69: Chapter 69 Resilient Mindset
Su Mu sat on the balcony of the luxury suite.
Droplets of water still clung to his hair from his recent shower.
Looking down at the dense, dark mass of the Rat Tide, Su Mu's eyes revealed endless killing intent, yet a closer look revealed a faint hint of sorrow deep within his gaze.
*Knock, knock, knock!*
The sound of knocking echoed, and Su Mu walked over to open the door.
Guan Yue stood gracefully at the door, dressed in a black and white tight-fitting tracksuit.
"Are you going back to school?"
Guan Yue asked directly.
Su Mu glanced out the window again at the dark mass of the Rat Tide; in this state, it was unlikely that students from Modu Ability University would be able to come to Qingyuan Base to hunt Vicious Beasts anytime soon.
"Let's go back. We have to assemble tomorrow morning."
Su Mu had originally wanted to reap some benefits from the Rat Tide, but looking at the current situation, he couldn't get out at all.
The two of them took the high-speed rail back to Modu Ability University.
All the way back, Guan Yue looked for opportunities to strike up a conversation with Su Mu; she wanted to know why, at the same age, Su Mu was so much stronger than her.
An S-Rank Awakening alone shouldn't create such a massive gap.
Her Guan Family had a Rank Seven ability user whose ability was also S-Rank. However, unlike Su Mu, that expert's ability had been upgraded later using Heaven And Earth Treasures.
Because of this, she had a deep understanding of the gap between A-Rank and S-Rank abilities.
After the Freshman Competition, Guan Yue had consulted that expert in her family, but the answer she received was quite disheartening.
The strength of an ability affects Cultivation, but only marginally.
Guan Yue glanced at Su Mu; he had been leaning back in his seat with his eyes closed, resting the entire time.
This made Guan Yue incredibly frustrated.
Several times she wanted to speak, but she hesitated each time.
"Um..."
Su Mu opened his eyes and slightly tilted his head.
"Hmm?"
Guan Yue hesitated, as if she were choosing her words carefully.
"It's just... how do you usually Cultivate?"
As if remembering something, Guan Yue immediately added another sentence.
"I don't mean to pry into your Cultivation secrets; if it's inconvenient to say, then never mind."
For an ability user, the greatest secrets were their life-saving trump cards and unique Cultivation methods.
The former was the key to escaping, surviving, or even counter-killing in life-or-death crises—like Li Lan's sneak attack on Guan Yue, which could only work once.
The latter was even more important; for Su Mu, Cultivation was tied to the System, which was his greatest secret.
"It's nothing special, just normal Cultivation and practicing Combat Techniques.
However, I met an old man before who taught me some Cultivation techniques."
In reality, the main reason Su Mu's Cultivation speed was so much faster than his peers was that he had consumed an S-Rank Combat Technique, the qiankun mixed source pill; as an S-Rank Cultivation resource provided by the System, it followed the tradition of 'System products must be high-quality.'
Its quality was beyond doubt, and the boost to Su Mu's Cultivation speed was very significant.
Guan Yue looked at Su Mu with envy, her heart filled with a mix of emotions.
This was Opportunity! Every powerhouse had their own unique Opportunity.
Anyone who had ever reached the peak understood what it felt like to have someone give them a hand when they were still as weak as an ant.
It might have been just a casual gesture, but like the butterfly effect, a gentle breeze stirred by a wing flap at some unknown time could eventually whip up a gale-force storm.
After a long silence, Guan Yue did not speak again.
After returning to Modu Ability University, Su Mu went straight home.
Walking through the door and feeling the warmth of home, Su Mu felt a warm current flowing through his entire body.
He couldn't describe exactly what kind of feeling it was, but it was very comfortable.
It felt as if, after experiencing life-and-death struggles outside, he had returned to a harbor where he could lay down all his burdens. His heart was more peaceful than ever before.
...
First, he had hunted Vicious Beasts non-stop for two days in the wilderness, then encountered the Rat Tide, and finally, he had continuously consumed Source Power to release Rapid Lightning Chidori.
Although source power recovery potions could quickly restore Source Power without any damage to the body, using Combat Techniques consumed more than just Source Power.
Usually, the Divine Soul consumption of Combat Techniques was extremely small, but as the Rank of the Combat Technique increased, the Divine Soul consumption would grow exponentially.
Before Rank Seven, the use of the Divine Soul was very superficial, only serving to assist in the release of Combat Techniques. The consumption wasn't large, but the recovery speed of the Divine Soul was much slower than that of Source Power.
This led to a situation where, before Rank Seven, the vast majority of ability users had no use for the Divine Soul and didn't care about its consumption.
Su Mu was different; relying on the powerful restorative capabilities of the source power recovery potion, he had gradually depleted his Divine Soul.
The end result was that his Divine Soul was completely depleted.
Although the Divine Soul wasn't used before Rank Seven, a severe overdraw of the Divine Soul was a major problem.
Mental fatigue and physical weakness were the best-case scenarios; once the Divine Soul was overdrawn, one could fall into a coma at best, or suffer a regression or even total loss of cultivation at worst.
Since the start of the Rat Tide, Su Mu had been using S-Rank Combat Techniques non-stop, which was extremely taxing on his Divine Soul.
This was also the first time Su Mu had slept through the entire night without getting up in the middle of it to Cultivate.
A night of sound sleep; this was the best sleep Su Mu had had since his Awakening.
...
At six o'clock the next morning, Professor Lu Ming stood there in his training clothes, looking energetic.
In front of Professor Lu Ming stood over twenty students, each full of energy, chests out and heads held high, their pride practically overflowing from the Bailian Tower.
Occasionally, students passing by would see these twenty-odd students, their eyes filled with envy.
Professor Lu Ming glanced at the time, and his face slowly darkened.
"Who else isn't here yet?"
Professor Lu Ming actually already knew who was missing; after all, the top students of the three grades were very conspicuous.
The top student of the sophomore year, the sharp-featured Senior Duan Tao, stood expressionlessly at the front of the sophomore group.
The top student of the junior year, Mu Feng, had dyed her hair red at some point, which, combined with her original wavy hair, gave off a top-tier mature-older-sister vibe.
However, there was no one at the front of the freshman group; Su Mu had yet to arrive.
When this gentle and refined Professor Lu got angry, no one dared to cross him.
Guan Yue, the only one who knew the real situation, wanted to speak up and explain for Su Mu, but just as she raised her hand, Su Mu came running over.
"I'm sorry, Professor Lu, I overslept!" Su Mu lowered his head slightly, his tone apologetic.
But Professor Lu Ming wouldn't give Su Mu special treatment just because he was the top freshman.
"Your training program for today is doubled. If there's a next time, you'll be kicked out of the Modu Ability University team immediately."
He then gave Su Mu no chance to speak further, waving him back into the formation.
Although he was very surprised that Su Mu would be late, the first meeting of the three grades of Modu University couldn't have a bad start that might lead other students to become negligent.
The first lesson of the special training for the three grades was also to endure ten minutes under Professor Lu Ming's pressure.
Of course, as a Rank Seven expert, he could precisely control the pressure descending on each person, ensuring that everyone felt a full sense of oppression.
What was needed to withstand the pressure wasn't an ability Rank, cultivation, or talent.
This first lesson tested only one thing—something that wasn't unique to top powerhouses, but something every true top powerhouse must possess.
A resilient and unyielding Heart-Nature!