The Su Family.

1 drop of Primordial Qi Liquid, 4 drops of Ironwing Bird essence blood, 10 merit points, 30,000 in cash, “Opening Yuan Manual,” “Thunder Yuan Saber,” “Coagulating Blood Saber,” “Yi God Manual – Thousand Catty Chapter,” one Thousand Catty skill bone fragment, one complete skill bone fragment, plus a Yellow Tier medium-grade standard long saber…

This was all of Su Yu’s wealth at the moment.

Everything was laid out on the table.

Su Yu had been looking at it, lost in thought.

He had been pondering ever since he returned from the Windcatcher Hall.

He was reflecting on whether he had been too calculating.

He previously thought he was willing to spend money, but these past few days he had nearly emptied his savings.

He felt that Opening Yuan Stage Eighth Level was enough.

Wasn’t such strength sufficient for a student who hadn’t even graduated from a mid-level academy?

So he barely touched his merit points, still having 10, and he hadn’t used the Primordial Qi Liquid much either, if not for using it these past two times.

But today, Su Yu was reflecting.

What was the point of saving money if you didn’t spend it?

Waiting to become strong before exchanging it for things you needed?

But how could he quickly become strong if he was unwilling to spend money now?

“Money has to be quickly converted into strength!”

“I’ll have another 7 merit points coming in soon, my willpower has been stuck at around 19%, reading that fragment has become a bit blurry, and the illustrated handbook in my head hasn’t been opening much…”

Su Yu had rarely opened the illustrated handbook before, averaging once every five or six days, sometimes even once every ten days or so.

He felt it was too extravagant!

Opening it once a day would cost at least 30,000 in cash, or one merit point, which he couldn’t afford.

“Without Primordial Qi, how can I cultivate? Without Primordial Qi, how can I cultivate my saber techniques, cultivate my acupoints, how can I quickly become strong…”

“With 17 merit points, if I reached the Ten Thousand Stone Realm, killing two Early-Stage Ten Thousand Stone experts would be enough, or even killing one, but in the Opening Yuan Stage, I’d have to kill a dozen Thousand Catty experts, each time risking my life!”

At this moment, Su Yu seemed to understand something, yet also seemed to understand nothing.

But at least he knew one thing: resources, these things had to be quickly converted into strength!

One’s own strength was the foundation.

No one in Nanyuan had the ability to compete with him, but what about Great Xia Prefecture?

Not to mention Great Xia Prefecture, putting aside the identity of a student, what was Opening Yuan Stage Eighth Level?

What was 19% Willpower Accumulation?

“There are 14 days until the exam, starting today, I will open the illustrated handbook once a day and absorb Primordial Qi to cultivate!”

14 days, a consumption of 14 merit points.

Of course, he had 4 drops himself, so 10 merit points would be enough.

He could exchange the rest and keep them on his person as a precaution, otherwise, what would be the point of keeping merit points if he died one day?

…

For the next 11 days, Su Yu didn’t leave his house.

He didn’t even go to the academy to exchange for essence blood himself, but had Chen Hao help him exchange it, using all 10 merit points.

14 drops of essence blood, all Ironwing Bird essence blood.

If he wasn’t short on money, Su Yu would have even wanted to buy some Primordial Qi Liquid to assist his cultivation, so that he would always be in a state of ample Primordial Qi.

He really considered selling his house for 1 million to buy 10 drops of Primordial Qi Liquid to cultivate.

Unfortunately, reality didn’t allow it, so he had to give up on that idea.

Having a place to stay was good, lest he had nowhere to live.

…

While Su Yu was focused on cultivating, Great Xia Prefecture was in turmoil.

The Dragon Martial Guards had returned, suffering nearly a thousand losses, but they had brought back a large amount of resources, a large amount of natural treasures, returning fully loaded.

However, the Dragon Martial Guards, who had reaped huge gains, were not happy.

Great Xia Prefecture.

Prefectural Residence.

Entering the residence was a huge plaza.

At this moment, a tall man of about 1.89 meters was standing in the center of the white jade path in the plaza, his face full of anger, wearing black armor, and not carrying any weapons.

The man stared directly at the residence not far away, which was the center of power in Great Xia Prefecture.

“This humble general requests an audience with Marquis Xia!”

The man’s voice was loud!

Around him, several residence guards kept silent, as if they hadn’t seen him, each lowering their heads, as if no one was speaking next to them.

“Marquis, the Dragon Martial Guards have returned victoriously, and this humble general is here to hand over the orders!”

After a moment, an old man came gracefully, looked at the tall man, and said softly, “General, the Marquis said, the General has had a tiring journey, go back and rest early.”

“Rest?”

The tall man said coldly, “The Marquis is unwilling to see me?”

“The Marquis is already resting.”

“Resting in broad daylight?”

The tall man shouted, “Is Great Xia Prefecture okay? The Acting Prefect has no government affairs to deal with?”

“General…” The old man said softly, “The Marquis is unwilling to see the General, also to avoid conflicts, since the military order has been issued, the General need not dwell on it…”

“Nonsense!”

The tall man rebuked, “Dwell on it? Nearly a thousand Dragon Martial Guards sacrificed on the front line, can a military order let this general let it go?”

The old man pondered for a moment, then said after a long time, “General, the Marquis knows this military order is inappropriate… In fact, the Marquis was also deceived! During the ceremony that day, Wan Tiansheng incited the Marquis, you must know the matter, and the Marquis did not know the situation on the front line, how could he know the truth…”

“Wan Tiansheng can speak eloquently, and the Marquis took it seriously, that’s why there was the order to withdraw the troops.”

The old man sighed, “Wan Tiansheng is in charge of the Great Xia Civilization Academy, most of the civilization masters in the army graduated from the Great Xia Civilization Academy, the Prefect is not here, Wan Tiansheng has great power, the civilization masters are under his jurisdiction, if the troops are not withdrawn, do the Dragon Martial Guards really have to fight to the death with the Sky Arrow God Clan?”

“The Sky Hall!”

The tall man said this name in a cold voice, his tone icy, “His hand is too long, he dares to interfere in the military, isn’t he afraid of having his claws broken!”

“If the Prefect hadn’t gone into closed-door cultivation, he naturally wouldn’t dare.”

The old man sighed, “The Prefect is in closed-door cultivation, he has the Strength Seeking Realm backing him, how can he be afraid of the Marquis, let alone the General.”

The tall man was silent.
“So, at this point, the Marquis is also very regretful, but he’s already been deceived, and there’s nothing he can do…”

The old man sighed, “At this juncture, the Marquis can only remain silent. Does he really want to break ties with Wan Tiansheng?”

The old man continued, “General, the military still relies heavily on the Civilized Masters, and we have no way to control Wan Tiansheng…”

“What a joke!”

“This is still the Great Xia Prefecture!”

The tall man uttered the same words as Xia Bing, “This is the Great Xia Prefecture, not the Seeking Realm!”

After saying that, the man remained silent for a moment before coldly saying, “Before the Prefect closed himself off, did he agree to this matter?”

“This… no, the Prefect closed himself off before the ceremony.”

The tall man looked at the old man, and after a long while, he said, “Old Hu, the Great Xia Prefecture Prefect is in charge of the military, and you are in charge of administration. Wan Tiansheng is acting recklessly. Is it really without your and the Prefect’s tacit approval?”

The old man smiled, “How could that be!”

“Do you even need to hide it from me?”

The man was somewhat dissatisfied. He was none other than the Deputy General of the Dragon Martial Guard, a Sea of Mountains Realm powerhouse. With Xia Longwu away on expeditions, he was practically in charge of the Dragon Martial Guard in the Great Xia Prefecture.

“Really not.”

The old man said seriously, “Wan Tiansheng took advantage of the Prefect’s seclusion to seize power!”

“Then let’s eliminate him!”

“General, be careful what you say. The Civilization Academy is the Civilization Academy of Great Xia, and Wan Tiansheng… is also the leader of the Great Xia Civilized Masters appointed by the Seeking Realm. We cannot speak recklessly!”

“Seeking Realm…”

The man murmured, then coldly snorted, “The Seeking Realm has been isolated for many years. Does the Seeking Realm know that Wan Tiansheng is interfering in the military and political affairs of the Great Xia Prefecture?”

“As long as the Seeking Realm doesn’t speak, he is the leader of the Civilized Masters of the Great Xia Prefecture, and we have no way to change that.”

The old man shook his head, then continued, “The Marquis can only limit him, so he has reduced the Civilization Academy’s funding by 30%, which is the most he can do.”

“Reducing the Civilization Academy’s funding… nonsense!”

The tall man reprimanded, dissatisfied, “Civilized Masters are Civilized Masters, and Wan Tiansheng is Wan Tiansheng. If the funding is weakened, the number of Civilized Masters born will decrease, and the Civilized Masters sent to the heavens battlefield will be weak. How can they fight the enemy?”

He could be dissatisfied with Wan Tiansheng, but he didn’t want to involve the Civilization Academy, as that would lead to a decrease in the number of Civilized Masters, which would affect the frontline war.

“Wan Tiansheng will have a way to solve it. He promised that the number of Civilized Masters graduating each year, including those who join the military, will not decrease. If it’s not enough, he will send the powerhouses from the Academy’s Cultivation Pavilion to fill the gap!”

The Cultivation Pavilion is synonymous with the high-end power of the Great Xia Civilization Academy.

Most of the Academy’s elders are recuperating in it, and there is no shortage of Soaring and Sea of Mountains Realm powerhouses. It is the top-level high-end combat power in the Great Xia Prefecture, similar to the Linghai Tower of the War Academy.

Wan Tiansheng even said this, so the tall man had nothing to say.

After a while, the man coldly said, “Let it be this time, but if there’s a next time… a general outside the capital is not bound by his lord’s commands!”

“The General can decide as he sees fit!”

The old man didn’t try to dissuade him. He watched the man leave and turned back to the hall behind him.

At this moment, a chubby man was eating in the hall, not even looking up as he asked, “He’s gone?”

“Gone.”

“Did he go to find Wan Tiansheng?”

“I don’t know.”

The chubby old man finally looked up, smiling as he said, “It would be fun if they fought.”

“Marquis, why didn’t you tell General Zhao?”

The old man asked, and the chubby old man laughed, “To watch a show!”

“…”

The old man frowned slightly, then quickly said, “Marquis, this isn’t appropriate. It will cause trouble.”

“I’m not afraid of trouble.”

The chubby old man burped, completely lacking decorum, and said lazily, “Isn’t Wan Tiansheng very impressive? Let Lao Zhao add fuel to the fire! Also, Wan Tiansheng’s hands are really too long, interfering in everything! Let Lao Zhao knock him down a peg…”

“Of course, Lao Zhao definitely can’t beat him. Anyone can see that, but it’s good to give that guy more trouble.”

“But…”

The old man wanted to say more, but the chubby old man burped again, yawning as he said, “I’m going to take a nap. If Wan Tiansheng can’t even handle these little problems, how can he talk about reform!”

“Reforming the Great Xia Prefecture… It sounds simple!”

The chubby old man looked disdainful, “If it were that easy, would we have waited until now? The tradition of the Great Xia Prefecture for so many years is that what can be obtained on the battlefield will not be sought through a second method!”

“It’s a bit silly. Actually, I also think Xia is a bit of an idiot, with a low IQ, but his fists are big!”

The chubby old man sighed, “His fists are big, and they hurt when he hits you, just like his grandfather! The old man was the same way, not enough brains, all muscles. What’s the point of reasoning?”

The chubby old man shook his head. The old man’s expression changed slightly, but he didn’t respond.

Only you, this unfilial son, would say that Great Xia King is like that. No one else dares to say that.

“So, if Wan Tiansheng can’t even change them, what else can he change in the Great Xia Prefecture… The Great Xia Prefecture isn’t just these few people. Hundreds of millions of people have been led astray by these idiots. When they encounter trouble, they chop, chop, chop, do, do, do, kill, kill, kill…”

The chubby old man said disdainfully, “I know they only have muscles and no brains, but I can’t do anything about it. I can only watch. If you don’t obey, you get beaten. I was beaten a lot when I was a kid. What can I do? Xia Longwu, that unfilial son, even dares to beat his uncle. What can I do?”

The chubby old man was shaking his head. The old man’s expression changed slightly, but he didn’t respond.

“If Wan Tiansheng wants to reform, then he should find a way to solve it himself. Lao Zhao also has no brains, only muscles. I’m too lazy to reason with him. Let Wan Tiansheng solve the trouble himself!”

After saying that, the chubby old man got up, swaying as he walked, “Also, starting today, issue a military order: When the Great Xia Prefecture goes to war, the military expenses will be split 30/70. The Great Xia Prefecture will provide 70%, and they will solve the remaining 30% themselves, using war spoils to offset the expenses. They are not allowed to sell the war spoils privately! Xia’s Trading Company will purchase them uniformly and handle them at a discounted price.”

“Marquis!”

The old man said softly, “It’s too fast. It’s not appropriate. This will cause the Prefecture Army and the Dragon Martial Guard to become impure. I’m worried that they will take the opportunity to sell military supplies on the battlefield. This matter requires careful consideration!”
“That’s the logic… So I’ve decided that the Dragon Martial Guard, the Garrison Army, and the Demon Suppression Army will each set up a small department, a commerce department, and let the people from the Xia Clan Commercial Firm take over. They will only be responsible for fighting, and the other matters will be handled by the people from the Xia Clan Commercial Firm.”

“Lord Marquis!”

The old man frowned, “If you really want to establish it, it should still be in the name of Great Xia Prefecture to send people over…”

“Aren’t the people of Great Xia Prefecture the people of the Xia Clan Commercial Firm?”

The plump old man was surprised and said, “Isn’t that right? Are you still going to make a distinction with me?”

“No, Lord Marquis, what I mean is, you can’t use the name of the commercial firm, otherwise, this military power will become corrupted…”

“That’s simple, the personnel from the Xia Clan Commercial Firm who are sent over will no longer be the people of the Xia Clan Commercial Firm. From today onwards, they will be people of Great Xia Prefecture. Just give them a title. Oh right, their salaries will be paid by yourselves in the future, no, by Great Xia Prefecture…”

The plump old man didn’t hesitate and quickly made a decision.

The old man didn’t know whether to laugh or cry, but after thinking about it, he nodded and said, “Then so be it, this is still better than using the name of the Xia Clan Commercial Firm.”

After saying that, the old man added, “Lord Marquis, the War God Hall previously issued an order, hoping that Great Xia Prefecture would send over one of the corpses of the Heavenly Feather God Clan that were previously captured…”

Before he could finish, the plump old man suddenly jumped up and cursed, “Dream on! These were killed by Little Xia himself, and they were killed after the God Clan infiltrated us. What does it have to do with them? No way!”

“But…”

“No buts!”

The plump old man said angrily, “You can ask my old man to come and ask himself! Damn it, a bunch of old guys don’t have the ability to kill themselves, and they still want to take food out of our mouths. What are they thinking!”

“What about the War God Hall, is it so great! Isn’t it just a hall of brutes made up of a bunch of old fogeys? What’s the point of research? What a waste of money! The Pathseeking Realm knows to study and kill themselves, but these brutes have come up with a new name and are taking the opportunity to extort our resources. Let them go to hell!”

“…”

The old man was tired, was it really okay to scold like that?

Your father is also among them!

War God Hall and Pathseeking Realm are the two major holy lands of humanity.

Civilization masters enter the Pathseeking Realm, and warriors enter the War God Hall. Of course, not everyone can enter.

The Great Xia King certainly has this qualification, and this War God Hall was created by the invincible powerhouses of their generation. Now they are asking their sons and grandsons for some sponsorship, but you, as a son, are being too unfeeling!

The plump old man cursed for a while and soon calmed down. After thinking about it, he said, “Send it over, but… make them exchange it for a few thousand God-Demon corpses. Anyway, they kill a lot and they’re not worth much. This is the corpse of a top expert, so let them send over three to five thousand Mountain Sea Realm God-Demon corpses…”

“Cough cough!”

The old man wanted to speak, but after a long time, he held it back.

The plump old man continued, “Knowing that they don’t have them, we’ll ask for a sky-high price. It doesn’t matter if they can’t give it. How about this… let them exchange it for a few secret realms! I heard that the old man chopped off a piece of space from somewhere a few years ago, and the Great Zhou King also chopped one off a few years ago, so just send them over.”

“Lord Marquis… is this feasible? Will they agree?”

The plump old man jumped up and said angrily, “Go talk about it! Damn it, if they don’t give it, go cry. Arrange for a few thousand people to wait outside the War God Hall. If they don’t give it, cry, cry them to death! They want things themselves, but they don’t want to pay. What are they thinking! Take it or leave it!”

“A bunch of old guys, they’ve eaten their fill and don’t think about their descendants. We’re still hungry!”

“If my old man doesn’t give it, just say that I’m going to recognize the Great Ming King as my grandpa, and piss off that old thing!”

“…”

The old man couldn’t take it anymore, he was afraid that he would be silenced by the Great Xia King.

Are you human?

If you call the Great Ming King grandpa, what should the Great Xia King call that person?

Please, be a decent person!

The old man didn’t dare to say anything more and quickly said, “I understand, Lord Marquis, then I’ll arrange for someone to do it. By the way, how should the other corpses be distributed? The Civilization Academy wants all of them to be sent over for research…”

“Tell Wan Tiansheng to get lost!”

The plump old man was ferocious and looked fierce, but the old man wanted to grin when he saw it. Don’t be so fierce, you look like a food-guarding fat cat when you’re fierce.

“Send one over!”

The plump old man didn’t care what he thought and quickly said, “It’s okay to send it over, but tell Wan Tiansheng to graduate 80 Civilization Masters for me this year. If there’s one less, I’ll settle the score with him. If there aren’t enough, let him send them from the Cultivation Heart Pavilion. If he dares to swallow my God Clan corpse, he won’t get a single cent of funding for the second half of the year. Let him find a way himself!”

“Okay.”

The old man quickly agreed and continued, “What about the War Academy…”

“No way, just give them a few drops of blood essence and that’s it! A bunch of brainless people, what do they want corpses for? Can they eat them or something?”

The plump old man’s mouth was very vicious, cursing non-stop. After cursing, he returned to the topic, “For the War Academy, if they send those untested thousand-pound weaklings to the army again, I’ll cut their funding by 50% in the second half of the year!”

“And the Internal Affairs Academy, speed up the training of people. We’re short of a lot of professional talents at the grassroots level. By the way, is that infiltration class they’ve opened effective? How many people from the Myriad Races Sect have infiltrated? Have you found the treasure trove yet? If you can’t find it again, shut it down, it costs a lot of money!”

“And the Scientific Research Academy, 50 years ago I asked them to build a war airship! One that can fly, can carry people, and can suddenly fly thousands of soldiers to the heavens battlefield. What are they doing? Haven’t built it yet? Are they just eating and doing nothing? If they can’t do it again, cut their funding!”

As the old man listened, the sentence he heard the most was “cut funding.”

He calculated it and couldn’t help but say, “Lord Marquis, if you do this, we can save about 300 billion this year!”

“That much?”

The plump old man was stunned for a moment, then his eyes lit up and he said, “Good, give me the order! It’s best to make them fail to complete their tasks, and just cut their funding directly! The treasury gets 80%, and the remaining 20% goes to me, as labor costs!”

“Lord Marquis, something will happen.”
“What does it matter!” the fat old man said nonchalantly, “People need a push, otherwise do you think they’ll take it to heart? They’re all sly! Just take Civilization Academy as an example. Wan Tiansheng is hoarding a batch of elite students, keeping them in the academy instead of letting them go out. Isn’t that a waste? He could produce an extra 30 Civilization Masters every year!”

“If this continues, the academy will be drained in a few years. What about talent cultivation?” the old man disagreed somewhat. Everyone knew about Wan Tiansheng keeping the elites.

But those elite students also had other uses.

The cultivation of talents for the rear, the competition for some secret realms, and some secret research all relied on these people.

“Then he can figure it out himself. What does it have to do with me?”

The fat old man didn’t care much, saying indifferently, “I’m not the real City Lord anyway, just an acting one, understand? If things get messed up, I’ll go to the God of War Hall for protection and let Xia Longwu solve it himself.”

“…”

What irresponsible words!

The old man was speechless, wearing a bitter expression. Dealing with Marquis Xia was much more tiring than dealing with Xia Longwu.

At this moment, the fat old man had already walked to the backyard. Seeing the old man still following, he asked in surprise, “Why are you still following me? Old Hu, are you done with your business? You want to accompany me for my afternoon nap? You old pervert, get lost!”

“…”

The old man decided that he would never come here again if he didn’t have to!

Until Xia Longwu came out of seclusion, he would deal with this person as little as possible.

Xia Longwu was very respectful to him. He was in charge of the Great Xia Prefecture’s administration and held a high position of power. Plus, he was very old, so Xia Longwu relied on him and respected him a lot.

But when it came to Marquis Xia, he was less than a grandson.

Turning to leave, the old man suddenly turned back and asked, “What about Wan Tiansheng’s Myriad Races Training Institute?”

“Let him open it!”

The fat old man walked towards the house, saying as he went, “Special cases should be treated specially. For those Myriad Races students, build the best houses for them. If they pay, let them live there. If they don’t pay, let them live in the latrines!”

“Give them the best food, serve them Demon God meat every day. If they don’t want to eat it, they can spend money to buy something else. The supply of Demon God meat… I’m being generous, right? The best treatment for the human race, who dares to say otherwise?”

“The merit points for exchanging cultivation techniques should be ten times higher. The merit points for killing their own clansmen should be ten times higher. Let me see if there are any guys who kill their own people. Maybe their own people will come to their door to be killed… that would be interesting!”

“Wan Tiansheng’s methods are too gentle. What are you afraid of? Since those guys are coming, they are coming to achieve their goals. If they don’t achieve their goals, they won’t leave. Are you still afraid they’ll run away?”

The fat old man had already entered the door, instructing as he closed it, “The academy’s funding is being cut. I’m not taking the blame for this. Spread the word that the money is all being spent on the Myriad Races Training Institute. Wan Tiansheng did a good job! Let Wan Tiansheng take the blame! Oh, and remember to tell Wan Tiansheng that if he really runs out of money, he can borrow it from me. The interest can be whatever he wants to give. I’m not short of money!”

“…”

The old man pretended not to hear and quickly left, afraid that he would not be able to bear it if he heard any more.