Chapter 566: Southbound (2)
Beifeng was a city not far away from Nanyuan. At the moment, two figures appeared with a flicker atop the city wall. One was a man while the other was a woman. The old woman was none other than Yu Hong and the old man was the visitor from Great Shang.
Gazing in the capital's direction, the old man smiled and said, "What a surprise. A mere Mental Tempering student has actually caused such a storm."
For the sake of a single Mental Tempering student, Great Xia's single character faction had lowered themselves to seek his assistance.
Yu Hong smiled and said, "Old Zheng, he's not a simple Mental Tempering student. Is a Mental Tempering student still a Mental Tempering student if he's capable of killing Skysoars? If he is allowed to grow, he will become the second Liu Wenyan. No, he will be even more terrifying than that. After all, Liu Wenyan had not been able to become a Skysoar back then. But this student will be able to easily enter the Skysoar Realm.
"We're not trying to kill him out of shame. We are stopping the multiple character faction from gaining another leader. News of Su Yu has just started spreading yet the multiple character faction of the various prefectures is starting to stir. They all believe that hope has arrived for them."
First, Liu Wenyan had given them a tiny bit of hope. Yet the second person to give them hope was neither Hong Tan nor Liu Wenyan. It was Su Yu.
A super genius had emerged. Once again, the multiple character faction of Great Xia had produced a genius with both wit and strength, someone capable of leading the entire faction. This super genius had subjected Great Xia's single character faction to great trouble. One ought to remember that a single spark could start a prairie fire.
Sure, they were trying to kill Su Yu due to their personal grudge, but one thing was of utmost importance: they couldn't allow this young man to grow into the spiritual leader of the multiple character faction. Otherwise, more trouble would ensue in the future.
That youth had accomplished that much at the Mental Tempering Stage. What would happen when that youth reached the Skysoar Realm? And beyond that, there was the Cloudbreach Realm. What could they do then?
Yu Hong didn't even want to imagine a future like that. Furthermore, Su Yu's rise had also caused the multiple character faction to show signs of revival after so many years of inactivity.
Yu Hong softly said, "Old Zheng, we're doing all this for humanity. The multiple character faction can't be allowed to rise. They can't be allowed to become the mainstream of willpower cultivation. Otherwise, humanity would suffer great losses. The divines, devils, and even the immortals who are usually uninvolved in our conflict with the devils and the divines had once said that the multiple character faction members are butchers that would require a lot of slaughter for their growth. Thus, their growth would herald the emergence of a war of the myriad realms...
She solemnly said, "The multiple character faction has not been suppressed for so many years out of any individual's selfish desires. We are only trying to buy more time for humanity. With more time, we can gain even more strength. We don't want to see the multiple character faction rise again and experience a repeat of the tragedy back then where even Invincibles were killed..."
She sounded extremely righteous. Old Zheng nodded in agreement. But in truth, they were merely finding excuses for their actions.
Of course, not everyone was using those words as an excuse. Some truly believed so. They were able to see that for some reason, the major races were afraid of the multiple character faction, but they still believed that the emergence of the multiple character faction should not be allowed as that would only anger the major races. For many people, the potential of future salvation could not be compared to the extension of their current peace.
Sure, doing this was akin to drinking poison to quench one's thirst. Everyone knew that. But so what? Nobody wanted to participate in a war that would engulf the entirety of the Myriad Realms.
They had enjoyed three hundred years of peace. They were more than willing to sacrifice the multiple character faction to extend this peace. For the divines and the devils, a century or even a millennium was nothing. In that case, wasn’t better to delay the war by a century or even a millennium? Why must they take the initiative to end the peace if they could extend it?
Old Zheng said, "He has a Mountainsea with him?"
"A third-stage Mountainsea."
"He sure isn't holding back for this trip of his." Old Zheng laughed. "But the myriad race students with him are escorted by five Mountainseas and three Cloudbreach cultivators. That would be quite troublesome."
"Don't worry. They won't be trying too hard." Yu Hong indifferently said, "Of course, we still need to keep a few individuals occupied. That old fogey from the sky horse race would definitely make his move. There's also the mountain antelope race...these two races would definitely do their best to stop us."
Old Zheng nodded. He suddenly asked, "Do you think Su Yu's ruin is an Invincible ruin? Or is it a Sunmoon ruin?"
Yu Hong shook slightly. She turned and looked at Old Zheng.
With a calm expression, Old Zheng said, "He has definitely inherited a ruin. Anyone with an eye could see that. He is most certainly heading toward his ruin during this journey. Even if you have been silent about it, I can see this much. Elder Yu, it's not fair if only Great Xia's single character faction gets to enjoy this harvest, right?"
"What do you want?"
"If the ruin is within Great Xia's borders, I doubt we can get anything. I'm not asking for much. If there is a Sunmoon Divine Altar in the ruin, we only need a couple of slots."
Yu Hong coldly asked, "Are you taking advantage of us?"
"You misunderstand me, Elder Yu." Old Zheng smiled, "We're family, so it's only fair that we share our wealth. Also, it is risky for me to make a move within Great Xia. Are you trying to make me work without compensation just because we're family?"
Yu Hong sank into silence. After a moment, she said, "Everyone wants to enter the Sunmoon Realm. If there is really a Sunmoon Divine Altar in there, I doubt it would be able to host too many people. How about this? For every three individuals it can host, you can get one of the slots."
"Deal."
Old Zheng smiled with a satisfied expression. That was enough for him.
Yu Hong snorted inwardly. She knew that these Great Shang fellows were greedy.
Moving on from the topic, she said, "We need to force them to split up. It would be even better if we could separate the sky horse fellow from the group before attacking Su Yu. We also need to force his Mountainsea to come out of concealment. Even now, we have yet to discover that hidden Mountainsea."
Not even people like them could easily detect a Mountainsea who was trying to hide. There were also some Mountainseas who could hide from anyone below the Sunmoon Realm with their special abilities. Thus, they needed to sow chaos.
Old Zheng nodded in agreement. He asked, "Would the Myriad Race Cult still dare to conduct a large-scale operation in Great Xia?"
"Some are definitely afraid, but there will also be people who are brave enough to try this thanks to the large bounty." Yu Hong smiled, "Also, the mission has not only been issued to the cultists within Great Xia. Starting from two days ago, the cultists in the surrounding prefectures have already received the mission."
Yu Hong sneered, "With the reward, even a Mountainsea can try to make further advancement. And they only need to deal with Su Yu. We are sure that Hong Tan is in seclusion. Without Hong Tan, what are they afraid of?"
"How about Zhao Mingyue and the others?"
"Don't worry." Yu Hong said, "They have yet to fully fuse their characters. They are still licking their wounds."
"What about Principal Wan and the Xia Family?"
"Principal Wan won't leave the academy. And would someone like Marquis Xia leave the capital? No!"
Old Zheng was still worried. He said, "We still need to be cautious. We are targetting Su Yu's ruin, but the others aren't completely blind either."
Yu Hong nodded and said, "Don't worry. We will take everything into consideration."
"Alright."
After a short chat, the two vanished again with a flicker. They wanted to expose the Mountainsea guarding Su Yu and figure out the other trump cards Su Yu might have. Also, was that Mountainsea his only guardian?
***
The suanni was running rapidly as the wind whistled past him. Mounted atop the suanni was a cautious Su Yu. Under the dark night, his white robe continued fluttering about.
"Stop!"
As Su Yu raised his hand, the other students stopped. The ones who had been running on foot appeared to be gasping for breath. The sky horse youth scanned their surroundings and said, "Su Yu, can you slow down a bit? Why are you moving so fast? I didn't even get the chance to enjoy the scenery."
Was this still the promised scenic tour? He felt like he was going to die from exhaustion.
Su Yu ignored the complaint and continued studying his surroundings. He then said, "Seniors, please hold back if you encounter enemies below the Cloudbreach Realm. I need to wash my blade with some blood. These blind fools would be a nice tribute to my blade."
A voice came from the sky, "Well said, young friend."
The sky horse youth appeared confused. At this moment, a few corpses dropped down from the sky. A voice rang out, "These are probably the scouts from the cult. They sure are courageous. They thought they could hide from us."
Hearing that, the sky horse youth was overjoyed. He exclaimed, "Those fools were actually trying to pry on us?"
How courageous. Were they not scared of death?
But Su Yu wasn't surprised. Death? Tens of thousands of merit points were on the line. Such a temptation could persuade even a coward to try their luck. Furthermore, the single character faction had probably instigated them into making a move by hiding some crucial information.
Su Yu could imagine that if he was a cultist, he would be more than willing to try his luck in killing a mere Mental Tempering student for such a massive reward, especially if he was in need of money.
Succeeding was basically the same as winning the lottery. One ought to know that excluding the investment in his research center, even someone like Su Yu had yet to spend fifty thousand merit points for his cultivation thus far.
Su Yu did not say much. He turned around, looked at everyone, and said, "Since we are all out here to temper ourselves, we shouldn't be avoiding all danger. You guys can deal with enemies under the Skysoar Realm. I can deal with those at the Skysoar Realm. How do you expect to grow strong without staining your blade with blood?"
Li Minyu smiled and asked, "Would the cultists below the Skysoar Realm even dare to make an appearance?"
She did not think so. Since Su Yu was capable of killing even Skysoars, would those below that realm dare to come here and throw their lives away?
"There are idiots everywhere." Su Yu did not think that all cultists below the Skysoar Realm would be too scared to try something. There were bound to be some idiots who were confident they could take advantage of the chaos and reap some profit.
The world was a large place. And not everyone was smart.
After a short rest, Su Yu drank some water, looked around, and said, "We will be entering an area of pure wilderness after this. Keep an eye out, everyone."
With that, the suanni continued moving forward. The others hurriedly followed behind them.
Half an hour later.
With a slash of Su Yu's blade, blood splattered onto the ground. Immediately after, a few individuals charged over from all directions. He brandished his saber and weaved among the attackers. In the blink of an eye, dozens of corpses were added to the ground.
After looking around, Su Yu calmly said, "These are not cultists. They are merely some local bandits."
These bandits were courting death. They had probably spent their time robbing passing merchants all this while. But today, they had picked a fight with someone they shouldn't. Even the strongest among them was only a ninth-stage Infinite Strength cultivator.
That was enough to rob some traveling merchants, but this was the wrong group for them to target. Su Yu alone was enough to wipe them all out. The other students were no longer looking at Su Yu with the same expression as before.
What an intense killing intent. He had instantly killed dozens of people without as much as a frown.