Exchange

Back in the teaching building, the homeroom teacher was giving the new students their final class of the day. After the simplest running test, Zhou Yi had gained a rough grasp of her students' abilities. Now that she had a general idea, she could tailor her plans to them. Any differences she had missed wouldn't amount to much.

Although she had the students' entrance exam records, they were only figures on paper and couldn't give her a clear picture. The run had directly tested their physical fitness, the depth of their Soul Power, and their willpower. Willpower couldn't be quantified like Soul Power, which could be measured directly, but it was an indispensable quality for anyone who wanted to succeed. As the saying went, "Those who achieved great things in ages past needed not only extraordinary talent, but also unyielding resolve."

Some scions of prominent families had plenty of talent but lacked that resolve. In the end, they were like Zhong Yong, whose gifts faded until he was no different from everyone else. There was no need to waste resources on such students. Zhou Yi's job was to identify them at this early stage. She didn't really need to single them out; most of them couldn't keep up anyway.

By now, everyone in the classroom was exhausted, without a shred of strength left. That much exercise was a rarity in their short lives. Huo Yuhao had faced similar situations, but usually when his life was in danger. Without that pressure, the fatigue seemed to hit twice as hard. He had never felt anything like it: his mind and body had both been pushed to their limits. As long as he didn't push himself past the brink, it seemed to do no harm; go beyond it, and he risked hidden injuries. This level of exercise was still good for the body.

But it was harsh on those who weren't in good shape, and it was only the first day. Huo Yuhao and the others followed their homeroom teacher back to the classroom, but some of the students who had fallen behind never caught up. Where were they? Their teacher hadn't told them where to gather after finishing the run. Some students who had been left behind were at a loss. Where were they supposed to go? A few quick-witted ones ran to the classroom, found the others, and joined them. The rest, unsure what to do, could only wander aimlessly around Shrek Academy in search of the group.

It was nearly dark before some of the students finally gave in to the pressure and started asking for directions. Where were they supposed to go? And so the first day of getting acquainted with Shrek came to an end. The rest of their time was their own. Shrek Academy's schedule was fairly relaxed: classes were held during the day, and students took either lessons or training, never both at once. For now, they mostly studied theory. Training classes meant fighting, and those would become more frequent as the final exams approached. After all, they had little ability to speak of at this point and needed to build a solid foundation first.

Everyone headed back to the dorms. Huo Yuhao was already exhausted and wanted to get some rest, but someone called out to him.

"Hey, we fought during the exams. Let's get to know each other properly. I'm Xiao Xiao." Huo Yuhao had recognized the sweet-looking girl long ago, but hadn't known how to greet her. What did the two of them have to talk about? Should he say, "I'm a Support System Soul Master, and I beat you despite being a level below you"? That would be so rude. Besides, Huo Yuhao had a feeling she hadn't used her full strength. There was no way he could have beaten someone who looked so obviously talented that easily. Now there was no room to dodge, so he steeled himself.

"Hi, I'm Huo Yuhao. Sorry I didn't introduce myself earlier. Uh..." Huo Yuhao struggled to find the words. No one had ever taught him how to talk to pretty girls, and the atmosphere had him flustered. He forced the words out, like pulling teeth. "Thanks for the exam. You went easy on me, didn't you?" At last, he managed to say what he'd been holding in for ages. Huo Yuhao suddenly felt much lighter.

"How could I have gone easy on you? Hahaha!" Xiao Xiao's clear laughter rang out. How could she say something like that out loud? They both knew the truth, and that was enough. It would have been a waste of his kindness to insist on it. In reality, everyone turned a blind eye to such things, especially when it came to candidates from the Support System. Some even encouraged it. Support System Soul Masters were simply too rare, so the examiners had to be a little lenient with the standards.

"Besides, I'd definitely lose to you. How many people could beat someone who took down one of the strongest Power Attack System Soul Masters in the year?"

Huo Yuhao hadn't expected news of his victory to have spread among his classmates already. He honestly had no idea how to handle a situation like this. How had it gotten around so fast?

Before Huo Yuhao could think of a reply, the homeroom teacher suddenly appeared and interrupted them. "Huo Yuhao, come with me."

"See you later, Huo Yuhao." Xiao Xiao smiled and walked out of the classroom. Why didn't she run? Because she couldn't run either. She'd probably had to force herself just to keep up the conversation.

Huo Yuhao had just breathed a sigh of relief when it hit him that the homeroom teacher was looking for him. He tensed up again. Her imposing presence put people under a lot of pressure, especially those who hadn't spent years learning how to deal with teachers. When you could get into trouble and still face your homeroom teacher with an unconcerned grin, you'd truly become a "good student," having learned what many people never did.

Huo Yuhao wasn't at that stage yet. He was still too young to lie, and couldn't even manage the simplest part of it: looking someone in the eye with confidence. How could he handle all the secrets he was keeping? There was nothing wrong with chatting with a girl; it was good for his health and spirits. Wang Yi and Tian Meng were happy to watch Huo Yuhao stumble over his words. But talking to this homeroom teacher carried the risk of exposing something—or rather, it was bound to happen. With all her years of experience, she was skilled at dealing with children like him. An imposing teacher had to be handled by an old hand, so Wang Yi quickly took over to keep Huo Yuhao from giving himself away.

Huo Yuhao raised his lowered head. His eyes changed for a moment, then returned to normal. "What is it, teacher? Did you need something?"

Zhou Yi's years of experience told her something was off, though she couldn't say what. She continued, "Huo Yuhao, right? I've read your exam report. Your results are unbelievable, and you stood out today, too. You were the last Support System student to fall behind. That was a great effort." She praised his performance. "But it still isn't enough. No matter how outstanding your performance was, your results don't add up. How did you manage to defeat Dai Huabin, who had full Soul Power?"

"That just isn't logical. Shrek Academy's motto is to admit monsters, not ordinary people, but I've never heard of a case like yours."

"Uh, teacher, I was just lucky. He underestimated me. Maybe my ability was so unusual that he didn't defend against it, and that's why he lost. I'd have a hard time beating him now. I'm just a homeless kid with nearly the lowest Soul Power and a Ten-Year Soul Ring as my first Soul Ring."

"Besides, even with that advantage, I still suffered injuries that were almost impossible to recover from. I'll have even less chance of beating him in the future." Huo Yuhao's expression turned pitiful, as if he were about to cry.

Seeing Huo Yuhao on the verge of tears, Zhou Yi didn't know what to do. She knew how to handle crying children, but this boy had said all that and then started crying. It just didn't sit right with her, and the feeling bothered her.

"Then I'll be going, teacher." Before Zhou Yi could react, Wang Yi hurriedly made a run for it. He even used Green Aura to strengthen Huo Yuhao's body and speed him up. By the time Zhou Yi came to her senses, Huo Yuhao was already some distance away. If she wanted to, she could easily catch up with a student from her own class. But she let him go. That's how Zhou Yi saw it.

Huo Yuhao protested to Wang Yi in his mind. "Didn't you say we should keep a low profile? What were you doing?"

"Why don't you do it yourself?" Huo Yuhao immediately lost his nerve. He couldn't even handle talking to a girl; expecting him to face the homeroom teacher, a towering obstacle in his life, was asking too much.

"Before I started talking, I meant to keep a low profile and muddle through. But the moment I opened my mouth, I changed my mind. Whether you tell her the reason or not, she'll keep digging. We can't tell her the real reason, so any excuse will do. I just wanted to make it mysterious."

"Then why not keep a low profile?" Huo Yuhao wouldn't let go of his original question. Now he'd have to deal with the homeroom teacher asking questions now and then. If Wang Yi refused to take over next time, what was he supposed to do? Just imagining himself alone with that stern teacher made Huo Yuhao nervous.

"All right, I'll tell you. Mostly, I just wanted to say it that way. It sounded impressive, and it felt great to say." Wang Yi couldn't help laughing. The sound made Huo Yuhao's face flush red.

"Come on, you don't have to face her. I handle it, and you're still unhappy. You're impossible to please." Huo Yuhao just stared silently at Wang Yi. After a while, Wang Yi couldn't take it anymore.

"Fine, fine, I was wrong. I'll handle all this until you're able to deal with it yourself. You just focus on practicing how to talk to girls. I can already imagine how long that's going to take."

"You can't even handle a girl, so I'm not expecting you to handle old hands like her." Huo Yuhao couldn't take that comment, either. But after his performance just now, he couldn't exactly argue. In the end, he stammered and failed to get a single word out.

If it had been Wang Yi, he would have denied doing anything wrong in the first place. Huo Yuhao still had a lot to learn.

Still bickering in his mind, Huo Yuhao returned to the dormitory and began cultivating. Whatever else, Soul Power was still the most important foundation. According to Tian Meng, once he reached level 20, people like Dai Huabin would be trash; no one at the same level could reliably defeat Huo Yuhao.

For now, all he could do was cultivate hard. His progress was still slow, though; the consequences of forcibly boosting his Soul Power were catching up with him. He'd just have to make progress little by little. Huo Yuhao had patience to spare.