The Soul Beasts' Century of Compulsory Education, Hearts Aflame!

Jiang Ce's tentacles extended from Zi Ji's shoulder, swaying in the air.

The next second, a mass of pitch-black liquid surged from Zi Ji's body, coalescing into a tall humanoid figure before everyone's eyes.

He faced all the Fierce Beasts and Ten Thousand Year Soul Beasts, spreading his arms wide.

"Everyone, how long have you lived?"

"Ten thousand years? Fifty thousand years? A hundred thousand years?"

"Have you ever wondered how those humans, who only live for a hundred years, possess no claws, no fangs, and no scales, managed to grow step by step from savages who had nothing and feared wild beasts tens of thousands of years ago?"

"How they could slowly encroach upon your territory step by step?"

"How they could slaughter your own kind?"

These words instantly left all the Soul Beasts stunned.

Not a single Soul Beast could answer.

"Then, let me tell you the answer!"

Jiang Ce's voice suddenly rose, cracking like a thunderclap.

"Because they are evolving! They are learning! They are accumulating knowledge generation after generation!"

"And what about you?"

His arm pointed sharply at the nearest Ten Thousand Year Soul Beast.

"You, living for tens of thousands of years! What have you learned? What weapons do you use? What tactics do you know? Do you have an army? Do you have an organization?"

"You have nothing! You are merely existing! Existing on instinct!"

The Soul Beast's face flushed red, but it could not utter a single word.

"All of you are like this!"

Jiang Ce's arm swept across the entire assembly.

"You have lived for vast ages, yet the things inside your heads are not even as much as a fifteen-year-old human boy!"

"Humans learn to read at two, study knowledge at four, and begin researching tactics, strategy, and alchemy at eight!"

"And you? You cannot even write your own names! You cannot even calculate numbers within one hundred!"

His voice echoed across the lake, making the eardrums of every Soul Beast hum.

"This is the gap!"

"Why are humans becoming more numerous and stronger? Because they have civilization!"

"What is civilization? Civilization is writing! It is knowledge! It is heritage!"

"It is generation after generation writing down their experiences and passing them on!"

"And you—your experiences are buried along with your deaths, and the next generation must start from zero, fumbling again, bleeding again!"

Jiang Ce's voice lowered slightly, but every word struck the Soul Beasts' hearts like an iron hammer.

"Do you know what this means?"

"It means you are forever treading water. Forever."

"Tens of thousands of years ago, humans were so weak that even wild beasts feared them, let alone Soul Beasts."

"Yet, tens of thousands of years have passed, and look at what has happened."

"Humans have developed, and your living territory has been compressed by them."

"Because you do not change!"

His voice rose once again.

"Because you cling to that nonsensical 'law of the jungle'! Because you refuse to learn!"

"Because you would rather tear each other apart in the forest than sit down and think—why is our living territory being compressed!"

The entire scene fell into a deathly silence.

All the Soul Beasts stared blankly at that figure, forgetting even how to breathe.

"But—today, everything is going to change."

Jiang Ce's tone shifted.

"Your Lord has already made a decision."

"From this day forward, the Star Dou Great Forest will no longer be a free-range pasture!"

His arm swung violently toward the sky.

"From this day forward, you will learn!"

"Literacy! Arithmetic! Logic! Strategy! Organization! Management!"

"You must build your own civilization! Build your own armies! Build your own legacy!"

"Learn the human way of thinking, their organizational structures, and their civilization."

"Do not let your brains, which have lived for tens of thousands or even over a hundred thousand years, lose to a little brat who has only lived for a dozen!"

"Are you—willing?!"

A hundred-thousand-year Soul Beast stood up abruptly.

"Willing!"

Another followed suit and stood up.

"Willing! I've had enough of this!"

"Learn! Let's learn, damn it!"

"So what if it's literacy? Who's afraid of that!"

"I, too, want to have a broader vision!"

The roars grew from sparse shouts into a mountain-shaking, sea-churning roar.

The eyes of every Soul Beast lit up.

Their blood began to boil!

Emperor Heaven stood to the side, his pupils slightly constricted.

Such charisma!

Bi Ji covered her mouth, her eyes turning slightly red.

Zi Ji stared blankly at the seething Soul Beasts, then looked toward that figure, momentarily at a loss for words.

Gu Yuena's purple eyes reflected that figure, and the corners of her mouth slowly curled into an arc.

"Very well. Next, you will become the first batch of students for the [Soul Beast Century Compulsory Education]."

"Are you willing??!"

As Jiang Ce reached out his hand toward them in invitation.

In an instant.

The mountain-shaking, sea-churning roar rose up.

"Willing!"

"Willing!"

"Willing!"

The waves of sound rose one after another.

Through Jiang Ce's impassioned speech, these Soul Beasts all understood one truth: if they did not learn and did not progress, their territories would be further compressed in the future.

They had to learn; they had to become a civilized race of Soul Beasts!

Jiang Ce turned around, nodded slightly toward Gu Yuena, and then transformed back into black liquid, surging back into Zi Ji's body.

Zi Ji's body trembled.

"Can you... just settle down for a moment?"

"I cannot. I am celebrating." Jiang Ce's voice carried a hint of triumph.

"...Celebrating what?"

"Celebrating the enrollment of the first batch of students. The Century Compulsory Education is officially in session!"

At the edge of the crowd, the Azure Ox Python, now in the form of a young man, crossed his arms, his long cyan hair fluttering slightly in the wind.

Beside him stood the burly man transformed from the Titan Giant Ape, both of their gazes fixed on two slender figures not far away.

One wore coarse linen clothes, her figure graceful and her temperament mature and charming.

The other wore a scorpion braid and a pink dress, tilting her head as she curiously examined that pitch-black tentacle.

Soft Bone Rabbit—Xiao Wu.

And her mother.

"Sister Xiao Wu and Auntie seem very interested in that thing," the Titan Giant Ape muttered.

"Mm," the Azure Ox Python replied, his gaze never leaving that figure.

"Should we go over and talk to them?"

"No need. If she wants to come over, she will come herself."

The Azure Ox Python's voice was calm, but his fingers tightened slightly.

The Titan Giant Ape scratched his head and stopped asking.

Xiao Wu's gaze remained fixed on that pitch-black tentacle; she didn't look this way at all.

...Forget it, if the big brother wasn't anxious, why should he be?

Bear Lord lay on the ground, gritting his teeth without making a sound.

His dark golden pupils stared fixedly at the ground, the unwillingness and fury in his eyes nearly overflowing.

But he did not speak again.

It wasn't that he had submitted, but that he knew saying anything now was useless.

The Lord had been completely persuaded by that mass of black sludge.

These Soul Beasts had all been hoodwinked.

No matter how much he said, it would only be self-inflicted humiliation.

But—

Bear Lord cursed fiercely in his heart.

What learning, what civilization, what Soul Beast Century Compulsory Education.

It was all bullshit.

Soul Beasts were Soul Beasts; they relied on strength, on claws and fangs, on the law of the jungle.

They didn't rely on literacy or knowledge.

He would wait to see that mass of black sludge make a fool of itself.

He immediately crawled to his feet and walked in a direction to tend to his wounds.

Bi Ji watched Bear Lord's retreating back and sighed softly.

"He won't come around," Zi Ji's voice rang out coldly. "That guy's brain is harder than stone."

"And what about you?" Bi Ji looked at Zi Ji. "Have you come around?"

Zi Ji fell silent.

What that bastard said made sense.

Soul Beasts truly needed to change.

If they didn't change, they would only be slowly devoured by humans forever.

"I... will give it a try."

Bi Ji looked at her, a faint smile tugging at the corners of her lips.

"Then let's try together."

Bi Ji raised her head and looked at the sky.

Sunlight filtered through the canopy, casting fragmented spots of light into her emerald eyes.

She hoped so.

It seemed the future of the Soul Beasts was changing for the better.

"Then, how exactly do you intend to roll out this so-called Soul Beast Century Compulsory Education?"

Gu Yuena asked Jiang Ce, only to find that he did not answer.

"I'm asking you, can you stop playing that?"

"You can do whatever you want when we get back, alright?"

It was rare for Gu Yuena to be so patient.

After all, during this period, she had been tormented by Jiang Che and Jiang Ce just as much as Zi Ji.

"Naturally, the first step is to find teachers."

"Teachers?!"

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