Calm Before the Storm

The next few days were calm and uneventful.

Su Yu broke through to the fourth level of Kaiyuan but didn't tell anyone else. He continued to diligently cultivate the Kaiyuan Jue, consolidating his fourth-level Kaiyuan.

Taking the essence blood had some side effects, though most of it was absorbed by the illustration book. After two to three days, Su Yu's body returned to normal, and the swelling and pain were gone.

With only one drop of Iron Winged Bird essence blood left, Su Yu didn't use it. Otherwise, his breakthrough would be too fast.

Who knew if his next cultivation of the Essence Gathering Art would directly push him to the fifth level of Kaiyuan? That would be too monstrous.

At least... he should wait half a month?

Su Yu wasn't in a hurry. The higher academy assessment was still more than two months away. If he broke through one level every half month, he might reach the ninth level of Kaiyuan by the time of the assessment.

"A'yu, aren't you going to the academy today?"

"I am!"

"It would be really great if you didn't go. Can you ask for leave for me too..."

Chen Hao said subconsciously, then froze. He looked surprised. "You're going to school?"

This guy hadn't been to school for several days, and when he did go, he left quickly. Chen Hao was incredibly envious. Why was he going back to the academy today?

Su Yu ignored him and said as he walked, "There are still more than two months until the assessment. I'm going to find the instructor and see if I can learn a few more Myriad Races languages."

"You want to learn more?"

Chen Hao clicked his tongue. Truly monstrous.

But then he thought of something and Chen Hao said with a laugh, "A'yu, I used to think it was amazing that you knew 18 Myriad Races languages. Now I realize someone at our academy is even more amazing than you!"

"Liu Yue from Class One, do you know her? I heard someone say that girl is even more monstrous than you. Yesterday, she took the qualification test for the 20th Myriad Races language. That's incredible!"

Su Yu raised an eyebrow. "Liu Yue? 20 languages?"

He naturally knew Liu Yue. He'd seen her quite a bit in the library. Last time, it was Liu Yue who pointed him towards the Kaiyuan acceleration method, though it wasn't very useful.

He knew Liu Yue had mastered many Myriad Races languages. She was even more diligent than Su Yu. Most of the time Su Yu went to the library, he would run into her.

But 20 languages...

Although Su Yu claimed not to care about others being better than him, he still felt a little uncomfortable.

In the past, even though many people at the academy knew many Myriad Races languages, they were at most similar to him.

He hadn't heard of Liu Yue mastering so many before. Moreover, Liu Yue wasn't Liu Wenyan's student.

It was known that most students at the academy who mastered many Myriad Races languages were taught by Liu Wenyan. Who had Liu Yue learned from?

Su Yu didn't ask any more questions. The two continued to walk to the academy.

Although there were cars on the road, and the buses weren't expensive, most students chose to walk unless they were too far away. This was also considered a form of cultivation.

Along the way, they occasionally saw traffic supervisors in familiar uniforms.

Seeing the familiar uniforms, Su Yu felt a pang of longing.

His father had been gone for five days. He wondered how he was doing on the Battlefields of the Heavens.

Besides the traffic supervisors in blue uniforms, they also encountered the Jifeng Hall patrol team in black uniforms twice on the road.

Jifeng Hall was primarily responsible for maintaining domestic security.

"Haozi, has Jifeng Hall been patrolling everywhere these past few days?"

"Yeah."

Hearing Su Yu's question, Chen Hao, who was looking around, immediately replied, "Didn't you hear that the Ten Thousand Races Cult is active in Great Xia Prefecture? So Jifeng Hall has increased its patrol efforts these days."

"Heh heh, A'yu, have you watched TV these days? The Prefecture Head dispatched the Dragon Martial Guard to patrol various areas and arrested many bastards from the Ten Thousand Races Cult. They've been beheading hundreds of them every day!"

Su Yu had naturally watched. He frowned slightly. "That's strange!"

"What's strange?"

Chen Hao chuckled. "Beheadings aren't unheard of."

"That's not what I meant."

Su Yu frowned. "These beasts from the Ten Thousand Races Cult don't act without reason. Every time they're active, it's to cause chaos. But this time they came to Great Xia Prefecture, have you heard of any disturbances? They're just being beheaded. Did these guys come to Great Xia Prefecture just to die?"

He found it a bit odd. The TV had only reported beheadings these past few days, but the Ten Thousand Races Cult didn't seem to have caused any major disruptions.

Could it be that the Dragon Martial Guard was too powerful and had detected their movements in advance every time?

That was also a possibility. Su Yu shook his head slightly. These matters were not his concern.

But this was good. This way, the Ten Thousand Races Cult probably wouldn't have the time to assassinate Instructor Liu.

The two chatted as they walked, and soon arrived at Nanyuan Middle Academy.

At the same time.

Outside Nanyuan Middle Academy.

On the top floor of a tall building, a middle-aged man withdrew his gaze, no longer staring at Nanyuan Middle Academy.

He turned back to look at a woman cooking, his lips parting slightly. "Nanyuan Middle Academy has a total of 3200 students and 210 teachers. All students are in the Kaiyuan Realm, and the teachers are all in the Qianjun Realm. The Academy Head, Wang Shu, is at the second level of the Wanshi Realm."

"There are 50 people in the Guard Department, including one at the ninth level of Qianjun and six above the seventh level of Qianjun. Among the teachers, 28 are above the seventh level of Qianjun, totaling 35 individuals at the high level of Qianjun."

"Additionally, Jifeng Hall currently has a small team of 30 people secretly guarding the academy. There is one captain at the Wanshi Realm, and the rest are at the high level of Qianjun."

"In total, there are 64 individuals at the high level of Qianjun and two at the Wanshi Realm."

"The City Lord's Mansion is 7000 meters away from Nanyuan Middle Academy. At City Lord Wu Wenhai's Soaring second-level cultivation, it will take him a little over two minutes to arrive."

The middle-aged man briefly explained the situation. In the kitchen, the woman cooking, while stir-frying, spoke with her lips moving, masked by the sound of cooking. "Nanyuan Middle Academy, Nanyuan City's best middle academy, and also a reserve for the major higher academies..."

"This time, we are not acting alone. Six cities are taking action simultaneously, with the targets being their local middle academies."

"Xia Longwu... Heh!"

The woman's expression turned cold. "Xia Longwu is arrogant. He destroyed a few ordinary strongholds and thought we were easy to deal with! This time, we'll make sure Xia Longwu suffers a setback. Great Xia Prefecture... is nothing special!"

The middle-aged man didn't respond to that. He continued, "Nanyuan also has a team of Dragon Martial Guards stationed here, a total of 10 people. Nine of them are between the fourth and ninth levels of Wanshi. The squad leader, Xia Bing, is at the second level of Soaring. Their specific station hasn't been scouted yet, so we need to guard against their sudden appearance!"

"Dragon Martial Guards!"

This time, the woman didn't sneer. Her tone became somewhat serious. "Find out their station!"

"But they are few in number, making it impossible to scout them clearly..."

"Then create chaos and lure them out."

The woman said coldly, "Send people outside the city to massacre a few small villages. With such a major bloodbath, the Dragon Martial Guards will definitely take action."

The middle-aged man hesitated. "Many people have died recently, and those below are already wavering. To send them to their deaths again..."

"They don't know they'll be facing the Dragon Martial Guards. Let those people from the Bloodfire Faction go. Those guys are all muddled-headed and love killing the most. Let them scout the way!"

After speaking, the woman continued, "Make your move after the Dragon Martial Guards are lured away! Gather your forces, strike decisively, massacre Nanyuan Middle Academy, and withdraw immediately!"

"This time... kill them all!"

The woman's expression was cold. "Kill all the teachers and students of the six middle academies. Not many from these six cities will be able to enter higher academies this year. Xia Longwu can wait to bleed! He thought we were just playing around... Little did he know... our target wouldn't be just a few insignificant teachers!"

The woman's expression was indifferent. Protect Liu Wenyan?

Our target is not Liu Wenyan!

Killing Liu Wenyan, what does that amount to?

Massacring Nanyuan Middle Academy, even if Great Xia Prefecture is powerful, the slaughter of six middle academies will cripple Great Xia Prefecture. It might not be apparent now, but in a few years, the effects will be visible.

The middle-aged man exhaled softly, a hint of worry in his voice. "You and I are both at the Soaring Realm, which is enough to deal with City Lord Wu Wenhai. But if Xia Bing rushes over, we won't be his match."

The Dragon Martial Guards are the elite troops of Great Xia Prefecture. Even their squad leaders are very powerful. Even if they were at the same cultivation level as him, they would likely not be their opponents.

"No matter!"

The woman sneered, "If they really show up, someone will deal with them!"

"Someone from above is coming?"

"Don't ask what you shouldn't ask!"

The woman interrupted him and continued stir-frying. They had been lying low here for a full six years. After this success, she should leave. She wondered if she would have a chance to advance further upon returning to headquarters.

As the two spoke, a little girl walked out of a room in a daze. "Mommy, I smell something delicious. What are we having for breakfast?"

"Don't rush, my dear daughter. You'll be able to eat soon."

The woman's voice was hearty and filled with laughter, but her eyes were as cold as ice.

There was no trace of emotion in her gaze. This so-called daughter was merely a tool for their deception.

The man also smiled, but his eyes were the same as the woman's.

The little girl didn't notice anything unusual and happily went into the bathroom. As soon as the girl left, the living room and kitchen fell silent.

A moment later, the man asked, "What about her?"

"Kill her!"

The woman didn't hesitate at all. "But not now. Kill her when we're leaving. Burn her blood to prevent any strong individuals from tracking us by blood, as she is our bloodline."

Yes, she was their biological daughter.

However, they had given birth to this child to hide their identities. Now that they were withdrawing, they no longer needed this burden and hidden danger.

For six years, the couple had hidden themselves exceptionally well, and no one had suspected them.

They had lived here for six years and even had a daughter. No one would have imagined that this down-to-earth and hardworking couple were both Soaring Realm powerhouses and members of the Ten Thousand Races Cult.

"Tonight, you will contact the others and prepare to act. Remember, kill everyone, and withdraw within three minutes!"

"Okay!"

The middle-aged man responded almost inaudibly and turned to look out the window, towards the Nanyuan Middle Academy not far away, a smile appearing on his face.

In a few days, Nanyuan Middle Academy would be gone.

What a pity, such vibrant young people.

Perhaps, in many years, a few remarkable individuals might emerge, but they wouldn't have the chance now.

"Xia Longwu... Great Xia Prefecture has been peaceful for so many years. You probably never expected this."

Thinking of the major operation by the cult this time, the man couldn't help but feel a surge of excitement. After so many years, Great Xia Prefecture had finally become their target. Xia Longwu thought the cult was just making small moves, but he didn't realize that the cult's main forces had already transferred here.