Chapter 467: Entering The Grotto (2)
While the group spoke, they arrived at the Grotto District.
Within a building far larger than the building housing the Source Qi Secret Grotto.
Numerous teachers and students who had been picked to enter the grotto had arrived. Zhou Mingren was there as well. The elders of the single character faction and some other presents were also present.
The moment Hong Tan's group arrived, silence descended.
With one look, Su Yu noticed Di Feng.
That look in Di Feng's eyes... was a look of intense hatred.
Su Yu merely lowered his head and ignored Di Feng. A confrontation here would be pointless.
There were a lot of familiar faces in the room. Zhan Hai, Xia Huyou, Wan Mingze, Hu Qiusheng, and Xia Chan were all there.
People like Wu Lan and Liu Ke could also be seen amid the crowd.
Su Yu wasn't surprised to see Wu Lan. But he was quite surprised to see the petite Liu Ke here. She was a student of the pillmaking faction, but the pillmaking faction had not been able to obtain too many slots this time. Thus, Liu Ke must have obtained her slot through sheer talent or her connections.
As for the likes of Zhang Hao from the talisman faction and Lin Yao from the single character faction, Su Yu was not surprised to see them. A majority of the students picked to enter were new students. Very few of them were old students.
Vice Principal Su's junior, Su Meng, Administrator Hu's junior, Hu Qiusheng, Principal Wan's junior, Wan Mingze...
Those with a strong background had been able to obtain a slot without much difficulty.
There was also a girl that looked quite familiar in the crowd. Su Yu remembered that this was the daughter of the Talent Fostering Bureau's director. She looked like a simple and honest person.
When she was queuing up to fight him previously, she had stuck to her words and stopped after winning three willpower texts. The single character faction had avoided paying a lot of students, but she wasn't one of them.
She had been given all three willpower texts she had asked for. And this time, she had also been able to easily obtain a slot even though she didn't have a family member in the academy.
The single character faction had the courage to provoke Hong Tan, but they definitely didn't have the courage to provoke the director of the Talent Fostering Bureau.
"Is everyone here?" Zhou Mingren did not waste his time with a speech. After scanning the crowd, he said, "We have prepared all the materials to open the grotto. We have enough materials to keep the grotto open for three days. I can work with Elder Sun and the others to keep the grotto open for one day. As for the remaining time, we'll be needing some help..."
Hong Tan smiled, "I can keep it open for a day."
Elder Qi said, "I can keep it open for a day as well. We'll try to keep it open for three full days and not waste the riversand we're using to open the grotto."
"Good." With a calm tone, Zhou Mingren said, "This time, 33 Mental Tempering Stage students, 5 Skysoars cultivators, and 3 Cloudbreach cultivators will be entering. The grotto should be able to withstand this level of pressure."
Only 41 people were entering. That was because there were some Skysoar and Cloudbreach cultivators added into the mix. Each of these people would count for several Mental Tempering Stage students, so they had to reduce the total number of people entering. These people would also increase the pressure on the Mountainseas in charge of keeping the grotto open.
Liu Hong was one of the five Skysoars.
Apart from Liu Hong, there were three men and one woman. All of them were from the single character faction. These were probably the slots that had been split internally among their elders. As for the three Cloudbreach cultivators, Su Yu couldn't see them among the crowd.
Elder Qi asked curiously, "Who are the Cloudbreach cultivators entering?"
"Here."
Suddenly, a figure appeared at the entrance.
It was a calm Xia Yuwen. He had recovered from his injuries, but his face still looked slightly pale. He looked like someone who had just recovered not long ago. Stepping into the room, he indifferently said, "I'm entering."
Everyone looked at him with astonishment. Wasn't Xia Yuwen supposed to be hiding in his room to recover from his injuries? He had actually left his room?
A different voice rang out, "I'm entering as well."
"Hu Wensheng!"
The crowd was initially surprised, but realization soon dawned on them. Hu Wensheng had successfully broken through!
Like Xia Yuwen, he was also someone who had lost all confidence after suffering a defeat in Bai Feng's hands. But Hu Wensheng was in far better condition, as he was still a Skysoar during his defeat. Sure, the defeat was still humiliating, but it was still a fight between Skysoars. He had probably felt quite good after learning about Xia Yuwen's defeat as a Cloudbreach.
Two of the three Cloudbreach cultivators had appeared. Both were geniuses from Bai Feng's generation. What a pity that Bai Feng wasn't around. Otherwise, things would be a lot more interesting today.
Hu Wensheng had not arrived alone. He had brought two of his students, Chen Qi and Guo Shengquan, as well.
Nobody was surprised to see Chen Qi here since he had been given a slot. As for Guo Shengquan...
Elder Sun had an odd expression. Guo Shengquan might be one of the stronger students in the faction, but he had not been given a slot.
"Wensheng..." Elder Sun started speaking while looking at Guo Shengquan.
Before Elder Sun could pose his question, Guo Shengquan respectfully replied, "I am entering under Elder Hu's recommendation. Elder Sun, I am not the type to snatch someone else's slot."
When Elder Sun heard those words, his face turned unsightly. Zhou Mingren also frowned slightly. The so-called Elder Hu was a very low-profile elder in the academy. And this Elder Hu was someone from the so-called neutral faction. They had given him a slot as well. Surprisingly, he had used his slot on Guo Shengquan.
Elder Qi couldn't be bothered to say anything about that. He asked, "Two of the three are here. Where's the last Cloudbreach?"
"Here." Amid the crowd, Zhou Pingsheng, who everyone had been ignoring, suddenly spoke.
The moment he said that, a lot of people looked at him with odd expressions.
Elder Qi frowned and said, "Manager Zhou is already a seventh-stage Cloudbreach. You don't need the grotto, right? Firstly, you won't be able to grow too much with your cultivation level. You might as well give a newcomer the chance. Secondly, you will give the grotto and the Mountainseas in charge of activating the grotto a much bigger pressure. Manager Zhou, without you, we can squeeze five more Mental Tempering Stage students into the grotto."
They had not seen this coming. None of them had expected that Zhou Pingsheng would be the one to enter.
One ought to know that he was already a seventh-stage Cloudbreach. He could be considered one of the higher ups of the academy. He was basically snatching the opportunity of several newcomers by entering himself.
It was understandable for people like Xia Yuwen and Hu Wensheng to enter since those two were still young. As for Zhou Pingsheng, he needed to be really shameless to enter as well.
Zhou Mingren indifferently said, "I gave him the permission to enter. Don't forget that some of the materials we're using to open the grotto have been contributed by him. Back then, he had also seized a decent amount of riversand at the Luminous Domain Mansion. Without him, we might not even have enough materials to open this grotto."
Back in the days, Zhou Pingsheng was also a genius student. He wouldn't have been accepted as Zhou Mingren's student otherwise. He had been to the Luminous Domain Mansion as well. There, he had seized a decent amount of riversand. That was the core material of opening the grotto. Clearly, Zhou Pingsheng was not going to give up on entering the grotto.
Hong Tan also frowned. He said nothing, but he transmitted his voice to Su Yu, "Be careful. That fellow might be targeting you."
Su Yu nodded. That was true. The grotto wouldn't be of much help to Zhou Pingsheng. Since that person was insisting to enter, to the point they were willing to reduce the number of people on their side from entering, Su Yu might be their target.
While Su Yu was thinking, Hong Tan spoke, "In my opinion, to give these students a better chance, we should activate the Big Dipper Teleportation Formation and scatter everyone randomly in the grotto. That way, the students will be able to cultivate without disturbance."
"Also, the Willpower Grotto is not a dangerous place. I don't wish to see any accidents happening to any student. Otherwise..."
He gave Zhou Pingsheng a deep look and continued, "There is no escaping death if one is caught murdering a student. And the murderer will not die alone. Their family, teachers, and students will all be implicated as well. Am I right, Old Zhou?"
Zhou Mingren nonchalantly said, "Yes."
"Good." Hong Tan smiled, "Shall we activate the Big Dipper Teleportation Formation as well?"
At the same time, he transmitted his voice to Su Yu, "Forget about the first day. On the second day, I'll be the person in charge of maintaining the grotto. I'll set things up for you and move that fellow far away from you. Just follow the marks I create. I'll prepare a nice spot with a high purity of willpower for you to cultivate."
Essentially, he was telling Su Yu to lay low on the first day to avoid any untoward incidents from happening.
"Is there a need for this?" Zhou Mingren asked, "The grotto is quite small. Why waste our energy doing something so pointless?"
Hong Tan smiled, "I disagree. I'm not worried about the Mental Tempering Stage students. But things will get troublesome if those Skysoar and Cloudbreach cultivators end up disturbing someone in the midst of advancement. The students don't have good eyes. They might accidentally intrude upon the area of these Skysoar and Cloudbreach cultivators and bring trouble for both parties. Am I right?"
He looked at Su Yu and said, "Don't roam around randomly. Some people will use this chance to break through. If you foolishly intrude upon their area during their advancement, they might not dare to kill or seriously injure you, but it would still be very troublesome."
Su Yu assumed a simple and honest expression as he said, "I understand, Grandteacher. I'll be careful."
His grandteacher was essentially telling him that the moment Zhou Pingsheng tried disturbing his cultivation, he should forget about cultivating and focus on ruining the cultivation of others.
Let's see who would be the one to suffer a bigger loss from this!
Zhou Mingren frowned slightly before saying, "Fine."
Zhou Pingsheng was a seventh-stage Cloudbreach. It wouldn't be too hard for him to locate Su Yu in the grotto. If the people inside were allowed to gather together and Su Yu really started disturbing the others once he was disturbed himself, then they would have opened this grotto for nothing.
Zhou Mingren wasted no time and took out countless materials before saying, "Let's begin. Remember, do not disturb the cultivation of others for no reason."
He gave Su Yu a glance when saying that. Then, he gazed at Zhou Pingsheng, saying with his eyes that Zhou Pingsheng should forget about cultivating and focus on disturbing Su Yu in the grotto.
"Alright."
Zhou Pingsheng replied with a smile.
The others had odd expressions. There was no need for anyone to say anything. Everyone knew what would happen inside the grotto.
The single character faction had actually sent a seventh-stage Cloudbreach into the grotto just to disturb Su Yu's cultivation. That was a costly endeavor as they had sacrificed several students for the sake of this plan.
Of course, the fact that Su Yu had crippled many of their top students had probably played a big role in helping them reach that decision. Those students were still recovering from their injuries. They wouldn't be able to make use of the grotto anyway, so the slots might as well be given to Zhou Pingsheng.
Hong Tan said nothing. He had already given up on the first day. During the second day, he would naturally deal with this issue. One day would be enough for Su Yu.
Nobody had anything else to say. Before long, a portal opened in the room. The Mountainseas sent out their willpower, keeping the portal open.
"Enter."
With that command, everyone streamed toward the portal. Su Yu had not entered together with Wu Jia. He waited for Wu Jia to enter first. Zhou Pingsheng remained outside, clearly waiting for Su Yu to enter first.
Su Yu said nothing.
Eventually, when a certain group of students was entering, he squeezed into the group and entered with them.
Xia Chan.
That was Xia Chan's group.
Zhou Pingsheng cursed inwardly before hurriedly following them. Suddenly, Hong Tan sneezed. With one sneeze, the portal trembled, blocking Zhou Pingsheng's entrance.
Zhou Mingren looked at Hong Tan with a frown. Hong Tan laughed dryly and said, "I'm feeling unwell. Someone must be cursing me in their heart. My apologies. Let us continue. I'm really sorry."
"..."
Nobody said anything. Everyone with a brain could see what he was doing.
But they couldn't help but admit that he was really very strong. With a single sneeze, he had momentarily frozen the portal maintained by several Mountainseas.
Zhou Pingsheng only dared to curse inwardly while his mouth remained silent. When the portal stabilized again, he stepped through it.