As everyone knew,
Soul Masters absolutely could not be disturbed while absorbing a Soul Ring.
If they were disturbed, their Soul Power would become unstable, making it difficult to control and absorb the Soul Ring's energy.
At best, they might fail to absorb the Soul Ring or lose some of its energy. At worst, their bodies would explode and they would die.
Tang San had been absorbing it just fine,
when suddenly, his pants got wet.
This was no joke!
In that instant, while Tang San was dumbfounded with shock, the Soul Power inside him slipped out of his control. The once-tamed, scorching energy erupted with a bang!
Tang San let out a muffled groan, nearly getting blown apart on the spot by the out-of-control energy!
Fortunately, he had more than Soul Power inside him. He also had his Mysterious Heaven Skill inner energy, which appeared in time to guide the searing energy and keep Tang San from exploding.
Even so, that momentary loss of control caused most of the energy to go to waste.
This Soul Ring had originally contained four hundred years' worth of energy,
but now, at most, it had about a hundred years' worth.
Two-thirds of it had blown up!
Tang San felt his heart twitch and bleed. It was agony!
And it wasn't just his heart that was bleeding. Blood also trickled from the corner of his mouth.
The uncontrolled energy had jolted his internal organs, churning his blood and making it seep from his lips.
The result was that
after absorbing the entire Soul Ring, Tang San should have reached around level thirteen.
Now that two-thirds of the energy had blown up, he could only reach level eleven—and barely.
How wonderful!
Just wonderful!
Tang San had been cheated out of level thirteen and dropped to level eleven. What fun. So much fun!
Though he'd stumbled through the process and faced one peril after another,
Tang San still finished absorbing the ring by the time the sky had grown bright.
With all that energy intact, he would probably have needed to absorb it until nearly noon.
But since two-thirds of the energy had blown up, he finished in a much shorter time, just as dawn broke. It wasn't much different from the original story.
By then, Yu Xiaogang was also nearing the end of his life. The poison had nearly stopped his breath.
It shouldn't have taken effect this quickly, but he had suffered another blow from the Mandala Snake's tail, which had worsened his injuries and hastened the poison's spread.
If Tang San hadn't taken his own antidote beforehand, he would have been just like Yu Xiaogang now.
"Teacher, I'm done absorbing it!" Tang San had only just opened his eyes when he saw Yu Xiaogang on the verge of death.
"Teacher, what's wrong?" Tang San panicked. He hurriedly rolled over, rushed to Yu Xiaogang's side, and helped him sit up.
The moment he saw Yu Xiaogang's face, Tang San blurted out, "Poison!"
Black qi swirled around Yu Xiaogang's rigid face. He could barely draw breath, and his body was stiff and completely numb.
"How could Teacher have been poisoned?" Tang San wondered. Then he suddenly noticed something wrong with his own body and quickly yanked up the sleeve on Yu Xiaogang's right arm.
The bite had swollen until it was almost the size of a round eggplant—purple, huge, round, shiny, and greasy.
Tang San suddenly slapped his forehead. At last, he remembered.
Earlier, when he and Yu Xiaogang had been chased by the Mandala Snake, Yu Xiaogang's Martial Soul, Luo Sanpao, had been bitten by it.
It had bitten Luo Sanpao on the right foreleg, and Yu Xiaogang had quickly recalled him at the time.
A Beast Martial Soul and its host were one and the same. That was true even for Grandmaster's mutated Beast Martial Soul.
"Damn it all! I'd better kick myself in the lungs!" Tang San smacked his forehead hard. "I knew about this! How could I forget? You little bastard!"
"Teacher, I'll detoxify you right now!"
Under the effect of [Empathy], Tang San had also been poisoned. But his antidote had caused the [Poison] status to stop being shared.
That was right. The effects of this item could be interfered with by external substances.
But the item's effect still remained!
As someone from the Tang Sect, Tang San knew better than anyone how to treat poison injuries.
At that moment, he couldn't worry about whether the fire might attract Soul Beasts. He quickly gathered some dry branches and leaves from nearby, then used a fire starter to light a fire.
He tore the sleeve from Yu Xiaogang's right arm, dug a hole in the ground with his short sword, then took out some clean water and washed the blade.
The bonfire gradually grew stronger. After repeatedly heating the short sword over the flames, Tang San dragged Yu Xiaogang over to the small pit and let his right hand hang above it.
Taking a deep breath, Tang San turned his wrist and made three quick cuts, one at Yu Xiaogang's wrist, one at the crook of his arm, and one beneath his armpit.
Ssh! Ssh! Ssh!
As the three sounds rang out, sharp pain suddenly struck those three spots on Tang San!
Remember what had just been said?
The effect of the [Empathy Talisman] was still in play!
Tang San had made three cuts on Yu Xiaogang, so the same three wounds appeared on his own body, gushing blood!
"Ah! Damn you to hell!"
Tang San cursed at the top of his lungs, his whole body wracked with pain!
"Damn it! You piece of shit!"
"How did I get hurt?! Huh? How the hell did I get hurt?!"
Tang San was on the verge of completely losing it!
Had he run into a ghost or what?
How had he gotten hurt?
Fine, fine!
There was still poison in his own body that hadn't been fully purged. He'd get all the poison out first, then worry about everything else!
On Yu Xiaogang's side, three streams of purple-black blood, thick with a fishy stench and a faint tea fragrance, shot out like three little rivers and flowed into the hole they had dug.
On Tang San's side, three streams of dark red blood also flowed, soaking his clothes.
"Damn it, what a waste of my two-copper-coin clothes!"
After cursing, Tang San pressed one hand against Yu Xiaogang's chest and urged the Mysterious Heaven Skill inner energy he had just improved.
With his left hand, he tapped four meridians in Yu Xiaogang's chest, sealing them so the poison wouldn't spread.
At the same time, his right hand began gently rubbing Yu Xiaogang's chest, using his inner energy to circulate the blood in his body and slowly force the poison together in one place.
However,
the next second, Tang San suddenly felt the four meridians in his own chest inexplicably seal shut!
At the same time, he inexplicably felt someone using inner energy to circulate the blood in his body!
"What the hell? What the hell is going on?!"
Tang San was completely dumbfounded!
What the hell had happened?
Why had his meridians been sealed?
Who had sealed them?!
And who was gently rubbing his chest, using inner energy to circulate the blood in his body?
There really was a ghost in this place!
Damn it!
Could there be some invisible pervert here, someone he couldn't see?!
At the thought, Tang San broke out in goosebumps!
Then he ignored everything else and hurried to purge the poison from Yu Xiaogang.
At that moment, there was only one thought in his mind:
He had to treat Yu Xiaogang as quickly as possible, then get the hell out of this creepy place!
Before you continue