Class Monitor

The afternoon class was moved to the training ground.

A pile of iron chains lay on the field. Zhou Yi pointed at them. "Put them on." Her order was brief and beyond question.

They were Iron Armor made of chains, heavy and rigid in the hand.

Xue Lingyun picked one up and weighed it. It had to be at least twenty or thirty pounds.

Expressionless, he slipped it on and rolled his shoulders and back. It was fine—far lighter than the Soul Guidance Weight-Bearing Armor he wore daily, barely adding any pressure at all.

The others were not so relaxed. The moment they put on the Iron Armor, many of their waists bent slightly under the weight, strained expressions appearing on their faces.

Huo Yuhao let out a muffled grunt. His thin body visibly sank beneath the burden, but he gritted his teeth and tried to straighten his back.

Zhou Yi's gaze stabbed through everyone like ice picks, pausing briefly on Xue Lingyun. "Xue Lingyun, level 35, will serve as temporary Class Monitor. Whoever can defeat him will become the new Class Monitor."

Her announcement came without warning, and she had no intention of asking for anyone's opinion. "Now, we will begin this afternoon's lesson."

Without even giving the new Class Monitor any specific duties, she announced the rules in a cold voice. "Wear the Iron Armor and run around the field. Keep running until the dismissal bell rings. I will rank you according to the number of laps you complete."

She paused, each word seeming to hammer against their hearts. "The last-place student will be expelled from Class One of the Freshmen."

There were no further explanations, no tactical guidance, and certainly no instruction for the Class Monitor to lead the run.

The trial had already begun, naked and brutal, from the instant they put on the Iron Armor and the rules were announced.

The crowd froze for a moment before immediately breaking into commotion, all scrambling to start running. No one wanted to be the "last-place student."

At first, they could barely maintain a formation, but soon, the differences in stamina and the crushing weight of the Iron Armor scattered them completely, turning the field into a sparse, chaotic scene of students chasing and overtaking one another.

Xue Lingyun ran near the front of the group. He was not the fastest, but his strides were exceptionally steady and even, his breathing long and smooth, as though the Iron Armor on his body did not exist.

As he ran, he watched the students behind him from the corner of his eye.

The divide quickly emerged.

Several physically fit boys charged ahead. Most struggled through the middle, while Huo Yuhao and two or three others with clearly weaker constitutions had already fallen to the rear. Every step looked extraordinarily difficult, their faces flushed red and their ragged breathing like broken bellows.

Xue Lingyun swept his gaze over them and understood the situation. He steadily completed another lap, catching up from behind with Huo Yuhao, who had fallen to the very back.

This kid's physical condition was indeed at the bottom, but Xue Lingyun knew about that protagonist-standard stubbornness and perseverance of his. If he truly risked his life, he would not necessarily end up last.

Still, no one yet seemed to know just how bizarre this fellow's endurance potential was.

Maintaining an even pace, he ran alongside Huo Yuhao, who was struggling forward step by step, and said, "Yuhao, follow me."

Huo Yuhao was already dizzy and seeing spots. Hearing the voice, he instinctively raised his head and saw Xue Lingyun adjust his speed to run almost parallel to him.

"Don't look up. Look ahead. Didn't you join the Tang Sect? Circulate the Mysterious Heaven Skill. Use your inner breath to guide your breathing; don't rely on brute force alone." Xue Lingyun's voice remained steady, carrying a strangely soothing power.

"Follow my breathing rhythm. Inhale, deep and slow... that's right, use your abdomen... exhale, get as much out as you can... inhale every two steps, exhale every two steps. Give it a try."

As if clutching at a lifeline, Huo Yuhao desperately gathered his nearly scattered consciousness. While doing his utmost to circulate the faint inner energy of the Mysterious Heaven Skill, he tried to imitate Xue Lingyun's breathing frequency and stride rhythm.

Though it was still heavy and painful, the feeling of suffocation and his lungs about to explode actually eased slightly.

It was not only Huo Yuhao.

While adjusting his own rhythm, Xue Lingyun glanced at several other nearby students who were clearly falling behind, their footsteps unsteady—

A ponytailed girl running not far ahead had a face as pale as paper, sweat blurring her eyes as she practically shuffled forward on instinct.

A little farther back, there was also a chubby boy gasping like a bellows, his legs nearly unable to lift.

"Those in the middle who can't keep up, watch your breathing—don't hold it! If your steps feel heavy, shorten your stride a little and increase your pace! Keeping a rhythm is more important than blindly sprinting faster!" He raised his voice so the students in the surrounding area could hear him.

His guidance was highly specific, without empty encouragements like "keep going." Everything he said was a method they could try to follow while at their limits. "Imagine the Iron Armor is part of your body. Don't fight against it—try to adapt to its weight and use it to stabilize your center of gravity!"

As he ran through a bend, he even deliberately veered slightly outward, blocking some of the side wind for Huo Yuhao and one or two others struggling desperately behind him.

That subtle movement slightly reduced the pressure on Huo Yuhao, who was barely keeping up behind him.

As he ran, Xue Lingyun rapidly calculated in his mind.

He definitely had to help, but there was skill in how to help and how far to take it.

Huo Yuhao was the priority, but he could not focus on him alone.

Showing an appropriate degree of concern for the group would not only earn goodwill, but also create a more responsible and manageable image in Zhou Yi's eyes, as well as those of any higher-ups watching.

Between a genius who only knew how to lower his head and charge forward, and a genius who knew how to look after his companions within the rules and improve the group's overall performance, which one was more worthy of resources?

The answer was obvious.

As for how effective it would be, how many people could truly listen and keep up, that depended on their own fortunes.

It was enough for him to stop at the right point and plant the seeds.

Time slowly passed amid heavy footsteps and rough gasps.

The training ground seemed to become an enormous millstone, mercilessly grinding down everyone's stamina. One student after another exhausted their last bit of strength and collapsed beside the track, unable to get back up.

At last, Huo Yuhao reached his limit as well. His lungs burned fiercely, darkness repeatedly clouded his vision, and his body swayed as if it might collapse, nearly breaking away from the breathing rhythm he had struggled to maintain.

It was not because his will had weakened. Under Xue Lingyun's guidance, he had actually run much farther than his original limit, and his body reached the edge of collapse first.

His footsteps faltered, and he was about to stumble and fall. But at the instant his body lost balance, he caught sight of that steady, seemingly tireless back ahead of him from the corner of his eye.

A powerful unwillingness surged through him—Bro Lingyun is still running! How can I just fall here?! Mom... she definitely wouldn't want to see me give up so easily...

That thought was like a shot to the heart, abruptly gathering his nearly scattered will!

He let out a low roar and forcibly steadied himself. Not only did he avoid falling, he bit down on his lips until blood seeped out, exhausted the last of his strength, and once again matched the rhythm of that figure ahead!

This scene was like a stone tossed into stagnant water.

The other collapsed students, whether they had given up long ago or had only just fallen, all saw it.

Watching Huo Yuhao's staggering yet incomparably stubborn back, watching Xue Lingyun's seemingly tireless lead, something indescribable ignited in their hearts.

One, two, three... more and more students who had originally given up struggled, gasped, and stood back up, joining the runners once again!

Though they were moving as slowly as if walking, though every step was agonizing, they did not stop.

Under Xue Lingyun's silent leadership and Huo Yuhao's stubborn persistence, Class One of the Freshmen actually began to "run" again in a brutal yet tenacious manner!

Until—"Ding, ding, ding—"

The crisp dismissal bell rang across the training ground.

As though the last support had been pulled away, every student still moving, including Huo Yuhao, lost all their strength at the same moment. They collapsed in all directions, leaving only violently heaving chests and gasps so harsh they seemed ready to make them vomit.

Across the entire training ground, only one person remained steadily standing.

Xue Lingyun stopped in the middle of his classmates sprawled all over the ground. His face was not red, he was not out of breath, and there was not even a noticeable bead of sweat on his forehead. He even had the leisure to straighten the dusty Iron Armor on his body.

He looked around at his exhausted classmates, most of whom had a strange light in their eyes, and silently complained to himself: A thousand students enroll. After the Freshman Assessment, fewer than four hundred remain, and less than twenty percent will graduate in the end...

Unity? In an elimination system like raising poisonous insects, how many people can still remain standing side by side in the end?

Sarcastic as the thought was, he had no intention of saying it aloud.

Besides, coming to study at Shrek had been their own choice.

What kind of path they took and how far they could go was, in the end, their own affair.