A Person Must Rely on Themselves

Often, many things cannot be spoken of precisely because the relationship is too close.

Whether it is the Black Heart Evil Palm or the Fist of the North Star, both are martial arts with a heavy intent to kill.

Using them too often and fighting too much will naturally affect one's state of mind.

This has nothing to do with willpower; rather, from the moment he chose to cultivate these two martial arts, he stepped onto such a path.

Since he has stepped onto this path, he must not evade it; he must accept it and master it!

Fist imprints condense stars to shatter the nine heavens, palms swallow dark moons to overturn the heavenly tide. Blood burns the desolate bones, leaving a thousand mountains in silence; the blade slashes the setting sun, scorching ten thousand miles.

Before the killing intent ceases, the wind rages first; before the battle intent rests, the fire grows more arrogant. If one asks where the Asura heads? I alone stand proud until the world's tribulation ends!

The floor of the Training Room was soaked with sweat. Situ Xuan lay flat on his back in the center, his chest heaving violently.

The bright soul guidance lamps on the ceiling left scorched-like afterimages on his retinas.

The crisp sound of Long Xiuyuan unscrewing a mineral water bottle was exceptionally clear in the silence. He squatted down and shook the bottle against Situ Xuan's sweat-dampened temple, the cold surface triggering a string of tiny water droplets.

"Don't you ever feel lonely?"

Long Xiuyuan spoke out of the blue, "Fighting alone, training alone, coming and going by yourself, doing things your own way..."

His gaze was deep, as if he couldn't fathom what had caused a mere ten-year-old boy to develop such a personality. "Aren't friends good? Aren't teammates good?"

Situ Xuan swatted away the water bottle Long Xiuyuan held out, laughing softly. "Lao Long, when did you become so sentimental?"

The lights in the Training Room dimmed for an instant, as if swallowed by something invisible.

Situ Xuan raised his arm, the shadows winding like snakes across his wrist bones. He stared at the halo of light on the ceiling, his voice so soft it was like talking to himself: "In this world, there is no such thing as wholehearted good, nor is there wholehearted evil."

His words were somewhat nonsensical. "When you pin your hopes on others, once the results fail to meet your expectations, it will inevitably breed various negative emotions in your heart..."

"Pain, sorrow, resentment, melancholy, unwillingness, and even heart-wrenching despair."

"So when you look back, this damn life has actually been telling you a truth all along..."

Situ Xuan lowered his hand, staring straight at the incandescent light, and said firmly: "A person must rely on themselves!"

"A person must rely on themselves!"

He repeated it, as if expounding upon some great truth.

The Dean's Office.

"What exactly is going on?"

Yu Zhen looked at Long Hengxu, who was standing in front of his desk, with a grim expression.

Long Hengxu gave a wry smile. "The freshmen this year are truly quite eccentric... However, I must say that this year's freshmen are absolutely brimming with talent. If guided well, they will certainly become the pillars of Eastsea Academy in the future."

"The reason today's match spiraled out of control was that at the very last moment, two students from Class One-One, both with the cultivation of two-ring Great Soul Masters, suddenly used an incomplete version of a martial soul fusion skill. That martial soul fusion skill must be of a very high grade; they should have at least reached the three-ring level before they could fully unleash its effects."

"A martial soul fusion skill?"

Yu Zhen raised his eyebrows slightly, a flash of surprise in his eyes. While surprised, the anger in his heart also diminished slightly. "Since it was an unstable martial soul fusion skill, then whatever consequences arose were inevitable. As long as the situation isn't serious, I won't blame you."

Long Hengxu continued to smile wryly, shaking his head as he said, "Dean, the reason I came to talk to you about this isn't to discuss the martial soul fusion skill, or rather, the winner of this year's Class Promotion Tournament isn't Class One-One, who possessed the martial soul fusion skill, but Class One-Three, who looked mediocre in every aspect."

"What?"

Yu Zhen asked in disbelief, "They lost even with a martial soul fusion skill?"

Long Hengxu nodded. "Yes, and they lost without any ability to parry."

He slowly exhaled. "It is precisely because of this that I want to request that you, Dean, halt the ongoing pace of this year's Class Promotion Tournament."

"You mean..."

Yu Zhen stood up in disbelief, frowning as he asked, "You mean that even the second-year students wouldn't be a match for that Class One-Three?"

The Class Promotion Tournament at Eastsea Academy has always started with the first-year students fighting, with the final winner moving up to challenge Class Two-Five and continuing upward.

However, under normal circumstances, no matter how strong the first-year students are, they cannot exceed the average level of the second-year students. In other words, under normal circumstances, the tournament would stop by the time it reached Class Two-Three.

This serves both to teach the new first-year students that there is always someone better, and that there are mountains beyond mountains.

It also tells the second-year students that their juniors are excellent, so they should not be complacent and must strive to move forward.

But at this moment, Long Hengxu's meaning was clear: if the Class Promotion Tournament were to continue, Eastsea Academy might truly see a class that fights all the way from the first year to the third year for the first time in history!

"Dean, that is indeed the situation."

Long Hengxu nodded with a wry smile and sighed, saying, "At the time, I couldn't believe it either. But the facts are right before our eyes; thousands of teachers and students saw what happened, so I couldn't possibly have fabricated it! If you don't believe me, you can go and investigate."

"In my opinion, that student likely possesses the martial soul that has only ever appeared in the legendary Body Sect—the Body."

The Body Sect of today has long since become a legend, even more ancient than Shrek Academy.

On one hand, this is due to Mu Ye's low profile, and on the other, it is because the Body Sect consists of only two people.

Ordinary people have long forgotten this legendary sect that was once able to stand shoulder-to-shoulder with Shrek Academy ten thousand years ago.

"Dean, that's not all."

Long Hengxu continued, "Class One-Five, which is the class led by Teacher Wu Zhangkong, is the only class capable of going toe-to-toe with that Situ Xuan (in Long Hengxu's opinion). If not for the scheduling of the Class Promotion Tournament, the top two of this year would likely have been Grade One Class Three and Class One-Five."

One bombshell after another left Yu Zhen struggling to process the information. It took him a long while before he finally asked, "Are you saying that a Martial Soul Fusion skill combination, something rarely seen even once in ten or twenty years, doesn't even rank in the top two among this year's freshmen?"

Long Hengxu nodded. "That is correct."

"Hiss!"

Yu Zhen drew a sharp breath and sat down to take a sip of water, finally suppressing the shock in his heart.

Could it be that destiny has finally smiled upon Eastsea Academy?!

"Teacher Long, since you've come to find me, do you have any suggestions?"

Yu Zhen leaned forward abruptly, looking at Long Hengxu with anticipation. "Why don't you share them? Let's pool our wisdom!"

Long Hengxu replied with confidence, "I believe the current situation of the first years is no longer suitable for continuing to participate in the Class Promotion Tournament. Judging by today's events, let alone the second years, even the third years might not be able to stop them. This may not necessarily be a good thing for the students. I believe we should treat this batch of freshmen with special consideration."

"What kind of special consideration?"