The Mandala Snake's venom was intensely corrosive and paralyzing.
Yu Xiaogang's lower body bore the brunt. His flesh blackened and rotted at a speed visible to the naked eye.
Tang San's eyes nearly split with fury as he stared at the massive dark-green snake coiled around the tree trunk.
"You vile beast, I'll kill you!!!"
Ignoring the danger, he drew the short sword at his waist and charged at the Mandala Snake.
The Mysterious Heaven Skill inside him ran beyond its limits, and a brilliant white light shone from his Mysterious Jade Hand.
He darted left and right with Ghost Shadow Perplexing Track.
Seizing the moment when the Mandala Snake had just spent its strength and had yet to gather more, he leaped high. As the snake opened its mouth, he drove his short sword viciously into its upper jaw, straight through to its brain.
The Mandala Snake let out a piercing hiss. Its huge body writhed and thrashed wildly, smashing several nearby trees.
Like a tiny boat amid raging waves, Tang San relied on Ghost Shadow Perplexing Track to narrowly evade the deadly blows
After struggling for a full half-incense stick, the Mandala Snake finally went completely rigid in a pool of black blood.
A dazzling yellow Soul Ring slowly rose into the air.
Drained of strength, Tang San dropped to his knees and crawled toward Yu Xiaogang, his hands and feet icy cold.
"Little San..."
Yu Xiaogang's breath was faint, and the clothes on his lower body had completely dissolved.
That indescribable part of him had become a mass of charred, rotten flesh, and the poison was spreading from his groin throughout his body.
When Tang San saw the injury clearly, his hands and feet went cold.
He could only treat ordinary poisons. The Mandala Snake's venom was too potent; it had already seeped into the bone.
And the injury was in such a sensitive place that there was no way to bandage it and draw out the poison.
"Teacher, the poison's spreading too fast. I... I can't do anything." Tang San's voice trembled.
Yu Xiaogang's features contorted with pain, cold sweat soaking his back.
He could clearly feel his lower body going numb. Death was beckoning him.
He didn't want to die.
He still had to prove his Ten Core Competencies to the world. He still had to watch Tang San become a Titled Douluo and stomp that little brat Su Chen into the dirt!
"Little San..." Yu Xiaogang grabbed Tang San's wrist, his eyes bloodshot. He spoke each word slowly: "Take your sword... cut it off!"
Tang San felt as though he'd been struck by lightning. He stood there in a daze.
"Teacher, what are you saying?!"
"The poison's in my body. If you don't cut it off... I'll die." Yu Xiaogang's eyes were crimson, like a deranged gambler who'd lost everything. "Cut it off... save my life!"
Cut it off? That was a man's most vital part!
Tang San's sword hand trembled.
"Teacher, this..."
"Quick!" Yu Xiaogang roared, black blood spilling from the corner of his mouth. "For your future... for my theories... I can't die! Do it!"
Tang San's eyes reddened.
Once a teacher, a father for life.
To save him, his teacher was even willing to give up a man's dignity!
This debt of gratitude weighed as heavily as a mountain!
"Teacher, forgive me!"
Tang San steeled himself and poured the inner force of the Mysterious Heaven Skill into his short sword. Its blade gleamed coldly.
His hand rose and fell.
"Chhk!"
Thick black blood sprayed everywhere.
The charred mass of rotten flesh, along with the source of the poison, was severed cleanly at the root and rolled into the grass.
"AAAAAAAH!!!"
Yu Xiaogang threw his head back and let out a howl that sounded inhuman. His eyes rolled back, and he passed out from the pain.
Tang San quickly pressed several major acupoints on Yu Xiaogang's lower body to stop the bleeding, then pulled out a healing salve and scattered handful after handful over the wound. He tore off the hem of his clothes and hastily bandaged it.
When he was done, Tang San's hands were covered in blood. He looked at the unconscious Yu Xiaogang, then at the yellow Soul Ring not far away.
He knelt on the ground and knocked his head against it three times.
"Teacher, this disciple could tear himself to pieces and still never repay your kindness."
"Su Chen, first you humiliated me, then you insulted my teacher. This enmity is irreconcilable!"
Tang San wiped away his tears, sat cross-legged beside the Mandala Snake's corpse, and drew in that Hundred-Year Soul Ring, absorbing it with all his might.
His teacher had said that his Blue Silver Grass needed to absorb poison attributes to take the control path!
And this Mandala Snake, more than four hundred years old, was just right for his First Soul Ring.
"Once I absorb this Mandala Snake Soul Ring, it'll be time for Su Chen to pay his debt in blood!"
At the same time.
Second floor of the cafeteria, Dorm Seven, Notting Academy.
Su Chen was leaning back in his chair, happily eating meat buns, while Xiao Wu obediently massaged his shoulders from behind.
[ Ding! Detected a heaven-defying deviation in Tang San's fate! The dutiful son Tang San personally severed his teacher's lower body! ] [ Super-abstract event triggered: "The Birth of a Physical Eunuch"! ] [ Abstract Value gained: 5000 points! ]
Pfft!
Cough, cough, cough!
Su Chen spat out a mouthful of bun and nearly choked himself to tears.
His face was full of astonishment, then the corners of his mouth shot upward. He trembled all over, trying hard to hold back his laughter.
He swore, all he'd done was plant a Snake-Stink Grass to give Little Scumbag a taste of the shock of surviving in the wild.
Who could've guessed that this peerless good disciple would not only get his teacher into trouble, but personally sever Yu Xiaogang's ties to worldly desire!
What a dutiful son!
Su Chen rubbed his chin and imagined the scene.
The Master of Theory had become the Eunuch of Theory.
This was far too hilarious.
He'd struck it rich with 5000 Abstract Value.
"Little Scumbag, Little Scumbag. Your devotion to your teacher keeps getting more impressive."
Xiao Wu felt a shiver run through her as she watched him laugh. She asked cautiously,
"Boss, what are you laughing about? You're kind of scaring me."
"Nothing. I just thought of something happy."
Su Chen forced down his delighted grin and opened the system panel.
He glanced through the shop and promptly settled on an item.
[Memory Crystal: Can record and replay true images of a specified event from the past. Price: 500 Abstract Value.]
Su Chen bought a Memory Crystal and set its target as the scene of Yu Xiaogang's self-castration.
Redeem!
Specified target: Yu Xiaogang's self-castration scene!
A flash of white light, and a crystal-clear Memory Crystal landed in his palm.
When Tang San and Yu Xiaogang came back, he'd put this thing in the academy plaza.
Tsk!
That scene! Just thinking about it was thrilling!
He tossed the crystal-clear Memory Crystal into the air, caught it neatly, and slipped it into his pocket.
He had all the pieces ready for the show. All that remained was for the star to take the stage.
And over the next few days!
Notting Academy had entered the "Su Chen Era" in earnest.
Led by Xiao Wu, the work-study students from Dorm Seven launched a purge that swept through the entire school.
Xiao Wu had always been the sort who loved stirring up trouble.
Ever since she learned Su Chen could keep her safe, this hundred-thousand-year-old Rogue Rabbit had completely let loose.
Flying Su Chen's banner, she fought her way from the cafeteria on the first floor to the sixth-year dorms.
Any noble student from an upper year who dared to act tough got an Eight-Section Fall from Xiao Wu. If she ran into a hard case, Su Chen would stroll over and draw his long sword.
It didn't matter if they were Xiao Chenyu, the big shot of the sixth year, or some noble student who fancied himself a genius. They were all treated exactly the same.
Down on both knees, they slid in on their knees, then took the sword with both hands. Every movement was perfectly synchronized.
In just three days!
The title of top dog at Nuoding Junior Soul Master Academy fell to Su Chen without the slightest suspense.
Even the academy's teachers, after seeing Su Chen's bizarre methods, chose to turn a blind eye. As long as nobody got killed, they let him do as he pleased.