Published at 23rd of September 2024 12:11 am

Chapter 742: Return Gift (3)

This chapter is updated by JustRead.pl

Su Yu turned to look at the prisoner. He smiled, "You? You're even weaker than the suanni. What can you even do for me? You can't do anything to help me apart from being a test subject. Just earn ten contributions here and I'll give you freedom."

He waved his hand and sealed all the cells before leaving. Outside, the suanni and mountaindrill bull carefully stay inconspicuous so that Su Yu wouldn't notice them. However, Su Yu still saw them. It wasn't like he was blind.

Looking at the two cowering fellows, he was left speechless. He said, "If the two of you can't reach the Cloudbreach Realm in one month, I'll send you to the Heart Paradise Island. Principal Niu once told me about a famous dish made of suanni meat and beef. I don't mind trying how it tastes."

"We will definitely reach that realm!"

The two started sweating. This was too scary. They wouldn't think that this was a bluff. This fellow was very realistic. When he needed you, he would treat you like a friend. If he didn't need you, and he didn't owe you any favor, he wouldn't care about you.

"There's also the water guy and the shadow. The two of you have almost fully recovered. It's time for you to cultivate and enter the Mountainsea Realm."

Su Yu said, "It is fine for you to fall behind me if you're my friend. But if you're not, it is only a matter of time before I toss you aside. It's either that or death. After all, I will only encounter more dangers in the future. There is nothing I can do if you get yourself killed because you're too weak."

After saying that, he walked away. The beasts didn't know what to say. Falling behind? Dying? That...might really happen.

After leaving the basement, Su Yu returned to his cultivation room. The detonation had not helped him locate the source soul acupoint, but he had still learned something from it.

Strength. He needed more strength. In that case, could he open that acupoint with external strength? As for Shan Xiong...well, that fellow could wait for a bit.

***

While Su Yu was in seclusion.

In a large manor near the Hundred Dao Pagoda.

Shang Tianjiao said in excitement, "Big Brother Shan Xiong, do you know this? When I went out earlier, I heard everyone talking about you. They were all praising you. I thought that the people of Great Ming would be prejudiced against you but surprisingly, that's not the case."

"Praising me?" Shan Xiong was reading a book introducing the Hundred Dao Pagoda. He asked, "What are they saying about me?"

"They said that you once defeated Huang Teng and Qin Fang. Is that true?" Shang Tianjiao asked, "Why hadn't you told me that before?"

"Hmm?" Shan Xiong blanked out. That wasn't true.

"Who said that?"

"Everyone!" Shang Tianjiao said, "I even saw Wu Lan earlier. She's someone from Great Xia's Wu Family. Her expression was very ugly. She faced me with her nostril and claimed that there was nothing special about defeating Huang Teng since he was not a cultural researcher. Tsk tsk. I can clearly feel how jealous she was."

"Wu Lan? Wu Qi's younger sister?"

Shan Xiong didn't know Wu Lan, but he had heard about Wu Qi before.

Shang Tianjiao said, "Yeah. She's from Great Xia. Since even she has acknowledged your victory over Huang Teng, nobody can deny that. Not even Huang Teng himself can deny that."

"..."

Shan Xiong said, "That's not true. I have never even met Huang Teng and Qin Fang before, let alone fighting them."

He paused shortly to think before saying, "This isn't a good thing. There is no quarrel between me, Huang Teng, and Qin Fang. They are warriors while I'm a cultural researcher. There is no conflict of interest. Both Great Xia and Great Qin are aware that this is not true. When they hear these rumors, it won't benefit me in any way."

"So that's not true?" Shang Tianjiao blanked out.

Shan Xiong nodded, "Yes. That's a lie."

After a short pause, he asked, "Was Wu Lan the one spreading these rumors? Or was it Su Yu?"

"I don't know..."

Shan Xiong sighed, "In that case, I will thoroughly embarrass the single character faction if I lose. Additionally, I will also offend some people. My sole choice is to first defeat Su Yu before defeating Huang Teng and Qin Fang, turning mere rumors into the truth."

As for explaining himself, there was no need for that. He wasn't the person who had spread those rumors. Why should he be the one to provide an explanation for them?

He looked at Shang Tianjiao and asked, "Did you add to these rumors?"

"No. I returned right after hearing those rumors. Big Brother Shan Xiong, is this bad for you?"

Shan Xiong smiled and said, "No. But if I can defeat Su Yu, it won't matter. If I lose...forget it. Let's not talk about that. You don't have to get involved in this matter. Ultimately, strength will decide everything."

Before moving on from the topic, he reminded Shang Tianjiao to not spread the rumors further. That was pointless as it would only offend more people for no gain. Was this one of Su Yu's tricks? Was Su Yu doing this because he was afraid of defeat? Or was he fully confident in winning?

Shan Xiong stopped thinking and returned to his book. He was thinking of challenging the Hundred Dao Pagoda.

Right at that moment, someone knocked on his door before entering. It was Wen Zhong. With a smile, he said, "Teaching Assistant Shan, Junior Brother Su has accepted your challenge. It will happen five days later. On the 25th of March, you will fight each other in the academy. As for whether this will be a normal spar or a fight to the death, my junior brother will give a confirmation after leaving seclusion."

Shan Xiong frowned slightly and asked, "Senior Wen, does Su Yu enjoy fights to the death so much?"

"I'm not sure." Wen Zhong said, "Teaching Assistant Shan, get ready and get used to the environment here for now. Also, if it is going to be a fight to the death, the elders of both parties will need to sign their approval. I am only a messenger here so I don't know anything else."

"Got it. Thanks for the reminder, Senior."

Shang Tianjiao hurriedly asked, "Why must it be a fight to the death? It should be a normal spar. Shan Xiong had sparred with over a dozen experts. Not a single one of them had been killed..."

She might be saying that she believed in Shan Xiong, but you never knew.

Wen Zhong said, "Princess Shang, I have no answer for that. You'll have to wait until Junior Brother Su is out of seclusion..."

"But..."

Wen Zhong ignored her and left. Shang Tianjiao was furious. She looked at Shan Xiong and said, "A fight to the death is too dangerous. Why don't you..."

Shan Xiong shook his head, "It's fine. A fight to the death might not necessarily lead to death. Don't worry about this too much. This is a battle for momentum. If I refuse, his momentum will surpass mine, granting him an advantage in the fight. I will think things through. Don't worry about me, and don't do anything rash."

"I know...but I'm still worried."

"It will be fine."

Shan Xiong smiled as he gazed at a certain towering building in the distance. That was the famous Source Soul Research Center. Was Su Yu entering seclusion for five days to dull his momentum or was that a real seclusion?

Shan Xiong inhaled deeply as he made the decision to challenge the Hundred Dao Pagoda while waiting for the day of the match. Perhaps he would gain something there. After all, even he was starting to feel some pressure from the upcoming fight. Hopefully, the result would be favorable to him.

Before long, news of Su Yu's acceptance spread everywhere.

25th of March.

The two would fight, but nobody knew if that would be a regular spar or a fight to the death. The entire Great Ming bubbled with excitement, as though they were celebrating the new year. A big show was coming.

Unfortunately, the general populace would not be able to witness this match as it would be held inside the academy. Only the students and the upper echelons of the various prefectures would be present during the match. A lot of people were disappointed upon learning that.

***

Day after day passed.

More and more eyes were attracted toward the Great Ming Cultural Research Academy. In fact, this event was starting to overshadow some other major events that were happening in the Human Realm.

After all, the masses would always be more inclined to pay attention to news about geniuses.

For example, Bai Feng, who was not that big of a genius to the masses, had been attacked by the cult on his way back to Great Xia. A Mountainsea cultist was killed in battle, but very few people cared about this incident.

Somewhere in the wilderness.

Bai Feng was gloomily chewing on some roasted meat.

Damn it. He was fighting bitterly for his life here, but his student's upcoming spar had attracted more attention even before the spar itself. He felt like nobody cared about his return any more.

In fact, even the frequency of attacks on him had reduced. According to Xia Yunji, a bunch of experts must have been attracted to Great Ming. Sure, things were very dangerous over there, but these experts would still try to think of a way to witness that fight.

As for killing Bai Feng...well, what could they even achieve by killing him? Sunmoons were too busy to make this attempt while those who were weaker might not succeed. In that case, they might as well give up on Bai Feng.

Seeing how upset Bai Feng was, Xia Yunji and the others didn't know whether to laugh or cry. It would seem like they had made all their previous preparations for nothing.

This bait of theirs wouldn't be able to catch any whales. Bai Feng was too unattractive as bait. If it was Su Yu instead, they would definitely be able to catch some massive whales. They might even end up luring some whales that were too big to be caught.

Then again, this wasn't a bad thing. At the very least, they were able to return safely. What a pity that Great Xia had prepared greatly for this operation only to catch nothing.

***

In the blink of an eye, the 25th of March arrived.

On that day, Su Yu stepped out of his cultivation room. He was very calm. Defeating or killing Shan Xiong wouldn't really change the big picture. But Shan Xiong was someone who had crushed the confidence of many multiple character faction experts. Thus, Su Yu needed to return the confidence to his faction. He could also fulfill one of his teacher's wishes while he was at it.

He still remembered the two wishes of his teacher. One of them was defeating Shan Xiong and the other was beating up Huang Teng.

"Teacher, consider this a gift for your return."

Su Yu looked to the north and smiled. His teacher should be at Great Xia already, right? According to his calculation, Bai Feng should arrive at Great Xia today.

As for Huang Teng, he would also beat that fellow up for his teacher when he had the chance. Since that fellow had beaten his teacher up three times, he would try to do the same to Huang Teng as well.

He changed into his fluttering white robes.

Looking into the mirror, Su Yu smiled with satisfaction. Shan Xiong...it was time for them to meet.

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