Su Yu quickly opened the book The Methods for Accelerating in the Kaiyuan Realm, only to be met with a completely discouraging message on the title page, written in blood-red characters: "The so-called acceleration methods, regardless of life or death, can indeed accelerate, but most practitioners die during the attempt!"
Su Yu smiled bitterly. Seeing that sentence, he immediately thought it was unreliable. No wonder the teachers always said not to rush in the Kaiyuan Realm and to avoid going astray.
"Acceleration Method One: Bathe in the blood of powerful divine demons. Divine demons are born with nine apertures, full of vital energy, and their blood contains a large amount of celestial yuan energy..." "Consequence: Explosion of the body!" "Case Study: In the ninth year of Anping, the son of the governor of Daming Prefecture bathed in the blood of a divine demon, intending to quickly open his nine apertures. That same day, he instantly opened the nine apertures and exploded to death, at the age of nine, reaching the Qiankun Realm!"
Su Yu gritted his teeth. There was even a case study—looks like this book wasn't just nonsense after all. The son of the governor, in the ninth year of Anping, was the son of the King of Daming, who founded Daming Prefecture. If he died from this, it was indeed dangerous!
Besides, how could blood from divine demons be easily obtained? On the battlefield of the heavens, the divine and demon races were among the most powerful factions. It was said that even the weakest members of these races were at the Wan Stone Realm.
If the King of Daming's son could get his hands on this, it must have been from the King of Daming killing a divine demon and taking the blood. This method, even if it worked, had nothing to do with Su Yu.
"My father is not the King of Daming..."
Su Yu muttered under his breath. If his father were the King of Daming, he wouldn't need to cultivate. The King of Daming was an invincible powerhouse who founded Daming Prefecture, one of the pillars of humanity. How strong he was, Su Yu couldn't say for sure, but he was certainly strong enough that Su Yu wouldn't need to worry about it.
After dismissing the first method, Su Yu continued flipping through the book, frowning more and more.
"Acceleration Method Two: Eat the flesh of demons. Some demon flesh can assist in opening the apertures." "Consequence: Explosion of the body!" "Case Study: In the early years of Anping, when humanity was in decline, strong practitioners killed demons and brought their bodies back. Many humans ate the demon flesh, resulting in some exploding to death, while a few quickly opened their nine apertures." "Note: The demon flesh beneficial to opening the apertures includes that of the Golden Roc, the Wild Bull, and the Heavenly Tiger..."
Forget it! Su Yu immediately discarded this method. Don't joke, the demons listed here were incredibly powerful—races among the Ten Thousand Races. Although not as powerful as the divine demons, they were far beyond his reach.
"Acceleration Method Three: The Celestial Yuan Fruit, a treasure of heaven and earth." "The Celestial Yuan Fruit gathers celestial yuan energy, the primordial energy of the ten thousand worlds, and greatly aids in opening the nine apertures." "Location: Found in the Divine Realm, Demon Realm, and Demon Race realms, but extremely rare." "Case Study: In the twenty-fifth year of Anping, the son of the Great Zhou King consumed the Celestial Yuan Fruit and opened the nine apertures in three days with no side effects."
Su Yu gritted his teeth again. "The son of the Great Zhou King... The Great Zhou King has only one son. Is this referring to the current Great Zhou Prefecture Lord, Zhou Potian?"
That's it, forget it. He had never heard of the Celestial Yuan Fruit before. It was clearly an extremely rare and powerful treasure, and Zhou Potian, who was still alive and had become the Lord of the Great Zhou Prefecture, was undoubtedly a powerful figure.
Even if the Celestial Yuan Fruit existed for humans, it wouldn't be available to Su Yu. This was probably a top-tier strategic resource.
"Method Four..." Su Yu continued flipping through, growing more disheartened as he read.
As expected, cultivation in the Kaiyuan Realm had no shortcuts. No wonder the teachers never mentioned it.
These acceleration methods either required the powerful blood of divine demons, or top-tier heavenly materials and treasures, most of which came with risks.
"Method Nine: Areas rich in vital energy. Vital energy in the worlds is unevenly distributed, with barren areas and abundant areas. The Kaiyuan Realm is passively refined, and the speed of opening the apertures depends on the abundance of vital energy..." "Note: Vital Energy Sanctuaries: The Battlefield of the Heavens, Academy Secret Realms, Human Realm Sanctuaries..."
Upon seeing this method, Su Yu was momentarily stunned.
Abundant vital energy!
In the Kaiyuan Realm, one couldn't directly perceive the existence of vital energy, but he knew that South Yuan City wasn't a place rich in vital energy.
"I've heard of this method. The larger the city, the more like a sanctuary it is, and the faster one can cultivate. This must have to do with the abundance of vital energy."
The teachers in South Yuan wouldn't mention this, because it wouldn't help to bring it up. Moving wasn't easy in these times.
"So, if I could go to a large city or some secret sanctuaries, I could accelerate safely, though the speed wouldn't be as fast as the methods listed before."
Abundant vital energy would only slightly speed up cultivation, not instantly open the apertures like the other methods.
Still, Su Yu felt a bit hopeful.
But sadly, none of the sanctuaries listed were places he could reach.
The Battlefield of the Heavens was out of the question. He had heard of secret realms in higher academies, but he didn't know the specifics. As for Human Realm Sanctuaries, they were even further out of his reach.
"Method Ten: Vital Energy Liquid." "Vital Energy Liquid is formed either naturally or artificially. Some areas with abundant vital energy in the worlds can naturally produce it, though it is extremely rare." "Artificially created by a Tengkong Realm expert who gathers vital energy to condense it into liquid."
"The effect is similar to being in an area rich in vital energy."
"..."
Naturally occurring? Don't even think about it. Artificially created... Tengkong Realm?!
Su Yu smiled bitterly again. What was the Tengkong Realm?
The Qiankun and Wan Stone Realms only strengthen the body, but Tengkong was a higher realm. At that point, humans could fly through the sky and conquer the heavens.
Tengkong was a major transformation. Were there any Tengkong experts in South Yuan City?
Maybe, like the City Lord of South Yuan.
But could Su Yu even reach such a level?
In the middle-level academy in South Yuan, the strongest was the prefecture leader, and they had only just entered the Wan Stone Realm.
If a Wan Stone Realm expert could condense it, Su Yu might have had a chance to ask the prefecture leader for a few drops of vital energy liquid, but the key was, the prefecture leader couldn't do that.
"None of these methods work!"
Su Yu complained, realizing why these books had been left in the corner.
For people like him, these methods were all impractical.
The simplest options might involve going to a place rich in vital energy or obtaining vital energy liquid, but even the lowest grade liquid required a Tengkong expert, and that was still far beyond his reach.
His father had been in the Qiankun Seventh Stage 18 years ago. Over the years, due to the lack of vital energy in South Yuan, and the loss of military resources, he had only recently reached Qiankun Ninth Stage.
Even so, in South Yuan City, he was still a figure of some note. Of course, his father didn't think of it this way. Before returning to the military, he had worked as a transportation supervisor with a leisurely job.
If it weren't for taking care of Su Yu, with his father's Qiankun Ninth Stage, he could have easily secured a good position in South Yuan City.
"None of this will work!"
Su Yu flipped through the books again and quickly put them back.
After a moment's thought, he walked up to Liu Yue, offering a slight apologetic smile. "Liu Yue, sorry to bother you."
Liu Yue put down her book, looking at Su Yu and smiling softly. "What is it?"
"I haven't paid much attention to cultivation over the years, but do you know about Vital Energy Liquid?"
"Do you want to buy Vital Energy Liquid?"
Liu Yue immediately understood. Su Yu had been reading the books she had recommended, so she had seen them too.
"Vital Energy Liquid... It's a strategic resource. South Yuan City doesn't have any buying channels."
"But the Great Xia Prefecture has it, though you need to register to purchase it."
"There are many types of Vital Energy Liquid, depending on the cultivation level of the expert who condenses it. For Kaiyuan, the liquid condensed by a Tengkong Realm expert is the most suitable because it's cheaper. Its vital energy isn't as concentrated, which is actually beneficial for opening the apertures. If it's too concentrated, it could harm the body."
"However... it's still expensive!"
"Even a Tengkong Realm expert can only condense one drop every three days. Tengkong experts need to cultivate too, and they need vital energy, so unless they're really short on money, it's rare that anyone would be willing to condense it..."
Liu Yue looked at Su Yu, "Su Yu, you really don't need to buy it. It's too wasteful. Plus, Vital Energy Liquid just increases the concentration of vital energy, it doesn't necessarily open your apertures."
"I know. Thanks. How much does one drop of Tengkong Realm Vital Energy Liquid cost?"
Su Yu of course knew it wasn't cheap, but still asked. His father had left him quite a bit of money when he went to the battlefield.
Or rather, all the family savings were in Su Yu's hands, since his father was worried he might not return.
"100,000 Anping Coins!"
"..."
Su Yu's heart skipped a beat. 100,000 for a single drop!
His father, at Qiankun Ninth Stage, worked a public job in the transportation supervision department, earning 5,000 Anping Coins a month, which wasn't too low.
After daily expenses for both of them, and some purchases for his father's cultivation, they might save two or three thousand per year.
In total, over the years, Su Long had saved around 300,000.
So... their entire savings could only buy three drops of Vital Energy Liquid?
No wonder Liu Yue said it was a waste!
This wasn't wasteful; it was burning money!
Seeing Su Yu's expression, Liu Yue couldn't help but laugh. "I told you it was expensive! It's really such a waste! Honestly, I used one drop before. It increased the concentration of vital energy for three days, but the effect was pretty average."
"After I used it once, I didn't touch it again. It was too extravagant."
"If it really worked wonders, some of the people at the academy who have 100,000 to spare would've used it by now. But have you seen anyone using it?"
"Three days of extra vital energy isn't enough to open your apertures. You'd have to keep buying it. Six days would be 200,000, nine days 300,000... No one can afford that."
Su Yu smiled bitterly. "I get it. It's way too expensive! If it guaranteed opening the apertures, then it would be worth it. But since it doesn't, it's basically money down the drain. No wonder the teachers always say there's no shortcut in the Kaiyuan Realm."
"Exactly," Liu Yue smiled. "You don't need to worry about this. Why were you even thinking of buying Vital Energy Liquid?"
"I've applied to the War Academy. Just preparing in advance," Su Yu explained briefly, then smiled and excused himself from the conversation.
This was a library, not a place for chatting.
Liu Yue raised an eyebrow as she watched Su Yu leave, feeling a bit curious.
"He's applying to the War Academy? Why?"
She shook her head, not thinking too much about it. Su Yu's application wouldn't matter. After all, they'd probably all end up at the Great Xia Civilization Academy. Hopefully, he wouldn't do anything rash.