Guardianship and Strength

Gulp.

Xiao Chenyu swallowed hard.

He touched his completely unharmed cheek, and his legs began to tremble violently.

If...

That leaf had been an inch off...

Would his head have already turned into that pool of black water?

"I don't want to waste the antidote."

Bai Tang San withdrew his hand and brushed dust that did not exist from his sleeve.

His gaze was as calm as if he were looking at a group of corpses.

"Scram."

Just one word.

To Xiao Chenyu's group, it sounded like a pardon from the god of death.

"Ah—!!!"

With a scream.

Those normally arrogant young noblemen fled the woods in blind terror, scrambling and crawling away.

What boss?

What pride?

Before poison capable of melting stone, it was all complete bullshit!

The forest returned to silence.

Xiao Wu stood behind Bai Tang San, her mouth hanging open as she stared blankly at the black hole in the wall.

She was a Soul Beast too.

She had seen ruthless people before.

But this kind of method—casually scaring someone out of their wits with a single leaf...

Was way too cool!

"Um... Tang San..."

Xiao Wu edged closer, her large eyes full of stars.

"Why don't we become sworn siblings too?"

"I want you to be my older brother!"

With an older brother like this watching over her, wouldn't she be able to swagger through Nuoding City from now on?

Bai Tang San turned around and glanced at her.

There was no emotion in his eyes, only disdain.

"Not interested."

"I have my own things to do. I don't have time to play some deeply affectionate sibling game with you."

Xiao Wu's little face instantly fell.

"However..."

Bai Tang San changed his tone and looked Xiao Wu up and down.

"I've recently been researching a new medicine that can strengthen the body."

"I need an assistant to test it."

"If you're willing to do it..."

"Meals included."

"Top-grade Spirit Gathering Carrots. All you can eat."

Xiao Wu's eyes instantly lit up like two lightbulbs.

Who cared about older brothers!

Food was what truly mattered!

And she could eat top-grade carrots until she was full!

"I'm in!"

"I'll do it!"

Xiao Wu nodded frantically, afraid Bai Tang San would change his mind.

"Deal."

A faint smile curled onto Bai Tang San's lips.

It was the satisfied smile of a capitalist who had found cheap labor.

[Real World]

Spirit Hall, Pope's Palace.

Bibi Dong watched the Sky Curtain, and an extremely faint smile unexpectedly appeared on her usually icy face.

"Good."

"This is what a man ought to be like."

She lightly tapped her scepter, her voice imposing and full of approval.

"That Hei Tang San..."

"He keeps talking about death and sacrifice at every turn."

"If he truly cared for someone, he should not put himself in such a desperate situation where 'a corpse is needed to hold the enemy back.'"

"True guardianship."

"Is absolute strength."

"It is the deterrence that can make enemies tremble, even with nothing but a single leaf."

"It makes them lose even the courage to attack."

"That is the highest form of guardianship."

Meanwhile, at Shrek Academy.

Xiao Wu watched the Sky Curtain.

She watched the White World Xiao Wu who had sold herself for a few carrots.

Her face was flushed red.

"Although... although that Bai Tang San is very calculating..."

"But..."

"Being protected behind him really does feel so safe..."

She secretly glanced at Hei Tang San beside her.

At that moment, Hei Tang San was looking at her with deep affection.

"Xiao Wu, I can die for you too!"

Xiao Wu forced a smile.

Yet for some reason, she sighed inwardly.

"But, Older Brother..."

"I don't want you to die."

"I only want... for you to be like that Bai Tang San. Even if you're just standing there, no one would dare bully us."

The image on the Sky Curtain slowly darkened.

This comparison of "guardianship" once again ended with Bai Tang San's overwhelming victory.

And next.

As the final exams drew near.

The Tang San of both worlds would face the first true bottleneck on their paths of cultivation.

Stagnant Soul Power.

Would they leave it to fate and let nature take its course?

Or would they defy fate and create their own cultivation technique?

Nuoding Academy, on the eve of the final exams.

As the first semester drew to a close, the students' Soul Power cultivation had generally entered a plateau.

The explosive growth from their initial awakenings gradually vanished, replaced by the dull and sluggish grind of steady effort.

This was the first Newbie Wall every Low-Level Soul Master would encounter.

Above the Sky Curtain, the image split apart.

As for how to break through this invisible wall, the Tang San of the two worlds gave entirely different answers.

[Black World]

On the Sports Field at dawn, Hei Tang San ran lap after lap around the track.

Sweat soaked through his clothes, yet he did not stop.

Because this was Teacher's instruction.

"Huff... huff..."

Hei Tang San stopped, feeling the Soul Power within him that remained utterly motionless, his brows drawn tightly together.

"I've been stuck at the peak of Level Thirteen for half a month already."

"No matter how I circulate the Mysterious Heaven Skill, my Soul Power is like a stagnant pool, without the slightest sign of increasing."

Somewhat anxious, he went to Yu Xiaogang's office.

"Teacher, is there something wrong with my cultivation?"

Yu Xiaogang put down his teacup, wearing an inscrutable expression.

"Xiao San, haste makes waste."

"The further a Soul Master cultivates, the harder it becomes. That is an Iron Law."

"The reason you feel this bottleneck is because your body cannot yet bear more Soul Power."

"Go run."

"Strengthen your body and keep a calm mind."

"When you have run enough and your state of mind is calm enough, the bottleneck will naturally loosen."

Those words sounded full of philosophy.

Like Zen wisdom spoken by an old monk before entering meditation.

After hearing them, the agitation in Hei Tang San's heart truly eased considerably.

"Teacher is right."

"I've been too eager for quick results."

"I need to believe in the power of accumulation."

Thus.

He returned to the Sports Field.

Running and running.

Running and running.

In that endless running, he felt that he was "cultivating his heart."

But in the Sky Curtain's narration, it looked more like...

[Because he could not find the road, he could only keep going in circles.]

[This was not cultivating the heart.]

[This was... slacking off.]

[White World]

Late at night.

Bai Tang San was neither asleep nor running around the Sports Field.

He sat cross-legged on his bed, calming sandalwood incense burning in the room.

At that moment, an eerie violet light flickered within those deep eyes.

Purple Demon Eye—Inner Sight.

In his vision, his body was no longer flesh and blood, but a complex energy network.

Meridians were like rivers, Acupoints like stars.

The pale green inner force of the Mysterious Heaven Skill slowly flowed along several thick Meridians.

"Too slow."

"Too crude."

Bai Tang San looked at those main channels, a slight frown forming on his brow.

"The meditation techniques of Douluo Continent merely circulate through the heavenly cycle."

"It is like carrying water in a large bucket. The volume may be great, but the efficiency is extremely low, and it is easy to spill."

"Soul Power should not be a stagnant pool."

"It should be like a vortex, pressurizing and purifying itself."

Bai Tang San took a parchment scroll from his chest.

It was the Tang Sect's Complete Anatomy of Human Meridians, which he had reproduced from memory.

He picked up a pen and marked several red dots on it.

Yongquan.

Qihai.

Baihui.

"Although the Mysterious Heaven Skill was exquisite, it had been created in my previous life, where there was no Soul Power."

"In this world, Soul Power possessed greater plasticity and explosive force."

"If..."

A flicker of madness flashed in Bai Tang San's eyes.

"If I broke the conventional Great Circulation."

"And instead used spiral pressurization to forcibly strike these hidden Acupoints."

"What would happen?"