Chapter 739: Assembly Of Ming (2)

After scanning the group around him, Niu Baidao said, "There sure are a lot of kids here. All of you are quite talented. You kids are worthy of being the elites of humanity. Looks like everyone is already aware of Shan Xiong's fight with Su Yu. The main combatants aren't even here yet, but all the spectators are already here.

"Everyone, I won't waste anyone's time. Great Ming had just suffered the Myriad Race Cult's attack not long ago. We are a bit wary at the moment due to our disastrous losses from the attack. Even now, there are a lot of hidden cultists in Great Ming. Thus, refrain from any form of combat inside Great Ming. We're quite anxious seeing so many Sunmoons around. We don't want to accidentally harm any of you.

"By the way, you better not be hiding your strength. If we notice anyone hiding their strength, we might suspect that you are harboring ill intent against us. In that case, we will have no choice but to offend you.

"Great Ming is too weak. We don't even have that many Sunmoons. The prefect and I are the only two late-stage Sunmoons of Great Ming. We keep feeling insecure. Don't do anything that might create misunderstandings. I don't care if you have personal grudges against each other. Take it outside Great Ming if you must.

"Also, Shan Xiong is not even here yet and no official challenge letter has been issued. Even after issuing such a challenge, Su Yu might not accept it since he has been in seclusion. Therefore, don't take this too seriously. Elder Su Yu has been very busy lately..."

Elder Su Yu. A lot of people blanked out upon hearing that.

The old man from the Knowledge Seeking Academy asked in astonishment, "Principal Niu, you mean..."

"Huh?"

"Him being an elder."

"Oh." Niu Baidao laughed, "Isn't this a special rule of Great Ming? He's only an honorary elder. His Source Soul Cultural Art, Source Soul Acupoint Opening Art, and Double Wu Acupoint Fusion Art are more than enough to gain him this status."

The others sank into silence. They didn't know what to think. Elder. Holy shit! In that case, Su Yu would be equal to those Sunmoons in terms of status. Nobody below the Sunmoon Realm could use their seniority against him.

Su Yu wouldn't even need to salute any of them upon meeting anymore. Instead, those students were the ones who were required to salute him upon meeting.

The old man from the Knowledge Seeking Realm had nothing to say. This had always been how things were in Great Ming. Of course, the Knowledge Seeking Realm wouldn't acknowledge this position. But it didn't matter as that position was valid within Great Ming.

More and more people were gathered around the city gate.

Niu Baidao said, "Everyone, let's enter the city. Those little bastards are looking at us like some exotic animals in the zoo. These little bastards of Great Ming are bumpkins, so you have to excuse their curiosity."

One of the visitors muttered, "Yeah, we know. Great Ming is the Capital of Gossip. Nobody here can control their curiosity."

Some of the guests started resisting the urge to laugh. This was indeed Great Ming's style. Danger? It didn't matter. They prioritize watching a good show unfold above everything else. After the show was over, they would disperse before gathering again to gossip about the drama.

If this was any other prefecture, the pedestrians would only run as far as they could upon seeing a dragon, a golden peng, and a flying sky tiger arrive. Meanwhile, it was the other way around in Great Ming. More and more people were gathering near the gate, as though they were afraid of missing out on the show.

Niu Baidao brought the group into the city as he said, "There are too many of you so you can all stay together. Come with me to the academy. A few manors near the Hundred Dao Pagoda have recently been emptied. You can stay there for now."

The students were curious about the Hundred Dao Pagoda, but their seniors were aware that this was a form of threat. The Hundred Dao Pagoda was a heaven-grade cultural weapon capable of unleashing attacks at the level of a Sunmoon.

The moment anyone tried anything, the pagoda would deal them a decisive blow. By itself, the Hundred Dao Pagoda had the strength of a first or second-stage Sunmoon. But in the hands of a peak Sunmoon, the combination would result in something much stronger.

For example, Zhu Tiandao would be able to exhibit the strength of a peak Sunmoon instead of an early ninth-stage Sunmoon with the Hundred Dao Pagoda.

Nobody refused the offer. They accepted the arrangement.

One of them said, "It has been a while since I last challenged the pagoda. I guess this is a chance to challenge it again..."

Niu Baidao said, "Sure. But do try not to milk it dry. The Hundred Dao Pagoda has experienced a lot of exhaustion recently. For the juniors, they will need to pay five hundred merit points per attempt. Those at the Mountainsea Realm and above will need to pay a thousand merit points. I have no choice since it's too expensive to maintain."

"..."

Shameless! Was Great Ming really so lacking in money? Wasn't the pagoda free to challenge in the past? Generally, an outsider would be granted a single free attempt. But now, they were charging for it.

Niu Baidao did not care about their thoughts. He had no choice as the exhaustion had been too high. Not only had they used the pagoda to kill Sunmoons recently, it had also been milked by Su Yu.

When the group walked through the city gate, they were greeted by the sight of a flourishing city. The streets were filled with people, leaving only a single path empty. To both sides of the path were numerous individuals staring at the visitors curiously.

"Look! That's the big bird from earlier!"

"Shut up! That's not a bird! That's a golden peng!"

"That's still a bird, right?"

"Shhh, watch your voice. Don't let the bird hear you. I heard that this is a fierce bird!"

"..."

"Where are the dragons?"

"There! That guy in green robes. That's a dragon!"

"Where is it? Where?"

"There's also a big tiger. Where's the tiger?"

"..."

The visitors were starting to feel uncomfortable. Jiang Tao coughed and asked, "Principal Niu, can we fly over?"

How far would they need to walk to reach the academy? Holy shit! There were way too many people here. And all these people were looking at them like exotic animals. Who could stand this?

The people of Great Ming were truly unique. And they were also incredibly brave. Were they not afraid of getting killed after offending an expert?

𝒻𝑟𝘦𝘦𝘸ℯ𝒷𝑛𝘰𝓋ℯ𝘭.𝘤𝘰𝘮

Niu Baidao asked, "Are you going to the academy directly? Are you not going to tour the city? The people of Great Ming are very hospitable!"

Niu Baidao laughed as he decided to give these people some pressure. He couldn't let them get too cocky and start creating trouble in Great Ming, right? These were the experts of various prefectures, so any incident involving them would be troublesome to handle.

The people of Great Zhou had been incomparably arrogant when they arrived. Since Su Yu was a part of Great Ming, they naturally had to suppress those Great Zhou fellows on Su Yu's behalf.

Seeing that he had achieved his goal, Niu Baidao said, "Fine. We can go straight to the academy. A feast has been prepared. Great Ming might be lacking in many things, but we are not lacking in food and drink. The prefect has been busy recently so he will greet all of you when he finds the time."

Nobody said anything about that. They picked up the pace without flying. Before long, they vanished from the vision of the crowd. The gathered crowd was rather regretful. These visitors had left before they could get a good look at them.

How stingy. Those visitors should have transformed into their original forms so that the crowd could satisfy their curiosity.

***

Not long after, a group of mounted individuals arrived at the city gate.

The horse in the lead was mounted by a man and a woman. The man was handsome and the woman was pretty. Thus, they attracted the attention of the pedestrians right after arriving.

The guards instantly recognized the emblem this group was wearing. These were the people from Great Shang.

After a look at the couple in the lead, he ascertained their identities. He politely asked, "Is this Teaching Assistant Shan of Great Zhou and the princess of Great Shang?"

"I am Shan Xiong."

The guard said, "Principal Niu said that you may head to the Talent Fostering Bureau to rest if you wish. You can also go to the Great Ming Cultural Research Academy if you wish. Elder Jiang of Great Zhou has just arrived not long ago."

"Senior Brother Jiang is here as well?"

"Yes."

Shan Xiong was about to continue ahead when the guard said, "Everyone, you will need to dismount. Apart from the locals, everyone needs to dismount in Tiandu."

Shang Tianjiao was dissatisfied, but Shan Xiong said nothing. He hopped off his mount and walked into the city with a smile.

After the group left, the guard looked at his colleagues and said, "He is quite graceful. It will be a pity if either he or Su Yu dies from the match."

"The people of Great Zhou are here while Su Yu is within our own territory. Neither of them will die so easily."

Someone laughed and said, "I have to admire this fellow for his success on Great Shang's princess. Just look at how obedient the princess was in front of him. She didn't want to dismount, but right after Shan Xiong dismounted, she did the same. Tsk tsk. At the very least, Shan Xiong is much better than Su Yu in this aspect..."

"That might not be the case. Don't you know that the young lady of Great Xia's Wu Family traveled all the way here to be with Su Yu?"

"True."

They started gossiping among themselves. The people of Great Ming loved gossiping about these scandals. As for the struggle between the single and multiple character factions, that was too dry of a topic. They would rather gossip about geniuses, beauties, young ladies, and princesses.

Since ancient times, beauties would always be paired with heroes. Most of the time, the female descendants of Invincibles would be paired with genius cultivators.

"By the way, our eighth princess is at the age of marriage as well. Has anyone caught her eye? I heard that the prefect intends to betroth her to Su Yu, but why is nothing happening?"

"Who knows? Maybe one of the Eight Eminents caught her eyes?"

"By the way, are there any gossip concerning Su Yu and the Xia Family princess?"

"I don't know."

"I heard that there is something between them as well. According to a traveling merchant from Great Xia, the rumors about them have spread throughout Great Xia. That young lady of Wu Family even beat her up before leaving. Tsk tsk. According to the rumors, they were pulling at each other's hair and scratching each other's faces during the fight. They fought for the right to follow Su Yu here. Ultimately, the young lady from the Wu Family won."

"Did that really happen?"

The guards grew even more excited. This was a major gossip. They had never heard it before.

Meanwhile, a few old men who were passing through laughed in amusement. What nonsense was that? The people of Great Ming were truly unique. Instead of talking about proper and important topics, they enjoyed talking about baseless gossip.

Not one of the guards seemed to notice the old men who were casually strolling through the gate.

One of them laughed and said, "It has been years since us old fogeys meet. Let's grab a drink together. We need to get Old Niu to join us again."

"Sure. Old Niu has a lot of nice wines."

"You need to be careful when drinking with Old Niu. He might introduce some young ladies to you. You will be embarrassed if you can't satisfy them."

"Hahaha. I have nothing to fear since I'm single. You need to be careful since you have a fierce wife at home. It has been hundreds of years but she's as fierce as ever."

***

At the same time, inside the prefect's residence.

Zhu Tiandao was rubbing his chin while looking in the direction of the city gate. Why were these old fogeys here? Did Old Niu call them over? These were all old fogeys on the verge of death. Were they all here for Su Yu's new cultivation method?

But they had yet to test the effects of that cultivation method, right? His Teacher Hu was still in seclusion.

"These people sure are free. How dare they claim that the people of Great Ming are always idle? If they have so much free time on their hands, they should go and catch some cultists or something. Why are they coming to Great Ming?"

Zhu Tiandao sighed. He could only hope that they kept to themselves in Great Ming. Please don't create trouble for him.

Su Yu had been very low profile as of late. Why did that damn Shan Xiong decided to fight Su Yu? No, this was Zhou Polong's fault. Why did that bastard turn Great Ming into the focus of so many eyes?

"Is he trying to distract some people from Great Xia? Or is he doing this to set us up? He won't come personally, right?"

Zhu Tiandao cursed. Damn it! If that bastard decided to come, he might not be a match. In that case, should he fight within layers of formation or should he call his father? But his father was not even in the Human Realm at the moment!

His head ached.