Just as the Dean guessed, Wang Linchi's application for Level Four assistance failed; the Prefecture did not approve it.
Once it reached Level Three, it wasn't just an academy matter but also involved the coordination of the city and the Prefecture, especially since it concerned Excellent Level Soul Kinds.
However, such assistance probably wouldn't appear even once in a decade; Wang Linchi's case this time was unique.
Wang Linchi didn't dwell on it too much. Apart from combat-specialized Awakeners who were considered superior, most other Awakeners were akin to craftsmen of the Ming Dynasty—low in status and income.
Even if Wang Linchi developed these Soul Skills, people wouldn't care. He would simply be regarded as possessing clever but unorthodox tricks.
It was like the Hongyi Big Gun, which left a significant mark in the Ming Dynasty. Yet, records only detailed who used the cannon to achieve a great victory over the enemy; who remembered the creator's name?
After all, it wasn't the craftsman who could fight, but the General.
So, without the backing of sufficient power, Wang Linchi could hardly expect his application for Level Four assistance to be approved.
He knew the Dean of Qinghe Academy was no ordinary person; there was likely a vast faction or Great Family behind him. That was why Wang Linchi needed their influence to help him apply.
Otherwise, if he applied himself, he would at most reach Level Two assistance; anything higher would be impossible in his lifetime.
Fortunately, the current resource deficit was too large to bridge all at once, so rushing was futile.
"With Yan Ming King gone, the whole of Qinghe City suddenly quieted down," Wang Linchi couldn't help but remark.
Yan Ming King had left Qinghe City yesterday. Wang Linchi hadn't seen him off, but Yan Ming King had caused quite a stir upon his departure, taking his female confidante with him.
He had graduated early, which made sense; someone like him wouldn't waste five years in a small academy.
After Yan Ming King left, all his loyal followers went into seclusion, obviously aiming to break through to the Mountain Copper Level and then join their 'big brother.'
As a result, the Ming King battle team, once a dominant force in Qinghe Academy, suddenly became an empty shell.
The senior leadership had stopped managing, the middle-ranking members let things slide, and the lower-ranking ones didn't care as long as they got paid.
Previously, all power had been concentrated in the hands of the top echelons. But now that they had abandoned their duties and the mid-level members lacked sufficient strength, the entire structure crumbled.
It was on the verge of disbanding.
Wang Linchi suspected this was due to the absence of the Protagonist's Aura.
After all, only with Yan Ming King present would the entire Ming King battle team display such high cohesion and formidable power.
As for taking the Ming King battle team with him, that was impossible. Firstly, the Ming King battle team was a large organization in its own right, and many of its members were academy students. Yan Ming King hadn't financially supported them, and most were only at the White Porcelain level or Black Iron Level. If they were to follow him, they would undoubtedly become a burden to Yan Ming King in a new territory.
If they moved to a new map where the average strength was Black Iron Level, this group of White Porcelain level members would try to integrate. Yan Ming King, having just arrived and not yet established himself, would also be contending with his Intelligence Reduction Aura and Mocking Aura. By the time he managed to weather that, it would be a testament to their resilience if even a tenth of the Ming King battle team survived.
However, with his departure, law and order in Qinghe City have been restored.
Wang Linchi watched the news on TV: the Baylong Religion had become active in the Yingzhou Prefecture. The one leading the activities was supposedly the new Blood Dragon Envoy, who was stirring up trouble under the banner of avenging the previous Blood Dragon Envoy.
This made him chuckle; his hardships were finally over, it seemed.
With Yan Ming King gone, the trouble naturally followed him, instead of remaining in Qinghe City where Wang Linchi lived.
Qinghe City was just a small, early-game map for the protagonist, Yan Ming King; it simply didn't offer enough space for him to truly display his abilities. He needed to go to the Prefecture for that.
The new Silver Seal Catcher had also taken office. He was originally a Bronze Seal Catcher in the city, and his appointment process had been smooth, without any hitches.
Furthermore, under his leadership, several clean-up operations were conducted in the city and surrounding counties and villages. The body of the previous Silver Seal Catcher was eventually found, reportedly mauled by wild beasts beyond recognition, making it impossible to determine the cause of death. Clearly, this major incident was being deliberately downplayed.
As for the Liu Family, they were no more.
Wang Linchi had just learned of this. All the Great Families in Qinghe City had been dealt with, and it was Yan Ming King who had done it.
The major Great Families were severely weakened and wouldn't recover for two or three generations. The minor ones were directly slaughtered and plundered. Unfortunately, the Liu Family was one such minor Great Family; their entire clan was annihilated.
Liu Shen hadn't escaped either. After his execution at the public market, his head and body were discarded on the Random Burial Mound outside the city.
He suspected the Dean had a hand in this. After all, the Liu Family had previously intercepted a Soul Skill meant for the Court. Although they later made amends by resubmitting it, did making amends mean the original transgression never happened?
Just like that, all the people and forces in Qinghe City who held a grudge against Wang Linchi were gone.
He even began to wonder if he possessed talents like Strong Luck or some kind of profound good fortune; otherwise, how could his luck be so consistently good?
But on second thought, what did it have to do with him? This was all part of Yan Ming King's journey as the protagonist. If Yan Ming King didn't engage in massive slaughter, how could he secure the resources needed for his cultivation?
Yan Ming King's progress was absurdly fast, but every step of his advancement in strength was due to his own hard work. Whether it was resources or anything else, he had fought for it all himself.
Of course, it was precisely because he was the protagonist that he encountered so much trouble. If it were Wang Linchi, there would hardly be any issues; his life had always been calm and steady.
"Once I go to work at the Soul Seed Bureau in the Prefecture, I hope Yan Ming King changes maps again," Wang Linchi thought.
He still had three years until graduation. Yan Ming King probably wouldn't stay in Yingzhou Prefecture for three whole years... right?
Well, it was possible. After all, the higher the level of the map, the longer one tended to stay. He had been on the Qinghe City map for over a year; staying on a higher-level map for three years wouldn't be extraordinary.
This thought made Wang Linchi a bit uneasy. If, three years later, he went to work in the Prefecture, it would coincide with Yan Ming King being in the final stages of his time on the Prefecture map. Wouldn't the entire Prefecture be plunged into chaos, making him an unlucky soul caught in the middle?
Let's consider this in three years. What if they don't recruit me.
The Soul Seed Bureau wouldn't necessarily admit him just because he had a letter of recommendation.
Perhaps Yan Ming King's rampage through the Prefecture would create an unexpected vacancy at the Soul Seed Bureau, coincidentally allowing him to join. That wasn't impossible.
Although Wang Linchi had kept a low profile during Qinghe City's turmoil and wasn't involved at the grassroots level, he had witnessed the results.