Chapter 7 Zhou Yi can't really fire them, can she?
The underworld is in an uproar.
If Zhou Yi's previous actions were merely considered as displaying low moral character...
Her remarks completely shattered the moral bottom line of ordinary people and normal Soul Masters across the continent.
"This is insane! Absolutely insane!"
On the busiest street in Xingluo City, an old man with white hair and beard pointed at the sky, trembling with anger.
"What kind of teaching philosophy is this? Does not causing trouble mean being mediocre? According to her, being law-abiding, gentle, kind, and frugal becomes a crime?"
"Following this logic, wouldn't anyone who causes the most trouble be a genius?"
A young Soul Master standing nearby also looked on incredulously.
"Wouldn't those evil spirit masters who are universally hated on the mainland be the perfect source of students for Shrek Academy?"
"After all, when it comes to causing trouble, who can compare to them? Slaughtering a village and destroying a town, that's 'causing big trouble'!"
"Exactly! This is practically breeding thugs! Breeding criminals!"
In the square of Tiandou City, a mother tightly covered her child's eyes, fearing that her child would be led astray by such distorted values.
"If we send our child to a place like this, and he grows up to be a bully who only causes trouble and bullies the weak, wouldn't we, as parents, regret it to death?"
"This Shrek Academy is nothing but a name! A place with such warped values doesn't deserve to be called the number one academy on the continent!"
On the Douluo Continent, the outcry against Zhou Yi and Shrek Academy grew louder and louder.
People cannot understand why a place that teaches and nurtures would openly promote such "anti-social" values.
The fighters who made the mistake were not only not punished, but were instead praised;
Meanwhile, those good students who follow the rules and behave themselves are called "useless" and "trash," and even face the threat of being expelled!
This practice of unclear rewards and punishments and the reversal of right and wrong sent a chill down everyone's spine.
However, in this dog-eat-dog world, there are always some people who are blinded by power.
Even in the face of such an obvious mistake, there is still a small group of Shrek's "sycophants" who are frantically trying to whitewash it.
"You people are just too old-fashioned!"
A nobleman in a magnificent robe sneered amidst the accusations of the crowd, "In the Douluo Continent, the strong are respected! This is an immutable truth! What morality? What values? In the face of absolute power, they are all bullshit!"
"Teacher Zhou Yi is right! She is teaching her students the rules of survival! Only those who dare to cause trouble and fight can survive in this cruel world and become true strongmen!"
"As long as we can raise a child to become a Title Douluo, what does it matter if he's a ruthless killer? As long as he's strong enough, people will naturally kneel at his feet and sing 'Conquer'! You weaklings are only fit to talk about morality here!"
While such extreme remarks have aroused widespread resentment, they do reflect the distorted reality in the minds of some people in the Douluo Continent.
...
The scene continues above the sky.
The atmosphere inside Class 1, the first-year students, was extremely tense.
Faced with Zhou Yi's unreasonable punishment order, the students who hadn't fought finally couldn't take it anymore.
"Teacher, I disagree!"
A tall, burly boy suddenly stood up, his eyes blazing with anger. "We didn't do anything wrong, so why are we being punished? Why are the people who fought getting away with it, while we, who followed the rules, have to run laps?"
"Exactly! This isn't fair!"
[With one person taking the lead, others followed suit. In no time, the classroom was filled with fervor, nearly a hundred students loudly protesting this unfair treatment.]
The audience in the dark world nodded in approval upon seeing this.
"That's right! When faced with unfair treatment, we must have the courage to resist!"
"These kids are great! We can't let this kind of freakish teacher get away with it!"
"Let's be reasonable. Schools are supposed to be places where reason prevails. I want to see how Zhou Yi will try to argue her way out of the face of so many students' reasonable questions."
However, what happened next stunned everyone once again.
Because Zhou Yi had no intention of reasoning with him.
Faced with the protests of the entire class, Zhou Yi showed no remorse whatsoever; instead, she wore a disdainful sneer.
"You disagree?"
["fair?"]
Zhou Yi's eyes suddenly sharpened as if she had heard the funniest joke.
[boom--!!!]
A terrifying aura erupted from her aged body! Six perfectly matched spirit rings suddenly rose, pulsating behind her and radiating a suffocating pressure!
[Six Rings, Soul Emperor!]
In this freshman class where most students only had one or two Soul Master cultivation levels, the pressure from a Soul Emperor was like a mountain, instantly making everyone breathless.
The students, who had been so agitated just moments before, instantly turned pale and their legs went weak under this terrifying pressure. All their protests fell silent, like ducks being choked.
"You're not convinced? What right do you have to be convinced?"
Zhou Yi, her body shimmering with spiritual light, walked step by step down from the podium, each step feeling like it was treading on the students' hearts. "Here, I am the teacher, I have absolute authority! My words are law!"
"Want to reason with me? Beat me first!"
"Now, you have one minute. Anyone who hasn't shown up on the playground by now is fired! Shrek Academy doesn't need disobedient good-for-nothings!"
This scene completely ignited the fury of the underworld.
"Holy crap! This...this is a teacher?"
"Using force when you can't reason with someone? Isn't that just being a thug?"
A parent who had still held onto a sliver of hope for Shrek was now utterly devastated.
"Faced with reasonable questions from students, instead of explaining or guiding them, they simply use their spirit rings to suppress them? Is this how the continent's top academy solves problems?"
"Isn't this blatant bullying of the weak?"
"If all teachers teach students like this, then when these children grow up, they certainly won't be reasonable when they encounter problems. They'll only think, 'Whoever has the bigger fist is right.' Isn't this just cultivating future bullies?"
"This is terrifying... This kind of education is simply destroying humanity!"
People are angry because they have seen the darkest side of education—the abuse of power and the worship of violence.
In Zhou Yi's classroom, there was no right or wrong, only power and obedience. Children raised in this environment either become subservient slaves or, like Zhou Yi, bullies who abuse their power.
There is absolutely no third possibility!
...
Shrek Academy, Outer Division.
At this moment, Zhou Yi looked at her domineering and unparalleled figure in the sky and the overwhelming insults from the audience in the dark world below. Her face was so gloomy that it was almost dripping water.
"A bunch of fools!"
She clenched her fists so tightly that her nails dug into her palms. "What do they know? In this world, without strength, there is no voice! How can I keep these troublemakers in check if I don't demonstrate my strength?"
"I'm doing this to make them face reality! Reality is just that cruel!"
Although she said that, Zhou Yi was actually a little flustered inside.
She discovered that not only were people outside the academy criticizing her, but even some teachers who usually had a good relationship with her were now looking at her strangely and distantly.
That look seemed to say: So this is the kind of person you are...
This made Zhou Yi, who always had a high opinion of herself, feel extremely uncomfortable.
...
The aerial view continues.
Under the absolute pressure of a Soul Emperor-level power, the new students were utterly despairing.
Although filled with resentment and unwillingness, faced with the threat of expulsion, they could only slink out of the classroom one by one, tears streaming down their faces, and rush towards the playground.
Huo Yuhao and Wang Dong initially thought they wouldn't have to run.
But Zhou Yi didn't have that thought. After praising them a few times, she simply said a few words:
"What? You think you can become heroes just by fighting? Although you fought bravely, since you're all part of the class, how can you just stand by and watch the whole class be punished?"
So, Huo Yuhao and Wang Dong exchanged a glance. Although somewhat helpless, they could only obediently follow the group to the training ground.
On the training ground, nearly a hundred trainees, clad in heavy iron suits, began running under the scorching sun.
The scorching sun was undoubtedly a tremendous torment for these teenagers.
Zhou Yi didn't go back to her office to rest; instead, she stood by the playground like a supervisor, coldly observing everything.
Every now and then, she would shout something like:
"Run faster! Haven't you eaten?"
"Anyone who dares to slack off will be fired!"
"Anyone who doesn't finish running these 100 laps before the bell rings is fired!"
After witnessing Zhou Yi's actions within the celestial canopy...
The ordinary people in the underworld, as always, felt extremely negative opinions about Zhou Yi's actions.
Many people couldn't help but start discussing and expressing their curiosity.
"Speaking of which... Zhou Yi is probably just trying to scare these children, right?"
Another middle-aged man asked, puzzled, "What do you mean?"
The murmurs rose again:
"Didn't she just say that if you don't run a hundred laps before get out of class ends, you'll be expelled?"
"Running a hundred laps around Shrek Academy is definitely not easy! Although the children who can study at Shrek Academy are all elites, not all Soul Masters can complete this task."
"The simplest example is those support-type Soul Masters or food-type Soul Masters. They are indeed very strong in terms of strength, but their physical bodies may not be strong. Their physique is average, so if you really make them run a hundred laps around Shrek Academy in such a short time, they probably really won't be able to finish."
"Too...."
"It's probably just to scare them. The students haven't broken any rules, so they can't just be expelled by Zhou Yi like this, can they?"
"Frankly speaking, the reasons given for punishing the children are utterly absurd..."
(End of chapter)