Refusal

Zhou You noticed the change in atmosphere and glanced around, finding that many people looked shocked.

He was the sort to speak his mind, so he asked outright, "Why are they making those faces?"

By now, Yan had finally recovered from his "stupor." Unable to see Hu Liena, he had lost some of his enthusiasm, and so had become the calmest person there besides Zhou You.

Before Xie Yue could answer, Yan volunteered an explanation. "Boss, being class monitor means a lot more than usual in our class. Have you heard of the 'Continental Advanced Soul Master Academy Elite Tournament'?"

Yan's question was rhetorical, so he went on without waiting for Zhou You to answer. "Every five years, our Spirit Hall joins forces with the two nations, Heaven Dou and the Star Luo Empire, to hold an academy tournament. Almost every academy on the continent comes to take part."

"Each academy chooses seven people to form a team and engage in Soul Fighting against the other teams until a final winner is decided."

"Our class is actually the reserve team that'll represent Spirit Hall Academy in the future. Once we've reached the right level, the seven strongest of us will be picked to compete. So the 'class monitor' is really the future team's Reserve Team Captain!"

At that point, Yan couldn't help glancing at Xie Yue. "I didn't think you'd make your decision so soon."

Xie Yue, however, appeared quite open-minded. He smiled. "If someone else is better than me, I should step aside for the more capable person sooner rather than later. There's nothing for me to hesitate over."

In truth, he was still somewhat upset, but he didn't want anyone else to notice. He lowered his head, letting his hair fall over his eyes and brows. "I believe this is what's best for Spirit Hall."

Xie Yue and Hu Liena had lost their parents when they were young, and Spirit Hall had taken the siblings in, so their loyalty to Spirit Hall had long since been maxed out.

Thus, as long as it benefited Spirit Hall, Xie Yue was willing to make sacrifices.

Hu Liena, however, still couldn't accept it. But she didn't have the courage to look Zhou You in the eye, so she could only hide behind Xie Yue and sulk.

Yan, on the other hand, understood. He was fairly convinced of Zhou You's strength, so he patted Xie Yue on the shoulder in consolation.

Xie Yue knocked his hand away with a look of disgust.

"Get lost! Who needs you to cheer me up?"

Yan: "..."

Peh! He wouldn't recognize a kind heart if he saw one!

Zhou You was speechless. He had wondered what the big deal was, with all these people looking so dejected.

The students farther away had already gathered and begun discussing it. They had anticipated that this might happen, but hadn't expected it so soon.

Zhou You pinched the bridge of his nose, his voice somewhat helpless. "Don't go making decisions among yourselves. I haven't agreed to this yet."

"Boss, are you going to refuse?" Yan turned his head in surprise, then muttered under his breath, "No way. Who would refuse something like this..."

"I refuse."

Yan: "..."

Boss, you're making me look like an idiot.

Xie Yue also stared at Zhou You in astonishment, his face full of bewilderment. "Why?"

"What do you mean, why?" Zhou You said irritably. "I'm not interested in being class monitor or team captain. To be honest, I'm not even all that interested in the tournament."

He meant that from the bottom of his heart. Zhou You had long since passed the stage of craving a chance to show off before others.

Although he looked only six, the combined age of his three lives was enough to make him an old geezer. He wasn't interested in arena matches where people fought one-on-one before a crowd.

So he looked Xie Yue in the eye and said, "You really don't need to worry about me taking your position or your glory. I don't place much value on those things. You can stay class monitor, and the position of team captain in the future will still be yours."

Zhou You had refused, which should have been a good thing, yet Xie Yue's expression didn't improve. Instead, it grew even darker, and he felt a sudden, inexplicable irritation.

What he treasured had apparently been cast aside by someone else like a worn-out shoe.

That feeling hurt even more than his earlier defeat!

When Zhou You made his decision, the discussion in the classroom grew louder. No one could understand his choice.

Hu Liena's little mouth hung open, and she wore a look of disbelief.

She quietly peeked out from behind Xie Yue, her beautiful eyes studying Zhou You closely, as though trying to see into his heart.

"What are you all doing? Class is about to start. Sit down, now!"

Liu Suxin walked into the classroom. At her scolding, the clamor died at once, and all the students hurried to find seats.

Hu Liena pulled Xie Yue away too, but his eyes remained fixed on Zhou You.

Only then did Zhou You belatedly realize that he seemed to have unintentionally hurt Xie Yue's pride.

He pointed at Xie Yue and asked Yan, "Does that title mean so much to him?"

Yan nodded quickly. "Of course!"

Zhou You clicked his tongue, thinking it was a bother.

Soon, however, he put the matter out of his mind, because Liu Suxin began explaining the "cultivation method" necessary for refining Soul Power—the Meditation Method.

It was a method for using Mental Power, focused on how to use it to sense, capture, and draw the vital energy in the air into the body.

Zhou You found that, compared with the cultivation methods of Otherworldly Beings, the Meditation Method of Soul Masters was quite crude.

Compared with the Douluo Continent, the world of "The Outcast" had far less Heaven and Earth Vital Energy, and its activity was lower as well.

If the Heaven and Earth Vital Energy in the world of "The Outcast" was like the thin oxygen high in the atmosphere, then the concentration of vital energy on the Douluo Continent was like an oxygen-rich area at ground level.

In certain special places, the concentration of vital energy could even build up enough to make a person drunk on oxygen.

Zhou You guessed that this might be why the Meditation Method seemed so crude: it was already good enough.

It also explained why the techniques of the Otherworldly Beings from his previous life were so extraordinarily powerful here.

From his two fights with Yan and Xie Yue, Zhou You had established his niche among those at the same level. He could say, without the slightest exaggeration, that he was "far ahead."

In his previous life, because Heaven and Earth Vital Energy was so scarce, Otherworldly Beings cultivated Qi mainly by Refining the Essence of Food and Water—in other words, they replenished their Internal Qi by eating nourishing food. Most of the time, Heaven and Earth Vital Energy could only serve as ritual energy for performing Arts, and made up a small proportion of an Otherworldly Being's Internal Qi.

But in the Douluo world, the situation was reversed. Heaven and Earth Vital Energy had begun to occupy the major share in the composition of cultivated Qi.

If Zhou You had been a warlock and deployed a Qimen formation now, its power would likely have been fierce enough to make even Zhuge Kongming exclaim, "Good grief!"

Arts that required Heaven and Earth Vital Energy could display unimaginable power here. By contrast, a cultivation method like Threefold Reversal, which focused on the self, might not show any particularly significant change in its actual performance.

Even so, it had allowed Zhou You to crush Yan and Xie Yue with ease in battle.

The reason was that Qi was of higher quality than Soul Power. And because Qi was closely connected to the human body, it responded to his will more readily than Soul Power and was better suited to precise manipulation.

Zhou You guessed that Soul Power would probably have to undergo several transformations before its quality and precision could reach the level of Acquired Qi. The turning point in that process probably wouldn't appear until the Martial Soul Avatar stage.

That was because, when a Soul Master officially entered the Martial Soul Avatar stage, their control over their Martial Soul would rise a whole level. Only then could their control over Soul Power reach the starting point of an Otherworldly Being's Using Spirit to Control Qi.

If Zhou You's guess was correct, then the cultivators of the world of "The Outcast" truly were a lamentable lot.

They had a high starting point, and the cultivation methods of the great Mystic Sect schools even led straight to the Path to Immortality, yet the scarcity of Heaven and Earth Vital Energy had locked their upper limit firmly in place.

Alas, what a tragedy!