Tang San bent down to pick up the letter. His fingertips brushed over the dark red grass stain, and his expression changed at once.
Xiao Wu leaned closer. "What's this? Did you stain it last night?"
Tang San shook his head. "I didn't."
Old Jack called again from outside the door, "Xiao San?"
Tang San folded the letter and tucked it back into his clothes. By the time he opened the door, he had already suppressed his unease.
The moment Old Jack saw him, the wrinkles on his face eased into a smile. "Everyone in the village knows about what happened on the back hill. You've only been at the academy for such a short time, yet you could already handle something so strange. Grandpa was right about you."
Tang San felt a little embarrassed. "Grandpa Jack, it was only ordinary grass sap. I wasn't the one who subdued it."
Old Jack waved a hand. "Don't be modest. How many years has it been since Holy Soul Village produced a Soul Master? Now that you can stand up when it matters, everyone feels reassured."
Xiao Wu leaned against the doorframe. "Grandpa, you're making Tang San embarrassed."
Old Jack looked at Tang San, his eyes reddening. "Xiao San, your father has left. Grandpa knows you're hurting inside. But a man can't spend his whole life guarding a broken blacksmith shop. You need to rise higher."
Tang San remained silent and did not answer immediately.
Ji Yuan hid beneath the sole of his shoe, listening coldly.
Here it came again.
Hope, concern, glory—one rope after another that these humans placed around Tang San.
Foolish.
But useful.
Old Jack pulled out an old cloth bundle from his clothes and stuffed it into Tang San's hand.
Tang San opened it and found several silver soul coins inside, along with a cloth towel washed nearly white.
He hurriedly tried to push it back. "Grandpa Jack, I receive an academy allowance. I can't take your money."
Old Jack's face darkened. "Take it."
Tang San still wanted to refuse, but Old Jack blocked his hand with his cane.
"If you really respect your grandpa, then don't keep pushing this little bit of money back and forth. Only when you become a Soul Grandmaster, an even more powerful Soul Master, will Holy Soul Village have hope."
Tang San clutched the cloth bundle, his throat tightening. "I'll work hard."
As his emotions surged, Ji Yuan quietly released a strand of pure internal energy.
That internal energy was not given freely.
It was merely scraps he had extracted from Tang San and refined.
But for Tang San, that power arrived at the perfect moment, striking right when his emotions burned hottest.
Tang San only felt a warm current surge through his meridians, pushing away some of the oppressive feeling from last night's dream.
He looked up at Old Jack. "Grandpa Jack, I'll definitely become stronger."
Old Jack nodded again and again. "Good, good. Grandpa will wait to see you return wearing a Soul Master's robe."
Xiao Wu glanced at Tang San and curled her lips. "He'll definitely manage it, as long as he stops training until he coughs up blood."
Tang San said awkwardly, "Xiao Wu."
The moment Old Jack heard that, he panicked. "Coughing blood? What happened?"
Xiao Wu was just about to speak when Tang San hurriedly interrupted, "It's only impurities being expelled during cultivation. Teacher said it isn't a bad thing."
Old Jack was half-convinced. "It really isn't harming you?"
Xiao Wu folded her arms. "That's what Grandmaster said. Anyway, I'm keeping an eye on him."
Only then did Old Jack relax. "That's good. It's good that someone is watching him."
Tang San looked toward the back hill. "Grandpa Jack, I want to go back there this afternoon and inspect it once more."
Old Jack nodded. "Go ahead. The villagers won't stop you. Just don't come back too late."
Ji Yuan had already activated the dormant spores beneath Tang San's feet.
The maze formation on the back hill still needed its final seal.
Tang San going there was exactly what he wanted.
That afternoon, Tang San and Xiao Wu returned to the back hill.
The dark red marks on the grassy slope had faded greatly. The grass sap that had seeped out the night before had dried beneath the sun, leaving only a thin reddish-brown stain.
Xiao Wu crouched beside the grass and poked it with a finger. "It doesn't prick people today."
Tang San released Blue Silver Grass and connected it to the surrounding blades of grass.
Using Tang San's Martial Soul as cover, Ji Yuan gathered every exposed root deep underground.
The maze formation on the back hill entered dormancy.
The surface returned to being an ordinary field of grass, but dense sensory threads remained hidden within.
Tang San only felt that this patch of grass had grown even closer to him, adding another layer to his doubts.
Seeing him spacing out, Xiao Wu lifted her foot and nudged his shoe. "What are you thinking about now?"
Tang San came back to himself. "I was thinking that ordinary cultivation might not be enough."
Xiao Wu blinked. "Didn't you just break through not long ago?"
Tang San lowered his voice. "But I always feel empty inside. The more I cultivate, the more I feel like something is missing."
The tip of Ji Yuan's vine tightened at those words.
Very good.
The illusion of hunger had begun to take shape.
Tang San continued, "That dream last night was strange too. I dreamed of a black giant ape and a great tree. The pressure they gave me was far stronger than the Datura Snake."
Xiao Wu's expression changed quickly. She lowered her head and pulled at the grass, avoiding Tang San's gaze.
"It was only a dream. Don't take it seriously."
Tang San noticed that something was off in her reaction. "Xiao Wu, do you know what kind of soul beasts those were?"
Xiao Wu tossed away the grass. "How would I know? I'm not Grandmaster."
Tang San did not press further.
But Ji Yuan remembered Xiao Wu's reaction.
The words "black giant ape" were enough to make her avoid the question.
That had value.
When they returned to the blacksmith shop that evening, Old Jack had already prepared dinner.
The meal was simple, but Xiao Wu ate happily while Old Jack kept placing food in Tang San's bowl.
"Xiao San, eat more. Soul Master cultivation wears down the body."
Tang San nodded. "Grandpa, you should eat too."
Old Jack smiled, then suddenly lowered his voice. "Your father has left, and the house feels empty. If you're willing, stay at my place during the holidays."
Tang San shook his head. "No. I want to wait for Father to return at home."
Old Jack sighed. "You child, you're as stubborn as your father."
Xiao Wu bit into a steamed bun and mumbled, "Uncle Tang Hao is really unreliable."
Tang San did not argue. He merely set down his bowl. "Father must have his reasons."
Taking advantage of Tang San's low spirits, Ji Yuan once again created a sense of Soul Power emptiness.
Tang San had just stood up when his body swayed.
Xiao Wu immediately put down her bun. "Are you feeling unwell again?"
Tang San rubbed his brow. "I'm just tired."
Old Jack grew anxious as well. "Go back to the academy tomorrow and let Grandmaster take a look."
Tang San had originally wanted to stay a few more days, but the hollow feeling inside him grew increasingly intense. Even circulating the Mysterious Heaven Skill had begun to feel difficult.
He could only nod. "We'll go back tomorrow morning."
Satisfied, Ji Yuan completely shifted the maze formation on the back hill into dormancy.
The objective had been achieved.
A contingency had been left in Holy Soul Village. Tang Hao was gone, and Old Jack had pushed Tang San's emotions onto the path of pursuing strength.
The next step was to make Yu Xiaogang personally suggest a more dangerous choice.
That night, Tang San went to the back hill one last time to cultivate the Purple Demon Eye.
Xiao Wu sat in a tree, swinging her legs. "You're obviously tired, yet you insist on coming."
Tang San watched the purple light rising on the horizon. "I want to become stronger."
Xiao Wu no longer laughed at him. "Then don't push yourself to death."
Tang San said softly, "I still have Father to find, and the Tang Sect to rebuild."
Ji Yuan felt no stir beneath the sole of his shoe. He merely treated those words as a new set of reins.
The more obsessed humans were, the easier they were to control.
After the sun rose, Tang San finished his cultivation and took Xiao Wu to bid Old Jack farewell.
Old Jack escorted them to the village entrance, repeatedly reminding him, "Xiao San, listen to Grandmaster at the academy. Don't force yourself. When you become a Soul Grandmaster, come back and let Grandpa see."
Tang San nodded solemnly. "I will."
Xiao Wu waved. "Don't worry, Grandpa. I'll watch him."
Old Jack watched the two of them walk away, his eyes reddening once more.
Ji Yuan only found it noisy.
On the road out of Holy Soul Village, Tang San grew increasingly silent.
Ji Yuan slowly drained the Soul Power within him, leaving behind the illusion of dried-up meridians.
Xiao Wu noticed something was wrong and reached out to support him. "Don't walk so fast."
Tang San stopped, sweat beading on his forehead. "Xiao Wu, I feel like my Soul Power isn't recovering."
Xiao Wu's expression changed too. "Then let's hurry back to the academy."
Deep beneath the sole of his shoe, Ji Yuan withdrew every external thread.
Notting Academy, Yu Xiaogang, mutated Twin Martial Souls—all the excuses had already been laid out.
By the time Tang San stepped through the academy gates, his face had turned frighteningly pale.
At the entrance to Dorm Seven, Wang Sheng was about to call him Boss when his voice caught in his throat.
Yu Xiaogang hurried over from the direction of the office. The record book in his hand fell to the ground with a smack.
He stared at Tang San's left hand, his expression losing control for the first time. "How did your Soul Power become so completely empty?"
Tang San was just about to answer when a heavy black light suddenly seeped from his left palm, and even he could not suppress it.
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