"Hold on, this isn't fair!"
"Facing challenges from all students in the same grade across the entire school! Doesn't that mean we'll have to go through dozens, even hundreds, of duels?"
"How can our spirit power and bodies possibly endure? If some weakling defeats us when our spirit power and stamina are depleted, they could also be promoted to class A!"
As Wang Zhong and Xie Yue discussed the competition details, Yan cried out in protest.
"A Soul Douluo-level support-recovery expert, and a Soul Douluo-level support-healing expert will be on standby around the clock to replenish your spirit power consumption and treat your injuries. Tell me, will there be a situation where your spirit power and stamina reach their limit?"
Wang Zhong patted Yan's shoulder with a look of disdain. *Young man, you're still too naive.*
Since this competition rule was established, every aspect was naturally considered.
Yan opened his mouth, his eyes wide, stammering for a moment before spitting out, "What about mental energy! Spirit skills! We'll fight so many matches, and our spirit skills will be figured out by others. The further we go, won't they have more of an advantage?"
Wang Zhong pretended to sigh and patted Yan's head, lamenting, "If you can't even withstand this mental fatigue, how do you expect to stay in class A?"
"Without an endless supply of trump cards, don't you feel like sitting in a class A seat is like sitting on a hot stove?"
"Oh, you have a fire-attribute spirit, so it probably wouldn't be hot!"
"Ha, ha, ha!"
"Ha, ha, ha!"
Wang Zhong's playful banter caused Hu Liena and Xie Yue, who had been looking very serious, to burst into laughter, significantly dissipating the tense atmosphere.
"Wang Zhong, you scoundrel! You're making fun of me again!" Yan jumped up in anger.
"Alright, alright, I won't say anything more." Wang Zhong shrugged indifferently.
"Everyone should go back and cultivate as soon as possible. Regardless of anything else, at least before the grand competition, you must obtain your own first spirit ring. That will be much more secure."
"Nana and Xie Yue are both naturally level nine. There's no need to worry about them. However, Yan, you're naturally level eight. Don't you need to work harder? Otherwise, I worry I won't see you in class in the second half of the semester!"
Yan trembled and pointed at Wang Zhong, his small face turning as red as his hair, and angrily declared, "Wang Zhong, don't think you're so great just because you have innate full spirit power. I will definitely surpass you in the future."
"Is that so? Then I'll be waiting! But let's see about the future when it comes. Can you first make up the two-level gap?"
Faced with Wang Zhong's teasing, Yan jumped up and down in anger, glared fiercely at him, and then scampered towards the dormitory.
Yan swore in his heart that he would break through to level ten and become a Spirit Master as quickly as possible.
"You, why can't you just say things nicely? You have to provoke him like this." Hu Liena chided Wang Zhong with a playful scold.
Wang Zhong held his notes, reading as he lightly scoffed, "Yan is like a stubborn donkey. You can't pull him along, but you can push him forward. If you don't stimulate him a bit, how will he put his heart into cultivating?"
"However, Wang Zhong, the problem Yan mentioned is indeed a big trouble for us!" Xie Yue frowned beside them. Having one's spirit skills deciphered could cause even a Titled Douluo to suffer greatly, let alone them.
"That's simple. Just don't fight so many matches!" Wang Zhong said without looking up from his book.
"But that's not up to us to decide!" Hu Liena exclaimed in surprise at Wang Zhong's casual remark.
"No, we can decide!"
"As long as we strike the challengers with a heavy hand at the start of the first match, and use bloody reality and absolute strength to tell everyone that the position in class A must be paid for with a blood price."
"This will allow us to reduce a lot of unnecessary consumption!"
At this point, Wang Zhong's gaze finally left the book. The coldness and determination in his eyes startled Xie Yue and Hu Liena.
"Zhong!" Hu Liena worriedly held Wang Zhong's hand, even using the intimate nickname she rarely used.
Smiling at the two of them, Wang Zhong said coldly, "We all came from the orphanage. All of this now was something we didn't even dare to dream of before."
"Now we have it, we enjoy it, and we can continue to do so. Why should we give it up so easily? You think you can take all of this away from me with just one match? It's laughable!"
"You're right. This kind of life is truly addictive. Who could bear to let it go?"
Delicious, luxurious food, clean and tidy clothes, a comfortable warm bed, and rooms as opulent as palaces – every aspect deeply tugged at their hearts.
Xie Yue closed his eyes slightly, recalling the heavenly days of the past few days, and his fists involuntarily clenched.
"Nana, let's go back and cultivate too."
"Wang Zhong is right. If we don't work hard, all of this will no longer belong to us."
Gently returning Hu Liena's small hand squeeze, Wang Zhong smiled and said, "Cultivate well, and do your best! In the second half of the year, we'll still be in the same class!"
"Mhm." Hu Liena solemnly nodded and turned to follow Xie Yue towards the dormitory.
After a long while, when their figures were no longer visible, Wang Zhong looked up at the white clouds drifting in the sky and muttered to himself.
"Eight Gates Dun Jia! Ba Ji Tian! These two so-called self-created spirit skills have extremely demanding requirements for physical quality."
"When I obtained that sphere of light called the system, although I slept for seven days, having these two spirit skills as an unexpected gain was quite worthwhile."
"Before, under the system's coercion, all I felt was pain and exhaustion during training."
"But since coming to the Spirit Hall Academy, when various precious medicinal herbs and foods that replenish bodily functions were consumed together, my body felt like a starving wolf that had found food, and I actually felt a sense of exhilaration."
"In subsequent training, that pain and fatigue surprisingly dissipated by more than half!"
Looking at the rough calluses and healed cracks on his palm, Wang Zhong's gaze became incredibly firm.
"This visible growth makes me unable to give up my position in class A, no matter what."
"Nana, I swore in my heart that I would protect you no matter what, just as you bravely stood before the wolves to protect me in the past, without fear of death."
"If Titled Douluo can die, then become even stronger than a Titled Douluo!"
"Screech… screech… hiss… hiss…"
"System… System… Mission… "
"Mission… Malfunction, malfunction… Failure… failure…"
"Function… Function… Damaged… Severely, repair… repair…"
"Zzz, zzz, zzz…"
The ear-piercing static in his mind caused Wang Zhong to cover his head in frustration.
Periodically, this so-called system would inexplicably say things he didn't understand.
Apart from the initial sentence, "Daily diligent practice of two cultivation methods must reach the physical limit, otherwise, current punishment," Wang Zhong had never clearly heard any complete sentence from it.
"Even though it can't speak clearly, why is it able to precisely punish me every time I slack off?"
"It can't even let me reveal its existence to others. Either it becomes mute, or it says irrelevant things."
"Last time I wanted to tell Nana about the system, what came out of my mouth was, uh…"
"I like you so much, will you marry me when you grow up!"
"Ugh, ah!"
Recalling what happened before, Wang Zhong's scalp tingled, and his body involuntarily shivered.
After he said those words, he himself was stunned, and Hu Liena's face turned crimson with embarrassment. She didn't speak to him for several days afterward.
Since then, Wang Zhong had never dared to mention the system to anyone.
"You little fellow, so you were here."
A thin, ordinary-looking man, impeccably dressed, approached Wang Zhong and spoke.
"Teacher! You were looking for me?"
The moment Wang Zhong saw him, he quickly got up.
This person was the homeroom teacher of the first-year class A, Ying Yanyang, with the spirit Fiery Divine Eagle, a level seventy-four Attack-type Battle Soul Sage.
"Not exactly looking for you. Since I've run into you, come with me."
"It's taken this long; you should have obtained your first spirit ring by now."
Wang Zhong's eyes suddenly became extremely excited.
It's finally here, my first spirit ring!