The Class Committee! (Please Invest! Please Send Recommendation Votes! Please Send Monthly Tickets!)

At the Soul Fighting Arena, Tian Zilai let out a huge sigh of relief. Thank goodness—nothing unexpected had happened.

"Ms. Sun, sorry for the trouble, but please examine these two students for hidden injuries so they don't develop problems later." He first called out to Sun Rou, then turned to the students. "Everyone else, return to the classroom immediately."

A short while later, in the Young Heaven Class's classroom.

"All right, let's continue selecting our class committee," Tian Zilai said. "If no one else has any objections, I hereby announce that Qin Xu will serve as class monitor of our Young Heaven Class!"

"Great!" Meng Xin immediately cheered and led the applause.

Thunderous applause erupted.

"All right." Tian Zilai quieted the applause and continued, "Next, we'll select three deputy class monitors to assist the monitor in managing the class. Vielvi, Xue Zhao, Ye Guyi, would you be willing to serve?"

"Yes, yes!" Vielvi cried excitedly. "Of course I would!"

"Fine," Xue Zhao said, her expression cold.

"Oh, all right." Ye Guyi nodded in pleased agreement.

Tian Zilai looked at the other students. "Does anyone else want to compete for a deputy monitor position? There's still time to speak up. If you don't do it now, you'll have to wait another year for your chance."

No one spoke, but their gazes split neatly into two groups, one looking at Li Xin and the other at Meng Xin. There were only six students in the Young Heaven Class who currently possessed soul rings. Apart from Qin Xu, Vielvi, Xue Zhao, and Ye Guyi, only Meng Xin and Li Xin qualified to compete.

Li Xin, however, kept a low profile, remaining silent with a calm expression. Meng Xin also chose to ignore everyone's gazes. After watching Qin Xu and Xue Zhao fight, he had clearly realized the gap between himself and Xue Zhao. Naturally, he wouldn't stand up just to invite humiliation.

Seeing that no one objected, Tian Zilai continued, "Good. In that case, our Young Heaven Class's committee is complete: class monitor Qin Xu, and deputy monitors Vielvi, Xue Zhao, and Ye Guyi. I hope the four of you will set an example from now on and lead our Young Heaven Class toward glory!"

"Of course we will." Qin Xu stood up and spoke with complete confidence.

"Xue Zhao, Ye Guyi, starting next lesson, sit in the front row," Tian Zilai added, addressing the two girls in the back corner.

Xue Zhao and Ye Guyi nodded in agreement.

As the first lesson of the school year drew to a close, Tian Zilai said, "This is our Young Heaven Class's first lesson, the beginning of our journey, so I hope each of you will set yourselves a short-term goal for the coming year.

"Of our twenty-eight students, only six have already become soul masters, nine are on the verge of becoming soul masters, and thirteen have eighth-level soul power. I look forward to seeing every student in our Young Heaven Class obtain their first soul ring and first soul skill within a year. Are you confident?"

"Yes!" everyone shouted in unison, their voices full of vigor.

Becoming a One-Ring Soul Master within a year hardly counted as a goal for the Young Heaven Class's students. Even the slowest cultivator among them had only needed a little over a month to raise their soul power by one level.

"Very good! That's the spirit!" Tian Zilai nodded in satisfaction. "We still have a little time left. Now, write down the direction you intend to take as soul masters and your plans for developing your martial souls. Hand them to me before class ends."

"If you're unsure of your direction, or lack a clear understanding of your martial soul's characteristics, write that down too. I'll help you resolve those issues."

The classroom fell quiet. Everyone lowered their heads, some racking their brains, others writing furiously.

The first lesson ended, and after a brief break, the second began.

"Hello, everyone." A middle-aged woman entered the classroom, smiling as she introduced herself to the students. "I'm Huang Suyue, a Soul Saint and a Level 6 Soul Engineer. I'll be teaching you the knowledge and theory related to soul tools."

Huang Suyue, a Level 6 Soul Engineer, was the head of the Heavenly Profound Academy's Soul Tool Department.

This was the Young Heaven Class's first soul tool lesson. Huang Suyue knew very well that these children's knowledge and understanding of soul tools were extremely limited and superficial, so she began with the most basic concepts. The purely theoretical definitions made her listeners drowsy.

Although Qin Xu listened attentively, that didn't stop him from finding the lesson utterly dull. Glancing to either side, he noticed that Xue Zhao and Ye Guyi also looked half asleep. Vielvi, on the other hand, surprised him. She was actually listening with relish, her eyes positively shining.

Vielvi was interested in soul tools?

Qin Xu considered this. It was an unexpected bonus. Her Brain Martial Soul was a spiritual-type martial soul, so she was indeed well suited to training as a soul engineer alongside her other cultivation. He also needed someone proficient with soul tools at his side.

Hopefully, this wasn't just a passing whim for Vielvi.

Huang Suyue had also noticed Vielvi, which gave her some comfort. At least it meant this lesson hadn't been taught in vain. The academy's assignment for her had been to familiarize the Young Heaven Class's students with soul tools and dispel their aversion to them.

She had never expected any student in the Young Heaven Class to pursue a career as a soul engineer. After all, these were all soul master prodigies!

In the soul master world of the original Douluo Three Kingdoms, a certain belief prevailed: only soul masters with no future on the soul master path would choose to become soul engineers. This belief had influenced the Douluo Three Kingdoms from top to bottom for thousands of years. Even Shrek Academy, which had pioneered soul engineer education, was no exception.

As a soul engineer, Huang Suyue had also suffered greatly from this belief. Her own talent as a soul master wasn't low. As a fifty-year-old Soul Saint, she could become a Soul Douluo without difficulty simply by cultivating steadily. She had chosen to become a soul engineer purely out of interest.

That was why noticing Vielvi's interest in soul tools brought her comfort, and even a tiny flicker of secret delight. The academy's higher-ups didn't want her recruiting soul engineer students from the Young Heaven Class, but what if a student from the Young Heaven Class wanted to become a soul engineer of her own accord?

Surely the academy's higher-ups couldn't stop her?

This little girl with the two-colored hair was called Vielvi, wasn't she? I hope you won't disappoint me, Huang Suyue thought.

"All right, everyone, that's it for today's lesson," Huang Suyue said with a smile. "Next lesson, we'll go straight to the laboratory for a practical session, so you can experience the process of making soul tools firsthand. All right, class dismissed."

"Class is finally over!" most of the students exclaimed.

"Ah, I'm so sleepy. I'm going back to bed," a few students remarked.

"Really? We get a practical session next lesson? Yay! This sounds so interesting!" That was Vielvi's reaction.

Qin Xu smiled and patted Vielvi's shoulder. "All right, class is over. Let's go eat first. Xue Zhao, Ye Guyi, why don't you come along? It'll give us a chance to get to know each other and work together better from now on."

He extended the invitation to the still bleary-eyed Xue Zhao and Ye Guyi.

"No!" Xue Zhao's eyes instantly cleared. She stared at Qin Xu, rejecting him icily, then took Ye Guyi's hand to leave.

"Don't be so cold." Qin Xu stopped them with a smile. "It's only a meal together. Could it be that you're afraid of me?"

"Afraid?" Xue Zhao immediately stopped and snapped at him, "Fine! I'll eat you out of house and home!"

Ye Guyi had also become considerably more alert. Hearing Xue Zhao's fierce words, she couldn't help smiling wryly. She leaned toward Xue Zhao's ear and whispered, "Sister A Liang, he's a grand duke. The entire academy belongs to his family. He doesn't have to pay for meals!"

Xue Zhao's expression visibly froze, but she stubbornly retorted, "I don't care!"

Since her birth, Qin Xu had been the first member of the opposite sex to defeat her. It had stirred a strange emotion in her heart, intertwining resentment, anger, and a little curiosity, making her pay particular attention to him. That was why his suggestion that she was afraid had immediately struck a nerve.

"Hahaha, no problem!" Qin Xu laughed heartily, then led the way out of the classroom.

Vielvi followed close behind and walked beside him. Unwilling to fall behind, Xue Zhao pulled Ye Guyi along to Qin Xu's other side. The four walked abreast along the academy's paths, like a rainbow drawing the eyes of passersby.

They arrived at the dining hall, went straight to the third floor, and entered a private room that had already been prepared.

"Go on, order whatever you want." Qin Xu sat down, picked up the menu, and handed it to Xue Zhao.

"A Liang, order me some Earth Profound Pig stir-fried with green flame fruit, please. Thanks." Vielvi casually sat beside Qin Xu, a radiant smile on her face.

"What did you call me?" Xue Zhao whipped her head toward Vielvi, her little face covered in frost. "Who said you could call me A Liang?"

"Oh, don't be angry." Vielvi grinned. "I heard Yiyi call you A Liang, and it sounded so warm and friendly that I used it too. Don't you think it feels friendlier? If it bothers you, you can use my nickname too. Call me Vivi."

"Yiyi..." The corner of Ye Guyi's mouth twitched. She really wanted to say that her nickname wasn't Yiyi, but she suspected neither Xue Zhao nor Vielvi would listen. In the end, she could only pick up the menu and lower her head to read it.

Qin Xu gave Vielvi a huge thumbs-up in his heart. Well done, Vivi. Absolutely brilliant, Vivi!

"You!" Xue Zhao grew even angrier and glared at Vielvi. This girl was infuriating! Acting as though it were only natural—she was even more domineering than me! Damn it!

"All right, all right, eating comes first." Qin Xu stepped in and pressed Xue Zhao back into her seat. "Wei'er only calls you that because she wants to be good friends with you. Besides, I also think using nicknames helps bring people closer. Don't you agree, A Liang?"

"!" Xue Zhao stiffened. Wasn't she supposed to be angry? Wasn't she supposed to raise her hand and slap him? Then why couldn't she muster any anger? Was this right?

Xue Zhao felt that her state of mind seemed to have undergone some sort of change. Could this be a consequence of taking human form?