He pushed open the door of the Class One classroom.
A good number of people were already seated inside the spacious room.
The previously somewhat noisy classroom turned eerily quiet for a split second the moment the two walked in.
Dai Yu looked calm, his gaze sweeping around the classroom before he quickly spotted Huo Yuhao waving at him from the corner.
"Yu Ge!
Over here!"
Huo Yuhao shouted excitedly, having thoughtfully left two empty seats right beside him.
Dai Yu nodded and walked over with Wang Dong.
"Zhou Yi is going to be here any second."
Dai Yu sat down in the seat beside Huo Yuhao, thinking to himself.
At this thought, Dai Yu could not help feeling a bit expectant, the corners of his mouth curving slightly upward.
He wondered if Zhou Yi would still be able to act so arrogant in front of absolute strength and background.
Soon, an elderly woman appeared by the podium.
Her skin was withered like chicken skin and her hair white, with deep wrinkles etched into her face.
Clad in a grey robe and holding a walking stick, she struck the floor heavily with it.
"Thud!"
All one hundred students in the class instantly quieted down, casting apprehensive and uncertain glances toward Zhou Yi.
She was the infamous "perverted Old Aunt" of the Shrek Outer Court.
Zhou Yi swept her gaze coldly across the room:
"My name is Zhou Yi, and I am your Head Teacher.
I am not sure how many of you will be able to make it through this first year with me.
But what I want to tell you is that in my, Zhou Yi's, class, we have no need for trash.
Nor do we need good-for-nothings who only know how to study to the death."
As soon as these words fell, an uproar broke out across the class.
Indignant expressions appeared on the faces of quite a few students.
Those able to test into Shrek were every one of them the proud favored children of heaven in their respective hometowns.
Who could endure being pointed at and called trash?
"What?
Unconvinced?"
Zhou Yi sneered, her Soul Emperor pressure instantly erupting to shroud the entire classroom.
"If you're unconvinced, then get lost!
Shrek Academy has never been short on geniuses!"
Under this pressure, the faces of most of the students instantly turned pale as paper, silencing them like cicadas in winter.
Even Wang Dong's expression changed slightly, clearly not expecting this unassuming old hag to be so powerful.
Yet Dai Yu, sitting in the front row, still looked completely calm, even lazily shifting into a more comfortable sitting posture.
Compared to the primordial aura of that million-year White Tiger holy beast resting within his Sea of Awareness, this shred of pressure was nothing more than a witch standing before a grandmaster.
Zhou Yi keenly caught Dai Yu's reaction, a flash of surprise crossing her eyes before she quickly masked it.
She reined in her pressure and spoke once more, tossing out that classic question:
"Over the past few days, who has gotten into a fight?
Or been beaten up by someone else?
As long as you've thrown hands, stand up right now!"
A dead silence filled the classroom.
Most of the students shrank their necks, terrified of being targeted by this perverted teacher.
Dai Yu did not hesitate in the slightest, standing straight up.
"Yu Ge..."
Huo Yuhao instinctively looked toward Dai Yu.
After all, Dai Yu had only gotten into a fight because of him.
Just as Huo Yuhao hesitated over whether he should stand up,
Wang Dong at his side paused.
He hadn't gotten into a fight, had he?
Yet seeing Dai Yu stand up, an inexplicable sense of stubborn refusal to lose and herd mentality made her feel that staying seated was shameful.
Thus, the prideful Wang Dong also stood up, dragging his feet.
Huo Yuhao resolutely stood up as well.
We pull all-nighters together, and we face trouble together!
Out of a hundred people in the entire classroom,
only the three of them stood.
They appeared exceptionally conspicuous.
"Just three?"
Zhou Yi raised an eyebrow, her gaze landing on the three of them like blades:
"A bunch of good-for-nothings.
Soul masters who dare not stir up trouble are mediocre fools!
Aside from the three of them, everyone else, get outside right now!
Run one hundred laps around Shrek Plaza!
Whoever fails to finish will be directly expelled!"
"What?!"
"What right do you have?!"
"This isn't fair!"
The classroom instantly exploded into a tumult.
Being punished even without fighting? What kind of bandit logic was this?
A few daring boys even stood up to protest.
"Teacher, I'm unconvinced!
Are we in the wrong for following the rules?"
Zhou Yi looked coldly at that bird sticking its head out:
"Unconvinced?
Because I have the final say!
Don't want to run?
Fine, get out of my class!"
That tough and domineering posture directly cowed everyone present.
Though the group of students harbored a bellyful of grievance, they could only run outside in dejected spirits so as to avoid expulsion.
Soon, the spacious classroom was left with only the three of them—Dai Yu, Huo Yuhao, and Wang Dong—along with Zhou Yi on the podium.
Zhou Yi walked leisurely toward the three youths, her gaze sweeping first over Huo Yuhao, then Wang Dong, and finally coming to rest on Dai Yu.
She could sense that among these three, this black-haired young man was the leader.
"Speak up, why did you fight?"
No joy or anger could be detected in Zhou Yi's voice.
Huo Yuhao opened his mouth to explain, but Dai Yu preempted him, saying calmly:
"I didn't like the look of him, so I struck.
In the world of soul masters, the strong are supreme.
Since he dared to provoke, I dared to crush him.
Is that reason enough?"
Dai Yu's words were calm, yet they exuded an unbridled arrogance.
There was none of the timid subservience usually shown when facing a teacher.
Wang Dong at his side listened in utter astonishment.
Was this guy really acting this pretentious right in front of a teacher?
Wasn't he afraid of being slapped to death by this old hag?
Zhou Yi was taken aback as well.
In all her years of teaching, she had seen plenty of thorny troublemakers,
yet someone as "righteous and confident" and "arrogant" as Dai Yu was truly a rare sight.
"The strong are supreme?
Crush him?"
Zhou Yi narrowed her eyes, suddenly taking a step forward as her Soul Emperor aura erupted once more,
this time targeted entirely at Dai Yu alone!
"Kid, how old are you?
How dare you talk about the strong?
In front of me, do you even qualify to talk about crushing anyone?"
Terrifying soul power fluctuations battered toward Dai Yu like a tidal wave.
Even though Huo Yuhao and Wang Dong were merely caught in the periphery, they felt it hard to breathe and their legs turning weak.
Yet Dai Yu, situated right at the eye of the storm, did not even have the hem of his robe ruffled.
The White Tiger Martial Soul within his body trembled slightly, and a murderous aura originating from an ancient holy beast flashed deep within his eyes.
That was the sharpness of Extreme Gold, the proud backbone of the Slaughter Attribute!
Dai Yu raised his head, meeting Zhou Yi's oppressive eyes head-on as the corners of his mouth curled slightly upward:
"Whether I qualify or not isn't decided by mere words, Teacher.
If one doesn't even have the courage to face tyranny, what kind of soul master are they trying to cultivate?
Wouldn't going home to farm the fields be much safer?"
Their eyes locked.
The air seemed to freeze.
Zhou Yi stared intently at Dai Yu, attempting to find fear or retreat within his eyes.
Yet she failed.
Within those deep black pupils, there was only calm, and a trace of... mockery?
[Ding! Detected that important plot character "Zhou Yi" is experiencing feelings of surprise and admiration.] [Congratulations, host, for obtaining the suppression reward: Soul Power Control increased by 20%, obtained passive skill: Intimidation (doubles suppression effect against targets with lower Spiritual Power than the host).]
Hearing the system prompt, Dai Yu felt a surge of secret satisfaction.
As expected, this old aunt ate this exact approach.
The more you humored her, the more she viewed you as trash.
The harder you pushed back—as long as you had the strength—the higher her opinion of you would become.
Before you continue