Original Wu

  "Ah, again it's reading books, I hate reading the most. I want to take the elemental test, if I can become a Yuan Master, I can also bring glory to you, Father~~~ Just let me go, okay? I'm begging you!" Du Fei pulled on Du Yongquan's hand, her tone suddenly becoming obedient and cute.

  "Good boy, listen to me, Dad still has something important to attend to. You stay home and study hard, you can't even recognize a few big characters, others will say you're illiterate in the future. Alright, wait for Dad to finish work and come back home to play with you, okay? Go read your book quickly, Dad really needs to go now." Du Yongquan looked at Du Fei with a kind face.

  "Dad~~~~please......" Du Fei hadn't finished speaking when Du Yongquan had already turned around and walked out of the living room.

  "Du Wen, for the next period of time, you must take good care of Young Master at home and absolutely cannot let him run around causing trouble. This is a major national event every year, I don't want Fei'er to make any mistakes in this regard. Also, it's best if you don't let Young Master go out for the next few days, wait until the exam conference is over before letting him out. Most importantly, you absolutely cannot let Young Master sneak out and participate in the exam conference, if something goes wrong at that time, I will hold you responsible!" Du Yongquan spoke with an air of unspoken authority emanating from him.

  "Yes sir, I'll definitely take good care of young master and not let him get into any trouble." Du Wen was intimidated by Du Yongquan's serious expression and didn't dare speak loudly.

  "Remember, during the conference, you must not let Young Master go out!" Du Yong repeatedly warned. Du Yong's tone was severe and cold, as if telling Du Wen that if he couldn't do it, the consequences would be unthinkable. Du Wen was so scared that he shivered with fear.

  Du Wen had been in the Du mansion for ten years. Originally, he was a beggar from Chang Le County, but due to a combination of circumstances, he was rescued by Du Yongquan, who had just taken office in Chang Le County at that time. To repay his kindness, Du Wen started doing small jobs for the Du family and, because of his intelligence and diligence, became the manager of the Du household within two or three years, helping Du Yongquan manage the family's affairs. However, after being with Du Yongquan for over ten years, Du Wen had never seen him so serious as he was today. Even on major occasions, Du Yongquan had always been easy-going and approachable in Du Wen's eyes. But today, Du Yongquan gave him a feeling of unprecedented seriousness and coldness.

  "It's probably because this test is a big deal, so Master must be taking it very seriously!" Du Wen comforted himself. But no matter how hard he tried, Du Wen couldn't understand why Du Yongquan never let Du Fei participate in the test every year, and this year was even stranger - right at the entrance of their home, he wouldn't let Du Fei leave the house. In previous years, it might have been understandable due to the distance, but this year Du Yongquan's actions were baffling. "Maybe Master thinks Young Master doesn't have that kind of talent, after all, the chances are too small." Du Wen comforted himself again.

  Changle County's most luxurious wine house - Changle Wine House. A group of people were drinking and eating inside, this group of people was the test teachers sent by the college and County Magistrate Du Yongquan.

  "Ladies and gentlemen, I am Du Yongquan, the county magistrate of Changle County. It is a great honor for our humble town to be chosen as the testing ground this time. Your esteemed selves have traveled far and wide without complaint, bringing glory to our county. Let us raise our glasses in advance to toast the success of this grand gathering! I propose a toast, please join me!" With that, Du Yongquan raised his cup and drained it in one gulp.

  "Haha, County Magistrate, you're too kind. I, Lin, admire your generosity and boldness. Let's all raise our cups and toast to County Magistrate Du!" After finishing speaking, everyone raised their cups and downed the wine in one gulp. The person who spoke up was none other than Lin Li, the head of this testing conference and the leader of the testing team. His cultivation had reached the Condensed Yuan realm, a high-level expert. Among the six testing teachers sent by the county academy, three had reached the Condensed Yuan realm, while the other three were at the ninth level of Gathering Nucleus, not far from breaking through to the Condensed Yuan realm. This time, there were more Controllers than in any previous year. In previous years, there were never more than three, but this year there were six, making Du Yongquan extremely busy, as he felt that the higher-ups looked favorably upon him and had sent so many Controllers to preside over the conference.

  After a round of polite exchanges, the wine and food were also eaten to about seven or eight tenths. Du Yongquan, as the host, made good arrangements for the testing masters and prepared thick red envelopes for each of them. Because everyone knew that this testing conference was a great thing, not to mention that during the time before and after the conference, all the participants from the whole county would rush to Changle County, bringing huge income to Changle County in terms of food, accommodation, and transportation, let alone other aspects. Giving red envelopes to the testing masters had already become an open secret. As the head of a county, Du Yongquan understood this rule.

  Du Fu's Thatched Cottage

  "Wen Shu, what's this test conference thingy? Can you explain it to me? Dad doesn't want me to participate, but he didn't say I couldn't know about it, right?" Du Fei looked at Du Wen with sparkling eyes.

  "Alright... but you mustn't let the old master know!" Du Wen hesitated for a moment before speaking, and glanced around cautiously as if afraid of being overheard.

  "Don't worry, Uncle Wen, you still don't know what kind of person I am." Du Fei comforted him with a look at Du Wen's somewhat worried expression.

  "This talent selection conference is held every year by the Empire, where each city-level branch of the colleges affiliated with the Empire sets up a testing point in their respective cities to select people who have the opportunity to become Kontrol Masters. The age requirement for participants is under 16 years old, because once you're over 16, you no longer have the chance to become a Kontrol Master. If the test results show that your body has an extremely high concentration of certain elements, then you'll have the opportunity to become a Kontrol Master and directly enter the national college for systematic training. After graduation, students will become the Empire's elite talents, with the opportunity to serve the Empire, and their social status will be much higher than ours as ordinary citizens. Kontrol Masters are the most noble profession on the continent, and also the backbone of the country. I participated in the selection test when I was young, haha, but unfortunately, I didn't have the fate to become a noble Kontrol Master." Du Wen's voice was tinged with a hint of sadness and helplessness.

  "Oh, Uncle Wen, do you think I have a chance to become a controller? I also want to give it a try, can you let me go out and participate? Please?" Du Fei coquettishly said.

  "Master, please spare the old slave, Master said before he left that during the test meeting period, you are not allowed to go out, if you go out and Master knows, our family's slaves will be punished, so Master, please don't go out for these few days." Du Wen said humbly.

  "Huh? You say I won't go out, then I won't go out. Look at me, how can I go out? Will I still have no way to go out later? Haha." Du Fei thought to himself, but he wouldn't say it out loud.

  "Never mind, I won't go out either. If we get caught by dad later, you guys will be punished too. I'll just stay home for these days." Du Fei sighed. But the ghost in his heart was still thinking of a plan.

  The days went by, and finally the day of the test conference arrived. Early in the morning, the test site was already crowded with people, and the scene was chaotic. Although the county had dispatched a large number of staff to maintain order, there were too many people, and those maintaining order were soon submerged in the crowd. The scene of thousands of people gathering together made Du Yongquan also headache, it was his first time encountering such a large scene, but as the head of the county, he could not escape now, so he had to stand on the podium and shouted "Quiet" several times, only to find that it didn't work, and walked down with a dark face.

  "Haha, don't worry, County Master Du. We didn't expect so many people to come this year either. The number of participants has increased by at least 30% compared to previous years. Your prepared manpower is a bit insufficient to cope with the situation. Let me help you solve this problem."

  "Du certain is not doing his job well, I hope Lin brother will forgive me, it's a trouble for Lin brother." Du Yongquan bowed his head in shame and nodded to Lin Li, knowing that the master of the Controlling Yuan had extraordinary abilities, but he didn't say much, just watching Lin Li perform on the side.

  "Haha, no need to be so polite." Lin Li walked up to the podium and scanned the noisy crowd before saying, "Please quiet down, our county magistrate has something to say to everyone. Please keep quiet." After finishing speaking, Lin Li calmly returned to his seat, but his words had a shocking effect on the entire audience, causing everyone's ears to tremble and their voices to gradually fade away.

  Lin Li's voice shocked the entire audience because he utilized the surrounding wind elements and injected a certain amount of yuanqi to propel the flow of air, transmitting what he wanted to say through the airflow to every person present. The effect Lin Li brought was immediate, and suddenly the entire audience fell silent, with all eyes fixed on the podium. From then on, no one dared to utter a word loudly. Du Yongquan on the stage also stared straight at Lin Li.

  "Hehe, Director Du, please." Lin Li looked at Du Yongquan who was staring straight at him and smiled.

  Du Yongquan immediately regained his composure and walked onto the stage to host the opening ceremony of the conference. After a morning of ceremonies and registration, the organizing committee of the conference finally announced the list of participants and schedule for the test. Due to the large number of participants this year, reaching tens of thousands, what surprised Du Yongquan the most was that many people from other cities also came to register at their own testing points. As a result, the number of participants this year was nearly half more than in previous years when the conference was held in other towns. The conference test will be held for five days, starting from tomorrow, with several thousand people taking the test each day. Before the end of each day, the list of those who passed the test will be announced publicly. Finally, after the conference concludes, all participants who passed the test will be taken back to school for further training.

  The opening ceremony of the conference ended in the midst of a sea of people, and all those who participated in the test would wait for their fate to be decided in the next few days, to see if they could become the favored ones of heaven and possess the most noble position - the Kontroller.