Chapter 47: Big Spender
The principal was worried. "Would this affect Su Yu? I heard that each time that competition draws near, things will grow intense there. Even the war academies will get involved. Some people have even lost their lives in the competition..."
"It is very rare for someone to actually die from it." Liu Wenyan knew more than the principal. He explained, "The big shots are all keeping watch. Scenarios where lives were lost were mostly accidents."
"Even if they were mostly accidents, the danger still exists." The principal was extremely worried. "Su Yu is just a normal secondary school student. For him to get engulfed in all that...should he change his target and join a war academy instead? He's already a seventh-stage Source Opening cultivator. That's good enough to join a war academy. What do you think?"
"That is unacceptable." Liu Wenyan frowned. "Even if he can achieve something in a war academy, he won't achieve more than what he could in a cultural research academy. This is merely his first trial. If he gets through it, he will go further, faster, and higher."
"Old Liu, he's only eighteen. He knows nothing."
Liu Wenyan firmly said, "He can learn. Nobody's born knowing everything. Su Yu is a tenacious kid. Little setbacks won't stop him. And if he manages to get through the trial, he will grow into one of the most outstanding students they have ever seen.
"You see this as a danger. I see this as an opportunity. A regular student will probably need at least five years in the academy before getting the chance to be involved in something like this. But now, he will be able to get involved with the best the academy has to offer right after joining. This will only be helpful for his future."
"As for the danger...it might not be too bad," Liu Wenyan said. "Among the younger generation, Bai Feng is no pushover. His teacher is also one of the few top experts among the academy's senior researchers.
"In fact, Su Yu will have a rather high starting point there. That will only make it easier for him to go further and higher in the future. Also, Su Yu's isn't worse than the other geniuses."
Liu Wenyan smiled, "We have yet to update Su Yu's information with the academy. We will maintain his profile at fifth-stage Source Opening Realm and eighteen languages mastered. Let him hold back and catch them all by surprise after entering the academy."
Seeing that Liu Wenyan had reached a decision, the principal stopped advising him to change his mind. Instead, the principal said, "Do you think he'll be able to reach the eighth-stage Source Opening Realm?"
Recently, Su Yu had stopped going everywhere to complete the various tasks assigned by Liu Wenyan. He would only go to school and learn some new languages from Liu Wenyan before going home early. He was focused on reaching the eighth-stage Source Opening Realm.
That was a major milepoint in the Source Opening Realm. Upon reaching that point, he would finally gain the ability to utilize his source qi. His strength would increase, and together with his Divine Character, he would be having a much easier time ambushing Great Strength cultivators.
"I don't know." Liu Wenyan was unsure. "He has been progressing rapidly. In less than two months, he has advanced from the fourth-stage to the seventh-stage. He's even getting near the eighth-stage. Bai Feng's Source Opening Codex has helped him a lot. But at the seventh-stage, that willpower text will no longer be that helpful to him."
"Didn't you say that you're writing him a willpower text? Why don't you write a new Source Opening Codex for him?"
The principal was looking forward to Su Yu's breakthrough. If he managed to do that, he would be the first eighth-stage Source Opening cultivator produced by the Nanyuan Secondary School in twenty years.
Twenty years ago, there was an eighth-stage Source Opening genius in the school, but that wasn't really something they could take credit for. That fellow was someone from the capital, only transferred here temporarily to take the academy entrance examination before leaving.
"It won't help." Liu Wenyan shook his head. He said, "I already know what I'm writing for him, but I need you to pay for it."
"What are you writing?" the principal asked cautiously.
"First chapter of the Lightning Source Blade, Great Strength version."
Liu Wenyan said, "He doesn't lack cultivation methods. He can get even more cultivation methods at the academy. However, he lacks martial techniques written with willpower. He can practice from a regular book, but that would be too slow. Only a willpower text can help him rapidly learn and master this technique."
"Lightning Source Blade? The middle-tier profound-grade martial technique?"
The principal exclaimed in shock. He asked, "Can he learn it? Wait, no, can you even write it? Are you sure you can write something like that now?"
Strength was not the thing that made cultural researchers great. After all, warriors were actually very strong as well. Cultural researchers have different types of strength. For example, their willpower texts. A half-assed Source Opening Codex written by Bai Feng is enough to greatly help Su Yu, bringing him to the eighth-stage Source Opening Realm without using any blood essence.
"What do you mean by that?" Liu Wenyan glared furiously. "It's only a low-tier profound-grade technique. It's also a Great Strength version of the technique. Why can't I write something like that? Who do you think you're looking down on?
"However, you need to pay for it! I want a hundred drops of rumble lightning beast. I only need the blood of Great Strength beasts. Additionally, I also want the powdered form of their horns. I'll also need the hide of an Infinite Strength beast to be written on."
"You..." The principal's eyes widened. He did a short calculation and said, "A hundred drops of Great Strength rumble lightning beast. That will cost me a hundred merit points. The horn would cause five merit points each. The Infinite Strength beast hide suitable for willpower text writing won't come cheaper than ten merit points...That's about 115 merit points in total. Are you robbing me?"
"Uncouth!!" Liu Wenyan berated, "You're too uncouth! Why are you thinking about money all the time? It's only a hundred merit points. Wasn't the school rewarded a thousand merit points for the victory over the cult previously?"
"That's the paltry savings of the school!"
"Paltry my ass. Didn't I kill a Skysoar cultivator? I didn't even ask you about that. Be honest. Did you steal the merit points for that kill from me?"
"What do you mean I stole your points?" The principal was stamping his foot in anger, "Stop acting dumb. You used our points to purchase a Skysoar Realm original text. Have you forgotten? You finished all your points and even owe the Great Xia Cultural Research Academy a lot of points.
"You should be glad that the capital decides to forget about your debt, not getting even more greedy. Do you not know shame? You're actually accusing me of stealing your merit? I—"
Liu Wenyan coughed and interrupted, "Oh, I finally remember. I was forced to spend my merit points. I need to increase my strength and protect Nanyuan. That should be an expense I can claim from Nanyuan. Cough, cough. Fine, fine, that is my personal expense. But we're training a genius for Nanyuan. It is only natural for the school to support that, right?
"Think about it. Su Yu is a rare genius of Nanyuan. My willpower alone will have a hard time completing the Lightning Source Blade for him. If he manages to learn the Lightning Source Blade, he will be able to stand strong even in the capital. What do you think? If he gets first place in his academy exams, wouldn't it bring glory to our school? Wouldn't it bring more merit your way?
"If he does well in the capital, won't he return and repay the school in the future? If he reaches the Skysoar or even the Cloudbreach Realm, a tiny bit of his grace when he's in a good mood will be invaluable. For example, writing a random willpower text for the school when he feels like it. That one text will be worth everything you spend today.
"Old Wang! You need to look further. As an old man, why is your worldview still so narrow?"
Liu Wenyan advised with a disappointed expression, "He is talented. He is tenacious. He has decent foundations. He is also someone who remembers those who have been good to him. If you don't spend now, why would he repay you in the future?"
The principal stroked his beard, pulling at them real hard as he sighed, "That's over a hundred points!"
"So what? You can get that much by killing only one Skysoar cultivator."
"Only? Go on. Go ahead and do it. Kill a Skysoar cultivator for me then"
Liu Wenyan turned impatient, "Why are you wasting our time here? What's the point of keeping all those merit points unspent? The school has been awarded a decent amount of points recently. Nobody is in need of them for now. Just pretend you're using them on me. I'm a Skysoar cultivator. I'm eligible for certain benefits from the prefectural government. You can claim what you spend on me from the government."
As a cultural researcher, even if he wasn't in a cultural research academy, he was still eligible for some basic grants for his research.Writing willpower texts and refining his body were both activities that required the support of cultivation resources. He was only a tiny cultural researcher in a small city, but he should still receive the benefits a cultural researcher should get.
The principal glared at Liu Wenyan and said, "Claim? I asked previously. The capital said that you owe them thirty thousand merit points. You won't be able to repay them your entire life. Don't even dream of it."
"Thirty thousand?" Liu Wenyan blanked out. His expression turned odd, "Only thirty thousand? When I left the academy back then, I owed them over a hundred thousand points. Why is it only thirty thousand now?"
"..."
The principal was speechless. What the fuck. So this fellow was aware of his debt?
After taking a deep breath, the principal said, "In any case, you can no longer claim anything from the capital. I can sponsor this writing session, but I'll say this. If Su Yu manages to achieve willpower materialization one day, he needs to repay us with one willpower text."
"That is only natural. If he doesn't repay the school, I'll write one for you after recovering my willpower."
A smile bloomed on Liu Wenyan's face. Finally, he could avoid spending the little wealth he had.
At that, the principal let out another sigh. He couldn't help but to say, "The capital isn't giving you even the basic grant a Skysoar cultural researcher is entitled to. How are you going to refine your body? Are you going to take a few more years? You're too old for that."
"It doesn't matter." Liu Wenyan smiled. "I have enough to eat and drink and that's good enough for me. By the way, did you ask them about my debt? Why is it only thirty thousand?"
"I did. Researcher Wu paid fifty thousand of your debt."
Liu Wenyan frowned. After a long while, he scolded, "Fool."
"Huh?"
"Brainless fool. When your debt reaches a certain level, you don't really care about it anymore. What's the point of paying fifty thousand points? Furthermore, the so-called debt wasn't something I had really borrowed from them. The debt had only grown so big due to my arrogant words back then."
Liu Wenyan felt helpless. Fifty thousand merit points wasn't a small number.
He couldn't be bothered to keep talking about that anymore. He shifted the topic and said, "Forget about that. Prepare the materials. I'll write the Lightning Source Blade tomorrow. If that kid can really learn it, even as an eighth-stage Source Opening cultivator, with the Lightning Source Blade and his Divine Character, he will be able to defeat regular second or third-stage Great Strength cultivators."
The principal nodded in agreement, no longer thinking about the price of the materials. If that kid could really reach a high height in the future, his conscience would be the only thing deciding if he would repay the secondary school or not.
After all, Liu Wenyan was still here. He was a Skysoar cultural researcher. The principal might object, but if Liu Wenyan insisted, nobody would object even if they had to spend everything the school had.
The principal was walking away when he suddenly stopped and said, "Old Liu, if you really have no choice...just give up. If you use the blood of divines or devils to refine your body, you can reach the third-stage immediately. After a few years, you might be able to enter the Cloudbreach or even the Mountainsea Realm."
Liu Wenyan grinned and said, "Give up on what? I don't know what you're talking about."
"Old Liu...you're over seventy!" The principal had a complicated look in his eyes. Instructor Liu was no longer young.
Liu Wenyan glared at the principal furiously. "So what if I'm over seventy? An Infinite Strength cultivator like you dare to question a Skysoar cultivator like me? Do you even know how to fly?"
"..."
The principal was speechless. He left while mumbling to himself. That old fellow was still as stubborn as ever.
After the principal left, Liu Wenyan heaved a long breath and grumbled, "Blood of divines and devils...do you think I'm stupid? Trying to win me over with only a few drops of blood? Dream on! Back then, I owed them more than a hundred thousand merit points. They should offer me at least a complete corpse of a king."
"Over seventy..." Liu Wenyan muttered to himself. He was indeed not young anymore. But he decided to keep waiting for a bit. If Su Yu could really go far...and...Liu Wenyan needed to observe more before making his decision. Five years wouldn't be enough. Ten years. He needed to keep observing for at least ten years. He needed to see if Su Yu could stay true to himself even after entering the capital, remain indomitable, and continue advancing forward.
"I'm not about to die so soon. I can still wait a while."
Liu Wenyan muttered to himself. If Su Yu proved to be a disappointment, he would continue waiting. He would be willing to keep waiting until he was dead before returning to the academy.
"Wu...what happens there will depend on what you do."
Liu Wenyan looked out the window. Since he had waited fifty years, he didn’t lack the patience to wait more.
Shortly after, he pulled himself out of the melancholy and cursed, "Fool! Fifty thousand points! You're better off giving those points to me! Why did you use them to pay the debt? You're as stupid as fifty years ago!"
"No wonder you're still stuck as a senior researcher after so many years. You couldn't even get promoted into a deputy principal!"
"Cultural researchers are supposed to be smart. But you...do you have the brain of a pig?"
"..."
Liu Wenyan spent a while cursing away, but he still couldn't reduce his anger. Fifty thousand points! Was that fellow crazy? Who told him to pay the debt?