Chapter 852: A Good Start (2)
Chapter 852: A Good Start (2)
The old man was a Skysoar. He wasn't exactly a weakling. Su Yu was left quite speechless. Bullshit! He was sure that some of these people were harboring nefarious intentions upon him.
Most of these people did not have the courage to assassinate human experts inside the human-controlled territory. But the moment there was an enemy attack, these vultures would scatter everywhere and return to loot the dead after the fight was over. Su Yu was feeling quite gloomy. Were they viewing him as a delicious lamb?
"Are you guys following me because you think I'll die?"
The old man laughed awkwardly and said, "Not at all."
Su Yu casually tossed a bag over. The old man didn't even dare to catch it. Instead, he hurriedly retreated.
Su Yu indifferently said, "It's some source qi liquid, not poison. Tell me. Help me broaden my horizons. You people are not too strong and hated by many. But I heard that you vultures are also known as the Eyes of Death. Are you following me because you believe I'll die?"
The old man cautiously picked up the bag and checked it. He was overjoyed when he confirmed the content in the bag. He hurriedly said, "Lord, you are generous and magnanimous. Perhaps this is your first visit to the Allheaven Battlefield. Maybe this is your first long journey ever..."
"Most of the time, even lone travelers would maintain a low profile out here. Meanwhile, you're clad in white. That's too eyecatching. With your storage ring on your finger, it is clear you're someone important. As for your strength, you feel like a Cloudbreach to me. But you also seem to have only reached that level recently.
"You don't have a visible weapon on you, so you're definitely a cultural researcher. It is common knowledge that all cultural researchers have numerous good stuff on them. You're riding an earthdragon from the Eastpart City. That city is filled with important people, including a lot of young geniuses venturing far from home for the first time.
"A lot of people coming from Eastpart City lack combat experience. Compared to the human geniuses who had climbed from the bottom of society, these people are much easier to kill. Anyone who has spent some time in the Allheaven Battlefield understands that these first-time visitors are the easiest to kill. And these people are also the most profitable targets to kill. Thus, if there is an enemy expert hiding nearby, they will not hesitate to kill you."
"..."
Due to Su Yu's generosity with the source qi liquid, the old man did not hesitate to share some of his experiences.
The old man added, "As for us...hehe. The enemy expert would most likely flee rapidly after killing you instead of wasting time on us. And they would most likely leave with only your storage ring. In that case...cough, cough, Lord, this is the Allheaven Battlefield. Do not think that we're too cold. We will do good deeds when possible. For example, if we found some name tags or any other forms of identification, we would send them back to the headquarters. We might even collect the bodies of the dead and send them back so that they won't be left to rot in the wilderness."
Su Yu laughed and said, "In short, if I were to end up dying, you would show kindness by collecting my corpse for me. And I need to be thankful to you for that?"
"There is no need for that!"
The vultures had constantly maintained a distance of over five hundred meters from Su Yu. That way, they wouldn't be instantly implicated if Su Yu really ended up killed. That was their way of protecting themselves. This was the way of life for these vultures.
Su Yu laughed in amusement. Interesting. His horizons had been broadened. Was he too conspicuous? He didn't even realize that. Perhaps that was the case in the eyes of others. After all, his white robes were too conspicuous. But as a cultural researcher, was he supposed to wear black robes instead of white robes?
Then again, there were indeed some cultural researchers who would walk around in black instead of white robes. But Su Yu was deeply influenced by a certain individual. Back when he first saw Bai Feng, his teacher was clad in fluttering white robes. That looked incredibly cool to him. Thus, one could say that Bai Feng was the reason why Su Yu started wearing white robes.
In a completely nonchalant manner, Bai Feng had killed a Skysoar. He looked carefree and at ease in his elegant white robes. Ignoring everything that had happened to ruin his image in Su Yu's mind since then, he actually looked incredibly amazing at that moment.
Su Yu smiled and said, "Brother, you guys seem very experienced. Are you not afraid of getting dragged into the fight and dying alongside the lamb you're following?"
"Danger is everywhere in the Allheaven Battlefield. If we wanted zero danger in our lives, we wouldn't have entered the Allheaven Battlefield and remained until now. We might as well return to the Human Realm and retire as a rich landlord with what we already made so far."
Su Yu nodded. With a curious look, he asked, "Vultures are supposed to be decent in strength. Why is none of you willing to return to the Human Realm and get a position as a commander or something in the army? You will be able to get an even better position if you go to one of those smaller cities. Even if you can't get into the army, you can still join the Windcatcher Department, right?"
The old man beamed and said, "You must be kidding, Lord. People like us have spent almost our entire lives here. We are used to carnage and blood. But after going back, we won't be able to kill unless we are prepared to have our heads cut off as punishment. At that time, we will have to either join the cult or die." "But it is way riskier to join the cult. The various prefectures represent the color white while the Myriad Race Cult represents the color black. As for us, we are the color gray. Sure, being vultures is dangerous as well, but we're better than the cultists. At the very least, those large armies won't slaughter us indiscrimately."
Su Yu said, "I heard not all vultures are willing to follow the unspoken rules. Some of them are more than willing to kill their fellow humans for profit. Is that true?"
"Definitely." The old man did not deny it. He said, "But those people don't usually live long. After taking that step, they will turn from gray to black. They will die as easily as those cultists. We can only live longer if we remain gray."
Su Yu nodded. He asked curiously, "Have there been any precedent of vultures doing so good that they managed to gain legitimacy?"
"Yes. But things ultimately ended miserably for them." The old man grimaced and said, "Have you heard of the Liu Family? The Liu Family of Liu City. Back then, they were vultures as well. But one day, their old master wanted to go clean. They established Liu City with the intention of guarding the doorstep of humanity. But they all died terribly. Tsk tsk. Not a single one of them survived. Young and old, they all died. How miserable. If you ask me, once you choose to walk the gray path, don't even think of turning white or black. You will only suffer miserable endings."
Liu Family?
Su Yu blanked out. Liu Wenyan's family! A family of vultures? He was very surprised to hear that.
"Are you doubting my words, Lord?"
The old man bowed and followed Su Yu. He said, "Have no doubt. This happened a long time ago. I heard that Great Xia King was the one who had personally convinced them to go clean back then. There were also rumors claiming that after going clean, a marriage alliance would form between the Xia and Liu Families. Unfortunately, Great Xia King took a very long time to produce a descendant. A few decades away, they finally decided on the marriage candidates. Unfortunately, the Liu Family ceased existing not long after."
Su Yu had heard of that from Xia Huyou before. Xia Huyou was supposed to take someone from the Liu Family as his wife, but it didn't happen due to the destruction of the Liu Family.
"So is the Liu City no more?"
"It's still there, but very few people are staying there nowadays. The direct descendants of the Liu Family are almost all dead. A few branch family members are still around, but the strongest among them are at the Cloudbreach Realm. Back then, they were led by Sunmoons. And the Liu City is also situated in a bad location. They wanted to guard the doorstep of humanity, so they founded their city on the same defensive line as the Vanguard Regiment. That place is incredibly dangerous. Each year, countless people will die there. Thus, the city is now a shadow of its former self."
Guarding the doorstep of humanity. That was the choice made by the old master of Liu Family. Whether the choice was made for the sake of going clean or some other reasons, that was ultimately still the choice they made. Because of their vicinity to the frontlines, the entire family ended up destroyed.
The Liu City had fallen.
Su Yu thought about it and said, "Liu Family...Liu Wenyan...I heard that Liu Wenyan is currently in the Vanguard Regiment, right? Is he a direct descendent of the Liu Family? Have you heard of him?"
"Of course." The old man seemed to be in a talkative mood. But the main reason for that was the source qi liquid given by Su Yu. There was no harm in saying more to a rich guy like this. He said, "Who doesn't know Liu Wenyan? Back when Ye Batian swept through the Allheaven Battlefield, he went to Liu City. The moment he saw Liu Wenyan, he took Liu Wenyan as his student. Tsk tsk, the apprenticeship ceremony was truly a sight to behold. Who was Ye Batian? He was the only Sunmoon with the courage to make Invincibles kneel before him. He was arrogant. He was domineering. He was unrivaled.
"Back then, the Liu Family held a feast for three days and three nights. All sorts of valuable ingredients were served to the guests. Any human in the Allheaven Battlefield was allowed to attend the feast. They had fully gone clean with Ye Batian accepting a junior of their family as a student. Their future seemed limitless.
"Unfortunately, good things do not last long. Ye Batian died, and the Liu Family also suffered alongside him. They were subjected to constant attacks until all their Sunmoons perished. Liu Wenyan was crippled. And the Liu Family was ruined.
"Yes, Liu Wenyan has returned. But it's pointless. He's only a Skysoar. And he is serving his sentence in the Vanguard Regiment. It's only a matter of time before he dies. I heard he actually has to fight among Mountainseas. How can he survive that?"
"..."
The old man seemed to know a lot. But he definitely didn't know more than the surface details.
Su Yu laughed and said, "That might not be the case, right? I heard that back then, the Liu Family saved a lot of human experts. A lot of people owe them a favor, including some Invincibles. With Liu Wenyan's return, wouldn't those people watch over him?"
The old man wasn't too optimistic about that. He said, "You never know. Those Invincibles are too important to get involved in something so trivial. If they really wanted to take care of him, he wouldn't have been sent to the Vanguard Regiment in the first place. That damn place wasn't too bad in the past, but things have been very intense recently. There are way too many battles. I don't think he can survive for long."
"True."
Su Yu nodded. He continued riding ahead nonchalantly on his earthdragon. He said, "This isn't my first time in the Allheaven Battlefield, but I never went too far in the past. I didn't know all that before. But the more I learn, the more interesting things seem to be. Brother, do you know where I can find some divine and devil geniuses? Tell me about the weaker ones. If they're too strong, I won't be a match. It would be even better if you could point me to a place with more female geniuses. Maybe I can capture a few of them."
"..."
Unknowingly, the old man had slowed down considerably. When he was about a thousand meters away from Su Yu, he replied, "Lord, you should calm down. The divine and devil experts are not easy to deal with. In fact, even the experts of the weaker races are very difficult opponents. Yes, cultural researchers have a lot of trump cards, but things are no longer the same after the decline of the multiple character faction."
The old man concluded that this was a dangerous person to associate with. He was arrogant and young. Such people would usually die very fast in the Allheaven Battlefield. He asked for divine and devil experts right away. Did he think that this was still the Human Realm?
Did he think that the divines and devils were comparable with those garbage with only thirty-six acupoints? The warriors of the divines and devils would not open less than 108 acupoints. A lot of them would open at least 144 acupoints. Some would even open hundreds of acupoints. And they would not forge their bodies less than eighteen times.
This was not a joke. Humanity did not have any advantage over them. Apart from a small number of geniuses, most humans would end up dead even when they were facing divines or devils with lower cultivation levels.