"My lord, is Shen Yuan a good candidate?"
Chen Ying, far away in the Nanming, was clearly somewhat worried. She had spent more than ten years at the Capital Yin-Yang Academy and still held a certain reverence for those old monsters.
"A child?" Chen Qing looked at her strangely. "You're probably used to being the dean and seeing everyone as a junior, aren't you? If I remember correctly, Shen Yuan is older than you, isn't he?"
Seeing Chen Qing's strange look, Chen Ying blushed immediately. "My lord, can you be serious for once?"
"I didn't say anything, so why are you being inappropriate?" Chen Qing rolled her eyes, but didn't continue teasing the other person. She said in a low voice, "If the order of operations is correct, there shouldn't be a big problem. Of course, this has a lot to do with the timing of the attack and whether the opponent is careless."
The Warlock is a mainstay of the second version of Warlocks, and naturally has an advantage over the older version Warlocks. Before all the veteran Warlocks mastered the Rune Stone Instant Casting Technique, the Warlock has a significant advantage over these outdated versions.
However, whether or not he can capitalize on his advantages depends on Shen Yuan's mindset.
I got a perfect score on the test, but this test and the actual exam are very different. It's like taking a driving test; some people pass every time they practice, but make mistakes on the actual test. Mindset is key.
"But there's no need to worry, we have Shen Qi here." Chen Qing smiled. "With Shen Qi mastering the magic array, even the Imperial Preceptor might not be a match for him now."
"Right?" Chen Ying felt a little relieved upon hearing this. Shen Qi's Thousand Eyes Spell and array were a perfect match. With the opponent having absolutely no information, Chen Ying believed that even against Celestial Master Zhang of Cloud Capital, Seventh Master Shen would have a chance.
"Would those old guys be willing to exchange spells?"
"Of course," Chen Qing laughed. "Magic array masters are the future trend. If you don't adapt to the times, whether you're a thousand-year-old family or a ten-thousand-year-old family, you'll be eliminated. Don't think those old guys are all pedantic. Which patriarch of a magic family that has existed for a thousand years isn't a shrewd person? How could they not have this much foresight?"
"But whether they should directly rob it or exchange it using their own techniques depends on how well Shen Yuan and Seventh Master Shen perform."
--
The Shen Family's banquet continued, but the scene had become far more bizarre than before.
Du Kangnian, sealed within the green crystal, hovered in the air, deterring anyone from easily probing him. However, it was impossible to let them slink away like that.
This has led to the extremely bizarre scene we see today: they were almost at each other's throats just moments ago, yet now they're all sitting at the banquet, chatting and laughing as if nothing's wrong.
" The Yangtze River generation truly surpasses the older; we old folks have no choice but to accept getting old."
"That's right, Old Du will probably be too embarrassed to go out after this."
"Hahaha"
The group acted as if they had just witnessed a good show, leaving Shen Yan, who was in charge of entertaining the guests, speechless for a moment. He could only apologize repeatedly, feeling embarrassed. "My child was unruly; please forgive him."
"Hey, young people like that, so it's natural they're arrogant. If my kid had your son's skills, he'd be strutting around like a baby, hahaha."
The numerous compliments left Shen Yu, who was also serving drinks nearby, completely bewildered!
Almost two hours have passed since the battle began, and now the banquet has been set out, but he still hasn't been able to react.
My mind is filled with the scene from just now.
If the situation weren't so unfavorable, he would have liked to find a place to bang his head against, to see if he was dreaming.
How is that possible?
How could that bookworm, disliked by many of his half-siblings, invisible to his mother, and a burden in his own eyes, possibly possess such ability?
He still remembers it vividly: that guy, having taken a different path and come in second place in the exam, nervously went to his mother like a little puppy to boast of his success, only to be coldly dismissed, looking utterly dejected.
What happened in just two short years?
" Shen Yu, Shen Yu!"
While he was still dazed, his father's voice pulled him out of his daze. "What are you daydreaming about?"
"Father, I..." Shen Yu felt a surge of doubt and grievance, and at this moment she wanted to pour it all out.
"Alright," Shen Yan quickly interrupted, and said in a low voice, "Let's go inside."
After serving everyone the food and drinks, Shen Yan finally had a moment to spare. He had no time to listen to his son's complaints, who was already terrified, and quickly pulled him to the inner hall of the Shen Family.
Inside the main hall, a group of elders and the old master had been waiting for a long time.
After Shen Yan entered the room, the old man quickly used a protective barrier to seal the door.
"How's it going? What's the situation outside?"
The one asking the question was the impatient Shen Dongsheng.
Shen Yan ignored him and looked directly at Old Master Shen, saying, "Grandpa, things are calm outside for now. Those people are unwilling to leave just like that, but Yuan'er's move just now was too shocking, and now no one dares to test him easily. At least on the surface, they haven't torn off the mask yet."
Yuan'er?
Shen Yu pursed his lips slightly. He had never heard his father call him "elder brother" like that before. Now that his father was calling him so affectionately, he wondered if the other man would accept it. He had clearly seen just now that Shen Yuan did not take his father seriously at all.
"Good, good, good," the old man nodded repeatedly, "It's good to stabilize things for now. The current situation is that we must find out what exactly happened to Shen Yuan, how he came to have such abilities, what he plans to do now that he's back in the capital, and didn't he say anything in his letter home to you?"
Shen Yan was taken aback, and said somewhat awkwardly, "Grandpa, Yuan'er and I aren't very close. As you know, I was busy with many things in the past and didn't pay much attention to him. Compared to me, he seems to rely more on Madam Zheng, and most of the letters he writes are to Madam Zheng."
"Is that so?" Shen Qingfeng stroked his beard. "Just now, it was indeed Madam Zheng's reprimand that had some effect, which made him take action. It's clear that the child is closer to his mother than to you."
"Yes, yes."
"But how did Madam Zheng treat him?" the old man asked, squinting.
Although he didn't usually interfere in his grandchildren's affairs, he knew a little about it. It seemed that Madam Zheng didn't particularly like her eldest son, who lacked talent.
When he left the pass, he heard that his family had produced a second-place scholar in the imperial examinations. He was quite interested and planned to have his family hold a banquet to celebrate. However, he didn't expect that his son would go directly to take up a post in Jiangnan, and his family didn't make any progress at all.
This can be considered an achievement to some extent. However, as the mistress of the house, Madam Zheng did not receive a single banquet, which shows how Madam Zheng usually treats her eldest son.
"Your Excellency is wise." Shen Yan sighed, "In the early years, Madam Zheng treated Shen Yuan very well, but after the tests revealed that the child had no talent for magic, she became somewhat neglectful."
He still remembers that when the child was young, Madam Zheng clung to Shen Yuan almost every day, treating him like a treasure. Even though there was a wet nurse, she insisted on breastfeeding him herself, just because she didn't want the child to be unfamiliar with her. Those were the times when Madam Zheng smiled the most. He just didn't know when it started, but the mother and child became so estranged.
"Ignore?" The old man snorted. "I'm afraid it's more than just ignoring, isn't it?"
Shen Yan remained silent. When he was young, he was abused by his mistress and nearly tortured to death. This was because his mistress was afraid that his talent was too good and would block her son's path, so she targeted him in that way!
After he became the head of the family, he couldn't stand how much Madam Zheng doted on her children. He was afraid that Madam Zheng would be like his former mistress, Gu Family's interests and abusing her illegitimate children for the sake of a useless son.
Therefore, he showed great importance to those worthy sons and daughters born out of wedlock, and even let his concubines raise their children themselves, just to prevent the same thing from happening again.
But Madam Zheng seemed to lose her sense of security because of this. Seeing that her illegitimate sons and daughters were becoming more and more outstanding, and that the concubines around her were becoming more and more disrespectful to her, she went crazy for a while, sometimes like a ghost, and almost got divorced.
Things only improved after Shen Yu was born and her aptitude was proven.
However, after that, Madam Zheng became increasingly distant and indifferent towards her eldest son, whom she had once doted on.
"Our family of sorcerers values aptitude more than traditional families that prioritize direct descendants. This is due to the nature of our family. But people aren't made of wood or stone. Who can truly be willing to give up their own bloodline to a son or daughter born of a concubine?" The old man sighed. "Therefore, maintaining the balance of a family requires even more skill from the head of the household. You are excellent in all other areas, but you are lacking in the ability to manage a household."
Shen Yan was taken aback, then remained silent for a moment before bowing with a wry smile, "Grandpa is right."
"Call Madam Zheng over."
"That child," Shen Yan hesitated for a moment before saying, "I'm afraid he harbors resentment towards the Madam Zheng!"
"Then we can only hope for Madam Zheng!" The old man glared at the other person. "That child at least hates Madam Zheng, but he has nothing for you. If we don't call Madam Zheng, are you the one who will go?"
Shen Yan recalled the cold look Shen Yuan had given him earlier, and shook his head with a wry smile, "Grandson will go find Madam Zheng now."
Here comes the third update, hehe. There are still six chapters to go, so please be patient, dear readers, as I will make up for Mofang slowly.