Bonus Chapter. Enjoy!
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If it had been any other student who dared to contradict her in front of the entire class on the first day of school, Zhou Yi would have expelled them without a second word.
This was a method she had used for many years with constant success; it was direct and efficient.
However, facing a peerless Genius like Huo Yuhao, she couldn't bring herself to do it.
What she wanted most right now was to mold Huo Yuhao into her own 'image.'
As long as Huo Yuhao became an obedient student who listened to her, she might even be able to nurture a future Master of the Sea God Pavilion.
The mere thought of this made her a bit excited, and her anger toward Huo Yuhao dissipated slightly.
Zhou Yi took a deep breath, suppressing the surging fury within her.
She gave a cold snort. "Being successful at a young age is not necessarily a good thing."
"Today, I shall teach you the meaning of... respecting your teacher and the Dao."
She paused, her lips curling into a very faint arc. "Since you are so conceited about your strength and dare to oppose me..."
"Then... do you dare to take a trip to the Soul Fighting Arena with me?"
As soon as these words were spoken, the entire room erupted in an uproar.
Zhou Yi was actually... going to use her status as a Spirit Emperor to personally suppress a freshman?!
Huo Yuhao met that scrutinizing gaze and said calmly, "Why wouldn't I dare?"
Zhou Yi's eyelid twitched slightly, but she didn't say another word.
She shifted her gaze from Huo Yuhao's face, slowly scanning the dozens of faces with varying expressions in the classroom.
Shocked, excited, fearful, bewildered.
"Everyone..."
Her voice wasn't loud, but it clearly entered everyone's ears. "Follow me."
After saying that, she turned around, her grey robe cutting a sharp arc through the air as she strode out the door.
The silence in the classroom lasted for less than three seconds.
Immediately after, dozens of freshmen stood up almost simultaneously and swarmed toward the door, following Zhou Yi's footsteps as the group marched grandly toward the Soul Fighting Arena.
The teacher on duty at Soul Fighting Arena No. 23 was named Wang Xing.
He was originally quite surprised as to why a group of freshmen would come to the Soul Dueling Area on the very first day of school.
But then, in front of the boys and girls dressed in brand-new white school uniforms, he saw Zhou Yi's mean face that practically screamed 'stay away,' and he suddenly understood.
This teacher was indeed capable of doing anything.
He was about to ask as a matter of routine, "Is Teacher Zhou bringing students for a practical combat drill today?" only to see that Zhou Yi didn't even spare him a glance from the corner of her eye as she walked straight into the arena.
And behind her... a young man followed at an unhurried pace.
Finally, this man and woman, one large and one small, one teacher and one student, appeared in the center of the Soul Fighting Arena.
Wang Xing looked at Zhou Yi and then at the youth, his gaze moving back and forth between the two.
Finally, he confirmed an unbelievable fact: Zhou Yi, a six-ring Spirit Emperor, was actually going to personally take the field on the first day of school... to fight a freshman.
Wang Xing couldn't help but frown, feeling that he should report this information to the academy.
He was also worried that Zhou Yi would go crazy; it wouldn't be good if she caused casualties among the students.
Inside the arena, two figures stood facing each other.
In the spectator stands, the dozens of students from Freshman Class One had already taken their seats voluntarily. No one spoke; even their breathing was kept extremely light, for fear of missing even the slightest sound in the arena.
Zhou Yi spoke: "That you dare to step onto this Soul Fighting Arena and stand opposite me, your courage is commendable."
"In this battle, if you lose, from now on, regarding everything you do in the academy..."
"If I say one, you shall not say two; if I tell you to go east, you shall not go west."
"How about it?"
Huo Yuhao listened quietly with a calm face, but he let out a cold laugh in his heart.
"Fine."
Huo Yuhao's voice wasn't loud, but he agreed directly.
But in the next second, his voice rang out again: "However..."
He paused, looking directly at Zhou Yi. "If Teacher loses, please also take back the words you said in the classroom today."
"Furthermore, after this battle, I will apply to change classes and will not continue to study as your student."
In fact, if Huo Yuhao wanted to change classes, he could do it just by speaking to Director Du Weilin.
The reason he wanted to fight this match was actually to demonstrate his attitude.
He wanted to tell Shrek Academy that he wasn't the kind of obedient student who would let them arrange everything for him; he had his own thoughts and consciousness.
Zhou Yi frowned upon hearing this, but then she nodded. "Then it's settled!"
She stopped looking at Huo Yuhao and suddenly turned her head, shouting, "Wang Xing, you may begin."
Wang Xing looked at Zhou Yi in the arena and finally couldn't hold back: "Teacher Zhou! You are a six-ring Spirit Emperor, yet you want to enter the Soul Fighting Arena with a first-year freshman on the first day of school."
He paused, his gaze falling on Zhou Yi's motionless old face. "This... isn't very appropriate, is it?"
Zhou Yi didn't even lift her eyelids. "My business is none of your concern."
Wang Xing's breath suddenly hitched, and a surge of anger instinctively welled up in his heart.
She doesn't recognize good intentions!
He cursed fiercely in his heart, the muscles on his face twitching twice, but in the end, he didn't say the words 'you'll eventually suffer a great fall because of this temper.'
He had worked with Zhou Yi for several years and knew her personality all too well.
If you said one word against her, she could remember it for ten years.
He stopped looking at Zhou Yi and shouted, "Start!"
As soon as he finished speaking... beneath Zhou Yi's feet, six spirit rings—two yellow, two purple, and two black—burst into bloom!
At the same time, her stature suddenly increased, and her originally hunched back straightened abruptly.
Layers of fine scales with a scorching dark-red luster emerged from beneath her skin, covering its surface.
Flames began to rise around Zhou Yi's body.
That wasn't ordinary Spirit Power overflowing, but almost substantial scorching waves erupting from the gaps between every single scale.
The air was scorched until it distorted and deformed. With her as the center, within a radius of several meters, heat waves rolled, and even light trembled because of it.
In her eyes, the reflection of the youth opposite her appeared.
There was no contempt, no arrogance, not even the meanness and disdain she usually wore on her face.
There was only a concentrated solemnity.
After all, Huo Yuhao's Spirit Power was only lower than hers, but he also had two Ten Thousand Years spirit rings.
So in her heart, the power of Huo Yuhao's Spirit Ability should not be weaker than a Spirit Emperor's; he was only lacking in 'stamina.'
Huo Yuhao recognized it at a glance; this was the Red Dragon Spirit.
Fire attribute, a branch of the pure-blood Dragon Clan, with very powerful attack and defense.
He could completely use the Ice Jade Empress Scorpion Spirit to suppress her attributes with Ultimate Ice; winning shouldn't be difficult.
However, he lowered his eyes.
What rose beneath his feet was not that touch of crimson.
Instead, it was four spirit rings—two purple and two black—as deep and heavy as an abyss.
He was still using the Spirit Eyes Martial Soul.
Seeing this scene, the referee Wang Xing's pupils suddenly contracted like pinholes.
Two... two purple and two black?!
A Spirit Ancestor?!
This is a fucking first-year freshman?!
He had been in the profession for twelve years and had seen countless geniuses in the Soul Fighting Arena—from the Inner Court, the Outer Court, and outstanding alumni who had returned after graduation... but he could say that all those so-called geniuses would pale in comparison to the current Huo Yuhao!
With the posture of a four-ring, he faced the Spirit Emperor's aura head-on without retreating half a step.
Wang Xing's heart pounded wildly in his chest, his blood surging like it was boiling.
It was excitement, anticipation, and a certain kind of schadenfreude that couldn't be explained to outsiders.
He slowly relaxed his clenched hands and unobtrusively straightened his body again.
But the gaze with which he looked into the arena was completely different now.
He wasn't looking at Zhou Yi; he was looking at Huo Yuhao.
Fight.
Fight hard.
It would be best to pin this old witch to the ground and beat her.
Wang Xing chanted silently in his heart with an expressionless face, as if performing some kind of sacred prayer.
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A/N:
5 Power Stones = 1 Extra Chapter
I hope all of you are enjoying this story so far. I would appreciate some Power Stones if you can spare any. Leave a review if you like the story. Thank you.