Chapter Twenty-Three: Entering the Palace

March 23rd, 7:00 AM sharp.

A crisp, persistent ringing shattered the silence within the Imperial Capital guesthouse.

Hyuga Mion reached out instinctively in her haze, fumbling across the bedside table, trying to silence the source of the noise that was disturbing her sleep.

*Slap!*

The back of her hand was patted, not too hard, yet firm.

"Alright, Mion, stop lingering in bed. Get up!"

A voice filled with amusement sounded by her bedside.

"Mm..."

Hyuga Mion responded vaguely, but her muddled brain snapped to full alertness the very next second.

Her eyes flew open. What greeted her was not her own bedroom, but a spacious dormitory. Six bunk beds were neatly arranged on either side, enough to house twelve people.

Jenny, who slept on the bunk above her, was getting dressed and teased her with a laugh, "If you keep dawdling and we miss the bus to Kunlun Academy, don't come crying to me."

"Ah! I'm getting up!"

Hyuga Mion jumped up in a start, scrambling to grab the Kunlun Academy uniform folded by her pillow—a pure white shirt, a blue-and-white jacket, and matching trousers.

She threw them on so quickly that her buttons ended up crooked, then hurried toward the communal washroom in the corner of the dorm.

Brushing her teeth, washing her face, waiting in line for the restroom...

After a flurry of panicked activity, she finally joined the other girls, and together they burst out of the dorm room, bubbling with irrepressible excitement.

The hallway outside was already teeming with noise. Young girls from every corner of the Great Han Empire had gathered here. They chatted excitedly, their laughter and calls echoing through the corridor, the air thick with youthful vigor and dreams of the future.

Immersed in this ocean of noise, Hyuga Mion finally felt a sense of grounded reality.

Honestly, even now, she found it hard to believe. The precious opportunity to study at Kunlun Academy had actually fallen to her, the daughter of an ordinary laborer.

It made her feel a twinge of shame for her past cynical suspicions. Once, when she saw the children of laborers receiving honors on television, she had wondered if there were unspeakable backroom deals behind it.

Only now, having arrived here purely through luck—without any background or the influence of "hidden hands"—did she believe that beneath the light, there were not always shadows.

The girls flowed with the crowd out of the guesthouse's female residential area, meeting up with the equally excited boys at the entrance to the cafeteria.

Inside the spacious and bright cafeteria, long lines moved forward in an orderly fashion. They received their hearty breakfasts—steaming buns, porridge, milk, and eggs—before finding a relatively quiet corner to sit.

Jenny took a large bite of a bun, her cheeks bulging, her eyes sparkling. "Hey, do you think the Saint will attend the opening ceremony in person?"

"Probably, right?"

"Wow! If I actually get to see the Saint in person, I'll be able to brag about it for the rest of my life!"

"But do you think the method for extending one's lifespan will be like in the movies, where you have to drink all sorts of weird potions?" a quiet girl with glasses asked, pushing up her frames.

"I don't care about potions!" Jenny waved a hand dismissively, saying with firm conviction, "As long as it's from the Saint, even if it has a label saying 'Deadly Poison' and is bubbling with eerie purple smoke, I'd drink it without blinking!"

Her words drew nods of agreement from the surrounding girls. They chattered away about their future school life, the atmosphere warm and spirited.

Hyuga Mion sat quietly to the side, sipping her warm milk. As a girl from the New Capital, she was somewhat introverted and shy. Despite having spent the night there, she couldn't quite blend into this atmosphere of enthusiasm, which felt like long-time friends reunited, as easily as Jenny and the others. She just nodded occasionally or offered a soft "Mm" to show she was listening, careful not to be excluded from the circle.

...

After breakfast, over ten thousand freshmen were guided by staff to board the buses that had been waiting for some time. The cabins were instantly filled with the chattering and laughter of the boys and girls, like thousands of happy birds singing.

Hyuga Mion didn't find it noisy; instead, she felt the vitality of life in those sounds. She sat by the window, her gaze fixed outside.

The massive convoy slowly pulled out of the guesthouse's grand, imposing gates. The Imperial Capital's urban planning was excellent, the roads new and smooth. It was said that to accommodate a population of over sixty million and improve traffic, the city had undergone several rounds of massive expansion, earning it the reputation of being the world's largest city with the most convenient transportation.

...

As the buses moved from the outskirts toward the city center, the scenery outside the windows changed. The traffic on the roads grew denser, the sidewalks packed with pedestrians, and skyscrapers stood row upon row, their glass facades reflecting the dazzling morning sun.

Then, at a certain point, it felt as if they had crossed an invisible line. The skyscrapers that easily reached dozens of stories on one side of the road suddenly vanished, replaced by building complexes that were generally only eight or nine stories high.

"We're almost at the Sacred Palace!" Jenny lowered her voice in excitement.

Everyone knew the Imperial Capital's law: within one kilometer of the Sacred Palace, no building was allowed to be taller than the palace walls.

Hyuga Mion looked out the window, a dreamlike, hazy expression on her face. "Can we really go in?"

"We've come this far, what are you still doubting!" Jenny patted her shoulder hard and laughed. "Look, we're about to enter the Sacred Palace!"

"Mm." Hyuga Mion nodded heavily, her heart thumping against her ribs.

The bus drove a little further, and the Sacred Palace appeared in their field of vision.

Under the warm spring light, the endless palace walls were like a crystalline snow mountain lying across the horizon—pure, sacred, and radiating a breathtaking solemnity and pressure.

Hyuga Mion swallowed instinctively, feeling her throat go dry.

The bus gradually slowed down. Every bus entering the Sacred Palace had to undergo strict security checks as it approached the gate. When it was their turn, the driver stopped the vehicle, and the doors opened.

Two soldiers in light red Imperial Guard uniforms stepped onto the bus. The leader had a stern face; he swept his gaze across the interior and projected his voice using a superpower, "If any of you harbors ill intent, speak up now."

The cabin was silent. The students looked at each other, none answering.

The man didn't ask again and gave a sharp wave of his hand.

Several other Imperial Guards immediately boarded, holding sophisticated detection equipment. They began checking every corner of the cabin, under the seats, and in the luggage racks, ensuring no explosives, firearms, or other contraband were hidden.

Once safety was confirmed, the soldiers quickly departed. Only then did the bus slowly drive into the Vermilion Bird Gate.

After the bus restarted, Hyuga Mion couldn't help but whisper to Jenny, "If there really was a spy, they certainly wouldn't admit it just because of that question."

"That's where you're wrong," Jenny winked triumphantly, showing off the knowledge she'd read online. "I heard that psychokinetic-type superpowered individuals can not only manipulate matter but also influence the human mind. That kind of questioning, combined with their powers, would make anyone with malicious intent involuntarily reveal themselves."

As she spoke, she quietly pointed to two Imperial Guards sitting cross-legged with their eyes closed outside the window. "Look, those two—I bet they're likely power-projection masters. They can spread their source energy like a web, forming an invisible field of perception. Anyone entering this area, even if they just move a finger, can't escape their detection."

"Jenny, you know so much!"

"Hehe, I just read it online."

Jenny smiled smugly, then immediately lowered her voice and made a shushing gesture.

After entering the Sacred Palace, the bus seemed to step into a completely different world. The environment instantly became tranquil. Not only did their bus grow quiet, but the entire massive convoy seemed to have been put on mute. The earlier clamor in the cabin vanished, leaving only the low hum of engines and the faint sound of tires rolling over the road.

It seemed that here, any excessive noise was a blasphemy against the Saint.

Hyuga Mion held her breath, pressing her face against the cold glass, her clear eyes filled with unspeakable anticipation and longing.

Is the Saint the same as they are on TV?

And on the roof of the bus they were riding in, Lars was closing his eyes to rest. Beside him, Ito Momoko felt the corners of her mouth curling upward, uncontrollable.

A long-held wish of many years was finally about to be fulfilled this very day!