Chapter 3 Atlas of the tribes

Outside the registration office.

After walking a few steps, Su Yu suddenly turned around and asked in surprise, "Why are you still following me?"

Chen Hao was confused, "Aren't we going to school?"

"I'm not going."

"Not going... then where are you going?"

Chen Hao felt aggrieved. You just said you were going to school, and now you're changing your mind?

"The library."

Su Yu said calmly, "I don't need to attend other classes anymore. The teaching instructor agreed that I don't have to go. If you skip class... are you prepared for your parents to be called?"

"..."

Too harsh!

Chen Hao covered his face and fled. Yes, Su Yu didn't need to attend classes, specially permitted by the instructor, but he didn't have such privilege.

As for the cultivation class, Su Yu's Kaiyuan third level was sufficient. The teachers never thought he would apply to the War Academy, so no one pushed him to train.

...

Watching Chen Hao leave, Su Yu shook his head and laughed.

Chen Hao's father was an old friend of his father. Chen Hao and he were classmates, considered best friends, though Chen Hao's loud and impulsive nature often gave him headaches.

...

Library.

The librarian was familiar with Su Yu, who often came to read, spending hours there. Over the years, it was impossible not to get acquainted.

"Su Yu, you've mastered over a dozen languages of the myriad races. At this point, shouldn't you relax a bit? Why are you still studying so hard?"

The librarian teased. Su Yu was somewhat of a minor celebrity at Nanyuan Middle School.

Most students, besides the required languages of Immortal, Demon, and Universal, didn't have the energy to learn more. But Su Yu had learned many minor languages.

Su Yu smiled and didn't say much.

Stepping into the library, he headed straight for the third floor.

It was class time, so the library was empty, except for a few teachers reading and researching. There were almost no students.

Most students preferred rigorous training over staring at all kinds of cryptic symbols. For these teenagers, they would rather solve problems with force than use their brains.

The teachers who were reading didn't greet Su Yu, being accustomed to the quiet and immersed in their own worlds.

Su Yu didn't greet anyone either. He walked to a bookshelf he frequented, checked it, and soon took out a large volume:

— "Lu Fish"

This was the Myriad Races Atlas, a compilation of information on discovered races, edited for humans to study and understand.

Of course, this was just one volume.

The Myriad Races Atlas wasn't a single book but a series. Su Yu didn't know exactly how many volumes there were, some were secret and for select groups.

Nanyuan Middle School only had 39 volumes, covering 39 races.

These atlases contained much information, including appearance, habits, customs, languages, even special techniques, combat methods, and strategies for defeating them.

What Su Yu wanted to know was not these but the illustrations on the front pages of each atlas.

Lu Fish, which sounded like a fish, but wasn't.

Opening the atlas, Su Yu stared at the illustration for a while. It was a creature resembling a cow.

Of course, not entirely. Its tail was like a snake's, and it had wings.

Why it was called Lu Fish was because it was an amphibious race, able to live in water or on land, being stronger in water combat.

Having wings didn't mean Lu Fish could fly. The wings were more like chicken wings, flapping a bit was fine, but they couldn't fly.

"Lu Fish meat, when consumed, can detoxify, an antidote of the highest quality!"

"Resides in the Dǐ Mountain Realm, an area with many hills and waters. Lu Fish hibernate in winter and awaken in summer. Entering the Dǐ Mountain Realm in summer requires extreme caution due to high danger!"

"Neutral stance in the Battlefield of the Heavens, unauthorized killing is prohibited..."

Su Yu briefly read through. He had seen this information before but never studied the Lu Fish language, which was difficult due to its obscurity. The Dǐ Mountain Realm wasn't dominated by the Lu Fish race.

He wasn't looking for this. Instead, he focused on the illustrations.

"Lu Fish..."

Su Yu muttered, recalling his nightmare from the previous night.

Was it Lu Fish that chased him in his dream?

As a child, he didn't think much about his dreams. But as he grew older and had these dreams more frequently, he tried to analyze and research them.

What were the monsters chasing him in his dreams?

Did they exist in reality?

Over the years, people thought he was a genius for learning eighteen languages of the myriad races, admiring his hard work.

In truth, it was due to his dreams that he paid more attention to the myriad races, spending years researching to understand more, which led to his intense study of their languages and scripts.

"The dream was too blurry. I'm not sure if it was Lu Fish, but the monster in the dream did seem to have wings, and its call was like a cow's..."

Su Yu muttered to himself. Because of the dream's vagueness, he couldn't be certain.

However, over the years, he had found some information. Occasionally, he could match some features of the dream monsters with the myriad races.

By extrapolation, Su Yu believed he wasn't wrong. The ones chasing him in his dreams were indeed the myriad races!

For over a decade, thousands of nights, he had dreamed of thousands of different monsters.

If they weren't the myriad races' monsters, could so many unknown creatures exist in the world?

"You've really given me face, chasing me in my dreams, the myriad races..."

Su Yu smiled bitterly. They gave him too much face.

He was just an ordinary person. Did the myriad races need to chase him in his dreams?

Was it fun to torment a regular person?

"But... why do I have these dreams?"

Su Yu was still puzzled. If he had seen or interacted with those races, he might accept it.

But he had never left Nanyuan City. At most, he had seen some information about the races in books. Why was he connected to these monsters?

Having roughly identified last night's dream monster, Su Yu returned the book to its place.

Some things he couldn't delve into now.

Soon, Su Yu left that bookshelf. His visit to the library wasn't just to confirm the Lu Fish; he had other purposes.

After a moment, Su Yu walked to another area—the Kaiyuan Section.

This section's books were about cultivation in the Kaiyuan realm.

Human cultivation started with the "Kaiyuan Technique."

Though they hadn't opened the nine orifices and couldn't sense vitality, vitality was everywhere. They could absorb a trace of vitality to temper their bodies, gradually opening the nine orifices, thus entering the Qianjun realm for physical training.

The process of opening the nine orifices is quite long. Humans start practicing the "Kaiyuan Technique" at a very young age. It is a gradual process and also one of natural selection. At this stage, geniuses can quickly rise to prominence. Those with strong cultivation aptitude naturally advance faster than others. 

Su Yu was not a novice in the path of cultivation. He had read many of these books and knew that the Kaiyuan realm mainly required a natural progression. Rapid breakthroughs couldn't be achieved through hard work alone. However, today, Su Yu still wanted to see if there were any methods to speed up his cultivation.

After searching for a while, Su Yu still hadn't found the book he wanted. He frowned slightly. Could it be that there was no content on this subject here? If that were the case, his hope of reaching the Kaiyuan fourth level before the examination would be slim.

"Su Yu, what are you looking for?" 

At this moment, a short-haired girl who had been reading beside him couldn't help but ask. She had been here for a long time, reading. She knew Su Yu; although they weren't in the same class, those who frequented the library were familiar faces over time.

Su Yu showed an apologetic expression, feeling that he had disturbed her reading. "I wanted to find some records about speeding up cultivation in the Kaiyuan realm but couldn't find any."

"Speeding up cultivation?" 

The short-haired girl pondered for a moment and then said, "There are methods for accelerating cultivation, but it's generally not recommended for humans to use external methods to speed up during the Kaiyuan realm. The Kaiyuan realm is foundational, opening the nine orifices and laying the groundwork. Stability is key during this period. After all, 'Kaiyuan' means 'beginning of cultivation'."

"Su Yu, aren't you applying for the Civilization Academy? These things won't be tested. You're not trying to accelerate your cultivation, are you?" 

The girl was somewhat concerned and said, "The foundation cannot be messed with; otherwise, it can easily cause problems. Even if you successfully open the Kaiyuan realm, it will have a significant impact on your future."

Su Yu smiled and said, "I know. I'm not foolish. I just wanted to see if there were any safe methods. If not, then I'll let it go."

"Is that so..." 

The girl thought for a moment and then pointed to the bottom row of bookshelves in the corner. "There are a few books on that subject over there, but some methods are extreme. Su Yu, it's best not to try them. Otherwise, it could be very troublesome and even fatal."

"During the Anping Calendar's early era, some human experts tried such methods because time was pressing, and they had no other choice. However, none of those pioneers ultimately achieved invincibility. Instead, they fell early due to improper practices during their Kaiyuan stage."

"Thank you, I understand." 

Su Yu nodded with a smile. The girl's name was Liu Yue, a student from the first pre-exam class. Su Yu didn't know much about her, but she often came to the library to read. It was said that she had mastered many languages of the myriad races, but Su Yu didn't know exactly how many and wasn't inclined to find out.

She would likely apply for the Civilization Academy, so she wasn't too concerned about advancing in the Kaiyuan realm.

Without saying much more to Liu Yue, Su Yu quickly found the books Liu Yue mentioned in the corner. 

"Methods to Accelerate Kaiyuan Realm Cultivation," "My Views on Kaiyuan," "On the Importance of Foundation Building"...