Book 2: Academy of Monsters

Chapter 11.2: The Weakest Class Monitor

When Wang Dong lapped Huo Yuhao once again, every step he took was taken with great difficulty. However, to his astonishment, he saw that Huo Yuhao’s eyes were lightly shut; they were only open enough to expose a small crack that faintly exuded a golden light. His steps were taken very slowly compared to Wang Dong’s, but he was still advancing steadily. Many of the students who had higher cultivation levels than him had already collapsed, but he was still bitterly persevering. He even left a trail of sweat with every step he took.

“If you can’t do it, don’t force yourself.” Wang Dong spoke in a low voice before continuing onwards. The number of laps that he’d run so far exceeded everyone else by a large margin. However, the his body was reaching its limit.

Another hour passed, with the time left until the bell rang getting closer and closer. There were only nine students left that were still running around Shrek Plaza. However, the person who’d been considered the ‘bottom cushion’ from the start, Huo Yuhao, was one of them.

Zhou Yi had been paying attention to Huo Yuhao the entire time. She’d already been astonished when only two hours had passed. Based on Huo Yuhao’s physical strength and soulforce, he should’ve reached his limit at two hours, no matter what the circumstances. However, he’d still managed to persevere. Although running at a constant speed did give some small benefits, his cultivation and physical condition were both right there!

Could a person’s willpower really be strong to this extent? Furthermore, he was still so young.

“Putong, putong…” Two more students collapsed, and when they did, they created a domino effect. A few students collapsed in succession following the duo, one of them just happening to bump into Wang Dong, who was next to him.

Wang Dong stumbled, his already aching legs unable to persist any longer. As he fell down, his thoughts about persevering also collapsed. However, he’d run the greatest number of laps within the class; there was no one left who could exceed the number of laps that he’d run.

There were still three people that were still running, one of which was Huo Yuhao.

After five minutes, the other two students also collapsed. The last person still running was actually Huo Yuhao, the weakest person of Class 1. Although his steps were weak, and his running speed wasn’t that quick, he’d still managed to persevere, even when everyone else had collapsed. This caused astonishment to appear on many students faces when they looked at him.

It was true that Huo Yuhao had already reached his limit, and it was also true that the warm feeling caused by the Mysterious Heaven Technique could nourish his body and relieve his weariness to a certain extent. However, in the end, it didn’t make him stronger!

He’d reached his limit again and again, but had clenched his teeth and endured it every single time. Huo Yuhao understood that he was the weakest amongst the students of 1, so he had to commit 200%, or even 300% of their hard work if he wanted to remain at Shrek Academy. And at this moment, tempering his body by reaching his limits could both help widen his passageways, and increase his soulforce. No matter what, he did his best to persist for every single moment.

Persevere...persevere! Huo Yuhao inwardly shouted to himself nonstop. At that moment, he didn’t even any soulforce left that he could pour into his Spirit Eyes to stimulate himself and sober up his mind.

Gradually, he himself began to sound out the ‘chant’ that he was using to support himself.

“Mother, mother….” This was all for the sake of his mother’s last wishes; for the sake of being able to retrieve his mother’s remains from that place one day... for the sake of washing away his mother’s humiliation and avenging her... no matter what, he had to persevere.

“Thud, thud...” Huo Yuhao’s footsteps were extremely heavy. His legs and body were trembling uncontrollably. However, he didn’t fall down. Under such difficult conditions, he still repeated the machine-like motions of raising his leg, putting it down, raising it back up, and putting it back down once again.

The disdainful look that the students, who’d now fallen, had been looking at him with gradually disappeared. The power that a role model provided was mighty. They started to pull themselves back up, one by one, before blankly staring at Huo Yuhao’s figure as he persevered.

After being stunned for a brief moment, Wang Dong was the first to continue running after Huo Yuhao. However, he didn’t overtake him this time around.

With Wang Dong leading, a second, and then a third person gradually began to start following him. Gradually, all of the students from Class 1 clenched their teeth and raised their legs—which were already stiff to the point that they felt dead—to continue running.

Zhou Yi was moved. Of all the time she’d been teaching, it was extremely rare that she’d be moved by the performances of her students. However this time, she’d truly been moved. This was because of Huo Yuhao, and in turn was also because of the ninety students who’d climbed back up to follow him. This was no longer a simple exercise that could temper their bodies—this was a tempering of their minds! Zhou Yi could visibly see their determination within their exhausted facial expressions.

The results of this class were far, far greater than what she’d imagined.

“Ding ring ring—”

The bell that signalled the end of the class finally rang.

Hua la, hua la. It was truly the collapse of a row of dominoes this time. The ear-piercing bell instantly caused a large number of people to collapse.

The sounds of collision caused by their chainmail and the ground caused a series of sounds to echo out, and knocked a cloud of dust into the air.

Huo Yuhao, who’d been at the very front, finally collapsed. The bell caused him to finally let go of all of the stubborness and perseverance within his heart. However, he didn’t fall directly to the ground. As he fell, Wang Dong, who was right behind him, caught him by his chainmail. As soon as he did, the two of them rolled to the ground together. The two simultaneously gasped for air together.

As he looked towards the sky, Huo Yuhao’s vision turned dark for a period of time. However, the passageways within his body had become comfortably warm, and felt indescribably comfortable. The soulforce within his body had been exhausted, and his physical strength had already been overdrawn way before that. And yet, his passageways still made him feel very comfortable. He had the premonition that, in all aspects, his cultivation would have a large improvement after this.

Wang Dong lay beside Huo Yuhao. Both his cultivation and the condition of his body were much stronger than Huo Yuhao’s, so even though he was extremely exhausted, he wasn’t like Huo Yuhao, who couldn’t budge at all.

“I really don’t know what power made it so that you could endure all the way until now. You’re a Soul Master with only a ten year soul ring, but you were able to persevere longer than a Soul Grandmaster like me. You’re truly a freak.”

Huo Yuhao chuckled twice. He didn’t even have the energy to speak anymore.

Zhou Yi slowly took a deep breath, then beckoned towards the distance. A white-clothed male arrived as if he was floating on air. He arrived by Zhou Yi’s side with what seemed to be a few light steps. After nodding towards her, he turned towards the students.

His dazzling soul rings rose up from his feet one by one. There were two yellow ones, two purple ones, and three black ones. He actually had seven soul rings.

Soul Sage! This was actually a Soul Sage-ranked expert, who was above the seventieth rank! He was already approaching the peak of soul masters! Furthermore, he only looked to be around thirty years old. Only, the vicissitudes visible within his eyes didn’t match his youthful outer appearance.

He raised his hands, and a gentle shade of green—a leaf—suddenly began to grow from his palms. His seventh soul ring flashed brightly as it revolved around him, but the students were only able to see his body flash once before it unexpectedly disappeared. The green leaf grew wildly, and in the blink of an eye, the leaf unexpectedly turned into an enormous tree that was extremely tall.

A cool breeze seemed to blow past them. Then, dark green leaves began to fly out from the enormous canopy of the enormous tree. Exactly ninety-one leaves landed lightly on the bodies of the students from Class 1; not one more, and not one less.