"Who do you think you are? You see my sister and don't even bow, and you don't even know who she is?" Seeing that Chu Feng just stood there motionless, Lan Yanzhi pointed at him and shouted, just as Zhang Tianyi had said — the girl was quite the tyrant.
Her words sent a ripple through the crowd. Some had expected this, while others were genuinely shocked, because Lan Yanzhi's outburst had essentially revealed that Lan Xi was her older sister.
Chu Feng's expression didn't change in the slightest. He smiled faintly. "Why should I bow to your sister?"
"L Senior Sister Lan Xi, he's a friend of mine named Chu Feng. He's not a disciple of the Four Seas Academy."
At the same time, Zhang Tianyi hurried to explain, signaling that Chu Feng had no obligation to bow to Lan Xi.
Though Zhang Tianyi was normally fearless, there were times and people you had to be careful around. He wasn't afraid of Lan Yanzhi, but Lan Xi was a different matter entirely — her status and strength both far exceeded his own, and she was someone they absolutely could not afford to offend in their current state.
"He's not a disciple of our Four Seas Academy? Then what's he doing here? What does he think the Four Seas Academy is? Some place anyone can just wander into and stroll around as they please?" Lan Yanzhi snapped, clearly displeased.
"Enough, Yanzhi." Lan Xi cast a glance at her sister first, then turned to Zhang Tianyi and the others with a warm smile. "We're all fellow disciples and peers. There's no need to be so formal. Next time you see me, there's no need to bow."
"Thank you, Senior Sister Lan Xi." Zhang Tianyi and the others all rose to their feet.
Seeing that her sister had already taken this stance, Lan Yanzhi didn't push the matter further. Instead, she directed her unfriendly gaze toward Su Rou and Zhang Tianyi's group of four.
"Oh my, you four have been hiding it well, haven't you? It took until today for me to realize your cultivation is no weaker than mine. Especially you, Zhang Tianyi — you've actually surpassed me. Looks like you've been working awfully hard behind the scenes. You really are quite the schemer."
"But don't go thinking that with cultivation like this you can run wild inside the Thousand-Year Ancient City. With your level of strength, you don't even qualify to touch the martial medicines."
Seeing Lan Yanzhi berating his loved ones and brothers right in front of his face, Chu Feng's anger flared up instantly, and he was about to say something.
"Yanzhi, how can you speak to people like that? Haven't I told you to watch your mouth and not be so harsh with others?" But to Chu Feng's surprise, Lan Xi spoke before he could.
"Sister, it's not that I'm being harsh or unpleasant."
"The thing is, those four deliberately hid their cultivation to make me lower my guard, then secretly surpassed me. It's infuriating! They obviously did it on purpose — they wanted to make me look bad!" Lan Yanzhi protested indignantly. Quite the ridiculous excuse, but she somehow managed to convince herself of it.
"It's your own lack of effort, and you're blaming others? If you'd stayed diligent and kept training hard instead of slacking off, no one could have held you back no matter what they did."
"And if others are naturally talented and ahead of you, then no matter how hard you try, you can't stop them from surpassing you."
"Yanzhi, I'm not trying to lecture you as your sister, but your personality has really been spoiled by our uncle and aunt. Sometimes you're just completely unreasonable. Don't you know that there's always someone better out there, and a sky beyond the sky? If you keep this up, sooner or later you're going to pay a heavy price." Lan Xi criticized her without holding back.
"Sister, I..."
Though Lan Yanzhi was always domineering, that was only toward other people. When it came to her older sister, she didn't dare throw even the slightest tantrum. She could only bow her head in silence. After all, the reason she could be so overbearing at the Four Seas Academy was precisely because of this very sister.