Caught You

The next day, in a private office in the teachers' wing.

An attractive female teacher who looked about thirty sat behind her desk, smug satisfaction written across her face.

Mu Jin leafed through her class roster, a faint smile on her lips that lent her the mature charm of a woman her age.

"Heh. There are only three Soul Elders among this year's freshmen, and the one from the Seven Treasure Glazed Tile Sect happens to be in my class. Let's see what you can use to compete with me in the Freshman Assessment, Zhou Yi."

Yet more than Ning Tian, the level-thirty-one Soul Elder in her class, Mu Jin was interested in another student: Huo Yuhao.

She had just heard that Huo Yuhao had given Xu Sanshi, one of the Twin Stars of the Outer Court, a thorough beating in the Soul Fighting Zone last night.

Apparently, Xu Sanshi's Martial Soul had even been shattered. Without several months of recuperation, he would have no hope of recovering.

Whether any of that was true, she didn't know.

With that question on her mind, Mu Jin stood up.

She gathered her prepared lesson plans, then strode toward the Freshman Teaching Building, her elegant heels clicking beneath her.

At that moment, inside Freshman Class One.

Wang Dong'er, disguised as a boy, sat surrounded by a group of girls.

She mused to herself that although the Shrek Outer Court dormitories were truly falling apart, the girls were quite pretty—almost half as pretty as she really was.

As the Clear Sky Sect Young Sect Master, Wang Dong'er didn't know what had possessed her back at the sect to enroll disguised as a boy.

But when she arrived at the Shrek Academy Outer Court dormitories and saw how dilapidated they were—and that an entire floor had to share just two communal bathrooms—

How could someone pampered since childhood possibly accept that? She turned straight around, left the school dormitories, and rented a comfortable place in Shrek City.

As for Shrek City's high prices, they were pocket change to her.

Thinking this, she gave the loose hair over her forehead a showy little flick, the corners of her mouth lifting.

Tang San, seated in the back row, scanned the class before his gaze settled on Wang Dong'er.

He knew full well that Wang Dong'er carried a wisp of God Realm Tang San's divine consciousness. He would have to stay far away from her.

Class was about to start, but Huo Yuhao still hadn't appeared. Had taking his place caused him to be assigned to another class?

Tang San frowned slightly. Before he could work it out, the classroom bell rang.

A white-haired, deeply wrinkled old woman entered through the door and reached the podium in a few strides.

"My name is Zhou Yi, and I'm your homeroom teacher. I don't know how many of you will make it through the coming year with me."

Zhou Yi's voice was hoarse and low as she swept her gaze over every student present.

"But I will tell you this: no trash will pass the assessments in my class. I intend to raise real monsters, not fools."

Anger and resentment showed on many of the students' faces.

Those who passed the assessments to enter Shrek Academy were the finest candidates carefully selected from across the continent's nations. Among their peers, they could certainly be called elites.

Tang San, however, smiled when he heard her words.

That's more like it. Ever since enrolling, he had felt that something about Shrek Academy was off.

Only now, hearing this teacher speak, did Tang San understand.

Only a teacher this unusual could truly raise monsters.

Just like his teacher in his previous life, Yu Xiaogang. Although his Soul Power had never reached level thirty,

He was renowned across the continent as the Grandmaster. He had published the theory of the "Ten Core Competencies of Martial Soul" and even uttered the profound maxim, "There are no useless Martial Souls, only useless Soul Masters."

It was precisely because Teacher Yu Xiaogang had devoted his life to researching Martial Souls that he had raised Tang San into a God King with Dual Godhood: Sea God and Asura God.

That was also why Teacher Yu Xiaogang's statue stood within Shrek Academy, revered by later generations.

Teacher Yu Xiaogang would surely have been pleased with the result.

While Tang San was still reminiscing about his past with Teacher Yu Xiaogang, the atmosphere in the classroom grew increasingly tense.

Zhou Yi remained expressionless. She paid the students' discontent no mind and continued, "Anyone who's gotten into a fight since registration began, stand up."

The students who had been brimming with anger exchanged looks, their expressions turning strange.

They had only just enrolled. Who would stir up trouble at Shrek Academy for no reason?

And even if someone had fought, who would be stupid enough to admit it?

"Not a single one?" Zhou Yi raised her eyebrows slightly, disappointment and contempt in her voice.

"What a pack of good-for-nothings. Don't you know that anyone afraid to make trouble is mediocre? All of you, get outside and run a hundred laps around Shrek Plaza. Anyone who can't finish can drop out and get lost."

Her voice was cold, leaving no room for argument.

The entire class erupted.

It was only the first day, and formal lessons hadn't even begun. They were being punished for not getting into fights?

And if they couldn't finish the laps, they would be expelled outright?

Since when had Shrek Academy had a rule like that?

One student could no longer hold back. He shot to his feet, his face flushed red, and demanded loudly:

"Teacher, I won't accept this! Why should we have to run laps just because we haven't fought? Why should we even be expelled?"

Zhou Yi gave a disdainful laugh. "Because I said so. If you don't like it, you can get lost right now. As your homeroom teacher, I have the authority to expel any student.

"You have one minute. If I don't see you running around Shrek Plaza by then, you're all expelled."

As she spoke, Soul Rings slowly rose one after another from beneath Zhou Yi's feet.

Two yellow, two purple, and two black—six Soul Rings bobbed around her, radiating an indescribably oppressive aura.

But the scene Zhou Yi had imagined—her Soul Emperor strength utterly cowing the class—did not come to pass.

Aside from a few students whose breathing quickened, most barely reacted.

At that moment, however, Wang Dong'er's pale pink-blue eyes turned pure blue.

An imperceptible psychic ripple spread from her, probing for something.

In the back row, Tang San suddenly stiffened. He didn't know why, but the Sea God Trident in his Spiritual Sea was trembling wildly, as though responding to something.

It was the resonance between the two that completely blocked Zhou Yi's aura.

In the God Realm Committee, Tang San, who had been speaking with the other God Kings, broke into a smile he had not worn in a long time. He thought to himself,

Caught you, Child of Destiny.