Please Begin Your Performance

"Um, as compensation, do you want to... l-look back?"

Huo Yuhao's mind went blank. He suddenly turned his head, only to see that the two girls were too embarrassed to meet his eyes. Even Wang Qiu'er, who had just asked the question, had frozen fingers as she tried to remove her clothes.

If you're embarrassed, then don't ask, damn it!

"F-forget it, I'm going out first!" With that, before the two had even finished undressing, he fled the room as if escaping for his life, casually closing the door behind him and standing guard outside.

Damn it, why did I run out again? I could've stayed in there this time!

Huo Yuhao calmed himself down, then failed to stay calm... He had the urge to open the door and go back in, but returning after leaving felt a little too embarrassing...

Forget it... It wasn't as though he had lost anything.

But not seeing it really was a huge loss!

Before long, the two had cleaned themselves up and changed clothes. The three of them hurried back to the classroom together. They had delayed for a while and arrived almost exactly on time. By then, all the students had gathered.

Zhou Yi entered the classroom at precisely the right moment and swept her gaze over the remaining ninety-seven students. "Class begins now. Your performance in the test just now was basically satisfactory. The vast majority of you completed the simple assessment of running. Huo Yuhao, stand up."

Huo Yuhao slowly rose to his feet. His experiences were now different from those of the original Huo Yuhao. With Qian Chaoguang's influence, he no longer needed to act strictly according to the original plot.

Zhou Yi said coldly, "State your Soul Power Level."

"Level eleven." The moment Huo Yuhao spoke, the entire class erupted. Someone with cultivation at merely level eleven had actually been the first to complete one hundred laps? Soon, many students began to look skeptical. Shrek Academy's admission requirement was level fifteen—how had someone with such low cultivation gotten in?

"Correct. Huo Yuhao's Soul Power is only level eleven, yet he was the first to finish one hundred laps just now. I trust none of you are foolish enough to overestimate yourselves and challenge him over that."

Zhou Yi's tone remained icy, but her words carried a trace of mockery.

"However, I still need to explain. He is a specially admitted student of the academy and did not need to pass the entrance examination. But this is the only exception granted to specially admitted students. If he cannot complete the academy's assigned learning tasks, he will likewise be eliminated. All right, Huo Yuhao, sit down."

What the hell? Why wasn't Zhou Yi following the original plot?

Huo Yuhao, who knew the original story well, keenly noticed the difference in her words. Originally, Zhou Yi had fiercely protected Huo Yuhao, but things were different now. Perhaps because he was not as obedient as the original Huo Yuhao, she was using him to suppress the others.

Because of that, several malicious gazes fell upon him. Everyone had been holding back their anger during the run just now. How could someone with such weak Soul Power have finished first?

At a time like this, as long as he provoked even slight displeasure from the others, he could become an outlet for their frustration. After all, these people did not dare provoke Zhou Yi, so they could only bully someone weaker. And Huo Yuhao, a weaker person who had offended them, was perfectly suited for that role.

Huo Yuhao did not particularly care. If someone really came looking for trouble, it would be convenient for him to hone his practical combat skills. But Qian Chaoguang's expression instantly darkened, and his eyes turned somewhat cold. As for Wang Dong'er and Wang Qiu'er...

They were a bit slow and had not caught on...

Zhou Yi paid no attention to the students' reactions. She turned around and wrote two large characters on the blackboard: attack, defense.

After writing them, Zhou Yi turned back and sharply swept her gaze across every person seated before her.

"I know that most of you are extremely dissatisfied with my making you run laps just now and expelling those three students. You simply do not dare show it because of the pressure."

"I have no need to explain myself to you. Those with insight will naturally understand in the future. Useless fools who cannot understand may remain unable to understand. Now, class begins."

The moment Huo Yuhao sat down, his thoughts had already drifted away from the lesson. Zhou Yi's nonsense was even less likely to interest him. He focused on deducing combat techniques. The Soul Power fusion from several days ago had given him new insights, allowing him to better understand how to use Soul Power more efficiently. He could even use this to improve his own meditation method.

It was not that Huo Yuhao looked down on Shrek Academy's lessons, but he had already seen the first lesson in the original story. He truly had no interest in it.

"I don't know!"

Huo Yuhao raised his head blankly. He had been deeply focused on deducing combat techniques when such a righteous, matter-of-fact answer suddenly sounded beside him.

Ha, as expected of Wang Dong.

Soul masters' abilities had different tendencies. The assault type, agility assault type, support type, food type, control type, and defense type were the mainstream cultivation paths for soul masters.

Zhou Yi had most likely just asked Wang Dong which of the six types excelled at attacking and which excelled at defending. This was the simplest common knowledge on the Douluo Continent; even ordinary children could answer it.

Wang Dong'er had also read the original story, so she could not possibly have been unaware of the answer. But in the original story, Wang Dong'er had given the correct answer and still been called an idiot. Zhou Yi had only done this to introduce the concept of blurred distinctions between attack and defense.

If you wanted to introduce it, then just introduce it! Why insult people...

Wang Dong'er simply decided to play dumb. Didn't you say I was an idiot? Then let me show you what a real idiot looks like!

"This is... huh?" Wang Dong'er's response made Zhou Yi's mind go blank.

She didn't know? How could someone not even know this?

Zhou Yi looked at Wang Dong'er and saw her standing with her hands on her hips, her eyes bright and spirited, her face brimming with confidence as though she had just given the perfect answer.

Who taught you to so confidently say that you didn't know?

Zhou Yi asked furiously, "You don't know? How can you not even know this? This is common knowledge!"

"I cultivated in the mountains with my master from childhood. My master never taught me, so of course I don't know." After saying that, Wang Dong'er flashed a dazzling smile.

Zhou Yi could neither scold her nor continue teaching. Her prepared lesson had gotten stuck right there.

"...Sit down. Wang Qiu'er, you answer."

Wang Qiu'er, who had been secretly laughing, knew it was her turn to perform when she heard this. She rose in a flustered manner, lowered her head, and began fiddling with her fingers.

"Um... well... that is..."

Wang Qiu'er vividly acted out a scene Huo Yuhao had often seen in his past life's math classes. Her face practically read, "I don't know either, even if you ask me."

"You don't know either?" Zhou Yi was nearly driven mad. This was Shrek Academy, not a remedial class for illiterates!

"No one taught me either... Th-then, bring six soul masters of different types here and let each of them take a shot from my spear. The ones who survive are the ones good at defense, and the ones who don't survive must be good at attack. After all, practice is the sole criterion of truth!" Wang Qiu'er raised a finger, looking quite pleased with her brilliant idea.

"Sit down!"

Zhou Yi said through gritted teeth. She felt that these two were messing with her, but she had no evidence. After all, there truly were some reclusive soul masters with single-line inheritances who disliked teaching such knowledge.

Zhou Yi only felt a ball of anger lodged in her chest. She coldly looked at the two who had answered. These two followed Huo Yuhao's lead. If they really were messing with her, Huo Yuhao had most likely instructed them to do so.

Huo Yuhao was dumbfounded when he saw Zhou Yi's resentful gaze. How did this get pinned on me too?

In the end, Zhou Yi gave up on asking questions and continued explaining the blurred distinction between attack and defense. Wen Tianren and Qian Chaoguang both looked disappointed. They had prepared performances too and had been waiting for Zhou Yi...

"This morning's class ends here. I suggest that you eat well at noon. Starting this afternoon, we will begin physical training. Class dismissed. Huo Yuhao, Qian Chaoguang, come to my office."

What? Together with Qian Chaoguang?

Qian Chaoguang approached Huo Yuhao with a broad smile and said gently, "It seems we truly are fated."

Eek! C-can I not go?