Chapter 3 Su Youwei

Because of the silk-clothed youngster's sudden interjection, the crowd in the church fell silent for a moment. Many youngsters and young girls glanced at the former. They all silently retracted their gazes because the identity of the person who spoke was not ordinary either.

His father was the Western County Governor of the Great Zhou Empire. Of course, in terms of status, he was far inferior to Your Highness, the Great Zhou Empire, but everyone knew that the person backing Xu Lin was the young master of the Manor of King Qi, Qi Yue.

Zhou Yuan glanced at Xu Lin, lightly tapped the table with his finger, and then casually retracted his gaze. This guy, in order to curry favor with Qi Yue, really did hold nothing back.

"This Xu Lin sure likes to curry favor with Qi Yue … "It seems like his father must have also joined the Qi King's camp …"

Zhou Yuan's gaze became deeper. He had once heard from Royal Father that this Qi King had the support of the Great Wu Empire, so in these past few years, he had always been secretly stirring up trouble in the Great Zhou Empire.

And because he was afraid of the Great Wu, afraid that they would give him an excuse to deal with them, Zhou Qing did not dare to directly act against them on the surface.

And because of this relationship, Qi Yue, who was also learning in the Great Zhou Mansion, would naturally have some conflicts with him.

When Xu Lin saw that Zhou Yuan did not say anything, the ridicule on the corner of his mouth grew even more intense, and just as he was about to continue speaking, the instructor suddenly glared at him, causing him to shut his mouth.

In Great Zhou Mansion, if he was expelled, it would be a huge loss to him.

Only after the two of them had quieted down did the atmosphere in the lecture hall slowly return to normal. The instructor continued to explain the three Origin Mark s until two hours later, the bell rang.

"Okay, that's it for today. We'll continue tomorrow." The lecturer packed up his things and walked out of the church.

With the departure of the lecturer, the tense atmosphere within the lecture hall immediately relaxed. Many youths and young girls crowded around them as they burst out in lively laughter.

Zhou Yuan also casually cleaned up the table and prepared to leave.

"Your Highness."

As he was packing, a gentle voice suddenly sounded out. Zhou Yuan raised his head and saw a young lady standing beside his desk, smiling at him.

The young lady was wearing the uniform of the Great Zhou Mansion students. Although it was a little loose, it still outlined the well-developed curves of her body. Those simple pants accentuated her long and slender legs.

Her skin was white and tender, her nose was jade-like, and her eyebrows were like almond-shaped eyebrows. She was a rare beauty, especially with a teardrop mark at the corner of her eyes.

Her rosy lips were slightly pursed. Although she didn't have any expensive jewelry on her body and she looked simple, she had a strong aura to her. Her long hair was tied up in a ponytail and was filled with energy.

She was just standing there gracefully, yet she attracted the gazes of many youngsters in the church.

Zhou Yuan looked at the girl in front of him. The intelligent and moving girl had a smile on her slightly scholarly face. "It's Youwei."

The young girl's surname was Su, and her name was Youwei.

When their gazes met, the pretty face of the girl named Su Youwei blushed slightly. Then, she shifted her gaze towards the messy table that Zhou Yuan was sitting on, sat down and pursed her lips: "Your Highness, it's better if I help you clean up."

Zhou Yuan laughed, and did not reject her since the relationship between the two of them was indeed not ordinary.

As a result, the girl got busy at Zhou Yuan's desk and helped him tidy up the messy stuff. It attracted the gazes of many of the boys in the church, and they stared at Zhou Yuan with boiling hot gazes. The jealousy in their eyes was about to surge out.

"Is your grandfather well?" Looking at the busy girl, Zhou Yuan asked while holding onto his chin.

Hearing Zhou Yuan's words, Su Youwei lifted her face and pulled up a strand of black hair that had drifted before her eyes with her jade-like hand. A smile immediately emerged on her face.

"It's all good now, Grandfather said that if he had the time, he still wanted to invite Your Highness to his house, but his house is too dilapidated, I'm afraid …"

"Alright, I'll go when the next holiday comes." Zhou Yuan laughed.

Hearing Zhou Yuan's unhesitating reply, Su Youwei bit her lips lightly. She looked at him and the water in her eyes flickered for a moment, then, afraid that she would be detected, she quickly lowered her head.

She still remembered the day she met Zhou Yuan a year ago.

That might have been her greatest despair, but it was also the day of hope.

She braved the torrential rain while carrying her grandfather on her back. Because she lacked money, she could only kneel in front of the medicine stores in the rooms, crying and begging, hoping that the doctors would save her grandfather.

At that time, she was covered in mud and mud, looking extremely miserable.

In the end, all of the medicinal plants were shut. Under the torrential rain, she could feel the entire sky turning dark and her heart turning as cold as ice.

Just when she was about to go numb from despair, she felt someone walk up to her side and place an umbrella in her hands. Then, under her unfocused gaze, she walked up and kicked the tightly shut door of the medicine shop open.

At that time, there seemed to be an ice-cold voice coming from there.

"Open the door! Save them!"

At that time, Su Youwei had been looking at his back in a daze. In the past, the person she hated the most was this kind of playboy, but at that time, she felt that perhaps, the back of this youth who kicked open the door, would be unforgettable even to her death …

And it was from that day onwards that she got to know Zhou Yuan. Later on, she found out his identity, which was Your Highness from Great Zhou Empire.

Afterwards, by a fluke, Zhou Yuan noticed that she had talent in cultivation and recommended her to the Great Zhou Mansion. From then on, she underwent a world-shaking transformation …

In the first month since she entered the Great Zhou Mansion, she had successfully opened the first meridian, and became the fastest person to open a new meridian since the creation of the Great Zhou Mansion. From then on, she became the so-called genius of the people in the Great Zhou Mansion.

Suddenly, no one noticed, and turned into the center of attention. Su Youwei also felt a bit uncomfortable, and at times, there would be people who disliked her and Zhou Yuan's relationship, and would secretly say that Zhou Yuan helped her because they saw her beauty.

However, Su Youwei only laughed it off, because only she herself knew clearly how dirty she was when she first met Zhou Yuan …

"Hey, how high are you going to stack my books?" Zhou Yuan looked at Su Youwei helplessly. At this time, the latter was clearly lost in thought, so he folded the books on his table like it was an arhat.

"Huh?" Su Youwei also regained her senses, seeing her masterpiece, she immediately blushed red and quickly put it down: "Your Highness, I am sorry, I will clean up again!"

Therefore, when the surrounding people looked at Zhou Yuan, they immediately became more vicious. She thought that if it wasn't for the fact that they were afraid of Zhou Yuan's identity, she would have come out to save the goddess.

"Now that you're so beautiful, I don't even dare to order you around." Sensing those gazes, Zhou Yuan could only shake his head and say.

When Su Youwei heard this, she also let out a low laugh, and said: "Then in the future, how about I put some stuff on my face to make me look a little uglier?"

In response, Zhou Yuan could only roll his eyes.

"That's right …" Zhou Yuan pointed to the table and asked: "How many meridians have you opened now?"

Su Youwei was startled for a moment, looked at Zhou Yuan, and then carefully replied: "It's the third vein."

She knew that because of some reasons, Zhou Yuan seemed to be unable to open her meridians for cultivation all this time, so when they were getting along, she would not take the initiative to mention the matter of opening her meridians, and she would never brag about her progress.

"He's already at the third meridian. According to his current speed, he'll probably be able to open all eight meridians in a year or two." Zhou Yuan's talent in cultivation was obviously extremely outstanding. It had not even been a year and she had already achieved several years' worth of achievements.

This made him exceptionally proud. It seemed like he had inadvertently picked up a treasure.

"In two months time, this year's Great Examination will be. You have to work hard and try to open the fourth vein, then enter the top ten in the Great Examination. I put in a lot of effort to get your spot, and as long as you can enter the top ten, you'll get personal guidance from the Prefecture Master, which will be of great benefit to you." Zhou Yuan said.

Su Youwei's hands that were cleaning the table slightly froze, her head was lowered, and she did not dare look at Zhou Yuan.

"What's wrong?" Sensing her change, Zhou Yuan was a little doubtful.

Su Youwei's face was almost buried in her chest as she said softly, "I, I don't have any more placings."

Zhou Yuan stared blankly for a moment, then frowned: "What's going on?"

His tone was not heavy, but it made Su Youwei's heart race even faster. Gritting her teeth tightly, she was unable to say anything for a long time, but a young lady, who had a good relationship with Su Youwei, interrupted: "It's still not that Xu Lin, he was talking bad about you everywhere in the residence a few days ago. Youwei is arguing with him, asking him to apologize.

Zhou Yuan frowned, and said: "That Xu Lin has only opened two meridians, he shouldn't be able to beat Youwei, right?"

The young lady curled her lips and said: "It was these geniuses who opened the third vein, and that Xu Lin, on the other hand, was extremely shameless.

Zhou Yuan's face did not look good. He stared at Su Youwei who had her head lowered and reproached: "Why didn't you tell me earlier?"

Su Youwei made a fist with her jade hands and said softly: "It's all my fault. I don't want to cause any more trouble with Your Highness."

Seeing her expression, Zhou Yuan felt pained, this girl, being stubborn sometimes, was similarly a headache, thus, his gaze that contained a sense of coldness, looked at Xu Lin who was giggling in the church.

"Setting a trap to bully a girl, Xu Lin, are you sure you have good methods?" Zhou Yuan laughed coldly, this guy obviously had his eyes on the exam quota in Su Youwei's hands, which was why he intentionally set this situation to anger Su Youwei, and used the quota to compete with him.

Xu Lin said lazily: "I don't know what Your Highness is talking about, so many people have seen it. I won the entry with my own strength, so even if Your Highness asked for it himself, I would not return it."

Zhou Yuan said indifferently: "Do you dare to fight another round?"

Xu Lin chuckled, and said: "Not interested."

Last time he was just lucky, but now Su Youwei had already opened three meridians, how could he be a match for her?

Zhou Yuan swept his eyes across Xu Lin, and said with a sneer: "I didn't let you and Youwei fight.

As he said that, he took out a jade pendant that was flickering with a faint light and placed it on the desk. He said: "If you win, this Gathering Origin Jade will be yours."

Within the church, cries of surprise rang out. Many people looked at the jade pendant with drool in their eyes. This kind of Gathering Origin Jade was beneficial for cultivation. After wearing it for a long time, it could speed up the opening of eight meridians.

"Your Highness!" Su Youwei was also extremely anxious.

It was not because of that Gathering Origin Jade, but because Zhou Yuan wanted to personally fight with Xu Lin. But Zhou Yuan had not even opened a single meridian, how could he be a match for Xu Lin who had two opened meridians?

Zhou Yuan waved his hand at Su Youwei, playing with the jade pendant, he smiled at Xu Lin, showing a ridiculing smile.

"Now, do you dare?"

Xu Lin stared at the Gathering Origin Jade with a fiery look in his eyes, licked his lips, then sneered at Zhou Yuan: "Since Your Highness insists on giving this Gathering Origin Jade to me, then I won't be courteous."

"However, my fists and feet have no eyes. Later, I will injure Your Highness, don't blame me."

Although Xu Lin's actions were strange, Xu Lin did not think that the people he had opened two bloodlines with, would still not be able to defeat people from two bloodlines!

"I hope you have the ability." Zhou Yuan declined to comment.

Xu Lin laughed loudly, treating it as if Zhou Yuan had a stubborn mouth, flung his sleeves, and walked outside. His soft laughter, with a hint of playfulness and ridicule, came from far away.

"Alright, I'll wait for Your Highness at the martial arts arena. I really want to see, how will Your Highness win back the placing today?"

Chapter IV Strength of the Origin Mark

Great Zhou Mansion, Martial Arts Practice Field.

On the other hand, there were many spectators below the stage. From time to time, a few cheers would erupt, and among them, there were a few young and pretty girls, whose beautiful eyes were looking around, causing the youths on the stage to become even more enthusiastic. Each of them would use their own methods to show off their skills.

In the Great Zhou Mansion, the popularity of the Martial Arts Practice Grounds was obviously not weak.

When Xu Lin slowly and unhurriedly ascended onto a Martial Arts Stage, the news of him fighting with Zhou Yuan had already spread throughout the entire training grounds under his control.

"What?" His Highness Zhou Yuan wants to fight with Xu Lin?! "

"How is this possible!?" His Highness Zhou Yuan has not even opened his meridians, but Xu Lin has already opened two! "

"This Xu Lin is truly bullying others, he must have used some despicable method to force His Highness Zhou Yuan."

"…"

When the many students heard the news, they immediately let out shocked cries. Some commoner students even started to fight for Zhou Yuan, just that this kind of fight was too unfair.

For those who opened a meridian, their physical qualities would increase along with it. Their strength, speed, reaction speed, and so on all far surpassed those who did not open a meridian. It could be said that a person who opened a meridian could easily defeat dozens of people who did not.

Xu Lin stood on the stage, and upon hearing these voices, he smiled faintly. Regardless of what the people around him said, after today, the matter of Zhou Yuan being beaten up by him, will definitely spread throughout the entire Great Zhou Mansion. This will undoubtedly cause a blow to the latter's reputation, and become a joke in the mouths of the people.

As Xu Lin's malicious thoughts were churning, the black mass of people surrounding his stage suddenly split apart, revealing a skinny youth who slowly walked over.

The young man was slightly thin and had a scholarly air to him. He had a gentle and refined temperament, and he looked like a weak scholar.

It was naturally Zhou Yuan.

Under the gazes of everyone around him, Zhou Yuan headed straight for the Martial Arts Stage that Xu Lin was in.

"Your Highness." Behind him, Su Youwei followed closely with a slightly anxious look on her face. It was obvious that she still wanted Zhou Yuan to give up on the idea of fighting Xu Lin.

"At this time, I cannot retreat, otherwise, I would have become Your Highness who escaped the battle." Zhou Yuan smiled at Su Youwei.

Su Youwei stopped and bit her lips. She knew that if Zhou Yuan carried this reputation, it would be a huge blow to his reputation.

Su Youwei raised her head and looked at Xu Lin who was on top of the Martial Arts Stage. In that moment, she squinted her eyes, and faintly, there was a sharp look in her eyes.

"Your Highness, I was the one who failed this time and caused trouble for Your Highness. In the future, I will not be careless anymore, and I will not show any mercy." Su Youwei said softly.

Previously, the reason why she lost to Xu Lin was because she did not attack him viciously. Otherwise, Xu Lin would not even have the chance to use the Origin Weapon.

Zhou Yuan was startled, he blinked his eyes at Su Youwei and said: "We are friends, it is only natural to solve some troubles for friends."

With that, he stepped into the Martial Arts Stage.

Su Youwei looked at his back and smiled slightly, warmth flowing out of her heart, but she lowered her eyes, she had already made up her mind, if Xu Lin dared to hurt Zhou Yuan, she would let the latter know what revenge was for the little girl.

"Yo, Your Highness actually dared to come here, I thought you would secretly run back to the palace." Xu Lin smiled as he looked at Zhou Yuan who was standing in front of him, and teased him.

"It seems that you have a lot of confidence in yourself." Zhou Yuan said as he gently straightened his sleeves.

"I never thought that even Your Highness would become so angry at her, it's just that she's not very rational." Xu Lin shrugged his shoulders, obviously treating Zhou Yuan's impulsive actions as just trying to win his favor.

"Let's begin." However, Zhou Yuan didn't have any intention to waste words with him. Extending his legs, he grabbed onto the ground like an old tree, then waved at Xu Lin: "I'll let you attack first."

When these words came out, the surrounding youths and girls of the Martial Arts Stage all looked at each other. They simply could not understand what Zhou Yuan was thinking about.

"Since Your Highness wants to quickly lose face, then I won't be polite." Being looked down upon by Zhou Yuan in such a way, Xu Lin's heart was filled with rage, he let out a cold laugh, and fiercely stomped his foot on the ground, while his figure shot out like an arrow, his five fingers clenched into a fist, a fist aimed straight at Zhou Yuan.

This punch of his brought with it a current of air and was full of power. Even if it was a rock, a crack would still appear on its surface.

Seeing the incoming punch, Zhou Yuan did not dodge, but folded his arms in front of his body, and maintained a defensive posture.

However, his attitude caused the people below to be unable to bear it. With Xu Lin's physique that had broken through two meridians, this punch would probably break Zhou Yuan's bones.

Under the nervous gazes of many people, Xu Lin seemed like a fierce tiger leaving the mountain. His menacing punch landed heavily on Zhou Yuan's arms without any restraint.

Dong!

A low and deep voice rang out, and then, everyone saw as expected, that Zhou Yuan's feet had directly carved a few meters into the ground with a mark, before he was barely able to stabilize his body.

"Ah!"

A blood-curdling screech rang out.

However, it was not released by Zhou Yuan, but by Xu Lin who had released a ferocious punch earlier.

Everyone watched dumbstruck at the scene, Xu Lin held his fist, and continued to scream miserably, his entire fist was red, as though he had smashed onto fine steel.

"You! What are you hiding in your sleeve?! Despicable! " Xu Lin was in so much pain that tears almost flowed out as she roared at Zhou Yuan.

The surrounding people also looked at Zhou Yuan in astonishment. Could it be that Your Highness had some tricks up his sleeves?

Amidst the whispers of the crowd, Zhou Yuan slowly lifted up his sleeves. Soon after, everyone saw that on his arms, there was actually a complex light pattern which emitted a faint black light. The light pattern spread out and eventually covered both of Zhou Yuan's arms.

"This …"

Many students stared at the complex light pattern in shock. In the end, someone suddenly cried out: "That is the Iron Skin Mark that the lecturer previously taught!"

Everyone suddenly realized that it was the Origin Mark!

Su Youwei's tensed up heart was finally at ease at this moment as she heaved a sigh of relief and said in a displeased tone, "So it turns out that Your Highness is already able to inscribe Origin Mark onto his body."

"You, you actually managed to inscribe a Origin Mark on your body?!" Xu Lin also recovered from his shock, looking at the black Origin Mark on Zhou Yuan's arms, he asked in disbelief.

Although he had already seen inscribing Iron Skin Mark in the church, it was only on the jade board. If he wanted to inscribe it on the body, then he would have to be proficient in the acupuncture points and even the meridian channels of the human body, in order to avoid being injured by the Origin Mark. Thus, inscribing the Origin Mark on the body was much more difficult than inscribing on the jade board.

But just as they were unable to even inscribe the Origin Mark on the jade board, Zhou Yuan had already begun to learn how to use it … The gap between them was not small at all.

"Do you really think that I'm powerless before opening my meridians?" Zhou Yuan laughed.

Xu Lin's face was ashen, as he felt a sense of anger from being played around with, and said coldly: "Do you really think that by relying on a Iron Skin Mark, you can win against me today?"

"Now, let me show you the difference between an open meridian practitioner and an open meridian practitioner!"

"Open the meridian!"

Following Xu Lin's explosive shout, a faint light started to appear around his body, the dust under his feet was swept up, and all the Origin Qi in the world started to follow his breath and enter his body.

Swoosh.

At this moment, the clothes all over his body started to flutter.

On the surface of his skin, there was a faint glow. Everyone could feel that Xu Lin's aura had explosively increased at this moment.

The expressions of many students slightly changed. At this time, Xu Lin's body already had Origin Qi flowing through it, and when the Origin Qi flowed through his veins, it would undoubtedly cause Xu Lin's strength and speed to increase exponentially.

Amidst the serious gazes of the students, Zhou Yuan also stared at Xu Lin, and muttered to himself: "Opening two meridians huh …"

"I let you attack me earlier, so this time, it's my turn."

The moment he said that, Zhou Yuan stepped on the ground and rushed towards Xu Lin.

"Arrogant. The current you, your speed, strength, and physical fitness are not even a tenth of mine. You still dare to attack?" Seeing Zhou Yuan rushing over, Xu Lin immediately sneered.

"Is that so?"

The corner of Zhou Yuan's mouth seemed to be smiling.

In the next moment, a faint light suddenly appeared at the place where his feet were naked.

Swish!

Zhou Yuan's body seemed to have become a lot lighter at this moment, his speed suddenly increased, and he rushed out like a cheetah.

"That is …" That's a Light Body Mark! " Someone with sharp eyes saw the light pattern on Zhou Yuan's bare feet, and immediately screamed.

As they were shrieking, Zhou Yuan, who was already very close to them, suddenly jerked his shoulders, and a faint light began to radiate from under his clothes. Although they couldn't see it clearly, everyone could clearly feel that Zhou Yuan's fist, which he swung, was currently filled with a kind of unreasonable strength.

"Bull Mark!" The scream came again.

Iron Skin Mark, Light Body Mark, Bull Mark!

At this time, even Su Youwei couldn't help but cover her small mouth with her hands as her beautiful face was filled with incredulity. This was because in the span of a few breaths, Zhou Yuan had activated three Origin Mark s in succession.

In other words, the three Origin Mark s that the instructor had taught him had already been completely mastered by Zhou Yuan and had even been used on him.

Boom! *

Under the stares from the crowd, the fist of Zhou Yuan, who was controlling three Origin Mark in succession, and his overbearing strength, landed heavily on his body in an incomparably violent manner in front of Xu Lin's shocked eyes.

Dong!

Under the assistance of the three Origin Mark, regardless if it was speed, strength or physique, Zhou Yuan's current strength was no longer inferior to Xu Lin's. Therefore, the moment this fist fell, Xu Lin felt a huge force rush over, and after that, his body directly flew out, smashing heavily onto the ground outside the Martial Arts Stage.

Outside of Martial Arts Stage, the bustling noise had turned silent at this time. Many of the youths and young girls were staring at Zhou Yuan who was on stage with expressions of disbelief.

No one had expected that this would be the result of the exchange.

On the Martial Arts Stage, Zhou Yuan slowly retracted his fist. The light pattern on his arm seemed to have exhausted all of its energy and quickly disappeared.

He rubbed his wrist and then jumped down from the Martial Arts Stage. He extended his hand and took out a jade tablet from Xu Lin's bosom.

"If you can't even beat someone who has yet to open his meridians, you'd better not embarrass yourself by taking the exam." Zhou Yuan smiled as he stared at Xu Lin.

Hearing that, and feeling the ridiculing gazes from the crowd, Xu Lin's heart stopped. He could not help but spurt out a mouthful of blood, and his vision darkened, and he immediately fainted.

He knew that from tomorrow onwards, he would probably become a fresh joke in the mouths of all the students in Great Zhou Mansion.