Hundred-Thousand-Year Soul Ring?! (Please Keep Reading)

Tang Wulin stood at the classroom door, both hands tucked into his sleeves, his head tilted slightly as he watched the young faces in the corridor, still carrying traces of innocence and excitement.

Behind him stood all the new students of Class One—more than a hundred of them, neither too many nor too few—packed neatly at the classroom entrance and along both sides of the corridor, completely blocking the already narrow passageway.

The commotion from that one-sided crushing had been far too great. Students from several neighboring classes were already peeking out from behind their doorframes. A few bolder ones had even climbed halfway out their windows, craning their necks to look this way.

Tang Wulin had no intention of stopping them from enjoying the show.

He even stepped half a pace aside, giving the peeking students a clearer view. Then he lifted his chin, his tone as casual as if he were inviting them out to enjoy the sun. "Come on. Follow me to the training grounds and see how Teacher Zhou sets an example."

However, their homeroom teacher let out an angry roar, and in the end, they could only obediently sit back down in their seats.

The moment his words fell, ninety-one people surged into motion.

Some were flushed red with excitement, some whispered to one another in hushed voices, and several girls secretly glanced at Tang Wulin's profile as they walked out, the tips of their ears faintly pink.

Wang Dong walked at the very front, taking the largest strides. Her blue-pink short hair was lifted slightly by the breeze as she moved, and her face wore an expression of excitement and pride, as though she had been the one to act just now.

Still, she did not step forward at this moment. After all, the spotlight ought to go to the person who had earned it!

Huo Yuhao followed half a step behind her, his head lowered and his fists clenched tightly. His eyes were full of excitement, along with the realization that so this could be done too.

Tang Wulin turned his head for a glance and happened to see Gu Yuena emerge from the back of the group. Her silver-white hair swayed in the sunlight. She walked to Tang Wulin's side, looked up at him with a smile in her eyes, said nothing, and simply followed quietly beside him.

The walk from the teaching building to the training grounds was neither long nor short. Plane tree leaves rustled in the wind on both sides of the bluestone path, while morning sunlight filtered through the gaps in the leaves and fell across their shoulders and hair like scattered gold.

When the group passed grandly through the center plaza of the outer courtyard, passing upperclassmen could not help stopping and turning back to look.

An older outer-courtyard student stood at the roadside holding a bowl of food. Watching the imposing procession pass before him, he forgot to swallow the steamed bun in his mouth and mumbled, "What's going on? Is Class One skipping class together?"

The person beside him gave him a shove. "Skipping class? Haven't you heard what happened? That new student in Class One used a Clear Sky Hammer without a soul ring to hammer their homeroom teacher! Now that teacher is being punished with laps on the training grounds."

"How many laps?"

"One thousand."

"One thousand?!" The student nearly choked on his bun. "Can a person even run that many?"

Tang Wulin walked at the front of the group. He caught most of the whispers behind him but did not turn around, merely curling his lips into a faint smile.

His pace was neither hurried nor slow, as though he were taking a stroll. Yet the forty-seven people behind him unconsciously matched his rhythm, as if tied to the same invisible rope, walking in perfect order.

They had arrived at the training grounds.

Shrek Academy's training grounds were enormous. The outer track was paved with dark red fine gravel, soft beneath their feet and warmed by the morning sun.

Sunlight slanted down from behind the eastern stands, shrouding the entire training grounds in a pale golden glow. Dew still clung to the grass in the center of the track, sparkling brightly beneath the light.

But there was no one on the track.

Tang Wulin narrowed his eyes, sweeping his gaze across the entire training grounds before it finally settled beneath an old locust tree near the starting line.

Zhou Yi stood in the shade, clutching a palm-sized communication soul device. She was speaking rapidly into it in a low voice, her expression carrying traces of urgency and unwillingness. Fine beads of sweat had already washed shallow grooves through the powder on her heavily made-up face.

The bones in her right wrist were still swollen, and a layer of white cloth was wrapped around it, uneven and messy. At a glance, it was clear she had hastily bandaged it herself.

Tang Wulin did not slow down. Leading the large group behind him, he crossed the grass at the edge of the training grounds and stepped onto the track.

The sound of his boot landing on the dark red gravel was soft, yet it made Zhou Yi jerk her head up.

Her communication soul device was still pressed to her ear. The instant her gaze met Tang Wulin's, her fingers reflexively tightened around it.

Tang Wulin gave her a warm smile and continued walking straight toward her.

He stopped about three meters away. The group behind him halted as well. Forty-seven people stood silently on the track, staring in unison at Zhou Yi beneath the tree. Their gazes held no obvious malice, yet there was a uniform scrutiny in them that made Zhou Yi's skin crawl.

"Teacher, it's time to run." Tang Wulin's voice was not loud, and his tone was even gentle, as if reminding an elder who had lost track of time. "You said that anyone who couldn't finish one hundred laps would be expelled directly, right? I set one thousand laps for you. If you can't finish them... shall we follow your rules?"

Zhou Yi's expression shifted. The fingers gripping the communication soul device tightened, loosened, then tightened again. In the end, they loosened. Her palm opened, and the small silver soul device flashed in the sunlight.

She bit her lip, lowering her voice as though trying to preserve the last shred of dignity. "I was only... only speaking with my family just now..."

"I know." Tang Wulin nodded with a smile. His expression was clean and sincere, as though he fully believed her. "Don't worry, Teacher. You have the entire day to run slowly. There's no rush."

As he spoke, a soul ring silently rose beneath his feet.

Four soul rings emerged in succession, slowly revolving around his ankles. The lowest ring was crimson like solidified lava, gleaming with a heavy, profound luster beneath the sunlight and radiating a pressure that made hearts tremble.

The instant that red light spread out, the air within several yards seemed to grow three times heavier. Even the leaves at the treetops stopped swaying.

Zhou Yi's gaze fell upon the red soul ring, and her entire body seemed to be nailed in place.

Her pupils abruptly contracted. Her lips parted and closed again, and a nearly inaudible, hoarse sound escaped her throat, as though someone had seized her by the neck. "...A hundred-thousand-year soul ring?"

Her voice was so quiet that it sounded like she was speaking to herself.

Tang Wulin did not answer. He merely tilted his head slightly at her. The light of the four soul rings beneath his feet flickered, and the pressure radiated by the hundred-thousand-year soul ring slowly contracted without dispersing. It pressed down on Zhou Yi alone, neither spreading out to alarm others nor lacking the force needed to leave this Soul Emperor-level homeroom teacher stiff from head to toe.