Liu Wenyan lifted his head and looked at Su Yu. "Remember, this is war! It involves the survival of tens of billions of people in the human race, so we must choose. You may say that the 1,000 soldiers are innocent? Yes, they are innocent. They're our comrades at war, our compatriots, but… this is what war is like!
"Just like today, we know that the All-Races Sect will very likely attack Nanyuan Academy, but we still have to make a choice…
"There was chaos outside the city the past two days, with numerous villages being attacked. Many people died, hundreds of them!
"We are weary from coping with it. The manpower of the city guards is scattered and it won't do if this carries out. Only by concentrating them and eliminating them will Nanyuan stabilize completely. So… This time, we also have to make a choice.
"Do we let the students take some risk or continue waiting for them to slaughter even more people?
"In my eyes, it's only natural that the students are more important, but the people outside the city are lives too. Su Yu, you students are all potential warriors, so… we decided to let you all take more risks. This will also be the path for you all in the future."
Su Yu nodded slightly and murmured, "Teacher, I understand. It's just that I was a little worried earlier. It is just as you said, we're all warriors. Even though we are weak, from the day we entered the academy, we were already warriors. You and the academy head made the right choice."
"It's good that you can understand. If you can't, then there's no need to understand it either," Liu Wenyan said softly. "If there's a day when you advance to a higher level, and if you feel that by sacrificing a single Nanyuan City, you can eliminate ten or a hundred times the enemy, your teacher hopes that you will choose to do so.
"Even if you may carry the burden of infamy, don't hesitate."
Su Yu didn't make a sound and continued eating. It was only when he was done that he lifted his head and looked at Liu Wenyan. He then said, "Teacher, after all that is said and done, it is still because we are not strong enough. If we were formidable and could crush the enemies, wouldn't all this choice no longer exist?"
Liu Wenyan suddenly smiled with gratification.
"Well said. It is precisely that, but we… are still not strong enough."
"We will be, I think we definitely will be. Because the human race is getting better, and we have an increasing number of experts."
Liu Wenyan nodded slightly too. That was indeed so.
The two didn't speak much more. After their meal, they headed toward the academy.
…
"A`Yu!"
Chen Hao hadn't seen Su Yu for two days. Though he knew that Su Yu was tagging along with Liu Wenyan for his studies, he still spoke happily at this moment, "I thought you had been kidnapped by Teacher Liu. He finally let you come back. During these two days, I can feel that I'm close to the fourth level of Origin Opening…"
"Mn."
Su Yu nodded slightly. At this moment, outside the classroom, a few teachers passed by seemingly unintentionally, but in reality, Su Yu knew that they were patrolling.
Once the battle began, these teachers would evacuate the students immediately.
"Hao`zi, tag along with me today. You're not allowed to run around."
"What for?" Chen Hao was confused but quickly nodded. "Alright, then what if I have to use the toilet?"
"…"
Su Yu couldn't be bothered with him. After some thought, he spoke again, "Go to the training building later and retrieve two blades. We'll practice actual combat today."
"Eh, A`Yu, aren't you afraid of getting beaten up?"
Chen Hao was baffled. "It's not like you can win against me; you got beaten up every time."
"I think I can beat you up now!" Su Yu rolled his eyes at him. "Anyway, stop spouting nonsense, just do as you're told!"
"Alright, I'll listen to you!"
Chen Hao grinned with his teeth bared. He was too lazy to use his brain, so he always followed Su Yu, the one with the ideas.
Su Yu still had a drop of blood essence in his hands. After contemplating, he got up quickly and headed to the resources department with Chen Hao.
"Teacher, I want to exchange two drops of ironwing bird's blood essence."
"Su Yu, you are exchanging for this again?" Even the teacher in the resources department felt the heartache on behalf of Su Yu. "Did the previous research fail?"
"Mn."
"Then…"
"Teacher, I feel like I have a lead already. I'll exchange for two more drops."
"Then… Alright, then."
The administrator teacher was exasperated. (These babies have no appreciation of the gravity of things. What a waste!)
(Wait till you get to a high-grade academy in the future, you will regret it.)
They let Su Yu exchange two more drops of blood essence. At this moment, there were three drops of blood essence in Su Yu's hands but only 7 merit points remained.
…
After wandering around the academy for a while, Su Yu had a blade in his hands while Chen Hao held another.
Chen Hao felt that Su Yu was acting strange today. He had retrieved the blade, but they didn't cultivate or practice martial skills. He didn't even know what kind of madness this fellow was up to.
It was already noon now.
Su Yu held onto the three drops of blood essence in his hands and pondered the question: three drops of blood essence could continuously erupt for about 15 minutes. However, his arms swelled after 5 minutes of use previously. If he sustained it for 15 minutes, then he might cripple his hands.
"15 minutes. It shouldn't take that long. Even if the people from the All-Races Sect attack, they won't dare to engage in a fierce battle for that long here. They can forget about leaving if they take too long.
"But… no one can find out about my usage of blood essence eruption. Otherwise, it'll be trouble. Unless it is absolutely essential, I won't use the blood essence. Also, even if I use it, the combat strength of a Thousand Pound Realm won't change anything either."
The academy wasn't lacking teachers at the Thousand Pound Realm. The crucial point was still dependent on the experts at the Ten-Thousand Stone Realm and the Soaring Realm.
Su Yu checked his surroundings, and his eyes flickered slightly. There were an increased number of strangers in the academy. Although they weren't in armor, Su Yu still guessed that those were the people from city guards and Windarrest Hall.
It seemed like Nanyuan had done the preparations on their end. The opponent would either attack Nanyuan Academy or the city lord's residence.