"Don't move your left hand!"
Yu Xiaogang rushed over and grabbed Tang San's wrist. His other hand, however, did not dare probe too deeply with Soul Power.
Tang San gritted his teeth and pressed down on his palm. Black light flickered between his fingers, so heavy that it dragged his arm downward.
Xiao Wu stamped her foot anxiously. "Master, hurry and think of something!"
Yu Xiaogang's expression darkened. "Xiao Wu, help him to my office. Don't let the other students see."
Wang Sheng stood at the entrance to Dorm Seven, too frightened to come closer. "Sister Xiao Wu, should we call a teacher?"
Xiao Wu turned and glared at him. "Don't shout nonsense. Whoever dares spread this around, I'll beat them up!"
Wang Sheng nodded hastily and drove away all the working students who had gathered around.
Ji Yuan hid in the sole of a shoe, controlling the Clear Sky Hammer's origin and exposing only the faintest sign of losing control.
Not too much.
Too much would draw Tang Hao's trouble back again.
But this little bit was enough to frighten Yu Xiaogang.
After the office door closed, Tang San sat in a chair, his left hand still feeling heavy.
Yu Xiaogang pulled the curtains tightly shut and turned to ask, "When did this start?"
Tang San endured the hollow feeling in his meridians. "It began after I returned to Holy Soul Village. During cultivation, I always felt like my Soul Power could never be filled. It became worse last night."
Xiao Wu added, "He's been having strange dreams too. He dreams about huge soul beasts."
Yu Xiaogang looked at Tang San. "What kind of soul beasts?"
Tang San hesitated. "A black giant ape, and a giant tree."
Xiao Wu lowered her head to stare at the tips of her shoes without saying anything.
Yu Xiaogang picked up his pen. His fingers had just touched the paper before he put it down again.
"Your body can no longer be judged by the standards of an ordinary Soul Master."
Tang San looked up. "Teacher, is something wrong with me?"
Yu Xiaogang did not answer immediately.
He took out a detection device and aimed it at Tang San from a distance.
The readings spun chaotically, trembling even more violently whenever it neared Tang San's left hand.
Ji Yuan condensed the Parasitic Network into broken nodes, allowing the instrument to detect only the gaps in Soul Power and the conflict between twin Martial Souls.
Yu Xiaogang stared at the readings, sweat beading on his forehead.
"The precision of your Soul Power has increased, but its total amount is abnormally low. Your meridians have become tougher after being repeatedly scoured, which proves that you are indeed improving. But all newly generated Soul Power is being devoured by a deeper force."
Xiao Wu immediately asked, "What's deeper inside?"
Yu Xiaogang glanced at Tang San's left hand. "Your second Martial Soul."
Tang San's heart tightened. "The Clear Sky Hammer?"
Yu Xiaogang nodded. "It is too domineering. Your current Blue Silver Grass Soul Rings cannot suppress its rejection."
Ji Yuan silently drew in the net from within the shoe sole.
That's right.
Keep talking.
Push every problem onto the Clear Sky Hammer.
Xiao Wu asked anxiously, "Then what do we do? Wouldn't absorbing another ordinary Soul Ring work?"
Yu Xiaogang shook his head. "An ordinary Soul Ring would only make Blue Silver Grass endure the impact more weakly. It cannot resolve the root of the problem. Tang San needs stronger vitality and a more abundant source of Soul Power to stabilize Blue Silver Grass's direction of mutation."
Tang San asked, "Is the Soul Hunting Forest not enough?"
Yu Xiaogang walked to the bookcase and pulled out several thick notebooks.
He flipped through them quickly, pressing creases into the pages.
"The outskirts of the Soul Hunting Forest are mostly populated by hundred-year soul beasts. Both their variety and strength are limited. When you absorbed the Datura Snake for the first time, it already pushed your body into a special state. If you continue along the usual path, your hunger for Soul Power will only grow worse."
Xiao Wu frowned. "Master, stop beating around the bush. Name the place."
Yu Xiaogang looked up at her. "The Star Dou Great Forest."
The office fell silent.
Tang San still pressed his left palm. Ji Yuan had finally forced the black light back down, but the heavy sensation had not faded.
He looked at Yu Xiaogang. "Teacher, is that place dangerous?"
Yu Xiaogang's expression sank. "Dangerous. Far more dangerous than the Soul Hunting Forest. The soul beasts inside are varied and older, and even ten-thousand-year soul beasts are active there."
The moment Xiao Wu heard Star Dou Great Forest, the way she sat changed.
She quickly pretended not to care. "Then why are you still telling him to go?"
Yu Xiaogang looked at Tang San, his eyes full of conflict. "If we were following the safe route, I would not mention that place now. But Tang San's condition cannot be delayed. If he continues cultivating in Notting, his Soul Power will be continuously devoured by his second Martial Soul. In the end, he may not even be able to maintain Blue Silver Grass."
Tang San said quietly, "Teacher, I'll go."
Xiao Wu turned to him. "Did you hear him? He said it's dangerous."
Tang San looked at his left hand. "I don't want to wait for my body to go wrong every time I cultivate. Father isn't here. I can't stop either."
Xiao Wu rose angrily, then sat back down. "Why are you so stubborn?"
Tang San softened his tone. "I'll prepare my hidden weapons. I won't act recklessly."
Yu Xiaogang said solemnly, "We are not leaving immediately. I need to prepare the route, medicine, insect-repelling powder, antidotes, and contact a merchant caravan that can enter the outskirts of Star Dou. We will only remain on the outskirts and will not go deep inside."
Within the shoe sole, the dark-red vine patterns on Ji Yuan were nearly impossible to suppress.
The Star Dou Great Forest.
Finally.
There were older soul beasts there, dense life energy, and a resource pool far beyond Notting City's.
Tang San thought he was going to hunt for a Soul Ring.
Yu Xiaogang thought he was saving his disciple.
Xiao Wu would go with them too.
Three blood bags, one road.
Ji Yuan pressed all his excitement deep into his true body, outwardly becoming an inconspicuous thorn of withered wood again.
The closer he got to a feast, the less he could reveal even the slightest abnormality.
Yu Xiaogang took out paper and pen and began making a list.
"Tang San, stop high-intensity cultivation for the next few days. You can make hidden weapons, but you must not overdraw your Soul Power."
Tang San nodded. "I understand."
"Xiao Wu, keep an eye on him."
Xiao Wu snorted. "You don't need to tell me."
Yu Xiaogang took several packets of medicinal herbs from the cabinet. "These replenish blood and vitality. Take them back and boil them first."
Xiao Wu snatched them away. "This time, I'll watch him drink it."
Ji Yuan had already memorized the scent of the herbs.
Replenish blood and vitality?
More nourishment delivered right to his mouth.
When Tang San stood, his body was still somewhat weak.
Xiao Wu supported him, though her mouth remained merciless. "If you collapse halfway there, I'm not carrying you."
Tang San gave a bitter smile. "I'll do my best."
After the two returned to Dorm Seven, Wang Sheng immediately came over. "Boss, are you alright?"
Xiao Wu tossed the packets of medicine onto the table. "He's fine. If anyone asks, say he's tired from cultivation. Got it?"
Wang Sheng hurriedly replied, "Got it, got it."
Tang San sat by the bed and took out iron mother essence and hidden-weapon components.
Xiao Wu pressed down on his hand. "Master just said you can't overdraw yourself."
Tang San explained, "I'm only sorting them out. I won't use Soul Power."
Xiao Wu stared at him. "I'll believe you this once."
Ji Yuan did not stop him.
The more hidden weapons Tang San made, the safer the journey would be.
Only by reaching Star Dou safely would there be a chance to touch greater nourishment.
That night, the light in Yu Xiaogang's office remained on.
He spread maps across the table, repeatedly crossing out routes before marking supply points again.
The registration teacher brought him tea and could not help asking, "Master, are you really taking Tang San to Star Dou?"
Yu Xiaogang did not look up. "I'm not taking him on an adventure. I'm taking him there so he can survive."
The registration teacher sighed. "That place isn't the Soul Hunting Forest. If something happens, the academy can't bear the responsibility."
Yu Xiaogang's hand paused over the map, and an ink blot spread beneath his pen.
"I will."
In Dorm Seven, Tang San still could not sleep after lying down.
Xiao Wu sat beside him, chewing candied fruit as she asked indistinctly, "Are you scared?"
Tang San looked at the ceiling. "I am, but I'm more afraid of staying where I am."
Xiao Wu tossed him the bag of candied fruit. "Have one. Don't stay so tense all the time."
Tang San caught it and smiled. "Thank you."
Ji Yuan silently siphoned away the lingering medicinal energy while sending all of the academy's Dark Web into deep dormancy.
Notting City was no longer his home ground.
The nourishment here was no longer enough.
From now on, he would save all his strength for the journey to Star Dou.
In the latter half of the night, Tang San finally fell asleep.
Ji Yuan sent one final dream suggestion through the heart-meridian spores.
The black giant ape's shadow appeared again. The giant tree's branches hung lower, as though inviting him, yet also as though devouring him.
In the dream, Tang San clenched his left hand while the Blue Silver Grass behind him was blown flat against the ground by the wind.
Just as Ji Yuan prepared to withdraw his consciousness, the sub-spore in Xiao Wu's braid suddenly transmitted violent fluctuations.
She was not asleep.
She sat by the bed, her face frighteningly pale, and murmured, "Why did it have to be the Star Dou Great Forest..."
At the same time, the letter Tang Hao had left in Tang San's belt slipped out again. The dark-red grass marks on the back slowly gathered into a crooked character.
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