Thanks for the invite, but no next time either

"That will be all for this morning's lesson. At noon, all of you had better eat properly. This afternoon, we'll begin physical fitness training. Class dismissed. Qian Chaoguang, Huo Yutong, you two come with me to the office."

After saying that, Zhou Yi did not waste a single moment. She turned and left.

At this moment, the morning bell for the end of class was still far from ringing.

She had no choice but to leave.

Qian Chaoguang had already finished explaining everything for the first lesson of the school year. There was no point in her staying there any longer; she had nothing left to teach.

Even after Zhou Yi walked out through the classroom door, the classroom remained completely calm.

But the violently rising and falling breaths of the vast majority of the students proved that their hearts were anything but calm. Their collective, fierce panting seemed as if it would suck the entire classroom into a vacuum.

Qian Chaoguang pulled Huo Yutong to her feet, walked up to the podium, faced the silent students, and said softly:

"Um... from my personal perspective, I'd like to offer a small suggestion. I truly hope everyone won't resist using Soul Tools, though this may go against Shrek's traditional education. My Forging Teacher once told me a principle—we are humans, and the greatest difference between us and Soul Beasts is that we know how to use tools. A good set of tools, together with a good blacksmith, is what forges good metal."

After saying that, Qian Chaoguang took Huo Yutong and walked out.

Wang Dong's gaze flickered uncertainly as she looked at Qian Chaoguang's back.

Soul Tools.

Soul Tools!

In the corridor, Huo Yutong looked at the swift and decisive Zhou Yi, tugged at her brother's sleeve, and quietly asked:

"Brother, what do you think Teacher Zhou wants us for?"

"She probably wants to know about our Martial Souls."

"Meow meow meow? How do you know?"

Huo Yutong's face was full of question marks as she raised her head curiously.

Qian Chaoguang smiled and said, "Because we were the only two who didn't use our Martial Souls to assist ourselves while running."

"Wow, Brother, you observe things so carefully."

"It's all right."

The siblings followed Zhou Yi into the office beside the classroom.

Zhou Yi signaled for the two of them to close the door properly, then walked behind her desk and sat down.

"I don't like wasting words. The two of your Martial Souls make me curious, but I can't sense what your Martial Souls are. Now I want the answer."

Huo Yutong turned to look at her brother, and Qian Chaoguang gave a gentle nod.

"Teacher Zhou, my Martial Soul is Spirit Eye, a Mental Attribute Body Martial Soul."

After hearing Huo Yutong's words, Zhou Yi was clearly pleasantly surprised.

"Eyes?"

Huo Yutong nodded.

Zhou Yi suppressed the excitement in her heart, and when she looked at Qian Chaoguang, a faint trace of expectation had already appeared in her eyes.

"And you?"

Qian Chaoguang smiled slightly. Under Zhou Yi's stunned gaze, he lifted his shirt and pointed at the faintly glowing Extreme Ice Light on his chest as he said:

"Here, take a look. This is my Martial Soul. I gave it the name Extreme Ice Light. As for what exactly it is... I don't know either. That's the reason I came to Shrek. I came here because I want to figure out what this Martial Soul of mine actually is."

"This..."

Zhou Yi's breathing hitched.

Clearly, she did not know what it was either.

Apart from being able to clearly sense the temperature in the office dropping, she could not feel anything else at all.

Zhou Yi looked at the ten-year Spirit Ring beneath Qian Chaoguang's feet, hesitated for a moment, and asked, "May I know the effect of your First Soul Skill?"

"Of course. My First Soul Skill is called Light Mimicry."

As Qian Chaoguang answered, he extended his right hand. Zhou Yi only felt her vision blur, and a long blade condensed from ice-blue light appeared in his hand.

The blade itself was faintly illusory, like some kind of flickering image with a bad connection.

Condensing Light Mimicry alone into a stable, materialized light blade that could be used in actual combat was still somewhat difficult for the current Qian Chaoguang.

"It isn't just this. I can also condense it into rays of light as a long-range attack method, but the cost-performance ratio is rather low. I'm usually used to taking a real weapon as the base, then using light as a supplementary attack method. That's more direct. And, as you saw, my physical fitness is very strong."

"A Soul Skill with very strong versatility. As for your Martial Soul, I'll need to look up some information before I can give you an answer. Don't worry, Shrek will tell you the mysteries of Extreme Ice Light."

Zhou Yi barely calmed herself down and gave him a brief word of praise.

"Then I'll have to trouble you."

Qian Chaoguang nodded, but in his heart, he held no hope for it at all.

Even Qian Duoduo could not understand it. If Zhou Yi could figure it out, that would truly be absurd.

Zhou Yi then looked in Huo Yutong's direction and deliberately made her tone sound gentle.

"Yutong, can you tell Teacher your Soul Skill?"

Huo Yutong glanced at Qian Chaoguang again, and only after receiving his confirmation did she answer, "My First Soul Skill is called Madness. It can make enemies dizzy and disoriented for a short time, cause stabbing pain in their minds, and make them misjudge the current situation."

Clearly, the little girl had held back the latter half of Madness's effects, and Zhou Yi did not know this was a soul skill with dual effects.

"My Second Soul Skill is called Lock On. It can use Mental Power to lock on to one or multiple targets within my field of vision, making the next attack certain to hit. If the gap between my Mental Power and the opponent's is too great, the hit rate will decrease, but it will never fall below fifty percent."

Hearing the effect of Huo Yutong's Second Soul Skill, Zhou Yi's pupils instantly contracted, and her emotions fluctuated wildly.

Lock On!

The next attack was guaranteed to hit?

What kind of bizarre skill was this?

One had to know, the reason Mental Attribute Spirit Masters were so precious, aside from how difficult they were to cultivate, was that their skills were far too strange, making them very difficult for ordinary Spirit Masters to deal with.

In that case, didn't the matter her husband Fan Yu had mentioned to her last time, about Mental Attribute Spirit Masters using Soul Tools, now have a clear lead?

Huo Yutong's Lock On just so happened to match the many long-range attack methods of a Soul Engineer!

Thinking of this, Zhou Yi could no longer suppress the excitement in her heart.

"I heard that both of you want to become Soul Engineers?"

"Yes."

"Then come with me now. I'll take you—"

"Um, Teacher Zhou, please wait a moment."

Just as Zhou Yi's face lit up with joy and she was preparing to take Huo Yutong, and Qian Chaoguang along with her, to the Soul Tool Department, Qian Chaoguang interrupted her.

This undoubtedly made her extremely displeased, and her brows furrowed deeply.

"Please take a look."

As he spoke, Qian Chaoguang took two badges out of his Storage Bracelet. They were precisely the two Qian Duoduo had given him back then.

If one looked only at the front, they were merely two student badges from the Soul Tool Department.

But if one looked at the back, one would discover a small Gold Soul Coin mark, representing Vice Dean Qian Duoduo of the Soul Tool Department.

After seeing these two badges, Zhou Yi's expression stiffened.

"Soul Tool Department badges? Where did you get them?"

"A teacher from the Soul Tool Department gave them to me and Xiaotong when we enrolled. He told us to find him after school started and before classes were divided. Today is the first day of school, so we haven't had time yet."

Qian Chaoguang still remembered what Qian Duoduo had said when they enrolled and did not reveal his identity.

In fact, he had not even told Huo Yutong Qian Duoduo's identity. He had only said that a powerful figure from the Soul Tool Department was already prepared to teach the two of them knowledge about Soul Tools.

Of course, what he said to Zhou Yi did not count as a lie.

The vice dean was also a teacher of the Soul Tool Department, after all.

Zhou Yi did not doubt the authenticity of the Soul Tool Department badges, nor did she take them to inspect the details.

Qian Chaoguang had no reason to deceive her about something like this, and no one would dare forge Shrek's emblem.

Even if it was the less valued Soul Tool Department.

She pretended to be calm and sat back down in her original seat.

"So you've already caught a teacher's eye. No wonder. Your insights into Soul Tools are indeed unique. If someone from the Soul Tool Department was responsible for your entrance test, it would be possible for you to be reserved in advance. Since that's the case, you may go back. Don't be late for class this afternoon."