Chapter 534: Test (2)
Inside the tea room.
After pouring Xia Huyou a cup of tea, Su Yu poured himself a cup of tea and sipped on it while thinking.
Xia Huyou waited patiently.
A short while later, Su Yu placed the cup down and said, "The tallest tree always attracts the most wind. With the creation of the acupoint fusion method, my enemies are starting to view me as a thorn in the flesh."
Xia Huyou nodded in agreement.
"What do you think about the single character faction? Are they looking at me from the point of view of humanity as a whole and viewing me as someone who can help increase the strength of humanity? Or are they looking from their own point of view, seeing me as a danger that might resurrect the multiple character faction and grow to a point where we are as strong as we were 50 years ago or even strong enough to sever their legacy?"
Xia Huyou said nothing.
Su Yu stared at him.
After a short silence, Xia Huyou smiled bitterly and said, "What do you think? Su Yu, don't bother asking something like this. I'll be blunt. Very few people are capable of seeing things from the perspective of humanity as a whole. This applies to you. Be honest. Do you see things from the perspective of humanity as a whole when you do things?"
Su Yu smiled, "Nope. I will first think for myself before for humanity as a whole."
"There you have it." Xia Huyou helplessly said, "Thus, it's pointless to ask this question. The single character faction members will think for themselves first and think for their faction second. Everyone else comes third."
Su Yu nodded. "So do they want me dead?"
"Don't worry. Inside the academy or even the capital, they won't have the guts to do that."
Su Yu calmly asked, "What if I leave the capital? What if someone from their faction makes a move on me? Of course, I'm not scared of that. I'm confident I can survive an attack from them. But what will Great Xia do if that happens?"
"You're talking about an attack outside a city?"
"Yeah."
Xia Huyou asked again, "Is it within Great Xia's borders?"
"Probably not."
The Starfall Mountain was a border region, but strictly speaking, that region belonged to Great Ming.
Xia Huyou frowned and solemnly said, "This will be difficult. To speak the truth, if they dare to make a move inside the capital...well, what we do depends on the identity of the attacker. If the attacker is an important individual, we will perform an investigation. If the attacker isn't an important person, we will also perform an investigation to make sure that it's not the cult trying to sow chaos. But outside a city, especially when it's outside Great Xia itself, we usually ignore such affairs..."
Su Yu said, "In other words, Great Xia will most likely ignore it if it happens in the wilderness?"
"Pretty much." Xia Huyou explained, "The exception is when it involves the cult. Otherwise, it is only a conflict between fellow humans. And to be perfectly honest, conflict exists everywhere. The Human Realm would have been unified long ago otherwise. This is especially true for us cultivators. It's impossible to avoid conflict. Most of the time, the various prefectures will turn a blind eye to these conflicts that happen in the wilderness."
Su Yu sank into thought.
After a short while, he said, "In other words, anything goes in the wilderness?"
"I guess you can say so. After all...we can't control everything. Of course, if you manage to find solid proof, we will still do something. After all, you have been attacked for no reason."
"If I have proof of their attack, what would Great Xia do?"
Xia Huyou thought about it and said, "The attacker will die. But if there is a mastermind, it would be hard for us to do anything unless you can prove the involvement of the mastermind. After all, conspiring to kill a genius student is a great crime."
He looked at Su Yu and solemnly asked, "You plan to leave and make yourself bait to deal with them once and for all? Su Yu, don't take this risk. There is no need for that."
"I know what you're thinking. The single character faction's reputation has been ruined recently. If they continue acting as they are, they will fall apart sooner or later. There is no need to put yourself in danger. You would only be able to get the attacker punished. It would be too hard for us to do anything about the conspirators that had not personally attacked..."
Su Yu frowned, "Is it really that hard? Does this mean that I have to stay in the academy forever? After all, they can simply sacrifice a Cloudbreach to end me once and for all."
Xia Huyou nodded. That had always been the practice for any conflicts happening in the wilderness. Of course, it would be an entirely different matter if the attack happened within the academy itself.
He said, "I doubt they would take this risk. After all, it's not like there are no experts in your faction. They definitely understand that killing you would be the same as an all-out war with no bottom line. Elder Hong is still around. If he starts killing without reservation, how many people can stop him? Do they intend to hide in the academy forever?"
Xia Huyou did not think that they would go that far.
But Su Yu believed that he should never overestimate the intelligence of the single character faction. He said, "Maybe you're right. But I can't rely on their intelligence for my own safety. Perhaps they believe that they can kill me undetected..."
Xia Huyou looked at Su Yu solemnly for a long while before saying, "You mean..."
Su Yu calmly said, "I'm going to lure them out. Even if I can't implicate all of them, I'll make them suffer a big enough loss to hurt them. It is fine for me to kill the person attacking me, right?"
"Yeah."
"Is an ancient ruin enticing enough a bait?"
Xia Huyou sank into silence. Was that enticing? That was extremely enticing. The discovery of any ruin would be followed by a series of conflicts. After all, each ruin would represent the appearance of a new Sunmoon or even an Invincible.
That was how powerful the inheritance of an ancient ruin could be. Who wouldn't want to get a ruin for themselves?
Su Yu said, "What if I have a ruin..."
"You're revealing it?"
Xia Huyou exclaimed in shock, "Why don't you get the Xia Family to excavate it for you? We will follow the rules and give you a fair share."
Su Yu smiled. If even the Xia Family believed that he had a ruin, a lot of people probably believed the same as well. He reckoned that some people were already searching Nanyuan for the supposed ruin. An ancient ruin was truly too enticing.
Xia Huyou said, "Su Yu, there is no need for this! If you expose your ruin, you will attract a lot of people. Even if it's within Great Xia, the Xia Family's hands would be tied. According to the rules, a lot of experts would be allowed to compete for the ruin."
Xia Huyou believed that Su Yu was taking a risk out of desperation. He wanted to expose his ruin to lure the single character faction out. This was too dangerous. It was not worth it if he had to expose the ruin just to deal with the single character faction.
After doing so, Su Yu would not live another day in peace. More importantly, someone else might snatch that ruin from Su Yu. Was Su Yu so confident that he could keep the ruin for himself? Even an existence like the Xia Family might still be forced to share the ruin with some outsiders.
When Su Yu saw Xia Huyou's reaction, he was somewhat speechless. There was no ruin. He had never seen a ruin in his life. The only thing he had seen was the buried treasure of the Divine Skywing Sect.
Su Yu couldn't be bothered to explain himself. he said, "I'll only spread the rumor in a small circle. Do you think this is enough to make them move? Since a ruin is supposed to be kept secret, I doubt they would spread the rumor, right? Furthermore, spreading the rumor takes time. When enough time passes and it is proven that the ruin does not exist, the matter would end."
"You..."
Xia Huyou frowned, "You're fishing. But firstly, you might not be able to survive the attack. Secondly, if you do end up killing the attacker, the other single character faction members would never agree to cease hostilities with you."
"It's not like we're not hostile toward each other right now." Su Yu snorted, "Do you think that I want to coexist with them peacefully? They are definitely trying to end me while I'm still weak. Similarly, I am also trying to give them a heavy blow while they are still underestimating me because of my weak cultivation level."
There were benefits to having a low cultivation level. His enemies would not overestimate him. If Su Yu really managed to reach the Skysoar or the Cloudbreach Realm, he might turn into a target for many Mountainseas or even Sunmoons.
But at his current level, he wouldn't encounter anyone higher than the Mountainsea Realm. At this point, Xia Huyou finally understood what Su Yu was trying to do.
He exhaled and said, "You want to fish, but are you not afraid of fishing something big enough to eat you instead? You simply want to know what the Xia Family thinks about this before doing it, right?"
"Yes."
Xia Huyou sank into silence. After a short moment, he said, "The Xia Family 's stand is simple. We will deal with the one to break the rules. It doesn't matter if someone is baited to break the rules. Any rulebreaker will be punished. This applies to them and you. This is the Xia Family's position when it comes to the rules of Great Xia.
"Even if I dislike how they are consorting with Great Zhou, I still need to be patient. Why? Because they are not openly doing anything against us. In truth, even if they really get together with Great Zhou, what can we do since we are the ones who have failed to keep our talent with us? At most, we will remember this grudge. We are all fellow humans. Movement between perfectures is completely normal. Do you understand?"
Su Yu nodded. He asked, "Would rumors of a ruin be enough to attract the Mountainseas of the single character faction?"
"Yes." Xia Huyou confidently said, "There is no doubt of that."
"How many people do you think they would send?"
"That...is hard to say. At least two of them."
Su Yu nodded with a pensive look, "Got it."
"Su Yu..." Xia Huyou said, "If you ask me, you are at a stage of rapid growth. You are better off staying low key. These people will receive their due sooner or later."
"I don't like wasting time." Su Yu calmly said, "This is the perfect time to do this. If I wait until I grow stronger, these people would no longer be the only people I need to face. I don't want to get stabbed in the back during a critical moment. Similarly, they are also afraid of getting stabbed by me."
Su Yu seriously said, "The relationship between us has already deterioted to a point of no return. A peaceful solution is no longer possible. Can't you see that, Xia Huyou? After the previous battle, our hostility has reached the higher level. The harder you try to suppress our conflict, the more intense it would be.
"I understand that the Xia Family wishes to suppress the conflict. But do you think it's possible? My teacher killed some of their people. They want to kill my teacher. They want to snatch the fifth principal's character. Suppressing the conflict won't solve anythinng."
"But you..." Xia Huyou still believed that Su Yu was too weak to get involved.
Su Yu shook his head, "I don't want to take part in it. But I need to leave one day. I can't stay in the academy forever. I can't stay passive and wait for them to do something before defending myself. Just look what the foreign students and the cult did."
"This is only my speculation, but the moment the cult attacked, I started suspecting the single character faction.
"I only want to know the Xia Family's position. And I'm told that the Xia Family does not involve itself in what happens in the wilderness. But if I can find solid proof that they had indeed tried to assassinate me, the Xia Family would punish them, right?"
"Yeah."
Xia Huyou nodded. Definitely. If there was no proof, the Xia Family would not have a good excuse to do something. With solid proof, they would definitely do something to protect the prestige of Great Xia.
This was enough for Su Yu. He had not expected the Xia Family to side with him. He only needed the Xia Family to be willing to punish them.
"I understand. That's all."
When Su Yu stood up, Xia Huyou hurriedly said, "If you're really doing this, I can't represent the Xia Family, but I can give you some help on behalf of myself. The Xia Family is neutral, but I don't need to be neutral."
"And how do you intend to support me?" Su Yu smiled, "Can you support me with a Sunmoon?"
"Don't joke around." Xia Huyou was speechless. Where was he supposed to find a Sunmoon? Furthermore, the movement of a Sunmoon would attract a lot of attention.
After inhaling deeply, Xia Huyou said, "I have two Mountainsea guards. These are the experts personally raised by the Xia Family. I can lend them to you to protect you when you leave. This is the only thing I can do. If your enemies are really sending Mountainseas against you, the Mountainseas would definitely stay hidden initially. Mountainseas are different from Skysoars. Any action taken by a Mountainsea represents an escalation. This is the only thing I can do. You will need to rely on yourself for the rest."
Su Yu nodded, "I understand. If they can kill me with a Skysoar, there would be no need to send a Cloudbreach. This would make it easier for them to escape responsibility. Similarly, if a Cloudbreach would suffice, they wouldn't send someone above that level. The Mountainseas would only make a move when the Cloudbreach cultivators fail. Because their involvement signifies escalation. Am I right?"
"Yeah."
Since Su Yu had decided, there was nothing else he could say. With nothing else to say, Su Yu left the tea room. After Su Yu left, Xia Huyou rubbed his face with an exhausted expression.
He had been honest. In his opinion, Su Yu should be given more support and a safe environment to grow. But the Xia Family as an entity could not be biased. Just because Su Yu viewed the single character faction as the villain did not mean that everyone else believed the same. As the rulers, the Xia Family must be neutral. Thus, this was the most he could do.
"This is so annoying..."
Xia Huyou muttered to himself. Why couldn't these people coexist peacefully? The myriad races had picked the right strategy. By not applying much pressure on the human race, humanity started fighting among themselves endlessly. Xia Huyou clenched his teeth in anger. He would rather the myriad races attack them directly. That way, humanity would no longer waste its energy on internal conflicts.
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