Xiao Wu Had Just Joined the Group, and Her Post Was Already Locked

Early the next morning, in the new quarters at Perching Swan Academy.

Qin Zhaoye held a cup of tea as he lounged by the window and unrolled the bronze scroll. Tang San's question from the night before-"Who is this 'Xiao Wu'?"-was still sitting at the bottom of the group chat, unanswered. The three descendants, on the other hand, were already camped out at the special session's entrance, as if waiting for a feast to begin.

Everyone was here, so what were they waiting for? Qin Zhaoye tapped the host controls, and his opening announcement appeared.

[Group owner: Today's special session, the first half of the Shrek Seven Devils Future Roster, is officially open. Revelations will be posted one floor at a time, in order. Stay on topic or be muted.]

No sooner had he finished than Lan Xuanyu's post came crashing in. The first thing he shared was "Official History of the First Era: Biographies of Shrek." It said the Seven Devils were the seven most renowned prodigies of the First Era. They had come out of Suotuo City, swept through the Continental Advanced Soul Master Academy Elite Tournament, and ultimately all reached level one hundred and become gods. At the end, he added, "Just let that sink in."

The next post followed right on its heels, opening the first floor.

[Ten-Thousand-Year Melon Field Contractor: At the top of the list, Tang San! The Seven Devils' soul core and undisputed main controller. He single-handedly founded the Tang Sect, which would shake the world in later generations. In the final battle, he turned the tide against overwhelming odds and became the legend who ruled the Divine Realm!]

Well, that did it. As though they had planned it beforehand, the three descendants immediately started a floor-snatching relay of "I've got a famous ancestor." Tang Wulin was the quickest.

[Ancestral Precepts Recitation Champion: See that on the first floor? The founder of the Tang Sect! My Tang Sect's venerable ancestor! So I've won this relay right at the starting line, all right?]

A little while later, The Bystander Sees Clearly also popped up.

[The Bystander Sees Clearly: Speaking of ancestry, the eldest of the Seven Devils belonged to the Star Luo Empire's White Tiger bloodline. If you trace it back far enough, he should have some connection to my ancestors too.]

In a dormitory at Nuoding Junior Soul Master Academy, Tang San sat on the edge of his bed, his eyes never leaving the post listing the achievements beside his name. Being the core of the Shrek Seven Devils and founding the Tang Sect were one thing, but further down, it actually said he had "become a god at level one hundred"? He read on word by word, even softening his breathing as the fingers resting on his knee slowly tightened. He stayed silent for a long while before finally sending a single line to the group.

[Tang San: The Tang Sect... so it really can be built.]

[Ancestral Precepts Recitation Champion: Of course it can, Grandmaster! After all, even by our Third Era, the Tang Sect is still the illustrious number one sect under heaven. Who would dare dispute it?]

Qin Zhaoye nearly laughed out loud at the stream of flattery. What kind of archaeology was this? It was clearly a family reunion. With all the commotion, the special session's popularity kept shooting up, and the first payout appeared on the scroll.

[Gold-lettered notice: The first half of the Seven Devils roster special session has broken the popularity meter. The group owner has received 600 Talking Capital.]

Lan Xuanyu was just about to post Xiao Wu's entry when the Group Hub's notification exploded across the top of the chat!

[Group Hub: Core relevance to the roster special session has reached its threshold. Countdown to automatic recruitment: three breaths!]

How long were three breaths? Qin Zhaoye had yet to bring his tea to his lips.

[Group Hub: Recruitment complete! First-day real-name policy in effect. Current name card locked as "First Era · Xiao Wu"!]

A pink-and-white glow lit up the member list. It was Xiao Wu. She had never seen anything like this before. A screen of light had suddenly appeared in front of her, giving her a fright. She stared at it blankly for a long time before cautiously extending a finger and slowly tapping out a line.

[Xiao Wu: Hello?]

But her greeting had barely appeared before it was drowned out by the flood of messages. It was no wonder, really. The descendants were acting as though they had met a living ancestor.

[Ancestral Precepts Recitation Champion: Holy shit! Grandmaster only asked who Xiao Wu was last night, and the person herself joins the group today?!]

Lan Xuanyu was even more impatient. The second floor was supposed to be her entry, and he had already written half the post.

[Ten-Thousand-Year Melon Field Contractor: First-day real-name policy, same old rules! So the second floor will immediately reveal our new group member's very own entry. Sit tight and hold on!]

Qin Zhaoye could no longer drink his tea. He stared fixedly at the name card reading "First Era · Xiao Wu," his gaze darkening.

Bibi Dong and Qian Renxue were both lurking in the group right now. As a transmigrator who had read the original work, how could he not know what was written under Xiao Wu's entry? If it were revealed and those two saw it, wouldn't that be disastrous?

Before Lan Xuanyu could post the second floor, Qin Zhaoye raised his right hand and pressed hard on the roster management controls in the group owner's backend, hitting "Lock post"!

The illusory roster in the middle of the chat shuddered violently. In full view of the group, a huge dark-gold lock clamped down on the second entry, "Xiao Wu."

The text that was about to unfold was wiped away by golden light. Only one line of cold, hard gold lettering remained on the lock:

"Historian's authority · Pending revision."

The sections concerning her identity and subsequent records were sealed away together. No one could hope to see what lay beneath the lock!

Lan Xuanyu's hand froze as he edited his post.

He hurriedly searched the Official History of the First Era, but it was no use. That page in the historical records database had also been stamped with the gold seal "Pending revision." He couldn't even pull up half a word.

He sent three question marks at the lock, then silently took a screenshot of the locked roster page and saved it in a folder.

[Ten-Thousand-Year Melon Field Contractor: ???]

[Ten-Thousand-Year Melon Field Contractor: Seriously, group owner?! I've only written half my big second-floor post. Why did you lock both the history book entry and the floor?!]

[The Bystander Sees Clearly: Historian's authority, sealing the records outright? It seems what this entry involves cannot be made public at this stage.]

[Xiao Wu: Huh, what got locked? What roster are you all making? Brother, you're here too? How come you're first and I'm second?]

Looking at the question marks filling the screen, Xiao Wu felt only that she had stumbled into a lively scene. She had no idea at all that she had already been protected.

In the Nuoding Academy dormitory, Tang San silently stared at the gold lock clamped over Xiao Wu's name, then glanced at "First Era · Xiao Wu" in the member list. His fingers hovered over the input box for a long time, but in the end, he said nothing.

Why was hers the one that had been locked? What exactly lay beneath the lock? Yet he couldn't see a single word.

Qin Zhaoye leisurely typed a diplomatic response.

[Group owner: This entry currently involves undetermined variables and has been sealed in accordance with the rules. The special session will continue.]

What else could Lan Xuanyu do? He had no choice but to skip the second floor and post the future titles and battle records of Dai Mubai, Oscar, and Ma Hongjun, floor by floor.

Then, in the lower right corner of Qin Zhaoye's scroll, a private message window quietly appeared, visible only to him.

[Group Hub private message: Concealed alteration registered. Talking Capital awarded as usual. Invisible to all group members.]

[Historian's private account: Concealed alteration registration approved, footnote level. The group owner has received 300 Talking Capital.]

"Just locking the post in the group definitely isn't safe enough."

Qin Zhaoye slowly set down his teacup and said in a low voice, "If Spirit Hall still has records on her, those need to be wiped clean too."

After nightfall, he shut his door tightly, spread out the Suotuo City Hundred-Year Historical Materials Pack, and went through it scroll by scroll.

When he reached the scroll containing the old records of the Spirit Hall Branch, his hand stopped. It recorded the movement of the "Hundred-Thousand-Year Soul Beast Sighting File": Spirit City cleared out its old files once a year, after which the dossiers were escorted south along the courier routes on Suotuo's outskirts. The escort station outside the city was the last stop before archiving. The outlying document courier station also kept a separate transcription record to verify the original's cover and the seal stamped across its page edges.

He dipped his brush in ink and checked the secret sentries' shift changes against the document clerks' seal-inspection shifts, one by one. Before long, he had worked out a possible window to switch the file before it was archived. Then he copied the timetable onto a slip of paper.

"I'll make my move on the night the original passes through. Tonight, I'll intercept the outlying transcription record first."

Late that night, he changed into dark clothes, quietly slipped out of the academy, and headed straight for the outlying document transfer station. The duty room was dimly lit. Two clerks on duty had just sealed the duplicate register and were getting up, rubbing their shoulders as they prepared to go to the back courtyard for tea.

He crouched in the shadows beneath the corridor eaves, staring intently at the wooden box with a bronze lock on the desk. An annotation from Eye of Historical Observation appeared:

This box contains the outlying verification record, used to check the original's cover and the seal across its page edges.

Only when the courtyard was empty did the second purple Soul Ring at his feet flash soundlessly. Folded Page. He crossed the ten-zhang courtyard in a single step and stood before the duty room's desk.

He brought two fingers together and gave a light flick, opening the concealed bronze spring latch. Some official documents lay on top; beneath them was the "transcription record," bearing a hidden seal across its page edges. He pulled it out and slipped it into his sleeve case, then fastened the wooden box exactly as it had been.

Once the cooldown passed, purple light flashed again, and he was back outside the courtyard wall. A moment later, the two clerks returned with their tea bowls, casually glanced at the wooden box, and resumed their night watch. One outlying record had been taken, yet Spirit Hall's filing system failed to notice. After all, who counted the sheets of paper in the box every day?

Back in the new quarters, Qin Zhaoye had just spread the record out beneath the lamp when the scroll in his palm lit up.

A red dot appeared in the corner of the private-message panel. The sender was Bibi Dong, and the preview contained a single line: "What did that lock seal?"

At about the same time, before the innermost row of wooden shelves in Spirit City's archives.

The clerk on night duty stood on tiptoe and pulled down an old scroll covered in dust. Its cover read "Hundred-Thousand-Year Soul Beast Sighting."

He brushed off the dust and tucked it into a wooden chest awaiting transfer for archiving.