The results list of those who passed the preliminary defense had already been posted.
A crowd of students from various academies squeezed in front of the huge bulletin board, their clamor rising and falling in waves.
Some stood on tiptoe to crane their necks forward, some cheered in joy upon seeing their names, while others squeezed out of the crowd with dejected expressions.
Although this was only the first stage, the brutal screening had already demonstrated its power.
Over half the students from ordinary magic academies were eliminated in this round, reduced to mere bystanders in this grand event.
For them, being able to participate in the Hundred Academy Exchange was an honor in itself, but seeing with their own eyes that their names were missing from the list still left them unable to conceal their disappointment.
As for the students from the Five Great Magic Academies, apart from a very few who relied on connections, the vast majority passed the preliminary defense smoothly, a result fully within expectations.
However, when they shifted their gaze to the very top of the list, an unexpected sight confronted them—written clearly in the top spot was a single name:
Greg Sass.
For students from the other four prestigious magic academies aside from Glory Cael, it wasn't that they couldn't accept a dark horse suddenly emerging in the exchange, but wasn't this horse a bit too dark?
"Wait, who is Greg?"
"Has any of you heard of him before?"
"Where on earth did he pop out from?"
Before this, the name possessed almost zero recognition among top-tier students, nor had anyone ever heard of him achieving any astonishing feats.
Yet a person like this had somehow outperformed everyone in the preliminary defense, claiming the top spot.
And what surprised them even more was another matter—after the preliminary defense ended, Veronica, the current Saintess of the Church of Light, had actually summoned this man in person.
One had to realize there were thousands of students at the venue, among whom were no shortage of prominent nobles or brilliant scholars. Yet he was the sole individual granted a private audience with the Saintess, only to reappear before everyone afterward as if nothing had happened...
The implications were self-evident.
This Greg Sass was by no means ordinary!
In no time, all sorts of wild speculations spread among the students.
Some said he might be the reincarnation of the legendary Hero, others speculated he was an awakened Holy Spirit, and still others claimed he shared a secret connection with the Church of Light.
In short, his name dominated the spotlight at the exchange, becoming the center of everyone's discussions.
"..."
Vivian stood before the bulletin board, her gaze calmly sweeping across the list.
She found her name near the front of the list, ranked right beneath Lilith's.
If it had been her past self, seeing that she had lost to her younger sister would have undoubtedly filled her heart with intense reluctance and anxiety. She would have doubted whether she worked hard enough and wanted to return immediately to double her efforts in training and study.
Yet now, she harbored no dissatisfaction whatsoever.
Because compared to strength, she already possessed something far more precious.
She had once lost herself in pursuit of power, driving herself into a corner just to surpass Lilith.
Looking back now, her self during that period was like a trapped beast in a cage, seeing nothing but victory, defeat, strength, and weakness. It was truly unbecoming.
Yet now, she could even feel genuinely happy for Lilith achieving a better result than her own.
All of this... was because he had returned to her side.
Vivian glanced at that familiar name at the very top of the list: Greg Sass.
A barely perceptible curve formed at the corner of her lips. Then she nodded and turned to leave in satisfaction.
However, as she crossed the hallway and was about to head down the stairs, a voice called out to her from behind.
"Please wait a moment, Senior."
Vivian paused and turned around.
She found that the one who called out to her was a quiet-looking, black-haired girl in a blue academy uniform. Her face appeared ordinary, but her eyes gave off an unspeakable feeling.
Vivian had a slight impression of that face—she seemed to be an outstanding student from some ordinary magic academy, and her name had also been on the list of those who passed the preliminary defense just now.
Melina, or something like that.
"May I help you, Student Melina?" Vivian asked on her own initiative, her tone calm and polite.
Melina seemed to daze off for a second before smiling and shaking her head:
"I'm sorry, Senior. It seems I made a mistake. Pardon me for bothering you."
Vivian gave a subtle nod to indicate it was fine.
Afterward, her gaze casually swept downward, catching sight of a figure on the floor below.
She pulled back her gaze and said to Melina, "If there's nothing else, I'll take my leave."
With that, maintaining her graceful posture, she walked briskly down the stairs.
Melina stood at the top of the stairs, watching Vivian's departing back.
The moment that aqua-blue figure vanished around the staircase corner, her eyes—which had appeared completely harmless—instantly turned charmingly sinister, as if she had become a completely different person.
"Strange..."
She muttered under her breath:
"She doesn't seem like what the intelligence reported. Could the flaw 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 younger sister Lilith's extraordinary talent.
She desperately pursued strength, yearning to surpass her sister—an obsession that left a fissure in her heart that could be exploited.
Melina's original plan had been to take advantage of Vivian ranking below Lilith this time, seizing the moment when she was hit hard by the blow to approach her and plant a thread in her heart.
This thread would slowly grow over time, eventually allowing her to control Vivian's mind and use her for her own ends.
Yet after this formal encounter, she noticed that there was no vulnerability whatsoever in Vivian's heart where a thread could be planted.
Her eyes were calm and firm, entirely unlike the state of someone who had just lost to the person she absolutely did not want to lose to.
Thus, Melina's plan had failed at the very first step.
She couldn't help but feel somewhat bewildered; lately, her plans always seemed to run into obstacles.
It was the same with her arrangements in the imperial capital.
She had originally intended to have her people wreak havoc everywhere in the imperial capital to cause chaos, drawing away the guards inside the city and weakening their defenses over the dungeon so she could proceed with her next steps more smoothly.
Yet every single time her people made a move, they were promptly sliced in half by a wave of sword aura coming out of nowhere.
Naturally, over the past few days, far from achieving any of her goals, she had instead birthed the legend of a grand swordsman in the imperial capital.
Now, the citizens were enthusiastically discussing that mysterious swordsman, claiming he was the shadow guardian of the imperial capital.
Melina felt immensely distressed over this.
She began to ponder a serious question:
"Could someone have seen through my plans from start to finish?"
"If that's truly the case, just who is this person?"
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