Su Family.
1 drop of Qi Liquid, 4 drops of Iron Winged Bird Essence Blood, 10 Merit Points, 30,000 in cash, "Kaiyuan Jue," "Thunder Origin Blade," "Blood Condensing Blade," "Yi Shen Jue: Thousand Jun Chapter," one Thousand Jun cultivation-method bone fragment, one complete cultivation-method bone fragment, plus a standard-issue Mid Yellow Tier saber...
This was all of Su Yu's wealth at the moment.
Everything was laid out on the table.
Su Yu kept staring at it, deep in thought.
Ever since returning from Jifeng Hall, he had been thinking.
He was reflecting on whether he had been too calculating.
Before this, he had thought himself willing to spend money. These past few days, he had nearly spent his entire fortune dry.
He felt that the Kaiyuan Eighth Stage was enough.
As a student who had not even graduated from a mid-tier academy, was this level of strength not enough?
Thus, he had barely touched his Merit Points. He still had 10 points even now, and if not for using it twice recently, he would not have touched the Qi Liquid either.
But today, Su Yu was reflecting.
If money was not spent and was simply saved, how long should it be saved for?
Wait until he was powerful before exchanging it for what he needed?
But if he could not bear to spend money now, how could he become powerful quickly?
"Money has to be converted quickly, turned into strength!"
"I'll receive another 7 Merit Points soon. My Willpower has been stuck at around 19%. Even reading that fragment has become blurry, and the illustrated tome in my mind has barely been activated..."
Su Yu had activated the illustrated tome very few times before, once every five or six days on average. Sometimes, he only activated it once every ten-odd days.
He felt it was too extravagant!
Activating it once a day was equivalent to at least 30,000 in cash, or one Merit Point. He could not quite afford it.
"Without qi, how can I cultivate? Without qi, how can I train my saber techniques, open my acupoints, or become strong quickly..."
"With 17 Merit Points, if I reach the Wanshi Realm, killing two early-stage Wanshi cultivators would be enough, perhaps even killing one. But at the Kaiyuan Realm, I'd need to kill more than ten Thousand Jun cultivators, and every time would be a gamble with my life!"
At that moment, Su Yu seemed to understand something, yet also seemed to understand nothing.
But at the very least, he understood one thing: resources had to be converted quickly!
Only becoming powerful himself was fundamental.
No student in Nanyuan had the ability to compete with him, but what about Great Xia Prefecture?
Setting aside his identity as a student, what did the Kaiyuan Eighth Stage amount to?
What did a 19% Willpower saturation amount to?
"There are still 14 days before the assessment begins. Starting today, I'll activate the illustrated tome once a day and absorb qi to cultivate!"
Fourteen days meant consuming 14 Merit Points.
Of course, he had 4 drops himself, so 10 Merit Points would be enough.
He could exchange the remainder and keep it on him in case of emergencies. Otherwise, if he died one day, what would be the point of leaving those Merit Points behind?
For the next 11 days, Su Yu did not leave home again.
He did not even go to the academy himself to exchange for essence blood. Instead, he had Chen Hao help him exchange all 10 Merit Points.
Fourteen drops of essence blood, all of them Iron Winged Bird Essence Blood.
If he had not been out of money, Su Yu would even have wanted to buy some Qi Liquid to assist his cultivation and keep himself in a state of abundant qi at all times.
He truly wanted to sell the house, sell it for a million, and buy 10 drops of Qi Liquid to cultivate with.
Unfortunately, reality did not allow it, and he could only abandon the idea.
It was still good to have a place to stay, lest he end up without even a roof over his head.
While Su Yu focused wholeheartedly on cultivation, storms were brewing in Great Xia Prefecture.
The Dragon Martial Guard had returned, having lost nearly a thousand men. Yet they had brought back vast resources and countless heavenly treasures, returning fully laden.
However, the Dragon Martial Guard, which had gained so much, showed no joy.
Great Xia Prefecture.
The Prefecture Lord's residence.
Beyond the residence's entrance was an enormous plaza.
At that moment, a burly man standing one meter eighty-nine tall was positioned in the middle of the white jade path through the plaza. His face was filled with fury. He wore black armor and carried no weapon.
The man stared directly at the residence not far away, the center of power in Great Xia Prefecture.
"This subordinate requests an audience with Marquis Xia!"
The man's voice boomed!
Several residence guards nearby kept their mouths shut, as though they had seen nothing. Each lowered his head, as if nobody beside them was speaking.
"Marquis, the Dragon Martial Guard has returned in triumph. This subordinate has come to report completion of his orders!"
A moment later, an elderly man drifted over. Looking at the burly man, he said softly, "General, Marquis Xia has said that you are weary from the expedition. You should return and rest early."
"Rest?"
The burly man said coldly, "Marquis Xia refuses to see me?"
"Marquis Xia is already resting."
"Resting in broad daylight?"
The burly man shouted, "Is Great Xia Prefecture free of affairs? Does the acting Prefecture Lord have no official business to handle?"
"General..." The old man said softly, "Marquis Xia does not wish to see you because he wishes to avoid conflict. Since the military order has already been issued, there is no need for you to dwell on it..."
"Utter nonsense!"
The burly man rebuked him furiously. "Dwell on it? Nearly a thousand Dragon Martial Guard soldiers died on the front lines. Can a single sentence—'the military order has been issued'—make me let it go?"
The old man pondered for a moment before saying, "General, Marquis Xia knows that this military order was improper... In truth, Marquis Xia was also deceived! At the ceremony that day, Wan Tiansheng egged Marquis Xia on. You surely know about it as well. Marquis Xia did not know the situation at the front lines, so how could he understand the reasoning within?"
"Wan Tiansheng has a silver tongue, and Marquis Xia believed him. That was why the order to withdraw was issued."
The old man sighed. "Wan Tiansheng presides over Daxia Civilization Academy. More than half the Civilization Masters in the military graduated from Daxia Civilization Academy. With the Prefecture Lord absent, Wan Tiansheng's authority is immense. The Civilization Masters are under his control. If the troops had not withdrawn, and the Civilization Masters left, would the Dragon Martial Guard truly have fought the Tianyi Divine Race to the bitter end?"
"Wan Tiansheng!"
The burly man spoke that name coldly, his tone icy. "His hand has reached too far. He dares interfere with the military too—does he not fear having his claws broken?"
"If the Prefecture Lord had not entered seclusion, he naturally would not dare."
The old man sighed. "With the Prefecture Lord in seclusion and the Seeking Realm behind him, why would he fear Marquis Xia? Much less fear you, General."
The burly man fell silent.
"So Marquis Xia regrets it now as well. But having already been deceived, there is nothing Marquis Xia can do..."
The old man sighed. "At present, Marquis Xia can only remain silent. Could he tear all pretense of civility with Wan Tiansheng?"
After saying that, the old man added, "General, the military still relies heavily on Civilization Masters. As for Wan Tiansheng's side... we have no way to restrain them."
"What a joke!"
"Great Xia Prefecture is still Great Xia Prefecture!"
The burly man spoke the same words Xia Bing had once spoken. "This is Great Xia Prefecture, not the Seeking Realm!"
After speaking, the man fell silent for a while before asking coldly, "Did the Prefecture Lord agree to this before entering seclusion?"
"This... no. The Prefecture Lord entered seclusion before the ceremony."
The burly man looked at the old man. After a long while, he said, "Old Hu, the Prefecture Lord governs the military in Great Xia Prefecture, while you handle its affairs. Wan Tiansheng acts recklessly—was it truly not tacitly approved by you and the Prefecture Lord?"
The old man smiled. "How could that be!"
"Even I must be kept in the dark?"
The man was somewhat displeased. He was no ordinary person. He was the deputy commander of the Dragon Martial Guard, a Shanhai Realm expert. When Xia Longwu was in Great Xia Prefecture and the Dragon Martial Guard marched out to war, he was almost always the one in command.
"Truly not."
The old man said seriously, "Wan Tiansheng merely took advantage of the Prefecture Lord's seclusion to seize power for himself!"
"Then suppress him!"
"General, mind your words. The Civilization Academy is Great Xia's Civilization Academy. Wan Tiansheng... is also the leader of Great Xia's Civilization Masters appointed by the Seeking Realm. You must not speak rashly!"
"The Seeking Realm..."
The man murmured, then snorted. "The Seeking Realm has shut itself away for many years. Does the Seeking Realm know that Wan Tiansheng is interfering with Great Xia Prefecture's military and government affairs?"
"As long as the Seeking Realm does not speak, he remains the leader of Great Xia Prefecture's Civilization Masters. We have no way to change that."
The old man shook his head, then added, "Marquis Xia can only impose limits. That is why he cut the Civilization Academy's funding by thirty percent. He has already gone to the utmost limit."
"Cutting the Civilization Academy's funding... nonsense!"
The burly man rebuked him, dissatisfied. "Civilization Masters are Civilization Masters, and Wan Tiansheng is Wan Tiansheng. If funding is cut, fewer Civilization Masters will emerge. If the Civilization Masters who reach the Battlefields of the Heavens are weak, how will they fight the enemy?"
He could be dissatisfied with Wan Tiansheng, but he did not want the Civilization Academy implicated. That would reduce the number of Civilization Masters and affect the war on the front lines.
"Wan Tiansheng will find a way to solve it. He has promised that the number of Civilization Masters graduating each year, including those who enlist, will not decrease. If there are not enough, he will send even the experts from the academy's Heart Cultivation Pavilion to fill their places!"
The Heart Cultivation Pavilion represented the high-end strength of Daxia Civilization Academy.
Most of the Civilization Academy's elders cultivated there in seclusion. There was no shortage of Skysoar and Shanhai Realm experts there. It was Great Xia Prefecture's foremost high-end fighting force, equivalent to the War Academy's Linghai Tower.
Since Wan Tiansheng had even said that much, the burly man had nothing more to say.
After a while, the man said coldly, "Let this matter end here. If there is a next time... when a general is in the field, there are military orders he need not obey!"
"General, act according to the circumstances!"
The old man did not try to dissuade him. He watched the man leave, then turned and returned to the hall at the rear.
At that moment, a plump man in the hall was eating. Without even raising his head, he asked, "He left?"
"He left."
"Did he go find Wan Tiansheng?"
"I do not know."
The plump old man finally looked up and said with a cheerful smile, "It'll be fun if they fight."
"Marquis Xia, why did you not tell General Zhao?"
The old man asked. The fat old man smiled. "To watch the show!"
"..."
The old man frowned slightly, then quickly said, "Marquis Xia, that would not be appropriate. It will create trouble."
"I'm not afraid of trouble."
The plump old man burped, utterly devoid of decorum, and said lazily, "Isn't Wan Tiansheng impressive? Let Old Zhao add fuel to his fire! Besides, Wan Tiansheng's hand has indeed reached too far. He dares meddle everywhere! Let Old Zhao give him a warning..."
"Of course, Old Zhao definitely can't beat him. You can tell that without watching. But giving that fellow a few more headaches is a good thing."
"But..."
The old man still wanted to say more, but the plump old man burped again, yawned, and said, "I'm taking a nap. If Wan Tiansheng can't even handle this little problem, what reform can he talk about?"
"Restructuring Great Xia Prefecture... easy words!"
The plump old man looked utterly disdainful. "If it were really that easy, would we have waited until now? Great Xia Prefecture's traditions have lasted so many years. Whatever can be taken on the battlefield will never be sought through a second method!"
"They're a bit stupid, true. I also think Little Xia is somewhat of an idiot, with a slightly low IQ. But his fists are big!"
The plump old man lamented, "His fists are big, and when he hits you, it hurts. He's exactly like his grandfather! The old man is the same bird-brained way—his brains aren't enough, so it all turned into muscle. What use is reasoning with him?"
The plump old man shook his head. The old man's expression shifted slightly, but he did not respond.
The only person who would call King Daxia that sort of creature was this unfilial son of his. No one else dared speak so carelessly.
"So if Wan Tiansheng cannot even change them, what Great Xia Prefecture can he reform... Great Xia Prefecture is not made up of only these few people. Hundreds of millions of citizens have all been led astray by these bird-brained fellows. Whenever trouble arises, chop, chop, chop; charge, charge, charge; kill, kill, kill..."
The plump old man said contemptuously, "I know they have only muscles and no brains, but what can I do? I can only watch. If I refuse to submit, I get beaten. When I was young, I got beaten plenty. What else could I do? That unfilial Xia Longwu brat even dares to beat his uncle. What can I do?"
"If Wan Tiansheng wants reform, then he can figure out a way to solve it himself. Old Zhao has no brains either, only muscles. I can't be bothered reasoning with him. Let Wan Tiansheng solve his own problems!"
After speaking, the plump old man rose to his feet and waddled away. "Also, starting today, issue a military order. When Great Xia Prefecture goes to war, military expenditures shall be split seventy-thirty. Great Xia Prefecture pays seventy percent, while they solve the remaining thirty percent themselves, deducting it from spoils of war. They may not privately sell spoils! The Xia Family Merchant Guild will purchase everything uniformly and handle it at a discounted price."
"Marquis Xia!"
The old man said softly, "This is too hasty and improper. It will cause the prefectural army and the Dragon Martial Guard to lose their purity. I fear they may use this opportunity to peddle military supplies on the battlefield. This matter requires careful consideration!"
"That makes sense... so I've thought it through. The Dragon Martial Guard, the prefectural army, and the Demon Suppression Army will each establish a small department—a commerce department. People from the Xia Family Merchant Guild will take over. They will only be responsible for fighting; everything else will be handled by the Xia Family Merchant Guild's people."
"Marquis Xia!"
The old man frowned. "If it is truly established, people should still be sent there under Great Xia Prefecture's name..."
"Aren't Great Xia Prefecture's people Xia Family Merchant Guild people?"
The plump old man asked in surprise. "Aren't they? Are you trying to draw a clear line with me?"
"No, Marquis Xia. What I mean is that we cannot use the merchant guild's name. Otherwise, the military's nature will change..."
"Then that's simple. The Xia Family Merchant Guild personnel sent over will no longer be Xia Family Merchant Guild personnel. Starting today, they will be Great Xia Prefecture personnel. Give them any title you like. Right, from now on, you will pay their salaries yourselves. No, Great Xia Prefecture will pay..."
The plump old man showed not the slightest difficulty as he swiftly made the decision.
The old man did not know whether to laugh or cry, but after thinking it over, he nodded. "Then let it be so. This is indeed better than using the Xia Family Merchant Guild's name."
Having said that, the old man added, "Marquis Xia, the War God Hall sent an order earlier. They hope Great Xia Prefecture will send over one of the Tianyi Divine Race corpses previously slain..."
Before he could finish, the plump old man suddenly jumped up and cursed, "They're dreaming! Little Xia killed those himself, and they were Gods and Devils who infiltrated here. What the hell does it have to do with them? Not giving it!"
"But..."
"No buts!"
The plump old man said angrily, "Tell my old man to come ask for it himself! Damn it, those old fellows aren't incapable of killing them themselves, yet they still want to pry food from our mouths. What are they thinking?"
"What's so great about the War God Hall? Isn't it just a hall of reckless men made up of old immortals? Research, my ass—what a waste of money! The Seeking Realm people know to do research and kill their own targets. Those reckless fools came up with a new excuse, using it to extort our resources. They can go die!"
"..."
The old man felt exhausted. Was it really good to curse like that?
His father was among them too!
The War God Hall and the Seeking Realm were the Human Realm Sacred Land's two great holy lands.
Civilization Masters entered the Seeking Realm, while warriors entered the War God Hall. Of course, not just anyone could enter.
King Daxia naturally qualified. In fact, the War God Hall had been founded by the invincible experts of his generation. Now they merely wanted some support from their sons and grandsons, yet this son was being far too heartless!
The plump old man cursed for a while, then quickly calmed down. After thinking for a moment, he said, "Send one over, but... have them bring several thousand Gods and Devils corpses in exchange. They kill them by the batch anyway, and they're worthless. This is the corpse of a top-tier expert. Tell them to send three to five thousand Shanhai Realm Gods and Devils corpses over..."
"Cough, cough!"
The old man wanted to speak, but after a long while, he swallowed his words back down.
The fat old man continued, "Do you know them? Open their mouths like lions—if they can't give that, no matter. How about this... have them trade a few secret realms for it! I heard the old man hacked a chunk of space back from somewhere years ago, and King Dazhou hacked one out too. Have them send them all over!"
"Marquis Xia... that won't work, will it? Would they agree?"
The fat old man jumped to his feet and roared, "Go negotiate, then! Damn it, if they won't give them up, go cry! Arrange several thousand people outside the War God Hall. If they refuse, cry! Cry them to death! They want things themselves but don't want to pay—what the hell are they thinking? Take it or leave it!"
"A bunch of old geezers, filling their own bellies without sparing a thought for their descendants. We're still starving here!"
"If my old man won't give them up, tell him I'll recognize the King of Great Ming as my grandfather instead. Piss that old bastard to death!"
"..."
The elder was starting to buckle. He feared King Daxia would silence him.
Are you even human?
If you called the King of Great Ming Grandpa, what was King Daxia supposed to call him?
Please, act like a human being!
The elder did not dare say any more and hurriedly replied, "Understood, Marquis Xia. I'll arrange for people to handle it. Right, how should the other corpses be distributed? The Civilization Academy has requested that all of them be sent over for research..."
"Tell Wan Tiansheng to get lost!"
The fat old man looked ferocious, his face full of savage menace. Yet the elder only wanted to bare his teeth. Stop acting so damn fierce. When you got fierce, you looked like a fat cat guarding its food.
"Send them one!"
The fat old man did not care what he thought and quickly added, "Fine, send one over. Have Wan Tiansheng graduate eighty Civilization Masters for me this year. One short, and I'll settle the score with him. If that isn't enough, have him send people from the Heart Cultivation Pavilion. If he dares swallow my Gods and Devils corpse, he won't get a single cent in funding for the second half of the year. He can figure it out himself!"
"Alright."
The elder promptly agreed and continued, "As for the War Academy..."
"Give them nothing. A few drops of essence blood will do! A bunch of brainless idiots—what do they need a corpse for? It's not like they can eat it!"
The fat old man had a vicious mouth and never stopped cursing. Only after he was done did he return to the main topic. "As for the War Academy, if they send any more of those Thousand Jun rookies who have never seen blood into the army, I'll slash half their funding for the second half of the year!"
"And the Internal Affairs Academy—make them train people faster. There's a huge shortage of specialized talent at the grassroots level. Right, has that infiltration class they set up shown any results? How many people have they planted in the Ten Thousand Races Cult? Have they found any treasure vaults? If they still can't find any, shut it down. It costs plenty enough!"
"And the Research Academy—fifty years ago, I told them to build war airships! Ones that could fly, carry people, and suddenly transport tens of thousands of soldiers to the Battlefields of the Heavens! What the hell have they been doing? They still haven't built one—are they just eating for free? If they still can't do it, cut their funding!"
After listening for so long, the phrase the elder heard most often was "cut their funding."
He calculated for a while before he could not help saying, "Marquis Xia, if we do this, we can probably save three hundred billion this year!"
"That much?"
The fat old man froze for a moment, then his eyes lit up. "Good, issue the orders! Better yet, make sure they fail their tasks so we can cut it outright! Eighty percent goes into the prefectural treasury, and the remaining twenty percent goes to me personally as labor fees!"
"Marquis Xia, something will happen."
"What does it matter?" The fat old man said dismissively. "People need to be pushed, or do you think they'll put their hearts into it? Every last one of them is sly! Take the Civilization Academy, for example. Wan Tiansheng is keeping a batch of elite students hidden away, refusing to let them out and making them stay in the academy. Isn't that a waste? He can produce thirty more Civilization Masters every year!"
"At this rate, the academies will be hollowed out in a few years. What about talent cultivation then?" The elder did not quite agree. Everyone knew Wan Tiansheng kept elite students behind.
But those elite students had other uses as well.
Training talent in the rear, fighting over certain secret realms, conducting secret research—all of it relied on those people.
"Then he can figure it out himself. What does it have to do with me?"
The fat old man did not care much. "I'm not the real Prefecture Lord anyway. I'm acting in the role, acting, understand? If everything falls apart, I'll go to the War God Hall and ask for protection. Let Xia Longwu solve it himself."
"..."
How utterly irresponsible!
The elder was speechless. Wearing a bitter expression, he felt that dealing with Marquis Xia was far more exhausting than dealing with Xia Longwu.
By then, the fat old man had reached the rear courtyard. Seeing the elder still following him, he asked in surprise, "Why are you still following me? Old Hu, are you done? Do you want to keep me company while I take my afternoon nap? You old hooligan, why aren't you scramming?"
"..."
The elder made up his mind. Unless there was something important, he would never come here again!
As long as Xia Longwu remained in seclusion, he would have less to do with this man.
Xia Longwu still respected him greatly. He oversaw Great Xia Prefecture's political affairs and held considerable power. On top of that, he was quite old, so Xia Longwu relied on and respected him deeply.
Yet when it came to Marquis Xia, he ranked beneath even a grandson.
He turned to leave, but after taking a few steps, the elder suddenly looked back. "What about Wan Tiansheng's Myriad Races Training Institute?"
"Let him open it!"
As the fat old man walked into the room, he said, "Special matters, special handling. For those Myriad Races Students, build them the best housing. If they pay, let them live there. If they don't, make them live in the latrines!"
"Give them the best food too. Serve them Gods and Devils meat every day. If they don't want it, make them pay for something else. A supply of Gods and Devils meat... I'm generous enough, aren't I? The best treatment the human race has to offer—who dares say otherwise?"
"Make them pay ten times the Merit Points to exchange for cultivation methods. Multiply the merit for killing members of their own race tenfold. Let's see whether there are any fellows who will kill their own people. Maybe their own people will come knocking just to be killed... now that would be interesting!"
"Wan Tiansheng's methods are too gentle. What is there to fear? Since those fellows came, they came to achieve their goals. If they don't achieve them, they won't leave anyway. Are we afraid they'll run off?"
The fat old man had already entered the room. As he shut the door, he reminded him, "I'm not taking the blame for the academy funding cuts. Spread the word that all the money was spent on the Myriad Races Training Institute—Wan Tiansheng's fine handiwork! Let Wan Tiansheng carry the pot himself! Oh, right, remember to tell Wan Tiansheng that if he truly has no money, he can borrow some from me. Any interest will do. I'm not short on money!"
"..."
The elder pretended he had heard nothing and quickly left. He was afraid he would not be able to bear it if he listened any longer.
Before you continue