Zero Class's Legacy

Long Hengxu turned and walked towards the office building, his back casting a gentle, slanted shadow in the afternoon sunlight. His voice, however, carried the unquestionable certainty characteristic of a dean of students. "See you on the playground in twenty minutes."

Yun Jingheng watched him disappear through the building's doors before turning to look at Tang Wulin: "I suddenly feel that this teacher's arrangement of this competition has ulterior motives."

"What?" Tang Wulin didn't react.

"What he wants to demonstrate is probably not the strength of the New Zero Class," Yun Jingheng chuckled softly.

"It's the four of you."

Xie Xie had already darted several steps away when he heard this. He turned back and shouted, "Who cares who's showing off! It's been so long since I've fought on our alma mater's grounds. I just want to have a fight!"

The training ground on the west side of the playground is not large. The ground is made of old blue stone slabs with several scratches of varying depths crisscrossing it. Several iron training stakes are placed along the edge, their surfaces worn smooth and shiny.

Tang Wulin bent over and stretched his legs, his muscles flexing beneath his loose sportswear. He casually asked, "Level 25 Soul Power, two Soul Skill... does Soul Spirit count?"

"I guess so,"

Xu Xiaoyan tilted her head. "Elder Long didn't say we can't use Soul Spirit, but if you release Golden Speech, they'll probably be scared."

Gu Yue stood to the side without warming up, just standing quietly with her eyes downcast. Her fingertips twitched almost imperceptibly, and a few wisps of water vapor in the air quietly condensed into tiny ice crystals and then instantly dissipated.

"I'm ready."

A flurry of footsteps and excited chatter drifted from outside the training field.

Xie Xie peeked out and saw that people were already pouring in from the direction of the playground stands. Groups of students were running towards the playground from the direction of the teaching buildings and dormitories. The first few senior boys were almost running, followed by a few girls holding notebooks, their short hair being blown by the wind but they didn't care about fixing it.

"This came way too fast..."

Yuanen Yehui shielded her eyes from the light by placing her hand on her brow bone and looked over. "How long has it been? Ten minutes?"

Yun Jingheng glanced at the communicator. "Eight minutes left."

The seats in the stands were quickly filled, and the students who arrived late simply stood along the edge of the track, forming an irregular circle three or four deep, surrounding the training field in the center.

A boy in a middle school uniform pushed his way to the front, standing on tiptoe to peer inside. "Which ones are from Class Zero? Those from before or now?"

"Back then! See them standing over there? I heard from upperclassmen that they were really amazing!"

"Didn't Class Zero only have four people back then? And... are you going to beat up the entire Class Zero now? Isn't this just bullying?"

"I heard their Soul Power to level 25, and they were using the restricted combat rules. Those guys from New Zero Class aren't weak either!"

A buzz of discussion arose, and someone in the stands took out a communicator to start recording. A few bolder students even climbed over the railing and took a few steps closer to the training field before being waved back by the teachers maintaining order.

Xie Xie stood in the center of the field, arms crossed, a half-smile playing on his lips, "See? We didn't get this kind of treatment back then."

Tang Wulin stood next to him, his voice low. "Back when we played in the intra-school competition, there were only two rows of spectators."

"That's because you beat them up too badly, and afterwards no one dared to fight you."

Xu Xiaoyan stood aside, trying to dismantle the crowd, but her gaze had already passed over the crowd and landed on a quiet figure at the highest point of the stands.

Principal Yu Zhen had arrived sometime earlier and was sitting in the top row, with Long Hengxu sitting next to him.

The principal held a thermos in his hand, his expression calm, but his eyes gleamed as they swept across the training field.

"Even the principal is here, this is quite a big event." Xie Xie glanced at the place, following Xu Xiaoyan's gaze.

Gu Yue remained silent, simply absorbing the overwhelming gazes and whispers around her.

Her lips twitched slightly, but her expression was less one of tension and more one of keen curiosity.

The crowd continued to surge toward the playground, and the edge of the track was already packed with people. Even the windows on the side of the teaching building facing the playground were open, with several students who couldn't squeeze down onto the windowsill.

The uniforms of the intermediate and advanced classes were mixed together, their blue and white stripes covering the entire stands.

Suddenly, a commotion arose in the crowd, and the murmurs rose several octaves.

The New Zero Class has arrived.

Six people walked side by side from the direction of the office building, all wearing white training uniforms. Their steps were neat and orderly. The one in the lead was a short but broad-shouldered boy with short hair close to his scalp. His gaze was calmly fixed on the four people in the center of the field. His face did not show much expression, but his focus made it clear at a glance that he had trained.

Behind them followed a girl with her hair in a high ponytail, her sleeves rolled up to her elbows, revealing a section of her muscular forearm, a slight smile on her lips, looking much more relaxed than the boy in front of her.

"Class Zero! They're here!"

"The one leading the group is Tan Qing, her Martial Soul is the Dark Iron Heavy Shield, her defense is exceptionally strong! The one with the ponytail behind her is Lin Xiao, her Martial Soul Phantom Butterfly, her speed is too fast to see!"

"What about the other four?"

"They're all from prestigious backgrounds; I heard the selection criteria for Class Zero this year are higher than in previous years..."

The six members of New Zero Class stopped at the edge of the training field. Tan Qing's gaze met Tang Wulin's for a moment, and then he nodded slightly in greeting.

Xie Xie narrowed his eyes. "Polite, not bad."

Tang Wulin returned the greeting, then turned to look in Long Hengxu's direction. Director Long had already stood up, a megaphone appearing in his hand at some point. He cleared his throat and said, "Quiet down, everyone!"

The buzzing from the stands subsided as if a mute button had been pressed, leaving only the rustling of the wind through the leaves of the sycamore trees along the edge of the playground.

Long Hengxu's gaze swept across the entire arena, his tone steady. "Today's sparring is an exchange of tradition among the Class Zero of the Eastsea Academy. The Class Zero, Tang Wulin, Xie Xie, Gu Yue, Xu Xiaoyan, will face off against all members of this year's Class Zero."

"The rules are as follows: The first representatives will suppress their Soul Power to level 25. Each person is limited to two Soul Skill. Soul Spirit can be used, but they cannot exceed the natural upper limit of the corresponding Soul Power Level. There is no time limit. The competition ends when one side loses the ability to fight or voluntarily admits defeat."

He paused after speaking, glanced at the direction where Yun Jingheng and the other two were standing, and added, "After the duel, if any senior students or teachers are interested, they may freely spar and exchange ideas with the other three students from the Shrek Academy. The rules will be arranged separately."

The moment those words were spoken, the stands erupted in chaos.

Shrek Academy —these three words on the campus of the Eastsea Academy are a symbol of something unattainable.

The boys from the upper grades in the front row almost simultaneously turned their heads to look at Yun Jingheng, Ye Xinglan, and Yuanen Yehui, their eyes filled with undisguised scrutiny and eagerness.

"Are those three from Shrek? They don't look particularly strong..."

"That guy didn't have any particularly special aura, but he was quite handsome. The two girls next to him, one looked aloof, and the other seemed quite easygoing. I wonder what their level is."

"Anyway, it's not our turn to go first. Let's wait until Old Class Zero is done."

"Would they dare take the job? Won't they get crushed...?"

Yun Jingheng had keen hearing, and he picked up every single one of these fragmented sounds.

He glanced at Ye Xinglan, whose face was as calm as still water, not even a tremor in her eyelashes.

Yuanen Yehui smiled slightly, leaned closer, and lowered her voice, "I'm suddenly looking forward to the next one."

"Let's watch their performance first," Yun Jingheng gestured with his chin toward the center of the arena.