Director Su's Hidden Meaning

At this moment, the classroom was extremely noisy, with the students chattering among themselves.

"Quiet!"

Suddenly, someone entered through the classroom door. Ye Xinyu recognized him at once. Wasn't this the teacher she had met when he handled her enrollment? He seemed to be called Director Su.

As Director Su slowly walked in, the classroom immediately fell silent. After sweeping his gaze around the room, he spoke gently.

"Some of the students here should know me, while others may not. Today, let me introduce myself first. My name is Su Mo, and I am the homeroom teacher for your class."

The moment those words came out, the students erupted in shock. Wang Sheng could not help but wear a bitter expression.

"Why is he our homeroom teacher?"

"What, you know this teacher's background?" Xiao Wu asked curiously.

Wang Sheng nodded slightly and said with a wry smile.

"Put it this way: he's our academy's Director of Studies, and at the same time, he's the strictest teacher in the academy."

"Huh?" Ye Xinyu froze for a moment.

"But I think Director Su seems pretty nice." When she had enrolled earlier, he had kept reminding her of things. In any case, she had a fairly good impression of him.

Wang Sheng gave a bitter laugh.

"You don't understand. Director Su speaks nicely enough, but the training tasks he assigns are the heaviest in the academy." He shook his head slightly. "Forget it, let's not talk about it. You'll find out later."

Seeing the students begin whispering among themselves, Director Su did not get angry. He still wore a gentle expression. A few minutes later, he lightly tapped the desk with his fingertips several times.

"Alright, students, that's enough chatting. Now listen to my lesson."

Perhaps out of fear, the scattered murmurs in the classroom abruptly ceased. Quite a few students wore timid, frightened expressions.

After glancing around the room, Director Su said,

"Students, I will be responsible for your studies for the next six years. Six years is not a short period of time for anyone. To meet amid the vast sea of people and become teacher and students is a kind of fate."

"For today's first lesson, I won't say too much. I'll simply chat with everyone about Soul Masters. Tell me, how do you view the profession of a Soul Master?"

His voice remained gentle, but the students below all looked blank. Even Ye Xinyu was somewhat dumbfounded. What exactly was he trying to do by asking this question?

As for how to answer, she had plenty of answers to questions like this in her head. But whether it meant showing off or making a fool of herself, she had no desire to stand out too much.

After a long while, seeing that no one spoke, Director Su was not disappointed. He merely smiled and said,

"Looks like no one has an answer. That makes sense. You're still young, so it's normal not to understand. Then let me share my own view of Soul Masters."

"Many people believe that they will become powerful Soul Masters in the future and bring glory to their families. But I want to tell you that those who can truly walk the path of a Soul Master to its final stage are one in ten thousand. The vast majority only become one-ring or two-ring Soul Masters. Some cannot even reach level ten."

The entire class became subdued at those words. Seeing this, Director Su continued.

"Don't be so discouraged just yet. I am not trying to undermine your confidence in cultivation. I merely want to tell you in advance how difficult this road is. Take me, for example. My level has remained at thirty-two for years now. I probably won't be able to break through to level forty for the rest of my life. But so what?"

All at once, Director Su's words grew impassioned.

"You probably don't know this, but my talent is only level one. Originally, my Soul Power should never have been able to break through level thirty in my entire life. But I don't regret it. I worked hard. I struggled. Through my own efforts, I forcibly broke through the shackles of level thirty."

"Even after that, I could cultivate for days without my Soul Power increasing in the slightest. But I did not wallow in self-pity. Instead, I returned to my alma mater—this very place—and became a teacher."

"Although my Innate Soul Power prevented me from going very far on the path of a Soul Master, I do not regret it. More than twenty years of teaching have made my life fulfilling."

"And all of you students sitting here should have at least level one Soul Power. Some of you should be considerably stronger than I was. I do not ask that you achieve anything great. I only hope that when you reach my age, you can ask yourselves with a clear conscience whether you wasted this golden period of cultivation, whether you will feel ashamed because you indulged too much in play."

"I say this for no other reason than to tell you one truth: only if you have worked hard will you have no regrets in the future. The road ahead of you depends on yourselves."

"I am merely an ordinary teacher, not a disciple of some great clan, nor do I have any powerful backing. I cannot help you much in that regard. I can only pass on the path I have walked and some of my experience through words and actions."

"For the next six years, I will only be responsible for giving you daily cultivation goals. If you cannot persist, I will not force you. These are all your own choices. Also, if there is anything you do not understand, I will teach you everything I can."

After he finished speaking, the classroom remained silent for a long time. At last, a somewhat skinny student stood up directly, his face flushed as he shouted.

"Teacher, I will work hard!"

Director Su nodded slightly.

"Mm. It's good that you have that determination, but you don't need to tell me. As long as you can ask yourself with a clear conscience whether you worked hard, that is enough."

With that, Director Su shifted his gaze, which finally landed directly on Ye Xinyu.

"Since we're on the subject, I have to mention this new female student. If I had not been preparing lesson plans this morning, I would never have known that at a little past five, before the sky had even brightened, this student had already begun her morning training. She persisted until seven, for a full hour and a half, all without anyone supervising her."

Upon hearing Director Su's words, Ye Xinyu immediately froze. Calling her out like this—wasn't he putting her over a fire?

Faced with Ye Xinyu's resentful gaze, Director Su merely smiled and ignored it, continuing instead.

"Of course, this is a matter of personal freedom. But if even a new female student can be so self-disciplined, I won't ask too much of you. You only need to get up at eight in the morning and run around the field for half an hour."

The moment those words came out, the students below exploded.

"Teacher, who are you looking down on?"

"That's right! She's just a girl. How could we possibly lose to her?"

Feeling the strange looks around her, Ye Xinyu was on the verge of tears. She got up early purely because she needed to absorb and refine Whale Rubber.

And I only wanted to cultivate quietly, then shock everyone in the end. Why did you sell me out right from the start?

She took a deep breath. Fine. At worst, she would come out one or two hours earlier to cultivate from now on.

Go ahead, compete yourselves to death. Kill me with all this competition!

Another filler chapter done.