Chapter 25: Merit Claiming (1)
While Su Yu and Chen Hao were splitting their loot.
In the Instructor's Office.
Bai Feng looked bored as he sat on a chair while looking at the endlessly arguing group before him. When they were at the end of their discussion, he finally said, "Martial Uncle, do I still need to take those students to the capital?"
"What stupid question is that? Do you think it's cheap to stay in Great Xia City?"
Bai Feng had a helpless expression. These people were the ones who had wanted to send the students away. He was only confirming if that was still the case. Why was his martial uncle taking it out on him?
"Martial Uncle, how about your body refinement? Is there any powerful blood essence or source qi core here at Nanyuan?"
The principal laughed awkwardly, "About that...Researcher Bai, you see...the academy..."
"You don't need to plead for their help!" Liu Wenyan said indifferently, "I can take my time and slowly refine my body. My willpower has materialized. There is no rush."
Bai Feng hurriedly said, "Martial Uncle, you can't say that. Without a powerful blood essence to refine your body, you might not be able to push your body to the level of a regular Skysoar cultivator. That will greatly affect your future progress.
"The stronger the blood essence, the more helpful it will be for you. If you can get the blood of a Skysoar Realm divine or devil, with the strength of your willpower, you'll be able to instantly push your cultivation to the third-stage."
For the path of willpower, one would not prioritize the physical body during the early phase. But upon reaching the Skysoar Stage, that must change. One would start training one's physical body then. At that point, the more powerful the blood essence one used, the stronger a foundation one could forge.
Liu Wenyan completely ignored Bai Feng. Blood essence of divines or devils? Blood of Skysoar Realm experts? Where was he supposed to find something like that? Even at the Allheaven Battlefield, it was extremely difficult to kill a divine or a devil.
Furthermore, even the weakest of them at the Allheaven Battlefield would be at the Skysoar Realm. If they were too strong, their blood wouldn't be suitable for him. That was also the case if they were too weak. His best option was the blood of someone in the Skysoar Realm.
Liu Wenyan had never entertained the thought of forging his foundation with the blood of divines or devils. Even in a cultural research academy, few would be able to do something like that. The blood essence of divines and devils were simply too rare.
When Bai Feng saw that Liu Wenyan was ignoring him, he thought for a bit before saying, "Teacher has a few drops of Skysoar flying sky tiger blood essence. The flying sky tigers are very powerful with strong bodies. Why don't you tell Teacher..."
"Scram!" said Liu Wenyan.
Immediately after, the principal exclaimed in excitement, "Flying sky tiger? The 32nd-ranked race among the myriad races?"
"Yes."
"Old Liu!" The principal was getting more and more excited. "Forget your ego! If you rely on yourself and Nanyuan, how are you going to get the blood essence of a top hundred race? Even if the flying sky tigers aren't as good as the divines and the devils, they aren't that much worse. Their blood essence can help you reach the second-stage or even a third-stage if you're lucky. You're an old man. Don't tell me you're going to waste more time lingering at the early stages of the Skysoar Realm."
Without a powerful blood essence to help build a foundation, Liu Wenyan might need at least five years or even ten years to reach the third-stage despite his strong willpower. He was over seventy. He did not have much time to waste.
Nearby, Xia Bing of the Martial Dragon Guards opened his mouth in hesitation. After some time, he finally said, "Instructor Liu, the flying sky tigers are very powerful. It will be a good idea for you to get a few drops of their blood essence from the academy. The Myriad Race Cult has entered Great Xia. Nanyuan has limited strength, so they will be needing your help."
With the blood essence of flying sky tigers, Liu Wenyan would be able to build a strong foundation that might bring him to the middle-stage of the Skysoar Realm in only a few years.
If he did so, Nanyuan would gain a middle-stage Skysoar Realm expert. That would place the city in a much better position, unlike now where they were having difficulties even defending themselves.
Liu Wenyan ignored them. He looked at Bai Feng and frowned as he said, "I don't need you to worry about this for me. Bai Feng, how many students are the academy accepting from Nanyuan this year?"
"Around ten." Bai Feng smiled, "Martial Uncle, do you plan to add a few additional students?"
Liu Wenyan ignored the question and asked, "How many students are the academy accepting in total?"
"Around two thousand, but five hundred of the two thousand will be accepted from the other prefectures. The rest of the students will be accepted from within Great Xia. According to the statistics, the academy will accept around a thousand students from the capital each year. The remaining five hundred students will come from the other cities in Great Xia."
Of the twenty-eight cities in Great Xia, Nanyuan was the smallest and the weakest. That was why they had the lowest number of accepted students. Each year, the Great Xia Cultural Research Academy would only accept around ten students from Nanyuan.
"Take more this year." Liu Wenyan demanded. "At least two more."
"Martial Uncle, this isn't something I can decide..."
"Assistant researchers have at least two free slots. Since you've stolen a fourth-stage Skysoar cult member from us, pay with those two slots of yours."
"Martial Uncle, you're being unreasonable here. I was the one who had killed the cult member. It's not like you guys can kill him if I hadn't arrived in time..."
"Exactly. I'm being unreasonable." Liu Wenyan started acting shameless. "Nanyuan lost over ten students over this. The students are all feeling downcast at the moment. That is Nanyuan's fault, but at the same time, Great Xia is also at fault. The capital has failed to assist us in time. That should not have happened in the first place. It's only fair that you accept a few more students to help them recover from their emotional damage."
Bai Feng opened his mouth helplessly, but no words came out. Yes, he had not been using the two slots assigned to him, but that was still quite a big favor to give.
Finally, he gave up and said, "Sure, Martial Uncle. Nanyuan can get two additional slots, but the students need to meet the minimum requirements. Otherwise, I can't do it. They will only end up kicked after entering the academy."
Finally, a smile appeared on Liu Wenyan's face, "That is only natural. Su Yu and Liu Yue will get the two slots."
"..."
Everyone looked at him in astonishment. What a crafty fellow. Those two were basically guaranteed to pass their examinations. They would definitely not be disqualified after getting the two slots. And by giving them the additional slots, Nanyuan's original slots remained the same, allowing two additional students to get into the Great Xia Cultural Research Academy this year.
Bai Feng was aware of that since the academy had the names of these students as well. He did not know whether to laugh or cry. "Fine. That's good, I suppose. Their performance and accomplishment after entering the academy will add to my records."
At the very least, those two wouldn't embarrass him. He would lose a lot of face if the two joined through him only to get themselves kicked out of the academy due to their bad results.
Liu Wenyan smiled, "Good. Also, since they're entering with your slots, you should offer them some guidance to make sure they get in. I won't spare you if they end up failing their entrance exam."
"Martial Uncle, about that..." Bai Feng had a gloomy look. "I'm a researcher. They're only secondary school students..."
The gap between them was too big. Was there even a need for someone like him to teach them?
"Assistant researcher." Liu Wenyan emphasized, reminding Bai Feng that he was an assistant first and a researcher second.
"Fine, fine. Since that's what Martial Uncle wants, I have no problem with it. Tell them to come see me. I'll be staying here for three days. I'm tired from the long journey anyway."
With his goal accomplished, Liu Wenyan waved Bai Feng away impatiently.
"Kicking me off after getting what he wants," Bai Feng muttered helplessly and left.
The principal couldn't help but to laugh and say, "Old Liu, you're still very well-respected, it seems. Looks like two additional talents will emerge from our school this year."
To the side, the straightforward Xia Bing remarked, "It's Senior Researcher Hong that's the well-respected one."
"What did you just say?"
Liu Wenyan's eyes immediately turned unfriendly, so Xia Bing hurriedly shut his mouth. That was the truth. Why couldn't Liu Wenyan accept it? If it wasn't for Senior Researcher Hong, Bai Feng wouldn't have shown Liu Wenyan so much respect. For someone like Bai Feng, Liu Wenyan's current cultivation was nothing special.
Xia Bing did the smart thing and voiced none of that. Instead, he shifted the topic and said, "Earlier, someone reported that two cult members were killed near the cafeteria. One was killed using the school's training saber. The other had his heart crushed by claws. During the time of death, no instructors, city guards, or Windcatcher Department officers are around that area."
Liu Wenyan frowned and said, "It doesn't matter. Are you suggesting that you need to have an official position to kill someone from the Myriad Race Cult?"
"You misunderstand, Instructor Liu. I am worried that we have an undercover in the school. But the undercover is not likely to be too strong. The cult member has probably been killed by a sneak attack. The attacker is most likely a Great Strength cultivator."
"Did anyone claim the kill?"
"Not yet. We're still tallying the results of the battle."
The principal gave it some thought and said, "If it's a Great Strength cultivator, it will be hard to find. But if we really have an undercover Great Strength cultivator here, it doesn't matter. The school isn't so weak that we can't handle a Great Strength cultivator. Old Liu has broken through. We can even deal with Infinite Strength cultivators now. You can stop the investigation for now. Don't worry about it. Maybe it's the parent of a student or something."
The principal wasn't too bothered. It was likely that a parent was worried about their child and had sneaked into the school and killed the cult member during the battle. After the battle ended, they sneaked off again since sneaking into the school wasn't exactly a feat worth bragging about.
"You're right." Xia Bing smiled, "We'll see. Maybe someone will claim the kill. I'm just worried that a student will come and claim the kill instead. After all, false claims are a serious matter. The academy entrance exam is near. If a student has a record of making a false claim, it won't be a good look."
"Which student would be stupid enough to do that?" The principal was unbothered. It was a punishable offense for a parent to kill a cult member and have their child take the claim to help with their entrance examination.
Liu Wenyan said impatiently, "Don't be so narrow minded. It's not impossible that a student can kill a cult member through sheer luck. If a student really comes forward to make the claim, just investigate it. There is no need to make a big deal out of it."
That was the end of the topic. The principal did not think that any student would claim the kill. But in truth, a certain student was actually roaming nearby, waiting for the corpse to be cremated before claiming the kill.
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