Unlike the hunting most people imagined,
the Shanglin Garden Spring Hunt was far more "civilized."
The young wizards participating in the spring hunt did not need to wear cumbersome hunting gear, spend days on end filthy and disheveled while chasing demons through the hunting grounds, or carry little knives to carve Magic materials from Hounds of Disaster and Singing Snakes.
The spring hunt in Shanglin Garden resembled an elegant practical examination more than anything else.
After registering, the hunters went onstage in turn to draw bamboo slips, then completed the requirements written on them within a prescribed time—perhaps a spell, perhaps a potion, or perhaps a talisman or Magic Circle.
Respected Archwizards from numerous great families served as the hunt's judges, jointly scoring each hunter's performance. Their total scores determined the first-round rankings.
Then, based on those rankings, the hunt prepared a suitable prey beast for every hunter. In addition to personally slaughtering their prey, the hunters had to divide their catch into three precisely proportioned parts: "sacrifice," "feasting," and "storage." This was called the "three grades" or "three killings," taken from the Book of Changes: "Six in the fourth place: regret vanishes; hunting yields three grades."
The third round was the "challenge round." Hunters dissatisfied with their rankings in the first two rounds could challenge any hunter ranked ahead of them. Each person could only issue one challenge and could only be challenged once.
After three rounds, the highest scorer became the final winner of the spring hunt and received a Star of Shanglin Garden badge.
"...All in all, the Shanglin Garden Spring Hunt isn't all that competitive. It feels more like a leisurely pastime." Jiang Yu linked one arm through the young wizard's while holding a glass of apple juice in the other. A trace of vexation colored