Tribulation of Myriad Races

While heading toward Great Xia City, Su Yu cultivated silently.

He was forging his body. He continuously absorbed heavenly source qi in secret as he cultivated. This was an era where he couldn’t do anything without strength. And his growth was still too slow for his liking.

He did not lack resources. He did not lack cultivation methods. He only lacked situations where he danced on the edge of death. Only by tempering himself through these dangers would he be able to rapidly grow and learn. He had to pursue death in order to grow and traverse the path others would take decades or centuries to reach.

Seclusion could help him grow, but that would take a long time. He couldn’t wait any longer. Great Ming could still protect him now. Just like back then, Great Xia was capable of protecting the multiple character faction. But because of Xia Longwu, they were finding themselves increasingly incapable of doing so.

If a day arrived when Zhu Tiandao needed to affirm his dao as well, would Great Ming still be so confident they could protect him? Ultimately, nobody was more reliable than himself.

***

Seated on his cloudrush horse, Su Yu’s eyes were shut in cultivation. Nobody disturbed him when they noticed that.

Finally, when Su Yu finally opened his eyes, Zhou Hongbo said, “Brother Cui…are you traveling for the sake of tempering yourself and entering the Cloudbreach Realm?”

This Cui Lang did not seem like he was only traveling for the sake of having fun. Instead, it looked more like he was also using the trip to temper himself.

Su Yu smiled, “Yes. I have been a ninth-stage Skysoar for a few years. I am only a step away from the Cloudbreach Realm. My willpower is still not strong enough. The moment my willpower reaches the corresponding level, I will be able to advance.”

He laughed and said, “Brother Zhou, you must be one of the top geniuses in the Knowledge Seeking Academy. Your cultivation is similar to mine yet you’re probably younger than me.”

Zhou Hongbo said, “I’m nothing special in the academy. Yes, I am a ninth-stage Skysoar, but I’m far from reaching the Cloudbreach Realm.”

“How old are you, Brother Zhou?”

“Twenty-eight.”

Su Yu exclaimed in admiration, “With your strength and your age, you will be considered a top genius in any prefecture. You’re probably comparable to the likes of Huang Teng and Qin Fang.”

Zhou Hongbo merely smiled, but he did not deny that.

Liu Han, the silent woman from the War Shrine Academy said, “In the current Human Realm, only people like Su Yu and Shan Xiong are qualified to be called geniuses. Compared to them, we’re still lacking.”

Zhou Hongbo smiled without saying anything, but Su Yu disagreed, “That’s because they were lucky. If we were as lucky as them, we would be just as outstanding.”

Liu Han couldn’t even be bothered to argue. There was no need to defend Su Yu since she didn’t know him personally.

Su Yu asked, “Brother Zhou, are you from Great Zhou?”

Zhou Hongbo said, “You can say so?”

“What does that mean?”

“You probably don’t know this, Brother Cui. Generally, Invincible families will split into two branches. One will remain in their respective prefectures while the other will remain in the holy lands. I hail from the holy land branch. We’re not exactly the same as the Great Zhou branch.”

Zhou Hongbo provided an explanation. Sure, they descended from the same ancestor, but they were no longer the same.

Su Yu nodded, “I’m aware of that. Prefect Zhu’s first son went to the Knowledge Seeking Realm not long ago to settle down there. Have you seen him before, Brother Zhou?”

At the mention of Zhu Guangshen, Zhou Hongbo merely laughed awkwardly without saying anything. Of course he had met that fellow before. In fact, he would see that fellow every single day.

That guy was driving everyone there crazy. He had started a farm right in front of the Knowledge Seeking Realm’s main gate. And ten thousand Strength Guard soldiers were helping tend to his farm. That was unbelievable.

That was crazy. They had never seen someone like that before. Even Great Han King was rendered speechless. He went to the farm once, but he said nothing. He merely forcefully shifted the gate a thousand paces away from the farm. Liu Han was also aware of that. She laughed, but she said nothing as well.

Zhu Guangshen. Great Ming’s Zhu Family. That was a very interesting family. They could also be considered one of the hegemons of the Knowledge Seeking Realm. Thus, nobody could say anything if they wanted to start a farm in the holy land.

After all, their family was also one of the owners of the Knowledge Seeking Realm. The eight great families of the Knowledge Seeking Realm had turned into the nine great families. From the looks of things, Zhu Guangshen would really start laying down roots in the Knowledge Seeking Realm.

Seeing that they weren’t interested in talking about Zhu Guangshen, Su Yu moved on from the topic.

After thinking for a bit, he asked curiously, “To speak the truth, I’ve never been to the two holy lands. Are the other students there strong? Previously, some holy land students came to Great Ming, but they didn’t look too impressive.”

Zhou Hongbo said, “The holy land students are very strong. That is a place where a large number of geniuses from the large families of humanity are gathered. They have sufficient resources, good talent, a good base of knowledge, numerous cultivation methods, and the boost of the heavenly source qi lands. Generally, a student can only graduate at the Cloudbreach Realm. Even now, I’m still considered a student.”

Su Yu inhaled in shock, “What? So I’ll still be considered a student if I’m a member of a holy land academy as well?”

“Yes.” Zhou Hongbo said, “But your weaponsmithing has reached the profound grade. Thus, your cultivation does not matter. You will enjoy the same status as Cloudbreaches and Mountainseas. At the earth grade, you will be considered a Sunmoon. Even Invincibles will treat you with great respect.”

In fact, this was why Zhou Hongbo had been so respectful with Cui Lang. For him, a ninth-stage Skysoar was nothing. He was also a ninth-stage Skysoar himself, but he was only twenty-eight. Not even the Cloudbreach Realm was that far away from him. As a holy land student, his strength was also far above others at the same cultivation level.

“Are there a lot of people in the two holy land academies?”

Su Yu asked another question. Seeing that Zhou Hongbo was starting to frown, he smiled, “Brother Zhou, are there any talented and strong beauties with no powerful background there?”

“…”

Zhou Hongbo was getting exhausted from speaking to this person. Beside him, Liu Han snorted coldly and said, “Most students there are either Sunmoon descendants or Invincible descendants. The rest will be incredibly talented ones or those with family in important positions.”

For example, Wan Tiansheng was officially a Mountainsea. But since he was a principal, the juniors from his family were allowed to enter a holy land academy.

Zheng Yunhui was also one such example as his grandfather was a principal. The juniors of regular Mountainseas would rarely be given such an opportunity.

Su Yu did not seem impressed as he said, “I’m not afraid of Sunmoon descendants. There are so many Sunmoons around and their descendants are everywhere. In terms of status, is any of them as noble as me?”

Su Yu grinned, “Little girl, don’t get all cocky in front of me. I’ll be honest. Maybe Invincible descendants deserve some respect from me. And that is only applicable to those that are less than five generations apart from the Invincibles. An exception can be made for those who have caught the attention of Invincibles. Anyone else won’t be as important as me. Why are you feeling so proud?”

Su Yu looked incomparably arrogant as he spoke those words. Zhou Hongbo merely smiled silently. Liu Han’s expression changed, but she also stayed silent. The surrounding youths felt very comfortable hearing that.

That was especially true for those who were not even Sunmoon descendants. Exactly. Why were those holy land students so arrogant? What was the big deal about them? Cui Lang might not be the descendant of an Invincible or a Sunmoon, but he was the student of a Sunmoon and a grandson-in-law of a ninth-stage Sunmoon. In terms of status, he was absolutely not lacking when compared against the so-called Sunmoon and Invincible descendants.

Su Yu curled his lips and continued, “I was only asking some questions out of curiosity yet you’re here feeling all superior. Tsk tsk. Are all holy land geniuses this ignorant? What’s even the big deal about the holy lands? Those holy lands were jointly established by the various prefectures. Without these prefectures, these so-called holy lands won’t amount to anything.”

“Cui Lang!”

Someone shouted in warning.

It was the Mountainsea elder from the Knowledge Seeking Realm. He frowned as he said, “Some words will lose your life once spoken. Do not talk wildly.”

Su Yu merely shrugged, “My apologies. People of Great Ming are quite straightforward when speaking. I’m already used to this. I was speaking the truth. The holy lands will be nothing without the Invincibles of the various prefectures. Our prefect said that the holy lands are nothing. Not even saints will dare to provoke Great Ming. Ah, sorry, I’m not talking about you guys. Brother Zhou, don’t misunderstand me. In short, Great Ming doesn’t care too much about the holy lands.”

These holy land members found his words hard to accept. But they didn’t say anything. They knew very well that this was how the various prefectures thought about them. The holy lands were jointly established by the alliance of humanity. With Invincibles propping the two holy lands up, everyone would be willing to show them a little bit of respect.

Without Invincibles…well, respect would be much harder to come by. But even with Invincibles around, some people might still not care about the holy lands. For example, Great Han King was the current Invincible watching over the Knowledge Seeking Realm. As a result, the people of Great Han started disregarding everyone from the holy land. Since their ancestor was the one watching over the holy land, why should they care about the holy land? Respect? The holy land wouldn’t have a shred of dignity without their ancestor.