Chapter 57: Heavenly Emperor Xiao

"An academy, you say?"

Huo Yuhao was instead stumped by his question. "I came here to elevate my soul power realm as much as possible, obtain suitable soul rings, and then... and then do what I want to do."

"In that case, you will know the answer to the previous question in due time."

The Soul Saint smiled rather cryptically. "Provided that you always consider it an academy."

"Remember this forever, kid!"

Stuffing the components in his hands back into Huo Yuhao's embrace, the Soul Saint patted him heavily on the head. "To you, Shrek is merely an academy, and its true nature should be just that. Outer courtyard or inner courtyard, never forget this point."

For some reason, a trace of sorrow and exhaustion lingered on the Soul Saint's face.

It was as if something pursued over a lifetime had turned out to be nothing more than utter ruin and worthlessness in the end, rendering all the painstaking efforts exerted completely meaningless.

"It's getting late, get some sleep... I'll keep watch for you."

...

Shrek.

"Those of you who have passed the assessment have now shed your identities as first-year students and become formal cadets of Shrek. You have also completed the class assignments based on your career development directions."

Wang Yan wrote a string of names on the blackboard. "Now, let us begin electing the monitor for this new class. Everyone may start voting."

"Teacher, I have an objection!"

Suddenly, a rebellious student raised a hand to signal.

"Please speak." Wang Yan frowned slightly.

"We have just finished dividing the classes and aren't very familiar with one another. Isn't it a bit unfair to rely on a popularity vote? What should we do if someone stirs up trouble during the election process?"

"This..."

Wang Yan was momentarily left speechless.

Having taught for so many years, this was the first time he had encountered someone openly finding fault with his methods.

What surprised him even more was that quite a few students throughout the classroom chimed in, questioning his selection method.

"So noisy~"

Amidst the chaotic waves of sound, Xiao Xiao couldn't help baring her teeth.

Wang Dong, sitting beside her, showed no particular reaction, simply staring blankly out the window, completely lost in thought.

"Quiet!"

Seeing that the situation was about to spiral out of control, Wang Yan's expression darkened. He released six soul rings and instantly retracted them, forming a surging wave of soul power pressure that rolled across the entire classroom, suppressing all the chaotic noise.

"Since you all feel this method is unreasonable, what do you propose we do?"

Wang Yan asked patiently, holding back his temper.

"A battle, of course!"

Dai Huabin slowly stood up. Although the bruises on his face had not completely faded, the injuries on his body had been entirely healed under the influence of the Tree of Life.

At this moment, a trace of cold light flashed faintly in his eyes, his sharpness fully exposed.

This monitor position... he was determined to secure it!

Looking across the entire audience, he was the only one who had reached the three-ring level. When it came to one-on-one duels, he believed he had nothing to fear from anyone.

"Hmph!"

Wang Yan leaned against the podium with a forced, joyless smile.

If things were really to go as Dai Huabin suggested, they might as well just hand the monitor position directly to him, which would save a lot of trouble instead.

Unsurprisingly, as soon as these words were spoken, the classroom became even more chaotic, the noisy uproar growing louder and louder.

"Clang!"

Xiao Xiao abruptly stood up, startling Wang Dong so much that his whole body shuddered. "What are you doing..."

"So annoying..."

Xiao Xiao gritted her teeth, squeezing the words out before raising her head to look at Wang Yan. "Teacher, I propose a direct class melee! Whoever manages to stay until the end will be the monitor!"

As soon as these words were uttered, everyone present instantly fell silent.

The gazes directed at Xiao Xiao carried a hint of dread; clearly, none of them expected her to play for stakes this high.

A melee?

Had she lost her mind?

Battles of this format almost entirely relied on luck to win. In fact, the stronger one's strength, the more one would be targeted by everyone else and eliminated ahead of time.

Besides, what if someone got injured?

In a one-on-one fight, having a teacher present as a referee meant there was still time for rescue, but in a chaotic grand melee, it would be impossible to be everywhere at once...

"It's quite reasonable, isn't it?"

Xiao Xiao looked at Wang Yan with a serious expression. "Being able to recruit more teammates in a melee and achieve perfect coordination with one another is inherently a symbol of strength."

"At the same time, control-system soul masters also lose their advantage of single-target hard crowd control in such a melee, and attack-system ones must also deal with the potential threats from other opponents."

"Of course~ most importantly—"

Xiao Xiao swept her gaze across the crowd. "In orderly matches, true combat experience can never be accumulated, right? We can't possibly stay cooped up in the academy forever..."

Among those present, quite a few came from minor or medium-sized forces and families, just like her.

She believed that these people, like her in the future, would have to return to inherit family businesses, then lock horns with their mortal enemies for the better part of their lives. The unluckier ones would even have to seek revenge personally, piling the entire future of their faction onto their single shoulders.

This remark truly hit home for quite a few people.

"Alright then~"

Wang Yan twitched the corner of his mouth, unsure whether he should thank Xiao Xiao for helping maintain order. "Then a grand melee it is! Everyone, head to the soul combat zone and stand by. I'll go find the other head teacher to help out."

The people seated here were all treasures in Yan Shaozhe's eyes; if anything went wrong during the melee, he couldn't afford to take the responsibility.

Having a Soul Douluo around to help rescue people was best, but if he could also borrow Zhou Yi's influence to summon that Tree of Life Soul Saint to help... that would be even better.

...

Inside the Soul Combat Arena.

Wang Yan swept his gaze over the cadets scattered across the arena. Unsurprisingly, those kids all wore miserable, frowning expressions, trying their best to stay close to people they were familiar with.

"The battle begins!"

The roar, amplified by soul power, resounded across the entire arena.

Just as everyone was shouting and arguing noisily, activating their martial souls and searching for targets in an instant—

"Triple—"

Xiao Xiao suddenly leaped into mid-air, holding a heavy tripod several meters in diameter high above her head with both hands. The Xuantian Technique within her body was circulated to the extreme, instantly expending over half of the soul power that had broken through to the twenty-sixth rank thanks to various fortuitous encounters.

"Suppressing! Soul! Tripod!"

Accompanied by a roar that shook the entire arena, the colossal object glowing with a profound radiance smashed down fiercely.

The unified giant tripod, blending suppressive force, the vibration of the tripod, and even a portion of the endless, ceaseless traits of the Xuantian Technique, forcefully blasted out a circle of tangible shockwave ripples, stirring up a human tidal wave amidst the crowd with a humming roar.

A dozen unlucky fellows were tossed into the air by this massive impact, squeezed by the black ripples vibrating from the tripod walls into rapidly expanding bubbles with humanoid figures stuck to their surfaces.

"Whoa!"

"Aie—"

The crowd, too slow to dodge, erupted into panicked cries. Before the black ripples completely dissipated their force, at least twenty-odd people were blasted into the air on the spot, flying outward like buckshot and crashing onto the heads of even more people.

Wang Yan: ......

Zhou Yi: ......

"What are you still standing there for? Go fish them out!"

The Soul Saint who had just rushed over from the infirmary instantly let out a fierce roar, summoning the Tree of Life to envelop those flying figures within the healing light.