“It’s alright, just tell me. I love hearing about the six great families of the East.” Stone seemed completely unconcerned. Seeing Issa Terunsu’s hesitation, she became even more excited and urged impatiently, “Hurry up!”
Issa Terunsu thought for a moment, then said in a slightly more tactful way, "Actually, it's nothing serious. It's like this, there's a boy in the Magic Department who doesn't seem to be very strong, and he's pursuing a girl from our department. I don't know much about what's going on in the Magic Department, but I know that the girl in our department is quite strong, a year ahead of us, and she's already a three-star Qi Master."
While a three-star Battle Qi Master isn't much, it's important to understand that advancing as a Battle Qi Master is far more difficult than becoming a Mage. Generally speaking, breaking through to three stars before reaching adulthood at twenty is already considered genius.
"Is she the eleventh young lady of the Han family?" Shi Tou was silent for a while, then decided to ask for details.
Issa Terunsu looked slightly confused: "I don't know. Oh right, I know that girl's name is Han Shiyi. I don't think it's Eleven!"
Han Shiyi... Han Shiyi...
Stone pondered for a moment and decided that he hadn't made a mistake in choosing the wrong person.
"Um, Miss Huo, may I leave now?" Issa Terunsu saw that Shi Tou was deep in thought again, and for a moment she wanted to just slip away, but she was afraid that Shi Tou would cause her more trouble, so she was conflicted.
Stone simply waved his hand, indicating that he was no longer of any use and should get lost!
"Oh, you mean Han Shiyi? She's the eleventh young lady of the Han family."
"Yes, there is a boy from the magic department who is pursuing Han Shiyi. I heard he is a distant relative of hers."
"Yeah, yeah, Han Shiyi has a bad temper, and that boy really annoys her."
"I also heard that the boy was introduced to Han Shiyi by her brother, and now she's throwing tantrums about it every day!"
"By the way, do you know Han Shi'er? I've heard she... blah blah blah..."
Stone went out to inquire and received news that left her extremely conflicted. It seemed that Issa Terunsu was a kind-hearted kid; even with all the rumors circulating, he had managed to refrain from speaking ill of others.
Of course, it's also possible that Issa Terensu isn't a gossipmonger.
After organizing the information, Stone came to a conclusion.
Men are all bad, especially that scumbag Lin An who looks like a submissive!
Remember at the Lin family wedding, Shi Tou heard Huo Xiaoxiao mention that the third young master of the Han family was going to be a matchmaker for his sister? It turns out it was true!
The Han family's ranking is a bit strange; it's based on the entire direct line of the family, not on the ranking of individual branches. The third young master of the Han family is named Han San, and Han Shiyi is his younger sister. He also has another younger sister named Han Shier.
Originally, he planned to introduce his younger sister, the twelfth young lady of the Han family, to Lin An. But for some reason, Lin An didn't take a liking to Han Shi'er, who was also studying at the Magic Academy, and instead pursued Han Shiyi with great enthusiasm.
At first, Shi Tou didn't understand what was going on and thought that Lin An had fallen in love with Han Shiyi at first sight, but later she realized that she was completely wrong.
"Han Shier is an illegitimate daughter, born to Han Shiyi's father and his personal maid. Because Han Shier is quite talented, the head of the Han family included her in the family genealogy. However, Han Shiyi's mother is not so easy to deal with. Fortunately, the Han family has a special naming system; this generation is named according to their birth order."
When Huo Xiaoxiao heard that Shi Tou had come to the Magic Division to find her, she rushed out. After hearing Shi Tou's question, she didn't hesitate to sarcastically remark, "Look, that's Han Shi'er, the daughter of a maid. Just like her mother, she's a vixen!"
Following Huo Xiaoxiao's pointing finger, Shi Tou realized that Han Shi'er was actually an extremely beautiful girl. Although she was not very old, the charm in her eyes and brows was so captivating that even women would feel a flutter in their hearts, let alone men.
"Hehe, so Lin An is quite the gentleman after all." At this moment, Shi Tou could still laugh: "Should I be grateful to Lin An for not judging people by their appearance?"
Huo Xiaoxiao rolled her eyes: "I think what you should be thinking about now is how to break up with Lin An! By the way, I only knew that Han San wanted to match his sister with Lin An. I really didn't know that Lin An actually chased a girl all the way to the Dou Qi Academy. Otherwise, I would have told you already!"
Stone nodded knowingly: "I understand."
"So what do you want to do now?" Huo Xiaoxiao couldn't see a trace of sadness or distress on Shi Tou's face, which made her feel a little better. After all, no matter what, she didn't want Shi Tou to cause a scene with Lin An over this.
Stone's eyes darted around: "What to do? Let's just leave it at that! Since Lin An wants to pursue someone else, let him pursue her!"
Hehe, Brother Lin An, not only will we not stop you, we'll also help you win the heart of your beauty!
Chapter 178: Two Women's Duel for Lin An
"Huo Yi! Get out here right now!"
Outside the classroom of Class 6, freshmen of the Douqi Branch, Han Shiyi stood with her hands on her hips, shouting fiercely into the classroom.
The stone looked up at the sky helplessly.
In fact, Dio had already allowed her to skip class, but recently she was waiting for news from Yi Siyu, thinking that when she went back she would definitely find out that the Nine Heavens Shocking Technique was only half complete, and that she would come looking for her sooner or later.
However, what Shi Tou didn't expect was that Yi Siyu didn't come; instead, Han Shiyi was attracted.
"Hi, Miss Han Shiyi, long time no see." Shi Tou slowly walked out of the classroom, pretending to be very happy as he greeted Han Shiyi.
Compared to Shi Tou's enthusiasm, Han Shiyi was filled with anger: "You! Explain to me, what exactly is going on?"
Shi Tou looked at Han Shiyi with a blank expression: "What? What happened? Did I do something?"
"Stop playing dumb with me! Isn't Lin An your fiancé? Why aren't you doing anything about him? Do you know what? He actually came to me and said you agreed to let him pursue me!"
Shi Tou looked at Han Shiyi with utter depression: "My dear Miss Han Shiyi, although Lin An is my fiancé, I think he has absolute freedom before our formal wedding."
Han Shiyi was furious at Shi Tou's completely submissive, even indulgent, words: "You...you're still a young lady from a prestigious family? Oh, I remember now, the eldest daughter of the Huo family is the true legitimate daughter. And you? Hmph, you're just an illegitimate child. No wonder you think it's perfectly normal for your man to have other women he loves outside!"
Shi Tou raised an eyebrow. She genuinely didn't care who Lin An liked, but that didn't mean she was happy to be pointed at and insulted: "Yes. I'm an illegitimate child, but at least I'm happy that Lin An has women outside. Unlike some people. Their husbands have illegitimate daughters outside, oh no, they have illegitimate daughters at home, and they actually let her be included in the family genealogy? Tsk tsk..."
"What did you say?!" Han Shiyi was furious, her once pretty face turning deathly pale with anger. Although the outside world was unaware of Han Shier's situation, it was no secret within the six major families of the East.
It's not just the Han family; other families also have their own illegitimate children. Generally, whether such illegitimate children can be included in the family genealogy is determined by their talents and lineage. Of course, there are also cases like the Huo family, where illegitimate daughters were forced to leave the family at birth.
However, this matter was, after all, a secret of the Han family, and for Shi Tou to reveal it so openly, even without naming names, still embarrassed the Han family. Especially since Han Shiyi was very concerned about this scandal.
"Didn't you understand what I said?" Shi Tou abruptly ripped the college badge off his uniform and threw it at Han Shiyi. "I'm declaring war on you!"
Han Shiyi's face turned green instantly.
Unlike the uniform, the academy badge isn't something everyone can wear; only students with a strength level of one star or higher are entitled to wear it. Of course, the color of the badge varies depending on the star level. One star is white. The colors for higher levels are: yellow, green, blue, red, purple, and silver.
The highest grade is silver. It signifies that you are a magician or a martial arts master of seven stars or above. Once you obtain the silver academy badge, you can graduate immediately, regardless of your age or years of academy membership.
Of course. Graduation doesn't necessarily require reaching seven stars or higher. As long as you've been a student at the Imperial Academy for seven years without making any mistakes, you can receive your graduation certificate. The silver academy badge is just a key item for early graduation.
But besides that, the academy emblem has another special use for students of Imperial Capital Academy: declaring war!
That's right, it's a declaration of war.
As an academy like Imperial Capital Academy, which specializes in training combat fanatics, it's impossible to expect all students to be well-behaved. Imperial Capital Academy has a large student body, and with a large student body comes a lot of trouble.
To allow students to prove themselves within the academy, the Imperial Capital Academy has established a special dueling arena. Anything that occurs within this arena, even resulting in injury or death, will not violate the academy's rules.
In addition, both duelists must be at least one star strong, meaning they must possess an academy emblem. Most importantly, both duelists must participate voluntarily.
To prevent bullying, the dueling arena has a special rule: you can challenge opponents of a higher level, but you cannot bully those of a lower level.
For example, Shi Tou's strength is a one-star Dou Qi Master, so she can challenge any student with the academy badge because her star rating is the lowest among those with the badge. However, Han Shiyi cannot challenge Shi Tou because she is a three-star Dou Qi Master.
"Miss Huo, my strength is a three-star Dou Qi Master, do you understand?" Despite her indignation, Han Shiyi still suppressed her anger and reminded her.
“I know!” Stone answered crisply, “My strength is that of a one-star Dou Qi Master, and I have the right to challenge you!”
Han Shiyi stared wide-eyed at the stone, gritting her teeth, and remained silent for a moment.
Stone remained calm, knowing there was another supplementary rule in the dueling arena: Challengers of the same star level could refuse the challenge. However, challengers of different star levels could not refuse if the challenger was of higher star level.
This rule is easy to understand. If someone of a higher rank doesn't have the courage to accept a challenge from someone of a lower rank, that's a sign of cowardice!
"I agree!" Han Shiyi was aware of this rule, so after struggling with it for a long time, she gritted her teeth and agreed.
However, Shi Tou didn't even glance at her and strode towards the dueling arena, because she knew that Han Shiyi had no right to refuse!
Han Shiyi followed behind Shi Tou, looking frustrated.
That's right, those of higher rank cannot refuse challenges from those of lower rank. But then again, such challenges are inherently unfair to those of higher rank.
Imagine a situation like Shi Tou and Han Shiyi. If Han Shiyi wins, people will say it's because she's a three-star Qi Master. But if Shi Tou wins, people will say, "Han Shiyi is useless!"
Imagining the scene after the duel, Han Shiyi felt frustrated. She had only come to confront Shi Tou because Lin An suddenly came to her, saying that his fiancée didn't care that he loved her. But how did things end up like this?
"Before the duel, I want to make a bet with you!" Upon arriving at the entrance of the dueling arena, Stone suddenly stopped in his tracks.
Han Shiyi felt even more annoyed. How could she have forgotten? Usually, when two people come to the dueling arena to settle matters, they usually make a bet before the duel. Judging from Shi Tou's expression, Han Shiyi knew without a doubt that it was about Lin An.
But what if the second young lady of the Huo family says that Lin Angui is the victor?
"The one who loses will possess Lin An!"
Just as Han Shiyi was about to sigh, she jumped up upon hearing this: "What did you say?"
"Tsk tsk, I say, Miss Han, you're really something else! How old are you, and you're already hard of hearing?" Shi Tou smacked his lips and said with a teasing look, "The loser gets Lin An!"
"Phew!" To everyone's surprise, Han Shiyi breathed a sigh of relief upon hearing this: "Okay! I agree!"
Hmph, how could a three-star Dou Qi Master be no match for a newly promoted one-star Dou Qi Master?!
The stone was also very happy.
As a result, when the students arrived at the dueling arena after hearing that the two young ladies from the six great families of the East were going to duel, they were surprised to find the two sisters getting along very well.
Han Shiyi was certain she wouldn't lose, and she also felt she understood Shi Tou's intentions. It seemed the second young lady of the Huo family wasn't as indifferent to Lin An as she claimed. After all, what fiancé isn't concerned about her fiancé?
Shi Tou was in an even better mood than Han Shiyi. Ever since she learned that Lin An didn't like her much, Shi Tou had been thinking about how to sabotage this so-called engagement. However, out of consideration for Grandpa Huo's feelings, Shi Tou ultimately didn't break ties with Lin An.
Hehe, Han Shiyi, just you wait!
Because of their special identities, the dean of the Dou Qi Academy readily became their referee.
"Today, I, Huo Yi, am challenging Han Shiyi, and I am doing this willingly!"
"Today, I, Han Shiyi, am willing to accept Huo Yi's challenge. It is entirely voluntary!"
Before the duel began, Shi Tou and Han Shiyi, as the two sides in the duel, made a voluntary declaration in the dueling arena.
"Alright! The duel can proceed. Do you two have any bets?" The Dean stood between the two, facing the stands.
"Yes!" Shi Tou glanced at Han Shiyi and easily spotted the flicker of excitement in her eyes. Heh heh, it seems that girl is also quite looking forward to breaking up with Lin An!
"Please speak!"
Before Shi Tou could speak, Han Shiyi suddenly blurted out, "The loser will have Lin An, a three-star magician from the Magic Academy!"
puff!
The stone sprayed out! My goodness, you don't need to say that in such a cheerful tone, do you?
The dean was momentarily speechless, and after a long pause, he repeated Han Shiyi's words: "Huo Yi, a one-star Dou Qi master from the Dou Qi Branch, challenges Han Shiyi, a three-star Dou Qi master from the Dou Qi Branch. The bet is that the loser will possess Lin An, a three-star magic master from the Magic Branch."
Shi Tou suddenly looked up at the audience seats. The Imperial Capital Academy's dueling arena was huge, with at least several thousand seats, so Shi Tou couldn't be sure if Lin An was there. However, he figured that even if Lin An wasn't there now, he would surely hear about it from someone else within a day.
only……