All the students in the class turned their gazes toward Liu Yuan.
Shocked discussions immediately broke out.
"A... a Fifth-rank Soul Engineer? Did I hear wrong, or did Ke Ke miscount?"
"My god! How is that possible!"
"Liu Yuan only started formally learning spirit tool production last semester, right? I remember it clearly!"
One student's voice was trembling.
"That's right! One semester, plus one break!"
"From a complete layman to a Fifth-rank Soul Engineer?"
"What kind of divine speed is this!"
Why were these students so shocked?
Because they were at the Sun Moon Royal Academy, they knew better than anyone just how difficult it was to become a Fifth-rank Soul Engineer!
It didn't just require extraordinary talent.
It also required a massive amount of time to study theory.
In their Sun Moon Royal Academy, world-renowned for spirit tools, those who could reach the level of a Fifth-rank Soul Engineer were as rare as phoenix feathers and unicorn horns.
In fact, many seniors in the fifth or sixth year who were about to graduate had spent their entire time at the academy just to reach the level of a Fourth-Rank Soul Engineer, which was already considered quite a good achievement.
But what about Liu Yuan?
How long had he been at the academy?
One semester! One break!
And he's already a Fifth-rank Soul Engineer?!
For a moment, envy, jealousy, shock, incomprehension, and disbelief...
All sorts of complex emotions intertwined in everyone's hearts.
Amidst the turbulent gazes of the crowd, Xiao Hongchen, who was sitting next to Liu Yuan, gently nudged him with his elbow.
With a complex smile that was part helpless and part proud, he lowered his voice and said in a teasing tone:
"Brother Liu Yuan, not bad. First day of the new semester and you've already managed to pull off such a big flex."
Hearing this, and feeling the gazes around him that were almost enough to pierce through him, Liu Yuan spread his hands innocently, wearing an expression that said 'I didn't want this either'.
"I didn't want to either."
This peak 'Humble-brag' expression made the surrounding students' teeth itch with irritation.
Just then, Ju Zi took a deep breath, forcing down the shock in her heart.
She wasn't buying Liu Yuan's act. She grabbed his arm and pulled him in front of her.
Those large, bright eyes stared intently at him as she pressed:
"Don't change the subject! Come clean! You still haven't said how exactly you improved so much?"
Yes! How exactly did he improve?
This question instantly captured everyone's attention.
The chatter in the entire classroom died down.
Everyone pricked up their ears and held their breath, wanting to hear what exclusive cultivation secrets this monster had.
Looking at Ju Zi and the thirsty, almost hungry eyes of everyone around him, Liu Yuan thought seriously for a moment.
Then, in a very sincere tone that lacked any hint of boasting, he said:
"Well... I was just practicing, and the feeling came, and then... I had a Breakthrough."
As soon as these words were spoken, the entire room went dead silent.
Time seemed to freeze at this moment.
A few seconds later, the expressions on the faces of Ju Zi, Ke Ke, and all the other students in the class froze.
Immediately following that, the corners of everyone's mouths began to twitch involuntarily.
One by one, they ground their teeth in anger; some even clenched their fists until they cracked.
Someone squeezed a sentence through their teeth that instantly ignited everyone's emotions.
"Are those even human words?!"
What he said was no different from saying nothing at all!
What do you mean 'the feeling came while practicing' and then you broke through?
Which one of us doesn't practice every day? Why don't we feel it? Why don't we break through!
A sense of powerlessness and frustration brought about by the 'massive gap between humans' hung over everyone's hearts like a heavy dark cloud.
Just as the class atmosphere was about to turn from shock to 'public outrage'...
"Ahem."
A familiar, slightly majestic cough sounded clearly from the classroom door.
Everyone looked toward the sound.
They saw their professional course teacher, Mr. Xuan, standing there with a calm face, his gaze scanning the chaos in the classroom.
"The teacher is here!"
The chaotic and restless atmosphere in the class was instantly cleared, as if a bucket of cold water had been poured over it.
All the students, including Ju Zi and Ke Ke, were like mice seeing a cat, scrambling back to their seats at their fastest possible speed.
Each one sat up straight with their backs tall.
Within three seconds, the entire classroom went from a noisy wet market to being so silent that one could hear a pin drop.
Mr. Xuan walked slowly up to the podium.
His gaze also lingered briefly on Liu Yuan.
When he saw the brand-new and dazzling Fifth-rank Soul Engineer badge on Liu Yuan's chest, even though he had already received word from Dean Jing Hongchen, a deep sense of emotion and gratification still flashed in his eyes when he saw it in person.
Mr. Xuan sighed inwardly.
This kid... is truly an out-and-out monster.
But his face remained impassive, maintaining his dignity as a teacher.
He placed his lesson plan heavily on the podium with a soft 'thwack', firmly drawing everyone's attention.
After a few simple opening remarks, Mr. Xuan got straight to the point.
His voice wasn't loud, but it reached everyone's ears clearly, carrying an unquestionable seriousness.
"Students, I have gathered you all here today to announce a very important matter."
"According to a unanimous decision by the academy's upper management, starting today, we will suspend all regular theoretical and practical courses."
"Instead, we will hold an internal academy tournament covering all years and departments!"
As his voice fell, there was an immediate uproar below, with everyone showing expressions of surprise.
Mr. Xuan raised his hand to signal for silence.
Then he continued in his magnetic voice, explaining in detail:
"I'm sure everyone is curious why such a large-scale competition is suddenly being held."
"There are two purposes for this competition."
"First, it is to select the most outstanding and top-tier students of our academy to form the official representative team of the Sun Moon Royal Academy to participate in the upcoming All-Continent High-Rank Soul Master Academy Soul Dueling Tournament!"
"Second, it is also to check if anyone has slacked off in their cultivation over the past break and how much their strength has improved."
"As for the rules, to ensure absolute fairness and justice, we will use the most direct method that best reflects individual strength: one-on-one arena elimination matches."
"Selection will begin within each class."
"After the class winners are decided, there will be inter-year matches."
"Finally, the top experts from each year will gather for the final ranking competition to determine the members of our Sun Moon Royal Academy's strongest battle team and represent the academy in the tournament!"
After listening to Mr. Xuan's detailed explanation, the students all came to a sudden realization and finally understood what was going on.
So it was to select members for the All-Continent Soul Master Tournament!
For a moment, everyone's breathing became a bit rapid.
Especially those students who considered themselves quite capable; the fires of 'ambition' and 'desire' instantly burned in their eyes.
But soon, some more level-headed students, after their brief excitement, voiced their own feelings and doubts:
"Is it necessary to make it so complicated? And... making us lower-year students fight against those seniors who have already been Cultivating for five or six years, how could we possibly win?"
This question voiced the thoughts of many people present, and quite a few nodded in agreement.
However, as soon as he finished speaking...
Another student nearby quickly spoke up to refute him:
"That's not necessarily true!"
"People like Xiao Hongchen, Meng Hongchen, and Liu Yuan—their strength can no longer be measured by their grade level."
"Even those high-and-mighty senior students, if it really comes down to a fight, there are probably very few who could actually win against them, right?"
"Maybe they'll be able to represent us and achieve a result beyond our wildest dreams!"
As soon as these words came out, the student who had asked the question was suddenly enlightened.
"Oh right! How could I have forgotten about them!"
The other students also reacted one after another, nodding in agreement.
Xiao Hongchen, Meng Hongchen, and Liu Yuan were indeed all very strong.
Especially Liu Yuan; his strength was even a notch higher than Xiao Hongchen and Meng Hongchen.
If it were him, with a bit of luck, maybe he could even make the top three in the entire academy?
Although it sounded a bit like a dream, it felt like there might just be a chance...
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