Tribulation of Myriad Races

Great Ming.

Back at the research center, Su Yu proceeded to test a few cultivation methods. He had yet to receive the blood essence promised by Zhu Tiandao so his options were quite limited at the moment.

After a while, he resumed his body forging. He had completed three forgings so far. He could feel that his body had grown much stronger after three forgings. His body was filled with vitality while his acupoints had also expanded in size.

He still had a decent amount of heavenly source qi left. This was the same batch of heavenly source qi extracted from the blood essence purchased from Xia Huyou. But after a short cultivation session, he found it hard to stay focused.

Thus, he stood up and left his cultivation room. The research center was six-story high, but there was actually a basement below the six aboveground floors. This basement was supposed to serve as a prison for demonic beasts, but it had been abandoned as Hu Xiansheng found no need for it. After all, none of his research was related to blood essence.

Su Yu was making use of this basement.

When he entered the basement, he saw that the water elemental, shadow, and the three Mountainsea beasts were all busy cultivating. When he arrived, they immediately showed themselves to him. Fear and respect were present in their eyes when they looked at Su Yu now.

After all, Su Yu had caused the death of too many Sunmoons. These beasts understood fully how important he was. Thus, they no longer dared to slight him.

Su Yu greeted them with a nod and said, "So did they say anything?"

Su Yu had nothing else to ask. The basement was brightly lit. Hu Xiansheng was someone who pursued perfection and beauty. Thus, even the underground prison was decorated nicely.

After walking deeper into the basement, one transparent door after another came into view. Some people were locked behind these doors. These were the cultists Zhu Tiandao had captured in secret.

When they saw Su Yu, they started shouting. But the transparent doors had a silencing effect so Su Yu was unable to hear their shouts. He laughed. No wonder the beasts claimed that these people had been silent. With these doors, of course they were silent. With a wave of his hand, one of the doors shook.

The voice of the person behind that door rang out, "Su Yu? Why did you capture me? Are you going to commit murder? How did I offend you?"

Finally, that person realized that his voice was no longer sealed. He roared, "Su Yu, what are you doing?"

Su Yu indifferently said, "You're already locked up here. Why are you keeping up the act?"

"Just what do you want?" The prisoner roared furiously, "I'll file an official complaint against you, Su Yu! I will even escalate this to the two holy lands if needed! I am a ninth-stage Skysoar! You can't capture me for no reason!"

Su Yu didn't even deign to argue. He smiled and waved his hand. This time, even more doors turned transparent. When the prisoners behind these doors saw Su Yu, they started roaring. But none of them could send their voice outside their own room.

But from their expressions, it was obvious they were very agitated. Some were begging for mercy, and some were losing their minds.

Su Yu appeared indifferent. He focused on the prisoner in front of him and slowly asked, "Answer me. Which sect do you serve? What is your job? How do you contact your superior? What is the strength of your sect? Where is the stronghold?"

"What nonsense are you talking about?" The prisoner furiously said, "I have no idea what you're talking about. Don't tell me you think I'm a cultist. That's bullshit."

Su Yu smiled, "Looks like you're really going to stay stubborn until the very end. Very well. I am in a slightly bad mood right now. How about this? Let's have a spar with me. I'm only a first-stage Skysoar while you're a ninth-stage Skysoar. If you win, you can leave. If you lose, well, you won't need to say anything anymore."

The prisoner's expression changed as he asked, "Why should I spar with you?"

Su Yu said nothing and stepped into the prison cell. The prisoner's expression changed again. They were less than two meters from each other.

Su Yu gazed at the prisoner and said, "This is your final chance. You can leave if you win. If you lose, tell me everything or die."

"Hmph! Don't even dream of accusing me of a crime I never commit."

The prisoner was very cautious. He did not make any rash moves. Inwardly, he was trying to determine his chances against Su Yu. His cultivation level was higher, but Su Yu had a lot of acupoints. He was still busy thinking when Su Yu's body flickered and a punch was thrown out.

The punch was thrown with so much force that it created a light rumble as it tore through the air in its path. Facing the incoming punch, the prisoner roared and activated all his acupoints. He was a warrior with seventy-two acupoints. He had advanced by fusing eight acupoints per stage. His body had undergone nine forgings. When he used all his strength, he was able to release the strength of three hundred acupoints.

But before the two punches even met, the force of Su Yu's punch tore through the prisoner's body. With a pop, the ninth-stage Skysoar burst into pieces, dying the cell red with blood. Since Su Yu was clad in a white robe, he released a thin layer of energy to block the blood splashing his way.

He shook his head, "Too weak."

He looked at the other cells and nonchalantly said, "All of you heard my words. I have the same offer for you. Either you answer me or you spar with me. If you win, you leave. If you lose...you might suffer the same fate as this guy."

The faces of all the prisoners fell.

That was a ninth-stage Skysoar.

With seventy-two acupoints, he was not weak at all. One ought to know that even in the Martial Dragon War Academy, a lot of students would open only seventy-two acupoints, including Chen Hao. And they were not considered weak students in the academy. Then again, these students of war academy would generally opt to undergo eighteen body forgings.

Thus, this dead prisoner was somewhat lacking with only nine forgings. Nevertheless, he was still a ninth-stage Skysoar. His offensive strength and speed would be decent. But he had been punched apart by Su Yu from afar. That was such a straightforward defeat.

Su Yu was completely unsurprised. If a garbage Skysoar like this could actually put up a fight against him, he would have wasted so much time and resources during his cultivation for nothing. This was the type of opponent he would be able to kill even if he wasn't a Skysoar.

Ignoring the dead prisoner, Su Yu entered the second cell. This time, the prisoner was a first-stage Cloudbreach. At the Skysoar Realm, one would forge one's body. At the Cloudbreach Realm, one's source qi would undergo nine transformations.

Su Yu wasn't sure how much strength one could gain from a single transformation because it differed per individual. Some would grow multiple times, while some would only grow slightly. The growth would be affected by one's cultivation method and the resources one used during the transformation.

The most talented divine and devil cultivators would be able to gain the strength of over ten thousand acupoints at the ninth-stage Skysoar Realm. And if such individuals proceeded to double their strength after each transformation, they would reach a terrifying level of strength. Of course, such individuals would be very rare and expensive to raise.

Inside the cell, Su Yu gazed at the refined middle-aged Cloudbreach. The Cloudbreach was also looking at Su Yu with flickering eyes. He gloomily said, "Researcher Su, just ask what you want to know. I'll answer. We're only doing this to make a living. We all have our reasons for doing what we do. Not all cultists are traitors. Some of us are only doing this because we are not left with any other choice."

Su Yu smiled, "Are you not going to try capturing or killing me?"

The middle-aged man said, "Lord Su is exceptionally talented with grand cycle acupoints. You have your physical cultivation, your willpower cultivation, and your character technique. How am I your match? I only have seventy-two acupoints and eighteen body forgings. I'm a brand new Cloudbreach. My growth after the first transformation has been quite limited. I only have the strength of a thousand acupoints."

A thousand acupoints. Strictly speaking, that wasn't weak. That was an acceptable level of strength for a brand new Cloudbreach. This middle-aged man was by no means untalented. But he knew how big the gap was between him and Su Yu. If he decided to fight, he would most definitely be beaten to death. He even had a feeling that Su Yu was only here today to kill some people.

With a smile, Su Yu left the cell instead of asking anything. At this point, the middle-aged man was already sweating all over. As a Cloudbreach, he was actually so terrified of a mere Skysoar.

This kid was too terrifying. Great Ming, or to be precise, everyone had been blinded by his research talent. Everyone knew that he was also strong in combat, but nobody knew exactly how strong he was.

Nobody knew how many acupoints Su Yu fused per stage. Did he fuse forty acupoints per stage? Or did he not? His strength would vary greatly depending on the answer. Fusing forty acupoints per stage would turn him into a monster. The middle-aged man was still in the middle of thinking all that when he heard a rumble from a nearby cell.

His heart skipped a beat when he looked over. Who was that prisoner? That fellow was too brazen. Did he really think that he could escape after taking Su Yu hostage?

"Third-stage Cloudbreach."

The middle-aged man saw that the prisoner facing Su Yu was no weakling. That was someone with 108 acupoints and 12 fused acupoints per stage. That was a true Infinite Strength cultivator.

More importantly, that was a third-stage Cloudbreach, someone who had undergone three transformations. And this person was also cultivating a decent transformation art that could grant him at least a thirty percent increase in strength per transformation. He had the strength of roughly three thousand acupoints. Su Yu's physical strength was probably weaker.

Su Yu had only completed three forgings, so he only had the strength of around 2,400 acupoints. His opponent was someone who could truly be considered a decent genius. If this person had a better transformation art, he would be even stronger.

108 acupoints, 12 fused acupoints, and 18 body forgings. This was the basic standard of a genius student from the war academy, or to be precise, this standard was applicable for even the entire humanity..

Su Yu did not use his characters. Instead, he relied on his martial techniques. He used both the Time technique and the Sky Sundering Saber. Rumbling sounds rang out unceasingly.

As the fight progressed, more and more techniques were used as Su Yu displayed his flexibility in combat with his endless tricks. The Soul Devouring Art was also used to corrode his opponent's willpower. The Source Swallowing Art was used to devour his opponent's source qi. All sorts of abilities were used inside the small prison cell. This was a satisfying battle.

Su Yu was completely treating himself as a warrior. The two continued fighting at close range inside the cell. The Cloudbreach roared as he swung his saber at Su Yu's head.

In response, Su Yu used the Time technique.

Crushing Mountainsea, Suppressing Sunmoon, Battling Invincible...

Su Yu was right in front of the Cloudbreach, but for some reason, Su Yu also felt completely out of reach. The Cloudbreach tried his best to approach Su Yu, but it felt as though time and space were standing between them, preventing his attack from landing.

Terror instantly filled his heart as he hurriedly said, "Lord, I'm willing to talk—"

He could barely finish his sentence before his vision blurred as Su Yu sent a kick his way.

Bang!

His head burst apart.

"Too late."

Su Yu was slightly panting as he landed on the ground again. He nonchalantly shook the blood and flesh off his boots with a smile on his face.

"Pretty strong."

He gave an earnest evaluation.

With the strength of nearly three thousand acupoints, that Cloudbreach was decently strong. In fact, someone like that would be pretty strong even when compared to the Cloudbreaches in the elite armies of the various prefectures. Unfortunately, that Cloudbreach's killing intent was too weak. He was unable to give Su Yu any sense of crisis during the fight.

Meanwhile, someone from the army would be radiating an intense killing intent during combat. Even if that person was weaker, they would still be able to shake the confidence of their opponent before the fight itself.

Thus, this cult Cloudbreach would probably lose when faced against a soldier with the same level of strength. Of course, the winner would probably be left with heavy injuries as well.

"The nine transformations can allow one to rapidly change. Why do I feel like cultural researchers will be weaker at this stage? Cultural researchers will only become truly strong upon reaching the Mountainsea Realm. At that level, they can fuse their apertures to gain a massive growth in strength."

While Su Yu was muttering to himself, the other prisoners turned pale with fear. Su Yu had killed a ninth-stage Skysoar and a third-stage Cloudbreach right after arriving. This kid was way too murderous. These cultists weren't the only ones terrified.

The beasts outside the basement were also greatly shaken by what they saw. Su Yu had killed a third-stage Cloudbreach without much effort at all. The shadow was confident that he was stronger than the third-stage Cloudbreach, but Su Yu had killed that Cloudbreach with only his physical cultivation. He hadn't even used his willpower. That was a terrifying fact.

Great Mountain transmitted his voice, "This fellow seems to be here to kill. Is he in a bad mood? Hasn't Great Ming been good to him? Who dares to anger him here?"

The water elemental said, "Good thing we have some cultist prisoners here."

He was very thankful for the existence of the cultists. Without those cultists, wouldn't they become the ones for Su Yu to vent his anger? That would be terrifying. They would be forced to silently endure a beating as they wouldn't even dare to hit back. How miserable would that fate be?

After killing two people in a row, Su Yu's mood improved considerably.

Instead of going to a different cell, he returned to the previous cell. There, he sat down and smiled, "Friend, let's have a chat. I'm not here to kill. It's not like I'm a psychopath. But some people never know what's good for them. I have to teach these people a lesson, right?"

Was his way of teaching someone killing them?

Fine.

The middle-aged man could only grumble inwardly. He said, "Lord Su, I am Sun Fei, a first-stage Cloudbreach warrior. I graduated from Great Ming Windcatcher Academy. I once served at Great Ming's Windcatcher Department for nine years. Subsequently, I joined the Heavenly Dao Army. I fought many battles on the Allheaven Battlefield. During one such battle, the 100-man squad I led was separated from the rest of the army. I was the sole survivor, but I was already dying. The earthfire devils captured me. Eventually, I succumbed to their torture and temptation and surrendered to them, becoming a member of the Earthfire Devil Sect."