Master's Suspicion, Perfect Disguise

Yu Xiaogang stared at the soul power detector, creasing the pages of the book in his hand.

The indicator was still trembling faintly, pointing toward the Seventh Dormitory.

He did not turn another page. Grabbing the notebook and detector from the desk, he pushed open the door and strode out.

"Tang San, come out."

By the time Yu Xiaogang's voice carried into the Seventh Dormitory, Tang San had just finished his meditation.

Xiao Wu was sitting on the edge of the bed watching him. At those words, she immediately jumped down. "Master, are you investigating him again?"

Tang San rose to put on his shoes. The instant his feet touched the floor, Ji Yuan had already forced every stray spore back into the depths.

The energy reflux stopped.

All the hidden points throughout the academy sank into the corners of the meridians, leaving behind only weakness and exhaustion.

Tang San lowered his head to tie his laces. The dark-purple demonic vine hidden in the sole's inner layer shrank into a dry, hard wooden thorn, while the dim metallic gleam on its surface was covered by a layer of dead skin.

Yu Xiaogang entered the Seventh Dormitory, his gaze falling first on Tang San's face before sweeping over the area around the beds.

The detector's indicator shook even more violently in his hand.

Xiao Wu stepped in front of Tang San. "Master, he didn't train recklessly last night. I watched him."

Yu Xiaogang did not look at her. "Move aside."

Xiao Wu did not budge. "The last time you examined him, he coughed up blood."

Tang San reached out and took hold of her. "Xiao Wu, Teacher wouldn't harm me."

Hidden in the sole of his shoe, Ji Yuan coldly sensed those words.

Wouldn't harm you?

The most convenient blades in this world often believed they were saving people.

Yu Xiaogang set the detector on the table. "Release your Blue Silver Grass."

Tang San raised his right hand. Blue Silver Grass sprang from his palm, blue-green blades unfurling and twisting outward.

Ji Yuan did not fully sever the disguise. He mixed a trace of the demonic vine's toughness into the outer layer of the Blue Silver Grass, making it seem like a change brought about by the martial soul's growth.

Yu Xiaogang reached out and pinched a blade between his fingers, pressing downward with his thumb. The blade did not snap, only bent into an arc.

His expression changed.

"Inject more soul power."

Tang San did as instructed. Fine patterns surfaced across the Blue Silver Grass, while its edges took on a faint dark hue.

Xiao Wu saw it too and murmured, "Tang San, why has your grass gotten harder?"

Tang San himself was stunned. "I didn't deliberately control it."

Yu Xiaogang pulled the blade closer to inspect it, his brow furrowing tighter the longer he looked. "This is not the toughness ordinary Blue Silver Grass should possess. The Datura Snake soul ring provides venom and binding ability, but it should not raise the body's strength to this extent."

Xiao Wu immediately said, "Isn't that a good thing?"

Yu Xiaogang looked at Tang San. "A good thing can also be dangerous."

A weight settled in Tang San's chest. "Teacher, what do you suspect?"

Yu Xiaogang held the detector close to the Blue Silver Grass. The indicator jittered wildly for a moment, then dropped back down.

"Over the past two days, soul power has been draining within the academy. The range is small, but it is concentrated in the areas where you have been active."

Xiao Wu became anxious. "What do you mean? You suspect Tang San of absorbing their soul power?"

Tang San's expression darkened as well. "Teacher, I didn't."

Yu Xiaogang did not answer at once. His fingers traced down the veins of the Blue Silver Grass until they suddenly stopped at a dark pattern.

"I do not suspect that you deliberately did anything. I suspect that your twin martial souls are beginning to pull against each other."

At those words, the tip of Ji Yuan's vine tightened slightly.

Twin martial souls again.

Yu Xiaogang's fig leaf was getting thicker and thicker.

Tang San asked quietly, "Can that pulling affect other people?"

"It might."

Yu Xiaogang moved the detector away and paced back and forth twice. "Your Blue Silver Grass is inherently weak, while the Clear Sky Hammer is overbearing. Your first soul ring was also absorbed beyond your level from a Datura Snake. With several forces piled together, your body may automatically absorb the scattered soul power around it to maintain balance."

Xiao Wu wrinkled her nose. "That explanation works too?"

Yu Xiaogang glanced at her. "Do you have a better one?"

Xiao Wu was left speechless, though she still gave an unconvinced snort.

Tang San, however, believed more than half of it.

His condition had been fluctuating these past days—his left hand aching heavily, his meridians empty. Every strange occurrence could be explained by this.

He raised his hand, and the Blue Silver Grass swayed gently in his palm. "Teacher, then what should I do now?"

Yu Xiaogang did not answer.

He suddenly pressed the soul power detector against Tang San's wrist. "I need to examine your meridians."

Ji Yuan immediately stopped drawing inner force from Tang San's body.

At the same time, he tore open a corner of the outermost layer of the parasitic web, disguising it as a chaotic knot scattered by soul power.

Tang San's wrist turned cold. He only felt Yu Xiaogang stir the soul power within his body, and the area around his dantian immediately became hollow.

Yu Xiaogang followed his meridians as he probed deeper, growing more alarmed with every check.

The total amount of soul power in Tang San's body was wrong.

His meridians were tougher than expected, but they were frighteningly empty inside, like a field after harvest with nothing left but stubble.

The darker Yu Xiaogang's expression became, the more nervous Tang San grew.

Xiao Wu could not bear it any longer. "Master, say something!"

Yu Xiaogang raised a hand to signal her to be quiet and continued probing toward Tang San's left arm.

This was exactly what Ji Yuan had been waiting for.

With a light tug from the spores at the edge of the Clear Sky Hammer's origin, Tang San's left hand suddenly sank. A trace of black light had barely emerged from his palm before Ji Yuan forced it back down.

Tang San's chest tightened, and the leaves of the Blue Silver Grass instantly withered yellow.

"Teacher!"

Tang San only managed to cry out those two words before pitching forward.

Xiao Wu rushed over and caught him. "Tang San!"

Yu Xiaogang's face went pale. The detector slipped from his hand and smashed onto the floor.

Tang San's breathing weakened. Black blood seeped from the corner of his mouth, the Blue Silver Grass retracted into his palm, and his entire body went limp, too weak even to raise a hand.

Inside the sole of his shoe, Ji Yuan disguised every parasitic point as fractured traces left behind by a soul power backlash.

He even deliberately released a little residual snake venom, making Tang San's meridians look even more chaotic.

He had to be ruthless enough to scare off this theory-minded fool.

Yu Xiaogang clumsily grasped Tang San's wrist. The moment his soul power entered, it was forced back by that mass of turbulent energy.

Much of the color drained from his face. "Stop. We can't examine him any further."

Xiao Wu's eyes had already reddened. "I told you not to examine him! But you did it anyway!"

Yu Xiaogang did not argue.

He lowered his head to look at the unconscious Tang San. His lips moved as though he wanted to explain, but not a single word came out.

Xiao Wu snapped, "If anything happens to Tang San, I won't let you off!"

Yu Xiaogang bent down to pick up the detector. His fingers brushed against its edge, and he ignored the dust that clung to them.

"I was too rash."

At those words, Xiao Wu was stunned instead.

Yu Xiaogang carried Tang San back to the bed and took out several packets of medicinal herbs. "Brew these. Immediately."

Xiao Wu took the packets, but still glared at him. "Don't use any more of your theories to fool people this time."

Yu Xiaogang said quietly, "His Blue Silver Grass has indeed mutated, but it isn't due to outside corrosion. It's self-evolution caused by the conflict between his twin martial souls."

Hidden in the sole of the shoe, Ji Yuan slowly retracted the dark red patterns.

Good.

Yu Xiaogang had taken the blame himself.

Tang San did not wake until evening.

Xiao Wu had been leaning over the bedside. The moment she saw him open his eyes, she immediately sat upright. "You scared me to death!"

Tang San's throat was dry. "Where's Teacher?"

Yu Xiaogang sat at the table, where several medicinal herbs and a notebook had been laid out.

Hearing the movement, he immediately came over. "Don't move. Drink your medicine first."

Tang San took the bowl. The smell of medicine rushed into his nose, but he drank it anyway.

As the medicinal power entered his stomach, Ji Yuan's roots were already waiting at the entrance to his meridians.

Most of the essence took a turn and flowed directly into the hidden layer in the sole of the shoe.

Tang San received only a slight warmth, but his complexion looked somewhat better than before.

Seeing this, Yu Xiaogang became even more convinced of his own judgment. "From now on, without my permission, you are not to stimulate the martial soul in your left hand alone. And do not release the Blue Silver Grass for extended periods in crowded places."

Tang San nodded. "Teacher, my body has held you back."

Guilt flashed through Yu Xiaogang's eyes. "It isn't you. My judgment simply wasn't steady enough."

Xiao Wu crossed her arms. "Good that you know."

Yu Xiaogang did not argue. He turned around and took another wooden box from the cabinet.

"There are several herbs here to replenish your blood and qi. Take them in portions over the next few days."

Xiao Wu huffed. "At least you finally did something right."

Tang San accepted the wooden box, moved in his heart. "Teacher, I'll remember this."

But Ji Yuan was already fixated on the medicinal fragrance drifting from the box.

Free nourishment had arrived again.

That night, Tang San fell asleep once more, and Ji Yuan devoured every last trace of the medicine's potency.

The academy's dark web was activated again, though the returning flow had been pressed thinner and scattered further apart.

In Yu Xiaogang's office, the detector fell silent.

He stared at the words "Blue Silver Grass mutation" in the record book for a long time, unable to bring his pen down.

Outside, the registration teacher suddenly knocked on the door. "Master, the proprietor of the city pharmacy is here. He says the blood-replenishing herbs you ordered were bought at a high price in advance."

Yu Xiaogang looked up. "Who bought them?"

The registration teacher's expression turned strange. "He said the buyer paid with the Spirit Hall subsidy gold soul coins Tang San had received earlier today."