You're Worse Than Trash

Buzz!!!

Space let out an almost imperceptible tremor, like a taut string plucked ever so lightly.

The bloody, brutal illusion before their eyes peeled away piece by piece like shattered glass, receding like the tide.

Dazzling sunlight and the dilapidated training ground forcibly flooded back into view.

Thud!

Thud! Thud!

A series of dull impacts echoed across the deathly silent training ground as bodies hit the ground one after another.

Dai Mubai, Oscar, Ning Rongrong, Zhu Zhuqing, and Xiao Wu collapsed together like puppets whose bones had been pulled out.

Their faces were waxy white from blood loss, their lips trembling, yet they could not make a sound.

Cold sweat had soaked every inch of their clothes, plastering them to their skin and sending waves of icy shivers through them.

They greedily gulped down air, their chests heaving violently like drowning people finally struggling back to the surface, harsh, inhuman gasps rasping from their throats.

Everyone's eyes were vacant and unfocused, with terror born from the depths of their souls still lingering in their pupils.

Ning Rongrong was sprawled on the ground, retching uncontrollably as if she were about to vomit up her very organs.

The mountain of corpses, sea of blood, severed limbs, and mutilated remains from the illusion had struck the little princess of the Seven Treasure Glazed Tile Sect, who had been pampered since childhood, like a mental tsunami.

"Th... what exactly happened?!"

Flender looked at the horrific sight before him and completely lost his composure. None of a Dean's calm remained.

He rushed over in a single stride, crouching down to urgently inspect Dai Mubai's body.

His Soul Power was circulating normally.

His body was completely unharmed.

Yet Dai Mubai's mind had withered to the extreme, as though a huge piece of his soul had been forcibly torn away, leaving behind only a broken shell.

"They've overexerted their Spiritual Power."

Zhao Wuji spoke in a low voice from nearby. Even his burly frame had tensed, his eyes filled with shock.

What a terrifying method!

To silently drag a person's will into an endless hell and torment them over and over again!

It was a thousand times crueler and more terrifying than simply destroying their bodies!

"Get up."

Lin Xi's icy voice rang across the training ground, devoid of even the slightest warmth or sympathy.

Her voice was like an ice pick stabbing fiercely into the ears of those collapsed on the ground, making all of them shudder.

They struggled, trying to climb to their feet.

But they discovered in despair that their bodies were as limp as mud. Even moving a finger seemed to drain every bit of strength they had left.

"I said, get up."

Lin Xi's voice suddenly rose, carrying unquestionable authority and pressure.

The first to react was Zhu Zhuqing.

She bit her lower lip hard, crimson blood seeping from the corner of her mouth. Bracing herself against the rough ground with her elbows, she slowly, inch by inch, pushed her trembling upper body off the ground.

Her legs still shook violently beyond her control, but in those black eyes burned a stubborn flame that refused to die.

Dai Mubai saw Zhu Zhuqing, swaying as though she might fall at any moment yet refusing to collapse.

A fury mixed with shame and unwillingness exploded in his chest!

"Roar!"

He let out a beastlike growl, summoning the last trace of pride belonging to a Star Luo Prince. With all his strength, he struggled up from the ground.

He could not lose again.

Especially not to her.

Xiao Wu also shakily rose to her feet. The sight of Tang San dying horribly to protect her in the illusion remained branded in her mind. The heart-rending pain still haunted her, but it also made her understand that she had to grow stronger.

Only Oscar and Ning Rongrong remained sprawled on the ground.

"Boss... no, Supreme Dean... I can't do it anymore..." Oscar moaned weakly. "I feel like my soul's been hollowed out..."

Ning Rongrong had completely broken down, bursting into loud sobs.

"Waaah... you're a devil... I'm not training anymore! I want to go home!"

Lin Xi's gaze fell upon the two of them, growing colder by the moment, like a frozen pool in the depths of winter.

She walked slowly over to Ning Rongrong, looking down at her from above. The shadow she cast completely enveloped the girl.

"I told you yesterday."

"Crying is the most useless thing in this world. It is the privilege of the weak."

"It seems you didn't remember a single word."

She raised her foot and lightly nudged Ning Rongrong's arm with the tip of her shoe. Her gesture was contemptuous, and her words even more so.

"Now, you have two choices."

"First, get up and continue."

"Second, get out of Shrek Academy."

"I..."

Ning Rongrong's entire body went cold under the emotionless gaze in Lin Xi's eyes, and her crying came to an abrupt stop.

She wanted to blurt out, "I want to go home."

But when she caught sight of Zhu Zhuqing's slender figure standing straight not far away, the words caught in her throat.

Why?

Why can she do it, but I can't?

I'm the princess of the Seven Treasure Glazed Tile Sect! How can I be worse than her?

A fierce unwillingness to admit defeat savagely grew from the deepest part of her heart, instantly overwhelming all her fear and grievance.

She viciously wiped away her tears with the back of her hand, gritted her teeth, and climbed to her feet.

"I... will continue!"

Lin Xi nodded slightly, then turned her gaze toward Oscar, who was still playing dead on the ground.

"And you?"

Oscar jolted, then sprang to his feet almost on reflex, standing ramrod straight.

"I! I'll continue too! I can fight for another hundred years!"

What a joke. He did not want to be thrown out.

Lin Xi slowly swept her gaze over the so-called "monsters" before her, who could barely even stand, and an undisguised trace of disappointment flashed through her eyes.

"You are the worst class I have ever seen."

Without any courtesy, she delivered her final judgment.

Her words were like an invisible slap, striking fiercely across the faces of proud geniuses like Dai Mubai and Ning Rongrong, leaving a burning sting.

"Your will is thinner than paper."

"Your strength is built upon sand."

"One tiny illusion was enough to make you reveal your ugliest sides and expose your true selves."

Lin Xi's voice was not loud, yet every word pierced their hearts.

"What do you think a Soul Master is?"

"Flashy soul skills? A powerful Martial Soul? Innate talent?"

"Wrong!"

"Completely wrong!"

"A true powerhouse possesses a heart that never yields!"

"A mighty heart that can keep beating steadily even amid mountains of corpses and seas of blood!"

"A terrifying will powerful enough to shake mountains and rivers, to reverse heaven and earth!"

"Will is the source of strength!"

"Without a powerful will to match it, even if you possess a god-given Martial Soul, you are nothing more than a three-year-old child holding a divine artifact!"

"Utterly vulnerable!"

Her voice was not loud, but each word boomed like thunder in their minds!

Even Flender and Zhao Wuji, standing nearby, were shaken to their cores as though struck by lightning.

Will was the source of strength?

This theory completely overturned everything they had understood about Soul Masters for decades!

"Look at yourselves."

Lin Xi pointed at them and shook her head in disappointment.

"You cannot even maintain the most basic act of standing."

"And you dare call yourselves monsters?"

"Right now, you're worse than trash."

"Because trash, at least, has self-awareness."

"But you are still immersed in the so-called halo of genius, smug and self-satisfied."

"Pathetic."

Having said that, she no longer paid any attention to the youths she had reduced to pieces with her words.

She turned and spoke to Tang San, the only one still standing perfectly straight.

"Today's Heart Refining ends here."

"This afternoon, Body Refining."

"You will supervise them."

"Run around the village one hundred times."

"Anyone who fails to finish gets no dinner."