"If that's what you want..."
El's request gave Yan Shaozhe something of a headache. After a moment's hesitation, he complied and removed the soul power restraints on Zhou Yi.
"Very well."
"How about I serve as your referee?"
Yan Shaozhe's brows furrowed almost imperceptibly.
He sent a soul power voice transmission to Zhou Yi, whose face was filled with venom and humiliation:
"Teacher Zhou Yi, you'd better know where to draw the line!"
"If El's life is endangered in any way, you'll answer for it!"
In his view, El was simply too proud of his own talent. He wanted to defeat a Soul Emperor with his Soul Elder cultivation, and even give her a beating "fair and square."
That was practically impossible.
After all, whatever else Zhou Yi might be, she was a teacher at Shrek Academy. Although she couldn't compare to the inner court students, she was no weakling.
Besides, in battle, "giving someone a beating" was harder than defeating or even killing them.
It required overwhelming superiority in raw strength!
Still, this is fine. Let Zhou Yi grind down some of this brat's arrogance.
Yan Shaozhe was the first to leave the classroom, quietly making plans as he went.
Then I'll stop the match just before he loses, preserving his dignity and giving him a better impression of me, his dean.
Watching Yan Shaozhe leave first, Zhou Yi shot El a vicious glare, her face carrying anger and a measure of twisted delight.
"Brat, you might be a genius, and your family might be powerful, but that is no reason to challenge a Soul Emperor like me."
She hadn't expected a turn of fortune after he had revealed his towering backing, when she had already prepared to grit her teeth and swallow the humiliation.
This idiot was actually throwing himself into her hands!
Hahahaha!
Her future had been utterly severed, and the authority she had built among her students over the years had been shaken and erased. The fury and venom in Zhou Yi's heart nearly condensed into tangible poison.
Yes, Dean Yan had told her to know where to draw the line.
But that didn't mean she had to obey!
After all, blades had no eyes in the Soul Fighting Arena.
Faced with a genius backed by a Limit Douluo, a mere Soul Emperor like her had been forced to play every trump card and hadn't managed to pull back in time.
Wasn't that perfectly normal?
When the time came, between a "genius" who had already been crippled and the wife of a deputy dean of Shrek Academy's Soul Tool Department, wasn't it obvious who mattered more?
Imagining El lying on the ground with his fate unknown, and the expressions of higher-ups like Yan Shaozhe as they could only hold their noses and protect her for Fan Yu's sake,
Zhou Yi felt wonderfully pleased.
Before leaving the classroom with light steps, she didn't forget to cast a venomous, sinister look at El.
"I'll be waiting for you on the Soul Fighting Platform!"
"Young 'genius.'"
Once both teachers had left, the classroom, previously so silent that no one dared speak or raise their head, instantly erupted into a cacophony of voices.
"Oh my god! That was Dean Yan, right? He actually apologized to a student in person!!"
"They say he's a powerhouse at the Super Douluo level!"
A student from a well-off family, and thus better informed, exclaimed in amazement.
"What's so surprising about that? Didn't you hear what Dean Yan said?"
"El has a Limit Douluo elder in his family!!"
"That's the legendary pinnacle of mortal power! A peerless level-99 powerhouse!!"
Some students cast fearful, envious looks at El.
"Who knows whether Shrek Academy even has someone that powerful right now..."
"If I had a Limit Douluo elder in my family, I could swagger across the whole continent!"
"What good is a powerful elder if his own brain doesn't work?"
Someone remarked sourly, "A Soul Elder challenging a Soul Emperor, and claiming he'll beat her soundly, too. How much did he drink?"
"He's so handsome!"
Naturally, the loudest group in the classroom was a handful of girls.
"Did you hear? He only decided to face Teacher Zhou on the Soul Fighting Platform because she insulted that 'Huo Yutong.'"
"Not only does he have an amazing family background, he's so good-looking, and he's willing to stand up for the girl with him!"
A petite, adorable girl with forest-green hair tied into twin ponytails behind her head covered her face, the patches of skin visible between her fingers flushed red.
"He's so cool! He's practically the man of my dreams!"
"Xiao Xiao, stop swooning!"
Just as Xiao Xiao, like the other girls, was sinking into the fantasies in her mischievous little head, a voice loud enough to drown out the whole classroom rang out.
"El has already gone to the Soul Fighting Arena!"
Only then did the students, busy boasting and fantasizing, realize that El had already vanished.
"Quick, let's go to the Soul Fighting Arena!"
Without any further instructions from their teacher, the students of Freshman Class One hesitated for less than a second before deciding to head to the Soul Fighting Platform.
A Soul Elder fighting a Soul Emperor, a student fighting a teacher!
How could they miss something this entertaining!
The group charged toward the Soul Fighting Platform in a great procession.
Naturally, this unusual sight drew the attention of students and teachers from the other classes.
They had long since grown used to Freshman Class One going out to run laps on the field, but when had those students ever gone without long faces?
Why were they so excited and cheerful this time?
Soon, a teacher came out to ask.
"What? A student challenged Zhou Yi?!"
"Dean Yan is personally acting as referee?!!"
The teacher with short purple hair exclaimed so loudly that the entire floor could hear him.
"How could I possibly miss something like this?"
Teacher Mu Jin, the homeroom teacher of Freshman Class Nine, rolled his eyes thoughtfully, then called to his students.
"Come on. Today, I'll take you to see how a Soul Emperor powerhouse actually fights."
"Stay close behind Class One. We're all going to the Soul Fighting Zone!"
Once the first class went to watch the spectacle, a second naturally followed.
Some teachers, like Mu Jin, had friction with Zhou Yi and wanted to make things unpleasant for her.
Others simply felt that their students' minds had already flown elsewhere. Rather than force them to stay in the classroom, they might as well let them go watch the fun... ahem, observe a battle between powerful fighters.
And so, like a chain reaction, nearly all the freshman classes on that floor marched toward the Soul Fighting Zone in a great procession.
"What?! He pointed right at that old hag Zhou's nose and cursed her out? How come he wasn't expelled?
He has a Limit Douluo elder? Oh, then that explains it."
Amid the swelling stream of people, the full story behind the duel began spreading through the crowd.
"A Soul Elder challenging a Soul Emperor?"
"Just to restore his girl's dignity?!"
"Whose warrior is this, to be so valiant?"
"Huh?"
Meanwhile, Huo Yutong, who had arranged both her and El's beds and had just arrived at the teaching building from the dormitory, looked utterly bewildered.
What happened?
She stopped a random student and asked.
The boy she stopped had initially looked a little impatient, but upon seeing young Miss Huo's appearance, he instantly became enthusiastic.
After explaining the general situation he had heard about, the boy didn't forget to add a sigh of admiration.
"I wonder just how beautiful that Huo Yutong is, what a disaster-courting beauty she must be, to make someone do something like this!"
"...I'm Huo Yutong."
"Huh?"
The boy froze, then examined her carefully from head to toe, an expression of understanding dawning on his face.
"No wonder."
Seeing someone who looked as though she had been sculpted to perfection, he had wanted to strike up a conversation, only to discover that this lovely flower already had an owner.
Alas.
Still, no wonder she could make someone do something like challenge a Soul Emperor as a Soul Elder.
He understood El now.
The boy rejoined the crowd and hurried toward the Soul Fighting Zone.
Only a somewhat flustered Huo Yutong remained standing there.
I'd only been away for a little while, and El had already stirred up something this huge?
Challenging a Soul Emperor with three-ring cultivation...
Wasn't that a little dangerous?
El was being far too reckless.
Young Miss Huo, newly bestowed with the title of "disaster-courting beauty," puffed out her cheeks.
Still, it really did make her heart feel sweet...
Huo Yutong squeezed through the crowd ahead and headed toward the Soul Fighting Zone as well.
She was going to watch this battle.
If El fell on the back foot...
Then her soul skill would have to go to work.
Before you continue