"You've already obtained a Soul Ring?"
Su Yuntao's voice tightened as he spoke. Even Ma Xiunuo glanced at him.
Tang San nodded. "I got it a few days ago."
Su Yuntao hurried forward, swept his gaze over Tang San, then settled on his right hand. "Release your Martial Soul. Let me see."
Tang San did not refuse. Blue light surged from his palm, Blue Silver Grass sprang forth, and a Yellow Soul Ring rose from beneath his feet.
Su Yuntao drew a breath, unable to hide the regret on his face.
"A Hundred-Year Soul Ring. Blue Silver Grass really can withstand a Hundred-Year Soul Ring."
Ma Xiunuo said, "His teacher chose a Datura Snake for him."
Su Yuntao frowned. "A Datura Snake? Isn't that reckless?"
Tang San's brow furrowed. "I absorbed the Soul Ring successfully."
Su Yuntao realized he had spoken too sharply and softened his tone. "I'm not saying you couldn't do it. I'm saying the risk was too great. If something had gone wrong, who would have taken responsibility?"
Ma Xiunuo did not interrupt.
Tang San asked, "Did you need something from me, Master Su Yuntao?"
Su Yuntao looked at him, far more eager than he had been in Holy Soul Village. "Tang San, when you turned down Spirit Hall last time, I thought you were too young to understand what Innate Full Soul Power meant. Now that you're a Soul Master, you should think it through."
Tang San pressed his lips together.
Ji Yuan heard the energy coursing through Tang San's Heart Meridian quicken.
Just as I thought.
The subsidy had barely reached Tang San's hands before another offer followed. Those benefits were wearing down his caution.
Su Yuntao pressed his advantage. "Notting Academy is only a junior academy. There's a limit to what it can teach you. Spirit Hall is different. We have a more complete system for training Soul Masters."
Tang San said nothing.
Su Yuntao pressed on. "If you want to study theory, someone will teach you. If you want to cultivate, you'll have resources. When it's time to hunt Soul Rings in the future, you'll even have escorts."
Ma Xiunuo gave a soft cough. "Yuntao, don't scare the boy."
Su Yuntao said, "Master Ma Xiunuo, I'm only telling the truth. Innate Full Soul Power must not go to waste."
Tang San said quietly, "I've already taken a teacher."
Su Yuntao immediately replied, "Yu Xiaogang? I know him. He has some grasp of theory, but he isn't even a Soul Elder himself."
Tang San's expression changed. "Please don't speak of my teacher that way."
Su Yuntao knew he had crossed Tang San's line, but he did not want to let go.
Missing out on someone with Innate Full Soul Power in Holy Soul Village had haunted him ever since.
If he brought Tang San back to Spirit Hall, it would be a great achievement.
"Tang San, you're still young. Respecting your teacher is good, but you can't make choices based on feelings alone."
Tang San rested a hand on his belt, hesitating.
Ji Yuan made his move.
A Sub-spore released an agitating toxin along the Heart Meridian. It rode the bloodstream to the edges of Tang San's cranial nerves.
Su Yuntao suddenly seemed unbearable to Tang San.
Every word the man spoke sounded like a demand that he betray his teacher.
The irritation made no sense, but Tang San did not notice where it came from. He only felt a fire trapped in his chest.
Ji Yuan tugged at the source of the Clear Sky Hammer in Tang San's left palm, drawing a heavy sensation from deep within his bones.
Tang San's palm ached.
Tang Hao's words from that night surfaced again.
Do not let anyone know about the Clear Sky Hammer. Above all, do not add a Soul Ring to it.
Spirit Hall.
His father had never liked Spirit Hall.
Tang San went pale and took a small step back.
Seeing this, Su Yuntao pressed him. "What's wrong?"
Tang San raised his head, his voice hardening. "Thank you for the offer, Master Su Yuntao, but I won't join Spirit Hall."
The eagerness faded from Su Yuntao's face. "Are you sure?"
"I'm sure."
"Because of Yu Xiaogang?"
"Because I already have a teacher."
Su Yuntao held back his anger. "Spirit Hall can give you things Yu Xiaogang never could."
Tang San's left hand grew heavier, and the agitating toxin pushed him toward a blunter answer.
"I don't need them."
Ma Xiunuo frowned. "Tang San, don't be so quick to rule it out."
Tang San realized his tone had been wrong and was about to make amends, but Ji Yuan drained another sliver of energy from his chest.
Tang San's chest tightened, souring his mood further. "If there's nothing else, I'll return to the academy."
Su Yuntao's face turned cold.
"Blue Silver Grass is still Blue Silver Grass. I gave you a chance, and now you think you're some kind of genius?"
Ma Xiunuo said softly, "Yuntao."
Su Yuntao swept his sleeve and turned away. "Let him be. He'd better not regret it later."
Tang San watched Su Yuntao leave, unease rising in his heart.
He should not have spoken so harshly.
But the ache in his left hand reminded him that staying away from Spirit Hall might be the right choice.
Ma Xiunuo sighed. "Young man, having backbone is good. Just don't narrow your own path."
Tang San bowed. "Thank you for the advice, Master."
Ma Xiunuo waved a hand. "Go on. Come collect your subsidy each month."
Tang San left the branch hall. Only after he had walked some distance did the weight in his left hand slowly fade.
Ji Yuan drew his roots back into the depths of the Heart Meridian.
Done.
A thorn had taken root between Tang San and Spirit Hall.
As long as it remained lodged in his heart, Tang San would read every future approach from Spirit Hall as pressure.
Useful.
Back at the academy, Tang San went straight to Yu Xiaogang's office.
Yu Xiaogang was leafing through a book. When Tang San came in, he looked up. "How did the test go?"
Tang San took out his badge. "Peak level eleven."
Yu Xiaogang's hand stopped on the page. Then he nodded. "More or less as I expected."
Tang San asked, "Teacher, is it normal for someone with Innate Full Soul Power to reach only peak level eleven after absorbing a Hundred-Year Soul Ring?"
Yu Xiaogang set down the book. "Your Blue Silver Grass has a low capacity, while the Datura Snake's venom is potent. Most of the Soul Power went toward strengthening your Martial Soul's resilience, so your level barely rose."
The last of Tang San's doubts dissolved.
Listening from the sole of Tang San's shoe, Ji Yuan was delighted.
Yu Xiaogang always fills in the holes for me.
Tang San added, "Master Su Yuntao was at Spirit Hall too. He wanted me to join."
Yu Xiaogang's fingers tightened, crumpling the page.
After a moment of silence, he asked, "What did you say?"
"I refused."
Yu Xiaogang looked at Tang San. "Because of me?"
Tang San answered earnestly, "A teacher for a day is a father for life. Since I've taken you as my teacher, I won't casually pledge myself elsewhere."
Yu Xiaogang's throat bobbed. In the end, he only said, "Go back and rest. Keep your Soul Master subsidy safe. Don't squander it."
Tang San said, "I want to work at the smithy this afternoon. I promised the owner I would."
Yu Xiaogang frowned. "You've only just finished your test. Can your body handle it?"
Tang San nodded. "Forging can build strength too, and I need money for materials."
Thinking of Tang San's Hidden Weapons, Yu Xiaogang did not stop him. "Don't overdo it. If your left hand feels heavy again, stop at once."
"Yes."
Ji Yuan turned his senses toward the iron hammer in town.
The Sub-spore deep in its wooden handle sent back the dry scent of wood. Shi San's smithy was bustling, its furnace blazing.
Tang San left the academy, and Xiao Wu chased after him. "Where are you going?"
"The smithy."
Xiao Wu wrinkled her nose. "Forging again? You just fought Xiao Chenyu, and now you're going to work?"
Tang San said, "It's fine. I want to save up for materials as soon as I can."
Xiao Wu pouted. "Then I'm coming too."
Tang San thought for a moment. "The smithy's hot. You shouldn't come."
Xiao Wu bristled at once. "You think I'll get in your way?"
Tang San sighed. "No."
"Then I'm coming."
Ji Yuan did not care whether she came along.
With Xiao Wu nearby, her hundred-thousand-year essence would remain within his senses, but the smithy was today's priority.
Shi San's eyes lit up when Tang San walked in. "Kid, you're here? I thought you'd quit after coming back from Soul Hunting yesterday."
Tang San smiled. "I made a promise. Of course I came."
Shi San tossed a chunk of pig iron onto the anvil. "Good. Try this today. Refine it first. Do a good job, and you'll get paid as usual."
Standing in the doorway, Xiao Wu covered her nose. "It's hot and smoky in here. Are you really staying all afternoon?"
Tang San picked up the hammer. "You get used to it."
The Sub-spore Ji Yuan had planted in the hammer handle stirred at once.
Tang San gripped the wooden handle. The Mysterious Heaven Skill flowed through his arm; his calves drove upward, and his waist and back powered his shoulders and arms.
Through Ji Yuan's senses, the sequence broke down into its parts.
Muscles, joints, meridians, Soul Power—all drove strength into the hammer.
Shi San called from beside him, "Don't just use brute force! Let the hammer carry the momentum!"
Tang San did not answer. His eyes settled on the pig iron, and his whole presence grew still and heavy.
The first hammer blow fell.
The Sub-spore inside the handle endured the shock and sent the path of that force back to the layer beneath Tang San's shoe.
Ji Yuan's vine tip rose without a sound.
The Clear Sky Sect's secret technique had finally revealed itself.
Before you continue