Soul Ring Absorption, Double Filtering

The moment the soul ring's energy entered his meridians, Tang San's back tensed.

Yu Xiaogang sat beside him, clutching a medicine bottle. He did not even spare a thought for his own poisoned wounds as he stared at Tang San's face. "Guard your mind. Follow the route I taught you. Don't clash head-on with the soul ring!"

Tang San could not answer.

The Datura Snake's Soul Power carried poison. Once it rushed into his body, it rampaged everywhere, forcibly tugging at his Blue Silver Grass Martial Soul until every blade of grass writhed in his palm.

Ji Yuan coiled near his heart meridian, watching the incoming energy with cold eyes.

Too mixed.

Too violent.

If Tang San truly tried to withstand it by himself, let alone absorb it successfully, half his meridians would be scorched apart by the poison.

But things were different now.

Ji Yuan had long since taken up residence in this body.

Ji Yuan awakened every parasitic spore. Fine roots spread along the inner walls of Tang San's meridians, first intercepting the fiercest toxins, then blocking the most violent surges of Soul Power.

Tang San had already prepared himself for the agonizing pain of torn meridians, only to find that more than half the impact had been shaved away midway.

Startled, he did not dare lose focus. He simply circulated his Mysterious Heaven Skill according to its route. "Teacher, this Soul Power isn't as violent as I expected."

Yu Xiaogang was applying medicine to himself. Hearing that, his hand paused.

He looked at Tang San and endured the pain as he said, "Don't let your guard down. This is only the initial probing. The true danger will come when it fuses with your Martial Soul."

Ji Yuan nearly laughed out loud.

Danger?

He had already eaten the danger.

Dark red roots blocked the critical paths of the meridians. Whenever a wave of soul ring energy surged in, he siphoned away roughly seventy percent. Only the small remainder, after passing through his filtering, flowed toward Tang San's Blue Silver Grass Martial Soul.

Cold sweat continuously seeped from Tang San's face, and his body trembled, but he had not reached the brink of collapse.

As Yu Xiaogang watched, his eyes instead lit up. "The internal force of the Mysterious Heaven Skill really can stabilize the meridians. Tang San, hold on. This proves my judgment was correct!"

Tang San gritted his teeth. "Teacher, I can endure it."

Ji Yuan answered coldly in his heart.

Of course you can endure it.

I'm the one eating the most poisonous part for you.

The snake venom within the soul ring was drawn into Ji Yuan's main body and mixed with the toxic force from the snake gallbladder he had absorbed earlier.

Inside the shoe's inner sole, faint cracking sounds came from within that wooden thorn. The original grass body could not withstand the toxic force; its fibers snapped layer by layer, only to be glued back together by qi and blood.

The pain from his main body traveled back to his consciousness, but Ji Yuan did not retreat.

Weak plants feared toxic backlash most, but he already had Yu Xiaogang's theories as a foundation. He had also swallowed the paralyzing poison of the Variegated Man-Eating Flower, so he knew which places needed to be sealed and which needed to let the poison pass through to reinforce the structure.

Within Tang San's meridians, the remaining thirty percent of the Soul Power began fusing with his Blue Silver Grass Martial Soul.

Blue Silver Grass grew from his palm. Its originally frail blades thickened, and patterns like those of a Datura Snake appeared across their surfaces.

Yu Xiaogang watched with tight breath. "Yes, exactly like that. The poison is entering the Martial Soul, and its toughness is beginning to improve. Tang San, don't let the Soul Power disperse!"

Tang San's forehead was drenched in sweat. "Teacher, I feel like something in my meridians is helping me block the poison."

Yu Xiaogang's expression changed. "What do you mean?"

Ji Yuan immediately tightened his roots, pressing the filtering spores into deeper concealment. At the same time, he casually returned a trace of snake venom to the edges of Tang San's meridians.

Tang San's face turned pale. Before he could finish speaking, he let out a muffled groan.

Yu Xiaogang said urgently, "Don't sense around recklessly! That's an illusion produced by the clash between the soul ring's toxic power and the Mysterious Heaven Skill. The more you focus on it, the easier it will be for you to go astray."

Tang San could only suppress his doubts. "I understand."

Ji Yuan was very satisfied with that answer.

Yu Xiaogang would always explain things for him.

The more confident this man was, the more useful he became.

The soul ring's energy continued pouring in, and the pressure on Ji Yuan's main body grew greater and greater.

After being refined, the snake venom sank into his roots, while qi and blood replenished the core of his grass body. Cracks split across the previously dry, hard wooden thorn, and dark purple new vines grew from within.

Those new vines were still thin, but they were far tougher than Blue Silver Grass. Tiny barbs emerged on their surfaces, each barb's base storing venom.

Ji Yuan did not let them pierce through the sole.

It was not time to expose himself yet.

Tang San's absorption entered its final stage.

The Soul Power within him began to stabilize. The yellow soul ring contracted outside his body and slowly merged into his Blue Silver Grass Martial Soul.

Yu Xiaogang braced himself against the tree trunk and sat upright, his voice hoarse. "It's done. Keep going. Don't relax!"

Tang San gritted his teeth and circulated the Mysterious Heaven Skill, drawing the last of the Soul Power into his dantian.

Taking advantage of the moment, Ji Yuan siphoned away a batch of the newly stabilized Soul Power and used it to mend the ruptured parts of his main body.

Tang San's chest tightened, and he nearly coughed up blood.

Yu Xiaogang immediately said, "That's the backlash after the soul ring enters your body. Don't be afraid. Steady your breathing!"

Tang San did as instructed, and the tight pain soon faded.

Because Ji Yuan had eaten his fill and temporarily loosened his grip.

Tang San trusted Yu Xiaogang's judgment a little more.

He felt that every danger he encountered had been predicted by his teacher beforehand.

Hidden in the shadows, Ji Yuan found the whole performance quite entertaining.

Tang San was desperately absorbing the soul ring, Yu Xiaogang was desperately proving his theory, yet the one who truly took the lion's share was him, a blade of grass hidden in a shoe sole.

Once the soul ring fully fused, Tang San's Soul Power settled into stability.

When he opened his eyes, his face was pale, but the joy in his eyes could not be concealed.

Yu Xiaogang let out a breath and leaned back against the tree trunk. "Summon your Martial Soul. Let's see the soul skill."

Tang San raised his hand, and Blue Silver Grass emerged from his palm. Its blades were far sturdier than before, with faint purple patterns running across them.

He tried activating his soul skill. Blue Silver Grass shot out and wrapped around a tree root some distance away.

The root was bound tight, but it did not immediately break. Instead, black poison spots spread across its surface.

Tang San's eyes brightened. "Teacher, my first soul skill is Binding, and it carries poison."

Yu Xiaogang nodded, weary relief appearing on his face. "The control-type path works. It was dangerous just now, but the result is good."

Tang San withdrew the Blue Silver Grass and looked down at its blades, his brow furrowing again. "But I feel the poison isn't that strong. A four-hundred-year Datura Snake shouldn't only be like this."

Yu Xiaogang had been about to drink water. Hearing that, he froze with the waterskin at his lips.

After pondering for a moment, he said, "You have Blue Silver Grass, a Martial Soul with a weak foundation. There will be losses after absorption. The fact that you gained toughness and poison already puts you above ordinary Blue Silver Grass."

Tang San was still not quite satisfied. "Would the losses really be this severe?"

Ji Yuan slowly withdrew his filtering net within the sole.

Not severe.

I only ate more than half of it first.

Seeing Tang San still staring at the Blue Silver Grass, Yu Xiaogang's tone hardened. "Tang San, don't be greedy. You survived absorbing your first soul ring and gained a suitable control soul skill. That is already enough. A Soul Master's greatest taboo is receiving benefits and still complaining that they are too few."

Tang San lowered his head. "Teacher, that wasn't what I meant."

Yu Xiaogang coughed several times. Although the poisoned discoloration on his arm had faded considerably, his face was growing paler. "Leave this place first. The scent of blood after the Datura Snake's death will attract trouble, and I need to return to treat my poison wounds."

Tang San immediately stepped forward to support him. "Teacher, I'll carry you."

Yu Xiaogang wanted to refuse, but the moment he put strength into his legs, he nearly fell. He could only place a hand on Tang San's shoulder. "Don't force yourself. Stay alert on the road."

Tang San nodded. "All right."

Ji Yuan paid no attention to the deep bond between teacher and student.

All his attention was focused on his main body.

Inside the shoe's inner sole, the last few green fibers that had once belonged to Blue Silver Grass were snapping apart. The newborn vines gradually crushed the old grass body, their dark purple skin growing against the old cloth. The barbs drew in, and the venom sank deeper inside.

In the depths of his consciousness, that line of cold, rigid text finally surfaced.

Initial evolution complete.

Ji Yuan felt the power surging through his new body as his dark red roots silently tightened.

Tang San had only taken a few steps while carrying Yu Xiaogang when a faint crack suddenly sounded from beneath his shoe.

He lowered his head and saw a tiny tip of an eerie purple-black vine emerging from a seam in the worn cloth at the edge of his shoe.