"Move aside."
Xiao Wu reached out to shove Tang San. "He's bullying us right in our faces. I'm kicking him down the stairs today."
Tang San stopped her. "I'll do it."
Xiao Chenyu laughed as he carried his tray down the stairs. "You? A freshman who just entered the academy, and you dare stand up for the Seventh Dormitory?"
Wang Sheng quietly reminded him, "Boss, he's the city lord's son. His Martial Soul is a wolf, and he's almost level eleven already."
Xiao Wu snapped impatiently, "So what if he's the city lord's son? Does the city lord's son not feel pain when he gets beaten?"
The older students behind Xiao Chenyu immediately began jeering.
"Boss Xiao, this little girl's got quite the mouth."
"And this newcomer too. I heard he just got his Soul Ring yesterday, and now he's already got his tail in the air."
"Let him learn who calls the shots at Notting Academy."
Tang San ignored those voices and looked only at Xiao Chenyu. "If you want to fight, fine."
"But don't drag the other working students into it."
Xiao Chenyu shoved his tray into the hands of a student beside him and rolled his wrists. "Fine. I'll beat you first."
Xiao Wu was about to speak, but Tang San looked back at her. "Watch from the side."
Xiao Wu glared at him. "Don't ask me to save you if you lose."
Tang San said, "I won't lose."
Ji Yuan hid beneath the sole of his shoe and scoffed at that.
Without Ji Yuan holding back, Tang San naturally wouldn't lose.
But Ji Yuan didn't intend to let Tang San merely win this fight.
He wanted to test Demon Vine's new poison.
The trace hallucinogenic toxin drawn from the Datura Snake and Xiao Wu's essence had yet to be used on a Soul Master.
Xiao Chenyu was just right.
He wasn't too strong, and his status was troublesome enough.
Beating him too lightly wouldn't be satisfying, while beating him too badly would bring the city lord's residence down on them.
It would be best if he made a fool of himself.
Xiao Chenyu raised his hand and released his Martial Soul. A gray wolf shadow rose behind him, his fingernails lengthened, and his face took on a more beastly cast.
The students on the first floor all retreated.
Wang Sheng gritted his teeth. "Boss, be careful. He's fast."
Tang San nodded. Blue Silver Grass emerged from his right palm, and a yellow Soul Ring lit up.
Xiao Chenyu had been about to mock Blue Silver Grass, but when he saw the century-old Soul Ring, his expression changed.
"A century-old Soul Ring?"
Tang San said, "Scared?"
Xiao Chenyu couldn't bear the embarrassment and gritted his teeth. "Blue Silver Grass is still Blue Silver Grass. Even with a century-old Soul Ring, it's still a useless Martial Soul!"
He kicked off the ground and lunged at Tang San.
Ji Yuan clung to the ground along Tang San's sole. Demon Vine roots slipped through a crack in the shoe and released several wisps of colorless poison along the seams between the stone slabs.
There wasn't much poison, but it rode the airflow stirred up by Xiao Chenyu's charge and entered his nostrils.
Xiao Chenyu's fist had already reached Tang San's face, but as he exerted force, his wrist went weak. His punch veered aside and grazed Tang San's shoulder before missing completely.
Tang San seized the chance. With a turn of Ghost Shadow Perplexing Track, Blue Silver Grass wrapped around Xiao Chenyu's lower leg.
Xiao Chenyu stomped through half the grass blades and roared, "That's all the strength you've got?"
Tang San frowned slightly.
His Blue Silver Grass really was somewhat weak.
If Xiao Chenyu's punch hadn't gone off course just now, he might not have dodged it so easily.
Ji Yuan gave him no chance to think further.
A second wave of hallucinogenic toxin spread through the cracks in the floor and drifted toward Xiao Chenyu's lackeys.
An older student had just wanted to step in and help when the Tang San before his eyes suddenly became two. He threw a punch, only to smash it into the shoulder of the companion beside him.
That companion cursed in pain. "Liu Qiang, why the hell did you hit me?"
Liu Qiang was dumbfounded too. "I was hitting him!"
Another person rushed over to break them up, but after inhaling the poison, his vision also scrambled. He stuck out a foot and tripped Liu Qiang, sending the two rolling into a heap.
The cafeteria was quiet at first, then someone couldn't help laughing.
Xiao Wu slapped the table and shouted, "Nice! Beating up your own people—is that all noble students can do?"
Xiao Chenyu's face turned red. "All of you, stop!"
After roaring, he himself began to feel dizzy.
Tang San's figure swayed left and right in his vision.
Xiao Chenyu gritted his teeth and lunged again, his wolf claws slashing toward Tang San's chest.
This time, Tang San didn't retreat. Blue Silver Grass coiled around Xiao Chenyu's wrist from the side, while the mechanism of his sleeve arrow tightened in his palm.
He didn't want to kill anyone.
But if Xiao Chenyu kept attacking viciously, Tang San didn't mind making him suffer a little.
Ji Yuan sensed the sleeve arrow and immediately tightened the roots near Tang San's heart, making his chest tighten.
Tang San slowed, and the sleeve arrow did not fire.
Ji Yuan coldly withdrew the roots.
Idiot.
Using hidden weapons to shoot the city lord's son in the academy cafeteria would only bring trouble down on the body Ji Yuan inhabited.
This performance only needed fists and feet.
Xiao Chenyu rushed close. Tang San used a pull from the Blue Silver Grass and drove his knee into Xiao Chenyu's abdomen.
Xiao Chenyu doubled over in pain. Before he could recover, Tang San struck his back with a palm and pressed him to the ground.
Several lackeys wanted to rush over and save him, but the poison had them shoving one another instead.
One student saw the platter of meat on the floor and mistook it for Tang San's hidden weapon. Terrified, he kicked it away, splashing meat broth all over Xiao Chenyu's head.
The laughter on the first floor of the cafeteria grew even louder.
Xiao Chenyu lay sprawled on the ground, his wolf Martial Soul nearly impossible to maintain. He roared through gritted teeth, "Tang San, you dare humiliate me!"
Tang San stepped on his wrist, his tone turning cold. "You humiliated the working students first."
Xiao Wu walked over and crouched in front of Xiao Chenyu. "What about that piece of meat from earlier? Didn't you tell us to pick it up?"
Xiao Chenyu trembled with rage. "Just you wait. My father won't let you off."
Xiao Wu raised her hand to slap him.
Tang San stopped her. "Enough."
Xiao Wu was displeased. "He's still threatening us."
Tang San looked at Xiao Chenyu. "If you're not convinced, we can keep fighting."
Xiao Chenyu wanted to get up, but his abdomen throbbed with pain and his vision kept swimming.
He had no idea why he had performed so terribly.
Tang San was clearly only a Blue Silver Grass Soul Master. Xiao Chenyu clearly had the advantage in both strength and speed, yet every attack somehow missed by just a little.
Ji Yuan quietly recorded everything from within the sole of Tang San's shoe.
The poison took effect quickly and didn't last long. It caused mild hallucinations and weakened reactions, with obvious effects on students with low Soul Power.
Its drawback was that it couldn't withstand changes in wind direction. It worked better in enclosed spaces.
This batch of lab rats had performed satisfactorily.
Hurried footsteps sounded from the cafeteria entrance.
An academy teacher hurried over. Upon seeing Xiao Chenyu lying on the floor, his expression immediately darkened. "What happened?"
Xiao Chenyu instantly raised his head. "Teacher, Tang San ambushed me!"
Xiao Wu jumped up. "Bullshit! So many people saw it. You were the one who started it!"
Wang Sheng also stepped forward despite himself. "Teacher, Boss Xiao was the one who used the meat to humiliate us first."
Xiao Chenyu snapped, "Wang Sheng, you dare speak for him?"
Tang San withdrew his foot and said calmly, "Teacher, you can ask everyone in the cafeteria."
The teacher swept his gaze around.
Quite a few students lowered their heads, too afraid to speak.
Not everyone dared offend the city lord's son.
Seeing this, Ji Yuan sent the last trace of poison beneath Liu Qiang's nose.
Liu Qiang's mind was still muddled. Pointing at Xiao Chenyu, he shouted, "Boss Xiao told us to beat Tang San. Why are you saying he ambushed you now?"
The moment the words left his mouth, he froze.
Xiao Chenyu's face turned livid. "Liu Qiang, have you gone mad?"
Soft laughter rose through the cafeteria again.
The teacher's expression finally changed.
He could favor Xiao Chenyu, but he couldn't blatantly twist black into white in front of so many students.
"All of you, come with me to the Academic Affairs Office."
Xiao Wu immediately objected. "Why? They were clearly the ones causing trouble!"
Tang San pulled her back. "We'll go."
He could tell that today's matter wouldn't end in the cafeteria.
But he had won.
The working students of the Seventh Dormitory looked at him differently now. Even Wang Sheng had straightened his back.
Ji Yuan had no interest in such empty fame.
What he cared about was that after Tang San's fight, the flow of Soul Power in his body quickened. His emotions rose, and the internal energy of Mysterious Heaven Skill began actively replenishing what had been consumed.
That was the real reward after victory.
As Tang San headed toward the Academic Affairs Office, Ji Yuan quietly siphoned off a portion of his newly generated internal energy and stored the hallucinogenic toxin data within Demon Vine's main body.
Tang San's steps grew slightly heavier, and he assumed it was because the fight had drained too much energy.
Xiao Wu leaned closer and asked, "Are you all right?"
Tang San shook his head. "I'm fine."
Xiao Wu curled her lip. "You say that every time."
Supported by two lackeys, Xiao Chenyu walked ahead of them. He turned back and glared viciously at Tang San.
"This isn't over."
Before Tang San could reply, an unfamiliar yet gentle voice suddenly came from the end of the corridor.
"Which one of you is Tang San?"
Everyone turned.
An elderly man dressed in the robes of a Spirit Hall deacon stood by the stairs, with the academy director behind him.
The director's anger had already been replaced by politeness. "Tang San, Master Ma Xiunuo has come in person to conduct your advancement appraisal."
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