Chapter 610: Buying A Research Center (1)
Day after day passed.
Su Yu had vanished completely from the public eye. Even in Tiandu itself, he had disappeared after the 1st of January. He was nowhere to be seen. The various academies would reopen around the middle of January.
A lot of people were wondering if Su Yu would be present when the academies reopened. Would he continue his studies? Would he restart his Source Soul Research Center?
According to the rumors, Su Yu was an arrogant and ferocious individual. Thus, the curious people of Tiandu had been wanting to see him. However, none were lucky enough to see him.
***
Tiandu.
Ten days. Su Yu had remained indoors for ten days. He had spent the time reorganizing his state of mind and learning more about Great Ming. He had done nothing except reading and cultivating.
During this period, he had also opened all the remaining acupoints he knew about. He had now opened a total of 346 acupoints. His rapid advancement was due to his intense battles on his way to Great Ming. Even the fusion of his acupoints felt much smoother after those battles.
But at the same time, he was still a peak Mental Tempering Stage and a ninth-stage Infinite Strength student. Not much seemed to have changed.
At the top of the building, Su Yu was relaxing on a rattan chair and bathing in the warm sunlight. In his hand was a book titled Records of Great Ming. He found the book very interesting. While he was reading, someone stomped over.Zhu Hongliang had arrived. With a hearty laugh, he said, "Su Yu, the academy will reopen in two days. The Eight Eminents of Tiandu is taking this chance to organize a poetry gathering before the new semester starts. Are you coming?"
"No."
Su Yu was completely uninterested. He indifferently said, "Just go without me, Prince."
The so-called poetry gathering was actually a Divine Character gathering. The participants would do more than just reciting poetry and drinking wine.
Great Ming's cultural researchers were experts at enjoying life. Some of these people did not care about the abilities of their characters. Rather, they only form characters that could be joined into poetry. For these people, only such characters were good characters.
Su Yu was naturally uninterested in such a gathering. And despite the usage of Divine Characters during these gatherings, these people did not compete in strength. Rather, they competed in how smoothly their poems read and how eye-catching their characters were.
Apart from poetry gatherings, there were also beast taming gatherings, puppet crafting gatherings, and so on in Great Ming. None of that could catch Su Yu's attention. He had his own pursuits to focus on.
"Come on! Everyone is curious about you! Why don't you take a walk with me! I already promised—"
When Su Yu gazed at him silently, Zhu Hongliang's expression turned into one of embarrassment. Su Yu said, "Enjoy yourself, Prince."
"But..." Zhu Hongliang helplessly said, "Fine. You sure are boring. No wonder my eighth sister said that you're boring. Why are you acting like an old man? We're still young!"
Su Yu smiled and ignored him. They were not the same type of people. How was Zhu Hongliang so sure that he wasn't enjoying his current life?
Not long after Zhu Hongliang left, someone appeared in front of Su Yu. He stood up and bowed, "Greetings, Prefect."
"No need for formalities."
Zhu Tiandao sat down opposite him and said, "Hongliang might love wasting his time playing around, but he has a good heart. He's just like me..."
Su Yu said nothing. Zhu Tiandao had three sons and two daughters. Each of the three sons had a son of their own as well. His eldest grandson, Zhu Hongwen, was a Cloudbreach expert at around thirty years old.
Zhu Hongliang was the son of his second son while Zhu Qingyan was the daughter of his third son.
Of his grandsons, Old Zhu liked Zhu Hongliang the most. His eldest grandson was Zhu Hongwen. Su Yu had met him once. He was a very scholarly person, but for some reason, Old Zhu seemed a lot kinder to Zhu Hongliang than the eldest grandson. Perhaps he liked the second grandson more, or perhaps he was simply educating them differently.
After all, the eldest grandson might also be the future prefect. Thus, it was understandable if Zhu Tiandao was stricter with his eldest grandson. Being a Cloudbreach expert at around thirty years old was actually quite impressive.
Zhu Tiandao stopped talking about Zhu Hongliang. He smiled and said, "What is your decision on the matter concerning the research center? You have been doing nothing except reading recently."
"It doesn't hurt to multitask. Su Yu smiled and said, "But this is a small matter. I feel guilty for troubling you with something this minor."
"Not at all." Zhu Tiandao said, "It is a big matter. Also, you're new here so you should make some friends as well. It's too lonely to be alone all the time. Qingyan and the other children have organized a Heavenly Dao Union. You should go out and have some fun with them when you have the time. As a youngster, you should relax every now and then. There is no need for you to keep living the same life now that you're in Great Ming."
Su Yu nodded and said, "I'll go when I have the time."
Zhu Tiandao was somewhat speechless. This kid was still so young. Why was he so serious all the time? He had arrived at Great Ming for so many days, but he had spent all his time cultivating and reading. Wasn't he bored?
Then again, perhaps this was the type of person that would go far in life. There was no doubt that in terms of discipline, Great Ming was incomparable to Great Xia. Both Great Xia and Great Qin were powerful prefectures, and this was reflected in the nature of their citizens. In both these prefectures, the strong would receive a lot of respect.
Sure, that was also the same in Great Ming, but strength was not the only path to success in Great Ming. Thus, strength was not the sole pursuit of the cultivators in Great Ming.
"Yes, you should go out and have some fun when you can. Have you seen the name list I sent you? If you wish to reopen your research center, you can consider seeing these people. They are quite weak, and they are very old, but they are very knowledgeable."
Su Yu nodded, "I will."
"Kid...why do you feel even more boring than before after joining Great Ming?" Zhu Tiandao stood up and said, "I won't be disturbing you any longer. Feel free to look for Hongliang if you need anything."
"Thank you, Prefect."
After flashing Su Yu a smile, Zhu Tiandao vanished into thin air. Su Yu said nothing and returned to his book. He would definitely be picking some members for his new research center.
But all these people were strangers. He still needed to keep some secrets from them. And since he still knew very little about Great Ming, he was in no rush to make his choice.
Furthermore, it wasn't like the people he picked would definitely agree to join him. After all, those were all seniors with plenty of experience. Forcing them to join him might result in adverse effects instead.
"The research center is important, but my strength is even more important. Can I find 360 acupoints? Can I link them all into a major cycle after opening all of them? Bai Tianhao..."
An introduction of Bai Tianhao was available in the book he was reading. That was the founder of the Bai Family. He once killed a seventh-stage Mountainsea as a ninth-stage Cloudbreach. That was a terrifying feat.
And he was also one of the experts who had followed Great Ming King during the founding of Great Ming. Alas, he had perished after the battle with the Mountainsea.
Nevertheless, the Bai Family persisted. The current patriach of the Bai Family was Bai Feng's uncle. He was a ninth-stage Cloudbreach. Su Yu was quite surprised to learn that Bai Feng's grandfather was still alive. That was a Mountainsea expert.
But the old man had remained in seclusion for many years. Nobody knew if he was trying to break through or doing something else. As for Bai Feng's father, he was holding a governmental office in the army. Su Yu had yet to meet him as well.
Since Su Yu was the student of Bai Feng, the Bai Family definitely knew about him. But even after so many days, not a single person from the Bai Family had attempted to establish contact with him. Thus, he decided to not be rash and visit them as well. He didn't know about the situation within the Bai Family that well. Perhaps his teacher had a sour relationship with them.
"Source soul acupoint...Bai Tianhao..."
Suddenly, the air warped. Both the shadow and the water elemental were instantly on alert.
"Cough, cough, I'm a friend."
An old man appeared out of thin air. The old man had a refined and elegant appearance. Clad in a white robe, with his white hair and white beard, he looked like a profoundly wise man.
Su Yu's eyes flickered as he realized who the newcomer was. He stood up and said, "Greetings, Faculty Head Hu."
"You know me?"
"It was a guess."
"You have good eyes."
This was Hu Xiansheng, the faculty head of the Multiple Character Faculty.
With a friendly smile, Hu Xiansheng said, "You are truly worthy of being a talented youngster who has shocked the world. Your temperament and your bearing are extraordinary."
"You praise me too much."
Su Yu smiled and spoke in a perfunctory manner.
Why was Hu Xiansheng here?
Was he here to borrow money?
"Student Su, you have been here for many days. Alas, I have been too busy to meet you..."
"The fault is mine. I should have visited you instead, Faculty Head."
Hu Xiansheng stroked his beard and said, "Don't worry about it. The new semester is starting soon anyway. I noticed that you have yet to register for the faculty. You're new here so you need to get the paperwork done, you know."
"I understand. I'll get it done."
"Don't worry about it. I have completed the registration for you." Hu Xiansheng smiled and said, "Are you not inviting me to take a seat?"
"Please take a seat, Faculty Head."
Su Yu was feeling very helpless. Why was this guy here? He had no money! Please don't ask him for money!
Hu Xiansheng sat down and said, "By the way, I heard that you're trying to start a research center, Student Su. That is an excellent idea. I just happen to have my own research center as well. Starting a new research center from scratch takes a lot of time and money. You shouldn't be wasting your money on something like that. You might as well join my research center instead."
"..."
Here it comes.
Nevertheless, Su Yu still smiled and said, "Forget it, Faculty Head. My research is not important. I heard that your research center is involved in something very high-end."