Chapter 21: A New Perspective

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The hundred laps ended quickly, and most of the students successfully completed the run.

Those who finished the full course naturally passed without issue, but the rest—whether they gave up midway or resorted to cheating—were mercilessly expelled by Zhou Yi.

Yuwen Tuo sneered inwardly. Zhou Yi’s actions hardly seemed like those of a good teacher. While strictness had its place, expulsion should have limits.

As for those who cheated, it was indeed a matter of character, and Yuwen Tuo didn’t dispute their expulsion. For instance, some students had taken their time during the first two laps while Zhou Yi hadn’t yet arrived at Shrek Square. They only started running earnestly when the leading group reached the fifth lap, meaning they ran ninety-seven laps instead of a hundred. Yet, they brazenly claimed to have completed the full course. Such people were unworthy of cultivation.

However, the majority of those who failed did so because they had completely exhausted their stamina. If Huo Yuhao hadn’t received Wang Dong’s help, he too would have failed.

True, being able to secure help from others was a skill in itself.

But in reality, these freshmen had only been at the academy for two or three days. How many of them could already form friendships deep enough for someone to go out of their way to assist them?

Such individuals needed exceptional emotional intelligence to quickly build such bonds.

A freshman with decent physical endurance, strong willpower, and high emotional intelligence would undoubtedly be a rare gem among thousands. Such a person would achieve greatness no matter where they went.

As a teacher, wasn’t Zhou Yi’s role to accept students as long as their character wasn’t an issue? For those lacking in stamina, she could help them train. For those with weak willpower, she could strengthen their resolve. For those struggling to connect with others, she could teach them social skills.

If students were born knowing everything, what was the point of having teachers?

Moreover, these students had paid tuition fees. To be expelled for no fault of their own, without even a refund, left a bitter taste.

This was one of the reasons Yuwen Tuo disliked this teacher.

She only wanted to cultivate students who were naturally obedient and well-behaved. In other words, she focused solely on amplifying their strengths while refusing to address their weaknesses.

When she encountered flaws like poor stamina or weak willpower—issues that could be resolved through training—her solution was always the same: expulsion.

However, not everyone shared Yuwen Tuo’s disdain for her. After witnessing Zhou Yi ruthlessly expel so many students, the remaining ones couldn’t help but feel tense.

Huo Yuhao was no exception. Had Wang Dong not helped him, he might have become one of those expelled. Thinking about it, he couldn’t help but feel grateful toward Wang Dong.

By now, the expressions on the students’ faces had completely changed. They avoided Zhou Yi’s gaze, intimidated by her domineering behavior, which had swiftly established her authority in the class.

“You have fifteen minutes. Go back to your dorms, change clothes, and then return to the classroom for class,” Zhou Yi said before turning and heading straight back to the classroom.

No one dared to delay this time. The students scattered immediately.

“This old hag is too ruthless,” Wang Dong muttered under his breath as he helped Huo Yuhao up and hurried back to the dormitory.

Yuwen Tuo turned to Xiao Xiao and said, “Xiao Xiao, you should go change too. You’re all sweaty—it must be uncomfortable.”

“Mm, but you’d better remember not to be late again. Teacher Zhou Yi is really merciless,” Xiao Xiao replied, nodding. She was worried that Yuwen Tuo would cut it close again, so she reminded him repeatedly before leaving.

“All right, all right, I know. Go on, don’t forget you only have fifteen minutes—you’d better not be late yourself,” Yuwen Tuo said, gently pushing Xiao Xiao’s back. Xiao Xiao quickly scurried off to the dormitory to change.

As for Yuwen Tuo, he sat down cross-legged and began circulating his soul power. Having just finished the run, his blood was flowing vigorously, making it the perfect time to practice the Divine Fire Avatar. He wouldn’t let any opportunity to grow stronger slip away.

In truth, he hadn’t broken a sweat at all. A hundred laps were nothing to him. The Divine Fire Avatar was a Daoist cultivation technique with enduring and steady energy, far surpassing the Plain Law Heart Method that Xiao Xiao practiced.

Even the highest-level cultivation method of the Celestial Melody Sect, the Heavenly String Resonance Heart Method, paled in comparison to the Divine Fire Avatar.

Yuwen Tuo was determined to condense his avatar as soon as possible, which would significantly boost his strength.

From Zhou Yi’s actions today, Yuwen Tuo confirmed one thing: no matter what he did, this old woman wouldn’t expel him.

It was clear that Yan Shaozhe had given her strict orders to keep him enrolled.

For others, this might have been good news. But for Yuwen Tuo, it was a mixed blessing.

The downside was obvious—he still couldn’t leave Shrek Academy.

The upside, however, was that while the academy refused to let him go, they seemed to feel slightly guilty about it. With Ma Xiaotao’s demonic flames gradually dissipating, his value to the academy was diminishing.

The reasons he couldn’t leave were twofold: First, Ma Xiaotao was stubborn and refused to let him go. Second, his innate twenty-level soul power, despite being wasted for six years, still held the potential for him to reach the rank of a Title Douluo. They likely feared that if he left, he might harbor resentment and return one day to seek revenge.

To address this, they had prepared two plans. The first was to enroll him at Shrek Academy, hoping to deepen his ties with the institution and resolve past grievances. If he eventually agreed to join the inner court, the academy would offer him genuine compensation.

The second plan, should he continue to refuse, was either to keep him perpetually confined within Shrek or, worse, to label him as a malevolent soul master corrupted by demonic flames and eliminate him.

Yuwen Tuo guessed that the former scenario was more likely, as even hypocritical gentlemen maintained appearances. Shrek Academy was still far superior to malevolent soul masters.

Yuwen Tuo had considered two strategies. The first was to feign compliance, pretending he no longer harbored resentment toward Shrek Academy and showing sufficient enthusiasm toward Ma Xiaotao to win her affection. This would allow him to gain the academy’s support and resources.

The second was to reveal his Xuan Yuan Sword martial soul and use it to secure the academy’s cultivation resources. Once he grew stronger, he could turn against them, making it easier to sever ties.

However, he quickly dismissed both ideas. First, he wasn’t a good actor, and the elder experts of Shrek’s Sea God Pavilion were all seasoned veterans over a hundred years old. His fake smiles wouldn’t fool them.

Second, after enduring so much suffering at Shrek’s hands, the thought of forcing himself to smile and flatter them made him feel deeply humiliated. Such an act was beneath him. If his master ever found out, he’d be dissected without hesitation.

Third, he simply didn’t want to join Shrek Academy—even before they wronged him, he had no intention of doing so. Otherwise, he could have joined when Ma Xiaotao first purified his demonic flames.

“This kind of thing… perhaps only my neighbor’s cunning friend, Old Six, would do something like that. I swear I’ll never stoop to his level,” Yuwen Tuo warned himself.

“For now, as long as I don’t overstep too much, they probably won’t pay excessive attention to me. Maybe I can negotiate with Yan Shaozhe for some relative freedom, allowing me to leave the academy under supervision. The only person who might help me is Senior Ling.”

Yuwen Tuo stood up and walked to the edge of the Sea God Lake. Across the lake lay the inner court. He showed his card to the outer court guards stationed at the pavilion, and one of them promptly escorted him onto a small boat, rowing toward the center of the lake.

The card he presented was actually Ma Xiaotao’s room key for the inner court, which doubled as an inner court student ID. The guards recognized the card, not the person.

Ma Xiaotao had previously handed the card to Yuwen Tuo, telling him to use it whenever he wanted to find her. As for herself, she never used the main entrance to return to the inner court—she either flew back or ran across the lake surface, rendering the card useless for her.

Once inside the inner court, Yuwen Tuo didn’t head to Ma Xiaotao’s room. Instead, he made his way directly to Ling Luochen’s quarters.

Knocking lightly on the door, he called out, “Senior Luochen, are you there?”

Ling Luochen was meditating inside her room when she heard a familiar voice. She retracted her soul power and murmured to herself, “That voice… it’s Xiao Tuo. Shouldn’t he be in class at the outer court right now? Why is he here?”

Chapter end