That day, Su Yu continued to follow Liu Wenyan.
He wasn't in a hurry. It wasn't the first time he had trailed after Liu Wenyan—back when he was learning the myriad clan languages, he often shadowed him like this.
Su Yu kept to his usual routine: cultivating, reading, studying... though he had stopped using essence blood to activate his Nayuan Art for now.
In the shadows, members of the Dragon Martial Guard were protecting him.
Su Yu hadn't seen them, and they never made an appearance. Still, he couldn't help feeling a bit curious—and even somewhat awestruck—about the Dragon Martial Guard.
Word was, the Dragon Martial Guard were incredibly powerful. So strong, in fact, that even his own father hadn't been able to join their ranks.
Just how strong are they, really? he wondered.
As Su Yu let his curiosity grow, Liu Wenyan went about his day like always—drinking tea, reading, lecturing.
…
"Thinking about joining the Dragon Martial Guard?"
Liu Wenyan noticed Su Yu glancing out the window several times, seemingly hoping to catch a glimpse of the guardsman from earlier. With a smile, he posed the question.
Su Yu looked a little embarrassed and muttered, "I'm just curious. I want to know what the strongest military force in Great Xia Prefecture is really like."
"The Dragon Martial Guard, hmm…"
Liu Wenyan sighed with some emotion. "They've been around for a long time. In fact, the title 'Lord of the Prefecture' was derived from them—first came the Dragon Martial Guard, then the Prefecture Lord, and then the Dragon Martial War Academy. The current generation of the Guard is said to be the strongest in history."
"There aren't that many of them, though. They're elite troops, after all—only about 5,000 in total."
"Only that many?" Su Yu blinked.
Information on the Dragon Martial Guard wasn't publicly available, so this was the first time Su Yu learned just how few there were in the force known as Great Xia Prefecture's mightiest.
5,000? That's way too few!
It was shockingly low.
Even a small city like Nanyuan had over a thousand city guards. Across the prefecture, city guard numbers surpassed 50,000, and the main army totaled more than 100,000 soldiers.
Yet the Dragon Martial Guard, mightier than both, had less than 10,000?
"The Guard is all about quality, not quantity," Liu Wenyan said with a smile. "They call themselves a force of ten thousand, but that's more for show. In reality, it's fewer. But their strength is undeniable—ten-man squads, hundred-man companies, thousand-man legions… the motto is 'a thousand men, unstoppable.'"
"Unstoppable?" Su Yu murmured.
Liu Wenyan chuckled. "It's just a slogan—don't take it too literally. But yes, they're incredibly strong. Most of the regular soldiers are at the Myriad Stones Realm. A squad leader—'Shizhang'—is usually either peak Myriad Stones or already in the Soaring Realm. Company commanders are often mid-to-high Soaring."
Su Yu was stunned.
That was strong!
With 5,000 soldiers, there had to be at least 50 company commanders—most at high Soaring levels?
The city lord of Nanyuan wasn't even that powerful!
What about the legion commanders above them? Were they even stronger? Beyond Soaring, perhaps?
And the Vice General? Just how powerful was he?
Su Yu knew that the General of the Dragon Martial Guard was none other than Xia Longwu himself.
Just the idea that most of their soldiers were in the Myriad Stones Realm was terrifying. On the battlefield of the heavens, even the Demon-Suppressing Army wasn't considered weak. His father had once been a team leader there as a Tier-7 Thousand-Pound Realm cultivator—equivalent in rank to a squad leader in the Guard.
But a Thousand-Pound Tier-7 vs. a minimum Myriad Stones Tier-9?
No wonder they wouldn't take his father.
Liu Wenyan smiled faintly and added, "There's a ten-man squad currently stationed here in Nanyuan. That guy who spoke earlier? He's their squad leader."
"He's that strong?"
"Quite. He's peak Myriad Stones."
Su Yu was floored again. "Even a squad leader is at peak Myriad Stones?"
"Yeah, for that particular team. They're relatively strong. In a weaker unit, he could easily be a team commander."
Liu Wenyan chuckled again. "Don't envy them too much. Thousand-Pound and Myriad Stones are just the foundation. True advancement starts at Soaring. In the battlefield of the heavens, Soaring-level cultivators are no longer cannon fodder—they're elite."
"Once your will manifests and you step into the Soaring Realm, you'll understand."
Su Yu looked forward with anticipation. "I wonder how many years that'll take…"
"…"
Liu Wenyan didn't know whether to laugh or cry. Years?
This kid's serious?
I said three to five years, but that's for the top-tier geniuses. You're good, kid, but not that good. With luck, maybe ten years. Without it… you'll be like me—stuck at the threshold for life.
Still, even ten years was faster than cultivating the physical path alone.
After a bit more small talk, Su Yu started asking about the myriad clan languages again.
Then, as if something had occurred to him, he asked, "Teacher, is there really no way to quickly break through the Origin Opening Realm? Aside from those risky methods, isn't there anything safer that can help us progress faster? I mean, there are students who get into higher academies at just Tier-4. Yet a lot of them reach Thousand-Pound Realm pretty quickly."
"It's six tiers between Tier-4 Origin Opening and Tier-1 Thousand-Pound, right? Even if each takes six months, that's three years. But I've heard students at war academies break through in just one year. How's that possible?"
It was a question that had puzzled Su Yu for a while, but every time he asked a teacher, they would just smile and say, "You'll find out at the higher academy."
Now, with the opportunity in front of him, he wanted some real answers. Especially since he might be progressing quickly soon himself.
Liu Wenyan figured Su Yu would be entering a civilization academy before long. This time, he didn't hold back. Smiling, he said, "You've probably come across a certain term in the books—Academy Secret Realms."
"Yeah!"
"That's the reason."
With a bit of a test in his tone, Liu Wenyan asked, "Why do you think the myriad clans opened up a separate battlefield in the outer realms?"
"To avoid suppression!"
Su Yu answered without hesitation. "Each realm is different—gravity, air composition, the concentration of vital energy... For example, a god from the God Race might be heavily suppressed if they go to the Demon Realm. They might only be able to use 30% of their strength. Same goes in reverse. That's why none of the major clans dare launch full-scale invasions against others."
"Exactly. That's why the battlefield of the heavens exists."
Liu Wenyan's gaze turned slightly cold. "Now tell me—why did the human race get pulled in? Why are we targeted by so many clans?"
"Because… we're weak? They want to invade us?"
Su Yu hesitated. That's what the books said, but his father once told him it wasn't quite the truth—that the human race was not weak, but in fact very strong.
"Weak? Not at all."
Liu Wenyan gave the same answer and said calmly, "How could we be weak? If we were, we would've already lost the war. Among the myriad clans, humans may not be top three, but we're certainly in the top ten—very strong."
"Then why…"
"Because of the Human Realm."
Liu Wenyan smiled faintly. "You'll learn more about this in the higher academies. It's not exactly top-secret knowledge, but not something they advertise to children either. The truth is, the Human Realm is unique. Other realms have restrictions—so even the mightiest race can't easily invade another's domain. But the Human Realm… has no such restriction."
"Huh?"