Chapter 548: Value (2)
Zhu Tiandao moved on from the topic and muttered to himself, "So he's coming to Great Ming. What a great choice. That's such a smart decision. I love geniuses with a good vision like him. Acupoint fusion method? No, I only need a few dozen cultivation methods similar to the Soul Devouring Art. This is one impressive kid. He's already capable of killing Skysoars. I reckon he can start killing Cloudbreach cultivators in two years."
Zhu Tiandao's eyes were shining as he said, "Isn't the Luminous Domain Mansion opening in two years? What a nice timing. When I went looking for that brute Xia Longwu previously, he was so cold..."
The scholarly man interrupted, "Prefect, that wasn't what you said. You told us that Xia Longwu begged you to work with him..."
"Did I?"
Zhu Tiandao denied. That was an embarrassing past. What was the point of harping on it?
Suddenly, Zhu Tiandao laughed, "Interesting. Really interesting. What a smart kid. I did not expect him to leave. But that's understandable. By taking a step back, he obtains a bigger space to grow. He could always take his revenge a few years later. So the time has come for us to negotiate. He's trying to see our sincerity..."
The scholarly man nodded, "I'll go, Prefect. I'm afraid there would be a lot of trouble following Su Yu. We need to clean all the trouble behind him. I doubt he would be willing to leave without a guarantee..."
The scholarly man was surnamed Hou, the director of Great Ming's Talent Fostering Bureau. He was a Sunmoon. In the past, the Talent Fostering Bureau director of Great Ming had always been stronger than Great Xia's director. But after Ji Hong's breakthrough, that changed. Ji Hong was much younger than Director Hou, so his talent was quite incredible. They could display a lot of sincerity by having Director Zhou personally meet Su Yu.
But Zhu Tiandao laughed and said, "Nope. I'll go. You're not enough. Fatty Xia is a very difficult opponent. There's also Wan Tiansheng there. That's a thorny individual as well. They might not be willing to release him. I'll go personally."
"Prefect!"
The others were alarmed. The scholarly man hastily said, "Prefect, it is right to show respect for the wise. But it's not proper for you to personally negotiate with a student. Firstly, Su Yu might end up forgetting himself due to arrogance. Secondly, Su Yu might end up looking down on Great Ming. Thirdly, that would result in rumors. For the prefect of Great Ming to personally poach a student...that would ruin your reputation too much."
Zhu Tiandao did not seem to agree, "It's fine. Things will be much easier if I go myself. Great Xia wouldn't dare to create trouble for me. But if it's you...we don't know what would happen. I can't be bothered to play around with those people. At worst, I'll grab Su Yu and run. What are they going to do? Kill me? Are they not afraid that my father would hold back while keeping watch over Xia Longwu's advancement in the future and get him killed?"
He then sighed, "We can only blame the useless youths of Great Ming for this. If the youngsters in Great Ming are more talented, why would I be this desperate? If I have a son like Xia Longwu, I could send my son instead. Why would I need to do everything myself?"
The old men still couldn't accept it. One of them said, "But Prefect, it isn't proper for you to go. I can go instead."
"You? Forget about it. You're an old bag of bones. At your age, you shouldn't be going to Great Xia and give them the chance to pressure or bully you. Those Great Xia fellows are all incredibly arrogant."
Zhu Tiandao smiled, "Let's end this discussion here. I'll go. During the attack on Xia Longwu previously, I was there even though I hadn't done anything. Thus, they still owe me a favor. They won't be too disrespectful toward me."
The others looked at him with odd expressions. Something wasn't right. Back then, this prefect had bragged that apart from the sect master, all the intruding divine skywings were killed by him. Xia Longwu was the one who had shamelessly stolen his spoils of war.
Why...did that change into him not doing anything? This prefect should learn to not contradict himself like this in the future.
Zhu Tiandao did not care about any of that. With a smile, he said, "I have some free time on my hands right now so I might as well go. Alright guys, I'll be going now. I hope that kid can give me some surprise. Sigh. The youngsters of Great Ming are getting worse with each passing generation. I guess that's because life here is too peaceful. Don't you think that it's time for us to throw a savage into the mix and change things?"
"..."
The others shook their heads. The prefect should forget about that. With the prefect's nature, any change would only serve as an annoyance. Zhu Tiandao said nothing else. With a smile, his body flickered before vanishing. He had left without any hesitation. The old men looked at each other in dismay.
"Old Hou, is this a scheme or something?"
Director Hou laughed and said, "What kind of a scheme could it be? It's unlikely. I'm only worried that the prefect would attract more trouble. Su Yu has humiliated the entire single character faction. He also has a close relationship with Liu Wenyan. I'm just worried that they would drag Great Ming into this conflict."
"True. But the prefect was right as well. The single character faction, including their Invincibles, wouldn't dare to lightly provoke neutral parties like us."
They shook their heads and decided to stop worrying. This wasn't a big issue. There was no need for them to worry too much.
The Zhu Family did not have any family members trying to get into the Invincible Realm. Thus, they could keep to themselves and mind their own business. If the others started creating trouble for them, they could simply give those people a good slap to shut their mouths."
Great Ming was practically unaffected by the struggle between the single and multiple character factions.
Even during the previous battle involving Liu Wenyan, nobody from Great Ming was there. In short, everyone in Great Ming was easygoing. They only cared about minding their own business and living in their own bubble.
"That kid seems like a troublemaker as well. He's also very talented and strong. Since the prefect is going personally, it's clear the prefect really wants that kid. And when the kid gets here, you guys should keep an eye on your juniors. I'll be blunt. This kid is a murderous butcher. He is someone who had killed the number one student of Great Xia Cultural Research Academy just like that. Make sure your juniors do nothing stupid when he gets here."
The others nodded.
True.
That kid was a ruthless individual.
He had killed the top student just because he wanted to kill. And after doing that, he actually started planning to leave, giving everyone in Great Xia the middle finger. It was clear that he was no pushover.
If they were being honest, Great Ming was still weaker than Great Xia. That referred to the average strength of their people. It wasn't that they lacked cultivation methods or resources. The main issue was the culture here. The people here were less warlike.
Great Xia was very warlike. They had been warring for hundreds of years. All their people were militarized. Even the single character faction people that Su Yu looked at with disdain were individuals who were used to public executions. Even the girls of Great Xia would be expressionless when witnessing a murder.
If Su Yu had killed Di Feng and Wang Zhen in Great Ming, the sight of that was probably enough to make some people throw up. That was the truth. They wanted to change Great Ming, but this was a culture that had been established for hundreds of years. It wasn't so easy to change.
The old men exchanged gazes. They were going to be welcoming a ferocious beast soon. Although Su Yu was still very weak compared to them, they still couldn't afford to belittle him. Just look at how eager Zhu Tiandao was. That prefect was mad with joy. They wouldn't want to make things hard for the prefect and get themselves in trouble.
...
They were right.
At that moment, Zhu Tiandao was flying through the air while happily giggling to himself. This was such a great win. Great Xia should totally continue their internal struggles. Holy shit. What an incredible win.
Not only had they gained a super genius, they had also gained a research specialist.
Even if Su Yu had benefited from the multiple character faction's accumulation, the multiple character faction itself had not released any groundbreaking research results in years. The moment Su Yu appeared, one shocking result after another was released. That could only prove that he was also very talented in research.
"Bai Feng should have been ours as well."
Zhu Tiandao grumbled to himself. Damn it. That fellow had been poached by those damn bastards. Sure, he never thought much of Bai Feng back then, but recently, Bai Feng had killed a Cloudbreach and defeated Xia Yuwen. When Zhu Tiandao received news of that, he was furious. He was so furious he nearly gave those Bai Family bastards in Great Ming a beating.
They were already very lacking in talent. It wasn't like there was no multiple character faction in Great Ming. Why had those bastards allowed Bai Feng to leave? He had only spared them a beating because it wasn't proper for him to be doing something like that.
That damn fifth principal was truly an annoying fellow. What was he doing stealing his talent even after dying? Fortunately, it seemed like a reversal was happening. Zhu Tiandao was giddy with joy.
The air rippled as he moved over a hundred kilometers in an instant. Before he knew it, the massive Starfall Mountain was already ahead of him. He did not give the mountain a second look and continued his journey.
Before long, Nanyuan appeared before him. He glanced at the city and curled his lips in disdain. A few Mountainseas were hiding in the city. There was even a Sunmoon there. Was Great Xia looking for Su Yu's ruin? That ruin was his!
He was just about to leave when an old man appeared before him. The moment the old man saw him, the old man bowed, "Prefect Zhu!"
"Be at ease."
Zhu Tiandao was about to leave after saying that.
The old man hurriedly said, "Lord Zhu, are you visiting the Great Xia City?"
Zhu Tiandao was still in a good mood. With a smile, he said, "Nope. I'm going to Great Shang. I'm only passing by. Why are you stopping me? Do you need my help with whatever you're looking for?"
Right after saying that, he switched direction and flew toward Nanyuan.
The old man was alarmed and hastily said, "It's fine, it's fine, there is no need to trouble yourself, Prefect Zhu. You must have something important to do so we won't be wasting your time here."
Zhu Tiandao laughed, "Fine. But this Nanyuan has an auspicious aura around it. I reckon there's a big treasure hidden in it. But since you guys are here, I won't do anything. Bye."
He vanished. The old man did not stop Zhu Tiandao, but he still sent a message to the capital. Why had Zhu Tiandao entered Great Xia for no reason? Going to Great Shang? What did Great Shang have that Zhu Tiandao was personally visiting that place?
The old man was confused, but he wasn't too bothered. Zhu Tiandao was a prefect. It was not his place to question someone like Zhu Tiandao.