The Path of the Martial Arts BOSS
Chapter 145 - 139 Conclusion

Chapter 145: Chapter 139 Conclusion

Qing Yu wanted to leave the Mountain River Academy.

From the start, coming to the Mountain River Academy was not Qing Yu’s own decision. Originally, when the "Golden Cicada Sheds Its Shell" plan was devised in Yang City, the intention was to find a genuine Newbie Village map afterward and take things step by step.

Unexpectedly, Lu Qifeng caught him by the tail and he ended up undercover at the Mountain River Academy. If Lu Qifeng hadn’t accidentally confirmed the existence of Emperor Martial Arts there, this undercover job—if it hadn’t made much progress—would have had to last at least three years. Even within these three years, there was a chance his identity could be discovered, leading to immediate death.

In the Mountain River Academy, he had to be cautious at all times, lest others see through him. Because he stayed in the academy for a long period, he even found it hard to find a place to practice his martial arts.

What’s more critical, Qing Yu’s literary skills truly couldn’t pass muster. The Mountain River Academy held an examination every six months, and failing twice would directly lead to being persuaded to leave. This also served as a motivator for those who entered through the back door without taking exams.

The instructor in charge of this examination was Lu Qingzhu, who had already betrayed the academy.

When Qing Yu learned of Lu Qingzhu’s betrayal, he finally understood where the reference answers had come from in the first place, and why the Six Gates were confident that Qing Yu wouldn’t be eliminated by the biannual exams.

Now, with Lu Qingzhu gone, if Qing Yu stayed any longer at the Mountain River Academy, he feared he might even lose the time to practice, needing to spend all his time on Confucian classics.

Thus, Qing Yu wanted to leave the Mountain River Academy. It just so happened that Qing Yu planned to use his closed hearing to aid in "Gaining Knowledge Through Experience" and the Void Eye. Using that as an excuse, he left the Mountain River Academy to seek medical treatment.

As for the Six Gates, Qing Yu had also prepared a reason. Previously, in the Small Secret Realm, Qing Yu hypnotized Luo Yan, made his plans meticulously, and pushed all responsibilities onto Brother Wu and three others. Wu and the others could not withstand scrutiny, for Ming Rui and Luo Feng believed that the side of Daqian having such a large advantage and still losing could only be due to a traitor’s machinations.

Compared to the severely wounded, alone Luo Yan, Brother Wu and the others were more likely to be the traitors. Just soul searching one of them would directly expose the actions of the four. In the end, Brother Wu and the others had their bones crushed to dust by the enraged Duke Shenwu Luo Feng.

After the failure, as Feng Jiu’s close friend and a scholar of the academy, Qing Yu, on Luo Yan’s suggestion, was left to continue his undercover work. However, Qing Yu used the excuse that his disguised "Vast Righteous Qi" was hard to conceal from Zhuge Longsu, who had already risen to the Divinity Realm, to withdraw and continue his activities as an aide to Feng Jiu.

Qing Yu informed Lu Qifeng of some unusual aspects of Feng Jiu, such as the possibility that Feng Jiu’s "Vast Righteous Qi" might also be a disguise. This served as a reason for his actions.

However, there was another issue with leaving the Mountain River Academy...

"What about my ’Black Sky Tribulation’?" Feng Jiu raised this question.

If there was no martial engagement, Feng Jiu’s "Black Sky Tribulation" would occur approximately every two to three days. If they fought, it would come daily. If there were intense battles, True Qi would likely need to be channeled immediately after the battle to dissipate the "Black Sky Tribulation". Thus, Feng Jiu couldn’t leave Qing Yu for long.

And it was impossible for Qing Yu to leave the Mountain River Academy with him. After so much effort, they had finally made Feng Jiu prominent in the academy; furthermore, they had offended the Emperor of Northern Zhou, who was desperate for Emperor Martial Arts. They couldn’t possibly just walk away like that.

"Don’t worry, I have prepared a countermeasure," Qing Yu said as he pulled a square box from his sleeve, placed it on the table, and pushed it towards Feng Jiu.

Feng Jiu opened the box, inside was a round yellow crystal, twinkling with dim light. Suddenly, he felt a rush of excitement; he could feel that this yellow crystal contained something—or rather, an energy—that he needed.

"What is this?" Feng Jiu looked up and asked.

"You can call it—’Holy Relic’."

The "Holy Relic," also known as the "Evil Emperor Relic," was indeed the name of this yellow crystal ball.

Back in the Small Secret Realm, Qing Yu suffered from a lack of Body Refinement Techniques, and his body strength was insufficient. He was resolute in finding a top-notch Body Refinement Technique.

With insufficient body strength, not to mention the Taiyi Splitting Light Sword could not exert its maximum power, even the Eighteen Dragon Subduing Palms couldn’t be executed smoothly. In the Small Secret Realm, even hitting an opponent weaker than himself caused his hands to turn red. If he later encountered an opponent of equal or greater strength, who was also skilled in fierce martial arts, it was likely he would have his hands broken.

The Eighteen Dragon Subduing Palms, originally known as "The World’s Number One Palm" from its source material, was also a remarkable martial art in this world. If Qing Yu, as a cultivator, had his hands broken by someone using a similarly yang-forceful palm technique, it would indeed be utterly disgraceful.

So, without any other way to obtain a Body Refinement Technique in a short time, Qing Yu spent the remaining 2000 Villain Points on two rounds of Intermediate Lottery.

The result...

Three-star item "Evil Emperor Relic," three-star secret manual "Innate Gang Qi."

Although it wasn’t drawn down to two-star, being the minimum guarantee, and while the luck was good, it was far from what Qing Yu had hoped.

Moreover, the "Evil Emperor Relic" was empty; it contained no essence from the generations of Evil Emperors of the Evil Extreme Sect, just an empty vessel for storing True Qi.

At last, even a piece of scrap paper has its uses, let alone a three-star item. Now was the time for it to come into play.

Qing Yu pointed at the yellow crystal ball and said, "This ’Holy Relic’ has the effect of storing True Qi essence. I have already input enough True Qi to support you for four months. During these months, even if you fight daily, you need not worry about suffering from the ’Black Sky Tribulation.’"

"That’s good." Feng Jiu cherished the seemingly ordinary yellow crystal, as it was his life for the next four months.

"Next, you just need to be a regular student at the academy, without doing anything extra. Especially with the Emperor, you need to maintain your distance, which will also help gain the academy’s support," Qing Yu instructed.

This time, Chen Yan’s actions were essentially linked to the Emperor of Northern Zhou, so now, keeping a distance from the Emperor was absolutely necessary.

"You can rest assured," Feng Jiu continued to cherish the ’Evil Emperor Relic’ and said, "This time, my father the Emperor has pushed Feng Qiwu forward, ignoring me completely, and I have given up trying to obtain his support. But that might be for the best. After drawing clear lines, I can fully lean towards the academy."

It was a blessing in disguise. The Emperor had always ignored Feng Jiu, even loathing him. Even the grace bestowed not long ago was offset by the recent indifference towards Feng Jiu. Feng Jiu could now fully lean towards the Mountain River Academy and gain strong support.

The case was different for Feng Qiwu. Despite being the closed-door disciple of Zhuge Longsu, the Emperor’s long-standing favoritism towards him and his mother being the current Empress made it impossible for him to renounce these ties. A person whose heart lay with external forces could not become the dean of the Mountain River Academy.

According to Qing Yu’s estimation, the academy’s support for Feng Qiwu was bound to decrease after the incident with Chen Yan and the others.

"Mr. Ouyang spoke to me a couple of days ago, saying that if I have issues with my studies, I can seek him out anytime, or even Dean Zhuge. The third floor of the Guardian Pavilion is also open to me now, I can browse the books there freely. This time, I really hit the jackpot," Feng Jiu said with a proud smile.

The first and second floors of the Guardian Pavilion were directly open to core scholars. Those above third floor, apart from a few scholars, required a cumbersome application and vetting process.

As Qing Yu knew, previously only Feng Qiwu had free access to the third floor of the Guardian Pavilion, now Feng Jiu was added. Truly as he said, a big scoop, all for handing over the Emperor Martial Arts to the academy.

"Also, you need more interaction with the Sixth Prince. Currently, he is an excellent benefactor and an excellent target. With his cover, it can also shield your recent prospering investments," Qing Yu reminded.

The Sixth Prince Feng Chaonan had gradually severed his connections with the Si Family on the surface, which reduced his power. Hence, the Emperor was not as wary of him as before. His participation in the Literary Arena with Feng Qiwu and Feng Mingxiao representing the Imperial Family highlighted his current favor. In the past, the Emperor seldom considered him for such public appearances.

Behind the scenes, however, his power was rapidly growing. Utilizing the addictive nature of the Longevity Powder like a plague, he amassed great benefits.

With these benefits to cultivate covert power, his overall strength had grown significantly compared to before severing ties with the Si Family.

Of course, with the Pharmacist, Qing Yu’s planted piece on the board, those benefiting included Qing Yu as well. By utilizing this piece currently deeply trusted by the Sixth Prince and handling covert affairs, Qing Yu had indeed siphoned many benefits from the Sixth Prince.

"Then where do you plan to go this time after leaving the Mountain River Academy?" Feng Jiu asked.

"Not too far," Qing Yu said, "Your restless Sixth Brother recently expanded the Longevity Powder business to Daqian. The Pharmacist is now in Yan Province bordering Daqian, handling the sales of Longevity Powder. I’m heading there this time to help the Pharmacist deal with some troubles. By the way... leveraging the Sixth Prince’s power to cultivate our own needed subordinates. The Sixth Prince’s focus is always here in the Divine Capital, and he wouldn’t invest much attention in selling Longevity Powder to Daqian as long as the funds transferred are accurate."

Qing Yu raised his teacup, drank it in one gulp, faced Feng Jiu, and added, "The throne has blinded him, limiting his vision to this tiny Divine Capital. Little does he know that the Divine Capital is always under the watchful eyes of the Emperor. No matter what he does, the Emperor can destroy it all in one word."

"Ha ha ha..." Feng Jiu laughed, "The Divine Capital, in your eyes, is just the size of this teacup, that’s really..."

"Isn’t it?" Qing Yu countered, "Even the entire Northern Zhou only occupies lands of two provinces within Central Plains, with Seven Provinces held by Daqian. Beyond Central Plains are vast landscapes, the world is so vast. Isn’t the Divine Capital just a tiny teacup in comparison to the world?

It’s someone else’s teacup. The Emperor Zhou is in his prime, what he needs to do now is not act as if he’s about to die soon, as if he can’t wait to sit on the throne tomorrow. Instead, he should keep a low profile. It will be very difficult for the Sixth Prince to wait until the day the Emperor passes away."

Looking back at the history of Qing Yu’s previous life, a wise Emperor could not control his own desire for power. Those princes who became Crown Princes when the Emperor was young generally found it difficult to wait for their day of ascension.

That was in the past life. In this world, with the presence of Martial Arts, some princes might find themselves still robust when they were supposed to peacefully pass away.

"Given that, I wish you a smooth journey!" Feng Jiu raised his teacup.

Qing Yu also filled his cup to the brim and erected a flag, "Smooth sailing!"

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Three days later, Meng De, a student of Mountain River Academy, left the academy.

PS: This Chapter mainly serves to wrap up the plot around Feng Jiu and the academy. Due to the need to introduce a new map, there is only this 3,400-word Chapter today.