Zhou Yi frowned at the students sprawled every which way across the Sports Field.
She had already begun to restrain herself, no longer expelling students at the drop of a hat as she once had, but the performance of the students before her left her deeply dissatisfied.
Without any punishment hanging over them, these students hardly gave their all when running. Once they felt they had used up most of their strength, they sat down to rest, nowhere near their limits.
Many students still had plenty of strength left in their bodies.
Zhou Yi snorted. Had she followed her usual routine and threatened at the outset to expel whoever finished last, none of them would have dared slack off.
Had Huo Yuhao known what she was thinking, he would certainly have scoffed.
Eliminating the last-place finisher was practically useless in this situation, because only the few students at the bottom would compete with one another. Their competition would not affect the others at all, who would still get tired when they got tired and rest when they wanted to rest.
Zhou Yi turned her gaze toward Huo Yuhao and nodded in satisfaction. He was the only person still standing on the Sports Field.
Huo Yuhao's physical fitness had truly exceeded her expectations. Not only was he still standing, but his breathing was steady, and he had barely broken a sweat. By the look of it, his stamina was still nowhere near its limit.
But why did he keep walking backward?
While Zhou Yi was puzzling over this, she suddenly saw Huo Yuhao move toward the middle of the students, so she quietly watched what he would do next.
Huo Yuhao kept gliding backward with a smooth Moonwalk, drawing curious looks from many students.
The Moonwalk looked effortless and stylish, but it demanded considerable leg strength. Maintaining that backward glide gave Huo Yuhao a workout no less effective than running.
But it really did look cool, too, and these students, only eleven or twelve years old, were soon captivated by the magical dance steps.
Suddenly, Huo Yuhao stopped and shouted, "All eyes on the class monitor!"
He clapped his hands, and his pure white Million-Year Soul Ring appeared around him.
Million-Year Soul Ring skills, Spiritual Detection, Spiritual Sharing-activate!
All ninety-nine students in the class besides him received his Spiritual Sharing.
They felt a refreshing coolness sweep through their minds. Shock covered their faces as they all turned toward Huo Yuhao in unison.
Huo Yuhao smiled faintly.
He had narrowed the scope of Spiritual Detection Sharing to a single point. Only his coordinates appeared in the others' minds, naturally directing their attention toward him.
"What's going on?"
"Did he use some kind of soul skill?"
"He actually only has one ten-year soul ring, and he's only rank eleven..."
The students whispered among themselves, unsure what Huo Yuhao intended.
Huo Yuhao looked around and declared in a clear voice:
"Hello, everyone. What a coincidence that we have this chance to gather together. Let me introduce myself. I'm the class monitor of Freshman Class One, appointed by Teacher Zhou. My name is Huo Yuhao."
"You can call me Brother Hao."
The other students: "..."
Seeing some of the more distant students coming over, Huo Yuhao continued, "And since I'm the monitor of Freshman Class One, my soul power is currently rank eleven, and my innate soul power was only rank one, so..."
"You can also call me Big Brother One."
The other students: "..."
This class monitor certainly had personality. Right off the bat, he wanted to make everyone else his little brothers...
Speechless though they were, hearing Huo Yuhao's rank left them shocked all over again.
Was he really only rank eleven, with rank-one innate soul power and a first soul ring that was only ten years old?
Some were puzzled, some surprised, and others showed disdain.
Huo Yuhao continued, "Originally, I didn't want to compete for the position of class monitor, but Teacher Zhou gave the order, so I have no choice but to fulfill a few of my duties..."
"Ha ha ha-"
A mocking laugh interrupted Huo Yuhao. He looked toward the sound and saw that the one laughing was a tall student.
Everyone was already familiar with that tall student's name. He was Tai Long, who had been punished by Zhou Yi with twenty extra laps that morning for running one lap short.
"What are you laughing at?" Huo Yuhao asked with a smile.
"Nothing," Tai Long said. "I just think your strength doesn't seem good enough to make you class monitor."
Before Huo Yuhao could speak, Wang Dong snapped, "If he isn't good enough, are you? I didn't see you running all that fast this morning!"
She had lost to Huo Yuhao twice in a row. If someone looked down on Huo Yuhao now, wasn't that just another way of looking down on her?
"I wasn't taking it seriously this morning. My speed is no worse than yours," Tai Long said confidently. "And I do want to compete for the position of class monitor."
An amused smile appeared on Huo Yuhao's face as he asked, "You want to challenge me, then?"
"I wouldn't call it a challenge, but I do want to spar." Tai Long stood up from the ground and rubbed his fists.
Huo Yuhao asked, "What? You still have strength left?"
Tai Long looked eager to give it a try. "I've rested for half an hour. I've already recovered quite a bit of stamina."
"Heh, Teacher Zhou only just scolded you this morning, and you're already slacking off again this afternoon?" Huo Yuhao scoffed. "Tai Long, oh, Tai Long. If you keep that attitude, you can forget about joining the army in the future. Just go home and farm."
"You-"
Tai Long struggled to save face.
In the end, children of eleven or twelve were still rather playful and lazy. They really could not change that overnight.
"Class monitor, I challenge you!" Tai Long's refusal to admit defeat flared up, and he declared loudly, "Teacher Zhou Yi said we could challenge you at any time!"
Just then, Zhou Yi's voice drifted over. "I approve this challenge. Huo Yuhao, you cannot refuse. Hold the match right here. There are no restrictions on martial souls or soul skills. I'll act as referee."
She walked over and looked at Huo Yuhao expectantly.
Huo Yuhao shrugged helplessly.
He preferred reasoning with people and winning them over through virtue, but this world seemed to put more faith in fists.
Then there was nothing he could do about it.
"All right, I accept the challenge. Teacher Zhou, you can't play favorites."
"Of course not."
On the first day of school, a simple Soul Fighting match had already broken out over the position of class monitor. The students were tremendously excited, casting their exhaustion from running to the backs of their minds.
With a spectacle to watch, they could not miss out, no matter how tired they were!
Even though they did not know one another yet, they began chattering all at once.
"Who do you think will win?"
"Tai Long, probably. I know him. He's already a Two-Ring Soul Grandmaster!"
"I think our class monitor is something special. There's no way he's only rank eleven!"
Just like that, the students of Freshman Class One slowly began to grow familiar with one another.
Huo Yuhao and Tai Long took their positions opposite each other and began introducing themselves.
"Tai Long, rank-twenty Power Attack System Battle Soul Master!"
Wang Dong frowned from the sidelines.
This Tai Long had actually reached the rank-twenty Soul Grandmaster realm, too, only one rank below her. He was probably among the five strongest students in Freshman Class One.
But Huo Yuhao paid it no mind and said calmly, "Huo Yuhao, rank-eleven Power Attack System Battle Soul Master."
Zhou Yi announced, "Begin!"
Huo Yuhao revealed his soul ring and said, "Show your martial soul. Let's see it."
Tai Long smiled. "You only have one ten-year soul ring. Don't say I'm bullying you."
The moment he finished speaking, his body began to swell slowly, and rough scales began growing over the skin of his neck and arms.
At the same time, two yellow soul rings lit up behind him.
Zhou Yi could not help raising her eyebrows.
A dragon-type martial soul? His soul rings weren't bad, either.
Could Huo Yuhao beat him?
Thud-
While Zhou Yi was still wondering about the outcome, the fight had already ended.
Tai Long's body suddenly stiffened. Then the soul rings behind him vanished, and his swollen body rapidly returned to normal. With a quiet thud, his tall frame fell face down on the ground.
Huo Yuhao withdrew his right foot and said casually:
"Teacher Zhou, I won, didn't I?"