The girl standing on the testing platform lightly tossed her ponytail, her ink-black hair gleaming with a metallic sheen beneath the lights.
She looked so slender, forming a stark contrast with the outrageous stats Ren Jun had read aloud.
When everyone had heard Xu Tianyi's test results earlier, they had merely been shocked, because those results were still within the bounds of what they could accept.
But Kong Ling's stats were simply too terrifying. Her rank-eighteen Soul Power surpassed everyone who had gone before her.
Moreover, her physical fitness had already reached rank thirty. Then, when she broke through to Soul Grandmaster, wouldn't she be able to take a Thousand-Year Soul Ring as her second Soul Ring?
At that moment, Kong Xuan's figure surfaced in everyone's minds again. Those two purple Soul Rings had truly left an impression they would struggle to erase for the rest of their lives.
Now, they could only marvel that the two truly were brother and sister. Although Kong Ling was not as terrifying as Kong Xuan, she still far surpassed her peers.
Stepping down from the physical testing device, Kong Ling returned to Kong Xuan's side with light steps.
There was a hint of pride on her face, but her gaze held some anticipation, as though she were saying, "Big Brother, hurry up and praise me!"
Kong Xuan said nothing, merely looking at his little sister with a doting expression.
The First Soul Ring Kong Ling had fused with was 739 years old, already exceeding the six-hundred-year limit Kong Deming had set for her.
He knew better than anyone just how much effort Kong Ling had put in to grow from a timid, cowardly little girl into who she was today.
In another corner, Xu Tianyi's gaze could not help falling on the siblings again.
He had thought that, in their class, he was only weaker than that freak Kong Xuan. He had never expected that he could not even measure up to his little sister now!
He rubbed his little sister's head, smoothing the somewhat unruly strands of hair beside her ears.
Kong Xuan's smile faded as he walked toward the physical testing device under everyone's expectant gazes.
Kong Ling's stats were already so terrifying. Now, everyone wanted to know just what kind of shock Kong Xuan, whose very First Soul Ring was a thousand-year one, would bring them!
Looking at the stats before him, even Ren Jun's hand holding the clipboard trembled slightly.
He unconsciously opened his mouth, yet no words came out.
Only after a moment did he announce Kong Xuan's physical test results.
"Physical strength: rank forty-one."
"Physical resilience: rank forty-two."
"Soul Power fluctuations: rank twenty-two."
"No Soul Bone enhancements."
An eerie silence fell over the entire physical testing room.
No one cheered. No one discussed it. Everyone stared blankly at the figure standing on the testing device, as though a body-binding spell had been cast on them.
Kong Xuan rested one hand on the physical testing device, his other hand tucked casually into his pocket.
Sunlight spilled through the window onto him, tracing a sharp outline.
His expression remained calm, as though the stats that had just rewritten everyone's understanding had nothing to do with him.
His physical strength was twenty ranks higher than his own Soul Power. Ren Jun had never seen such terrifying stats even at Shrek Academy, renowned for cultivating monsters.
The other students went without saying. They simply felt that they and Kong Xuan were not people from the same world.
Xu Tianyi's fingernails dug deep into his palms. Kong Xuan's stats echoed endlessly in his mind, and now he could not muster even the slightest thought of resistance.
The gap was too vast, so vast that even jealousy seemed laughable.
"As expected..." Bi Jin shook his head with a bitter smile. "Is this what a true genius is?!"
Wang Xiao suddenly laughed, but that laughter sounded worse than crying. "And we actually wanted to compete with him for class monitor... Haha..."
Watching Kong Xuan step down from the physical testing device, Ren Jun knitted his brows tightly, his gaze moving back and forth between him and the clipboard in his hand.
To him, Kong Xuan's physical stats lay outside the bounds of common sense.
A Beast Soul Master's Martial Soul could enhance physical strength, whereas a Tool Soul Master did not have that benefit.
Looking at Kong Xuan's absurdly overpowered stats, a term instantly sprang into Ren Jun's mind.
"Twin Martial Souls?"
Ren Jun asked tentatively, his voice unconsciously softening.
If Kong Xuan possessed a second Martial Soul, and it was a Beast Martial Soul at that, these stats would be easier to accept.
Kong Xuan shook his head. "A single Martial Soul, the Atlas Spear!"
As an avid novel reader, Kong Xuan had read plenty of Douluo fanfiction in the other world as well.
At some point, it seemed people had become too embarrassed to transmigrate into the Douluo Continent as the protagonist without Twin Martial Souls.
Kong Xuan was something of an embarrassment as a transmigrator. He did not have Twin Martial Souls, only a single Martial Soul, the Atlas Spear.
But thinking of that immense, sky-supporting pillar in his Sea of Consciousness, Kong Xuan could not help raising his little tail in pride. Wasn't this better than Twin Martial Souls!
He had not received the answer he wanted, but this did not disappoint Ren Jun. Instead, it made him even more curious about how exactly Kong Xuan cultivated!
However, even if Kong Xuan revealed everything, his miracle could not be replicated.
After all, other people did not have a soul from ten thousand years in the future in their Sea of Consciousness.
"All right, testing is over!"
"That also concludes our first day's classes. You're free to do as you please, but remember to arrive in the classroom on time tomorrow morning!"
"Dismissed!"
At the command of their homeroom teacher, Ren Jun, the twenty-five students in the physical testing room walked out in twos and threes.
Although they had not had any formal lessons on this first day, the shock it had brought them was anything but small.
Quite a few of them truly were filled with anticipation for their future academy life.
The newly established Soul Master class had no Soul Tool courses scheduled during its first year.
Even in their second and third years, they would only have additional courses explaining Soul Tools and their use. They would not be made to hammer metal or learn to craft Soul Tools.
This saved them a great deal of time for cultivation.
For Soul Masters, cultivation and combat seemed far more important than sitting in a classroom listening to lessons.
Thus, they actually spent little time in class each day, with more of their time devoted to cultivating on their own.
The top floor of the teaching building housed spaces that aided cultivation, such as simulated-environment cultivation rooms and gravity rooms. Every day, large numbers of students practically lived in them.
Only half a month into the term, Ren Jun could already sense these students' growth.
With the assistance of Soul Tools and free access to resources, he felt that at least half the students in his class would grow at a rate beyond his expectations.
This inevitably led him to compare it with Shrek Academy again. After making that comparison, he discovered that Shrek Academy actually had no advantage whatsoever.
He might well lead a class stronger than Shrek's!
Whenever he thought of this, he could not help clenching his fists. Having come from Shrek himself, he now felt that trampling Shrek underfoot might be the best way to prove them wrong.
Almost every day, Kong Xuan received Yun Ming's instruction in his Sea of Consciousness.
He received not only theoretical knowledge, but even more practical combat training.
Over more than two years, Kong Xuan had naturally never won even once.
Countless defeats had not damaged his confidence. Instead, they had made him recognize the gap between himself and the truly strong even more clearly.
This also kept him from becoming immersed in the praise of the outside world, allowing him to maintain a heart bent on forging ahead!
Today, Kong Xuan, who lacked nothing in practical combat experience, was dragged to the Soul Fighting Arena by his roommate, Xu Wei.
With such an outstanding roommate, Xu Wei was also eager to improve his own strength.
Soul Power cultivation had to proceed step by step, so he had set his sights on Kong Xuan, hoping to have him help improve his practical combat ability.
Whether as a roommate or as class monitor, Kong Xuan had no reason to refuse.
His little sister, Kong Ling, had come along this time as well.
The academy only had so many Soul Fighting Arenas, and applying to use one required at least four people.
Now, they had three and were one short.
The academy registration teacher opposite them wore a strictly businesslike expression. Kong Xuan was already considering whether to find his martial uncle, Lin Jiayi, and pull some strings.
Just then, a familiar voice came from behind the three of them.
"Count me in."