"Now that things have come to this, do we really still have a chance to beat Teacher Huo Dong?"
Although they have a theory exam early tomorrow morning, the four top students, who had thoroughly studied six sets of "Soul Master Must-Do Questions," eight books of "Five Years Three Rings," and ten volumes of "Soul Exam Papers" before entering school, are sitting on the rooftop railing where Huo Dong was last time. They all agree that instead of focusing on the short-sighted exam, they should discuss the long-term future.
Okay, to put it bluntly, I've lost all motivation to study. In fact, anyone who can remain calm when faced with four 100,000-year spirit rings appearing together is probably capable of succeeding at anything.
“It feels like something from a very distant time.” Cao Dezhi, the last person to see Huo Dong, answered the question after briefly explaining the situation to the other three. “Actually, normally speaking, as the teacher himself said, everyone has their own secrets, and we shouldn’t and don’t need to pry into things he doesn’t want to explain. But,” he lowered his eyes, his tone becoming more somber.
“The teacher is just damn charismatic,” Zang Xin interjected. He glanced around at the others, saw the Leng sisters nodding vigorously, and, after confirming that Cao Dezhi didn’t intend to punch him out of sheer exasperation, continued, “That’s normal, really. Imagine having a powerful and handsome senior constantly in front of you; how many people could resist the urge to learn more about him? This yearning for the strong is heartfelt; every ambitious Soul Master has this mentality to some extent.”
“That’s true,” Leng Yulai added, raising her hand. “Although our current behavior is a bizarre illusion of excessive idol worship, I’m sure that everyone in the entire grade who knows Teacher Huo Dong is interested in him. As far as I know, at least six teachers have tried to contact him without success.”
“I can’t describe it,” Cao Dezhi sighed softly, “but it’s not too different from the feeling Zang Xin described. So it’s not a waste of time to read those novels that you regard as the swordsmanship of passion.”
“Besides,” he turned his head away, a rare hint of sentimentality in his expression, “it’s just a personal feeling.”
"He probably genuinely wants to be a teacher."
No one answered. The rooftop fell silent, save for the artificial soul-guided satellite that flickered in the darkness as time passed. After a while, the weary evening breeze whistled through the school building's windows, accompanied by the distant cawing of crows, like the very breath of this ancient school.
After an unknown amount of time, someone jumped down from the railing first. It was Leng Yaozhu. Although it was pitch black, the other three saw a bright light shining from the depths of her eyes—
“Let’s wait until we’ve all become adults who can’t be easily defeated before we go and ask him together,” Little Phoenix said proudly. “Let’s make it clear first, you’re not allowed to give up halfway. Teacher Huo Dong said that we can all beat him up together.”
"Extremely willing." Zang Xin grinned and jumped off the railing.
"Then it's a date." Cao Dezhi revealed an unseen smile under the cover of night.
"Let's set a short-term goal," Leng Yulai said, hugging her sister. "How about..."
"Marching into the Shrek Seven Devils?"
"Your students talk about you nine times out of ten." The one who came to chat with Huo Yuhao today was Bingdi, who had been busy at the Soul Fighting Hall recently. She and the person at the center of the conversation were sitting on an ancient tree not far from the top floor of the teaching building, having witnessed everything that had just happened. This teacher, who had to find a different spot because her usual spot had been taken, was both touched and embarrassed by the students' actions.
I was moved because there are actually people who strive for self-improvement these days; I was embarrassed because I heard the comment, "The teacher is damn charming," and Hyotei laughed at him for at least five minutes.
"It's good to see them so energetic, but let's get back to the main topic, Bingdi." Huo Yuhao sighed and rubbed his forehead, feeling that he still couldn't keep up with the younger generation's thought process in some ways. "If, as you say, the Tang Sect hasn't had any fundamental problems in the past ten thousand years, then,"
"It's now completely certain that, just as Mo Fang said, the root of the problem lies in that so-called ancient family within the Spirit Pagoda."
"So, Yuhao, what are your plans?" When it came to serious matters, Bingdi immediately adopted a posture as if she wanted to kill the entire Spirit Pagoda family. "Those trash have ruined the bond between humans and soul beasts that you worked so hard to build. Soul beasts have almost no space to survive anymore."
"Don't you think there's something fishy about the Soul Beasts' side besides their reasons?" Huo Yuhao suddenly asked.
"What do you mean?" Bingdi raised an eyebrow.
"From the perspective of biological evolution, humans are undoubtedly getting stronger. They evolved from being hunted by spirit beasts to using their martial spirits to protect themselves, and then to hunting spirit beasts to improve themselves."
"The emergence and development of soul tools has further accelerated this process."
“But soul beasts have accumulated power from the ancient times. Of the ten great ferocious beasts, four of them followed me,” he scratched his head, “but Di Tian’s strength is still undoubtedly the strongest on the continent. With him in charge, the Star Dou Great Forest could never have become the caged oasis of the Spirit Pagoda.”
“If he had even tried to stop us, the Spirit Pagoda wouldn’t have become so rampant. Besides, I shared my Soul Spirit technology with him ten thousand years ago. Because of this, I’ve suspected from the beginning that Di Tian didn’t actually put up any resistance.”
"This isn't the Beast God Di Tian I know." He stared into the Ice Emperor's golden pupils and said, word by word.
"So, I went to find him."