Outside the secret dimension, the crowd suddenly exploded, and many of the people who were watching the competition showed a strong sense of interest.
"There seems to be something happening!" Zhuang Qian said with excitement.
Chen Yuan looked at the scene inside the secret dimension, and his eyes glowed, "Oh, those two people actually met each other. How great, the two Qi family members, it'll be a dog-eat-dog fight [1]."
Qi Shaofu looked at Chen Yuan and asked, "Young Master Chen, what did you say?"
Chen Yuan shook his head and said: "Nothing."
Qi Shaofu: "…"
Zhuang Qian tugged at Qi Shaofu's sleeves and said: "Young Fu, your second brother and your fourth brother are about to fight, who do you think is going to win?!"
Qi Shaofu shook his head and said: "I don't know."
"Then who do you want to win?!" Zhuang Qian continued to ask.
Qi Shaofu shook his head again, saying: "I don't know."
Qi Shaokang has always been the object of his worship. As for Qi Shaorong, he always thought that he was just like the carpet that lined the ground for them. As it turns out, the one who was always at the bottom suddenly bared his teeth and revealed his true colours. Qi Shaofu felt like the world had turned upside down.
"Qi Shaorong is actually going up against Qi Shaokang," said Li Hong.
Qi Shaorong and Qi Shaokang, one is the waste material of Qi family, the other is the genius of Qi family. The two have often been compared with each other, and today, they're finally facing off inside the secret dimension.
"Except for Zhuang Hao, out of the rest of the Seven Imperial Talents, no one is Qi Shaorong's opponent." Hu Feng said with confidence.
"The Seven Imperial Talents still have some skills though," said Li Hong.
"Skills? What skills? Look at Chen Yuan, it didn't even take that much time for him to be thrown out by Qi Shaorong." Hu Feng said disdainfully.
Li Hong: "…" Chen Yuan was kicked out on the first day. After the Hundred Schools Battle, he's afraid that that guy might not be able to keep his position within the Imperial Talents anymore.
Qi Shaokang stood under the sycamore tree and looked up at Qi Shaorong, who was sitting at the top of the tree, and asked, "Why are you up there?"
Qi Shaorong showed a helpless expression and said, "I was caught by the black starling, it's probably planning on keeping me as reserve food."
Qi Shaokang stared at Qi Shaorong, "Is it?"
"Yes! Second Brother, can you help me down?" Qi Shaorong asked.
"Sure!"
Qi Shaokang launched a fire-based magic attack, and the sharp flame slashed across the tree trunk beneath Qi Shaorong's feet.
The sycamore tree was cut into two sections horizontally across the trunk. Qi Shaorong, who was sitting up in the tree, gathered up his colourful stones and lightly landed on the ground.
The giant tree, which was about three meters in diameter, fell to the ground with a loud thud.
A wave of dark magic emerged from Qi Shaorong's body, and the flame that was summoned by Qi Shaokang disappeared completely under the influence of the dark magic.
"Second Brother, you are very smart! Much better than those idiots from before," said Qi Shaorong with a smile, his eyes exuding a dark light.
"All the people who entered this area have disappeared, but you are fine. Isn't it very strange?" Qi Shaokang said.
Qi Shaorong raised his lips and said, "I heard that before Second Brother went into the secret dimension, you specifically told the other Shenghuang students that if they met me in here, they should kick me out. I should really thank you for your hard work."
Qi Shaokang smiled at Qi Shaorong, "We're all brothers, Fourth Brother, you're welcome."
Qi Shaorong smiled brightly and said, "Second Brother, you've been so caring towards me, and I don't want to be stingy as your little brother either. Second Brother, you see this secret dimension is very dangerous and there are mosquitoes everywhere. It's not easy to sleep at night. What place is more relaxing than home, after all! Why don't you let me send you out of here, and you can go accompany Chen Yuan?"
Qi Shaokang looked at Qi Shaorong and smiled: "If you want to send me out, it depends on whether or not you have the ability to, Fourth Brother."
Outside the dimension.
Chen Yuan, who was watching Qi Shaorong and Qi Shaokong, swallowed and said: "The people from Qi family are all so abnormal!"
Zhuang Qian nodded in amusement. If he hadn't known what they were actually talking about, then he would've thought that the two people inside were brothers with a good relationship.
Inside the secret dimension, Qi Shaorong and Qi Shaokang both attacked each other at the same time. Qi Shaorong exuded a thick sheen of black light all over his body. One by one his magical attacks continued to emerge, and Qi Shaokang completely fell behind.
Zhuang Qian looked at Chen Yuan and asked: "Brother Chen, Qi Shaokang isn't Qi Shaorong's opponent at all! Aren't they both level six mages?"
Qi Shaorong's casting speed completely overtakes Qi Shaokang's.
Chen Yuan watched as Qi Shaorong sent out six large magic attacks in a row, but appeared as if there was no depletion of magic at all.
"The mage who possesses the spiritual talent of the heavens is much stronger than a magician of the same level," said Chen Yuan.
Chen Yuan narrowed his eyes. Before, Hu Feng had said that Qi Shaorong possessed a heavenly spiritual strength. Chen Yuan had thought that Hu Feng was lying, he knew many talents in the capital after all, but the only one who possessed a heavenly spiritual character was Zhuang Hao.
Generally speaking, those with a heavenly spiritual talent are all absolute geniuses. Having this talent is equivalent to having a ticket to entering the Holy Class [2].
Chen Yuan took a deep breath and secretly thought: What happened recently! Peerless geniuses are all coming out one after another. It wasn't enough to only have Zhuang Hao, but then there's Qi Shaorong, and that Qian Mian. They definitely aren't simple characters. According to logic, a spiritual genius of the heavens should only appear once every few hundred years.
Zhuang Qian touched his chin and said with some regrets: "Unfortunately, my elder brother likes the Ghost Doctor. Otherwise, that Qi Shaorong and my brother would actually match quite well together."
Chen Yuan: "…"
In the secret dimension, Qi Shaorong's hair flew everywhere as he faced Qi Shaokang with ease.
"Fourth Brother, I really underestimated you. If you have such skill, why not go back to Qi family?"
"Why should I go back to Qi family? Would I go home to find someone to take care of me?" Qi Shaorong asked.
Qi Shaokang looked at Qi Shaorong and said, "You can receive Qi family's special training if you go back."
"Qi family has so many people, when you split up all the resources, how much pocket money is there left? Such a small amount isn't even enough for me to fill in the gaps between my teeth [3]." Qi Shaorong said with disdain.
Qi Shaokang: "…"
Qi Shaokang wanted to continue saying something, but suddenly an ice-based magic attack flew out from behind. Qi Shaokang tried to resist, but was imprisoned by Qi Shaorong's dark magic prison cage.
Qi Shaokang was hit by the ice attack and fell to the ground.
"Why did you and him talk so about much? The competition time has almost reached the halfway point, time is precious!" Yi Fan, who was wearing Chen Yuan's face, walked out.
Qi Shaorong shrugged: "I was probably feeling a little bored, so I talked a lot."
Qi Shaorong took away Qi Shaokang's colourful stones and crystal nuclei and sent Qi Shaokang out of the secret dimension.
"Another one came out, another came out!" Hu Feng placed his hands behind his back, smiling so hard that the skin on his face bunched together.
Li Hong looked at Hu Feng and said, "Yes! Another one came out."
"It's all because of me, the Principal, I planned so well, so everything's going smoothly." Hu Feng said proudly.
Li Hong nodded and said, "Of course!" Judging by the current situation, even if Tianlan College isn't able to earn first place, second place is still very promising.
Hu Feng looked in the direction of Lu Ming, his eyes lighting up, and said: "Old man Lu's face complexion isn't looking very good. I should go over there and comfort him, we're all friends after all. That guy's face looks so ugly right now, I just can't not care about it!"
Li Hong: "…" Principal, are you really going over there to comfort him? Is it not adding fuel to the fire?
Hu Feng walked over to Lu Ming's side, gave him a few "comforting" words, and then they started fighting each other. Even right when Hu Feng had just started walking towards Lu Ming, several of the instructors who were standing beside Lu Ming had already very conscientiously moved far away.
Qi Shaoru watched as Qi Shaokang was kicked out, and couldn't help but clench her teeth.
When Qi Shaorong was expelled from Qi family, there was no commotion at all. Many of the people who knew about the matter all felt like they were freed from a burden. However, this time, once the news of Qi Shaorong being expelled from the family gets out, it would definitely cause a commotion.
A level six dark mage and a natural talent. This kind of talent, amongst all the Imperial youths, the strongest person after Zhuang Hao should be Qi Shaorong, who had been regarded as a waste by Qi family and sent away for many years.
Just by looking at Qi Shaorong's appearance, Qi family knew that Qi Shaorong didn't have much of a sense of belonging with the family, absolutely none at all. If Qi Shaorong was still a part of Qi family, then Qi family could use the excuse of filial righteousness to call him back to the family. Unfortunately, Qi Shaorong has already been expelled from the family.
Qi Shaoru lowered her head. During this time, whenever Qi Shaoru returned to Qi house, someone would question her about Qi Shaorong being kept by the Ghost Doctor. The Qi elders were the ones who wanted to expel Qi Shaorong from the family, but now they pushed all the blame onto her. Qi Shoaru was very annoyed, so she simply stopped going home.
Qi Shaofu walked towards Qi Shaokang and helped him stand up, saying: "Second Brother, are you okay?"
Qi Shaokang looked gloomy and said: "I'm fine."
The physical discomfort didn't have much of an impact on Qi Shaokang, but the psychological blow was huge. Qi Shaokang's heart twitched a little. He actually lost to Qi Shaorong, to the person whom he always thought was the shame of the Qi family.
Qi Shaokang saw Chen Yuan standing next to Qi Shaofu. "You've also come out? Looks like what Qi Shaorong said was true."
Qi Shaofu said: "On the first day that Chen Yuan entered, he was unfortunately driven out by your Fourth Brother."
Qi Shaokang: "…"
Qi Shaofu lowered his voice and said, "Second Brother, including you, a total of six students from Shenghuang University have been kicked out."
Qi Shaokang looked over at Lu Ming, and Lu Ming's face complexion looked very ugly.
Yi Chuxue stood in front of the light screen [4] and frowned.
Qi Shaorong's sudden emergence as a powerhouse has excited many of the people watching the competition.
Yi Chuxue originally thought that Qi Shaorong was a waste and was not worthy of Zhuang Hao. Now that she's seen how powerful Qi Shaorong is, Yi Chuxue's mood felt incredibly conflicted.
Yi Chuxue clenched her fists and walked towards Qi Shaoru, saying: "Qi Shaoru, your Fourth Brother is very strong. If he returns to Qi family, you'll be doomed."
Qi Shaoru glanced at Yi Chuxue and her face sank. She and Qi Shaorong weren't on good terms, and with Qi Shaorong's abilities, if he returned to Qi family, then she really wouldn't have a chance at living well anymore.
"It seems like I haven't seen your two brothers for a long time. I wonder how your two brothers are doing." Qi Shaoru said.
Yi Chuxue's face sank. Qi Shaorong's presence was too large, so now there were fewer people who were concerned about Yi Bing and Yi Huo. In the secret dimension, although there was monitoring in most areas, there were also many areas where the monitoring was destroyed.
"My two brothers are geniuses, nothing should've happened to them." Yi Chuxue said.
Qi Shaoru curled her mouth and said: "Really?" With so many variables emerging in the competition this time, perhaps Yi Bing and Yi Huo had already met with trouble.
Footnotes (or at least my attempts at them):
Dog-eat-dog fight: The original translates literally as "dog bite dog, mouthful of fur", it's a belittling term which means something along the lines of when two people who don't get along fight and try to kill each other.
Holy Class: Uhhh, not really sure what that is, just think of it as some weird cultivation term or something.
Fill in the gaps between my teeth: So I tried searching up the meaning of this phrase, but I couldn't find anything helpful. Basically what Qi Shaorong is saying is that the Qi family's allowance isn't enough money for him.
Light screen: So this wasn't mentioned before, but you know how there's monitoring inside secret dimension (due to the placement of the light beads)? I'm guessing that everything that is monitored is probably projected onto these "light screens" outside the secret dimension for the audience to view.