Chapter 42: Think More (1)
Master and disciple returned together. Recently, they had been leaving home early and returning home late. After entering the city, the two went separate ways. Su Yu returned home while Liu Wenyan went to school.
...
At the neighborhood's entrance.
Chen Hao was crouched sullenly while counting the ants on the ground.
When he heard footsteps, he looked up and saw that it was Su Yu. He complained, "Yu, why are you so late?"
Seeing that it was Chen Hao, Su Yu smiled and asked, "What are you doing here?"
"Waiting for you! What else?" Chen Hao grumbled, "You have been following Instructor Liu out of the city recently. What are you doing? The instructor is really unfair. He's not your private teacher. Why is he only taking you with him? Some of our schoolmates are already starting to gossip."
He had an envious expression as he spoke.
"That's a Skysoar! And he is teaching you alone! Yu, why don't you get Instructor Liu to take me along as well?"
Before Liu Wenyan achieved willpower materialization, even if he was very good at the myriad languages, he was still a regular Great Strength instructor. But after reaching the Skysoar Realm, he turned into a big shot of Nanyuan in the blink of an eye.
Even Mayor Wu Wenhai was only a second-stage Skysoar cultivator. Liu Wenyan was someone who had killed someone at that cultivation level before. News of that had spread around Nanyuan. Thus, every single student in Nanyuan Secondary School aspired to learn more from Liu Wenyan.
Even if the students were too young to understand the benefits of learning from a Skysoar instructor, their parents would know. Chen Hao had been scolded by his father every day after returning home. His father would complain that he was incomparable to Su Yu. Look at how Liu Wenyan kept Su Yu by his side every single day. As for Chen Hao, despite his good relationship with Su Yu, he had not gained any benefits at all.
"Are you sure?" Su Yu had a wide smile as he said, "If you're sure, I'll tell Instructor Liu tomorrow."
"Forget it." The resentment on Chen Hao's face faded as he said helplessly, "I'm too scared of Instructor Liu. I'll tremble in fear just standing near him. He is much fiercer than before."
"That's not him being fierce. He has just achieved willpower materialization recently and he hasn't refined his body. That's why he can't control his aura that well."
Su Yu tried explaining things on the instructor's behalf. The instructor had a merciless mouth, but he was a good person. Also, Liu Wenyan really wasn't that fierce. After willpower materialization, he had not gotten the opportunity to refine his body. Even now, his body had only reached the Infinite Strength Realm. He was somewhat unable to fully withdraw his willpower, so he would look dignified and imposing all the time. For weak cultivators like the students of the secondary school, he naturally appeared fierce.
Chen Hao didn't understand what Su Yu was trying to say, but he did not really care about that topic. As he walked with Su Yu, he was grinning from ear to ear as he said, "Yu, I'm near the fourth-stage! I have been hearing rumbling sounds in my ear recently. Do you think that's the sign of my acupoint opening?"
"So you're here to show off?"
"That's absolutely not true!" Chen Hao protested. "Even if I can reach the fourth-stage, isn't that the stage you're in? Why would I look for you to show off? It's my father. He wanted to invite you to our house for a meal. Do you remember the kill I claimed previously?
"I said that I made the kill but my father beat me up for lying.And then...I told him that I made the kill with you. He immediately believed me. He said that you have a good brain and you have intentionally allowed me to get the kill. Therefore, he wanted to treat you to a meal. But you have been busy for the past month. I wasn't able to see you."
Chen Hao had a pitiful expression. He had lived a rather miserable life for the past month due to his father's anger. He couldn't believe his father. Yu was only a fourth-stage Source Opening cultivator as well. Why did his father refuse to believe that he was the killer? The moment he mentioned that Su Yu was present, his father concluded that Su Yu was the main contributor. That was too unfair!
Before that Chen Hao had lied to himself so much that he nearly convinced himself that he was the killer, but the beating he received from his father had brought him back to reality. He remembered that he wasn't the actual killer. It was Yu. He was confused. Why had he been believing that he was the killer all this while?
"Uncle Chen is too polite." Su Yu smiled, "Didn't you buy the kill from me? You spent over ten thousand dollars on it. You even gave me the merit points. The additional thirty marks for the exam is useless for me."
"I told my father that we're basically family. There is no need to be a stranger, but my father insisted on treating you to a meal." Chen Hao stated magnanimously, "Just come for a meal. Uncle Su is not around so you'll be eating instant noodles anyway."
"Sure." Su Yu did not refuse. He was quite familiar with Chen Hao's father. He had met Chen Hao's father many times before when his father was still around.
Ever since his father had left, he had been following Liu Wenyan around so he hadn't gotten the chance to visit the Chen family.
Chen Hao did not say anything else. He walked with Su Yu for a while before asking, "Yu, have you grown stronger after following Instructor Liu around?"
"A little."
"How much longer do you need to reach the fifth-stage?" Chen Hao sounded somewhat unhappy. "Someone in class is talking behind your back. It's Zhou Chong. He was a fourth-stage Source Opening cultivator before. While you were away, he reached the fifth-stage. He's saying that you're relying on trickeries to fawn on Instructor Liu. Even if you can enter a cultural research academy, it's not because of your ability."
Su Yu was indifferent, "Why waste time bickering with him? You're better off using that time to cultivate."
"Yu, you can't say that!" Chen Hao was unwilling to let the matter go. "I'm getting ready to fight him one-on-one. There's not much difference between the fourth and the fifth stage anyway. I'll wait until I reach the fourth-stage before looking for him. That bastard only has the guts to talk about someone behind their back.
"I would have declared that you've killed Great Strength cultivators before if you hadn't made me keep it secret. That fellow really thinks very highly of himself."
Chen Hao was indignant. So what if that fellow was a fifth-stage Source Opening cultivator? What was so special about that? His friend, Yu, had even killed two seventh-stage Great Strength cultivators before.
After scolding in indignation, Chen Hao saw that Su Yu really didn't care so he asked curiously, "You have so many wounds on you. Have you been in special training? Have you reached the fifth-stage?"
Su Yu really wasn't looking very good. He even had a couple of scars on his face.
Seeing that Chen Hao was repeating the same question, Su Yu smiled, "Fifth-stage? Hao, is this as much as you amount to?"
"What do you mean?"
"Nanyuan's sky is too low." Su Yu did not mind speaking frankly to his best friend. With a sigh, he said, "Nanyuan is too small. The sky above Nanyuan is too low. Everyone's worldview is too narrow. Source Opening...what's so special about the Source Opening Realm?
"At the capital, there are plenty of ninth-stage Source Opening cultivators our age, waiting to enter an academy before breaking through into the Great Strength Realm. Some only need half a year in the academy to reach the fifth-stage Skysoar Realm. Hao, that's Skysoar Realm! That's already the peak of Nanyuan.
"Our mayor is only at the Skysoar Realm. In Great Zhou, an academy student can reach the Skysoar Realm in only six months, surpassing our mayor. Tell me. What's the point of competing against all these people in Nanyuan?"
If this was in the past, Su Yu would definitely go teach Zhou Chong a lesson. But now, he couldn't be bothered. Fifth-stage Source Opening Realm? Big deal. That was incredible in Nanyuan. But Nanyuan was such a small city. After witnessing what Bai Feng could do and hearing about the super genius from Great Zhou, he no longer cared about these tiny conflicts.
Liu Wenyan and Bai Feng had shown him a brand new world, allowing a country bumpkin like him to get a glimpse of a bigger world. Thus, upon hearing about what his classmate was saying behind him, he only found the matter funny. He did not care.
"Yu..." Chen Hao was stunned. "How does any of that relate to us? Geniuses of the capital, geniuses of Great Zhou, those people are unrelated to us, right?"
The world Su Yu spoke of seemed so very far away for Chen Hao. That world had nothing to do with them.
"Why not?" Su Yu looked at Chen Hao. "Are you happy to stay mediocre for life? They're humans. We're humans as well. Why can't we be geniuses as well?"
"But..." Chen Hao wanted to retort, but he couldn't think of anything. With a gloomy voice, he said, "That is still too far away for us. I was only asking if you've reached the fifth-stage. Why did you tell me about all that?"
"I'm at the seventh-stage." Su Yu smiled, "I'm getting ready to reach the eighth-stage."
"..."
Chen Hao was stunned. He reached out to touch Su Yu's head, wanting to check if Su Yu was sick. However, his hand was slapped away.
"I'm not hallucinating. I'm really at the seventh-stage." While walking into his apartment building, Su Yu said, "There are twenty-four days away before the exams. I can probably reach the eighth-stage easily. The ninth-stage will be a challenge. But there is still around a month remaining, so I might still be able to reach the ninth-stage before entering the academy.
"I've been spending a lot of my time on other stuff. Otherwise, I would have advanced even faster.
"Do you understand now, Hao? Zhou Chong is a fifth-stage Source Opening cultivator. For me, that's nothing. You want to join a war academy. You want to grow strong. You want to do well. In that case, you need to work harder. Don't focus only on the Source Opening Realm. Set your sights higher."
Chen Hao was stunned for a long while before saying, "But even if I set my sight on the Skysoar Realm, I won't be able to reach it."
"One's worldview determines one's future. If you focus only on the Source Opening Realm, that will be the upper limit for you. You won't even have the motivation to climb higher."
Su Yu solemnly said, "In the past, I only aimed to reach the Infinite Strength Realm. I'm happy surpassing only my father. Or maybe reach the Skysoar Realm and become Nanyuan's mayor or something like that. But after seeing and learning more about the world, Skysoar Realm is merely the starting point for me. I will have more goals for the future.
"In the past month, I have worked harder than before. I know that I'm nothing. Am I a genius? Not really. At most, I'm only somewhat talented. In the capital, I'll be an ordinary person. This little talent I have is nothing to be proud of."
The book in Su Yu’s mind had caused his ambitions to grow. But more of his change was a result of what he had learned from people like Liu Wenyan. He had been happy with knowing eighteen languages in the past. He was prepared to take it easy during the two months before the entrance examination. But after learning about the world of cultural researchers and geniuses, he was no longer happy with his previous goals.
The Skysoar Realm was not the end point. It was the starting point. Thus, he had not complained a single time no matter how tired he was during the past month. He knew that he needed to work hard. There were people out there with better background and talent. If he did not work harder to catch up, how could he grow?
"Yu, you changed." Chen Hao mumbled. "After Uncle Su left, you changed. Wait...do I need my father to leave so that I can push myself harder? Why don't...I leave the family?"
"..."
Su Yu was dumbfounded. This was what this fellow got out of all the things he said? Just how did this fellow’s brain work?
"A rotten wood really can't be carved!" Su Yu cursed.
Liu Wenyan had been scolding him like that recently. He rejoiced that Chen Hao wasn't learning from Liu Wenyan as well or the old man would probably get a heart attack from sheer anger.
Chen Hao ignored Su Yu and continued mumbling, "Are you really at the seventh-stage and near the eighth-stage? That doesn't sound possible. You were still at the fourth-stage last month. How did you reach the seventh-stage so suddenly?"
"Nothing is impossible." Su Yu thought for a bit before explaining, "It will be unlikely that you can suddenly become strong. But you can prepare yourself for it. For example, spending one extra hour each day to train your martial techniques. That way, you can save a lot of time after you reach the eighth-stage.
"You can also read more. I'm not even going to talk about any other book. Have you even fully grasped the Source Opening Codex? Read it dozens of times each day. Imprint it into your soul. That will make cultivation smoother for you.
"I have a copy of the Source Opening Codex here. It was written by Teacher Bai. It has grown weaker now, but it's just nice for you. Read it whenever you have the time."
If the Source Opening Codex was given to Chen Hao in the beginning, he wouldn't be able to read it as his willpower was too weak. Now that the willpower imprinted in the text was slowly dissipating away, it had weakened enough for Chen Hao to read.