Chapter 18: Arrogance!
On the podium, Teacher's smile had completely frozen, her eyes filled with shock.
This isn't right, is it?!
This wasn't how the script was supposed to go!
She had only thought of using Lin Xuan, a student with an "extremely high recommendation letter evaluation," to slightly suppress the blind pride of the other students, making them settle down, recognize the gap, and focus on their cultivation.
Ideally, it would be a brilliant one-on-one duel with back-and-forth action, which would both establish Lin Xuan's prestige and stimulate the fighting Martial Soul of the others.
In the end... Lin Xuan just flipped the table?!
Twenty-ninth rank Soul Power wanting to take on the whole class alone?
What a joke!
Even a Teacher at the Spirit Ancestor level, facing over forty freshmen where the lowest was at least rank ten-plus Soul Power and the highest was over rank thirty, with various Martial Souls and no shortage of powerful existences, wouldn't dare say they could definitely win!
A battle of attrition and coordination could wear down most Spirit Ancestors!
"Student Lin Xuan,"
Teacher advised in a hesitant tone,
"This... there's no need for this. Sparring and exchange between classmates should just be a matter of stopping when appropriate. The Teacher already understands your strength from the recommendation letter, there's no need to use this method..."
"Teacher,"
Lin Xuan interrupted her,
"Since there are people questioning it, feeling that anyone can be this vice class monitor, then let all the questioners come at me together. Whoever thinks they are a genius and is qualified to question, that's how many people there will be."
Teacher's eyelids twitched. Looking at Lin Xuan's expression that left no room for negotiation, she felt speechless.
She turned to look below the podium, attempting to control the situation,
"Then, who wants to participate in this challenge? Anyone who thinks Student Lin Xuan is not fit to be the vice class monitor, or wants to prove they are a genius, raise your hand now."
Her intention was to have the few troublemakers who had just stood up raise their hands, and then she would "weigh" the options and select the two or three strongest ones to bring this farce back into a controllable range.
However, the development of events once again exceeded her expectations.
First, the few boys who had just stood up raised their arms without hesitation, their faces showing anger at being slighted and a readiness to try.
Immediately following, all the boys and girls in the classroom also raised their hands one after another.
Lin Xuan's words "you aren't geniuses" were truly too harsh, provoking the competitive Martial Soul of almost everyone.
Who the hell isn't a genius?
Why should we be looked down upon so much by a rank twenty-nine like you?
What made Teacher's pupils contract slightly was that after a brief moment of contemplation, Ning Tian actually raised her fair arm elegantly and firmly.
"Young Master?!" Wu Feng beside her was stunned and asked in a low voice, "Why are you raising your hand too? Didn't you say you wanted to recruit him?"
Ning Tian explained with a calm expression, "It's precisely because I want to recruit him that I need to understand his true strength even more. Furthermore..."
She looked at the figure standing indifferently beside her,
"I am also curious about just how strong he is to dare say such words."
Upon hearing this, a smile instantly bloomed on Wu Feng's face, and then she also raised her hand.
She had wanted to beat up Lin Xuan for a long time. Now that the opportunity was being delivered to her door, she might as well take it!
Teacher's gaze swept across, finding that besides Lin Xuan himself, only one person in the entire class hadn't raised their hand—it was Dugu Qing.
Lin Xuan naturally noticed as well. He looked at Dugu Qing and said,
"Dugu Qing, you come too."
"Ah? Me?"
Dugu Qing looked up, his green eyes full of confusion,
"I... I think I'll pass..."
"Come on."
Lin Xuan's tone was casual, as if inviting the other to join a game,
"I'll go a bit easier on you later."
Dugu Qing: "..."
Is this a question of whether you go easy or not?!
This is a question of whether you're going to get beaten up!
But under the gaze of Lin Xuan's calm eyes and the atmosphere of almost the entire class raising their hands, Dugu Qing eventually raised his hand sluggishly with a bitter face.
At this point, in Freshman Class Nine, with the exception of Lin Xuan, everyone raised their hands to accept the challenge!
Teacher looked at the forest of arms below the podium, feeling a headache coming on as her temples throbbed.
This situation had completely spiraled out of her control.
Her intention was to light a small spark, but Lin Xuan had directly thrown a powder keg and pulled the whole class in to light the fuse!
But the words had been spoken, and it was hard to go against the collective will.
If she forcibly suppressed it, it would instead damage her prestige as the class Teacher and wouldn't fit Shrek's tradition of encouraging competition.
Caught in a dilemma... Teacher took a deep breath, forcing herself to calm down.
She looked at Lin Xuan again, her tone helpless as she made a final confirmation,
"Student Lin Xuan, are you sure you want to do this? One against forty-three?"
Lin Xuan nodded.
"...Fine."
Teacher knew she couldn't talk him out of it, so she had to settle for the next best thing to prevent the situation from escalating.
"In that case, the rules need to change."
"It's not necessary for you to defeat everyone. As long as you can persist for three minutes without losing your combat capability or being forced out of the Soul Dueling Platform under the joint attack of forty-three classmates, you win. No one will be able to question the position of vice class monitor anymore."
"At the same time, this is also a practical combat exercise for the whole class. No one is allowed to use lethal force intentionally; stop when appropriate. I will supervise along with the Soul Dueling Arena Teachers. How about it?"
Three minutes against a siege of forty-three people sounded slightly easier than "defeating everyone," but to a discerning eye, it was still a nearly impossible task.
Under human wave tactics, three minutes was enough to launch countless rounds of attacks.
Lin Xuan nodded simply,
"Sure, I accept."
Thus, this absurd and shocking challenge agreement was set.
Teacher rubbed her temples, saying no more, and waved her hand,
"Everyone, follow me to the Soul Dueling Arena!"
Shrek Academy Outer Academy, dedicated Soul Dueling Area.
The Soul Dueling Area was hexagonal, roughly the same size as Shrek Plaza, with a large open space in the center and tiered observation seats surrounding it.
Usually, this was a place for upper-year students to spar, undergo assessments, or resolve personal grievances.
At the same time, winning a match in the Soul Dueling Area would earn a certain amount of credits, which would provide extra points during grade examinations.
Managing the Soul Dueling Area were a serious-looking male Teacher in his forties and a gentle-looking Female Teacher.
When they saw Teacher bringing a massive class of freshmen over, especially after hearing Teacher explain their intent, the expressions on their faces instantly became extremely colorful.
"Teacher, you... you're not joking, are you?"
The male Teacher's eyes widened, his gaze involuntarily shifting to the calm Lin Xuan standing at the front of the group, then looking at the forty-plus freshmen behind him who clearly carried various emotions like excitement, defiance, and curiosity.
"Letting one freshman take on his entire class alone? And persist for three minutes? This..."
The Female Teacher also couldn't help but say tactfully,
"Teacher, this child... couldn't be a relative of Teacher Zhou Yi, could he? I know you have a history with Teacher Zhou Yi, but there's no need to push this child to his death, is there?"
Teacher had a helpless, bitter smile on her face and waved her hand,
"You two Teachers misunderstand. This matter... really wasn't my arrangement. Student Lin Xuan himself proposed the challenge, and the whole class agreed. I'm just... going along with it to be a witness and set some safety rules."
Then she briefly recounted what had happened in the classroom earlier.
After hearing it, the two Soul Dueling Arena Teachers' mouths hung open slightly and didn't close for a long time.
Their gazes focused on Lin Xuan once more, looking him up and down carefully, as if trying to see something extraordinary about him.
Finally, the male Teacher wiped his face and uttered a phrase full of emotion,
"Young people these days... are truly becoming harder and harder to understand."
He shook his head, gesturing for the Female Teacher to activate the soul tool protective shield and prepare emergency medical measures, while saying to Teacher,
"Since you've already decided, we'll follow the rules. We'll turn on the maximum protection and monitoring to ensure safety, but Teacher, you'd better be mentally prepared..."
He glanced at the group of freshmen who were rubbing their palms and eager for action,
"The smell of gunpowder in your class is a bit too thick."
Teacher could only respond with an even more helpless, bitter smile. She now only hoped this farce would end quickly without any serious injuries.
At the same time, in the depths of her heart, she couldn't help but feel a strong sense of curiosity.
Did this student named Lin Xuan really have a world-shaking trump card, or was he purely young and ignorant, arrogant beyond measure?
Soon, a massive soul tool protective shield slowly rose, enveloping the largest Soul Dueling Platform in the center, its transparent light curtain flowing with energy ripples.
Lin Xuan, alone, was the first to step onto the broad Soul Dueling Platform, standing in the center.
Below the stage, the forty-three freshmen led by Ning Tian, under the direction of Teacher and the Soul Dueling Arena Teachers, entered the Soul Dueling Platform from different entrances, quickly spreading out and faintly forming an encirclement around Lin Xuan in the center.
Various colors of Soul Power light began to faintly emerge on their bodies, and the atmosphere instantly became tense.
Countless gazes, filled with defiance, fighting Martial Soul, curiosity, and worry, were firmly locked onto the solitary figure in the center of the arena.