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"The elder sure is domineering..." Shen Yuan’s voice eerily floated from behind, "It was you who started the fight without a word, and now it’s you who’s asking to stop. Although I am the junior here, you can’t just push me around like I’m a dough ball, can you?"

A few elders exchanged glances. To draw an array out of thin air, to control the enchanted soldiers?

Was he truly the useless family outcast that the Shen Family despised and sent away, as these descendants claimed?

"Young man... be a little calmer. We were just... trying to test you out, nothing malicious..." The old man, seasoned with experience, had a skill for backpedaling as smoothly as if it was second nature to him.

He admitted to himself that he had been overconfident. A group of magicians, closing the distance to crush the opposition, had not expected that within the enemy ranks there would not only be a First Rank warrior, but that the warrior himself would possess such abilities!

Now, surrounded by a group of soldiers and approached closely by a First Rank warrior, and not knowing what other abilities the boy had, if they wanted to continue fighting, they would have to use their own forbidden techniques.

But at their age, unless absolutely necessary, they truly did not want to take the risk of engaging in battle.

"Testing?" Shen Yuan stepped out from the eye of the storm, smiling yet not smiling, "And what exactly were the elders trying to test?"

"Just a little curious probe, nothing more..." The elders laughed dryly, "The Shen Family is indeed extraordinary, to have such a promising descendant. It is truly enviable."

"You flatter me, elders..." Shen Yuan said indifferently, "Since it was a misunderstanding, I would ask you to withdraw your technique!"

"We are old, and frighten easily. Perhaps... your guards could be the ones to sheathe their weapons first?"

The leading elder spoke with a beaming smile, making it clear that in a situation where a host of warriors were within less than nine meters, asking them to withdraw their technique would be like leaving themselves completely vulnerable.

Shen Yuan did not make things difficult, because he was aware that if a real fight ensued, it was his side that was most likely to suffer.

After all, coming from a family with millennia of history, which of these elders didn’t have some secret extraordinary skills up their sleeves?

Just because they had momentarily been caught off guard by the warrior’s close reach didn’t mean they lacked the means to strike back—if pushed to desperation, the outcome might not be favorable.

Shen Yuan waved his hand lightly, "General Di, retreat for now."

As he spoke, the massive cyclone began to weaken at his gesture, and the soldiers, following Shen Yuan’s signal, sheathed their weapons and gently slid back through the air to Shen Yuan’s side.

The elders were even more shocked to witness this scene.

With a mere gesture, the boy could reduce the core strength of the array, signifying that the array he had conjured out of thin air could still be precisely controlled.

Without material to stabilize the energy, but merely relying on the array to so finely control such tremendous energy, what kind of method was this?

It seemed the family heads were right. There was indeed a big secret in Jiangnan!

This Shen family boy, an unremarkable magician just two years in Jiangnan, had such capabilities...

"Since the elders are here, there’s no need for me to offer any further escort," Shen Yuan said with a smile to the group of direct descendants, who by now were completely stunned, "So let us part ways here!"

No sooner had he spoken than, under the protection of a group of soldiers, he ascended into the sky and disappeared swiftly along with the giant cyclone from the sight of everyone present!

"That array... can it actually be moved?" The tall thin elder spoke dumbfounded.

"Such a secret technique is truly a weapon of war, no wonder Weichi Peng fell here. We must report this to the higher-ups as soon as possible."

The others nodded in agreement.

"Uh..." It was only at this point that the group of descendants came to their senses, hastily saying, "Elder, we’re... just going to let him go like that?"

The elders looked at each other strangely. Let him go?

It was clearly him letting them go, wasn’t it?

"That Shen kid is tricky..." One of the elders struggled to explain, "We should not take any rash risks. Let’s go..."

The group of descendants stood there, dumbfounded, not comprehending until a long moment later, and then they turned their gaze sharply toward Shen Yang, who remained at the scene.

At that moment, Shen Yang too was stunned.

Although he had been offering help earlier, deep down, he had not really respected Shen Yuan, considering him just a lucky beneficiary of some clever tricks.

After all, in the world of sorcerers, the art of array manipulation was indeed considered a fringe technique.

Even if one understood it, it didn’t count for much. ..

But never had he imagined that his own half-brother, deemed worthless, would force the noble family elders to call for a halt in the midst of the action!

This was a seriously big deal!!

"Is this gentleman... also a member of the Shen Family?" Suddenly, the elders began to appear benevolent and kind.

"Seen... seen... I have seen the elders before..." Shen Yang stuttered under everyone’s intense gaze.

"No need to be nervous..." The elders said with a smile, "Since you are companions, it is only right to return to Capital City together. We elders have some doubts, and wonder if the young friend would be willing to help us old immortals clear them up?"

Shen Yang: "....."

I really... don’t know anything!

--------------------------------------

"Sir, everything okay?"

On the way back, as they watched Shen Yuan still unable to dismantle the Great Array after half a day, Di Yun and his group suddenly broke out in sweat on their foreheads.

The Martial Peak Formation was one of the military arrays developed by the academy, and currently in the Heavenly Institute, there were only two people who mastered it. One was Master Xiao An, who had long dominated the top of the rankings, and the other was Mister Shen before their eyes.

However, whether it was Master Xiao An or the seemingly steady Mister Shen, they actually weren’t very adept at it.

Di Yun, in order to cooperate, had gone to Lyuzhou as early as half a month ago to work with Shen Yuan on this array.

He was very clear about what would happen if the array couldn’t be closed. ..

Once it couldn’t be closed, the eye of the wind would gradually distort time and space, the Wind Element within their group would become chaotic, and the soldiers would fly around in the sky like headless flies.

In serious cases, they could even be pulled into the spinning wind eye, and within a quarter of an hour, they would vomit out their bile. ..

The key point was that some soldiers couldn’t help throwing up during the spinning process. Can you imagine? A group of men swept up into the wind eye, huddling together, with all kinds of foul body fluids and vomit flying everywhere? What a scene!

Anyway, Di Yun didn’t want to experience it again, although he had already experienced it several times...

"Shut up!" Shen Yuan was also breaking out in cold sweat at the moment, dealing with the array structure and trying to recover as much energy as possible.

This was also why he had quickly withdrawn after gaining some advantage at that time, because if he had stayed to show off any longer, he would have had to leave his head there...

Military arrays would be the most presentable skill for magicians graduating from the Heavenly Institute.

Now in the entire Institute, not many could master the Void Drawing Array on their own.

Shen Yuan was very clear that mastering this would qualify one’s status to live up to the ’Heavenly’ in ’Heavenly Institute.

’ Even in the entire Sorcerers’ Realm, such moveable arrays that could directly enhance the combat power of soldiers would be highly sought after.

The status of a common magician would definitely not be higher than that of an Array Master!

But these kinds of arrays now involved two issues, one was the source of energy, and the other was the recycling of energy.

Most Array Masters in the academy were only of the fifth or sixth rank, and it was impossible for those at this level to form a Great Array with their own Spiritual Power. Even for a Super First Rank Magician, it was quite laborious to bless hundreds of soldiers with Elemental Power on their own.

So Array Masters must learn to use a small force to control a great one, using their own meager Spiritual Power to manipulate the huge Elemental Power to form an array.

Forming an array requires a vast amount of Art Energy.

If a magician cannot rely on themselves, they must rely on external objects.

The Earth Institute has already solved this issue.

High-quality Rune Stones can store vast and pure energy.

As long as the magicians of the Heavenly Institute don’t make errors in array structures, one could preside over a Great Array that blesses several hundred or even thousands of soldiers by themselves.

And a Super First Rank magician could bless a Great Array for tens of thousands of soldiers!

The storage problem was solved, but the recycling problem was troublesome.

Although in Jiangnan, it was possible to convert the power of belief with the help of various mountain river systems, governance of the City God, and other divine forces—much easier to collect than ordinary ones—it still couldn’t be overused.

If the energy couldn’t be recycled, the massive dissipation of energy would not only cause ecological disorder in the surroundings but also constitute a huge waste of Art Energy.

Therefore, Lord Chen Ying researched a method to recover the energy of the array using empty energy Rune Stones.

However, this method was difficult to practice. It was, in fact, at least tens of times more difficult than releasing energy. First, the array had to be closed, then the Art Energy had to be made to flow back, and finally, the Art Energy had to obediently return to their own empty Rune Stones.

The difficulty of the operation had nearly driven Shen Yuan mad several times, and this time was no different...

But no matter how difficult it was, he had to grit his teeth and proceed.

The academy only provided the students with a limited supply of Art Energy every month.

Even if the Heaven Academy Disciples were exceptionally well-endowed and could receive two more Rune Stones a day, for extensive research purposes, it was hardly enough.

He had used nearly three months’ worth of his energy quota to show off this time, and if he couldn’t recover the energy, he would have to go begging for food from his junior brothers and sisters for the next three months!

Fortunately, this time Lady Luck didn’t play tricks on him. He managed to successfully recover the energy back into the Rune Stones.

He hastened to protect the Rune Stones in the palm of his hand like a hen guarding her chicks, observing carefully for fear that a mishap would cause the energy to run wild again.

The rest also breathed a long sigh of relief. Thankfully, Mister Shen performed normally today.

"Not bad!" A voice of praise came from the side. Everyone was startled by the voice and quickly looked over because they all remembered whose voice it was. It was the voice of their lord!

Shen Yuan stiffened, and the Rune Stone that he treated like a treasure almost fell to the ground. He cautiously looked toward the other party.

He hesitated for a long time, then finally took a breath and bowed respectfully, "My lord..."

Although he had made up his mind to devote himself to Chen Qing, there were still some barriers in his heart these days, and he tried to avoid the other as much as possible. He didn’t expect the other to take the initiative to come over this time.

"You performed well, with proper discretion, not only in learning ability but also in grasping the situation on the field," Chen Qing nodded in approval.

"My lord knows?" Shen Yuan was stunned again. He had just come back, and the other party already knew about his performance. Could it be...

"Of course, I wouldn’t let you take risks alone." Chen Qing quickly gave the answer, "After all, you are facing those old monsters from the noble families. How do you feel about it?"

"It’s... it’s quite nerve-wracking..."

"And?"

"Um... quite thrilling."

"Hahahahaha!" Chen Qing suddenly burst into laughter.

"Thank you, my lord, for your protection. Without your support, I wouldn’t dare to put on such airs."

"So, do you want to show off again?"

"Eh?" Shen Yuan immediately froze, "My lord... what do you mean?"

"You need to go to Capital City!"

Shen Yuan: "!!!"