Huo Yuhao's steps came to an abrupt halt.
In that instant, the air in the classroom seemed to be clenched tight by an invisible hand.
His once-calm profile turned visibly, chillingly cold. Someone had trampled hard on a long-dormant reverse scale.
He slowly turned around.
His eyes held no furious roar, only a bottomless chill.
"Zhou Yi."
His voice was soft, yet cold as an ice blade scraping bone. "I call you teacher, and you really think you deserve it?"
"What did you say?!"
Zhou Yi froze under his gaze, then flew into a rage. "How dare you speak to me like that?"
"I said you're not fit to be a teacher."
Huo Yuhao walked slowly back to the center of the classroom, taking his place where every student could see him. His voice wasn't loud, but every word rang clear and struck deep:
"A teacher is a guide who shows students the road ahead, a lamp in times of confusion, someone who offers a hand when they fall.
"And you?
"You expel students on a whim, trample on their dignity, call them idiots one moment and useless trash the next. Which part of that makes you worthy of the word 'teacher'?"
"How many of them fought tooth and nail to earn a recommendation letter from their home city, carrying their family's hopes and their own dreams as they traveled thousands of miles to get here?
"Perhaps they aren't the most gifted, but they still work hard, still give it their all, still yearn to grow stronger!
"But you, Zhou Yi, dismiss them with a careless 'mediocre,' shatter more than a decade of hard work, crush their dreams, turn them into laughingstocks, and even leave them unable to recover for the rest of their lives!"
"Tell me—does someone who acts like that deserve to be a teacher?!
"You're not educating people. You're destroying them!
"You're defiling the very words 'teacher' and 'teaching'!"
In this life, even after being reborn, Huo Yuhao had always been patient and cautious, planning every step.
But caution wasn't cowardice. It didn't mean letting someone insult his mother to his face and then bowing his head like a beaten dog.
What lay in his blood and bones was a ruthlessness and fury honed through mountains of corpses and the brink of death.
What Zhou Yi had trampled on today was the one thing he would never forgive in this life.
Huo Yuhao's words left Zhou Yi trembling from head to toe. Blood rushed to her head, her face flushed bright red, and she was completely "red-hot," on the verge of losing control.
As a Soul Emperor, being publicly told by a thirteen-level freshman that she was unfit to teach was a humiliation beyond compare.
Soul Power surged around her. She was about to strike then and there, to teach this backgroundless, powerless boy with the sharp tongue a good lesson.
Just then—
A lazy voice laced with amusement drifted in from the doorway:
"So that's what all the noise is about. You're showing off again, Zhou Yi. What have you done this time?"
A figure leaned against the doorframe.
The newcomer was a female teacher who looked to be in her thirties, with lovely features, a bold and spirited bearing, and an amused glint in her eyes.
She was Mu Jin, the homeroom teacher of Freshman Class Nine.
She first gave Huo Yuhao a long, discreet look, a clear note of approval flickering in her eyes. Only then did she turn to Zhou Yi, her smile teasing. "You're making so much noise that my Class Nine can't even have a lesson."
"Mu Jin!" The moment Zhou Yi saw her, her expression darkened even further. Disgust showed plainly in her eyes. "This is my Class One's business. You're the homeroom teacher of Class Nine. Stop meddling and take care of your own students!"
"I was teaching," Mu Jin said, shrugging, her tone calm. "But you're being so loud that it's impossible not to hear. As it happens, I heard every word of your conversation with this junior."
She looked at Zhou Yi, her smile slowly fading.
"Teacher Zhou, I think this junior is absolutely right. Do you really think you deserve to be a teacher?"
"Whether I'm fit or not is none of your concern!" Zhou Yi snapped. "He insulted a teacher and showed no respect for his elders. I have the right to expel him on the spot!"
"Fine."
Mu Jin gave a faint smile. Her tone was casual, but every word landed hard on Zhou Yi's heart.
"Then expel him. I'll take him."
"Starting today, he's in my Class Nine. Let's see what gives you the right to expel him."
Zhou Yi's expression changed drastically.
She knew perfectly well that Mu Jin had considerable seniority in the academy and the authority to take Huo Yuhao by force and protect him.
For a moment, Zhou Yi seethed with anger and resentment, her mind racing as she wondered how to make things difficult for Huo Yuhao behind the scenes, until he found it impossible to take a step in Shrek and withdrew voluntarily.
Just then,
Huo Yuhao's calm voice rang out again.
This time, there was an edge to it that made everyone's heart tighten.
"Zhou Yi."
"Since you think there's nothing wrong with the way you teach, do you dare to make a wager with me?"
Zhou Yi froze. "What are you trying to do?"
"I'll challenge every student you've taught at the Shrek Soul Fighting Arena."
Huo Yuhao's gaze was clear, yet brimming with confidence that could sweep all before it.
"Anyone below level thirty and above level ten. Any student you've taught can come."
"If I lose a single match, I'll kneel before you and apologize on the spot. I'll leave Shrek of my own accord and never set foot here again.
"But if you lose—"
His eyes turned cold.
"I want you to stand at the entrance to Shrek Academy, in front of every teacher and student, and admit with your own mouth that you're incompetent and unfit to teach."
Zhou Yi was stunned at first, then wild joy surged through her.
The perfect opportunity had fallen right into her lap!
She'd just been wondering how to deal with Huo Yuhao without giving him grounds to complain, and now the boy had thrown himself into a dead end.
But she forced her face into a cold expression and raised the stakes, her voice vicious.
"That's not enough.
"If you lose, you won't just apologize and withdraw. You'll kneel before me at Shrek Square, apologize in front of everyone, and then get out of Shrek!"
"Fine."
Huo Yuhao didn't hesitate for even a moment. He nodded calmly. "But I'm adding one more condition."
"If you lose, you'll kneel and apologize too.
"Right at the academy entrance, you'll kneel before me—and before every student you've unjustly trampled on or expelled—and apologize."
He didn't mention Soul Bones, Soul Coins, or any other resources.
He knew perfectly well that although Zhou Yi was foolish, she wasn't stupid enough to wager a priceless treasure against him.
And he had never wanted treasures. He wanted justice, dignity, and for her to admit her mistakes with her own mouth.
Zhou Yi agreed without even thinking, barely able to suppress the excitement in her voice.
"No problem! I accept!"
In her eyes, this was a wager she couldn't possibly lose.
Among the students she had taught, there were plenty in their twenties, some nearing level thirty—an entire major realm above Huo Yuhao.
A useless level-thirteen boy dared to challenge students she had taught?
He was practically asking for death.
Every student in Class One had witnessed the entire shocking scene with their own eyes, their faces already consumed by utter disbelief.
From Zhou Yi's earlier scolding, they all knew one thing: Huo Yuhao's Soul Power was only level thirteen.
And to ensure her victory and crush him completely, Zhou Yi would never send out a freshman of the same level. The weakest she'd choose would be above level twenty, a Soul Grandmaster who had already absorbed a Second Soul Ring.
That meant Huo Yuhao would have to face a Two-Ring Soul Grandmaster while still a One-Ring Soul Master, challenging an opponent a whole major realm above him.
To everyone, that was no different from walking to his death.
Among the crowd, Lin Yan's pupils contracted, and a storm raged in his heart.
In the fragments of his incomplete memories, Huo Yuhao should have been that self-conscious, sensitive, and stubborn... boy.
But the young man before him—
He dared to confront a Soul Emperor teacher in front of everyone, expose her hypocrisy, make a life-or-death wager, and challenge level-twenty-plus experts at just level thirteen. He was brimming with spirit and sharp as a blade, as if he'd dare poke a hole in the sky itself.
Was this really the Huo Yuhao he knew?
Beside them, Mu Jin's brows furrowed slightly the instant she heard the terms of the wager. She instinctively wanted to stop him.
A fight between someone in the teens and someone in the twenties was a chasm of a gap. One careless move could leave him gravely injured or with a lifelong impediment to his cultivation.
But when her gaze fell on Huo Yuhao, every word of warning caught in her throat.
The boy stood there, back straight, his eyes calm as a deep abyss. There wasn't the slightest trace of panic or wishful thinking in him—only the certainty and resolve of someone who had lived through death and held everything in his grasp.
His eyes plainly said, I'm certain I'll win.
Mu Jin's heart stirred.
She didn't know what trump card this seemingly ordinary freshman was hiding that made him dare to place such a reckless wager across an entire major realm.
But she could tell that Huo Yuhao wasn't acting on impulse, nor was he seeking his own death.
Since he dared to wager, then Mu Jin would trust him this once.
The hand she had raised slowly dropped. All traces of any intent to intervene faded, replaced by a calm expression that held a hint of admiration.
She wanted to see just how much of a storm this boy who'd dared to make Zhou Yi suffer could stir up.
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