Return to Notting, Plotting the Star Dou

"Don't move your left hand!"

Yu Xiaogang rushed forward, grabbing Tang San's wrist with one hand, but he did not dare probe too deeply with his 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 stomped 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 of the Seventh Dormitory, too frightened to approach. "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 hurriedly and promptly drove away all the work-study students who had gathered around.

Ji Yuan hid within the sole of the shoe, controlling the Clear Sky Hammer's origin so that it revealed only the slightest sign of impending loss of control.

No more.

Any more would draw Tang Hao's trouble back again.

But this little was enough to frighten Yu Xiaogang.

Once the office door was shut, Tang San sat in a chair, his left hand still feeling heavy.

Yu Xiaogang pulled the curtains tightly closed, then turned and asked, "When did this start?"

Tang San endured the hollow sensation in his meridians. "Ever since I returned to Holy Soul Village. Whenever I cultivated, it always felt like my Soul Power could never be filled. It got worse last night."

Xiao Wu added, "He's also been having strange dreams. He dreamed about powerful soul beasts."

Yu Xiaogang looked at Tang San. "What soul beasts?"

Tang San hesitated. "A giant black ape, and a huge tree."

Xiao Wu lowered her head to look at the tips of her shoes and said nothing.

Yu Xiaogang picked up a pen, but just as his fingers touched the paper, he set 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 detector 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 gathered the parasitic web into severed nodes, allowing the instrument to detect only the gap in Soul Power and the conflict between the 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 been repeatedly scoured and have become more resilient, which proves that you truly are improving. But all newly generated Soul Power is being devoured by a deeper force."

Xiao Wu immediately asked, "What is this deeper force?"

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's too domineering. Your current Blue Silver Grass soul ring cannot suppress its rejection."

Ji Yuan silently drew in the web beneath the sole.

That's right.

Keep talking.

Blame every problem on 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 life force and a more immense 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 outer regions of the Soul Hunting Forest mostly contain hundred-year soul beasts. Their varieties are limited, and their strength is limited. When you first absorbed the Datura Snake, it already pushed your body into a special state. If you continue following the conventional path, your Soul Power hunger 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 suppressed the black light, but the heavy feeling 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 there are more varied, their ages are greater, and there are even ten-thousand-year soul beasts active within it."

The moment Xiao Wu heard the words Star Dou Great Forest, her posture 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 struggle. "If we were taking the safe route, I wouldn't bring up this place now. But Tang San's condition can't be delayed. If he keeps cultivating in Notting City, his Soul Power will be continuously devoured by his second martial soul. In the end, he might not even be able to maintain his Blue Silver Grass."

Tang San said quietly, "Teacher, I'll go."

Xiao Wu turned to him. "Did you hear him clearly? He said it's dangerous."

Tang San looked at his left hand. "I don't want to just wait for my body to break down 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 gravely as well, "We won't leave immediately. I need to prepare the route, medicine, insect-repelling powder, antidotes, and contact a merchant caravan that can enter the outskirts of the Star Dou Great Forest. We'll only stay at the outskirts and won't go deep inside."

Inside the sole of his shoe, 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 pool of resources far beyond Notting City.

Tang San thought he was going there to find a soul ring.

Yu Xiaogang thought he was saving his disciple.

Xiao Wu would be going too.

Three blood bags, one road.

Ji Yuan forced all his excitement deep into his true body, and his outer appearance returned to that of an inconspicuous deadwood thorn.

The closer he got to the feast, the less he could reveal 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 cannot 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 that."

Yu Xiaogang took several packets of medicinal herbs from the cabinet. "These replenish qi and blood. Take them back and decoct them first."

Xiao Wu snatched them up. "This time, I'll watch him drink it."

Ji Yuan had already memorized the scent of the medicinal herbs.

Replenish qi and blood?

More nourishment delivered right to his mouth.

When Tang San stood up, his body still felt somewhat weak.

Xiao Wu supported him, though her words were as unforgiving as ever. "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 the Seventh Dormitory, Wang Sheng immediately came up to them. "Boss, are you okay?"

Xiao Wu tossed the medicine packets onto the table. "He's fine. If anyone asks, he's just tired from cultivation. Got it?"

Wang Sheng quickly replied, "Got it, got it."

Tang San sat beside his bed and took out refined iron material and hidden weapon components.

Xiao Wu pressed down on his hand. "The master just said you can't overdraw yourself."

Tang San explained, "I'm only organizing them. 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 safely reaching the Star Dou Great Forest would there be a chance to come into contact with greater nourishment.

That night, the light in Yu Xiaogang's office remained on.

He spread a map across the entire desk, repeatedly crossing out several routes before marking supply points again.

The registration teacher brought him tea and couldn't help asking, "Master, are you really taking Tang San to the Star Dou Great Forest?"

Yu Xiaogang did not look up. "I'm not taking him there to risk his life. I'm taking him there so he can live."

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 holding the pen paused over the map, and an ink blot spread across it.

"I will."

In the Seventh Dormitory, Tang San still did not sleep after lying down.

Xiao Wu sat nearby eating candied fruit and 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. Stop being so tense."

Tang San took it and smiled. "Thanks."

Ji Yuan silently siphoned away the remnants of the medicine's effects while sending the entire academy's underground network into deep dormancy.

Notting City was no longer their home ground.

The nourishment here was no longer enough.

From this moment on, he would reserve all his strength for the journey to the Star Dou Great Forest.

In the latter half of the night, Tang San finally fell asleep.

Following the spores in his heart meridian, Ji Yuan planted one final dream suggestion.

The shadow of the black giant ape appeared again. The branches of the giant tree drooped lower, as though inviting him—and as though swallowing him whole.

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 child spores in Xiao Wu's braid suddenly sent out violent fluctuations.

She was not asleep.

She sat by the bed, her face frighteningly pale, and murmured under her breath, "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 once more. The dark-red grass marks on its back slowly gathered into a crooked character.

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