So weeks later...
Morning arrived the way it always did in Jianghe, but there was nothing quiet about the dormitory hallways.
Wang Hao had been awake since before sunrise.
Lin Yi knew this because Wang Hao had knocked on his new dorm door at an hour that no reasonable person would consider morning, holding two cups of tea with the expression of soone who had important news and absolutely could not wait.
"Brother Lin."
Lin Yi opened the door and looked at him.
"It’s early."
"I know." Wang Hao stepped inside without being invited, set one cup on the desk, and dropped into the chair. "But the exam is tomorrow. Tomorrow, Brother Lin. And you’re just going to sleep through the night before?"
"I was sleeping through the night before, yes."
Wang Hao waved his hand. "That’s not the point." He leaned forward, wrapping both hands around his cup. "The point is that Principal Zhou is addressing everyone this morning. In the grand hall. All students, mandatory attendance." He paused for emphasis. "Every student in the academy. Not just tournant participants. Everyone."
Lin Yi pulled the chair from the desk and sat down, picking up the tea. "What ti?"
"Two hours." Wang Hao leaned back again. "Which, by the way, is why I ca now instead of later. I figured you’d want ti to actually wake up before standing in a room full of people."
"I’m awake."
Wang Hao stared at him. Lin Yi looked exactly the sa as he did when fighting tournant finals. Completely calm, eyes clear, posture relaxed. Wang Hao let out a slow breath. "...You’re unbelievable."
Lin Yi sipped the tea. "What do you know about the address?"
"Not much." Wang Hao shrugged slightly. "Only what’s been circulating. They’re saying Principal Zhou wants to speak about the exam itself, the stakes, what it ans for students who qualify. There’s also talk about logistics for Celestial City." He paused. "Sothing about transportation being arranged."
Lin Yi set the cup down. "A bus?"
"That’s the rumor." Wang Hao tilted his head. "Which honestly makes sense. Celestial City is a six-hour journey from here. The exam runs over two days. Soone has to get us there." He grinned slightly. "Though I have to say, the image of the tournant champion riding a school bus to a regional exam is not exactly heroic."
Lin Yi looked at him. "And yet here we are."
Wang Hao laughed. "And yet here we are."
They sat quietly for a mont, the early morning light beginning to change outside the window, the courtyard below still mostly empty save for a few students already moving toward the training grounds out of habit or anxiety or both. Wang Hao looked down at his cup. His expression shifted slightly.
"You know what’s strange?" he said. "A week ago I was watching you shatter Chen Feng’s final technique in front of thousands of people. And now we’re sitting here drinking tea and talking about a bus."
"That’s how it works," Lin Yi said.
"One thing ends, the next one starts." Wang Hao nodded slowly. "Yeah." He exhaled. "The difference is, last week the opponent was Chen Feng. Tomorrow, the opponents are every talented student in eight cities." His voice was steady, but there was weight behind it. "That’s a completely different scale."
"It is," Lin Yi agreed.
Wang Hao looked at him. "Doesn’t that bother you even a little?"
Lin Yi thought about it for exactly one second. "No."
Wang Hao stared at him for a long mont. Then he shook his head, laughing quietly. "Right. I forgot who I was asking."
....
The grand hall of Jianghe Hunter Academy was a structure that demanded respect simply by existing. Stone columns lined the interior from floor to ceiling, carved with the crests of every previous champion class, every major expedition, every significant event in the academy’s history. The hall could hold every student and instructor in the building simultaneously, and this morning, it did exactly that. By the ti Lin Yi and Wang Hao arrived, the benches were already packed.
The noise was imdiate. Students talking, comparing notes on preparation, trading rumors about what the regional exam would involve, arguing loudly about which of the five Regional Academies was actually worth attending and which ones were only worth ntioning at a dinner table to impress relatives. The usual.
Wang Hao found seats near the middle section and dropped into one imdiately. "Good seats," he said approvingly. "Clear view of the platform, close enough to hear without being so close it looks like we’re trying to make a good impression."
"Are we not trying to make a good impression?"
"Brother Lin, I’ve watched you face down an S-Rank in a tournant final. You don’t make good impressions. You make lasting ones." He gestured at the room around them. "Let the rest of us work for it."
Several students nearby had already noticed Lin Yi. It was subtle, a glance held a fraction too long, a hushed word to the person beside them, a nudge toward the aisle. Wang Hao noticed it too, though he didn’t say anything. He just grinned slightly into his collar.
Then the hall went quiet.
Principal Zhou mounted the platform at the far end of the hall with the unhurried walk of a man who had delivered this address before but still ant every word of it. He was not a young man, but there was nothing diminished about him. His posture was straight and his gaze, when it swept across the hall, was the kind that made individual students feel specifically seen.
"Students of Jianghe Hunter Academy."
"Tomorrow," Principal Zhou began, "so of you will board transportation bound for Celestial City. So of you will walk into an examination hall alongside the best students from every frontier city under Celestial’s administration. And so of you—" he paused, "—will pass through a gate that changes the entire trajectory of your life."
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A/N: Thanks for reading this far (｡･ω･｡)ﾉ♡ so power stones, gifts and reviews willbe appreciated
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