Chapter 17: Calm and Tranquility

Translator: Lordbluefire 

Everything was calm in the days that followed.

Su Yu didn’t tell others about his breakthrough to the fourth level of the Origin Opening Realm. He then continued to painstakingly cultivate the [Origin Opening Art], strengthening his foundation at the fourth level of the Origin Opening Realm.

There was some degree of side effects to taking the blood essence. Of course, once it had been absorbed by the booklet, Su Yu’s body would recover in two to three days and no longer feel the swelling pain.

Now, only 1 drop of the ironwing bird’s blood essence remained, but Su Yu didn’t continue using it. Otherwise, he would advance too quickly.

What if he had a breakthrough to the fifth level of the Origin Opening Realm when he practiced the Origin Gathering Art again? That would be too much of a strange phenomenon.

At the very least… he should wait half a month, right?

Su Yu wasn’t in a rush either. There were still a little more than two months until the examination for the high-grade academy. If he broke through to another level every half-monthly, he might even reach the ninth level of the Origin Opening Realm by the time of the examination.

 …

“A`Yu, are you going to the academy today?”

“I’m going!”

“How great that you’re not going, yet you can’t help me apply for leave as well…”

Chen Hao spoke subconsciously before he was taken aback. Feeling baffled, he asked, “You’re going to school?”

This fellow hadn’t been in school for the past few days. Even if he did, he would leave very quickly. Hence, Chen Hao was tremendously envious. But how come Su Yu was going to the academy again today?

Su Yu couldn’t be bothered with Chen Hao. He replied as he walked, “The examination is two months away. I’m going to look for some teachers and see if I can learn a few more all-races languages.”

“You’re still learning?”

Chen Hao was speechless. What a strange person.

However, Chen Hao thought of something in the next moment and said gleefully, “A`Yu, I think that you are very impressive for having learned the 18 all-races languages. However, I found out that there is someone even more impressive than you in our academy!”

“Do you know Liu Yue from Class 1? From what I heard, that girl is even stranger than you. She took the examination for her 20th all-races languages certificate yesterday, how amazing!”

Su Yu raised his eyebrows. “Liu Yue? 20 languages?”

Naturally, he knew Liu Yue. It was not rare for him to see her in the library. The last time they met, it was Liu Yue who had referred him to [Methods to speed up the Origin Opening Realm], though it was of no use.

He was aware that the number of all-races languages Liu Yue had mastered wasn’t few, and she was even more serious than him. It was because Su Yu would bump into her in the library most of the time.

But 20 languages…

Even though Su Yu claimed that he didn’t mind someone else being more impressive than him, he still felt a degree of dismay.

In the past, even though there were students at the academy who also grasped a good number of all-races languages, the best one out of them still had the same record as him.

No one ever heard that Liu Yue had grasped this many languages previously. What was more interesting was that Liu Yue wasn’t a student of Liu Wenyan.

One must understand that of all the students who studied all-races languages at the academy, those who grasped the most were all taught by Liu Wenyan. Hence, from whom did Liu Yue learn?

…

Su Yu didn’t think too much about it, and the two of them walked to the academy as usual.

Though there were cars on the road and public transport wasn’t expensive, unless the distance was too far, most students would choose to walk. This was also a form of cultivation.

On route, they would see a few traffic wardens from time to time.

At the sight of the familiar uniform, some thoughts surfaced in Su Yu’s mind.

It had been five days since his father left, and he wondered how his father was doing on the Allskies Battlefield.

Apart from the traffic wardens in green uniforms, they also saw patrolling teams from Windarrest Hall in black uniforms twice on the way.

The Windarrest Hall… their main responsibility was to guard the city.

“Hao`zi*, has the Windarrest Hall been patrolling everywhere these days?”

“Mn.”

Hearing Su Yu’s question, Chen Hao who was glancing around replied immediately, “Wasn’t there a rumor that All-Races Sect was active in Great Xia Prefecture? That’s why the Windarrest Hall increased their patrol efforts these days.

“Hehe, A`Yu, have you watched the television the past few days? The prefecture lord dispatched the Longwu Guards to patrol every corner, and they’ve captured many scoundrels from the All-Races Sect. They’ve been beheading those b*stards every day and have beheaded a few hundred!”

Naturally, Su Yu had watched it. He frowned. “That’s strange!”

“What’s strange?” Chen Hao chuckled. “It isn’t like there have never been beheadings.”

“That’s not what I was talking about.”

Su Yu furrowed his brows. “Those brutes from All-Races Sect won’t lift a finger unless there’s something in it for them. Every time they were active, it was to create confusion. However, for their arrival at Great Xia Prefecture this time, have you heard of any unrest? They’ve only been beheaded; could it be that the reason they came to Great Xie Prefecture was actually to throw their lives away?”

He thought that it was a little strange. For the past few days, the television had only reported about the beheading, but the All-Races Sect didn’t seem to have caused any commotions.

Could it be that the Longwu Guards were too strong and had detected the signs of activity in advance every time?

That was a possibility too. Hence, Su Yu shook his head slightly. These things weren’t his business.

This was good as well. If this was the case, then the All-Races Sect probably didn’t have any intention to assassinate Teacher Liu.

After that, the two of them chatted as they walked and arrived shortly at Nanyuan Mid-grade Academy.

…

At the same time.

Outside Nanyuan Mid-grade Academy.

At the top level of a building, a middle-aged man withdrew his gaze and no longer stared at Nanyuan Mid-grade Academy.

Turning around, he looked back at the woman who was currently cooking. His lips opened and closed slightly. “There are a total of 3200 students at Nanyuan Mid-grade Academy and 210 teachers. The students are all at Origin Opening Realm, and the teachers are all at Thousand Pound Realm. Only the academy head is at the second level of the Ten-Thousand Stone Realm.

“50 people are in the guard department. Among them, there is one at the ninth level of the Thousand Pound Realm and six at the seventh level of the Thousand Pound Realm and above. Among the teachers, 28 of them are at the seventh level of the Thousand Pound Realm and above. So, there’s a total of 35 people at the high levels of the Thousand Pound Realm.

“Apart from that, the Windarrest Hall has a small team of 30 people protecting them in the dark at the moment. They have one leader at the Ten-Thousand Stone Realm, and the rest are all at high levels of the Thousand Pound Realm.

“So, a total of 64 people at high levels of the Thousand Pound Realm and two people at the Ten-Thousand Stone Realm.

“The city lord’s residence is 7,000 meters away from Nanyuan Mid-grade Academy. With the city lord Wu Wenhai’s cultivation at the second level of the Soaring Realm, it would take approximately two minutes for him to rush over.”

The middle-aged man explained the situation simply. In the kitchen, the woman cooked and along with the sound of her cooking, she spoke, “Nanyuan Mid-grade Academy, the best mid-grade academy in Nanyuan City. It is also the reserve force of every high-grade academy…

“This time, we are not operating on our own but at the same time with six cities. All our targets are the local mid-grade academies.

“Xia Longwu… Hehe!”

The woman donned a cold expression on her face. “Xia Longwu thinks highly of himself. Just because he destroyed a few of our ordinary strongholds, he thinks we are unable to withstand a single blow! This time, we will let Xia Longwu fall headfirst into a tumble. The Great Xia Prefecture… is nothing impressive either!”

The middle-aged man didn’t reply to this and then spoke up again, “There is also a team of Longwu Guard stationed at Nanyuan. There are a total of 10 people; nine of them are between the fourth level and ninth level of the Ten-Thousand Stone Realm. Xia Bing, the team leader, is at the second level of the Soaring Realm. Regarding the specifics of the stationed location, we have not scouted it out. We will also need to prevent them from suddenly appearing.”

“Longwu Guards!”

The woman didn’t sneer this time, and her expression was somewhat heavy. “Scout, scout out their stationed location!”

“But their numbers are too small. There is absolutely no way of examining it clearly…”

“Then create confusion and lure them out.”

The woman continued coldly, “Let the men go out of the city and slaughter a few small villages outside the city. With such slaughters, the Longwu guards will surely take action.”

The middle-aged man was hesitant. “There have been many deaths lately and the men below have begun to waver. To ask them to throw their lives away again…”

“It’s not like they know they have to deal with the Longwu Guards. Send those people from Bloodfire Sect. Those guys are not clear-headed and love slaughtering the most. Send them out for reconnaissance!”

After saying that, the woman continued, “Make our move once the people from Longwu Guards are lured away! Assemble the manpower! We need to hit our mark with one strike! Withdraw immediately after the massacre of Nanyuan Mid-grade Academy!

“This time… kill them all!”

The woman’s expression was coldblooded. “Kill all the teachers and students of the six mid-grade academies. This year, there won’t be many who can attend high-grade academies in the six cities. Following this, Xia Longwu can just wait to spit out blood! He thinks we are insignificant… How could he be aware… that our objectives are to kill the weak teachers in small roles!”

The woman’s face was indifferent. (Protecting Liu Wenyan?)

(Our target isn’t Liu Wenyan!)

(Killing a single Liu Wenyan means nothing!)

By slaughtering Nanyuan Mid-grade Academy and the other six mid-grade academies, even if the Great Xia Prefecture was strong, it would still suffer serious damage. It might not be apparent right now, but the effects would show in a few years.

The middle-aged man exhaled softly and spoke with worry, “You and I are both at the Soaring Realm. We will be sufficient to go against the city lord, Wu Wenhai. However, once the Xia troops hurry over, we won’t be their match.”

The Longwu Guards were the most elite troop in Great Xia Prefecture, and even a small team leader of theirs was strong. Even if the opponents were in the same realm as them, eight or nine out of ten of the opponents wouldn’t be their match.

“No matter!” The woman sneered. “If they were to appear, someone would naturally deal with it!”

“Did someone from above come?”

“Don’t ask what you shouldn’t!”

The woman intercepted his words and continued cooking. After living in seclusion for more than six years, she should leave after the success this time around. She wondered if there was a chance to be promoted when she returned to the headquarters.

In the middle of their conversation, a young girl walked out of her room in a daze. “Mother, I smell the food. What are we having for breakfast?”

“Good girl, be patient. You’ll be able to eat in a moment.”

The woman’s voice was cheerful and accompanied by a smile, but her gaze was as cold as frost.

There wasn’t the slightest bit of affection. This so-called daughter was nothing but a tool for their ‘seclusion’.

The man smiled too when he spoke, but his gaze was no different from the woman’s.

The little girl didn’t seem to detect any oddity. She then grinned as she went into the bathroom. However, the moment she left, the living room and kitchen fell into silence instantly.

After a moment, the man asked, “What do we do with her?”

“Kill her!” The woman didn’t hesitate at all. “But we can’t kill her now. We’ll kill her the moment before we leave and set her blood on fire. This is to prevent experts from tracing the blood back to us. After all, it’s our blood that we’re leaving behind.”

That’s right, she was their biological daughter.

However, the reason why they gave birth to this child all those years ago was to conceal their identities. Now that they were withdrawing, they would naturally not require this burden and concealed danger anymore.

In those six years, the two of them had hidden extremely well. No one would suspect them.

To settle here for six years and even give birth to a daughter, no one would have ever thought that this earnest and hardworking couple were experts at Soaring Realm and even part of the All-Races Sect congregation.

“Contact the others tonight and prepare to take action. Remember, kill everyone and withdraw in three minutes!”

“Yes!”

The middle-aged man responded inaudibly and twisted his head to look out the window. When he looked at Nanyuan Mid-grade Academy from a distance, a smile appeared on his face.

In a few days, they wouldn’t be able to see Nanyuan Mid-grade Academy anymore.

What a pity, a bunch of little fellows full of youthful spirit.

Perhaps, they could even be remarkable individuals in a few years, but there was no chance of it now.

“Xia Longwu… Great Xia Prefecture has been peaceful for so many years. I’m afraid you have never imagined this either.”

Thinking back about the major movement by the sect this time around, the man couldn’t help but feel a bit agitated. After so many years, they had considered Great Xia Prefecture as a target. Xia Longwu still thought that the All-Races Sect was creating chaos only on a small scale here, but little did he know that the main force of the sect had been transferred here.

[1] a nickname for Chen Hao