The vast garden of the Magic Engineering Department was lush and green, with dewdrops glistening on the leaves and branches of the plants.

At this moment, with the arrival of the staff from the Magic Engineering Department, the automatic irrigation system in the garden also began to operate.

Meanwhile, Lanqi and Vivian were still lingering not far from the entrance of the old liberal arts building.

It was all because of the question Vivian suddenly raised.

Back in the South Vantina border territory, Lanqi had never met anyone who would chat with him about such topics.

Although butler Hans and maid Floransin both highly praised his paintings, they had never discussed professional art-related issues with Lanqi.

Lanqi thought for a moment, then smiled and answered:

"If we're talking about differences... the goddess statue is carved so vividly, her gaze gentle and loving, immersed in this rippling starry base, sometimes vast and sometimes returning to calm waters, sinking deeper into a tranquil embrace, yet seemingly floating to the surface, soaring upwards."

"Indeed."

Vivian nodded in agreement after hearing Lanqi's answer.

Although she agreed with Lanqi's interpretation,

This kind of insight, not much different from famous experts, after hearing it many times, also made her feel a bit ordinary.

However, soon after,

She heard Lanqi continue speaking.

"But if we're talking about why this work as a whole is so moving, I think we should start with the Southern Cross constellation behind the goddess statue."

"Why?"

Vivian frowned slightly and asked.

Often when evaluating this work, people praise the goddess, and even though the carving of the background part as the base color is also excellent, it's not the main body of the work, more of a meaning to set off the goddess.

"The constellation carved by Mr. Jera actually has very subtle deviations from the official emblem, of course not mistakes, just differences in observation angles..."

Lanqi looked at the carving on the dome again, his clear and focused emerald eyes seeming to accurately pierce through the position of each star, quite intoxicated as he sighed,

"Let me guess randomly... Could it be that sculptor Mr. Jera was inspired by the constellations that night and spontaneously carved this work? The starry sky that night may have been like the Creator's answer, giving Mr. Jera the inspiration to make this work naturally spiritual. Under this realization, he gazed at the starry sky, pouring his heart and soul into it. In the end, it's hard to say whether he was carving lapis lazuli or carving starlight. It is precisely this starry sky behind the goddess that makes the entire work seamlessly integrated, setting off the goddess statue to the extreme without taking away half of her moving radiance."

"!"

Lanqi's self-forgetful speech obviously startled Vivian.

His meticulous eye for detail and insight into the sculpture were unique and profound.

Vivian remembered that according to Icerite Academy's records, magic engineer Jera did indeed complete this work at night.

Although there's no way to verify the late Master Jera Zelt's state of mind during creation, it just happened to match Lanqi's interpretation.

Vivian couldn't help but look up at the carving again, finding Lanqi's words increasingly reasonable.

"You..."

Then she stared at Lanqi's profile.

She seemed to doubt whether this was really Lanqi's first time seeing this sculpture.

"I've made Princess Vivian laugh, perhaps my guess wasn't thorough, if I've offended Master Jera, please forgive me."

Lanqi felt Vivian's gaze, turned his head, and smiled brightly.

"I heard your family has been merchants for generations, is that why you're so good at appreciation?"

Vivian came back to her senses, nodded slightly, then asked again.

Although Lanqi had good appreciation skills, Vivian didn't know what type he excelled in, or how good his own creative abilities were.

"I just know a little bit, out of interest."

Lanqi answered modestly.

Vivian knew that Lanqi always spoke without showing off, but indeed, if Lanqi himself had extremely high artistic attainments, it would be impossible for him to remain completely unknown in this field until now.

"To be honest with you, the royal treasury also has works by magic engineer Jera, each one can be called a national treasure."

Vivian's tone had no hint of boasting, she was just introducing it since it was rare to meet a peer she could chat with,

"If my royal brother Ainor met you, he might invite you to appreciate them... Never mind, it's better if you don't meet him. In the future, if you encounter a third-year student from the Magic Engineering Department named Ainor, you must avoid him."

Vivian stopped halfway through her words, then suddenly changed her tone with a somewhat unpleasant expression.

"Prince Ainor, is he not as approachable as Princess Vivian?"

Lanqi asked curiously.

Stolen from its rightful author, this tale is not meant to be on Amazon; report any sightings.

He hated people who only said half of what they meant and those who spoke in riddles.

But out of politeness, he still posed his question using more appropriate wording.

"Am I approachable? Hmm... My brother is indeed very approachable too, but his problem is that he's too approachable."

Vivian nodded after a moment of thought, then explained.

Her brother, the second prince of the Hutton Kingdom, was a person with a very unique personality.

As a member of the royal family, he rather disdained power and status, but loved elegance and art.

And he loved to show off in front of others.

If Ainor discovered that Lanqi had quite a bit to say about art appreciation, he would definitely invite Lanqi to tour the palace with him, admire and comment on his many collections, and show off his knowledge to Lanqi.

"I see. Then Prince Ainor is also a very nice person, I'll be careful to avoid him and not cause him trouble."

Lanqi roughly understood.

It's just that this prince was too enthusiastic and couldn't control himself when he met someone he could chat with.

"Mm, you don't need to worry too much."

Vivian was certain that even if her foolish royal brother really met Lanqi in the future and hit it off with him, he wouldn't bother Lanqi too much.

Obviously, given Lanqi's age, it was impossible for him to be a true art master.

So at most, her brother would just show off to Lanqi for a bit and there wouldn't be any follow-up.

As they chatted,

Seeing that the old liberal arts building had started normal operations,

The two of them walked into the building to handle the enrollment procedures.

Accompanying Vivian, everything was very simple.

It felt like he had become a minister too.

In less than half an hour, Lanqi happily left the Magic Engineering Department and headed towards the dormitory.

The student service center would later send the students' temporarily stored luggage directly to their respective dormitories.

Lanqi was quite satisfied with the school's service.

"Do you have a preferred team now? If you don't join a team, you might find it difficult to challenge the Shadow World."

Vivian walked with her arms folded, her fingertips lightly tapping her elbows.

She asked Lanqi on their way, as they happened to be going in the same direction.

Today she was also planning to go check out the dormitory building, as they would become classmates in the Sage Academy in the future.

Students who are granted registered challenger qualifications by the Southern Continent Shadow World Management Association can challenge the real Shadow World, of course, they can also form teams.

So there are quite a few powerful teams with considerable fame in the school.

The school has explicit regulations prohibiting first-year students from participating in Shadow World challenges alone.

So often, even if students obtain registered challenger licenses early in their first year, they all join teams and challenge together with upper-class students.

"By the way, is it not okay if I find a first-year companion to team up and challenge?"

Lanqi asked curiously.

He actually wanted to challenge a real Shadow World as soon as possible, not wanting to waste any time.

Because after opening the Shadow World, there would be a rejection time during which one couldn't enter the Shadow World again, so the earlier you start, the earlier you can start the cooldown.

And joining a team involves various adjustments, arrangements, and preparation periods. As a newcomer, it would probably be difficult to quickly get on the field directly.

"That would be purely suicidal behavior."

Vivian looked at Lanqi and said coldly.

She didn't want Lanqi to ruin himself because of excessive arrogance and ignorance, as he was a quite promising talent of the Hutton Kingdom.

"Uh."

Lanqi felt that Vivian's attitude had become a bit scary, but he also knew that Vivian was worried about his safety.

His understanding of the real Shadow World was only based on some combat records and analytical documents. Vivian, as a princess, knew many powerful challengers and definitely understood the actual situation better than him.

"By the way, compared to the difficulty of the third round of the exam, a real third-level Shadow World..."

"The difficulty of a third-level Shadow World is far greater than the second-level [Infinite Phantom Valley], even with more stringent conditions added, they're not on the same level."

Before Lanqi could finish his question, Vivian answered decisively.

She found that Lanqi obviously had no awareness of the dangers of the real Shadow World.

How could an artificially simulated segment of a second-level Shadow World compare to the difficulty of a third-level Shadow World!

If Lanqi really became arrogant and self-satisfied just because he passed the entrance exam and got his license without taking the test, he would sooner or later cause serious trouble in the Shadow World.

Vivian took a deep breath, feeling that even if she had to be the bad guy, she had to scold Lanqi awake.

However, before she could organize her words, Lanqi asked again:

"Suppose, I'm just saying suppose, if we add three negative conditions to the [Infinite Phantom Valley] exam: 'small hill terrain', 'examiner rank increased from four to five', and 'examiner starting distance halved', could it then compare with a third-level Shadow World?"

After hearing this, Vivian was stunned.

What kind of devil conditions are these, how could anyone come up with such things?

The nature of the exam would have completely changed.

"... What kind of joke are you making, if these three conditions were added, I believe no new student could pass, this is already close to a rampaging third-level Shadow World."

Vivian muttered hesitantly.

Generally speaking, if serious errors occur during the Shadow World process, making it impossible to smoothly reach the end and defeat the final enemy through the mechanism, and instead being hunted by the final enemy first, it's often called the Shadow World entering a "rampaging state".

And in a third-level Shadow World that has entered a rampaging state, third-level challengers might have to face the hunting of a fifth-level final enemy.

After saying this, Vivian looked at Lanqi again in confusion.

It couldn't be that Lanqi and Huberrian encountered such conditions, could it?

If these two passed the exam with such conditions, how monstrous would Lanqi have to be?

"Then I roughly understand the difficulty of a third-level Shadow World."

Lanqi nodded, holding his chin.

So as long as he brings along his old teammate Huberrian, entering a real Shadow World matched as a team, with their ranks being two and three respectively, it would likely be a second or third-level Shadow World without any accidents.

It would actually be much easier than joining a team to group with third and fourth-level upper-class students.

"You... didn't happen to encounter these three conditions with Huberrian, did you?"

Vivian turned her head, staring at Lanqi half-believingly, half-doubtingly.

Although she thought it was impossible.

But at that moment just now, she felt that Lanqi seemed to have a strange calmness and steadiness about him. Even with her good eye for judging people as a princess, she felt a bit unable to gauge Lanqi's depth.

"Of course not, how could it be these three."

Lanqi smiled, waving his hand and shaking his head.

What he encountered were the three conditions of "plain terrain", "angry Felat", and "one-third distance".

Compared to what he had just told Vivian, it was a bit different.