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"Have these people gone mad?" Old San from the Hou Family ground his teeth. "Not even a single seat?"

In the council chamber, many councilors watched silently, emotions complex, because after today, many among them would no longer belong here. With the formation of the new council, the aristocratic families had to relinquish a substantial number of seats.

"You still want to negotiate terms?" Elder Xuu looked at him oddly.

"Why can’t we negotiate terms? Do they really think they have us completely under their thumb?" A fire kindled in Old San’s heart.

Despite being the third eldest in the Hou Family, and having enjoyed numerous resources since childhood, when it came to individual strength, he couldn’t even match many of the junior officers in the military.

If he really fought for a position, he wouldn’t be eliminated beyond the million mark, but he definitely couldn’t count on a good birthright.

How could he tolerate this?

Especially when many commoners would get a better starting point in the new world than him—on what grounds?

Elder Xuu couldn’t be bothered to continue the conversation with this fellow.

If he still couldn’t see the situation clearly by now, the fact that Elder Hou and the others were clearly unwilling to return had sealed the fate of the situation.

Without the restraint of Elder Hou and others, how could the fence-sitters side with these legitimate descendants who were benefiting from the situation?

Choosing seats fairly through civil and military assessments—wasn’t it more advantageous for them?

Why should they confront those military forces outside just to maintain your interests?

It’s a thankless task, and nobody is mad enough to take it on.

He even suspected that the smooth progress of this operation was because many of those marginal descendants had already secretly turned against them long ago.

Just as he was thinking, a group of unusual individuals quickly barged into the meeting room.

Mostly elderly with white hair, dressed plainly, if one paid attention, they could see that these individuals often appeared in major media outlets, mainly concentrated on the science and technology channels.

"Elder Xuu is here too?" The leading elder greeted Elder Xuu first upon entering the hall. Elder Xuu nodded slightly, a shadow passing over his eyes. What trouble were this group trying to stir up now?

The current situation had already been settled, and he had no wish for further complications.

"Mr. Kong, why have you only just arrived?" Old San of the Hou Family hastily got up to greet him.

"Councilor Hou, you flatter me. We were actually discussing a certain topic and didn’t expect such a big incident to happen. We rushed over as soon as we could," the elder replied as he signaled for others to sit down.

Upon closer observation, it was clear they were prominent scientists and scholars from various fields, often appearing in different platforms and acting as spokespeople for science and technology.

"Elder Xuu, how could you agree so easily to such absurd conditions?" Elder Kong frowned as soon as he sat down. "Doesn’t this throw everything into chaos?"

Elder Xuu inwardly frowned. These people belonged to the faction he least liked to deal with—the School Tyrant Faction.

Controlling the Central Federation’s technological resources, they had become rotten and unbearable.

Over the years, they had consumed who knows how much of the nation’s resources, but many of their achievements were still inferior to those of independent researchers.

And yet they were exceptional at excluding others—any scientist with potential who wasn’t from their faction, no matter how capable, couldn’t enter their circle.

As the Federation with the largest resource development, the Central Federation still lagged behind the Western Federation in many technologies, and these wretched beings bore much of the responsibility.

"Which point does Elder Kong refer to?" Elder Xuu asked leisurely.

"How can we so easily abolish the disintegration protocol? How will we ensure safety in the future?" Elder Kong said.

Elder Xuu looked at him impassively. The disintegration protocol was unique to the Central Federation, and the Western Federation had never used that thing for many years without any notable security accidents.

Frankly, as long as the strong acquired their rightful positions, unless one had an extreme character, why would they cause destruction?

"The situation forced our hand; we had to cancel it," Elder Xuu shook his head, not wanting to argue further.

Upon hearing this, Elder Kong’s frown deepened. They had developed the disintegration program together, and it was a crucial aspect of the Federation relying on them. Now that it was gone, they feared their influence would be greatly diminished.

But right now, I couldn’t worry about that much; the crucial point was the last one.

"Let’s not discuss that for now. I’ve just learned about this civil and military selection on my way here, and it seems far too presumptuous!"

"Why do you say that?" Elder Xuu sighed and followed up on the other’s statement.

"Those people take for granted that this is the fairest way, but can you really select the most suitable candidates like this? Ability isn’t everything: morality, prestige, organizational skills—an examination should consider these, shouldn’t it?

Especially the civil exam: just basing it on question and answer, that’s utterly ridiculous!

A scientist’s unique inspiration is the most important thing; a test can only determine the basics.

Using this as the sole criterion will bury so many excellent researchers. "

Elder Xuu looked at him, knowing that this was their true purpose for coming.

The military exam touched on the interests of the noble families’ sons.

Now, regardless of age or origin, everyone relies on their abilities to seize spots.

Those who lose have nothing to say. Though wastes of space with a strong facade like Old San of the Hou Family might be anxious, most elite scions are confident. But it’s different for this group.

This group, hoarding massive Federation resources and clad in the guise of scientists, is fixated on forming factions and scrambling for power.

They haven’t been in touch with the latest knowledge for who knows how many years, and their published papers and academic achievements, who knows how many were wrung from subordinates.

Everyone knows by now, if you don’t write papers for your superiors or hand over the lion’s share of your academic achievements, you can forget about making it in this circle.

This has led to many proud young people utterly despising the circle, yet there are quite a few truly talented people who bear it and persist.

But this is a vicious cycle, because once they make it, they too will start to exploit those beneath them, forgetting how they were once exploited.

Generation after generation, the real controllers of resources are no longer pure scientists.

Just at this time, the new world rules require a rigorous examination...

That just blindsided these big shots who haven’t been in touch with new knowledge for countless years.

Most of the new world spots are for warriors. Scientists mostly head to Jiangnan and Southeast, with few quotas, just over ten thousand, while there are more than ten million theoretically sound engineers nationwide?

Expecting these old fogeys to compete in an exam with those, they might not even outperform the maintenance engineers who’ve faced harsh environments outside.

No wonder they’re panicking now.

"We didn’t set these rules," Elder Xuu intentionally let out a bitter smile. He’d long found these vile characters unpleasing, portraying himself as a spectator to the drama, "Those rebellious yokels don’t understand any of this.

If they really grasped the big picture, they wouldn’t have caused such a huge mess, would they? "

Elder Kong and the others nodded, but they weren’t here to listen to someone shirking responsibility.

So they said, "This unreasonable rule must be challenged.

I think I should have a talk with those people.

Scientists are crucial to the new world; we cannot be so capricious.

This is about the future of all humanity. "

Even Old San couldn’t help but roll his eyes at that. These people really knew how to talk big.

"I propose that Elders and Senior Members of each academy personally conduct the selection—based on research achievements, the substance of papers—a comprehensive evaluation. How can a single test determine everything? That’s too hasty."

"Exactly..." a group of old fogeys nodded repeatedly.

Elder Xuu’s mouth curled slightly. The Federation’s examinations have always been rigid, and these very processes were set by them. And now they come claiming that a single test can’t determine everything?

So, when it’s their turn, it’s no longer hasty, is it?

Of course, he didn’t intend to argue with these old fogeys himself; after all, there were already suitable candidates for that.

"You don’t need to worry, Elder. The representatives, Xuu Min and Gong Mingrui, will soon be here.

You can present your opinions directly to them.

Elder Kong, you are all towering figures in various academic factions.

I’m sure those people will be reasonable enough to consider what you professionals have to say. "

At these words, Elder Kong and the others’ expressions became slightly better.

Right, what would those bumpkins know?

They’ll just sweet-talk them later; they won’t take it lightly, not considering their opinions.

Even at the height of the noble families’ power, they had no way to deal with the School Tyrant Faction, let alone that bunch of country bumpkins.

The new world... Magicians, eternal life; these things represented the hope of establishing a true academic dynasty. How could they possibly miss out?!