The Strongest Freshman Class in History
As the sun set, the lakeside at Shrek Academy was bathed in golden-red light.
The air was filled with the rich, charred aroma of cumin and sizzling oil. Huo Yuhao expertly flipped the grilled fish in his hands, its golden skin crackling.
They were celebrating their victory in the freshman assessment, and no grilled-fish feast would be complete without cumin.
"Class monitor, your cooking is incredible!" Xiao Xiao cupped her grilled fish in both hands and took small bites.
Wang Dong was enjoying hers too. She was just about to praise the fish when her nose twitched. "Someone's coming."
A short distance away, a young man and woman followed the aroma over. They were Bei Bei and Tang Ya.
"That smells amazing!" Tang Ya's eyes lit up as she came right over.
But when Bei Bei and Tang Ya saw Huo Yuhao's face, they both froze.
They naturally remembered the boy they'd briefly encountered on the outskirts of the Star Dou Great Forest.
At the time, Huo Yuhao had been weak, and they hadn't paid him any mind. They'd even had a falling-out.
Who could have imagined that the unremarkable boy from three months ago was now the freshman assessment champion, causing a sensation across the entire academy?
"So it's Senior Brother Bei Bei and Senior Sister Tang Ya." Wang Dong knew nothing about their past disagreement and greeted them warmly. "Come sit and eat with us. It's the perfect chance to introduce you. This is our class monitor, Huo Yuhao, and Xiao Xiao."
Wang Dong then introduced the two newcomers to Huo Yuhao and Xiao Xiao: Tang Ya was the Tang Sect's leader, and Bei Bei was its founding disciple.
After a few grilled fish, the atmosphere had eased somewhat. Wang Dong wiped her mouth and brought up the old matter again. "Teacher Xiao Ya, you promised that if I won the championship, I could join the Tang Sect. I did it."
Tang Ya set down her grilled fish and thumped her chest. "All right. As the Tang Sect's leader, I hereby approve your joining the Tang Sect."
"Fantastic!" Wang Dong excitedly tugged at Huo Yuhao and Xiao Xiao. "What do you say? Want to join the Tang Sect with me?"
Huo Yuhao glanced at her, his tone cool and almost indifferent. "Join the Tang Sect? I'm not interested."
"Yuhao!" Wang Dong grew anxious. "The Tang Sect may be in decline, but it still has a deep foundation, and besides..."
Huo Yuhao cut her off, then patiently asked Tang Ya, "Senior Sister Tang Ya, what do you think is the root cause of the Tang Sect's decline?"
Tang Ya froze and replied without thinking, "The impact of Soul Tools, and... and people no longer wanting to learn Hidden Weapons..."
"No." Huo Yuhao shook his head. His voice was calm, but each word cut deep. "It's arrogance and refusing to adapt."
"Hidden Weapons? Against a mounted Soul Cannon, the so-called Tang Sect Hidden Weapons are a joke. Times have changed, Senior Sister. Soul Tools are the future, yet the Tang Sect clings to its glory from ten thousand years ago. Being swept aside by history is inevitable."
"Huo Yuhao, you..." Tang Ya's face turned pale, and she staggered back a step. She hadn't expected him to be so merciless.
"Besides, I don't like being tied down." Huo Yuhao's tone was detached. "This so-called revival of the Tang Sect is just trying to keep a rotting corpse alive. Instead of struggling within its decaying framework, it would be better to tear it down and start over."
As he spoke, Huo Yuhao lowered his head and looked into Tang Ya's shocked eyes. He enunciated every word.
"Senior Sister Tang Ya, take my advice. The Tang Sect no longer needs to exist."
Seeing Tang Ya's pale face, Wang Dong couldn't bear it. She tugged at Huo Yuhao's arm, signaling him to stop.
But then Huo Yuhao changed tack. "Unless you let me be the leader."
The air instantly grew still.
Bei Bei furrowed his brow, and Tang Ya's expression shifted. She said sternly, "That's impossible. The Tang Sect's ancestral rules state that its leader must be a Blue Silver Grass Soul Master. The Tang Sect's ancestor, Tang San, was a Blue Silver Grass Soul Master. This is a matter of faith."
"Faith?" Huo Yuhao scoffed, as if he'd heard the biggest joke in the world. "Tang Ya, your so-called faith is nothing but a massive lie. Do you really think someone could become a god with the Trash Martial Soul Blue Silver Grass?"
"What are you saying?" Tang Ya glared at him.
"Tang San's Martial Soul wasn't Blue Silver Grass at all. It was the Blue Silver Emperor—the emperor among Plant-type Soul Beasts!"
Huo Yuhao tore away the pretense without mercy, his gaze sharp as a blade. "He became a god thanks to his supreme bloodline talent, yet he made rules that left ordinary Blue Silver Grass Soul Masters of later generations guarding an empty shell. That's why the Tang Sect declined: you kept going down the wrong path and refused to turn back! You're leading people astray!"
His words exploded beside Tang Ya like a thunderclap.
Her face was pale, and she swayed unsteadily.
She wanted to argue, but she found that Huo Yuhao's reasoning was airtight and struck directly at the heart of the matter.
After a long while, Tang Ya gritted her teeth, a note of resolve flashing in her eyes. "If you really can lead the Tang Sect back to prosperity... I can step down and let someone more capable take my place. Your talent is indeed far greater than mine. I'm just a leader who holds everyone back."
Bei Bei stared at Tang Ya in surprise. He was about to try to stop her, but Tang Ya held him back.
"Good." Huo Yuhao set down his grilled fish, stood up, and dusted off his hands. "Since I'm now the Tang Sect's leader, I'll issue my first order."
Everyone held their breath, waiting for his bold declaration.
Huo Yuhao looked around at them and coldly uttered four words: "Dissolve the Tang Sect."
"What?!" Tang Ya and Bei Bei cried out at the same time, unable to believe their ears.
"Times have changed." Huo Yuhao stood with his hands behind his back and looked straight into Tang Ya's eyes. "Against Soul Tools, things like Hidden Weapons are nothing but scrap metal. There's no point clinging to a pile of outdated trash and barely scraping by. Soul Tools are the future. The Tang Sect is nothing but dust in the pages of history."
"You... you bastard!" Tang Ya trembled with anger, tears spilling from her eyes.
She hadn't expected that after making such a huge concession, all she would get in return was this humiliation.
"We have nothing in common, so there's nothing more to discuss." Bei Bei's face turned livid as he pulled Tang Ya to her feet. "Xiao Ya, let's go!"
The two left in a fury, their retreating figures especially desolate.
...Meanwhile, in the Divine Realm.
Inside the cloud-wreathed Sea God Hall, a man in a blue robe gazed down through the clouds at the scene unfolding on the Douluo Continent. He was Tang San, ancestor of the Tang Sect and the Sea God.
When he'd seen Huo Yuhao's extraordinary talent and the good fortune surrounding him, he had already regarded him as the one who would revive the Tang Sect—and even as a pawn for his own future plans.
He'd even prepared a series of "trials," ready to bestow them upon this "lucky" boy.
But when Huo Yuhao uttered the words "The Tang Sect should have been dissolved long ago," Tang San's normally composed, lofty expression—the expression of someone who controlled everything—collapsed in an instant!
"Impudent—!"
A furious roar shook the Sea God Hall. Terrifying divine might erupted, shattering the surrounding clouds. Tang San's face twisted, veins bulging on his forehead, while the Sea God Trident in his hand hummed.
"Presumptuous brat! You dare insult my Tang Sect! You dare call it a rotting corpse?!"
"You've sealed your own fate! Huo Yuhao has sealed his own fate!!"
Tang San had never imagined that the pawn he'd chosen would change his mind and set out to restore the Tang Sect to its former glory.
Instead, Huo Yuhao had stepped on the Tang Sect's signboard and declared that he would dissolve it!
It was an outright slap in the face to him, a God King!
He could hardly wait to strike Huo Yuhao dead with a bolt of divine lightning.
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