A Choice of Two

Feeling this power fluctuation, which to him was as insignificant as a mayfly, Xia Linyuan curled his lips in disdain.

He narrowed his eyes, and instantly, a terrifying aura hundreds of times more powerful than that of Zhou Yi forced her spirit power pressure back.

A gloomy, icy aura instantly enveloped Zhou Yi completely.

Two yellow, two purple, three black, and one red—a total of eight Spirit Rings rose from beneath Xia Linyuan's feet. A blood-red light, as if dripping with fresh blood, suddenly spread outward with him at the center, dyeing the entire classroom red in an instant.

Eight rings! A red Spirit Ring!

Teacher Naiya, who looked only about twenty-four years old, was actually an eight-ring Spirit Douluo!

And he wasn't just a Spirit Douluo; he possessed a 100,000-year Spirit Ring, which only the most top-tier Spirit Beasts could produce!

The students stared at the tall figure standing by the podium in sheer horror.

A 100,000-year Spirit Ring! How, how is this possible!

This was the only thought in Zhou Yi's mind at this very moment.

"You..." Under the terrifying aura that felt like it came from an ancient wilderness, Zhou Yi squeezed out a single word through her teeth with great difficulty.

Because Xia Linyuan's pressure was aimed solely at Zhou Yi and he had deliberately restrained it, the students had no idea what kind of situation Zhou Yi was facing. All they could feel was that "Teacher Naiya" was more formidable than any Spirit Master they had ever seen.

The situation here also attracted the attention of others.

Swish, swish, swish!

More than thirty outer courtyard teachers who were teaching in their respective classes rushed from their classrooms to the outside of the Freshman Class One room in the shortest time possible.

When they saw the red Spirit Ring flickering with eerie blood light beside Xia Linyuan, the teachers were stunned.

They had all received news of a new teacher joining the faculty and had heard that this new teacher's talent and strength were no less than that person's, but they never expected the new teacher to possess a 100,000-year Spirit Ring.

One must know that even in the entire Shrek Academy today, very few people possessed a 100,000-year Spirit Ring! How could they not be shocked?

Seeing more and more people gathering, Xia Linyuan said calmly, "Teacher Zhou, you've gone too far. They are here to learn, not to serve a prison sentence."

After he finished speaking, as those eight rhythmic Spirit Rings were retracted, that terrifying aura vanished in an instant.

Feeling as if she had walked on the edge of death, Zhou Yi felt like she had been reborn, greedily gasping for fresh air.

"Teacher Zhou, Teacher Naiya, what happened here? Why were you two almost at each other's throats?" Among the teachers, a seemingly older male teacher asked.

Still unable to recover, Zhou Yi's mind was blank, and she couldn't hear a word of what the others were saying.

Xia Linyuan smiled slightly, his face showing just the right amount of apology. "I am very sorry for making all you seniors come all this way. Because my teaching philosophy differs from Teacher Zhou's, and coupled with my own youthful impetuosity, I couldn't stand having my opinions challenged, which led to the conflict. I have calmed down now, and I am truly sorry."

Whether in his choice of words or his expression, Xia Linyuan appeared extremely sincere. If it weren't for someone who knew him particularly well, they wouldn't be able to tell that anything was wrong. Aside from Zhou Yi, all the teachers present believed what he said.

"That's not true!"

In the classroom, a petite female student suddenly stood up and shouted, "It was clearly Teacher Zhou who called us trash and idiots first! And just because we didn't fight during the registration period, she called us mediocre!"

"She even said that if we couldn't run one hundred laps around Shrek Plaza within one hour, she would expel us. Teacher Naiya couldn't stand it anymore, which is why he clashed with her. This is not Teacher Naiya's fault at all! It's all Teacher Zhou's fault!"

Once the female student said this, the whole world suddenly went quiet; it was so silent that one could hear a pin drop.

The teachers were stunned, and Xia Linyuan was "stunned" as well.

Zhou Yi suddenly felt something was wrong and scolded, "Gu Qingqi! Is this how you respect your teacher?"

Xia Linyuan shook his head silently in his heart.

This Zhou Yi really had such low emotional intelligence; those decades of life were truly wasted.

By exploiting Zhou Yi's arrogance and contempt for others, the situation was unfolding exactly as he had planned. The scales in the hearts of the students and teachers were gradually tipping in his favor.

He had chosen the student body over the individual that was Zhou Yi.

While Zhou Yi deliberately built an image of a strict teacher that made everyone resent her, he only needed to stand up to protect these students who were being manipulated. By giving them a piece of candy after they had been hit with a stick, he could easily win the approval of these naive students.

Then, through his words, he would guide and divide the minor conflict between Zhou Yi and the students, subtly weakening the stereotypical gap between their roles, blowing the conflict out of proportion, and planting a seed of rebellion deep in the students' hearts.

Just like now, he took the initiative to admit his fault and shoulder the blame. In the eyes of the students, he created the illusion that he, as a junior, was forced to apologize out of courtesy, while simultaneously shifting the teachers' bias from the familiar Zhou Yi toward himself, the stranger.

When the seed of rebellion planted deep in the students' hearts sprouted, they would have to choose between "Teacher Naiya" and Zhou Yi.

Would they choose to respect their "Teacher Naiya," or choose Zhou Yi, who threatened them with expulsion at the slightest disagreement? The answer was obvious.

If Zhou Yi had handled this coldly, the impression the students and teachers had of her would only have been slightly poor, but by speaking up like this, she had completely ruined her reputation.

The original conflict hadn't even been diverted, and by speaking up, Zhou Yi had completely pushed herself to the opposite side of the students.

"Teacher Naiya said that a teacher who doesn't respect students is not worthy of a student's respect!" Although surprised by how Zhou Yi knew his name, this female student named Gu Qingqi was very stubborn.

Xia Linyuan: Little one, I never said such a thing. I only said there was no reason, not that she wasn't worthy.

Although he had inexplicably been saddled with a statement he had never made, he couldn't refute it now.

After hearing Gu Qingqi's words, the teachers, who knew how Zhou Yi usually taught, immediately understood the situation.

The outer courtyard teachers had all heard that Zhou Yi would expel students who didn't follow her orders at the slightest disagreement.

However, her husband, Fan Yu, was the future dean of the Soul Guidance Department. With such a powerful backer, even Du Weilun found it difficult to manage her too strictly. What could they, these small figures without backgrounds, dare to say?

"Teacher Zhou, everyone who can enter Shrek Academy is a genius among geniuses. Your teaching method is too extreme and is not conducive to our academy's selection of talent."

"Teacher Zhou, as teachers, we don't just impart knowledge; we must also teach students the principles of conduct and the excellent quality of lifelong learning. You want to expel them without even looking at them—this is wrong."