In the academy, Elder Wang Kai was sitting on his chair, casually leaning back while viewing the reports of the students from Wang Ming's batch. The room was quiet, lit softly by the morning sunlight streaming through the open windows. Papers were neatly arranged on the desk before him.
Seeing the report, he thought,
"Out of forty, seventeen have broken through to the First Level Apprentice Realm—early stage. And out of them, two of the three rank three talents have broken through to the middle stages. First, Wang Ming, who broke through to the middle rank just a week after his engagement, followed by Wang Mei a month after Wang Ming..."
His gaze remained fixed on the report, brows slightly furrowed.
"Both couples are truly dominating the rankings, especially Wang Ming. The support he is getting from marrying into the Seventh Elder's clan has given him a boost he never had in his life."
Thinking about it, he sighed and muttered under his breath,
"It seems that now I too have to watch my decisions properly... Not offending the other side too much, as even I don't know when I might have to jump boats in this new political situation within the clan."
He leaned back further, the chair creaking slightly beneath him.
"And now, with the increasing tension with the Chen Clan on the border kingdoms of the clan... This has caused a huge amount of formation apprentices to be deployed there, becoming a very uncertain situation in clan politics."
"As now, within the clan, apprentices of each faction will compete in this situation to increase the glory of their higher-ups. And if a certain side doesn't perform well, his other subordinates would also have to go through the shame of it. Ultimately leading to them changing sides and finding another backer..."
"This would not directly affect the elder, but instead slowly damage the strong foundation he or she had built after countless battles and feats established..."
While Elder Wang Kai was deep in thought, elsewhere, Wang Ming was sitting in a quiet room with the Seventh Elder. A large map was opened on the table in front of them. The room was dimly lit by an overhead lantern, the air still.
Seventh Elder glanced at Wang Ming and said,
"As you know, in recent years, a lot of conflicts have occurred between the Chen and Wang clans… especially the current tension on the borders…"
His tone was calm but serious, eyes never leaving the map.
"This has currently led to a battle of fame in the clan politics. And you, being a new member of the First Elder faction, need fame the most… You get what I'm saying, right?"
Saying that, he turned his eyes toward Wang Ming.
Wang Ming, receiving the glance, nodded and said,
"I understand… Where are you deploying me?"
He counter-questioned, voice steady.
The Seventh Elder placed his teacup gently on the table, the soft clink echoing in the quiet room.
"Northern parts of Xia Kingdom."