Opening Ceremony

"Thank you for helping Uncle Li—"

Xie Xie looked earnestly at the classmates his own age standing before him.

He had called an ambulance earlier. With the emergency treatment from the rescue team's healing-system Soul Master, Uncle Li was clearly out of danger.

The lackeys pooled their money together, along with Light Dragon's wallet, and it happened to cover the losses this time.

Perhaps because they had lost face and were no match for them in strength, the lackeys fled in disgrace with their unconscious boss.

"It's nothing. When you see injustice, you draw your blade to help."

Facing Xie Xie's gratitude, Luo Qing waved a hand calmly.

Still, it seemed their share had been caught up in it too. Luo Qing and Tang Wulin looked regretfully at the mess all over the ground.

"It's just a shame we didn't get to eat the beef. Still, it's good that the owner is alright."

Tang Wulin felt the worst about food being wasted, but compared to helping someone, missing a meal was nothing.

"You two haven't eaten yet?"

Xie Xie did not know how to repay the two before him. Uncle Li was one of the few people he knew.

If he had been here alone just now, he probably would not have been able to protect him.

He had even considered making the call he hated most, asking his family to come clean up the mess.

"If you haven't eaten, then let me treat you to a meal. Consider it thanks for helping Uncle Li."

Since someone was treating them, Luo Qing and Tang Wulin naturally did not refuse. On the way to another food stall, the three began talking.

"Oh, right. My name is Xie Xie. I'm a new student at Eastsea Academy."

"Judging by your uniforms, we should be classmates, right?"

Luo Qing took a bite of the hanging-roasted beef in his hand, while Tang Wulin nodded.

"We're both new students. We're from Aolai City!"

"Aolai City? I heard it's a warm little coastal town."

It was as though Xie Xie had opened a floodgate. The three chatted as they ate, with the feeling that they had met far too late.

Xie Xie admired their willingness to stand up for a stranger, while Luo Qing and Tang Wulin admired his loyalty and devotion.

"By the way, which class were you assigned to?"

Remembering something, Xie Xie suddenly turned and asked.

"Class One. But that old bitch of a homeroom teacher doesn't look like a good person—"

Luo Qing's words clearly resonated deeply with Xie Xie.

"Exactly!

"You have no idea. When I went to register, that old bitch saw that I had decent talent and started fawning all over me with fake concern.

"But when she saw a student with average talent, she kept putting them down and even excluding them—"

Tang Wulin spoke up indignantly as well.

"She's simply not qualified to be a teacher. To her, students are nothing more than tools for gaining promotion and wealth!"

Xie Xie sighed too.

"If she still doesn't change after school starts, I'm planning to switch classes."

Luo Qing shook his head. "Expecting a woman like that to change is absurd. But there's no need to switch classes."

Xie Xie was puzzled. "Why?"

Luo Qing smiled mysteriously.

"She won't be the homeroom teacher for much longer—"

Xie Xie was filled with confusion, but at the opening ceremony the next day, as he looked at the stern dean and director of studies onstage, he understood everything.

"Following an internal discussion by the academy, Mu Qian was found to have insulted students, made personal attacks, and expressed discriminatory remarks during her time as a teacher."

"Following an investigation, such vile conduct was found to have occurred as many as eight times. Her teaching certificate is hereby revoked, and she will be prosecuted at Eastsea City Court."

"Our academy has always maintained a positive and fair learning environment. The barriers of Martial Souls should not obstruct any of you from climbing upward."

"The vacant Class One homeroom teacher position will be filled by Teacher Wu Zhangkong—everything else remains unchanged. We hope students will report such incidents actively. We will never tolerate this kind of vile behavior!"

Xie Xie stood below with a dazed expression.

"They replaced her just like that?"

Although his family also had some influence here, this was the first time he had seen the academy react with such speed.

Luo Qing leaned over at that moment. "See? I told you. That old woman should've gotten this long ago."

Luo Qing stared at the various pieces of evidence presented by the academy with a look of disgust. Even the scandal of Mu Qian embezzling student subsidies in her early years had been exposed.

Mu Qian stood on the stage, supported by two police officers.

Her eyes were filled with despair, and she kept muttering all sorts of repentant words.

But Luo Qing and Tang Wulin both knew that she only regretted running into them, not what she had done.

As the police cars drove away, the opening ceremony ended amid all kinds of formal remarks.

Luo Qing, Tang Wulin, and Xie Xie returned to Class One.

Standing at the podium was an extraordinarily handsome man.

His ice-blue long hair complemented eyes as deep as ancient wells, while his entire bearing carried an air of mystery and melancholy.

He stood at the podium, calmly watching the students below.

"You're here?"

Wu Zhangkong looked at the students who had just arrived in the classroom. He neither treated them differently like the previous homeroom teacher Mu Qian nor showed the enthusiasm of other homeroom teachers.

He simply stood there, sweeping his gaze evenly across the students below.

Tang Wulin and Luo Qing sat in the same row, while Xie Xie had been assigned the desk in front of Luo Qing.

Just then, there was suddenly a knock at the door.

Wu Zhangkong did not stop flipping through the documents in his hand as he said toward the door, "Come in."

At those words, the knocking finally stopped. Then the door opened, and a delicate-looking girl entered.

The girl had long dark hair and a calm expression.

"Hello, I'm Gu Yue, a new student reporting to Class One."

Wu Zhangkong nodded slightly, signaling for her to find an empty seat.

Gu Yue looked around, then finally sat to Luo Qing's right. She also instinctively glanced at Tang Wulin, who sat on Luo Qing's left, before lowering her head to arrange her backpack.

"Looks like everyone in Class One is here."

Wu Zhangkong finally stopped searching through the documents. He stood and walked toward the door.

"Follow me to the field. On the first day of school—I'll first see what you're made of."

Watching his decisive manner, Xie Xie's curiosity surged.

He had heard of Eastsea Academy's most mysterious teacher before and knew how popular he was within the academy.

"I wonder how good he is at teaching?"

Luo Qing pulled Tang Wulin toward the field.

Wu Zhangkong stood beside the track, waiting for the students to assemble.

"It took you fifteen minutes to gather. Next time, I'll assign extra training to the last person to arrive."

Wu Zhangkong's cold voice made those who had arrived last shudder.

"Now, I'll arrange you into pairs."

"You will spar in front of me. I will ensure the sparring is safe, so use every method you have."

"Do everything you can to defeat your opponent—"

Without waiting for the students to react, Wu Zhangkong merely lowered his head to look at the list.

"First pair: Xie Xie versus Luo Qing!"