The Rogue Boss

The Su family.

1 drop of Qi Liquid, 4 drops of Iron Winged Bird essence blood, 10 merit points, 30,000 cash, "Kaiyuan Jue," "Thunder Origin Blade," "Blood Condensing Blade," "Yi Shen Jue - Qianjun Chapter," a Qianjun technique bone shard, a complete technique bone shard, and a standard middle-grade yellow-tier long saber...

This was Su Yu's entire wealth at this moment.

The items were all laid out on the table.

Su Yu stared at them, lost in thought.

He had been in deep contemplation ever since returning from Jifeng Hall.

He was reflecting on whether he was being too calculating.

He used to think he was generous with his spending; these past few days, he had nearly spent all his savings.

He felt that reaching the eighth level of Kaiyuan was enough.

As a student not yet graduated from a mid-tier academy, wasn't this level of strength sufficient?

Therefore, he had barely touched his merit points, still having 10. If not for the recent uses, he wouldn't have touched the Qi Liquid either.

But today, Su Yu was reflecting.

Money, if not spent, when would it ever be used?

Waiting until he was stronger to exchange for what he needed?

But if he was unwilling to spend money now, how could he rapidly become stronger?

"Money must be converted into strength quickly!"

"I'll be receiving another 7 merit points soon. My willpower has been stuck around 19%, making it difficult to read that fragment clearly, and the diagrams in my mind haven't been activated much..."

Su Yu had rarely activated the diagrams before, averaging once every five to six days, and sometimes even longer.

He felt it was too extravagant!

Activating it once a day was equivalent to at least 30,000 cash or one merit point, which he found unbearable.

"Without Qi, how can I cultivate? Without Qi, how can I practice blade techniques, how can I train my acupoints, how can I rapidly grow stronger..."

"With 17 merit points, if I reached the Wanshi Realm, killing two early-stage Wanshi would be enough, or even killing one. But if I'm still in Kaiyuan, I'd have to kill over a dozen Qianjun, and each time is a risk!"

At this moment, Su Yu felt like he understood something, yet also understood nothing.

However, he at least knew one thing: resources, these things needed to be converted quickly!

Becoming stronger himself was the fundamental root.

In Nanyuan, no student had the ability to compete with him, but what about Great Xia Prefecture?

Not to mention Great Xia Prefecture, setting aside his student identity, what was the eighth level of Kaiyuan?

What was 19% willpower saturation?

"The assessment starts in 14 days. From today onwards, I will activate the diagrams once a day to absorb Qi and cultivate!"

14 days, consuming 14 merit points.

Of course, he had 4 drops himself, so 10 merit points would be enough.

The rest could be exchanged and kept on hand for emergencies. Otherwise, if he died one day, what good would merit points do?

After 11 days, Su Yu hadn't left his home.

He didn't even go to the academy to exchange for essence blood himself; he had Chen Hao help him with the exchange, using all 10 merit points.

14 drops of essence blood, all of them Iron Winged Bird essence blood.

If he hadn't been broke, Su Yu would have even considered selling his house to buy some Qi Liquid to aid his cultivation, keeping himself in a state of abundant Qi.

He had seriously considered selling his house for 1 million to buy 10 drops of Qi Liquid for cultivation.

Unfortunately, reality didn't allow it, so he had to abandon that idea.

Having a place to stay was good, preventing him from having nowhere to live.

While Su Yu was focused on cultivation, Great Xia Prefecture was in turmoil.

The Dragon Martial Guard had retreated, suffering nearly a thousand casualties, but they brought back a large amount of resources, many rare heavenly materials and earthly treasures, returning fully laden.

However, the Dragon Martial Guard, despite their great harvest, did not seem jubilant.

Great Xia Prefecture.

Prefect's Residence.

Upon entering the residence, there was a vast plaza.

At this moment, a tall, burly man, about 1.89 meters tall, stood in the center of the white marble pathway of the plaza. His face was filled with rage, clad in black armor, without any weapons.

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 was booming!

Around them, the mansion guards all kept silent, as if they hadn't seen anything, lowering their heads as if no one was speaking beside them.

"Marquis, the Dragon Martial Guard has returned from the campaign, and this subordinate has come to report!"

A moment later, an old man arrived gracefully. He looked at the tall man and said softly, "General, the Marquis said that you have had a tiring journey and should return to rest early."

"Rest?"

The tall man said coldly, "The Marquis doesn't want to see me?"

"The Marquis is already resting."

"Resting in broad daylight?"

The tall man shouted, "Is everything alright in Great Xia Prefecture? Acting Prefect, are there no official duties to attend to?"

"General..." the old man said softly, "The Marquis not wanting to see you is also to avoid conflict. Since the military order has been issued, you shouldn't dwell on it..."

"Nonsense!"

The tall man rebuked, "Dwell on it? Nearly a thousand Dragon Martial Guards sacrificed on the front lines, and a simple military order can make me let go?"

The old man pondered for a moment, then said after a long pause, "General, the Marquis knows this military order is improper... In fact, the Marquis was also deceived! At the grand ceremony that day, Wan Tiansheng instigated the Marquis. You must know about this. The Marquis didn't know the situation on the front lines, so how could he understand the reasoning behind it..."

"Wan Tiansheng is eloquent, so the Marquis believed him, which led to that order to withdraw the troops."

The old man sighed, "Wan Tiansheng is in charge of Daxia Civilization Academy, and most of the civilization masters in the army are graduates of Daxia Civilization Academy. With the Prefect absent, Wan Tiansheng holds immense power. The civilization masters are under his control. If we don't withdraw, will the Dragon Martial Guard really fight the Tianyi Divine Race to the death?"

"Wan Tiansheng!"

The tall man uttered the name coldly, his tone icy. "His reach is too long. He dares to interfere in the army? Isn't he afraid of having his claws broken!"

"If the Prefect weren't in seclusion, he naturally wouldn't dare."

The old man sighed, "With the Prefect in seclusion, and him backed by the Seeking Realm, why would he fear the Marquis, let alone you, General."

The tall man fell silent.

"So the Marquis regrets it now, but he was deceived, and there's nothing the Marquis can do..."

The old man sighed, "At this juncture, the Marquis can only remain silent. Is he going to fall out with Wan Tiansheng?"

The old man continued, "General, the army still relies heavily on civilization masters. As for Wan Tiansheng... we can't control him either."

"Ridiculous!"

"Great Xia Prefecture is still Great Xia Prefecture!"

The tall man uttered the same words as Xia Bing, "This is Great Xia Prefecture, not the Seeking Realm!"

After speaking, the man was silent for a while, then said coldly, "Before the Commander went into seclusion, did he agree to this matter?"

"This... no, the Prefect went into seclusion before the grand ceremony."

The tall man looked at the old man, then after a long pause said, "Old Hu, the Prefect of Great Xia Prefecture manages the army, and you manage the government affairs. Wan Tiansheng is acting recklessly. Is it true that you and the Prefect tacitly approved of this?"

The old man laughed, "How could that be!"

"Even I have to be kept in the dark?"

The man was somewhat displeased. He was no ordinary person; he was the deputy general of the Dragon Martial Guard, a strong cultivator in the Shanhai Realm. With Xia Longwu in Great Xia Prefecture, he was almost always in charge when the Dragon Martial Guard went out to battle.

"There really wasn't."

The old man said earnestly, "Wan Tiansheng is taking advantage of the Prefect's seclusion to seize power himself!"

"Then let's eliminate him!"

"General, be careful with your words. The Civilization Academy is Great Xia's Civilization Academy, and Wan Tiansheng... he is also the leader of Great Xia's civilization masters arranged by the Seeking Realm. You cannot speak carelessly!"

"Seeking Realm..."

The man muttered the words, then let out a cold snort, "The Seeking Realm has been secluded for many years. Does the Seeking Realm know that Wan Tiansheng is interfering in Great Xia Prefecture's military and political affairs?"

"As long as the Seeking Realm doesn't speak, he will remain the leader of Great Xia Prefecture's civilization masters. We can't change that."

The old man shook his head, then added, "The Marquis can only restrict him, so he reduced the Civilization Academy's funding by thirty percent, which is the most he could do."

"Reducing the Civilization Academy's funding... Preposterous!"

The tall man, however, rebuked him. He was displeased. "Civilization masters are civilization masters, and Wan Tiansheng is Wan Tiansheng. If the funding is reduced, the number of civilization masters born will decrease. If the civilization masters on the Battlefields of the Heavens are weak, how can they fight the enemy?"

He could be dissatisfied with Wan Tiansheng, but he didn't want the Civilization Academy to be implicated, as it would lead to a decrease in the number of civilization masters and affect the war on the front lines.

"Wan Tiansheng will find a way to solve it. He promised that the number of civilization masters graduating each year, including those joining the army, will not decrease. If it's not enough, he will send the strong cultivators from the Heart Cultivation Pavilion of the academy to fill the gap!"

Heart Cultivation Pavilion, a symbol of the high-end strength of Daxia Civilization Academy.

Most of the elders of the Civilization Academy were recuperating there. There was no shortage of cultivators in the Lingyun and Shanhai Realms, and it was the top-tier high-end combat force in Great Xia Prefecture, just like the Linghai Tower of the War Academy.

Since Wan Tiansheng had even said this, the tall man had nothing more to say.

After a while, the man said coldly, "This time is forgivable. If there is a next time... when I am outside, I will not obey the military orders!"

"The General will decide as he sees fit!"

The old man did not try to persuade him. He watched the man leave and then turned back to the hall behind him.

At the moment, in the hall, a chubby man was eating, and without looking up, he said, "Gone?"

"Gone."

"Went to find Wan Tiansheng?"

"Don't know."

The chubby old man looked up at this moment, smiling and said, "It'll be fun if they fight."

"Marquis, why not inform General Zhao?"

The old man asked, and the chubby old man chuckled, "To watch the show!"

"..."

The old man frowned slightly, and quickly said, "Marquis, this isn't appropriate, it will cause trouble."

"I'm not afraid of trouble."

The chubby old man burped, completely lacking any decorum, and said lazily, "Isn't Wan Tiansheng very powerful? Let Old Zhao add some fuel to the fire for him! Also, Wan Tiansheng's reach is indeed too long, he dares to interfere everywhere! Let Old Zhao put him in his place..."

"Of course, Old Zhao definitely can't beat him, that's obvious without even looking, but it's good to give that guy more trouble."

"But..."

The old man wanted to say more, but the chubby old man burped again, yawned, and said, "I'm going for a nap. If Wan Tiansheng can't even handle this little problem, what's he talking about reform!"

"Reforming Great Xia Prefecture... easier said than done!"

The chubby old man said with disdain, "If it were that easy, would it still be waiting until now? The traditions of Great Xia Prefecture over so many years, what can be obtained on the battlefield, won't be sought through a second method!"

"He's a bit stupid, actually, I also think Little Xia is a bit of an idiot, his IQ is a bit low, but his fists are big!"

The chubby old man sighed, "His fists are big, and he hits you hard, just like his grandfather! The old man is also like this, not enough intelligence, all muscle, what's the use of reasoning with you!"

The chubby old man shook his head and swayed, and the old man's expression changed slightly, but he didn't respond.

Only you, this unfilial son, would speak of King Daxia like this, no one else would dare to speak so casually.

"So if Wan Tiansheng can't even change them, what reform is there for Great Xia Prefecture... Great Xia Prefecture isn't just these few people, hundreds of millions of people are corrupted by these few scoundrels. When they encounter trouble, they just hack, hack, kill, kill, kill..."

The chubby old man said contemptuously, "I know they only have muscles and no brains, but I can't do anything about it, I can only watch. If you don't obey, you get beaten. I was beaten a lot when I was young, what else can I do? Xia Longwu, that unfilial son, even dares to hit his uncle, what can I do?"

"If Wan Tiansheng wants to reform, then he should find a way to solve it himself. Old Zhao is also brainless, only has muscles. I'm too lazy to reason with him, let Wan Tiansheng solve the trouble himself!"

After the chubby old man finished speaking, he got up and swayed as he walked, "Also, starting today, the next military order is that for the expedition of Great Xia Prefecture, the military expenses will be split seven-three. Great Xia Prefecture will provide seventy percent, and they will solve thirty percent themselves, deducted with spoils of war. No private sale of spoils of war! Xia Family Merchant Guild will uniformly purchase and handle it at a discounted price."

"Marquis!"

The old man said softly, "It's too fast, it's not appropriate. This will cause the Prefecture Army and the Dragon Martial Guard to no longer be pure. I'm worried they will take the opportunity to sell military supplies on the battlefield. This matter needs careful consideration!"

"That makes sense... So I've thought of it. The Dragon Martial Guard, the Prefecture Army, and the Demon Suppression Army will all establish a small department, the Commerce Department, and have people from the Xia Family Merchant Guild take over. They will only be responsible for fighting, and other matters will be handled by people from the Xia Family Merchant Guild."

"Marquis!"

The old man frowned, "If it's really going to be established, it should be dispatched in the name of Great Xia Prefecture..."

"Aren't the people of Great Xia Prefecture the people of the Xia Family Merchant Guild?"

The chubby old man was surprised, "Aren't they? Do you still need to clarify this with me?"

"No, Marquis, what I mean is, it cannot be in the name of the merchant guild, otherwise, the military power will be corrupted..."

"That's simple, the personnel from the Xia Family Merchant Guild sent there will no longer be people from the Xia Family Merchant Guild. Starting today, they will be people of Great Xia Prefecture. Give them any title. Oh, right, from now on, you will pay their salaries yourselves, no, Great Xia Prefecture will pay..."

The chubby old man made the decision quickly without any difficulty.

The old man was amused and exasperated, but after thinking about it, he nodded, "Then so be it. This is better than using the name of the Xia Family Merchant Guild."

After speaking, the old man said again, "Marquis, the War God Hall sent an order before, hoping that one of the corpses of the Tianyi Divine Race that Great Xia Prefecture had previously captured could be sent over..."

Before he could finish, the chubby old man suddenly jumped up and cursed, "Dream on! Little Xia killed these himself, and they were God Race who infiltrated. What does it have to do with them? I won't give it!"

"But..."

"No buts!"

The chubby old man was annoyed, "If you want it, have my old man come and ask for it himself! Damn it, a bunch of old guys who aren't incapable of killing themselves, and they still want to pick our pockets, what are they thinking!"

"What about the War God Hall, is it that amazing! Isn't it just a hall of brutes formed by a bunch of old undying fellows? What are they researching, wasting money! Even people in the Seeking Realm know to research and kill themselves, but these brutes have come up with new names and are extorting our resources by the way, let them go to hell!"

"..."

The old man was tired, is it really okay for you to curse like this?

Your father is also among them!

The War God Hall, the Seeking Realm, are two great Human Realm Sacred Lands.

Civilization Masters enter the Seeking Realm, Warriors enter the War God Hall, of course, not everyone can enter.

King Daxia certainly has the qualifications, and the War God Hall was created by the invincible powerhouses of their generation. Now they are asking their sons and grandsons for some sponsorship, and you, as the son, are too heartless!

The chubby old man cursed for a while, then quickly calmed down, thought for a moment, and said, "Send it over, but... make them exchange it for a few thousand corpses of gods and demons. Anyway, they kill them in large numbers, and they are not valuable. These are the corpses of top powerhouses, let them send three to five thousand corpses of Shanhai Realm gods and demons..."

"Cough cough!"

The old man wanted to speak, but held back after a long while.

The stout old man continued, "Do you know if they have it? They're asking for the moon. It's fine if they can't give this, but how about this... make them exchange some secret realms! I heard that a few years ago, the old man split off a piece of space from somewhere and brought it back. King Dazhou also split off one a few years ago. Send them both over."

"Marquis... this won't work, will it? Will they agree?"

The stout old man jumped up and down, furious. "Go negotiate! Damn it, if they don't give it, go cry! Arrange for thousands of people to wait outside the War God Hall. If they don't give it, cry! Cry until they give in! They want things themselves but don't want to pay. What are they thinking! Do it or don't!"

"A bunch of old geezers, they're full themselves but don't think about their descendants. We're still starving!"

"If my old man doesn't give it, tell him I'm switching grandfathers and recognizing King of Great Ming as my grandpa, to piss off that old fossil!"

"..."

The elder could barely hold on. He was afraid he would be silenced by King Daxia.

Are you even human?

If you call King of Great Ming grandpa, what will King Daxia call him?

Be a decent person!

The elder didn't dare to say more and quickly replied, "I understand, Marquis. I'll arrange for people to do it. By the way, how should the other corpses be distributed? The Civilization Academy is requesting all of them for research..."

"Tell Wan Tiansheng to get lost!"

The stout old man was ferocious, with a fierce look on his face. The elder, however, felt like baring his teeth. Stop being so fierce, you look like a fat cat guarding its food when you're angry.

"Send one over!"

The stout old man didn't care what he was thinking and quickly said, "Sending one over is fine, but make Wan Tiansheng graduate 80 Civilization Masters this year. If there's even one less, I'll settle the score with him. If he doesn't have enough, make him send them from the Heart Cultivation Pavilion. If he dares to hoard my God Race corpses, his funding for the second half of the year will be cut off entirely. He'll have to figure it out himself!"

"Okay."

The elder quickly agreed and continued, "What about the War Academy..."

"Don't give them anything. Just a few drops of essence blood will suffice. A bunch of brainless idiots, what do they need corpses for? Are they going to eat them?"

The stout old man's mouth was sharp, and he kept cursing without stopping. After cursing, he returned to the main topic. "For the War Academy, and sending those greenhorns who haven't seen blood, the Qianjun rookies, into the army, I'll cut their funding by half for the second half of the year!"

"Also, for the Internal Affairs Academy, speed up the training of people. The grassroots are desperately short of professional talent. Oh, and is that infiltration class they opened effective? How many people from the Ten Thousand Races Cult have infiltrated? Have they found any treasure vaults? If they don't find anything soon, shut it down. It's costing a lot of money!"

"And for the Research Academy, I told them 50 years ago to build war airships! Ones that can fly, carry people, and suddenly transport thousands of soldiers to the Battlefields of the Heavens. What the hell are they doing? They still haven't built them? Are they just eating for free? If they can't do it, cut their funding!"

As the elder listened, the most frequently heard phrase was "cut funding."

He did some calculations and after a while, couldn't help but say, "Marquis, if we do this, we can save about 300 billion this year!"

"That much?"

The stout old man was stunned for a moment, then his eyes lit up. "Good, issue the order! It's best if they fail to complete the mission, then cut it directly! 80% of the treasury will be allocated to the prefectural government, and the remaining 20% will be mine, as labor fees!"

"Marquis, there will be trouble."

"What trouble?" the stout old man said dismissively. "People need to be pushed. Otherwise, do you think they'll take it seriously? They're all cunning! Don't even get me started, take the Civilization Academy for example. Wan Tiansheng is hoarding a batch of elite students and not releasing them, keeping them in the academy. Isn't that a waste? If he could produce 30 more Civilization Masters each year, he could do it!"

"If this continues, the academy will be hollowed out in a few years. What about talent cultivation?" The elder disagreed somewhat. Everyone knew that Wan Tiansheng kept the elite students.

But those elite students had other uses.

Talent cultivation in the rear, the competition for some secret realms, and some secret research all relied on these people.

"Then he can find his own way. What does that have to do with me?"

The stout old man didn't care much, indifferent. "I'm not the real prefect, I'm just acting. Understand? If things get chaotic, I'll seek refuge in the War God Hall and let Xia Longwu deal with it himself."

"..."

What irresponsible words!

The elder was speechless, his face contorted in a bitter smile. Dealing with Marquis Xia was much more tiring than dealing with Xia Longwu.

At this moment, the stout old man had already walked to the backyard. Seeing the elder still following, he asked in surprise, "Why are you still following? Old Hu, are you done? Do you want to accompany me during my nap? You old pervert, scram!"

"..."

The elder decided that from now on, he wouldn't come here unless absolutely necessary!

As long as Xia Longwu didn't come out of seclusion, he would interact with this person less.

Xia Longwu still respected him. He was in charge of the Daxia Prefecture's political affairs, held a high position, and was very old. Therefore, Xia Longwu relied on him and respected him greatly.

But when it came to Marquis Xia, he wasn't even as important as a grandson.

As he turned to leave, after a few steps, the elder suddenly turned back and asked, "What about Wan Tiansheng's Myriad Races Training Institute?"

"Let him open it!"

The stout old man said as he walked into the house, "Special circumstances, special treatment. For those Myriad Races students, build them the best housing. If they pay, let them live there. If they don't pay, let them live in hovels!"

"Serve them the best food, give them God-Demon meat every day. If they don't want to eat it, make them pay for other things. The supply of God-Demon meat... am I being generous enough? The best treatment for humans, who dares to say otherwise?"

"The exchange rate for cultivation techniques and contribution points should be tenfold. The contribution points for killing their own people should be multiplied by ten. I want to see if any of them will kill their own people. Maybe they'll deliver themselves to be killed... that would be interesting!"

"Wan Tiansheng's methods are too soft. What are you afraid of? Since those guys came, they came to achieve their goals. They won't leave until they achieve their goals, so what are you afraid of, that they'll run away?"

The stout old man had already entered the house. As he closed the door, he instructed, "The academy's funding will be cut. I won't take the blame for this. Spread the word that all the money is being spent on the Myriad Races Training Institute. It's Wan Tiansheng's good deed! Let Wan Tiansheng take the blame! Oh, and remember to tell Wan Tiansheng that if he's really out of money, he can borrow from me. The interest can be whatever, I'm not short of money!"

"..."

The elder pretended not to hear and quickly left, fearing he wouldn't be able to take it if he heard any more.