The teachers and students who had come to attend the ceremony arrived at the viewing platform under the guidance of the student guides from Yingtian Academy.
Looking around, he saw that the teachers and students from Tiannan, Yishui, Lingchuan, Chang'an, and several other academies had already arrived.
The venue was bustling.
Amid the shifting crowd, Luo Yan spotted several familiar faces.
Over at Yishui Academy, he saw Zhao Chen, Han Wenxing, and Yang Kui, the tall and burly first-year student he had encountered at the Grand Sports Meet.
They had not noticed Luo Yan, their attention focused entirely on the Sword Washing Pool below.
Besides the Sword Washing Pool, Yingtian Academy had also set up an offering table deeper inside the venue, piled high with sacrificial offerings.
It was unclear whether this karst cave had formed naturally or been carved out by hand. Either way, there was an opening in the cave connecting the inside with the outside.
During the day, sunlight shone into the karst cave and fell directly upon the offering table, creating a distinctly sacred atmosphere.
Students dressed in long, dark-black traditional robes decorated with water-blue patterns entered one after another. They were all third-year students at Yingtian Academy, as well as this year's graduating class.
Among them, Luo Yan saw Ling Han. After entering, Ling Han searched the area with his eyes before finally landing on Hanna at the viewing platform. He smiled and waved at her.
But Hanna was talking to someone else and did not respond. Ling Han's expression became somewhat unpleasant.
Yet in the blink of an eye, he had returned to normal. In a gathering with so many people, unless one had been watching him in advance, it would have been difficult to notice the change in his expression.
Recalling the thoughts