The Perception Jade had been temporarily given to Hu Qi.

At this point, there is only one thing left for Su Yu to do. He needed an alternative identity. It was impossible for a genius to appear out of thin air. Thus, he had to borrow a real identity. He didn't even need the identity of a genius. He only needed someone with a little bit of strength.

Unless one wanted to be a cultist, a proper identity was important if one wanted to openly travel the Human Realm.

***

Heart Paradise Island.

Once again, Su Yu called the old turtle out of the lake. He asked curiously, "Senior Turtle, a looping turtle appeared in the lake around the ring I fought Shan Xiong. Is that a descendant of you?"

A Cloudbreach looping turtle had appeared during the match. The turtle had fled in fear when the fight grew intense.

The old turtle smiled and said, "No. That's my wife."

"..."

Holy shit!

Even turtles had wives?

Su Yu was left speechless for a long while. Finally, he said, "Senior, it's actually pretty good to be a single turtle. I believe you would have reached the Sunmoon Realm long ago if you had been single."

"..."

It was the old turtle's turn to be left speechless. Was this kid telling him to stop looking for female turtles? Did the kid find out about his many wives?

"I disagree, young friend. When you cultivate the dao, you cultivate your dao heart as well. When you cultivate your heart, you cultivate the union of yin and yang and the joy of a consenting couple. Without a little bit of joy in life, what is the point of cultivation?"

Su Yu remained silent for a bit. Instead of saying anything, he nodded.

Perhaps. But everyone had different goals. There was no need to force one's way upon others. Perhaps the looping turtles walked a different path than the humans. Maybe that was a race that could continue cultivating even with wives.

Yeah. Female humans and female looping turtles were probably different. Perhaps female looping turtles weren't obstacles in the path of cultivation.

At this point, they reached the Heart Paradise Island.

Niu Baidao had just returned not long ago. He walked to his tea pavilion and smiled, "Kid, why are you here so soon after chasing me away?"

"You jest, Principal."

Su Yu leaped onto the island and cupped his hands at the old turtle before looking at Niu Baidao again. He smiled, "Principal, I didn't chase you away. You left voluntarily."

Niu Baidao laughed in amusement and said, "Come on here and have some food. Kid, you have been very busy recently. You need to balance work and rest. That is the proper way to cultivate the dao."

Su Yu leaped from the edge of the island to the pavilion. There, Niu Baidao poured him a cup of tea and gazed into the distance. "If you have some time, look around you. Look at the calm lake."

Su Yu smiled, "With so many undercurrents, how is it calm? Principal, why lie to yourself?"

Were things calm? That might not be the case. Things only appeared calm, but dangers were everywhere.

Niu Baidao blanked out for a long while before finally nodding, "You're right. Great Zhou, Great Xia, and Great Ming are filled with undercurrents. Chaos is also slowly spreading to the three seas and the Allheaven Battlefield."

He sighed, "But we still have some time. The divines and devils might not have finished their preparations. Their Pseudo Emperors are still in seclusion. Without their Pseudo Emperors, they wouldn't dare to rashly start a war with the human race. After all, there is a possibility of them failing to eliminate humanity, allowing humanity to spread and hide in the various minor realms. At that time, the roles of attacker and defender might even switch. The divines and devils will suffer a lot of loss from that.."

For now, humanity was unwilling to give up on the Human Realm. If humanity was willing to actually give up on the Human Realm, they would be able to deal enough damage to the divines and devils to make them regret the war even if they couldn't outright defeat the two races.

After all, the human Invincibles would be able to maintain their full strength in any realm, including the random minor realms they had conquered. Unless the divines and devils destroy those small realms entirely, they would not be able to fight the human Invincibles in the minor realms with their full strength.

Of course, that wasn't something humanity was willing to do. Everyone might be confident that the Human Realm couldn't be destroyed so easily, but what if the divines and devils really found a way to do it? At that time, all the human Invincibles who had affirmed in the Human Realm would suffer serious injuries or even drop to a lower realm.

At that point, humanity would be in an even bigger trouble.

Su Yu nodded, "Therefore, we're still in the preparation phase. The divines and devils won't rashly start a war unless they are sure of victory. Am I right, Principal."

"Yes." Niu Baidao nodded, "But there is still a different trouble waiting at the side. The immortals. They have remained neutral all along, but the moment they are sure that Zhou Polong is affirming his dao as a multiple character cultural researcher, they might change their attitude and side with the divines and devils."

Su Yu sank into silence.

Niu Baidao said, "Of course, we've all known that the immortals are also harboring ill designs toward us. But we're still afraid of them fully siding with the divines and devils."

"Did I make a mistake when I said those words?" Su Yu indifferently said, "Even without me, Shan Xiong has been roaming around challenging numerous experts with his special character. People will eventually start suspecting him. I am merely the one who has made that clear for everyone else. If someone must be blamed, that person is Zhou Polong. He is the one who had allowed his student to act so arrogantly."

Su Yu did not think that he was wrong. He had never felt that way. Shan Xiong had challenged him. Zhou Polong had tried to get him in trouble by overpraising him. Why couldn't he hit back when he was hit?

As for the trouble he had caused humanity because of this, that wasn't his fault. Strictly speaking, he had been a victim all along. He was not the one that should be taking the blame.

It didn't matter if the Invincibles decided to blame him for that. He did not care one bit about them. In fact, one of the reasons for his coming departure was to lay low and fade from the public eye. If Invincibles really started making things difficult for him...he could simply run to the Allheaven Battlefield.

Su Yu moved on from the topic and said, "Principal, for my coming travel, I need a proper identity that can withstand the investigation of even an Invincible."

𝚏𝕣𝕖𝚎𝚠𝚎𝚋𝚗𝐨𝐯𝕖𝕝.𝕔𝐨𝕞

Niu Baidao laughed, "That won't be hard. I have lived for hundreds of years. I can handle that easily."

For an old fossil like him, this was truly a simple task.

He said, "I can provide you an identity with two layers. On the surface, you will be a member of a large family. Secretly, you will be a student of mine. What do you think about this?"

"..."

Su Yu merely stared at Niu Baidao silently. Niu Baidao nonchalantly said, "Why? Is that not acceptable? Don't worry. After living for so many years, I do have a lot of students. I only taught some of them a few days before throwing them aside. Some were sent away to temper themselves right after they were accepted as my students. Some were promising individuals who had received this status to sow a positive karma between us but were only students in name.

"If you don't mind an identity like this, I have plenty to spare. All these people are still alive. But some have ruined their cultivation and are living in seclusion. Some are cultivating in secret grottos. These cultivation sessions will last decades. Since these people are still alive, not even Invincibles will find anything wrong with their identities. What kind of identity do you need?"

Su Yu was speechless for a long while. Finally, he said, "A weaponsmith."

Niu Baidao raised his brow, "You're going to pretend to be a weaponsmith?"

Wasn't the kid only going to his ruin before returning? Why did he need such an identity for that?

"Yes. A weaponsmith." Su Yu said, "Make sure it's not someone too old. But he also needs to be decently strong. A ninth-stage Skysoar will be the best. His physical cultivation also needs to be decent. It would be even better if it's someone with heaven-grade arts and eighteen body forgings."

Su Yu did not worry about the art the owner of the identity knew. He was confident he could use any art he wanted, as long as he had the manual for the art. He could keep his other acupoints sealed. Unless he revealed them himself, nobody would be able to detect them.

"This..."

Niu Baidao was still feeling very confident a moment ago, but that string of requirements gave him a headache.

Su Yu's requirements were quite strict.

"I do have a female student—"

"Cough."

Su Yu nearly choked to death. Could this principal be more reliable? A woman? Was the principal telling him to crossdress? But he didn't have that kind of fetish!

Niu Baidao laughed awkwardly and said, "Let me finish. This student of mine has a younger brother. This younger brother fits your requirements. He's only around thirty-five, so he can also be considered a genius."

Yes. Someone capable of fulfilling those requirements at thirty-five was indeed a genius.

"But there is one issue. This kid...had courted some troubles when he was younger. Thus, he has been remaining low profile all these years to hide from his past troubles..."

"What kind of troubles?"

Niu Baidao coughed awkwardly and said, "It's not that bad. He...is quite a womanizer. A few years ago, he slept with the granddaughter of a ninth-stage Sunmoon. Cough, cough, but that's normal between consenting adults, right? We don't see any issue with that. But...uhm...that woman refused to marry anyone but him after that. But he did not wish to be tied down by marriage. So he has been in hiding since then...Her grandpa has been looking for him all these years. If you use his identity, this issue might affect you..."

Su Yu shook his head, "Forget it. I don't want to challenge a ninth-stage Sunmoon for no reason."

"But he is the only person who can fit all your requirements. He is right here in Tiandu so we can even get him to personally tell you about himself. That way, you will be able to disguise yourself better. Since he will be remaining in hiding, he won't mind even if you use his identity for eight or ten years."

Seeing that Su Yu was frowning, Niu Baidao coughed and said, "The grandpa of that woman has entered seclusion. Who knows when he'll leave?"

"After that flag, he will definitely leave seclusion when I'm using that identity."

Su Yu was quite speechless. Was the principal not aware that some words could affect reality itself?

"Also, what am I supposed to do if that woman comes after me? Kill her? What can I do?"

This was a suitable identity for him, but it was also a troublesome identity. Both the woman and the old man would be tricky to deal with. Su Yu had a motto that in life, there were three types of people that one should never provoke: Women, children, and the elderly. And this identity had provoked two of the three. How troublesome.

"That woman won't be able to find you."

Niu Baidao smiled, "At the very least, that won't happen anytime soon. She has recently been stationed at the Allheaven Battlefield for two years. You won't take that long, right?"

Su Yu shook his head. That was unlikely. He would probably change into a different identity after reaching the Allheaven Battlefield. He could allow a few people to know about his cover identity in the Human Realm, but that wasn't the case for his cover in the Allheaven Battlefield. Apart from himself, nobody could know that identity.

"I still don't think this is the right choice. What if that grandpa tries to kill me or force me to marry his granddaughter? Won't that be troublesome?"

"It won't get that far." Niu Baidao laughed it off, "His grandpa will probably try to create some trouble for you, but does he want to marry his granddaughter to an unreliable playboy? If you really end up meeting him, just speak nicely. At worst, just kowtow and apologize. He will probably spare you. If you have no choice, you can even say that you need your teacher's approval for marriage and tell him to come talk to me. It will be fine.

"Don't worry about it. I won't give you the identity of someone that will die. That old fellow is also aware that this kid is related to me. Otherwise, he would have captured the kid long ago. It's not like he doesn't know that this kid is hiding in Tiandu."

Su Yu thought about it and asked, "Which Sunmoon is that?"

"Talent Fostering Bureau's director of Great Tang. He is even older than Old Hou. He's around the same age as me. We came from the same era. Wait, I think that's wrong. He's the previous director. He has retired some time ago. Nowadays, he is one of the guardians of Great Tang. As long as you avoid Great Tang, he will probably ignore you."

Great Tang. A ninth-stage Sunmoon.

Su Yu's voice was full of doubt as he asked, "Are you sure? Will he slap me to death the moment we meet without giving me the chance to talk? That would be such a miserable death."

"That absolutely won't happen." Niu Baidao curled his lips and said, "This is a matter of consenting adults. His granddaughter herself was pretty happy when they were doing the deed. She even kicked up a fuss back then, threatening that she would kill herself if her grandpa dared to kill that kid. Otherwise, do you think it's so easy for someone to escape after sleeping with the granddaughter of a ninth-stage Sunmoon?"

"Garbage of society."

Su Yu scolded. After sleeping with the woman, that fellow had left without taking any responsibility. Did he think that her status as the granddaughter of a ninth-stage Sunmoon was unworthy of him?

Or did he think that her cultivation was unworthy of him? Or perhaps it was as simple as the lack of love between them. In that case, why did he even sleep with her? Look at what happened because of him. Truly the garbage of society.

Niu Baidao was feeling second-hand embarrassment as he said, "You can't say that. These days, cultivators...cough, cough, tend to pursue the freedom of mind and body. Just take your teacher, Liu Wenyan, as an example. Look at him. He is surrounded by women as well. All of them have waited for him for decades. Am I right?"

If he allowed Su Yu to label that kid as garbage, then the label would be applicable to him as well. He naturally had to dispute this label. The kid should shut his mouth if even his teacher was the same type of person. Niu Baidao was very similar to Liu Wenyan, with the only difference being that some of his previous close female acquaintances had passed away due to old age. Otherwise, those people would probably be bothering him all the time in the academy as well. That would be embarrassing.