Xuantian Breakthrough, Ninety Percent Guiyuan

Tang San had no time to answer Xiao Wu.

The Mysterious Heaven Skill circulated faster and faster through his meridians. The soreness left behind by forging was washed away by his inner strength, and the barrier deep within his dantian that had blocked him for so long finally began to loosen.

Seeing that something was wrong with his complexion, Xiao Wu immediately reached out to push him. "Tang San, didn't you say you were only regulating your breathing?"

Tang San gritted his teeth. "Don't touch me. I'm about to break through."

"Break through?"

Xiao Wu's drowsiness vanished at once. "Then I'll go get Master."

"No."

Sweat beaded on Tang San's forehead, his voice tight. "It can't be interrupted now."

When Ji Yuan heard that, all he felt was coldness.

Of course it couldn't be interrupted.

What would he eat if it were?

The parasitic web spread through Tang San's body. The sub-spores around his heart gathered into a gate, the fine tendrils at the edge of his dantian all opened, and the dormant points deep in his marrow began to latch on.

This time, it was no small matter.

The newly generated inner strength brought by the second level of the Mysterious Heaven Skill was purer than what Tang San had accumulated through his usual hard cultivation—and easier for Ji Yuan to convert.

Tang San still believed he was about to experience a genuine breakthrough.

He did not know that the gate was no longer in his hands.

Xiao Wu rolled out of bed and paced anxiously beside it. "Don't scare me like this. Does a breakthrough make your face turn this pale?"

Tang San said nothing.

He could not speak.

The inner strength in his meridians surged toward the critical point. His chest began to feel tight, and a familiar heaviness came over his left hand.

He assumed the rejection between his twin martial souls had been triggered again, and immediately followed Yu Xiaogang's method to stabilize the soul power of his Blue Silver Grass.

Ji Yuan took the opportunity to push the lingering Datura Snake venom to the surface, feeding Tang San a false signal.

That was right.

It was rejection.

Keep pushing.

Tang San clenched his teeth and drove the Mysterious Heaven Skill through the final barrier.

With a boom, pure inner strength burst forth from the depths of his dantian and spread through his body along his meridians.

Xiao Wu saw a faint purple aura appear around him and called nervously, "Tang San?"

Just as joy rose in Tang San's heart—

Ji Yuan reeled in the net.

All the suckers opened at once. Before the newly generated inner strength could nourish Tang San's meridians, it was cut off from every direction and drawn toward the hidden parasitic core beneath his heart.

Tang San's face went deathly pale.

"Something's wrong!"

He finally noticed.

This was not normal depletion.

The power had not dissipated. It had been stolen.

Tang San tried to reverse the Mysterious Heaven Skill and pull the inner strength back, but Ji Yuan had already suppressed his heart meridian in advance, cutting off seventy percent of his control.

The remaining thirty percent of his inner strength rampaged through his meridians, slamming into him hard enough to send searing pain through his chest.

Xiao Wu lunged forward and supported him. "Tang San, what's wrong?"

Tang San opened his mouth, but blood came out first.

Black blood sprayed across the edge of the bed.

The others in the Seventh Dormitory were startled awake. Wang Sheng sat bolt upright in bed. "Boss?"

Xiao Wu shouted, "Go get Master!"

Wang Sheng did not even finish putting on his shoes before rushing out the door.

Tang San's body pitched forward. Xiao Wu braced him with her shoulder, her voice changing. "Tang San, say something. Don't fall asleep!"

Tang San's vision darkened, yet he still tried to suppress the sensation of being robbed from within.

But the more he struggled, the more smoothly Ji Yuan drained him.

Ninety percent of the newly generated inner strength was dragged into the demon vine's main body.

Inside the hidden layer of his shoe sole, the Bloodthirsty Demon Vine, which had only recently revived after withering away, rapidly swelled before Ji Yuan forcibly compressed it again.

Its metallic barbs glimmered one by one with a heavy sheen. The vine's dark purple skin deepened, the sharp aura of iron mother entwining with the Mysterious Heaven Skill's inner strength, stretching its main body to the point of nearly splitting apart.

Ji Yuan had not gotten greedy enough to lose control.

He left behind ten percent.

That ten percent was enough to keep Tang San alive, and enough for Yu Xiaogang to detect the strengthening of his meridians after the breakthrough.

The blood bag could not die.

If it died, the supply would be cut off.

Xiao Wu looked at the black blood at Tang San's lips, her eyes reddening. "Didn't you say it wouldn't happen? You lied to me again!"

Tang San wanted to explain, but his throat was filled with nothing but the taste of blood.

Hurried footsteps sounded outside the door.

Yu Xiaogang rushed in wearing only an outer robe, with Wang Sheng following behind him, his face pale with fright.

"Move."

Yu Xiaogang sat beside the bed and grabbed Tang San's wrist. The moment he examined him, his expression turned so grim it was almost green.

Xiao Wu said urgently, "Master, he said he was going to break through, and then he started vomiting blood!"

Yu Xiaogang asked Tang San, "Did you force a breakthrough in the Mysterious Heaven Skill?"

Tang San nodded weakly. "Teacher, I broke through, but my power... was drained away..."

Ji Yuan immediately withdrew all his suckers, disguising the remaining traces as the emptiness left behind after the meridians had been scoured by internal power.

Tang San's words made Yu Xiaogang's heart skip a beat.

Drained away?

That phrasing again.

He recalled how Tang San had also said his power had been stolen when he vomited black blood before.

Keeping a grim expression, Yu Xiaogang continued examining Tang San's left hand.

Ji Yuan stirred the source of the Clear Sky Hammer, causing a heavy response to come from the left hand.

Tang San let out a muffled groan. A faint oppressive sensation surfaced in his left palm before quickly being forced back down.

Yu Xiaogang's suspicions were instantly redirected toward the twin martial souls.

Xiao Wu was frantic. "Master, what exactly is going on? Don't just stand there frowning!"

Yu Xiaogang did not answer immediately.

He took out some medicinal powder from his robes and had Tang San swallow it, then told Wang Sheng to fetch warm water.

Wang Sheng hurried away.

Only then did Yu Xiaogang speak. "It is not a bad thing."

Xiao Wu nearly jumped up. "He's vomiting blood, and you're saying that's not a bad thing?"

Yu Xiaogang looked at her. "Vomiting blood does not mean his foundation has been damaged. The black blood is impurities."

Tang San asked with difficulty, "Teacher, is having my power drained away also a form of purging?"

Yu Xiaogang took Tang San's left hand and pressed his palm. "Your situation is more complicated than I anticipated."

Xiao Wu could not help saying, "Can you explain that in plain language?"

Yu Xiaogang glanced at her without reprimanding her. "Tang San has just broken through. The newly generated soul power in his body is too abundant for the Blue Silver Grass to bear, so his second martial soul will share the burden."

Tang San frowned. "Share the burden?"

"Yes."

Yu Xiaogang spoke faster, as though explaining it to Tang San and convincing himself at the same time. "You feel as though your power has been drained because it did not remain on the surface level of your meridians. Instead, it was absorbed by the deeper martial soul source to stabilize the balance between your twin martial souls."

Ji Yuan nearly unfurled his vines inside the sole of his shoe.

Yu Xiaogang really was becoming more and more useful as a tool.

There was still doubt in Tang San's eyes. "But my meridians are empty."

Yu Xiaogang pressed a hand to his shoulder. "Being empty is a good thing."

Xiao Wu could not stand it anymore. "Master, that sounds way too terrifying."

Yu Xiaogang ignored her and stared at Tang San. "Destroying and rebuilding, understand? The black blood you vomited this time was deep-seated impurities left behind by the Datura Snake's residual poison and the conflict between your twin martial souls."

Tang San's breathing gradually steadied.

Yu Xiaogang continued, "Though you are weak now, your meridians are tougher than before, and your soul power is purer as well."

Tang San tried to sense the inside of his body.

Sure enough, although his dantian was empty, the walls of his meridians were tougher than before, and the small amount of internal power flowing through them was cleaner.

That was true.

The ten percent of internal power Ji Yuan had deliberately left behind was just enough for Tang San to feel the results of his breakthrough.

Tang San's suspicions were suppressed by that sliver of truth.

"Master, was I too hasty?"

Yu Xiaogang sighed. "Your talent is too high, but your body can't keep up. From now on, you must tell me in advance before breaking through."

Xiao Wu immediately chimed in, "Did you hear that? If you dare sneak off in the middle of the night again, I'll tie you up."

Tang San gave a weak smile. "All right."

Ji Yuan watched the three of them coldly.

One was responsible for training desperately.

One was responsible for worrying and caring for him.

One was responsible for explaining every abnormality as something reasonable.

This livestock-raising routine could not have gone any more smoothly.

Wang Sheng returned with water and finally breathed a sigh of relief when he saw Tang San awake. "Boss, you scared me to death."

Yu Xiaogang took the water. "Don't crowd around him tonight. Let him rest."

Xiao Wu refused to leave. "I'm staying."

Yu Xiaogang did not drive her away this time. "Keep an eye on him. Don't let him circulate his soul power again."

Xiao Wu sat beside the bed and glared fiercely at Tang San. "Did you hear that?"

Tang San nodded.

Yu Xiaogang packed up the medicinal powder and checked Tang San's meridians once more before leaving.

Ji Yuan disguised himself as shattered soul power nodes and scattered them along the edges, ensuring that all Yu Xiaogang saw was the chaos left after a breakthrough.

Yu Xiaogang did not investigate any further.

He feared that probing further would instead stimulate Tang San's second martial soul.

After Yu Xiaogang left, the Seventh Dormitory fell quiet again.

Xiao Wu kept watch beside Tang San's bed, still muttering, "Do all you cultivators have such a death wish?"

Tang San said softly, "Sorry."

Xiao Wu shoved the cup into his hands. "What good is sorry? Drink."

Tang San took it, his hands still trembling.

Xiao Wu saw it and stopped scolding him. She only pulled the blanket farther over him. "Sleep."

Tang San closed his eyes.

Meanwhile, Ji Yuan digested the gains from the ninety-percent breakthrough within the hidden layer of his shoe sole.

After the demon vine's body had swelled dramatically and then been compressed, its internal energy became more concentrated. The metallic barbs and venom ducts had fully fused, and the Disorder Splitting Wind Vine Technique now had stronger support.

He was no longer satisfied with the cultivation gains from Tang San alone.

Notting Academy had more students, more soul power, and more nourishment that could be quietly siphoned away.

Relying on Blood Pack Number One alone was too slow.

After dawn, news of Tang San's weakened state spread throughout the Seventh Dormitory.

Xiao Chenyu's side heard the rumors as well.

After morning class, several upperclassmen stood at the edge of the training ground, whispering among themselves.

"Tang San coughed up blood last night?"

"I heard he almost died."

"Boss Xiao will definitely settle the score."

Xiao Chenyu stood in the shadows, his face still filled with resentment from yesterday's humiliation.

He sneered. "Coughing blood is good. I was worried he'd be too strong."

Liu Qiang said quietly, "But the master is protecting him."

Xiao Chenyu turned and stared at him. "Do you remember what you said in the cafeteria yesterday?"

Liu Qiang's face went pale, and he did not dare reply.

Ji Yuan's senses extended from a lingering spore in the distance, immediately locking onto the group of upperclassmen.

The grand tournament was approaching.

There would be many people, chaotic soul power, and intense emotions.

It was the perfect chance to cast a net.

Tang San was still lying in bed, believing he needed time to recover.

Yet Ji Yuan had already sent the first new spore into a crack in the ground, where it crawled toward the training ground.

Just then, Xiao Wu's excited shout came from outside the door.

"Tang San, the year-end tournament roster is posted! You and I are both in the first round!"

The tip of Ji Yuan's vine paused, then turned toward the training ground.

It was time to expand the farm.