Huo Yuhao Was Taken by Zhou Yi

"Understood." Gu Mingyuan walked to the hidden compartment and picked up the Storage Ring. A sweep of his spiritual power transferred all fifty thousand Gold Soul Coins inside it to his own Soul Tool.

Then he tucked the wooden box containing the Nether God Grass into his robe and returned the now-empty ring to the compartment exactly as he had found it.

The Holy Spirit Cult supplied the money, and Shrek supplied the people.

As for how much the Holy Spirit Cult would gain in the end?

Sorry, he had no idea either.

Gu Mingyuan left the secret chamber without another glance at the shop assistant who had become a puppet. He strode into the bustling night of Shrek City.

The next morning, Freshman Class One officially began lessons.

Mu Jin stood at the lectern and swept her gaze over the new students. "Gu Mingyuan will be class president for the assault system. Cao Jinxuan will be vice president for the control system. Zhou Sichen will assist with daily affairs. The president and vice president will rotate each month."

The room fell silent for a moment. Every eye turned toward Gu Mingyuan and the other two, who had just stood up.

No one objected. A few proud troublemakers in the crowd were envious, but on the Douluo Continent, strength was the only rule. Those three had won their championship over every genius in the outer academy. Gu Mingyuan's feat of withstanding a Martial Soul Fusion Skill head-on had been especially outrageous.

Didn't like it? Then go try them at the Training Ground.

"The class president's position isn't permanent." Mu Jin tapped the blackboard, breaking the silence. "If anyone objects, you can challenge them at any time. Now, everyone to the Training Ground for improvised team matches!"

At the Training Ground, Mu Jin broke up all the teams from the freshman assessment to test the students' ability to adapt.

"Team One: Huo Yuhao, Dai Huabin, and Nanmen Yun'er. You'll face Team Two: Ning Tian, Wang Dong, and Zhu Lu."

At the announcement, Huo Yuhao felt blood rush straight to his head. He looked up at Dai Huabin as he came to stand beside him, scenes from the past flashing before his eyes.

His enemy stood within arm's reach.

Dai Huabin sensed the hostility in that stare. He turned and frowned at Huo Yuhao. "Have we met before?"

Huo Yuhao clenched his teeth. After a moment, he forced out a curt "No."

Dai Huabin laughed. "Then wipe that look off your face. Don't look at me like that."

What stung worse than hatred was that the man he hated did not even recognize him.

"Little Yuhao, calm down!" the Sky Dream Ice Silkworm hurriedly called from his spiritual sea. "Your priority is reaching level twenty. Don't do anything rash now!"

In a corner, Yu Xiaogang stood with his hands behind his back and lectured him like an old hand. "Exactly! A moment's impatience can ruin a greater plan. Back in my day, I, Yu Xiaogang, was branded useless and endured the world's scorn and ridicule. But didn't I end up teaching someone who reached level one hundred and became both the Sea God and the Asura God? You have me here, so what's the rush?"

Huo Yuhao took a deep breath and forced down the hatred in his eyes. Without a word, he walked toward the preparation area.

The match began.

Huo Yuhao immediately activated Spiritual Detection Sharing. An invisible mental web enveloped Dai Huabin and Nanmen Yun'er.

They both stiffened. One glance at each other told them they were equally stunned. A complete three-dimensional view of their surroundings, with no blind spots, appeared in their minds. They could even see the faint signs of their opponents' muscles tensing before a move.

That support was absurdly powerful!

Dai Huabin was secretly startled. If Huo Yuhao's Soul Power were a few levels higher, Cao Jinxuan might never have become the control system's vice president.

As his shock faded, Dai Huabin's competitive spirit flared. With an ability like that supporting him, he was a tiger given wings. His gaze locked onto Wang Dong across the field.

Today, he would prove that his White Tiger was stronger than Wang Dong, the assault fighter from the runner-up team!

"Cut in from the left. Wang Dong's backward step leaves an opening," Huo Yuhao instructed.

Dai Huabin snorted. As the son of the White Tiger Duke, how could he let a one-ring weakling dictate the pace of his fight?

He ignored the tactical guidance and forced his White Tiger Vajra Transformation into action, charging straight in with brute strength. His sudden acceleration carried him out of range of Nanmen Yun'er's support on the flank.

Ning Tian immediately seized on the gap. Her Seven Treasure Glazed Tile Pagoda blazed, and boosts to both Speed and Strength landed precisely on Wang Dong and Zhu Lu.

Wang Dong beat her butterfly wings and slipped clear of Dai Huabin's frontal charge.

Then her first and second Soul Rings lit up! She had disliked him for a while now. Zhu Lu became a shadow and closed in from behind and to the side.

Without support, Dai Huabin was soon on the defensive. His hastily assembled team was swiftly defeated.

The moment training ended, Dai Huabin strode up to Huo Yuhao, his face dark. "What kind of bullshit command was that? You kept throwing off the rhythm and completely held me back!"

Before Huo Yuhao could speak, Wang Dong stepped between them. "You charged ahead for the glory and ignored his instructions. You lost, and you've got the nerve to blame your support?"

"You're asking for it!" Dai Huabin's eyes turned cold, and Soul Power erupted from him.

Wang Dong refused to back down. The wings of her Light Goddess Butterfly spread behind her, and golden-blue Soul Power surged. They faced each other, on the verge of coming to blows right there on the Training Ground.

Boom—

The pressure of a Soul Emperor swept over them, forcing both their Soul Power back down. Mu Jin entered the field with a grim expression, sharply put an end to the farce, and called off the morning's training.

That afternoon, in Mu Jin's office.

Zhou Yi pushed open the door, her face cold and several stamped class-transfer applications in hand.

"You want to transfer Huo Yuhao to Class Two?" Mu Jin leaned back in her chair, looked at the applications on her desk, and gave Zhou Yi a pointed glance.

"Teacher Zhou, why?"

"Huo Yuhao is a key student the Soul Tool Department has its eye on," Zhou Yi said stiffly.

"Class Two focuses on the defense and agility systems, but it allows a small number of students with special training arrangements. Fan Yu needs to keep track of changes in his Martial Soul. Having him in my class will make it easier to coordinate his training. As for Wang Dong, she and Huo Yuhao have a Martial Soul Fusion Skill. Xiao Xiao is transferring with them as part of their team."

Mu Jin clasped her hands in front of her. "That boy had a rough morning, and by afternoon he wants to run? Taking his whole little group with him, too? Zhou Yi, you've taught your students well."

Zhou Yi held back her temper. "Enough with the sarcasm. Mu Jin, are you going to disregard the students' well-being and use your authority as homeroom teacher to force them to stay?"

"You're the one who disregards students' well-being," Mu Jin shot back. "You expelled more than half your class as soon as school started, and now you're pretending to be a caring teacher?"

Zhou Yi fell silent. After a moment, she turned her wrist and took a cylinder from her Storage Ring, setting it down on the desk with a clack.