The golden jade decree hovered between Elder Su’s upraised hands, streaming a blinding aurora of sky power that bathed the entire Conferred Megacity in divine light.
Across all thirty-six wards of the capital, half a million people pressed their foreheads against the stone pavers. They held their breath in total, respectful silence. Even the evening wind seemed to die down. It refused to disturb the sacred reading of the land-wide decree.
Elder Su cleared his throat, his ancient voice echoing across the nine provinces like rolling thunder:
“By order of the Grand Sage Council of the Supreme Sanctum of Sages!”
The words rang with the weight of eight thousand years of unbroken land-wide history.
“In accordance with the sacred pedagogical charters of the First Epoch,” Elder Su proclaimed, his piercing gaze sweeping over the balcony, “the mortal teacher known as Lu Zhen of Ironwood Peak, along with the five student apprentices of Class 404, have achieved what no academy in the history of the southern hemisphere has ever accomplished!”
Elder Su’s eyes shone with deep emotion as he read the royal ledger:
“A flawless five-and-zero preliminary sweep against the elite students of the Great Da-Qi Royal Academy! The total exposure and eradication of corrupt arbitration cartels! The complete, casualty-free holding and clockwork compaction of an unpermitted Tier-6 Nether Sovereign biohazard! And the never seen before acquisition of five hundred thousand checked five-star public reviews!”
