Chapter 108: Don't Be Afraid, Children—Mugin Is Here!
The fury in Zhou Yi's chest had long since boiled to its breaking point, threatening to incinerate the last shred of her reason. She had taught for so many years—what kind of troublemaker hadn't she seen? But someone like Furina—who not only dared to openly defy and challenge her teaching, but even trotted out one seemingly plausible "argument" after another, making her look like some unreasonable tyrant in comparison—this was utterly unheard of!
She knew perfectly well how "correct" and how "considerate" Furina's words must sound from the students' perspective. But so what? This was Shrek Academy, the cradle of monsters, with a ten-thousand-year legacy famed for its harsh rigor! Her teaching methods might be brutal, but which of Shrek's powerhouses throughout history hadn't been forged under such high-pressure conditions? A little brat still wet behind the ears, relying on a few cheap tricks and a glib tongue, thought she could overturn all of this?
What she found even more intolerable was that sheer, naked provocation. The unruffled ease with which Furina spoke, the hint of pity in her eyes—it all stabbed like poisoned thorns into the most deeply guarded pride Zhou Yi possessed. Brazenly poaching talent in public? Inciting the students? Undermining the very foundations of the academy? The last might have been somewhat exaggerated, but in Zhou Yi's fury-addled mind, it had all become terrifyingly real. She needed a reason—a sufficiently justifiable reason that would allow her, standing firmly on the academy's side, to utterly crush this troublesome thorn.
"Today, I'll show you exactly what it means to respect your teachers!"
The words had barely left her lips when a violent, raging torrent of soul power erupted from Zhou Yi's body like a burst dam. Two yellow, two purple, two black—six soul rings flared to life in sequence, pulsing rhythmically around her. The crushing pressure unique to the Soul Emperor level poured forth without the slightest restraint, aimed directly at the seemingly delicate, blue-haired young woman before her. The very air seemed to congeal in an instant. The suffocating weight of it made every student nearby catch their breath. Several of those closest stumbled backward involuntarily, their faces draining of color.
A sharp light flashed through Huo Yuhao's eyes. Almost on pure instinct, he stepped half a pace forward, his soul power quietly surging within him. He could not stand by and watch Furina come to harm. Yet his movement faltered slightly—Furina, standing at the very epicenter of the storm, hadn't moved a single muscle.
And it wasn't forced composure. Huo Yuhao's spiritual perception was extraordinarily keen. He could clearly see that the Soul Emperor's crushing pressure—enough to make ordinary Soul Elders and Soul Ancestors tremble—upon reaching the narrow space around Furina's body, encountered an invisible, resilient curtain of water and dissolved silently, deflected harmlessly away. It couldn't so much as stir a hair on her head. She even had the leisure to tuck a stray strand of hair behind her ear.
Furina's heart was utterly calm. Rank forty-nine soul power cultivation, paired with the vast spiritual power forged by the Taiyi Spirit-Refining Art, made this level of oppressive pressure feel little stronger than a gentle breeze against her face. Unless a Hyper Douluo personally descended, trying to crush her with aura alone was nothing short of delusion.
She even had the mental bandwidth to rapidly weigh her options.
Fight back directly? It wasn't impossible. The Splendor of Still Waters resting in her sleeve transmitted a cool, soothing chill. Since her last battle against that evil soul master, this divine artifact had yet to truly bare its fangs. Then there was Water Explosion—a soul bone skill born from her ultimate understanding of the water element. Its potential and its sheer unpredictability—even she had yet to fully fathom them. Whether instantly draining the moisture from a living body, or stirring the omnipresent water vapor in the air to create invisible detonations—both were lethal, near-impossible-to-defend-against killing moves. The Corpse Explosion technique had allowed a Death God's Envoy to wound foes above his own rank. The Ice Emperor herself had regarded Ice Explosion as her trump card to challenge the Snow Empress. Her own Water Explosion would be even more treacherous and unfathomable—because "water" itself was the most ubiquitous medium in this world.
Against a Soul Emperor like Zhou Yi, she had every confidence she wouldn't lose. In fact, she was reasonably certain she could make Zhou Yi suffer a devastating blow.
But... win—and then what?
A deeper calculation flickered through the depths of Furina's eyes. Shrek Academy was not, for her, an irreplaceable sanctuary of cultivation—and truthfully, it wasn't one for most people either. What she truly sought here were the talented young soul masters gathered in one place: simple-hearted and brimming with boundless potential. Her Church of the Water God needed fresh blood. It needed companions who embraced her ideals. If she engaged Zhou Yi in an all-out battle right now—even if she won—she would inevitably and utterly sever all ties with the academy's official establishment. All the groundwork she had laid, all the "novelties" she had showcased, could turn to ash in an instant.
The loss would far outweigh the gain.
In the space of a lightning flash, Furina had made her decision. Direct confrontation was not the superior play. Leveraging the circumstances—that was the true art.
Just as Zhou Yi, wreathed in surging waves of soul power, was about to take that final step forward, her palm already half-raised as if to strike—
The calm on Furina's face vanished in an instant. Her eyes grew moist, as if tears were about to spill forth. Her lips pursed in pitiful grievance. Her entire body shrank inward with a faint, trembling shudder. The sharp-tongued, incisive young woman who had just been holding forth was gone. In her place stood a pitiable, helpless female student, terrified out of her wits by her teacher's fearsome aura.
The speed of the transformation—its sheer abruptness—made even the fury-blinded Zhou Yi freeze for a split second, her movements involuntarily slowing by half a beat.
In that half-beat of hesitation, Furina used her soul power to vibrate her vocal cords with the most exquisite, delicate precision. A cry for help—brimming with boundless terror, sharp enough to crack—tore through the quiet of the falling dusk, erupting with astonishing volume:
"HELP——!!! The homeroom teacher of New Student Class One, Zhou Yi, is trying to kill someone!!! Zhou Yi is trying to murder a student——!!!"
The sound didn't scatter chaotically. Guided by her deft spiritual power, it spread outward like ripples from a stone cast into water—clear, piercing, and carrying across the entire new student teaching building and several hundred meters beyond. Every single word was steeped in thick terror and despair, amplified by soul power to stab directly into the eardrums of all who heard.
"I—!!!"
Zhou Yi felt as if she had been struck by lightning. Her vision truly went black for an instant. Her blood surged violently upward, and she very nearly fainted on the spot. She had taught for so many years. She had dealt with countless problem students. She had been cursed at, defied, even hated in secret. But never—never—had she encountered such a filthy and shameless act of slander?! A Soul Emperor, being framed by a mere Soul-Ancestor-level girl in this utterly shameless manner?!
A buzzing roar filled her head. Only one absurd, utterly surreal thought remained: This isn't right! The world shouldn't be like this! I am a Soul Emperor! How dare she?!
"Don't be afraid, child! Mugin is here!!"
A resonant, full-throated female voice—carrying a note of unrestrained excitement and almost eager anticipation—shot down like lightning from the upper floors of the teaching building, as if in direct answer to Furina's frantic call.
Before the words had even fully faded, a lithe, agile figure had already vaulted directly from the corridor, executing a crisp midair flip before landing steadily in the center of the plaza. The newcomer was none other than Mugin, the homeroom teacher of New Student Class Nine. She appeared to be in her early thirties, with regular, even features. At this moment, however, her willowy brows were sharply upturned, her almond-shaped eyes blazing wide. Six soul rings—the standard two yellow, two purple, two black—swirled around her body as well. A long, staff-shaped martial soul, jade-green throughout as if carved from a single piece of jade, was already gripped firmly in her hand. Its tip pointed directly at Zhou Yi.