Chapter 550: The Easygoing Great Ming (1)
Walking out of the research center, Su Yu noticed that the academy was still bustling with activity. But he didn't care. He had someone he needed to meet. Since Great Ming's representative was already here, it meant that his departure was drawing near. Thus, he needed to start his preparations.
After a while, he noticed that a lot of students viewed him with fear more than respect. A lot of people were avoiding him out of fear. They were no longer as relaxed around him as before.
Some were fearful of him, but some were simply afraid of getting involved with him. They didn't want to get implicated with him. The single character faction might have suffered greatly, but there was no denying that there were still over a hundred researchers and multiple elders in their ranks.
Su Yu did not care. He continued minding his own business.
Suddenly, sounds of cheering erupted not far away from him. He looked over and noted that it was the Dao Preaching District. Only then did he recall that this was the day the war academy students came for a student exchange.
He was quite surprised that the exchange had not been canceled or moved to a different date after what he had done.
It wasn't that he had an inflated opinion of himself, but he had just killed two Skysoars the day before. A huge ruckus had ensued. But the war academy had still proceeded with the student exchange like nothing had happened.
Su Yu smiled. He could guess what those people were doing. They were using this event to draw attention from what had happened the day before. The war academy might not be willing to come now, but to lighten the effect of what happened, they had still carried on the exchange.
"Is Xia Qing there?"
Su Yu was on his way to see Xia Qing. After noticing so many people in the Dao Preaching District, he started wondering if Xia Qing was there as well. After thinking for a bit, Su Yu smiled and changed directions.
...
Dao Preaching District.
The exchange matches had started.
In the ring, a new student of the war academy had just kicked a cultural research academy student out. With a hearty laugh, he said, "Too weak! This is too weak. He can't even take a beating. No wonder everyone says that the cultural research students are all akin to chicks."
The student in the ring was behaving very arrogantly. This was also a scene that would appear each year: a scene where the war academy students rain insults on the cultural research academy students.
"Any other challengers? A bunch of garbage that can't take any beating. You guys are too weak."
That person was arrogantly throwing insults at the cultural research academy when he noticed the crowd parting. Then, a youth clad in white walked over with a calm expression. The youth said nothing, acting like he was only here out of curiosity.
After overhearing some whispers from the crowd, the youth in the ring instantly swallowed the insults he was about to throw. He was on the verge of calling all the new students trash, but upon hearing a certain name, he started sweating.
He had nearly forgotten about a certain individual. Was that person participating in the exchange matches as well?
The youth in the ring was unsure, but he was quick to change his words, "In your batch, apart from Su Yu, everyone else is garbage. You are a waste of all the food your parents had used to raise you."
Near the ring, Su Yu laughed in amusement. When he saw fast the youth had excluded him in the barrage of insults, he could only say that not all these war academy students were brainless.
He did not care much about what was happening. He already saw several cloaked individuals in the crowd. Those were probably the foreign students. At this moment, the youth in the ring stopped talking. The crowd also stopped making noise. Everyone focused on Su Yu. Was he entering the ring? It would be great if he could enter the ring and these the war academy students a lesson!
There were also a lot of war academy students in the crowd. All of them looked at Su Yu solemnly. Would he enter the ring? If that was the case, they would be the ones being beaten today instead of the other way around.
Sure, the war academy had also produced some powerful geniuses this year. But they weren't confident these geniuses could be stronger than Su Yu. They were self-aware enough to not overestimate themselves that much.
Su Yu was someone who had easily killed third-stage Skysoars. Not even a sixth-stage Skysoar dared to face him in battle. Who among them could stand against Su Yu? The bustling arena instantly sank into silence with Su Yu's arrival.
Not far away, the elders of the two academies were in the middle of conversing among themselves. Noticing what was happening, they also focused on Su Yu. His arrival had completely changed the atmosphere of the exchange.
Noticing all the eyes on him, Su Yu smiled and said, "You guys continue. I was passing by so I came over to take a look out of curiosity."
He was telling them that he was not interested in these exchange matches. As long as the war academy students didn't pick a fight with him, he wouldn't waste any time with this event.
He then gave the cloaked students a slight nod and the distant elders a slight bow before leaving.
He had left almost immediately after arrival. Even so, the entire atmosphere there had changed. The youth in the ring who was still so spirited earlier curled his lips. Suddenly, this entire thing felt pointless. What was the point of insulting all these people?
In the end, he still wouldn't be Su Yu's match. Su Yu alone had suppressed all the students his year. The favorite annual event of the war academy each year had suddenly turned meaningless this year.
...
Meanwhile, Su Yu had tossed the matter out of his mind. He continued his walk in the academy.
He would take the initiative to greet every single student and teacher of the single character faction he met along the way. Of course, his greeting sounded incredibly sarcastic in their ears.
The single character faction felt so humiliated that they wished they could hide in a hole and bury themselves. In their opinion, Su Yu was deliberately doing this to annoy them. And in a way, they were right. Su Yu was trying to deepen their hatred toward him. Before long, a cloaked student appeared behind Su Yu.
"Brother Su, are you looking for me?"
That was the question Xia Qing had whispered after scanning their surroundings. Su Yu had suddenly went to the arena before giving her a nod. She was a smart person. She was able to immediately realize that Su Yu was probably there for her.
As for the effect of his appearance on the students there, Su Yu really couldn't be bothered to care.
In fact, Xia Qing had originally considered trying to fight in a match or two. But when she saw how everyone was losing interest after Su Yu's appearance, she lost interest as well. Thus, she left and came looking for Su Yu.
Su Yu answered in a low voice without even looking behind him, "Yes. Let's have a chat later in the evening. This is not a good place to talk."
He added, "Be careful. I have thoroughly offended the single character faction with what I did yesterday. If Princess Qing is worried, you don't need to meet me. I don't want to implicate you needlessly."
"No worries. Brother Su's trouble is the same as my trouble."
Xia Qing agreed readily. Regardless of her actual decision, she would first make a promise.
"Sure. See you later."
"Alright!"
...
After a short chat, the two parted ways.
Before long, Su Yu arrived at the Mental Tempering Garden.
Near a rock garden.
Zhang Hao was waiting while scanning his surroundings. A short while later, Su Yu arrived.
Zhang Hao had a complicated look in his eyes as he said, "Brother Su, you sure did something shocking yesterday."
Su Yu laughed, "It's no big deal. I thought you would be at the Dao Preaching District."
"It's pointless." Zhang Hao said, "With you reigning at the top, a lot of the geniuses have lost interest in the exchange. It's pointless since ultimately, none of us can surpass you. Even a victory over the war academy students feels pointless."
He moved on from the topic and asked, "Brother Su, are you here to ask about the long-distance transmission talisman?"
"Yes."
"Such talismans can already be found in the market, but they are expensive. You need thousands of merit points for one of them. And similar to communicators, they can be unreliable at times. If I'm being honest, something like this is not worth the money."
"It's fine. Just make a few of them for me." Su Yu said, "I need you to craft these talismans yourself. I don't want anyone to leave a backdoor on these talismans."
"Alright." Zhang Hao nodded and said, "Brother Su, take this advice from me. You need to stay in the academy for some time. Don't go on a long journey."
He was worried since Su Yu had suddenly asked for long-distance talismans. This fellow wasn't planning to go on a long journey, right?
"Don't worry. I know what I'm doing." Su Yu said, "I'll need you to pay for these talismans first. I'll pay you back later..."
"Don't worry about it. If you're short of money, you can delay the repayment."
Zhang Hao wasn't worried. Would Su Yu scam him out of only a few thousand merit points? He was more than happy to have Su Yu owe him money.
He had heard about how Su Yu owed Zheng Yunhui a debt of tens of thousands of merit points and that debt was going to be repaid with the Pure Source Art. That was basically an act of throwing money at people.
Thus, he would be glad to see Su Yu owe him money as well. Perhaps Su Yu would be willing to repay him with the opening method of several apertures instead. That would be incredible.
After a short chat, Su Yu said, "The Mutual Aid Club will be issuing some new missions soon. Pay close attention. You might find something you're interested in."
"Sure."
Su Yu said, "This is not the only reason I'm here. I have been attracting too much attention recently. For the safety of myself and the people around me, the Mutual Aid Club might need to go into concealment for some time."
"I understand."
Zhang Hao nodded. He could understand that choice. However, he still didn't know the identity of any other member of the Mutual Aid Club. He only knew that Su Yu was probably a very important member.
A short while later, Su Yu left. He did not meet Lin Yao and Hu Zongji. He only sent them a message telling them to pay attention to the missions that were going to be issued in the club soon. Since he was going to leave soon, he intended to give these people some benefits before leaving.
He wouldn't give them those benefits directly. Instead, he was going to use these so-called missions as the guise. He would give them an opportunity to purchase some cultivation manuals, including the cultural art, through the mission rewards.