Liu Qiang woke in the middle of the night and suddenly sat up, clutching his chest.
The upperclassman beside him woke and cursed. "What's wrong with you now?"
Liu Qiang opened his mouth. His throat was dry. "I'm cold."
The student rolled over. "Cold? In the middle of summer? Shut up."
Liu Qiang pulled the blanket up to his shoulders, but that icy chill in his chest kept burrowing into his meridians.
It wasn't pain.
Something tugged at his Soul Power as it circulated, making every cycle feel sluggish.
Ji Yuan was hidden in the sole of Tang San's shoe, but his awareness rested on the Spores inside Liu Qiang.
Good.
They wouldn't damage his meridians or harm his Soul Power core. They would leave only a trace of poisonous residue at the points where his Soul Power flowed.
That wouldn't cripple him, but it would make him spend more energy and leak more Soul Power every time he cultivated.
And that leaked Soul Power would belong to Ji Yuan.
In another dormitory, Xiao Chenyu tossed and turned, unable to sleep.
He had lost face during the day, and Zhou Ming had exposed him in public. The academy hadn't punished him severely, but the city lord's residence was bound to hear about it.
The more he thought about it, the angrier he grew. He slammed a fist against the bedframe. "Tang San!"
From behind his bed curtain, Liu Qiang said quietly, "Boss Xiao, why don't we let this go for now?"
Xiao Chenyu turned his head. "What did you say?"
Liu Qiang hurriedly shrank back. "Nothing."
Xiao Chenyu sat up, ready to curse him, but his chest suddenly tightened. The Soul Power he had raised halfway dispersed.
His expression shifted, and he looked down at his hand.
"That's strange."
Liu Qiang heard him but didn't dare respond.
Ji Yuan placed a single Spore along the edge of the meridians linked to Xiao Chenyu's wolf Martial Soul, letting the toxin hide without triggering it.
Xiao Chenyu's status was useful.
The city lord's son, the academy's little tyrant, a central figure among the upperclassmen.
Only while someone like him remained alive could he draw in more people and carry the Spores into wider circles.
In the teachers' duty room, the teacher who had handled registration during the day was marked too.
He took a sip of water and rubbed his forehead. "What rotten luck today. That Xiao Family brat got me scolded by the director too."
Another teacher said, "You wouldn't have had a problem if you'd taken fewer favors."
The registration teacher's face darkened. "Don't talk nonsense."
"Nonsense?" The other teacher sneered. "Everyone knows who switched the list."
The registration teacher set his cup down hard. "Tang San is just a work-study student, Xiao Wu is a troublemaker, and Xiao Chenyu has the city lord's residence behind him. Who was I supposed to favor?"
The other teacher fell silent.
Ji Yuan's Spore slipped over the rim of the cup and entered the registration teacher's body, settling against a meridian in his wrist.
The teacher's Soul Power was stronger than a student's. Ji Yuan couldn't touch it directly.
First, the Spore would lie dormant.
When the teacher cultivated, it would absorb only the wisps that spilled away, leaving his core untouched.
The night passed, and no one at Notting Academy noticed a thing.
When Tang San woke, he felt a little better than the day before, though his dantian was still empty.
Xiao Wu leaned in and stared at him. "Are you going to cultivate recklessly again today?"
Tang San sighed. "No."
Xiao Wu didn't believe him. "Swear it."
Tang San raised a hand. "I won't try to break through today."
Xiao Wu frowned. "You just won't try to break through? You're still going to cultivate?"
Cornered, Tang San turned toward the window. "I can't stop cultivating altogether."
Xiao Wu threw a pillow at him. "Then cultivate during the day, where I can watch you."
Wang Sheng laughed nearby. "Someone's keeping our boss in line now."
Xiao Wu turned back. "Want me to keep you in line too?"
Wang Sheng immediately lowered his head to put on his shoes. "I'm going to fetch water."
Ji Yuan paid no attention to their bickering.
He was counting the previous night's harvest.
Liu Qiang hadn't leaked much Soul Power.
Xiao Chenyu had leaked a little more.
Even combined with the other upperclassmen, it was only enough to nourish a short length of root.
But the supply was steady.
Once the web spread, energy would flow back to him from the whole academy every day.
Tang San alone was his main source of nourishment.
Notting Academy was fertile ground beyond him.
After morning classes, people at the academy soon noticed something was wrong.
Several upperclassmen were training on the field, but they started panting before they had run far.
Liu Qiang braced his hands on his knees and cursed. "Why am I so tired today?"
Someone beside him rubbed his shoulder. "Me too. I can't raise my Soul Power."
Xiao Chenyu's face was dark. He didn't want to admit he felt wrong too, so he said coldly, "You slept badly last night. Stop making excuses."
Liu Qiang grimaced. "Boss Xiao, I'm not faking it. My chest feels blocked whenever I channel my Soul Power."
Xiao Chenyu was about to curse him, but the Soul Power inside his own body dispersed again. The words caught in his throat.
He kicked a stone away in frustration. "Get back to training, all of you!"
On the other side of the field, Tang San watched the upperclassmen and frowned. "They don't look right today."
Xiao Wu sat on the railing, swinging her legs. "Maybe their bad deeds have finally caught up with them."
Tang San shook his head. "It's not just Xiao Chenyu. The others are the same."
Xiao Wu tilted her head. "Why do you care? They tried to hurt you yesterday."
Tang San didn't answer.
That strange feeling rose in him again.
From the Soul Hunting Forest until now, every incident had an explanation, but each one had been too much of a coincidence.
Zhou Ming's sudden foot injury, the upperclassmen growing weak together, and that constant feeling of being drained from within.
Tang San turned away. "I'm going to find my teacher."
The fine roots around Ji Yuan's Heart Meridian tightened for a moment, then quickly relaxed.
Go ahead.
Yu Xiaogang was the perfect cover.
After hearing Tang San out, Yu Xiaogang set down his pen. "You suspect someone has poisoned the academy?"
Tang San said, "I'm not sure."
Yu Xiaogang rose. "Take me to see."
Xiao Wu followed them. "Grandmaster, don't tell us Tang San's problem is a good thing again."
Yu Xiaogang glanced at her. "When have I ever talked nonsense?"
Xiao Wu pursed her lips. "He coughed up blood last night, and you still called it rising stronger after the setback."
Tang San said quietly, "Xiao Wu."
Yu Xiaogang didn't lose his temper. He was eager to test his theory.
On the field, Yu Xiaogang told Liu Qiang to hold out his hand.
Liu Qiang didn't want to, but Xiao Chenyu wasn't beside him, so he complied.
Yu Xiaogang felt his pulse, his brow slowly furrowing.
Ji Yuan immediately sent the Spore inside Liu Qiang deep into hiding, leaving only fatigue and depleted vitality at the surface.
Yu Xiaogang asked, "Did you cultivate last night?"
Liu Qiang nodded. "I did, but the more I cultivated, the more tired I got."
Yu Xiaogang checked two other students nearby. Their conditions were much the same.
Xiao Wu cut in. "Maybe they've done too many bad things?"
Yu Xiaogang ignored her and turned to Tang San. "Something isn't right with the academy's Soul Power environment lately."
Tang San's heart tightened. "Teacher, does it have anything to do with me?"
Ji Yuan took the cue and pushed a little residual toxin in Tang San's meridians to the surface.
Tang San went pale and gripped the railing.
Xiao Wu immediately supported him. "What's wrong now?"
Yu Xiaogang grabbed Tang San's wrist, his expression growing graver.
"Your Soul Power is depleted too."
Tang San smiled bitterly. "It's been depleted all along."
Yu Xiaogang looked at him, seemingly lost in thought, yet also wrestling with his own theories.
"The Datura Snake Soul Ring, rejection between your Twin Martial Souls, the strain on your meridians after last night's Mysterious Heaven Skill breakthrough, and your recent sparring with so many people could have caused your Soul Power to leak outward and affect the surrounding cultivation environment."
Tang San froze. "I affected them?"
Xiao Wu's eyes widened. "Tang San's this weak, and he can still affect other people?"
Yu Xiaogang said gravely, "Not deliberately. It's Soul Power resonance."
Ji Yuan listened quietly.
There it is again.
Yu Xiaogang would smooth the way for him.
Tang San clearly didn't understand it either, but Yu Xiaogang sounded serious, so he half believed him. "Then what should I do?"
Yu Xiaogang said, "Cut back on pointless fights, stabilize the Soul Power of your Blue Silver Grass, and stay away from areas where upperclassmen cultivate together for now."
Xiao Wu nodded at once. "Good. Stay away from Xiao Chenyu and his lot."
Tang San remained uneasy. "Teacher, what if they keep getting weaker?"
Yu Xiaogang took out a small notebook. "I'll observe them."
Ji Yuan's Spores lay quietly dormant inside dozens of people.
Observe them?
Look all you like.
No sudden outbreak, no wounds, no trace of an outside Soul Beast. Only cultivation fatigue and lingering toxins.
The more Yu Xiaogang investigated, the deeper he would burrow into his theories.
At noon, Xiao Chenyu was summoned to the academic affairs office for a scolding. When he returned, his expression was even darker.
Liu Qiang approached him. "Boss Xiao, what did the teacher say?"
Xiao Chenyu kicked him in the leg. "Get lost."
Liu Qiang nearly fell. With his Soul Power refusing to rise, even keeping his feet took effort.
Several nearby upperclassmen wanted to laugh but didn't dare.
Ji Yuan used their shifting emotions to draw away more stray Soul Power.
Fear and resentment made Soul Power churn.
And when it churned, it was easier to absorb.
By dusk, the first wave of returning energy flowed into the space inside Tang San's shoe sole.
It wasn't much, but the flow never stopped.
Ji Yuan's Demon Vine body had shrunk into a dark-purple wooden thorn. The metallic sheen on its surface had deepened, and the venom channels at the base of its barbs slowly widened.
He didn't touch Tang San again.
Tang San still needed to recover.
He couldn't drain his main source dry.
Now the whole of Notting Academy was helping him replenish his strength.
That night, Dorm Seven grew quiet.
Xiao Wu leaned over the bedside to supervise Tang San as he regulated his breathing, still threatening him. "If you secretly try to break through, I'll tell Grandmaster, then Wang Sheng. I'll have everyone in Dorm Seven take turns watching you."
Tang San kept his eyes closed. "I'm only stabilizing my meridians."
Xiao Wu snorted. "You'd better be."
With her so close, Ji Yuan drew a little more excess essence from the roots of her scorpion braid.
Xiao Wu rubbed her neck. "Why does it itch again?"
Tang San opened his eyes. "Did you bump it when you threw Zhao Hu earlier?"
Xiao Wu thought for a moment. "Maybe."
Ji Yuan didn't get greedy. He withdrew without leaving a trace.
At the same time, the parasitized students and teachers throughout the academy began cultivating.
Soul Power circulated.
Impurities seeped out.
The Spores opened.
Threads of energy followed the underground roots back to Dorm Seven and flowed into the inconspicuous dark wooden thorn in Tang San's shoe sole.
Notting Academy's rudimentary Dark Web was complete.
But just as the returning energy began to flow more smoothly, the Soul Power detector in Yu Xiaogang's office suddenly trembled.
Yu Xiaogang had been reading. His finger stopped on the page, and he raised his head toward Dorm Seven.
"Why is this fluctuation connected to Tang San again?"
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