Chapter 554: Fire of Civilization (2)
The first thought in Xia Qing's mind after seeing the current Su Yu was that he was a good person.
A truly good and kind person. For some reason, Su Yu suddenly felt like someone she could trust. She was greatly bewildered by that feeling. But before long, her heart thumped as she regained her clarity of mind. Why did Su Yu feel different than before?
"Brother Su, have you broken through in your cultivation?"
"No." Su Yu smiled, "It's only the advancement of a character. I only have eight characters, but all of them have reached the second tier."
Only eight.
Only. That was a very hurtful choice of words.
That was actually a lot. And all of them were in the second tier. More importantly, this guy wasn't even a Skysoar. He was only at the Mental Tempering Stage!
Xia Qing sighed inwardly. But she was also greatly shocked. This was truly an exceptional genius that was rarely seen even among the divines and devils. In fact, such a genius could probably only be found in the first divine race and the original devil race.
But such a genius had actually appeared among the human race. Truly worthy of being a top 10 race.
"Brother Su, you're here because..."
Su Yu smiled, "Princess Qing, you must be aware of the situation I'm in currently. I require more strength. But I'm afraid of leaving the academy. I need to grow, but I have no way of growing in the academy. Previously, I wanted to wait. But after the recent incident, I doubt I can afford to keep waiting. I intend to go out on a treasure hunt. I recently learned that there is a treasure somewhere that can help me rapidly reach the Skysoar Realm. I wish to take a look."
Xia Qing raised her brow, "Treasure hunt?"
He was probably heading to his ruin. Was he aiming to receive his inheritance? He was clearly unhappy with his current strength so he was trying to gain more strength from the ruin.
Thus, it was clear that this ruin had yet to be fully exploited. But that was understandable as Su Yu was too weak to fully exploit an ancient ruin. Perhaps only a Sunmoon would be able to fully exhaust what an ancient ruin had to offer.
"Brother Su, you mean..."
Su Yu smiled, "I wish to invite you on this trip. But I need your dao protectors to come with us."
Su Yu's face turned solemn as he said, "I'm afraid of the dangers we might encounter."
"Dangers?" Xia Qing feigned ignorance, "Is it very far away?"
"It's not too far..." Su Yu hesitated slightly before saying, "It's near a small city called Nanyuan. Of course, you probably don't know about that city."
She actually knew about that city.
Xia Qing's heart thumped. She knew it. That was Su Yu's hometown. Sure enough, there was an ancient ruin there! That was in line with her guess.
"Nanyuan?" Xia Qing put on a doubtful expression and asked, "I think I heard about that place before. It's...where you came from, right?"
Su Yu nodded, "I learned about that treasure long ago, but I have never visited that place. Or to be precise, I have never gone too deeply into that place. I had only explored the outer area. It was too dangerous. I went there once when I was out picking herbs with my father during my childhood..."
Xia Qing immediately reached her own conclusion. Herbs. Childhood. Since it was a place where herbs could be picked, it must be a mountain. Or was it a valley? So it wasn't within Nanyuan itself. Rather, it was somewhere near Nanyuan. No wonder it had remained hidden until now.
Xia Qing spoke in hesitation, "Brother Su, you mean...we might encounter danger during this trip?"
After some internal struggle, Su Yu nodded, "Yeah. I'm very worried. Thus, I need some help. Of course, it's not like I'm completely unprepared. My grandteacher had a tamed Mountainsea beast. I will be taking that beast with me. But I'm worried that one Mountainsea won't be enough. And the beast might not obey me. I need someone capable of suppressing that beast with me.
"I hope you will keep this between us. I am telling you this because you're not a human. In all honesty, I'm not afraid of having the treasure snatched by you. You won't be able to do something like that. But if it's another human...I won't be able to know what they're thinking. That includes those from the Xia, Hu, Wu, and Zheng Families. If something is valuable enough, it might provoke greed in their hearts. And they have enough power in Great Xia. I won't be able to do anything if they decide to snatch the treasure from me."
Su Yu solemnly said, "I won't treat you unfairly, Princess Qing. If you agree to help me with this, I will pay you a fee of 10,000 merit points and a profound-grade cultural weapon. If you have any other conditions, feel free to raise them as well."
How generous.
10,000 merit points and a profound-grade cultural weapon. That was enough to hire even a Mountainsea.
The doubt on Xia Qing's face vanished. So that was why. Since she wasn't a human, she wouldn't be able to protect the ruin after snatching it. Since a ruin was not something one could take and run away with, Su Yu believed that he could only seek help from someone who wouldn't be able to occupy the ruin.
Anyone else, including his allies from the Wu Family, might end up occupying the ruin after discovering it. After thinking about it, Xia Qing agreed that this was a logical choice. She definitely wouldn't dare to occupy that place. Even if she wanted to, the cloud tiger race would not be qualified to do so. That was basically suicide. But the premise of all that was the survival of Su Yu.
If Su Yu was dead, nobody else would be aware of the ruin. Of course, she still needed to return to the academy after the fact so she wouldn't be able to stay in the ruin. But she could always get an elder of her race to feign death and hide in the ruin, right?
Numerous thoughts appeared in her mind.
Xia Qing said, "Brother Su, I am naturally willing to help you. But to speak the truth, myriad race students like us will attract a lot of attention wherever we go. We might even attract the attention of the upper echelons of Great Xia."
"And it's not like we can leave without a proper excuse."
Su Yu nodded, "I'm aware of that. I already have an excuse prepared for you. My hometown, Nanyuan, has been suffering from beast and cult attacks. Since the people of Nanyuan are too weak, I naturally need to return and help."
Su Yu's eyes flickered as he said, "I already contacted some people and have them create some chaos in Nanyuan. I'm a genius student, so I will naturally return to help my hometown. I will even issue a mission with no restrictions. You can accept the mission and leave openly with me."
Xia Qing was slightly alarmed, but when she thought about it, that was indeed a good idea. A crisis in Nanyuan. It was natural for Su Yu to return. As a genius from Nanyuan, he had received the request for help from his birthplace. It was understandable for him to answer that call.
In fact, not returning wouldn't even be an option for him.
Thus, this trip wouldn't seem too surprising. Rather, it would only make it look like he had been forced to accept this mission. A lot of people understood that this was definitely not the right moment for him to leave the academy. But he had no choice. He couldn't afford to be called someone who had forgotten his birthplace.
After a slight hesitation, Xia Qing said, "I'm worried about the cult...don't look at me like that. The cloud tiger race does not have a sect in the Human Realm. I'm worried that those fellows would really make a move against you. Also, are you sure the single character faction won't do anything?
"I have two elders with me. One of them is a Cloudbreach while the other is a Mountainsea. But according to the agreement, only one of them can leave at a time. The other will remain behind as a hostage. You understand what I'm saying, right?"
Su Yu nodded. Of course he understood. The human race needed to ensure that these foreign students wouldn't flee and hide in the wilderness. Thus, it was natural for some of them to remain as hostages.
Su Yu smiled,"One Mountainsea is enough. I have a Mountainsea beast as well. I refuse to believe that they would send more than two Mountainseas just to deal with me. Forgive me for asking this, but what's the cultivation level of your dao protector?"
"Third-stage Mountainsea." Xia Qing asked, "How about your Mountainsea?"
"Same." Su Yu's tone turned helpless as he said, "He's supposed to be stronger, but my grandteacher had extracted too much of his blood essence so he had weakened considerably."
Xia Qing felt gloomy after hearing that. The cloud tiger race was also a beast race.
Extracting blood essence, taming...
Those were very uncomfortable terms for her.
Su Yu continued acting like he hadn't realized that. Or to be precise, this wasn't something that most humans would realize.
Xia Qing was slightly upset, but she maintained the same smile on her face as she said, "Two Mountainseas should be enough. But I'm worried that the senior on your side would suddenly turn on us. Brother Su, that would be very troublesome."
Su Yu frowned and nodded, "You're right. After all, I'm not using a Demon Subduing Ring on him."
"What?"
Xia Qing blanked out. That was truly too gutsy of him. How courageous. And how confident. Was he so sure that the Mountainsea beast wouldn't betray him? He wasn't even using a Demon Subduing Ring.
Su Yu stubbornly said, "It's fine. My grandteacher was the one who tamed this beast. It will be fine. But your worry makes sense. It will be troublesome if he turns against me..."
With a frown, he muttered, "But apart from you, I can't trust anyone else. You should never tempt the heart of another human with greed. That would only cause you to lose an ally for no good reason. Elder Wu Yuehua is trustworthy...but I still don't want to tempt them with something so precious."
"How about Head Manager Chen?"
Su Yu shook his head, "I can't let my martial uncle go. I'm leaving on the guise of reinforcing Nanyuan. They don't know about my Mountainsea beast. As for you, it is understandable for you to leave with a dao protector. But what will people think if my martial uncle comes with me? Even a fool will be able to see that I'm planning something."
Xia Qing's eyes flickered as she suggested, "Why don't we find some helpers among the foreign students?"
"No!" Su Yu shook his head, "I trust you because we've talked to each other before. I believe in my eyes. You had even fought for me before and offended the single character faction. But I'm not a fool. How can I place my trust in others so easily?"
In other words, he could only trust Xia Qing.
Xia Qing had a touched expression as she said, "But the Mountainsea senior on your side might not be reliable enough. And if we really do encounter a dangerous situation, the sole Mountainsea on my side might not be enough to protect us. Brother Su, this is too dangerous."
She said, "After losing their students to you, would they let go of this chance to take their revenge on you? And as the creator of something like the acupoint fusion method, the other races won't allow you to keep growing. The cult would make a move as well. They might even send a Mountainsea after you.
"So at least two Mountainseas would come after us. If your Mountainsea senior turns on us, my elder wouldn't be able to face multiple opponents alone."
Su Yu frowned and said, "Let me think about it. Princess Qing, please keep this between us. We can't leak this. Don't tell the other foreign students about this. I already told you about my general plan. So let me consider if I need to get more help..."
Xia Qing said, "How about this? I won't tell anyone, but anyone can accept the mission you issue, right?"
"I won't allow anyone from the single character faction to accept the mission." Su Yu emphasized.
Xia Qing nodded, "But other students might take the mission as well. And if I take the mission, some other foreign students might come with me. Why don't we selectively let some of these people know about our goal after knowing who the participants are?"
Su Yu frowned, "But I still need to make sure that these people aren't my enemies or the allies of the single character faction. That would only create needless trouble."
"Of course." Xia Qing smiled, "The ones to come with me will naturally be my close friends."
With a frown, Su Yu said, "I won't be able to afford so many helpers so I still need to think about it. Honestly, I think two Mountainseas would do. I am only going to the border. It's not like I'm going to the Allheaven Battlefield. It's good enough to have two Mountainseas protecting a Mental Tempering Stage student like me."
Su Yu actually made a lot of sense. He might be a genius, but even the child of a prefect would mostly only travel with two Mountainsea protectors. Even if his enemies wanted to send Mountainseas after him, it wouldn't be so easy for them to find more Mountainseas on such short notice.
If they gathered too many Mountainseas together, they would end up attracting Great Xia's attention.
But Xia Qing was still worried. She could only bring one dao protector with her. That was too little protection. After all, Su Yu himself would have a Mountainsea beast with him. And this beast's original strength was most definitely above the third-stage Mountainsea Realm if he was already this strong after being weakened. As for whether she would side with Su Yu or the single character faction, she honestly still wasn't sure.
"When do you intend to make this trip, Brother Su?"
"Not too soon." Su Yu explained, "I'll need to wait until my senior sister stabilizes her position in the top 100. With me here, they will have to think twice before trying anything on her. I also need to make some other preparations."
"Sure. I'm ready anytime." Xia Qing smiled, "I am honored by the trust you're placing in me, Brother Su."
Su Yu smiled helplessly and said, "I am an honest person. So I'll be blunt. I picked you because...the cloud tiger race isn't too strong. Even if we have some divine and devil students in the academy, I wouldn't dare to trust them because they are too strong."
His honesty caused Xia Qing to feel relieved.
Exactly. The cloud tiger race was very weak. He didn't need to worry about them. That was what she wanted him to believe.
"I understand, Brother Su. Even if we have to pick some other foreign students to go with us, I'll try to see if there are any suitable members of the weaker races we can take with us. I will check with you before doing anything, Brother Su."
Su Yu nodded. With an awkward expression, he said, "My apologies for that. I didn't mean to insult you. I only want to be safe. I hope you can understand me, Princess Qing."
"That is perfectly understandable." Xia Qing said, "If you're doing this without any plan, I would be more worried. After all, I'm also afraid of biting off more than I can chew. Thus, the more careful you are, the safer it will be for us."
It was only understandable that Su Yu was being careful. She would be more scared if he was being careless about it. That was an ancient ruin. Being too careless would only result in their death.
Instead, Su Yu had arranged for a fake Nanyuan crisis so that he could assign a mission to help with the crisis. She could then accept the mission and join him without arousing any suspicions. Meanwhile, he would also take a Mountainsea beast with him as protection.
One could say that he was already being very careful. He had provided a perfect cover for their departure. Most people wouldn't even suspect his cover. And any danger they might encounter during the trip could be solved with the two Mountainseas that would be traveling with them.
In fact, Xia Qing believed that not even she herself could come up with a plan this good. After all, Su Yu had taken even her identity as a princess into consideration when making his plan.
Su Yu said, "Princess Qing, since I've decided to trust you, I'll be very blunt. We are all friends, so I don't want anything to ruin the relationship between us. I'm offering 10,000 merit points and a profound-grade cultural weapon because I don't want to owe anyone favors. Thus, I hope that you can keep your mouth shut about what you see during the trip. The multiple character faction might have declined, but my grandteacher will reach the Sunmoon Realm soon."
He had an intense look in his eyes as he said, "If a Sunmoon decides to attack without holding anything back, the cloud tiger race won't be able to survive the repercussions. I believe you're aware of this."
Xia Qing wasn't offended by the warning. She felt even more at ease. Carrot and stick had both been used. This was how the human race had always acted. As a human genius, Su Yu would naturally need to apply both reward and threat when working with her. Thus, this wasn't surprising at all.
Xia Qing smiled and nodded, "Since Brother Su is trusting me with this, I would naturally be honest if I'm not going. Since I've agreed, I will naturally not do anything to cause misunderstandings between us. Like you said, the cloud tiger race is too weak. We won't do anything to risk the prospect of an alliance with the human race."
Su Yu exhaled in relief.
He cupped his hands at Xia Qing and said, "Princess Qing, I hope you won't blame me. I was merely being thorough. I am not prejudiced against you. I shall properly apologize to you after the trip."
"Don't worry about it."
"You're a magnanimous person, Princess Qing."
After checking the time, Su Yu stood up and said, "I'll be taking my leave. Try to pay attention to the coming missions. I won't be notifying you when I issue the mission as I don't want to attract any attention. As for the other foreign students, when we gather up to set off for the mission, I'll consider if I want to tell them the truth."
"Sure. That's a safe choice." Xia Qing nodded and watched as Su Yu departed.
After Su Yu left, she sank into thought. Su Yu was not a brute. His plan was actually very detailed. Two Mountainseas...that would actually be enough to protect them.
But the issue here was her choice. Which side should she pick? Should she tell the single character faction about this? Or should she use this chance to make Su Yu owe her a favor?
She couldn't decide. This was a very hard choice to make. If she really helped Su Yu, she might end up as an enemy of the single character faction.
"Second Grandpa, what do you think I should do?"
An old man appeared beside her and said, "I'll listen to you, Princess. Su Yu was right. Even if we can find the ruin, we might not be able to occupy it. But we don't necessarily need to occupy it. We can simply leave after getting some inheritance out of it for you. You can make the choice. This old man will simply obey your wishes."
Xia Qing said nothing. She sank into deep contemplation. Should she notify the single character faction about this?
The single character faction was probably not aware of the Mountainsea protector Su Yu had. She was probably the only person aware of that apart from those in the multiple character faction.