Chapter 343: Trouble Is Coming (2)
While Su Yu was getting ready for his next phase of cultivation.
Heart Cultivating Pavilion.
Inside Zhou Mingren's residence.
Liu Hong was sweating profusely as he explained, "Faculty Head, it was my fault. I reported the price of 82,000 merit points to Senior Brother Zhou. In truth, the price is only 80,000 merit points. I took some of the money for myself."
Acting like he was unable to withstand the pressure of being stared at by Zhou Mingren, Liu Hong decided to “come clean”.
"80,000 merit points..."
Zhou Mingren reached his own conclusion. That was most likely the correct figure. Su Yu might not be fully trusted either. The issue here was that Zhou Pingsheng had reported a price of 100,000 merit points to them.
Zhou Mingren sighed inwardly. He came to the conclusion that his beloved student had swallowed 18,000 merit points all by himself.
How audacious.
How greedy.
That was a lot of money. What gave Zhou Pingsheng so much courage?
One ought to know that even a Cloudbreach cultivator would probably receive only around 1,000 merit points per year as salary without any additional income. Meanwhile, Zhou Pingsheng alone had swallowed over 10,000 merit points from a single transaction. If the other elders learned of this, things would get very troublesome.
Not letting any of his thoughts show, Zhou Mingren indifferently said, "It is understandable that you try to take care of your own benefits when carrying out a task for the faction. 2,000 merit points is actually a decent amount of money. I can forgive you for that. But I need to know if the data is real."
Liu Hong was still sweating profusely, "Faculty Head, I really have no idea. Back then, Senior Brother Zhou was present for everything. He is also much more knowledgeable than me. Furthermore, even Xia Xinyi from the Xia Family was present that day. Since Xia Xinyi had also tried to purchase the data, he had clearly believed that the data was real as well."
Xia Xinyi was Marquis Xia's son and Xia Chan's father. He was also a ninth-stage Cloudbreach expert. Additionally, he also had the identity of a member of the Xia Trade Company. If even someone like him believed that the data was real, was it possible that the data was fake?
Zhou Mingren rubbed his temple and said, "We'll continue studying the data. But if this whole thing is a plot by Su Yu, then it is very unlikely that the data would be real."
It was very likely that the data was fake. In truth, they were already more or less sure that the data was fake. Right now, they were merely grasping at straws, hoping that the data was actually real.
And Zhou Mingren couldn't directly declare that the data was fake either. After all, Zhou Pingsheng was the one in charge of the transaction. Doing so would only bring more trouble his way. The other elders would not let this rest. After all, around 100,000 merit points were involved here.
And that was not the only trouble waiting for them to solve. A bunch of people were still waiting for them to give out the promised willpower texts. They could renege on the debt to some people, but there were also some people that they absolutely must not renege their debt on. Su Yu had single-handedly thrown a pile of trouble their way.
At that thought, Zhou Mingren said, "I don't know if this is Su Yu's idea or if this is the plot of Chen Yong and Bai Feng. Or maybe it's Liu Wenyan teaching them from the shadows. No matter what, Su Yu had successfully humiliated the single character faction this time. We won't be able to maintain our prestige if we don't punish him sternly."
Liu Hong hurriedly said, "Faculty Head, he is still in the Mental Tempering Stage. And he's not even in the top 100 anymore. It would be too hard for us to do anything to him."
Zhou Mingren asked, "Can't you think of anything? Are all of you completely helpless against a single kid?"
Liu Hong's expression turned awkward as he said, "I actually have an idea...but I'm afraid that it might sound too crazy."
"What is it?"
"Allow him to enter the Skysoar Realm. It's too hard to stump him at the Mental Tempering Stage. But things will be different at the Skysoar Realm. We have plenty of teaching assistants in the Skysoar Realm. And as a Skysoar cultivator, he is no longer a student. There will be fewer restrictions as to what we can do to him. At worst, we can simply send him over to the Allheaven Battlefield.
"By the way, I believe it would be even better if we allow him to enter the Willpower Grotto as well. How many characters have he formed so far? It would be really funny if he accidentally enters the Skysoar Realm before forming enough characters. At that time, will the multiple character faction kick him out or keep him with them?
"For their faction, anyone entering the Skysoar Realm before completing their character technique can't be considered a true member of the faction. When Su Yu reaches the peak Mental Tempering Stage, can he resist the temptations of breakthrough? And once he breaks through, will they kick him out? If they keep him around, is the multiple character faction still the multiple character faction? They will turn into a joke."
Liu Hong seemed to be on a roll as he continued, "Su Yu has gotten used to rapid growth. Is he willing to be stuck at the peak Mental Tempering Stage for years or even a dozen years? Perhaps he might even turn hostile toward Bai Feng for forbidding him from breaking through."
Zhou Mingren frowned, "What if he is really so patient?"
"Faculty Head, he will also take some time to form Divine Characters..."
"Divine Characters..."
Zhou Mingren recalled something. Wan Tiansheng once suggested that Su Yu should focus on cultivating human characters. If Su Yu really did so, his cultivation speed would definitely drop. Walking this path, even if he managed to form other characters, he would have to shatter those characters. Thus, it would probably be very hard for Su Yu to actually form over 10 Divine Characters.
"Do you know the number of characters his character technique requires?"
Liu Hong shook his head, "No. But he feels even more talented than Bai Feng, so I suspect 12 or more. Just look at how even a turtle like Chen Yong is starting to move for his sake. This kid is definitely quite a talented one."
Zhou Mingren nodded. That was reasonable. To push that kid into the Skysoar Realm...what an interesting idea.
Liu Hong said, "Faculty Head, in truth, our current target shouldn't be Su Yu. His combat strength relative to his cultivation level is too high. His senior sister, Wu Jia, is the weak point. And to be honest, neither of the kids are our actual targets. Chen Yong is our true target. His position as the head manager of the books depository has been our target since the beginning."
Yes. Chen Yong was their true target. No matter how strong Wu Jia and Su Yu were, neither of them were even in the Skysoar Realm yet.
Zhou Mingren exhaled lightly and nodded, "You're right. We need Chen Yong to vacate his position. Xia Yuwen has already entered Great Zhou. In about a month or so, he will be here."
"Xia Yuwen is returning?"
Liu Hong was greatly alarmed to hear that, but he did not let his shock show on his face. He hesitated slightly and said, "Faculty Head, he is not a part of our faction. Are we really working with him?"
"He is very likely to be the next prefect. And in Great Xia, the Xia Family is the true ruler. Only by helping him become the prefect would the single character faction be able to grow even further."
Liu Hong had nothing else to say so he nodded, "I understand. Faculty Head, do we take strict precautions against Wu Jia to prevent her from returning to the top 100 next?"
"Yes. Cancel the previous mission. Have all the single character faction students focus on stopping Wu Jia from entering the ranking instead. If our students can't do so, then all their benefits for next year will be canceled."
They were finally going to threaten the benefits of their own students. Those incapable of carrying out their tasks would be penalized. After all, if these members couldn't contribute when required, what was the point of spending so much resources to nurture them?
Liu Hong cautiously said, "Faculty Head, I'll also submit the 2,000 merit points I took back to the faction as well later...But can you help explain this to the other elders? I really didn't take that much. The transaction is really worth 80,000 merit points. Su Yu was clearly framing me."
"I'm not that stupid."
Zhou Mingren waved his hand, looking dignified and stern. Was he the type of person who would believe anything Su Yu said? He only needed to check with Zhou Pingsheng to know if Liu Hong was really telling the truth.
But at the thought of Zhou Pingsheng, Zhou Mingren's head started aching. This student of his was too greedy. He actually asked for 100,000 merit points from the faction. If the other elders really pursued the matter, things could really get troublesome. That was especially true since they were trying to push Zhou Pingsheng into the position of the head manager.
As for the 2,000 merit points Liu Hong had misappropriated, that was really nothing for a Mountainsea cultivator. Liu Hong's share of benefits in the single character faction had always been lower than the others, so he didn't mind letting Liu Hong earn this little benefit this time.
A lot of trouble was really coming their way. A loss of 100,000 merit points, the return of Liu Wenyan, the willpower texts the students were waiting for, and Zheng Yuming's heavy injuries.
Zhou Mingren felt greatly troubled. He had been planning to enter seclusion and try his luck at the Sunmoon Realm. But after all these disturbances, how could he still enter seclusion? He wouldn't even have the time for that.
While rapping on the table, Zhou Mingren said, "Keep an eye on Bai Feng and Su Yu. As for your students, they are decently talented. And their seniors are from our faction as well. Remember to not be too stingy and put more effort in nurturing them..."
Liu Hong had an awkward expression as he said, "Faculty Head...I really can't afford to raise them. Just my little brother alone has exhausted a lot of my resources. And I need to enter the Cloudbreach Realm as well. I really can't spare any effort on them..."
"You!"
Zhou Mingren was finding this issue troublesome. If the researchers of his faction were so poor that they could no longer raise their own students, then what would be the point for those students to come under these teachers?
If this continued, would the students of the academy still have any trust toward the single character faction? Zhou Mingren even started wondering if he had been too stingy with Liu Hong all these years.
In Zhou Mingren's opinion, Liu Hong's student, Yang Sha, was quite promising. This was a student with the hope to enter the top 100 and the Skysoar Realm. As for the new student, Lin Yao, he was quite good as well. Furthermore, Lin Yao's grandfather was a Cloudbreach cultivator of their faction. Thus, he was already one of them.
"From now on, your students will receive 30 merit points each on a monthly basis. Don't even think of trying to take from your own students."
"I won't!"
Liu Hong was very surprised. That was actually a decent amount of money.
Even those in the Skysoar Realm would probably get only around that much in salary. One ought to know that even Chen Yong was only paid around 50 merit points per month. And he was a head manager and a ninth-stage Cloudbreach cultivator.
Of course, Chen Yong was only receiving the basic salary instead of other benefits. Generally, a Cloudbreach cultivator would not be as poor as he was.
Zhou Mingren exhaled lightly and grew even more agitated.
A lot of trouble was knocking. In truth, he had not been getting involved in all these affairs after entering the peak Mountainsea Realm. Previously, Zheng Yuming was the one who had been handling all these affairs.
Suddenly, he was forced to deal with all these troubles. To make things worse, he didn't even have a suitable candidate to replace Zheng Yuming as the faction master.
"By the way, how is Xia Chan doing recently?"
"Very good."
Zhou Mingren gave it some thought and said, "Tell Xia Chan to prepare herself. She will be allowed to enter the Willpower Grotto next month as well."
"Faculty Head, Xia Chan's line is different from Xia Yuwen's line. Would Xia Yuwen..."
"Don't worry." Zhou Mingren waved his hand, "We are diversifying our investment. Both of them are from the Xia Family. Nothing will really happen to the losers of the struggle. Even if Xia Yuwen ends up victorious, he still wouldn't dare to touch the losers. It's not like the Great Xia King and the current prefect can't live without him."
Even if Xia Chan's line lost during the struggle, they would still be perfectly fine.
Zhou Mingren knew that very well. It didn't matter how strong Xia Yuwen was. Even if he was already an Invincible, would he really dare to kill Xia Chan? Her grandfather was Marquis Xia. Her great grandfather was the Great Xia King. She hailed from the direct lineage of the Great Xia King. Was Xia Yuwen suicidal?
Liu Hong nodded, "Sure. I'll notify her. By the way, is Senior Brother Wensheng entering as well? He is only a step away from the Cloudbreach Realm. If he gets to enter this time, he might really be able to enter the Cloudbreach Realm. I'll have to congratulate him in advance."
At the mention of Hu Wensheng, Zhou Mingren couldn't help but to think about Bai Feng who had defeated Hu Wensheng with one hit. His headache returned. Why did he feel like nothing was going smoothly for him?
"We'll see. He's still in his seclusion." He said, "After two days, I'll be leaving the academy for a bit. If you have an emergency and no other elders are around, you can get help from Vice Principal Xia."
"Alright." Liu Hong nodded.
Inwardly, he was suspicious. Where was Zhou Mingren going? Since Zheng Yuming was still recuperating in the academy, there was no reason for Zhou Mingren to leave. Also, a few other elders seemed to be missing today as well. Where were they? He also kept having a feeling that Zhou Mingren was being rather agitated and uneasy today.
Was Zhou Mingren planning to leave with Zheng Yuming? Numerous guesses appeared in Liu Hong's mind, but since he lacked more information, he wasn't able to figure out the truth. He only felt like Zhou Mingren seemed to have lost his calm.
"Faculty Head, without you around, if some other people come after us..."
He was referring to the students who were still waiting for their willpower texts. Those capable of collecting this debt would definitely be no pushovers.
"Just try your best to delay them until we return."
Liu Hong was helpless, but he could only agree, "Sure. I understand."
He was only a Skysoar. Why did he feel like Zhou Mingren was using him like he was the faction master already? Was Zhou Mingren really thinking of making him the faction master? But he couldn't handle that position. He wasn't even a Cloudbreach yet. And the single character faction still had plenty of Cloudbreach cultivators. And he wasn't even from Zhou Mingren's line in the faction.
Seeing that Zhou Mingren had no other orders to give, Liu Hong carefully retreated. He heaved a breath of relief. Things were not as bad as he thought it would be. He had been able to turn Zhou Pingsheng into the main scapegoat.
That fellow had misappropriated a lot of money. However, he was also Zhou Mingren's student. With Zheng Yuming's condition, Zhou Pingsheng would become the sole pride of Zhou Mingren. Thus, this wasn't a good time to punish him.
Otherwise, Zhou Mingren would only further embarrass himself. Liu Hong sneered inwardly. He already expected this to happen. With Zhou Pingsheng as the scapegoat, no problem would be too big of a problem. Zhou Mingren would be there waiting to sweep all the trouble under the rug.
While walking, Liu Hong started thinking. Zheng Yuming had been crippled while Hu Wensheng was in seclusion. Meanwhile, Zhou Pingsheng was busy leading their research project. Thus, all the Cloudbreach cultivators directly under Zhou Mingren were no longer available for the faction master position.
The new faction master would probably be picked from one of the ninth-stage Cloudbreach cultivators in the faction. His little brother, Liu He, was also the student of a ninth-stage Cloudbreach cultivator. And this cultivator could potentially become the new faction master.
"What a pity that I'm not a ninth-stage Cloudbreach cultivator or I can probably try fighting for the position as well. Now that they are running out of manpower, they finally remember my students..."
Liu Hong shook his head. The single character was powerful and large. But they had been too busy competing against each other over the years. As a result, there was no unity whatsoever among fellow members. Even the elders themselves were engaged in all sorts of indirect conflicts against each other. Because of that, Zhou Mingren couldn't even put any trust into the students of the other elders.
Instead, someone who had been completely removed from the power struggles like Liu Hong was the one to start winning Zhou Mingren's trust instead.
Back when he found Liu He a teacher, he had also found him someone from the faction who was unaffiliated with any line. That was a ninth-stage Cloudbreach cultivator who was not the student of the few elders of the faction. In their current situation, someone without a backer like him might really stand a higher chance at being appointed the new faction master.
Suddenly, Liu Hong thought of Su Yu. He immediately felt like laughing. All these troubles plaguing Zhou Mingren had originated from Su Yu. Without Su Yu, Zheng Yuming would still be perfectly fine. And with Zheng Yuming around, nobody could hope to become the faction master.
"Bai Feng is truly useless. After so many years, he has not managed to do anything. Su Yu is still the better troublemaker. But things would be even more fun if he can enter the Skysoar Realm.
"Willpower Grotto...I need to get that kid in it. Things would be a lot more fun if the kid can enter the Skysoar Realm in advance. I need to make sure they are aware of this opportunity."
He needed to notify Su Yu about it. As for whether Su Yu could ultimately win entry into the grotto, that would rely on himself. In any case, Liu Hong would not lose anything by leaking that information to Su Yu.
"Xia Yuwen is returning..."
Liu Hong then recalled that person who had been reigning above everyone from his generation. That was a troublesome individual, but fortunately, he wasn't a member of the single character faction. They merely had a cooperative relationship for now.
...
At the same time.
Some of the Myriad Race Cult hideouts within Great Xia had received some news.
Su Yu, a student of the Great Xia Cultural Research Academy, a ninth-stage Great Strength cultivator and middle Mental Tempering Stage with the combat strength of an Infinite Strength cultivator. He once defeated a ranked 38th student in the academy's top 100.
Mission: Kill Su Yu.
Reward: 500 merit points
500 merit points. This was enough reward to get even a Skysoar cultivator killed. Thus, the cult members within Great Xia were all shocked to learn about the reward. Then again, this was understandable. This was still a student who had yet to graduate.
And this was far from enough money to motivate someone to actually enter an academy to assassinate someone. That was basically a suicidal mission. However, would Su Yu remain in the academy forever? 500 merit points were actually a lot of money.
The mission was only open to those at the Skysoar Realm and above. Thus, many Skysoar cultivators were tempted by the reward. Just what had this Su Yu done to receive such a bounty from the higher ups?
Furthermore, there was an additional clause to the mission stating that one would get extra rewards for capturing him alive. But capturing someone alive was much more difficult than simply assassinating someone. After all, escaping alone was very different from escaping with an unwilling companion.
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