Devil Zhou Yi

In fact, unless a student committed a serious offense or completely refused to follow the academy's rules, the teachers at Shrek Academy would not easily expel anyone.

After all, every student who entered Shrek Academy carried their family's heartfelt hopes on their shoulders.

The teachers had no grudge against the students or the forces behind them, so they would usually give them a chance to take the Freshman Assessment.

Someone like Zhou Yi was the exception.

Who in their right mind made Support Soul Masters run the same number of laps as Power Attack Soul Masters?

And she even called it, "On the battlefield, the enemy won't go easy on you just because you're a Support Soul Master or a girl."

How could those things be the same?

You treated regular training like battlefield preparation. Were you trying to kill these students?

Support Soul Masters were already much weaker physically than ordinary Power Attack Soul Masters, yet she forbade them from using their Soul Skills and Soul Power, making them run on pure physical strength while wearing iron suits weighing over ten pounds. Even someone made of iron couldn't take that.

Most importantly, someone was bound to fall behind.

And once they fell behind, they couldn't meet Zhou Yi's demands, so she would expel them on the spot.

By the time she was done expelling students, only those who were already strong and exceptionally talented remained.

What did they need you, Zhou Yi, to teach them for?

They could become talented under any other teacher.

After seeing the memories from the original novel, Huo Yuhao could only think that the whole thing was absurd beyond belief.

How could Shrek Academy let someone so incompetent, someone who liked expelling students on a whim, become a teacher?

He shook his head and stopped thinking about it.

The students were now collecting their iron suits.

Huo Yuhao stepped forward, casually picked one up, and weighed it in his hand.

It was about fifteen pounds.

For ordinary people, running laps in a fifteen-pound iron suit was indeed a considerable burden.

But for someone like him, who had already reached the Copper Skin Golden Muscle realm, that weight was no different from wearing nothing.

He put on the iron suit and followed the group to the square.

Besides Class Nine, led by Mu Jin, several other classes were arriving at the square as well.

Many students from those classes had already put on their iron suits and started running laps.

Huo Yuhao swept his gaze over the crowd and soon spotted Class One.

They were running on the square too, but their iron suits were clearly much heavier than the ones Mu Jin had given her students.

As he drew closer, he could hear Class One's students complaining.

"One hundred laps? Why should we?"

"I came to Shrek Academy to study. Why are you making me run one hundred laps?"

"This iron suit is way too heavy! It's at least ten pounds heavier than the other classes'!"

"Is Teacher Zhou crazy?"

The complaints rose one after another, but no one dared to stop.

Zhou Yi was standing nearby, watching them with a cold gaze.

Huo Yuhao looked away and paid them no more attention.

Before long, the students of Class Nine began running laps, led by Ning Tian.

Huo Yuhao ran at an unhurried pace in the middle of the group.

He didn't charge ahead like some of the others, nor did he fall behind.

He simply kept an even pace, running lap after lap.

For his body, which had already reached the Copper Skin Golden Muscle realm, no number of laps meant anything. His body simply couldn't reach its limit.

There was no need for him to show off.

Time passed, second by second.

One lap, two laps, three laps...

Gradually, the group began to split apart.

The students with better physiques ran ahead, while those with weaker physiques fell behind.

Some of the girls in the Support Soul Master ranks were already panting, their steps growing heavy.

Mu Jin stood to one side, carefully observing every student's condition.

When she saw a student who truly couldn't keep going, she told her to take off her iron suit and rest nearby.

No one was scolded, and no one was expelled for running too slowly.

That was the difference.

Huo Yuhao sighed inwardly and continued running at his unhurried pace.

Finally—

The bell rang to signal the end of class.

"Stop!"

Mu Jin clapped her hands and called out:

"Everyone, stop and rest!"

The students were as if reprieved. They stopped in their tracks; some dropped straight to the ground and gasped for breath, others braced their hands on their knees, drenched in sweat, while some went to the side and took water bottles offered by their classmates, gulping down water.

But no one had reached their limit, let alone collapsed or pushed themselves past their capacity.

Clearly, Mu Jin had gauged the training intensity with great precision. She had brought every student to a suitable limit without pushing them beyond what they could handle.

Ning Tian and Wu Feng carried the recorded results over to Mu Jin.

"Teacher, here's the ranking by number of laps."

Mu Jin took it, glanced over it, and nodded in satisfaction.

"Good. Thanks for the effort. Class dismissed."

The students cheered and left the square in groups of three or five.

Huo Yuhao took off his iron suit and put it in the designated place. He was just about to leave—

Just then, a commotion erupted.

He turned to look.

Training for Class One was still underway on the other side of the square.

Zhou Yi stood at the front of the group, glaring darkly at the students who were still running.

"Don't stop! Keep running!"

Her voice was shrill and piercing, full of unquestionable severity:

"One hundred laps. Not a single lap less! Anyone who dares to stop will be expelled!"

The students had already gone pale, their legs trembling.

The girls in the Support Soul Master ranks in particular had long since reached their physical limits. Their faces were as white as paper, and they could barely stay on their feet.

"Teacher Zhou... I really can't run anymore..."

A girl begged, her voice choked with tears.

"You can't run anymore?"

Zhou Yi gave a cold laugh.

"On the battlefield, the enemy won't let you go just because you can't run! Keep running!"

The girl gritted her teeth and staggered a few more steps, until finally—

"Thud!"

She fell face-first to the ground and fainted.

Zhou Yi glanced at her and waved her hand without expression.

"Take her away. With a physique like that, she doesn't deserve to stay at Shrek. Expelled."

Several more girls couldn't hold on and collapsed in turn.

Zhou Yi expelled them one by one.

From a distance, Huo Yuhao watched, a trace of coldness flashing in his eyes.

This was Zhou Yi.

This was the supposedly "strict" Zhou Yi.

One hundred laps came to an end.

Wang Dong collapsed onto the ground, gasping for breath.

With her strength, running one hundred laps hadn't been difficult, but she was still exhausted.

The students who had failed to meet Zhou Yi's demands were expelled on the spot.

Seventeen students in all.

In the space of a single class, Class One had gone from ninety-nine students to just eighty-two.

And this was only the first day.

After witnessing all of this, Huo Yuhao turned and left.

Behind him, the setting sun spilled its afterglow over the square, stretching the dejected shadows of the expelled students long across the ground.

Some crouched on the ground, covering their faces as they cried. Some stared blankly at the school gates. Others lowered their heads and dragged their exhausted bodies back to the dorms, step by step, to pack their things.

Their dream of attending Shrek had shattered on the very first day of school.