"How could this happen? I lost again..."
Wang Dong folded away her wings and looked at Huo Yuhao, unwilling to accept her defeat.
"A loss is a loss. Don't take winning and losing so seriously."
Huo Yuhao held a grilled fish between his teeth as he offered another to Wang Dong.
He always kept a supply of grilled fish in his belt.
"Want some grilled fish?"
Wang Dong pouted, took the grilled fish, and bit into it viciously.
"You two really surprised me." Zhou Yi approached with an approving look.
"Would you like some, Teacher Zhou?"
"No, thank you..."
Zhou Yi declined Huo Yuhao's kind offer and studied the two children.
Both were fast and had finished many laps ahead of the main group. Despite starting later than everyone else, they had finished first. Their physical fitness was outstanding.
In the final stretch, Wang Dong had even released her martial soul, the Light Goddess Butterfly, to try to overtake Huo Yuhao. It was one of the most beautiful martial souls on the entire continent.
Then there were her soul rings, which defied common sense. Although she had only two, her second soul ring was already a purple Thousand-Year Soul Ring.
Wang Dong's strength definitely placed her among the best in Freshman Class One.
But Huo Yuhao was even harder for Zhou Yi to fathom. Was he stronger than Wang Dong?
She asked, "Huo Yuhao, what is your martial soul? What is your soul power level? Can you tell Teacher Zhou?"
Huo Yuhao made no attempt to hide anything. "My martial soul is a body martial soul, Demon Eyes, with a mental attribute. My soul power level is eleven."
"What?"
Both Wang Dong and Zhou Yi stared in astonishment.
Wang Dong could not believe it. Her soul power was more than twice Huo Yuhao's, so why could she neither beat him in a fight nor outrun him?
Zhou Yi murmured, "No wonder. So it's a body martial soul."
After pondering for a moment, she asked again, "Huo Yuhao, could you tell me what your first soul skill is?"
Without saying much more, Huo Yuhao revealed his pure white first soul ring.
Just as Zhou Yi was about to express her surprise at his first soul ring being only ten-year quality, a ripple of spiritual power suddenly flowed into her mind.
She did not resist and experienced the effects of that spiritual power.
Wang Dong had already seen Huo Yuhao's white soul ring, but she still did not know what his first soul skill was.
Every change within a radius of over a hundred meters, encompassing the entire field and part of the teaching building, instantly flooded into their minds.
The swaying grass and trees, the running students...
Every change was crystal clear.
Huo Yuhao withdrew his soul ring and said calmly, "This is my first soul skill, Spiritual Detection Sharing."
"This... th-this... is this really just a skill from a ten-year soul ring? A martial soul mutation? Or is this the innate power of a body martial soul?"
While they were still reeling in shock, other students finished their hundred laps one after another, dragging their exhausted bodies along and panting heavily.
Zhou Yi took several deep breaths and said decisively, "Huo Yuhao, come with me after class at noon."
With that, she left the pair and calmly watched the remaining students on the field.
As soon as Zhou Yi left, Wang Dong moved closer and asked, "Huo Yuhao, what's your relationship with Teacher Zhou?"
Huo Yuhao shrugged. "Nothing special. I only met her once when I registered."
"Really?" Wang Dong looked skeptical, but she did not dwell on it. Instead, she declared firmly, "Don't think you've beaten me for good. I won't lose our next match!"
Her competitive spirit and fighting resolve received no acknowledgment from Huo Yuhao. He glanced at her as though she were an idiot and muttered under his breath.
"You really don't know when to admit defeat..."
At last, the final student completed the hundred laps, still within the allotted two hours. All one hundred students of Freshman Class One stood in a loose formation on the field.
Zhou Yi walked into their midst with an expressionless face and said, "Anyone whose name I call, step forward!"
"Cheng Cheng, Shangguan Chentian, Zhuge Yun, Tai Long..."
She called out nine names in total. They had yet to introduce themselves, but Zhou Yi had already committed every student's face and name to memory.
The nine students stepped forward and stood in a row before Zhou Yi.
Zhou Yi asked without any coldness in her voice, "Do you know why I called the nine of you out?"
The nine students exchanged looks and shook their heads. "We don't know, Teacher Zhou."
Zhou Yi said, "I called you out because you made a mistake. Do you know what you did wrong?"
The nine looked at one another again and still answered, "We don't know."
Zhou Yi closed her eyes and let out a deep breath. Anger now tinged her exquisite features, but it was clear that she was trying hard to control her emotions rather than explode.
She said coldly, "In the past, I wouldn't have wasted so many words on you. I would have expelled every one of you on the spot!"
All nine students were shocked, their hearts leaping into their throats.
What had they done to warrant expulsion?
"Now, I'm trying my best to be a less strict teacher. But you've disappointed me."
Zhou Yi said evenly, "Originally, you only made one mistake, but your dishonesty is another, more serious mistake. I don't want the students of Shrek Academy to be people who shirk their duties and resort to petty tricks."
"Teacher Zhou, I admit I was wrong!"
One student suddenly shouted, lowering their head.
"I didn't run the full hundred laps. I was wrong!"
Once someone took the lead in admitting fault, the others followed. "I admit I was wrong too."
"We're sorry, Teacher Zhou!"
Seeing the students offer sincere apologies, Zhou Yi felt a little better. She was just about to continue when a dissenting voice rang out.
"Teacher Zhou, I object! I didn't skip any laps!"
The speaker was the boy named Tai Long. Tall and fairly strong, he had been among the first few students to finish the hundred laps.
Watching from the side, Huo Yuhao was speechless.
Teacher Zhou already gave you a way to step down gracefully and admit your mistakes, yet you still insist on talking tough. Who else would she make an example of?
"Did you think you could slip through just because you only skipped one lap?" Zhou Yi asked, her gaze icy. "Did you think I wouldn't know what you were doing because I wasn't here at the beginning?"
"I..." Seeing that his excuses had been exposed, Tai Long lowered his head too.
Rather than punish them immediately, Zhou Yi calmed herself and asked softly, "Can you tell me why you did this?"
All nine students remained silent. Only after a long while did one answer quietly, "There wasn't any reason. We just wanted to slack off."
"A very honest answer. I like that," Zhou Yi said evenly. "I used to detest this sort of shirking and trickery. Whenever I caught it, I would expel the culprits immediately."
"But I've thought it through now. Expelling you would be simple and save me trouble, and the other students wouldn't dare slack off again. Yet you still wouldn't understand your own mistakes."
She looked pointedly at Tai Long and asked, "Where are you from?"
Tai Long hesitated before answering honestly, "The Heaven Dou Empire."
"What does your father do?"
"He's a military commander."
Zhou Yi nodded. In fact, she already knew from his enrollment records that Tai Long came from a military family in the Heaven Dou Empire.
"Treating orders like child's play-is that how your father raised you? Do your father and your family manage their troops with such a lazy attitude?"
"No!" At the mention of his family, Tai Long's expression grew serious, and he answered loudly.
"If your father approached warfare lazily, and his soldiers approached battle lazily, would your Heaven Dou Empire win or lose if the Sun Moon Empire invaded?"
Tai Long was silent for a moment before answering, "We would lose!"
"Then what happens to soldiers in your army who make mistakes?"
"They're punished!" Tai Long shouted. "Teacher Zhou, please punish me!"
Zhou Yi looked at the other eight, who also shouted, "Teacher Zhou, please punish us!"
"Fine. Go run another ten laps. Tai Long, you'll run twenty. Do you understand?"
"Yes, Teacher Zhou!"
The nine students headed back onto the track.
Zhou Yi stopped watching them and addressed the other ninety-one students instead. "Everyone else, change your clothes and return to the classroom. Time for class!"
Huo Yuhao watched from the side, eating his grilled fish and snapping his fingers.
Doesn't she have quite a talent for teaching?