The strike came with tremendous speed, almost without warning. Zhou Yi went straight for the kill, and even Du Weilun failed to react in time.
He had never imagined that Zhou Yi would suddenly try to kill a youth, but Du Weilun was still astonishingly fast. A dazzling golden sheen enveloped his entire body in an instant.
Du Weilun swept his hand sharply, sending a vast surge of Soul Power sweeping outward. Zhou Yi's fire dragon immediately dissipated, leaving only scorching waves of air churning through the sky.
Looking at Zhou Yi standing there gritting her teeth, Du Weilun raised his hand and slapped him across the face.
The slap was heavy, without the slightest mercy, knocking Zhou Yi straight to the ground. Its crisp crack brought a sudden hush to the surroundings.
Zhou Yi stared blankly at Du Weilun. She had never expected the dean of students to strike her so viciously. This was practically public humiliation.
Seeing Zhou Yi's furious expression, Du Weilun's eyes had already turned utterly cold. He lightly raised a hand and straightened the glasses on the bridge of his nose.
Then he turned his head, his gaze falling on Zhou Yi's face without a trace of warmth. "Zhou Yi, do you still remember who you are? Do you still know what position you hold?"
"You are a teacher, a teacher of our Shrek Academy."
"As a teacher, you attacked students without authorization and seriously injured several of them."
"Do you know what kind of conduct this is?"
"And you actually dared to strike a student so viciously right in front of me." A note of icy cold crept into Du Weilun's voice.
That chill pressed down heavily, and the atmosphere abruptly froze.
Hearing Du Weilun's words, Zhou Yi opened her mouth, but for a moment, she could not make a sound.
She covered her face with her hand, feeling the searing pain in her cheek and the gazes of her fellow teachers around her.
Those teachers' strange looks made her expression grow increasingly ugly. "Li Mu was the one who caused my injuries."
"He was the one who attacked me and left me like this."
"Am I not even allowed to retaliate?"
"What teenage student could seriously injure a Six-Ring Soul Emperor like me?" Zhou Yi clenched her teeth as she spoke.
She glared fiercely at Li Mu, barely able to suppress the fury in her eyes.
Hearing Zhou Yi's words, Mu Jin, the other teachers who had hurried over, and Du Weilun all turned their heads slightly to look at Li Mu.
Noticing the gazes of these powerhouses, Li Mu remained standing there casually.
Hearing Zhou Yi's words, the corners of his mouth lifted slightly, and undisguised derision flashed through his eyes.
"Yes, I did seriously injure Teacher Zhou. But Teacher Zhou, could you tell everyone the whole story?"
"Or has Teacher Zhou lived all these years and taught for so long, only to learn how to glimpse a leopard through a narrow tube?"
Li Mu took two steps forward as he spoke. He was now very close to Zhou Yi, almost standing beside Du Weilun.
The mockery in his eyes was openly displayed, without the slightest attempt to conceal it.
Noticing Li Mu's mockery, Zhou Yi stared at him through gritted teeth, a glint of killing intent already flashing through her eyes.
But she could not let that killing intent show.
After all, teachers surrounded her. If she revealed murderous intent toward a student, or even forcibly struck him dead-
It would absolutely destroy her future.
Yet things were hardly any better now. Looking at the teachers' strange or puzzled gazes, Zhou Yi felt her chest tighten.
Du Weilun stopped looking at Li Mu and turned to the other students instead.
Du Weilun's presence was still highly oppressive. After all, he was the dean of students.
Of course, these students would not hide anything either.
Originally, they had merely hated Zhou Yi, feeling that she constantly oppressed and mocked them, calling them trash.
They had thought this teacher was no good.
But after Zhou Yi attacked, this was no longer merely a matter of anger.
Most of the students who would originally have considered their futures had long since forgotten such concerns, especially the few who had just been healed.
They rose one after another, clutching their wounds, their eyes filled with irrepressible anger.
"Someone like this deserves to be called a teacher? What the hell is she?"
"As a teacher of Shrek Academy, she called us trash the moment she arrived, said she didn't accept garbage, and said none of us were any good!"
"Exactly! She insulted us first."
"Then this student couldn't stand it and asked her how strong she was, and she wouldn't say anything!"
"Right, then he asked whether she dared to make a bet. She said that if this student could run two hundred laps, she would leave Shrek Academy and resign voluntarily."
"And if this student couldn't finish, she would make him leave and apologize."
"They made the agreement themselves and even had us supervise, but when this student reached his two hundredth lap, Zhou Yi actually attacked him!"
These students spoke while gesturing through what had happened, their voices full of barely contained fury.
As Du Weilun swept his gaze over them, the vast majority of students nodded. No one knew who first called out.
"Make this garbage teacher get out of Shrek Academy!"
The countless students behind them began shouting along.
"Get out, you garbage teacher!"
"This kind of teacher deserves to teach at Shrek Academy? She actually attacked students, and they're still going to keep her?"
"A teacher of Shrek Academy attacking students-is that something a human being would do? And she thinks she deserves to teach and nurture people?"
Hearing the students' words, Du Weilun fell silent as well.
Normally, he would not consider dismissal. After all, that would offend Zhou Yi and Fan Yu.
But there had to be a limit to this sort of thing.
Some of these things were not new offenses for Zhou Yi. She expelled several students almost every year.
And every time, those she expelled were Auxiliary System Soul Masters.
In truth, Du Weilun understood that Zhou Yi might harbor a certain prejudice against the Auxiliary System.
After all, the vast majority who failed to complete her so-called running exercise were Auxiliary System and Control System Soul Masters. Almost none were from the Power Attack System.
But when Zhou Yi played little tricks within the bounds of her normal authority, there was really nothing Du Weilun could do.
He could not do anything to Zhou Yi on that basis.
The problem was that this matter had now thoroughly gotten out of hand.
Hearing the furious words of the surrounding students and thinking of their severe injuries-
Du Weilun was no longer in any mood to worry about all those other considerations. "Teacher Zhou, please come with me."
"I will report your actions to the academy in full, and I will personally notify Dean Yan. The final decision on this matter must still rest with Dean Yan."
Du Weilun's expression grew more serious as he spoke. He could not resolve something like this, nor did he have the authority to do so.
So what was the best approach? It was to take the matter straight to his superior and let his superior resolve it.
This was not passing the buck. Rather, at Shrek Academy as things stood, once the Soul Tool Department became involved-
He had absolutely no ability to resolve it.
Therefore, this matter would ultimately have to be left to Yan Shaozhe to decide.
Moreover, Du Weilun could punish a teacher, but he certainly could not dismiss one outright.
As he thought this, he turned his head slightly and looked at Li Mu. "You, come with me as well."
"Once we get there, explain this matter clearly. The two deans will discuss the specifics and then make a judgment."
Du Weilun looked at Li Mu as he spoke. He was not particularly concerned about what trump cards Li Mu had.
To seriously injure a Soul Emperor, or rather, to wound a Soul Emperor, the youth before him certainly had to possess a trump card.
But Du Weilun was not concerned about what that trump card was.
With matters having reached this point, they were already beyond his ability to resolve.
He could only report the matter and leave it to Yan Shaozhe to handle.
But as Du Weilun gazed at Li Mu, his eyes flickered for a moment.
He intended to report the youth's special ability to Yan Shaozhe.
After all, that terrifying power of extreme cold was quite fearsome.