It was painfully obvious that he and Tang San were being ostracized. Yu Xiaogang suddenly felt a pang of guilt, knowing they had entered Shrek Academy through unconventional means. That feeling quickly soured into resentment. It seemed that a rift had already formed between them and the rest of the academy's students and teachers.
A look of disdain crossed Yu Xiaogang's face as he comforted himself with a familiar thought. Only the weak need to huddle together in groups. The truly strong have always walked alone. He believed that when Tang San eventually achieved greatness, these people would look back on their current behavior and realize how foolish they had been. They would surely regret it.
Of course, Flender noticed all the subtle shifts and uncomfortable glances. However, as the dean of Shrek Academy, he chose to turn a blind eye. The truth was, he didn't want to get involved. Before Yu Xiaogang arrived, everything at the academy had been running smoothly. He and his teachers, including Zhao Wuji, had been living peaceful, productive lives. But ever since Yu Xiaogang had shown up, one problem after another had found its way to his doorstep, and ninety percent of them were because of the master and his disciple.
"Now that everyone is here, let's begin," Flender announced, his voice amplified by spirit power so that everyone present could hear him clearly.
All eyes turned toward Flender, their faces filled with curiosity.
"First, I'd like to introduce a new student to the academy." Flender paused, gesturing toward the boy standing awkwardly to the side. "This is Tang San. His spirit is Blue Silver Grass, and he's a level 25 control system Spirit Grandmaster." He paused again for effect. "And I'm sure you've all heard by now that Tang San is also the disciple of the Master."
Hearing this, most of the students looked thoroughly unimpressed. After all that waiting, this is it? No one was a stranger to Tang San by now, but aside from Yu Xiaogang, none of them had a good impression of him.
Unexpectedly, Huo Feng's lips curled into a slight smile, and he began to applaud politely. "We should welcome our new classmate, shouldn't we?"
Following his lead, the three girls next to him also began to clap, though their expressions were clearly amused, as if they were watching a show. They knew Huo Feng well enough to guess he was up to something.
Tang San, who had been hoping to blend into the background, suddenly found himself the center of attention. He felt a flush of embarrassment, mistakenly thinking that everyone was genuinely welcoming him.
In truth, Huo Feng's smile was sincere, but for all the wrong reasons. To him, Tang San joining Shrek Academy was a complete joke. With his current strength, he wasn't even fit to shine the other students' shoes. Even Oscar and Ning Rongrong, two auxiliary system spirit masters, had much higher spirit power than him. It would be a miracle if he survived the academy's training. His presence simply gave Huo Feng another weakling to toy with.
"From now on, he will join the other students in their training," Flender continued.
At this, Dai Mubai and Ma Hongjun glanced over at Yu Xiaogang, who was standing not far away with a dark expression on his face. At the same time, Zhao Wuji and Li Yusong did the same. Although their movements were subtle, Flender caught them all.
Sensing the tense atmosphere, he quickly added a clarification. "Don't worry, I will still be in charge of the academy's overall training curriculum. Master Yu Xiaogang will be staying with us for a while. If any of you are interested in spirit theory or have questions, you are free to ask him privately. He will not be involved in your normal training duties."
Hearing this, Dai Mubai let out a visible sigh of relief. If he had to take lessons from Yu Xiaogang, he would rather drop out. Just look at the state Tang San was in. While his useless Blue Silver Grass spirit was part of the problem, having an equally useless teacher like Yu Xiaogang couldn't have helped.
Zhao Wuji and Li Yusong's expressions also relaxed. They thoroughly disliked Yu Xiaogang. Tang San was just a student; if they didn't want to teach him, they could simply ignore him. But if Yu Xiaogang had become a teacher with the same rank as them, they couldn't imagine the nightmare. He would constantly be ordering them around, trying to shove his supposedly 'invincible' theories down their throats. No teacher would be able to stand that.
Watching their reactions, Yu Xiaogang's face became a mask of fury and humiliation. As the sky darkened, his ugly expression was only partly hidden by the gloom. Although Flender hadn't said it directly, the implication was brutally obvious. He had publicly severed any official connection between Yu Xiaogang and Shrek Academy's training. His words were meant to reassure everyone that this outsider wouldn't be allowed to ruin their students. The suggestion to ask for advice privately was just empty courtesy, a small gesture to save Yu Xiaogang from completely losing his temper in public.
Seeing that the mood had returned to normal, Flender smiled with satisfaction, completely ignoring the green-faced Yu Xiaogang.
"Starting tomorrow, all seven of you…" He corrected himself, "Uh, all eight of you students will begin the second phase of your training. We're getting rid of theory entirely and moving into actual combat to accumulate real experience."
When Yu Xiaogang heard the word "theory," he nearly choked on his anger. Isn't he just targeting me at this point? What should have been a normal sentence now sounded like a direct insult to him.
Flender continued, "This second phase of training will take place in the Great Spirit Arena in Soto City. There is no time limit. The training will end when each of you has earned a Silver Fighting Spirit Badge. You will stay in a hotel near the arena, but you will be responsible for your own food and lodging. However, if you're skilled enough, the income you can earn from the Great Spirit Arena is quite substantial."
Hearing this, Huo Feng and the other seven original students all nodded, their expressions remaining confident. They had all fought in the Soto Spirit Arena many times before, winning far more often than they lost, with an average win rate of eighty percent. Huo Feng, for his part, had never lost a single match. Every one of his victories was an effortless, crushing defeat for his opponent. As a result, despite not having fought many matches, he had already earned a small bit of fame and even had his own fans.
Compared to their confidence, Tang San's expression was grim. He had only ever participated in two spirit fights, and he had lost both times. Those two failures had led to a series of humiliating consequences, casting a large shadow over his confidence.
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