Entering Jia Academy

A month later, the Great Zhou Mansion's Grand Examination arrived. Mu Chen had now opened four meridians, so placing in the top ten would be no problem. The strength of his four meridians was anything but ordinary. Since he needed to build a solid foundation, he had not pursued speed in Meridian Opening during this stage.

Su Youwei had opened five meridians as well, and opening her sixth was not far off. It could be said that she had opened the most meridians among all the participants in the Grand Examination. If she wanted to, taking first place would be no problem. Her Meridian Opening speed was astonishing; aside from Zhou Yuan's eight meridians opening simultaneously at birth, she was likely among the very best.

She also took medicinal baths with Ancestral Stone Spirit Liquid from time to time, so there were no issues with her foundation. It was exceptionally stable.

Mu Chen had invited Yaoyao to come and watch with them, but Yaoyao directly declined. She did not like overly lively places. Tuntun came along instead, sprawled atop Mu Chen's head.

Mu Chen immediately became the most eye-catching guy in the entire venue, after all, he had an adorable little beast perched on his head.

"Mu Chen, if you take first place, I won't have a chance." Zhou Yuan looked much healthier than before. Although he had only opened two meridians, opening them meant his physical constitution had become stronger.

"Youwei and I only need to make the top ten. Neither of us needs to show off this time, so we'll give you the opportunity." Mu Chen spoke calmly. With four and five meridians, standing out in the Grand Examination would be easy.

His junior brother wanted to put on a performance, so as his senior brother, Mu Chen naturally had to give way.

Zhou Yuan's mouth twitched. I want to show what I can do, not show off... Well, calling it showing off wasn't exactly wrong.

The Grand Examination began. Mu Chen and Su Youwei stood beneath the platform, staring at each other.

Since there were only a handful of people with four or five meridians in the Grand Examination, their opponents immediately conceded and withdrew the moment they saw how many meridians they had opened. Thus, the two of them advanced directly into the top ten.

Mu Chen was slightly better off. He encountered a stubborn three-meridian opponent and ended the fight in two moves. After that, the opponents matched against him in the drawing all withdrew. Su Youwei did not even fight a single match. Once her five meridians were revealed, even Lin Feng, who had the highest cultivation at four meridians, had no intention of challenging her.

They did not get to experience the joy of crushing weaker opponents at all. Opening meridians too quickly had its downsides too.

On the steps not far away, Qi Yue and the others watched Mu Chen and Su Youwei with uncertainty in their eyes. These two were a little too frightening. Among those of the same batch, most had only opened two or three meridians, while four meridians already made one outstanding. Su Youwei's five meridians were thus utterly astounding.

"Such geniuses actually know our Highness. Are they planning to rely on them to deal with us?" Qi Yue sneered.

He did not regard Zhou Yuan, who had been unable to open his meridians, as a threat at all. Mu Chen and Su Youwei only warranted a bit of his attention. The Meridian Opening Realm posed no threat to King Qi's Mansion.

"Perhaps one's a lackey and the other's his mistress." Jealous hatred flickered in Liu Xi's eyes. Su Youwei had stolen her reputation. It would have been one thing if Su Youwei had status equal to hers, but what right did a commoner have?

Most importantly, not only was Su Youwei more beautiful than her, she had now displayed such astonishing Meridian Opening speed. How could Liu Xi not be even more envious and resentful?

"Watch your mouth, or I won't mind slapping a woman's face."

Mu Chen's voice was icy as his indifferent gaze fell upon Liu Xi. Su Youwei had not heard her, but with Mu Chen's powerful Soul Power, he had naturally heard every word clearly.

Liu Xi's pupils shrank as she took a step back. She felt bone-chilling coldness and a dangerous aura surge into her heart.

"My friend, isn't threatening a woman a little petty?" Qi Yue looked at Mu Chen with a smile. No matter what, Liu Xi was one of his people. Threatening her was also a slap to his face.

"Who the hell are you? Tuntun, get him. Beat him up."

Mu Chen's abrupt turn nearly threw Qi Yue's back out.

"???"

Tuntun opened its eyes in confusion and glanced at Qi Yue. This little nobody? Did Lord Tuntun really need to make a move?

It would feel humiliating just to deal with Qi Yue, so it closed its eyes again.

Qi Yue sneered. This Source Beast looked utterly unremarkable, probably nothing more than a pet. He had no idea that even if his father, King Qi, came personally, Tuntun would still give him two slaps.

When the Grand Examination ended, aside from the minor incident on Mu Chen's side, Zhou Yuan's performance could only be described as a stunning rise to fame. No one had expected a dark horse to emerge, much less that it would be the prince who had been unable to open his meridians.

Now that Zhou Yuan had opened his meridians, he was no longer someone they could look down upon. At the two-meridian level, he had defeated Lin Feng. His ability to fight above his realm truly shocked them.

In the end, among the top ten, Mu Chen and the other four entered Jia Academy, while the remaining five entered Yi Academy.

This result already greatly satisfied Mansion Lord Chu. In the previous examinations, nearly all of the top ten had gone to Yi Academy. Jia Academy had also been inferior to Yi Academy these past two years, with all the promising seedlings gathered in Yi Academy.

What made Chu Tianyang happiest was that Mu Chen's group of three had entered. Looking across the Great Zhou Mansion's history, there had never been anyone more outstanding than them. When the Mansion Examination came at the end of the year, it was still uncertain who would win and who would lose.

"You really gave me face," Zhou Yuan said with a smile.

The Great Zhou Mansion no longer served much purpose for Mu Chen and Su Youwei. Even if they left immediately, it would not affect them in any way.

"You're my junior brother and our friend. Helping you put on a show is nothing. But if you feel bad about it, this would work too." Mu Chen rubbed his fingers together.

The quickest way to get money was to ask Zhou Yuan for it. Even a starving camel was bigger than a horse. Though the royal family was no longer at its peak, they could still afford Source Crystals. A few tens of thousands would last them a long time.

Yaoyao's drinking really cost quite a bit, and the alcohol she drank was getting more and more expensive. His little treasury was no longer enough.

"..."

"Easy enough. I'll speak with Father when the time comes, though Great Zhou is quite poor lately, so we can't give you too much." Zhou Yuan's eye twitched as he spoke.

Most of their funds had now been poured into the army, all for the crisis that would arrive before long. Whether it was King Qi's Mansion or the more distant Great Wu Dynasty, neither had ever stopped coveting Great Zhou.

Zhou Qing knew that Great Zhou could currently contend with King Qi's Mansion, but against the Great Wu Dynasty, they had absolutely no chance of victory.

Yet they could not simply sit and wait for death. At the very least, they had to hold on until Zhou Yuan was capable of resolving the situation. Thus, all they could do next was defend with everything they had.

"If there's no money, wine will do. There should be quite a lot of wine in the royal treasury, right?" Mu Chen asked.

"Wine is no problem. I can give you all of it." Zhou Yuan patted his chest in assurance as he thought to himself.

Father, you'll understand. Besides, Mu Chen is the worthy nephew you think so highly of. So you'll just have to drink a little less from now on. It'll be good for your health, and Mother won't object either.

The very filial Zhou Yuan decided that once he returned, he would move all the wine out of the treasury.

Su Youwei smiled. She knew Mu Chen was preparing it for Yaoyao. During this time, she had deeply experienced just how astonishing Yaoyao's capacity for alcohol was. She drank wine as though it were fruit juice.