Contesting the Presidential Suite, Secretly Releasing Spores

The instant the phantom White Tiger lowered its head, Tang San stepped into Ghost Shadow Perplexing Track, his body slipping past the side of Dai Mubai's fist wind.

Dai Mubai's punch missed, and the vase in the corner of the hall was knocked over by the force, shattered porcelain scattering across the floor.

The waiter staggered back in fright. "Stop fighting! You really can't fight here!"

Xiao Wu glared at him. "Then make him stop!"

Dai Mubai did not stop.

He twisted around and pursued, his tiger claw, charged with Soul Power, raking toward Tang San's shoulder.

Tang San turned both hands, using Controlling Crane Capturing Dragon to catch his wrist, intending to redirect the force.

The moment their arms collided, Tang San's expression changed.

The gap in strength was too great.

Dai Mubai sneered. "That's all you've got?"

Tang San retreated several steps, but his fingers had already hooked the mechanism of his hidden weapon.

Ji Yuan did not let him use it.

Roots pressed against Tang San's wrist pulse and gave a light tap, dispersing much of the strength in his fingertips.

They could not let the situation escalate now.

The goal was parasitism, not murder.

Dai Mubai's phantom White Tiger remained alert. Ji Yuan immediately dispersed the Tang San's inner force coating the outer layer of the sub-spore, letting it disguise itself as dust swept up by the fist wind as it rolled forward along the cracks between the floor tiles.

Seeing Tang San being forced back, Xiao Wu anxiously moved to rush forward. "Tang San, I'll help you!"

Tang San shouted, "Don't come over!"

Hearing that, Dai Mubai's face turned even colder. "Still trying to act tough."

White light flared around him as his hands transformed into tiger claws and his first soul ring lit up.

White Tiger Protective Barrier!

A membrane of Soul Power wrapped around his body. As soon as the sub-spore approached the edge of his shoe, it was bounced back into a floor crack.

Ji Yuan was in no hurry.

The tighter the defense, the bigger the opening when it erupted.

Tang San's Blue Silver Grass surged from the ground, winding around Dai Mubai's legs.

Dai Mubai glanced down and tore downward with his tiger claw.

The Blue Silver Grass should have snapped apart on the spot.

Ji Yuan sent a trace of demonic vine toughness through Tang San's meridians, blending it into the outer layer of the Blue Silver Grass.

Dai Mubai's tear failed to shred it at once. It only pulled the vines taut with a piercing screech.

Dai Mubai raised a brow. "Your Blue Silver Grass is a little strange."

Tang San was shocked as well.

He knew his Blue Silver Grass had grown stronger, but he had not expected it to withstand the claw strength of a beast martial soul.

Xiao Wu shouted from the side, "Tang San, bind him!"

Tang San immediately poured in more Soul Power, and the Blue Silver Grass coiled around Dai Mubai's waist and abdomen.

At last, a serious look appeared on Dai Mubai's face.

"Fine. Then I'll get serious too."

His third soul ring lit up.

White Tiger Vajra Transformation!

His muscles swelled, tightening his sleeves as violent blood and vitality churned out from within him.

The carpet in the hall was lifted by his Soul Power, while the waiter clung to the counter and did not dare raise his head.

This was the moment Ji Yuan had been waiting for.

When a martial soul strengthened the body, Soul Power was pushed from the meridians outward into the flesh. The defenses became thicker, but breathing vents appeared at the pores, palms, and ankles.

The stronger the White Tiger Vajra Transformation, the more violently its blood and vitality surged.

The sub-spore sprang up along a floor crack, using that wave of Soul Power to bypass the frontal barrier and brush past Dai Mubai's trouser leg.

Dai Mubai's tiger claws tore through the Blue Silver Grass and lunged straight for Tang San's chest.

Tang San crossed his arms and took the blow head-on with Mysterious Jade Hand.

With a bang, Tang San's back slammed into a pillar, and the taste of blood rose in his throat.

Xiao Wu's eyes reddened. "Dai Mubai, are you trying to kill him?"

Dai Mubai stared at Tang San, a trace of surprise entering his voice. "You can still stand?"

Tang San braced himself against the pillar and straightened. "It's not over yet."

Ji Yuan coldly siphoned away the internal force pouring from Tang San through the soles of his shoes.

Don't fall yet.

Hold on a little longer.

The secondary spores had already crawled up Dai Mubai's trouser leg to his ankle. His ankle was heavily protected by Soul Power, but the White Tiger Vajra Transformation's blood and vitality were too vigorous. Heat rose from the surface of his skin, and his pores opened.

Ji Yuan withdrew the poison, leaving behind only wood-element vitality and a faint lure of blood energy.

The spores pressed against it.

They did not bore in.

They were waiting for his next burst of strength.

Dai Mubai raised his foot, preparing to deliver Tang San the final blow.

As he lifted it, the muscles in his ankle tightened, the patterns of his skin opened, and Soul Power surged outward.

Ji Yuan hesitated no longer.

The secondary spores slipped into his pores along with the sweat vapor, burrowing inward beside the edges of his meridians.

Dai Mubai's movements suddenly slowed. He lowered his head and glanced at his ankle.

Tang San immediately seized the chance. Blue Silver Grass lashed out again, while Controlling Crane Capturing Dragon exerted force and dragged Dai Mubai off to the side.

Dai Mubai was pulled sideways. His tiger claw brushed past Tang San's shoulder, shredding his clothing.

Xiao Wu lifted her leg and kicked toward Dai Mubai's lower back. "Are you done bullying people yet?!"

Dai Mubai blocked with a backhand, and Xiao Wu was knocked back by the impact.

Tang San's expression changed. "Xiao Wu!"

Dai Mubai did not pursue her. Instead, he looked at Tang San and suddenly smiled. "You two work well together."

Xiao Wu cursed, "Who's working with you? We're beating you up!"

Dai Mubai retracted his tiger claws, and the phantom white tiger around him gradually faded. "That's enough for today."

Tang San frowned. "What do you mean?"

Dai Mubai raised a hand and dusted off his sleeve, pretending nothing had happened. But when his right foot touched the ground, a faint numb itch ran through his ankle.

The sensation was so slight that he merely thought he had overexerted himself earlier.

Ji Yuan had already hidden the secondary spores within the outer layer of his meridians, where they took root along the thickest channels of the White Tiger's blood and vitality.

It worked.

Dai Mubai turned toward the front desk. "Give them the room."

The attendant was dumbfounded. "Young Master Dai, this..."

Dai Mubai swept him a cold glance. "Didn't you understand?"

The attendant hurriedly nodded. "I understand, I understand."

Xiao Wu was still unwilling to let it go. "You think you can leave after fighting?"

Dai Mubai glanced at her, then looked at Tang San. "What's your name?"

Tang San withdrew his Blue Silver Grass. "Tang San."

"Tang San."

Dai Mubai repeated it, his smile carrying a hint of fighting spirit. "See you at Shrek Academy."

Tang San's heart stirred. "You're going to Shrek too?"

Dai Mubai did not answer. He turned and walked toward the twin girls. "We're changing locations."

The two girls hurried after him.

As he walked out of the hotel, his right foot gave another unnatural twitch.

Through the spores, Ji Yuan sensed the flow of the White Tiger's blood and vitality, and greed churned through his roots.

So rich.

Far stronger than those low-level Soul Masters in Notting.

If he drew upon such blood and vitality for a long time, it would be enough to grow real hard armor over the demon vine's surface.

Tang San, however, was still reviewing the battle where he stood.

He lowered his head and looked at his palm. "His strength was much greater than mine, but he seemed to suddenly slow down later."

Xiao Wu curled her lips. "He must've seen how formidable you were, got scared of embarrassing himself, and found an excuse to run."

Tang San shook his head. "It didn't seem like that."

Xiao Wu took the key from the front desk and stuffed it into his hand. "Stop thinking about it. Go upstairs first—your shoulder's torn up."

Only then did Tang San notice that his clothes had been ripped open by the tiger claw, leaving red marks on his skin.

Ji Yuan casually drew away a little of the blood seeping from the wound, then returned an extremely small amount of wood-element vitality, making the injury look less frightening.

Tang San assumed the Mysterious Heaven Skill was protecting his body, and felt somewhat relieved.

The moment Xiao Wu entered the room, she threw herself onto the soft bed. "Now this is what I call resting!"

Tang San closed the door and sat by the table. "That person from earlier wasn't simple."

Xiao Wu rolled over to look at him. "No matter how extraordinary he was, didn't he still give up the room?"

Tang San smiled bitterly. "That was because he held back."

Ji Yuan could not be bothered to listen to them talk about such things.

All of his attention was on Dai Mubai.

On another street from the hotel, Dai Mubai had just entered a different lodging when he frowned and pressed at his ankle.

"Young Master Dai, what's wrong?"

The girl beside him asked.

Dai Mubai waved a hand. "It's nothing."

But as soon as he sat down, the White Tiger's vital energy and blood began circulating through his meridians, and the spores Ji Yuan had planted latched onto it, like hungry roots encountering hot blood.

Ji Yuan did not devour it greedily right away.

The first time had to be gentle.

He merely tore off a tiny wisp of White Tiger essence and sent it into the parasitic web.

Inside the hidden layer of his shoe sole, the dark-red patterns on the demonic vine immediately lit up, and its bark swelled with a tearing sensation.

Dai Mubai lifted his wine cup, but his wrist suddenly went weak, spilling more than half the wine.

The girl cried out, "Young Master Dai!"

Dai Mubai's expression darkened as he set the cup back onto the table. "I'm a little tired today."

Ji Yuan silently stretched out inside Tang San's shoe sole.

Tired?

This was only the beginning.

Just as he was about to take a second draw, the White Tiger essence within Dai Mubai suddenly surged back in retaliation, charging fiercely along the spores.

Fine cracks sounded from the outer layer of Ji Yuan's offspring spores. Deep within the White Tiger's meridians, an overbearing surge of vital energy and blood had actually locked them in place.