Selling the Mystery

The Group Chat messages abruptly stopped when the change in their expressions drew Zhou Yi's displeasure.

Since their strength was limited, Zhou Yi only glared at them a few times as a warning. She didn't threaten to expel them.

All four went offline. After adjusting their states, they quietly listened to Zhou Yi's lecture.

Time passed, and it was finally a little after two in the afternoon. Class was over?

Clack.

Zhou Yi set down the chalk in her hand, rubbed her hands together, folded up the class roster, and swept her gaze across the classroom.

"Class dismissed."

After speaking, Zhou Yi left without looking back. They waited a moment, then the classroom suddenly erupted into a noisy buzz.

"Ow, damn, my legs."

"Hey, you've got it easy. You're in the Power Attack System. I'm in the Support System, and I finished the run too. I can't even feel my legs now."

Their conversations were all complaints about the run. And when they thought about having to run with weights tomorrow, they felt utterly hopeless. Should they drop out?

Students who could join Shrek Academy not only had considerable talent, but also some degree of family backing. If they transferred to another Soul Master Academy, they could definitely be the top dogs there.

But who would have expected things at Shrek Academy to be like this? It was nothing like they'd imagined. They had thought everyone would listen to teachers discuss their Martial Soul insights, recommend Spirit Rings, and so on.

Instead, all they did after arriving was run, run, and run some more!

Chu Mo and the others didn't complain. They'd already spent ages venting in the Group Chat, and now they were too exhausted to say another word. They headed toward the cafeteria.

Xiao Xiao, Wang Dong'er, and Huo Yu'er walked beside or behind them.

The lively little girl Xiao Xiao was the first to speak. "Do we have to run again tomorrow? Can this really make us stronger?"

"Didn't Chu Mo say in the group earlier that this kind of training takes perseverance? You can't get stronger in just a few days. If you only do it for a few days, you might as well not bother. You could even end up with some kind of side effect."

Wang Dong'er shook her head. She wasn't very hopeful.

Ever since she awakened the Chat Group, her subconscious had stopped resisting Soul Tools, and she was no longer fixated on Shrek Academy.

As a young lady, she'd been doted on and always had a way out. If she returned to the Clear Sky Sect, two Titled Douluo would still protect her.

"I think so too."

Huo Yu'er had always been easy to overlook. She piped up from the side, then fell silent again.

"Yeah, that's what I think too. The most important thing right now is the Freshman Assessment, which is only three months away. How much can running really improve us?"

Chu Mo raised his brows and went along with Wang Dong'er's line of thought.

"I heard some people in the classroom talking about how our homeroom teacher has the highest promotion rate. Could there really be something to her methods?"

Xiao Xiao tilted her head and asked with an innocent air.

Before Chu Mo could complain, Wang Dong'er replied, her tone already displeased.

"Look how she expelled at least nine people today. Some of them cheated during the run, sure, but plenty were expelled simply because they couldn't finish it. Doesn't that prove their strength isn't good enough? She had the roster in her hands, so she must have investigated their Martial Souls and expelled the ones who had no chance of advancing."

"If she keeps the numbers low enough and only leaves students in the classroom who can advance, then she'll have a 100% promotion rate!"

She saw right through it. Hearing her, Chu Mo gave her a thumbs-up.

Clever. She'd started off by threatening everyone with expulsion. People outside might rack their brains and still never guess that a teacher at the so-called number-one academy would act like this.

But it proved even more clearly that the people in charge were doing nothing about it. They might even have tacitly approved. They wouldn't care if students with poor Martial Souls and low strength were expelled.

As for the ones with real backing or ability, they'd already been marked as important.

"Forget that old woman. Let's look into the new features in the group instead."

Maybe because she'd won a reward, Wang Dong'er had grown very interested in the Group Chat. She wanted to see if there was anything in it she could use.

At her question about the new features, Chu Mo's lips unconsciously curled upward. There was indeed a new feature, but the most important thing was what he had in his hands: the Manifestation Technique.

"Heh, you'll find out tomorrow. I'll post a video for you to watch."

To let everyone see what it could do, Chu Mo decided to run a trial first. After that, they could vote on what they wanted to see. And for the trial, he'd chosen the passionate love-hate relationship between Wang Dong'er and Meng Hongchen, which had been the hot topic of the day.

He'd let the two of them have a nice little heart-to-heart and boost the activity in the group.

He wouldn't show the part where she'd been so angry she vomited blood. That would hit a little too close to home. Besides, he'd just closed a big deal with her today, so he'd leave her some dignity.

"What video?"

Wang Dong'er tilted her head. His words had immediately piqued her curiosity.

"It's a secret. If I tell you, it won't be a surprise anymore."

Chu Mo left it at that and said nothing more, no matter how Wang Dong'er and Xiao Xiao threatened or wheedled him.

Heaven Dou Empire.

Outside the capital, Heaven Dou City, at a small sect on the outskirts.

Tang Ya controlled the Demon Puppet as it flew high above, looking down on the former Tang Sect headquarters.

It now bore the sign of the Iron-Blooded Sect. She watched the people inside eating, drinking, and enjoying themselves.

Memories of her parents' lessons and those happy days flickered through her eyes, but now they had all turned to bubbles.

These people could enjoy themselves only because they had trampled over her parents.

"You all deserve to die!"

The purple-black demonic artifact obscured the reason in Tang Ya's beautiful eyes, leaving only scarlet fury.

Dark Blue Silver Grass appeared in her hand. She tugged at it. It was like a whip covered in barbs. At the same time, enormous vines streaked with red spread out from the ground, and tendrils branched from them, quickly encircling the Iron-Blooded Sect's modest compound.

In a nearby room, Zhongli Wu, a person cultivating angels, sensed the familiar aura and raised his brows.

"So there's someone else like me?"

Smack~

Closing the book in his hand, Zhongli Wu vanished on the spot. In an instant, he appeared in the sky above. He followed the energy toward its source and gaped in astonishment.

The Blue Silver Grass, marked with dark red patterns, had wrapped around the Iron-Blooded Sect's compound like a giant ball of vines. When the patterns touched blood, they slowly glimmered, as if they were truly bleeding.

Art!

These were the Saint and Saintess he had been searching for!

Feeling the world's aura and gazing at the wondrous scene before him, Zhongli Wu felt as if he had come back to life. Come back to life?

"Ah!"

"What's going on?"

"Which senior is passing by? I'll pay you! Please spare my worthless life!"

Hearing the people below plead for mercy, Tang Ya's face showed a hint of excitement.

She controlled the barbed Blue Silver Grass in her hand, binding together everyone from the Iron-Blooded Sect, including its sect master, Tie Li. Then she drove the barbs into their bodies and began to move them slowly.

"Senior, please, let us go—"

"Ah!!!"

As she listened to their screams, Tang Ya's face, hidden beneath the Demon Puppet, flushed with a sick, feverish excitement.

It should have been a bloody scene, yet not a drop of blood spilled. The Blue Silver Grass slowly absorbed it all.