Chapter 5 Qi Yue and Liu Xi (1/2)

“Alright, the show is over, everyone can scatter now.” Zhou Yuan tossed and caught the jade piece in his hand before smiling at the numerous spectators.

Upon hearing his words, the crowd smiled back and left. However, there was an additional trace of amazement in their gazes when they took one final look at Zhou Yuan before they left. This was because the fact that Zhou Yuan was unable to open his channels was long known by everyone in the Great Zhou Institute. Thus, many people believed although this prince of theirs had a high status, he did not have any power.

However, the scene today made them completely drop this belief.

Zhou Yuan was indeed temporarily unable to open his channels, but he wielded another kind of power; Genesis Runes. With Genesis Runes, even someone like Xu Lin, who had opened two meridian channels, was not the former’s match.

In this world, status was admittedly also a kind of power. However, the power that was most easily acknowledged by others was undoubtedly still one’s own power that had been gained through the culmination of one’s efforts. Because this kind of power would not be changed by one’s status or position.

“Hey, don’t lose it again alright.” Zhou Yuan tossed the jade piece at Su Youwei who had walked over. A breeze blew past, causing her uniform to hug her body, accentuating the fine and exquisite curves of a young lady that could cause one to have rather wild thoughts.

Su Youwei was a little embarrassed as she bit her red lips. Her clear eyes stared at Zhou Yuan as she said, “Are you okay?”

Girls were after all very attentive. She could see how Zhou Yuan’s hand seemed to tremble slightly.

“Heh heh, you’ve discovered it huh.” Zhou Yuan chuckled. He lifted his hand, and one could see that it was very red. This had been brought about by the ferocious punch from before.

“Without any channels opened, the innate quality of the body is after all a little lower.” Zhou Yuan sighed. Although he had borrowed the powers of the Metal Skin Rune, Light Body Rune and Rampaging Bull Rune to temporarily boost his strength, speed and toughness of his skin, the interior of his body was still too weak. A tiny bit of the backlash had invaded his body, causing him to feel rather terrible.

“Instructor has said that there are some Genesis Runes that can temporarily strengthen one’s entire body. If you manage to learn them, you will not be hurt by the backlash of power.” Su Youwei said after mulling for a while.

Zhou Yuan nodded. “The grade of such Genesis Runes is not low.”

It was said that Genesis Runes were divided into nine grades. However, the ones Zhou Yuan had used were only of the elementary level and could not even be considered grade one. Hence, he was not able to learn such Genesis Runes for the time being.

Su Youwei bit her red lips and said in a worried manner, “Then you’ll have to work hard. In the newcomer exam next month, unless you are able to draw a grade one Genesis Rune, it is unlikely that you will be able to achieve the top ten rankings.”

If Zhou Yuan did badly in the newcomer exam, bad rumors would surely spread.

Zhou Yuan massaged his hand as he replied, “Don’t worry, I know what I have to do.”

His eyes slightly narrowed. At this time, he could only hope that the trip to the ancestral grounds two days later would be able to help him solve the major issue of his eight meridian channels not appearing. If not, the only thing left would be to invest all of his energy into Genesis Rune study.

It was just that he really could not resign himself to solely studying Genesis Runes.

When Su Youwei saw Zhou Yuan fall silent, she knowingly changed the topic. Her eyes seemed to twist in thought as she beamed. “Your highness, shall I help you apply some ointment?”

“Forget it, if I accept such a great gesture from a pretty girl, I’m afraid that someone would see and surely employ some underhanded tactics against me.” Zhou Yuan playfully smiled in response. After all, Su Youwei was rather popular in the Great Zhou Institute.

Su Youwei unhappily rolled her eyes at him. “Since you are so timid, I’ll not bother with you any further. I still have to go to the library to tidy up the books.”

This was a part-time job she had found for herself to earn a little income. After all, her family situation was not good and she still had a grandfather to care for. Thus, she usually found some work to do in the Great Zhou Institute during the school term.

Upon hearing this, Zhou Yuan hesitated a little before saying, “There is only a month left till the newcomer exam, and time is of the essence. I feel that you should spend more time on opening your meridian channels. If needed, I…”

“Your highness.”

Zhou Yuan was interrupted before he could finish. He looked towards Su Youwei. The girl’s red lips were currently slightly pursed as she earnestly stared at him. Her voice was soft and gently, but it contained a strength that could not be ignored. “You’ve already helped me a lot. You brought me to this place where I can change my destiny, and I am grateful to you from the bottom of my heart. However… you’ve said before that we are friends, right?”

Zhou Yuan was taken aback as he gazed at the girl before his eyes. The depths of her glistening eyes seemed to hide something that would be difficult to sense for an outsider. It was that final shred of dignity at the bottom of her heart that needed to be preserved.

She knew that as long as she opened her mouth, Zhou Yuan would settle everything that she needed. However, if that happened, a certain change would occur in her relationship with him.

She had very carefully maintained the relationship between them since the beginning. Zhou Yuan was the prince of the Great Zhou Empire, a status that was high as could be, while she on the other hand, was a commoner. The gap between the two was too great, hence it very easily drew the criticism of others.

She was not afraid of such criticism, but she did not want to be looked down upon by Zhou Yuan.

Therefore, she put in her greatest efforts after she entered the Great Zhou Institute such that she would be able to become independent. She likewise worked hard in her cultivation to change the large difference of status between them.

She had been very successful. As the fastest channel opening genius ever since the founding of the Great Zhou Institute, everyone began to value her talent. So much so that even Zhou Yuan’s father, Zhou Qing, started to hear of her name.

“Alright then.”