Chapter 63
Chapter 63
Inside the auditorium of Mingjiang No. 7 Special School, Cao Yi, Li Buhai, Zuo Yuanshan, Yin Rumei, Sun Xingsheng, and the others all stared gravely at the storeroom door.
It was clear now that the Water God and Nightmare in the auditorium were merely pieces on the board.
The true mastermind-the person who had orchestrated everything in Mingjiang City and even reshaped the balance of power across Jiangdong Province-was inside that room, remaining behind the scenes while controlling it all.
The door opened.
Everyone tensed for no apparent reason.
But Qin Shiyu emerged alone.
She shut the door behind her, a certificate in hand. Seeing the confusion on Shi Xuan’s, Leng Qingyan’s, and the others’ faces, she explained, “Teacher Li said we should present Meng Mo with his award first. He’ll operate the equipment for us backstage.”
The auditorium’s sound system, lights, and other equipment were indeed controlled from that room, so someone really did have to stay there.
To Shi Xuan and the others, however, her words carried an entirely different meaning.
“Abyss has arrived, and his might is bearing down upon the entire city… Yet Teacher Li remains utterly unfazed, as serene as a summer breeze!”
Shi Xuan marveled inwardly. Just how great was Li Que’s confidence?
Previously, the SS-class Nightmare had been subdued without even seeing Li Que in person. Now that Li Que faced a veteran SSS-class wild deity, he remained every bit as confident!
Shi Xuan was not the only one struck by this. Cao Yi, Li Buhai, and the others grew even more solemn.
Abyss had arrived. He was an existence capable of crushing everything in his path, yet the mastermind here still could not be bothered to show his face!
Could it be that even Abyss amounted to nothing in his eyes?
Yin Rumei was genuinely stunned as well. Her beautiful eyes lingered on the door, her curiosity mounting by the second.
“Since Teacher Li has said so, we’ll hold the award ceremony first,” Shi Xuan declared. Turning, he swept his gaze across the others. “Everyone, please take your seats.”
They stared blankly at him.
What the hell was this?
An award ceremony?
They were giving an anomaly an award?
At a time like this?
But no one gave them a chance to object. Nightmare glanced their way, and shadows began to flow. In an instant, Cao Yi, Li Buhai, and the rest all sat down in perfect unison.
Terror filled their eyes.
“Did… Nightmare take control of us?”
“People whose dreams are stolen by Nightmare become his puppets… So the rumors were true?!”
They remained fully conscious, yet their bodies no longer obeyed them.
The sensation of losing all control filled them with panic, but they could not move so much as a finger.
Only then did Qin Shiyu take a deep breath and turn toward the stage.
Meng Mo was ready.
At the perfect moment, Leng Qingyan walked to the lectern and picked up the microphone.
“Meng Mo’s speech described his personal dream with deeply moving and inspiring sincerity. It showed us that no matter how inglorious one’s past might be, one can still look forward to the future, and no matter how difficult one’s circumstances, one must always carry a dream in one’s heart!”
Leng Qingyan had spent a great deal of time lately studying speeches, policy documents, and similar materials to fully integrate into the school. Now official phrases rolled effortlessly off her tongue.
“To encourage more students to pursue their dreams and let the light of those dreams illuminate Mingjiang No. 7 Special School, we have decided to present Meng Mo with the Dream Star Award. Next, please welcome Dean Qin to the stage to present Meng Mo with his award!”
Poised and confident, Leng Qingyan already carried herself like a formidable businesswoman.
“Everyone, please applaud!”
Thunderous applause erupted throughout the auditorium.
Cao Yi, Zuo Yuanshan, Li Buhai, and the others clapped until their palms nearly split. The anomaly wielders from the various families who had accompanied them were reduced to tireless clapping machines from beginning to end.
Qin Shiyu promptly stepped onto the stage. She opened the certificate and presented it to Meng Mo.
Meng Mo accepted it with palpable excitement.
The moment the golden certificate entered his hands, a layer of golden radiance enveloped his body.
The Dreamcatcher hanging around his neck released one black butterfly after another. They fluttered around him in a swirling cloud.
Countless phantasms appeared at his side: Cao Yi cheering from atop his shadowy throne, Li Buhai screaming as he was dragged into a coffin and chewed apart, Sun Xingsheng drunk on his own triumph…
Every dream he had devoured now formed the foundation of his divine authority!
Meng Mo’s body seemed to deepen into an unfathomable void. The world around him turned insubstantial, as if reality itself had become an illusory dream and was no longer part of the mortal realm.
He had officially become a god!
“That’s all it took for him to become a god?!”
“You can actually do that?!”
Every member of the audience was utterly dumbfounded.
“It was a certificate…”
“That’s absurd,” Xu Changjiang murmured.
He and Shi Xuan had once gone to Five Dragons Mountain together, where they had watched events unfold from Auntie Miao’s sheep pen while trapped in the bodies of sheep.
Back then, Lin Xiaoyu had also received a certificate from Li Que.
And now another certificate had helped Meng Mo complete his divine investiture…
“What kind of anomalous entity is that certificate? Could it actually be stronger than the Divine Seal?”
Shi Xuan was equally mystified. Yet when he looked closely, the certificate was clearly nothing more than a cheap one from some streetside stationery store. Even the words on it had been written by hand…
Wait.
Written by hand…
Shi Xuan seemed to realize something all at once. He turned incredulously toward the tightly closed door of the room backstage.
“Teacher Li…”
His body actually began to tremble.
…
Even the members of the great families whose bodies had been seized sat frozen in shock.
They could not move, but their minds remained perfectly clear. Each of them felt as though a storm capable of overturning heaven and earth had erupted inside their head.
“That certificate… That certificate was what completed his divine investiture?!”
Cao Yi was dumbstruck. He almost thought his eyes had deceived him.
“Isn’t the Divine Seal Fragment the only thing capable of granting divine investiture? What in the world is that certificate?!”
Sun Xingsheng had gone nearly catatonic. A chill spread through his heart, which suddenly brimmed with terror. Although his body remained controlled, even his eyelids had begun to twitch.
He had once been fortunate enough to see the Divine Seal Fragment in the Hall Master’s possession. He knew exactly how terrifying that object was.
Yet now, someone had granted divine investiture to a god without relying on the Divine Seal Fragment at all?
It was a fantasy beyond belief. It should have been impossible!
“Impossible…”
Beside Sun Xingsheng, Yin Rumei unconsciously murmured the same word.
She had retained partial control of her body. Now she instinctively glanced toward the storeroom door, great waves of emotion surging through her beautiful eyes.
“That place was reduced to ruins. Everything was destroyed, and only a few Refugees escaped. But the Refugees… shouldn’t possess power like this.”
Countless thoughts flashed through her mind.
“Who… are you?”
“Which one of them were you?!”
She almost stood up then and there, walked over, threw open the door, and demanded an answer.
This was far too important. It involved matters earthshaking enough to overturn the world.
But after taking a deep breath, she suppressed the impulse.
This was not the time.
“Even if some of your old power remains, you shouldn’t be flaunting it like this. With Abyss here, can you really withstand him?”
A trace of concern crept into her eyes.
If Li Que had nothing to do with that place and merely relied on a Divine Seal Fragment, she would not have cared. She would simply have found a way to reclaim the Divine Seal.
But now, she was almost certain.
Li Que had to be one of the Refugees.
“So be it. If you’re an old acquaintance… I might as well risk everything today and help you fight Abyss.”
Having made her decision, she quietly closed her hand around an anomalous entity.
She had never used this particular anomalous entity before. No one in the world had ever seen it.
…
At that moment, the enormous phantom of a butterfly appeared above the whole of Mingjiang No. 7 Special School. Born from shadow, it seemed vast enough to cover everything.
Countless black butterflies danced through the air, as ethereal as a dream.
The river water that had been creeping past the school gates suddenly stopped, held back by an unseen force.
Then, within the immense shadow covering all of Mingjiang City, two colossal eyes slowly opened.
They hung in the heavens like gargantuan lanterns, shedding a dim, uncertain glow. Eerie and bone-chilling, they gazed gently toward the school.
The halted river water began flooding the campus once more.
…