"Damn... What kind of lousy teacher is this..."
Hobbling around Shrek Square, Lan Xuanyu cursed inwardly.
Thanks to the Tang Sect's recommendation, he had finally managed to enter Shrek Academy. He'd also been lucky enough to run into his aunt, Tang Wutong, who was currently going by Wang Dong.
At first, he'd wondered why he hadn't met his uncle Huo Yuhao. But he figured history might have changed because of his reincarnation and time travel. He could bring Huo Yuhao into the Tang Sect once they met.
He'd planned to enjoy his precious student days, since most of his time in his previous life had been spent disguised as a woman while carrying out his mission to infiltrate Tianlong Planet. He hadn't expected this old woman named Zhou Yi to arrive in their classroom and start berating them, calling them useless trash. Before they could even argue back, she ordered everyone who'd gotten into a fight in the past few days to step forward.
Naturally, no one wanted to walk into that trap. But to their surprise, the old woman directly called out Wang Dong for having gotten into a fight. She also called them a bunch of spineless mediocrities, then forced every last one of them to run laps around Shrek Square. They had to finish a hundred laps within an hour, and even he, injured as he was, had to complete them.
As for Wang Dong, who'd gotten into a fight, he had to run a hundred and fifty laps... because, in Teacher Zhou's eyes, he wasn't a mediocrity.
His leg had been stabbed by a Man Faced Demon Spider in the Star Dou Great Forest, and it still hadn't healed properly. So he'd asked if he could skip the run, but Zhou Yi had replied with this:
"On the battlefield, would the enemy spare you just because you're wounded?"
Lan Xuanyu had no choice. He could only run laps around Shrek Square with the others.
Well... the logic was sound enough, but any commander with actual combat experience knew to keep the wounded somewhere relatively safe. The poor guy was already injured. Were they really supposed to make him run across a battlefield?
People who'd never fought in a war just loved taking things for granted.
The pain in his leg made it hard for Lan Xuanyu to keep going. Several times, he'd wanted to ask for a break, but the old woman Zhou wouldn't let him. It made him grit his teeth in hatred, convinced she was just like those fake dragons on Tianlong Planet—all of them deserving to die!
Just then...
A figure raced out from among the students on Shrek Square and landed behind Lan Xuanyu. A pair of blue butterfly wings instantly unfurled, and their owner wrapped her arms around him from behind.
"Ah!"
Those wings were breathtakingly beautiful, their colors and patterns a violet blue. The broad surfaces looked like a blue sky set with a dazzling ring of light, shifting from deep blue to azure to pale blue. The white markings on them looked like sparkling jewels, making the wings utterly enchanting.
The sudden appearance of such splendid wings was so stunning that nearly every student, male and female alike, cried out in amazement.
Lan Xuanyu was startled too. He instinctively looked back and saw Wang Dong's face.
"Circulate your Soul Power and make your body lighter." As Wang Dong spoke, she beat the gorgeous wings on her back and shot forward, carrying Lan Xuanyu as they flew rapidly around Shrek Square.
"Oh, right."
Wang Dong might have been beaten senseless by Huo Yuhao's bare fists the other day, but the Light Goddess Butterfly Martial Soul she'd gotten from who-knows-where was truly a top-tier Martial Soul. It might not have measured up to the Blue Silver Emperor, the top-tier Plant-type Martial Soul passed down through the Tang Family, but it was no worse than the Clear Sky Hammer, a Power Attack System Martial Soul. And it could fly, to boot.
At least among this year's freshmen, Wang Dong's strength was noteworthy. Carrying Lan Xuanyu as she flew was no problem for her.
Lan Xuanyu was stunned, too. This wasn't his first time seeing the Light Goddess Butterfly Martial Soul. His younger sister, Dai Ying, had it as well, but back then, it hadn't made much of an impression on him.
Now, though, he realized just how beautiful the Light Goddess Butterfly Martial Soul was...
He'd always thought his aunt Tang Wutong was little more than a pretty face. She was useless in the Tang Family, and all looks with no substance.
Calling her pretty was already being generous. Xiuxiu and his mother, Gu Yuena, were both far better-looking.
But now... seeing Wang Dong's delicate profile, he felt a faint stir in the heart that Bai Xiuxiu had completely occupied.
Maybe... she wasn't entirely useless after all...
[Tang San: Plan successful...]
With his aunt carrying him, Lan Xuanyu no longer had to push through the pain in his leg. He finished all one hundred laps before the time Zhou Yi had set was up.
After expelling several disobedient students, Zhou Yi had achieved her goal of establishing her authority. She gave them time to change clothes, then began her first class.
"Good. Now that everyone's here, let's begin class properly."
She turned around and wrote two characters on the blackboard under everyone's gaze: offense and defense.
"Today we'll discuss the simplest things about Soul Masters: offense and defense."
As she spoke, Zhou Yi's gaze fell on Lan Xuanyu, and she asked him bluntly,
"Lan Xuanyu, answer my question. Soul Masters belong to all kinds of systems: Power Attack, Agility Attack, defense, control, and so on. Tell me, which of these systems lean more toward offense, and which toward defense or support?"
Lan Xuanyu was taken aback when she called on him, but then he smiled confidently. How could a childish question like this stump someone with knowledge and experience from twenty thousand years in the future?
Lan Xuanyu stood up and answered with complete confidence, "If a Soul Master's Martial Soul and bloodline power are strong enough, then no matter what system they belong to, whether they focus on offense or support, they can do it all on their own!"
Just like him, with his Dragon God Bloodline!
When he'd still been weak, he'd used his Gold-Patterned Blue Silver Grass and Silver-Patterned Blue Silver Grass to support his companions and help them grow stronger. That made him a support-type Soul Master.
Once he grew stronger, the Dragon God Bloodline gave him peerless fighting power, making him the strongest among the God Kings in both offense and defense!
"..."
There was no applause as he'd imagined. Instead, the entire class, Wang Dong included, stared at him as if he were an idiot.
Zhou Yi's mouth twitched. She raised her hand and used a burst of Soul Power to force him back into his seat. "I really wonder how you got specially admitted. What kind of nonsense are you spouting? Sit down and pay attention. Stop daydreaming!"
Then Zhou Lianyi turned around and wrote three characters on the blackboard: Soul Tool.
"Now that Soul Guidance Technology is developing rapidly, the distinction between offense and defense has become blurred. Even support-type Soul Masters can wield powerful Soul Tools to unleash tremendous destructive power..."
Ah...
Only then did Lan Xuanyu realize his mistake. In his era, Soul Masters all had Battle Armor. Even Soul Guidance Technology was little more than icing on the cake for powerful Soul Masters; it couldn't completely blur the distinction between Power Attack and defense among the strong.
Bloodline power, on the other hand, still bore the greatest weight even twenty thousand years later, when technology had advanced by leaps and bounds. After all, bloodline power essentially determined a Soul Master's future development. Those whose ancestors had passed down divine bloodlines naturally cultivated faster.
My apologies, my apologies... Why was I talking about bloodline power to these people who were barely any different from primitive folk...
But Lan Xuanyu didn't mind Soul Guidance Technology. After all, he had the most powerful [Di Tian Warship] in the universe!
Its firepower was strong enough to destroy a planet with a single shot... In this era, he'd just let Di Tian keep on being a warship.
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