Qi Shaorong's earth-shattering display not only shocked Zhuang Hao, but also shocked all the students and people in Tianlan College.
Lu Ming's hand landed on Hu Feng's shoulder and he said, "Your disciple is practicing both light and dark magic at the same time? Why haven't I heard you mention it before!"
Hu Feng looked at Lu Ming and said, "Who do you think you are? It's not worthwhile for me to tell you everything."
"How did your disciple even manage to cultivate like that? He actually didn't blow himself up, it's a pity that such a good seedling fell into your hands. If I were his master, I could help him reach the seventh in the shortest possible time."
"That's my disciple, there's no need for you to meddle." Hu Feng snorted coldly and said.
Lu Ming glanced at Qi Yuan, who was cutting a sorry figure, shook his head, and said, "Hu Feng, this disciple of yours, doesn't seem to be someone who's good to provoke!"
No matter how you look at it, Qi Shaorong was still a part of the Qi family! However, that guy actually made a move against a Qi Family elder, and didn't even show any mercy at all.
Hu Feng: "…"
Hu Feng smugly walked up to Qi Yuan and said, "Old man Qi Yuan, I'll say, at your ripe old age, it's really not appropriate to trespass into our college. You not only trespassed into our college, but also used your status as an elder to bully the weak, and fought with one of the students. The matter of you fighting a student, we can let it go, but you even destroyed all the surrounding flowers and plants at the college."
"Look at this tree, this is a precious, ancient tree that was introduced to our school over a thousand years ago. Before today, it had already reached an age of over two thousand years, but it was actually cut apart by you. Then there are these flowers, these flowers are used for refining human soul medicine, they were just about to mature, but were destroyed by you. Also, this grass, this grass was planted with the hard work of this Principal, but you actually destroyed the fruits of this Principal's painstaking labour. Let me tell you this right now, you must compensate for 1 million gold coins."
Qi Yuan's face turned red and he secretly thought: Hu Feng this guy's really shameless. Everyone knew that being stingy was second nature to Hu Feng, all the things in Tianlan College were cheap bargains. Yet this guy actually had the face to say that the tree he had destroyed was a precious, ancient tree. "Principal Hu Feng, you're just trying to rip me off of my money."
Hu Feng straightened up his back and said righteously, "What are you talking nonsense for, the price I'm giving you is a friendship discount. Do you think that my Tianlan College can just be trespassed by anyone, if I don't even give a fine for trespassing, then what would happen to my reputation?! "
Zhuang Ling walked towards Zhuang Hao and said, "Zhuang Hao, are you okay?"
Zhuang Hao gave her a glance, and was unable to snap out of his daze for a long time, "Sister Zhuang Ling, have you already known about this for a while now?"
Zhuang Hao's thoughts had been so messy his brain had turned into a paste, but when he saw Zhuang Ling, he suddenly became clear-headed again.
Zhuang Hao remembered that when he had bumped into Qi Shaorong before, Zhuang Ling once said, when you love someone, you'll also end up liking the people around them [1]? The Ghost Doctor liked Qi Shaorong, so if he wanted the Ghost Doctor to have a good opinion of him, then a shortcut would be to form a good relationship with Qi Shaorong. Zhuang Ling must have already known about it at that time, and he hated himself for not understanding her hint, he had even thought that Zhuang Ling was just telling a bad joke.
Zhuang Ling looked at Zhuang Hao, sighed, and said "I only had a vague guess, but I wasn't able to actually confirm anything."
Zhuang Ling frowned. She had some speculations before, but Qi Shaorong had deliberately misled her, causing her to reevaluate her suspicions.
Zhuang Hao gritted his teeth and said, "No wonder, it's no wonder that the Ghost Doctor never liked me, it's no wonder that the Ghost Doctor would always make those odd, baffling remarks." Zhuang Hao closed his eyes, was Qi Shaorong trying to retaliate against him? Just because he broke off the engagement, Qi Shaorong had spent all this efforts to trick him like this.
Zhuang Ling looked at Zhuang Hao's ashen complexion, and there was some uneasiness in her heart. "A-Hao, your complexion doesn't look very good! How about you go back home and rest!"
"It was always one person! From the beginning to the end, it was only ever one person." Zhuang Hao said, gritting his teeth. No wonder, the Ghost Doctor always said that his relationship with Qi Shaorong was good, and Qi Shaorong also always said that his relationship with the Ghost Doctor was good, but whenever Qi Shaorong appeared, the Ghost Doctor would always disappear.
That day at the Royal Racecourse, he had felt like a special connection was established between himself and the Ghost Doctor. Later on, he had also experienced this same feeling again with Qi Shaorong. So it turns out that wasn't just an illusion.
Qi Shaorong was in the library, and a faint light was shining in his eyes.
Yi Fan walked in and said, "Young Master, I had thought that you'd be more calm about this."
"We won't be able to hide the matter of not being able to cancel the contract for much longer now." Qi Shaorong said.
Yi Fan raised an eyebrow and said, "Right!"
"The fact that I can practice both the light and dark types of magic has been exposed. Perhaps we won't be able to hide your secret any longer either." Qi Shaorong said.
Yi Fan smiled and said, "Perhaps, we'll just have to do whatever is necessary then [2]."
Qi Shaorong was cultivating both light and dark magic, while he was cultivating both ice and fire magic. He has a good relationship with Qi Shaorong, so it was inevitable that some people with rich imaginations would become suspicious of him.
Yi Bing and Yi Huo both had accidents one after another, and Yang Man couldn't tolerate him anymore. The three people sent by Yang Man were also secretly killed by him. Thinking about it, Yang Man should've already discovered that there was a problem with him.
The images of Qi Shaorong and Qi Yuan fighting had been recorded by the spectators, and they were spread all over the Imperial Capital with a speed as fast as lightning. The Seven Imperial Talents rankings were re-shuffled again, and Qi Shaorong directly squeezed out the Second Prince and the Fourth Prince to become second place. This level of might and strength was only below that of the first-ranked Zhuang Hao.
Although Qi Shaorong had immediately become famous after what happened in the secret dimension, there were still people who suspected him of using tricks and underhanded methods. This time, Qi Shaorong's fight against Qi Yuan thoroughly established Qi Shaorong's position as an expert.
For some time, all of the conversations throughout Tianlan College were only about Qi Shaorong.
Hu Feng called Qi Shaorong and Qian Mian to his office, and looked them up and down again and again.
Qi Shaorong looked at Hu Feng and said, "Master, is there something you need?"
"Disciple, why didn't you tell your Master that you have light magic powers!" Hu Feng asked.
Qi Shaorong said languidly, "I didn't want to tell you!"
Hu Feng: "…"
"Master, you should have had some doubts about it before, other families' instruments aren't good enough to detect dark magic talent. However, the Qi Family is one of the four major families, their instruments for testing magic aren't so simple and crude." Qi Shaorong said lightly.
"So what happened with you then?"
"My abilities weren't detected because the dark magic and the light magic in me opposed each other and clashed," said Qi Shaorong.
Hu Feng nodded and said, "That makes sense, I was saying that those old guys from the Qi Family couldn't possibly have been that muddle-headed."
Hu Feng's gaze turned to Qian Mian, "Young fellow, have you already known about Qi Shaorong cultivating both light and dark magic for a while now?"
Yi Fan tilted his head and said, "We're good friends, of course I knew!"
Hu Feng had black lines [3] running down his face and he casually said, "Qi Shaorong can cultivate both light and dark magic, don't tell me, you're also cultivating both ice and fire magic?
Yi Fan suddenly raised his eyes and looked at Hu Feng without speaking.
Hu Feng's scalp tightened from being stared like that by Yi Fan, "How would that be possible? Someone like Qi Shaorong, it's already frightening enough to have one of them!"
Qi Shaorong glanced at Yi Fan and turned the conversation around, saying, "Master, I heard that you gave Qi Yuan a little lesson?"
Hu Feng nodded and said, "Yes! Qi Yuan that guy really went too far! Taking advantage of the fact that I went to talk to Lu Ming and actually running here to cause trouble!"
"Master, I heard that you ripped him off of his money!" Qi Shaorong said.
Hu Feng was pleased with himself and smiled, "Yes! If someone dares to come to my Tianlan College to make trouble, there'll always be a price to pay!"
"Master, I heard that you asked Qi Yuan for a compensation of one million gold coins. It's not that I, your disciple, am trying to criticise you, but you asked for way too little, you're really small-minded." Qi Shaorong said.
Hu Feng laughed dryly and said, "The Qi Family has a lot of experts, so I still have to give them some face."
Hu Feng touched his beard, paused, and said, "Disciple, your light unicorn is pretty good! I heard…"
Qi Shaorong looked at Hu Feng and said, "Master, what did you hear? Why aren't you saying it?"
"I heard that Zhuang Hao gave the Ghost Doctor a unicorn!" Hu Feng said.
"It's the same unicorn, it's gluttonous and lazy, and really useless!" Qi Shaorong nudged the unicorn that was standing by his feet.
Hu Feng: "…"
Hu Feng looked at the beautifully decorated unicorn and said, "It's still a cub, but this is a monster beast that can reach the level of a saint one day. Raise it well, it'll become a good bodyguard in the future."
"I sure hope so!" Qi Shaorong said.
Hu Feng stared at Qi Shaorong and said, "You caused too much of a commotion, I don't know how many people from outside have their eyes on you. Before you become a level seven mage, you should stay inside the college."
Qi Shaorong nodded and said, "Alright!"
Zhuang Qian clasped his hands behind his back and was pacing around and around the room.
Zhuang Renquan looked at Zhuang Qian and said, "A-Qian, what are you doing?"
Zhuang Qian looked at Zhuang Renquan and said, "Third Uncle, did you know? The Ghost Doctor and Qi Shaorong are the same person."
Zhuang Renquan nodded, smiled coolly, and said, "I've heard of it, this matter has now spread everywhere."
An eighth-level Elder from the Qi family went to find Qi Shaorong, and as a result, was severely injured by Qi Shaorong. The Qi Family's Fourth Young Master Qi Shaorong became the first in this generation to practice both light and dark opposing magics, and his level wasn't low either. It was really worthy of admiration!
"I used to think that because your Elder Brother had never revealed his true strength, so although Qi Shaorong's powerful, he's still a little worse compared to your brother. Now, it seems that that needs to be re-evaluated!"
Zhuang Renquan shook his head. Qi Shaorong's current strength now still wasn't as good as that of Zhuang Hao, but that guy's medical skills weren't so simple! Then again, Qi Shaorong's medical skills were good, and Zhuang Hao's beast taming qualifications weren't bad either, in fact, the two people were really well-matched for each other, unfortunately…
Zhuang Renquan chuckled and said, "Qi Shaorong is the Ghost Doctor, if you look at it that way, many things can be explained now. The reason why Qi Shaorong and the Ghost Doctor both lie on the same bed, it's not weird at all!"
Zhuang Qian rubbed his nose and said, "Third Uncle, I can't believe you're still able to laugh right now."
"Why can't I laugh, your brother and Qi Shaorong are really connected by fate! You see, they've had a marriage agreement since childhood, and your brother also ended up liking the Ghost Doctor, who was actually Qi Shaorong."
Zhuang Qian raised his eyebrows and said, "Elder Brother broke off the marriage though!"
Zhuang Renquan nodded and said, "Yes! Your Elder Brother broke off the marriage! However, your brother and Qi Shaorong have also established a marriage contract [4]. Qi Shaorong is such a peerless talent, so your brother is really likely to act unreasonably and be unwilling to let go of him. No wonder Qi Shaorong doesn't trust your Elder Brother. "
"How could the Ghost Doctor be Qi Shaorong?" If he thought about it, when the Ghost Doctor came to treat Third Uncle for his illness, it seemed that his Eldest Brother had just broken off the engagement. At that time, the Ghost Doctor's attitude towards them really wasn't that friendly. The engagement had just been annulled, even if they had wanted to be on friendly terms they couldn't be.
Zhuang Renquan shook his head and said, "I'm just afraid that the Qi Family is already blowing up over this, they actually drove such a magical talent out of the house." Of course, it wasn't any better for their family either, Qi Shaorong, that guy, seemed to hold some grudges against them!
"Where's your Elder Brother?" Zhuang Renquan asked.
Zhuang Qian frowned and said, "He's in the backyard shadowboxing."
Zhuang Renquan sighed deeply and said, "Your brother, that guy! Every time he's unhappy he goes and starts punching and hitting things, what use is there for doing that!"
Zhuang Qian, "Well, it's still better than hitting people!"
Zhuang Renquan: "…"
Zhuang Hao clenched his fist and punched the wall continuously, his head was a mess of confusion.
"Young Master Zhuang, I really can't understand, why do you trust me that much? Have you never thought before that there might be enmity between us?"
"Relax, I am a doctor with integrity. I won't abuse my power to avenge personal grudges just because of your involvement in my friend's broken engagement. What's more, Shaorong's appearance is exceedingly beautiful [5], he's also very intelligent, he can definitely find someone better. However, Young Master Zhuang, you're also pretty good-looking. If Shaorong sees you, he'd definitely regret that he didn't get a chance to eat you before cancelling the marriage."
"Third Master, please don't misunderstand. We only lie on the same bed, we don't do anything. You don't have to worry about your family's Zhuang Hao wearing a green hat because of me [6]. Oh, but now he doesn't have any relationship with Shaorong, even if something did happen, it's not his place to care about it."
"Zhuang Hao, do you think that one day, you'll ever regret cancelling the marriage?"
"There are no feelings between Qi Shaorong and me, I don't approve of such blind, baseless marriage. It doesn't matter whether Qi Shaorong is a waste or not, I still would've cancelled he engagement regardless."
"Young Master Zhuang, you sure have a personality. In any case, please remember, that whatever you've said, you won't regret it."
Zhuang Hao looked at Qi Shaorong seriously and said, "My heart is like stone, I will definitely never regret it."
Zhuang Hao closed his eyes, and the scenes from the past played out in front of his eyes.
For a long time now, Qi Shaorong had been looking at him coldly like this, watching him lose himself, watching him do stupid things again and again.For a long time now, What kind of mentality had Qi Shaorong used to watch him this entire time? In Qi Shaorong's eyes, was he, Zhuang Hao, from start to finish, only ever a joke to him?
"Elder Brother, are you okay?" Zhuang Qian looked at the smashed up training wall, and then looked at the fierce, twisted face of Zhuang Hao.
"Am I okay? I'm perfectly fine!" Zhuang Hao said, gritting his teeth.
Zhuang Qian: "…" Those words really didn't sound convincing at all!
Footnotes:
When you love someone, you'll also end up liking the people around them: Love for a person extends even to the crows on their roof; love me, love my dog; to love everything about somebody.
Whatever is necessary: "To counter soldiers with arms, stem water with earth" means that different situations call for different actions, or to adopt measures appropriate to the actual situation.
Black lines: I don't know how to explain it, but if you've read other Chinese novels before, you've probably heard of it. It's like in anime, when you see characters with vertical black lines hovering on their head or face or something? I can't really remember what mood it's supposed to portray.
Marriage contract: I thought Zhuang Hao said that it was only a master-servant contract? Either the author forgot about it, Zhuang Renquan misremembered it, or Zhuang Hao could've lied, I guess.
Exceedingly beautiful: Lovely enough to cause the downfall of a city or state; devastatingly beautiful.
Wearing a green hat: The state of being a cuckold. Meaning a guy who's being cheated on.