Slapping Zhao Wuji in the Face, Poison Testing Successful

Zhao Wuji reached out to grab Tang San, but his fingertips merely brushed past the hem of Tang San's clothes.

His expression finally changed.

"Slippery as a loach."

Tang San did not answer. Both hands swept past his waist, and several flashes of cold light shot out at once.

Dragon Beard Needles, Bone-Piercing Nails, sleeve arrows, and flying locust stones.

The hidden weapons split into three paths—sealing off the eyes from the front, locking onto the shoulders from the sides, and targeting the knees from below.

Zhao Wuji snorted coldly, and his protective Soul Power rose again.

"No matter how many tricks you have, you still need to break my defense!"

Just as he was about to activate his Immovable Bright King Body, a trace of numbness at his ankle suddenly shot upward, jamming the circulation of his Soul Power for an instant.

That instant was enough.

Several Dragon Beard Needles slipped through a thin spot in his protective Soul Power and pierced his shoulder and arm.

The ease vanished from Zhao Wuji's face. His muscles were tugged by the Dragon Beard Needles, and the pain made the veins at his temples throb.

"Good brat, that was vicious!"

Tang San's heart jolted.

It worked?

Even he had not expected his hidden weapons to break through Zhao Wuji's defense so smoothly.

Inside the soles of the shoes, Ji Yuan swallowed the internal force surging from Tang San's excitement, then continued driving the poison.

Zhao Wuji's body was too powerful. The poison could not remain for long; once he examined himself seriously, it might not stay hidden.

He had to complete the humiliation when things were at their most chaotic.

Tang San did not stop.

He knew this opportunity was rare. His right hand gripped his belt, while his left had already grasped the phantom of the Clear Sky Hammer.

Seeing Tang San's left hand grow heavy, Zhao Wuji's expression darkened.

"You still have another trump card?"

At the edge of the field, Dai Mubai felt his heart tighten as well.

He had witnessed Tang San's inexplicable burst of strength yesterday.

But Xiao Wu grew anxious.

"Tang San, don't force yourself!"

Tang San did not look back.

Zhao Wuji was truly angered. His third soul ring lit up, his body swelled by a full circle, and the heavy Soul Power pressed the broken grass around them into the mud.

"You little brats have already proven yourselves worthy by forcing me this far."

Ning Rongrong could not help shouting, "Teacher Zhao, the incense hasn't finished burning yet!"

Zhao Wuji glanced at her.

"I know."

Before his words had faded, he had already charged at Tang San.

He was much faster than before.

Tang San gritted his teeth and retreated with Ghost Shadow Perplexing Track, but gravity seemed to catch his feet.

Ji Yuan immediately fed a trace of White Tiger vitality back through the soles of his shoes, raising the strength in Tang San's legs another level.

Borrowing that force, Tang San twisted aside to evade, while flicking several more fine needles from his sleeve.

Zhao Wuji had intended to take them head-on, but his vision suddenly went dark.

It was not dizziness caused by injury. Something had briefly blocked his sight.

His raised hand failed to follow through.

Tang San seized the opening. The Clear Sky Hammer in his left hand smashed toward Zhao Wuji's face with crushing force.

Bang!

Zhao Wuji staggered back from the blow. His nose bridge ached, and one of his eyes immediately swelled shut.

The edge of the field fell silent.

The grass root in Oscar's mouth fell to the ground.

"No way... Teacher Zhao got hit in the face?"

Dai Mubai looked at the bruising on Zhao Wuji's face, his expression turning strange.

He had been humiliated last night, and now Zhao Wuji had been humiliated today.

Did Tang San only hit people in the face?

Xiao Wu had no time to laugh. She rushed to Tang San's side and supported him.

"How are you?"

The Clear Sky Hammer in Tang San's hand had already vanished, and his face was terribly pale.

"I'm fine."

With a casual motion, Ji Yuan siphoned away the internal energy Tang San had just forcibly mobilized, leaving behind only an empty shell that could still stand on the surface.

Tang San's legs went weak, but he thought it was simply the backlash from using his trump card beyond his level.

Zhao Wuji stood where he was, clutching his nose, his expression frighteningly dark.

"Tang San!"

Tang San raised his head.

"Teacher Zhao, the incense hasn't finished burning yet."

Ning Rongrong immediately added insult to injury.

"That's right, it's not over yet."

Zhu Zhuqing stood to the side. Though she said nothing, she had not withdrawn her martial soul.

Xiao Wu also stood in front of Tang San.

"You said one stick of incense. You're not going back on your word, are you?"

Zhao Wuji lowered his hand from his nose. Seeing the blood on his fingertips, his face twitched.

The mighty Immovable Bright King had been beaten into a nosebleed by a few freshmen.

If word got out, Flender would laugh about it for half a year.

But the incense really had not finished burning.

Just as he was about to move again, the numbness in his ankle crawled upward once more, and the muscles around his knee failed to exert their full strength.

Zhao Wuji cursed inwardly.

Tang San's hidden weapons truly were strange.

From the shadows, Ji Yuan withdrew the last traces of poison, leaving only the numb sensation that would cause Zhao Wuji to misjudge the situation.

He could not leave the poison in his body for too long.

The experiment had succeeded.

Even a Soul Sage's protective energy could have openings.

That was enough.

At last, the incense burned down completely, and the ash fell to the ground.

Dai Mubai immediately spoke.

"Teacher Zhao, time's up."

Zhao Wuji turned and glared at him.

"I'm not blind."

Oscar picked up the blade of grass, dusted it off, then did not dare put it back in his mouth.

"Teacher Zhao, do you want one of my sausages?"

Zhao Wuji's face darkened further.

"Get lost!"

Oscar immediately backed away.

Supporting Tang San, Xiao Wu asked irritably, "We passed, right?"

Zhao Wuji looked at the four of them, especially Tang San. His chest rose and fell for a moment before he finally suppressed his anger.

"You passed."

Ning Rongrong let out a sigh of relief. After withdrawing the Seven Treasure Glazed Tile Pagoda, her entire body swayed.

Zhu Zhuqing also withdrew her martial soul. Her arms were still numb, but she did not cry out in pain.

Just as Tang San was about to speak, the emptiness within his body surged up, and his vision darkened.

Xiao Wu noticed something was wrong.

"Tang San?"

Tang San barely managed to steady himself.

"I just used up too much energy."

Ji Yuan deliberately made Tang San's meridians display the chaotic state of overexertion.

That way, Zhao Wuji would not investigate the poison too closely and would only think Tang San had pushed himself too hard.

And Zhao Wuji indeed thought exactly that.

He rubbed his swollen eye sockets and gritted his teeth. "Kid, you'd better explain those hidden weapons of yours to me later."

Tang San nodded.

"Fine."

Seeing that he looked ready to collapse at any moment, Zhao Wuji could not keep venting his anger. He could only turn to Dai Mubai. "Take them to rest."

Dai Mubai held back a laugh.

"Yes, Teacher Zhao."

Zhao Wuji kicked at him.

Dai Mubai had been prepared and sidestepped it.

"Teacher Zhao, don't get worked up. Your wounds will hurt even more."

Zhao Wuji grabbed a wooden stick from the ground and was about to smash him with it.

"You little brat, asking for a beating?"

Dai Mubai quickly led the others away.

Oscar pushed his sausage cart over from the side, his face full of ingratiating smiles.

"New classmates, Recovery Sausage. Great results, guaranteed for young and old alike."

Ning Rongrong had just been through a fierce battle and was looking to recover. The moment she heard the first half of his incantation, her expression immediately changed.

"Stay away from me."

Xiao Wu also helped Tang San back away.

"This thing is edible?"

Oscar protested indignantly.

"Why wouldn't it be? My sausages are top-tier recovery food."

Tang San had wanted to refuse, but his body was truly drained, so he looked at Dai Mubai.

Dai Mubai said, "Oscar's sausages work well. The incantation is just a bit disgusting."

Oscar immediately objected.

"Boss Dai, don't ruin my reputation!"

Ji Yuan's attention had already locked onto Oscar.

The life energy emanating from those sausages was purer than ordinary medicinal herbs.

This energy was not simply Soul Power. It was closer to the body's instinctive ability to repair itself.

If he could eat enough of them, the recovery speed of the demon vine's wounds would increase dramatically.

But now was not the best time.

Tang San was already on the verge of collapse. Any further draining would expose him.

Ji Yuan merely created the illusion of excessive depletion in Tang San's meridians, making Xiao Wu more anxious and drawing everyone's attention to Tang San.

Sure enough, Xiao Wu became frantic.

"Dai Mubai, where are the dorms? He can't hold on any longer."

Dai Mubai glanced at Tang San and put away his teasing demeanor as well.

"Follow me."

Ning Rongrong remained where she was, dissatisfaction still written across her face.

"Does this academy not even have a healing teacher?"

Without looking back, Dai Mubai said, "We have Oscar."

Ning Rongrong looked at the sausage in Oscar's hand, and her expression worsened.

"That's worse than having no one."

Oscar clutched his chest.

"Junior sister, that hurts."

Zhu Zhuqing passed him and said coldly, "You're in the way."

Oscar immediately pushed his cart aside.

After the group left the examination grounds, Zhao Wuji remained where he was, pulling out the needles.

The Dragon Beard Needles curled up after burrowing into his muscles, and the pain made his face twitch whenever he pulled one out.

"That Tang San kid is really ruthless."

He pulled out the last needle and was just about to circulate his Soul Power to inspect his body when the numbness in his ankle had already completely dissipated.

Ji Yuan had erased all traces ahead of time.

Zhao Wuji investigated for quite a while, but all he found were injuries caused by hidden weapons.

"Damn weird."

He tossed the needles onto the table, growing angrier the more he thought about it.

"Tonight, I'm settling the score with Flender. What kind of monsters has he recruited?"

Meanwhile, Dai Mubai led the group toward the dormitory area.

Tang San's steps grew heavier and heavier, and Xiao Wu was practically holding him up.

"Stop forcing yourself."

"I'm fine," Tang San said quietly.

Xiao Wu glared at him in anger.

"You say that every time."

Walking ahead of them, Dai Mubai suddenly said, "Tang San, if it had been anyone else today, they'd have been flat on the ground already."

Tang San shook his head.

"Teacher Zhao held back."

Dai Mubai looked back at him, his expression complicated.

"He held back, and you still smacked his face swollen."

Ning Rongrong added from the side.

"That really was satisfying."

Dai Mubai looked at her.

"You've got guts too. You just enrolled, and you already dared to talk back to Teacher Zhao."

Ning Rongrong gave a soft snort.

"He said one incense stick's worth of time. He has to admit it."

As Ji Yuan listened to their pointless chatter, his roots had already silently pressed into the ground.

Shrek Academy might have been rundown, but its underground water veins ran deep.

The dormitories, cafeteria, and the well beside the training field could all become spore dispersal points.

Today had only been a poison test.

The real breeding ground had yet to be laid out.

When Tang San was helped into a dilapidated wooden hut, he finally could no longer endure and sat down beside the bed.

Xiao Wu immediately pushed him down.

"Sleep."

Tang San still wanted to meditate and regulate his breathing, but the weakness Ji Yuan had sent out clogged his chest, leaving him no choice but to close his eyes.

Standing at the doorway, Dai Mubai said, "Someone will bring food later. Rest first."

Xiao Wu replied irritably, "You can leave now."

Dai Mubai did not get angry. After glancing at Tang San, he turned and left.

Ning Rongrong looked at the wooden beds in the room with distaste and muttered, "Can people really live in a place like this?"

Zhu Zhuqing had already chosen a spot by the wall and sat down.

"As long as we can sleep."

Ji Yuan extended thin roots from a crack in Tang San's shoe sole, threading them down the bed leg and into the soil.

Just as he was about to extend toward the well, a heavy pulse of Soul Power came from deep underground.

Someone had set up a simple detection array beneath the academy.

Ji Yuan's roots stopped in the dirt and did not advance any further.

The next moment, Flender's voice came from outside.

"Zhao Wuji, what happened to your face?"

Zhao Wuji's gritted voice followed close behind.

"Don't ask. Tang San did it."

Ji Yuan's roots slowly tightened in the darkness.

The detection array was still active, the well was not far away, and Zhao Wuji, filled with fury, was already heading toward this dormitory...