Notting Academy's gates stood taller than any house in Holy Soul Village.
Old Jack held Tang San's hand before them. His clothes were faded from washing, and road mud clung to his soles. Beside the two uniformed guards, his poverty was painfully obvious.
Ji Yuan lay hidden between the layers of a bundle. The journey had jostled him, but his roots held tight to the seams.
He did not complain.
The closer they came to the academy, the more active Soul Power he sensed around them.
This place suited him better than Holy Soul Village.
A guard stopped Old Jack and glanced sideways at the certificate.
"A work-study student? Holy Soul Village? Innate Full Soul Power? Blue Silver Grass?"
The other guard laughed.
"Old man, if you're going to make something up, at least make it believable. Blue Silver Grass with Innate Full Soul Power?"
Old Jack's face flushed crimson as he held out the certificate.
"Spirit Hall issued this. Look closely."
The guard did not take it. Instead, he pushed it away with the back of his hand.
"Who knows if that Spirit Hall seal is real? Plenty of people have been using fake certificates to sneak into the academy lately. You country folk have some nerve."
Tang San stood beside them, his fingers already moving toward his sleeve.
Ji Yuan sensed that killing intent through his Spores and gave a cold laugh.
"A Sleeve Arrow?"
"How petty."
Old Jack shook with anger.
"How can you say that? The boy has Soul Power. The village gave him its place because we hoped he'd make something of himself."
The guard sneered. "Make something of himself? What's Blue Silver Grass going to make of itself? Go home and cut grass."
As he spoke, he reached out and shoved Old Jack.
Old Jack was elderly. He staggered back, stumbled, and nearly fell.
Tang San could no longer hide the killing intent in his eyes. His fingers had already caught the mechanism inside his sleeve.
This was the moment Ji Yuan had been waiting for.
Consciousness Deprivation activated.
Tang San's control over his body was forcibly suppressed. The instant Ji Yuan took over his limbs, he pressed the Sleeve Arrow back into place and hooked the fingers of Tang San's left hand around the edge of the bundle.
Deep in his Sea of Consciousness, Tang San was both furious and alarmed.
"Who's there?"
Ji Yuan did not answer.
He made Tang San step forward, keeping his left hand hidden at his side. He released the weight of the Clear Sky Hammer for just an instant, bringing it down on the guard's shin.
Crack.
The guard screamed and dropped to his knees, clutching his leg as he rolled across the ground.
The other guard's face changed, and he charged forward.
Ji Yuan made Tang San look up at him. Blue Silver Grass shot from his right hand, wrapped around the guard's ankle, and pulled. The man fell, blood streaming from his nose.
Old Jack froze.
"Xiao San?"
The real Tang San struggled wildly inside his own body.
"Who are you? Give me my body back!"
Ji Yuan still did not respond.
He could not speak, and he could not let Tang San know.
He merely borrowed Tang San's mouth and said coldly, "The Spirit Hall certificate is right here. Are you barring an academy student, or are you defying Spirit Hall?"
Sweat covered the injured guard's forehead, but he kept talking tough.
"You dared attack academy staff. You're finished!"
Ji Yuan made Tang San bend down and pick up the certificate they had trampled. He brushed off the dirt and returned it to Old Jack.
Old Jack's hands were still trembling.
"Xiao San, just now you..."
Ji Yuan immediately ended Consciousness Deprivation and returned Tang San's body to him.
Tang San swayed as he came to his senses. All he could see in his mind was the image of his own hands moving without his will.
He looked at the guard on the ground, then at his left hand. His palm went cold.
It wasn't me.
He could not say it aloud.
No one would believe him if he did.
Just then, a middle-aged man emerged from the academy. He was thin, with neatly combed black hair and weariness on his face, yet his bearing had a way of putting people at ease.
"What happened?"
The guard cried out through the pain, "Grandmaster, this brat brought a fake certificate and attacked us!"
Old Jack immediately handed him the certificate.
"Grandmaster, please look. Spirit Hall issued it. The boy really is here to enroll."
The man took the certificate, examined it carefully, then looked at Tang San.
"Your name is Tang San?"
Tang San pushed down his confusion and nodded. "Yes."
The man asked, "Your Martial Soul is Blue Silver Grass, and you have Innate Full Soul Power?"
"Yes," Tang San said.
The guard protested, "Grandmaster, how could Blue Silver Grass have Innate Full Soul Power?"
The man folded the certificate and returned it to Old Jack.
"The certificate is genuine."
The guard's face went white.
The man looked at Tang San, his gaze lingering for an instant on his sleeve and left hand.
"Did you attack them just now?"
Tang San fell silent.
He did not know how to answer.
Old Jack hurriedly said, "Grandmaster, they pushed me first. The boy acted in the heat of the moment."
The man did not scold him. He only said to the guards, "Go see a doctor. The cost will come out of your wages this month."
The guard opened his mouth to argue.
The man turned away. "Would you rather I informed the headmaster?"
The guard gritted his teeth and fell silent.
Tang San watched the man, his wariness undiminished.
The man walked up to him, his tone softening.
"My name is Yu Xiaogang. Everyone at the academy calls me Grandmaster. Will you come inside with me?"
Old Jack quickly tugged Tang San's arm.
"Xiao San, thank Grandmaster."
Tang San cupped his hands. "Thank you, Grandmaster."
Yu Xiaogang studied him and asked, "Why didn't you use what was in your sleeve?"
Tang San's heart tightened.
Inside the bundle, Ji Yuan also drew in his aura.
Tang San raised his head and tried to stay calm.
"You saw wrong, Grandmaster."
Yu Xiaogang did not press him. "You don't have to tell me. Everyone has secrets. But once you're in the academy, you must at least learn to control yourself."
After a moment's silence, Tang San said, "I'll remember that."
Yu Xiaogang led them into the academy. While Old Jack handled the paperwork, he reminded Tang San again and again.
"Xiao San, listen to your teachers here. Don't quarrel with anyone. Being a work-study student won't be easy. The whole village is counting on you."
Tang San said quietly, "Grandpa Jack, I'll work hard."
Old Jack stroked his head, his eyes reddening.
"You're more sensible than your dad. That puts your grandpa's mind at ease."
Ji Yuan listened without feeling a thing.
Affection, farewells, hopes—none of it had anything to do with him.
He cared only about resources.
Once Yu Xiaogang had arranged the paperwork, he led Tang San toward the dormitories.
"Work-study students live in Dorm Seven. There are plenty of children there, and the rules are simple: whoever has the harder fists gets heard."
Tang San asked, "Doesn't the academy intervene?"
"Teachers won't step into every quarrel between children," Yu Xiaogang said. "You must learn to hold your own."
Tang San looked at him and suddenly asked, "Why did you help me, Grandmaster?"
Yu Xiaogang stopped and turned back.
"Because your certificate interested me."
"Is that all?" Tang San asked.
"Blue Silver Grass with Innate Full Soul Power is unusual," Yu Xiaogang said. "I want to know why."
Tang San asked no more questions.
Ji Yuan laughed coldly inside the bundle.
The reason is right there on you, but neither of you can see it.
The entrance to Dorm Seven was noisy. Several work-study students had gathered around a sturdy boy sitting beside a bed. He looked up at Tang San.
"New here?"
Tang San nodded. "I'm Tang San."
The sturdy boy stood and flexed his wrists.
"Dorm Seven's rule is that newcomers fight the boss. Win, and you're the boss. Lose, and you obey orders and do the chores."
Tang San set down his bundle.
As its opening loosened, Ji Yuan slipped his main body into a crack in the bed frame and drove his roots into the wood.
At last, he no longer had to stay in that bundle.
The sturdy boy charged, his fist flying straight at Tang San's chest.
Tang San sidestepped, twisted his wrist, and threw him to the floor.
The other children immediately erupted.
"Wang Sheng lost!"
"The new kid's good!"
Wang Sheng scrambled up, unconvinced. "Again!"
Tang San gave him no chance. Blue Silver Grass wrapped around Wang Sheng's ankle and brought him down once more.
Wang Sheng sat on the floor, panting, and waved a hand.
"I'm done. You're the boss."
Tang San was about to speak when a clear girl's voice came from the doorway.
"Is this Dorm Seven?"
Everyone turned.
A little girl with a scorpion braid stood at the door. Her pink clothes were clean, her eyes lively, and she carried her own bundle.
Wang Sheng immediately said, "You're new. You know the rule, right?"
The girl tilted her head. "What rule?"
Wang Sheng pointed at Tang San.
"Beat him, and you're the boss."
The girl looked at Tang San and smiled. "So you're the boss now?"
"I don't want to be," Tang San said.
The girl tossed her bundle onto a bed.
"Perfect. I do."
They began fighting at once. Tang San had intended to stop short of hurting her, but the girl was quick and agile, and her tricky kicks forced him to take the fight seriously more than once.
Hidden in the bed frame, Ji Yuan had only been watching.
Then the girl drew close to Tang San, and her braid brushed his shoulder. Every fine root in Ji Yuan's body surged with hunger.
She was no ordinary Soul Master.
The life essence within her was terrifyingly dense.
Ji Yuan immediately split off a second Spore. It sprang from Tang San's hem and, as the two fighters crossed paths, attached itself to the girl's scorpion braid.
Xiao Wu landed and clapped her hands.
"You're not bad."
Tang San also lowered his hands. "Neither are you."
Xiao Wu held out her hand.
"I'm Xiao Wu. Wu as in dance."
Tang San took her hand.
"Tang San."
Ji Yuan's Spores slid along a strand of hair to the back of Xiao Wu's neck and quietly clung to her skin.
A far greater aura of life came through the Spores. Ji Yuan nearly lost control on the spot.
He ruthlessly checked his urge to devour it, leaving only a sliver of perception.
"The second one."
That night, Dorm Seven fell quiet. Tang San lay in bed, but he could not sleep.
He still could not shake the feeling of his body being taken over during the day.
He rolled over and sat up, staring at his left hand.
"What on earth is influencing me?"
Ji Yuan hid beneath the bed frame and gave no answer.
Then came a soft knock at the door.
Tang San looked up.
Yu Xiaogang's voice came from outside.
"Tang San, come with me."
Tang San threw on a coat and went out. Ji Yuan immediately followed through his link to the Spores.
In the office, Yu Xiaogang had lit a lamp. A book and a belt lay on the desk.
The belt was dark all over, set with twenty-four pieces of jade.
Yu Xiaogang pushed it toward Tang San.
"Become my disciple, and I'll teach you how to cultivate Blue Silver Grass."
Tang San looked at him but did not agree at once.
"What makes you think Blue Silver Grass can be cultivated, Grandmaster?"
Yu Xiaogang picked up the book and turned to a page marked with a slip of paper.
"No Martial Soul is absolutely useless. There are only people who don't understand it."
Tang San was silent for a long time. Then he knelt and kowtowed.
"Teacher."
Yu Xiaogang helped him up and placed the belt in his hands.
"This is my gift to you as my new disciple. It can store things. It's called the Twenty-Four Moonlit Bridge."
Tang San took the belt. The moment his fingertips touched the jade, the Spores inside Ji Yuan suddenly trembled.
Something was hidden inside the belt.
Not just a storage space.
Something within it gave off a scent that drove him mad with hunger.
Beneath the bed frame, Ji Yuan's roots slowly tightened. Every shred of his perception settled on those twenty-four pieces of jade.
Tang San was still listening to Yu Xiaogang explain how to use the belt.
He had no idea he now carried another treasure trove that had caught Ji Yuan's eye.
The lamplight flickered gently, and a faint glow rose from the jade.
Ji Yuan gave a silent command.
"Get inside."
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