Taking the First Step Against Hegemony

"I'm going for a run. Take your time arguing with yourself here."

After tossing out that line, he turned and left, leaving Wang Dong at a loss.

Seeing Qian Chaoguang leave, Wang Dong stomped her feet hard twice and chased him out.

"You bastard! Wait for me!"

Once they left the New Student Teaching Building, they were at Shrek Plaza.

Compared with the track fields on Blue Star, running here was an extremely unwise choice.

Each lap was three hundred meters, and the ground was entirely paved with granite. In an era when running shoes had yet to be invented, it was truly a trial for the knees of adolescents who were still growing.

After Qian Chaoguang and Wang Dong joined the running line one after the other, no gloating voices rang out.

Zhou Yi had rambled on for longer than in the original work, and the students of Class One were now putting everything they had into sprinting one hundred laps. None of them wanted to waste any extra strength.

After Qian Chaoguang arrived at the plaza, he did not speak. Instead, he suddenly started running at the speed other people used for a hundred-meter sprint, leaving Wang Dong, who had just arrived behind him, staring in a daze.

To Qian Chaoguang, it was only thirty thousand meters. Simple. It could not even be considered a warm-up.

Before coming to Shrek, he and Huo Yutong had gone running up and down the mountain every morning for Morning Exercise, even carrying weights.

It was not just Wang Dong and the other students—even Zhou Yi was extremely shocked.

Qian Chaoguang was overtaking everyone from behind at an astonishing speed, crazily lapping the others, and he showed no sign of fatigue at all.

Wang Dong even had to activate her Martial Soul and chase madly behind him just to barely keep up with his speed.

After a short ten or so minutes, Qian Chaoguang and Wang Dong, who was exhausted like a dog, had already caught up to the first group. Only then did Qian Chaoguang slowly reduce his speed and run side by side with Huo Yutong, who had been holding first place.

"Are you... a monster? You're faster than me even without activating your Martial Soul?"

The high-intensity, breakneck pace left Wang Dong panting heavily, and she asked between ragged breaths.

Qian Chaoguang could not be bothered with her. He pulled Huo Yutong along and slowly picked up speed.

Huo Yutong looked at her brother in slight surprise, then explained, "My brother and I have gone out for Morning Exercise every morning since we were three. This is nothing to my brother. Even I can finish it easily."

"You started training every day at three? You siblings are both monsters!"

Although Wang Dong was indignant, a trace of comfort suddenly appeared in her heart.

"Can I ask what level your brother is now?"

"Huh? I don't know either."

Huo Yutong had been about to say level thirteen, but when she turned and saw the look Qian Chaoguang gave her, she hurriedly changed her words.

Wang Dong was a little unwilling to let it go and still wanted to keep asking, but Qian Chaoguang choked her off with one sentence.

"No matter what level I am, you still lost to me when I didn't activate my Martial Soul. And you were crushed."

"Bastard! That was because I was careless!"

Furious.jpg

Time passed quickly. As the number of laps increased, the students' breathing gradually grew heavier.

At this moment, the difference in physical quality and cultivation was displayed in full.

Qian Chaoguang was the exception. This guy had run until now without even breaking a sweat, looking as relaxed as if he were taking a stroll.

More than half the allotted time had already passed when Zhou Yi's voice suddenly rang in every student's ears.

"Speed up. Use my position as the finish line."

As she spoke, Wang Dong abruptly accelerated, whooshing past her and becoming the first to complete one hundred laps.

Next were Huo Yutong and Qian Chaoguang.

The three of them were simply too far ahead of everyone else.

Wang Dong planted her hands on her waist, panting heavily as she said to Qian Chaoguang, "I won!"

Qian Chaoguang's expression was extremely calm as he pulled Huo Yutong along and walked at a strolling pace off to the side.

Immediately collapsing to the ground or drinking large amounts of water after running would damage the heart, lungs, and kidneys. It was best to walk around before resting.

"Oh. You won. You're amazing. Congratulations."

That utterly plain sentence nearly made Wang Dong's nose go crooked with anger. It was like punching cotton.

Qian Chaoguang ignored her after that and took Huo Yutong off for a walk on his own.

When there was still half an hour before the time was up, Qian Chaoguang appeared in the area where the other members of the class were sprawled out.

He said, "Cheng Cheng, Qiu Jianrao, Tang Dao, Shangguan Chentian, Lin Zeyu, Zhuge Yun, Tai Long, Tang Ling, Yun Xiaopiao, I suggest you get up right now and make up the few laps you haven't finished."

The few of them stared in shock at this guy who had casually called out their names, somewhat dumbfounded.

This should have been their first time meeting, right?

Why would the other party know their names?

The answer was that Qian Chaoguang had both read the original work and taken an early look at the class roster, which had simple sketches and descriptions of appearances on it.

With his memory, that was something he only needed to glance over.

One tall boy said with a disdainful look, "Who told you I didn't finish? I finished those hundred laps ages ago. Besides, whether I finished or not is none of your damn business."

Qian Chaoguang did not get angry. Instead, he used his Divine Sense to send his voice directly into everyone's ears while matching the words with his mouth movements.

"Whether you finished or not is none of my damn business, but I find this Teacher Zhou Yi extremely unpleasant, so I'm going to make her unhappy too. I believe you all find her unpleasant as well, right? Before school started, I already did a thorough investigation. She takes pleasure in expelling students, and even claims this is her teaching philosophy. It's no different from raising gu. So as long as no one gets expelled, she'll be unhappy.

"There's no need to doubt the truth of what I'm saying. If you don't finish, you'll one hundred percent be expelled. Do you think you have the ability to cheat right in front of a Soul Emperor?"

After saying that, Qian Chaoguang took Huo Yutong and left.

If it had not been for the sake of annoying Zhou Yi, he would not have bothered caring whether these people got expelled or not.

The nine of them looked at one another, and all saw unease in each other's eyes.

One girl said nervously, "How about... we run anyway? Just in case?"

"I-I think so too. Better safe than sorry. We're only short a few laps anyway, it's not worth the risk."

"Then let's go?"

The group chattered all at once, then got to their feet one after another and rejoined the running students.

Only Tai Long, who had been grumbling just now, still wore a look of disdain.

"Go if you want. I've already finished!"

Time slowly passed. When there were only five minutes left, all the students had completed a hundred laps within the required time and were standing loosely on Shrek Plaza.

Zhou Yi turned expressionlessly toward the students and said flatly, "Tai Long, step out."

Tai Long walked out at an unhurried pace.

"You may get lost. From this moment on, you are no longer a student of Shrek Academy."

"Huh?"

An uproar broke out among the students.

This was especially true for the eight people Qian Chaoguang had just warned; looks of shock appeared on their faces.

Zhou Yi would actually expel students just because they could not finish running!

After several rounds of confrontation, Tai Long left with a face full of defiance.

He was obviously going to the academic affairs office to lodge a complaint.

Who could accept being expelled over such a trivial matter?

However...

Going to the academic affairs office was only good for a laugh. It was probably the equivalent of—who is kneeling below the court? Why are you suing this official?

Thanks to the three bosses, "A Bottle of 82 Year Mineral Water," "One Sword Raises Three Lotuses," and "Four-Star Satellite," for the tips.