The Worst Class

The opening ceremony was held in Eastsea Academy's Central Square.

The Intermediate Division and Senior Division normally kept well apart. Only on occasions like this did the entire Academy truly gather together. The square was enormous, filled from front to back with orderly blocks of students. Tang Wulin had been assigned to the First Grade newcomers. Since he was tall for his age, he stood toward the back, where he had a broad view.

Standing there, he got his first fairly complete look at the scale of Eastsea Academy.

The Intermediate Division had a great many students, with several hundred across its six years. The Senior Division had noticeably fewer, its formations smaller as well. The difference in numbers alone said plenty. Advancing all the way from the Intermediate Division was no easy feat.

The opening ceremony followed a simple program.

The headmaster took the stage to speak.

Eastsea Academy's headmaster was an elderly man with graying hair. His clothes were understated, his bearing steady, and his speech unhurried. Rather than reading from a script, he spoke of the Academy and the Federation, of students and responsibility. He spoke for a full fifteen minutes, yet the crowd remained reasonably orderly throughout.

Tang Wulin listened attentively.

Once the headmaster finished, the matter the newcomers truly cared about finally arrived—class assignments.

The upper-year students and the Senior Division newcomers left in turn. Soon, only the Intermediate Division's First Grade newcomers remained in the square.

Long Hengxu stood at the very front, his voice clear.

"Eastsea Academy's Intermediate Division has five First Grade classes. A lower class number doesn't mean you'll necessarily be stronger than everyone else in the future, but it does mean the Academy currently rates you more highly overall."

At those words, the newcomers' formations grew considerably quieter.

Everyone understood.

The lower the class number, the more highly they were valued right now.

"We'll begin assigning classes now." Long Hengxu glanced down at his list. "Step forward when your name is called and join Class One."

Class One, Class Two, Class Three—names were called out one after another. Some students straightened their backs, some visibly relaxed, and others' expressions soured the moment they were assigned to the later classes.

Tang Wulin stood quietly without speaking.

But as the assignments progressed, he began to realize something.

When Long Hengxu had said yesterday, "You're all going to Class Five," he hadn't just been making an offhand remark.

"Class Five—Xie Xie, Yun Xiao, Zhou Changxi, Tang Wulin..."

Just as he'd thought.

Hearing his name, Tang Wulin felt little turmoil and simply stepped forward in silence. Xie Xie came from the other side, his expression still cold; Yun Xiao adjusted his glasses, looking somewhat resigned; Zhou Changxi's face had visibly fallen, and he muttered a curse as he took his place.

Class Five had twenty students in total.

It had the fewest students.

Most of those who stepped forward looked dispirited. Clearly, they all understood what "Class Five" meant.

The worst class.

At least, it was the class the Academy currently ranked last.

"Homeroom teachers, take your students back to their classrooms," Long Hengxu said. "Help them familiarize themselves with their surroundings and begin arrangements for the new term."

Five teachers stepped out from one side.

When the man on the far right approached Class Five, even the dejected newcomers couldn't help staring for a moment.

He was a very young male teacher.

He was tall and slender, yet his shoulders and back didn't look frail. He wore white trousers and a white shirt, with long, blue-tinged hair tied behind his head, its color clear in the sunlight. But none of that was his most striking feature. It was his demeanor—cold.

It wasn't the coldness of someone deliberately putting on a stern face. His entire presence carried a sense of distance. His eyes were cold as well, and when his gaze swept over them, they almost felt a chill pass through their bodies.

A female student in Class Five couldn't help letting out a soft exclamation:

"Our teacher is so handsome..."

She hadn't spoken loudly, but nearly everyone around her heard.

Xie Xie curled his lip without saying anything.

The young teacher seemed not to have heard a thing. He merely said coolly:

"Follow me."

Just two words.

Yet almost all twenty students in Class Five felt their hearts tighten at once.

This teacher was powerful.

Not merely the sort of strength that made someone look hard to cross, but a genuine presence that could command the room. With a single sentence, he silenced every newcomer who had still been whispering.

Walking ahead, Yun Xiao lowered his voice. "This teacher is probably no ordinary man."

Tang Wulin didn't respond.

He had felt it too.

An ordinary teacher wouldn't exert this kind of pressure.

Class Five's classroom was at the far end of the teaching building's first floor, in the most out-of-the-way and distant spot. Once everyone entered, that feeling of being ranked last became even stronger.

The classroom held thirty sets of desks and chairs, leaving quite a few empty.

The young teacher walked behind the lectern, his voice as level as ever.

"Sit."

Everyone immediately found a seat.

Tang Wulin chose a desk near the front, off to one side. Since he was tall, sitting at the side would keep him from blocking anyone's view while allowing him to see more clearly. To his surprise, Xie Xie sat down right beside him, as though he had specifically chosen that seat.

Yun Xiao sat in front of them.

Zhou Changxi hesitated briefly, but eventually sat behind Tang Wulin.

And so the four boys from Dormitory 205 were together again.

Once everyone was seated, the classroom fell quiet.

Standing behind the lectern, the young teacher swept his gaze over each face before finally speaking:

"My name is Wu Changkong."

His voice wasn't loud, but it was clear.

"For the next six years, I will be your homeroom teacher."

No one spoke.

"There's something else I want to make clear first." Wu Changkong looked at them, his tone still calm. "You can listen to what Long Hengxu said earlier, or you can disregard it. Your class ranking is only the Academy's current opinion of you, not a verdict on your future."

He paused, his gaze growing colder.

"But if you accept it yourselves, then you are Class Five, and you'll remain Class Five for the rest of your lives."

At those words, the students who had been feeling down couldn't help raising their heads.

Wu Changkong continued:

"I don't care whether you ended up in Class Five because of poor talent, low soul power, troublemaking, laziness, or any other reason. With me, you're all the same."

"Right now, you are the worst Class One."

"But I will train you into the Class One that fights best among your peers."

He spoke without haste and made no deliberate effort to raise his voice, yet a sharp edge suddenly pressed into the classroom.

Some students felt their blood surge with excitement, while others instinctively sat straighter.

Watching Wu Changkong at the lectern, Tang Wulin took a genuine interest in his homeroom teacher for the first time.

This teacher wasn't just powerful.

He was tough as steel.

"Now, introduce yourselves," Wu Changkong said. "Your name, martial soul, soul power level, and the path you want to pursue. Don't leave anything out. Begin."

He pointed toward the first row.

Straight at Yun Xiao.

Yun Xiao immediately stood and adjusted his glasses. He was clearly a little nervous, but he tried to keep his voice steady.

"My name is Yun Xiao. My martial soul is the Star Chart, and my soul power is at level twelve. I'd like to pursue support and control."

Wu Changkong nodded without comment.

"Next."

It was Tang Wulin's turn.

The moment he rose, he felt Wu Changkong's gaze settle directly on him. It was piercing, as though it could examine him inside and out.

"Tang Wulin." He stood straight. "My martial soul is the Star-Sinking Hammer. Level eleven."

A faint murmur immediately rose in the classroom.

The Star-Sinking Hammer?

Many of them had never heard that name.

What was more, this boy named Tang Wulin was clearly the newcomer who had caused a disturbance in the dormitory yesterday. Those who heard news quickly even knew he had fought Xie Xie and Zhou Changxi.

Wu Changkong didn't interrupt him.

Tang Wulin paused, then continued:

"In the future, I want to become a powerful soul master, and a highly skilled blacksmith too."

This time, he spoke clearly, without the slightest hesitation.

Because this truly was the clearest path he could see for himself right now.

Grow stronger, earn money, keep moving forward.

Whether for himself, for his family, or to find Na'er someday, he had to keep walking this path.

But just as he finished, someone in the back row suddenly muttered:

"Only level eleven, and he still says it so loudly..."

The voice wasn't particularly loud.

But in the quiet classroom, it was still audible.

The next instant, a stub of chalk shot through the air.

No one saw how it had been thrown.

Smack!

The chalk stub struck the speaker squarely in the mouth with unerring accuracy, its force carrying a drilling twist. The student immediately bent over, clutching his mouth and coughing until tears streamed from his eyes.

The entire class fell silent.

Wu Changkong stood at the lectern without even changing his posture, merely staring coldly in that direction.

"Before you laugh at someone else's low soul power, take a look at why you're sitting in Class Five yourself."

The student's face turned red from coughing. He couldn't get a single word out.

Wu Changkong's voice wasn't loud, yet it bore down on the entire classroom until not a sound remained.

"In my class, if anyone uses another person's martial soul, soul power, or background against them again, I'll make sure they lose every last shred of their own dignity first."

His gaze swept across the class.

"And another thing—"

"Don't let me hear anyone throwing around the word 'trash' again."

"Every single one of you sitting in Class Five has no right to look down on anyone right now."

As those words fell, even the sound of breathing grew softer.

Still standing there, Tang Wulin suddenly felt he was beginning to understand why this teacher sent a chill through people.