Chapter 20: Tempest
Translator: Nyoi-Bo Studio Editor: Nyoi-Bo Studio
"I'm sorry, I—I was forced." Xuan Lefei's eyes were filled with tears, like a wronged lamb.
How could Su Yu believe her biased words?
He searched her clothes and belongings; a wooden box among her things caught his attention.
"Top-grade spirit elixir?" Su Yu opened it up in shock, his eyes narrowing as he realized what had been inside. How could Xuan Lefei, with her family background, have obtained such a precious elixir?
"Tell me, before my anger gets the best of me—tell me the truth!" Su Yu walked towards Xuan Lefei slowly.
Xuan Lefei blinked fearfully. She was short of breath; her anxiety evident in the great rises and deep falls of her chest.
"It's…it's Qin Feng—he made me do it, I'm sorry."
It was Qin Feng after all! Had he collaborated with Jiang Zhishi?
Qin Feng, the second among the gold students, was at Level Four Lower Tier; his power was terrifying.
It was him who had stolen Su Yu's childhood love! It was him who viciously framed Su Yu, again and again!
"Qin Feng! If I don't seek revenge, I, Su Yu, am not truly a man!" Su Yu clenched his fists tightly.
Xuan Lefei curled deeper into the bed like a little lamb; "Can you let me go? I won't dare to do it again," she said quietly.
Su Yu looked towards her, his eyes cold and distant. Finally, he waved his hand and signaled for her to leave; "Remember, don't do this again!"
Both Su Yu and Xuan Lefei existed at the bottom levels of society, and so Su Yu empathized with Xuan Lefei's hardships. Since this scheme to frame him had turned out to be a blessing in disguise, he saw no reason to not show Xuan Lefei mercy.
Having been released, Xuan Lefei, greatly relieved, hurriedly fixed her clothes before slipping out fearfully.
"Oh—hey, by the way, is it true about the demonic beasts on the Twilight Mountains? Are they really guarding treasure?" Su Yu asked.
Hearing Su Yu call out to her, Xuan Lefei's petite body froze and she turned back tearfully. She nodded her head—lightly, like a chick pecking rice—and said, "Yes, it is true. This is the map."
She quickly dropped the map before making her escape, out and away from the Silver King. Only when she was far enough away from him did she start to cry; she felt wronged and humiliated.
"Oh...I wish I were anywhere but here! He took my spirit elixir, and even—even my body was exposed—all for nothing!"
She thought about how many playboys she had interacted with—how none of them had taken advantage of her, how she had been able to protect herself… Until Su Yu, who had trapped her so easily. She sobbed uncontrollably—worst of all, Su Yu didn't even seem genuinely interested in her!
Of course, the most important matter was the spirit elixir; she had planned on using it after she completed the task—just in case she failed and had to return the spirit elixir to Qin Feng. But now, she had not completed the task and had lost the elixir; she did not know how to explain herself to Qin Feng.
Su Yu sat cross-legged in the courtyard and looked at the top-grade spirit elixir with a smile on his face; the strong power it contained was much higher than that of the middle-grade elixir, and the low-grade was barely worth mentioning in relation to the top-grade elixir he now held in his hands.
Su Yu adjusted his position until he was comfortable, and promptly swallowed the elixir. Its strong power spread through his limbs like wildfire. Quickly, Su Yu started sweating profusely all over his body. Sweat drops trickled out from his nostrils—he was absolutely drenched.
Two hours later, he awoke.
Su Yu eyes flicked open; beams of light shot from his pupils. He clenched his fists and a strong sense of power spread throughout his veins; he felt as though his whole body was full of strength. He felt like he could kill a large bull with one punch.
"Is this what Level Three feels like? It is not too different than what I've felt before," Su Yu exclaimed excitedly; he realized that he could now defeat a powerful Level Three student like Chen Tiannan—all thanks to the strength of Universal Stroke, a low-level technique.
Su Yu was so close to so much power!
However, Su Yu did not feel satisfied with himself—he needed to be stronger.
"From now on, my opponents will only get stronger; there is no way I can just depend on Universal Stroke." Su Yu instantly took out the Order of Unlimitedness, his lips curling into a smile. "Jiang Zhishi—this whole so-called trap really worked out well for me, didn't it?"
Half a day later, though it had only been a month since his last visit, Su Yu was at the Depository of Buddhist Scriptures again. As per usual, the old man guarding the place was sitting on the staircase, his expression indifferent. Seeing Su Yu approach, he coldly stated, "Within half a year, you can only enter once."
The old man's face was unpleasant as he muttered, "I have previously told you that Cloud Shadow is hard to train—not even one out of a thousand people succeed. I warned you that you would not succeed. Now, you return in defeat? Now, you want to change your technique? Well, too late!"
Awkwardly, Su Yu held up his hand, "I know, but I have the Order of Unlimitedness."
Su Yu handed over the coin and the old man's cheeks moved slightly; he stared at Su Yu intently for a moment. How had this boy, a silver-ranked student, received the Order of Unlimitedness? It was curious indeed, but it was not his place to investigate; instead, the old man merely asked another question: "How is your Cloud Shadow training progressing?"
He had hoped Su Yu had quit, as he had previously pegged Su Yu as an overachiever who failed to actually achieve.
Su Yu blushed slightly. "Cloud Shadow is hard to master; I have only trained to Stage One Top Class," he said quietly.
On average, a student with Su Yu's qualifications would take at least six months to reach his current level with Cloud Shadow—however, due to his time-cheating abilities, he had been able to reach his current stage.
The old man's face suddenly changed; his pupils shrank as he asked, "Just half a month and you have trained to Stage One Top Class?" Unbelievable! Suspicious, the old man glared. "Prove it. If you are lying to me, you know the consequences," The old man said coldly.
It was hard for him to believe that among the silver students, someone could successfully train this obscure, light-body cultivation technique. For this technique, even the highly-skilled would find it hard to get started without at least a full month of training—but Su Yu had somehow managed to train to Level One Top Class within two weeks.
Of course, the old man did not know Su Yu had a time-cheat technique, which allowed him to train ten times faster than other students. Now, after increasing his time-cheat power, he could increase the speed to twenty times faster than usual—his training speed would be even faster than before.
Su Yu, after the old man challenged him, promptly displayed the light-body cultivation technique. His light body was like the cloud's shadow—light and fluid, like floating duckweed—he was elegance and agility combined, never once slowing down.
The one man's face was one of shock. Realizing he had forgotten himself, he quickly converted his shocked expression and stepped clear of the staircase, speaking with his usual cold tone; "You have the right to enter the second and third levels, but you can only take away one skill; that rule remains the same."
"Okay!" Su Yu flew past the old man in a flash.
Su Yu had seen all the skills on the first level before—there was nothing left which caught his eye. Only the second and third levels had the skills he needed. At the entrance of the second level there was a stone sign:
'Level two, 49 assault cultivation techniques, 490 assisting techniques.'
Su Yu clicked his tongue. Level one had 101 assault cultivation techniques and 491 assisting techniques; Level two had less than half of the number of techniques available on level one. Of course, the techniques in level two were all medium level, and the attacks on level one couldn't even compare. With fewer techniques, Su Yu was more serious in choosing his selection.
A long while later.
"Medium level technique, Tempest!" Su Yu's eyes lit up.
"After successfully training this technique, there will be cold wind generated between leg techniques. After training Tempest to completion, the cold wind will solidify water vapor into ice, and there will be wind and snow generated between kicks. This is the top tier of the medium level techniques; its strength is comparable to top level techniques."
"This technique's basic requirement is a strong foundation in leg techniques; a core requirement is strong comprehension skills."
"To those who choose to attempt this technique, please be careful! If you do not have the determination found in only one-in-a-million, do not waste your time!"
Su Yu flipped open the book, and his vision instantly swam with the amount of information packed onto one page. The words written within were not only choppy but hard to pronounce. Cloud Shadows technique was considered hard to comprehend—but compared to this book, it was nothing. Su Yu looked at the book for ten minutes and did not understand a single sentence!
Su Yu was not discouraged, however, and was instead more motivated than ever. The harder it was to comprehend a technique, the more powerful it was; it also meant there were not many other trainees, and it would be difficult for his opponents to counter the move.
Su Yu activated his time-control; time sped up twenty times faster than normal. To outsiders, Su Yu only looked at the book for half an hour—but, he actually spent a total of ten hours memorizing it. In actual fact, he had already spent ten hours memorizing it.
After that, Su Yu continued reviewing the techniques available. "Ghost Spirit technique, medium level technique." Su Yu discovered the technique which Chen Tiannan was training. He took one look at the text before setting it down; although the technique was powerful, it required a foundation in poisons—which he did not have.
"Oh? Demonic Eyes? What's this?" When he had browsed up to the last assault cultivation technique, a black-covered gloomy book grabbed his attention.
"Demonic Eyes, medium level technique. After training, it can attack the soul. The lower tier can cause the victim to be dizzy, and the upper tier can cause death; it is extremely dangerous.
"The only basic requirement is to be gifted in soul energy.
"This technique is extremely powerful. Because it involves the soul, there are great risks involved in training—as the soul could easily retaliate. For those gifted in soul energy, please select carefully. For those not gifted in soul energy, there is a 90-percent chance of death."
Su Yu clicked his tongue. Demonic Eyes had unique requirements.
Am I gifted in soul energy?
Flipping open to the top page, there was a small line of words:
"To check if you are gifted in soul energy, you can refer to the first ten words on the first page of this technique book; the words hold a weak soul attack. If you can read the first word clearly, it means you are weakly gifted in soul energy… If you can read the second word clearly, you are average… Third word, above average… Fourth word, rather strong..."
Su Yu flipped past the page and saw the introduction to the technique had ten rather weird-looking words. They were blurry—the letters swimming across the page as if they were alive, which made it difficult for Su Yu to read them clearly. Even so, strangely, Su Yu could distinctly read the first seven words.
According to the previous passage, his ability to see seven words clearly meant he had a terrifying gift in soul energy! Su Yu blinked in disbelief; his body was entirely mediocre; mediocre physique, mediocre perception—he was only capable of his current strength due to the Nine-Dragon Cauldron.
To suddenly discover his terrifying gift in soul energy was difficult for Su Yu to process.
After Su Yu took a moment to sit in shock, he came to an understanding.
"It must be the result of the combination of the souls of the two Su Yus; thus, my soul is twice as powerful as others my age!"
Su Yu rejoiced. He immediately memorized Demonic Eyes. After that, of the 490 available assisting techniques, Su Yu saw nothing that interested him.
"I wonder what level three is like. Maybe it's all top-level techniques?" Looking upwards, Su Yu lept to level three. Level three was only open to the institute's ten great demon students—every technique kept there was nothing less than incredible.