Taking a Risk to Steal Spirit Grass, Secretly Setting a Trap to Break the Cover-Up

Since our parting at the market, Tang San had been unable to shake off the stifling frustration and resentment caused by me snatching the Body Tempering Grass from under his nose in public.

Back at Nuoding Academy, he looked at his stagnant soul power, thought of my strength that consistently suppressed his own, and considered Xiao Wu's increasingly distant attitude; the agitation in his heart grew ever more intense. Without suitable cultivation resources, his foundation remained unstable, and the gap between us would only continue to widen.

Driven by sheer desperation, Tang San finally let greed cloud his judgment, giving rise to the thought of taking a dangerous risk.

The academy's backyard housed a private herb garden dedicated to cultivating spiritual plants. It contained many basic medicinal herbs that assisted soul masters in their cultivation. While instructors patrolled it regularly, the security was at its weakest in the dead of night.

A bold plan quietly took shape in the depths of Tang San's mind.

[Memory suddenly interrupted]

In the original story, Tang San was always adept at being generous with others' property to serve his own interests; stealing resources was nothing to him. It was only because he had the protagonist's halo to fall back on that he could escape unscathed every time. In this life, with me watching him, his petty cleverness was destined to result in him shooting himself in the foot. Yu Xiaogang would undoubtedly try to protect his precious student blindly, so I would take this opportunity to crush another layer of his prestige.

[Thoughts collected, focus quietly regained]

I had long since seen through Tang San's calculations by observing the subtle changes in his expression. Given his cautious yet narrow-minded nature, being backed into a corner left him with only one choice: sneaking into the academy's herb garden to steal spiritual herbs.

Naturally, I would not sit idly by, but I wouldn't expose him personally either; that would be too flashy and might easily expose myself.

As night fell, I circled to the perimeter of the herb garden in advance. Relying on the stealthy perception of my Ink Shadow Spirit Cat, I quietly set up several faint soul power warning marks. They were subtle enough to evade the notice of ordinary instructors, yet they would precisely draw the attention of the patrolling instructors the moment Tang San attempted to steal the herbs.

After finishing this, I hid in the shadows of a distant tree, like a hunter waiting for prey to enter the net, silently watching Tang San walk right into the trap.

In the dead of night, the moonlight was hazy, and the surroundings were deathly silent.

A sneaky black shadow used the cover of darkness to creep toward the herb garden—it was Tang San, acting on his long-planned scheme.

He carefully avoided the patrolling guards and, relying on the breath-concealing techniques of the Mysterious Heaven Skill, slipped into the herb garden without a sound. His gaze swept greedily over the spiritual herbs in the garden as he headed straight for the rare plants capable of quickly stabilizing soul power.

The moment he reached out to pluck a spiritual herb, the warning marks I had placed were triggered. A faint yet distinct ripple of soul power was transmitted directly to the perception of the night-patrol instructor.

"Someone is trespassing in the herb garden!"

Several shouts rang out suddenly, and a number of academy instructors, accompanied by guards, rushed over, instantly surrounding the herb garden.

Tang San's face turned deathly pale. Before he could even pluck the herb, he was caught red-handed.

Stealing academy property in the middle of the night was a serious offense at Nuoding Academy.

The news quickly reached the ears of Yu Xiaogang. Upon learning that his precious disciple had caused such a disaster, the "theory master" rushed to the scene without a word, intent on shielding Tang San and clearing his name.

"Instructors, there must be a misunderstanding! San is pure-hearted by nature and would never steal spiritual herbs. He must have been misled by someone else and acted in a moment of confusion!"

As soon as Yu Xiaogang arrived, he began to speak, desperately trying to exonerate Tang San by pushing all the blame onto some non-existent outsider, putting on a show of protecting his student.

The surrounding instructors looked at each other, but due to Yu Xiaogang's seniority in the academy, they found it difficult to refute him directly.

Hiding in the shadows, I saw that the time had come.

I walked slowly out of the tree's shade with a calm expression. I spoke unhurriedly, my tone peaceful yet striking at the heart of the matter with every word. Without a single aggressive syllable, I subtly pierced through all his loopholes:

"Master, I fear that is not appropriate. There are no traces of outsiders around the herb garden, and no one else has approached it tonight besides Tang San. Everything should be based on evidence; a mere claim of a 'misunderstanding' is hardly convincing."

"Furthermore, the academy rules are clear. If one can be shielded so easily after committing a wrong, then the academy's rules will become nothing more than a facade. How then could we restrain the many students?"

My calm, measured words were like needles hidden in silk, instantly waking up all the instructors present.

Everyone realized the truth, and their gazes toward Yu Xiaogang grew strange. Favoring a disciple and bending the law for personal gain had already touched the academy's bottom line.

Yu Xiaogang's face turned from green to white. He wanted to retort, but he found that my words were entirely reasonable, leaving him with no room to argue.

Tang San hung his head, trembling all over; all his hopes of luck had been thoroughly extinguished.

In the end, the instructors present followed the academy rules and publicly sentenced Tang San for stealing spiritual herbs: all his academic credits were deducted, he was sentenced to three days of confinement, and he was ordered to copy the academy rules one hundred times.

The protection Yu Xiaogang sought had completely vanished under my subtle dismantling. Not only did he fail to save Tang San, but he also exposed his own bias and favoritism to everyone present. His already precarious prestige plummeted once again.

I looked at the dejected Tang San and the humiliated Yu Xiaogang, a trace of cold indifference flashing in my eyes.

This is merely the price for your transgressions, and the beginning of your descent into the abyss.

I continued to keep all my sharpness hidden, burying my Twin Martial Souls deep within and never revealing my true level. I remained in the most low-key posture, watching the miserable state of this master and disciple with cold eyes.

The road ahead is long, and I have all the patience in the world to slowly exhaust your luck, crush your pride, and finally end everything with my own hands.