A Boring Class, Xiong Feng Blocks the Way

The sound of homeroom teacher Liu Yue announcing the end of class, mingled with the children's cheers, fished Mo An out of the sea of knowledge once again.

Mo An looked up at Liu Yue as she left the classroom and hurried after her. He wanted her signature so he could read the books that required a teacher's approval.

Quite a few students in Class 1 of North Sea Junior Soul Master Academy wanted to get to know Mo An after class, but when they saw him chasing after Teacher Liu Yue, they gave up on the idea.

Students feared teachers. That was the same in any world.

After quickly catching up with his homeroom teacher, Mo An asked tentatively, "Hello, Teacher Liu. Sorry to trouble you, but I wanted to ask you something."

"Oh, Mo An. What is it?"

Hearing someone call out, Liu Yue turned and saw the little prodigy from her class. She was curious what trouble had brought him to her on the very first day of school.

"I went to the library yesterday and found that some of the more valuable books require a teacher's signature before I can read them. Could I trouble you to sign for me?"

Seeing that Liu Yue seemed receptive, Mo An stated his purpose outright.

"Those more valuable books?"

"Mo An, can you tell me what you want to read them for?"

Some students never set foot in the library from enrollment to graduation. Liu Yue was curious what Mo An intended to do with those books.

"To learn more."

He read to broaden his horizons. It was nothing he needed to hide, and a refusal would be no great loss. The library at North Sea Junior Soul Master Academy did not have the books he urgently needed anyway.

"I see. Let me think it over and give you an answer in a couple of days. How does that sound?"

Caught off guard by the request, Liu Yue could not give him a definite answer on the spot. She needed to consider it, then submit a report to her superiors. Only after they approved it could she sign for Mo An.

"All right. Goodbye, Teacher."

Having received an answer, Mo An did not stay to pester Liu Yue. After saying goodbye, he left.

Over the next few days, Mo An discovered just how "boring" the courses at North Sea Junior Soul Master Academy were.

Of course, they were only boring to him.

In fact, the academy's courses were a great help to ordinary students. Under Liu Yue's guidance, students who had only just awakened their Martial Souls learned meditation one after another and acquired a great deal of knowledge about Soul Masters.

After Mo An spent a week reading through class, Liu Yue brought him signed permission to access the library's valuable books, allowing him to read the precious knowledge held by North Sea Junior Soul Master Academy.

Mo An took a short leave that very day. He spent the day reading in the library and copied down three pages of knowledge useful to him.

A month into his studies at North Sea Junior Soul Master Academy, Mo An noticed that, under the influence of older students, his classmates had split into three clearly divided factions: the Noble Faction, the Commoner Faction, and the Work-Study Faction.

The three factions, divided by status, looked down on one another. Occasionally, they even arranged fights in the academy's back garden.

Mo An, wholly immersed in his sea of knowledge, knew about the factions only because each had invited him to join. He had turned them all down.

He wanted no part in such tedious disputes. He only wanted to study in peace, then graduate early from North Sea Junior Soul Master Academy in a year or two.

As the saying went, once you entered the martial world, you were no longer master of your own fate.

Not wanting trouble did not mean trouble would not come looking for you.

One evening, as Mo An headed from the library to the dining hall after reading, more than a dozen children blocked his path along a narrow walkway.

They belonged to the Noble Faction; their clothes made that easy to tell. Their leader, a boy built like a young bull, looked Mo An up and down before asking loudly in puzzlement, "Hey, you're Mo An, the one with level-seven Innate Soul Power? You don't look like much."

"Yes, I'm Mo An. What do you want?"

Mo An ignored the boy's tone. An afternoon of reading had cost him plenty of brain cells, and all he wanted now was to eat and fill his stomach.

"My name is Xiong Feng, and my father is Xiong Batian, the lord of North Sea City. I came here today to make you my underling. Follow me from now on, and you'll be second-in-command of my Noble Faction."

The young-bull-built leader of the Noble Faction had given his name and stated why he had brought people to block Mo An's path.

While home for the break, Xiong Feng had heard his father, Xiong Batian, praise Mo An many times. He had said Mo An was talented, hardworking, sensible, and polite, and that his future achievements would be anything but small.

His father had also said something about how bringing Mo An under his command would be like giving a tiger wings.

In short, those words had stirred Xiong Feng's competitive spirit. He would bring this impressive person under his command before his father could and prove his own worth.

"You've turned us down twice, but Brother Xiong still came to invite you himself without holding it against you. He's shown you plenty of respect. Don't be ungrateful."

The tall, thin boy who had previously invited Mo An on behalf of the Noble Faction pointed a finger at him. His tone was far from friendly.

After being rejected twice in a row, anyone's attitude would have soured.

"Not interested."

If Mo An were still at that age, he might have had some interest in children playing at being leaders. But now he truly had none.

Second-in-command? If word of that title got out, people who did not know better might think he had gone up into the mountains to become a bandit.

"You brat, looking for a beating?"

The moment Mo An finished speaking, another boy in the Noble Faction who had long disliked him summoned his Iron Rod Martial Soul. If Xiong Feng had not reached out to stop him, he might already have charged Mo An and started swinging.

Of course, Mo An was not afraid of him.

"Mo An, I'm giving you one last chance. If you refuse, don't blame me for showing no mercy."

Everything had always gone Xiong Feng's way, and no one had ever refused him. Now that Mo An had rejected him outright to his face, anger entered his voice. The Icefield Giant Bear Martial Soul he had inherited from Xiong Batian appeared behind him.

If Mo An said a single "no," Xiong Feng would rush forward and teach him a lesson he would never forget, then take him as an underling.

He had beaten several hardheaded members of the Noble Faction into submission that way. He had plenty of experience.

Mo An, who had never fought anyone since awakening his Martial Soul, summoned the Ink Jade Divine Bamboo and asked Xiong Feng, "If you can't beat me, will you stop inviting me to join your Noble Faction?"

"Fine. But if you lose, you have to join the Noble Faction."

As soon as Xiong Feng finished speaking, without waiting for Mo An's reply, he activated Martial Soul Possession with his Icefield Giant Bear and charged at Mo An in long strides.

Already powerfully built, Xiong Feng now had a faint white light shimmering over his arms.

Before a Beast Martial Soul acquired a Soul Ring, true Martial Soul Possession was impossible. What Xiong Feng was using was generally called partial Martial Soul Possession. Only his arms had gained its effects, giving him a modest boost in strength.

Of course, that was enough.

Born with immense strength and further empowered by the Icefield Giant Bear, Xiong Feng had beaten everyone at North Sea Junior Soul Master Academy who challenged him. Even older students who had obtained Ten-Year Soul Rings and become full-fledged Soul Masters were no match for him. Xiong Feng certainly did not believe he would lose.

Seeing Xiong Feng charge straight at him without any technique, Mo An, who knew no martial arts techniques himself, gripped the Ink Jade Divine Bamboo in both hands and swung it at him with all his strength.

Four pieces of centennial Whale Rubber had strengthened his body, along with the strengthening Herbal Medicine Uncle Fu had obtained in exchange for Centennial Black Truffle and Cordyceps Essence. Add to that his relentless daily boxing practice and medicinal baths, and today he could use Xiong Feng, who had picked this fight himself, to test where his physical limits lay.

He had not considered whether he might lose. That was not a question to dwell on before a fight.

Mo An and Xiong Feng collided. To the astonishment of everyone in the Noble Faction, Mo An not only withstood their leader's head-on charge but gained the upper hand in the clash.

"What strength!"

Xiong Feng had not expected Mo An to be so strong. He staggered back two or three steps, steadied himself, clenched his fists, and struck with all his strength, putting his technique to use.

A whole crowd of underlings was watching him from behind. He could not afford to lose face.

Mo An was just as surprised by his own strength. After a moment of shock, he swung the Ink Jade Divine Bamboo and attacked.

With his keen powers of observation and the nine-section Ink Jade Divine Bamboo, which was over two meters long, Mo An always managed to stop Xiong Feng before he could get close, keeping him more than two meters away.

Because of his own attributes and those of his Martial Soul, Xiong Feng had no real way to attack from a distance, nor was he particularly quick.

And so, what the Noble Faction had expected to be a one-sided fight had become a new student thrashing their leader with a bamboo pole. For the moment, at least, that was how it looked.