Chapter 555: Countdown (1)
After the talk with Xia Qing, Su Yu started preparing for his departure.
He would definitely not return anytime soon. Since he was prepared to go out with a bang, returning before gaining sufficient strength was the same as seeking trouble for himself.
"If I get a few Mountainseas killed, what would happen to Martial Uncle and the others?"
Inside the room.
Su Yu inhaled deeply and decided that if he was really going to do something crazy, he might as well leave the multiple character faction first. In that case, this departure might also signal the end of his status as a student of the multiple character faction.
"Apart from my willpower texts, I don't seem to have anything else to pack."
Su Yu was busy packing up. Things like Bai Feng's research notes, Liu Wenyan's cultivation notes, and the willpower texts he had purchased previously would be brought with him. He didn't have a lot of things, but the few things he had were quite valuable.
There was also the information collected and organized by Wu Lan and his senior sister. But he could simply record all the information in a jade talisman so there really wasn't much to pack.
...
Night.
Inside the data room.
Su Yu tossed a jade talisman over to Wu Lan and said, "Can you transfer all the organized data into the talisman?"
"It's annoying to read from talismans..."
"But it's easier to carry around."
Wu Lan was somewhat speechless. It was only some basic information. Why would he need to carry something like that around?
She couldn't understand the choice, but she still did as told. With an impatient tone, she asked, "So when are we going to start working on the aperture fusion method?"
She was very ambitious. After the Double Wu Acupoint Fusion Art was released, her name was spread far and wide. Since then, she had been feeling like she was floating each time she walked. Every time she heard about someone purchasing the Double Wu Acupoint Fusion Art manual, she would grow excited.
She only felt slightly regretful that it wasn't named Wu Lan Acupoint Fusion Method. Double Wu...there were too many people with that surname out there.
At that thought, she softly asked, "Su Yu, will I remain the leader of the Breakthrough Team for this project?"
Su Yu merely smiled without answering.
Wu Lan said, "Can I suggest a name for the fusion method after completion?"
"Hmm?"
"Lan needs to be a part of the name."
She spoke in excitement, "If you do that, the two fusion methods combined will result in Wu Lan!"
Incredible. In the future, anyone cultivating these methods would have no choice but to know that she was involved in the creation of these methods. The fact that even Wu Lan herself didn't know what she had contributed to the project didn't matter. As far as she could remember, she had only arranged some data.
Su Yu laughed and nodded, "Sure."
"Really?"
Wu Lan was overjoyed. Her level of motivation shot up as she started working even harder than before. Looking at Wu Lan, Su Yu felt somewhat regretful. This was a free laborer he had just tricked to work for him. But he was going to lose this free labor soon.
Before long, Wu Lan was done transferring the data into the talisman. After taking a quick look, Su Yu nodded in satisfaction. The information available in Great Xia might not necessarily be available in Great Ming. For Su Yu, the numerous cultivation manuals weren't as important as the basic information collected in this talisman.
After thinking about it, Su Yu tossed a jade talisman to Wu Lan and said, "Take this. Consider it the reward for your hard work after joining the research center. You may also share this with Elder Wu. But apart from Elder Wu, you're not allowed to share it with anyone else."
"Reward?"
Wu Lan had completely forgotten that she was supposed to be rewarded for her hard work. She took a look and muttered, "Furious Earth Cultural Tempering Art?"
What garbage name was that?
After checking the method, she indifferently said, "This is a cultivation method with only 72 apertures. It is the same as the Myriad Text Sutra. Why should I cultivate this art?"
Su Yu was tired of speaking to her. What a fool. Couldn't she take a closer look? Could the Myriad Text Sutra be compared to something like this?
"This is a foundation cultural art."
"Oh...foundation..." Wu Lan blanked out.
Su Yu calmly said, "When cultivating this art, don't be in a rush to advance into the Skysoar Realm. If you can open 72 apertures before your advancement, you will be able to reach the Cloudbreach Realm in no time."
As for the cultural arts with more apertures, such as the one with 108 apertures, those were actually not too suitable for people like Wu Lan. She was decently talented. After all, she was a high-high student. But making her open 108 apertures would slow her down too much.
It wasn't like the 108-aperture version would grant her much more combat strength than the 72-aperture version. Thus, this 72-aperture version was enough for her. After all, it had enough apertures as the Myriad Text Sutra that most people would cultivate at the Skysoar Realm.
Wu Lan was still blanking out. Su Yu ignored her and continued speaking, "You're not allowed to show this to anyone. At most, you can only show it to your grandaunt. Oh...right, I'll allow you to show it to your elder sister as well. But you can't show it to anyone else."
In truth, Wu Qi didn't need this art since she was already a Skysoar. But she could always open more apertures and build herself a stronger foundation with it.
Su Yu with his 320 acupoints was the best example. Even without the ability to link all the acupoints into a system, the additional acupoints had still granted him a considerable boost in strength.
Wu Lan looked at Su Yu in confusion and asked, "Is the aperture opening method you provided me previously compatible with this art?"
"Yeah." After thinking about it, Su Yu advised, "For now, try to link 36 apertures first. Don't be in a rush to link 72 apertures. Wait until I reach the Cloudbreach Realm or until you receive confirmation from me before linking everything together."
He had yet to fully perfect this art so he might be able to further improve it in the future.
Wu Lan stared at Su Yu for a long time before asking, "Are you firing me?"
"No." Su Yu smiled, "Student Wu Lan, you have worked the most and the hardest. You are much better than Xia Huyou and the others. I would fire everyone else before I fire you."
"Then why..." She looked at Su Yu suspiciously and asked, "After giving me this thing, how are you supposed to reward me for my contribution in the future?"
Su Yu laughed in amusement. So she was worried about that?
"Don't worry. When the time comes, I'll definitely have more things to give as your reward."
He smiled, "Take good care of this thing. It will be even better if you destroy the talisman after reading it. Well, I guess that's not necessary so forget about that."
He might also start distributing this art after his arrival at Great Ming. But he was still unsure. This was merely a version combining two out of the five arts he knew. It wasn't that big of a deal.
The biggest advantage of this thing was to help a student open apertures at the Mental Tempering Stage. That would allow one to rapidly reach late-stage Skysoar Realm or even the Cloudbreach Realm. For a lot of people, something like this would save decades.
Thus, this was actually quite a terrifying art.
"Ok..."
Wu Lan appeared quite indifferent. She decided to contribute more in the future. Previously, she had received the opening method of an aperture after answering five questions previously. And now, she had received the opening method for 72 apertures. To repay Su Yu for this, she only needed to answer 355 of his questions in the future. At that thought, she suddenly realized that the burden on her shoulders was actually quite heavy.
She needed to answer 355 questions or solve 355 issues to turn this from a charity into a salary. Seeing that she was deep in thought, Su Yu smiled and walked away.
...
After passing Wu Lan the version with two arts, Su Yu went to the books depository. There, he handed the version combining three arts. There was no need for him to provide the version with four arts as that would be too powerful.
"Martial Uncle." Su Yu took out a few talismans and said, "This is the Body Strengthening Art. It can help someone to rapidly open acupoints. This is the Pure Source Art, it can help purify your source qi. This is the best version of the acupoint fusion art. Senior Sister already knows this."
He took out one cultivation manual after another. Every one of them was invaluable. Chen Yong sat there in silence for a very long time.
Su Yu smiled, "Martial Uncle, you should feel happy for me. The prefect of Great Ming had personally arrived to negotiate with me. He agreed with all my conditions. I'm very happy, Martial Uncle. Of course, I have enjoyed my time here as well."
"I met a lot of people in the Great Xia Cultural Research Academy. My teacher, you, Grandteacher, Teacher Zhao, Senior Sister, Teacher Huang...all of you have helped me greatly. I'm afraid I will be creating more trouble during my departure so please accept my apology in advance."
Chen Yong remained silent. He stood up and entered his room. A short while later, he came out and handed Su Yu an item without saying anything.
It was a slab.
"Take it."
The slab looked familiar to Su Yu.
He looked at Chen Yong doubtfully. Chen Yong nonchalantly said, "Take it with you. The multiple character faction is no more. But remember this. Great Xia is the root of the multiple character faction. Here, the multiple character faction had produced one expert after another. All that was thanks to this stele. The Character Technique Stele."
"Not everyone is capable of forming their own character technique, regardless of whether the disassembly method exists. The formation of a character technique is not that simple. Thus, having both a technique template and the disassembly method will still be the most optimal method of cultivation."
Su Yu was completely stunned.
This was the Character Technique Stele. The root of the multiple character faction. His martial uncle had actually removed it from the wall.
"Martial Uncle..."
Chen Yong calmly said, "Take it with you. I don't intend to accept more students after this. Your senior sister is still too weak for that. Your teacher doesn't need more students after you. In Great Xia, the multiple character faction no longer has any space for growth. There is no future for us here. Take this to Great Ming with you."
He added, "The other academies have something similar as well, but remember this. Ours is the best of all. The steles of the other academies are rather poor, with very few templates inside. Ours, on the other hand, is filled with numerous powerful character techniques."
"Martial Uncle, how about Grandteacher..."
"Don't worry about your grandteacher." Chen Yong smiled, "Since your grandteacher has not been able to grow the multiple character faction, he has failed. Prior to his seclusion, he had passed on the position of faction master to you, not me. Thus, you are qualified to take care of this. In fact, it is good that you're taking it with you. Without this stele, the books depository is fucking nothing."
He was actually cursing. Without the character technique wall, what was the books depository? It no longer mattered to him. He would never give all those people what they wanted. He would rather let Su Yu leave with it.
Looking at Su Yu, he smiled, "Keep it with you, even if you're going to treat it as a memento. You can decide if you want to rebuild the multiple character faction at Great Ming or simply keep it for yourself. With this thing, you will be able to restart the faction anytime you want. It would be much harder without it."