Everyone, Listen Up—Go Watch Teacher Zhou Run! (Please Keep Reading~)

Zhou Yi let out a muffled grunt. The flaming claws around her wrists instantly dissipated by more than half, and she staggered two steps to the side.

Gritting her teeth, she endured the sharp pain shooting through her wrist bones. The third soul ring beneath her feet suddenly lit up, and she threw back her head with a long howl.

"Roar—"

The sound waves of Howling Flame Wolf Cry, wrapped in a scorching heatwave, exploded outward from her in all directions, making the glass windows along both sides of the corridor hum.

Several students peeking out from nearby were knocked back unsteadily by the blast, covering their ears and crouching down.

Tang Wulin merely frowned slightly. Ghost Shadow Perplexing Track shifted his position again, and his body drifted like a fallen leaf blown off course by the wind, slipping from the center of the sound waves to Zhou Yi's rear flank. The hammer in his hand had already completed a full swing, crashing heavily onto her shoulder blade with thunderous force.

The blow made Zhou Yi's legs go weak. She dropped to one knee, and several fine cracks spread across the floor beneath it.

The expression on her face finally broke. Her fourth soul skill, Crimson Flame Wolf Body, erupted in haste. Flame patterns instantly covered her entire body, and her defense and resistance rose sharply.

When Tang Wulin's hammer struck her, he clearly felt a layer of resistance, as though he had hit a red-hot iron plate. The recoil traveled up the handle and into his palm, making the web between his thumb and forefinger go slightly numb.

"Interesting," he murmured. Then he twisted his wrist. The dark-gold patterns on the hammer flashed faintly, and an even heavier force crashed down from its head.

Zhou Yi, who had only just regained her footing, was smashed backward again. Before her fifth soul skill, Heaven-Burning Wolf Shadow, could fully take shape, its momentum was shattered.

The three fiery wolf phantoms had only formed vague outlines before the wind from the hammer tore them apart, turning them into sparks that drifted through the air.

Cold sweat ran down her chin. Her lips had gone slightly pale, and waves of sharp pain pulsed from the spot on her wrist where the hammer had struck.

She raised a hand to cover the injury and staggered backward until her back hit the wall at the end of the corridor.

"You..." Her voice was so hoarse it was nearly inaudible.

Tang Wulin did not stop.

His figure flashed, and Ghost Shadow Perplexing Track activated once more. In the next instant, he stood less than half a meter in front of Zhou Yi. The Clear Sky Hammer in his hand was raised high, the purple lightning patterns on its surface blazing with a piercing light.

Zhou Yi's pupils contracted sharply. Instinctively, she raised both arms to shield her head.

"Stop! I surrender!"

The hammer abruptly stopped less than three inches from her forehead. The pressure of the wind it carried blew the loose strands of hair before her forehead backward.

Tang Wulin maintained his raised-hammer stance, looking down at Zhou Yi, who was slumped beneath the wall, her face full of humiliation and unwillingness. He remained silent for two breaths.

After all, if that hammer came down, her brains would probably burst out. Killing her was unnecessary—at least, he could not kill her openly.

He couldn't dirty his hands over a piece of trash like this.

Then he slowly withdrew the hammer. With a flip of his wrist, the heavy Clear Sky Hammer turned into a streak of purple light and vanished into his palm.

Tang Wulin yawned and muttered, "So beating people without using soul skills feels this good. Sigh, if I weren't worried about causing trouble, would that last hit have smashed Zhou Yi into a complete mess of fractures?"

He then brushed the dust from his sleeve and said casually, with the carefree nonchalance unique to a young man, "Teacher, you said that strength was the rule. It seems I'm a little stronger than you now, aren't I? Then by your rules, you should listen to me. Since you think running laps is such a good method, go run a thousand laps. It'll be a fine example for us."

The corridor was so quiet that a pin drop could be heard.

Heads had long since poked out from one classroom after another nearby. Students from several first-year classes were pressed against the cracks of their doors, peering outside.

Pairs of eyes were wide open as they stared fixedly in this direction.

A few bolder students had already leaned half their bodies out the doorways, their mouths wide enough to fit an egg.

"Holy shit..." someone muttered in a suppressed voice from some corner. "That guy used a martial soul without soul rings to pin down and beat up a Soul Emperor? Am I seeing things?"

"It looks like... it really doesn't have any soul rings activated."

"How old is he? That uniform means he's a new outer court student, right? Just like us?"

"A four-ring hammer crushing a six-ring Soul Emperor? What kind of monster is that?!"

"What martial soul is that?"

Ning Tian stepped out from behind their class and slowly said, "That is the Clear Sky Hammer, once the number one tool martial soul in the world!"

The moment she said that, everyone around her fell silent.

Then the whispers rose again, like sparks falling into a pile of dry grass. A few scattered remarks quickly spread into a buzzing murmur.

Even upperclassmen who had not intended to join the commotion could not help sticking their heads out of the windows, their gazes sweeping repeatedly between Tang Wulin and Zhou Yi.

Wang Dong stood at the classroom door, one hand braced against the doorframe. Her eyes were fixed on the motion of Tang Wulin recalling his hammer, while her other hand quietly clenched into a fist.

She lowered her head and looked at her palm as if confirming something. Then she raised her head again to look at Tang Wulin's back, an indescribable gleam of excitement shining in her blue-pink eyes.

Huo Yuhao stood behind Wang Dong, his eyes sparkling. His lips were pressed together, his expression carrying the admiration and worship particular to a young boy, along with a trace of pride that was difficult to detect.

Gu Yuena sat quietly at her desk, propping her chin up with both hands. Her violet eyes curved into crescents as her gaze passed over the crowd and settled on the tall figure at the end of the corridor. The smile on her lips never faded.

"Big brother is amazing," Na'er murmured.

Tang Wulin turned and glanced toward the classroom, meeting Gu Yuena's crescent eyes.

He curled his lips at her slightly, then turned back, his gaze returning to Zhou Yi, who still had not risen from the ground.

"Teacher, one thousand laps. If you can't finish them, I can continue demonstrating for you this afternoon." Tang Wulin placed his hands behind his back and leaned forward slightly. Wearing an obedient, harmless smile, he spoke as gently as though discussing dinner with an elder. "What do you think? Next time, we won't be on the track, right? Since you haven't finished running, you naturally have to set an example for everyone, right?"

Supporting herself against the wall, Zhou Yi slowly stood up. Her left hand covered her injured right wrist, and her face shifted several times between green and white.

She stared at the boy before her for a long while. Her lips moved several times, but in the end, she did not say another word.

Slowly lowering the hand covering her injury, she turned around and walked toward the stairwell step by step.

The sound of her high heels striking the floor was far duller than when she had arrived.

Tang Wulin watched her back disappear around the stairway corner.

Then he turned and returned to the classroom, sitting back down in his seat. He casually smoothed over the crack he had made in the desk a little, then said naturally, "Quiet, all of you. Everyone, listen up—follow me to the track to watch Teacher Zhou run."