"Hey, you two, reading?" Ma Feifei came over and sat down across from them.
"Big Brother Ma." As soon as Zhou Zhuling heard Ma Feifei's voice, she immediately looked up from her book. Zhou Guanyu, who had been about to speak, couldn't help rolling his eyes. He simply said nothing and fixed his gaze on My Fair Princess.
Zhou Zhuling glanced at Zhou Guanyu, closed My Fair Princess, and handed it to him with a smile. "Here, you can read it."
Zhou Guanyu was stunned. Ever since he and his sister had started reading My Fair Princess together, he hadn't had a chance to so much as touch the book, let alone enjoy it on his own. Every day, he had to follow Zhou Zhuling's reading pace. And now she was actually giving him the book?
Zhou Guanyu looked at his sister, then at Ma Feifei, and nodded as if he understood something.
"Tsk, tsk." Zhou Guanyu couldn't help smacking his lips as he took the book. Shaking his head, he said, "That's the power of love!"
Then he hurried over to another table to read. Zhou Zhuling blushed at his last remark, sneaking a glance at Ma Feifei before lowering her head slightly.
Ma Feifei chuckled and said nothing.
He didn't care who read the book. They had already paid for two people's worth of Spirit Crystals, after all.
"Miss Zhou, I heard the Dragon Ranking competition at Zhenguan Academy is only a few days away. Will you go watch?"
Zhou Zhuling didn't know why Ma Feifei had suddenly asked. "My father is the vice dean of Zhenguan Academy, and he hosts the Dragon Ranking competition every year. As for me, because of my health, I haven't gone to watch it in several years."
As she spoke, Zhou Zhuling glanced at Ma Feifei and asked, "Big Brother Ma, are you going to the imperial capital to watch the Dragon Ranking competition?"
Ma Feifei nodded. "Yes. I heard the competition is quite lively, so I want to go see it."
But he couldn't very well do business with Zhou Zhuling now. He had seen her illness before, and she really wasn't suited to a long journey. Staying home and resting was the best choice.
"Then I'll go to this year's Dragon Ranking competition too." Zhou Zhuling's big eyes shone as she looked at Ma Feifei.
Ma Feifei shook his head. "You're in such poor health. You'd better not go."
He was genuinely afraid something might happen to Zhou Zhuling.
Zhou Zhuling smiled softly. "I've been feeling much better lately. It'll be fine."
She wasn't lying. Her illness hadn't improved, but it had been kept under control. She hadn't vomited blood in a long time, and her complexion was now much better than before—at least, she wasn't so pale anymore.
Ma Feifei felt he didn't have any real reason to stop her, so he could only agree. But he didn't bring up traveling to the imperial capital together again, as if he'd forgotten why he had come in the first place.
Zhou Zhuling, on the other hand, had grown more at ease. Seeing that Ma Feifei wasn't stopping her, she became quite happy and seemed to perk up. Looking at him openly, she asked, "Could I go to the imperial capital with you, Big Brother Ma?"
Ma Feifei looked into Zhou Zhuling's eyes. This time, she didn't lower her head or look away. Her clear, bright eyes gazed straight at him, and Ma Feifei could even see his own reflection in them.
Almost unconsciously, Ma Feifei nodded. "All right."
"Smack!"
At some point, Yun Qingyang had come up beside Ma Feifei. She slapped a hand on the table and said coolly, "Together, fine. Pay up."
After speaking, Yun Qingyang shot Ma Feifei a look full of disdain.
"..."
On the road to the imperial capital, the three hundred students of Zhenguan Academy rode on Great Pengs, soaring above the clouds in little groups as they chatted.
Although the Qin and Chu kingdoms hadn't gone to war this time, these three hundred students from Zhenguan Academy were heroes regardless of whether the national war had begun. Their life stories had gained another impressive achievement.
They'd have something to brag about in the future, too—proudly declaring that they had once taken part in the Qin-Chu War. It had happened only once in five thousand years. What an honor.
The academy had also sent word that all three hundred students would receive rewards from both the kingdom and the academy when they returned. So the young prodigies were excited throughout the journey.
Oh, right. Only two hundred and ninety-nine of the three hundred students would be rewarded. The remaining one would be expelled from the academy: Yang Chengzhi.
"Are you sure Yang Chengzhi hasn't returned to the academy?" On the foremost Great Peng, the Wu Zhang brothers stood behind a man in blue robes. The man looked to be in his early twenties, stood about six feet tall, and was strikingly handsome, with an impressive bearing.
He was Xiaoyaozi, who had held the top spot on the Dragon Ranking ever since he entered Zhenguan Academy.
A beautiful woman was nestled beside Xiaoyaozi. When she heard him mention Yang Chengzhi, her brows twitched almost imperceptibly.
Facing Xiaoyaozi, Junior Brother Wu lowered his head a little and replied quietly, "Yes. Senior Brother Zhang and I ran into him in town."
Senior Brother Zhang nodded beside him, confirming that it was true.
"Afraid of being expelled when he gets back?" Xiaoyaozi gazed at the wide-open sky ahead and sneered.
"The Dragon Ranking competition is coming up. Maybe he wants to put off his return until then, place in the competition, and get the academy to cancel his punishment," Senior Brother Zhang said after hesitating.
"With cultivation at the Spirit Master Sixth Stage?" Xiaoyaozi smiled faintly. He glanced back at the three hundred students and said, "Even the weakest here is at the Spirit Master Eighth Stage, right?"
"And I've heard this year's incoming class is the strongest in a thousand years, full of exceptionally gifted students. Does Yang Chengzhi really think he can place in the Dragon Ranking competition with cultivation at the Spirit Master Sixth Stage?"
Junior Brother Wu pursed his lips but said nothing.
Senior Brother Zhang seemed to want to say something, but in the end, he held back.
The two seemed to be in perfect agreement. They didn't tell Xiaoyaozi that they had fought Yang Chengzhi, nor did they tell him that Yang Chengzhi's cultivation had already advanced.
The two said nothing, and Xiaoyaozi didn't mind. He drew the beautiful woman into his arms and gazed into the distance, saying casually, "If you get the chance, kill him."
That was the bearing of the strong: deciding another person's fate with a few words.
At that moment, inside the Mysterious Bookstore, Ma Feifei sat across from Yang Chengzhi. He held up a red cape, gesturing with it as he spoke so animatedly that spit flew everywhere.
Yang Chengzhi, by contrast, looked awkward as he sat there listening to Ma Feifei.
"Brother Yang, don't worry. I guarantee that you'll look absolutely dashing in this cape. You'll have a whole crowd of fangirls falling for you at the Dragon Ranking competition."
A couple of days ago, Ma Feifei had taken advantage of the weekend to have a cape custom-made for Yang Chengzhi. He'd planned to give it to him as soon as Yang Chengzhi came to the bookstore today, but Yang Chengzhi didn't seem to want it, which was how they'd ended up in this situation.
Yang Chengzhi awkwardly tugged at the corner of his mouth and glanced at the words on the back of the red cape. "The cape looks pretty good, but those words on the back..."
"Raise your cultivation—come to the Mysterious Bookstore in Dubian Town."
Before you continue