Chapter 565: Southbound (1)
Time passed.
Morning arrived.
It was the 26th of December.
Life continued as usual in the Great Xia Cultural Research Academy. Everything appeared to be the same.
There were only four days left in the year 350 of the Anping Calendar.
After the end of the month, the academy would be on a break for half a month. The students would be able to return home and visit their loved ones. Classes would only resume at the middle of January.
Thus, a lot of the students had been packing up and preparing for their return to celebrate the new year. Since they were cultivators, they would rarely take long holidays. After four days, the new year would arrive. That would also be the anniversary of Great Qin as the Anping Calender had started after Great Qin was founded.
Source Soul Research Center.
A few individuals were talking about the upcoming holiday and New Year celebration.
Wu Jia smiled cheerfully and asked, "Junior Brother, are you going back home for the New Year celebration? Since your father is not home, will you be celebrating in Nanyuan? You will probably take around three or four days for the mission, right?"
Su Yu had just arrived from upstairs. Since Wu Jia's parents had passed away a long time ago, she had been celebrating the previous New Year's days with Chen Yong.
In the past, their grandteacher would also be around. Bai Feng would also be celebrating with them since his home was too far. This was very common in the academy. Those whose homes were too far away would remain in the academy.
This was Su Yu's first year in the academy. Bai Feng was away while their grandteacher was in seclusion. And even Su Yu was returning to Nanyuan. Thus, Wu Jia was wishing that Su Yu would return in time to celebrate the new year with them.
Hearing the question, Su Yu smiled and replied, "Senior Sister, I doubt I can return in time. It doesn't matter since as cultivators, we are accustomed to loneliness." He spoke in a joking tone.
Wu Jia did not think too much about it. She merely spoke with a slightly regretful tone, "Come on, finish your mission faster and you will be able to return in time. Nanyuan isn't that far away. If you ride an earthdragon beast, you can make the trip in only one day."
"But an earthdragon beast will attract too much attention." Su Yu looked at the others and said, "On the day we opened this research center, I bought everyone here a meal. The research center will temporarily cease operations after today. Of course, all of you can still stay here if you want, but I won't be around...Thus, let's have another meal together tonight."
That was a farewell dinner. The others did not object to it. Wu Jia and Wu Lan started talking in excitement about what to eat for dinner. Hu Qiusheng maintained his silence. Jiang Mu said nothing as well. As for Xia Huyou and Zhao Ming, both of them were absent.
***
The day passed uneventfully. Before anyone knew it, the sky had turned dark. Inside the dining hall, the atmosphere was quite warm and cozy.
Su Yu raised his cup and said, "I will be leaving for my Nanyuan mission soon. This is my toast to all of you."
He emptied the cup.
"Thank you for all your help. Thank you for your support during our time together."
Su Yu smiled and said, "When I first entered the Great Xia Cultural Research Academy, I was a clueless bumpkin. Thanks to all your help, I was able to establish myself in this academy. I have learned a lot from all of you. Thank you, everyone."
He drained another cup of wine.
Su Yu would rarely drink in the past, but tonight, he downed cup after cup of wine. A smile was constantly maintained on his face. Eventually, the group started sensing that something was off.
"Junior Brother..." Wu Jia persuaded, "You're setting off soon. You should drink less."
"It's fine. As a cultivator, I can take this much liquor."
Finally, he set the cup down and said, "I guess this is farewell. We have drunk and eaten our fill so I guess this is the perfect time for us to say our farewells. Friends, let's meet in the future again if fate allows it."
After saying that, Su Yu picked up his bag and stood up. The others wanted to see him off, but he stopped them with a wave of his hand before stepping away.
Outside the research center, Su Yu turned around. All his friends were standing at the entrance. He waved at them once again before leaping onto the back of the waiting suanni. At the moment, the suanni was not as shiny as usual. For some reason, his coat of fur looked grayish in color instead of the usual gold.
After slinging the bag over his shoulder, Su Yu took out his saber. Without saying anything, he tapped on the suanni's torso with his legs. The suanni said nothing and ran off. In the blink of an eye, they disappeared in the distance.
"Junior Brother..."
Wu Jia called out loudly, but Su Yu did not stop.
In front of Source Soul Research Center, Wu Jia looked in Su Yu's direction blankly. Suddenly, she asked, "Will he...return?"
She didn't know what Su Yu's plan was, but earlier, Su Yu had said that they would meet again if fate allowed it. The others sank into silence. Neither Hu Qiusheng nor Xia Huyou said anything.
Xia Huyou was wondering if Su Yu was really going out on a trip to lure all his enemies out of hiding. That might not be the case. Was Su Yu...leaving?
Finally, his thoughts cleared up and realization hit him.
His mood turned sullen, and he didn't know what to say.
At the same time, Wan Tiansheng was overlooking the entire capital from atop the Heart Cultivating Pavilion. When his gaze landed on the figure moving rapidly through the academy, he sighed.
At the same time, inside the Discipline Hall, a solemn and cold Old Huang could be seen. A thorough audit would be performed next month. It was time to clear the academy of its tumors.
At the same time, inside Zhao Li's research center, he was hammering a weapon again and again. His entire body was dripping with sweat, but he continued working tirelessly without saying anything.
At the same time, inside the books depository, Chen Yong was seated with his eyes shut. His aura roiled with intense undulations.
***
At the academy's entrance, twelve students were waiting.
Some were riding on cloudrush horses, some were standing on their two legs, and some were riding some other beasts.
After scanning the crowd, Su Yu urged the suanni forward and announced, "Let the journey begin."
With that, the suanni shot off. Behind him, the group hurriedly followed.
The sky horse youth followed slightly behind Su Yu and said with a smile, "Impressive. This is a suanni, right? You actually have a suanni mount? Us sky horses are faster than suannis, but we're not as impressive in combat..."
Su Yu said nothing.
The sky horse youth's excitement was dampened somewhat by the lack of reply, but he was not too bothered. When his gaze landed on the small bull hanging on the suanni's body, he asked curiously, "Is this...a mountaindrill bull? You brought a mountaindrill bull with you as well?"
Su Yu remained silent. The white civet and the fire crow were not brought with him as one was left with his senior sister while the other was left with his martial uncle. All the other beasts had been brought with him.
There was also the little furball that nobody could see. The furball had turned Su Yu's head into a nest, but since he was maintaining his incorporeal state, nobody could see him.
The sky horse youth was very talkative, but Su Yu remained silent as he focused on his Perception Jade. The city was filled with pedestrians even late at night. But as Su Yu's group was traveling at a rapid pace, the pedestrians all made way for them.
From the symbols on the clothes of Su Yu and company, many people guessed that this was probably a group of elite students out on a mission. Thus, they did not mind making way for these students.
All the members of the group moved rapidly regardless of whether they were travelling on mounts or running themselves.
Before long, they reached the city gate. There, Su Yu stopped and looked back one last time. He could still see the towering Heart Cultivating Pavilion far in the distance. The brightly lit prefect's manor was also visible.
This is farewell. Let's meet again if fate allows it.
Then, Su Yu turned around and said, "We depart."
White robes fluttering in the wind, Su Yu sped off.
Tonight, Su Yu had departed the city.
"Su Yu has left."
"Su Yu is out of the capital."
"..."
Message after message was sent following his departure.
Su Yu had left the capital. This was a freak, a super genius who had slain Skysoars at the Mental Tempering Stage and created the acupoint fusion method. At that moment, every single expert in the Myriad Race Cult received a notification.
A reward of fifty thousand merit points for the capture of Su Yu.
A reward of thirty thousand merit points for the murder of Su Yu.
Target's combat strength evaluated at seventh-stage Sksoar Realm.
Priority rating: Mountainsea
Danger rating: Cloudbreach
Target has departed the capital to head toward Nanyuan.
Su Yu's profile in the cult was instantly updated, and the bounty on him was adjusted accordingly. And these messages were not being sent in only a single sect. Rather, they had been sent to most of the cultists operating within Great Xia.
Numerous cultists were shocked to see the series of messages. The greed in their hearts was triggered. The bounty was crazy. Thirty thousand for killing him and fifty thousand for capturing him.
Such a bounty had been issued before, but the target of that bounty was a Mountainsea. This time, it was only a Mental Tempering Stage student. It seemed excessive, even if the target was a super genius.
It was as though a rock had been thrown into a calm lake. Chaos was imminent. Wealth proved to be extremely enticing. Even if these people knew that this would be an extremely dangerous mission, countless people still started moving due to the attractive reward.
One would need to traverse over a thousand kilometers to reach Nanyuan from the capital. And a long stretch of the journey would be made in complete wilderness. The eight students in Su Yu's group were not mentioned in these messages. Even the people in charge of sending these messages had neglected those students.
Of course, the upper echelons of the cult were aware of the other students, but the lower members were only meant to serve as cannon fodder. What was the point of telling cannon fodder too much?
These weaklings' sole function was to test the security around Su Yu. It would be for the best if they could expose all of Su Yu's trump cards.