'Wrath Reaching the Heavens' in Class, 'Willful Degradation' After Class

"It's already fine, Teacher Zhou, and it isn't anything bad."

Seeing Zhou Yi's grave expression, Jiang Ming quickly waved his hands and said it.

From a broad perspective, there really had been a problem with his Martial Soul. After all, his first soul ring had upgraded from thousand-year to ten-thousand-year, and that was undoubtedly a major issue!

But clearly, it was not a bad thing.

"Are you sure? A problem with your Martial Soul is no small matter. Even the slightest issue could affect your Martial Soul!"

Zhou Yi did not take it lightly. The fact that she could become a teacher in the Outer Court meant she had an extremely deep understanding of Martial Soul theory.

Even after Jiang Ming said it was not a bad thing, Zhou Yi still could not feel at ease.

Jiang Ming's high talent was one thing, but at twelve years old, how much could he understand about Martial Souls? How could he clearly judge whether it was good or bad?

Just as Zhou Yi was about to keep pressing him, Jiang Ming, left with no choice, could only say that a Titled Douluo from the academy had already examined it for him.

Only then did Zhou Yi relax.

Zhou Yi did not ask who that Titled Douluo was. During the previous Freshman Assessment, she had heard Xuan Zi and Dean Yan's conversation from the stage.

Whether it was Dean Yan or Xuan Zi, if they said there was no problem, then there was no problem.

"As long as there's nothing wrong with your Martial Soul, that's good."

Zhou Yi nodded, then said, "Go. Run three hundred laps around Shrek Plaza."

Jiang Ming froze, looking at Zhou Yi in disbelief.

"Teacher Zhou, three hundred laps for being late?"

Zhou Yi glanced over and chuckled.

"What, you think three hundred laps is too few? Then how about five hundred?"

Jiang Ming hurriedly shook his head. Without another word, he went straight out of the office and headed off to run.

If he kept talking, Jiang Ming figured Teacher Zhou might raise it to a thousand laps.

At Shrek Plaza, although class had already ended, there were still many students gathered in twos and threes, chatting together.

At twelve years old, they were at an age brimming with youthful energy. They complained to each other about how strict their teachers were, discussed the knowledge they had just learned, and... accepted the punishment for being late to class.

"Class monitor, are you... exercising?"

Chen Zifeng sized up Jiang Ming, who was sweating on the plaza, and asked curiously.

Xixi beside him also looked over, feeling a little puzzled by Jiang Ming's behavior.

"Ahem! Yeah. Running is also a form of cultivation! How else would we be champions? I have to finish three hundred laps today before I go eat!"

Jiang Ming replied somewhat awkwardly.

After all, he was the class monitor. If he said he had been punished with laps by the teacher because he was late to class, that would be a bit embarrassing.

After saying that, Jiang Ming continued running forward.

The Canteen served meals between twelve and two. It was a little past ten now. If he ran faster, he should still be able to eat.

Jiang Ming calculated carefully in his mind and inwardly sighed that Zhou Yi really did understand him well enough.

Three hundred laps was not difficult for him, but it would still take several hours to finish. And she had timed it right around mealtime, without going so far that he would miss his meal.

On the other side, after hearing Jiang Ming's words, Chen Zifeng immediately furrowed his brow.

He recalled how, during the Freshman Assessment, Jiang Ming had directly thrown him out of the arena. That strength had been terrifyingly powerful, and he had not been able to resist at all.

Could it be that Jiang Ming's strength had been trained through this kind of long-term running?

Chen Zifeng was somewhat doubtful, but Jiang Ming really was the champion. Could it actually have come from running?

After thinking for a few seconds, Chen Zifeng's gaze gradually grew determined.

"It's just running, isn't it? I'll run too!"

As he spoke, Chen Zifeng immediately quickened his steps and caught up to Jiang Ming.

Xixi behind them did not say anything more either. She simply followed.

The students who came to Shrek Academy all longed to become strong.

And in their year, Jiang Ming was unquestionably strong!

Since that was the case, training together with him should not be wrong!

This seemed very reasonable. And so, Shrek Plaza, where only Jiang Ming had originally been running, suddenly had three runners.

Then—

"What are the class monitor and Chen Zifeng doing? They just finished class, and they came here to run?"

"I heard this is the class monitor's secret to getting stronger. While we relax after class, he's always running to train. That's how he had such terrifying strength in the Freshman Assessment!"

"Bullshit! Running can make you like the class monitor? What kind of joke is that?"

"Uh... maybe it works. Anyway, there's no harm in following along for a run."

"True enough. Then let's go run too."

And so, more and more freshmen began running laps around Shrek Plaza.

Someone went up to ask out of curiosity, and was told that this was a way to get stronger. Jiang Ming, running at the very front, was then brought out as the example.

"Look, Jiang Ming, the Freshman Assessment champion! And he won it in a team of two! Can following his training be wrong? No way it could be wrong!"

Of course, the main reason was that the barrier to running was relatively low.

If it were climbing a mountain of blades or plunging into a sea of fire, no one would be willing to imitate it. But running was something everyone could accept, so many people were willing to give it a try.

Up ahead, Jiang Ming was running with all his might. Shrek Plaza was three hundred meters per lap, and three hundred laps meant ninety thousand meters.

Ninety. Thousand meters!!!

At first, Jiang Ming had not thought much of it, but once the unit of measurement changed, he was instantly stunned.

Ninety thousand meters!

Ninety kilometers!

If this had been in his previous life, even if it killed him from exhaustion, he still would not have been able to finish running those ninety kilometers.

But now, Jiang Ming felt that the pressure was not too great.

After breaking through to Soul Ancestor, every aspect of his physical qualities had improved to a certain degree.

He should be able to finish these ninety thousand meters in under three hours.

"Phew!"

Jiang Ming let out a deep breath and silently decided that at noon, he would eat one more basin of Ironclad Savage Bull meat, and also have another Earth Dragon Tendon!

After Jiang Ming finished thinking it over, he glanced out of the corner of his eye and actually saw Chen Zifeng running too.

Jiang Ming froze on the spot.

Was he late too?

Jiang Ming kept looking farther back and discovered a huge, densely packed crowd following behind him. There were at least a dozen of them, maybe even dozens!

What... what was going on?

Inside an office in the New Student Teaching Building.

After Zhou Yi briefly organized the material she would teach tomorrow, she stepped out of the teaching building.

Although this was her first time teaching, and her first time being a Head Teacher, she had clearly made preparations and was not flustered.

After leaving the teaching building, Zhou Yi had originally planned to go straight home, but with a turn of her steps, she instead walked toward Shrek Plaza.

A few minutes later, Zhou Yi arrived at Shrek Plaza.

Looking at the running line that had stretched into a long dragon, Zhou Yi was instantly stunned.

At the very front of the long running line, Jiang Ming was the fastest, leaving everyone else in the dust.

And behind Jiang Ming, there were actually other students from Class One!

No, when you were running during class, you were all "seething with resentment," and the moment class ended, you just "willingly sank into depravity"?!