As the date of the assessment approached, young scions from powerful families in the capital, the north, and the Northern Wasteland successively entered the Jiangnan region.
According to the rules of Jiangnan, high-level sorcerers are not allowed to enter without authorization. He Family can only send young disciples under the age of 25, whose sorcerer level is lower than the Third Rank.
No sorcerer of Third Rank or higher is allowed to enter Jiangnan at will. If discovered, the family will be immediately and completely banned from entering, and all goods from Jiangnan will be completely cut off from that family.
The threat is undeniably significant, but there are reasons for it. While sorcerers may not always be as effective as warriors in skirmishes, their destructive power can be astonishing when prepared. Moreover, their methods are unpredictable and extremely difficult to prevent. For example, a sorcerer like the Seventh Master of the Shen Family could set up Thousand-Eye Grand Formation on your territory, putting your entire city under his surveillance. Or there are poison sorcerers who could poison your water sources, making cleanup extremely troublesome, and if you're not careful, a terrible plague could break out.
The major clans expressed their understanding of the policy of prohibiting high-level sorcerers from entering the country. After all, although there was a temporary reconciliation, Jiangnan and several other forces were still in a delicate situation where war could break out at any time. Under such circumstances, no force would want high-level sorcerers to enter the country.
The disciples of the three factions arrived in Jiangnan three days before the exam, all traveling by water from Nanming Prefecture to Liuzhou.
Because every powerful family wanted to participate, even with the quota limit, the number of young talents from the three forces combined exceeded three hundred. In addition, with the soldiers needed to escort them on the ships, two of the largest warships were deployed.
The young men from the capital city were the most numerous, almost monopolizing an entire ship with some still flowing out, forcing some scions of aristocratic families to share a ship with those from northern aristocratic families and the Northern Wasteland.
The Shen Family, which did not hold a particularly high social status, was one of them.
At this moment, in one of the cabins, six members of the Shen Family sat silently in the cubicle, looking at the scenery outside the ship for a long time without saying a word.
The six people were clearly divided into two groups. One group was led by Shen Yu, and the other two were the eldest sons of the main branch and the third branch. They were also the three people in the Shen Family who had the best talent for inheriting magic techniques. Among them, Shen Yu was far ahead and entered the list of candidates for academic director of the Yin-Yang Academy at the age of twenty-two. The other two barely entered the academy at the age of eighteen. Their talents were far inferior to Shen Yu's, but even so, they were considered as the key disciples to be cultivated in the Shen Family.
On the other side are Shen Xue and the three best in the Shen Family in mathematics and physics. Almost all of them are born out of wedlock and have poor aptitude. According to the usual plan, the three of them are destined to manage the affairs of pure sorcerer children. But now, they can participate in this assessment that countless people envy.
Even the three people opposite her, despite having the same assessment opportunity as Shen Xue, were still extremely dissatisfied with Shen Xue and her companions.
This kept the atmosphere in the cabin tense, especially for Shen Xue, who appeared expressionless but was actually extremely nervous inside!
Before coming, Mr. Bai conducted a comprehensive assessment. Shen Yu's progress over the past month has been virtually zero. Is it really appropriate for such a result to occupy a valuable reference spot in the family?
The entire capital's aristocratic families were in an uproar over the number of places available. Under the influence of the eldest brother, Shen Family Shen Yuan, no other families deliberately targeted the Shen family. In addition, the patriarch Shen Qingfeng, was sensible and opened the Shen Family academy, allowing children from other families to attend Mr. Bai's classes. With this gesture of goodwill, many families did not dare to target the Shen Family. In the end, the imperial court granted six places!
There are quite a few spots available, but they are not enough for the Shen Family members. There are not many members in the family with the aptitude to inherit the techniques, but there are quite a few with the aptitude for the sciences. With Mr. Bai's careful training, at least a dozen people have barely passed the basic assessment in the past month.
But his own father managed to squeeze out three of them and squeeze Shen Yu and two other direct descendants in!
Of these three people, the best one only scored fifteen points on the overall exam, which is less than a fraction of the passing grade. Theoretically, they shouldn't be taking up a valuable spot.
But her father had his own explanation. He believed that those who possessed the inheritance technique had a better chance of gaining Chen Qing's favor, and even if their mathematical foundation was weaker, they could still be specially recruited. This argument even persuaded the usually very rational old man, causing Shen Xue herself to have some doubts.
Is Jiangnan Academy truly a college primarily focused on science? Can ordinary students really become sorcerers simply by excelling in science?
Is the chance to change my destiny that I've been hoping for real, or just an illusion?
All of this made Shen Xue, who had staked her entire future on this, extremely nervous.
Because the entire Shen Family knows that she has completely offended Shen Yu, and if she cannot turn things around with this exam, she will be completely finished!
"Dear students preparing for the exam, please pack your belongings. The ship will arrive in Liuzhou in about 15 minutes!"
A loud voice interrupted Shen Xue's anxiety. When she looked up, she saw the burly soldier standing at the cabin door with a smile, giving her a reminder.
Shen Yang, who was standing next to Shen Xue, looked up at her curiously. "So fast? We've only been out of Nanming Prefecture for half a day, haven't we? Didn't the local gazetteer say that it would take two days to get from Nanming Prefecture to Jiangnan by fast boat?"
"Haha, that was before." The soldier laughed smugly. "Our ships in Jiangnan are different from the ships described in the local chronicles."
"Oh, that's true," Shen Yang's eyes lit up. "This is the first time I've ever seen such a big ship. Are all the ships in Jiangnan this big? And how can such a big ship go so fast?"
"We do have ships bigger than this in Jiangnan, but they're still being tested in Yunzhou. As for how such a big ship can go so fast," the soldier chuckled, "I can't explain that. If you can get into the Jiangnan Academy, young sir, you'll naturally understand the Central Plains."
Upon hearing this, Shen Yang's eyes lit up even more. He had heard in Nanming Prefecture that the ship designs in Jiangnan were all done by sorcerers from the Mystic Academy. He never imagined that sorcerers could do such a thing. If he had the chance, he would definitely visit them and ask them to find out!
"Alright!" A cold voice interrupted the boy's enthusiasm. It was Shen Yu, who looked impatient. He looked at the soldier and said, "You can leave now. We'll pack our things and come out."
The soldier was taken aback, his previously enthusiastic smile vanished, and he gave the other man a deep look. In Jiangnan, no scion of a powerful family would dare to order the Fighter Army around. "Step back?"
Do you expect us to be your slaves?
"Young man, you'd better watch your words," the soldier said coldly. "Not every Fighter Army has my good temper." He then turned and left, not even bothering to close the door!
Shen Yu was taken aback. How did Chen Qing train his subordinates? How could a mere soldier be so rude and arrogant?
"A bunch of rude and barbaric people!" Shen Yu said coldly. "As expected, they are a force that cannot be brought to the table."
Shen Xue rolled her eyes as she listened from the other side. This so-called "low-class" power you speak of can command the respect of hundreds of sorcerer families in the capital. You look down on them because they're not respectable, yet you're eagerly trying to climb up to them?
However, she dared not mock him. Shen Yu was narrow-minded and ruthless. He dared to attack her even in the Shen Family. Outside, without the protection of the patriarch, who knew what underhanded tricks he might use? After all, the Shen Family's magic was Yin Ghost Sorcery, and there were many ways to harm people.
Before she passes the formal assessment, she most hopes that the other person will completely forget her existence.
"Let's go!" Seeing her younger siblings packing their luggage, and Shen Xue obediently helping, Shen Yu smiled coldly and walked outside.
Just as the soldier had said, the ship arrived at the dock in less than a quarter of an hour.
The docks in Jiangnan have been renovated and are now so large that they are even more extravagant than the docks in the East Sea. The crowds at this time are worthy of the grand docks. As far as the eye can see, there are crowds of people, cargo ships coming and going, and unloaded goods piled up like mountains. Even Shen Yu was surprised by such a lively scene.
Hailing from the capital, he originally looked down on small towns like Liuzhou in Jiangnan, but he had to admit that Liuzhou's trade volume was now probably even more impressive than that of the capital.
No wonder powerful families all want to send their sons in; with the current business opportunities in Jiangnan, who wouldn't want to get a piece of the action?
Thinking of this, Shen Yu took a deep breath. He would never miss such a good opportunity, and he also believed that with his qualifications, as long as Chen Qing wasn't blind, he wouldn't choose Shen Yuan over him!
This path of sorcerers is a path only those chosen can walk, and he will prove it, whether to Shen Yuan or to that snobbish mother!
This is the second update. I'll probably have to wait until 1 a. m. for the third. Dear readers, please don't stay up all night like Mofang. It's best to get some rest early.