Geniuses

The Genius Class Qin Ming attended was located at the very center of the academy. It was a classroom several hundred square meters in size, with just about a hundred students. It was currently break time, and the room was buzzing with noise.

Just then, the front door near the podium opened, and Ling Yuan, dressed in a black gown, led Qin Ming inside.

"Students, I have good news for everyone. Starting today, a new companion will be joining us." Amplified by Soul Power, Ling Yuan's voice drowned out all the noise and drew the entire classroom's attention.

"Him? He looks so young."

"Judging by what he's wearing, he must have come from outside."

"Wow, look, look! What a cute little brother."

Everyone's eyes naturally focused on Qin Ming, and all sorts of discussions rose around him, though most of them concerned his age.

After all, Qin Ming was only around 1.4 meters tall, while most of the students in the classroom were over ten years old and stood around 1.5 or 1.6 meters tall.

"Qin Ming, introduce yourself," Ling Yuan said, patting him on the shoulder.

Qin Ming stepped forward. "Hello, everyone. My name is Qin Ming. I come from the Balak Kingdom. My Martial Soul is the Inferno Grey Wolf, and I am a Level 22 Soul Grandmaster."

"I hope you will all guide me in the future."

After hearing Qin Ming's introduction, the geniuses in the classroom looked at him with all kinds of expressions.

Some were curious, some disdainful, and some brimming with fighting spirit. Qin Ming took them all in. There had been a saying in his previous life: schools were the places with the most oddballs. It was obvious that the geniuses here all had plenty of personality.

At that moment, Ling Yuan added fuel to the fire from the side. "Qin Ming is only eight years old this year, the youngest in the class. Everyone, be sure to take good care of him."

The moment those words fell, the classroom erupted. Reaching Level 22 at eight years old was simply too shocking. Everyone present was exceptionally talented, and quite a few came from major clans with abundant cultivation resources. Even so, most of them only broke through to Soul Grandmaster around the age of ten.

"Teacher Ling Yuan, Qin Ming reached Level 22 at eight years old. Could he have used some crooked method?"

"My Martial Soul will not tolerate such scum appearing in Spirit City beneath the protection of holy light!"

The speaker was a boy dressed in splendid golden robes. He had golden hair and golden eyes, as well as a face that would make more than ninety-nine percent of the men in the world jealous. His words carried an undisguised sense of superiority.

"Qi, you can eat whatever you want, but you cannot say whatever you want. Qin Ming's entire growth process has been completely transparent."

"I understand your determination to defend the authority of the Angel God, but you still need evidence."

The boy named Qi said nothing. His golden eyes merely watched Qin Ming coldly.

Qin Ming frowned. This golden-haired boy had targeted him from the very beginning and clearly did not take him seriously. But Qin Ming was not someone with a good temper, either.

"Qi, I have heard that Fallen Spirit Masters who specifically use crooked methods to increase their Soul Power may cultivate quickly, but their foundations are unstable. When they use their Martial Souls, they also carry an evil aura that cannot be concealed."

"As for whether I am that kind of Fallen Spirit Master, would Qi like to experience it for himself?"

Qin Ming calmly met Qi's gaze. This was practically a declaration of war. If he chose to endure a provocation from the start, the other side would only become more brazen in the future.

Geniuses were all arrogant. Qin Ming naturally possessed that arrogance as well, but it was not arrogance toward the weak. It was arrogance toward enemies.

Like the situation before him.

"Has he gone crazy? He actually wants to challenge Angel Qi right away?"

"How many strikes do you think this Level 22 newcomer can take from Qi?"

"If Qi can't finish him in three strikes, I'll wash my hair standing on my head."

The students instantly split into three groups. One supported Qi and believed Qin Ming was simply courting death. The second group stayed detached and watched the show. The third was worried about Qin Ming.

The golden-haired boy named Qi darkened, clearly not expecting Qin Ming to dare challenge him.

"This afternoon. Soul Fighting Arena." After tossing those words at Qin Ming, Qi sat down.

"Just have a friendly exchange," Ling Yuan said with a smile.

"Qin Ming, sit beside Bai Heng." Ling Yuan pointed toward an empty window seat in the second-to-last row. Sitting beside it was a white-haired boy wearing a light golden Spirit Master robe.

It was one of the few empty seats in the entire classroom.

When Ling Yuan pointed to the empty seat beside him, the boy named Bai Heng looked left and right, seeming somewhat at a loss.

"All right, Teacher Ling Yuan." Just as Qin Ming was about to head to his seat, Ling Yuan bent down and whispered a few more words into his ear.

"Good luck, Qin Ming. These geniuses are all wild and unruly, so help me teach them a proper lesson."

"Oh, right. This month is almost over. If you want to earn more points, you'd better hurry."

Ling Yuan chuckled mischievously. She wondered what kind of expressions this group would have when they saw a Thousand Year Soul Ring that afternoon.

Qin Ming smiled calmly. It seemed Ling Yuan saw him as a catalyst—throwing a bomb into the Genius Class to make these geniuses compete even harder.

Qin Ming arrived at his window seat.

"H-hello, my name is Bai Heng." The white-haired youth beside him spoke, his voice somewhat timid. It was obvious he was being very careful with his words.

He seemed like a rather shy boy.

"Hello, I'm Qin Ming," Qin Ming replied with a smile.

"Qin Ming, you're amazing. You provoked Angel Qi as soon as you arrived."

The girl seated in front of Qin Ming turned around and examined him from head to toe with her pale green eyes.

"Let me introduce myself. My name is Hua Lian. I'm ten years old, a Level 22 Support Type Tool Soul Master, and my Martial Soul is the Spirit Flower." Hua Lian introduced herself to Qin Ming with easy familiarity.

"Hello, Hua Lian."

"Could you tell me more about this class?"

"Hehe, no problem." Hua Lian smiled, revealing two rows of pearly white teeth, then pointed at Qi, who was surrounded by people in the middle of the classroom.

"That one is incredible. He's a twelve-year-old Level 28 Soul Grandmaster, and his Martial Soul is the Two-Winged Angel. Everyone in the class calls him Angel Qi."

"Two-Winged Angel?"

"That's right. His grandfather is the commander of the Angel Legion and is responsible for guarding the Holy Mountain."

"I see. A Martial Soul from the Angel lineage. No wonder he had such a strong attitude the moment he opened his mouth." Qin Ming understood. No wonder Qi had immediately tried to brand him a Fallen Spirit Master.

There were many holders of Angel Martial Souls, but the god-tier Six-Winged Angel Martial Soul was passed down solely through the Qian Clan.

Qin Ming recalled that in the original story, Spirit Hall's first team had been the Angel Legion, made entirely of Soul Saints with Two-Winged Angel Martial Souls, yet Tang San had wiped them out the moment they appeared with the Buddha Fury Tang Lotus.

He wondered whether Angel Qi would also be part of that force thirty years later.

"Also, do you see that big guy?" Hua Lian pointed out another person to Qin Ming.

He was a burly boy with gray hair, seated beside Qi. In this Genius Class, where the average age was ten, he had already grown to 1.7 meters tall.

Compared to Qin Ming and the others, he could practically be called a giant.

"He's Cang Ao. His Martial Soul is the White Armored Earth Dragon, and he's the grandson of Holy Dragon Douluo from the Elder Hall. He's already Level 28 at eleven years old."

"Don't be fooled by his size. He actually loves playing petty tricks."

"Cang Ao and Qi are the representatives of Spirit City's local students."

"That's right. They often exclude students like us who came from outside." Bai Heng, who had been listening silently until then, finally spoke. There was even a trace of resentment in his voice.

"Those who came from outside?" Qin Ming raised an eyebrow.

"That's right. He calls students like us, who came from outside Spirit City, Outlanders," Bai Heng explained.

Qin Ming understood. He had more or less figured out the class's dynamics. One side was the local faction made up of Spirit City natives, while the other side consisted of students who had come from outside Spirit City.

Those local Spirit City students held a lofty sense of superiority over Outlanders like them.

Qin Ming had expected that long ago. Spirit City was, after all, the holy land of Spirit Masters.

From birth, everyone formed their own circles, and this was especially evident in Douluo Continent, a world where extraordinary power was inherited through bloodlines.