Tribulation of Myriad Races

Su Yu naturally wouldn’t worry about Bai Feng’s feelings. After opening 360 acupoints, he started to think about his body forging art. Additionally, he also needed to start opening more apertures. It was already almost the middle of February, but he was still stuck at 115 apertures. He was 65 apertures away from opening all the apertures he knew.

He would be able to open his apertures rapidly with the Willpower Grotto, but opening it once required a large amount of riversand. Even if Great Xia were to deliver him the Willpower Grotto, he would have no way of opening it. Su Yu had asked about Great Ming’s stock of riversand, but they didn’t have much in stock.

Why? Because Great Ming had always gained very little from their past Luminous Domain Mansion explorations. And they had also used some of what they had gathered over the years. Fortunately, Su Yu was soon presented with a new idea.

***

Inside the research center.

Su Yu was looking over the body forging arts he had just obtained. After listening to him grumble about the Willpower Grotto, Jin Sheng looked at him with an odd expression and said, “Just go to the Hundred Dao Pagoda. Challenge the pagoda levels. As a cultural researcher, are you supposed to cultivate in meditation all the time? What a waste of time. As a character master, you will definitely be rewarded with a decent amount of willpower after challenging the pagoda.”

Hu Xiansheng had mentioned the same pagoda to Su Yu on his second day in the academy. Su Yu had planned to visit the pagoda one day, but he had completely forgotten about it as he was too busy recently.

Hearing Jin Sheng’s words, he asked in surprise, “Is the Hundred Dao Pagoda helpful in opening apertures?”

“Of course.”

Jin Sheng nodded, “People like us don’t enjoy cultivating. And opening apertures is too difficult. Great Xia has the Willpower Grotto while we have the Hundred Dao Pagoda. It is definitely better than the Willpower Grotto. Of course, the premise for that is that you can climb more levels.”

Jin Sheng grinned, “Even now, there is no news about the delivery of the grotto to you. So are you releasing your cultivation method to them or not?”

“I’ll let it simmer for a few days.” Su Yu smiled, “I’m going to cause as much annoyance to Yuan Qingdong as possible. I’ll wait and let the single character faction ask for money from him. Why should I release it before they secure the subsidy?”

“You truly are…”

Jin Sheng decided to not say the word petty out loud. Yuan Qingdong sure was unlucky to have offended someone like this. Su Yu smiled, but soon, his face turned gloomy again.

“What’s wrong?” Jin Sheng was curious. Why did this kid change his expression so suddenly?

“Nothing. I recalled Martial Uncle Feng Ji’s matter.”

Su Yu had only met Feng Ji once. Thus, there really wasn’t that much of a relationship between them. But Feng Ji had arrived to help him during the Starfall Mountain incident. That was a favor he wouldn’t forget.

Previously, he had thought that Feng Ji was merely hiding in seclusion. But he subsequently learned that Feng Ji had a hidden identity as an undercover agent in the Six-Winged Divine Sect. That was an arrangement of his martial uncle. Because of him, Feng Ji’s identity was exposed.

He received news from Great Xia that Feng Ji’s status remained unknown. They suspected that he was being hunted by a Sunmoon. Even his martial uncle, Chen Yong, had left the academy to search for Feng Ji. There were also rumors stating that Chen Yong had departed to seek revenge on his enemies. The culprits who had killed Wu Jia’s parents came from the Six-Winged Divine Sect.

Hearing that, Jin Sheng hesitated slightly and said, “I heard about that as well. Don’t think about it too much. This is definitely a trap. They’re trying to lure you out of Great Ming. You can’t get involved. Junior Brother Su, you need to know that recently, the academy guards have caught numerous intruders. You can’t do anything rash.”

He solemnly said, “This is too obvious. The rumors are spreading way too fast. They are either targeting you or Chen Yong with these rumors. If a Sunmoon is really trying to kill Feng Ji, he would have been dead by now. It doesn’t make sense that he is still alive.”

It wasn’t that he wanted Feng Ji to die, but the entire thing was too fishy.

According to the rumors, Feng Ji had barely escaped the pursuing Sunmoon several times in a row. And each encounter was leaked with great detail, including the location of the encounter. This whole thing was most definitely a trap.

Even Su Yu had learned about these rumors. Jin Sheng persuaded, “You’re too weak. You won’t be much help even if you go. A Sunmoon is involved, and you can’t even get anyone to help.”

Su Yu was about to say something when Jin Sheng said, “I know. Both the prefect and principal value you highly. If you do beg for their assistance, they might help. But with their departure, Great Ming will suddenly find itself lacking Sunmoons. This whole thing might be one big ploy to lure our experts away. You understand this as well.”

If Su Yu asked for help, would he be able to get some? Definitely. Zhu Tiandao and Niu Baidao would probably agree. But with their departure, the defenses of Great Ming would suddenly be lacking.

Zhu Tiandao was a ninth-stage Sunmoon. And Niu Baidao was a seventh-stage Sunmoon. Those were the two current strongest experts in Great Ming. As for the war academy, the principal there was only a peak Mountainsea. There was no helping it as the warriors of Great Ming had a higher casualty rate. And most of their stronger warriors were based on the Allheaven Battlefield.

Director Hou was a Sunmoon, but he wasn’t a late-stage Sunmoon. If a late-stage Sunmoon decided to attack while the two were away, Great Ming would be hard-pressed to defend itself.

Su Yu nodded. He wasn’t stupid. His Martial Uncle Feng Ji might have survived so long because of luck. Or it could be a trap. Su Yu wanted to lure them into Great Ming. But at the same time, those people also wanted to lure him out of Great Ming.

Even if Su Yu didn’t have the courage to leave, they would still be able to lure someone else out. Chen Yong. At the time, they would use Chen Yong as the bait instead. Would Su Yu bite? Would Su Yu ask for help? Who could he ask? Zhu Tiandao and Niu Baidao were probably his best options.

After a short silence, Su Yu asked, “Did Yuan Qingdong deliberately leak Martial Uncle Feng Ji’s identity?”

“Who knows?” Jin Sheng shook his head, “It’s too hard to judge. But he knew about Chen Yong’s grudge toward the Six-Winged Divine Sect. And he also knew about Feng Ji’s identity. Thus, even before this, he might have already guessed that Feng Ji was an undercover agent sent by Chen Yong. Yet he had still exposed the whole thing. Prior to this, the Six-Winged Divine Sect was probably unaware of Feng Ji’s identity.”

After knowing about Feng Ji’s identity and his relationship with Chen Yong, it was easy for one to guess that Feng Ji was actually a spy. It was very likely that Yuan Qingdong had reached the same conclusion as well. Yet he had still exposed Feng Ji’s identity. In that case, he was either colluding with the cult or trying to kill with a borrowed blade.

It wasn’t too likely that he was colluding with the cult since he was a descendant of an Invincible. Generally, people with his status wouldn’t do something so stupid. It was more likely that he was trying to kill with a borrowed blade. It was safe to assume that Chen Yong had been Yuan Qingdong’s goal all along. That was very likely to be the case.

Hong Tan was in seclusion while Chen Yong had entered the Mountainsea Realm. Who would he target if not Chen Yong? That was the best method to further weaken Great Xia’s multiple character faction.

And Chen Yong had ultimately taken the obvious bait. Feng Ji was a friend who had remained in the Six-Winged Divine Sect for many years because of him. They had been working together to find an opportunity to kill the experts of the sect. Over the years, they had actually killed quite a lot of cultists through their cooperation.

Of those involved in killing Wu Jia’s parents back then, only one remained. The others had all been killed. But with the exposure of Feng Ji’s identity, the cultists were able to instantly link those deaths with him. The cultists were probably furious with Chen Yong.

Su Yu sighed. It would seem like peace was truly a luxury for him.

“I wonder if I can buy the service of some Sunmoons with my cultivation methods…”

Su Yu wasn’t strong enough. He could face Cloudbreaches, but he still stood no chance against Mountainseas. And Sunmoons would be able to instantly kill him.

Thus, he would only burden his martial uncle if he decided to move out himself. But he couldn’t stay idle. Perhaps he could solicit the help of several Sunmoons with his cultivation methods.

Jin Sheng pondered on the question for a bit and said, “It might be difficult. In the past, cultivation methods have always been sold for money. And the Six-Winged Divine Sect master isn’t weak at all. He is probably second only to the likes of the Original Devil Sect master and the First Divine Sect master.”

Furthermore, the Six-Winged Divine Sect was a large sect with more than one Sunmoon in its ranks. It was rumored that even a six-winged divine had personally entered the Human Realm. The risk of facing such a sect was too high for those Sunmoons to agree.

“Those prefectures are truly garbage. How are they failing to eliminate these cultists?”

The supposedly peaceful Human Realm was not peaceful at all.

Jin Sheng smiled and said, “Don’t be like that. In truth, we’ve killed a lot of them. They wouldn’t have remained in the shadows otherwise. Sunmoons are very hard to detect if they decide to focus on hiding.”

“Why is nobody doing anything now that the Sunmoon of the Six-Wingded Divine Sect is roaming openly?”

Su Yu was still unhappy. Was everyone ignoring the chaos happening behind the frontlines?

“Of course someone is doing something. Yuan Qingdong is going to make a move, right?” Jin Sheng said with a flat tone, “He promised that he would personally mount a rescue operation. He’s a Sunmoon as well. Since he has offered to go himself, the other Sunmoons won’t step forth. After all, all the Sunmoons are busy with their own tasks…”

“Is everyone believing every word he says?”

Su Yu was speechless. Who would believe that? Bullshit! That fellow was clearly harboring evil designs.

Jin Sheng said, “Don’t worry too much. If Yuan Qingdong really encounters the enemy Sunmoon, he will make a move. Everyone knows that he’s making a move, so he won’t be able to explain himself if he stays idle even when an enemy Sunmoon is right in front of him.”

“Yeah. That’s why he’ll probably fail in his search repeatedly.”

Su Yu was certain of that. He was so annoyed because he knew Yuan Qingdong’s plans clearly yet couldn’t do anything about it.

In his desperation, he asked, “Senior Brother, do you think Director Hou is good enough for this task?”

“Are you thinking of asking for Director Hou’s help?”

“Yeah.”

“It’s hard to say, but it’s worth trying. Director Hou’s departure won’t affect Great Ming too much.”

Everything would be fine as long as Zhu Tiandao and Niu Baidao remained. Su Yu nodded. In that case, he would give it a try. He wanted to see anything happen to both Chen Yong and Feng Ji.

He had to do something. That damn Yuan Qingdong. Su Yu vowed to take his revenge against that asshole one day. So what if that was a Sunmoon?

Also, why was his grandteacher still stuck? Even Jin Yuhui had broken through so easily. His grandteacher was supposed to be more talented as a member of the multiple character faction. Why was his breakthrough so difficult?

The more Su Yu thought about it, the more helpless he felt. Forget it. Whatever.