The results list of those who passed the preliminary defense had already been posted.
The space in front of the massive bulletin board was packed with students from various academies, their noisy chatter rising and falling in waves.
Some stood on their tiptoes, desperately peering forward; others, having spotted their own names, cheered with joy; still others squeezed their way out of the crowd, dejected and hanging their heads.
Although this was only the first stage, the brutal screening process had already shown its might.
More than half of the students from ordinary magic academies were eliminated in this round, relegated to mere spectators in this grand event.
For them, simply being able to participate in the Hundred Academy Exchange was already an honor, but seeing with their own eyes that their names had not made the list still brought a sense of disappointment that was difficult to hide.
Most students from the Five Great Academies, except for a very few who had used backdoors, passed the preliminary defense smoothly—an expected outcome.
However, when they cast their eyes toward the very top of the list, an unexpected sight greeted them—a single name written boldly at the very summit:
Greg Sass.
For the students of the other four great academies besides Glory Cael, it wasn't that they couldn't accept the sudden appearance of a dark horse in the exchange, but this was simply too absurdly dark.
“Wait, who even is Greg?”
“Have any of you heard of him before?”
“Where on earth did he pop out from?”
Before this, the name had virtually zero recognition in elite student circles, and no one had ever heard of him achieving any astonishing results.
Yet, such a person had actually suppressed all competitors in the preliminary defense to claim the top spot.
What surprised them even more, however, was another matter—Veronica, the current Saintess of the Church of Light, had actually personally summoned this man after the preliminary defense ended.
One had to understand that there were thousands of students at the exchange, including many high-born nobles and brilliant scholars of profound knowledge. Yet, he was the only one granted a private audience with the Saintess, and after that meeting, he had returned to the crowd as if nothing had happened...
The implications were already glaringly obvious.
This Greg Sass was absolutely no ordinary character!
In an instant, all sorts of speculations began to circulate among the students.
Some said he might be the reincarnation of a legendary Hero, some said he might be an awakened Holy Spirit, and others said he might share some unknown connection with the Church of Light.
In short, his name was temporarily unrivaled in popularity at the exchange, becoming the focus of everyone's discussions.
“...”
Vivian stood before the bulletin board, her gaze sweeping calmly across the list.
She found her name near the top, ranked just below Lilith's.
If it had been her past self, seeing that she had lost to her sister would have surely triggered a wave of intense resentment and anxiety. She would have started questioning whether she wasn't working hard enough and wanted to immediately rush back to double her training and studies.
But now, she felt no dissatisfaction whatsoever.
Because compared to power, she already possessed something far more precious.
She had once lost herself in the pursuit of power, driving herself into a corner just to surpass Lilith.
Looking back now, her past self had been like a cornered beast trapped in a cage, with nothing but victory and defeat, strength and weakness, in her eyes. It was truly pathetic.
Yet now, she could even feel heartfelt joy for Lilith achieving a better score than her.
All of this... was because he had returned to her side.
Vivian glanced at the familiar name at the very top of the list: Greg Sass.
A barely perceptible curve appeared at the corner of her lips. She nodded, turning to leave with a satisfied expression.
However, as she crossed the corridor and was about to head down the stairs, a voice called out to her from behind.
“Please wait a moment, Senior.”
Vivian stopped in her tracks and turned around.
She found that the one who had called her was a quiet-looking, black-haired girl wearing a blue academy uniform. Her face seemed ordinary, but her eyes gave off an indescribable feeling.
Vivian had some impression of this face—she seemed to be an outstanding student from one of the ordinary magic academies, and her name had also been on the list of those who passed the preliminary defense.
Melina, she seemed to be named.
“Is there something I can help you with, Melina?” Vivian took the initiative to ask, her tone calm and polite.
Melina seemed to daze out for a brief second before smiling and shaking her head.
“My apologies, Senior. It seems I made a mistake. I am sorry for disturbing you.”
Vivian nodded slightly to show it was fine.
Then, her gaze casually swept downward, catching sight of a figure on the lower floor.
Withdrawing her gaze, she said to Melina, “If there is nothing else, I will take my leave.”
With that, she maintained her elegant posture and quickly walked down the stairs.
Melina stood at the top of the stairs, watching Vivian's retreating back.
The moment that aqua-blue figure vanished around the corner of the staircase, her previously harmless eyes instantly became bewitching, as if she had turned into a completely different person.
“Strange...”
She murmured under her breath:
“She doesn't seem to match the information I received. Could the void in her heart have been repaired?”
According to the intelligence she had gathered earlier, Vivian Kahn was someone who lived under constant pressure due to her sister Lilith's outstanding talent.
Her extreme pursuit of power and her desire to surpass her sister had left a rift in her heart that could be exploited.
Melina's original plan was to take advantage of Vivian ranking below Lilith this time. While Vivian was devastated by the blow, Melina would seize the opportunity to get close to her and plant a thread in her heart.
This thread would slowly grow over time, eventually allowing her to control Vivian's mind and make Vivian her tool.
Yet, after this formal meeting, she noticed that there was no void in Vivian's heart where she could bury the thread.
Her eyes were calm and resolute, completely unlike the state of someone who had just lost to the person she absolutely did not want to lose to.
Thus, Melina's plan was declared a failure at the very first step.
She couldn't help but feel a bit puzzled; her recent plans always seemed to run into obstacles.
It was the same with her arrangements in the Imperial Capital.
She had originally intended for her people to cause destruction and chaos everywhere in the Imperial Capital to draw the city guards away, weakening their surveillance of the dungeon so that she could proceed with her next step more smoothly.
Yet, whenever her people were just about to make a move, they would quickly be sliced in half by a sword aura flying out from who-knows-where.
As a natural result, over the past few days, not only had she failed to achieve any of her goals, but she had actually created the legend of a swordsman in the Imperial Capital.
Now, the citizens were talking with great relish about the mysterious swordsman, calling him the secret guardian deity of the Imperial Capital.
Melina felt extremely vexed by this.
She began to seriously ponder a question:
“Could someone have seen through my plans from the very beginning?”
“If that is indeed the case, then who on earth is this person?”
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