[Earth Era, August 25, 2010] [Western Calendar, Wednesday] [Xia Calendar, Gengyin Year, seventh month, sixteenth day. Auspicious: setting up a bed, moving the hearth fire. Inauspicious: consecration, haircuts]
There was less than a week left before school started.
News of Qin Siyang's triumphant return from the Thesis Hearing spread rapidly, both online and off.
The forums were buzzing, and people throughout the Safe Zone eagerly spread the word.
After his sensational debut with the Vine Heart, his return from the dead involving the Crimson Crystal, and the killing at the Zhao Merchants' Association ceremony, Qin Siyang once again became the hottest topic of public discussion.
And this time, the impact was far greater and more far-reaching than any of the previous incidents.
If those earlier incidents had been rising tides on a river, this one was a raging surge of towering waves.
Since the apocalypse, the Safe Zone had seen plenty of brilliant young talents.
But the major powers within the Safe Zone were tangled together, and after a few rounds of clashes, anyone caught between them was bound to be stripped to the bone.
Under such immense pressure, very few people could turn their talent into actual achievement.
Even those backed by a powerful faction mostly stayed confined to their own little corners, like Chu Baxing.
This year, Qin Siyang had burst onto the scene, his radiance eclipsing all his peers.
Even with so many stars shining in the Safe Zone, he was undoubtedly the brightest!
Fame made a man a target, just as fattening made a pig ready for slaughter. Though Qin Siyang had performed exceptionally every step of the way, people still frequently predicted his downfall, saying that childhood prodigies often squandered their gifts or failed to live up to their early promise.
The Safe