Mu Chen, the Class Monitor

Zhou Yi nodded with satisfaction, then uttered a statement that caught everyone off guard.

"Very well. Now, I am announcing something."

She adjusted her glasses, her gaze landing on Mu Chen.

"Starting today, Mu Chen will serve as the monitor of Freshman Class One."

The classroom fell silent for a moment.

Then, contrary to Zhou Yi's expectations, no one raised an objection.

At Shrek Academy, the appointment of a class monitor usually involved a full class vote. But this time, Zhou Yi bypassed the voting process and appointed Mu Chen directly.

The reaction of the entire class was not one of dissatisfaction or complaint, but a silent, tacit acceptance.

It was as if everyone felt that this position belonged to him in the first place.

The sturdy boy in the back row, who had been trembling earlier under the pressure of the ten-thousand-year spirit ring, was the first to start clapping.

Immediately after, applause erupted from every corner of the classroom, moving from scattered claps to a unified rhythm, finally swelling into a warm, thunderous ovation.

Mu Chen stood at the side of the podium and gave a slight nod to the class, his expression remaining as calm as ever. Yet, a flicker of imperceptible light flashed through his deep blue eyes.

He did not care about this position.

But since he had taken it, he would do it well.

Watching the reaction from the podium, the corners of Zhou Yi's mouth curled up slightly, revealing a faint smile.

She signaled for Mu Chen to return to his seat, then opened her lesson plan to begin the day's instruction.

"Today is the Spirit Soul Theory class. We will discuss the scientific basis for spirit ring age limits, and why the spirit ring limits for most spirit masters are fixed..."

The class began in a peculiar atmosphere. Everyone's gaze drifted from time to time toward the window seat, watching the blue-haired youth as he diligently opened his textbook and took notes, his every movement exuding a composure and focus that far exceeded his age.

During the break, Mu Chen was surrounded by a crowd.

The first to rush over was a tall, thin boy from the back row, who asked with an expression of worship how Mu Chen usually cultivated and if there were any secrets he could share.

Then came several girls, claiming they wanted to ask Mu Chen about cultivating water-attribute spirit souls, even though half of them had spirit souls that had nothing to do with the water attribute.

There was also a boy with glasses who held a book, wanting to discuss the feasibility of absorbing spirit rings beyond one's level with Mu Chen.

Mu Chen handled them one by one, neither cold nor overly enthusiastic.

For those who genuinely asked about cultivation, he answered earnestly; for those who were clearly making excuses to get close, he dismissed them politely.

This perfect sense of boundaries ensured he neither offended anyone nor allowed himself to be taken advantage of.

Huo Yuhao sat nearby, watching Mu Chen surrounded by the crowd, his eyes filled with envy.

He secretly clenched his fists, thinking that one day he, too, would become as powerful as Brother Mu—no, even stronger.

Wang Dong maintained his usual "strangers keep away" expression. He kept his head down, flipping through his textbook, but his gaze drifted toward Mu Chen's direction involuntarily.

Every time a girl leaned in to talk to Mu Chen, the speed at which he flipped his pages would noticeably increase, the paper rustling loudly.

But when he noticed that Mu Chen maintained a polite and distant space from those girls, his page-turning slowed down unconsciously.

Wang Dong did not even notice this detail himself.

The day's classes passed in a fulfilling and busy blur.

The afternoon introductory course on combat techniques was a large lecture shared with Class Two. The instructor was a burly middle-aged man named Teacher Tie, whose spirit soul was an Iron-Armored Rhino, a level 62 defense-type spirit emperor.

Teacher Tie had a boisterous personality; his voice was as loud as thunder, yet he was easygoing and got along well with the students.

The content of the combat class was group sparring. Teacher Tie asked Class One and Class Two to each send five people to conduct a simulated battle on the arena.

This cross-class confrontation was the best way to gauge a student's actual combat level, and it was Teacher Tie's favorite teaching method.

When Mu Chen stepped onto the arena, the expressions of the five students from Class Two changed in unison.

Are you kidding? Let them fight the person who knocked down Xu Sanshi in two moves yesterday? This wasn't a sparring match; it was suicide.

Teacher Tie laughed heartily and swapped Mu Chen out, making him the referee instead.

He then pointed at Wang Dong to lead the team. Wang Dong stepped onto the arena without a word, releasing his Radiant Goddess Butterfly spirit soul, its Wing Guillotine shimmering with a dangerous light under the sun.

Although his face remained cold and arrogant, his strikes were ruthless and sharp, and in less than five minutes, he had knocked all five opponents off the arena.

"You lot in Class One really are more monstrous than the last," Teacher Tie said with a laugh, shaking his head, though his eyes were full of appreciation.

Evening, in the cafeteria.

Mu Chen sat in a corner seat, eating from his tray.

The day's classes had left him somewhat mentally exhausted—not physically tired, but drained by the long periods of intense focus. Especially acting as a referee during the combat class, which required him to keep his eyes glued to every movement of the participants, was more taxing than fighting himself.

He had barely taken two bites when someone approached his table.

Wang Dong brought his tray over and sat down to eat beside Mu Chen.

"Aren't there empty seats over there?" Mu Chen raised his eyelids.

"The light is too harsh over there," Wang Dong said without changing his expression, then lowered his head to start eating.

Mu Chen did not press the issue. Both of them ate their food in silence, with only the light clinking of chopsticks against their bowls breaking the quiet.

The cafeteria was bustling with people, the clamor of voices forming a lively backdrop, yet this small corner remained as quiet as if it were another world.

After eating for a while, Wang Dong suddenly spoke up.

"This morning, when you released your soul ring on the podium..." She paused, as if weighing her words, "Your ten-thousand-year soul ring, you didn't fully release its pressure, did you?"

Mu Chen's hand paused mid-motion as he picked up some food, then immediately returned to normal: "How did you notice?"

"Because I've seen the aura you emit when you truly fight." Wang Dong set down her chopsticks and looked at Mu Chen earnestly. "I snuck a peek when you fought Xu Sanshi last night; your soul power fluctuations were much stronger than they were this morning. You were holding back in the classroom today."

Mu Chen glanced at Wang Dong, the corners of his mouth curling upward slightly: "You're quite observant."

"Obviously." Wang Dong turned her head away, her ears tinged with a faint red. "I'm your roommate. If I couldn't even tell that much, how could I be your roommate?"

Mu Chen set down his chopsticks and picked up his water glass to take a sip: "I did hold back a bit. There are many people in that classroom who aren't even a Soul Grand Master yet. If I had fully released the pressure of a ten-thousand-year soul ring, some of them might have suffered internal injuries."

This was the truth; the pressure of a ten-thousand-year soul ring was a genuine threat to the life of a low-level soul master.