The Final Posting Hall thrummed with subdued energy. Banner drums beat a low, steady rhythm. Layered bell peals echoed from distant courtyards. The air carried incense and the tang of hot brass. Stamps thudded in a relentless cadence against allocation sheets.
A He-line aide stepped into Qin Ye's path, routing slate extended. "Allocation load-balancing. Your desk is reassigned to the west wing."
"Clause 2.1," Qin Ye said, not breaking stride. "Route parity. No reassignment log exists."
The clerk's stamp hovered, then fell. "Acknowledged."
---
His fingers brushed a cool, engraved glyph on the Allocation Board's brass rail.
[Daily Sign-In available.]
[Location: Allocation Board Rail.]
[Sign-In? Yes / No]
Yes.
[Ding! Sign-In successful!]
[Reward: Posting Thread (Lv.1, 25 breaths — compress reading, clause cross-ref & planning clarity at boards) + Copy Seal (1 use — auto-generate an official posting copy with hall stamp).]
---
The queue ahead rippled. A He-line clerk attempted to insert two "priority names" ahead of him.
Qin Ye held his position. The clerk's eyes met his. The public log chimed, recording the attempted breach of order.
The clerk stepped back, stamping a minor warning on his own slate. The line held. The Queue Lock Token remained unused.
---
At the main index pane, a registrar proxy's fingers flew across a terminal. A ghost memo flickered, attempting to down-rank the Null Crest cross-reference before allocation.
Qin Ye took a single, decisive step.
"Clause 3.2," he cited, the words bound to his footfall by Clause Weave. "Public route persists."
He activated Public Anchor.
A ten-breath window opened. Any administrative action touching his case was auto-hash-mirrored. The live pane flared, showing a hash mismatch. The edit was denied. The proxy withdrew, the failed attempt publicly logged.
---
An official on the dais spoke, voice clipped. "Allocation format: Cohorts slotted into Bands. Hall of Rites. Master Floor Audit Wing. Combat Calibration II Lab. Index discipline determines seat tier."
Stamps fell in rapid succession.
He Rulong's presence was a weight on the balcony. His voice, low and clear, cut through the hum. "Hold your angles."
---
Qin Ye activated the Posting Thread.
For twenty-five breaths, his mind accelerated. His eyes skimmed the posted schedules, cross-referencing node locations, training slots, and legal gear procurement rules. He mapped the two-day run-up: a reserved rule-compendium desk, a certified cadence marker purchase, a follow-up audit window.
He didn't leave the board yet. The crowd pressed, bodies swaying with the stamp cadence. Ink smelled sharp as steel.
A registrar proxy slid a finger toward a side pane. "Pre-allocation advisory: Route A candidates should rehearse at a closed cadence desk. Tradition."
Qin Ye took a single step, foot landing inside the node ring. "Clause 3.8. Advisories cannot amend public route without docket log." The words rode his Clause Weave and lodged in the Device Witness feed.
The pane flickered. A ghost memo tried to gray the Null Crest cross-reference one slot down. Public Anchor was still live in its window; the pane flashed a badge-hash mismatch and spat the attempt back into the hall log. A stamp fell like a gavel. The proxy's hand withdrew.
A rope marker near the west ledger bowed a finger's width under the crush. The chalk line there was nearly dust.
"Clause 4.2. Boundary refresh." His voice stayed flat.
A proctor stepped in. Twang—chalk—stamp. The space straightened. The petty wedge died before it breathed.
He shifted two paces to clear a cross-draft. A He-line aide tried to shoulder a priority pair ahead, chin lifted at a polite angle.
The queue didn't move.
The public chime recorded attempted line advance. The aide stamped his own slate with a warning and slid back, eyes down. Qin Ye's fingers never left the rail.
He opened his stamped allocation copy again, letting the Posting Thread burn. Twenty-five breaths of clean clarity:
— Reserve: rule-compendium desk, Route A shelf codes;
— Register: cadence marker pick-up slot, Hall of Rites vendor #3 (certified ink);
— Book: public training lane, center retention drill, fifteen breaths after incense refresh;
— Flag: audit window adjacent to Oath Gate, witness orb #12.
The plan clicked shut like a scabbard.
Lin Xiu passed the fronting rail from the Master Floor side, a single nod—acknowledgment, not speech. Her sleeve brushed the air; incense lifted and fell.
Yue Hong threaded a moving cadence-marker cart with cleaner footwork than last week. He glanced once. Qin Ye's advice was five words, nothing more: "Node on third pendulum swing." Yue Hong's chin dipped; on the next swing his wrist stamp landed inside the legal window. A clerk wrote "timing correction noted" in a small, neat hand.
A clerk in a darker robe tried one more angle. "Safety review pause for Route A."
"Clause 7.1." He didn't slow. "No interruption of active allocation."
The stamp said the rest.
[Ding! Micro-Goal: "Stamp the Route."]
[Reward: +180,000 Spirit Stones; Posting Sense +2% (situational).]
The main board breathed and took in the new sheets.
He activated the Copy Seal.
A perfect, stamped official copy of his allocation route shimmered into existence. He slipped it into his storage ring. The seal's glint vanished.
---
The main board thudded. New assignment sheets slid into place.
Qin Ye: Hall of Rites — Route A (Top Band)
Lin Xiu: Master Floor Audit Wing — Route B (Strong Neighbor)
Yue Hong: Combat Calibration II Lab — Route C (Proximal)
Lin Xiu offered a slight, respectful nod from across the hall. Yue Hong's gaze was measuring, but held no overt challenge.
---
A minor parity fault appeared—a slack rope marker near the allocation desk. The chalk line was faint.
"Clause 4.2," Qin Ye stated. "Request boundary refresh."
A proctor stepped forward. The rope twanged taut, the line renewed. The log was stamped. The petty wedge died.
A He-line aide moved. "Safety review pause required for Route A."
"Clause 7.1," Qin Ye answered, his voice calm. "Audits are not interrupted by scheduled allocations."
No halt occurred.
[Ding! Micro-Goal: "Keep the Posting Clean."]
[Reward: +200,000 Spirit Stones; Posting Sense +2% (situational).]
---
Liu Shan noted on his slate, the scratch of charcoal audible. "Index held; allocation clean."
He Rulong's gaze swept the hall once more. Then he turned and departed.
---
The Final Posting Timer animated, its digits shifting.
47h…
A registry side-pane flickered. Proc-Hub Δ remained bound, but a new clause hook teased at the edge of visibility: 9.1. Then it masked.
Qin Ye's Hash Sight noted the number, filing it away.
A side index pane fluttered, a moth against glass. Proc-Hub Δ stayed bound, but for a single breath a sub-hook burned through the mask: 9.1-β. His Hash Sight caught it and filed the angle. The pane cooled. The hall did not.
[Ding! Micro-Goal: "Keep the Posting Clean."]
[Reward: +200,000 Spirit Stones; Queue Integrity +2% (situational).]
He stepped off the brass rail. Stamp. Stamp. The rhythm behind him never missed.
As he exited the hall, his eyes caught a faint, familiar glyph. It glowed on the granite threshold step of the Hall of Rites—the first node of the exam phase.
He stood poised, his breath counted 4-4-2. A final stamp thudded once, offscreen.