Time continued to pass. With the help of Wang Feng's method, Huo Yuhao maintained a steady pace, even though his body was exhausted and his face flushed.
Wang Feng stayed by Huo Yuhao's side, accompanying him, while Wang Dong had already finished running and was now resting.
As only a few minutes remained, they finally reached the final lap.
Entering the last lap, Huo Yuhao's breathing grew heavier. His body had surpassed its normal limits, but thanks to the technique Wang Feng had taught him, he could still hold on. Sweat drenched his face, and each step felt heavier, yet his eyes remained focused.
Wang Feng glanced at him and gave a slight smile. Huo Yuhao truly had strong determination. I'll secretly heal him later tonight.
Seeing the two still running, Wang Dong finally called out, "Hey! Hurry up, you guys are so slow!"
Huo Yuhao didn't respond, too focused on his steps. Wang Feng just chuckled. "Be patient, you arrogant brat. We're almost done."
Wang Dong huffed, but secretly, he felt impressed that Huo Yuhao had endured this long.
As the finish line drew closer, Huo Yuhao bit his lip. His legs began to feel weak, but he refused to give up. I have to finish this...
Suddenly, Wang Feng gently patted his shoulder. "Relax, Yuhao. Don't lose your composure. Feel the rhythm, let your body adapt."
Wang Feng's words helped Huo Yuhao calm down. He took a deep breath, exhaled slowly, and regained his balance.
A few seconds later, they finally crossed the finish line.
Huo Yuhao immediately bent over, hands resting on his knees, panting heavily. His face was flushed, but his eyes shone with satisfaction. He had done it!
On the other hand, Wang Feng still looked calm, only slightly sweating.
"Heh, you look like you just ran one lap, while I look like I just fought a wild beast," Huo Yuhao said with a tired smile.
Wang Feng laughed. "That's because your body still needs to get used to the method. But you did well."
At that moment, Wang Dong stood up and walked over with a reluctant expression. "Hmph, not bad… for someone like you," he said in a proud tone.
Huo Yuhao just smiled, too tired to respond to Wang Dong's remark.
Meanwhile, Wang Feng gave a faint smile, feeling quite satisfied with Huo Yuhao's progress.
All their past grudges disappeared in this moment.
All the students had completed their hundred laps within the allotted time and were now relaxing in Shrek Square.
Zhou Yi turned to the students with a blank expression and said calmly, "Those whose names I call, please step forward. Cheng Cheng, Qiu Jianrao, Tang Dao, Shangguan Chentian, Lin Zeyu, Zhuge Yun, Tai Long, Tang Ling, Yun Xiaopiao."
A total of nine names were called. The students were clearly surprised that Zhou Yi could name nine of them without them having introduced themselves.
The students called stepped forward.
Zhou Yi calmly asked, "Explain to me why you continued running even though you had supposedly already completed the training?"
The students looked at each other nervously before one of them, Cheng Cheng, stepped forward. He swallowed hard and spoke with a slightly trembling voice, "Teacher Zhou… we…"
He hesitated for a moment before letting out a heavy sigh.
"At first… we tried to cheat," he admitted honestly, lowering his head. "We planned to pretend we had completed the hundred laps when we still had a few left. But…"
He glanced at Huo Yuhao, who was still standing there, his face still flushed from running so hard.
"But when we saw Huo Yuhao… the way he ran with such determination… we felt ashamed of ourselves. We realized there was no excuse to give up or cheat. So… we started running again and finished what we should've done from the beginning," one of them continued in a low voice.
The others nodded in agreement, some of them looking regretful.
Zhou Yi stared at them in silence for a moment. Her cold expression didn't change, but her eyes observed them sharply, as if evaluating whether their remorse was genuine.
"Interesting," she finally said. "You tried to cheat, but then felt ashamed and decided to fix your own mistake. That's better than continuing to lie."
The students remained silent, waiting for their punishment.
Zhou Yi let out a small sigh. "You all need to remember this. At Shrek Academy, effort and honesty are worth more than cunning intelligence. If you want to be students of this academy, you must have strong hearts. If not, you will be expelled!"
Her sharp gaze swept across them before she finally said, "Since you completed the exercise on your own accord, I won't expel you."
The students lifted their heads in surprise, not expecting to escape a harsher punishment.
"But," Zhou Yi continued in her usual cold tone, "don't even think about repeating this. If I ever catch you cheating again, I will expel you on the spot."
They all quickly nodded. "We understand, Teacher Zhou!"
"Return to your dorms, change clothes, and head to class. I'll give you fifteen minutes." With that, Zhou Yi turned and walked straight back into the teaching building.
This time, no one dared to waste even a second. They scattered instantly, and nearly all of them sprinted toward their dorms like they were running a 100-meter dash.
"This old woman is way too cruel," Wang Dong grumbled as he, Wang Feng, and Huo Yuhao rushed back to the dorm.
"Thank you. If it weren't for you, Wang Feng, I probably…" Huo Yuhao said.
"It's fine. In the end, it was your own effort. If you didn't have such strong willpower, you might have still failed," Wang Feng said, gently patting Huo Yuhao's head.
Huo Yuhao lowered his head.
Running beside them, Wang Dong let out a small huff and glanced at Wang Feng with a slight pout.
"Hmph! Acting all wise," he said, but he still took Wang Feng's words to heart.
As the three continued running toward the dorm, Wang Dong glanced sideways at Huo Yuhao, who still had his head down. He saw a calm expression tinged with a slight blush on Huo Yuhao's face after Wang Feng patted his head.
"Tsk, what's up with him? Getting all shy just from that?" Wang Dong muttered inwardly, a little confused by Huo Yuhao's reaction.
But what confused him more was the strange feeling stirring inside him. Watching Wang Feng speak to Huo Yuhao like that gave him an odd sense of discomfort he couldn't explain.
'Am I just too tired?' he thought, shaking his head.
Once they arrived at their room, all three of them entered and let out a long sigh.
"Phew… finally done," Wang Dong grumbled as he took off his shoes and stretched.
"We still have to go to class soon, don't relax too much," Wang Feng reminded as he casually began taking off his shirt.
Huo Yuhao and Wang Dong immediately froze.
They unintentionally glanced at each other, then quickly looked away and tried to act normal.
"I-I'll change first," Wang Dong said hastily, grabbing his clean uniform and turning toward his bed.
"Me too," Huo Yuhao chimed in, trying to do the same.
Wang Feng, unaware of their awkwardness, simply smiled as he wiped the sweat off his neck with a towel. "Why are you guys getting all nervous? Haven't you seen other guys' bodies when showering?"
Wang Dong immediately snapped back, "Hmph! I just don't like people snooping when I'm changing!"
"Same here," Huo Yuhao added while carefully changing with his back turned to them.
Internally, both Wang Dong and Huo Yuhao were cursing their situation.
'Damn, I need to be more careful!' Wang Dong thought.
'Good thing I reacted quickly… I can't let anyone find out,' Huo Yuhao thought.
Wang Feng just chuckled at their behavior. "You two are weird," he mumbled, but didn't dwell on it.
Once they finished changing, the three of them rushed out of the room and headed back to class.
Along the way, Wang Dong and Huo Yuhao secretly glanced at each other, each feeling a little suspicious…
'Could it be… no, that's impossible…'
But both of them brushed off the thought and hurried along the path.