Without sensing anything amiss, Yan Shaozhe couldn't help but exclaim, "An eighty-ranked Soul Douluo at twenty-five. In just a few years, we'll have another Titled Douluo. A genius like this could even reach the Limit Douluo realm someday. The waves behind really do push the waves ahead."
After he finished marveling, he picked up the Spirit Guidance Communicator on his desk and made a call. "Is that Wei Lun? I just hired an intern teacher. Find some time to come by and take care of the new teacher's onboarding and other formalities."
The next day.
It was the official first day of classes at Shrek Academy. By the time Xia Linyuan returned from the Soul Guidance Department to the Martial Soul Department, hardly any new students in white uniforms remained on the road.
Using his divine sense to locate Freshman Class One's classroom, Xia Linyuan casually pinned the Green Little Monster Badge representing Shrek Academy to his chest and walked straight in.
By then, the spacious classroom of Freshman Class One was almost full.
Gu Yuena, Tang Wulin, Wang Dong, and Huo Yuhao had all arrived early.
The twin sisters Tang Wulin and Wang Dong had naturally taken seats together. They were so strikingly beautiful—and dressed as boys—that a crowd of girls had gathered around them.
Gu Yuena sat beside a pretty, refined-looking girl who seemed rather shy. The two were quietly chatting. Since Gu Yuena had grown into a breathtaking beauty at such a young age, a crowd of boys had surrounded their seats several layers deep. Every so often, one of them tried to strike up a conversation with Gu Yuena, but she ignored them all.
Compared with the three girls who were being treated like celebrities, the handsome Huo Yuhao had a much lonelier spot. Though he was sitting beside a girl, she didn't even spare him a glance.
Xia Linyuan entered through the back door, so hardly anyone noticed his arrival. There happened to be an empty seat near the door, and he sat down.
When Gu Yuena noticed Xia Linyuan had arrived, she said something to her deskmate, then got up and walked over to him.
Quite a few eager gazes followed Gu Yuena as she moved. When they saw her approach Xia Linyuan, they reluctantly looked away, visibly disappointed.
It was obvious they'd gotten the wrong idea.
Gu Yuena dropped into the empty seat beside him. "Where have you been these past few days?"
"The Outer Court's Soul Guidance Department. Did you need something?"
Gu Yuena asked in surprise, "What were you doing there?"
Xia Linyuan glanced at her and said calmly, "Did Di Tian not tell you that the greatest enemy of Spirit Beasts today isn't humanity, but the Soul Tools made by human Spirit Masters?"
"Di Tian did tell me about Soul Tools. I just thought that with your strength, you wouldn't need to—"
"There's a saying: there's always more to learn. Soul Tools may be of little use to me and pose no threat, but that doesn't stop me from using magic to fight magic."
"What's magic?" Gu Yuena asked in surprise.
"It's more or less the same idea as a Spirit Skill."
"Is that so?" Gu Yuena nodded, only half understanding.
She didn't really understand what Xia Linyuan meant, but she knew it was probably another part of one of his many plans.
"By the way." As if something had occurred to her, Gu Yuena asked, "You've spent a long time blending into human society. If I want to understand the current state of Douluo Continent and where it's headed as quickly as possible, what would you suggest?"
"Talk less and do more. Read more, learn more, observe more. Understand?"
Gu Yuena: "...Isn't that just stating the obvious?"
"Then why don't you guess what I'm doing in the Soul Guidance Department? Have you been asleep for tens of thousands of years and slept your brain into atrophy?"
Slept her brain into atrophy?
Several black lines seemed to cross Gu Yuena's fair forehead.
Just as Gu Yuena was about to argue with Xia Linyuan, someone suddenly walked in through the classroom's front door. The noisy classroom of Freshman Class One fell instantly silent.
It was an elderly woman with a wrinkled face and white hair.
Who else could it be but Zhou Yi?
"Her face looks a little unnatural. It seems fake," Gu Yuena whispered.
As the Silver Dragon King who controlled the Seven Great Elements, she was extremely perceptive. Even the slightest hint of anything amiss could hardly escape her notice.
"She's wearing a human-skin mask," Xia Linyuan said calmly. "Fake is fake, after all. Naturally, you can see through it."
Zhou Yi calmly swept her gaze across every student in the classroom. Everyone she looked at—except Xia Linyuan and Gu Yuena—felt an invisible pressure weigh on their hearts.
Huo Yuhao was just as perceptive, and from Zhou Yi's eyes he sensed a powerful spiritual pressure.
"My name is Zhou Yi, and I'm your homeroom teacher. I don't know how many of you will last through the three months before the freshman assessment, let alone the years ahead. But I'll tell you this: in my class, no trash will ever pass the assessment. I'm here to cultivate monsters, not fools!"
Many students looked indignant at her words.
They had all been selected through multiple rounds of trials in their respective countries. They were the best of the best, and they had even passed the entrance exam for the top academy on the continent, Shrek Academy. Yet Zhou Yi had called them trash and fools. Who wouldn't be angry?
"This teacher seems rather interesting," Gu Yuena joked, but then she noticed the faintly raised corners of Xia Linyuan's lips.
On the surface, Xia Linyuan seemed easygoing, but Gu Yuena remembered all too well that he wore that expression whenever he was about to mock her.
Gu Yuena promptly shut her mouth.
She couldn't help it. She didn't have a mouth like Xia Linyuan's, one that could infuriate people the moment it opened.
"Anyone who's gotten into a fight during the registration period, stand up," Zhou Yi continued, once again saying something astonishing.
Everyone was dumbfounded. It was only the first day of school, and they barely knew anyone. Who would go looking for trouble and start a fight at the academy?
As the students fell silent in bewilderment, someone suddenly stood up.
It was Huo Yuhao!
Seeing Huo Yuhao stand, Wang Dong gave a cold snort and stood up too, unwilling to be outdone.
There were a hundred students in the class, and only two were standing. What did that feel like?
Naturally, it was like standing out from the crowd, and they became the focus of the entire class.
"Only two? You really are a bunch of good-for-nothings," Zhou Yi mocked. "Don't you know that a person who doesn't dare to make trouble is a mediocrity?"
As soon as Zhou Yi finished speaking, the entire class erupted in an uproar.
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