Chapter 540: Chapter 322: Taking Advantage of the Fire

Xu Yang had not expected that Yue Zhong and Bai Shaoling’s request to Yuan Chengji and Lü Fengxing would be to help resolve his conflict with Huo Xiaochen.

Yue Zhong recounted the situation between Xu Yang and Huo Xiaochen, saying, "You’ve been at the Celestial Strategy Academy for years, so you have the connections and the network. If you can help Xu Yang resolve this, then please assist your junior brother. With his talent, if he can get into the Celestial Strategy Academy, he’ll surely repay you in the future."

Lü Fengxing offered a bitter smile. "Peak Master, you think too highly of us. We do know some people at the Academy, but none of them have any sway with the Xiao Family."

Naturally, he wanted a favor from a genius on the Lingyun List, but unfortunately, he simply didn’t have the capability. If they could converse with a Thousand-Year-Old Noble Family, they wouldn’t have rushed here so eagerly in hopes of befriending Li Chuyang and Jiang Fan.

"Perhaps Senior Brother Han has this ability, but Master, as for us..." Yuan Chengji started, intending to suggest Yue Zhong beg Han Yingjie. However, recalling how Han Yingjie had flatly made excuses to avoid seeing them when they had gone to him earlier, he swallowed the rest of his words.

Han Yingjie must have known Yue Zhong and Bai Shaoling had a favor to ask and thus avoided them. Otherwise, no matter how busy he was, he could have found the time.

"What an ungrateful wretch," Yue Zhong scoffed coldly.

Lü Fengxing said, "Peak Master, don’t worry too much. Huo Xiaochen might not even get the chance to target Xu Yang. The Dragon Ascension Rules haven’t been finalized yet, so anything is possible. Besides, Junior Brother Xu is a genius on the Lingyun List; the Celestial Strategy Academy might not be willing to eliminate him."

"That’s not necessarily true. Brother Lü, have you forgotten? The head of the Lower Courtyard is now Chu Nanguai, and the rules will be set by him," Yuan Chengji reminded him.

At his words, Xu Yang noticed a slight change in the expressions of Yue Zhong and Bai Shaoling. Lü Fengxing glared fiercely at Yuan Chengji. He only wanted to shirk the troublesome matter regarding Xu Yang and extricate himself as quickly as possible. Yet, this idiot Yuan Chengji just had to bring up Chu Nanguai.

"If you have matters to attend to, you may leave first," Bai Shaoling said after a moment of silence, addressing Lü Fengxing and Yuan Chengji.

By now, how could he not understand? Yuan Chengji and Lü Fengxing were cut from the same cloth as Han Yingjie; they had absolutely no intention of helping to resolve Xu Yang’s issue. Han Yingjie truly had the capability but didn’t want to help, so he hid away. Meanwhile, Lü Fengxing and Yuan Chengji were certain they couldn’t help anyway, so they came knowing it wouldn’t cost them anything.

Lü Fengxing and Yuan Chengji looked utterly embarrassed, realizing Bai Shaoling was driving them away and displeased with them. Without saying much more, the two men stood up, cupped their fists in farewell, and departed.

"You all may leave too," Yue Zhong waved his hand, his enthusiasm thoroughly dampened.

Back then, they had exerted just as much effort to help Han Yingjie, Yuan Chengji, and the others with their Secondary Dragon Ascension, only to be met with ingratitude. By helping Xu Yang so much today, who was to say that in a few years, when Xu Yang had grown stronger, he wouldn’t turn out just like Han Yingjie and the rest? For a moment, both he and Bai Shaoling felt a profound sense of disheartened disillusionment.

Qi Xuancheng and the others stood and left. Only Xu Yang and Sun Tao remained seated.

"Thank you, Peak Master and Young Sect Leader, for always worrying about your disciple’s affairs." Xu Yang stood and cupped his fists. "However, this disciple is confident in passing the Secondary Dragon Ascension. Please don’t go begging others on our behalf anymore."

Yue Zhong smiled bitterly. "They were the last people we could ask. From now on, even if we wanted to ask for help, there’s no one left to turn to."

"Indeed. Junior Brother Xu and I might not be able to defeat Huo Xiaochen, but we are confident we can clear the Secondary Dragon Ascension." Sun Tao also cupped his fists in agreement.

Bai Shaoling frowned. "In the past, you might have had a chance. But just now, Yuan Chengji mentioned that the head of the Celestial Strategy Academy’s Lower Courtyard has been replaced by Chu Nanguai, which changes things entirely."

"Why?" Xu Yang asked in confusion.

"Chu Nanguai employs very extreme methods. With him setting the rules, the chances of you two running into Huo Xiaochen during the Secondary Dragon Ascension Selection will be very high."

"Extreme methods?" Sun Tao asked, puzzled. Why would extreme methods mean they’d encounter Huo Xiaochen?

Bai Shaoling nodded. "Chu Nanguai believes in quality over quantity, and that might makes right. He considers Root Bone, Comprehension, and the like to be secondary. To him, the most vital trait of a Martial Artist is the ability to fight and kill. He previously oversaw the rule-making for two Dragon Ascension Selections. In those two instances alone, over a hundred people died, and countless more were injured. Even two geniuses with Root Bone Perfection were eliminated, and one of them died on the spot."

Two Root Bone Perfection geniuses were eliminated?!

Sun Tao and Xu Yang gasped. What kind of rules had Chu Nanguai established that could result in a Root Bone Perfection genius being beaten to death?

"Regardless, you two must be careful. Even if we want to help, we are powerless now," Yue Zhong sighed.

Xu Yang and Sun Tao sat for a little longer before quickly taking their leave.

Yuan Chengji and Lü Fengxing were soon tossed to the back of Xu Yang’s mind. He continued his daily cultivation step by step, though his spirit coins were steadily dwindling.

Another half-month passed. The news that Chu Nanguai had become the head of the Celestial Strategy Academy’s Lower Courtyard and was responsible for establishing the Dragon Ascension Rules spread among the disciples of various sects gathered for the Secondary Dragon Ascension. More information about Chu Nanguai began to surface.

Rumor had it that Chu Nanguai once argued that taking in three hundred and sixty people per recruitment cycle was far too many. He believed accepting just one hundred was enough, advocating that the resources meant for the other two hundred and sixty should be funneled into those hundred to cultivate true elites. However, his proposal was met with fierce opposition from all the sects and noble families of Yun Province. They threatened to withhold their disciples from participating if he went through with it, forcing him to ultimately drop the idea.

After hearing numerous tales about Chu Nanguai, Xu Yang concluded that the man was completely unpredictable—Chu Nanguai was capable of the most outrageous things.

"If he doesn’t play by the rules, things are going to get troublesome..." Xu Yang thought.

Unorthodox methods meant he could encounter any sort of situation. To guarantee a successful Dragon Ascension, he might have to reveal his true talent. After all, Chu Nanguai’s track record included eliminating and causing the deaths of Root Bone Perfection geniuses, and his current public talent was only on par with that. If he exposed the full extent of his talent, his every move would draw attention. The great noble families would try to recruit him, while the Demon Sect would try to eliminate him. In short, the benefits were uncertain, but the troubles would be endless.

Over the next few days, he began hearing that some geniuses who previously disdained teaming up had swallowed their pride and started seeking allies. Even Sun Tao, who usually maintained a steady mindset, grew somewhat anxious. He dragged Xu Yang along several times to discuss strategies with Zhang Jun and Liu Rumei. Unfortunately, the pair was in an even worse situation. They had no good solutions, and no one was willing to ally with them out of fear of being targeted by Huo Xiaochen and Lin Jingyu.

This was especially true now that Chu Nanguai was setting the rules; everyone was treading on eggshells.

[Li Fire Technique - First Layer (9871/10000)]

"If the selection doesn’t start soon, I’m going to break through to the Celestial Essence Second Layer," Xu Yang thought with some resignation. Although he focused heavily on Body Refining—using most of the Spiritual Qi he absorbed to cultivate the Vajra Glazed Body—he hadn’t completely halted his practice of the Li Fire Technique.

If the Secondary Dragon Ascension delayed any further, he would break through to the Celestial Essence Second Layer. When the time came to fight, his talent would inevitably be exposed. Once that happened, it wouldn’t just draw attention; even the deaths of Song Yushao, Jiang Wang, and the others might be linked back to him.

"If push comes to shove, I’ll just suppress it and delay my breakthrough."

It was his only option! He couldn’t afford to provoke Han Yingjie or the Xiao Family-backed Huo Xiaochen right now.

A few more days passed. One day, while Xu Yang and Sun Tao were in the courtyard exchanging insights on the Martial Dao, they received word that Liu Rumei and Zhang Jun had come to visit. They soon met the two in the side hall.

"Brother Xu, Brother Sun! Great news, someone is willing to team up with us!" Zhang Jun said excitedly.

"Who would be that foolish?" Xu Yang frowned. At a critical juncture like this, who would willingly wade into the muddy waters between them and Huo Xiaochen? Could Liu Rumei and Zhang Jun actually be affiliated with the Demon Sect, as he had suspected, and this so-called helper was an operative sent by them?

"Uh..." Zhang Jun was taken aback by Xu Yang’s response, his excitement fading. "It’s Gu Qingfeng, ranked tenth on the Lingyun List. Well, it’s not exactly teaming up. He approached us on his own initiative and offered to help us fend off Huo Xiaochen and Lin Jingyu during the Dragon Ascension Selection. His condition is that once we enter the Celestial Strategy Academy, we must each give him thirty academic credits per month for an entire year."

So it was for profit. He had actually thought someone was foolish enough to wade into this mess right now. Xu Yang didn’t know the exact value of thirty academic credits at the Celestial Strategy Academy, but if it caught the eye of the tenth-ranked genius on the Lingyun List, it certainly wasn’t cheap.

The man had calculated shrewdly; it was just another case of taking advantage of their crisis!

"I decline!" Xu Yang shook his head.

Sun Tao shook his head as well. "While I don’t know the exact worth of thirty academic credits at the Celestial Strategy Academy, I decline too."

Zhang Jun was stunned. "Junior Sister Liu and I have already agreed."

"But we did not," Xu Yang replied, shaking his head.

Liu Rumei furrowed her brows. "Brother Xu, thirty academic credits may be a lot, but passing the Dragon Ascension is more important, and it’s only for a year. With our talents, even if we’re set back for a year, as long as we can enter the Celestial Strategy Academy, there will always be opportunities to grow."

Neither she nor Zhang Jun had anticipated that, after finally finding a genius willing to help, Xu Yang and Sun Tao would be reluctant to part with thirty monthly academic credits. More importantly, without Xu Yang and Sun Tao’s share, Gu Qingfeng might not be willing to intervene anymore, throwing them right back into their previous predicament.

"Without Gu Qingfeng’s help, just the four of us won’t be enough to withstand the combined forces of Huo Xiaochen and Lin Jingyu," Zhang Jun urged.

"Apologies, but our academic credits will not be given to anyone," Xu Yang reiterated with a shake of his head.

The conversation ultimately ended on a sour note. Liu Rumei and Zhang Jun didn’t say the alliance was off, but neither did they confirm it would continue.

Two days later, Zhang Jun returned to inform them that they had reached a new agreement with Gu Qingfeng. They would still pay him thirty academic credits, and in exchange, Gu Qingfeng would help them fend off either Huo Xiaochen or Lin Jingyu. They would have to handle the remaining one themselves.

This meant their alliance was still on, but Zhang Jun and Liu Rumei had paid the price of thirty monthly academic credits to neutralize one of the threats, meaning they only had to deal with one person during the Secondary Dragon Ascension.

Xu Yang and Sun Tao didn’t say much about it. If those two were willing to part with their academic credits, that was their business. As long as the alliance stood, they would fulfill their promise.

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