Chapter 578: Third Grade Student

"Brother." Luo Qi looked around and said, "If you could return my things to me, perhaps I could find that soul under a Seal that's been flirting with humans everywhere right away."

"Your what? What is yours? You stole Mahjong's things..." Du Zhengyi said, unmoved.

Luo Qi hurriedly covered his mouth, sneaking a glance to see if Mahjong was paying attention to this side. "That wasn't his either! I was rescuing collective property; that fool didn't even think of it, he has no sense of the collective in his heart! You are truly too wicked; I will never let you hold my things again, I won't even let you pet my cat."

Du Zhengyi ignored him.

Luo Qi rolled his eyes, watching Du Zhengyi's leisurely, unhurried demeanor, and added in a huff, "You really are just like my dad."

"What does that mean?" Du Zhengyi turned his head, his expression darkening.

Luo Qi calculatedly sized him up, identifying Du Zhengyi's emotions. He caught a spark in Du Zhengyi's eyes, a spark that gathered into a cluster of fire. Du Zhengyi was actually angry; the air around them suddenly tightened, as if countless invisible tethers had seized him, each tether hissing and scraping with static electricity.

"Do you have a license to use that thing of unknown origin?" Du Zhengyi asked mockingly.

Luo Qi actually pondered this for a moment; he wasn't very well-versed in the field, after all, and didn't know if a Mage truly needed to pass exams based on their level. But Du Zhengyi's sarcastic smile was the answer, and he pulled a long face, not very pleased.

"You should be learning from a Highland Mage right now. What exactly is wrong with you? No one else can block your path. You can bypass a Highland Mage, bypass Pei Shu, bypass everyone who provides you with an education, is that it? Your name is Luo Qi, yet your guts are bigger than a Qiongqi. But do you know why a Qiongqi is fearless? Because its brain is the size of a walnut." Du Zhengyi said, quite heatedly.

"I know what I'm doing." Luo Qi couldn't help but say, his deer-like eyes glaring brightly at Du Zhengyi, "You yourself have always gone straight for your goals; that's the experience I learned from you."

Du Zhengyi leaned close to Luo Qi's ear and whispered, "And what is your goal? Me?"

Luo Qi clenched his fists uncomfortably, and his black cat crawled out of his pocket, uneasy. Du Zhengyi warned him in a low voice, "If you know how annoying your dad is, then remember not to act on your own initiative for the sake of others."

A wild gust of wind blew against them. Luo Qi stood motionless, feeling the tightness and swelling in his cheeks like when he had an allergic reaction to tropical fruit; this was basically the taste of shame.

"Hi." A muddled voice called out nearby. Luo Qi held down his cat and turned to see Liu Ziyi. She had just walked nearby and was pacing back and forth, looking like she couldn't decide whether to speak up. Du Zhengyi stepped back and looked at her coldly; his temper was truly foul at this moment.

"Uh..." Liu Ziyi stopped at a distance of one and a half meters from them and asked directly, "Whispering sweet nothings?"

Luo Qi held the cat and tugged at the hair on his forehead.

"Can I come over and talk?" Liu Ziyi asked.

"What did you find?" Du Zhengyi asked impatiently.

"Oh, the surface information has already been collected. If it were truly valuable, I believe you would have found it long ago, no need to ask me." Liu Ziyi said, sticking to the facts. "As for this kind of Abnormal Beast, I'm not very good with biology, so I can't say clearly what these things are, nor can I be sure why they are here... eating people."

"Maybe they're just hungry." Luo Qi suddenly turned his head and said.

"Huh?" Liu Ziyi looked at him, confused.

Du Zhengyi also looked at him. He lowered his head and said, "The attack locations are all the abdomen, aren't they? There must be a lot less inside the abdomen, right? They even specifically hung several corpses in the trees. Some animals in nature have this hunting habit: eat the internal organs first because they rot the easiest. If they can't finish it all at once, they try to hang the carcass high up so that at least animals that can't climb trees or fly won't come to steal the food. All living things need food and water, don't they? An Abnormal Beast certainly wouldn't eat the Energy Pill made by a Mage; that stuff is too hard to swallow."

"What you said is actually right." Liu Ziyi said. She paused and added more firmly, "Very right. They all thought about it too complexly; this is more reasonable. But... then this is... a dining table? Let's hope they don't come back to eat later?"

"We could wait here?" Luo Qi suggested tentatively, "Someone must be herding these Abnormal Beasts."

Liu Ziyi said, "I don't care if you wait or not, I've already finished the Shallow Connection measurement, and now I want to perform a Deep Measurement."

"What is a Deep Measurement?" Luo Qi asked.

Liu Ziyi looked at Du Zhengyi, "Senior Brother, will you cover for me?"

Du Zhengyi nodded.

"What exactly is a Deep Measurement?" Luo Qi asked, raising his voice in displeasure.

"It's maximizing Magic Ability." Liu Ziyi answered concisely. She asked Du Zhengyi again, "Senior Brother, you're going to establish a Shallow Connection with me. You've done the covering before, right?"

"I understand." Du Zhengyi said.

Luo Qi shouted at almost the same time, "What? Then I want to connect too."

"Do you know what it is?" Liu Ziyi said, and added, "Third Grade student."

"I don't know what it is. But if you don't take me, I'll just add myself in a moment." Luo Qi said.

"No." Liu Ziyi said, "Your ordinary Magic is too unstable; you will interfere with my Magic balance."

"If you don't let me in, I'll interfere with your brain in my own way." Luo Qi insisted.

"Luo Qi." Du Zhengyi finally said, "You can observe from the side. You have to learn these things eventually anyway, so just treat it as practical teaching. I'll teach you how to watch."

Luo Qi pondered for a moment, "Alright then."

Liu Ziyi gave him a distrustful look, "Control yourself."

"I can control myself."

"You don't even know what controlling yourself means. When I tell you to control yourself, I don't mean for you to control your Mind Magic. I want you to be absolutely still, don't... how should I put it, just don't be so much like you." Liu Ziyi said.

Luo Qi looked at her, confused, then turned his head to look at Du Zhengyi for clarification.

Du Zhengyi reluctantly raised his eyelids to look at him, "It means don't move, don't be flamboyant, don't flirt with others, and don't be flashy."

"What? I don't! I'm not Wusu!"

"It just means your body shouldn't have too many gestures, and don't engage in any unnecessary social behavior. Have you seen those people who are devoid of interest? Just be like that."

Luo Qi hesitated, "Are you two messing with me?"

Liu Ziyi muttered something, but Luo Qi heard it clearly; she said, "Third Grade bean."

(End of chapter)