"What? Seeing a troublemaking monster like me has left you too happy to speak?
Then you're celebrating a little too soon."
Long Yaochen's voice was not particularly loud, yet it easily broke the oppressive atmosphere in the classroom.
The wrinkles on Zhou Yi's face twitched slightly, and her gaze turned incomparably gloomy. She had taught students for so many years. She had seen troublemakers, geniuses, and plenty of idiots who thought their backgrounds were impressive enough to put on airs before her.
But not one of them had ever used her own words to attack her like the boy before her.
"Very good." Zhou Yi laughed in extreme anger, though there was not the slightest warmth in her smile. "Long Yaochen, is it?"
"I don't care where you come from, nor do I care who stands behind you. In my class, those who refuse discipline have only one ending."
She raised a hand and pointed outside the classroom door.
"Get out.
From this moment on, you are expelled!"
Quite a few freshmen's expressions changed. This was Shrek Academy. Countless people had fought with all their strength just to earn the right to sit here.
With one word from Zhou Yi, she was going to throw someone out?
Wang Dong was just about to stand up when Long Yaochen grabbed her shoulder and pressed her back down.
She froze for a moment and turned to look at him.
There was no anger on Long Yaochen's face. Instead, a faint smile rested at the corner of his lips.
"Expel me? Have they agreed to it?"
Long Yaochen looked around the room and spoke as if it were only natural.
Zhou Yi looked as though she had heard some absurd joke.
"They?" Her gaze swept over the terrified faces below, the mockery in her eyes barely concealed.
"You think these students would defy me, their homeroom teacher, for your sake?
Long Yaochen, don't think too highly of yourself."
As she spoke, she intensified the pressure of her Soul Power.
The freshmen with weaker Soul Power in the front rows began trembling uncontrollably.
Roar—!
A deep dragon's roar suddenly rang out through the classroom.
Three purple Soul Rings slowly rose beneath his feet.
Blazing golden radiance spread from Long Yaochen's body, carrying a sacred majesty that could not be profaned.
Behind his head, the Blazing Golden Sacred Dragon coiled head to tail, transforming into a dazzling Dragon-Patterned Blazing Sun.
The Soul Emperor pressure Zhou Yi had unleashed was like striking an invisible wall the instant it touched that holy radiance, forcefully rebounding away!
The freshmen who had nearly been unable to breathe immediately felt the weight on their shoulders lighten.
The freshmen all cast grateful looks toward him.
Wang Dong stared at him blankly as well.
She suddenly realized that when this irritating guy got serious... he was actually quite impressive.
Much of her resentment toward him instantly faded.
Standing within the light, the smile on Long Yaochen's face gradually vanished, and his expression became solemn and dignified.
The Divinity within him stirred a little more, but that did not matter.
He was absolutely not the kind of person who would stand by and watch others get hurt because of him.
He raised his eyes and swept his gaze across everyone in the classroom.
"Raise your heads." Long Yaochen's voice seemed steeped in warmth, causing the freshmen who had not dared look up to slowly lift their heads as well.
The freshmen all looked toward Long Yaochen, who radiated warm light as though the true sun itself had descended.
"The reason you can sit here is your talent, your hard work, and the qualifications you fought for among countless peers. You came here for the best education and the best environment.
Not for her so-called troublemaking, nor her so-called obedience.
And certainly not to suffer the oppression of this damned Soul Emperor."
As his words fell, the classroom became deathly silent.
Yet the expressions of quite a few freshmen had already begun to change.
Long Yaochen's words were like a spark igniting deep within their hearts.
Who here was not a genius?
Who had not come to Shrek after being entrusted with the hopes of their family, teachers, and elders?
They had come here to learn!
Not to kneel there and be scolded!
"I told you to get out. Are you deaf?" Killing intent flickered in Zhou Yi's eyes, and the pressure around her intensified even further.
She naturally could not kill anyone, but crippling a freshman was another matter entirely.
Yan Shaozhe would never dare do anything to her over one insignificant freshman.
Ignoring Zhou Yi's words, Long Yaochen walked toward her while quietly observing everyone's expressions.
When he saw that their faces no longer showed terror or panic, he released another portion of his Divinity, and golden light began to cling to his eyes.
The blazing golden radiance grew brighter, taking in all of Zhou Yi's pressure.
On the Douluo Continent, the strong were revered. Naturally, Zhou Yi believed she had done nothing wrong under such rules.
That was why, before he came, someone like Zhou Yi had been considered one of the finest teachers in the Outer Court, even if it was bought with her students' blood and sweat.
But the experiences of his previous life told him that education should not be like this, and teachers should not be like this either.
The strong were revered, was that it?
Fine.
Now that he was here, this world should become the way he wanted it to be!
Long Yaochen gave a soft laugh, and his voice suddenly rose:
"Today, she can drive me away with one sentence. Tomorrow, she can drive all of you away with one sentence.
And the reason? Disobedience, failing to finish the laps, talking back to a teacher.
Or perhaps she simply thinks you are useless trash, just like she believes.
I do not acknowledge these utterly ridiculous reasons, and I doubt any of you do either!"
Long Yaochen's voice completely ignited the hearts of every freshman, causing everyone present to clench their fists and glare fixedly at Zhou Yi.
"The reason Shrek is Shrek is not because of any one teacher, nor because of some rotten rule.
It is because of the generations of Soul Masters who walked out of this place.
It is because of people like us, who are still willing to believe in it, come to it, and choose it!
We are the reason Shrek exists!
We... are the masters of Shrek!
Now she wants to drive the masters of this academy away. Do you agree?"
Long Yaochen raised a hand and pointed at Zhou Yi. His voice was deafening, setting the anger in every heart ablaze to its limit.
Bang!
Wang Dong was the first to lose her patience. She slammed her hand on the desk and sprang to her feet, her pink-blue eyes filled with fury.
"I don't agree!"
Then, Huo Yuhao actually rose to his feet slowly. This "famous teacher's" gaze reminded him of the madam of the White Tiger Duke Mansion.
The same ruthlessness, the same contempt.
"I... don't agree either!" His eyes were slightly red, but his tone was exceptionally firm.
"Me too!"
"I don't agree either!"
"We came here to learn, not to be called trash!"
Then the second, third, and fourth students stood up as well.
One student after another slammed their hands on their desks and rose to their feet, cries of "I don't agree" ringing out one after another through the classroom.
The voices grew more numerous.
From only a scattered few at first, they quickly joined into one.
In the end, the voices of the entire Freshman Class One rang out almost simultaneously.
"I don't agree!"
"Now the whole class is made up of troublemaking monsters. Teacher Zhou, you can start being happy now." Long Yaochen's tone was calm, yet his words stabbed directly into Zhou Yi's heart like a knife.
"You... you've rebelled... you've truly rebelled! This is outrageous!" Zhou Yi no longer wore that expression of disdain for everything.
At that moment, her eyes were ferocious and she panted heavily, her rage seeming to surge straight from her feet to her head.
"Expelled! All of you are expelled! No! I'll make sure none of you can ever become Soul Masters!"
Consumed by rage, Zhou Yi no longer cared about being a teacher or about Shrek.
Her Soul Rings flashed, and she raised her palm, striking toward Long Yaochen, who had walked to the very front.
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