One Move Was All It Took—What More Was There to Say?

"Class One?!"

The teasing smile on Li Chushui's face vanished the instant she heard those words, replaced by utter shock.

Her eyes widened as she exclaimed sincerely.

"Really? This year's Class One is absurdly strong—probably the most formidable group of new students in decades!

I heard everyone in Class One started with Century Soul Rings. There are three Two-Ring Grand Soul Masters alone, and every single one of their Martial Souls is top-tier.

No freshman class in previous years has ever had that kind of lineup. The gap is practically a cliff."

Tang Wulin, standing beside her, listened with secret alarm. Only now did she truly realize just how impressive Class One was.

"Really?"

"Absolutely! Your younger brother has a Century Soul Ring too, right? What level is his Soul Power? How tall is he? His measurements!"

"Chushui!" Tang Wulin stopped her from asking any further. "Be serious."

"Hehe, sorry. I got too excited."

As Chen An silently ate, he suddenly realized something.

Everyone else believed that his level-twelve Soul Power and Century Soul Ring had come from genuine hard work. Only he knew the truth.

Ever since he embarked on the path of a Soul Master, he had barely raised his level through proper meditation and cultivation.

He had encountered opportunity after opportunity, absorbing the lingering aura of Na'er's origin essence and freeloading off the overflowing dragon aura from Tang Wulin's Golden Dragon King Bloodline awakening, lazily advancing all the way to level twenty-one.

This way of improving seemed easy, but his foundation was actually unstable. He had only managed because his cheat had covered for him.

If the Roulette ever stopped favoring him and gave him a negative option like failed evolution or stalled Soul Power growth, wouldn't he be digging his own grave?

The children in Eastsea City could not threaten him, but stronger opponents awaited him later on.

It was time to truly settle down and cultivate seriously.

Li Chushui was still enthusiastically chatting about the latest happenings at school when the topic shifted to the most popular figure on campus.

"Oh, right! Earlier, a bunch of senior girls were dragging us along because they wanted to secretly take pictures of Teacher Wu Changkong!"

Her face was full of gossip, her tone brimming with excitement.

"Teacher Wu has looks, temperament, and strength that are all absolutely top-notch. He's ridiculously popular at school!

And I also heard that Class One's homeroom teacher, Ye Yingluo, has some history with Teacher Wu Changkong."

Chen An listened quietly, silently passing judgment.

This Class Five student had no interest whatsoever in cultivation, yet when it came to digging up gossip and following the crowd for drama, she was clearly number one.

Before long, Li Chushui quickly finished the food on her tray, waved goodbye to the two of them, and ran off to chat and play around with other students.

Chen An briefly said goodbye to Tang Wulin before returning alone to the boys' dormitory.

When he pushed open the dorm room door, the room was empty.

Zhang Yangzi, Wang Jinxi, and Wei Xiaofeng had yet to return. The undisturbed environment suited Chen An perfectly.

He quietly shut the doors and windows, sat cross-legged on his bed, closed his eyes, and focused his mind as he formally entered a state of deep meditation.

The last time he had immersed himself in such prolonged meditation had been on his journey to the Star Dou Great Forest to find Na'er.

This time, he intended to thoroughly settle himself for a while.

His mind stabilized as Soul Power slowly circulated through the meridians of his body.

The night passed in the blink of an eye.

The next morning, all Class One students gathered at Eastsea Academy's indoor training grounds for their first strength assessment since enrollment.

Ye Yingluo stood in the center of the training grounds, her expression serious as she evaluated every new student's practical combat ability, Soul Power control, and battle awareness.

The students took turns entering the field to spar, displaying their Martial Souls and Soul Skills.

So far, the most outstanding performer in the entire venue was Zhang Yangzi.

As one of the three Two-Ring Grand Soul Masters in the class, his Martial Soul was a rare flying-type Martial Soul with practical control Soul Skills. He was capable in both offense and defense, with exceptional mobility.

Compared with Wang Jinxi and Wei Xiaofeng, who were also Soul Grandmasters, Wang Jinxi's Bone Dragon King Martial Soul was of outstanding quality but had not yet been fully developed, leaving his combat power slightly lacking at this stage. Wei Xiaofeng's offense and defense were too one-dimensional, and his weaknesses were obvious.

Overall, Zhang Yangzi firmly held the top spot among Class One's new students in terms of combat strength.

Chen An stood quietly at the edge of the training grounds, watching the matches in silence as he quickly grasped Class One's overall level.

It had to be said that the students who made it into Class One had far more solid foundations.

But that was all.

In Chen An's eyes, after experiencing one hundred thousand years of time and witnessing the Dragon Clan's highest combat power, these freshmen's sparring matches were immature, green, and riddled with openings.

Soon, it was Chen An's turn to take the field.

His opponent was a level-seventeen assault-type Soul Master whose Martial Soul was the Azure Edge Saber. He possessed decent close-range explosive power and could be considered somewhat capable among the freshmen.

The two stood facing each other from opposite sides of the training grounds.

Chen An thought to himself that he now possessed level-twenty-one Soul Power and Dragonkind Bloodline. His physical strength far surpassed that of ordinary people.

If he attacked with full force, he could easily lose control and seriously injure his opponent. He had to judge his strength carefully, control his force, and stop at the right point.

"Begin!"

Ye Yingluo gave the order.

Yellow Century Soul Rings rose from beneath both their feet at the same time.

His opponent did not dare be careless. The Azure Edge Saber Martial Soul instantly possessed him, and gripping the cold, gleaming long blade, he pushed off the ground and charged fiercely toward Chen An. His saber wind was sharp, his momentum imposing.

Chen An, meanwhile, stood quietly where he was. He neither dodged nor retreated, deliberately yielding the initiative and allowing his opponent to attack.

Just as the long saber was about to slash down before him, Chen An shifted slightly to the side and precisely avoided the blade. His movement was effortless and unhurried, without the slightest sign of panic.

The next instant, he stepped forward and raised his hand, precisely gripping his opponent by the neck. His force was restrained yet overwhelmingly suppressive. With a light press, he pinned the other boy firmly to the ground, completely locking down his movements.

The training grounds fell silent for a moment before waves of astonished exclamations erupted.

Everyone stared in shock. No one had expected the duel to end so cleanly and decisively, without even the slightest sign that Chen An had exerted himself.

"I won."

Chen An slowly released his hand, his tone calm and utterly without emotion.

The boy who had been pinned down flushed red with indignation. He pushed himself up from the ground and gritted his teeth.

"Impossible! I was careless just now. I wasn't taking it seriously at all!"

Chen An shrugged helplessly, his expression open and frank. "Fine, then let's do it again."

Ye Yingluo also saw that the match had ended too quickly for her to accurately assess Chen An's true strength, so she nodded in agreement.

"Then let's have another round. Spar seriously this time."

This time, Chen An no longer relied solely on physical technique to evade and suppress his opponent.

With a thought, Crimson Fish Scales instantly emerged. Fine, lustrous scales spread along his arm, forming a tight-fitting Scale Armor bracer.

His opponent took a deep breath, completely discarding his contempt. He focused and remained on guard, gripping the Azure Edge Saber as he charged forward once more, his attacks steadier and sharper than before.

"Begin!"

At the command, the opponent's saber cleaved directly toward him with fierce momentum.

Chen An raised his arm to block it head-on. His arm, infused with Golden Dragon power, slammed precisely against the blade of the Azure Edge Saber.

Bang!

A piercing metallic clash rang out.

Terrifying force erupted from the point where the blade and arm collided, reflecting the power of the Soul Power attack in full.

The level-seventeen Soul Master could not contend with that immense force at all. He was instantly crushed before he could even block.

His entire body was violently blasted backward, sliding more than ten meters away as the long saber flew from his hand and clattered to the ground.

One move was all it took.