Under the watchful eyes of teachers and students, Lu Ran ascended the stage once again to receive his rightful reward.

At the same time, he handed over the Green Stone Blade and the White Rainbow Stone Blade.

Since Lu Ran had already planned to exchange the old for the new, he had not invested too much emotion in the two blades.

Now it was different.

The Black Luminous Stone Blade was now the top-tier equipment that Lu Ran could update to at school and with the Divine People Bureau!

He could now fully invest his emotions and strive to cultivate the Artifact Spirit.

"Lu Ran, you've performed very well in the assessments this time. Say a few words to your classmates, will you?"

"Ah?" Lu Ran looked at the teacher in front of him and suddenly really wanted to hit him with his blade!

Aren't your self-deprecating jokes enough, that you want me to step into the arena and draw hatred too?

From the teacher's previous remarks, it wasn't hard to hear that the school tried to motivate the students.

Asking Lu Ran to say a few words was probably also part of that attempt at motivation?

"Say something," prompted the male teacher.

Lu Ran turned his head, looking at the crowd of students below the stage.

Coincidentally, he caught sight of Ma Tianchuan's team and locked eyes with Wu Shanshan.

Lu Ran really wanted to say it was all a misunderstanding, but...

Forget it, why bother.

I'm just watching you, what's it to you?

The emotions of young Believers are not always well-hidden; one can always find traces on their youthful faces.

There were those who envied, those who were jealous, those who admired, those who were expressionless, and those who scorned.

Wu Shanshan belonged to the category of the expressionless.

Lu Ran leaned close to the microphone and whispered softly, "Everyone, keep it up."

After speaking, he turned and left the stage.

What Lu Ran didn't realize was that his lightly spoken four words had really agitated some people!

Lu Ran hadn't intended to mock anyone.

Even the phrase "Everyone, keep it up" wasn't heartfelt, merely a social nicety.

But the listeners had other ideas...

Of course, Lu Ran didn't have time to bother about those.

He quickly rejoined his team and began studying his precious blade.

The blade was modeled after a Tang dynasty horizontal blade, completely black, a bit heavy to handle.

Mysterious patterns unique to the Black Luminous Stone decorated the blade.

Under the sunlight, a deep purple sheen appeared intermittently on the beautiful patterns.

"Wow~"

Lu Ran couldn't put it down, continuously admiring.

The mysterious black + the authoritative purple!

Gorgeous~

Lu Ran had already dreamed that if one day he could really cultivate a blade spirit...

The form of this Artifact Spirit,

might be a mysterious and beautiful woman with an air of nobility.

"Brother Lu?"

"Ah?" Lu Ran snapped back to reality.

Deng Yutang handed the Dawn Blade to Lu Ran, "It's our turn, we should get going."

"Oh," Lu Ran took the Dawn Blade, temporarily held by his teammate, and hurried to catch up with the troops ahead.

"Zhang brother?" Deng Yutang greeted an old acquaintance.

On June 15th during the city defense, the leader of Squad No. 98 was none other than this Sword Lotus believer, Zhang Feng.

Zhang Feng, "Not seen for two months, you guys have really become something, haven't you?"

As he spoke, his gaze lingered on Lu Ran.

Lu Ran's Black Luminous Blade and Black Ice Blade were both black, yet they were two different kinds of black.

One was pitch-black with a purple gleam, mysterious and stunning.

One was pitch-black and crystal clear, icy and translucent.

Truly, one was rarer and more precious than the other!

The allure of each was higher than the other...

Zhang Feng naturally asked, "Decided on a name for the Black Luminous Stone Blade yet?"

"Silent Night, how about that?" Lu Ran pondered.

Everyone savored the name of the blade, while Deng Yutang felt a strange flicker in his heart.

That name, why did it sound somewhat familiar?

Right, his sister's Big Horse-cutting Saber was called "Slice Night"...

"Silent night?" Jiang Ruyi looked at Lu Ran.

Lu Ran weighed the Black Luminous Stone Blade, explaining, "No, it's about making the night quiescent.

I want to carry this blade and make each night of the full moon a bit quieter."

The Silent Night Blade in the left hand and the Dawn Blade in the right!

In Lu Ran's mind:

A quiet, soundless night, paired with the dawn's rosy clouds...

It couldn't be more perfect!

"Haha, great ambition!" Zhang Feng laughed heartily, drawing the attention of the students ahead.

Lu Ran released Divine Power from his hands, channeling it into the Black Shining Blade.

From now on,

you are called the Silent Night Blade.

...

The coach carried 32 students of Class 4, along with 8 Moon Gazer team leaders, and headed towards the east of the city.

Ultimately, the vehicle entered a long-abandoned school—Rain Alley City's Fifth Elementary School.

With the population of this small county town dwindling and the number of children in the new generation decreasing,

Fifth Elementary School was now just a name, with its school building converted into a shelter.

Lu Ran, carrying his twin blades, disembarked with the team and set foot on the dusty ground.

The school building's doors faced south, and the vast barren playground was surrounded by dilapidated sports equipment.

Parallel bars, swings, seesaws, slides...

Including a soccer goal without a net, its paint peeling off, standing lonesomely by the fence.

Lu Ran surveyed the surroundings, perhaps out of psychological effect, feeling a sense of eeriness.

"Whew~"

A gust of autumn wind blew, and the empty swings started to sway gently.

Lu Ran: "..."

Was this really necessary to set the scene?

Thank goodness it was an elementary school; what if it had been a girls' high school?

"Did you attend elementary school here?" Jiang Ruyi suddenly asked.

Deng Yutang: "Hmm."

Lu Ran: "No."

Both replied almost simultaneously; Lu Ran realized then that Jiang Ruyi wasn't talking to him.

He looked at Deng Yutang, who had a rare hint of melancholy on his face.

Lu Ran said, "Deep feelings?"

"It's okay," Deng Yutang's expression was a bit complex, adding, "It's too painful to look back."

Lu Ran chuckled, "During elementary school, everyone was carefree; what's there to look back on?"

Deng Yutang looked at Lu Ran, "When I was in first grade, my sister was in fourth."

Lu Ran suddenly froze.

Right, how could he forget that?

"When I was in third grade, she was in sixth," sighed Deng Yutang. "Do you have any idea what those years were like for me?"

As Lu Ran recalled his time spent with Big Nightmare, he couldn't help but give Deng Yutang a sympathetic look.

"See that iron swing?" Deng Yutang pointed towards the southeast corner.

"How so?" Jiang Ruyi was curious.

Deng Yutang: "My sister could swing for a full week, 360 degrees, a full circle!"

Lu Ran glanced at the high and broken swing frame; this was no small feat: "Wow!

Your sister was so bold as a child, wasn't she afraid of flying out?"

Deng Yutang stayed silent, his face filled with lingering fear.

Lu Ran sighed inwardly: Indeed, no matter the time, it's always about siblings.

How could Deng Yutang not worry when he saw his sister doing something so dangerous?

As Lu Ran was mentally extolling fraternal affection, Deng Yutang continued, his voice soft,

"Many times, she'd grab me and we'd swing together."

Lu Ran: "..."

Sorry, I was hasty.

Deng Yutang turned away from looking at the swing: "Thinking back now, it's a miracle I survived."

"Let's go!" Lu Ran nudged Deng Yutang's shoulder, "In the past, your sister tormented you.

Today, let your brother help you conquer your inner demons!"

"Lu Ran." Zhang Feng suddenly spoke up.

"Here!" Lu Ran turned his head.

"Tour the shelter first, get familiar with the layout," said Zhang Feng softly, "Later, you'll have some free time."

"Oh, all right then." Lu Ran immediately followed.

Behind him, Tian Tian stretched out her hand and patted Deng Yutang's arm.

"What's up?" Deng Yutang looked at Tian Tian, puzzled.

However, Tian Tian just simply patted him, wanting to comfort him... just like in WeChat.

Fifth Elementary School had four floors, each grade with three classrooms, divided by the stairwell into left and right wings.

The fourth floor, however, hosted several offices.

As Lu Ran and the team walked through the building, they saw that every classroom had a Divine Shrine Divine Sculpture in the center.

Without exception, those were small sculptures of Divine·Bi Wu.

The classrooms each had 24 bunk beds aligned along the walls.

Compared to the kind of shelter in gymnasiums that house thousands in one room, the conditions here were obviously much better.

Each classroom was like a single room, relatively spacious, and each preserved by a small Divine Sculpture, relatively safer.

Including children, there were a total of 600 citizens in the school building.

Undoubtedly, in any era, different people had access to unequal resources.

Lu Ran had never stayed in such a shelter before, and after a complete tour, it was quite an eye-opener.

The citizens inside were mostly friendly, and a few even recognized Lu Ran, to his surprise.

Lu Ran also heard from an old man the titles "Rain Alley's top high school student," "the first Sheep Follower," and so on.

That surprised him further.

Was he somewhat famous now?

Poor old man, don't be too happy.

The Moon Gazers have said themselves, I'm particularly prone to attracting Yan Zhi people!

Last month was July 15th, not a day for joyful weddings.

Tonight,

just wait and see if she comes to propose...

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