Chapter 45 – The Worst Class

The opening ceremony on Eastsea Academy’s huge plaza. It was only during this ceremony that both clusters of students from the Advanced Academy and Intermediate Academy met.

Being one of the tallest students there, Tang Wulin was positioned at the back. This gave him ample opportunity to observe the whole plaza, as well as all of the students within the academy.

At the intermediate academy, there were around a hundred students within each grade, totalling up to a rough figure of seven to eight hundred students in all. Compared with the intermediate academy, the group at the advanced academy was significantly smaller as there were close to two hundred students. Students in the advanced academy were divided into three grades. It was thus an arduous task to get into the advanced academy that only had a small succession rate of 20% of students coming from the Intermediate Academy.

“Good day students. We shall now begin the Eastsea Academy’s annually held opening ceremony. The President of Eastsea Academy has been invited to the ceremony and he will be making a speech shortly.”

Eastsea Academy’s President was a senior who looked to be about sixty years old. He had a medium build and didn’t look that exceptional. He gave off a bookish atmosphere with his head full of white hair and pair of eyeglasses.

“Welcome to the academy, students. Every single year at this time, I feel a bit sad that students from the intermediate and advanced divisions have graduated, and have left us. However, some of the intermediate students will enter the advanced academy in addition to our new students.”

“As I see it, academies are like the blood of society. It receives individuals into the academy and later delivers them into society. In the near future, I hope all of you can……”

The President was very eloquent in his speech. In fact, he didn’t even have a script to read off of. He spoke excellently for a full hour before he brought his speech to a close.

The pinnacle of the opening ceremony proceeded right after the President’s speech – class assignment.

Students who did not need a class assigned to them were slowly making their way out from the crowded plaza. Fresh faces from the advanced academy left towards their academy for their own class assignment. What was left within the plaza were the new students of the intermediate academy.

“We will proceed with the class assignment. It is known that within Eastsea Academy, the smaller the class number, the more prestigious class. Though that is a fact, we too hope for exceptions where students from the last class will work harder and perform better. We have a total of one hundred and eight new students today, divided up into five classes. The students whom I will call up next are in class one…”

Tang Wulin finally understood the implications of Long Hengxu’s words towards Xie Xie, Yun Xiao, and Zhou Zhangxi the day before, when they were sent to class five.

There were a total of five classes, and students with more ability were positioned at the front. That said, class five was positioned right at the back.

“Tang Wulin, Zhou Zhangxi, Xie Xie, Yun Xiao……” As expected, the four names were finally called when the announcer arrived at the list for class five.

There were twenty students within class five, and it was the smallest class of them all. Each and every one of them had a listless expression.

“Class teachers, please direct your students to their classes and help them familiarize themselves within the academy.”

Five teachers appeared before the crowd as the announcement ended. One of those five teachers headed towards the direction of class five.

This teacher looked to be about 27 or 28 years old. When the students of class five turned to look at him, they were all stunned.

This teacher was simply too handsome!

Although Tang Wulin and Xie Xie had exceptional looks, they were just kids. Thus, there was a possibility that they might change upon maturation. This teacher, however, stood at a staggering height of over 1.9 meters along with a pair of lanky arms and a thin waist. White trousers accentuated his long legs. Though he looked thin, the combination of that along with his brightly lit eyes, well-set nose, and thin lips gave off an image of height and intelligence. The mass of hair was swept to the back of his head. A random current of wind caught on his lake-blue tresses and rested them on his waistline, affirming the length of his hair.

His pupils were of a smoky green and the colour matched well with his blue hair, giving off a strange temperament. His face was expressionless, his gaze icy.

One of the girls in class five breathed out quietly, “The teacher is so handsome!” Unknown to the girl, she had voiced out the thought of all the students.

Xie Xie twitched his lips at the comment, though his facial expression showed indifference.

“Come with me!” This young teacher spoke simply. Though the words were simple, it left a certain chill among the students, right within their hearts. This feeling…

Yun Xiao whispered under his breath, “The teacher seems powerful.”

He seemed to be someone powerful indeed. His mere appearance in the plaza had inflicted frostiness onto others to such a great effect. This would not be possible if he were an ordinary person.

☀

The classroom for class five was located at ground level, positioned at the innermost area of the building and required much more walking to reach.

There were thirty sets of tables and chairs in the classroom. The teaching platform was positioned at the front of the classroom.

“Take your seats.” The youthful teacher said coldly. Every single time he spoke, it always gave off a feeling of iciness!

Tang Wulin picked a desk on the side after much consideration. His height would have obstructed the view of others if he sat in the middle of the current row, so he picked one on the side. This allowed him to be able to sit near the front and not obstruct his classmates.

There were no bearings of what Xie Xie had in mind, he simply picked a seat next to Tang Wulin. Simultaneously, Yun Xiao and Zhou Zhangxi dropped into the seats before and after him respectively. Thus, the four roommates were together again.

The youthful teacher walked to the platform after entering the classroom. As he turned and scanned through the faces of the students before him, the chatter stopped and the classroom regained its silence.

“My name is Wu Zhangkong!” The youthful teacher introduced himself plainly. “For the next six years, you will all be under my tutelage.”

“I would like to emphasize a point – you may disregard whatever Director Long Hengxu had mentioned at the ceremony. Even if you are a bunch of trash, I will train you into the strongest students within your cohort. That is unless you choose to drop out; otherwise, that shall be your aim for the next six years.”

While the words were full of arrogance, Wu Zhangkong spoke with a plain tone and it still attracted the attention of all the students within the class.

“You shall introduce yourselves – your name, martial soul, soul power rank, and your aspirations. Tell me all of it. You may begin!”

It was clear and simple, nothing overboard.

The area Tang Wulin and his roommates sat happened to be the side-most row of the room and Wu Zhangkong happened to be pointing towards their direction. And so, Yun Xiao broke the ice and started his introduction.

“Hello everyone, my name is Yun Xiao. My martial soul is an Astrolabe, and my soul power is at rank 12. My goal is to become an intelligence-support-type soul master.” Of course, since Yun Xiao was given the nickname of ‘Mastermind’ for his quick-mindedness, it was simply fitting for that to be his aspiration. He started and ended his introduction in a dignified manner, though there was a hint of trembling in his voice.

Tang Wulin was next in line, and so he stood up. Wu Zhangkong’s gaze rested on him. It was then that he understood the tremor in Yun Xiao’s voice. His gaze was sharp, to the point that it seemed to penetrate into a person’s essence.

“Tang Wulin, martial soul is Bluesilver grass, soul power is rank 11.  My aspiration is……” He halted when he was introducing his aspirations. “I don’t have one yet.”

“That’s a trash soul, no wonder you have no aspirations.” A comment escaped from the mass of students seated within the classroom.

Sou! A piece chalk flew precisely into the mouth of said student, like a guided missile being aimed at its target.

“Ou!” The chalk had some spiralling force as it went into the throat of the student. He started retching immediately.

Wu Zhangkong spoked ruthlessly, “There are no trash martial soul in this world. Rather, there are only trash people. Consider your own morals first before calling others trash. If you aren’t a piece of trash yourself, would you have landed in class five?”