Standing in the eye of the storm, the girl felt the wind blowing and took a moment to reflect.
Was she showing off too much?
“Isn’t that just how we’ve been since we were kids?” Sexual Suppression shrugged casually. “Otherwise, how would Uncle Liu and the others say we’re cut out to be female stars?”
We’ve been embarrassing ourselves since we were little. If it weren’t for childhood trauma, the sisters would have gone on to sing for real.
Either way, the Broken Shadow definitely would have gone.
“That’s enough, Shen Ning.” The Class Advisor’s voice came from beyond the wind wall. “You’ve done well enough.”
When the fierce wind blows, the eye of the storm is the calmest place. Shen Ning leaned against the center of the storm, chatting with reflection, enjoying herself completely without any thought of the chaos raging outside the wind wall.
The audience below, composed of students, was in complete disarray. Some were hypnotized, staring blankly at the stage. Others couldn’t focus and pulled out their phones to quickly search for information or inform friends and family about what was happening.
Some excitedly explained to nearby classmates what they were witnessing, what kind of moment in history this was.
Principal Lü silently set his phone to silent beside him. His phone had long been bombarded with calls. Heaven knows how many people had tried to reach him from just now until this moment.
“Old Lü, I’m not dreaming, am I?” Old Lin held his stomach, grimacing from pain, “Our Academy is about to become famous, right?”
“Don’t even think about it,” Principal Lü looked toward the distant, heavily clouded sky. “It’s definitely going to be huge.”
The Academy of True Spirits had been a laughingstock after the High Tower incident, the Academy of Martial Spirits had been dormant for too long, and the Academy of Spirit Control was relatively mediocre. The other academies weren’t well known at all. Since the Clown Gang attack, only our Shengling Academy had showcased talent, spreading its reputation far and wide.
We’re the champions, after all.
Backstage, friends who spent every day together were stunned.
“What’s going on?” Shi Lei’s head was a little dizzy. “How did she suddenly become a Third Rank?”
Their Class Teacher, Form Teacher Cheng Chen, had said that in the Academy, anyone above Second Rank was considered an outstanding graduate, and there were only a few Second Rank graduates each year.
The teacher was lying.
Just then, Cheng Chen came over. Apparently, he had been given the cold shoulder by Yu Jing and had no choice but to find his own student.
“Don’t overthink it. Shen Ning’s situation is special, and it’s a historic level breakthrough.” He explained lightly, “Her Third Rank wasn’t earned through cultivation, but… due to some special encounters.”
On the day of the Parking Lot Incident, Cheng Chen was also one of the teachers present. They all witnessed the scene and attended the meeting room together, listening to Xu Chuyao recount the story of “a female classmate’s explosive breakthrough.”
It could only be said that this was basically impossible to replicate.
All the work group members were marveling, except Cheng Li, who was concerned about something else:
“Sigh, it’s not easy reaching mid-Second Rank.”
Now he’d been overtaken again.
On stage, the girl dispelled the wind wall and realized the chaos below.
But the process had to continue.
The person Principal Lü had brought onstage presented her with a new ID card and registered her Third Rank status in the database.
From now on, she would face some restrictions. For example, if she wanted to visit Ya Ha City or other cities, she would need to apply for permission in advance. At the same time, there would be many benefits: generous material rewards, and plenty of privileges in daily life.
She could even get up and sing a couple of lines at a concert just for fun.
“Shen Ning, congratulations on completing your Evaluation Ceremony and creating an unprecedented achievement.”
Amid the chaos, only the host maintained professional composure, stepping up to ask the girl on stage: “At this joyful moment, what do you most want to do?”
What did she want to do?
Reflection said, “I don’t know. Chuyao didn’t say.”
“I don’t know, Yao…”
The girl almost slipped and said it. At the last second, she caught herself and corrected, “I want to go find my girlfriend.”
The host laughed in support: “Then we won’t hold you up. The Shengling Academy Spring Evaluation Ceremony is now concluded. Let’s give a warm round of applause to congratulate and encourage Shen Ning… and the eight other hardworking students just now.”
What were their names again? Never mind, it didn’t matter.
The director and work group activated the stage equipment, shooting countless confetti into the air, like a New Year’s celebration.
Near the backstage, Shen Ning found her girlfriend and rushed over, handing her the newly acquired certificate.
Xu Chuyao looked puzzled. “What are you giving me this for?”
“The evaluation teacher told me there are lots of perks with this—free rides, free purchases in shops, free travel, and so on,” Shen Ning explained.
Xu Chuyao eyed the excited girl and then looked seriously at the Third Rank certificate in her hand.
Is this like a salary card?
“You keep it yourself. I’m not short of stuff like this or rank certificates, just that mine came a bit later.”
The question was, how much later? Yao Yao wanted to know, but with the female lead before her, this wasn’t exactly a story of a rebellious villain.
Thinking of this, Xu Chuyao said, a bit exasperated: “You really enjoyed yourself up there on stage, huh? So many people watching your performance. What an embarrassment!”
Shen Ning rolled her eyes but responded gently and calmly: “Isn’t that okay? Then I won’t show off anymore.”
Reflection said, “Yes, that’s right. Listen to whatever Chuyao says, and do as she says.”
“… If you’re happy, then show off. There’s nothing wrong with that.”
Yet Xu Chuyao was the first to lose spirit.
Damn it, where did this soft and gentle little Ning come from?
Where did my fiery female lead go?
With her girlfriend’s permission, Shen Ning beamed. “Then next time, when I hit Fourth Rank and we have a stage like this again, let’s go sing together, okay? You teach me some old songs from the Spirit Era.”
Sexual Suppression and Broken Shadow could both sing; Reflection never had but definitely would learn. Only she herself didn’t know a single song yet.
Xu Chuyao’s mouth twitched. “You want to hit Fourth Rank before graduation?”
“Sis, what kind of stats are you running to talk like that?”
“Just saying, if by chance, there’s still two and a half years left until graduation.”
“… Well, that’s true. Fine.”
Xu Chuyao thought, if she really did ascend to Fourth Rank before graduation, no need to mention me, even the Principal would have to invite her up to sing a couple of lines.
“Oh, by the way, are you free now?” The girl looked at her girlfriend, her eyes bright. “Can you take me somewhere for a walk?”
The kid was so happy, and today was her big day. Xu Chuyao couldn’t refuse.
“Let’s go. Anywhere’s fine.”
A big day indeed. Not only for Shen Ning but for the entire Shengling Academy.
Principal Lü didn’t know the main character had quietly left with her girlfriend, but it didn’t matter—there was no need for Shen Ning to stay anymore. Everyone was busy chatting and finding people to talk to.
“Yes, I knew a few days earlier than you all, and a few others knew too.”
Teachers who participated in the Parking Lot Incident were bragging to others: “We knew Shen Ning was Third Rank back then. Why do you think she got certified? Let’s just say, she single-handedly took down five peak Second Rank opponents, beating them so badly they were unrecognizable, no normal forms left, not even partial body shapes.”
Class 3-1 students were also boasting to other classmates.
“A few months ago, I sparred with her during P.E. class. Want to know the result? Four words: evenly matched! Don’t look at me like that, I never lie.”
Principal Lü sat on a chair in the backstage corner, scrolling through congratulatory messages on his phone and replying to some “important” old friends, like principals from other major academies.
[Principal of Academy of Martial Spirits: Saw the broadcast. Congratulations, Old Lü. After a lifetime of management, you finally got a genius.]
[Principal Lü: Just lucky.]
[Principal of Academy of Spirit Control: The historical record was broken six months early. In decades, only one prodigy has emerged, and it’s with you.]
[Principal Chang: Lucky.]
[Principal Bond from X Spirit Academy: Oh my God, my old buddy, are you licking the candle for the Lord above?]
[Famous Principal: Lucky.]
Regardless of whether the blessings from these old friends were sincere, sarcastic, or straightforward, Principal Lü’s replies were modest.
“Just lucky, guys.”
Just as he happily enjoyed his undefeated chatting spot, a voice interrupted.
“Principal Lü, do you have a moment?”
“You are…” Principal Lü looked up and saw Locke Morgan Family’s Lysvina smiling and nodding. “There’s something I need to discuss. May I have a moment?”
At first, Xu Chuyao didn’t know where Shen Ning was taking her. They gradually left the teaching building, and she thought maybe Shen Ning wanted to go have some outdoor fun.
But after turning left and right, they ended up beside an abandoned school building.
Commonly called the Old Schoolhouse, it had been deserted for a long time and was now used as…
The Detention Room.
“Right,” Shen Ning explained, “It’s the very one where they locked me up back then.”
“Why come here? To recall the bitterness and cherish the sweetness?”
The girl didn’t answer immediately. She stepped forward, pressed on the door lock, letting a faint breeze enter the core of the lock. With a click, the door opened.
Probably unused for a long time, dust thick enough to see lay on the floor of the Detention Room.
“Xu Chuyao, wait a moment.”
Shen Ning stepped inside first, waving her hand casually. The wind swept up all the dust and sent it flying out the window.
Xu Chuyao puffed up her cheeks, watching the scene enviously.
So nice, this elemental control. She wondered how many strokes it took to be able to summon that.
“When I was cleaning just now, I found this.”
The girl happily showed her girlfriend the prize: a torn wrapper of a De Da chocolate bar.
Xu Chuyao remembered. “That was the first time you went out and bought me something.”
“Heh, that night, I just sat right here.”
Shen Ning walked over, sat against the wall, and patted the “seat” beside her, inviting her girlfriend to sit down.
Xu Chuyao pouted. “No way. There are chairs, why sit on the floor?”
“I just cleaned it with wind. It’s not dirty.”
Saying that, Shen Ning worried her girlfriend might think she hadn’t cleaned well enough, so she waved her hand at the floor next to her.
A strong and powerful gust of wind roared in, making the floor sizzle.
“Stop blowing, stop blowing,” Xu Chuyao hurriedly urged, “If you keep going, it’ll turn into frosted glass.”
When the wind died down, she sat down close to Shen Ning’s temple.
It was almost like that night again, except back then they sat back to back, and now they were pressed tightly together.
“Xu Chuyao, will you teach me to sing a song?”