A Contest of Strength

"Lin Wan, you've thought about this very deeply. Not bad. The environment does indeed have a significant impact on the cultivation efficiency of soul masters with particular attributes. That's why the major elemental soul master sects often choose places compatible with their own attributes as their sect grounds. In the early stages..."

Teacher Zhou gave a detailed explanation based on Lin Wan's question.

Lin Wan listened attentively, nodding from time to time and occasionally adding a sentence or two. Though his ideas were wildly unconventional, his perspectives often made Teacher Zhou's eyes light up.

By the end of the lesson, not only had Lin Wan avoided criticism, but several rather profound questions had left a very favorable impression on the old teacher.

As for why Lin Wan had shown off in class, it was naturally for the reputation points in the system.

Although Lin Wan had always said he wanted to be a behind-the-scenes big boss and would leave earning reputation points to the fairy-tale characters,

the Little Mermaid Ariel and the Frog Prince Levin were still babies. Although the Nine-Colored Deer had become an auspicious beast in the Star Dou Great Forest, it was still too young and was currently being kept by Di Tian in the Lake of Life region of the Star Dou Great Forest after he discovered it.

But precisely because the Nine-Colored Deer had been discovered by Di Tian and the others, Lin Wan had gained a large sum of reputation points.

As for Queen Eva, the only one with an adult body, her move made Lin Wan exclaim that she was absolutely amazing.

Perhaps Queen Eva had already grown used to being a queen, because she was now preparing to enter the Heaven Dou Empire's imperial harem and continue being one.

All Lin Wan could say to that was, "Queen, you certainly have ideas."

At present, all the fairy-tale characters Lin Wan had summoned were restricted in their range of activity. Accumulating large amounts of reputation points would still take time.

So Lin Wan could only earn some reputation points himself. After all, no matter how small a mosquito was, it was still meat.

As for the reputation points earned by the Nine-Colored Deer, Lin Wan planned to save them for now and wait for the right time to draw cards.

After class, Wang Dazhuang, who shared a dormitory with Lin Wan, came over with a face full of admiration.

"Brother Wan, you're incredible! Even Old Zhou sees you in a new light. The things you asked about completely went over my head."

Wang Dazhuang and Lin Wan had both awakened their martial souls this year. But because Lin Wan was far more mature than someone his age should have been, Wang Dazhuang had begun calling him Brother Wan.

Besides that, Wang Dazhuang had his own little motives for getting close to Lin Wan. Lin Wan was so good-looking that there would definitely be a huge crowd of fangirls at school in the future. Then, Wang Dazhuang could profit from being known as Lin Wan's good brother.

Lin Wan smiled and casually said, "I was just thinking nonsense. I happened to ask the right question, that's all."

Yet a trace of delight flashed deep in his sea-blue eyes. Just from showing off in class, his reputation points had already increased by more than ten.

The physical training field that afternoon presented an entirely different scene.

The cold wind was biting, stinging their faces.

The enormous open-air training ground was covered in hard, frozen earth.

The teacher in charge of physical training was a man surnamed Zhao, built like an iron tower, with a vicious knife scar on his face.

His voice was booming and his gaze sharp. Merely standing there, he gave Lin Wan the feeling of a fierce aura bearing down on him.

Lin Wan had also heard Wang Dazhuang beside him say that Teacher Zhao's nickname was Iron-Faced Zhao, and that he was extremely strict.

Lin Wan nodded. Teacher Zhao truly lived up to his nickname.

"Class Two! Assemble!"

Iron-Faced Zhao's furious roar made everyone's eardrums buzz.

The new students quickly lined up. Each stood ramrod straight, scarcely daring to breathe.

"Soul masters are powerful not merely because of soul power. Your physiques and willpower matter as well. Without a good body capable of bearing soul power, even the greatest talent is nothing but a castle in the air."

"Today, first lesson! Run around the training ground. Until I tell you to stop, no one is allowed to stop. Anyone who falls behind will receive extra training!"

At the command, every student in Class Two rushed out.

One lap around the training ground was a full eight hundred meters. The frozen ground beneath their feet was hard and cold, while the wind cut across their skin like knives.

Lin Wan moved among the group, his steps light and steady.

His physical condition had already far surpassed that of these students after being nourished by innate full soul power and tempered by the physical refinement that came with Queen Eva's meditation method.

Lin Wan deliberately controlled his pace, maintaining a position slightly above the middle of the group. He neither stood out nor fell behind.

One lap, two laps, three laps...

Before long, the gaps began to show.

The work-study students with poorer stamina started panting heavily, their speed clearly slowing.

Qin Yi ran at the front, his strides steady and powerful. Though his breathing was heavy, its rhythm remained unbroken. It was clear that he had a solid foundation.

Li Ergou was also barely keeping up behind the leading group, though his face had already turned pale.

Lin Wan continued at an even pace. His silver-white hair flew in the cold wind, and his sea-blue eyes calmly watched the road ahead. His breathing was long and steady, and he even had spare attention to observe the conditions of the students around him.

By the fifth lap, most of the work-study students were panting from exhaustion, and more and more were falling behind.

Qin Yi had slowed somewhat, but he was still in the lead. Li Ergou had fallen farther back, gasping for breath.

"Keep going! Only trash stops!" Iron-Faced Zhao's roar rang out from the side from time to time.

Just as Lin Wan was preparing to run two more laps before slowing down with the rest of the group, Qin Yi, who was diagonally ahead of him, suddenly looked back at him.

There was curiosity in that gaze, along with a trace of fighting spirit.

Then Qin Yi abruptly accelerated. His footsteps, which had already begun to grow heavy, became forceful once more, and his speed suddenly increased by a notch.

Clearly, he still had strength left.

Lin Wan was slightly startled, then immediately understood. He, a guy with only level-one innate soul power, had been calmly keeping pace behind Qin Yi, a genius with level-five innate soul power.

This undoubtedly stung Qin Yi's sensitive pride.

Lin Wan sighed inwardly. Although things had not gone quite as he had expected, he truly did not want to stand out too much.

Is keeping a low profile really this hard?

Lin Wan grumbled inwardly, but his feet did not slow in the slightest.

The instant Qin Yi accelerated, Lin Wan naturally increased his speed slightly as well, still maintaining a distance of two body lengths behind Qin Yi—no more, no less.

Qin Yi could naturally sense Lin Wan following closely behind him like a shadow. His heart sank, and disbelief flashed in his eyes, only to be replaced by an even stronger competitive spirit.

He gritted his teeth again, circulating his level-four soul power through his body and into his legs. His speed increased once more.

Lin Wan still followed behind Qin Yi. He was beginning to regret it a little. If he had known, he would not have competed with Qin Yi.

They had already run six laps. He really was getting a little tired!

After all, before awakening his martial soul, his physical constitution had been quite ordinary. Although he was now practicing a meditation method that also tempered the body, he had only trained in it for a few days.

But then he thought of how his reputation points would definitely rise by a few more after this class, and he immediately found the motivation to keep going.