The black ring rotated slowly, each turn radiating an invisible pressure, so heavy it seemed almost tangible.
A Ten Thousand Year Soul Ring.
Everyone in the classroom felt a shudder deep in their souls.
It was the most instinctive reaction of a low-level Soul Master facing a Ten Thousand Year Soul Ring. It had nothing to do with courage or willpower; it was pure, instinctive fear born of the vast gap in their levels of life.
The faces of several students in the front row turned deathly pale, and fine beads of cold sweat appeared on their foreheads.
Their fingers clutched the edges of their desks, their knuckles turning white from the strain.
Someone instinctively released their Martial Soul to resist the pressure. A Gray Wolf phantom appeared above one boy's head, but under the weight of the Ten Thousand Year Soul Ring, it trembled violently, on the verge of dissipating at any moment.
The students in the back row fared no better. A burly boy clenched both fists, the veins in his arms bulging.
He gritted his teeth and fought desperately against the pressure that seemed ready to crush him, but his trembling legs betrayed his condition.
Huo Yuhao sat by the window, leaning forward slightly, both hands pressing hard against his desk.
His Spirit Eye Martial Soul had activated on its own. A faint mental fluctuation shimmered in his eyes—the body's instinctive defense against overwhelming pressure.
The pressure of the Ten Thousand Year Soul Ring crushed every nerve in him as if it were tangible, but he gritted his teeth and forced his eyes wide open, staring without blinking at the blue figure on the platform.
So this was Big Brother Mu's strength.
This was the person he would have to catch up to in the future.
Huo Yuhao had bitten his lip until it bled, but he didn't notice. A fierce light burned in his eyes—not fear, not retreat, but a nearly crazed fighting spirit ignited by the enormous gap between them.
Wang Dong sat in the seat closest to Mu Chen.
She fared much better than the other students. For one thing, her cultivation was already higher than most of theirs. For another, she had felt the aura of a Ten Thousand Year Soul Ring at close range during their fusion cultivation the previous night, and her body had already grown somewhat accustomed to it.
Even so, her Light Goddess Butterfly Martial Soul stirred restlessly under the pressure.
She could feel the skin on her back growing warm, a sign that her Martial Soul was about to emerge.
But she forced it back down.
Her gaze never left Mu Chen. As she watched the figure on the platform surrounded by four Soul Rings, Wang Dong felt more conflicted than ever.
This person was her roommate, the one who had made her call him Big Brother, the one who cultivated with her every day.
Yet the Mu Chen standing on the platform now made her feel a little as though he were a stranger.
It wasn't a sense of distance, but something subtler.
Zhou Yi glanced over the students' reactions and silently nodded. This was exactly the effect she wanted.
She wanted them to see with their own eyes what a true genius was and whom they ought to strive to catch up with.
Hothouse flowers couldn't withstand wind and rain. Only after seeing true strength could they find the drive and direction to move forward.
About ten seconds later—though to the students below, those ten seconds had stretched into something like a century—Zhou Yi finally spoke.
"That's enough, Mu Chen. Put away your Martial Soul."
Mu Chen nodded and drew his Martial Soul back into his body. The Ocean phantom slowly faded, the Trident dissolved into specks of light, and the four Soul Rings went out one by one, from bottom to top. The crushing pressure on everyone's chests vanished with them, like a drowning person finally breaking the surface.
The classroom filled with the sound of people gasping for breath.
Some collapsed in their chairs, the backs of their clothes soaked with cold sweat.
Some still trembled faintly, staring blankly at the empty platform, not yet recovered from the shock.
Most simply sat in silence, unable to say a word because they didn't know what to say. Any words seemed feeble in the face of talent on that level.
Zhou Yi walked to the center of the platform and clapped her hands, drawing the attention of all the students still lost in a daze.
Her gaze swept across every face, and her tone returned to its usual severity.
"Did you see that?"
No one answered. There was no need to.
"Hundred-Year Soul Rings are yellow, Thousand-Year Soul Rings are purple, Ten Thousand Year Soul Rings are black, and Hundred Thousand Year Soul Rings are red. These are basic truths passed down through the Soul Master World of Douluo Continent for tens of thousands of years." Zhou Yi's voice wasn't loud, but every word struck home. "But basic truths aren't absolute. True geniuses exist to break the mold."
She turned to glance at Mu Chen, unmistakable admiration in her eyes.
"Mu Chen's Second Soul Ring was already a Thousand-Year Soul Ring, and his fourth leapt straight to ten thousand years. What does that tell us? It tells us his body's ability to endure, the strength of his meridians, and his mental resilience all far surpass those of ordinary Soul Masters. You think this is talent? You're right, it is. But what lies behind that talent? It's the tireless hard work he's put in ever since the day he awakened his Martial Soul, and six years of perseverance, day after day."
Zhou Yi's tone suddenly turned severe. "And now, some of you can't even stick with your morning runs. You run a few dozen laps and start crying for your mommy. With an attitude like that, what makes you think you can catch up to him? What makes you think you can reach the pinnacle of the Soul Master path?"
The atmosphere in the classroom grew as heavy as lead. Several students lowered their heads, their faces burning.
Zhou Yi waited a few seconds, letting her words sink in, then shifted gears, her tone suddenly lightening.
"But you don't need to be too discouraged."
She patted Mu Chen on the shoulder, with a rare warmth in the gesture. "Mu Chen is unquestionably the best among this year's new students. But being the best doesn't mean he's the only strong one. Everyone in my class has potential of their own. The key is whether you're willing to bring it out. Mu Chen started from a higher point than you did; that's a fact. But the starting point isn't the finish line. On the path of cultivation, talent determines your limits, but effort determines how far you can go."
She paused and surveyed the room.
"Among the students I've taught, many had ordinary talent yet ultimately achieved extraordinary things. I've also seen plenty of gifted people fall by the wayside halfway through. So I showed you Mu Chen's Soul Rings today not to discourage you, but to help you see clearly: this is your role model, the person you should strive to catch up to. You don't have to surpass him right now, but starting today, you must work toward that goal."
Zhou Yi's voice rose sharply. "Do you understand?"
"Understood!" The whole class answered in unison, louder than ever.
Huo Yuhao shouted with such force that his throat nearly gave out. Wang Dong beside him didn't join in, but a more serious light had appeared in her eyes.