Chapter 16: Morning Reading and the Dark God Summoning Ritual

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Breakfast was over.

It was time to leave for school.

Today was Saturday, but not a long holiday, so Li Xingming of Class 6, Senior Three, at Maple Sugar City No. 1 High School still had to attend classes.

As they tidied up and prepared to leave, Ye Sheng, who had been standing mysteriously by the door for quite some time, licked the corner of her mouth and said abruptly to Jiang Qianqian, “Your children and Li Xingming’s will definitely be very happy in the future.”

“Huh?”

“Because you’re both good cooks.” Ye Sheng’s expression darkened slightly. “My parents… Never mind. Forget I mentioned it.”

“…”

Jiang Qianqian felt that Ye Sheng had omitted part of what she really meant: “Assuming that you and Li Xingming eventually become husband and wife.” It was merely a logical deduction, without the slightest emotional implication.

Li Xingming pretended not to hear and went downstairs first with the car keys to warm up the engine.

For new-energy vehicles in this era of industrial transcendence, warming up the engine was entirely unnecessary. Li Xingming’s car, however, was a cheap secondhand antique, with a rather outdated power system.

After all, he had bought it with his allowance. Every little saving counted.

Unless absolutely necessary, he still preferred not to reveal that part-time work was one of his sources of income.

Besides, the chassis of an older model was better suited to indulging Li Xingming’s passion for modification. In his eyes, the rune designs of modern automakers were idiotic. They were completely unacceptable.

The model was a twelve-year-old Silk Domain Allroad, manufactured by Maple Sugar Heavy Industries. In a sense, it could even be considered a family product.

Built on a coupe platform but made in a touring configuration, it combined mechanical performance with practical interior space.

Maple Sugar City had an enormous administrative territory but a relatively small population.

Its public transportation infrastructure was less than satisfactory. For example, taking Jiang Qianqian to dance classes required a considerable walk before they could even reach a bus stop or subway station.

The roads, however, were wide and smooth, making the city well suited to driving.

Once Li Xingming turned sixteen and met the legal requirements of the era, he had obtained his driver’s license.

He started the car, and the distinctive roar of a winter engine reverberated through the garage.

Thank goodness the apartment they rented came with a garage. Otherwise, the car would have taken ages to warm up outside.

Jiang Qianqian rushed ahead in her pretty, fluffy coat. She opened the front passenger door and was just about to climb in when—

“You and Shengsheng sit in the back.” Li Xingming pressed a hand against Jiang Qianqian’s face and pushed her away.

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Jiang Qianqian waved her arms and clawed at the air, pulling an indignant face at Li Xingming, but obediently did as she was told.

When Ye Sheng had mentioned her parents earlier, a trace of melancholy had flickered through her eyes. Li Xingming did not believe that someone as formidable as Ye Sheng could truly be saddened by such a minor matter. She was a decisive Star Mage, not Lin Daiyu mourning over fallen flowers.

But no lonely girl would reject warmth. Li Xingming hoped that North of Dawn could bring Ye Sheng enough of it, which was why he had arranged for Jiang Qianqian to sit beside her in the back and keep her company.

Oh, right.

North of Dawn was the name Li Xingming had chosen for the team he planned to establish.

The Silk Domain touring car drove straight into the underground garage of Maple Sugar City No. 1 High School. They had secured the parking spot through the Li family’s influence by asking the school’s logistics department for a favor. Though Li Xingming’s position in the Li family was barely better than that of someone off the street, as the saying went:

When beating a dog, one still had to consider its master.

The young master was, at any rate, far more valuable than a pet dog.

For now, then, Ye Sheng and the others had to go their separate ways. She was going to meet the school administrators assigned to receive her and tour the history museum of Maple Sugar City No. 1 High School.

After that, she would simply fly back to the capital.

Qianqian also had to attend the arts-specialty class and could not continue clinging to Li Xingming for the time being. Reluctantly, she gave him a hug.

Several students passing by the stairwell glanced over and whispered among themselves.

Jiang Qianqian knew without listening that they were surely condemning her for having no shame and seducing the young master of a plutocratic family—truly the dregs of womankind—while also sighing over how she must have been blind to fall for a piece of trash like Li Xingming.

Those two judgments were obviously contradictory, but human jealousy had never been logical. Or perhaps double standards were a form of logic rooted deep in the DNA.

Her beauty invited covetousness from men and envy from women. Every malicious rumor was founded on those two things.

Human nature.

Simple, and vile.

Jiang Qianqian smiled, wearing an elegant, self-possessed expression that held every little bitch in complete contempt. With light, graceful steps, she headed for the classroom to read the book she had started the night before, An Introduction to Druid Music Theory.

Class 6, Senior Three.

The classroom during morning reading was filled with a lifeless air of collective exhaustion.

Humanity had entered the industrial age several centuries ago, but the instinctive rhythm of rising with the sun and retiring at sunset still exerted its influence.

The clearest proof was that morning reading sessions in winter were noticeably sleepier than those in summer.

“Everyone, wake up and put some spirit into it! The final Awakening Test of the year is only five days away. If you fail this time, you’ll have to wait until after the New Year. That means a difference of two whole months in the timing of your awakening. Do you know what two months means? Give Ye Sheng two months twice over, and she’ll already have reached the second tier!”

Teacher Liu, who taught Xirith, was making her customary rounds through the classroom, pumping everyone up. She had rolled her lesson plan into a baton, and whenever she spotted some student foolish enough to doze off, she brought it down on their head, gently awakening their sleeping soul.

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Clearly, however, Ye Sheng’s example did nothing to inspire anyone to strive harder. When faced with someone blessed with such extraordinary talent, people felt only admiration. They had no desire whatsoever to catch up.

Instead, several more free-spirited students were reminded of yesterday’s public lecture—and of Li Xingming’s Divine Stockings Theory. Unable to restrain themselves, they glanced toward Li Xingming and tried to stir up some trouble.

Teacher Liu’s baton brutally suppressed them.

Teacher Liu was a middle-aged woman who fit the stereotype of a humanities teacher perfectly: slightly plump, wearing gold-rimmed glasses, kind-eyed and benevolent, yet possessing an abundance of authority.

Xirith was the universal language of the Sixth Epoch. Whether one was interpreting documents, exploring ruins, or conducting research into transcendent technology, it was indispensable.

A hundred years earlier, humanity had launched the trend of “technological advancement through archaeology.” Since then, Xirith had been eagerly incorporated into the compulsory and examinable curricula of education systems around the world.

Thus, a century later, Xirith had effectively become the universal language of the world. Tourists visiting foreign lands who did not speak the local tongue could still communicate to some extent with the natives by using a few basic Xirith words.

In short, everyone in modern society had to know Xirith. Without it, even slightly sophisticated household appliances might prove impossible to operate.

In the Old Era, people generally considered the Chinese language of the Sai Kingdom difficult to learn, obscure, and impenetrable.

Yet compared with Xirith—with its tortuous pronunciation, countless variants, and unfathomable mysteries—every language system of the Old Era seemed fit for kindergarten.

The classroom during morning reading was filled with halting, clumsy pronunciation, like some obscure cult holding a hymn-singing ceremony.

Whenever Li Xingming witnessed such a scene, he could not help silently marveling at the sheer nerve of Seventh-Epoch humanity. They had actually scheduled Xirith reading first thing in the morning. Were they truly not afraid of accidentally attracting the gaze of some unknown ancient evil?

Never mind. Modern research into transcendence had apparently not yet reached that level. It was still confined to shallow applications.

Besides, the transcendental resurgence was still a resurgence. By definition, such a thing required time. The world’s current spiritual environment clearly showed that the revival had not yet reached its proper stage, so there was no need to worry too much.

Time would tell.

The Ministry of Education’s experts claimed that the Sai Kingdom’s Xirith textbooks had undergone review by an expert committee and posed no toxic or harmful side effects to anyone participating in morning reading.

Li Xingming merely smiled at the assertion. He could not be bothered to refute it. The only thing he could do was refuse to participate in morning reading himself.

For most students, mispronouncing a few sentences and occasionally attracting a passing glance from some unknown entity would have no effect whatsoever.

But Li Xingming was different.

Because several of those ladies had, in fact, shared the faintest hint of karmic entanglement with him… well, only the faintest hint.

A new life was best kept separate from the past. It was wiser not to provoke lingering resentments.