"Mr. Luo, please wait a moment."
The boy led the person to a secluded spot inside the exhibition hall and began tidying up his display case.
Luo Yi, observing this, became curious. "Can any student come to this exhibition hall to showcase their work?"
"More or less." The young man nodded. "But you have to apply to the academy for your research project first before you can reserve a spot. I booked late, and I wasn't really willing to pay a high price, so my spot is in a rather remote location."
"You still want to pay?" Luo Yi was taken aback.
"Of course we have to charge," the boy said matter-of-factly. "This academy is responsible for its own profits and losses. In the beginning, the principal spent a lot of effort on various promotions to obtain sufficient funding. Now that our academy has finally made a name for itself, we naturally have to recoup our costs. Not only do we have to charge for the exhibition hall, but the academy also charges for projects that result in commercial success."
"The college wants to charge you for your work?" Luo Yi's eyes widened. How could Chen Qing be so ruthless and still gain the students' approval?
"Of course." The boy frowned. "The academy invested so much in training us, isn't it only right that we repay them?"
"Training?" Luo Yi thought of something, "The academy... is it free?"
"Hmm," the boy nodded with a smile, " Lord Chen said that talented people shouldn't be kept out of the path of a sorcerer by cost. So, as long as you're enrolled, our students don't have to pay tuition. Moreover, if a student has a project idea, the academy will send someone to conduct research and provide initial support."
Talented individuals should not be deterred from the path of a warlock by cost.
Luo Yi stood there stunned for a long time before he came to his senses.
His past hardships flooded his mind. If the Yin-Yang Academy in the capital had held the same principles, he wouldn't have ended up as a live-in son-in-law.
This Chen Qing, though young, possesses an extraordinary vision.
But what a huge price to pay for this!
Even the ambitious emperor of yesteryear never offered to train sorcerers for free.
"So we're willing to let the academy share our achievements." The boy said earnestly, "We exist because of the Yin-Yang School of Liuzhou. I was originally the son of a merchant. Although the Great Jin didn't ban merchants from taking the imperial examinations, there was obvious discrimination. When I was ten, my teacher thought my writing was mature enough for me to take the preliminary examinations. However, I failed the examinations four times because of the difficulties set by the officials. If it weren't for Lord Chen and the Yin-Yang Academy of Liuzhou, I would be working as a bookkeeper in my father's teahouse now, instead of becoming a respected fortune teller based on my talent for divination."
As he spoke, the boy took out a crystal-clear water droplet, which looked as if it were made of water, even more translucent and bright than crystal.
"This is... glass?" Luo Yi frowned. "Glass doesn't have such a pure color. This material is actually jadeite?" Luo Yi immediately recognized it. Although it was transparent, upon closer inspection of the bead's texture, he immediately recognized it as top-grade jadeite.
"This was originally imperial green jade," the young man said after stroking the material. "Jade is the best magic-conducting material we know of right now. Both our Earth Academy's enchanting department and the Heaven Academy's array department rely heavily on it, which is why the research results of our two academies are extremely valuable."
"And strangely enough, the higher the quality of the jadeite, the better its magic-guiding effect. In recent days, I have purchased hundreds of high-quality jadeite pieces at high prices to get this. My ice jade hasn't even started selling yet, but I've already received a lot of advances from several investors, and they've been avoiding me for the past few days."
Luo Yi: "."
You're asking for money in advance right away; after a few times, of course, they'll disappear.
"Having used so many materials, what results have you achieved?" Luo Yi asked curiously.
"Brother, please look!" The young man gently grasped the jade, and faint ripples appeared on the transparent jade. Then, a layer of visible bubbles enveloped him. The huge bubbles were more than five meters high and looked extremely magical.
"What's this?" Even Wei Gongcheng looked inside curiously.
"This is called Water-Avoidance Pearl!" The boy's voice came from the bubble, accompanied by the muffled sound of water, "Everyone is welcome to come in and take a look."
Luo Yi didn't hesitate. Although he felt he had never seen this technique before, he wasn't afraid. First of all, no matter how much a Fifth Rank sorcerer schemed, he couldn't harm him. Secondly, this place was led by Wei Gongcheng, so there was no need for him to do anything.
The three of them, including Yuchi Peng, went inside and looked around curiously.
"Something's not right about the atmosphere here," Yuchi Peng said first.
Luo Yi also realized what was happening and looked around. "Is the air here temporarily regenerated?"
"Talking to experts is so effortless," the young man laughed. "That's the effect of the Water-Avoidance Pearl. This bubble can remain submerged thousands of meters underwater, unaffected by pressure, and can even provide the air a person needs!"
Everyone: "!!"
"This is really a great project!" Yuchi Peng immediately became excited. As a military general, he didn't have the magical abilities of a sorcerer. He had long wanted to sneak into those underwater secret realms to take a look. However, the underwater secret realms were all in the deep sea. If a military general went deeper than a few hundred meters, his body and bones would not be able to withstand it, and his physical strength would be greatly depleted. The key point was that no matter how large his lung capacity was, he could not last long in the water. Once he encountered a terrifying sea monster, the probability of capsizing was extremely high!
"It's indeed a good project, but the cost is too high." Luo Yi nodded and said, "Most people probably won't need it."
Sure enough, upon hearing this introduction, the group of merchants surnamed Feng lost interest immediately. Feng said to those behind him, "Let's go, let's go, this is a waste of time."
"That sounds pretty amazing," said a portly man standing nearby.
"What good are these magical things?" The businessman surnamed Feng rolled his eyes. "There are plenty of magical things here, but you have to be sure they're useful. Take the Flying Pearl that appeared a few days ago, for example. They can make people fly, but the force is hard to control. Ordinary people will most likely fall down if they fly high. The rich businessman who invested in that one lost everything. Luckily, the Fighter Army purchased some later to train special forces, otherwise that boss surnamed Yang would probably have lost everything."
Everyone: "."
Upon hearing this, Yuchi Peng and Luo Yi, who were in the distance, felt a chill run down their spines. A flying army.
This Liuzhou Academy is indeed extraordinary. The things they make are not only amazing, but they can also play a decisive role on the battlefield. Flying soldiers—if they were to launch a night raid on a city, those unaware of the intelligence would definitely fall victim. If we can return, we must make the imperial court be careful in this regard!
"Let's go, let's go over there and take a look. I heard that Mr. Lu, who got me the Fire Silkworm Silk last time, is here today too. Let's see if he has any new research."
"Okay, okay!"
After the group left, the boy didn't care. Water-Avoidance Pearl were indeed useless to ordinary people, unless they were rich people with a thirst for knowledge who wanted to see the sea. But these were a minority, and their sales were much worse than his ice beads.
But he showed no resentment, instead looking at Luo Yi and the others. "Brother, you're from the capital, aren't you?"
Luo Yi's pupils contracted, then he said with a half-smile, "What do you mean by that, young master?"
"Did you come for the Dragon Palace?"
Everyone: "!!!"
Luo Yi was utterly stunned. He looked at Wei Gongcheng, but Wei Gongcheng seemed completely unconcerned.
"Sir, there's no need to be surprised," the young man said. "Most of what we learn at the Yin-Yang Academy comes from the Dragon Palace Inheritance. Any student here who has read the Dragon Palace's secret teachings and records knows about the Dragon Palace. Oh, of course, there are also students who aren't interested in ancient secrets and are focused solely on their studies; those are quite numerous too."
" Dragon Palace Secrets? Transcribed texts?" Luo Yi's heart skipped a beat. "Is this kind of thing open to you at the academy?"
"Of course!" The young man smiled and looked at the other person, "Sir, you've come for this reason too, haven't you? Recently, thanks to the guidance of maritime merchants from Jiangnan, quite a few people from prominent families in the capital have come here, all inquiring about this."
Luo Yi: "."
He knew about this. After the incident in Jiangnan, many aristocratic families suspected that Jiangnan was descended from ancient times, and some long-established families vaguely knew what was in Jiangnan!
He had heard the term " Dragon Palace " from his father-in-law. He had come with the army not only to assist General Yuchi Peng, but also on a secret mission: to gather intelligence about the Dragon Palace.
It was unexpected that information that even the Nine Ministers Clan were unwilling to share was so casually uttered by a young man who had not yet reached adulthood!
"This is a real gem!" the young man said with a smile. "According to records, the Dragon Palace lies deep beneath the abyss, within the sea's eye, estimated to be at least several thousand meters below. The pressure there is immense. Even the strongest martial artists would struggle to recover once they reached that depth; their internal organs would be unable to withstand it. But this thing of mine, once fully developed, can perfectly solve this problem. The Dragon Palace is about to open; brother, don't miss out on such a treasure!"
Luo Yi paused, looked at Wei Gongcheng, then at the boy. "Why didn't you sell this to your Lord Chen?"
"Oh, the Fighter Army are Sea God's Blessing. This thing of mine can only be sold to you."
Luo Yi: "."
"Boy, I have a question!" Yuchi Peng frowned and said, "How do you know that the Dragon Palace is about to open? Is it also recorded in the books?"
"Huh?" The boy was taken aback. "What book do you need to record this in? Haven't you heard? Yesterday, Liuzhou announced that the imperial court and the Princess would be coming to Nanming Prefecture for talks. At this time, the thick fog in Jiangnan is about to dissipate. What else could be the purpose of these talks between various forces? Are they just idly playing mahjong?"
Yuchi Peng and Luo Yi were immediately stunned. "What... what did you say?"
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