The few days of rest passed quickly.
It’s worth mentioning that the one thousand Gold Coins monthly stipend from the Imperial Magic Academy, which Sara had mentioned before, had officially been credited during these days.
The sensible Sara immediately handed over that one thousand Gold Coins to Li Xian.
Adding the remainder from the previous ten thousand Gold Coins, Li Xian now had close to twelve thousand Gold Coins in hand.
But as always, twelve thousand Gold Coins might sound like a lot, yet in the Imperial Capital, it was by no means a large sum.
More importantly, their monthly expenses from now on would most likely far exceed two thousand Gold Coins.
You have to understand, to practice Magic and accelerate cultivation speed, one must use Magic Beast Magic Crystals of the corresponding attribute as assistance.
And these crystals are not something you can avoid just because you’re a genius who cultivates faster than ordinary people.
On the contrary, the more gifted you are, the higher your elemental affinity is, the faster you absorb magical elements, and the more effective using Magic Crystals to assist cultivation becomes.
In fact, the need for Magic Crystals grows.
With the help of Magic Crystals, cultivation speed could be boosted by two to three times at best.
Just imagine, others draw large amounts of magical elements directly from the Magic Crystals, only needing to refine and assimilate them into their own magical power.
But you can only absorb the pitiful amount of magical elements floating in the air, and you have to sift through the mixed elements to extract the specific attribute you’re cultivating.
The efficiency is simply incomparable.
This explains why, during the first round of the talent test, the gap between the children of noble families and ordinary people wasn’t very obvious, but by the second round’s practical assessment and the third round’s competition, the differences became increasingly stark.
With the same talent, those with abundant resources naturally become stronger.
Plus, having powerful family elders to guide their Magic practice, their realms, mastery of Magic, and even combat experience far surpass those from common backgrounds.
Although Li Xian himself didn’t particularly need Magic Crystals to speed up his cultivation, Sara definitely did.
Her talent was also very high, meaning she needed a considerable number of Magic Crystals.
While she could technically hunt Magic Beasts herself to obtain them, constantly hunting outside would leave no time for Magic study.
Li Xian’s Magic power and Dou Qi were ridiculously strong, but when it came to Magic or combat skills, he was basically clueless—completely relying on brute strength to overwhelm opponents.
That feeling wasn’t very pleasant, and comparatively, it was more exhausting.
One of the reasons Li Xian came to this Academy was to obtain the so-called professional level certification.
Another was to learn more Magic and Dou Qi techniques.
That part wasn’t difficult for him, but with so many different Magic attributes, mastering them all comprehensively still required considerable effort.
Of course, the most important reason was that Li Xian was lazy—lazy to go hunt Magic Beasts.
Joking aside, the Northern Wildwood was so far away, Magic Beasts were hard to find, and he’d have to sleep in haystacks out there…
Who in their right mind would want to go?
Definitely not him.
So, earning money was an urgent problem that had to be solved.
Li Xian had already thought of a solution.
Since this world lacked certain things, he would use that as a leverage point to perform a dimensional advantage strike.
By “creating” something that didn’t originally exist in this world, by being the first to “eat the cake”—no, the first to create the cake—Li Xian didn’t believe he couldn’t make money this way.
But the current problem was that although he had ideas and skills, he lacked funds, manpower, and a storefront.
Karinya’s tavern was something he had high hopes for.
Its location was unbeatable—one of the most prosperous areas in the entire Imperial Capital.
If he could open his envisioned coffee shop there…
Moreover, Karinya seemed to have ready funds and manpower.
Basically, all problems would be solved—on the condition that Karinya agreed.
He had to find a way to make Karinya trust him, to have her help him.
But right now, Karinya didn’t even want to discuss the tavern matters with him.
Back in the Northern Wildwood, Li Xian had tried bringing it up several times, but every time, Karinya deliberately avoided the topic and changed the subject.
That made Li Xian quite uncomfortable.
He didn’t think Karinya completely distrusted him, which was why she avoided the topic…
Li Xian felt she was hiding something, carrying all the pressure on her own shoulders, to the point of suffocation.
If he wanted to achieve his goal, he first had to find a way to get Karinya to open up and talk about it, to figure out what was really going on behind everything, to understand what that conversation between her and Roy upstairs in the tavern meant…
But Karinya was obviously unwilling to talk to him or open up easily.
So this matter required a trigger.
During these days of rest, Li Xian had thought long and hard about this issue, and suddenly realized that he currently held a trump card in his hand.
If he could use it well…
The rest period was over at last.
After spending these days comfortably with Sara in the villa, Li Xian reluctantly stepped out and headed toward the assembly point announced by the Academy.
Today was the official start of the new term at the Academy.
After passing the multiple assessments, the students could finally enroll, enter the Academy, and begin their studies.
The first issue upon enrollment was class assignment and choosing mentors.
Here it must be noted that most classes didn’t have official mentors.
Their mentors were actually the Academy’s assistant mentors.
Only a few elite classes were assigned real Academy Instructors, who were Transcendent-level experts providing teaching and guidance.
There were only a limited number of Instructors in the Academy, divided across three grades.
Each cohort would have at most three or four classes with true Instructors guiding them.
This was what students faced today: confirming their class, classmates, and their mentor or “mentor.”
But for the Academy Instructors, assistant mentors, and other personnel, and even for the entire Imperial Capital and the Empire as a whole, today held an even more important and sensational event!
The Empire’s Grand Magus, Lord Elvis, who had stood as a pillar for the Empire for so many years, was finally taking on a new disciple!
Lord Elvis had only ever accepted two disciples in his lifetime.
His last acceptance was twenty years ago—Sara’s mother.
Now, after twenty years, Lord Elvis had reached a new peak in strength and prestige.
At this critical moment, he was finally going to accept his third disciple!
Such a momentous event—how could it not shake the entire Imperial Capital and even the whole Empire?