“FIVE TO ZERO!! LONG LIVE STUDENT COUNCIL PRESIDENT GU NIAN! LONG LIVE THE FIVE GU FAMILY HONOR STUDENTS!!”
Golden confetti and fragrant spirit-flower petals rained down from the high dome of the Central Solar Colosseum. One hundred million live spectators cheered from the marble tiers. Behind them stood the eighteen thousand unionized Mech-Grandpas and five thousand reformed Academy trainees.
Across one thousand solar systems, two trillion citizens chanted the names of Gu Nian, Su Nuannuan, Ye Xiao, Jiang Tuntun, and Little Fifth in unison.
Down on the padded out-of-bounds mattress, the ten defeated S-Rank Student Council members lay stacked in a neat human pyramid. Sitting at the very top, Xiao Yanwang slowly untangled his legs and climbed down to the arena floor.
Not a single one of the ten Student Council elites was crippled or bleeding.
In fact, twelve-year-old Gu Nian had infused his Dad-Taught Polite Guardian Fist with pure, benevolent Chaos-Star Warmth. For years, Xiao Yanwang, Chu Ba, and Long Xuan had suffered hidden internal injuries and meridian strains from wearing Headmaster Hong’s parasitic Golden Halos. Gu Nian’s single warm punch had washed through their bodies and healed every last crack.
Xiao Yanwang looked down at his own open palms. His hands felt lighter, cleaner, and freer than they had in twenty years. He raised his eyes toward the center of the sunlit stage, where twelve-year-old Gu Nian stood surrounded by his four smiling siblings.
