The rules for the Immortal Academy's inaugural lesson were set in stone.
The students sat at the front to hear the teachings, while their elders stood at the back to observe.
Beyond that, dozens of Recording Stones hovered overhead, recording this first lesson from beginning to end so it could later be stored in the Heavenly Court's archives, under the lofty pretext of preserving immortal connections.
But today, the Recording Stones were moving along distinctly different paths.
Every crystal lens was trained on Chen Xiaochan, covering every angle without a single blind spot.
The little girl sat ramrod straight, her small hands folded neatly on her desk, her wide eyes fixed unblinkingly on the teaching Immortal Official on the dais. She could not have looked more earnest.
Beside her, Chen Xiang leaned sideways, idly poking at the inkstone on his desk.
The teaching Immortal Officials controlled the Recording Stones with precision, drawing a perfect framing line between Chen Xiang and Chen Xiaochan to capture the Little Ancestor-who might breathe fire again at any moment-looking studious.
There was no helping it.
Chen Xiaochan's earlier masterpiece, "My Court Director Father," had already laid out the Heavenly Court's three greatest pillars of support in crystal-clear terms.
She behaved impeccably, and her backing was even more formidable.
If they did not film her, were they supposed to film the son of some deputy general from the Thunder Department sitting in the back row?
The teaching Immortal Official on the dais never let Chen Xiaochan out of his peripheral vision. Whenever he reached an especially profound point, he even paused to nod at the little girl.
Barring any surprises.
The honor of outstanding student representative for this year's Immortal Academy intake would fall to Chen Xiaochan without a shred of suspense.
She was not merely