Steady!

Anping Calendar, Year 350, May 18.

It had been nearly a month since Su Yu began studying alone with Liu Wenyan. This past month, Su Yu had been exhausted beyond measure, yet exhausted and happy.

His progress in cultivation had been obvious.

After consuming several more drops of essence blood, he still had not used that half-drop of Qi Liquid. Even so, Su Yu had opened the acupoints of both eyes and officially entered the Kaiyuan Seventh Stage.

In one month, he had opened his eye acupoints. That was extremely fast.

At this point, even if Su Yu were placed in another major city, he would be a bona fide cultivation genius.

As for the Kaiyuan Eighth Stage, it was rare even in other major cities. Usually, only Great Xia Prefecture had a few. Even there, someone at the Kaiyuan Eighth Stage was considered a genius.

The eighth stage meant opening the Shenque acupoint.

Once this acupoint was opened, cultivators could sense a trace of qi, even mobilizing some of it.

At that point, cultivators possessed combat power.

The Kaiyuan Eighth Stage was a watershed, separating cultivators with combat power from ordinary people without it.

His physical cultivation had progressed noticeably, and his Willpower had also improved significantly.

According to Liu Wenyan, in just one month, Su Yu's willpower had reached around 15%. Five percent might not sound like much, but it was actually unimaginable. After all, over all these years, Su Yu had only accumulated 10%.

At this rate, Su Yu had a chance of reaching 20% before the assessment.

By then, Su Yu would no longer be a greenhorn. With 20% willpower, he could directly view Thousand Jun bone fragments. That stage marked the starting point for a Civilization Master—he would truly have set foot upon the path of a Civilization Master.

Beyond the progress in his strength, Liu Wenyan had taken him to many places and shown him many things over the past month. Some of those gains might have been even more important than his increase in strength.

"200,000 Anping Coin, 10 gold coins, two drops of essence blood, and 10 Merit Points."

After a month of cultivation, Su Yu had used quite a bit of essence blood. Yet he had not spent much money, while his Merit Points had risen rather than fallen.

Over this month, Liu Wenyan had rewarded him with essence blood three times, and each time Su Yu had chosen Iron Winged Bird Essence Blood.

As for the Merit Points, they were the reward from Chen Hao reporting his contribution earlier.

Su Yu had actually spent only 60,000. He had bought two drops of essence blood from the Xia Family Merchant Guild at an internal price. The guild had given him that price because Liu Wenyan was his teacher.

"Kaiyuan Seventh Stage!"

As he headed toward Liu Wenyan's office, Su Yu clenched his fist, feeling a small surge of excitement.

Only last night had he broken through to the Kaiyuan Seventh Stage. Next came the Kaiyuan Eighth Stage.

The Shenque acupoint was difficult to open. But once he did, Su Yu could truly cultivate martial skills and possess combat power.

Today had originally been a rest day, but Su Yu could no longer wait.

The "Blood" divine character had recently kept wanting to drink blood, but Su Yu had stopped it every time. Earlier, he had wanted to experiment himself, only to find that the "Blood" divine character actually wanted to absorb the essence blood in his hand. It had frightened him badly.

He was only in the Kaiyuan Realm. The reason he could now devour essence blood was because the atlas absorbed it, not because he himself did.

The divine character was in his Sea of Will, yet the thing actually wanted to absorb essence blood. If he was not careful and it blew up his head, where would he go to argue his case?

This time, Su Yu did not dare act rashly. He did not even dare let it absorb ordinary blood, afraid that his little "Blood" brother would kill him.

After nourishing little "Blood" with willpower for a month, Su Yu had also broken through to the Kaiyuan Seventh Stage. At this moment, he felt much stronger, and perhaps a little safer as well.

That was why he had come to Liu Wenyan now: to ask about divine characters.

Liu Wenyan had not taught him how to outline divine characters these past few days. With Bai Feng's previous instruction as a foundation, Liu Wenyan felt that Su Yu did not need to receive any more instruction on divine characters this month. He only needed to focus on reading the Kaiyuan Jue.

Inside the office.

Even though it was a rest day, Liu Wenyan had not gone home to rest.

Over the past month, he had taken Su Yu all over the place, and quite a few Academy matters had piled up. Taking advantage of the rest day, Liu Wenyan was hurriedly handling them.

Before Su Yu even entered, Liu Wenyan had already sensed him.

When Su Yu knocked and entered, Liu Wenyan looked up at him and frowned slightly. "Rest means rest. Balancing work and rest is better. You have also been very tired this month. Too much is as bad as too little."

He knew Su Yu worked hard, but over the past month, he had discovered that Su Yu was even more hardworking than he had previously thought.

Such a student was very good!

But such a student also made people worry—worry that one day he might work himself to death.

Besides, Su Yu had not given up cultivating the physical path. His progress in that path was also astonishingly fast, making Liu Wenyan wonder whether this kid might actually be more suited to physical cultivation.

"Teacher, I'm not tired."

Su Yu hurriedly spoke, then immediately said, "Teacher, I came today because I wanted to ask about divine characters..."

"I already said it. At your current stage, what you need to do is lay the foundation for divine characters and outline your own divine character! With the groundwork Bai Feng laid last time, you should soon have a chance to outline a divine character of your own."

Liu Wenyan cut him off. This was not the first time Su Yu had asked.

But Liu Wenyan felt Su Yu was still too impatient.

His willpower was not strong enough. Obsessively studying divine characters now was not a good thing.

Liu Wenyan said gravely, "Su Yu, cultivation must proceed step by step. You cannot rush ahead!"

"I have admonished you several times about divine characters. Why do you still refuse to listen?"

"When your willpower reaches 20%, I will write a Willpower Script for you and let you capture divine characters, to see whether you can formally establish your foundation. Do not think about divine characters again for now."

Liu Wenyan was somewhat displeased.

But his meaning was also perfectly clear. In a few more days, he would write a Willpower Script for Su Yu.

With his newly advanced strength, even though Su Yu did not know what price Liu Wenyan would have to pay to write a Willpower Script, he knew it would not be easy.

Back then, Bai Feng had been at the Soaring Sixth Level, nearly the seventh, yet even writing a Kaiyuan Jue had made his face turn pale.

Su Yu smiled bitterly. He had wanted to ask his teacher several times before... and every time, he had been admonished like this.

Liu Wenyan could be very stubborn sometimes. A teacher transmitted the Dao, imparted knowledge, and resolved doubts. Beyond that, Liu Wenyan believed teachers should guide their students onto the proper path, not toward crooked roads.

He believed Su Yu's single-minded fixation on divine characters was a crooked road.

Willpower was the foundation. Divine characters were matters for later. Trying to swallow more than he could chew now would only make it easier for him to stray onto the wrong path.

"Teacher..."

"You are not allowed to ask again!"

"Teacher!"

Su Yu had a headache. The old man could be frighteningly stubborn sometimes. "I've already learned how to outline divine characters..."

"Shut up!"

Liu Wenyan suddenly flew into a rage!

Su Yu froze slightly and looked at the furious Liu Wenyan, sensing that something was wrong.

Liu Wenyan was also startled by his own anger. His expression shifted for a moment before he regained his calm. He said in a low voice, "I am beginning to regret letting Bai Feng teach you. Divine characters... are a good thing, but I never expected you to pursue them so stubbornly!"

"Su Yu, Civilization Masters and divine characters are inseparable, but you must remember that willpower is the foundation!"

He had not even listened to Su Yu saying that he had learned to outline divine characters. Of course, he had misunderstood as well—learning did not mean successfully outlining one.

Liu Wenyan took a deep breath and beckoned. "Sit down!"

Su Yu obediently sat down.

After he sat down, Liu Wenyan's gaze went unfocused for a moment. He quickly returned to normal, struggling somewhat before finally saying, "Some Civilization Masters believe divine characters are powerful. When they are young, when their will is not firm, they devote themselves wholly to pursuing divine characters!"

"The Daxia Civilization Academy has had several generations of Academy Heads, and each left behind a divine character containing endless mysteries. One word, one world—it makes people yearn for it."

"Fifty years ago, the Fifth Generation Academy Head of the Daxia Civilization Academy fell, leaving behind a single character... That character changed many things, and changed many people."

Bitterness appeared in Liu Wenyan's eyes. "Some Civilization Masters who pursued the power of divine characters embarked upon another path of Civilization Masters—the path of divine characters! They did not merely cultivate divine characters as a supplementary discipline; they took divine characters as their main path, with divine characters as the master and all things as the auxiliary!"

"Some geniuses of that era, geniuses at the Nurturing Nature stage, geniuses only a step away from manifestation, were greatly affected as well. Before manifesting, they decided to outline powerful divine characters, even hoping to use them to kill Soaring cultivators above their level!"

"They were full of lofty ambitions. They believed themselves gifted beyond measure, capable of anything!"

"They were unwilling to become ordinary Civilization Masters. They wanted to make a splash with one cry, outline powerful divine characters, even manifest divine characters with true eternal inheritances, and become the favored children of heaven among the Myriad Races of the Heavens!"

"They wanted to rely on divine characters to battle Gods and Devils, wage war across the heavens, and sweep aside all opponents of their level!"

"But..."

Liu Wenyan looked at Su Yu and said calmly, "They failed! Many of them died, and many remained stuck at the Nurturing Nature stage for their entire lives! They had originally all been geniuses, with better futures ahead of them, able to contribute more to humanity, but they chose the wrong road."

"If you go to the Daxia Civilization Academy today, they will teach you divine characters. But before teaching you, they will tell you not to pursue the power of divine characters excessively. That is a matter for the future."

"They will give you examples, telling you that back then, so-and-so was extraordinarily gifted, but because he pursued the power of divine characters before manifestation, he ultimately faded into the masses and was completely ruined!"

"And that so-and-so... perhaps... one of them was named Liu Wenyan!"

Su Yu's heart churned. In truth, when Liu Wenyan had spoken those earlier words, Su Yu had already guessed. Now, though, it was confirmed.

Liu Wenyan was in low spirits as he said gloomily, "Fifty years ago, Bai Feng's teacher and I were fellow disciples under the same teacher. Back then, we were both at the Nurturing Nature stage. My willpower was 80% full, and manifestation was not too far away. He had only just entered the Nurturing Nature stage."

"At that time, the Fifth Generation Academy Head fell, leaving behind a single character... It changed my life, and it changed the lives of many others!"

"Fifty years later, I am a useless Civilization Master who has only just manifested, while my junior brother is already a Civilization Master of the Shanhai Realm, suppressing an entire region, fighting across the heavens, slaughtering Gods and Devils!"

Liu Wenyan's expression was bitter. "Su Yu, do not pursue this excessively anymore. Your teacher regrets it somewhat—regrets not telling you sooner. I am afraid you will walk onto a crooked road. Divine characters are supplementary, not fundamental."

"Even if you want to strengthen your divine characters, wait until after manifestation."

"One is at the Soaring First Level, while the other is in the Shanhai Realm... This is the difference between the roads we chose, and in the end, the results are as far apart as heaven and earth."

Su Yu's throat felt dry. He softly asked, "Teacher, can divine characters... interfere with the manifestation of willpower?"

"Yes, and no."

"Under normal circumstances, they will not. But nourishing divine characters consumes too much willpower. Of course, normal nourishment is not a problem, but our group back then... went mad."

When Liu Wenyan said "went mad," there was pain in his voice.

"We people wanted, before manifestation, to truly nourish divine characters that could manifest in reality—not merely exist in the Sea of Will, but become reality, condense into Divine Weapons and sharp tools, even eternal inheritances... Tell me, was that not madness?"

Liu Wenyan mocked himself. "We were only at the Nurturing Nature stage! How strong could our willpower have been? We consumed far too much willpower on this, even damaging our foundations. If we were not madmen, then what were we?"

"A group of idiots who knew neither the height of the heavens nor the depth of the earth. They deserved to die, deserved to be crippled, deserved to be... expelled!"

When he said he had been expelled from the Civilization Academy... it had been true.

That group back then had all been geniuses of their generation, yet they had been too deeply influenced by the Fifth Generation Academy Head. In the end, almost all of that generation had been ruined!

But those people had possessed great influence, even affecting the inheritance of the entire Civilization Academy at the time.

Then the sixth generation—the current Academy Head—made a choice.

Expel them!

Expel them from the Academy!

Make them leave the Civilization Academy and fend for themselves. Do not let them influence the choices of later generations any longer. Otherwise, the consequences would be terrifying. The Daxia Civilization Academy might even have its inheritance cut off because of it.

Liu Wenyan had not intended to tell Su Yu, but today, Su Yu was still fixated on divine characters, so he had no choice but to warn him.

Do not take the wrong road again!

Liu Wenyan spoke with heartfelt sincerity, using himself as proof that this was a crooked road.

But Su Yu... Su Yu was conflicted!

Seeing his teacher look at him expectantly, hoping he would realize his mistake, Su Yu scratched his head and said dryly, "Teacher, there's no problem with cultivating divine characters normally, right?"

"Of course there is no problem with cultivating them normally, but your willpower is too weak right now. It would not be too late even after you reach the Nurturing Nature stage."

"Teacher... but I've already outlined one."

Su Yu said with a headache, "It has been nearly a month. On the day Teacher Bai Feng instructed me last time, I successfully outlined it. He even told me to capture a few more divine characters."

"..."

Liu Wenyan looked at him with a calm expression. "You successfully outlined one?"

"Yes."

"On the day Bai Feng taught you?"

"Mm."

Liu Wenyan nodded, his face still calm, though inwardly he was cursing wildly!

You succeeded, and you didn't tell me!

Su Yu, you idiot; Bai Feng, you bastard. Neither of you told me!

It is one thing for Su Yu to be an idiot—this kid does not understand what it means—but that bastard Bai Feng... no wonder, no wonder that bastard wanted to take Su Yu as a student in advance. Does he have any shame?

Though his heart was in utter turmoil, his face remained as calm as still water. "Since you have outlined a divine character, just slowly complete it. Why do you keep asking so insistently?"

"No, Teacher, I had already outlined a complete divine character that day. The main thing is that this divine character has been restless lately. It keeps wanting to drink blood..."

Bang!

The pen in Liu Wenyan's hand pierced through the office desk. Frowning, he said, "This desk is terrible quality! I know the Academy lacks funding, but Old Wang is being far too frugal. Do not learn from him, pinching pennies everywhere."

Su Yu blinked. Teacher, I was talking about divine characters.

"What a rotten desk!"

Liu Wenyan angrily tossed down his pen, turned to Su Yu, and frowned. "You outlined a complete divine character on the first day?"

"Mm, it's the character 'Blood.'" Su Yu hurriedly said, "A few days ago, I wanted to tell you about this, Teacher, but... it was not too urgent anyway. You said I should build a solid foundation, so I did not keep asking."

A few days ago, he had indeed wanted to ask, but just like today, Liu Wenyan had cut him off directly.

Su Yu respected Liu Wenyan greatly. Since his teacher had interrupted him and told him to establish his foundation, naturally he had nothing to say. It would not have been right to argue with his teacher.

But today, he truly could not wait any longer.

His teacher had even told him about his past, wearing an expression that practically said, If you dare pursue divine characters again, I'll sever our teacher-student relationship. Su Yu had no choice but to bite the bullet and explain everything.

There would not be a problem because he had outlined a divine character early, right?

Bai Feng had not said anything, but who knew whether Bai Feng was reliable or not?

"The character 'Blood'..." Liu Wenyan nodded. "Someone has outlined that character before. Drinking blood... is normal."

"As long as it is not drinking your own blood, the problem is not serious."

"One month ago, on the first day, a complete outline..."

Liu Wenyan muttered, then nodded slightly. "Then I misunderstood you. Not bad—you had already successfully outlined one. No wonder you kept bringing it up these past few days. So that was why."

With that, Liu Wenyan rose to his feet. "I'll go speak with Bai Feng and look through some materials while I'm at it, to see what characteristics the 'Blood' divine character has."

"Wait here. I'll be back shortly."

As he walked, Liu Wenyan said, "Don't wander off. Also, do not keep telling others about this. Nanyuan is too small. Be careful that the Ten Thousand Races Cult learns of it and comes after you..."

The reason was the same one Bai Feng had given.

As he spoke, Liu Wenyan ignored the fact that the office door was already closed. With a rumble, he smashed through it and walked straight out, muttering as he went, "That Old Wang buys shoddy goods for everything!"

"It is one thing for the office desks to be poor quality, but even the doors are defective!"

"If he keeps running this Academy, it will close down sooner or later. Saving money is not done like this!"

Liu Wenyan cursed under his breath. Not far away, the old Academy Head tugged at his beard, looking somewhat aggrieved.

Was it that bad?

No way!

Old Liu's office supplies weren't bad—they were all the academy's finest.

Outside, Liu Wenyan kept cursing as he walked. Then, as he walked... he took off running through the air!

The next moment, he flew to a deserted place.

All of a sudden, he slammed headfirst into a pillar, the pain making him suck in breaths. As if delirious, he muttered, "One day to outline a divine text, one day to outline a divine text! I... fuck! How humiliating! No one told me! Bai Feng, I'm not done with you!"

"You want to take a student? Keep dreaming!"

"I'm not done with you!"

"This is too humiliating. What the hell did I just say?"

Liu Wenyan seemed to have sobered up a little. It seemed he had exposed his own dark history, then proceeded to point at the rivers and mountains and tell Su Yu... that at a time like this, he should not pursue divine texts and aim too high!

But... it was truly humiliating!

His lifelong reputation had been completely ruined today.

That brat was a bastard too. Several times, he started something and then stopped talking. Would it kill you to say a few more words?!

"When a teacher says something wrong, one must have the courage to refute it... Didn't I teach that? It seemed... I hadn't?"

Liu Wenyan muttered to himself, then let out a few low, hoarse roars. There was nothing else to say—just fuck!

"Stay calm!"

"Su Yu is just a green kid. He doesn't understand anything. If I don't tell him... what would he know? Outlining a divine text in one day, as though no one else could do it!"

Liu Wenyan rubbed his aged face. Stay calm. This was nothing. I, Liu Wenyan, had seen much and experienced much—what storms and waves had I not weathered?