"Xiao Ya!" called out Yu Beibei outside the classroom.
"Beibei," Tang Ya replied cheerfully as the three of them walked toward him.
"Come on, let's go eat," said Zhu Ziyang, taking the lead toward the cafeteria.
Jiang Nannan followed closely behind him, and Tang Ya and Yu Beibei quickly caught up.
"Zhu Ziyang, you don't seem nervous at all?" Tang Ya glanced at his calm expression and couldn't help but ask, "Are you really that confident you'll beat Wang Qiao this afternoon?"
"Of course," Zhu Ziyang replied with unwavering confidence.
"What happened?" Yu Beibei, curious, asked upon hearing their conversation.
Tang Ya quickly explained everything, and after hearing the whole story, Yu Beibei looked surprised. His gaze toward Zhu Ziyang grew more serious.
"I see! Looks like you're certain of your victory!"
Zhu Ziyang just smiled, saying nothing more.
——
That afternoon, in Class Four's classroom.
"Everyone's here. Follow me," said Xia Yu with a meaningful smile, walking out of the room.
With Zhu Ziyang leading, the students of Class Four followed closely behind.
They arrived at the Soul Arena.
It was class time, so apart from a few fourth- and fifth-year students, the arena was mostly empty. But with the arrival of a hundred new students from Class Four, it suddenly became lively.
"This is the Soul Arena of Shrek Academy. Here, as long as you pay the fee, you can compete in any match," Xia Yu said as he led the students to a standard arena. "As for the fee? The base charge is ten gold soul coins per participant."
"Wow, the academy really knows how to make money!" Tang Ya exclaimed in disbelief.
"Mhm! Definitely!" Jiang Nannan nodded in agreement beside her.
"In the Soul Arena, every victory earns you a certain amount of points. These points become bonus factors during your advancement exams," Xia Yu continued, ignoring the murmurs. "Once you reach fourth year, these points become essential. For instance, to advance from fourth to fifth year, you'll need at least ten wins against your peers or a hundred points. Advancing to sixth year will be even more demanding."
"Teacher, how do we gain or lose points?" a poised girl asked—one of the students who had also run for class monitor.
"It's very simple," Xia Yu replied with a smile. "As freshmen, you all start with zero points. Each victory gains you one point, while the loser loses nothing."
"However, in the case of cross-year challenges—where a lower-grade student beats a higher-grade one—they earn five points, and the higher-grade student loses one point. Conversely, if the upper-grade student wins, they get one point, and the lower-grade student loses nothing."
"So, the academy strongly encourages powerful students to challenge their seniors."
As he spoke, he smiled toward a few senior students sitting nearby. The moment his gaze landed on them, many of them instinctively shivered.
Zhu Ziyang listened intently. The system reminded him of the common Soul Fighting Arenas across the continent, many of which were controlled by nobles and used a similar points system. He strongly suspected that Shrek's version was inspired by them, given the longer historical presence of private Soul Arenas compared to the academy itself.
After all, soul fights had always been one of the few forms of entertainment for nobles.
"Also, soul fight matches are open to spectators—for a fee of one silver soul coin per person!" Xia Yu added. "But since this will be your first time watching a match, I'll make an exception and let you watch today's duel between Zhu Ziyang and Wang Qiao for free."
"Awesome!" cheered the students of Class Four.
Tang Ya and Jiang Nannan glanced at each other, once again amazed by Shrek's money-making methods. They couldn't help but feel a little envious.
"One more thing," Xia Yu added with a grin. "The profits from spectators are split evenly between the winner and the academy. For those of you who might be short on money, soul battles are a great way to earn—as long as you're strong enough and well-known!"
Soon after, he led the students to the front row of the stands. By this point, both Zhu Ziyang and Wang Qiao were already on the field.
Notably, Xia Yu had paid the entry fee for both participants himself.
From this, Zhu Ziyang concluded one thing—his homely-looking class teacher was most definitely wealthy.
Given the time of day, only Class Four's students and about twenty senior students were present. To these older students, watching freshmen duel was a rare treat.
On the battlefield.
"Ready to get beaten up?" Zhu Ziyang asked with a casual smile.
"What did you say?" Wang Qiao's expression changed immediately. He roared angrily, "Are you provoking me, you lowborn? Good! You've pissed me off now. You better start begging for mercy!"
"First Year: Zhu Ziyang versus Wang Qiao. Is everyone ready?" a middle-aged teacher with a kindly appearance walked to the center of the field and asked.
He was today's official referee.
Both nodded.
"Begin!" the referee shouted. The next second, he vanished from the arena and reappeared outside it—drawing gasps of admiration from many new students.
Zhu Ziyang and Wang Qiao, however, remained unaffected.
The moment the command to begin was given, Wang Qiao activated his martial soul. His body bulked up, and his hands transformed into massive claws covered with thick red fur that looked like flames. His red hair spiked up, and two yellow soul rings floated behind him. He looked quite imposing.
"My martial soul is the Blazing Flame Lion, twenty-third rank Soul Grandmaster!" Wang Qiao declared proudly. Being eleven years old and already a rank-23 Soul Grandmaster was indeed impressive.
Blazing Flame Lion—Zhu Ziyang happened to know this martial soul. It was a high-tier beast martial soul. A former general of the Douling Empire had used it, and judging from the name and aura, Wang Qiao was clearly a descendant of that general.
A pure-blooded noble soul master. Zhu Ziyang smirked with disdain.
He stood calmly, hands behind his back, and said casually, "Make your move."
"Huh?" Wang Qiao blinked. "Where's your martial soul?"
"No rush. I'll release it if I need to," Zhu Ziyang replied flatly, yet with words that couldn't have been more arrogant.
(End of Chapter)
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