Poison Lurks, Control the Seniors

Liu Qiang slept until the middle of the night, then suddenly sat up clutching his chest.

The older student beside him was awakened by the commotion and cursed, "What's wrong with you again?"

Liu Qiang opened his mouth, his throat dry. "I'm cold."

The student turned over. "Cold in the middle of summer? Quit making noise."

Liu Qiang pulled the blanket up to his shoulders, but that chill in his chest continued to bore into his meridians.

It wasn't pain.

Something seemed to drag at his soul power as it circulated, making every cycle feel sluggish and rough.

Ji Yuan was hidden in the sole of Tang San's shoe, but his awareness rested on the spore inside Liu Qiang's body.

Excellent.

It would not damage the meridians or harm the core of one's soul power. It merely left a trace of toxic residue at the operational nodes.

It would not cripple them, but it would make them expend more effort and grow more discouraged every time they cultivated.

That small amount of leaked soul power would belong to him.

In another dormitory, Xiao Chenyu tossed and turned, unable to sleep.

He had lost face during the day, and Zhou Ming had publicly exposed him. Though the academy had not punished him severely, the City Lord's Manor would surely hear about it.

The more he thought about it, the angrier he became. He slammed a fist into the bedframe. "Tang San!"

From behind the bed curtains, Liu Qiang said softly, "Boss Xiao, how about we just let this go for now?"

Xiao Chenyu turned his head. "What did you say?"

Liu Qiang quickly shrank back. "I didn't say anything."

Xiao Chenyu sat up, about to curse, when his chest suddenly tightened. The soul power he had gathered dispersed halfway through.

His expression changed as he lowered his head to look at his hand.

"How strange."

Liu Qiang heard him but did not dare respond.

Ji Yuan attached a spore to the edge of the meridians connected to Xiao Chenyu's wolf martial soul, allowing the toxin to remain hidden without triggering it.

Xiao Chenyu's status was useful.

The city lord's son, the academy's little tyrant, a central figure among the upper-year students.

Only by keeping someone like that alive could he draw out more people and have him carry the spores into larger circles.

In the teachers' duty room, the teacher responsible for registration that day had also been marked.

He took a sip of water and rubbed his forehead. "What terrible luck today. That brat from the Xiao Family got me scolded by the director too."

Another teacher said, "If you took fewer benefits, wouldn't this have been avoided?"

The registration teacher's face darkened. "Don't talk nonsense."

"Nonsense?" the other teacher sneered. "Everyone knows who changed the list."

The registration teacher set his cup down heavily. "Tang San is just a work-study student, Xiao Wu is a troublemaker, and Xiao Chenyu has the City Lord's Manor behind him. Who do you think I should favor?"

The other teacher fell silent.

Ji Yuan's spore slipped over the rim of the cup and entered the registration teacher's body, attaching itself to the meridians near his wrist.

A teacher's soul power was stronger than a student's. He could not act directly.

First, it would lie dormant.

When the teacher cultivated, the spore would only absorb the stray traces that leaked out, without touching the core.

The night passed, and no one at Notting Academy noticed anything.

When Tang San woke up, his body felt a little better than yesterday, though his dantian was still empty.

Xiao Wu leaned over and stared at him. "Do you still dare cultivate recklessly today?"

Tang San answered helplessly, "I don't."

Xiao Wu did not believe him. "Swear it."

Tang San raised a hand. "I won't try to break through today."

Xiao Wu frowned. "Only no breakthrough? So you still plan to cultivate?"

Xiao Wu had him cornered. Tang San turned to look out the window. "I can't just stop cultivating altogether."

Xiao Wu threw a pillow at him. "Then cultivate during the day. I'll watch you."

Wang Sheng laughed nearby. "Boss has someone keeping him in line now."

Xiao Wu turned back. "Do you want someone keeping you in line too?"

Wang Sheng immediately lowered his head to put on his shoes. "I'm going to fetch water."

Ji Yuan had no reaction to their noisy banter.

He was counting last night's gains.

Liu Qiang had leaked little soul power.

Xiao Chenyu's had been a bit more substantial.

The combined amount from several upperclassmen was only enough to nourish a small section of rootlet.

But it was steady.

As long as the net was spread, the entire academy would channel energy back to him every day.

Tang San alone was the main blood bag.

Notting Academy was the fertile field on the outskirts.

After morning classes, people at the academy quickly noticed that something was wrong.

Several upperclassmen were practicing on the field. They had barely run for a while before they started panting.

Liu Qiang braced his hands on his knees and cursed, "Why am I so tired today?"

The person beside him rubbed his shoulder as well. "Me too. I can't get my soul power up."

Xiao Chenyu's face darkened. He did not want to admit that something was wrong with him too, so he merely said coldly, "You didn't sleep well last night. Stop making excuses."

Liu Qiang pulled a long face. "Boss Xiao, I'm really not faking it. My chest feels blocked whenever I circulate my soul power."

Xiao Chenyu had just been about to curse him when the soul power within his body scattered again. The words reached his lips, but he could not get them out.

Irritably, he kicked away a pebble by his feet. "Get back to training, all of you!"

On the other side of the field, Tang San watched those upperclassmen and frowned. "Something's off with them today."

Xiao Wu sat on the railing, swinging her legs. "Karma for doing bad things."

Tang San shook his head. "It's not just Xiao Chenyu. The others are the same."

Xiao Wu tilted her head at him. "Why do you care about them? They wanted to hurt you yesterday."

Tang San did not answer.

That strange feeling rose in his heart again.

From Soul Hunting Forest until now, every incident could be explained, but each one had been too much of a coincidence.

Zhou Ming's sudden foot injury, the upperclassmen collectively weakening, and that sensation of the power in his body constantly being drained away.

Tang San turned around. "I'm going to find Teacher."

The fine tendrils around Ji Yuan's heart meridian tightened slightly, then quickly relaxed.

Go ahead.

Yu Xiaogang was the best cover.

After hearing Tang San out, Yu Xiaogang set down the pen in his hand. "You suspect someone at the academy poisoned them?"

Tang San said, "I'm not sure."

Yu Xiaogang rose to his feet. "Take me to see."

Xiao Wu followed behind them. "Master, don't go calling Tang San's problems a good thing again."

Yu Xiaogang glanced at her. "When have I ever said anything nonsensical?"

Xiao Wu curled her lip. "Last night, even when you coughed up blood, you said it was destruction before renewal."

Tang San said softly, "Xiao Wu."

Yu Xiaogang did not get angry. He was eager to verify his own judgment.

On the field, Yu Xiaogang told Liu Qiang to hold out his hand.

Liu Qiang had not wanted to, but with Xiao Chenyu absent, he could only comply.

Yu Xiaogang took his pulse, and his brow gradually furrowed.

Ji Yuan immediately had the spores within Liu Qiang's body retreat into hiding, leaving only fatigue and depleted blood and qi 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 examined the two students beside him as well. Their conditions were much the same.

Xiao Wu cut in, "Could it be because they've done too many bad things?"

Yu Xiaogang ignored her and turned to Tang San. "The soul power environment at the academy hasn't been right lately."

Tang San's heart tightened. "Teacher, does it have something to do with me?"

Following that remark, Ji Yuan pushed a trace of residual toxic impurities from Tang San's meridians to the surface.

Tang San's face went pale, and he grabbed the railing for support.

Xiao Wu immediately supported him. "What's wrong with you now?"

Yu Xiaogang seized Tang San's wrist, his expression turning even more grave.

"Your soul power is depleted too."

Tang San gave a wry smile. "I've always been depleted."

Yu Xiaogang looked at him, seeming to ponder—or perhaps to wrestle with his own theories.

"The Datura Snake soul ring, the mutual rejection of twin martial souls, the exhaustion of your meridians after last night's breakthrough in the Mysterious Heaven Skill, and your recent sparring with multiple opponents have all caused your soul power aura to leak. It may have affected the cultivation environment nearby."

Tang San froze. "I affected them?"

Xiao Wu's eyes widened. "Tang San is already this weak, and he can still affect other people?"

"It isn't a deliberate influence," Yu Xiaogang said gravely. "It's soul power resonance."

Ji Yuan listened quietly.

Here it came again.

Yu Xiaogang would pave the road for him.

Tang San clearly did not understand either, but Yu Xiaogang spoke so seriously that he believed half of it. "Then what should we do?"

"Reduce meaningless combat, stabilize the soul power of your Blue Silver Grass, and don't go near the collective cultivation areas for upperclassmen for the time being."

Xiao Wu immediately nodded. "That's good. Stay away from Xiao Chenyu and his bunch."

But Tang San still looked uneasy. "Teacher, what if they keep getting weaker?"

Yu Xiaogang took out a small notebook and made a record. "I'll observe them."

Ji Yuan's spores lay quietly dormant within dozens of bodies.

Observe?

Go ahead and look.

There was no outbreak, no wounds, no traces 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 called to the academic affairs office for a reprimand. When he returned, his expression was even sourer.

Liu Qiang hurried over. "Boss Xiao, what did the teacher say?"

Xiao Chenyu kicked him in the leg. "Get lost."

Liu Qiang nearly fell from the kick, but he could not muster his soul power and struggled even to remain standing.

Several upperclassmen nearby wanted to laugh but did not dare.

Following the fluctuations in their emotions, Ji Yuan drew away more scattered soul power.

Fear and frustration threw soul power into disarray.

And the more chaotic it became, the easier it was to draw out.

By evening, the first batch of returned energy flowed into the hidden layer beneath his shoe sole.

It was not much, but it came in an unbroken stream.

Ji Yuan's demon vine true body had shrunk into a dark-purple wooden thorn. The metallic sheen on its surface deepened, while the venom ducts at the base of its barbs slowly expanded.

He did not touch Tang San again.

Tang San still needed to be raised.

The main blood bag could not be drained to death.

Now, the entire Notting Academy had begun helping him replenish that breath.

At night, the Seventh Dormitory quieted down.

Xiao Wu lay beside the bed, watching over Tang San as he regulated his breath, not forgetting to threaten him. "If you dare try to force another breakthrough in secret, I'll tell Master, then tell Wang Sheng, and have the Seventh Dormitory take turns watching you."

Tang San kept his eyes closed. "I'm only stabilizing my meridians."

Xiao Wu snorted. "You'd better be."

Taking advantage of her proximity, Ji Yuan drew another trace of overflowing origin essence from the roots of her scorpion braid.

Xiao Wu rubbed her neck. "Why is it itchy again?"

Tang San opened his eyes. "Did you bump it when you threw Zhao Hu during the day?"

Xiao Wu thought about it. "Maybe."

Ji Yuan did not get greedy. He withdrew cleanly.

At the same time, the parasitized students and teachers throughout the academy began entering cultivation states.

Soul power circulated.

Impurities seeped out.

The spores opened their mouths.

Strands of energy returned along underground roots to the Seventh Dormitory, flowing into that inconspicuous dark wooden thorn beneath his shoe sole.

Notting Academy's rudimentary dark network had taken shape.

But just as the returning energy began flowing more smoothly, the soul power detector in Yu Xiaogang's office suddenly gave a faint tremble.

Yu Xiaogang had been reading. His finger stopped on the page as he lifted his head and looked toward the Seventh Dormitory.

"Why is this fluctuation related to Tang San again?"