Gu Yue Arrives

After leaving the Teaching Affairs Office, Wu Zhangkong released their hands and walked ahead on his own.

Looking at his tall, straight back, Tang Wulin quickly picked up his pace and caught up to him. "Teacher, thank you."

Wu Zhangkong said blandly, "You did nothing wrong. What is there to thank me for? No one gets to interfere with my classes."

Xie Xie moved closer, his face unusually full of smiles. "Teacher Wu, you were so cool just now! You've got my respect. Even if you train us half to death, I definitely won't complain."

"Remember what you said," Wu Zhangkong said quietly.

"Xie Xie!" Tang Wulin grabbed Xie Xie. "And thank you too."

Xie Xie said with some annoyance, "Why does that sound so awkward coming from you? You don't need to thank me either. I just couldn't stand seeing them use numbers to bully the few and their age to bully the young."

Tang Wulin smiled. "We're friends now."

Xie Xie curled his lip. "You make friends way too easily. I never said I considered you a friend."

"That isn't important," Tang Wulin said.

After thanking Xie Xie, Tang Wulin looked at Nan Fusheng. "Fusheng, thank you too. You..."

"Enough, Wulin. We're friends. How could I possibly stand by when something like this happened? And you don't need to comfort me. You know about my family situation. Maybe death would be a release for my mother."

Nan Fusheng cut Tang Wulin off, a bitter smile appearing on his face.

Beside them, Xie Xie stared at Nan Fusheng in surprise. What did he mean, death being the best release? Still, he knew better than to ask. Instead, he said to Nan Fusheng, "About what happened last time, I misspoke. But I'm still not convinced. Next time, let's have a fair duel."

Hearing the somewhat noisy voices behind him, Wu Zhangkong, who was walking ahead, let a smile touch his lips. It vanished in an instant, like an illusion. A cold and proud teacher would not comfort people. Better let them work it out themselves.

Early the next morning...

Xie Xie quickly regretted what he had said to Wu Zhangkong. Wu Zhangkong was absolutely a teacher who followed through on his words. They had agreed on physical training yesterday, and it was put into action immediately today.

The basic physical training was running.

The track at Eastsea Academy's Intermediate Division was a full eight hundred meters per lap. Ten laps—that was the task Wu Zhangkong had assigned them for the morning. And supposedly, it was only a warm-up.

When they heard the number ten laps, even if the students did not say it aloud, they were filled with resentment. That was eight kilometers!

However, when they saw Wu Zhangkong bring out three Iron Vests made of thick chains, each weighing twenty pounds, and put them on Nan Fusheng, Tang Wulin, and Xie Xie, they did not dare say another word. Instead, they felt immensely fortunate.

If it had been yesterday, with Xie Xie's temperament, he definitely would have resisted. But today, he had no choice. Though proud, he always tried his best to keep his word. Besides, after what had happened yesterday, he truly admired Wu Zhangkong. Xie Xie had always taken pride in his own cold, arrogant personality, but Teacher Wu was even colder and prouder than him—and possessed the strength to back it up. The cold, arrogant male god truly lived up to his name.

Tang Wulin had even less to say. He was actually quite excited by this kind of grueling training.

Nan Fusheng did not object to this training either. After all, it was an old Shrek tradition.

Xie Xie was an Agility Attack System Battle Soul Master. At the beginning, despite carrying a twenty-pound Iron Vest, he still ran incredibly fast. Nan Fusheng and Tang Wulin were not particularly quick, but they were steady and able to keep up with the main group.

But as time passed, after two laps, Xie Xie's speed began to drop. The other students also started falling behind one after another.

By the fourth lap, his breathing had become ragged, his lungs felt as though they were on fire, and the Iron Vest on his body seemed several times heavier. He did not even have the strength to regret the things he had said to Wu Zhangkong.

"How are you doing?" Tang Wulin's voice came from behind him. Xie Xie turned to look at him. Although Tang Wulin was sweating too, he was clearly in much better shape than Xie Xie.

"I'm fine!" Xie Xie gritted his teeth and increased his speed again. Was that guy actually about to catch up to him? And wasn't Nan Fusheng a Control System Soul Master? Why did he look more relaxed than me too?

It was one thing to lose to Tang Wulin in physical fitness. After all, after their two matches, Xie Xie had seen that monstrous strength of his. But he could not lose to Nan Fusheng too!

Tang Wulin's breathing remained even. "Teacher Wu has his reasons for making us run with weights. After all, we're going to represent the class in the Class Promotion Tournament."

Xie Xie did not answer. Talking was a burden to him right now as well.

Five laps!

Xie Xie was already beginning to lose control of his body. His legs felt as heavy as if they had been filled with lead.

Tang Wulin and Nan Fusheng could have passed him long ago, but neither of them did. Tang Wulin's feeling was completely different from Xie Xie's. The twenty pounds on his body felt like nothing at all. After five laps, it truly had only served as a warm-up.

As for Nan Fusheng, although his path leaned more toward the "play-it-safe mage" route, after being modified by Potions, his physical fitness was no worse than that of an ordinary Power Attack System Soul Elder.

The two of them quietly slipped a hand beneath each of Xie Xie's arms. Xie Xie suddenly felt his whole body become lighter, and his steps immediately grew brisker. He looked at them in surprise.

Nan Fusheng kept his eyes forward, while Tang Wulin merely smiled. He quickened his pace and carried Xie Xie along as they continued running.

Wu Zhangkong stood in the middle of the field, watching the completely defeated students of Class 5. His expression was calm, though he occasionally frowned.

"Nan Fusheng, Tang Wulin, you two have plenty of strength, don't you? Then keep carrying him and run another ten laps."

Xie Xie turned to Tang Wulin, only to see that his expression was still calm. He merely muttered, "Another ten laps? Then we need to hurry up. We can't delay lunch. I didn't eat this morning, and I'm already hungry."

Xie Xie could not help saying, "Are you even human? Don't you get tired?"

Tang Wulin smiled faintly. "I'm doing okay."

Nan Fusheng was more direct. "All right, Wulin, run faster. The sooner we finish, the sooner we can rest."

Xie Xie: At this moment, I deeply realized that the weakling was actually me.

Just then, a girl slowly walked onto the Intermediate Division field from the direction of the school gate.

She wore white trousers and a white shirt. She looked about the same age as the students of Grade 1 Class 5. She was not especially beautiful, only delicate and pleasant-looking. She had long black hair and black eyes. Her figure was above average among girls her age, well-proportioned and balanced. Her large eyes were bright and lively.

As she walked, her steps seemed to carry a special rhythm, and there was an unusual aura around her.