Chapter 2: Four Major Academy Types

Su Long had left in a carefree manner, leaving Su Yu behind with an empty feeling. His father’s departure had been too abrupt. He hadn’t even been given any time to mentally prepare himself. He was both worried about his father’s safety and his future life. He was already used to his father’s care and companionship. Thus, he found it hard to get used to living alone all of a sudden.

“Dad…you left…before doing the dishes!” Su Yu grumbled, trying to find some humor in the terrible situation he was in. Eventually, he sighed. There were things that he did not want to think about as the mere thought of those things would make him anxious. The Allheaven Battlefield was incomparably dangerous. He was worried that if he kept thinking about it, he wouldn’t be able to resist rushing out and dragging his father back.

“Cultural research academy…”

Not in the mood to do the dishes, Su Yu plopped himself down on the couch and blanked out. His father had been nagging about his entry to a cultural research academy before leaving. Previously, Su Yu had been planning to apply for the cultural research academies. But now…

“If you hadn’t left for the Allheaven Battlefield, I would definitely apply for a cultural research academy. But why did you insist on going to the Allheaven Battlefield? Do you expect me to not be worried about you? You might be stuck there for years. Am I supposed to keep worrying about you behind the front line? You’re not a child anymore. Shouldn’t you think about all that?” Su Yu grumbled as he rubbed his temple.

“You left me with no choice. You’re not home anyway. I’ll just apply for a war academy instead!” said Su Yu as he gnashed his teeth in anger.

A cultural research academy was an excellent place to be. It was the place where one would study the culture of the myriad races, analyze their cultivation methods, and learn about their civilizations. Every single cultural researcher was treated like a treasure, a treasure that would be allowed to stay behind instead of heading to the battlefield.

On the other hand, a war academy was a place meant to serve the battlefield. Previously, he had worked hard with the goal of entering a cultural research academy so that he could safely stay behind the front line and his father’s side. Alas, that old man of his had ended up being the one leaving for the Allheaven Battlefield instead. If he were to enter a cultural research academy, he would no longer have any opportunity to head to the front line. A war academy was different. It was rumored that their students had plenty of chances to enter the battlefield for their practical classes.

“War academy…Strength will be required to pass the exam.”

It was easy for Su Yu to think about it, but he still couldn’t help worrying. A war academy was not a place one could enter easily. Strictly speaking, it was even harder to join than a cultural research academy. At the very least, that was the case for him. A cultural research academy had relatively low requirements in terms of strength. That wasn’t the case for a war academy. After all, that was a place meant to supply the front line with capable warriors.

Source Opening, Great Strength, and Infinite Strength. Those were the early cultivation realms for the human race. Humans were born with bodies unsuitable for cultivation. Only after opening the nine acupoints would one be able to link up the meridians in one’s body with source qi and truly became a cultivator.

The nine acupoints of the Source Opening Realm consisted of mouth, nose, eyes, ears, Spirit Palace, and One Hundred Openings. The latter two were the acupoints located at one’s head and navel. Only by opening the nine acupoints would one be able to take in source qi, refine one’s body, strengthen one’s bones, and shed one’s mortal body to become a powerful warrior.

“I’ve just opened the three acupoints of my nose and mouth. There are still no signs of my ear acupoints opening. I’m not even a fourth-stage Source Opening cultivator yet. It won’t be easy for me to join a war academy,” Su Yu muttered to himself. A war academy existed to nurture expert combatants. It was an expensive task and they wouldn’t waste their resources on a weakling.

To have a higher chance at grabbing a spot in a war academy, it would be better for Su Yu to open his ear acupoints as well and reach the fifth-stage Source Opening Realm. Of course, if he could also open his eye acupoints on top of that to reach the sixth or even the seventh stage, he would be practically guaranteed a spot there.

As for the genius individuals who had managed to open their Spirit Palace and One Hundred Openings as well, they would have their pick at which war academy they wished to join. Those capable of opening all nine acupoints before twenty years old could join a war academy at any time. No academy would reject such an individual.

“I’m still at the third-stage Source Opening Realm…”

Su Yu sighed. Sure, the third-stage Source Opening Realm wasn’t too bad, but it wasn’t that good either. The Nanyuan Secondary School, which he was a part of, had nine final year classes with a total of 750 students. Among the students, there were about a hundred students at the third-stage Source Opening Realm and about a dozen students who were at a higher stage.

Based on the past acceptance rate of the various academies, less than twenty of these students would be accepted. In other words, those at the fourth-stage would have a high chance of being accepted while only one in a hundred would be accepted among those at the third-stage.

Furthermore, not all war academies were equal. An academy that would accept third-stage students would probably be a rather weak academy as well. Rather than entering a war academy of that caliber, Su Yu might as well enter a cultural research academy.

“Three more months…war academy…I’ll see what I can do,” said Su Yu with his teeth clenched. Since his father was unreliable, he would have to be the reliable one. Just what was his father thinking when he decided to head to the Allheaven Battlefield at that age?

“Huu…”

Late at night, Su Yu was once again roused from his sleep drenched in sweat.

“It’s that damn dream again! Dad…” Su Yu called out by habit. In the past, his dad would quickly rush over whenever he woke up from a nightmare. But today, there was no movement outside his room after his shout. Su Yu blanked out slightly before recalling that his father had left earlier that afternoon.

“Sigh,” Su Yu turned on the light and checked his communicator. It was around three in the morning. It would still take some time before the sun would rise.

“It has been more than ten years!”

Nobody would be able to endure over ten years of continuous suffering from nightmares. It was better nowadays as Su Yu was already used to it. Back then, he had been so afraid that he refrained from sleeping and nearly killed himself from exhaustion.

“Just why is this happening?”

Leaning against the bedhead, Su Yu wondered. In fact, he had been asking the same question for years. He had told his father about the issue, but his father was helpless. When he went to the hospital, the doctor told him that something once frightened him so much that it left a psychological trauma on him. However, Su Yu couldn’t remember anything like that happening before.

“It’s the same every single time. At the end of the dream, I’ll be pursued by some monsters…” Su Yu was vexed. He had been tortured by the same nightmare every single day. Or to be precise, he had been pursued by others in his dream every single day. However, that was where the similarities ended as the pursuers would always be different each time. Instead of being humans, his pursuers consisted of all sorts of monsters. Their appearances were indistinct, but from their shapes, it was clear that these were all different lifeforms.

Just what had he done to deserve such a torture? Su Yu reckoned that he was probably the only person to have ever been pursued for more than ten years in his dreams. Back then, his father had suspected that a spell of the nightmare race was the culprit. However, this was the human realm. If it was really someone from the nightmare race, that person would have been killed by human experts long ago.

After all, this was an issue that had persisted for more than ten years. If a nightmare race expert had actually gone through the trouble of sneaking into the human realm, that expert would probably be setting their sights on a human expert. Only the most idiotic person would waste so much effort over such a long period of time on an ordinary human.

“Is there no end to this? This is so annoying!” Su Yu complained. He wondered if this would ever end. It was a good thing he was already used to the nightmares. Otherwise, he wouldn’t even be able to properly live his life.

“Dad said that by opening the nine acupoints and entering the Great Strength Realm, my body will be nurtured by source qi and I’ll be immune to all sickness and evil spirits. I should be fine then, right?”

Su Yu could only hope that the nightmares would stop after entering the Great Strength Realm. With so many thoughts in his mind, time passed quickly. Before he knew it, sunlight was shining through his window, signifying the arrival of dawn. Su Long might have left, but life went on as usual for Su Yu. It was not a public holiday today, so he still needed to attend school.

After brushing his teeth and eating a simple breakfast, Su Yu grabbed his school bag and left his house. Downstairs, a young man with a crew cut hair was waiting. When the young man saw Su Yu, he hurriedly shouted, “Yu, I heard from my father that Uncle Su—”

“Um,” Su Yu answered before the youngster could finish his words.

The crew-cut youth was getting anxious. “What was Uncle Su thinking? He’s a grown ass man! Going to the Allheaven Battlefield at his age is basically sui—”

The crew-cut youth suddenly stopped. He wanted to say that Su Long was on a suicide mission, but those weren’t something he could say. He might believe it, but he definitely shouldn’t be saying that in front of Su Yu.

“It’s his choice. I can’t stop him.” Su Yu forced himself to smile. “In any case, there are millions of soldiers at the Allheaven Battlefield with numerous human experts holding the fort there. He won’t die so easily.”

“I know. But Uncle Su is only a…Great Strength cultivator.” The crew cut youth appeared even more anxious than Su Yu. “Great Strength cultivators might be incredible for people like us, but they are the weakest of the weak at the Allheaven Battlefield. Even a fresh recruit of the myriad races at the Allheaven Battlefield would already be at the Great Strength Realm.”

“I know.”

“Yu! Why are you not worried at all?” The crew-cut youth was panicking on behalf of Su Yu. If he was placed in Su Yu’s shoes, he would be crying already by now.

“Would that help?” Su Yu felt helpless. There was no changing the fact that his father had left. Worrying wouldn’t change anything. That was definitely not something he should be doing now. This friend of his was still as impatient as ever.

“Cut the crap. Let’s get to school first.”

“School?” The crew-cut youth was astonished. “You’re still going to school?”

Su Yu glared at the crew cut youth silently, to the point the crew cut youth was feeling uncomfortable.

“What kind of bullshit question is that? If I’m not going to school, am I supposed to stay at home and wipe my tears every single day while waiting for bad news to come from the front line?” Su Yu rolled his eyes. Just what was this fellow saying?

“Come on. Let’s go to school. The school will send a list of applicants to the various academies in a few days. I’ll need to sign up for that.”

“I thought you’re signed up already?” Chen Hao was curious. “Have you forgotten? We signed up together last week.”

“I’m aware of that. I signed up for the cultural research academies previously. This time, I’m signing up for the war academies.”

Chen Hao was stunned. War academy?

“You—“

“Let’s go!” Su Yu cut Chen Hao off before he had the chance to say more. The decision had been made yesterday. The first step was to sign up for the war academies. As for actually passing the entrance examination, that would be an entirely different matter.

…

Examination Registration Center, Nanyuan Secondary School.

The teacher in charge of registration checked her records before asking curiously, “Su Yu, you’re already signed up for the cultural research academies, right? Having mastered the languages of eighteen different races, you’re one of the best students in Nanyuan. You can even get into the Great Xia Cultural Research Academy easily. Why are you signing up for the war academies?”

Generally speaking, students signing up for both types of academies were those without the confidence to enter either. Thus, they were forced to diversify their options. Su Yu was intelligent and hardworking. Over the past few years, he had learned the languages of eighteen different races. Even the most popular cultural research academy in Great Xia, the Great Xia Cultural Research Academy, would open its doors wide for someone like him. Su Long wouldn’t have been so confident that he asked for his son’s acceptance letter in advance otherwise.

Su Yu did not give much explanation for his choice. He smiled and said, “Teacher, it is always a good idea to not put all my eggs in one basket. Everyone is allowed to sign up for two types of academies, right? It won’t hurt to be safe.”

“That’s true. But that’s really not needed for you. All you need to do is perform well during your exam,” said the teacher with a wide smile. “The school had long submitted the names of top students like you. You will still need to take the entrance exam, but in truth, people like you already have your names recorded in the various high academies of Great Xia. Even if you somehow failed your first exam, they will still give you a second chance.”

Beside Su Yu, Chen Hao couldn’t help but to enviously ask, “Teacher, am I included in that name list as well?”

The teacher glanced at him and smiled, “Yes. Your name has been recorded by the internal affairs academies.”

Chen Hao’s face fell. Internal affairs academy! The four major types of academies were war, cultural research, scientific research, and internal affairs. The internal affairs academies focused on various life skills such as automobile repair, cooking, driving, administration, entertainment, and so on.

Meanwhile, the war academies focused on training warriors, the cultural research academies focused on studying the myriad races, and the scientific research academies focused on the research of weapons, pills, and so on. These three were decent types of academies to enroll in. The internal affairs academies were the exception among the four. For youngsters like them, that was the type of academy that they would only enter as a last resort.

The teacher ignored Chen Hao. After helping Su Yu with the registration, she smiled and said, “Remember to focus on cultural research. Maybe try to learn a language or two in addition to what you already know before the entrance exam. That will be helpful for you in the future. As for cultivation, there is no rush. For cultural research academies, you’re only required to reach the Great Strength Realm. At that point, you’ll be strong enough to be impervious to all illness.”

𝙧𝙚𝙚𝔀𝒆𝓫𝓷𝙤𝓿𝒆𝙡.𝒄𝙤𝓶

Strength was not the priority of cultural research academies. The teacher was worried that Su Yu would misplace his focus, hence her advice. Su Yu nodded with a smile. After all, the teacher meant well. Nevertheless, he would be placing more effort on cultivation before the entrance examination.