Ye Yingluo's Delusion

Eastsea Academy.

The night was deep, and the evening breeze was slightly cool.

Bai Yushan strolled along the academy's tree-lined path, his figure tall and slender, his casual, carefree bearing on full display. Having just fought to his heart's content all evening in the underground fighting arena and swept six consecutive victories, he showed not a trace of fatigue. Instead, he seemed thoroughly loosened up.

Tonight's winning streak had firmly established him as the underground arena's most dazzling dark horse. Countless powerful figures and wealthy merchants occupying the stands had all fixed their eyes on him.

These people had spent years navigating Eastsea City, and their judgment was exceptionally sharp. They had recognized his boundless potential at a glance and resolved to sign him under their banners later, whatever the cost.

In their eyes, the mysterious newcomer who had just swept the second- and third-tier rings was a living money tree. Once they tied him to themselves, he would bring them endless profits and prestige in the future.

But they could not fathom Bai Yushan's thoughts at all.

He had never cared about such worldly gains. To him, fighting in the underground arena had nothing to do with fame or fortune, victory or defeat.

An uneventful life, day after day, was far too dull. Only battles pushed to the limit, brutal clashes met head-on, could vent the excess strength within him and bring him a little enjoyment.

As for signing contracts, being made famous, and having resources piled on him, he found all of it boring and burdensome.

Strolling along at his leisure, Bai Yushan soon returned to his dormitory.

As a top genius specially recruited by Eastsea Academy, he enjoyed the most generous treatment afforded to a new student, with a luxurious sixty-square-meter room all to himself. The room was tastefully decorated and fully equipped, offering conditions for both cultivation and daily life far superior to those of ordinary students.

Pushing the door open, Bai Yushan could not even be bothered to wash up and simply flopped onto the soft bed.

He had paid no mind whatsoever to the fact that today was the first day of school.

It was not as though there were theory lessons he needed to attend. Having new students stand up and introduce themselves-what a childish, unnecessary procedure. With his breadth of vision and strength, there was no need to waste time accommodating such rules.

His strength spoke for itself anyway. He had no need to deliberately show off or make an effort to fit in.

His thoughts drifted, and drowsiness surged over him in an instant. Bai Yushan closed his eyes and soon slipped into peaceful dreams. All the restlessness from an evening of fierce fighting subsided, leaving him utterly relaxed and at ease, without a thought for such tedious trifles as classes, school rules, or teacher-student relations.

Meanwhile, in the homeroom teacher's office for Class One, Year One, in the intermediate division's teaching building at Eastsea Academy.

Ye Yingluo sat upright at her desk, her delicate, lovely face filled with barely concealed excitement and certainty, her fighting spirit burning fiercely within her.

All her hopes and obsessions rested on the intermediate division's Class Promotion Tournament three months away.

She had to win this tournament and take first place among the new students' classes. She wanted Wu Changkong to see with his own eyes that she was not merely an ordinary woman capable only of admiring him. She had abilities and glory of her own, and she was fully qualified to stand beside him.

When Wu Changkong first began teaching at Eastsea Academy, he held a teaching position in the advanced division. Handsome, cold, and aloof, with unfathomable strength, he was the object of countless female teachers' and students' affections.

Ye Yingluo, whose heart was first awakening to love, had fallen for him completely upon their first meeting and mustered the courage to confess her feelings.

At the time, Wu Changkong bore deep wounds of love. He had traveled all the way to Eastsea City precisely to distance himself from his past and conceal himself, hoping to bury the entanglements of love in his life. Faced with Ye Yingluo's feelings, he had not uttered a single harsh word. He had simply rejected her decisively with an utterly cold and distant manner.

Her tender feelings had been crushed by ice, her heart full of joy exchanged for emptiness.

The affection in Ye Yingluo's heart slowly faded, leaving only deep resentment and unwillingness to accept it. Her obsession with a love she could not obtain made her thoroughly resent this indifferent man.

The world was ever-changing. Wu Changkong, once the lofty ace teacher of the advanced division, had offended its director by talking back and was deliberately suppressed and demoted, banished to the intermediate division to teach new students and work alongside her as an equal.

This was the opportunity she had long awaited, and her only chance to prove herself in direct competition and crush Wu Changkong.

Some time ago, she had caught sight of Wu Changkong making a move on the training grounds. Six brilliant Soul Rings had risen one after another-genuine Six-Ring Soul Emperor strength. His cultivation far surpassed that of every faculty member at Eastsea Academy. Even Long Hengxu, the intermediate division's director, knew nothing of the true combat strength Wu Changkong concealed.

Even knowing the vast disparity in their strength, Ye Yingluo's competitiveness and resentment had not diminished in the slightest. Strength was one matter; personal ability and class honors were another.

And Bai Yushan was her greatest source of confidence.

His talent was monstrous, his combat strength heaven-defying, and his entrance test had shocked the entire academy. With such an invincible genius anchoring the class, Class One, Year One had everything it needed to crush every other class in this year's Class Promotion Tournament.

In Ye Yingluo's mind, the championship of this Class Promotion Tournament was already in Class One, Year One's bag. No one could stop them. No one could break through.

Brimming with excitement and anticipation, Ye Yingluo gathered her lesson plans and walked briskly toward Class One, Year One's classroom, ready to begin the first lesson of the first school day.

But when she stepped into the classroom and swept her gaze over the new students sitting neatly upright, the smile on her face froze instantly, and her brows knitted tightly.

All the other students were present, the seats filled, with only Bai Yushan's place sitting empty.

At this moment, Ye Yingluo remained stubborn in her thinking. As she understood it, when students entered an academy to study, their first duty was to abide by school rules, obey their teachers, and observe classroom discipline. No matter how talented they were, they could not act with impunity and place themselves above the rules.

Standing before the lectern, she suppressed the displeasure churning within her, forcibly steadied her emotions, and continued teaching the new students' first lesson. Throughout the class, most of her attention remained on that empty seat, and her thoughts never settled.

In all the years since Eastsea Academy's founding, no new student had ever dared to skip class outright on the very first day of school. Even the most outstanding geniuses of previous years had observed basic classroom rules and obediently completed their introductory coursework.

Relying on his specially recruited status and heaven-defying talent, Bai Yushan disregarded classes and school rules. If no one restrained and disciplined such an unbridled disposition, sooner or later it would breed arrogance and squander his exceptional talent.

Ye Yingluo's resolve to discipline him grew firmer. She had already decided to seek Bai Yushan out as soon as school ended and lecture him personally. She would grind away his laxness and arrogance and make him understand completely that talent could never serve as grounds for disregarding the rules. However strong he was in combat, however gifted he might be, as long as he was in the academy, he had to follow its rules and submit to his teachers' discipline.

She seemed to have forgotten that just a few days earlier, she had personally witnessed Bai Yushan's way of doing things, which held everyone and everything in contempt.

Bai Yushan would not submit even to someone as strong as Wu Changkong, let alone her, who was not even Wu Changkong's equal!