"What happened?"
"How did it end so quickly?"
All the other students stared at Huo Yuhao and Tai Long in astonishment. Even Zhou Yi's eyes widened.
Less than three seconds after revealing his Soul Rings, Tai Long was already on the ground.
Huo Yuhao was fast, but not so fast that they couldn't follow his movements. Everyone clearly saw him dart in front of Tai Long and kick him in the knee.
Tai Long seemed frozen with fright. He neither dodged nor fought back, simply taking the kick before his leg buckled and he fell to the ground.
Seeing Huo Yuhao's familiar move, Wang Dong felt a chill down her back. She instinctively tucked her neck in and rubbed her knee, puzzled.
Tai Long was a Level 20 Soul Grandmaster, after all, and his cultivation wasn't low. Unlike her back then, he hadn't carelessly neglected to use his Martial Soul. How had he been defeated in a single move?
"What happened?" Zhou Yi was initially taken aback, but she soon understood. A fluctuation in mental power. So that's how it was.
Just now, Huo Yuhao had used the remaining two skills granted to him by Tian Meng's Million-Year Soul Ring: Mental Interference and Soul Shock.
Both skills affected an opponent's consciousness. The difference was that Mental Interference covered a wider area and lasted longer, while Soul Shock had greater burst power and force.
Mental Interference briefly dazed Tai Long, while Soul Shock sent pain shooting through his head, followed by complete blankness.
Taking advantage of that lapse, Huo Yuhao brought him down easily.
Huo Yuhao asked with a smile, "Teacher Zhou, I won, didn't I?"
Zhou Yi nodded. "I declare Huo Yuhao the winner."
By then, Tai Long had regained consciousness. He climbed to his feet and protested, "Teacher Zhou, I haven't lost yet!"
Although he had fallen, he hadn't suffered any serious harm, and he stood back up once he regained consciousness.
Zhou Yi said coldly, "You think being able to stand back up means you haven't lost? If this had happened on a battlefield or in a forest, that instant would have been enough to take your life."
At her words, Tai Long lowered his head in shame.
Seeing Tai Long defeated so easily, the students broke into a flurry of discussion.
"Huo Yuhao actually won."
"He only has one ten-year Soul Ring, yet even two hundred-year Soul Rings were no match for him."
"He must be higher than level eleven!"
Listening to the discussion around him, Huo Yuhao said, "There's no need to doubt it, everyone. I really am only level eleven. But you should be happy about that. I'm your class monitor, yet I have the lowest Soul Power in the entire class."
"Now you can tell students from other classes that your Soul Power is higher than your class monitor's."
The other students: "..."
Huo Yuhao said, "I'm sure you're all wondering how a level-eleven Soul Master like me could run faster than all of you, or even easily defeat a level-twenty Soul Grandmaster."
The other students listened intently. Could there be some secret to it?
"It's simple. I understand the importance of physical fitness better than any of you," Huo Yuhao said.
"Everyone has a different Martial Soul and different innate Soul Power."
"My innate Soul Power was only level one. Since my Soul Power couldn't match anyone else's, I could only narrow the gap by training my body."
"When I was six or seven, running this far was already as routine as eating a meal."
The other students were utterly astonished by Huo Yuhao's words.
At that age, they had only just begun cultivating. Moreover, with their innate Soul Power at level seven or eight, they had focused primarily on cultivating Soul Power rather than their bodies.
Then Huo Yuhao shifted tack. "But there's practically no barrier to physical training. Why doesn't everyone choose to do it?"
"The answer is simple. Because it's exhausting."
"Physical training is a long, arduous process, and I believe very few people can stick with it. Only by pushing as close to your limits as possible can you feel your body continually growing stronger."
"But I did it."
"And you've all seen the results. Even at level eleven, I can go toe-to-toe with Tai Long at level twenty."
Huo Yuhao looked at Zhou Yi. "I know Teacher Zhou makes everyone run to push you to take your physical fitness seriously. Whether you're a boy or a girl, whether you're in the Power Attack System or the Support System, physical fitness is extremely important."
"But your performance today seems to have disappointed Teacher Zhou a little."
"Nine students slacked off this morning, and quite a few didn't give it their all this afternoon either. The moment you felt a little tired, you sat down to rest."
Hearing this, several students who had slacked off couldn't help feeling a little ashamed.
"But I'm not trying to criticize you. Loving comfort and hating hard work is human nature. I just want to talk to you about why we should train ourselves like this, why we should push ourselves."
"Take me, for example. I'm an orphan now."
Hearing Huo Yuhao speak so candidly about his background, the students of Freshman Class One froze.
"I keep training myself like this because I want to become stronger."
"And why do I want to become stronger? To protect myself from being bullied, and to protect the things I love."
"You might think Teacher Zhou is strict and bad-tempered, but are you training for her sake? No. You're doing it for yourselves."
"Whether you run a few more laps or a few less doesn't benefit Teacher Zhou in any way. She simply wants what's best for you."
"The stronger your bodies are, the better your chances of passing the freshman assessment. The sweat you shed now might not bring you success, but it will certainly spare your future selves regret."
"So whether you persevere or slack off, the choice is yours."
"I promise you that as long as you can stick with Teacher Zhou's training, you'll gain a great deal from it."
After finishing, Huo Yuhao looked at the students of Freshman Class One.
Just then, a student suddenly called out in agreement, "The class monitor is right!"
With that, he rose from the ground and started running around the Sports Field again.
Seeing this, several other students also stood up and joined him.
Then, one after another, the students kept getting to their feet and rejoining the ranks running laps.
Finally, even the last student shuffled back onto the track, dragging aching, weak legs along as they ran slowly but resolutely.
Zhou Yi stared blankly at the children Huo Yuhao had inspired, her eyes filled with shock.
She stole a glance at the composed Huo Yuhao and saw the potential of a born leader in him.
"How many more surprises do you have in store?"
Zhou Yi murmured as she watched the students on the Sports Field.
Huo Yuhao overheard her muttering and was left speechless.
If you hadn't saddled me with the class monitor position, would I have needed to stand here pouring chicken soup for the soul down their throats?
Huo Yuhao was someone who paid close attention to the boundaries of his responsibilities.
When he had no burdens on his shoulders, his principle was to do as he pleased and take an indifferent attitude toward everything.
But once he had obligations, he would carefully consider his actions.
The class monitor position had been forced on him, but since he hadn't refused on the spot, that meant he had accepted the responsibility.
Ever since Zhou Yi had said that morning, "Anyone who doesn't dare stir up trouble is a mediocrity," Huo Yuhao had felt uncomfortable.
There's something wrong with this academy's culture!
He believed it was absolutely necessary to instill some sound ideas in the classmates around him.
He would start by being their class monitor.