After returning to his seat beside the bonfire, Zhou Yuan could clearly feel the changes in how everyone looked at him. There was no longer any scrutiny, but instead admiration and surprise.

　　"It seems that it is true, you did defeat Qi Yue." Wei Qingqing's bright eyes glowed with amazement as she stared at Zhou Yuan. She had previously been under the impression that something fishy had been going on during the cla.s.s ranking exam, but the formidable attack Zhou Yuan showed earlier had stunned even someone like herself.

　　Only a handful of people under the Qi Nouris.h.i.+ng stage would be capable of receiving such a strike.

　　"I was blind previously. Please accept this toast as an apology." The straightforward Wei Qingqing raised her winecup towards Zhou Yuan and downed it in a single gulp.

　　Her motions were confident and contained no traces of deception.

　　Zhou Yuan smiled as he returned the toast. The tiny bit of sulkiness he had from before due to Wei Qingqing's tartness has faded away. In fact, he rather admired the latter's forthcoming att.i.tude.

　　Beside Wei Qingqing, Wei Ting smirked and said, "Hehe, prince Zhou Yuan does indeed have some skill. However, the extremely dangerous Blackwater is located right next to Canglan County. Defeating an eight channel pract.i.tioner is really no reason to feel secure. I'm afraid that your highness will still have to be a little more careful while you're here."

　　Zhou Yuan faintly smiled in response. "There is no need for you to worry too much on my behalf."

　　He could tell that Wei Ting was a little smitten with Qi Hao and as the saying went, if you loved someone, you'll also hate his enemies. Thus, Zhou Yuan could feel that she was pitting herself against him.

　　However, it did not really matter to him. Wei Ting was only Wei Canglan's niece, and her status nowhere near as important as Wei Qingqing's.

　　Qi Hao's rigid expression recovered at this moment, a smile emerging on his face once again as he said to Zhou Yuan, "Your highness is pretty good. No wonder my unworthy little brother lost to you."

　　Zhou Yuan replied with a slight smile, "It's mostly thanks to Qi Manor's Auraflare technique."

　　Qi Hao's face instantly blackened. Even someone as shrewd as himself was barely able to hold back a spew of vulgarities in response to Zhou Yuan's words.

　　Yet, he could not refute those words because they were true. Zhou Yuan had used Qi Manor's Auraflare technique to defeat both Qi Yue and the eight channel man from earlier.

　　Qi Hao's eyes were stormy as he said, "Your highness should be careful. Things that belong to Qi Manor are not so easily swallowed!"

　　"Then I hope that no one else will deliver such treasures to me again." Zhou Yuan chuckled.

　　Murder flowed in their eyes as they looked at each other.

　　*Cough*!

　　Suddenly, a soft cough from Wei Qingqing broke the tension as she shot each of them a glance and said in a calm voice, "This is Canglan County. Regardless of how huge of a grudge there is between you two, it is best that neither of you breaks Canglan County's rules."

　　As Wei Canglan's daughter, how could she not know of the terrible relations.h.i.+p between the royal clan and Qi Manor. But since Wei Canglan chose to be neutral, they naturally would not help either party.