First Lesson

Wu Changkong wore gray, black, and white plaid trousers today, along with a white shirt. It was a very simple outfit.

When he arrived at the podium, he merely stood there, yet the cold, stern aura he gave off made the Class Five students shiver.

Tang Wuyang and Tang Wulin had the most natural expressions in the class. They even looked rather content.

Both of them had eaten their fill of Meal A. It was hard not to feel good after that.

The warmth spreading from their stomachs was even stirring their Soul Power on its own, making it circulate slowly.

Good food could improve one's physical condition and cultivation speed. That saying was indeed true.

"Starting today, classes will officially begin. I will personally guide most of your courses."

"Now, everyone stand up and follow me!"

Wu Changkong put both hands in his pockets and headed outside. The entire class followed him to the training field.

Since they were all new students, they naturally had no awareness of lining up, and things looked rather chaotic for a moment.

But before the Cold and Arrogant God's powerful, icy presence, no one dared to make a loud racket.

"Two to a row. Stand properly."

Hearing Wu Changkong's words, Tang Wuyang naturally stepped behind Tang Wulin.

Zhou Changxi came to stand beside Tang Wulin, while the quick-eyed, quick-footed Yun Xiao got to Tang Wuyang's side before Xie Xie could.

Originally quite displeased, Xie Xie could only stand resentfully in front of Tang Wulin beside another student under Wu Changkong's cold gaze.

Once the students had lined up, Wu Changkong said in a deep voice, "Today's first lesson is to display your strength."

"Later, you will fight in pairs. I will serve as the referee. The loser will be eliminated."

A frail-looking female student timidly raised her hand. "Teacher Wu, I'm a Support System Tool Soul Master. Do I have to participate too?"

Wu Changkong looked at her coldly. "On a battlefield, would enemies spare you just because you're a Support-type Soul Master?"

"First group, get ready." He casually pointed at Tang Wulin and Zhou Changxi beside him.

Unlike most of the nervous students, Zhou Changxi immediately became excited.

After Tang Wuyang had punched him out the window that day, he had been deeply unwilling to accept it.

But after seeing Tang Wuyang defeat Xie Xie twice in a row, and with the dean explicitly forbidding fighting, he had kept himself in check and not caused trouble.

I can't beat your brother, but can't I beat a useless guy with Blue Silver Grass?

With that thought, Zhou Changxi looked at Tang Wulin with shining eyes.

Tang Wulin showed no reaction to Zhou Changxi's excitement.

Wu Changkong directed the students to spread out around them and form a circle.

"Begin. There are no rules. Defeat your opponent by any means necessary," Wu Changkong said flatly. His words were clearly directed at all the students.

Zhou Changxi widened his eyes and let out a roar. A white Soul Ring appeared beneath his feet and immediately shone brightly, its light rising along his body.

At the same time, his already exceptionally sturdy body swelled further, especially his arms, whose muscles visibly stretched his school uniform tight.

A brown little monkey appeared on his shoulder. It was clearly his Soul Spirit, a Ten-Year Soul Spirit.

First Soul Skill, Strength Boost!

Zhou Changxi strode toward Tang Wulin, each footfall landing with a thud, thud. Combined with his imposing body, he looked extremely intimidating.

Tang Wulin's reaction was not slow either. The instant Zhou Changxi charged at him, Blue Silver Grass spread from his right hand, and the white Soul Ring on his body flickered faintly.

In an instant, countless vines spread across the ground and rushed to Entwine Zhou Changxi.

Zhou Changxi, who was about to reach Tang Wulin, did not think much of the vines winding toward him.

In his eyes, how could those frail-looking vines, which seemed as though they would snap with one tug, possibly stop someone as strong as him?

Thus, Zhou Changxi charged directly into Tang Wulin's Blue Silver Grass Entwine without dodging or evading.

As a strength-type Soul Master, Zhou Changxi's greatest advantage was his power, which surpassed that of ordinary people. Correspondingly, his speed was far inferior to that of other types of Soul Masters. Just as he confidently prepared to tear apart the vines around him, an accident occurred.

The muscles on his swollen arms instantly tensed, veins bulging beneath his skin as his face flushed red.

Yet the Blue Silver Grass Vines wrapped around him did not change in the slightest.

At the same time, Zhou Changxi discovered in horror that his Soul Power was slowly draining away.

Seeing Zhou Changxi tightly bound by his Blue Silver Grass, Tang Wulin could not help curling his lips slightly.

Wu Changkong, watching from the side, had a gleam flash through his eyes at that sight.

With his cultivation, he naturally noticed that at the roots of the Blue Silver Grass in Tang Wulin's palm, there were faint golden threads that were extremely easy to overlook.

Zhou Changxi only had Level 11 Soul Power. Under such continuous depletion, he quickly fell into a disadvantage.

"Stop!" Wu Changkong shouted coldly, pointing at Zhou Changxi. "You, eliminated."

There was no need for a strength-type Soul Master to continue fighting when he could not touch his opponent at all. The outcome had already been decided.

Wu Changkong said nothing further and directly announced the next match.

The second pair to take the field were Tang Wuyang and Yun Xiao, who had been standing beside Tang Wulin and Zhou Changxi.

Yun Xiao pulled a long face and said to Tang Wuyang, "Go easy on me! I'm a support-type Soul Master. I can't take one of your punches."

Tang Wuyang nodded kindly at that.

"Begin!"

At Wu Changkong's command, a Qilin Phantom emerged behind Tang Wuyang, and he instantly completed Martial Soul Possession.

As the white ring beneath his feet shone, four icicles appeared from thin air and shot straight toward Yun Xiao.

Just as the icicles were about to strike Yun Xiao, a strange scene unfolded.

A flash of white light appeared around Yun Xiao. Most of the students only felt their vision blur, and the unavoidable icicles struck empty air.

Tang Wuyang waved his right hand, and the icicles immediately changed direction, shooting toward Yun Xiao as he reappeared.

At the same time, Tang Wuyang, who remained standing in place, spread his arms. With him as the boundary, the ground in front of him turned to ice.

Meanwhile, the icicles already in flight subtly changed shape, becoming four faster Ice Arrows.

Just as Yun Xiao was about to be hit by the Ice Arrows, a large hand pulled him aside from behind.

"Stop! Tang Wuyang wins." Wu Changkong looked at Tang Wuyang with a trace of confusion in his eyes.

But it lasted only an instant before his gaze quickly shifted to Yun Xiao. "Not bad for a Support System Soul Master. You advance."

Yun Xiao held a disk covered in numerous complex patterns in his hand. "Thank you, Teacher."

The facts proved that Eastsea Academy's teachers had keen eyes when dividing classes. How many decent students could there really be among those assigned to Class Five?

In the following matches, Wu Changkong berated nearly every pair of students bloody.

Of the twenty-one students in the class, eight possessed Support System Tool Martial Souls. They had practically no combat ability, and their support abilities were extremely lackluster.

Among the Battle Soul Masters, three had Useless Martial Souls nearly on the same level as Blue Silver Grass.

There was even a match between two Tool Soul Masters without combat abilities. It turned into an absurd scene of one shoving the other while the other stepped on his foot.

Although Wu Changkong had long expected Class Five's overall quality to be poor, he had not expected it to be this bad.

If not for compulsory education, many of these students would have no reason to continue cultivating. Reaching Level 20 would be nearly impossible for them.

From the current situation, the only students who stood out were Xie Xie and the Tang Wulin brothers.

"Second round begins. You, you. The two of you fight."

With a dark expression, Wu Changkong pointed at Tang Wuyang and a female student.

She was a petite, adorable-looking girl with short light-blue hair and large eyes.

The moment Tang Wuyang saw her, Na'er's face surfaced in his mind.

He vaguely remembered that this girl was called Li Chushui, and her Martial Soul was a cat.

"Begin!"

Li Chushui looked somewhat shy. She nodded at Tang Wuyang before releasing her Martial Soul.

Part of her short light-blue hair turned white, while one of her originally blue eyes suddenly turned green.

A white Soul Ring rose beneath her feet, and a small, adorable Little White Cat appeared on her shoulder.

White fur grew over both her palms, and sharp claws sprang from her fingertips. She lowered her upper body slightly and pounced nimbly toward Tang Wuyang.

Her movements were extremely light, and she was very fast. She had won her previous match by relying on her speed advantage. Like Xie Xie, she was an Agile Attack System Battle Soul Master.

After continuously using his Soul Skills these past few days, Tang Wuyang had become much more familiar with using the Water Element.

Cold air surged forth as ice crystals continuously formed around him, eventually creating a crystalline Ice Net a short distance in front of him.

If Li Chushui continued charging forward, she would crash into the net.

She seemed somewhat timid. Her forward momentum abruptly paused, and all four limbs landed on the ground without making the slightest sound.

She leaped to the side, seemingly trying to circle around and attack Tang Wuyang from the flank.

Tang Wuyang had suffered from Xie Xie getting close to him before. He knew very well that if an Agile Attack System Battle Soul Master like this got near him, his own speed would leave him completely unable to defend against her attacks.

Thus, he hurriedly turned around and controlled the Ice Net to maintain its previous state, waiting for her to run into it.

Li Chushui constantly shifted positions, trying to find an opening. Tang Wuyang stared at her intently, calmly waiting without impatience.

He believed that while both had released their Martial Souls, she was constantly moving at high speed while he merely waited. His consumption would certainly be lower than hers.

As she continued changing positions, Tang Wuyang also kept adjusting his Ice Net, making it more orderly and completely covering any possible openings.

Li Chushui was, after all, only nine years old. Her combat experience was not particularly abundant.

Just as Tang Wuyang had expected, constantly moving at high speed to search for an opening rapidly drained her mere Level 11 Soul Power.

I can't wait any longer. If this continues, I won't be able to sustain my Soul Skill for much longer.

Li Chushui gritted her teeth and suddenly accelerated, circling behind Tang Wuyang. At the same time, she lunged forward, and the white Soul Ring around her lit up.

Her claws swung, sending out two white Light Blades that rushed ahead while her own body followed close behind.

Tang Wuyang was certainly not as fast as her, but merely turning around was much simpler than her movement.

The Ice Net rapidly contracted and condensed.

The two white Light Blades struck the rapidly shrinking, seemingly fragile Ice Net.

The expected shattering of the Ice Net did not occur. Instead, the parts of the net that came into contact with the Light Blades instantly turned dark blue, and the two Light Blades simply vanished. Then Li Chushui crashed into it.

The Ice Net covering her directly transformed into Ice Chains, binding Li Chushui's petite body in place.

Tang Wuyang pulled back with his right hand, drawing the bound and controlled Li Chushui before him. He clenched his right fist but did not throw it, stopping it before her face.

Xie Xie subconsciously rubbed his face. Why did this guy never stop when beating him?

A faint gleam flashed in Wu Changkong's eyes. The ability to freely control ice and water, coupled with a calm and steady temperament.

"Tang Wuyang wins."

Tang Wuyang released the binding Ice Chains and steadied Li Chushui's unbalanced body.

Li Chushui's little face reddened slightly as she looked timidly into Tang Wuyang's beautiful eyes so close to her. "Thank you."

Tang Wuyang smiled back. Li Chushui stared blankly, feeling as though his smile was filled with sunlight.

In the rest of the second round, Tang Wulin and Xie Xie both smoothly defeated their opponents.

After this round ended, five people remained.

Tang Wuyang had originally thought he would face Xie Xie in the second round, but Wu Changkong had deliberately not arranged it that way. The third round was the same.

"Tang Wulin, Tao Liufan, you two go first," Wu Changkong said expressionlessly.

Tao Liufan was a short but sturdy-looking boy with messy brown short hair.

The two stood facing one another and released their Martial Souls.

Tao Liufan's Martial Soul was a willow tree. As his Soul Power rose, he raised both hands as if supporting the sky, and slender willow branches emerged from his arms.

The willow branches swayed like vines. In that regard alone, they actually looked somewhat similar to Tang Wulin's Blue Silver Grass.

Strands of Blue Silver Grass grew out again. Control System against Control System—what would happen?

That was what Wu Changkong wanted to see.

In the earlier battles, Tao Liufan's performance had been fairly ordinary.

Based on their current strength, Control System Soul Masters clearly held the advantage under normal circumstances.

After all, none of them had any powerful Soul Skills yet.

In all of Class Five, only Xie Xie possessed a Century Soul Spirit. Everyone else had Ten-Year Soul Spirits.

Thus, Tao Liufan's Soul Ring was also white, and even his Soul Skill was the same as Tang Wulin's: Entwine!

The difference was that Tang Wulin's First Soul Skill was not merely Entwine. It also possessed another effect.

Both of their Soul Spirits were snake-type creatures, but Tao Liufan's Soul Spirit was a Little Green Snake.

Whether in size or presence, it was clearly far stronger-looking than Qing Yue, the somewhat listless Little Grass Snake on Tang Wulin's shoulder.

"Begin!"