"This academy is so cool; is it because of the Frost Jadeite you mentioned earlier, Brother Feng?" A tall, thin wealthy man looked around in surprise.
Every now and then, you can see a crystal-clear blue jade floating among the flowers, plants and trees, emitting an extremely cool fragrance, which makes your eyes light up.
This thing can keep the entire courtyard so cool, and its design is exquisite. If designed well, it can even add a touch of luxury to the courtyard. It must be a luxury item that the rich will fight over!
"Yes, that's right." The businessman surnamed Feng nodded and smiled.
Not far away, Wei Gongcheng and his group had just arrived at the academy. Since there were many people, it was not appropriate to openly cut in line. The group actually entered the academy at the same time as the businessman surnamed Feng and his group.
"Truly amazing." Luo Yi looked at the floating ice-blue jade. "What's the principle behind this? How can such a mere piece of jade support such a complex technique?"
"Brother, you also know about magic?" A gentle voice sounded from behind. Luo Yi was taken aback, not expecting anyone to speak to him. He quickly turned around to look.
The speaker was a boy who looked to be only fourteen or fifteen years old. He was wearing a yellow shirt. Wei Gongcheng had mentioned before that the disciples of the Earth Character Institute, one of the four academies (Heaven, Earth, Black, and Yellow), all wore yellow shirts as a symbol.
"Oh, hello young sir." Luo Yi quickly returned the greeting, curiously sizing up the other person.
At fourteen years old, the student's spiritual power was already quite high, at least at the level of Fifth Rank sorcerer. At that age, even in the Capital Yin-Yang Academy, such a talent would be considered top-tier. Was there really such a promising talent in Jiangnan?
It's such a waste to leave such a promising talent in Jiangnan.
"You're too kind, brother," the young man said with a smile. "Since you are a sorcerer, we are kindred spirits. I can't sense your spiritual power at all, so you must be a senior who is many years ahead of me. I am not worthy of being called 'Master' in front of you."
That's quite modest.
Luo Yi nodded in satisfaction. With such talent and such a humble personality, the other person had a bright future ahead of him. He wondered if he should write a letter of recommendation for the other person to the Capital Yin-Yang Academy.
"Is this your first time here, brother?" the young man chuckled. "Sorcerers visiting for the first time are always very curious about the things here."
As he spoke, he gently raised his hand, and a piece of ice-blue jade that had been floating among the flowers flew over.
"Did you make this jade?" Luo Yi asked in astonishment.
"It's just a shabby little thing, I hope you'll forgive my poor attempt to show off, senior," the young man said with a smile.
"How can you call this a trinket?" Luo Yi quickly said, "I've never heard of such a method of inscribing such complex techniques on jade before, and the intricacy of this inscription array is truly remarkable. This jade can't generate Spirit Energy on its own; it must rely on this magical array to continuously absorb the coolness emanating from the energy of heaven and earth, right?"
"You flatter me, senior." The young man nodded and said, "This is nothing special. Anyone who has read the basic arrays of my academy and thought about the changes in the periodic table can easily make it. My father is a businessman, so I'm quite sensitive to business opportunities. Many of my classmates could make this long ago, but I beat them to it. It's not complicated to make, but it has great commercial value. Thanks to this, I've recently received a lot more research funding. I guess I really got lucky."
"A merchant's son." Luo Yi was taken aback. A merchant's son could raise a fourteen-year-old Fifth Rank sorcerer? He had always assumed the other party was born into a family of sorcerers in Jiangnan!
That talent is probably on par with Wang Ye's in his prime!!
And what about the basics of magic arrays?
Such a miraculous array, capable of circulating and refining energy without human intervention, is it the foundation of magical arrays?
And what exactly is this periodic change?
Why can't I understand it?
"I've recently come across something new; would you mind taking a look, senior?"
Luo Yi snapped out of his daze and quickly nodded, "Okay, okay!"
Not far away, a businessman surnamed Feng noticed this and quickly waved to the wealthy men beside him.
" Brother Feng, what's wrong?"
"Follow along, follow along, maybe it's something good." The businessman surnamed Feng laughed, "These young masters usually love to have outsiders who are also sorcerers come to see their projects, because people from sorcerer families are richer and better able to understand the value of projects. They can attract large investments more easily than us common merchants. Let's go and see what the sorcerer has to say."
The wealthy men were taken aback. It sounded reasonable, but something still felt off.
It took him a few moments to realize that this guy surnamed Feng had become so casual with the sorcerer.
You see, sorcerers are mysterious and dangerous beings in the eyes of ordinary mortals. Most people would keep their distance unless they could curry favor with them. But this guy seems to be using them merely as a tool for screening candidates?
Before they could even react, a group of people had already entered the exhibition hall.
Inside the showroom, all sorts of amazing things were on display, with incredible effects they had never even imagined, leaving them dazzled.
He kept asking questions out of curiosity.
"Oh, that one? That's Bright Jade Jadeite, it has an illuminating effect. If placed above a house, it can make the night as bright as day. That's a product from half a year ago; the new ones are all lanterns with unique colors."
"That crystal ball? That's a wonderful thing! It's called ' Thousand Aspects.' It can record everything you see and then watch it anytime. Not only scenery, but also portraits can be recorded. This thing is very popular. Not only can you record the beautiful scenery you travel through into the crystal and watch it again later, but you can even record your own children, your wife, and their younger days. It's said that even after a hundred years, the recorded scenes will still exist, and you can see your loved ones and yourself from the past at any time."
"This... this is a treasure!" Several wealthy men nearby jumped up in surprise. If the merchant surnamed Feng hadn't held them back, they probably would have rushed over to take a look.
"No rush, no rush. These are all mature projects, and we can no longer participate in them." The businessman surnamed Feng sighed and shook his head, "Take the Hundred Images project for example. When it was first proposed, it was just a concept, and there weren't even any products on display. Many people didn't invest, except for the Shen Family. Now, after half a year of development, a single crystal ball can record an hour's worth of video. The colors are getting brighter and brighter, and the images inside are becoming clearer and clearer. It's said that it cost a lot of money."
"This project is so hot that the Shen Family couldn't keep it all to themselves, so they released the Second Tier of research and investment. You guys didn't know back then, but so many people were bidding like crazy. Now they're about to start the third phase of attracting investment. It's said that the big spenders who can still keep it going are all big shots who can offer millions of silver dollars. Our family's assets are simply not enough."
"This... this..." The group was incredibly envious when they saw the project. If something like this were put in the capital, it would probably fetch a million taels of gold; it was practically a divine object!
"We can invest," one wealthy man said hastily. "I'll go back and convert all my assets into jade; we must get 10%!"
"That won't do!" The businessman surnamed Feng quickly waved his hand. "Mr. Lan Feng, who works on the project, said that this technology is still in its initial stage, and the materials used are very expensive. This third stage won't be on the market for at least two years. The risk is extremely high. Don't be blinded by it. If the money you invest doesn't yield results, it will be a complete waste. You won't be able to enjoy the goods from the first two stages, which are only available in the third stage."
"Is that so?" The group was taken aback. They had assumed that once they joined, all the benefits would be shared.
"Nonsense!" The businessman surnamed Feng rolled his eyes at the other party. "The businessmen in the first two phases took huge risks. They made money because they had good foresight. Would they be willing to share such a golden egg with you?"
"Forehead"
"However, such large projects are indeed risky. Even if you succeed in investing, if you can't keep investing, the constantly updated and improved projects will replace your previous products. If you can break even in the short term, that's fine, but if not, it's a bottomless pit that keeps getting bigger with each investment!"
Everyone: "."
"So let's invest in some small projects first, and play it safe," the businessman surnamed Feng said in a low voice. "Don't worry about missing out on opportunities. Liuzhou Academy is full of talented people, and good things emerge every month. There are plenty of opportunities to make money!"
"This..." one of the wealthy men said in a low voice, "But I've heard that the imperial court has begun its campaign against Jiangnan. Will Liuzhou Academy still exist?"
"Hasn't the imperial court been defeated?" The merchant surnamed Feng frowned.
"That was just a minor defeat!" a wealthy man exclaimed excitedly. "The imperial army hasn't even arrived yet!"
"We're in the same boat," the merchant surnamed Feng said, frowning at them. "I've heard that Lord Xu Hu defeated the imperial army with only 30,000 Fighter Army. And in Nanming Prefecture, my soldier brother told me that there are still 200,000 troops waiting to be deployed."
Everyone: "."
Luo Yi listened from a distance, his heart filled with complex emotions.
I was surprised by Chen Qing's current military strength, but even more chilled by the words of that businessman surnamed Feng: "We..."
Clearly, the people of Liuzhou, without hesitation, chose Chen Qing Chen Qing over the imperial court!