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As the date of assessment approached, young members from aristocratic families of the Capital City, the North, and the Northern Wasteland all successively entered the Jiangnan region.

According to the rules of Jiangnan, high-level magicians were not allowed to enter on their own accord; families could only send young members under the age of twenty-five, and the magicians’ ranks were required to be below Third Rank.

Any magician above Third Rank was not allowed to enter Jiangnan at will, or else once discovered, their family would be immediately and completely banned from entry, and all goods from Jiangnan would be thoroughly cut off from that family.

The threat was not to be taken lightly, but there was a reason for such measures.

Magicians in battle might not always be superior to warriors, but with preparation, their destructive power could be astonishing.

Moreover, with their bizarre methods and difficulty to guard against, magicians like the Shen Family’s Seventh Master could come to your territory to set up the Great Thousand Eyes Array, putting your entire city under his surveillance.

Then there were poison sorcerers who, by poisoning your water source, could cause epidemics that were extremely troublesome to clean up and could lead to dreadful outbreaks if not carefully managed.

In light of these risks, the policy of restricting high-ranking magicians from entry was understood by the major families.

After all, despite a temporary reconciliation, Jiangnan still maintained a delicate situation with the other powers, on the verge of war at any moment, and under such circumstances, no power would willingly allow high-level magicians to enter their borders.

Young members from the three powers arrived in Jiangnan three days before the exam, via the water route to Lyuzhou from Nanming Prefecture.

Since all the aristocratic families wanted to have a hand in the matter, even with a quota limit, the number of young members from the three powers who came to take the exam exceeded three hundred.

Adding to this the soldiers required to escort the vessels, two of the largest military ships were deployed.

The disciples from the Capital City were the most numerous, almost exclusively occupying one ship with some spillover, forcing some family members from the North and Northern Wasteland to share a vessel.

The Shen Family, of lesser status, was one of them.

At this moment, in one of the cabins on the ship, six Shen Family youngsters sat silently in a compartment, gazing at the scenery outside the ship for a long time without anyone initiating a conversation.

The six individuals were clearly divided into two groups.

One was led by Shen Yu, with the other two being the legitimate heirs from the main and third branches of the family—also the three individuals with the best inherited talent for techniques in the Shen Family.

Shen Yu was the farthest ahead among them, having made it onto the reserve list for Academic Commissioner at Yin Yang Academy at the age of twenty-two, while the other two had managed to enter the academy at around eighteen years of age with much difficulty, their talents being far inferior to Shen Yu’s.

Despite this, they were considered prime candidates for training within the Shen Family.

On the other side sat the group led by Shen Xue, the three individuals with the best scores in mathematics and reasoning within the Shen Family.

Almost all of them had illegitimate statuses and lacked talent.

According to the usual plans, the three of them were fated to manage mundane affairs for the legitimate magician descendants, but now they found themselves participating in this highly coveted assessment.

Even the three individuals seated opposite, despite having the same opportunity for assessment as Shen Xue, harbored an immense dissatisfaction towards Shen Xue’s group.

This hostility kept the atmosphere in the cabin tense, especially for Shen Xue. Looking expressionless, she was in fact extremely nervous!

Mister Bai had conducted a comprehensive assessment before their departure, and Shen Yu had made virtually no progress during the month, occupying a precious family quota for the exam with such results—was that really acceptable?

The families from the Capital City fought fiercely over the exam quotas.

Influenced by Elder Brother Shen Yuan, the Shen Family avoided being targeted deliberately by other families.

Furthermore, with the sensible action from the great-grandfather Shen Qingfeng, who opened up the Shen Family academy for other families’ children to attend Mister Bai’s classes, the act of goodwill made it difficult for many families to target the Shen Family.

Ultimately, the Imperial Court allotted six quotas to them!

For the Shen Family, the number of quotas was not insignificant, but not particularly ample for their purposes.

The family had few descendants with an aptitude for inheriting techniques, but there were many with talents for rational studies.

After careful tutoring by Mister Bai, at least over ten individuals barely met the criteria in the basic assessments during the month.

But her father forcibly displaced three of them, inserting Shen Yu and two other legitimate descendants into their midst!

These three, even the best among them, had only scored a mere fifteen in the composite examination, not even reaching the passable threshold, and theoretically, they should not have occupied precious quotas.

But her father had his own rationale. He believed that descendants with inherited techniques stood a better chance of gaining Chen Qing’s favor and that even with weaker faculties in rational studies, they could possibly be specially recruited—a notion that even swayed the typically rational great-grandfather, causing Shen Xue to start doubting as well.

Was Jiangnan Academy truly a school that prioritized rational studies? Could an ordinary descendant really become a magician just by excelling in rational studies?

The opportunity to change her destiny that she had hoped for in her heart—was it real... or merely an illusion?

All this made Shen Xue, who had staked her entire future on this gamble, incredibly tense.

Because everyone in the Shen Family knew she had completely offended Shen Yu, and if she couldn’t turn the tables through this exam, she would be utterly finished!

"Candidates preparing for the exam, please pack up your belongings and have them ready. In just half a quarter hour, we will be arriving at Lyuzhou!"

The loud voice interrupted Shen Xue’s internal anxiety. When she looked up, she saw a strong soldier with a smiling face standing at the cabin door, reminding everyone.

Next to Shen Xue, Shen Yang immediately looked up, curiously watching the soldier, "So soon? Didn’t we just leave Nanming Prefecture half a day ago? I remember the local records saying that even with a fast boat, it takes two days from Nanming Prefecture to Jiangnan."

"Haha, that was the past," the soldier said with a proud laugh. "Our boats in Jiangnan are not the same as the ones mentioned in the records."

"Oh, that’s right..." Shen Yang’s eyes shone: "This is my first time seeing such a large boat. Are all the boats in Jiangnan this big? And how can such a large boat move so quickly?"

"There are even larger boats than this one in Jiangnan, though they are still being tested in Yunzhou.

As for how such a big boat can move so quickly.

.." The soldier chuckled and said, "Well, that I can’t explain.

If the young master here gets into Jiangnan Academy, you will naturally understand the principles behind it. "

Upon hearing this, Shen Yang’s eyes lit up even more.

He had heard, during his time in Nanming Prefecture, that the design of the boats in Jiangnan all came from the hands of the magicians of the Mystic Academy.

He hadn’t expected magicians to be capable of such feats and resolved to visit and inquire if he ever got the chance!

"Alright!" A cold voice cut through the young man’s enthusiasm. It was Shen Yu, looking impatient. He said to the soldier, "You may leave; we will come out once we have packed our stuff."

The soldier was taken aback, his previously enthusiastic smile fading away. He looked deeply at Shen Yu. In Jiangnan, no scion of any family dared to command the members of the Warrior Army to stand down.

Do we look like servants to you?

"You’d better watch your words, young master," the soldier said coldly." Not every member of the Warrior Army is as good-tempered as I am." After finishing his words, he turned and left without even bothering to close the door!

Shen Yu was stunned. How did Chen Qing train his subordinates? How could a mere soldier be so rude and arrogant?

"Barbaric and uncouth brutes!" Shen Yu said coldly, "Clearly, they are forces unfit for the public eye."

Shen Xue rolled her eyes on the other side. The force you disdain as ’unfit for the public eye’ is the same one that makes hundreds of Sorcerer Families from the Capital City follow their rules. If you despise them so much, why eagerly try to be part of their circle?

But she dared not mock him. Shen Yu was narrow-minded and vicious.

He was bold enough to attack her even within the Shen Family Courtyard, and without Grandfather’s protection outside, who knew what dirty tricks he might use?

After all, the Shen Family’s techniques were Nether Ghost Sorcery, filled with means to harm others.

Before the official assessment was passed, she hoped most for him to completely forget she existed.

"Let’s go!" Seeing her younger siblings starting to pack their luggage, Shen Xue also dutifully helped out. Shen Yu sneered and walked outside.

Just as the soldier mentioned, the boat arrived at the pier in less than half a quarter hour.

The docks in Jiangnan had been renovated, and their scale was even more impressive than the docks of the Eastern Sea.

However, the bustling crowd justified the grandeur of the docks, with a sea of people in sight and a constant stream of cargo ships unloading goods that piled up like mountains.

Even Shen Yu was taken aback by this lively scene.

He had originally looked down on small towns like Lyuzhou in Jiangnan, coming from the Capital City. But... he had to admit, the current trade volume of Lyuzhou might even surpass that of the Capital City.

It’s no wonder that every aristocratic family wanted to send their offspring here. Who wouldn’t want a piece of Jiangnan’s business opportunities?

With this in mind, Shen Yu took a deep breath. He would not let such a chance slip away, and he believed that as long as Chen Qing wasn’t blind, he would choose him over Shen Yuan!

The path of the magician was meant for them, the selected ones, and he would prove it, whether to Shen Yuan or to that powerful mother with discerning eyes!