Zhou Yi looked at the people before her, both hands braced on the lectern. In a low voice, she addressed the class.
"Anyone who got into a fight at the academy in the past two days, stand up."
Huo Yuhao was the first to rise. Wang Dong looked at Lin Yun, and after weighing the pros and cons, he decided to stand up too.
Given his current condition, he could finish the entire run without sealing his Martial Soul. There was no need to leave her with the impression that he was cutting corners.
From the way Mu En had acted, it seemed he wouldn't die anytime soon. But if this woman exaggerated things, it would ultimately work against him.
More importantly, Wang Dong had looked at him and inadvertently given him away. Even if he denied it, there was a good chance Zhou Yi would find out anyway.
When Wang Dong saw Lin Yun stand, he immediately got to his feet too.
A look of disdain crossed Zhou Yi's face. She gazed at the roomful of students with exasperation, her tone full of dissatisfaction and frustration.
"Only those three? You're all a bunch of good-for-nothings—a bunch of cowards who've lost all your courage and fighting spirit."
Lin Yun glanced at the dumbfounded students around him and couldn't help shaking his head. These people really drew the short straw, getting stuck with a teacher like her.
This was the real case of a scholar meeting a soldier: no matter how much sense he made, he couldn't get through to her.
Anyone who had attended boarding school knew that when people first arrived at a new school, aside from a handful of troublemakers, most students took a wait-and-see approach. First, they had to figure out what the people around them were like.
Fights rarely broke out right at the start of the school year. They were more common around the middle of the first semester through the following year. After that, people became familiar with one another and understood where the lines were, so fights were less likely.
Lin Yun wasn't afraid of getting himself dragged into a fight on the first day. Only a reckless fool would do that. If he didn't kick an iron plate, fine—but if he did, he'd lose both face and dignity.
If Wang Dong hadn't kept pressing him, Lin Yun would never have done something so stupid.
Zhou Yi didn't care how any of them felt. She poured out a steady stream of cutting remarks, one after another. Before anyone could react, she continued.
"Since none of you have the guts to take the initiative and pick a fight, you must be feeling pretty cold. No matter. Your teacher will warm you up today. Everyone except those three, run a hundred laps around the track."
"If you don't finish within an hour, you're all expelled. Begin now!"
The students of Freshman Class One let out a chorus of anguished wails that echoed in every direction. Zhou Yi merely sneered and set an hourglass on the lectern.
"Wailing takes time too, you know."
As soon as she finished speaking, the students scrambled to their feet and charged outside.
Lin Yun watched them go, then turned his gaze back to Zhou Yi. Looking at him, she said calmly,
"I know your situation very well. Most people with an Evil Martial Soul do end up on an evil path, but there are exceptions. Take Bone Douluo from ten thousand years ago, for example."
Lin Yun replied,
"Since Bone Douluo's name hasn't been erased from the world, I'm curious why the Bone Dragon Martial Soul is considered an Evil Soul Master's Martial Soul."
By then, Zhou Yi saw that enough time had passed. She sent Huo Yuhao and Wang Dong away, then looked at Lin Yun and said,
"Because the next three Soul Masters with Bone Dragon Martial Souls all became Evil Soul Masters. Most dragons are naturally vicious, greedy, and lustful. The Bone Dragon lineage consists of beings reborn from the land of the dead, and they carry a measure of evil energy as well. Evil piled upon evil."
Lin Yun lowered his head and fell silent, then asked Zhou Yi,
"So, it's still just an appeal to experience?"
Zhou Yi answered seriously, almost righteously,
"That's right. This is something we have to be on guard against. Your own hometown was harmed by Evil Soul Masters. Do you think we can afford to hesitate when dealing with something like this? Or do you think sacrificing one person to protect many others is a bad thing?"
Lin Yun raised his head.
"If sacrificing a Limit Douluo could protect a hundred people, would you be willing to do it? Could you still sound so righteous? What if it meant sacrificing you to protect the fifty students in this class—would you agree?"
Zhou Yi was struck speechless. Lin Yun continued,
"Once you put lives on a scale, whoever holds the scales is no longer worthy of being called human. Just because Evil Soul Masters have appeared with the same Martial Soul, you'd send a child straight to the gallows? And you still call yourself human?"
After saying that, Lin Yun started to leave and go run, but Zhou Yi called after him.
"You don't have to run. Just wait here. You didn't get in through the proper entrance examination anyway, so you don't need to do this training."
Lin Yun narrowed his eyes and thought it over before finally understanding Zhou Yi's logic.
She really believed running had some use in a Soul Master's cultivation, so she was reducing the training he received by not making him run.
Lin Yun looked at Zhou Yi and asked,
"Then I'll go back and sit down?"
"Stand on the lectern."
Lin Yun had no idea what Zhou Yi was plotting, but he was under her authority right now, and resisting wouldn't do him any good. He stood casually beside the lectern and turned his head toward the window.
When the hourglass was nearly empty, Zhou Yi picked it up and said,
"Come downstairs with me."
Lin Yun followed Zhou Yi downstairs. There, he saw thirty or forty students worn out and sprawled on the ground, along with a few of the top students who still looked more or less human.
Zhou Yi pointed casually at several people lying exhausted on the ground.
"You, you, and you. You're expelled."
Those students immediately protested, wailing at Zhou Yi.
"Why, Teacher Zhou?"
Zhou Yi looked at them and said,
"Because you slacked off. Do you dare swear on your Martial Soul that you ran all one hundred laps?"
One student built like a barrel turned toward Huo Yuhao and spoke in a deep, rumbling voice.
"What about him? He didn't run all one hundred laps by himself either."
Zhou Yi folded her arms.
"I never said you weren't allowed to help each other, and I never said you couldn't use your Martial Souls. If you'd completed all one hundred laps with someone else's help, I wouldn't be giving you trouble either."
The students still looked indignant. Zhou Yi's lips curled into a sinister smile.
"Don't want to be expelled? Fine. Beat him up for me, and I'll let this go."
As she spoke, Zhou Yi abruptly pointed at Lin Yun.
Lin Yun was stunned. How did I get dragged into this?
"Teacher Zhou, if you put it that way, I'll remember this."
Lin Yun narrowed his eyes at Zhou Yi and spoke with a hint of hostility.
Zhou Yi didn't care in the slightest. She looked at Lin Yun and said calmly,
"Suit yourself. But I won't personally lay a hand on you. If you want to survive, you'll have to make yourself tough as iron."
Lin Yun took a deep breath, looked at the six people before him with hostility, and sighed.
"So you're saying you want to fight me?"
The people standing before him all came from commoner backgrounds and had no powerful connections. The most impressive among them was merely the nephew of a city defense squad captain...
Before you continue