Zhou Yi's brows furrowed briefly, but her expression quickly smoothed.
The corners of her mouth lifted.
She looked at Neuvillette with mockery in her eyes.
"I've said it before — I'm the teacher here. You're nothing more than a teaching assistant. Don't mix up your role and lose sight of your place."
"Heh."
Neuvillette's hand slid gently from the girl's silky hair. He turned toward Zhou Yi's taunting face, his expression as calm as still water.
"I only mean to express one thing — from beginning to end, Teacher Zhou Yi, your teaching methods have a glaring flaw."
"There are countless better ways to train for physical fitness while minimizing bodily damage. Yet you insist on making these children run — the most garbage method possible — and treat it like a sacred decree."
"So these past few days, I've often wondered… Is it your incompetence as a teacher, or is it the fault of the Academy's upper echelons for letting trash like you into Shrek Academy's faculty, making you a blight among the sheep?"
A deathly silence fell.
Every student stared at Neuvillette in shock.
After four days, this senior assistant had finally directly clashed with Zhou Yi again.
Even the Soul Saint–level healing instructor nearby narrowed his eyes.
He could sense something unusual in the air…
Normally, even a fresh graduate of the Inner Court would treat an Outer Court teacher with due respect.
Because she represented Shrek.
But this man was confronting her head-on?
He had graduated from the Inner Court long ago — when had the Inner Court produced someone like this?
The Soul Saint teacher swallowed hard, about to find an excuse to slip away, when Zhou Yi finally snapped out of her daze.
"You… you're calling me… incompetent?"
Zhou Yi's face was filled with disbelief.
She stared at Neuvillette as shock turned into rage. Soul Emperor–level pressure burst from her, her hair bristling like a sea urchin's spines.
Forcing her fury down, she spat each word at him:
"Boy, don't think that just because you graduated from the Inner Court, you can ignore the order of rank."
"You're challenging the millennia-old glory of Shrek Academy! This running regimen has been part of physical training for a thousand years, when Master Yu Xiaogang proposed it. You, a snot-nosed brat, have no right to question it!"
Her withered, wrinkled face flushed red, looking all the more unnerving.
"Heh. Don't carelessly hang the honor of Shrek Academy on your lips — because you, alone, are far from qualified to represent it."
Neuvillette gripped his long staff and spoke evenly.
"If you're thinking of invoking Yu Xiaogang to put me in my place, hear me well."
His gaze was as tranquil as water, fixed on the furious Zhou Yi, his voice carrying clearly across the entire training field:
"You and Yu Xiaogang… are both teacherly frauds who ruin students — trash!"
Not far from the field—
Behind the trees, the Martial Soul Department's head instructor, Du Weilun, twitched at the corners of his mouth.
This kid dares to say it…
He glanced sideways at Elder Xuan and said with a bitter smile, "Aren't you going to rein in His Highness the Holy Son? After all… the 'Master' was once a founder of Shrek Academy…"
But before he could finish, Elder Xuan waved him off irritably.
"What am I supposed to rein in?"
"That kid has a whole arsenal of crooked logic, and you know perfectly how stubborn he is. If I step in, I'll just be asking for trouble."
Du Weilun opened his mouth, then swallowed the rest of his words.
What he didn't know was—
Elder Xuan made no move to halt Neuvillette's 'nonsense,' for the two had already argued this matter long ago.
As a Sea God Pavilion elder, Elder Xuan naturally felt a deep respect for the ancients and founders of Shrek Academy, which had led to a fierce clash of opinions.
And if Elder Mu hadn't intervened to pull the red-faced, sputtering Elder Xuan away when he couldn't think of a single rebuttal to Neuvillette's points, he'd have lost all dignity right then and there.
So, of course, he wasn't about to go find out for another bruising.
On the field—
Zhou Yi pointed at Neuvillette in disbelief.
"You… you dare insult the Master's theories as wrong? I'll report you to the Sea God Pavilion and have you expelled from Shrek Academy!"
"No, please don't!"
Huo Yutong darted forward, blocking in front of Neuvillette, her small face pale.
"I'm willing to leave Shrek Academy. "No matter what, you cannot expel Sir."… Neuvillette-senpai!"
"Heh."
Neuvillette chuckled softly, a look of genuine appreciation in his eyes.
This little girl's character was still commendable — in the original timeline, she had been devoted wholly to Wang Dong'er. Anyone else, faced with having Tang San as a father-in-law, would have run for the hills, but she had faced it head-on.
She endured being humiliated by Da Ming and Er Ming at the Clear Sky Sect for three days straight on her knees.
She endured being killed and revived over a thousand times in the Love Query Valley by Tang San himself. Anyone else would have been scarred for life.
And yet, she had remained deeply devoted to Wang Dong'er.
"All right — step back. From here on, leave it to me."
Neuvillette gently pulled the girl behind him, then turned his gaze back to Zhou Yi.
At this moment, after the girl's desperate plea, Zhou Yi's face took on a triumphant smirk.
"Hmph. Let him go? After he insulted a senior of the Academy and dared call my teaching methods garbage? Today I'll make sure your name is known across the Academy!"
Her smile widened as she stared at Neuvillette's still-calm face.
Let's see how long you can keep up that act.
If you insult a senior of the Academy, even your high-born background won't save you.
Get ready to pack your bags and get out.
Hearing this—
Even Wang Dong and Xiao Xiao in the crowd looked at Neuvillette with worried faces.
Meanwhile, Huo Yutong stood behind him, her bright eyes quietly fixed on the tall figure before her, and a faint, clean fragrance wafted from his clothes.
Somehow, standing behind His Highness the Holy Son always gave her a sense of safety as solid as a mountain.
Neuvillette spoke slowly:
"As a Shrek teacher, you freely expel students based on your whims. You use running as a daily training method, and in just one day, you expelled thirty students. Could it be that you see these students as your personal property?"
"Every class you've ever led has had a dropout rate of at least seventy percent."
"In other words, under the guise of 'physical training,' you've expelled at least sixty students, leaving only thirty. Can you give any reasonable explanation for such an absurdly high elimination rate?"
The moment the words left his mouth—
Zhou Yi suddenly noticed the stares of the students around her had shifted — now tinged with fear and disbelief.
Many of them were new to the Academy, and up until now, everything they'd heard about Zhou Yi was hearsay, lacking concrete evidence.
But…
This number alone was enough to make the entire Class One feel a chill in their bones.
Just what kind of class… had they entered?
(End of chapter)