While Zhou Yuan’s eyes narrowed slightly, Su Youwei also eyed the confident and relaxed young man before them. Her long and shapely eyebrows slightly knitted together before she displayed a smile and said, "So it is young master Lin. However, I’m afraid that I do not have time today."

Lin Feng was not the least bit dejected by So Youwei’s gentle rejection. Instead, he grinned as he nodded. "Since that is so, maybe next time."

He did not stubbornly insist but instead appeared rather polite.

However, it was this very attitude that made So Youwei helplessly sigh in her heart. Such individuals were the most difficult to deal with.

Zhou Yuan did not say anything and merely smiled faintly at Lin Feng before walking away with Su Youwei.

Lin Feng watched the two departing figures as his kind face turned somewhat darker.

"Hehe, looks like you do not have much of a chance." A soft chuckle was suddenly heard from behind. Lin Feng turned his head only to find Qi Yue wearing white clothes.

"Little prince." Lin Feng controlled his expression and bowed slightly.

Qi Yue seemed to smile as he stood beside Lin Feng and he looked in the direction that Zhou Yuan and Su Youwei had left in. "Although our prince is unable to start channel opening cultivation, he still has his status. Moreover, Su Youwei owes a debt of gratitude towards him. I’m afraid that you don’t really have much of a chance."

Lin Feng’s eyes were somewhat dark while his lips were tightly pursed. It was clear that he was extremely unresigned.

"You’ve really fallen for Su Youwei?" Qi Yue could not help but smile and ask when he saw Lin Feng’s appearance.

"Su Youwei might be a mere commoner but she has qualifications to change everything. She will surely separate herself from the ordinary and become the focus of everyone’s attention in future." Lin Feng explained.

Qi Yue nodded and sighed. "That is true. It is only a matter of time given her talent. Prince Zhou Yuan is really lucky, to think that any random person he picked up would become a genius."

Lin Feng’s expression grew increasingly passionate as he slowly said, "Even more so why I will not give up."

Qi Yue grinned a little. "Honestly speaking, you are not weaker than his highness. The only thing he has over you is his status as prince. Without it, he will not even have the qualifications of receiving a second glance from you."

Lin Feng did not reply, but a sliver of pride appeared in his eyes. From his point of view, if Zhou Yuan was not the prince of Great Zhou, someone like him who was unable to open his meridian channels truly would not even enter Lin Feng’s eyes.

"I do hope that you will be able to obtain Su Youwei. If that happens, there will be one less huge inconvenience for me." Qi Yue chuckled as he continued, "I went looking for her previously and made many offers, but was still unable to convince her to enter the B class after the newcomer exam. From the looks of it, she is really committed to his highness Zhou Yuan."

Lin Feng’s expression became a little uglier.

"However, I do have an idea." Qi Yue paused for moment. "There is still one more month till the newcomer exam and Zhou Yuan is also participating. If he fails miserably, it will be a rather substantial blow to someone of his status."

Lin Feng’s eyes flickered. Cultivation was mainstream in Great Zhou and it was a nation established on martial prowess. Even if Zhou Yuan was prince, if he did not produce any results, people would surely start talking. At that time, Su Youwei should be able to clearly see that a crippled prince could not be relied upon.

"What are little prince’s intentions?"

Qi Yue faintly smiled as he said, "I will pull some strings during the exam and ensure that Zhou Yuan bumps into you. When that happens, you should know what to do to dim his princely halo."

Lin Feng was somewhat hesitant after hearing this. "But he is after all the prince, if we go too far..."

"In a match, fists and legs have no eyes. No one will say anything." Qi Yue shook he head before continuing, "Since your Lin clan is already standing on the side of my Qi Manor, we will protect you even if something happens."

Lin Feng’s eyes flickered. A short while later, he fiercely gritted his teeth and replied in a low voice, "Alright, I understand. If I meet him in the newcomer exam, I will make sure that his highness will lose in the most humiliating fashion."

A venomous look flashed across his eyes as he lifted his head and looked at Zhou Yuan’s departing figure. Since a crippled prince wanted to snatch away his woman, he could only make sure that this prince suffered when the time came.

Qi Yue laughed softly. If Zhou Yuan was beaten into the mud, Qi Yue would go look for Su Youwei again. This girl should be able to tell who was the stronger one. As long as she cast her lot in with the B class, there would no longer be anyone who could threaten him in the class ranking exam and the Great Zhou Institute would fall into the hands of Qi Manor.

Henceforth, the students that graduated from the Great Zhou Institute would be branded by Qi Manor. When that happened, it would be time for the ruler of the Great Zhou Empire to change.

...

"I’m afraid that Lin Feng is already working together with Qi Yue." Zhou Yuan conversed with Su Youwei as they walked along the corridors of the institute. "This might even be Qi Yue’s scheme. Since he is unable to openly draw you to his side, he decided to use a handsome man to entice you."

Su Youwei unhappily shook her head upon hearing this. "Don’t worry your highness, this tactic is useless against me."

She paused for a moment before asking in a somewhat worried manner, "However your highness needs to be more careful. Most of the talented individuals amongst the new batch of students have been pulled over by Qi Yue to his side. I worry that they will hinder you during the newcomer exam."

Given Zhou Yuan’s strength, it was already very challenging to take one of the top ten spots in the newcomer exam. If others were to hinder him, it would become even harder.

Zhou Yuan grinned and said, "Don’t worry, I have my own plans."

He gently spat out a breath of air before slowly speaking again, "Qi Manor’s foundations are truly solid."

Qi Yue’s offers were difficult to reject. Such wealth was no less than the royal clan. Looks like father was right, the Great Wu was likely backing the Qi Manor.

𝒻𝑟ℯℯ𝑤𝑒𝑏𝑛𝘰𝓋𝑒𝓁.𝒸𝑜𝘮

At this point, a cold light flashed across Zhou Yuan’s eyes. Qi Manor was truly a tumor of the Great Zhou.

To think that they now even planned to dip their fingers into the pie that was the Great Zhou Institute. Moreover, it was easy to imagine how great a blow it would be if the institute fell into Qi Manor’s control. Thus... Zhou Yuan absolutely could not let them succeed.

Of course, the most important thing now was to quickly open his meridian channels to face the upcoming newcomer exam.

...

In the following few days, Zhou Yuan stayed in the royal palace. He diligently practiced the ninety eight forms of the frolicking dragon in the early morning and did four waves of attacks on his meridian channels. At night, he practiced the ’Primal Chaos Divine Grindstone Visualisation Method’ to train his spirit.

Zhou Yuan’s improvement over these few days was not small. The first meridian channel in his body grew increasingly loose and opening it completely was in sight. Moreover, his spirit had also stabilized at the initial Illusory stage.

This progress made Zhou Yuan very excited and put in even more effort into his training.

Another day.

Ding!

The small hammer in Zhou Yuan’s hand struck and broke open a hole in a Beast Spirit Crystal. He placed the Heavenly Yuan Brush inside and the beast spirit within the crystal was absorb with a sweep of its hairs.

Buzz!

Just as Zhou Yuan was preparing to break open a hole in the next Beast Spirit Crystal, a faint buzzing noise was suddenly emitted from the Heavenly Yuan Brush. At the same time, a strange light slowly emerged from the brush body.

Zhou Yuan was first stunned by this scene before joy broke out on his face.

It was because he had seen the first ancient rune on the Heavenly Yuan Brush completely light up at this moment and give off a mysterious glow.

Evidently, after several days of nourishing it, the brush had finally recovered some of its spirituality and power.

"Master and big sis Yaoyao said that I will come to know of its wonders once the first rune is lighted. I’m really interested to find out the peculiarities of this once Sacred Genesis Weapon Heavenly Yuan Brush!" Zhou Yuan’s eyes lighted up as he stared at the Heavenly Yuan Brush in his hand.

He had long been filled with curiosity towards the Heavenly Yuan Brush.

While grasping the Heavenly Yuan Brush, Zhou Yuan’s eyes slowly closed. Light blossomed on the brush as a cryptic message poured into his mind.

"First rune of the Heavenly Yuan Brush, Culture and Martial."