-stage Infinite Strength puppet!
Su Yu was busy breathing when he suddenly felt something moving rapidly toward the back of his head. He hurriedly utilized the Time technique and moved aside.
Marquis Xia's calm voice rang out, "You won't be able to obtain victory by dragging this out. This puppet's energy source can last three hours. Can you last that long?"
Su Yu was already so tired after half an hour. Would he be able to last three hours?
"You only stand a chance if you fight it head on."
Su Yu said nothing. He continued running circles around the puppet. What a joke. Defeating this puppet head on? This puppet's body was almost indestructible. Not even his Crushing Mountainsea move could do much to it. What was he supposed to do?
That was even more true now that the puppet had received a boost of power from the marquis. Fighting it head on was impossible. He could only drag this out.
Three hours...
After making a decision, Su Yu continued running from the puppet. With his Time technique, his legs turned blurry as he moved at a rapid speed. His source qi slowly drained. His rate of source qi recovery was much slower than the rate at which he was using it now.
While using the Time technique acupoints to escape, he also constantly used his open opened acupoints to supply the Time technique acupoints with source qi. All 186 of his acupoints worked hard, providing him with a source of pure source qi. It was only during moments like this that one could see Su Yu's strong foundations.
Even Marquis Xia nodded at what he saw. This was indeed a good seedling. Pure source qi and high number of opened acupoints. This kid was eligible to cultivate their Sky Sundering Saber. But ultimately, it would still depend on how this kid would do in the test.
Right at that moment, Su Yu suddenly moved behind Hong Tan. There, he took the chance to recover his source qi. Marquis Xia's eyes flickered as the puppet moved around Hong Tan to attack Su Yu.
As a response, Su Yu moved behind Marquis Xia instead. The marquis laughed and flew into the air instead. Su Yu said nothing and ran straight out of the hall instead. Outside, a team of Martial Dragon Guards noticed the rampaging puppet and hurriedly stopped it.
Su Yu seized the opportunity to recover even more of his source qi.
Marquis Xia laughed again as he transmitted his voice to the guards, "Return to your positions. Let him deal with the puppet."
At that command, all the Martial Dragon Guards pulled back.
Su Yu wasted no time and started moving again. With that, a game of catch inside the prefect's manor began. The garden, the main hall, the bedrooms, the Martial Dragon Guards barracks...
Su Yu used everything he could to obstruct the puppet and give himself more chance to recover his source qi. He was going to keep dragging this out.
...
Inside the hall.
Marquis Xia shook his head, "What a cunning kid. He is completely unlike the people from the Xia Family. Someone like him might not be able to achieve much with the Sky Sundering Saber. Everyone in the Xia Family possesses unrivaled bravery. Even against an opponent we can't defeat, we will fight unyieldingly until the very end!"
Hong Tan glanced at Marquis Xia, seemingly asking if the marquis was sure about that.
Marquis Xia smiled and said, "Why are you looking at me like that? Back then, I was also a capable combatant. Of course, nowadays, I am a friendly businessman. Let's wait and see. If he can really drag this out until the puppet runs out of energy, I'll consider it his win."
The game of catch continued in the massive prefect's manor. Su Yu had 186 acupoints supplying him with source qi. And he had a technique that granted him an impressive movement speed.
As long as the puppet was delayed for even a tiny bit, he would be able to recover slightly. With the high density of source qi in the manor, his recovery was actually quite fast.
Time passed. One hour. Two hours...
Three hours later.
Su Yu was breathing heavily; his entire body was drenched with sweat. His white robe had long turned into a black robe. Dragging a puppet behind him, he slowly returned to the hall.
"Marquis, I won."
Beads of sweat were dripping down his body.
Marquis Xia smiled and said, "If this is an actual living being instead of a puppet, do you think you'll be able to tire them out like this?"
Su Yu seriously replied, "If this is a living being, I won't be restricting myself from using my willpower. In any case, any living being would have given up on chasing me long ago."
"Have you ever considered fighting it head on?"
"It's not worth the effort."
"Hmm?"
Su Yu explained, "This is only a puppet. You only told me to win, not put my life on the line. If I make the stupid choice of fighting this puppet until the end and heavily injure myself, I'll need to spend a lot of time recuperating even if I do manage to win. I'm better off wasting a few hours here to tire it out."
Marquis Xia laughed, "Hahaha. That is a reasonable answer. As long as you can stay alive, you will have countless possibilities waiting for you in the future. You are right. What an interesting kid! You're a lot more fun than those brutes."
Before Su Yu could even feel any joy from the praise, Marquis Xia's face fell as he said, "However, the Xia Family's Sky Sundering Saber only suits brutes."
"..."
Su Yu was completely speechless. After an awkward cough, he said, "Actually, I am quite a barbaric person as well."
"Oh?"
"Yeah. I can be very scary when I decide to throw caution to the wind."
"How scary can you get?"
"About that...Teacher Xia Yuwen has a student with 144 acupoints. He cultivates a top-tier heaven-grade cultivation method. And I had defeated him. I reckon he's still unconscious even now."
"Something like that happened?"
Marquis Xia's interest was piqued. A jade talisman appeared in his hand. He started fiddling with it, seemingly in search of some information. After a short while, he looked at Su Yu and laughed.
"You're right. You can be quite barbaric."
"However..." Marquis Xia's face fell again. "Xia Yuwen is a member of the Xia Family. Do you know that? The Xia Family is the master of Great Xia. How dare you raise your hands against your master?"
Su Yu showed no fear. With a simple and honest face, "Yes. The Xia Family is the master. And only the Xia Family has my loyalty. But I only acknowledge Brother Huyou from the Xia Family. We are akin to brothers. Previously, Brother Huyou told me that his dad is my dad. His grandpa is my grandpa..."
Marquis Xia looked at Su Yu silently. This was the first time he had ever encountered a kid who dared to talk this way to him. More importantly, the kid sounded fully serious when he made the ridiculous statement.
Marquis Xia smiled and remarked, "You're quite smart as well. But there is no need to play these tricks on me. It's obvious you already know Huyou's identity. That's not a big deal. But the struggle for the position of prefect is not something outsiders can participate in. Do you understand? This is an internal matter of the Xia Family."
"I understand." Su Yu nodded and said, "I don't have the ability to get involved, anyway. You misunderstood me, Marquis."
Marquis Xia gave Su Yu a deep look. Then, the grave expression on his face vanished, replaced by a smile as he said, "I was kidding. Don't be afraid, kid. We are all people of Great Xia. There are no masters in Great Xia. We of the Xia Family are all kind. We never abuse our power to suppress others. Xia Yuwen's student can only blame his own incompetence for his defeat after challenging you."
Su Yu smiled and said nothing. Inwardly, he was cursing.
Marquis Xia had an odd look on his face. He smirked and asked, "Su Yu, do you know how a Sunmoon Realm differs from all the cultivation realms below it?"
"Please bestow upon me your wisdom, Marquis."
"There is no need to be so ceremonious about this. Simply put, a Sunmoon will develop a crisis sense. For example, if there is a weakling thinking about you with malice, slandering and scolding you in his head, you will be able to sense it if you're a Sunmoon."
Su Yu's face instantly changed.
Holy shit!
Why had nobody told him that before?
Su Yu looked at Hong Tan. But his grandteacher merely ignored him and stared at the ceiling. What was the point of talking about all that with the kid's cultivation level? Also, was the kid really unaware of that?
Yeah, that was probably the case. Or the kid wouldn't have been thinking all those thoughts in the presence of a Sunmmon and got himself knocked unconscious. The kid had probably done the same yet again.
Marquis Xia had a wide smile on his face as he said, "Su Yu, what do you think about this ability? Isn't it a fun ability to have?"
Su Yu's face turned white.
Holy shit!
He finally realized why he had fallen unconscious earlier. He also knew why this fatty-cough, cough, this wise, brilliant, handsome, and majestic Marquis Xia had been somewhat unfriendly toward him. Marquis Xia was wise, handsome, mighty, bold, formidable, and powerful!