Little Five Is Actually Smiling

The Celestial Emperor puffed up with pride and continued, "But if any Saint Maiden has a crush on him, you absolutely have to go through the proper channels and send someone to propose! And whatever you do, don’t be like that notorious divine maiden who ended up in bed with Lord Hades’s son!"

Otherwise, at least Lord Hades can come complain to me, but who would I complain to, huh? If that happens, I’d be way too pitiful!

Lucia glanced at Sean, whose face was so dark it looked like he could summon a thunderstorm. She tried so hard to hold back, but in the end, she just couldn’t—she snorted and burst out laughing.

Sean shot her a look and saw her laughing so hard she was practically shaking. Finally, the corners of his mouth twitched into a faint smile.

Forget it—he’s forgiven!

He’s always been like this—it’s not like I just found out today.

Sean Shaw, however, remained expressionless, as if he hadn’t heard a word.

Well, he was probably used to it by now...

"Oh right, maybe some of you still don’t know the young man to Lucia Lu’s left? That’s my Little Five!" His Majesty the Celestial Emperor beamed. "Take a look—handsome, isn’t he?"

A wave of exclamations swept through the crowd.

Because, whether it’s out of jealousy, love, impulse, or any other reason—if you break the Divine Guard Code, you’ll suffer. Big time!

And it doesn’t matter whose son, daughter, or grandchild you are—no one gets special treatment!

In the army, there’s no such thing as a joke. Got it?

...

After three whole ‘chapters’ of jokes, the Celestial Emperor ended with just one line: ‘In the army, there’s no such thing as a joke.’

Everyone laughed, but suddenly felt a strange heaviness in their hearts.

In just three years, they had to master all these books—and face monthly assessments. Fail once, and you’re out.

Behind the Emperor’s smiling face was a heart as ruthless as they come.

Lucia, Ryan, Luna, Adrian Drake, and Sean all stood beneath the three-story pavilion, gazing up at it.

"Fifth Highness," Adrian asked Sean, "how many scrolls are in there?"

"There used to be just three Jade Permits," Sean replied. "But the Emperor said learning needs a sense of ceremony.

So he extracted all the contents from the Jade Permits.

One Jade Permit became three hundred scrolls;

Another turned into four hundred twenty scrolls;

And the last one produced seven hundred seventy-seven scrolls;

For a grand total of one thousand four hundred ninety-seven scrolls."

One thousand four hundred ninety-seven scrolls!

And they had to study them all in just three years.

Adrian was utterly defeated.

Ryan was utterly defeated.

Luna was starting to regret her choices.

Lucia was starting to regret hers, too.

Only Sean, seeing their faces, felt an odd sense of satisfaction—and actually smiled, just a little.

Because he’d already read them all.

"Oh, oh, oh!" Suddenly, the Celestial Emperor’s voice rang out beside them.

They all turned to look. The Celestial Emperor stared at Sean in amazement. "Am I seeing things? Little Five is actually smiling!!"

Ryan asked, "So what if he’s smiling? Is it really that weird?"

Is it really worth all this fuss?

"Hey! You guys don’t get it! I rack my brains every day trying to make him laugh, but the more I joke, the less he smiles!" The Celestial Emperor said. "And now he’s actually smiling! Why do you think that is?"