Tang San and Xiao Xiaoxiao's Soul Sage Trial

By the time they returned to Shrek's dilapidated courtyard, night had fallen completely. Dai Mubai gently laid the unconscious Xiao Xiaoxiao on her hard wooden bed. Ning Rongrong hurriedly brought over a basin of water, while Xiao Wu wrung out a damp cloth and carefully wiped the cold sweat and bloodstains from Xiao Xiaoxiao's forehead.

Tang San stood in the doorway, half leaning against the frame. His injured arm was suspended in a cloth sling, and his complexion was no better than Xiao Xiaoxiao's—frighteningly pale. His gaze rested heavily on her face, his lips pressed into a rigid line.

"Everyone out." Flender waved his hand, driving everyone crowded in the room outside, leaving only Master. "Grandmaster Yu, examine their injuries. Stop standing around here getting in the way."

Dai Mubai dragged Oscar away by the back of his collar, but Oscar was still shouting, "I still have Recovery Big Sausages! Save some for Tang San and Xiaoxiao!"

Xiao Wu cast Tang San a worried look before Zhu Zhuqing gently pulled her outside as well.

The room instantly fell silent, leaving only the faint crackling of the oil lamp.

Master stepped forward and carefully examined Xiao Xiaoxiao's condition. His brow furrowed tighter and tighter. "Her Spiritual Power has been overdrawn too severely. Her Sea of Spiritual Consciousness has been damaged." He spoke in a low voice, then looked toward Tang San. "Your hand."

Tang San did not move. His voice was hoarse. "Treat her first."

Master glanced at him but did not insist. He took a jade bottle from his robes and poured out two fragrant pills. "Feed these to her. They will strengthen her foundation, replenish her vitality, and nourish her spirit." He then took out ointment and splints. "As for your hand, if you don't treat it now, forget about using Hidden Weapons steadily in the future."

Only then did Tang San move. Using his uninjured left hand, he accepted the pills and carefully lifted the back of Xiao Xiaoxiao's neck, feeding them to her. Then he took the warm water Xiao Wu had prepared and slowly helped her drink it. His movements were clumsy, yet extraordinarily focused.

Master silently treated the fracture in his arm. His hands were steady and precise. Fine beads of sweat appeared on Tang San's forehead, but he did not even grunt. His eyes never left Xiao Xiaoxiao.

"That hammer..." Master finally spoke, his voice lowered to nearly a whisper.

Tang San's body stiffened almost imperceptibly.

"I won't ask." Master continued, his hands never stopping. "Everyone has their own secrets. But I wasn't the only one who saw it today. Flender did too... This cannot be kept hidden."

Tang San remained silent for a long time before quietly saying, "I know."

"The stronger the power, the greater the responsibility—and the more people there are who covet it." Master finished bandaging his arm and looked at him meaningfully. "Before you are strong enough, hide it well. Using it in your desperation today to force back the Sky Azure Bull Python was fortunate, but it may also become the root of disaster."

Tang San lowered his eyes. "Thank you, Teacher. I understand."

The medicine seemed to be taking effect. Xiao Xiaoxiao gave a faint moan, her brows drawing together as though she had fallen into a nightmare. She turned her head uneasily. "...Don't... Tang San... run..."

Tang San abruptly clenched his left hand, his nails digging into his palm.

Master sighed and patted his shoulder. "She carries you in her heart. She risked her life for you this time. Stay with her. If she develops a fever during the night, call for me." With that, he rose and left, gently closing the door behind him.

Under the oil lamp, Xiao Xiaoxiao's face was still pale, her breathing weak. Tang San dragged over the crooked wooden stool and sat by the bed, watching her in the dim light.

The room was so quiet that he could hear the insects chirping outside the window and her shallow breaths. Tang San's mind was in chaos. One moment, he saw the Silver Moon Horned Python's cold vertical pupils; the next, the Sky Azure Bull Python's devastating charge. In the end, all that remained was the image of her rushing toward him without hesitation, spraying a mist of blood yet still trying to smile at him.

That aching, swelling feeling rose in his heart again, tightening his throat. He had always calculated gains and losses clearly, always seen through benefits and dangers. Yet he could neither calculate nor understand the person before him.

Why? Was it worth it?

He stretched out his left hand. His fingertips hesitated before lightly brushing her icy cheek, then recoiled as though burned. A panic he had never known before seized him.

In the latter half of the night, Xiao Xiaoxiao indeed developed a high fever. Her whole body burned, and she muttered deliriously. Sometimes she called for "Mom," sometimes "Home," but most often it was, "Tang San... be careful..."

Tang San kept wringing out cold cloths to cool her forehead, wipe her palms, and feed her water, tirelessly repeating the process. He carefully chewed up the Recovery Sausage Oscar had secretly slipped in, mixed it with water, and fed it to her bit by bit. He worked with utter focus, as if this were the most important matter in the world, even forgetting the sharp pain in his arm.

Near dawn, her fever finally broke. Xiao Xiaoxiao fell into a deep sleep, her breathing much steadier. Tang San was exhausted. He leaned against the bedside and closed his eyes for a brief rest, his left hand still loosely holding the corner of Xiao Xiaoxiao's sleeve outside the blanket.

A faint movement startled him awake. When he opened his eyes, he met Xiao Xiaoxiao's dazed gaze.

Their eyes met, and both of them froze for a moment.

"You..." Xiao Xiaoxiao's voice was dry and hoarse as she tried to sit up.

"Don't move." Tang San instinctively pressed down on her uninjured shoulder. He moved too sharply and tugged at his own wound, letting out a muffled groan as a layer of cold sweat instantly appeared on his forehead.

"Your hand!" Xiao Xiaoxiao saw his slung arm and pale face and immediately panicked. Struggling to sit up, she asked, "Are you badly hurt? That Sky Azure Bull Python..."

"I'm fine." Tang San pressed her back down, his tone leaving no room for argument. "Lie still. Your Spiritual Power has suffered a backlash. You need quiet rest."

Only then did Xiao Xiaoxiao realize that her head felt as if needles were stabbing into it, waves of throbbing pain making her groan.

Tang San immediately stood, poured a cup of warm water, and held it to her lips. "Drink slowly."

Xiao Xiaoxiao took small sips from his hand, but her eyes remained fixed on his tense jawline and the dark circles beneath his eyes. "You... stayed up all night?"

Tang San did not answer. He only asked, "Do you want more?"

Xiao Xiaoxiao shook her head. Seeing his silence, she felt a little uneasy and asked softly, "Are you angry?"

Tang San paused, then raised his eyes to look at her. His gaze was so complicated that Xiao Xiaoxiao could not understand it. There was exhaustion, lingering fear, and something heavy she had never seen in his eyes before.

"Next time," he said in a low, hoarse voice, "don't do something so foolish again."

Xiao Xiaoxiao froze, grievance welling up in her heart. "It wasn't foolish! It was about to charge at you, and I..."

"I know." Tang San cut her off. His eyes fell on her still bloodless face. The rest of his words seemed to catch in his throat, and after a long pause, he forced out stiffly, "...It wasn't worth it."

"It was worth it!" Xiao Xiaoxiao suddenly raised her voice. Another stab of pain shot through her head, darkening her vision, but her tone remained stubborn. "You've saved me so many times. Why can't I save you? Even if... even if it happened again, I'd still..."

The rest of her words were cut off.

Tang San suddenly bent down, bracing himself beside her pillow with his uninjured hand. He was close enough that they could feel each other's breaths. His eyes were dark, churning with fierce emotions Xiao Xiaoxiao had never seen before.

"Xiao Xiaoxiao." He called her by her full name, each word seeming to squeeze through clenched teeth. "Your life is no less important than anyone else's. Don't throw it away for someone else so easily, especially... for me."

He was too close. His breath brushed across her cheek, carrying a faint medicinal scent and a trace of cool freshness. Xiao Xiaoxiao's heart pounded wildly, nearly leaping out of her chest. Her cheeks burned beyond her control, and she even forgot her headache.

"I... I wasn't doing it casually..." Her voice was as soft as a mosquito's buzz. Her gaze darted away, unable to meet his eyes.

Tang San stared at her for a long time, so long that Xiao Xiaoxiao thought time itself had stopped. Finally, he abruptly straightened and turned his face away. The tips of his ears seemed to carry a suspicious flush, while his tone returned to its usual coolness. "...Remember what I said. Rest."

With that, he turned and hurried out of the room, nearly tripping over the threshold.

Xiao Xiaoxiao stared blankly at his disappearing figure. She raised a hand to touch her cheek, which seemed to still hold his lingering presence, while her heart became a tangled mess. Just now... had he almost...?

Her face grew even hotter. She buried it in the musty blanket, but her heart felt as though it had been soaked in warm water—warm and swollen. Even the stabbing pain in her Sea of Spiritual Consciousness seemed less unbearable.

Over the next few days, the atmosphere at Shrek Academy changed in subtle ways.

Tang San's fractured arm needed rest, while Xiao Xiaoxiao's Spiritual Power backlash required even more quiet recovery. For the time being, both stopped their intense training. Flender rarely showed mercy and stopped tormenting them, turning instead to relentlessly drilling Dai Mubai and the other four in the name of "making up for lost progress," until Oscar wailed miserably every day.

Tang San became a little strange. He still spoke little, but he would always "happen" to bring Xiao Xiaoxiao the nutritious meals Oscar had prepared. He would silently patch the worst hole letting cold air into her doorway. During night watch, he would also sit without drawing attention to himself at the spot closest to her window.

Xiao Xiaoxiao wanted to talk to him, but he always avoided her gaze. Otherwise, he would sternly urge her to practice methods for recovering her Spiritual Power, acting like the strictest teacher imaginable.

Xiao Wu secretly scooted over to Xiao Xiaoxiao's bedside, wiggling her eyebrows. "Hey, Xiaoxiao, did Xiao San take the wrong medicine lately? Yesterday, he actually asked me what girls should drink to be good for their health. He scared me to death!"

Ning Rongrong covered her mouth and laughed nearby. "I think he's finally figured it out."

Xiao Xiaoxiao blushed, though sweetness filled her heart, and she trained even harder. She knew Tang San admired people who worked hard to become stronger.

Another seven or eight days passed. With the combined effects of Oscar's sausages and the nourishing medicinal herbs Tang San had somehow obtained, Xiao Xiaoxiao's Spiritual Power recovered by more than half. She had even gained a blessing from misfortune, becoming more condensed and sensitive than before. Tang San's arm had also mostly healed.

That evening, Master summoned the two of them to the Training Ground.

"Your injuries have mostly recovered as well." Master looked at them. "The qualifiers for the Continental Advanced Soul Master Academy Elite Tournament begin in three months. It's time to make up the lessons you have missed."

Tang San's eyes sharpened. "Please instruct us, Teacher."

Master nodded. "Tang San, the direction for developing your Blue Silver Grass Martial Soul is already clear: control, poison, and resilience. What you must do next is take them to the extreme. Make your control instantaneous and flawless, perfectly merge poison with your soul skills, and raise Blue Silver Grass's resilience to its limit—until it can even briefly contend with an Assault System Martial Soul."

"Yes."

Master then looked at Xiao Xiaoxiao. "Your Phantom Moon Fox Martial Soul excels at Mental Interference and illusions, but your ability to protect yourself is too weak. Starting tomorrow, you will train with me. I will teach you how to attach Spiritual Power to attacks, how to create the greatest chaos with the least Soul Power, and... how to use illusions to protect yourself."

Xiao Xiaoxiao's eyes lit up with excitement. "Yes, Master!"

"As for your third soul skills..." Master paused. "You need actual combat to develop coordination. Tomorrow, your opponents will be Flender and me."

Xiao Xiaoxiao sucked in a cold breath. They were going to fight the Soul Sage-level headmaster and Master?

But fighting spirit ignited in Tang San's eyes. "Good."

The next day, at the Training Ground, Flender pushed up his glasses and smiled like an old fox. "You two little monsters, are you ready? Don't say we're bullying injured people."

Master, meanwhile, expressionlessly released Luo San Pao.

Pressure crashed down upon them like a mountain.

Tang San and Xiao Xiaoxiao looked at each other and nodded at the same time.

"Begin!"