Drawing Inferences from One Example

Outside Nanyuan City, in a small village.

A figure leaped up and fled at high speed.

The moment he sprang up, the figure suddenly froze. A massive Iron Winged Bird appeared before his eyes and swooped down to kill him!

The figure recoiled in terror, instinctively retreating.

Still in midair, he rapidly fell to the ground. At that moment, the sound of metal slicing through the air came from one side.

"Hah!"

The threat of death snapped the middle-aged man awake. With a furious roar, he suppressed the pounding fear in his heart and swung his blade toward the left!

Someone had ambushed him!

The freezing time was really short...

Nearby, Su Yu, dressed in earth-gray clothes and lying in ambush, had that thought flash through his mind. This was still Qianjun. It only took an instant for the man to react. Sure enough, the illusion created by his divine rune was not strong enough, not real enough.

Still, Su Yu had struck first and attacked from the side. The other man reacted quickly and swung quickly, but he was still not as fast as Su Yu.

Pfft!

The sound of metal entering flesh rang out. With a crunch, bone shattered. The man's left shoulder was severed outright, and his arm fell away.

Yet in the next moment, the longsword in the man's right hand came down toward Su Yu's neck.

Su Yu rapidly retreated, continuously creating illusions before the man's eyes to scatter his attention.

Hundreds of Demon Race creatures lunged at the man. Even knowing they were illusions, he was only Qianjun and could not remain as unmoving as a mountain. His body swayed slightly as he dodged the Demon Race creatures charging toward him.

With that evasive movement, Su Yu had already dodged the man's blade. His forehead was covered in sweat.

Why wasn't Teacher coming down to save me yet?!

Once this guy got used to it, Su Yu would not be able to withstand a Qianjun opponent unless he swallowed essence blood and erupted.

If he had swallowed essence blood and erupted just now, he would have split the man apart with a single slash.

But as someone in the Kaiyuan Realm, his explosive strength was insufficient, and his speed was insufficient as well. Severing one of the man's arms with one slash was already remarkable.

Su Yu continued retreating!

The intense pain had already brought the man fully awake. At this point, the illusions were dissipating.

The man's eyes were bloodshot. His left shoulder had been severed, and blood flowed from it without end.

His blood-red eyes fixed on Su Yu, who was retreating nearby. He let out a beastlike roar. "Die!"

The man threw caution to the wind and charged madly after Su Yu!

He was dead anyway!

Already hunted by Jifeng Hall, he had now lost an arm. There was almost no chance of survival left for him.

Since that was the case, he might as well kill this bastard who had ambushed him first.

Kaiyuan!

He had actually been ambushed by a Kaiyuan cultivator!

"Drain! Hurry up and drain!"

Su Yu turned and ran, but he controlled the "Blood" character to start absorbing blood. Even an injured Qianjun was not someone he could handle.

Blood continuously sprayed from the wound on the man's shoulder, faster and faster.

The man felt his life draining away and sensed his blood loss accelerating. With an enraged roar, he increased his speed by another thirty percent, his eyes bloodshot. He wanted to kill that bastard in front of him!

The more he erupted, the faster his blood flowed away.

But the distance between Su Yu and him was rapidly closing as well.

Su Yu grew anxious. Before the other man died, Su Yu might be chopped to death first.

"Buzz!"

The sound of the blade falling came from behind him. Su Yu reacted quickly, performing a donkey roll on the spot and instantly dodging the man's blade.

Having been hunted for so many years in his dreams, he had picked up a few tricks for escaping with his life.

Though the final outcome had always been death, even without looking back, Su Yu could roughly judge how his opponent would kill him.

He rolled several times across the ground. Sharp stones cut open Su Yu's cheek, but he could not care less. He scrambled up and continued running.

The "Blood" character was still frantically drawing the other man's blood out.

The consumption of Willpower made Su Yu's face turn pale, while sweat continuously dripped down.

Behind him, the man who had failed to kill Su Yu with one slash let out a shrill howl. His vision was already beginning to blur; he had lost too much blood.

"You... don't think you can run!"

The man roared and charged after him again.

"Instructor Liu, are you still not going to act?"

Not far away, Zeng Hua, the head of Jifeng Hall, looked at Liu Wenyan. The other party was making one final desperate struggle and was determined to kill Su Yu. Su Yu was only Kaiyuan, and if this continued, he would be in danger.

Liu Wenyan said nothing.

It was not time yet. Besides, he possessed Soaring Willpower. The other party was less than a hundred meters away from him. With his strength, he could freeze the man in an instant, so naturally he was in no hurry.

He wanted to see just how far Su Yu could go.

Already, Su Yu had greatly exceeded his expectations.

A Kaiyuan ambushing a Qianjun, and a Thousand Jun Sixth Stage at that—yet he had actually severed one of the man's arms. That was already extremely impressive.

Just as Liu Wenyan was thinking this, Su Yu was caught again.

Liu Wenyan prepared to intervene, but at that moment, Su Yu suddenly turned around, as though he intended to fight the man to the death.

Too hasty...

Liu Wenyan judged. The instant that thought passed through his mind, Su Yu suddenly shouted, "Don't kill him! Take him alive!"

The man's great blade was already swinging toward him. Hearing those words, panic rose in his heart, and the sound of something cutting through the air came from behind him.

Although he had already resolved to die, with someone seemingly attacking from behind, the man still hurriedly dodged aside. Up ahead, Su Yu turned and ran again.

The man dodged, but there was no further movement behind him.

In that instant, Su Yu had used his Willpower to simulate an illusion, lightly stirring the air and creating a false impression.

Ahead, Su Yu scrambled and crawled, already fleeing another dozen meters.

"I'll butcher you!"

The man roared furiously. He had been tricked.

He still had that much strength?

Su Yu panted heavily. He had lost so much blood and was still that strong. Were Qianjun cultivators really that hard to kill?

Hadn't he split one apart with a single slash last time?

Previously, at the academy, he had ambushed and killed two Qianjun cultivators. He had even heard afterward that they were Qianjun Seventh Level. He had not truly feared Qianjun all that much, but today... Su Yu knew he had been wrong.

Without swallowing essence blood to erupt, and without an ambush, forget Qianjun Seventh Level—even Thousand Jun Triple Stage could kill him quickly.

"Drain faster!"

Su Yu roared in his mind. The "Blood" little brother was far too useless, and it called itself a divine rune!

The man had such a huge wound, yet it was still so slow at accelerating his bleeding. It was simply a trash divine rune.

The "Blood" character divine rune was desperately absorbing as well, but it was simply too weak. Su Yu's Willpower was too weak, and he had nurtured the divine rune for too short a time. After several eruptions, the "Blood" character had already dimmed considerably.

At this moment, the divine rune's power was far inferior to before.

Behind him, the sound of the blade rose again.

Without even thinking, Su Yu performed another donkey roll. The longsword struck the ground, sending shattered stones flying everywhere. Sharp stones sliced across Su Yu's cheek and neck, leaving bloody marks behind.

How could Su Yu care about that now? He rolled frantically for a while, then used both hands and feet to scramble away. He even threw away his blade and fled wildly again.

He was in an utterly miserable state!

"Bas...tard!"

After repeatedly failing to cut down Su Yu, the man was so enraged that his anger attacked his heart. His opponent was only Kaiyuan, yet he was as slippery as an eel. Added to that, his left shoulder had been severed and his injuries were too severe. The intense pain had greatly slowed his reactions.

At this moment, the man felt darkness closing in over his vision. He had lost too much blood.

Seeing Su Yu escape once more, the man let out one final beastlike roar!

In the next moment, the man stopped chasing!

With a buzz, he hurled the longsword in his hand!

The instant the longsword left his hand, the man stared despairingly ahead, wanting to see the result. Then he crashed to the ground!

Even Thousand Jun Sixth Stage cultivators were human, not gods. Having lost so much blood, the man could no longer hold on.

With a buzz, the sound of something slicing through the air came from behind Su Yu.

This time, Su Yu had no time to react at all. He sensed it, but his body could not keep up.

In the next instant, Su Yu felt the sharp blade touch his back.

It's over!

The thought flashed past, and in the next moment, the longsword froze.

Not far away, Liu Wenyan was satisfied inwardly, but no joy showed on his face. He stepped out and frowned. "You couldn't even deal with a heavily injured, useless Qianjun. He was merely cannon fodder from the Ten Thousand Races Cult! He was inferior to cultivators of the same level from Jifeng Hall, inferior to those from the City Guards... not to mention the prefectural army, the Dragon Martial Guard, and the frontline legions!"

"Soldiers who came from the frontlines, even if weaker than him, would have no difficulty killing him!"

Liu Wenyan looked thoroughly displeased!

At the side, the head of Jifeng Hall could neither laugh nor cry.

A Thousand Jun Sixth Stage cultivator!

What realm was Su Yu in?

The Kaiyuan Realm—not even Kaiyuan Eighth Stage, but Kaiyuan Seventh Stage. He had nearly killed a Thousand Jun Sixth Stage cultivator, yet this man was still dissatisfied.

And he was comparing him to frontline soldiers!

What a joke. Among frontline soldiers, without Thousand Jun Fourth Stage, it would be almost impossible to kill that man.

In physical strength, reaction speed, and explosive force, Su Yu was far behind his opponent. If he had not possessed so many methods, he would have been cut down the instant he launched his ambush. Kill someone? How could that be possible?

Su Yu was in a miserable state at the moment, panting heavily, wounds all over his body. Hearing this, he gave a bitter smile. "Teacher, huff... his vitality was too strong. He didn't die for ages. I had no chance to slash him a second time."

"You only had one chance."

Liu Wenyan neither agreed nor disagreed. "When the weak wish to kill the strong across realms, opportunities will not keep appearing. There is only that instant! If, at the moment of your initial ambush, while he was dazed, you had struck his head instead of his shoulder, he would already be dead!"

"Do you think that on the battlefield, an enemy will give you a second chance?"

"There is only that one instant. If he does not die, then you die!"

"Either do not ambush, or make complete preparations and kill with one strike! Do not gamble with your life!"

Liu Wenyan said sternly, "So your judgment of timing is still lacking. If I had not acted, you would already have been killed by his final strike before death!"

Su Yu pulled a miserable face and nodded, tacitly accepting it.

"A mid-stage Qianjun is worth two Merit Points, but I acted in the end. Therefore, you will receive one Merit Point this time. Any objections?"

"None!"

Su Yu shook his head. Getting one Merit Point was not bad.

Late-stage Qianjun cultivators were worth three Merit Points, while early-stage ones were worth only one. It was equivalent to him having killed an early-stage Qianjun cultivator.

Only at this moment did Su Yu understand just how difficult Merit Points were to obtain.

Previously, learning a language could earn him one point. It only took time. But killing people... that required risking his life!

If the Civilization Academy followed the same rules, then how many students whose Willpower had yet to manifest could earn Merit Points by killing Qianjun cultivators?

Even on the battlefield, for soldiers in the Qianjun Realm to kill enemies of the same realm was not easy.

Licking blood from the edge of a blade, they could earn at most three Merit Points for one kill. It was clear how difficult these things were to obtain.

A faint smile appeared on Liu Wenyan's face, but he quickly withdrew it and continued, "When you can independently kill a mid-stage Qianjun cultivator, that will count as your graduation! Not like today, where you nearly got yourself killed!"

"In battle, you may use every means at your disposal!"

"This is a battlefield where either you die or I die, not an arena for sparring and martial contests. Therefore, do not care about methods. We only look at the result!"

After greeting Zeng Hua, Liu Wenyan walked as he spoke. "When you created illusions, why did you only think of using demon beasts to kill him? There are many kinds of illusions. Not everyone fears demon beasts."

"You could create beautiful women, with no clothes... ahem, you know what I mean!"

"You could also create my likeness. I'm Soaring... of course, I'm not famous enough. You could imitate the City Lord's appearance instead. He should know him. Do you think he would not be afraid upon seeing a Soaring cultivator?"

"There are many ways to use illusions. Do not limit yourself. I've noticed that your thinking has become rigid. You only know how to imitate demon beasts biting him to death. That is far too uncreative!"

Su Yu fell into thought, then said quietly, "Teacher... um... beautiful women without... ahem, I haven't seen them before. Even if I imitated them, they wouldn't be realistic. How about I..."

"What nonsense!"

Liu Wenyan rebuked him, then coughed lightly. "I was only giving an example. Do not dwell on it! Don't let your mind wander, brat!"

Liu Wenyan regretted it a little. Why had he spouted such nonsense just now?

If this brat really went to that sort of place and his father found out, would his father charge back from the frontlines to settle accounts with him?

Su Yu obediently acknowledged it. His eyes shifted, and he added, "Teacher, then do you think anyone would believe it if I imitated Prefect Xia next time?"

"..."

Liu Wenyan glanced at him. This brat really had some nerve.

Xia Longwu was the Prefect of Great Xia Prefecture. Why did this brat have no reverence whatsoever?

Su Yu continued, "Tell me, if I imitated Prefect Xia, would the other person be scared to death? Or would he feel it was too unbelievable? How about... adding a woman beside him? If he ran into Prefect Xia on a date with a woman, wouldn't he be frightened silly?"

Liu Wenyan tugged at his beard. Not bad—he had learned to draw inferences from one example!

The crucial point was, brat, did he know this was courting death?

Of course, the brat was still far too distant from Xia Longwu. But if Xia Longwu saw it someday... Liu Wenyan did not dare imagine the consequences.

"Ahem, do as you please!"

Liu Wenyan did not wish to say more. He had only offered one pointer, and this brat had already learned to create scenes on his own. What else could he say?

As he was thinking this, Su Yu did not continue the subject. Returning to the main point, he said, "Teacher, I looked over this year's examination process yesterday. The first place in the War Academy examination gets three drops of Qi Liquid..."

Liu Wenyan looked at him. What was he trying to say?

"Tell me, if I take both examinations and get first place in the War Academy, will they give me that Qi Liquid?"

By first place, he meant first place in Nanyuan.

First place in a small city—the Qi Liquid reward was provided by the Nanyuan City Lord's residence, not by the War Academy.

The War Academy did not care much about first place in a small city. It would be different if he took first place in all of Great Xia Prefecture.

Liu Wenyan was too exhausted to complain. "You want to scam rewards?"

"Teacher, it's not cheating. The assessment procedure form never said that passing meant I had to enroll. If I passed and chose not to go, I still passed, right?"

"And you're so sure you can take first place?"

Although Nanyuan was small and had few geniuses, this kid really seemed to have a shot at taking first.

This was only Nanyuan, not some other major city.

Kaiyuan Seventh Stage was already more than enough.

Liu Wenyan glanced at him again. Lately, he felt that this student of his was getting a little carried away.

He even dared to cheat for rewards!

Liu Wenyan sank into thought. When had it started?

Oh, it seemed to have been after he told the boy that he was too hesitant that day. After that, the kid had changed. He was no longer indecisive now—he was so straightforward it was frightening. Liu Wenyan had never even considered something like cheating for rewards.

"Do as you please!"

Liu Wenyan could not be bothered to say more. "But don't delay the Civilization Academy assessment. And since you cheated those rewards out of them, Wu Wenhai may not care, but the one who comes in second will probably want to chop you to death."

Su Yu did not care. Three drops of Qi Liquid—his entire fortune was only enough to buy three drops. Why turn down something for nothing?

"There's a gap between the assessment times for both sides. I checked. I can take them."

Su Yu calculated it and felt that it would not be a problem.

If both assessments could not be taken, the academies would not have allowed students to apply for two programs in the first place. It was meant to give students an opportunity.

And Su Yu had applied to both the Civilization Academy and the War Academy before. He was qualified to take the examinations.

Today was already June 1st. The assessment date was not too far away.

Over these past dozen days, he had followed Liu Wenyan around everywhere, hunting down members of the Ten Thousand Races Cult. Although Su Yu had not fought much himself, he felt that Kaiyuan Eighth Stage was close.

Perhaps after cultivating a few more times and devouring a few drops of essence blood, he would be able to advance to Kaiyuan Eighth Stage.

At Kaiyuan Eighth Stage, would he still have any opponents in Nanyuan?

First place was in the bag!

Why would he not take three drops of Qi Liquid for free?

Liu Wenyan said nothing more. He felt as though he had led his student astray!

What a simple, honest child he had been, yet now he had learned all sorts of crooked tricks. It was all Liu Wenyan's fault. He only hoped the boy would not run off to some unsavory place at this time, to watch those female demons who wore no clothes.

Liu Wenyan was somewhat worried. Surely he would not really go watch, would he?

"Su Yu, before Willpower manifests, it is most easily shaken. Once you indulge in women, you are practically ruined. Do you understand? That is why your teacher has never married. You must know where you stand!"

Su Yu blinked. There was such a saying?

He had never heard anyone mention it!

Of course, he only knew two Civilization Masters: Liu Wenyan and Bai Feng. Bai Feng had only taught him for one day. Since Liu Wenyan said so, there was no way for him to refute it.

"Understood. If anyone tries to tempt me, I'll chop her to death!"

Su Yu nodded solemnly. Before his Willpower manifested, whoever dared to ruin his path of Willpower would receive no mercy from him!

"..."

Liu Wenyan felt that he had said the wrong thing again!

As a teacher and an example... I really cannot speak carelessly next time. This kid... if he can't find a wife in the future... forget it. At worst, this old man will introduce one to him!

Liu Wenyan felt helpless. A teacher could not lie. He had to be more careful next time—he absolutely could not talk nonsense to this kid again.