Chapter 72: Furious

Cheng Xi was immersed in Li Zhi'an's bewitching peach-blossom eyes when she suddenly felt a wave of scorching heat rushing toward her. She jerked her head up, only to see a fireball flying rapidly toward her; her pupils constricted sharply, but her body was too slow to react.

At this critical moment, Li Zhi'an quickly pulled Cheng Xi into his arms and waved his other hand, casting a Spiritual Barrier to block the fireball. The fireball struck the barrier and exploded instantly, sparks flying everywhere, and the surrounding air turned scorching hot.

"Yan Qingli!" Li Zhi'an's voice was as cold as ice, a flash of anger in his eyes, "Have you lost your mind?"

Yan Qingli sneered, flames still lingering at her fingertips, "Li Zhi'an, you are protecting her? She is nothing but a mediocre person who has only just awakened her talent; what right does she have to stand by your side?"

Cheng Xi lifted her head from Li Zhi'an's embrace, stood straight, and looked directly at Yan Qingli with a cold gaze, her tone calm yet tinged with mockery: "Because the one he likes is me, not you."

Yan Qingli's face turned livid instantly, the flames in her hands growing more intense, "You are courting death!"

Li Zhi'an frowned deeply, blocking Cheng Xi, his tone icy: "Yan Qingli, if you dare to make another move, don't blame me for disregarding our past friendship."

A flash of pain crossed Yan Qingli's eyes, immediately replaced by fury, "Li Zhi'an, for her sake, you are even disregarding our years of friendship?"

Li Zhi'an was silent for a moment, his tone remaining firm: "Friendship is friendship, but if you harm her, I will never sit idly by."

Cheng Xi stood behind Li Zhi'an, the corners of her eyes slightly raised. She deliberately made a show of gently tugging on Li Zhi'an's sleeve and whispered: "Zhi'an, don't ruin your relationship with her because of me; how could I let you be put in a difficult position?"

Li Zhi'an looked down at her, his face full of affection as he said softly: "Xixi, you don't need to worry, I will handle it."

Cheng Xi secretly got goosebumps all over; for the sake of acting, the two of them were truly going all out.

Yan Qingli watched their intimate interaction, the rage in her heart nearly consuming her. She swung her hand violently, and the flames transformed into a Fire Dragon, lunging straight at Cheng Xi.

Li Zhi'an's eyes turned cold, spiritual power condensing in his hand and instantly transforming into an Ice Wall, blocking the Fire Dragon outside. Ice and fire collided, emitting a "hissing" sound, and water vapor filled the air.

"Yan Qingli, that's enough!" Li Zhi'an's voice carried unquestionable majesty, "If you continue to be obsessed and refuse to repent, don't blame me for being impolite."

Yan Qingli gritted her teeth, her eyes full of resentment, "Li Zhi'an, you will regret this!"

Li Zhi'an's expression remained calm and unruffled, showing no reaction to Yan Qingli's words, only saying faintly: "Before you act, have you ever thought about your father? Whether I regret it or not is irrelevant, but your father will certainly regret giving birth to a debt-collecting daughter like you!"

Cheng Xi:!

This is truly incredible; is Li Zhi'an's mouth soaked in poison?

She watched helplessly as the expression on Yan Qingli's face changed again and again, then Yan Qingli glared at her fiercely and stormed off in a fit of rage!

Cheng Xi was speechless; she had to vent her anger on her too?

Li Zhi'an took Cheng Xi's hand and strode away, not even glancing at Yan Qingli.

As soon as the two left, the crowd instantly erupted; the Regent had actually offended Yan Qingli for the sake of Cheng Xi. That was Yan Qingli, the most talented person in Tianshuo, and one who stood on par with Fang Xun and Lu Jinfan among the younger generation!

By rights, she should have entered the Academy long ago, but she was deeply in love with Li Zhi'an and kept delaying, hoping to make Li Zhi'an change his mind.

Who would have thought that Cheng Xi would appear halfway and pluck this great melon that was the Regent!

Who wouldn't be angry if this happened to them?

They were furious, weren't they?

That was Li Zhi'an!

That was the old way of thinking, but now it was different; Cheng Xi was someone who could allow people without talent to awaken their talent. No matter how powerful Yan Qingli was, she was only powerful by herself.

But Cheng Xi could lead a whole group of people to become powerful; the people of Jindu were no longer leaning one-sidedly toward Yan Qingli, and Cheng Xi also had many supporters.

Yan Shengyu arrived a step late, and Cheng Xi had already been taken away by Li Zhi'an.

Xuan Nongying and Fan Mingxin exchanged a look, and Xuan Nongying spoke first: "Shengyu, are you still going to look for Cheng Xi?"

Yan Shengyu shook her head, "Li Zhi'an is guarding Cheng Xi like a hunting dog; it's useless for us to go. Let's go again tomorrow."

Her brother was just one step late, and Cheng Xi had been snatched back by Li Zhi'an; wouldn't you say that's infuriating?

Fan Mingxin was lost in thought, then looked at Yan Shengyu and asked: "What do you think about the matter with the Prince of Jing?"

Yan Shengyu said: "It must be true; Cheng Xi is extremely capable."

"Come to think of it, it's truly unbelievable. Eldest Miss Cheng not only allowed the Prince of Jing to awaken his talent, but it was also Grey at the start. You have to know that when we first started, we were only White." Xuan Nongying's eyes held a hint of heat; Cheng Xi was Blue, so was it possible for her to help them improve as well?

"It's only just the beginning now; we still have to wait and see how the Prince of Jing's improvement speed is in the future," Fan Mingxin said.

She was worried about whether Cheng Xi doing this would have any aftereffects for the Prince of Jing.

If the talent was awakened but could only remain at the Grey grade, then it wouldn't be that impressive.

Li Zhi'an brought Cheng Xi back to the Regent's Mansion. It was only after entering the door that Cheng Xi reacted, looking at him and asking: "Why did you bring me here?"

"To get familiar with the place."

Cheng Xi:...

She followed Li Zhi'an all the way to the study. The study was nothing but books, with floor-to-ceiling bookshelves packed full.

A large desk was placed by the window, with official documents scattered messily on it.

Li Zhi'an invited Cheng Xi to sit down and ordered tea to be served, only then looking at her and saying: "I am very sorry about today's events. Yan Qingli is Dean Yan's only daughter, so she is very spoiled. But rest assured, the relationship between her and me is truly clean."

"I know; if you had any intentions toward her, why wait until today?"

Li Zhi'an should have felt very comforted hearing this, but for some reason, he felt a bit uneasy.

Cheng Xi didn't notice Li Zhi'an's little thoughts, looking at him and asking: "You brought me back, what exactly is it for?"

Hearing this, Li Zhi'an took a deep breath and then said: "Which of the Four Great Academies do you want to go to?"

Cheng Xi hadn't really thought about this question, but Yan Shengyu had once told her that she wanted to go to Qinghe Academy.

Qinghe Academy was the head of the Four Great Academies, with strong power, dense Spirit Essence, and the academy's teachers were also very capable.

She didn't care if the teachers were capable or not; she had her own path of cultivation, but since she had made a friend in Yan Shengyu, she felt it wouldn't be bad to have a companion.

Thinking of this, she looked at Li Zhi'an and said: "Qinghe Academy, I suppose."

Li Zhi'an was not surprised; Qinghe Academy was the leader, so it was normal for Cheng Xi to choose it.

"Then have you thought about what you want to study after entering the academy?" Li Zhi'an asked again.

Study what?

Cheng Xi was truly stunned for a moment.

She hadn't thought about this question. Her mind turned, and she looked at Li Zhi'an and asked: "Which subject at Qinghe Academy is the easiest?"

Li Zhi'an:?

Haven't even entered the school yet, and you're already thinking about slacking off?