Choose One of Two

Feeling this power fluctuation, which was as pathetically weak as a mayfly to him, Xia Linyuan curled his lip in disdain.

He narrowed his eyes. At once, a terrifying aura hundreds or even thousands of times stronger than Zhou Yi's forced back the pressure of her Soul Power.

A gloomy, icy aura instantly enveloped Zhou Yi.

Two yellow, two purple, three black, and one red Spirit Ring rose from beneath Xia Linyuan's feet, eight in all. A blood-red light, as though dripping with blood, suddenly spread out from him, dyeing the entire classroom red in an instant.

Eight rings! A red Spirit Ring!

Teacher Naiya, who looked only about twenty-four, was actually an Eight-Ring Soul Douluo!

And he wasn't just a Soul Douluo. He also possessed a Hundred Thousand Year Soul Ring, the kind produced only by the most powerful Spirit Beasts!

The students stared in utter shock at the tall figure beside the lectern.

A Hundred Thousand Year Soul Ring! H-how was that possible?!

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

"You..." Under the terrifying aura, as if it had come from some primordial wilderness, Zhou Yi struggled to force a single word through her teeth.

Since Xia Linyuan's pressure was directed only at Zhou Yi, and he had deliberately restrained it considerably, the students had no idea what she was facing. All they could sense was that Teacher Naiya was stronger than any Spirit Master they had ever seen.

The situation also caught the attention of others.

Whoosh, whoosh, whoosh!

More than thirty Outer Court teachers who had been teaching their respective classes hurried to the Freshman Class One classroom in quick succession.

When they saw the red Spirit Ring beside Xia Linyuan, shimmering with an eerie, bloody light, they all froze.

They had also received word that a new teacher was joining the academy, and had heard that his talent and strength were no worse than that person's. But none of them had imagined the new teacher would possess a Hundred Thousand Year Soul Ring.

After all, there weren't many people in all of Shrek Academy who possessed a Hundred Thousand Year Soul Ring! How could they not be astonished?

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

With that, the eight Spirit Rings bobbing up and down vanished, and the terrifying aura disappeared without a trace.

Zhou Yi, who had felt as though she'd just returned from the brink of death, felt reborn. She greedily gulped down mouthful after mouthful of fresh air.

"Teacher Zhou, Teacher Naiya, what happened here? Why did it almost come to blows?" asked an older-looking male teacher among the group.

Still reeling, Zhou Yi's mind was completely blank. She couldn't take in a word anyone else was saying.

Xia Linyuan smiled faintly, his expression suitably apologetic. "I'm very sorry to have made you all come running over here. Teacher Zhou and I have somewhat different ideas about teaching. On top of that, I'm young and hotheaded, and I can't stand it when people disagree with me, so we got into a conflict. I've calmed down now. I'm truly sorry."

His choice of words and his expression were both utterly sincere. Unless someone knew him particularly well, they wouldn't notice anything amiss. Almost all the teachers present believed him—except Zhou Yi.

"That's not what happened!"

A petite female student suddenly stood up in the classroom and shouted, "Teacher Zhou was the one who called us trash and idiots first! Just because we hadn't gotten into any fights during the registration period, she called us talentless!"

"She also said she'd expel us if we couldn't run a hundred laps around Shrek Plaza in one hour. Teacher Naiya couldn't stand it, so he argued with her. This isn't Teacher Naiya's fault! It's all Teacher Zhou's fault!"

The moment the female student spoke, the entire world seemed to fall silent. Not a sound could be heard; even a pin dropping would have rung out.

The teachers froze. Xia Linyuan also "froze."

Zhou Yi suddenly sensed something was wrong and snapped, "Gu Qingqi! Is that how you show respect to a teacher?"

Xia Linyuan shook his head silently.

Zhou Yi really had no people skills to speak of. What a waste of all the decades she'd lived.

By taking advantage of Zhou Yi's arrogance and disregard for others, things were unfolding just as he'd expected. The balance in the hearts of the students and teachers was gradually tipping in his favor.

Between the students as a group and Zhou Yi, he had chosen the students.

While Zhou Yi deliberately cultivated the image of a strict teacher and earned everyone's resentment, all he had to do was stand up for the students she was bullying. After she'd dealt them a blow, he gave them a little comfort, easily earning the approval of these inexperienced students.

Then, through his words, he could guide them and gradually widen the tiny rift between Zhou Yi and the students. Little by little, he would soften the rigid distinction between their roles, make the conflict seem like a bigger deal than it was, and plant a seed of defiance deep in the students' hearts.

Just as he was doing now, he had been the first to admit fault and take the blame. In the students' eyes, he seemed like a junior who had been forced to apologize out of consideration for appearances. At the same time, he had shifted the teachers' favor from Zhou Yi, an acquaintance, to him, a stranger.

Once that seed of defiance took root in the students' hearts, they would have to choose between Teacher Naiya and Zhou Yi.

Would they choose Teacher Naiya, who respected them, or Zhou Yi, who threatened to expel them whenever they didn't obey her? The answer was obvious.

If Zhou Yi had simply let the matter pass, the students and teachers would have thought only somewhat less of her. But by speaking up, she'd completely ruined her reputation with everyone.

The original conflict hadn't even shifted away from her, and now, by speaking up, Zhou Yi had pushed herself straight onto the opposite side from the students.

"Teacher Naiya said a teacher who doesn't respect their students doesn't deserve their respect!" Though surprised that Zhou Yi somehow knew his name, the female student named Gu Qingqi stood her ground.

Xia Linyuan thought, Little girl, I never said that. I only said there was no reason to do it, not that she didn't deserve respect.

Though he had inexplicably been saddled with words he'd never said, he couldn't refute them now.

After hearing Gu Qingqi's words, the teachers, who knew what Zhou Yi's usual teaching methods were like, immediately understood what had happened.

They'd all heard that Zhou Yi expelled students who didn't obey her at the drop of a hat.

But her husband, Fan Yu, was the future head of the Soul Guidance Department. With a powerful backer like him, even Du Weilun didn't dare interfere too much. What could minor figures like them, with no connections, possibly say?

"Teacher Zhou, everyone who gets into Shrek Academy is a genius among geniuses. Your teaching methods are too extreme, and they're not good for the academy's efforts to identify talent."

"Teacher Zhou, as teachers, we don't just impart knowledge. We also need to teach our students how to conduct themselves and instill in them the admirable quality of lifelong learning. You didn't even look at them before deciding to expel them. That's wrong."