Yu Xiaogang stared at the Soul Power detector, the pages of the book in his hand crumpled beneath his grip.
The indicator was still trembling faintly, pointing toward Dorm Seven.
He stopped turning the pages, grabbed the notebook and detector from the table, and went straight out the door.
"Tang San, come out."
At the entrance to Dorm Seven, Yu Xiaogang's voice reached inside just as Tang San finished his cultivation.
Xiao Wu was sitting on the edge of the bed, staring at him. When she heard that, she immediately jumped down. "Master, are you going to examine him again?"
Tang San stood and put on his shoes. The instant his soles touched the ground, Ji Yuan had already forced all the externally spreading spores back deeper inside.
The energy flow stopped.
All the hidden points in the academy sank into the corners beside the meridians, leaving behind only weakness and fatigue.
Tang San lowered his head to tie his shoelaces. The section of dark-violet Demon Vine hidden in the sole compressed into a dry, hard wooden thorn, while its metallic sheen was covered by a layer of dry skin.
Yu Xiaogang entered Dorm Seven. His gaze first landed on Tang San's face, then swept over the area around the bed.
The detector's indicator trembled even more violently in his hand.
Xiao Wu stepped in front of Tang San. "Master, he didn't cultivate recklessly last night. I was watching him."
Yu Xiaogang did not look at her. "Move."
Xiao Wu stayed put. "The last time you examined him, he coughed up blood."
Tang San reached out and pulled her back. "Xiao Wu, Teacher won't hurt me."
Hidden in the sole of the shoe, Ji Yuan coldly sensed those words.
Won't hurt you?
The most convenient blades in this world often believe they're saving people.
Yu Xiaigang placed the detector on the table. "Release your Blue Silver Grass."
Tang San raised his right hand. Blue Silver Grass drilled out from his palm, its green-blue blades winding outward.
Ji Yuan did not sever the disguise completely. He blended a trace of the Demon Vine's resilience into the outer layer of the Blue Silver Grass, making it look like a change brought about by the Martial Soul's growth.
Yu Xiaigang reached out and pinched a blade of grass. He pressed down with his fingertip, but the blade did not break. It merely bent into an arc.
His expression changed.
"Inject Soul Power again."
Tang San did so. Fine patterns surfaced across the Blue Silver Grass, while its edges faintly took on a dark hue.
Xiao Wu saw it as well and murmured, "Tang San, why has your grass become harder?"
Tang San himself was stunned. "I didn't control it deliberately."
Yu Xiaogang pulled the blade closer to his eyes. The more he looked, the tighter his brows drew. "This isn't the resilience ordinary Blue Silver Grass should have. The Datura Snake Soul Ring provides poison and entangling, but it shouldn't increase the body's toughness to this degree."
Xiao Wu immediately cut in, "Isn't that a good thing?"
Yu Xiaogang looked at Tang San. "It could be a good thing. It could also be dangerous."
Tang San's heart sank. "Teacher, what do you suspect?"
Yu Xiaogang pressed the detector against the Blue Silver Grass. The indicator jerked wildly, then settled back down.
"Soul Power has been leaking from the academy these past two days. The area isn't large, but it's concentrated in the places where you've been active."
Xiao Wu grew anxious. "What do you mean? Are you suspecting that Tang San is absorbing their Soul Power?"
Tang San's expression also turned ugly. "Teacher, I didn't."
Yu Xiaogang did not answer immediately. He ran a finger along the veins of the Blue Silver Grass, then suddenly stopped at a dark pattern.
"I'm not suspecting that you deliberately did anything. I suspect your Twin Martial Souls are pulling against each other."
Hearing this, the tip of the vine tightened slightly.
Twin Martial Souls again.
This fig leaf of Yu Xiaogang's is getting thicker and thicker.
Tang San asked quietly, "Will the conflict affect other people?"
"It might."
Yu Xiaogang moved the detector away and paced back and forth twice. "Your Blue Silver Grass is weak by nature, while the Clear Sky Hammer is domineering. On top of that, you absorbed a Datura Snake Soul Ring beyond your level. With several forces piled together, your body will automatically absorb the Soul Power dissipating around you in order to maintain balance."
Xiao Wu wrinkled her nose. "That explanation makes sense too?"
Yu Xiaogang glanced at her. "Do you have a better one?"
Xiao Wu was silenced. She snorted in dissatisfaction.
Tang San, however, believed most of it.
His body had been alternately well and unwell in recent days. His left hand ached heavily, his meridians felt empty, and every strange occurrence could be explained by this theory.
He raised his hand. The Blue Silver Grass swayed gently in his palm. "Teacher, 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 absorbing internal energy from Tang San's body.
At the same time, he tore open a corner of the outermost layer of the Parasitic Network, disguising it as a chaotic cluster of nodes scattered by Soul Power.
Tang San's wrist turned cold. He felt the Soul Power inside his body being stirred by Yu Xiaogang, and the area around his dantian immediately became hollow.
Yu Xiaogang followed the meridians as he examined them, growing more shocked the farther he went.
The total amount of Soul Power inside Tang San's body was wrong.
His meridians were tougher than expected, yet they were frighteningly empty inside, like farmland harvested by someone, leaving only the stubble behind.
The darker Yu Xiaogang's expression became, the more nervous Tang San grew.
Xiao Wu couldn't stand it anymore. "Master, say something already!"
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.
The spores lightly tugged at the edge of the Clear Sky Hammer's origin. Tang San's left hand suddenly dropped, and a trace of black light had just emerged from his palm when Ji Yuan forced it back in the opposite direction.
Tang San's chest tightened, and the leaves of the Blue Silver Grass withered yellow on the spot.
"Teacher!"
Tang San only had time to shout those two words before his whole body pitched forward.
Xiao Wu rushed over to support him. "Tang San!"
Yu Xiaogang's face went pale. The detector slipped from his hand and struck the floor.
Tang San's breathing weakened. Black blood seeped from the corner of his mouth, the Blue Silver Grass withdrew into his palm, and his entire body went limp.
Inside the sole of the shoe, Ji Yuan disguised all the parasitic points as shattered traces left behind by Soul Power backlash.
He even deliberately released a trace of residual snake venom, making Tang San's meridians appear even more chaotic.
It had to be ruthless enough to frighten away this theoretical tool.
Yu Xiaogang hurriedly grabbed Tang San's wrist. The moment his Soul Power entered, it was pushed back by the chaotic current.
The color drained from his face. "Stop. I can't examine him any further."
Xiao Wu's eyes reddened. "I told you he couldn't be examined! But you kept going!"
Yu Xiaogang did not argue.
He lowered his head and looked at the unconscious Tang San. His lips moved as though he wanted to explain, but not a single word came out.
Xiao Wu said angrily, "If anything happens to Tang San, I'll never forgive you!"
Yu Xiaogang bent down to pick up the detector. His fingers brushed against its edge, and though his fingertips became dusty, he paid no attention.
"I was too reckless."
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. "Boil these. Immediately."
Xiao Wu took the packets, not forgetting to glare at him. "Don't try to fool people with some theory again this time."
Yu Xiaogang said quietly, "His Blue Silver Grass has indeed mutated, but it wasn't caused by external corrosion. It's self-evolution brought about by a conflict between his Twin Martial Souls."
Hidden in the sole of the shoe, Ji Yuan slowly retracted his dark-red patterns.
Good.
He was taking the blame himself.
Tang San did not wake until evening.
Xiao Wu was lying beside the bed. When 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 was sitting at the table, where several medicinal herbs and a notebook had been laid out.
When he heard the movement, he immediately came over. "Don't move. Drink the medicine first."
Tang San took the bowl. The medicinal smell stung his nose, but he still drank it down.
As the medicinal power entered his stomach, Ji Yuan's roots were already waiting at the entrance to the meridians.
Most of the essence took a detour and went straight into the compartment in the sole of the shoe.
Tang San received only a little warmth, yet his complexion improved somewhat.
Seeing this, Yu Xiaogang became even more certain of his judgment. "From now on, without my permission, you are not to stimulate the Martial Soul in your left hand by yourself. You must also not release your Blue Silver Grass for long periods in crowded places."
Tang San nodded. "Teacher, my body has only been dragging you down."
Guilt flashed through Yu Xiaogang's eyes. "It's not your fault. My judgment wasn't stable enough."
Xiao Wu folded her arms. "At least you know that."
Yu Xiaogang did not take offense. He turned around and took a wooden box from the cabinet.
"There are several herbs here that replenish qi and blood. Take them in divided doses over the next few days."
Xiao Wu snorted. "You finally did one thing right."
Tang San accepted the wooden box, touched. "Teacher, I'll remember this."
Ji Yuan, however, had already fixed his attention on the medicinal aroma inside the box.
Free nourishment is here again.
That night, Tang San fell asleep once more, and Ji Yuan swallowed all the medicinal power clean.
The academy's Dark Web also reopened, though the return flow was compressed into finer, more scattered streams.
In Yu Xiaogang's office, the detector finally fell silent.
He stared at the words "Blue Silver Grass mutation" in the notebook, but for a long time, his pen did not touch the page.
Outside the door, the registrar suddenly knocked. "Master, the owner of the medicine shop in the city is here. He says the blood-replenishing herbs you ordered were bought in advance at a high price."
Yu Xiaogang raised his head. "Who bought them?"
The registrar's expression was strange. "He says the buyer paid with the Gold Soul Coins from the Spirit Hall subsidy Tang San received today."
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