Chapter 45: Before the Mansion Examination

In the mountains and forests.

Zhou Yuan stood on a mountain rock, surrounded by five massive azure wolves. Low growls emanated from their mouths.

These were Wind Spirit Wolves, also first-grade Genesis Beasts. Known for their speed and pack hunting, they were incredibly troublesome. Even a seventh-vein practitioner would have to temporarily avoid them; they were considered dominant in this area.

However, there was little fear on Zhou Yuan's face; instead, he seemed eager to try.

One Wind Spirit Wolf attacked first, its azure figure darting out like a shadow. Its sharp claws ripped through the air, tearing fiercely towards Zhou Yuan's back.

But its attack had no effect. Zhou Yuan's figure flickered, subtly blurring, and the sharp claws struck empty air.

As the Wind Spirit Wolf's attack missed, Zhou Yuan's counterattack erupted like thunder. His fingers clenched into a fist, powerful Genesis Qi surged, and he punched the wolf's waist. With a crack, the wolf's bones snapped, and it died instantly.

"Awoo!" With the death of one Wind Spirit Wolf, the eyes of the other four turned crimson. They howled and shot forward.

"Combat Form!" Zhou Yuan laughed heartily and charged directly at the four Wind Spirit Wolves. With a grip of his hand, the Heavenly Yuan Brush expanded in his grasp, becoming like a long spear. A sweep of its shaft sent one Wind Spirit Wolf flying.

"Swoosh, swoosh!" In the forest, one man and four wolves engaged in a fierce battle. Zhou Yuan, wielding the Heavenly Yuan Brush like a heavy iron spear, swept it around, creating powerful gusts of wind that prevented the four Wind Spirit Wolves from approaching. The brush tip, with its snow-white bristles pressed together, gleamed sharply, leaving deep bloody gashes whenever it grazed a Wind Spirit Wolf's body.

The battle was fierce and ended quickly.

Several minutes later, Zhou Yuan stood his ground, the Heavenly Yuan Brush tilted towards the earth, blood trickling from its tip. Around him, the bodies of the five Wind Spirit Wolves grew cold.

Zhou Yuan slowly exhaled a breath of turbid air. His eyes, opening and closing, gleamed sharply like blades. The nearly two months of cultivation in the mountains had subtly imbued Zhou Yuan with a hint of ferocity.

"Scholarly Form." The Heavenly Yuan Brush in his hand rapidly shrunk to about a foot in length and was tucked into Zhou Yuan's waistband.

He raised his head, squinting slightly at the sunlight filtering through the gaps in the forest. "The Prefectural Examination is in a few days," he murmured, "it's about time I went back."

He had been cultivating in these mountains for over two months, and his fifth meridian had been fully opened a month prior.

However, realizing that his meridian opening speed would decrease once he left the Genesis Beast-filled mountains, Zhou Yuan had not departed. Instead, he continued to hone himself by battling the Genesis Beasts in the forest.

He bent down, extracted the Beast Soul Crystals from the heads of the five Wind Spirit Wolves, then turned and left the forest. Half an hour later, he returned to the valley.

"Are you heading back?" Yaoyao, seeing Zhou Yuan return, seemed to know he was preparing to leave. She immediately stretched, her slender waist outlining captivating curves.

Having lived with Cang Yuan in a secluded space previously, she was long accustomed to such a lifestyle. Thus, she had spent these past two months quite leisurely.

Zhou Yuan smiled and nodded, then let out a whistle. Soon, over a dozen figures emerged from the forest—the guards who had been secretly protecting him.

"Inform Commander Lu to prepare for our return to Great Zhou City."

Watching the guards respectfully retreat, Zhou Yuan turned his head, his gaze seemingly piercing through layers of mountains and forests to see Great Zhou City.

"A while ago, the guards reported that Qi Yue has already opened seven meridians... That guy does have some capability."

Zhou Yuan's lips were tightly pursed, and a cold glint appeared in his eyes.

This Qi Yue had been constantly causing him trouble ever since he entered Great Zhou Prefecture. Not long ago, he even resorted to underhanded tactics against him, and after losing the Inch Radiance Art, he even tried to threaten him with Su Youwei.

All these actions had ignited Zhou Yuan's intent to kill.

"There haven't been many opportunities before, but this time, at the Prefectural Examination... Qi Yue, we'll settle these scores, one by one!"

Great Zhou Royal Palace.

The moment Zhou Yuan returned to the Royal Palace, Zhou Qing and Qin Yu rushed over.

As soon as Qin Yu saw Zhou Yuan, she quickly went up to him, put her arm around his shoulder, and said with tender concern, "My child, you've been gone for so long. Look how thin you've become."

In reality, Zhou Yuan was now a bit more robust, but in Qin Yu's eyes, cultivating in the remote mountains was nothing but hardship.

Zhou Yuan also smiled and hugged Qin Yu. After talking and comforting her for a while, he had Yaoyao accompany Qin Yu while he walked aside with Zhou Qing.

"You've opened five meridians?" Zhou Qing glanced at Zhou Yuan and smiled.

Zhou Yuan nodded.

"Lu Tieshan told me about what happened earlier. I didn't expect that Qi Yue would be so daring as to attack you," Zhou Qing said, a cold glint flashing across his face.

It seemed he had been too lenient with the Qi Royal Household over the years, which allowed them to act so unscrupulously. However, he also had his reasons; after all, if they were to openly confront the Qi Royal Household now, the Great Zhou Dynasty would inevitably face a devastating war, which would be extremely disadvantageous to Great Zhou.

Therefore, he felt somewhat guilty about Zhou Yuan's attack, believing that if he, as a father, had been more capable, Zhou Yuan would not have been in danger.

Zhou Yuan, aware of Zhou Qing's long-suffering endurance, smiled and pulled out the jade slip of the "Profound Radiance Art" from his embrace. "Father, don't worry," he said, "I didn't suffer a loss this time."

"The Profound Radiance Art? It truly fell into your hands!" Zhou Qing was slightly startled, then couldn't help but laugh. He naturally knew that the Qi Royal Household had been frantically searching for this very art recently.

"Let them pay a small price for now," Zhou Yuan said. "As for Qi Yue, Father, don't worry. I'll settle accounts with him properly at the Prefectural Examination in three days."

Seeing Zhou Yuan, whose expression was calm but whose words exuded sharpness and confidence, Zhou Qing nodded with some relief. The two months of cultivation in the deep mountains had indeed allowed a subtle edge to emerge from Zhou Yuan.

"This Prefectural Examination is extremely important," Zhou Qing said slowly. "If Academy A is defeated by Academy B again, the position of Great Zhou Prefecture Lord might fall into the hands of the Qi Royal Household. All these years, their schemes have been waiting for this very day."

Zhou Yuan nodded as well. He clearly understood the importance of this examination. It seemed like just a conflict between two academies, but behind it lay the prestige of both the Great Zhou Royal Family and the Qi Royal Household.

Previously, he couldn't open his meridians, so he naturally couldn't help with this matter. But now that he had opened five meridians, if the Qi Royal Household still wanted to usurp control of Great Zhou Prefecture, they would have to ask for his approval first.

Zhou Yuan took a deep breath, his gaze sharp. His months of arduous cultivation had been precisely for this day!