"Tang San, Master Ma Xiunuo is here in person to conduct your advancement assessment."
The moment the director spoke, the students at the academic affairs office door parted to either side.
Xiao Chenyu had meant to throw his weight around using his father's position as city lord, but at the mention of Spirit Hall, he forced down his anger.
He could swagger through the academy as he pleased, but with someone from Spirit Hall standing here, even his father would have to be polite.
Ma Xiunuo looked at Tang San, then at Xiao Chenyu, whose head was covered in meat broth. He frowned. "Was there trouble at the academy just now?"
The director hurried forward. "The children were sparring and took it too far. I'll deal with it at once."
Xiao Wu immediately cut in. "They bullied the work-study students first!"
Xiao Chenyu gritted his teeth. "Shut up!"
Ma Xiunuo turned to him. "Who are you telling to shut up?"
The words caught in Xiao Chenyu's throat. He lowered his head, his face dark.
Tang San had no wish to keep arguing either. He cupped his hands. "Master Ma Xiunuo, I'm Tang San."
Ma Xiunuo's expression softened. "Su Yuntao mentioned you when he returned last time. Blue Silver Grass, Innate Full Soul Power, correct?"
At the words Innate Full Soul Power, the director grew even more courteous.
Xiao Chenyu's face darkened further. He had heard that Tang San had a Hundred-Year Soul Ring, but he had never imagined the boy also possessed Innate Full Soul Power.
Xiao Wu folded her arms, looking smug. "Hear that? Stop trying to scare people with your little bit of status."
Tang San tugged at her. "Xiao Wu."
Ma Xiunuo ignored the children's sparring. "Since you've obtained your First Soul Ring, come with me to the branch for an advancement test and your Soul Master badge."
The director hurriedly asked, "Master Ma Xiunuo, would you like me to accompany you?"
"No need. Tang San can come with me."
With that, Ma Xiunuo turned and headed downstairs.
Tang San followed. As he passed Xiao Chenyu, he paused. "What happened today ends here."
Xiao Chenyu glared up at him. "You think this is over?"
Xiao Wu stepped forward at once. "What else do you want?"
The director's face hardened. "Xiao Chenyu, go change your clothes and wait for the academy's decision."
Xiao Chenyu clenched his fists, but in the end, several lackeys helped him away.
Hidden in a compartment in Tang San's shoe sole, Ji Yuan drew back most of the poison lingering in Xiao Chenyu's body, leaving only a trace settled along the edges of his meridians.
This little pawn couldn't be ruined too soon.
Ruined, he would only be a nuisance. Kept alive, he could be useful.
Tang San followed Ma Xiunuo out of the academy. He said nothing along the way.
Ma Xiunuo spoke first. "Xiao San, what Soul Beast did your First Soul Ring come from?"
"A Datura Snake," Tang San replied.
Ma Xiunuo slowed. "Blue Silver Grass absorbed a Datura Snake? Who chose it for you?"
"My teacher, Yu Xiaogang."
A complicated look crossed Ma Xiunuo's face at the name. "Grandmaster's theories aren't all empty talk, then."
Tang San said earnestly, "My teacher has helped me greatly."
Ma Xiunuo nodded. "It's good for a young man to respect his teacher. But Spirit Hall can offer you resources too."
Tang San did not respond at once.
Ji Yuan's roots rested beside Tang San's Heart Meridian. He sensed a shift in Tang San's emotions.
A stipend, a badge, an official identity.
Those things appealed to Tang San.
Hardly surprising.
Human young were always swayed by benefits they could see.
Ji Yuan would not allow it.
Spirit Hall had too many high-ranking Soul Masters and too many ways to test people. If Tang San grew too close to it, Ji Yuan, a parasitic weed, would sooner or later be exposed under the eyes of someone powerful.
Get through the test first.
Then cut off the idea.
The Spirit Hall Branch was not large, but its entrance was heavily guarded, and an angel emblem hung on the wall.
Tang San followed Ma Xiunuo inside, unable to keep from feeling nervous.
He held too many secrets.
The Mysterious Heaven Skill, Hidden Weapons, the Tang Sect of his past life, and the Clear Sky Hammer in his left hand that he could not reveal.
Ma Xiunuo led him into the testing room and placed a transparent crystal ball on the table.
"Put your hand on it and circulate your Soul Power. Don't resist."
Tang San nodded and pressed his right hand against the crystal ball.
The instant a wave of Soul Power detection entered his body, Tang San instinctively circulated the Mysterious Heaven Skill to resist it.
This was the moment Ji Yuan had been waiting for.
The Sub-spores at the Heart Meridian tightened at once. He severed seventy percent of the circulating inner energy and allowed the remaining thirty percent into the surface meridians.
Tang San's chest tightened, and sweat beaded on his forehead.
He thought the crystal ball had discovered the Mysterious Heaven Skill. His fingers nearly left its surface.
Ma Xiunuo warned him, "Hold steady. Don't move."
Tang San gritted his teeth and held on.
Ji Yuan forced all the inner energy he had intercepted deep into his Demon Vine body. Its dark-purple bark contracted, its thorns flattened, and every trace of life was suppressed until it resembled dead wood.
The detection wave swept over Tang San's right hand and his Blue Silver Grass Martial Soul, then probed toward his left palm.
Ji Yuan immediately tugged at the outer layer of the Clear Sky Hammer's source, sinking it deeper. At the same time, he pushed the lingering Datura Snake venom toward the mouths of the meridians, creating a muddle of rejection.
Light rose from the crystal ball, and the reading climbed bit by bit.
Expectation appeared in Ma Xiunuo's eyes, then gave way to hesitation.
"Level ten, level eleven..."
Tang San's heart leaped into his throat.
Ji Yuan watched the crystal ball's Soul Power fluctuations coldly.
Any higher, and it would invite more questions.
He cut off the energy at the edge of Tang San's dantian again. The crystal ball's glow stalled at the peak of level eleven and would climb no farther.
Ma Xiunuo waited. When the reading remained still, he gave a soft sigh.
"The peak of level eleven. Reaching that just after obtaining a Soul Ring is already quite good."
Tang San's palm was slick with sweat. "Master, is that result normal?"
Ma Xiunuo said, "With Innate Full Soul Power, you should, in theory, have reached a higher level after absorbing a Hundred-Year Soul Ring. But Blue Silver Grass has a weak foundation, and some power is lost in converting the Soul Ring. It's understandable."
Tang San's heart settled.
Again, Blue Silver Grass had a weak foundation.
He had heard that explanation more than once.
But as long as it explained the result, it was enough to put him at ease.
Ji Yuan swallowed the Soul Power he had intercepted, a feeling of fullness spreading through his Demon Vine.
Spirit Hall's instrument had scanned Tang San for ages and seen only his weakness and the worthless nature of Blue Silver Grass.
The Clear Sky Hammer had stayed hidden.
So had the Parasitic Network.
Even the seventy percent of Soul Power he had just swallowed had been mistaken by the crystal ball for lost potential.
So this was what humans called testing.
Ma Xiunuo took out a register. "Name."
"Tang San."
"Age."
"Six."
"Martial Soul."
Tang San answered more smoothly. "Blue Silver Grass."
Ma Xiunuo wrote it down, then looked up. "What Soul Beast gave you your First Soul Ring?"
"Datura Snake."
Ma Xiunuo's pen paused. "Your teacher has some nerve."
"My teacher knew what he was doing," Tang San said.
Ma Xiunuo did not argue. He stamped the form, then took out a Soul Master badge and a small pouch and handed them to Tang San.
"This is your Soul Master badge. You can use it to collect a monthly stipend."
Tang San accepted the pouch. Hearing the Gold Soul Coins clink inside, he felt a warmth rise in his chest.
Such a small pouch could solve so many of his problems.
He needed to make Hidden Weapons, buy materials, and live at the academy.
Seeing his expression, Ma Xiunuo seized the moment. "Tang San, a child like you shouldn't stay only at Notting Academy."
Tang San looked up. "What do you mean, Master Ma Xiunuo?"
"Spirit Hall can give you better teachers and steadier cultivation resources. It could even recommend you to a larger city."
Tang San did not refuse immediately.
Yu Xiaogang was his teacher, but Spirit Hall's resources lay right before him.
Ji Yuan's roots silently pierced the outer wall of Tang San's Heart Meridian and released a faint irritant toxin. It did not harm his body; it only stirred his emotions.
Some of Tang San's newfound goodwill faded, but not enough.
Ma Xiunuo continued, "You don't have to answer today. Go back and think it over. Spirit Hall's doors are open to talent."
Tang San nodded. "Thank you, Master Ma Xiunuo. I'll consider it."
Ji Yuan made no further move.
Making Tang San turn hostile now would only seem unnatural.
Wait for someone more suitable to appear.
Once the formalities were complete, Ma Xiunuo personally saw him to the door.
Tang San had just tucked the Soul Master badge into his belt when someone came up the steps toward him.
The man wore a deacon's uniform, with a familiar token hanging at his waist. He stopped short when he saw Tang San.
"Tang San?"
Tang San looked up and recognized him too. "Master Su Yuntao?"
Su Yuntao's gaze fell on the badge at Tang San's chest, then shifted to Ma Xiunuo emerging behind him. His expression changed on the spot. "You've already obtained a Soul Ring?"
Ji Yuan's Demon Vine slowly unfurled against the sole of Tang San's shoe.
Good.
The blade that would sever that connection had delivered itself right to him.
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