"Dammit... what kind of bullshit teacher is this..."
Lan Xuanyu cursed bitterly in his heart as he limped around Shrek Plaza.
Relying on a Tang Sect quota, he had finally managed to enter Shrek Academy and was lucky enough to encounter his aunt, Tang Wutong, who currently went by the name Wang Dong.
He had wondered at first why he hadn't met his uncle-in-law, Huo Yuhao, but figured his own rebirth and soul-travel might have caused shifts in history. It wouldn't be too late to pull Huo Yuhao into the Tang Sect once they eventually met.
He had originally wanted to enjoy a rare period of student life—after all, in his previous life, he spent most of his time cross-dressing to carry out infiltration missions on Celestial Dragon Planet. He never expected this old woman named Zhou Yi to start the class by cussing them out, calling them trash and waste. Before they could even protest, the old woman Zhou ordered anyone who had been in a fight over the past few days to stand up.
Naturally, no one wanted to jump into that line of fire. To his surprise, the old woman directly called out Wang Dong for fighting, then labeled the rest of them a bunch of mediocre cowards who were afraid to cause trouble. She forced everyone down to Shrek Plaza to run—one hundred laps within an hour, a task even he, an injured student, had to complete.
Of course, Wang Dong, having fought, had to run one hundred and fifty laps... because in Teacher Zhou's eyes, he wasn't "mediocre."
His leg had been pierced by a Man-Faced Demon Spider back in the Star Constellation Great Forest and hadn't fully healed. He had applied for an exemption, but he didn't expect Zhou Yi to snap back with:
"On the battlefield, will the enemy stop trying to kill you just because you're injured?"
Lan Xuanyu had no choice but to follow the main group in running laps around Shrek Plaza.
Mhm... while the logic holds up, any commander with actual combat experience knows to place the wounded in a relatively safe area. They're already hurt; are you really going to make them run on a battlefield?
One could only say that those who have never fought a war tend to take such things for granted.
The pain radiating from his leg during the run made it nearly impossible for Lan Xuanyu to persist. Several times he wanted to ask for a break, but the old woman Zhou flatly refused. This made Lan Xuanyu gnash his teeth in hatred, internally declaring that this woman—just like the fake dragons on Celestial Dragon Planet—had "found a path to her own death!"
Just then...
A figure darted out from the pack on Shrek Plaza and slowed down behind Lan Xuanyu. Immediately, a pair of blue butterfly wings snapped open, and the figure embraced Lan Xuanyu from behind.
"Ah!"
Those wings were simply too beautiful. The colors and patterns were a vibrant violet-blue; the entire wing surface looked like a blue sky inlaid with a string of brilliant halos—sometimes deep blue, sometimes azure, sometimes pale blue. The white patterns on the wings looked like embedded jewels, shimmering with an enchanting radiance.
The sudden appearance of such magnificent wings was incredibly shocking. Almost every student, male and female alike, let out a cry of surprise.
Lan Xuanyu was also startled and instinctively looked back, coming face-to-face with Wang Dong.
"Circulate your Soul Power to make your body lighter," Wang Dong said, flapping those dazzling wings to suddenly accelerate, carrying Lan Xuanyu into a high-speed glide around Shrek Plaza.
"Oh, right."
Don't be fooled by how Wang Dong had been pummeled senseless by Huo Yuhao's bare hands the other day; this Radiant Butterfly Goddess Martial Soul—regardless of where it came from—was a top-tier Martial Soul in every sense of the word. Even if it wasn't quite on par with the Tang family's hereditary Blue Silver Grass, it wouldn't lose to the power-type Clear Sky Hammer, and it could even fly.
At the very least, among this year's freshmen, Wang Dong's strength was among the best. Carrying Lan Xuanyu was no problem at all.
Lan Xuanyu was stunned. It wasn't his first time seeing the Radiant Butterfly Goddess Martial Soul; his sister Dai Ying had it too, but he hadn't felt much of anything back then.
But now, he realized that this Martial Soul was actually so beautiful...
Previously, he had always felt his aunt, Tang Wutong, was just a "vase" character—not to say she was useless in the Tang family, but she was just someone nice to look at who lacked practical utility.
Even saying she was "nice to look at" was a stretch in his mind; Xiuxiu and his mother Gu Yuena were both much prettier than her.
But now... looking at Wang Dong's exquisite profile, Lan Xuanyu's heart, which was supposedly filled to the brim with Bai Xiuxiu, felt a slight, faint tug.
Maybe... she isn't entirely useless...
[Tang San: Plan proceeding as intended...]
With his aunt carrying him, Lan Xuanyu finally didn't have to endure the leg pain anymore, completing the one hundred laps before Zhou Yi's deadline.
After expelling several disobedient students, having achieved her goal of establishing authority, Zhou Yi gave them time to change clothes and then began her first lecture.
"Alright, now that everyone is here, we will officially begin the lesson."
She turned around and, under everyone's gaze, wrote two words on the blackboard: Attack and Defense.
"Today, we are going to discuss the simplest concept between Soul Masters: Attack and Defense."
As she spoke, Zhou Yi's gaze landed on Lan Xuanyu, and she asked point-blank:
"Lan Xuanyu, answer my question. There are various systems among Soul Masters: Agility, Power, Defense, Control, and so on. Tell me, among these systems, who is more inclined toward attacking, and who is more toward defense or support?"
Lan Xuanyu, called by name, froze for a second before revealing a confident smile. How could such a childish question stump him, a man whose perspective and knowledge came from twenty thousand years in the future?
Lan Xuanyu stood up and answered with full confidence: "If a Soul Master's Martial Soul and bloodline power are strong enough, then regardless of systens—whether attack or support—he can do it all alone!"
Just like himself, who possessed the Dragon God bloodline!
When he was still weak, he could use Gold-Patterned Blue Silver Grass and Silver-Patterned Blue Silver Grass to support his companions and help them grow stronger—acting as a Support-type.
But after he became powerful, the peerless combat strength brought by the Dragon God bloodline made him the undisputed strongest among the God Kings in both attack and defense!
"..."
There was no applause as he imagined. Instead, he was met by the entire class—including Wang Dong—looking at him like he was an idiot.
Zhou Yi's lip twitched. She raised a hand, using a burst of Soul Power to force him back into his seat: "I really wonder how you were specially recruited. What kind of nonsense is that? Sit down and listen properly; stop daydreaming!"
Then Zhou Yi turned back and wrote three words on the blackboard: Soul Tool.
"In this era of the rapid development of soul tool technology, the concepts of attack and defense have become blurred. Even a Support-type Soul Master using a powerful Soul Tool can unleash immense destructive power..."
Ah...
Lan Xuanyu then realized that Soul Masters in his era all possessed Battle Armor. Even for a powerful Soul Grandmaster, soul tool technology was merely the "icing on the cake" and didn't completely blur the distinction between Power-type and Defense-type experts.
On the contrary, bloodline power remained the most critical factor even twenty thousand years later. This was because bloodline essentially determined a Soul Master's future development; those with Divine-level bloodline inheritance from their ancestors naturally cultivated much faster.
My mistake... why am I talking about bloodline power to these people who are basically cavemen...
However, Lan Xuanyu wasn't averse to soul tool technology. After all, he owned the most powerful [Di Tian-class] Space Battleship.
That was a level of firepower capable of obliterating a planet with a single shot... In this era, he might as well let Di Tian continue being a battleship.