69novels Chapter 42: A Kind of Upright Brilliance!
Chapter 42: A Kind of Upright Brilliance!
Sun Moon Royal Soul Master Academy
Inside the classroom of Class 1, Lin Jiayi was standing on the podium, explaining the situation to the students below.
"Today, our class welcomes four new students." Lin Jiayi gestured to the four people beside him, "Xiao Hongchen, Meng Hongchen, Ye Chenxing, and Ye Xue. These four students were attacked while hunting for spirit rings a few days ago and missed yesterday's regular freshman registration and exams. However, after a comprehensive evaluation by the academy's higher-ups, it was decided to directly enroll them in our Class One."
The class allocation at Sun Moon Royal Soul Master Academy differs from that at Shrek Academy. It strictly relies on assessment results, with more outstanding students ranking higher in their classes.
Although the four of them missed yesterday's registration and class placement exam due to the attack and the pursuit of spirit rings, this was naturally no problem for Jing Hongchen. With a wave of his hand, he directly assigned them to the best class.
As for why Qian Renxue, who was originally staying at home, didn't report on time, this angel god, who only attended one-on-one private school with Limit Douluo in her previous life, had no experience in worldly schooling. Her maid, A Yin, was also unruly and lacked common sense, which ultimately led to the delay.
The profession of Soul Master is never short of handsome men and beautiful women, and this is especially true of the Royal Soul Master Academy, which gathers the top geniuses of the Sun Moon Empire. However, the four people on the podium are the most eye-catching among this already outstanding group.
Below the podium, the group of eleven- or twelve-year-old boys and girls had already begun whispering among themselves.
"They're all so good-looking."
"That white-haired boy is totally my ideal type."
"Didn't you say yesterday that you liked older students?"
"The one with red hair is more handsome, with a touch of roguish charm."
"Don't even think about it, that's the principal's grandson, Xiao Hongchen."
The girls whispered among themselves. The boys, though not as dramatic in their words, frequently glanced at Qian Renxue and Meng Hongchen, their eyes revealing undisguised amazement.
The four people gave brief self-introductions. Just as they were about to sit down, a discordant voice suddenly rang out.
"Teacher, we all passed the rigorous entrance exam to be assigned to Class 1. Why are those four being transferred in directly?"
The one who spoke was a boy wearing a black hoodie over his white school uniform. Lin Jiayi raised an eyebrow; this kid had a gloomy demeanor, but he was a troublemaker who dared to stand up for himself.
"These four students' talents fully meet the standards of Class One," Lin Jiayi said firmly. "The academy's rules are absolutely fair. If Wang Jiahao has any complaints, he can submit formal feedback to the academy."
Wang Jiahao let out a cold snort. Report it to the academy? He had heard everything clearly; the red-haired boy leading the group of four was the principal's grandson. Report his grandson's privileges to the principal?
Who here is accusing this official?
He was born in a remote area of the Sun Moon Empire, but his martial spirit and soul guidance talents were outstanding; otherwise, he would not have been able to get into the Sun Moon Royal Soul Master Academy from such a small place.
His inferiority complex stemming from his background and his pride in his talent created a contradiction that made him both aloof and attention-seeking. He often used exaggerated behaviors to deliberately create a so-called "mysterious" aura.
The moment the four transfer students appeared, most of the girls in the class were drawn to the white-haired boy. In Wang Jiahao's extremely self-absorbed mind, all that attention should have belonged to him! Driven by jealousy, he didn't hesitate to target the four of them.
That's a kind of positive, bold style!
Wang Jiahao suddenly stood up straight. Only then did everyone realize that he was still wearing a black mask, and his black coat billowed up on its own without any wind. That black clothes and mask were actually his martial soul! It was an extremely rare space-type martial soul, capable of containing objects and releasing them from any part of the clothing. As a martial soul for a soul master, it was definitely excellent.
He stared directly at the podium, his gaze undisguisedly defiant: "Class One values ability, not background. Since you have the privilege of not taking the exam, you should show us what makes you think you're qualified to sit here!"
Before Ye Chenxing could react, Xiao Hongchen's face darkened. He stopped and walked straight towards Wang Jiahao with a furrowed brow.
Although he was completely subdued by Ye Chenxing, the proud nature of our young master of Mingde Hall remained unchanged. How could he allow others to provoke him like this?
As the rumored young master approached step by step, Wang Jiahao felt a little apprehensive. But when he thought of himself as a rare genius, why should he bow down? In order to save face in front of his female classmate, he forced himself to remain calm and glared back at him.
The two stared at each other, face to face, for a long while.
Just when the class was wondering whether they were going to fight or what, Xiao Hongchen spoke up.
"You doubt our capabilities?"
Wang Jiahao was already regretting provoking the other party, but since things had come to this, he could only grit his teeth and say, "So what if it is?"
hum-
A subtle rumbling sound echoed through the classroom. Two yellow and one purple spirit rings rose one by one from beneath Xiao Hongchen's feet. The pressure of a Spirit Master instantly swept across the entire room.
Wang Jiahao's doubts were abruptly silenced by this oppressive aura. The previously noisy classroom instantly fell into a deathly silence.
Eleven years old, Third Ring Road.
Feeling the shocked and awe-inspiring gazes around him, Xiao Hongchen was suddenly overwhelmed with an indescribable sense of emotion.
That's right! That's more like it! This is the kind of treatment I deserve!
The grievances and setbacks I suffered from that pervert Ye Chenxing these past few days have finally been balanced by these normal people.
"What the heck? Are you kidding me? A Soul Master? I heard Xiao Hongchen is a Soul Master genius, isn't he?"
"What do you know? That person is a genius!"
Listening to the whispers around him, Wang Jiahao's heart was already racing with the urge to back out. He had reached level twenty-five at the age of twelve, and in his remote hometown, he was hailed as a "once-in-a-century" genius. He had also ranked among the top in yesterday's placement test, which had made him extremely arrogant. Only now, facing Xiao Hongchen directly, did he realize his own foolishness.
He is indeed a genius, but laughable is the genius of this academy that gathers geniuses from all over the empire!
Xiao Hongchen took a step forward, and Wang Jiahao subconsciously took a step back.
"Now, do you have any more questions, Wang Jiahao?"
Wang Jiahao was nearly overwhelmed by this momentum and wanted to back down, but a glance out of the corner of his eye revealed the boys' amused looks and the girls' adoring gazes towards Xiao Hongchen. His strong sense of pride made him grit his teeth and, in a desperate move, he pointed sharply:
"And what about him! What makes him qualified?!"
Everyone looked in the direction he was pointing and turned to look at the white-haired boy who was still standing on the podium, watching the fun with a relaxed expression.
Xiao Hongchen was taken aback at first, then his terrifying aura vanished instantly, and his expression became extremely strange.
He silently put away the spirit ring, sighed, and stepped forward to pat Wang Jiahao heavily on the shoulder.
"I thought you were just a clown, but I never expected... you'd turn out to be a true warrior."
Wang Jiahao clearly didn't catch the subtext of Xiao Hongchen's words. Seeing that everyone had stopped mocking him, he grasped at a last straw and urgently questioned, "Hey, you white-haired guy! Why didn't you participate in the class placement exam? Are you some kind of Soul Master?!"
Upon hearing this, Meng Hongchen frowned and took half a step forward, about to speak, but was stopped by Ye Chenxing raising his hand.
"I am not the Soul Master."
Wang Jiahao immediately became agitated: "Then why were you able to directly enter Class One?!"
Lin Jiayi's face darkened completely. He had initially thought it was just youthful impetuosity, but this Wang Jiahao was far too ungrateful. Just as he was about to reprimand him, he heard Ye Chenxing chuckle.
"Ms. Lin, this student is absolutely right. I didn't take the placement exam, so how can I be placed in Class 1 for no reason?" Ye Chenxing said with a gentle smile. "How about this, could you arrange a temporary placement exam for me? You can pick someone from Class 1 as my opponent, and if I can beat him, then I'll qualify for Class 1, is that alright?"
As he said this, his gaze swept across the entire class, but he didn't look at Wang Jiahao.
"I just wonder, which student from Class One is willing to participate?"
"I'll do it!"
Wang Jiahao immediately recognized the blatant challenge and promptly accepted it.
Lin Jiayi frowned slightly, his lips barely moving as he transmitted his voice to Ye Chenxing: "Your Highness, given your status, there's really no need for you to stoop to his level."
"It's alright, I also want to avoid trouble in the future."
Seeing that Ye Chenxing was determined, Lin Jiayi had no choice but to nod in agreement. He cleared his throat and announced, "Alright, in that case, everyone please take your seats and begin the lesson. The two of you will go to the Soul Guidance Device practical class before noon today for the assessment."
As the dean of teaching, Lin Jiayi has considerable power. Modifying and arranging one or two classes is no problem for him, especially since it is a class he personally teaches.
Wang Jiahao returned to his seat dejectedly. Ye Chenxing found an empty seat at the back of the classroom by the window.
Seeing Ye Chenxing sit down, Meng Hongchen's eyes lit up, and like a happy rabbit, she hopped and skipped, wanting to sit in his seat.
However, before she could get close, a blur flashed by. With astonishing speed, Qian Renxue pulled out a chair first and sat down calmly next to Ye Chenxing, her face expressionless.
Meng Hongchen was startled and stood frozen in place.
Isn't she just a Great Soul Master? How can she be so fast?!
...No! The important thing is how she took my seat!
Meng Hongchen stomped her foot in frustration, but there was nothing she could do. She could only reluctantly sit down in the seat behind Ye Chenxing. She frantically tried to reassure herself: "It's okay, it's okay. They're siblings, it's normal for them to sit together. Just like all brothers and sisters in the world, they're close and inseparable..."
Just then, she turned her head and glanced at him, just in time to see Xiao Hongchen pull out a chair and sit down next to her. The young master still had that smug, arrogant expression on his face, which was extremely annoying after he had just "successfully shown off".
Looking at her own brother's face, Meng Hongchen suddenly felt a surge of anger. Without warning, she raised her foot and stomped hard on Xiao Hongchen's instep!
"hiss--!"
Xiao Hongchen winced in pain, looking at his younger sister with a face full of questions:
"???"
Ye Chenxing also found Qian Renxue's behavior somewhat unusual this time, but he didn't pay much attention to it.
As the school bell rang, Lin Jiayi officially began today's lesson.
As the Dean of Studies at the Sun Moon Royal Soul Master Academy, Lin Jiayi was not originally required to teach on the front lines.
However, he was able to reach his current position not through connections or backdoors, but through his genuine strength as an eighth-level Soul Master and his outstanding management and teaching abilities.
Jing Hongchen specially arranged for him to be the homeroom teacher of Class One, which shows his good intentions.
On one hand, this Class One is an unprecedented small-class system, with only half the number of students in a normal class. It brings together the empire's future favorites, the siblings Ye Chenxing and Hongchen, who must be cared for by their most trusted confidants. On the other hand, at Elder Kong's behest, many of the empire's level eight and nine soul masters have been arranged to teach in Class One. Looking across the entire academy, apart from Lin Jiayi, a qualified level eight soul master, other ordinary teachers would probably be ignored by those arrogant high-level soul masters.
Yesterday was just for enrollment and testing; today is the first real class. Unlike Ye Chenxing's previous life on Blue Star, the academy in Douluo Continent doesn't have complicated subjects like Chinese, math, English, physics, chemistry, and biology. The main courses here are extremely hardcore, consisting of only two: theory and practice.
As the first theoretical class for new students, the Sun and Moon Empire's unwavering tradition is identity education, with only one core purpose: to tell the history of the empire and strengthen the sense of identity with the Sun and Moon Empire.
As Ye Chenxing expected, the course content was basically the same as what he had read in the library over the past few days, and it was rather boring.
But the children, who were born and raised in the Sun Moon Empire, seemed very interested, especially when Lin Jiayi turned to the epic war caused by the collision of continents thousands of years ago. The atmosphere in the originally quiet classroom became visibly restless.
After all, it was the deepest and most painful thorn buried in the hearts of the entire Sun Moon Empire for thousands of years.
Defeat, territorial losses, and even the name of the continent where their ancestors lived for generations was forced to be changed from Sun Moon Continent to Douluo Continent. Even though the students and teachers present did not personally experience that history, it did not prevent them from feeling a sense of resonance.
"Students," Lin Jiayi surveyed the room, posing a timely question, "Remembering history is for a better future. What do you think it will take for our Sun Moon Empire to completely defeat them and wash away the shame of the past?"
"Soul Guidance Device!" The vast majority of freshmen below the podium exclaimed excitedly in unison.
However, this time, Xiao Hongchen, a standard Soul Master, did not respond. He silently looked at the white-haired figure sitting in front of him and silently complained in his heart.
"What need is there for soul tools? This monster is enough."
Lin Jiayi turned around, picked up the chalk, and wrote three large characters on the blackboard with vigorous strokes.
Soul guide device.
"Very well. So, can anyone tell me what a soul tool actually is?"
As soon as he finished speaking, Wang Jiahao raised his hand high as if he had been electrocuted. Always eager to show off, and having just experienced the embarrassment of being humiliated in front of the whole class, he was now even more impatient to prove himself again by answering questions.
Lin Jiayi nodded, signaling him to answer.
Wang Jiahao stood up, head held high, and declared loudly, "Teacher, soul tools are the most powerful weapons of us soul masters! It is precisely because of the existence of soul tools that our Sun Moon Empire is able to maintain a commanding lead in strength. As long as we continue to develop even more lethal soul tools, we will definitely be able to completely crush the original Douluo Three Kingdoms!"
Lin Jiayi nodded slightly: "Very energetic! That's definitely a positive answer."
Hearing the dean's affirmation, the students below couldn't help but feel their hearts surge with excitement. Indeed, the technological gap in soul tools was precisely the source of the Sun Moon Empire's confidence in standing out from the other three nations.
In the eyes of the Sun Moon Empire, the original Three Kingdoms of Douluo were more like a group of gorillas, while the humans were the ones who knew how to use tools.
Wang Jiahao thoroughly enjoyed the feeling of being the center of attention. When he sat down, he deliberately turned around and raised his chin in a highly provocative manner in Ye Chenxing's direction.