215: Chapter 215 Award Ceremony (Part 1)

"Don't you feel... that she actually looks quite a bit like you..."

Xing Yaoyan stared at the young man's face beside her with a serious expression, recalling Qian Wanyao's face in her mind and constantly overlapping and comparing the two.

"Huh?"

Qian Mo looked completely bewildered.

But seeing the girl's serious expression, he, who originally had no interest in that Miss White-Robed Mysterious Person, immediately looked toward the stage intently. He even secretly utilized a bit of Qi to see more clearly.

"Look, your eyebrows are both soft crescent curves, the expression in your eyes is very similar, and the lips too..."

Xing Yaoyan spoke while comparing, and the more she talked, the more she felt the two were gender-swapped versions of each other.

"Do you think... she might be your long-lost sister..."

Xing Yaoyan had originally spoken in a joking tone, but to her surprise... Qian Mo fell silent.

After a long while.

"I'll go ask Uncle Yun later..."

During his silence just now, he had been searching for clues in the original host's memories. But clearly, he failed... In those memories, he hadn't even seen his biological parents many times; the only familiar person was Uncle Yun.

He used to take care of the original host in Youfeng City, but since the original host started middle school, he seemed to have left because of some family matter. And it was from then on that the original host began to suffer all kinds of bullying...

"Uncle Yun? Who is he..."

Xing Yaoyan tilted her head.

Back in Youfeng City, she had often heard Qian Mo mention him, but she hadn't really paid attention at the time...

"Him... he's a good friend of my parents, probably a relationship similar to mine and Lan-zi's. He looked after me when I was a kid... Oh! Do you remember I mentioned I wanted to pull you into a mission? That's related to Uncle Yun's side."

"Because of this mission, Uncle Yun and I are going to meet privately in a few days. How about I take you with me and let you meet him?"

Qian Mo held the girl's hand, a bright light flickering in his eyes as he looked at her.

Xing Yaoyan turned her head away, feeling a bit embarrassed.

Qian Mo had told her before that his parents had left since he was very young. Looking at the boy's current state, this Uncle Yun should be equivalent to a father figure to him...

In that case... wouldn't this mean he was taking her to meet the family?

"Mhm..."

Xing Yaoyan's voice was very small, almost imperceptible, but it still reached the ears in front clearly.

"Great!"

Truly, if it weren't for the crowd, Qian Mo really wanted to pick up the white-haired girl who was looking away with a tsundere face and give her a kiss.

While the two were being all lovey-dovey, Hu Wang and Yun Lan behind them were staring at them scrutinizingly.

Since Xing Yaoyan and Qian Mo were communicating via Voice Transmission, from an outsider's perspective, it just looked like the two had suddenly and inexplicably started getting touchy-feely...

Hu Wang and Yun Lan looked at each other and both sighed.

Hu Wang felt like he had "taught the apprentice and starved the Master"; he shouldn't have taught them his Voice Transmission skill before, and now he couldn't even eavesdrop on the gossip while sitting next to them. As for Yun Lan, he was simply stuffed from being force-fed dog food.

However, if Yun Lan knew that this old fox actually had a Reincarnation bond partner, he might just go tug-of-war with a ceiling beam with his neck...

Suddenly, a stirring piece of music rang out.

"Alright, without further ado, let's move straight to the final and most important part of this award ceremony—the presentation of awards!"

Yun Long said as he gave a grand wave of his hand.

A massive holographic projection was cast into the sky.

"To ensure fairness, we have already uploaded all data from this mission in advance. Now, a computer will organize this data to determine the rankings for each award on the spot!"

There were many award categories, such as the Advanced Organization Award and the Active Participation Award, which served as official recognition and encouragement for the major powers in Kyoto.

Soon, the ceremony reached the Best Individual Award.

This award was completely different from the previous written encouragements; it came with physical rewards.

For instance, first place was a Grade Six Demon Core or a Grade Six Spirit Beast Crystal Core; second place was a custom Spiritual Weapon personally forged by the Kyoto Spiritual Artifact Great Master, Xiao Fan; and third place was fifty thousand Spirit Crystals...

Only ten people would be selected. For fairness, the officials had thoughtfully implemented a scoring system for Espers of different ranks. For example, if both performed a two-star mission, but one Esper was Grade Three and the other was Grade Four, the Grade Three one would rank higher in the final selection...

"First, the tenth place... Congratulations to Feng Xiu from Longxiang Academy!"

Amidst thunderous applause, the white-haired youth walked onto the stage, still wearing those tattered, blood-stained clothes, radiating an unhideable Killing Intent.

The first person he looked at was Qian Mo in the distance. He gave a provocative smile, which became even more pronounced upon seeing the white-haired girl sitting beside him.

It was as if he was saying: No wonder I didn't see you doing missions these past few days, you were off chasing girls. Look, in this event, I've surpassed you...

Regarding this, Qian Mo's expression didn't change.

He just gave the mocking expression a casual glance before continuing to stare at the girl beside him, occasionally chuckling foolishly, not taking the provocation seriously at all.

"Tch..."

Feng Xiu's fist clenched tightly.

He must Cultivate hard and definitely reclaim his pride in the future, toppling this current dorm leader!

"Second place, from the Yun Family..."

As name after name came from Yun Long's mouth, the sky projection simultaneously displayed their respective combat footage and point totals, emphasizing fairness and justice.

"Fourth place... Mu Changqiu?"

Yun Long paused, seemingly unable to believe this kid only ranked in this position.

Seeing Mu Changqiu walk leisurely onto the stage with a piece of foxtail grass picked up from who-knows-where in his mouth, he got so angry he immediately delivered a 'thump of love' to his head.

*Sizzle~*

A wisp of black smoke seemed to rise from the boy's head, but his casual expression remained; clearly, he hadn't taken any damage.

"Hmph... your strength has improved..."

Mu Changqiu was clearly used to seeing his Master walk away huffing.

He suddenly looked up toward Xing Yaoyan and gave her a wink right in front of Qian Mo.