Thirty Levels Ahead

Wang Xiao's expression remained calm, but the half-step he unconsciously retreated revealed his true thoughts.

Wufeng exploded on the spot. Her booted foot slammed directly onto the tabletop as she shouted, "Wang, I've put up with you for a long time!"

"What did Ning Tian ever do to you? What right do you have to look down on her?!"

"Misunderstanding, misunderstanding!" Wang Xiao hurriedly waved his hands, refusing to admit it even if beaten to death.

The golden-haired girl frowned slightly and reproached her, "Wufeng, stand down."

Wufeng reluctantly withdrew her foot and sat back down.

Ning Tian turned to look at Wang Xiao on her right and asked in confusion, "Classmate Wang, could you explain why you reacted so strongly upon hearing my name?"

Wang Xiao felt that his reaction had not been that strong.

"Classmate Wang, have we met before?" Her face was full of confusion.

"No."

"Then was it my reputation that made you dislike me?" Ning Tian pressed on.

"No."

Ning Tian became even more puzzled. "Since we do not know each other, why do you dislike me?"

Wang Xiao sighed inwardly. He could hardly say that she would turn into a shemale in the future.

Back then, he had been thoroughly disgusted by shemales. Seeing an exceptionally beautiful woman and clicking in to watch, only for her to pull out a huge surprise—it was difficult for others to understand just how devastating that was.

After searching his conscience, Wang Xiao realized that he had no grudge against Ning Tian, and that his behavior might have been inappropriate.

There was no denying that Ning Tian was a good girl. She was gentle and poised, and her friendly tone made her impossible to dislike.

Wang Xiao said, "I was presumptuous. Sorry."

He hypnotized himself: Ning Tian was still a woman now. She would merely change sex in the future. The two should be treated separately.

"You were more than presumptuous!" Wufeng crossed her arms, her face full of displeasure.

If Ning Tian had not stopped her, she would have gone over and fought him already. That freshman surnamed Wang actually dared to look down on the person she liked. It was utterly infuriating!

"Classmate Wang did not mean any harm. Wufeng, you are being too sensitive," Ning Tian said.

With the little squabble over, Wang Xiao waited peacefully for class to begin.

Mu Jin entered the classroom. The noisy students obediently returned to their seats, and the boisterous classroom fell silent in an instant.

Her loose hair was fluffy, and her features were mature, yet her face seemed untouched by time.

Mu Jin walked onto the podium, looked at the freshmen below, and said, "You should have noticed that Class Nine has welcomed a transfer student today. This student is called Wang Xiao. Please come up and introduce yourself to everyone."

Wang Xiao rose to his feet and helplessly walked toward the podium.

Mu Jin continued, "Classmate Wang Xiao was once a student of Class One, but he was clever enough to leave that mixed bag of a class in time. You could say he abandoned darkness for the light."

Wang Xiao could only marvel. Even in the short time it took him to walk to the podium, she had not forgotten to stomp on Zhou Yi a couple of times. She had even brought out "abandoned darkness for the light."

Scheming people truly knew how to talk.

Mu Jin introduced him, "Let me tell everyone about Wang Xiao. His Martial Soul is Blue Silver Grass, and he is a Fifteenth-Level Soul Master."

The moment those words fell, the classroom erupted.

"What? Only Level Fifteen?"

"How did someone with that little Soul Power get into Shrek Academy?"

A fat, burly student stood up and protested indignantly, "A Blue Silver Grass Martial Soul? Don't tell me he's another Tang Sect connection who got in through favoritism!"

Everyone suddenly understood. If he had a close relationship with Tang Ya, he really could have enrolled without taking the entrance exam.

"Enough. Quiet down."

Mu Jin was not surprised by the students' strong reaction. Or rather, this was exactly what she had intended.

"You do not need to keep guessing. Although Classmate Wang Xiao does have ties to the Tang Sect, he was admitted as an exceptional case only after defeating a Second-Ring Soul Grandmaster."

She publicly explained Wang Xiao's assessment, but omitted Ultimate Ice. Yan Shaozhe had instructed her not to spread that matter.

In Mu Jin's view, rather than let people gossip about it later, it was better to make the truth clear from the beginning.

"Impossible! How could a Level Fifteen Soul Master defeat a Soul Grandmaster? Teacher Mu Jin, you're lying!"

The fat, burly student from before stood up again and loudly questioned her. "If he had a top-tier Martial Soul, I'd believe it. But Blue Silver Grass is trash! It can't even win against opponents of the same level, so what could it possibly use to defeat a Soul Grandmaster?"

The others agreed. No one thought highly of Blue Silver Grass. A trash Martial Soul was still a trash Martial Soul. Did they think everyone was some Tang God King?

Mu Jin was very satisfied with everyone's reaction. She turned to Wang Xiao with a smile. "Classmate Wang, aren't you going to prove it? If you always hide in the back, people will only look down on you."

"Scheming woman." Wang Xiao finally saw through her. Mu Jin wanted him to reveal his strength and make a name for himself in front of everyone.

With things having reached this point, he no longer concealed anything. He summoned the Blue Silver Emperor Martial Soul, a small golden-green tree that radiated intense vitality.

A purple Spirit Ring appeared on the floor, brilliant and vividly alive.

"A... a Millennium Soul Ring!"

In an instant, the classroom became deathly silent. Everyone stood frozen in shock.

How was this possible? How could a first Spirit Ring exceed a thousand years?!

The fat student repeatedly rubbed his eyes, at one point thinking he was hallucinating.

"Isn't the limit for a first Spirit Ring within five hundred years? He... he doubled it!"

"I've heard of geniuses breaking the limit, but they only absorbed Spirit Rings around seven hundred or eight hundred years. I've never heard of anyone whose first ring exceeded a thousand years!"

The students were not merely shocked. They had witnessed history. They had witnessed the birth of a miracle.

A living example stood right before them!

Yet this history-shaking miracle had happened to a Blue Silver Grass Soul Master. How were they, with their high-level Martial Souls, supposed to accept that? Where could they even show their faces?

Many people only dared to absorb a Millennium Soul Ring for their third ring, but Wang Xiao had done it in one step, saving himself thirty levels of detours.

Wufeng's mouth hung open for a long time before finally closing.

"Is this guy a freak?"

Ning Tian gradually regained her composure and realized, "No wonder the academy admitted Classmate Wang as an exception. They must have recognized his potential to absorb Spirit Rings beyond his level."

"This guy is so gifted, so why is his Soul Power even lower than ours?" Wufeng racked her brains but could not figure it out.

Ning Tian shook her head. "That is also what puzzles me."

"Blue Silver Grass, a Millennium Soul Ring, and low Soul Power. He truly is a contradictory person."

Mu Jin cleared her throat twice and said, "All right. Now that you have met little Classmate Wang, it is time for class. Everyone, stand up and head to the training grounds!"

"Great! No theory class again!" The freshmen cheered and rushed out of the classroom.

Shrek Academy Training Grounds

After coming outside, Wang Xiao immediately spotted everyone from Class One running in armor over by the square.

He was glad he had withdrawn from Class One yesterday. Otherwise, running around in armor in such scorching weather would have either roasted or suffocated him.

Wang Xiao waited for a while but did not see Wang Dong'er or Huo Yuhao pass by.

He looked around and finally spotted a youth with pink-blue gradient hair sitting on a shaded bench.

"It won't be my turn for practical combat class anytime soon. I'll find somewhere cool to rest first."

Wang Xiao used Body Flicker, crossing a hundred meters in an instant to arrive beside Wang Dong'er.

Wang Dong'er had been leisurely pretending to nap. Wang Xiao's sudden appearance startled her so badly that she nearly fell off the bench.

"You awful Wang Xiao! How do you walk without making any sound? You scared me to death!"

Her gaze was filled with resentment.

Wang Xiao gave an awkward smile and changed the subject. "Why aren't Huo Yuhao and Old Demon Woman Zhou around?"

"Hmph! You have no idea how much that old demon woman treasures Huo Yuhao now!"

At the mention of this, Wang Dong'er became especially angry. She bluntly called Huo Yuhao a traitor who had betrayed the bond among the three of them.

"Don't be angry. Tell me what happened." In truth, Wang Xiao wanted to say that they had only known each other for a short time, so what bond could the two of them possibly have?

Wang Dong'er said indignantly, "Yesterday afternoon, Old Granny Zhou met with Huo Yuhao alone. I don't know what they talked about, but she ended up liking that guy a lot."

"So this morning, she took Huo Yuhao to the Soul Guidance Department. He does not even have to run laps anymore."

In fact, she did not mention that she had not run laps either.

Wang Xiao silently guessed that Zhou Yi had clearly taken a fancy to Huo Yuhao's Spiritual Detection talent. Afraid that the Martial Soul Department would discover it, she had introduced him to Fan Yu in advance.

There was no denying that the detection and sharing soul skills Tian Meng had given him were extremely suited for Soul Tool research.

As long as Zhou Yi was not stupid, she would never let a talent like Huo Yuhao slip away.

"What about you? Why aren't you running laps either?" Wang Xiao asked. He did not believe that Wang Dong'er had already completed a hundred laps so soon after class began.

"I... I..." Wang Dong'er stammered, her face flushing slightly as she became a little embarrassed.

Wang Xiao stared at her with a strange look. "Don't tell me you want Zhou Yi to expel you using this method."

"So what if I do? This lady... this young master just doesn't want to stay in Class One." Wang Dong'er huffed.

"Forget about it. Do you think Zhou Yi is really stupid? She is sharper than anyone."

Wang Xiao voiced his guess.

"Do not be fooled by how she keeps talking about expulsion all day. What she really wants is to expel every poor student and keep only the elite among elites, so she can maintain her image of having a high advancement rate."

"With your current talent, you are undoubtedly the most gifted person in Class One. Even if Zhou Yi had water in her brain, she would never let you leave."