Joining Zero Class

Though somewhat unwilling, Nan Fusheng and the other three joined Wang Jinxi and Wei Xiaofeng.

With the Dean present, even Wei Xiaofeng did not dare act recklessly. Still, the two sides were clearly not getting along.

Yu Zhen looked at the six children before him, and even his eyebrows twitched. He said coldly, "You lot really think you're something, huh? Just because you stand out among your peers, you think you're amazing? Look at the state you're in! Of the seven of you, two have broken arms, and there's another one in the classroom with a broken leg."

The six were all stunned by the scolding. They had not expected Yu Zhen to greet them with such a fierce verbal lashing.

Yu Zhen continued with a stern expression, "I already explained why Zero Class was established: it is so you will not be held back. But you little brats need to put away that arrogance of yours. Behave yourselves, or don't blame the academy for being harsh.

"I'm warning you: if something like yesterday happens again, just wait for disciplinary action. Don't think that being gifted means you're invincible. Let me tell you, you're nothing but frogs at the bottom of a well. There are plenty of people in the Federation who are more outstanding than you."

"There has never been any shortage of geniuses in this world, nor has there ever been any shortage of geniuses who die young. If a genius wishes to become truly great, they must put in far more effort than ordinary people. Only then will you be worthy of your talent. Do you understand?"

"We understand." Before the Dean's overwhelming presence, all six of them felt as though they could barely lift their heads.

"Sign these agreements." With a flick of his wrist, Yu Zhen produced a stack of papers covered in writing and handed one to each of them.

The six instinctively took the papers and pens. Nan Fusheng glanced over his and saw three large words at the top: Agreement Document.

The contents below roughly stated that the undersigned, XXX, voluntarily entered into an agreement with Eastsea Academy and would not transfer to another school before completing both the junior and senior sections of the Intermediate Soul Master Academy.

That was roughly what it said.

What did this mean? The six of them were somewhat bewildered.

"Now that the academy has established Zero Class, we will be increasing our investment in you. Resources in every area will be directed toward you, so the academy needs to ensure that you can continue studying here and do not stray from your path for uncertain reasons. All right, sign."

Xie Xie asked timidly, "Dean, shouldn't we discuss this with our families before signing?"

Yu Zhen rolled his eyes. "Sure! Go back and discuss it, then. But don't bother joining Zero Class. I'm busy. I don't have time to wait for you to deal with these things."

While they were talking, Nan Fusheng had already finished signing his agreement. It would not affect him in any way. He had come for Zero Class in the first place, and even if he went to another academy now, he might not receive benefits like those of Zero Class.

Tang Wulin signed as well. He did not know where else he could go to study besides Eastsea Academy. For someone like him, who had once been considered useless, the academy's willingness to direct resources toward him was like a pie falling from the sky. There was no reason not to sign.

Gu Yue signed almost immediately after Tang Wulin. Seeing that the three of them had signed, Xie Xie could not say much more. Staying at Eastsea Academy did not seem to be a problem anyway.

On the other side, Wang Jinxi signed as well. Only Wei Xiaofeng hesitated. "Dean, isn't it inappropriate not to discuss this with my family? I think I should still talk it over with them. After all, my family may want me to attend a better academy when I enter the Advanced Division."

Yu Zhen nodded. "Everyone has their own aspirations. You may return to Class Two. First-Year Zero Class will have six students." As he spoke, he had already taken the agreement from Wei Xiaofeng's hand and waved him away.

A complicated look appeared in Wei Xiaofeng's eyes, but in the end, he did not take back the agreement. After bowing to the Dean, he turned and headed toward the teaching building.

Once he left, Dean Yu Zhen's previously severe expression changed. The sternness, coldness, and harshness from before melted away in an instant, replaced by a gentle smile.

Tang Wulin and the other four could not help but stare blankly at his masterful change of face.

"All right, signing this agreement means that from now on, you will be the academy's core elite students. We respect Wei Xiaofeng's choice, but I believe that one day, he will regret the choice he made today.

"Although our Eastsea Academy does not rank highly on the continent, it is still the only Intermediate Soul Master Academy in a major city. Once the academy's resources are fully directed toward you, even the legendary Shrek Academy may not be that much better than us."

Hearing the Dean's confident words, the four who had just signed the agreement were clearly in much better spirits. Only Nan Fusheng and Wu Zhangkong, who stood not far away, had the corners of their mouths twitch.

How should he put it? The Dean was a little too confident. If it was while their Soul Power was still low, and Eastsea Academy directed its resources toward a few students, Nan Fusheng could believe the claim that those students would not be inferior to Shrek Academy's.

But once they reached the Soul Ancestor level, the gap would begin to become apparent. Although Shrek Academy's Outer Court students received treatment that was generally not much different from that of certain advanced soul master academies, Shrek Academy was located at the center of the continent, where all kinds of supplies and rare Heavenly Treasures could essentially be found. Moreover, it followed the principle of "strength above all else" in education.

If your strength did not measure up, you would be eliminated in minutes. Nan Fusheng could not judge whether such an educational system was right or wrong, but in terms of results, Shrek Academy had indeed cultivated many powerful experts.

With the title of the continent's number one academy, an endless stream of geniuses aimed to join Shrek Academy, and they still had to pass all manner of assessments before they could enter.

A huge group of geniuses fought and competed fiercely with one another inside. That atmosphere alone allowed Shrek Academy to surpass many advanced academies right from the starting line.

Then there were all sorts of miscellaneous missions meant to put students through the wringer. Complete them, and you proved your ability; fail them, and you could expect to be expelled.

Those experiences made Shrek Academy's students far superior to students from those advanced academies when it came to combat.

The Inner Court also had the Golden Ancient Tree, a host of powerful experts, and that inexplicable brainwashing ability. Those were what truly allowed Shrek Academy to remain the continent's number one academy.

But Shrek Academy was still far too distant from Nan Fusheng right now. At present, he only wanted to use Zero Class's resources to improve himself, then use the Skysea Grand Competition to successfully advance to Sequence 4 before deciding what to do next.

With Eastsea Academy's First-Year Zero Class established, the academy indeed gave them treatment vastly different from that of ordinary students.

Their classroom was moved to a separate, spacious room, and their dormitory arrangements were changed as well. No longer would four people share a room; each of them now had a room of their own, identical to the dormitories occupied by ordinary teachers. In other words, they directly received teachers' living accommodations. The six of them lived next to one another.

The moment Zhang Yangzi heard that Wang Jinxi had signed the agreement, he signed without hesitation as well. First-Year Zero Class was officially established, with seven people in total including the homeroom teacher.

Wu Zhangkong was also assigned a new teacher's dormitory beside theirs, and his former room was replaced with a suite.