Su Yu quickly flipped open the book "Methods to Accelerate the Kaiyuan Realm", only to be rendered speechless by the bold crimson text on the title page:
"So-called acceleration methods—life and death disregarded—true acceleration is possible, but most who attempt it perish in the process!"
Su Yu gave a wry smile. Just reading that line made the whole thing seem unreliable. No wonder the teachers always warned students not to rush their cultivation in the Kaiyuan Realm or stray from the proper path.
"Method One: Bathe in the blood of powerful gods or demons. These beings are born with all nine apertures open, brimming with Origin Qi. Their blood contains vast amounts of Heavenly Origin Qi…"
"Consequence: Body Explosion!"
"Case Study: In the ninth year of Anping, the son of the Governor of the Great Ming Prefecture bathed in the blood of a god-demon to forcibly open his nine apertures. He successfully opened all nine in an instant, only to explode and die the same day—at the age of nine—having reached the Thousand Jun Realm."
Su Yu winced. Even case studies were included. Clearly, this book wasn't just nonsense.
The son of the prefecture lord, during Anping Year Nine—that must have been the heir of the Great Ming King, the founder of the Great Ming Prefecture. And he still died? That was way too dangerous!
Besides, how could divine or demonic blood be so easily obtained?
On the Battlefield of the Myriad Races, gods and demons were among the strongest of all races. It was said that even the weakest among them were at least in the Ten-Thousand Stone Realm.
If the Great Ming King's son managed to obtain such blood, it was likely because his father had slain a god or demon and kept some as spoils.
This method wasn't just impractical—it was completely irrelevant to Su Yu.
"My father's no Great Ming King…"
Su Yu muttered inwardly. If my dad were the Great Ming King, I wouldn't even need to cultivate. The Great Ming King was one of the top pillars of the Human Race and an unmatched powerhouse. Su Yu didn't know exactly how strong, but strong enough that people like him didn't even need to think about it.
Abandoning the first method, Su Yu kept flipping through the book, frowning more and more as he read.
"Method Two: Consume flesh of the demon race. Some demonic beasts' flesh can aid in opening the apertures."
"Consequence: Body Explosion!"
"Case Study: Early in the Anping era, the Human Race was in decline. After killing a number of demons, some experts brought their corpses back. Many humans consumed the flesh, resulting in numerous deaths by explosion. A few successfully opened their nine apertures rapidly."
"Note: Only a very small number saw results. Statistically, flesh from the following races may aid aperture-opening: Golden Roc, Barbarian Bull, Sky Tiger…"
Pass.
Su Yu immediately gave up. This was a joke. The races listed were powerful members of the Myriad Races. While not as terrifying as gods or demons, they were still leagues beyond his reach.
"Method Three: Heavenly Origin Fruit, a type of heavenly treasure."
"This fruit gathers Heavenly Origin Qi, a primordial energy from the beginning of the universe, and is extremely effective in opening the nine apertures."
"Locations: Found in divine realms, demon realms, and the powerful realms of other top races. Extremely rare."
"Case Study: In Anping Year 25, the son of the Great Zhou King consumed a Heavenly Origin Fruit. Within three days, he opened all nine apertures, with no adverse effects."
Su Yu winced again. "The son of the Great Zhou King… That's probably Zhou Po Tian, the current lord of the Great Zhou Prefecture, right?"
Forget it.
He'd never even heard of this fruit before, so it was clearly a top-tier heavenly treasure. Zhou Po Tian was still alive and had become a regional lord. That meant the fruit had likely played a major role in his rise to power.
Even if the Human Race had a few of these, there was no way they'd end up in Su Yu's hands. This was clearly a strategic-level resource.
"Method Four…"
Su Yu kept reading, feeling colder and colder the further he went.
Sure enough, there were no proper shortcuts to cultivating in the Kaiyuan Realm. No wonder the teachers never mentioned any.
Each acceleration method either involved god-demon blood or top-tier treasures—and nearly all carried serious side effects.
"Method Nine: Areas rich in Origin Qi. Origin Qi is not evenly distributed across the Myriad Realms; some regions are barren, while others are abundant. The Kaiyuan Realm undergoes passive aperture tempering, and the speed depends on the local density of Origin Qi…"
"Note:
Origin Qi Sanctuaries: Battlefield of the Myriad Races, academy secret realms, sacred lands in the Human Realm…"
Reading this, Su Yu paused for a moment.
Areas rich in Origin Qi!
While cultivators in the Kaiyuan Realm couldn't directly sense Origin Qi, he had heard that Nan Yuan City wasn't exactly overflowing with it.
"I've heard this before—the larger and more important the city, the faster cultivation goes. That must be due to the higher concentration of Origin Qi."
The teachers in Nan Yuan probably never brought it up because, well, there was no point. What good was mentioning it when there was no way to change it?
"So, if I could go to a major city, or one of those sacred secret realms, I could safely speed things up. Not quickly like the earlier methods, but faster nonetheless."
Origin-rich areas wouldn't grant immediate results, but they would allow for faster progress in a safer, steadier way.
Still, Su Yu couldn't help but long for it.
Unfortunately, every one of the listed "sanctuaries" was beyond his reach.
The Battlefield of the Myriad Races? Forget it. Academy secret realms? Probably reserved for elite institutions. Sacred lands in the Human Realm? Not even worth mentioning.
"Method Ten: Origin Qi Liquid."
"Origin Qi Liquid can form naturally or be artificially created. In highly concentrated regions of Origin Qi, small amounts of liquid may naturally form—extremely rare."
"Artificially produced by a cultivator at the Soaring Realm or higher, by condensing Origin Qi into liquid form."
"Its effect is equivalent to that of training in an Origin-rich environment."
…"
Natural formation? Out of the question.
Artificial creation… Soaring Realm cultivator!
Su Yu gave another bitter smile. What exactly is the Soaring Realm (Tengkong)?
The Thousand Pound and Ten Thousand Stone Realms were purely physical enhancements. He didn't know much about the Soaring Realm, only that it came after the Ten Thousand Stone Realm. At that stage, humans could literally soar through the skies—truly conquering the air.
The Soaring Realm was a major breakthrough. Was there even anyone in this vast Nanyuan City who had reached it?
Maybe—like the city lord of Nanyuan.
But could someone like Su Yu possibly interact with people at that level?
At Nanyuan's Intermediate Academy, the strongest individual was the headmaster, and even he had only just stepped into the Ten Thousand Stone Realm.
If it were possible to condense vital energy at that level, and given the headmaster's character, perhaps Su Yu could plead for a drop or two of Vital Energy Liquid. But the truth was—he simply couldn't do it.
"None of them are reliable!"
Su Yu grumbled. No wonder these books were tossed in the corner and left to collect dust.
For people like him, every method listed was basically impossible.
The most viable options were either to find a place rich in Vital Energy or to obtain Vital Energy Liquid—but even the latter required at least a Soaring Realm cultivator to produce, which was still out of reach for him.
His father had been at the Seventh Layer of the Thousand Pound Realm eighteen years ago. Over the years, due to Nanyuan's scarce Vital Energy and the loss of military resource support, he had only managed to break through to the Ninth Layer.
Even so, that still made him a noteworthy figure in Nanyuan. Of course, Su Long himself didn't see it that way. Before rejoining the army, he had served as a traffic supervisor, living a peaceful life.
If it weren't for staying behind to take care of Su Yu, with his strength, Su Long could've secured a decent position in the city.
"None of it works!"
Su Yu flipped through the books one last time, then returned them to their original places.
After thinking for a moment, he walked over to Liu Yue and offered an apologetic smile. "Liu Yue, sorry to bother you—could I ask you something?"
Liu Yue set down her book and smiled softly. "Go ahead."
"I haven't really paid much attention to cultivation methods these past few years. Do you know anything about Vital Energy Liquid?"
"You're thinking of buying Vital Energy Liquid?"
Liu Yue immediately caught on—Su Yu had been reading the books she had recommended, after all, and she had read them herself too.
"Vital Energy Liquid is considered a strategic resource. There are no purchasing channels for it in Nanyuan."
"But over in the Great Xia Prefecture, it's available—though you have to register your real identity to buy it."
"There are different kinds of Vital Energy Liquid depending on who condensed it. For the Opening Origin stage, the version condensed by Soaring Realm cultivators is actually the most suitable. It's cheaper, and the energy isn't too dense, which makes it better for unlocking apertures. Too much density can actually harm the body."
"But… it's not cheap!"
"Even for a Soaring Realm cultivator, it takes three days to condense a single drop. And they need Vital Energy to cultivate too. Unless someone's desperate for money, it's rare for them to make it for others…"
She glanced at Su Yu. "Honestly, you don't need to buy it—it's a huge waste of money! And even then, it only increases energy density. It's not guaranteed to open your apertures."
"I figured as much," Su Yu nodded. "Still, how much is one drop from a Soaring Realm cultivator?"
He already knew it wouldn't be cheap, but he still wanted to ask. Before leaving, his father had left him a good amount of money—really, the family's entire savings. The battlefield was dangerous, and Su Long feared he might not return.
"100,000 An Yuan Coins," Liu Yue replied.
"…!"
Su Yu's heart skipped a beat. 100,000 per drop!?
His father, a Ninth Layer Thousand Pound cultivator and public officer at the traffic bureau, earned a monthly salary of 5,000 An Yuan. That wasn't low by any means.
Even with minimal expenses and some spending on cultivation materials, saving 20,000 to 30,000 a year was already impressive.
After years of saving, Su Long had left around 300,000 An Yuan to Su Yu.
That's just enough to buy three drops of Vital Energy Liquid?
No wonder Liu Yue called it wasteful!
This wasn't just wasteful—it was burning money.
Noticing Su Yu's expression, Liu Yue couldn't help but laugh. "I told you it's expensive—really expensive. I've used a drop before. It lasted about three days, and the effects were mediocre at best."
"I never used it again. Just too extravagant."
"If it were truly effective, those who could afford it at the academy would've been using it already. But how many people have you seen actually do that?"
"If three days isn't enough to unlock an aperture, then you'll have to keep buying. Six days is 200,000, nine days is 300,000… no one can keep up with that."
Su Yu gave a bitter smile. "Yeah, I see what you mean. If it guaranteed an unlocked aperture, maybe it'd be worth it. But if it doesn't, then it's just money down the drain. No wonder the teachers always say there are no shortcuts at the Opening Origin stage."
"Because there aren't," Liu Yue said with a gentle smile. "You're not even being tested on this right now—why the sudden interest in buying Vital Energy Liquid?"
"I applied for the War Academy. Just wanted to be prepared."
Su Yu kept his explanation brief, then smiled and excused himself—this was a library, not a place for chatting.
As she watched him leave, Liu Yue raised an eyebrow, curious.
He applied to the War Academy?
What's he doing that for?
Shaking her head lightly, she didn't dwell on it. Even if he applies, it won't matter. We're all going to be classmates at the Great Xia Civilization Academy anyway. Hope he doesn't do anything reckless.