Tribulation of Myriad Races

Su Yu left the drawing room with Bai Junsheng. While walking, he asked, “Why did my teacher leave back then? I don’t think he really adores the fifth principal that much…”

Bai Junsheng said, “My cousin didn’t leave because he idolized the fifth principal. Rather, he was drawn in by the decline of a glorious, mysterious, and powerful faction. The stories of Liu Wenyan and his generation could be heard even in Great Ming. In fact, there are more recordings of their stories in Great Ming than Great Xia.

“The glory of the past. The fifth principal who could kill Invincibles. Liu Wenyan who was so heroic. My cousin pursued the past. If I’m honest, he’s very arrogant. Perhaps he thought that he could change something.”

Bai Ye furiously said, “You’re not allowed to call my big brother that! He’s not arrogant!”

“What do you know? Shoo. Don’t interrupt when adults are talking.”

As Bai Junsheng played with Bai Ye’s ponytail, she furiously said, “Wait until I finish my Source Opening and enter the Great Strength Realm. I’ll beat you up!”

“Keep dreaming. By the time you reach the Great Strength Realm, I would be a Cloudbreach or a Mountainsea already.” Bai Junsheng laughed, “You have only opened one acupoint so far. You will probably need five or six years to complete your Source Opening. In fact, you’ll be considered a genius if you can complete your Source Opening by fifteen.”

Bai Ye gloomily said, “Source Opening is very annoying.”

Su Yu got an idea and transmitted his voice to Bai Junsheng, “Is the Bai Family supportive of Bai Ye’s cultivation?”

Bai Junsheng blanked out slightly before replying, “Why not? We’re a family of warriors. What are we supposed to do if we don’t cultivate?”

“What I meant to ask is would completing her Source Opening immediately interfere with Bai Family’s teachings?”

Bai Junsheng was momentarily stunned before recalling something. He asked in excitement, “Heavenly source fruit?”

Right! Su Yu had the favor of the prefect. Perhaps he could really get a heavenly source fruit from the prefect.

As Bai Junsheng had exclaimed in his excitement, Bai Ye heard his words as well. She asked curiously, “Heavenly source fruit? Brother Junsheng, why mention that? Do you have any? Did you win it from the ninth prince? You beat him up so many times before. Did you finally win something useful from him? Why don’t you beat him up one more time for more good stuff?”

“…”

Su Yu was stunned. Was this girl the reason why Bai Junsheng fought Zhu Hongliang so many times in the past? And it was all for the sake of getting a heavenly source fruit?

Bai Junsheng had an awkward expression as Su Yu laughed in amusement. Since the Bai Family was supportive of Bai Ye’s cultivation, there was no need for him to worry too much. He said, “I still have one heavenly source fruit with me. The prefect gave it to me, but I don’t need it. If Bai Ye requires it, I can get it delivered later.”

Bai Ye asked in excitement, “Are you speaking the truth, Big Brother Su Yu?”

Bai Junsheng scratched his head and said, “It’s too precious. Not even the prefect has too many of them. It’s a waste to give it away. The girl isn’t too talented anyway…”

“You’re the one who isn’t too talented!” Bai Ye was both excited and shy. She said, “That’s…a precious fruit. Maybe…you shouldn’t do it.”

She wanted the fruit, but she also knew that the fruit was very valuable.

Su Yu smiled, “It’s fine. I don’t need it. And it’s a waste to keep it around without using it. I’ll get someone to send it over later.”

At this point, they had reached the library. Su Yu did not give them the chance to say anything else and stepped into the room. There weren’t too many books in the library. On one of the shelves were some ancient-looking books and beast hides.

Things like willpower texts and jade talismans had only been created after peace returned to the Human Realm. During the founding era, most information would be recorded in physical books or beast hides.

Noticing how Su Yu was staring at the books, Bai Junsheng said, “Take your time. We won’t be disturbing you.”

“Thanks.”

Bai Junsheng was quite tactful. He dragged Bai Ye with him, leaving Su Yu alone in the room. Su Yu did not hesitate and started reading immediately.

***

At the same time.

After knocking on the door to a secret room, Bai Zhanyi stood there waiting. The door swung open.

Inside the secret room, an old man was seated cross-legged. After a coughing fit, he slowly asked, “Yes?”

“Father!”

Bai Zhanyi deferentially said, “Someone is here to read the notes of our ancestor.”

“So be it.”

“That person is Little Feng’s student, a genius researcher…” Bai Zhanyi gave a short introduction before saying, “He has been researching the source soul acupoint as well. Father, what do you think?”

The old man muttered, “Source soul acupoint…that is a source of calamity. Anyone using it will die. It is not as simple as those people believed. Unless absolutely necessary, one should never take this suicidal path. Let alone using it, just opening this acupoint alone is enough to cripple someone…”

“But Su Yu might be different. He has opened even more acupoints than the ancestor.” After a slight hesitation, Bai Zhanyi said, “Father, your injuries are too heavy. Perhaps Su Yu might be able to find out something. And his research results might be the key to curing you. With your recovery, the Bai Family will have more confidence in the crisis to come.”

The old man said, “Did the brat, Bai Feng, cause some trouble out there again?”

“It’s not Little Feng. It’s Hong Tan. He left seclusion recently as a Sunmoon. He’s reopening the Multiple Character Faculty. He even came up with something called the disassembly method…I suspect that this method is not Hong Tan’s creation. Instead, it’s Little Feng. That was what he used to defeat Xia Yuwen…”

The old man sighed and said, “Must that unfilial son attract such trouble to us? Sooner or later, the Bai Family will get dragged into the conflict as well.”

“It has been many years since Little Feng returned.” Bai Zhanyi sighed, “He knew what he did, so he tried severing his relationship with us. But we’re family. Our connection can’t be severed so easily. The only thing we can do right now is to play deaf. We’re too weak to take part in the conflict. With your injuries, we don’t even have a Mountainsea…My second brother has been silent about it, but he is grieving inwardly. As of late, he is turning more and more taciturn.”

The old man sighed and said, “We will be fine if we remain in Great Ming. But if we leave and participate in this conflict, Great Ming will not be able to protect us anymore. Any carelessness will result in destruction. In truth, there are a lot of eyes on the Bai Family as well. Even after so many years, some people are still trying to find out the secret of our ancestor.”

“Father, what do we do about Su Yu?”

After a short silence, the old man said, “The ancestor did not leave anything useful behind. He only said that the complete acupoint was once broken into pieces. After bringing them together again, the heart of acupoints will reappear. But for rebuilding to happen, destruction must come first. I tried doing so, but apart from injuring myself badly, I achieved nothing. You can get yourself killed easily if you attempt this rashly.”

“Do we tell Su Yu about it, then?”

After a slight hesitation, the old man said, “He will definitely die if he tries it rashly. These youngsters are very impatient…”

“He might be different.”

The old man sank into silence. After a long while, he nodded, “Go. But don’t tell him directly. Just give him some clues. If he manages to discover it, he can make his choice. Source soul acupoint…heart of acupoints…what our ancestor said might not be the same as what Su Yu is seeking.”

“I understand.” Bai Zhanyi asked, “Will the so-called source soul acupoint be helpful to your injuries?”

“It depends on whether he can find a stable method of opening that acupoint. If he can’t…”

“I understand.”

Bai Zhanyi said nothing else and left the secret room. Behind him, the door swung shut yet again.

***

Su Yu was busy going through numerous books and notes.

“Bai Tianhao must have opened around 270 acupoints.”

That was his conclusion after looking at a diagram. The diagram looked like a crude drawing of random dots. Only upon a closer look did Su Yu realize that this was a diagram of acupoints.

More importantly, among these acupoints was one unique acupoint. The forehead acupoint.

That was a very special acupoint. Even Su Yu had opened it through the original devil blood essence. If one had to locate that acupoint manually, one would probably die long before succeeding. Surprisingly, Bai Tianhao had succeeded.

“This makes sense. He might have discovered something after opening some special acupoints.”

But Su Yu, who had opened even more acupoints, had yet to discover anything. Perhaps he was still missing something.

While Su Yu was reading, Bai Junsheng entered the room with a book in hand. He said, “I almost forgot this. I took one of the notes away a few days ago. You can take a look. Perhaps this will be helpful.”

Su Yu nodded and accepted the book. Bai Junsheng smiled and said, “I’ll be taking my leave, then.”

He then left. Su Yu did not say anything and started flipping through the newly received book. After a while, he blanked out. Destruction of acupoints? Those were the notes in the book. After noticing it, he went through the book in greater detail.

He frowned as numerous thoughts appeared in his mind. This book in particular recorded Bai Tianhao’s experience when he was younger. Once, he received a serious injury that resulted in the destruction of numerous acupoints.

The damaged pieces of acupoints were mixed together. It took him around eight years to recuperate. During that time, some of his peers had entered the Mountainsea Realm while he was still stuck in the Cloudbreach Realm.

Not long after his full recovery, he accomplished the feat he was known for: killing a Mountainsea as a Cloudbreach.

“Destruction of acupoints…and rebuilding…”

Numerous thoughts appeared in Su Yu’s mind. He recalled his conversation with Hu Qiusheng and the others during his time in Great Xia.

In the beginning, there was only one acupoint. Then, the acupoint broke apart. Thus, the growth of a human cultivator involved the opening of acupoints before fusing those acupoints.

At the Sunmoon Realm, one would only have a single acupoint left. This was a process of recovery. The source soul acupoint might be the crux of this process.

“Destruction of acupoints…”

Su Yu continued reading. There were more annotations in the book. They appeared quite old, seemingly left by the descendants of Bai Tianhao. Noticing that, Su Yu blanked out. Some members of the Bai Family had actually tried this?

In their attempt to walk Bai Tianhao’s path, they destroyed their own acupoints. After the destruction, they did manage to discover something. But they also couldn’t repair their destroyed acupoints. Thus, they remained crippled.

“How courageous. Destroying their own acupoints…Isn’t this stupid?”

Su Yu couldn’t help but wonder about the identity of the person who had left these words behind. Was that a fool? Blindly destroying one’s own acupoints, especially when there were a lot of them…wasn’t that the same as courting death? The person who had written these notes must have screwed up and died.

Killing themselves while conducting a research. Sure enough, warriors were terrible at research. How could one experiment on themselves before gathering enough information? This person had most definitely died from this experiment.

“For something like this, you naturally have to test it through a dummy or other test subjects. Testing it yourself should be the last step. After all, you only have a single life to lose.”

Su Yu shook his head, lamenting that the person who had written these notes was truly dumb.

So there was such a stupid elder in the history of the Bai Family. Then again, his Teacher Bai Feng was actually smart, but he had also experimented on himself with the disassembly method. Su Yu didn’t know what to think anymore. Perhaps this was the unique trait of the Bai Family.

And look at the result. After the first test, Bai Feng was nearly dead. Was this a tradition of the Bai Family? Su Yu wondered if his Teacher Bai had read this book before. Was Bai Feng aware that one of his seniors had done the same stupid thing and kissed the living world goodbye?

“Destroy the acupoints, rebuild them, and lure the source soul acupoint out during the rebuilding process?”

This was an interesting thought process, but it was too dangerous. There was no way he was going to test it himself.

“Perhaps the destruction step can be skipped. The purpose of destruction might be the removal of the repelling force or rearrangement of the acupoints. But it had probably failed because they didn’t have enough acupoints…But I have a lot of acupoints! In that case, the rearrangement of 360 acupoints might be the key to discovering something new!”

“…”

Without realizing it, Su Yu had activated his fire of civilization as he sank into thought. At that exact moment, Bai Zhanyi and the others in the Bai Family looked toward the library in confusion. What was going on?

Suddenly, they felt extremely comfortable, with all their thoughts flowing smoothly. Some of the things that had troubled them in the past were no longer so difficult to solve.

Bai Junsheng, who was busy bickering with Bai Ye, muttered to himself, “This is weird. Why do I suddenly feel like I am now capable of forging an early yellow-grade cultural weapon? Forge…yes, my flame-controlling method has been wrong all along!”

For some reason, he felt like he had become much smarter than before.

***

Meanwhile, a lot of new thoughts had appeared in Su Yu’s mind as well.

Source soul acupoint…soul acupoint, and source acupoint.

Yin and yang. Two sides of a mirror.

Perhaps what Bai Tianhao discovered was not the source soul acupoint. Rather, it was the yang acupoint, corresponding to the source acupoints. There was also a yin acupoint, corresponding to the soul apertures. Only when the two came together would the source soul acupoint appear.

Symmetry.

According to Wu Lan, all acupoints came in pairs. Since he had opened 360 acupoints, would the source soul acupoint come in pairs as well?

“In that case, there might really be 360 apertures in existence as well…”

At that moment, Su Yu felt like a lot of his questions had been answered. Looking at the book in his hand, he laughed. This was probably not a book just anyone could see.

But it might not be a good thing for too many people to see it. The recorded experiment would cause numerous deaths. Bai Tianhao must have been really lucky back then to discover the so-called yang acupoint without dying straight away. Anyone else would only discover this acupoint after sacrificing numerous lives.

It was very likely that this book had never been shown to an outsider before. Thanks to this book, Su Yu had a rough idea of what he should do, but numerous tests were required. The puppet given to him by Zhao Tianbing would prove useful after this.

“Bai Family…”

Su Yu said nothing and placed the book into his storage ring. He didn’t know if this was a gift from Bai Zhanyi or the old grandpa in seclusion. It didn’t matter. Since this was a gift, he would naturally accept it. As for whether he had misunderstood something, he reckoned that he hadn’t.

***

Late at night, Su Yu finally took his leave.

Not long after that, Bai Zhanyi entered the library. Noticing that the book had gone missing, he laughed in amusement. Was the kid not afraid that they would accuse him of theft? It was clear that this little fellow was a lot more greasy than Bai Feng. Well, that wasn’t a bad thing. At times, being too honest would not lead to anything good.

“But this is very curious. Just what character does that kid have? Why did I comprehend so many new things today?”

Bai Zhanyi shook his head. He had been stuck as a ninth-stage Cloudbreach for many years. Today, he seemed to have comprehended a lot of things. The path to the Mountainsea Realm suddenly seems much clearer than before.

“That kid is a walking treasure trove. If he stays here and radiates that light every single day, I’ll probably reach the Mountainsea Realm before long. No wonder the prefect attaches so much importance to him.”

He could sense that a lot of hidden experts were protecting Su Yu even when the kid was visiting the Bai Family. That little fellow was being treated like an absolute royalty.

***

At the same time. Inside the prefect’s residence.

Zhu Tiandao was rubbing his chin as he muttered, “Can the source soul acupoint really help someone fight above their class?”

He was wondering if he could kill Invincibles after opening that acupoint. He couldn’t help but look forward to it.

Tsk tsk. Well, he should forget about that for now. He wished Su Yu would spend twenty-four hours per day researching. Sleep? Nope. Great Ming required his service. Perhaps they should consider sending that kid some stamina boosters or something similar to help him stay awake longer.