Eastsea City.
Eastsea Academy.
Class Zero.
All five members of Class Zero had gathered in front of the sports field.
Wu Zhangkong stood before the five with his hands behind his back, his expression cold, without saying a word.
Tang Wulin, Xie Xie, Wang Jinxi, and Zhang Yangzi found the atmosphere especially oppressive.
Gu Yue looked thoughtful, as though she had guessed something.
Noticing her expression, Xie Xie could not help asking quietly, "Gu Yue, do you know something?"
Gu Yue ignored him.
Xie Xie nudged Tang Wulin.
Tang Wulin stood ramrod straight, not daring to tattle at a time like this.
Just then, a new figure appeared on the sports field.
Jiang Xia walked over slowly and came to stand beside the members of Class Zero.
Wu Zhangkong turned to look at him.
"You're the new student?"
New student?
Surprised, Tang Wulin and the others turned their heads and looked Jiang Xia over.
Jiang Xia calmly nodded.
Wu Zhangkong's expression was rather unpleasant, because he did not like students with connections being shoehorned into his class midway.
Especially when he had been abruptly informed today that a newcomer would be joining, with no room for discussion whatsoever.
"Class Zero doesn't keep freeloaders," Wu Zhangkong said coldly.
Jiang Xia had already anticipated that he would be this confrontational.
He stood where he was without replying, waiting for Wu Zhangkong's next move.
"Let's check your basic attributes first."
"What's your Soul Power rank?"
Jiang Xia said, "Rank 34."
"Rank whaaat?"
Wu Zhangkong had yet to react, but Xie Xie was already making a fuss beside him.
One icy look from Wu Zhangkong made Xie Xie immediately cover his mouth, though his eyes remained wide.
He studied Jiang Xia carefully, confirming that Jiang Xia was the same age as them.
Disbelief surfaced in his eyes.
The others were not doing much better than Xie Xie, especially Tang Wulin, the lowest-ranked member of Class Zero. He stared fixedly at Jiang Xia, utterly unable to believe that any soul master in the world could cultivate so quickly.
Surprise appeared in Wu Zhangkong's eyes as well.
Honestly, this cultivation speed was already quite monstrous in his eyes, but he could accept it, because he had seen cultivation speeds at this level before.
He glanced at the other members of Class Zero and sighed inwardly. These children really had not seen much of the world.
"Spiritual power?"
Wu Zhangkong asked again, his tone less icy this time.
Tang Wulin, Xie Xie, and the others breathed sighs of relief.
His spiritual power shouldn't be too outrageous, right?
Tang Wulin even puffed out his chest.
In Class Zero, two people had reached the Spirit Connection Realm in spiritual power: himself and Gu Yue.
Although the gap between them was rather large, reaching the Spirit Connection Realm at this age was already extraordinary.
Xie Xie and the others also recalled Gu Yue's terrifying statistics. They all straightened their backs, ready to watch this new student suffer a setback.
No matter how monstrous you are, once you join Class Zero, you have to keep your head down.
Only Gu Yue remained calm.
Back at the Spirit Pagoda, she had sensed that Jiang Xia's spiritual power was about the same as hers.
Her spiritual power had tested at over 150 in Class Zero, but she had actually held back.
When she joined the Spirit Pagoda, she had finally tested her current "true" value-230.
Jiang Xia's spiritual power had been about the same.
But now, his spiritual power should have advanced another step.
In Gu Yue's perception, the sense of something foreign within Jiang Xia's spiritual power had disappeared, completely becoming a part of him.
She had also mentally prepared herself for Jiang Xia to announce a heaven-defying number.
But while Gu Yue was prepared, none of the other members of Class Zero were.
Even Wu Zhangkong felt as though something had gone wrong with his ears, as though he had gone deaf for an instant.
Jiang Xia's quiet voice was deafening, making their eardrums tremble and leaving them wondering whether their hearing had malfunctioned.
"415."
This time, there was no shouting from Xie Xie.
Yet the silence revealed the turmoil in everyone's hearts.
Wisps of cold air even rose from Wu Zhangkong's body, and a little of his Soul Power leaked out.
How was this possible?
Only after several deep breaths did Wu Zhangkong manage to ask, "How old are you?"
"Nine."
Jiang Xia's answer was crisp and straightforward.
Wu Zhangkong felt as though even breathing had become difficult.
A meat pie falling from the sky?
With talent like yours, why would you even use the back door?
You could have just told me about your talent. There wouldn't have been any need to speak to the school administration; I would have let you in myself. But you had to go through the administration's back door and have them force you on me, making me the villain?
Wu Zhangkong grumbled inwardly.
Before long, however, he regained his composure.
When all was said and done, from a teacher's perspective, wasn't it easy to put a student in his place?
"Can you fight in actual combat?"
As he spoke, Wu Zhangkong watched Jiang Xia. Seeing the troubled look on his face, he thought, Got him.
He's all show!
Jiang Xia did indeed look troubled.
"I'm taking a late-game path. I don't have any combat methods yet."
Having fused with the Broken Dream Soul Spirit, he naturally had an offensive Soul Skill, but only that one.
As for his cultivation in evolving all things in heaven and earth, it was still confined to dreams. He had yet to learn how to turn the illusory into reality.
Jiang Xia truly looked troubled.
But Wu Zhangkong pressed him relentlessly, having found an opportunity to establish his authority.
"A soul master needs combat ability at every stage. Are you a support-type soul master? If you aren't a support-type soul master and have no combat ability, then you're a fool, a piece of trash!"
Tang Wulin, Xie Xie, and the others looked at Jiang Xia with peculiar expressions.
Such a high Soul Power rank, such high spiritual power, and he was actually just trash?
No actual combat ability?
How many resources had been poured into raising this empty shell?
Faced with Wu Zhangkong's aggressive pressure, Jiang Xia could do little about it.
He sighed.
"How about Gu Yue and I fight the others together?"
Wu Zhangkong had not expected Jiang Xia to make a request outright.
After thinking it over, he did not refuse.
Tang Wulin, Xie Xie, Wang Jinxi, and Zhang Yangzi were all quite capable.
Gu Yue alone would struggle somewhat against even two of the four.
Even with Jiang Xia added in, winning two against four would be difficult.
Unless Jiang Xia was genuinely very strong.
Wu Zhangkong felt that Jiang Xia's expression did not look feigned. He might truly not be very strong.
Gu Yue had not expected to be singled out either.
She gave Jiang Xia a surprised look.
Tang Wulin instinctively fixed his gaze on Jiang Xia.
This Jiang Xia had named Gu Yue right off the bat. Did the two of them know each other?
He was actually an acquaintance of Gu Yue's.
Tang Wulin thought, I've never heard Gu Yue mention any of this before.
Wu Zhangkong weighed it up and found it acceptable, but rather than agreeing immediately, he turned to Gu Yue.
"Gu Yue, what do you think?"
Gu Yue did not refuse and nodded her agreement.
Wu Zhangkong said, "All right. You two will fight Wulin and the other four."
"After that, the six of you will fight me."
He intended to curb this newcomer's arrogance today, so he could not pin all his hopes on Tang Wulin and his three companions.
Wu Zhangkong was still very cautious.
If this boy was a schemer, agreeing outright and letting Tang Wulin's group suffer a setback would make him difficult to manage in the future.
He gave Gu Yue and Jiang Xia time to discuss tactics.
Gu Yue walked over to Jiang Xia and asked quietly, "The four of them aren't weak. I can only just manage two. Three would be a bit of a struggle."
Jiang Xia waved his hand. "It's fine. First, tell me about all four of their abilities, and then we'll coordinate."
"I don't have any direct combat ability, but I can give you a boost."
A boost?
Gu Yue was genuinely taken aback.
She looked at Jiang Xia doubtfully.
"You're not a support-type soul master, are you?"
He wasn't a support-type soul master, yet he kept saying he had no ability to fight head-on, and could even boost her?
Gu Yue felt a little tangled up in it all.