"Brother Shen, Brother Shen?"
"Huh?" Shen Yuan came back to his senses and looked at the short man in front of him with a start.
"What are you daydreaming about? I'm talking to you about serious matters." The short girl looked at Shen Yuan with displeasure. Although she was small, her features were exquisite. She was dressed as a scholar, but everyone knew that she was the daughter of Master Du from the Foundation Academy of Investigating Things.
It is said that at first it was just because he spoiled his daughter and let her do whatever she wanted, but no one expected that this little girl would have such a talent for mathematics and magic, and would be among the best in the Heaven Academy. When Master Du saw that things had gotten out of hand, he wanted to call his daughter back, but was stopped by Lady Chen Ying, who said that the child had top-notch talent for magic. This made Master Du very happy.
Shen Yuan was initially dissatisfied with this matter, but over the course of a year, he grew to like the atmosphere of the academy more and more.
All the students come from different families and backgrounds. There are children of teachers, children of wealthy merchants, and children of ordinary farmers and soldiers. But no matter their status, they are all judged solely on their grades. It is incredibly pure. Every day, they discuss all sorts of difficult problems involving divination and formations, as if there is nothing else worth discussing.
Such a pure atmosphere is truly captivating.
"Brother Shen," another man beside him spoke up, "This is the first time our Heaven Academy has achieved anything significant. You're one of the architects, so the situation is very important. You can't afford to be distracted at this crucial moment."
"That's right, that's right!" A group of short people nearby nodded in agreement.
Shen Yuan was taken aback, then found it somewhat amusing. He had been dealing with these youngsters for a year, so engrossed in academic exchanges that he had forgotten they were still children, the oldest only nineteen. Stepping outside the academic sphere, their youthful personalities immediately became apparent.
That makes sense, though. Of the four academies of Heaven, Earth, Profound, and Yellow, only the Heaven Academy has anything of note, which makes them seem somewhat inferior when facing classmates from other academies.
The most popular academy right now is Yellow Academy. The Guantian Building, the Sea God, the loom, and even the newly researched steam engine and skyrail are all on the agenda in Liuzhou. The students of the engineering department have already gained a great reputation in Jiangnan. It is said that this year, due to the large number of people who want to enroll, the academy is preparing to expand its enrollment tenfold!
Next is the Mystic Academy. This year, the Mystic Academy sent out 43 students for internships, including 20 medical sorcerers, 10 of whom are skilled in surgery and 10 of whom are skilled in drug transformation. They are all highly sought-after now. The army has suggested several times that the academy train more medical sorcerers. Nowadays, medical sorcerers may look young, but in the Battle God Army, even generals and fighters respectfully address them as "sir".
Then came agricultural sorcerers, biological sorcerers, and even the most obscure material sorcerers became incredibly popular last year for creating a new type of clothing material. It's said that many wealthy businessmen are hoping their children can get into the Mystic Academy this year, either to become a medical sorcerer or a material sorcerer.
The most awkward situation is for him, from the Second Academy of Earth and Heaven.
When the results were first announced, the Heaven and Earth Academies were touted as having the best aptitude. However, a year has passed, and they have nothing to show for themselves. Half a year ago, things were alright, at least the Heaven and Earth Academies faced criticism together. The key thing is that half a year ago, the Earth Academy's rune enchanting magic gradually matured, and it was already able to enchant swords and blades for the Battle God Army. It is said that the effect was extremely amazing. Several fighter generals from Nanyang City, relying on their good information, came directly to snatch people during their internship half a year ago, and captured more than a dozen of them at once!
Only Heaven Academy was ignored.
If this continues, with the expanded enrollment after March, I'm afraid even the Heaven Academy won't be able to fill its original quota!
"Alright, alright, I understand," Shen Yuan said with a smile. "People outside may not know our value, but do you think we don't? Once this magic array is activated, the disciples of our Heaven Academy will become the most sought-after sorcerers in the world!"
"Mmm!" A group of short people immediately became spirited. " Jiangnan is the most sought-after!"
Shen Yuan: "."
It has to be said that the little ones are still too young, and having been in the academy all this time, they actually regarded Jiangnan as their whole world during the year that Jiangnan was under lockdown.
But perhaps none of them understand yet that they now possess immense value throughout the Great Jin —no, it should be said, the entire world!
As someone born into a family of sorcerers, Shen Yuan knew very well that the spellcasters from the Heaven Academy would be the game-changers in the world of sorcerers. Perhaps they didn't have the creativity of the Mystic Academy and the Yellow Academy, but what they possessed now was something that could change the current battlefield landscape!
This is something that all sorcerer families will be vying for fiercely in the future!
He suddenly realized it was because he didn't understand why it had to be revealed so quickly. Chen Qing had produced such results; could he really hold onto them?
"Dean Chen!"
"Dean Chen!"
A white figure approached from a distance, and the group of people immediately stopped their discussion and looked over with great interest.
Chen Ying is a good teacher. She can patiently answer all the students' questions about techniques. The pure academic atmosphere that the Yin-Yang Academy has now is largely due to Chen Ying's selfless dedication, which has led to her high reputation in the academy.
Even though she had never attended any banquet, both the teachers and students held this young female dean in the highest esteem.
"Hmm, everyone's here?" Chen Ying approached Shen Yuan and asked, "How's the structure? Is it clear?"
Shen Yuan nodded quickly. "Don't worry, Dean, I've already reviewed it again, there won't be any problems."
"Don't say such things," Chen Ying shook her head. "The art of array formations involves endless arithmetic. From a probabilistic point of view, no array formation can guarantee 100% success in any operation. If something were never to have problems, there would be no point in us continuing."
"The Dean is right." Shen Yuan took a deep breath and nodded. "It was I who was too arrogant."
"Not arrogant at all," Chen Ying said with a smile. "You are the most outstanding student in the Heaven Academy. It's a good thing to be confident. Whether the adults succeed this time depends on you."
All the students puffed out their chests with smug expressions, but Shen Yuan's eyes flashed with a hint of bewilderment.
He roughly knew about Chen Qing's plan, but was he really willing to entrust him with such an important task, a crucial link in the chain?
You must know, in the past, I was a bad person, I came from a family of sorcerers, I had such a deep entanglement with the imperial court, and most importantly, I had a grudge against him.
He didn't believe Chen Qing was unaware of his crucial role in this plan, after all, the woman in front of him who controlled this magic array was Chen Qing's woman!
But he was still willing to entrust such an important matter to me.
Do you believe you won't cause trouble, or do you believe you can't afford to cause trouble?
"News has just arrived! Lord Xu Hu has defeated Yuchi Peng, captured 50,000 imperial troops, and is on his way back. We must hurry, time is running out!"
Upon hearing this, a group of students immediately opened their eyes wide with interest and exclaimed excitedly, "Really?"
"I knew Lord Xu Hu would return victorious! Humph, now those people from Nanming Prefecture won't be able to make a fuss, will they?"
"Lord Xu Hu is mighty!!"
Although the students were all passionate about academics, they were still young and paid attention to military affairs in their spare time. A few days ago, people all over the streets of Nanming Prefecture were talking about it, especially the wealthy merchants. They still sided with the imperial court and kept guiding public opinion, spreading the message that the imperial court was about to correct the wrongs. This caused quite a stir in Nanming Prefecture and made the people from Liuzhou very angry and they stepped forward to debate.
These days, this is the topic that has been the biggest point of contention between people from Liuzhou and Nanming Prefecture on the streets.
I can't believe the results are out in just a few days!
As expected, Lord Xu Hu did not disappoint them!
The group of teenagers immediately perked up, eager to run to Nanming Prefecture and confront those people who had acted so arrogantly.
The few other scholars who, like Shen Yuan, had passed the imperial examinations were slightly taken aback, their expressions incredibly complex.
Compared to the blindly optimistic youths, they were more thoughtful. Deep down, they did not want the imperial court to win, but they were all aware of the court's strength.
Especially noteworthy is that the team leader this time is none other than the renowned Yuchi Peng!
I can't believe it... we actually won?
Shen Yuan swallowed hard. Chen Qing had sent the disciples of the Heaven Academy to Nanming Prefecture to set up a top-tier magic array that the Heaven Academy had been researching for over a year. The reason for testing it in Nanming Prefecture was that Chen Qing wanted to be the host and invite forces from all directions to gather in Nanming!
As far as he knew, the four forces included the Princess who had once occupied Nanming Prefecture, the living corpse lord of the West Sea, the Duke of Wei's forces that had started a rebellion in the north, and the imperial court!
Inviting four powerful forces to one place, including top-tier ones, Shen Yuan initially wondered if Chen Qing had gone mad when he first heard about the plan!
In such a chaotic period, inviting warlords from all over the land to one's own territory for discussions—isn't that a privilege reserved for the hegemons of the pre-Warring States period?
Chen Qing really dares to do such a thing!
However, there are two prerequisites for this to happen!
First, you need to establish your authority. If you don't have a good reputation, why should anyone pay attention to you?
You think you can just invite someone and they'll come? How dare you!
Therefore, defeating the imperial army this time is a crucial step. Only by establishing authority can we be qualified to be the host.
Shen Yuan hadn't expected things to go so smoothly!
"Alright, no time for you to go to the city and show off." Chen Ying saw through the students' intentions at a glance. "The imperial army has been defeated, and the news will soon reach the court. We don't have much time." She then looked at Shen Yuan: "The framework must be in place within three days. These three days will be tough on you!"
Shen Yuan snapped out of his daze and quickly returned the greeting, "Rest assured, Your Excellency, I will certainly live up to your expectations!"
The second condition is to gather top-tier forces from all sides to create sufficient deterrence. Otherwise, if you are so arrogant as to invite such a deadly figure and fail to maintain control, the matter they come to discuss will likely be how to divide you up!
And if they want to establish dominance, this project is key!!