Chapter 51: A Glimpse Behind the Curtain (2)
Su Yu wanted to speak but he hesitated. Eventually, he made up his mind and said, "Instructor, those so-called neutral races are merely opportunistic wolves. The moment humanity shows signs of weakening, these fellows will not hesitate to move against us and swallow up our Human Realm. I've heard of the major battles the Devil Subduing Army was involved in from my father. I agree that those races deserved to be killed."
"You're not alone in thinking that way," Liu Wenyan smiled. "Xia Longwu has a lot of supporters, including the soldiers at the front line. I did not say that he was wrong. However, it is also understandable that there are many divergent thoughts among the human race. What do you think?"
Liu Wenyan was satisfied with what Su Yu said. It was good that he had his own opinion. It would be bad if he was only a yes-man who only knew to follow others blindly.
"Each person has their own thoughts. Nobody is saying that the prefect was wrong, but nobody can deny that because of him, humanity has gotten dragged into even more conflicts than before. We found ourselves fighting more battles, with the battles being more intense as well."
Su Yu disagreed. "But we also managed to scare a bunch of races into maintaining their neutrality."
"I guess so." Liu Wenyan nodded, "We won't be talking about that for now since that's more of an issue for those at the front line. Returning to our topic, Prefect Xia is unhappy with the academy because some people in the academy have suggested that we need to know our enemy better to beat them, so they wanted to open the academy for the myriad races as well."
"What?" Su Yu was alarmed.
"Accepting the myriad races as students!" Liu Wenyan's voice turned solemn, "The current principal is an adventurous person. He proposed that rather than bitterly studying the various races, we might as well accept them into the academy and learn from them. After all, who would know the other races better than themselves?
"Know yourself and know your enemy, and you will never be defeated. We will have them study the original texts of their own races and let them contribute the information related to their own races."
Su Yu exclaimed, "But that also means that we'll have to let them learn our ways as well, right?"
"Exactly. The myriad races aren't stupid. They won't voluntarily deliver us the ways to counter them. We want to learn more about them, but they also want to learn more about us. That idea is a double-edged sword. It cuts both ways. That's why it has never been approved. It has its supporters, but there are also a lot of people against it.
"Prefect Xia is one of those who is against that idea. Because of that, there is a split between the prefect and the academy. The prefect even...forget it. It's best not to mention that."
That only caused Su Yu to feel anxious. It was not nice to leave sentences unfinished.
"Instructor, what did the prefect do?" Looking at the agitated Su Yu, Liu Wenyan laughed and said, "That...is really not something I should speak about. It is a dark history. Remember to never mention it in the academy."
"Yes, yes, I'll remember."
Liu Wenyan shook his head and said, "Twelve years ago, the academy made the same proposal. The prefect did not say anything, nor did the prefectural government respond to the proposal.
"The principal thought that the prefect was tacitly agreeing with the proposal. Thus, he contacted several minor races to conduct his first attempt at accepting foreign students."
"In the end...right after those foreign students arrived, war broke out at the Allheaven Battlefield. Leading the Martial Dragon Guards, Prefect Xia ambushed the races involved and even raided their realms. Numerous cultivation methods and other resources were plundered.
"After that, the prefect didn't even bother visiting the academy. He only had the Martial Dragon Guards deliver tens of thousands of original texts to the academy. The meaning behind that action is obvious. The things the academy tried so hard to get can be directly taken on the battlefield."
Liu Wenyan sounded melancholic as he said, "With that, the academy's plan was completely ruined. After all, the races involved had their homes raided after sending their people to the academy. Would any other race still dare to get involved?
"A project the principal had contacted various parties and planned for many years to launch was ruined just like that."
For some reason, Su Yu felt his blood boiling in excitement listening to that story. He said, "Isn't...that good?"
If he wanted something, he would take it himself. Rather take than beg.
"I'm not saying that the prefect was wrong. But what he did has indeed created a lot of fear among the myriad races," said Liu Wenyan softly. "Humanity can't face all the other races alone. This is what you need to understand.
"The minor and weaker races can be roped in. The minor races involved in that project were the ones we could have brought to our side. In the end, those races ended up destroyed by us. That would only cause the other minor races to fear us more.
"And if we turn them into enemies, one of them might not be our match, but what about ten or a hundred of them? You won't be able to kill them all."
Su Yu nodded. He understood that. But he had to admit that Xia Longwu's actions were truly inspiring and stirring.
"And thus, a split appeared in the capital." Liu Wenyan sighed. "Prefect Xia is very stubborn. He believes that severing heads was the better way of keeping the various races awed and fearful. But many also believe that doing so will put the human race in an even more difficult position. Fortunately, Prefect Xia was eventually ordered to never step foot on the Allheaven Battlefield again. Only then did we manage to placate the various minor races."
Su Yu was not reconciled to that ending. "So Prefect Xia can no longer enter the Allheaven Battlefield? Isn't that the same as crippling ourselves?"
"Not really." Liu Wenyan smiled. "That is merely a compromise made by the experts on the front line to placate the minor races. In practice, if the prefect wants to go there, nobody would care as long as he does not kick up a big ruckus. Who would be stupid enough to retire a super expert like that?
"Also, that might not be a bad thing. By retiring him from the front line, he is given the time to temper his cultivation. At that time, he had been flying through his cultivation levels. A cultivator needs to advance a step at a time to eventually reach that realm.
"This isn't bad at all. The prefect himself knows that. Otherwise, with that temper of his, do you really think he's going to be so obedient? He'll stay in the prefecture just because he was told to do so?"
Liu Wenyan laughed, "You look down on our prefect too much. Although he has left the Allheaven Battlefield for many years, that's only what’s on the official records. The battlefield is too massive. Nobody can keep their eyes on him at all times.
"The Martial Dragon Guards are also commonly sighted there. Even the Great Xia Army will frequently go there for training. By the way, that is why Great Xia is one of the strongest human prefectures."
Su Yu nodded silently. He finally understood what Xia Bing was trying to say previously.
Liu Wenyan heaved out a long breath and said, "Just think of all this as a story. You're far from qualified to take part in these matters. Not even Bai Feng or even his teacher is qualified to get involved. This is something for the higher ups to consider. It doesn't have much to do with us.
"Xia Bing only thinks that you're quite talented and don't want to see you affected by the bad practices of the academy. In truth, that is precisely what I want to see."
Liu Wenyan spoke slowly, "There are many aspects to life, and everything can be a form of training. A clean and pure environment suits soldiers. That is what the military needs. However, a true expert needs to be experienced and knowledgeable. Without witnessing the darkest tendencies hidden within the human heart, without experiencing numerous conspiracies and schemes, a single scheme might put an end to you on the battlefield.
"Xia Bing does not understand. If Prefect Xia truly hates the academy, why didn't he restrict the academy's growth? Why did he allow the academy to keep growing?
"He is stubborn, not stupid. Great Xia needs different trains of thoughts as well. That way, we will be able to nurture all sorts of experts.
"Without the cultural research academy, the various armies will not be able to recruit powerful cultural researchers anymore. In fact, there are many powerful cultural researchers on the front line leading our armies against our enemies."
Su Yu nodded. He was starting to get what Liu Wenyan was saying. Of course, he was still weak. A nobody. These conflicts were unrelated to him. He could only treat them as a story. Perhaps when he reached a sufficient height to get involved in those matters he would see and feel things differently.
"Instructor, will my father be fine in the Devil Subduing Army?"
"He will be fine. We still have many invincible experts at the front line. Nobody among the human race will dare to touch the Devil Subduing Army because of this little internal conflict."
Liu Wenyan shook his head, "The front line concerns the survival of humanity as a whole. Thus, we keep our internal struggles out of the battlefield. Nobody dares to bring that to the front line. Things are much more straightforward at the front line.
"War is war. Even if there is a big ruckus back home, those at the front line will still need to follow their military orders.
"Even Prefect Xia will need to report to the invincible experts in charge of the front line before he can carry out any military operations unless he is there alone on a personal business."
Su Yu's eyes flickered as he asked, "So that event from back then where the prefect led the Martial Dragon Guards and the Devil Subduing Army in an attack against the minor raids were approved as well?"
"Of course." Liu Wenyan's smile grew wide. "Do you really think Prefect Xia would start a war without any approval? Even among the invincible experts, he has a lot of support."
"I see."
Su Yu heaved a sigh in relief. He was worried that Xia Longwu would be isolated due to his extreme actions, but it turned out that he had been worried over nothing. He was only a tiny Source Opening cultivator. Why was he worrying about a super expert? That was really stupid.
"Let's move on." Liu Wenyan smiled, "You will come to learn what you need to know when the time is right. As for the things you shouldn't know, it's pointless to learn more. It won't bring you any benefits and will only disturb your peace of mind.
"You're already at the eighth-stage. I can feel the source qi undulations around you. Looks like you've been improving quickly."
Liu Wenyan was very satisfied. "Get ready. Later this afternoon, I'll write a willpower text for you. I'll be writing the Lightning Source Blade. Before that, read a regular copy of that technique and get familiar with it."
Su Yu was overjoyed, "Instructor, is that a martial technique?"
"Yes." Liu Wenyan nonchalantly said, "But I'm afraid you won't gain much if anything at all from the session. You're still only an eighth-stage Source Opening cultivator. That cultivation level is too low. Even if you manage to learn the technique, you might not be able to utilize it properly. The Lightning Source Blade requires a lot of opened acupoints to be used."
"Yeah. I understand." Su Yu hurriedly nodded, but he still couldn't stop feeling excited. He knew very well how beneficial a willpower text could be. Learning from a willpower text was akin to learning straight from someone's mind. That was an entirely different experience than learning from a normal book.
Of course, that also depended on the writer's mastery of the contents of the text. After all, when writing the text, the writer would be imprinting their comprehension in the text. If the writer did not know much, the reader wouldn't be able to learn much either.