The red brick buildings stood tall and solemn, representing the ancient engineering and wisdom of the Magitek Academy.

The two walked along the school's roads.

A clear stream meandered alongside the road, reflecting the verdant branches and leaves of the trees. It was especially tranquil this early morning. Looking further into the distance, the flower fields across the stream were part of the Alchemic Academy's botanical garden, which also served as a teaching and research base for bioengineering.

Passing through this shaded path would lead to the Sage Academy's dormitory area.

"If you want to challenge the Shadow World as soon as possible, you should consider joining a team, such as doing some investigation to understand. Choosing a suitable team will bring you a lot of benefits and help."

Vivian thought for a moment and finally decided not to reprimand Lan Qi, but to guide him properly.

Since Lan Qi had humbly asked her about the difficulty of the Tier 3 Shadow World, he wasn't a reckless idiot.

He was just a little confident, which was natural for someone with his talent.

For young people, this was normal.

Besides, even if she spoke harshly to Lan Qi, he would still maintain his gentle demeanor.

Vivian hated hurting good-natured people the most; scolding such a person would only make her feel guilty.

"..."

Lan Qi fell into a brief silence after hearing Vivian's words.

After passing the exam last time, Lan Qi had chatted with Hibernia on the steps of the Learning and Education Building, and he had also done some investigation about the Academy's Shadow World challenges.

There were indeed several strongest teams in this Academy that were rumored and recognized by the students.

Among them were teams that had been formed in recent years.

There were also teams that had been established many years ago—the team leader had changed over several generations, but the inherited team name was still used today.

The reason why these teams were called the strongest was not only because they had experienced Gold-ranked leaders, but also because some of the older teams had Platinum-ranked "fourth-year students" or "part-timers" stationed within them.

Although these Platinum-ranked powerhouses were mostly just figureheads, rarely interfering with the team leader's decisions and almost never actually teaming up with other students, their occasional guidance was invaluable to newcomers!

Moreover...

Any Platinum-ranked individual had a truly top-tier "Association-registered permanent team."

If one was lucky enough to be noticed by them, they might be introduced to a team at the top of the Southern Continent after they had enough strength!

This would be a shortcut to advancing to Platinum rank.

However, these were not things that Lan Qi should consider in the short term.

He still had a long way to go before reaching Bronze or Silver rank.

Today, Lan Qi had received a notification from the Southern Continent Shadow World Management Association that the school had submitted all the necessary information for his "registration exam exemption." He only needed to complete the final steps at the Association to become an Iron-ranked registered challenger.

"Alas, I don't even know what kind of team I'm suitable for."

Lan Qi finally replied.

He had almost no connections in the royal capital, and now many of his knowledge was kindly told to him by Hibernia and Vivian.

"It's okay, there will be many channels to learn about it after the start of school, and teams may take the initiative to find you."

Vivian said nonchalantly.

It would be a lie to say that Vivian wasn't envious of Lan Qi's first place.

She had initially thought that she was a strong contender for the top spot in the Sage Academy.

She didn't expect that her overall score would be far behind the gentle and refined young man in front of her.

In past years, new students who achieved excellent results in the entrance exam were coveted potential targets for many teams.

After speaking, she added:

"Although your strength is still a mystery to all the upperclassmen, your top entrance exam score in the Sage Academy alone will make people want to win you over."

Lan Qi's performance in the third round of the exam had been personally sealed by Headmaster Loren of the Sage Academy, and even Vivian couldn't find out any information.

Therefore, there were currently many voices of doubt about Lan Qi—

For example, Lan Qi and Hibernia had just happened to encounter the examiner Ferrat suffering from a sudden cardiovascular disease, so they had taken advantage of the situation to pass the third round of the exam.

The Sage Academy's official side did not provide any explanation, and the bigwigs behind the examiner Ferrat's faction, even if they might have known something, did not say a word about the exam situation.

"Is that so?"

Lan Qi didn't expect that he would be actively recruited after the start of school.

However, choosing a team and rejecting other people's kind invitations would be very painful.

Lan Qi didn't know what team was most suitable for him, or if there were any better choices.

Then he would have to spend time learning about it.

"You don't like this feeling of being popular?"

Vivian asked curiously, looking at Lan Qi's slightly dazed expression.

She was puzzled as to why Lan Qi didn't show much joy, but rather a little distress.

"Being favored and expected by people you don't know, don't you think it just makes you feel pressured?"

Lan Qi smiled modestly and turned his head to look at Vivian.

Although Vivian's interpretation of his thoughts was slightly off.

Lan Qi could easily see what Vivian was thinking in her heart.

"...Indeed."

After a slight silence, Vivian nodded.

"Like being a princess, being highly anticipated by people must be very tiring, right?"

Lan Qi said with a leisurely expression and a gentle voice.

"Ah...it is very tiring."

Vivian sighed.

Although as a member of the royal family who bore many responsibilities, she shouldn't agree with Lan Qi's self-centered and Buddhist-like thinking, she really thought so from the bottom of her heart.

I really want to lie on the grass and take a nap, instead of trying to be a dignified and noble princess all day long.

Wait.

Vivian quickly reacted.

She should be asking Lan Qi questions, how did it become a conversation about life with him for no reason?

Moreover, the more she talked, the more she wanted to give in to her inner desires and slack off.

This guy was clearly just saying things naturally, but like the whispers of a demon, he unconsciously aroused the lazy desires that she had always suppressed in her heart.

Vivian quickly shook her head, stopping herself from continuing this irrelevant topic with Lan Qi.

"Lan Qi, if you don't have any special intentions, you can also consider my team, and I can help you introduce you. Most of them are students from the Sage Academy and the Magitek Academy, so it will be more convenient if you have card-making requests. Moreover, there is a Platinum-ranked member who is the strongest mechanic among the fourth-year students of the Magitek Academy."

Vivian had already booked a team. Having grown up in the royal capital since childhood, she naturally had many acquaintances.

She also believed that this team was full of attraction, and she wasn't just recommending it to Lan Qi randomly.

As one of the strongest teams in the Academy, compared to other teams, their team's biggest feature was that they had extremely sufficient logistics.

For example, if you wanted to find an excellent card maker at the Card Maker Association to commission card-making work, you would often have many difficult experiences such as stepping on mines, exorbitant prices, long scheduling times, and direct rejection.

However, it was often easier to talk to the team members, and it was also easier to make card-maker friends.

"Does the Magitek Academy also have combat positions?"

Lan Qi asked in surprise.

His focus was clearly not on the team itself.

This made Vivian feel a little aggrieved; she should be making a compelling argument.

Lan Qi probably didn't know the value of befriending potential card makers from the Magitek Academy at all!

Sure enough, this young man from the border area still had too little knowledge about the Shadow World.

Vivian sighed helplessly and explained to Lan Qi:

"Not all those from the Magitek Academy who go to the Shadow World are battlefield card makers. The really fierce Magitek artisans are no worse at fighting than the students of the Second Magic-Knight Academy."

"As for the Alchemic Academy, don't underestimate them either. Provoking some troublesome people will also lead to big problems."

Vivian added, as if she had remembered something bad.

"Hmm?"

Lan Qi made a puzzled sound.

He knew that the Alchemic Academy had more scholars, physicians, pharmacists, and alchemists, and was more inclined to research, but according to Vivian, there must also be some individuals who were good at combat.

But what exactly could be considered a big trouble?

Vivian shook her head painfully, saying as if she had suffered deeply:

"The Department of Intelligence at the Alchemic Academy, I don't know who started it, but in recent years, it has gradually developed into a direction of unscrupulous reporters... *Herton Times* was actually first published by the Alchemic Academy, and now it is getting bigger and bigger, and stronger and stronger. If you offend them, you may be frantically smeared."

As a highly anticipated princess, Vivian was afraid that one day her misbehavior would be caught.

"Hiss—"

Lan Qi sucked in a breath of cold air.

He always felt that compared to joining a team, he would rather join a newspaper agency.

In a society ruled by law, manipulating public opinion is much more powerful than fighting and killing!