If You're Bad, Practice More; the Leash and the Dog

Compared with the obnoxious Zhou Yi, Mu Jin's teaching style and attitude were far gentler.

But a teacher was still a teacher, especially at Shrek Academy. Deep down, they all embraced the academy's ten-thousand-year-old philosophy: "Only mediocrities are afraid to cause trouble."

After all, Shrek Academy's rules were remarkably lax. They even openly encouraged fighting.

Students in the same year could fight anytime, anywhere, as long as no lives were endangered. Lower-year students could challenge upper-year students at will, though they bore the consequences if they lost. Upper-year students, on the other hand, had to file a report and arrange supervision before fighting anyone in a lower year.

After a brief introduction, Mu Jin's expression turned stern. He swept a commanding gaze across the room, then spoke again:

"My class isn't as harsh as certain other freshman classes, but you still have to follow every rule. Break them, and you'll face corporal punishment or disciplinary action at best, and outright expulsion at worst!"

"You'd better behave yourselves. Don't expect me to show mercy when the time comes."

Then Mu Jin changed the subject.

"Jiang Yu, Ning Tian, stand up!"

Jiang Yu and Ning Tian rose. Their striking looks and exceptional bearing immediately caught the eyes of every student looking their way. Whispers filled the once-quiet classroom.

Mu Jin ignored them and got straight to the point.

"Jiang Yu, Ning Tian, I've read your files. You may be specially admitted students, but you're both Soul Elders. From now on, you'll be the class monitor and deputy monitor of Class Nine. As for the rest of you, remember that Shrek Academy has always put the capable in charge. If you think you can defeat a Soul Elder, go ahead and challenge them. I encourage it."

The moment Mu Jin finished speaking, the classroom erupted.

Everyone admitted to Shrek Academy was a young elite carefully selected from across the nations, but even among elites, there were differences.

The freshman year had over a thousand students, yet only a little more than a hundred had reached the Soul Grandmaster level.

For these eleven- and twelve-year-olds, becoming a Soul Elder was a goal at least two or three years away, perhaps even four or five.

While everyone was still reeling, a clear voice rang out from the back of the classroom.

"Teacher Mu, I'm not interested in being class monitor. I'll gladly give the position to Ning Tian."

"Of course, since Ning Tian is a support-type soul master, anyone who wants the position can challenge Wu Feng beside me first. Beat her, and then you can challenge me. But if you can't even beat her, I have only one thing to say to you."

"If you're bad, practice more!"

Jiang Yu had no interest in a job that meant coordinating the entire class, setting an example, and taking the blame whenever something went wrong.

Ning Tian was different. She was the future Sect Master of the Nine Treasure Glazed Tile Sect, and she had a mission to carry out. Being class monitor would train her and help her complete that mission.

Jiang Yu's brazen declaration drew sharply different reactions from the boys and girls in the classroom.

The girls, including Nanmen Yun'er beside Ning Tian, gazed at Jiang Yu with growing fascination and adoration.

Most of the boys, meanwhile, looked indignant and frustrated.

Most soul masters admired strength, and that tendency was even more common among female soul masters than male ones. Add Jiang Yu's outrageously handsome face, and girls were all the more likely to admire him.

Jiang Yu ignored every awestruck, angry, or hostile look sent his way. Wu Feng, whom he had named, swept her somewhat frightening red eyes across the room and said proudly:

"I'm up for a fight anytime. But I'm warning you now: I don't always know my own strength. If you get hurt, that's on you."

Jiang Yu looked at Mu Jin and smiled.

"What do you think, Teacher Mu?"

Mu Jin thought for a moment, then the corners of his mouth lifted.

"As I said, Shrek Academy's greatest rule is that there are no rules. The strong can do whatever they want. The weak can only obey."

"Now, everyone stand up!"

At Mu Jin's command, the hundred-odd students in the class immediately rose.

"Shrek Academy isn't paradise. If anything, it's more like a soul beast forest, where only the strong survive. In three months, the freshman assessment will eliminate more than two-thirds of the students across your ten classes. Only those who pass will advance to the first year."

"And from ancient times to the present, Shrek Academy has had only one kind of assessment: actual combat! Only through fighting can we truly test whether someone is exceptional and strong!"

"Now, all of you, head to the Soul Dueling Area. Wu Feng will show certain people who think too highly of themselves just how wide the gap is between them and a true genius."

With that, Mu Jin left the classroom.

The room buzzed for a while. Then Jiang Yu and his companions led the way out of the teaching building, and the class headed toward the Soul Dueling Area.

As they passed Shrek's athletic field, Jiang Yu and the others spotted something shimmering in the distance.

When they drew closer, they saw that the shimmer came from a pair of wings—an extraordinarily beautiful pair.

Across their surface, white crests seemed to rise from an azure sea. The colors and patterns were breathtaking, shifting from deep blue to brilliant blue to pale blue, glittering enchantingly.

"So beautiful."

Everyone who saw the wings was momentarily transfixed, even Mu Jin, who had walked well ahead of the students.

Jiang Yu folded his arms and watched the handsome youth with the dazzling wings, along with Huo Yuhao beneath her.

"The leash ended up on the dog after all."

With a quiet sigh, Jiang Yu turned and walked away.

The Light Goddess Butterfly martial soul was powerful, but in quality, it did not even surpass the Radiant Holy Dragon. And though Wang Dong was the daughter of a God King—or part of that daughter—she had been lazy since childhood. Despite the top-tier resources of the mighty Clear Sky Sect and a thousand-year second soul ring, she had reached only level twenty-one Soul Power at eleven. Even Wu Feng, whose Innate Soul Power was only level eight, had been stronger at that age.

Without the Haodong Power she would later develop with Huo Yuhao and the series of opportunities that followed, Jiang Yu doubted Wang Dong could ever become an Ultimate Douluo by training at her own pace.

Even that was asking too much of Wang Dong. In a few years, a God King would take her away for a biological experiment. Once the fusion that was Tang Wutong emerged, Wang Dong herself would no longer exist.

While Jiang Yu was lost in thought, Nanmen Yun'er was sharing some gossip with Ning Tian and the others behind him.

"Ning Tian, Wu Feng, my cousin in the fifth year told me Freshman Class One has had the worst luck. Their homeroom teacher, Zhou Yi, is infamous around the academy for being an old hag who loves tormenting people."

"Apparently, she teaches just for the fun of making students suffer. Look—what kind of teacher makes running laps the very first lesson? I don't even understand the point..."