Chang Ping's booming voice pulled the students out of their despondent mood.
They leaned in to listen, eager to hear what insight he had to offer.
"Mentor Shen Xiu, have you ever heard the saying, 'Heaven has endowed me with talents that must be put to use'?" Chang Ping suddenly stood up and stared straight at Shen Xiu, startling her.
"Even if you're right that most people in this class don't have much talent for cultivation, cultivation isn't the only path in this world. We can make pills, forge weapons, tailor armor, and cook delicious food."
"I believe that if we're willing to work hard, we can become the best in our fields. We're no worse than Demon Spirit Masters or warriors!"
"Think about it. Without alchemists, what would you do when you got sick or hurt? Without blacksmiths and tailors, would you fight demon beasts barehanded and naked? Without cooks, would you eat raw meat and drink raw blood?"
Shen Xiu was left speechless.
"Chang Ping's right! We're no worse than anyone else!"
"'Heaven has endowed me with talents that must be put to use'—well said! I'm going to carve that into my desk to remind myself every day."
"I'm going to become the greatest alchemist in the Glory City!"
The students chimed in one after another, and the classroom became as noisy as a marketplace.
At the back of the classroom, Shen Yue scoffed disdainfully. "A bunch of fools, dreaming the impossible! Without your families' support, you'll never amount to anything!"
"Shen Yue? Why are you sitting over here?" A puzzled voice suddenly came from his right.
???
Shen Yue turned to look. The class idiot, whose Soul Force was only five, was staring at him.
Was this idiot blind? That beast Chang Ping had sent him flying over here yesterday morning. He'd passed by him at least eight times since then. How could he not know?
Shen Yue guessed the idiot was asking just to embarrass him.
"The view's nice, and the air's fresh. I want to sit here. What's it to you?" Shen Yue didn't feel like wasting words on the idiot. He turned back to admire the scenery outside the window.
The blond young man awkwardly twitched his lips and turned back around.
"Nie Li, what's wrong with you? Did you lose your memory?" His desk mate, Lu Piao, asked with concern.
But Nie Li suddenly slung an arm around his neck and said with a smile, "No, I just had a dream. In it, you all died in battle in the future."
"Holy crap! And you're smiling about it?" Lu Piao hurriedly wriggled out from under Nie Li's arm.
He couldn't remember doing anything to offend Nie Li since the start of term. Was it because he'd only invited Chang Ping out yesterday and hadn't invited him?
Nie Li patted his chest. "But I'm alive now, so I'll save you all."
"Why, thank you so damn much!" A bead of speechless sweat appeared on Lu Piao's forehead.
Nie Li's gaze shifted forward and settled on Ye Zi Yun's profile.
He froze for a moment, then asked Lu Piao in confusion, "Why's Zi Yun pinching her nose? Does she have a nosebleed?"
"I'm guessing her desk mate stinks. Can't you smell it? The whole room reeks of sheep." Lu Piao spread his arms and gestured at a huge circle.
Desk mate?
Wasn't her desk mate Shen Yue?
Nie Li glanced at Shen Yue.
"What the hell are you looking at? Keep staring and I'll gouge your eyes out!" Shen Yue raised a fist and warned him viciously.
Nie Li awkwardly turned around and looked toward the front of the classroom.
Standing beside Ye Zi Yun was a bearishly muscular young man with a buzz cut. He wore a red shirt and carried a battered straw hat on his back.
Nie Li keenly noticed the unfamiliar young man staring greedily at the mentor's ample breasts, like a starving gray wolf.
"Who's that? Why don't I know him?" Nie Li asked, pointing at the young man's back.
"You don't know him?" Lu Piao looked at Nie Li in surprise. "You don't know the peerless powerhouse who tossed Shen Fei aside and beat Tie Lang into the ground?"
"What? He beat Tie Lang?" Shock surged through Nie Li. He vaguely remembered that Tie Lang had been the martial arts mentor of his Beginner Warrior Class in his previous life. He was a two-star Gold-rank warrior and one of the top ten strongest people at Saint Orchid Academy.
And now Lu Piao was telling him this young man had defeated Tie Lang?
"Not just defeated him—he crushed him." Lu Piao sounded smug. "In their second fight, Chang Ping only needed one move to make Tie Lang drop to his knees and surrender. He did it right in front of Vice Dean Ye Sheng and the whole class. Tell me, isn't that incredible?"
"He really is something..." For some reason, Chang Ping's arrival gave Nie Li an inexplicable sense of danger.
Nie Li fell silent for a moment, then asked, "Hey, Lu Piao, if I beat Chang Ping, do you think I could sit next to Ye Zi Yun?"
Lu Piao looked at him as if he were an idiot and nodded.
"In theory, sure. But are you really going to do that?" Lu Piao gave Nie Li a thorough once-over and bluntly shot him down. "With those skinny arms and legs, you're like a little chick. Chang Ping could slap the crap out of you with one hand. Forget it!"
Nie Li didn't like the sound of that.
"Don't be fooled by my size. Good things come in small packages. Bet your allowance for this month. If I beat Chang Ping, you give it to me. If I lose, I'll wash your underwear for a month." Nie Li was brimming with confidence.
He was weak right now, with only five Soul Force and a strength of twenty-one. But with the vast knowledge he'd accumulated in his previous life, he could easily take down even a Gold-rank warrior.
"Deal! No backing out!" Lu Piao had been looking for someone to wash his dirty clothes and readily agreed.
At the front of the class, under the threat in Chang Ping's almost murderous stare, Shen Xiu formally apologized to the whole class. Her manner was utterly sincere.
Chang Ping sat back down, satisfied.
The students no longer looked down on him for his smell. Instead, they gazed at him with gratitude. Thanks to Chang Ping, they had regained their confidence.
After calming the troublemaker down, Shen Xiu continued her lecture and didn't dare disparage the commoner students again.
Knock, knock, knock!
At last, class ended. Shen Xiu gathered up her teaching materials and hurried out.
Chang Ping slammed a hand on his desk, flipped through the air in a full 360-degree somersault, landed neatly in front of the desk, and chased after her like a gust of wind.
"Why are you running? I'm not going to eat you!" Chang Ping pinned Shen Xiu against the wall.
He noticed that Shen Xiu had put on makeup today, and it was very carefully done.
Women dressed to please those who admired them. Could she have fallen for him?
"Don't do this. So many people are watching. It'll look bad." Shen Xiu pushed at Chang Ping's burning chest, her face full of shyness. "At noon! Come to your dorm at noon, and then we can..."
Her voice grew softer and softer, and her embarrassment more and more obvious.
Chang Ping lowered his strong arms and let Shen Xiu go.
Staring blankly at her retreating back, Chang Ping furrowed his sword-like brows and muttered, "Did the sun rise in the west today?"
To win a man, you had to win his stomach; to win a woman, you had to win her...
Could Shen Xiu have already been completely won over by him?
Chang Ping hummed a tune as he strutted back to the classroom.
The smile vanished from his face as soon as he walked in.
A blond kid was sitting in his seat, looking at him provocatively.
"You're asking for it!"
Before you continue