Page 287

What... did he just say?

Shen Yuan stared blankly at the other person, "Return to the Capital City?"

"Why the surprise?" Chen Qing said with a smile, "I heard you talking on the boat, saying that you would return to the Capital City to visit your elders by the year’s end."

"Uh... no, no, no, no!" Shen Yuan quickly waved his hands, "I was just joking. How could I dare to return to the Capital City now?"

Not to mention having learned so many secret techniques from Chen Qing’s power, whether they would even let him leave was one question, but even if they did, he wouldn’t dare to head straight back to the Capital City.

His own family wouldn’t be able to protect him, with all the things he now had on him, those major families would surely skin him alive!

He had never considered returning to the Capital City to rise to glory. It would have been fine if he hadn’t shown off in front of those elders, but now that he had flaunted himself, going back to the Capital City would be truly seeking death...

The situation wasn’t simply that he had received a bit of legacy and mastered a common version of some top technique.

In that case, he might have a chance to return and, with the help of the Shen Family, negotiate with some top families for resource exchange with the top families promising some resources to the Shen Family and he marrying into one of those major families.

That approach was completely inapplicable to him.

He knew the value of what he had mastered.

It was something that could shake the Spellcraft Realm, and no family could monopolize it.

If he went to the Capital City, his only fate would be to have information forcibly extracted by the top families and his secrets divided among them!

"Hey..." Faced with Shen Yuan’s anxiety, Chen Qing waved his hand, "If you’re going to show off, you should go the whole nine yards. The ancients said, ’To wear silk without returning home is like walking in embroidered clothes at night.

’ Since you’ve already shown off in front of others, wouldn’t it be a pity not to make a trip back? "

Shen Yuan could only give a wry smile, "Is Your Excellency here to tease me?"

"No, no..." Chen Qing shook his head, "I’m here to give you a mission."

"A mission?" Shen Yuan was taken aback, "Do you really want me to return to the Capital?"

"Hey, don’t be nervous..." Chen Qing smiled and pressed him down by the shoulders to sit, "You are now our Heavenly Institute’s ace, I wouldn’t set you up."

Shen Yuan: "...."

That’s really hard to say...

"You’ve read the secret histories; you should know why Array Masters couldn’t become mainstream before, right?"

"Um..." Shen Yuan nodded, "Array Masters require low costs to construct formations, but they use massive amounts of Art Energy. The world simply didn’t have enough energy to sustain numerous Array Masters in action, which is why this legacy couldn’t thrive."

"But you established the Divine Path Sect, with a stable energy source, so now we can be supported..."

Chen Qing nodded. The main god of the Divine Path Sect could convert faith into immense energy, but even so, sustaining the Yin Yang Academy was extremely taxing.

The fundamental issue was that the world was constrained by a ’low version limit,’ where individual strength was too weak and spiritual energy was sparse, making it costly to advance sorcerers to the second phase ahead of time.

Now the academic system of Jiangnan was already way ahead. What was needed was a larger energy space to complete the sorcerer reforms, which was one of the main reasons he wanted to unlock the ancient past.

Before that, though, he needed to secure many foundational elements of the first version, otherwise, once the Dragon Palace legacy was out, other families would quickly adapt to the initial phase and soon catch up.

The sorcerer foundation built up over a millennium was not for nothing.

Chen Qing’s design also didn’t entail that all first phase techniques would instantly become useless; that was something only those shoddy studios would do.

"You’ve overseen material distribution at the academy, so you must be well aware, even our unique Divine Path Sect is struggling to maintain itself, isn’t it?"

Shen Yuan nodded upon hearing this. Indeed, energy scarcity had always been a major complaint among the various branches of the Yin Yang Academy.

Nowadays, every project team needed energy for experiments, which is why the Heavenly Institute faced the most criticism.

It had no output but was consuming the academy’s greatest energy resources.

Why had the Yin Yang Academy not opened branches in other Provincial Government Offices? Instead, it required students from all over to travel thousands of miles to Lyuzhou to learn. Was it to establish the status of Lyuzhou?

Certainly not!

The reason was that the land and waters of the seven provinces in Jiangnan, along with the seven-city underworld, were barely supplying enough energy to keep the academy’s Art Energy sufficient.

After this year’s expansion of student enrollment, it’s going to be even tougher, not to mention opening branches.

That would take sustainable resources!

"So, Your Excellency sending me to the Capital City, is it related to the shortage of Art Energy?"

"Partly..." Chen Qing nodded and said, "The Dragon Palace is about to open, and once the ancient past unlocks, if it cannot be suppressed, the spiritual energy in the world will increase dramatically.

Naturally, the power of demons capable of cultivating will greatly increase.

On the other hand, the Human Race, as only the top elites can cultivate, will definitely disrupt the current balance during these changes, causing great turmoil in the mortal realm! "

Shen Yuan was startled. Was the matter he would be involved in... so grand? It was actually related to turmoil in the mortal realm.

"Of course, we can’t control how the world behaves, but as long as Jiangnan is under my governance, I must ensure that no matter how chaotic it becomes, my people of Jiangnan will never suffer persecution," Chen Qing said, patting Shen Yuan’s shoulder: "But this... requires some groundwork!"

"Your Majesty... what kind of groundwork are you referring to?" Shen Yuan asked blankly, feeling the weight of Chen Qing’s hand. Could he really bear the burden of such a great matter?

"The top-tier Technique that the Sorcerer Families have cherished for a thousand years!"

"Huh?"

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

As the news of Lumings’s death spread back to the Capital City, it immediately caused an earthquake-like sensation. Countless families were thrown into disarray by the news, and the Royal Family swiftly blocked the information from leaking out.

After all, whether it was the Duke of Qin conspiring against an Imperial Court official, or the news of him being beaten to death by a Magistrate of Lyuzhou, both stories could cause great embarrassment to the Imperial Court.

With the Duke of Qin confirmed dead, representing huge power and interests, the entire circle of influence was possibly facing a reshuffle and reorganization. Families that had once been supporters of the Duke of Qin’s house now fell into a silence as deep as death.

No one knew what they were thinking; in any case, they all shut their doors at the first opportunity, and even the Royal Family made no move, leaving the entire Capital City in an unsettled and eerie atmosphere.

Of course, aside from the death of the Duke of Qin, the intelligence that Shen Yuan from the Shen Family’s main line could draw an Array out of the void also caused a ripple among the Sorcerer Families.

The power plays surrounding the Shen Family began to brew as soon as several Elders returned to the Capital City.

That afternoon, before dinner time, Shen Yan, who was one of the first to receive the intelligence reports, rushed back home hurriedly.

At the moment, the Shen Family’s servants were busy preparing for the evening banquet.

The reason for the banquet was that Shen Yu, the legitimate young master, had secured a top fifty comprehensive evaluation in the Yin Yang Academy’s assessment.

In his tenth year at the academy, he finally gained the credentials to venture outside.

This was an incredibly difficult achievement; by reaching this milestone, it meant the young family member was now eligible to become a candidate for the Academic Comissioner.

As long as he did not slip up during his internship these few years and furthered his studies upon returning to the academy, he would be a ready-to-go Academic Comissioner.

Great Jin Preshus, from the Third Rank imperial envoy, had significant local authority, not only possessing the power to temporarily gather military troops and review the local examination candidates but also to assess Sorcerer apprentices during their internships, affecting their future prospects.

If he discovered promising magicians among the candidates, he also had the right to make recommendations—a major way for many families to draw external support!

It had been ten years since the Shen Family had a Preshus stationed outside; although the Family Head Shen Yan received a Royal compensation, allowing him to take the post as the Jingzhao Governor in Capital City, it carried substantial authority, but the reach did not extend beyond.

The development of the Shen Family had hit a bottleneck, with no usable second-generation members to be trained as Preshus, relying only on the third generation to strive and prolong the family’s fortunes.

Now that Shen Yu had obtained this slot, the several senior patriarchs were so overjoyed they nearly passed out; they decorated the residence with lights and colors from early in the morning, preparing to celebrate properly.

Although it wasn’t intended to be a grand festivity, they invited a good number of close friends to the feast.

But just as the decorations were being hung, and the house was filled with joy, the busy Family Head suddenly returned home with a heavy expression, berating everyone to stop their tasks!

"Butler Zhou, immediately go and stop those invitations; if anyone cannot be stopped, go and apologize in person, and inform the invited families that the Shen Family will not be hosting the banquet today, go immediately!"

"Master, what happened?"

In the Shen Family’s back courtyard, a beautiful lady dressed in magnificent attire hurried over and asked anxiously: "Such a wonderful day... what are you doing, Master?"

"Go now!" Shen Yan glared at the old butler.

The old butler quickly obeyed the order, while the woman, seeing this, hurriedly said, "Stop, don’t go!"

After berating him, she turned back quickly: "Master, what are you doing? We’ve invited families we are on good terms with for the banquet, and the invitations have already been sent out.

Aren’t you offending people by doing this?

Yu’er is already twenty, and we held off his marriage matters at your insistence, Master.

You said to wait until after Yu’er’s assessment, once his prospects were settled, then we could talk to a more prestigious family for their daughter.

This has finally come true, I’ve found a suitable match, and the invitations were sent out first thing in the morning.

How do you expect me to face others now, Master? "

"Marriage?" Shen Yan frowned. "You didn’t even tell me before deciding to look for a marriage arrangement for Yu’er?"

"Well, Master, you’ve been too busy to come home these days, right? Once you returned, of course, I’d discuss it with you..."

"You..." Shen Yan sighed. "How can we arrange a marriage for the second son when the eldest isn’t yet married?"

As soon as these words came out, not only the woman but the butler beside her was stunned as well.

"Master... what do you mean?" the woman’s face turned dark. "Are you really retracting the invitations just for this? Have you gone mad? What status does Shen Yuan have? Are you going to block Yu’er’s prospects for him?"

"I have no choice...," Shen Yan said with narrowed eyes. "A major crisis has arisen!"