Elder Sun's face turned frosty. At that moment, someone else rushed out of the crowd with murderous eyes.
Zhou Pingsheng!
Li Shiyun and Sun Qian were his students. Even though he had almost given up on them before this, they were still his students. And they had been crippled.
Sun Qian was in an especially bad condition. Li Shuyun's physical body had been completely ruined.
And they were only at the Mental Tempering Stage, not the Sunmoon Realm. For people at this level, recovering their physical bodies was extremely expensive and difficult. It was more likely that they would remain crippled for life.
Zhou Pingsheng glared at Su Yu furiously. He really wanted to throw caution to the wind and kill Su Yu.
Of his six students, Qiu Yi and Di Feng had been forced to leave the academy and attack some cult strongholds to remove the ban placed on them. The other two had just been crippled. His remaining two students were at the Skysoar Realm, but neither of them was currently in the academy.
Silence descended.
Nobody made a single sound. Liu He and the others were completely dumbstruck. This was not something they had imagined happening. Some of the stronger students were also greatly alarmed by what they saw. That included people like Zhan Hai, Jiang Mu, and Li Minyu.
Su Yu was too strong. From the short battle they had witnessed, they couldn't even find a single opening.
All cultural researchers had their own weaknesses. The most common weakness of cultural researchers was a weak body. But Su Yu's physical body was stronger than even a regular Skysoar cultural researcher. That was too terrifying.
A heaven-grade art specializing in physical enhancement.
A total of 300 opened acupoints.
And Su Yu wasn’t even tired after that match.
Shameless boasting?
Blind arrogance?
Su Yu had used his own actions to prove that he had not been blindly arrogant when he made his earlier declaration. He was a true freak. If this wasn't a match and was a fight in the battlefield, none of the five would survive an encounter with him.
Su Yu wasn't lying when he said that he had been holding back out of respect for Zhao Ming. If it was any other referee, the other students might have survived, but Wang Chao would definitely die. That final saber attack of his had been completely soundless while Zhao Ming was too occupied with saving the other students to notice it.
Su Yu had spared Wang Chao for Zhao Ming's sake. Of course, he was also doing that to further annoy the single character faction. By leaving Wang Chao alive, the single character faction would be forced to spend more money on treatment.
If they ignored him, they would only disappoint all the regular members in the faction. Since Wang Chao's injuries included willpower injuries, he would either need treatment from a Sunmoon or a large amount of expensive resources to recover.
...
Among the crowd.
Wu Lan was completely stunned. After a long while, she turned her head to look at her elder sister.
"Sister...he's...so strong..."
Wu Qi inhaled deeply and nodded. Yes. He was very strong.
"He is even stronger than the Xia Yuwen of the past."
Follow on NovᴇlEnglish.nᴇtEven when Xia Yuwen was reigning as the number one student back then, he wasn't this strong. That signified that Su Yu was already strong enough to do what Xia Yuwen did back in the days: sweeping through all the top 10 students.
Even more terrifying was the fact that Su Yu wasn't even at the peak of a student's cultivation level yet.
His physical cultivation had yet to reach the Infinite Strength Realm. However, it also seemed like he would have a hard time reaching that realm. Due to the large number of acupoints he had opened, fusion would be hard due to the stronger repelling force between his acupoints. And he had yet to reach the peak of the Mental Tempering Stage either.
Even someone like Wu Qi had the urge to start cussing. Was this really a human? Was he not a member of the first divine race instead?
In terms of combat strength at the lower cultivation levels, the first divine race stood at the very top. But this Su Yu seemed strong enough to even suppress the geniuses of the first divine race.
...
Zhan Hai had a solemn expression on his face.
Strong.
Very strong.
Was this really a new student?
Bullshit!
When he compared himself against Su Yu, he found that his physical body was weaker, he did not have as many heaven-grade techniques, and even his willpower might not necessarily be stronger than Su Yu's. He did not have as many second-tier characters and he did not know any soul technique…
He had no choice but to ask himself if he could win in a fight against Su Yu. The sole advantage he had over Su Yu was his nine fused acupoints that had been fused from 108 basic acupoints. In terms of offensive strength, he probably had a slight advantage when compared to Su Yu who was still incapable of fully utilizing the strength of all his acupoints.
But the gap between them wouldn't be that big. Even though Su Yu had yet to fuse any acupoints, he had cultivated the Sky Sundering Saber and opened 300 acupoints. Fusing acupoints would only grant him a tiny bit of speed and strength.
By fusing 108 acupoints into 9 fused acupoints, Zhan Hai was basically a super expert who had advanced into the Infinite Strength Realm through fusing 12 acupoints. His offensive strength was basically equivalent to the strength of 200 unfused acupoints. Apart from that, he had no other advantages.
Su Yu would definitely not be much weaker than him when martial techniques came into play.
...
In the ring.
Su Yu looked at the silent crowd before looking at the furious Zhou Pingsheng. He smiled and asked, "What's with this reaction? The only thing I did was winning a match. Manager Zhou, why are you looking at me like this? Are you thinking of killing me? Feel free to do it! My neck is right here. Come and chop my head off. Do you want me to stretch my neck out for you?"
Zhou Pingsheng was furious.
He nearly lost control of his temper then and there.
Disaster. This person was definitely a disaster in making.
At the Skysoar Realm, he might even gain the strength to fight those in the Cloudbreach Realm. And he was also growing at such an unbelievable speed. After reaching the Skysoar Realm, would any Skysoar cultivator be able to suppress him?
And he was already this strong before even completing his character technique. At the Skysoar Realm, how strong would he be with a completed character technique? At that point, Su Yu would gain an additional trump card: the character technique.
More importantly, he would be able to enter the Willpower Grotto after winning this tournament. Zhou Pingsheng was even starting to feel fear. Su Yu must not be allowed to enter the grotto! That dumb Liu Hong had underestimated this kid. They couldn't allow this kid to successfully materialize his willpower.
After willpower materialization, this kid would be able to forge his physical body for the second time and gain a body that was even stronger than regular warriors in the same cultivation level. Could he still be considered a cultural researcher with that body of his?
Zhou Pingsheng clenched his teeth in fury. After a moment, he shrieked, "I will reward anyone capable of defeating Su Yu a high-tier profound-grade cultural weapon."
Su Yu said, "If you're going to play this game again, I suppose I'll have to start conceding..."
"..."
Zhou Pingsheng blanked out momentarily before his face turned red. He nearly spat blood from sheer anger.
Shameless!
He was forced to change his offer, "My reward is only applicable for the next match. As long as you can defeat him, I promise that you will get a high-tier profound-grade cultural weapon!"
Even a regular Cloudbreach would not be able to afford a weapon at that level. After making his offer, Zhou Pingsheng looked at Zhan Hai and the other old students in the crowd. These were the only people that could potentially defeat Su Yu.
Su Yu must not be allowed to enter the Willpower Grotto. Even if he had to further embarrass himself and pay the price of a high-tier profound-grade cultural weapon, he had to stop Su Yu from winning a third match.
Su Yu had shown too much strength. Who would dare to challenge him without some motivation?
Su Yu smiled and said, "One weapon is not enough for a team of five. You're asking five people to cripple themselves for one cultural weapon. And these are no ordinary people. They are all genius cultivators. One cultural weapon is not enough for that. Manager Zhou, since you're rich, forget the weapon. Why don't you offer something like 10,000 merit points instead? I reckon that will be attractive enough for some of them."
Not even Elder Sun tried stopping Zhou Pingsheng. Su Yu's growth was too rapid. Even their strongest team had been defeated so easily. It was totally worth spending 10,000 merit points to crush an enemy like this. They had to deal with him. If he was allowed to reach the Skysoar Realm, who could suppress his growth?
Zhou Pingsheng gnashed his teeth and roared, "10,000 merit points for anyone capable of defeating Su Yu!"
Su Yu smiled and said, "Don't forget to clarify that this offer is only valid for the next match. Otherwise, I'll have to start conceding. What can the winners do if you end up going back on your words? You never know when I'll concede."
"..."
Zhou Pingsheng was so furious that he couldn't even say anything anymore.
With a toying tone, Su Yu said, "How about this? I'll withdraw from the tournament. You can pay me 10,000 merit points instead. This will satisfy both of us!"
"Impudent!"
Zhou Pingsheng was infuriated.
Su Yu spoke with a mocking tone, "How am I impudent? You want me to lose. Wouldn't it benefit both of us if you pay me to withdraw? I'm a new student. If you get some other students to fight me, I might lose control of my strength again and end up crippling a few genius students. The future of a genius is not something you can measure with merit points."
The crowd remained silent. Gambling with the future of 5 geniuses for the sake of 10,000 merit points? Even if Zhan Hai was willing to do so, his team members might not agree. He might be confident that he could protect himself well, but that wasn't the case for the rest of them.
10,000 split five ways meant that they would each get only 2,000 merit points. For that much money, who would be willing to cripple themselves?
They were all students of a cultural research academy. All of them were aiming to reach the Skysoar Realm and beyond. Selling their future for a price of 2,000 merit points? That wouldn't even be enough money for them to seek treatment after the match. Once again, Su Yu smiled.
"I am showcasing the true strength of cultural researchers. Without research, how would you obtain things like cultivation manuals and secret arts?"
Suddenly, Zhou Pingsheng thought of something.
He shrieked, "You're a cultist! Apart from the Sky Sundering Saber, what is the origin of your other heaven-grade techniques?"
The moment those words were said, numerous gazes landed on Su Yu. Yeah. Where had he gotten so many heaven-grade techniques?
Su Yu smiled, "Why should I tell you? These techniques are my inheritances. Some have been obtained through research. What can you do about it? It's not like these are stolen techniques. Who are you to ask for the origin of my techniques? Why don't you show the proof that these are stolen inheritances? If you can show the proof, I'll tell you the origin of my techniques."
Su Yu roared with laughter and said, "So this is the single character faction? Labeling me a cultist just because I'm stronger than their students? How ridiculous. I also think that you're a cultist. Why else would you insist on suppressing a talented student like me? What evil intentions are you harboring?"
Follow on Novᴇl-Onlinᴇ.cᴏmAt the end, Su Yu was practically roaring.
"The conflict between the single and multiple character factions have been limited in scope. For you to suddenly accuse me of being a cultist, what evil intentions are you planning? You are coveting the personal inheritances of a student. What evil intentions are you harboring? The Human Realm is filled with experts. Every single one of these experts would have obtained some sort of inheritance in their path of cultivation. Are you demanding all of them to reveal the origin of their techniques to you as well? How audacious of you!"
Su Yu's voice reverberated throughout the arena. He looked at Old Huang and loudly asked, "Elder Huang, he is coveting the inheritances of a student and accusing a student of consorting against the enemies. Is this something a manager at Great Xia Cultural Research Academy's books depository should be doing?"
Zhou Pingsheng roared furiously, "Accusing? I was merely questioning you! You have a common background. You came from a place like Nanyuan. How have you gotten these inheritances? Who can guarantee that you're not a spy of the cult?"
Su Yu said, "Over 300 years ago, the first batch of human Invincibles had also emerged from humble beginnings. Are all of them cultists as well?"
"You! Bastard! You're twisting my words! Su Yu, if you can't reveal the origin of your techniques, it can only mean that you're a cultist!"
Zhou Pingsheng was throwing caution to the wind. Four of his students had been ruined. His reputation had been destroyed. And the people within his own faction were finding him an eyesore. If he didn't take Su Yu down, he would no longer be able to stabilize his position within the faction.
Su Yu smiled, "Origin? Simple. My grandteacher. How's that for an answer? If you want to know more, feel free to question my grandteacher. Go on. Do it."
"You..."
Right that moment, someone laughed and said, "Yes. I taught him those techniques. What's the issue? Is it so weird that I have some extra manuals lying around? Zhou Pingsheng, I suspect you're not your mom's son. I demand proof that you're your mom's son. Otherwise, you are an illegitimate child of Zhou Mingren and a female fire hog."
Those words shocked countless people in the arena.
Holy shit!
Those were some harsh words. Who was courageous enough to say these words to Zhou Pingsheng? Next, they noticed the newly arrived old man.
Hong Tan.
With a crooked back, Hong Tan smiled and said, "Come on. Show me the proof. Otherwise, you are definitely a child of the fire hog race. Come on. Prove your birth. There's also Zhou Mingren. Prove that he is not sleeping with a female fire hog. Prove that he's not your dad. If you can't, I'll kill you as a spy of the fire hog race."
At that, the aura of a pseudo Sunmoon spread out of his body. At the same time, a powerful aura surged out of the Heart Cultivating Pavilion.
With a nonchalant smile, Hong Tan said, "Principal, I suspect that a descendent of a foreign race has infiltrated our academy. I am trying to find out the truth. If he can't prove otherwise, I'll have no choice but to kill him."
As his aura surged, Hong Tan coldly said, "Since when have we started applying the principle of guilty until proven innocent in the academy? If that's the case, don't blame me for playing this game as well."
In the Heart Cultivating Pavilion.
After a short silence, Wan Tiansheng's voice rang out, "Stop escalating things. Do not provoke me again and again. The rules are the only thing restricting me, you, and a lot of people. If all of you really want to forget the rules...I won't mind granting you your wish."
At that very moment, numerous people felt a chill crept up their spines. Zhou Pingsheng, in particular, was trembling in fear. An incomparably intense killing intent had entered his sea of willpower, nearly causing a complete destruction of his sea of willpower.
Splurt!
After Zhou Pingsheng coughed a mouthful of blood, Hong Tan, with his throbbing eyes, hurriedly smiled, "I was joking. How would I kill anyone in the academy? I'm an honest man. This fellow was the one creating trouble. Ahh, I just remember that I forgot to clean my place earlier. I'm taking my leave, everyone..."
He immediately tore through space itself before streaking away.
At that moment, Old Huang, Elder Sun, and the others stood up and looked in the Heart Cultivating Pavilion's direction.
Wan Tiansheng's voice rang out again, "This is my final warning. The rules do not exist so that they can be broken. Zhou Pingsheng, do not covet the belongings of a student. Do not try to take what is not yours to take. Unless you can find proof that Su Yu had obtained a forbidden inheritance, if this happens again, I will send you on a mission to the Devil Realm."
"PIngsheng will keep this in mind."
Zhou Pingsheng replied with a pale and terrified face. Earlier, he even had the illusion that he was already dead. The principal was much scarier than he had imagined.
In the ring, Su Yu had his head lowered with an honest expression on his face in his attempt to stay low key. Inwardly, he was shocked. Holy shit. They had even provoked Old Wan. If the principal really started punishing all the troublemakers, he might be one of the ones to suffer as well. Thus, the smart choice here was to stay low key.
What a terrifying killing intent. He had only sensed a tiny bit of the principal's killing intent yet his sea of willpower had been nearly destabilized. And look at that grandteacher of his. That old man had scampered off in fear. It was clear just how terrifying Wan Tiansheng was.