Chapter 464: Bad Memory (1)
24th of October.
Up until the day before the opening of the Willpower Grotto, Su Yu was still missing.
A lot of people were looking forward to seeing Su Yu challenge Di Feng before the grotto opening. But after waiting for a few days, Su Yu was nowhere to be seen. They couldn't help but to feel somewhat disappointed.
Was Su Yu in seclusion?
Or was he simply afraid of Di Feng?
After all, Di Feng had returned to the academy as someone who had killed a Skysoar. Su Yu might be strong, but his physical cultivation was only at the Great Strength Realm. Some people believed that Su Yu had opted to avoid Di Feng since he wasn't a match.
They wouldn't even be surprised if that were the case. After all, that was how Su Yu had always behaved. Just look at how he had stopped his challenges previously right after Di Feng's turn arrived.
The masses were only slightly disappointed for not having yet another good show in the academy, but they didn't really feel too strongly about it.
As for those from the single and multiple character factions, some were relieved while some were regretful.
What was there to be regretful about? A lot! Some regret that Di Feng wasn't given a chance to defeat Su Yu and strengthen the single character faction's reputation. Some regret that the two had not fought and injured each other so much that they were forced to give up on entering the grotto to heal up.
...
Su Yu was completely oblivious to everything that was going on.
Inside Zhao Li's research center.
A massive replica with 144 linked red dots could be seen.
Zhao Li inhaled deeply and solemnly said, "This is only a deduction. It might not be correct. After all, we have not tried linking all these apertures for real. We can only conclude that this circuit would be the smoothest one through numerous deductions..."
Zhao Li then looked at Su Yu and said, "You can first learn all these arts and form their respective circuits without linking them together. The deduction of cultivation methods and techniques is a very serious matter. A slight mistake might cause the destruction of your sea of willpower."
After a short pause, Zhao Li continued, "Before reaching the Cloudbreach Realm, there is honestly no need for you to link the separate arts together. And the Cloudbreach Realm is still quite far away for you."
Su Yu's eyes were red from staying awake for several days. Zhao Li looked the same. They had been busy deducing the combination of the five elemental arts for the past few days.
Su Yu nodded at Zhao Li's words. Indeed, this wasn't something he should rush.
He only needed to link the different arts at the ninth-stage Skysoar Realm when he was preparing to enter the Cloudbreach Realm. Prior to that, keeping the arts separate would have no effect on his cultivation progress. Of course, his willpower would still be slightly weaker offensively without combining the five arts.
After a short thought, Zhao Li said, "In truth, you can try combining two of the arts after opening 72 apertures. If it works, the chances of you succeeding with three or more arts will be much higher."
72 apertures!
After making some comparisons, Zhao Li picked two arts with very few overlaps with the Myriad Text Sutra. The two arts had only 8 overlaps with the Myriad Text Sutra, allowing him to open 64 new apertures.
"Apertures are hard to open, but since I've already opened 72 apertures, I probably won't be too slow in opening new apertures. If I'm willing to pay for it, I might even be able to open 1 aperture every 5 days. I would only need a year to open all of them..."
Zhao Li muttered to himself as he started making his plans. Perhaps he could experiment on himself first. He would try to combine these two arts. If it worked, then it would signify that the direction of their deduction was right.
And if it failed, it could only mean that they had taken an entirely wrong direction in their deduction. Mistakes were to be expected since they were only working off a replica instead of the real deal.
One year...that shouldn't be enough time for the kid to reach the Cloudbreach Realm. Yeah, the kid wouldn't be so fast.
At that thought, Zhao Li said, "Just cultivate as usual for now. Remember the combination method. I will try to do more research after this. If it works, I'll update you."
Su Yu was very exhausted from the days of research. He didn't think too much about Zhao Li's words and nodded with a smile, "Teacher, this is good enough. According to our deduction, this method of combination is enough to create a new cycle. If it really doesn't work, I can take my time and slowly test out different combinations in the future."
Su Yu wasn't too worried. Sure, a problematic cultural art might result in the destabilization or even the collapse of his sea of willpower, but there was a golden book in his sea of willpower.
With that thing there, was his sea of willpower even capable of collapsing?
Impossible.
Thus, he only needed to experiment on himself to figure out if their deduction was right.
Zhao Li exhaled and said, "I will try to cultivate these arts as well. You have no issues with that, right?"
"Nope."
Su Yu smiled, "If you need it, I can even provide you with the fifth art, Teacher."
"Forget it. There are too many apertures to open. Just opening the apertures for these four arts is difficult enough. There is no need to increase the difficulty."
Suddenly, Zhao Li recalled something and asked, "What's the date today?"
Su Yu blanked out slightly before replying after a short thought, "It's the 24th...and it's now..."
He looked at the clock on the wall. It was 11. When he looked outside the window, it should be 11 in the evening.
Phew.
Su Yu exhaled in relief. He had nearly forgotten about the Willpower Grotto. It would open on the 25th.
He was also curious about Chen Hao. That fellow had only sent him a message about his return after leaving the grotto and said nothing else. He wondered if his friend's cultivation had gone well.
"You're entering the Willpower Grotto tomorrow, right?"
Zhao Li reminded, "Don't go too crazy in the grotto. I'll try to test the combination of these arts and see if it works. For now, go back and take a good rest. This grotto is very rarely opened. Since you need to open more apertures, this is a very good opportunity for you."
Su Yu nodded.
He had not been cultivating during the past few days, but he had still gained a lot.
While deducing the combination method of the elemental arts with Zhao Li, he had gained a lot of new knowledge regarding apertures. His understanding of the 144 apertures had also increased significantly. Even his comprehension of the five elemental arts had risen greatly.
All of that would be very helpful for him in his future cultivation.
Zhao Li said nothing else. After having Su Yu commit the replica to memory, a fireball appeared in his hand and burned the replica to crisp. After doing that, he activated a character of his and turned the ashes into even finer specks of dust.
Then, he gathered all the dust together. While doing so, he said, "I'll deal with this. You need to take note that some experts have unique characters capable of rewinding time. Do not leave anything behind. This is something that will bring you great calamity once it leaks."
Su Yu hurriedly nodded. He was also very cautious about this matter. He wouldn't leave any clues for anyone to discover.
"Alright. You may leave now."
At this moment, a thought appeared in Zhao Li's mind as he took out a golden crystal sheet and tossed it to Su Yu. "Absorb this into your willpower. The moment a monitoring, spying, or detection character is used on you, this anti-spy cultural weapon will switch colors to remind you. Each color represents a different level of strength."
"White represents second-tier characters, blue represents third-tier characters, red represents fourth-tier characters, and purple represents fifth-tier characters. If a fifth-tier character is being used against you, it can only mean that a Sunmoon is spying on you. Thus, the moment you see the color purple, empty your mind. Such an individual can very easily read your thoughts."
Su Yu fiddled with the crystal sheet curiously. This was quite a practical item. And it was most certainly an extremely valuable item. After all, it could even detect the prying of Sunmoons. This item gave Su Yu a sensation that it was comparable to some top-tier profound-grade or even earth-grade cultural weapons in value.
"Teacher, what is the grade of this thing?"
"It's a supportive item, so grade isn't important. It's called the Perception Jade. It can be considered a cultural weapon of sorts, but it only has a sensory function."
Zhao Li looked so nonchalant when speaking about the item, but Su Yu knew that this single function was enough to propel this item into an extremely incredible cultural weapon.
"Teacher, can I sense the willpower monitoring of experts with it?"
"Yes." Zhao Li nodded, "This thing is basically an alarm. And willpower monitoring is naturally something it can detect as well."
Su Yu was astonished. What an incredible treasure. This thing would be even more valuable when he was out exploring. The moment someone spied on him, he would notice it. This little thing was basically something that could save his life.
Without this item, it would be very difficult for him to notice anything if an expert was spying on him. He would only notice something if the expert in question was someone with weak willpower or the expert was deliberately exposing themselves.
"Teacher, do you have more of this?"
This wasn't Zhao Li's lifesaving trump card, right?
"What stupid question is that? I forged this myself. I can naturally forge more." Zhao Li's tone turned impatient as he said, "Alright. You can leave. Remember to rest well tonight and return to your peak condition. That way, you would be able to absorb more willpower in the grotto tomorrow."
Su Yu wanted to ask more, but since Zhao Li was asking him to leave, he stopped bothering the old man. He then proceeded to easily absorb the crystal sheet into his sea of willpower.
Zhao Li wasted no time. His willpower rippled out. Immediately, the Perception Jade turned blue. Blue signified that a Cloudbreach was spying on him. Next, Zhao Li's willpower pulsed. Su Yu sensed nothing, but the Perception Jade turned red. Red signified that a Mountainsea was spying on him.
Su Yu knew what was going on. Zhao Li had third-tier characters while his willpower had reached the level of a Mountainsea. Thus, when he used willpower, the Perception Jade turned red, telling him that someone at the level of a Mountainsea was spying on him.
What a magical item.
Its sensory abilities were incredible.
Su Yu was actually quite alarmed as he had not been able to detect anything. If Zhao Li hadn't been very clear about it, he wouldn't have been able to notice anything by himself. Yet the Perception Jade was able to sense Zhao Li's action.
"You still can't get too reliant on the Perception Jade..."
Zhao Li reminded, "For example, some experts only have a single powerful character: their main Divine Character. Their other characters are all left comparatively weak. Thus, the Perception Jade might only turn white when they spy on you with weak second-tier characters. Don't assume that the hidden enemy is a Skysoar just because the color is white. Instead of a Skysoar, that person might be a Mountainsea or even a Sunmoon. They are not weak. Only their spying character is weak. Do you understand?"
Su Yu nodded.
He felt enlightened.
He had completely neglected that factor. It would seem like he couldn't be careless even when the Perception Jade was white. Who knew if the hidden enemy was a Sunmoon who was using a second-tier spying character?
The color white did not necessarily mean that the enemy was a Skysoar, but the color purple definitely signified that his opponent was at least a Sunmoon.
Nobody could form a fifth-tier character below the Sunmoon Realm. Sure, there were exceptions for everything so he couldn't completely write that possibility off. He only needed to be more cautious moving forward.