Chapter 475: Fear Not, Grandteacher Will Cover This Up! (2)
Su Yu was naturally unaware of the hard time he was giving Zhou Mingren and company.
14th hour, 16th hour...
Every half an hour, Su Yu would go out for a stroll.
And during each stroll, an area would be emptied of willpower.
By the time the 20th hour drew near, Su Yu had opened his 69th aperture.
It hadn't even been a day.
Su Yu was in a good mood.
This felt great.
In fact, it felt so good that he was starting to wish he could stay in this grotto full time.
Benefiting from the extra willpower leaking out of Su Yu, Zhang Hao had also progressed rapidly. He had opened five apertures. That left only one of the six apertures he had learned about unopened.
Su Yu did not spend more time at Zhang Hao's place. Shortly after, he found Wu Jia.
...
Wu Jia was in the midst of her cultivation.
Not far away, Wan Mingze could be seen.
When he saw Su Yu, he had an odd look on his eyes. Zhou Pingsheng had been hunting for Su Yu for so long to no avail. This fellow sure was good at hiding.
Su Yu wasn't even bothered to say anything to Wan Mingze. Instead, he looked at Wu Jia and smiled, "Senior Sister!"
"Junior Brother!"
Wu Jia opened her eyes. She was pleasantly surprised to see Su Yu here. She hurriedly asked, "Did that old dog find you?"
"Nope." Su Yu laughed, "I was running circles around him."
"But that's delaying your cultivation."
"I'm fine."
Su Yu walked over to her and said, "Senior Sister, stop bothering Brother Wan here. Let me take you out for a stroll."
Since he still wasn't sure if Wan Mingze was really a saint or merely a hypocrite, he decided that it would be better to maintain a safe distance from that fellow. Naturally, when trouble was coming his way, he would move here and lead the trouble Wan Mingze's way instead.
And when there was no trouble, he would stay further away from Wan Mingze. Seated not far away, Wan Mingze smiled. He didn't mind that he was being ignored. Looking at the departing duo, his expression changed slightly. The willpower around Su Yu was very dense.
This fellow had most likely learned a foundation cultural art.
He wondered how many apertures Su Yu had opened. Perhaps even Wu Jia was practicing something like that.
Wu Jia wasn't weak, but she wasn't strong enough to hide the flow of willpower around her when she was cultivating. And with her cultivating so near him, Wan Mingze was able to see that she had opened at least three apertures since entering the grotto.
...
While traveling.
Su Yu asked in a low voice, "Senior Sister, how many apertures have you opened?"
"Four." Wu Jia happily said, "Junior Brother, with these apertures, I will be able to quickly reach the second stage the moment I enter the Skysoar Realm."
"The second stage is boring. Absorb more willpower and open more apertures. This is a rare chance. You still have about two days here."
As they talked, they arrived at Xia Huyou's place.
He wasted no time and said, "I'll gather some willpower for you. As payment, take care of my senior sister. If something happens to her, I won't spare you!"
Xia Huyou was speechless.
Did he even need Su Yu to gather willpower for him?
He had already opened 25 apertures himself! Was Su Yu aware of that?
Was Su Yu not aware of how amazing he was?
Before this, he had opened around 18 apertures using the Xia Family's foundation cultural art. These days, he had been cultivating hard as well. He was actually quite talented. The high-middle evaluation he entered the academy with was bullshit. That was not the representation of his actual talent.
With 25 apertures, if he stepped into the Skysoar Realm, he would instantly become a seventh-stage Skysoar expert.
1 to 4 apertures would put one in the first stage, 18 to 24 apertures would put one in the sixth stage, 25 to 28 apertures would put one in the seventh stage, 29 to 32 apertures would put one in the eighth stage, and 33 to 36 apertures would put one in the ninth stage. At 36 apertures, one would be a peak Skysoar.
Of course, even after advancement, his character and willpower would still not be strong enough, so he wouldn't be considered a true seventh-stage Skysoar for some time. But with enough opened apertures, progress would be fast.
He was such an amazing cultivator. Yet Su Yu was looking down on him? Su Yu was offering to gather willpower for him?
Xia Huyou was confident that apart from those Skysoar and Cloudbreach cultivators, nobody in the grotto had opened more apertures than him. But immediately after, he stopped his monologue.
He suddenly felt like he had been slapped across his face. And Su Yu was the culprit.
A storm of willpower erupted around them as a large amount of willpower moved over from far away and converged around them.
Xia Huyou cursed inwardly.
Holy shit!
How many apertures had Su Yu opened to be capable of this?
36?
No. More than that!
He looked at Su Yu with an odd expression. This fellow was treating him like a fool! Was this his so-called 36 apertures? Just what was going on? Did Su Yu know more foundation cultural arts?
Sure, Xia Huyou had multiple foundation cultural arts as well.
With both arts, he could open 45 apertures if he wanted.
But the remaining 9 apertures were incompatible with the 36 apertures. Opening those apertures would only grant him a slight increase in the endurance and recovery of his willpower. His offensive prowess would remain the same.
He didn't know if Su Yu had a second cultural art, but he was certain that Su Yu had opened more than 36 apertures.
Meanwhile, Wu Jia appeared very indifferent. She had just opened a few apertures and was still incapable of sensing just how many apertures her junior brother had opened. The only thought she had was that her junior brother was amazing. Nothing else.
Xia Huyou gave Su Yu a deep look, but he said nothing. He was a smart person. He knew what to ask and what not to ask.
When Su Yu was about to leave, Xia Huyou finally spoke, "Are you interested in selling your second cultural art? I can trade it with my family's cultural art with 18 apertures..."
Su Yu grinned.
Instead of replying, he left.
Trade his ass.
That 18-aperture art was basically garbage. That garbage art probably overlapped with the arts he knew. Why would he want a piece of trash like that? He could probably achieve a complete overlap after opening all 180 apertures of the five arts.
He couldn't even be bothered to give a reply. With this fellow here, his senior sister would be fine. Xia Huyou was aware of his cultural art since Xia Huyou himself had also been given a cultural art by him. Thus, his senior sister could freely cultivate around him without worrying that someone would go after her cultural art.
...
Looking at the departing Su Yu, Xia Huyou had a look of regret on his face. He shot Wu Jia a glance.
But Wu Jia completely ignored him and sat down cross-legged to cultivate.
"Women."
Xia Huyou muttered to himself. Why was she ignoring him?
Why was she behaving like he owed them this favor? What the hell?
When he looked in Su Yu's direction once again, he clicked his tongue. That fellow was definitely going out to create trouble again.
More importantly, it was likely that very few people knew that Su Yu was the culprit behind the disappearing willpower. Him, Xia Huyou, was one of the few who knew the actual truth.
"I am probably not the only person helping him. He definitely has more helpers in this grotto."
Xia Huyou was getting curious. Who were these helpers? How had this fellow developed these connections?
Looking at the voice transmission talisman in his hand, Xia Huyou frowned. Previously, when Su Yu had given Chen Hao a voice transmission talisman, he had noticed that Su Yu had prepared a lot of these talismans. Anyone with a voice transmission talisman in hand could very well be this fellow's ally.
Incredible.
That fellow had developed his own group of helpers without anyone noticing.
"Chen Hao..."
Recalling that person, Xia Huyou curled his lips in annoyance. That was a scoundrel that looked like the most honest man ever. His second grandpa was right. You should never judge a book from its cover! Entering the cultural research academy had been a correct decision, after all.
He had decided to enter the cultural research academy because of the messy and chaotic internal competition. According to his second grandfather, at the war academy, one would be able to experience the brotherhood between comrades. But one would not be able to experience crafty plots and machinations. One would not be able to see the dark side of society.
That was not a good environment for growth.
After all, he was aiming to become the future prefect, not a general of the army. Even a general needed to know how to deal with plots and schemes. That was why the previous prefects had all graduated from the cultural research academy.
Yes, despite how they behaved, they were all graduates of the cultural research academy. Their experience during their time in the cultural research academy would prepare them for their future as the ruler of a prefecture.
The war academy was a place to produce soldiers. The cultural research academy, on the other hand, was a place to produce leaders.
"Su Yu..."
Xia Huyou muttered under his breath. What an incredible fellow. If he really managed to become the prefect, this would be a person he needed to rope in.
Su Yu was someone with intelligence, strength, and talent. In fact, Xia Huyou was starting to discover that Su Yu was suited for a lot of positions in the prefecture. But as the peer of such a person, it would be too embarrassing if a future prefect like him looked too mediocre in comparison. He might be able to explain why some other people were stronger than him. But there was no way he could explain why Su Yu, a boy from Nanyuan, was stronger than him.
"I have already fused 14 acupoints. Should I fuse 16 acupoints before advancing into the Infinite Strength Realm?"
Xia Huyou sighed. He could have entered the Infinite Strength Realm long ago if he was satisfied with only fusing 14 acupoints. But he cultivated the heaven-grade Sky Sundering Saber. With this cultivation method, at maximum, he could fuse 16 acupoints before his advancement.
But fusing acupoints was an extremely difficult task. As the future prefect, he would either not cultivate at all or do his very best and reach the limit of the Sky Sundering Saber like his father had before him.
"Su Yu is also cultivating the Sky Sundering Saber. I guess there's no rush. It won't be so easy for him to fuse his acupoints either. I still have plenty of time."
He only needed to ensure that he stayed ahead of Su Yu. At present, Su Yu had yet to fuse even a single acupoint while he had fused 14 acupoints. Catching up wouldn't be too easy. As for his apertures...well, he would aim to open more while he was in the grotto.