Chapter 43: Think More (2)
The text was no longer as effective, but it still contained traces of a Skysoar cultivator's prowess in it. If Chen Hao made good use of it, his progress in the Source Opening Realm would be much smoother.
Chen Hao scratched his head anxiously, but at the same time, he was also feeling excited. "I'm afraid of reading. I'll doze off the moment I read."
"Fight it!" Su Yu opened the door of his home and said flatly, "If you can't even treasure the opportunity given to you, then forget your dream of growing strong. Reach the Great Strength Realm and come back to Nanyuan. That will be all you amount to. Don't go to the Allheaven Battlefield lest you throw your life away. People unwilling to grab the chance thrown their way are not qualified to talk about growing strong.
"I don't want to pick up your corpse from the Allheaven Battlefield one day in the future."
"Pah!" Chen Hao muttered, "If someone is going to be picking up my corpse, it'll be my parents..."
"I—" Su Yu's words were stuck in his throat. There was no helping this fellow.
"Thank you, Yu." Chen Hao suddenly turned solemn. In a somewhat bleak manner, he said, "I'm stupid. I'm not as smart as you. You're right. I'm a rotten wood that can't be carved. You're so smart. You even work harder than me. But like my father said, I probably won't be able to keep up with you even if I try my whole life doing so.
"In that case, I'll listen to you. From now on, I'll spend one extra hour each day practicing martial techniques. I'll also spend one extra hour...reading!"
Chen Hao promised, but he was finding it hard to finish his words. Those two extra hours would be extremely painful for him. He could still tolerate martial technique practices, but reading...was an activity that he felt could kill him.
"Why not...one and a half hour on martial techniques and half an hour on reading?" He asked as he looked at Su Yu with hesitation.
Su Yu was feeling more and more helpless as he scolded, "Brainless brute! Don't waste your breath. Just do the reading at my place. I'll cultivate while watching over you. This will only benefit you."
/p>
During his cultivation, he would consume blood essence, resulting in a higher density of source qi around him. It would definitely benefit Chen Hao to stay with him while he was cultivating.
He could have Chen Hao read outside when he was cultivating in his bedroom. The higher source qi density would help in Chen Hao's acupoint opening. In fact, he was going to consume his drop of source qi liquid soon. At that time, he would be able to gather even more ambient source qi around him.
"Sure. I'll definitely fall asleep reading alone..."
"That's why you're at the third-stage while I'm already at the eighth-stage." Su Yu rolled his eyes as he said that. He then entered the bathroom to wash up. While doing so, he said, "Don't tell anyone I've reached the seventh-stage. It's pointless. Also, the next time you see Zhou Chong talking bad about me, just beat him up."
"What?" Chen Hao blanked out. But Su Yu just said that he wasn't bothered with that matter.
"Why are you acting all surprised? You're doing so to train your combat strength." Su Yu said righteously, "He's a free target practice. A fifth-stage Source Opening cultivator. He's the perfect opponent for you. Whoop his ass. Give him a bloody nose and swollen eyes. Whack him until he shut his mouth. Make him feel fear each time he sees you. Do you want me to personally make a move on him?
"I'm someone who has killed Great Strength cultivators before. Do you want me to bully a kid like him? Just beat up anyone who dares to run their mouth at school. Don't be scared of getting beaten. That can be a form of training as well.
"If you don't even have the courage for that, you should just quit cultivating now."
Su Yu was basically talking like Liu Wenyan. It was quite refreshing to not be on the receiving end for once.
Chen Hao nodded blankly while muttering, "What if it's a girl?"
"Whoop her ass!" Su Yu said solemnly, "Will the battlefield care about your gender? Will the females of the divines and devils not kill? Will they spare you? Just whoop their ass. As long as you leave no lasting damage on them, everything will be fine."
"Oh..." Chen Hao felt like something was off about that logic, but Su Yu sounded so convincing.
"Even if it's a girl, beat her up as well. Instead of spending her time studying, she's running around gossiping. If you don't beat them up, they'll think that you're afraid. Hao, man and woman are the same. Just beat up anyone you find talking bad about me. You won't go wrong with that."
"Wh-what if they get the parents involved?"
"What are you afraid of? So what if the parents are involved? Will they dare to lay their hands on you as Great Strength cultivators? Tell them the school's purpose is to nurture experts. Declare that nobody below the eighth-stage Source Opening Realm can beat you. Tell them you will accept all challenges.
"Tell them to get a seventh-stage Source Opening cultivator to beat you up if they're really so amazing. Also, no matter how badly you're beaten, don't learn from them and go running to your parents. That would be too embarrassing."
Su Yu continued urging Chen Hao on, "Seventh-stage Source Opening cultivators are nothing special. Just be careful and fearless. They might not be able to beat you. After whooping the ass of a seventh-stage cultivator as a third-stage cultivator, who would still dare to provoke you? What can their parents even do? If the parents dare to bully you, just report it to the principal. It doesn't make sense for an adult to bully a child.
"Also, your father is a deputy at the Traffic Department. Which parent would actually dare to touch you? Nobody will take fights between children seriously."
Chen Hao nodded repeatedly. The more he listened, the more sense Su Yu made.
"Then...I'll start kicking asses tomorrow?"
"Yes. Whoop Zhou Chong's ass first. After the beating, make a public declaration challenging anyone that are unhappy with you. They might really deliver themselves to you. This is a good opportunity for you to get some combat experience. This is free training, understand?"
Finally, Su Yu was done bathing. After putting his clothes on, he walked out of the bathroom and said, "Come on. Let's eat. Remember, don't tell your father this is my idea. Just say that you want to grow strong. Otherwise, your father will come looking for me. A good cultivator should never trouble their friend!"
"Don't worry. I won't tell him!" Chen Hao patted his chest as he promised. He was already a man! He wasn't a kid that would go running to his parents at the first sign of trouble!
Su Yu gave Chen Hao a thumbs-up and said, "By the way, before you start fighting, remember to get an instructor to watch over you. You kids might not know when to stop. If the instructor asks, just say that you're training. The school won't stop you."
"Alright."
"Also, before beating up a girl, remember to loudly shout that man and woman are both cultivators. Emphasize that you're not bullying a girl. Tell them to shut up and stop gossipping if they don't have the balls to fight you. Remember to do all that before fighting. It won't be a good look if a girl starts crying after being beaten by you."
"Ok. I won't forget that."
"Remember, when fighting a girl, don't hit her face. That would be too harsh."
"Ok. What else?"
"Hmm...yes. Do not tell anyone that I taught you all this."
"I won't. Don't worry."
"..."
After a while, they arrived at the Chen family's residence. After the long talk, Chen Hao felt enlightened. He was starting to get impatient. From tomorrow onward, he would begin combat training!
He was going to punch his way through the Nanyuan Secondary School. There were so many free training partners waiting for him there. According to Yu, hiring a single training partner would cost a hundred dollars per hour. If he could spend three hours fighting in the school each day, that would be the same as earning three hundred dollars per day.
And over the period of one month, he would earn at least ten thousand dollars! At that time, he could just pretend that the savings he gave Su Yu had all been spent on combat practice. He thought to himself that Su Yu was indeed the smart one. Su Yu had always been good with numbers.
…
Chen family's residence.
This was an apartment unit with four bedrooms and two living rooms. It was located in a different neighborhood than Su Yu's home. However, it wasn't too far away. That was why Chen Hao could be frequently seen below Su Yu's home. Their homes weren't that far from each other.
In fact, a few years ago, the two actually resided in the same neighborhood. After Chen Hao's father, Chen Qinghe, obtained a promotion, he bought a larger unit in a different neighborhood nearby.
The moment Su Yu walked through the door, Chen Qinghe, who was busy watching television, stood up and laughed heartily before saying, "Yu, you're here. Come, take a seat. Dinner will be ready soon. It has been a while since I last saw you."
"Uncle Chen. Is Aunt Chen in the kitchen?"
Chen Hao's mother spoke from the kitchen, "Yu, just watch some television for now. Dinner will be ready soon. I'm making your favorite red braised pork today."
Su Yu thanked her with a smile. In truth, there was a time when he was slightly tired of eating red braised pork as his father had cooked too much of that dish. But now that his father wasn't around, he was starting to miss it.
After Su Yu sat down, Chen Hao wanted to sit down as well. When Chen Qinghe saw that, the smile vanished from his face as he berated, "Go serve our guest some tea. Where is your etiquette?"
Chen Hao left to get tea while mumbling unhappily.
After Chen Hao left, Chen Qinghe's face turned friendly again as he said, "Yu, thank you for your help. Hao isn't too good with his brain. Falsely claiming a kill is a major offense. If it was anyone else, we wouldn't have claimed the kill.
"But you and Hao grew up together and that was your idea so I'm not worried that something bad will happen. You've been smart since you were young. You're much smarter than your father and me."
Su Yu softly said, "Uncle Chen, there won't be any issue with that. But I'm worried. I don't know if it's the right choice to help Hao enter a war academy."
Chen Qinghe sighed and shook his head. "I thought of that before. But when I think more, I doubt I can stop him. You know him. He's too stubborn. Since he wants to join a war academy, he will join a weaker war academy even if he fails to join the Great Xia War Academy.
"Rather than letting him join a weak academy, we might as well let him join a better one. At least he will see more opportunities there."
Chen Qinghe looked at Su Yu and solemnly said, "I've been wanting to invite you to a meal for a while. I want to thank you, but at the same time, I also have a favor to ask from you.
"You'll definitely be going to the capital. You won't be in the same academy as Hao, but I believe that you will definitely do better there. On the battlefield, you will eventually become a commander while Hao will be a cannon fodder. I'm begging you to take care of him when the time comes."
Su Yu hastily said, "Don't worry, Uncle Chen. I'll naturally do that. We have been friends for so many years."
Chen Qinghe waved his hand and sighed again before saying, "Helping one or twice is fine, but if you have to keep doing so, no friendship will be strong enough to endure that. In the end, Hao still needs to rely on himself. If he's really without any talent, he can return to Nanyuan after graduation. It's actually quite good over here. And if he's even slightly capable, growing to a point where he won't be a burden for you, he can be your follower..."
"Uncle Chen, you're too—" Su Yu was about to say something when Chen Qinghe interrupted him, "He won't be able to be more than a follower. Whose follower he becomes will be very important. That fellow isn't too smart. If he follows someone else, he might really be thrown aside like some cannon fodder one day, dying without even knowing what's happening. It's a cruel world out there. The myriad races can harm humans. But humans can also harm their fellow humans as well."
Chen Qinghe had a bleak tone, "Yu, I can only entrust him to you. You're at the same age, but I don't need to worry about you. Hao is different. I have been trying to teach him to be smarter, but I failed."
Su Yu had nothing to say. He could only nod.
At that point, Chen Hao finally returned with a cup of tea. With a hearty laugh, he said, "Dad, what are you talking about?"
Chen Qinghe glanced at Chen Hao and grumbled, "We're talking about how stupid you are, wondering when you'll grow up."
Chen Hao shut his mouth sullenly.
"How I wish you're a girl. If that's the case, I can tell Su Long to marry you over to Yu. Unfortunately, you're a boy, a boy with a big body and a small brain."
Hearing that, Chen Hao grimaced while Su Yu shivered. He started imagining Chen Hao as his wife...and he erased the thought immediately. That was too scary a thought to even entertain. After a short while, Mother Chen was finally done cooking. With the dishes served, they all sat around the dining table.