Fire of Civilization (2)

"Amongst the top-notch researchers in the civilization academies, who haven't been almost assassinated before? These people deciphered the cultivation arts of the myriad races, studying the other races' civilizations in greater depths, increasing the number of human race experts. This allowed the human race to be able to deal with the myriad races better..."

The administrator continued with some admiration, "They've silently contributed a lot, and their amount of contribution doesn't lose out to any unrivaled experts! However, most of them lack the necessary battle prowess, so while they are working in the backlines, they tend to become the targets of the myriad races. Thus, assassination attempts on them are common.

"The reason why those guys from the All-Races Sect create destruction within the human race isn't just to assassinate individual experts. Their main targets are the sages!

"Although you haven't entered a civilization academy and aren't considered to have grasped many languages, you're still young. You might be even more dangerous compared to those few seedlings cultivating in the academies. Those at the fourth or fifth level of the Origin Opening Realm might not even be worth them making a move on.

"How long does it take for one at the Origin Opening Realm to cultivate to the Soaring Realm?

"But the sages might be able to decipher a cultivation art book in 10 or 20 years, uncovering their flaws and finding targeted ways to kill some races... So, they are a lot more dangerous compared to an expert at the Soaring Realm." 

Su Yu smiled bitterly. Wasn't this too much of an exaggeration?

Although he had grasped 18 all-races languages, it was too little when compared to the myriad races of all skies. Moreover, most of what he had learned were commonly used words.

"Don't take things lightly. Be careful and pay more attention. When you encounter danger, ask for help at any time. The Nanyuan City has also strengthened its patrolling, and the Windarrest Hall has started to reinforce the security. Even a group of Longwu Guards based in Nanyuan City have started patrolling here.

"If you encounter trouble, shout out loudly and call for help. In at most tens of seconds, someone will definitely rush over."

Seeing that the administrator was speaking very seriously, Su Yu quickly nodded and said, "Teacher, don't worry, I know that! Moreover, Nanyuan City is so small, so those guys might not necessarily come over here. Even if they did, to be honest, I don't think that I am in the queue on their list." 

"That's true too." The administrator smiled. "But you mustn't be too careless about this. You must be careful especially when you go over to Teacher Liu's place!"

"Mn?"

Su Yu was a little stunned. "Teacher Liu..."

"Don't misunderstand. I mean that Teacher Liu is the best teacher in all-races languages in the Nanyuan Mid-grade Academy. Amongst every ten students from our academy who make it into civilization academies, eight or nine of them were taught by him.

"Teacher Liu is definitely the All-Races Sect's greatest target. If they came to Nanyuan, he'd be the first person they'd want to assassinate, not the academy head or the city lord.

"Teacher Liu is a spark that lights up civilizations. At the very least, this is what he means to Nanyuan. This is why I'm reminding you to be careful."

Su Yu's countenance changed. "Teacher, is Teacher Liu in danger then?"

"It's fine, you don't have to be too worried. The academy head has personally gone to protect Teacher Liu. Members of the Longwu Guards are also protecting him in the dark along with the Windarrest Hall's small team of men. I'm just reminding you to be careful on the way when you go and look for Teacher Liu!"

Su Yu heaved a sigh of relief. The Teacher Liu who the administrator mentioned was someone who had taught Su Yu. Almost all of the 18 all-races languages Su Yu had learned were taught by this old teacher.

It was just as the administrator had said. Teacher Liu might not be considered much to the Great Xia Prefecture, but in Nanyuan, especially in the Nanyuan Mid-grade Academy, he was truly the person who disseminated civilization.

He had been teaching for so many years and produced over 100 students who joined civilization academies.

Half of those students had graduated and were making contributions to the Great Xia Prefecture or even the entire human race.

The effects of their contributions might not be great, but the passing down of the human race's legacy depended on the people in this tier.

If the All-Races Sect came to Nanyuan City to assassinate targets, then it was true that the importance of Teacher Liu was higher than the city lord.

As the two of them spoke, one of the staff brought the ironwing birds' blood essences over.

Three drops!

After redeeming three drops of essence blood, Su Yu was left with nine merit points. His heart ached a little over this. Over the years, he had gone to the library to browse through countless documents and only spent six points. Hence, it was too extravagant for him to spend three points in one go.

After taking the bottle containing the blood essence, Su Yu then asked, "Teacher, did Teacher Liu come to the academy during these few days?"

"He's working as per normal. He was asked to go to the city lord's residence to stay low for a while, but he wasn't willing to do so. They have no choice but to let him continue working."

"I'll go pay a visit to Teacher Liu then."

Su Yu had planned on going home to test things out after he had gotten his stuff, but he had a change of mind. He decided to go pay Teacher Liu a visit first and ask him some questions while Teacher Liu was there.

…

In the teachers' office.

Liu Wenyan, who was past his sixties, was writing down records. He spoke without raising his head, "Academy Head, you don't have to keep on following me. I'm just in the academy. There's not going to be any danger here."

Next to him, the academy head, who was also past his sixties, chuckled and said, "I'm not disturbing you, so why are you trying to chase me away?"

"The sound of your breathing is a disturbance to me."

"…"

The academy head was caught between laughter and tears. Very soon, he heard Liu Wenyan giving him another blow, saying, "Moreover, you've only just entered the Ten-Thousand Stone Realm. Given how weak you are, it's actually useless even if you're here."

"I…"

The old academy head was very helpless. Was he very weak?

Maybe a little.

For someone past his sixties, it was really not considered impressive to have just entered the Ten-Thousand Stone Realm. However, they weren't on the front lines and this was the Nanyuan City, the smallest city amongst all 28 cities under the Great Xia Prefecture's jurisdiction.

Since he wasn't the city lord but just the academy head of a mid-grade academy, why did he need to be so strong?

The real experts had either gone to the Great Xia or the Allskies Battlefield. He was actually considered quite good amongst those who remained in Nanyuan City.

"Sigh, you think I want to stay by your side?"

The old academy head said, "Isn't it all because you're too important despite being such an old guy? In the past 20 years, a total of 320 students have joined the civilization academies from Nanyue City. On average, there were 16 students per year, and half of them were taught by you. How could you not be targeted?"

"It's not to that extent."

Liu Wenyan smiled as well. "After all, this is just a small Nanyuan City, and only a few people here got into civilization academies each year. It's not worth mentioning to the entire Great Xia Prefecture. Why would the All-Races Sect target me because of this?"

"It's hard to say. Anyway, you're more important than me. I'm just a weak person in the Ten-Thousand Stone Realm and they probably can't be bothered with me, thinking that I'm not worth killing."

The academy head made a joke, but this was the truth as well. People in the Ten-Thousand Stone Realm weren't considered weak, but they wouldn't be able to bring much impact on the Allskies Battlefield.

Killing a Ten-Thousand Realm individual in his sixties in the backline might require them to suffer some casualties. The members of the All-Races Sect wouldn't commit to such a deal that would only bring them losses.

The two of them were chatting when the academy head's ears twitched a little. He then quickly smiled and said, "Su Yu is here. This lad is a lot more promising than his father!"

"Don't belittle Su Long like that. Wasn't it just because he rejected your offer to come to the academy to be the head of the guards? Do you have to carry a feud for so long?"

Liu Wenyan also broke into a smile, looking up and saying, "That Su Long still has hot blood in him. I could tell from many years back. He isn't willing to retreat from the front lines just like that. Previously, he wanted to get into the Longwu Guards but only gave up because there wasn't any hope to do so."

The old academy head sniffed and said, "It's clear that he can't get in. He might have some chance if he was at the ninth level of the Thousand Pound Realm before the age of 30, but how old is he now? How could he hope to get into the Longwu Guards? This was unless he was at the ninth level of the Ten-Thousand Stone Realm."

"That's still better than you. If he doesn't die in the Allskies Battlefield, he'll probably be in the Ten-Thousand Stone Realm in another two years."

Liu Wenyan said this, then smiled and continued, "Su Yu isn't bad either. Although he isn't considered a genius, after he gets into the Great Xia Civilization Academy, he'll also become a part of the mainstay for fighting against the myriad races in the future. This pair of father and son is stronger than the both of us..."

The old academy head nodded but soon sighed. "If it wasn't because I hurt my body's foundation in the Allskies Battlefield, I wouldn't have retreated to the rear and become this lousy academy head. Things are not interesting at all."

"It's not bad that you managed to survive and come back. There aren't many soldiers on the Allskies Battlefield who haven't hurt their foundations. Under those circumstances, if they don't manage to forcibly make a breakthrough to the seventh level of the Thousand Pound Realm, they aren't even worthy of being cannon fodder."

Liu Wenyan also sighed. A large number of soldiers on the Allskies Battlefield probably had no hopes of reaching the Soaring Realm in their lifetime. This was something that no one could do anything about.

That dratted place was filled with horrifying massacres. If new soldiers didn't make rapid breakthroughs, they'd die in just a few days. Who could have the leisure of thinking about other things?

The war academies picked the genius youngsters away and the ordinary people could only struggle to survive.

As they spoke, Su Yu entered.

Liu Wenyan broke into a smile. He was very satisfied with Su Yu as a student. The latter was able to bear with hardship and was patient. Although he wasn't considered a top-notch genius, the human race didn't just need geniuses. It also needed good seeds like him who could make steadfast progress.