Chapter 503: Conspicuous Genius (1)
The next day.
Early morning, outside the Source Soul Research Center.
Both Wang Zhishan and Chen Ming were there. Looking at the genius students and powerful researchers that were passing by the area, a look of envy could be seen in their eyes.
Humans would always stay in their respective collectives.
Before reaching a certain level, one would not be able to enter the circle of those at that level. For example, people like them would mostly be involved with the more ordinary students of the academy. Meanwhile, Su Yu's place was filled with genius students whose names were known throughout the academy.
After a short wait, Su Yu came out.
"My apologies for making you wait."
Su Yu checked the time. It was only seven in the morning. These two had arrived quite early.
Chen Ming hurriedly said, "It's fine, Class Monitor. We were the ones who were too early."
Su Yu smiled and wasted no time. "Let's set off."
Instead of traveling on foot, they went to the Beast Taming Faculty to rent an earthdragon beast. This was a large beast that worked very well as a mount. It wasn't too strong, but it was quite durable to damage.
One needed to pay one merit point to rent the beast for a day. It wasn't too expensive, and it was very convenient to use. After all, with a normal vehicle, one would need to worry about the terrain, while with this beast, rough terrain wouldn't be that big of an issue.
...
Outside the academy.
Riding on the earthdragon beast, the three were able to travel quickly. The back of the beast was relatively flat, and the ride was smooth as they didn't even feel the movement of the beast.
The people on the road weren't surprised to see the beast as this was a common sight in the capital. In fact, even flying experts could be commonly seen in the capital.
Of course, one would generally need a permit to ride around on their beasts or fly in the air. This was a regulation put in place to keep traffic in the capital at a manageable level. Naturally, as students of the academy, this restriction did not apply to them.
While traveling on the beast, Wang Zhishan started explaining to Su Yu, "Su Yu, we will take about an hour to reach the Myriad Race Pit. Normally, all the captured cultists will be executed there. That place isn't too dangerous, but some experts will leave behind a thick aura of resentment. Be sure to avoid those areas when nurturing your character. Just look for a place with a low level of baleful qi."
"Thank you for the reminder, Senior Brother Wang."
Su Yu nodded, but he didn't say much. His focus was on the Perception Jade. He did not dare to be careless when he was outside the academy. As for Old Wan's promise that nobody at the Mountainsea Realm and above would touch him...well, who knew if Old Wan was reliable? He should always be prudent.
The Perception Jade would change in color every now and then. Most of the time, it would only change color to blue. That signified that he was under the attention of a Skysoar.
Su Yu wasn't too surprised. There were a lot of Skysoars in the capital. One could easily pass by one when walking on the streets. He still needed to be careful around these Skysoars, but he did not need to be too fearful of them.
No Cloudbreach cultivator had been detected yet. It was unknown if these cultivators were simply uninterested in them or if they had yet to encounter any.
...
At the same time.
Great Xia City, suburbs.
Inside a large house.
This was the house of a large family based in the suburbs. This family was relatively famous locally, but they couldn't compare with the large families within the main city itself. Nevertheless, this was still a family with multiple Skysoars.
Basement.
The dimly lit room was covered in a formation.
"Su Yu is heading toward the Myriad Race Pit."
A few faintly discernible figures could be seen in the basement.
"Su Yu...that's a big fish! The previous bounty for him was 5,000 merit points, but it has recently increased to 8,000 merit points. But we need to capture him alive for the reward."
An old woman spoke with a sharp voice, "Yeah. I heard he started a research center to research something called the source soul acupoint?"
"Are the higher ups actually taking him seriously? That's a brat who has only joined the academy for a short while. Someone like that is claiming that he has discovered this source soul acupoint that not even Invincibles have discovered? Do you actually believe that?"
The old woman's voice was filled with disdain.
Source soul acupoint.
The research center was founded the day before and news about it had already spread all over the capital. It was very difficult to keep secrets in Great Xia. In fact, this was the case for all the prefectures.
But the reason so many people believed that Su Yu's research wouldn't be completely hopeless was because he had opened over 300 acupoints. Perhaps he had really discovered something.
To the left of the old woman was an old man with white hair. The old man was smoking from a water pipe, filling his surroundings with smoke. With a smile, he said, "It doesn't matter what we believe. The only thing that matters is the fact that the higher ups are interested in him. In fact, a lot of people are interested in him. He has opened over 300 acupoints, but how long has he been a student of the academy?
"Even ignoring this acupoint, he himself is an excellent research subject with his 300 acupoints. And he also has the Soul Devouring Art. He probably knows about the blood essence research of Wentan Research Center as well."
Su Yu was definitely a very valuable target.
If they could capture him alive and get some information out of him, they would be able to earn much more than the 8,000 merit points that they could get from the bounty.
"There's also Xia Family's Sky Sundering Saber. He's cultivating the heaven-grade version of the cultivation method. I heard that he also knows a few other heaven-grade techniques. This fellow is very valuable."
The old woman frowned and said, "Sky Sundering Saber? This is Great Xia...coveting something like this is tantamount to suicide. Since the Xia Family dares to teach it to outsiders, it means that they are not afraid of leakage. But who would dare to practice their cultivation method without permission? Not even a Sunmoon would be able to escape the Xia Family if one learned it without permission."
It was a bad idea to set their eyes on that cultivation method. That was basically suicide.
The old man laughed, "It's not like I'll set my eyes on the Sky Sundering Saber. I reckon even our higher ups wouldn't dare to learn it. But if we can get it, even if we only keep it hidden for research, we will be able to learn more about the Xia Family."
A lot of people coveted the Sky Sundering Saber. Over the years, people had learned the cultivation method without permission. But not one of these people had survived after exposing the fact that they knew it.
Of course, nobody knew if there were people who had learned it without permission but had never used it in public. But the mere fact that nobody dared to use it in public without permission was a testament of the Xia Family's strength. Even if they leaked their own cultivation method, people wouldn't dare to learn it.
The old man looked at the other individuals in the room. Including him and the old woman, there were five of them in total. One of them was a young man, one was a young woman, and one was a little boy.
"What about the rest of you? What are your thoughts? The Myriad Race Pit is surrounded by the Martial Dragon Guards. We definitely wouldn't dare to do anything in the main city. If we want to do something, the only opening is the distance of roughly 20 kilometers between the pit and the main city. We can't do it near the pit itself or the main city. We have to do it in between the two places."
The earthdragon beast was fast enough to cross 10 kilometers in about five minutes. If they wanted to do something, this would be their chance.
The little boy said, "Su Yu is a genius student of the academy. Will he have hidden dao protectors when he's outside the academy? This is the biggest question. If there are hidden protectors, attacking him will be suicide."
The old man continued smoking from his pipe as he said, "We can confirm that Chen Yong has not left the books depository. But I don't know anything else. According to the higher ups, Su Yu is accompanied by two other students. One is not even at the Mental Tempering Stage while the other has just reached the Mental Tempering Stage. Su Yu himself isn't weak. Even first or second-stage Skysoars might have a hard time capturing him."
They were definitely not underestimating Su Yu. They were directly evaluating him as a low-stage Skysoar. As a new student, this was a very high evaluation. Then again, it was understandable, as Su Yu was a student with the strength to take first place in the top 100.
"What about Hong Tan? Would he show up?"
"..."
Silence descended. They had no answer to that.
The whereabouts of a pseudo Sunmoon were not something people like them would know.
The boy said with worry, "I'm afraid of Hong Tan's appearance. All of us will die if that happens. Will a genius like Su Yu leave the academy with no protection?"
Even the genius members of the cult would receive protection when they were outside.
The old woman said, "The multiple character faction does not have enough manpower. Chen Yong is their current strongest active member. Hong Tan is in seclusion for his breakthrough into the Sunmoon Realm. He won't leave so suddenly. Bai Feng has gone to the battlefield. Who else can they dispatch? Are you telling me that Wu Yuehua and the other elders will stop all their tasks and spend their time protecting a mere student?"
When the old woman saw that the others were still silent, she grew slightly angry. She emphasized, "If we capture him, we will get 8,000 merit points. Each of us will get around 1,600 merit points. That is enough for us to purchase some treasures. We might even be able to enter the Cloudbreach Realm with that much money. Are you hoping to reach the Cloudbreach Realm just waiting around like this? Do you even have a chance without this job?"
Su Yu was the easiest target at this level of bounty. A total of 8,000 merit points were offered to capture him alive. Even the reward for his assassination wasn't as high. More importantly, a genius like this would definitely have some treasures on him.
For example, a cultural weapon. Even incompatible cultural weapons were still worth something. They could even get some secret techniques or methods from him. Apart from the Sky Sundering Saber, they could aim for everything else on him.
There were also blood essence, source qi liquid, and other natural treasures. These genius students enjoyed taking these things with them. Since Su Yu was out to cultivate, it was likely that he would have these things on him as well.
Everyone sank into a long silence. The old man started cleaning his pipe while the old woman remained silent.
After a while, the old man said, "It hasn't been easy for us to establish his stronghold. All five of us are Skysoars. By hiding there for so long, we have provided the sect with a lot of valuable information. And we have been rewarded decently. Each year, we can get at least 200 or 300 merit points..."
For Skysoars, that was actually a decent sum of money. Back when Bai Feng was in the academy, his yearly income was only around 300 to 400 merit points. But if they managed to capture Su Yu, this one job would be the equivalent of seven or eight years of what they have been doing previously.
For them, Su Yu himself wasn't too dangerous. They were more scared of the dao protectors he could potentially have.
After a short silence, the old man said, "Crazy old lady, go and scout the route he's taking. There is no need for you to do anything, but verify if he has any dao protector around him. If we can't verify that, I would rather we stay cautious. We have remained hidden here for so many years. I doubt any of us wish to fall to this mission after so many years of success.
"Also, try to ask the higher ups if they can confirm about Su Yu's protection. The multiple character faction might lack manpower, but the academy itself does not..."
The old woman replied, "Alright. I'll take a look. There is no rush. If we don't do it now, we can do it when he's on his way back to the academy."
The young woman suddenly smiled, "I'll go with the boy. We can try to approach the pit and take a look. If there are really experts shadowing him, we will be able to sense something."
"Sure." The old man nodded. He solemnly said, "Either we don't make a move or we move with perfect confidence. I doubt the bounty of 8,000 merit points can be earned so easily. If he could be taken so easily, they wouldn't have offered such a high bounty in the first place. Just treat him as a Cloudbreach. If we're making a move, use all our strength and work together."
The young and old women were seventh-stage Skysoars, the old man was a ninth-stage Skysoar, the boy was a fifth-stage Skysoar, and the young man was a third-stage Skysoar. They had enough strength to even face a Cloudbreach when required. If Su Yu was really without a protector, this mission would pose no difficulty for them.
...
The earthdragon beast was moving rapidly.
Atop the beast, Wang Zhishan and Chen Ming were talking to each other while Su Yu was looking around them curiously, acting like someone who had never left the main city before. But it wasn't that he had never left the main city before. He had already seen these sceneries on the day he arrived at the academy.
Looking at these sceneries again, he had to admit that the capital was truly a flourishing and powerful city. Even the suburbs were filled with traffic and people.
At one point, Wang Zhishan suddenly said, "We'll reach there soon. The earthdragon beast is very fast and there are fewer people out here in the suburbs. It won't take us much longer to reach."
The main city actually covered a huge portion of the route they had to take. It had taken them a long time to reach the gate of the main city from the academy gate.
Now that they were in the suburbs, the Myriad Race Pit was no longer that far away. Su Yu nodded with a smile. Inwardly, he was still fully focused on his Perception Jade. There were far fewer experts in the suburbs. The Perception Jade would barely change.
As the earthdragon beast ran, the number of pedestrians dropped while the road grew wider. Right at that moment, the Perception Jade changed. It turned blue. A Skysoar was prying on him.
Su Yu's expression was unchanged. He casually looked around, as though he was enjoying the scenery. With a smile, he said, "Senior Brother Wang, are there a lot of Skysoars outside the main city?"
Wang Zhishan replied, "Skysoars will generally be the core of any force they belong to. There are a lot of Skysoars in the capital, and they can also be found outside the main city. Some are the residents of the suburbs, and some are merely passing by."
"Residents?"
Su Yu asked curiously, "The main city has abundant source qi. Why don't they stay in the main city instead? As Skysoars, they should be able to afford the expenses of living in the main city, right?"
Wang Zhishan explained, "There are too many experts in the main city. A mere Skysoar might still be nothing in the main city. But here in the suburbs, a Skysoar could enjoy a reasonably high status. Some Skysoars even have their own businesses out here, such as mines and factories. With these businesses, they actually live a good life out here. And they also have to worry less about accidentally offending an expert living here."
Su Yu nodded. At that moment, his gaze landed on a nearby old woman. He did not focus on her and moved his gaze away soon after, looking like it was just a casual glance. The old woman was walking slowly on the road. When she saw the approaching earthdragon beast, she moved to the side.
Su Yu ignored her, but he turned cautious inwardly. This must be the person scanning him. She was a Skysoar. Why was she being so low key? These days, it was normal for experts to maintain a low profile. But it was rather abnormal for a Skysoar to be so low key that she would make way for an earthdragon beast.
Were Skysoars so humble? They would make way at the sight of any earthdragon beast?
The previous Skysoars they had encountered on the road had generally not moved aside for them apart from those that were actually in the middle of the road and blocking the way. This old woman was at the side of the way, so there wasn't even a need for her to move further aside.
Su Yu said nothing and the earthdragon beast continued moving away from the place. Behind them, the old woman continued walking slowly.
After Su Yu left, the old woman raised her head to give him a glance. She continued walking for about two or three minutes, confirming that nobody was tailing Su. Unless it was a Mountainsea, she was now sure that nobody was following Su Yu.
She would be able to sense even a Cloudbreach.
"He has no hidden protectors. How gutsy."
The old woman was quite surprised. Then again, the kid was probably confident that he was safe within the borders of the capital city. Also, the kid might not have anyone to bring even if he wanted to. The woman remained silent and continued walking silently.