"Get inside."
At Ji Yuan's command, the Spores near Tang San's fingertips clung to the edge of a jade stone and slipped through the narrow opening into its storage space.
Tang San was still studying the belt.
Yu Xiaogang stood beside the table, his voice unusually serious. "The Twenty-Four Moonlit Bridge has twenty-four jade stones, each with storage space inside. Your Soul Power is still weak, so don't rush when you use it. First, reach out with your mind and sense it."
Tang San nodded, running his fingers over the stones one by one. "Teacher, this is too valuable."
Yu Xiaogang waved a hand. "Take it. Since you call me your teacher, I ought to give you something useful."
Tang San said quietly, "I won't let you down, Teacher."
Listening from the shadows, Ji Yuan found it laughable.
Such deep affection between teacher and student. Perfect.
The more seriously you take this, the easier it is for me to make my move.
When the Spores entered the first jade stone's space, they found only a few packets of dried rations, a fire striker, medicinal powder, and bandages.
Ji Yuan looked them over and left them alone.
Those things were useful to Tang San, but held little value for him.
The second jade stone held several old books. Their covers were badly worn, and slips of paper were tucked between the corners.
Outside, Yu Xiaogang said, "Read those Soul Beast guides when you get back, especially the sections on plants and snakes. Don't dismiss them as dull. A Soul Master's First Soul Ring determines the foundation of their future."
Tang San's eyes brightened. "You've already planned a path for me, Teacher?"
Yu Xiaogang said gravely, "Blue Silver Grass is weak. It needs outside power to make up for that. Toughness, poison, and control—those are the three paths best suited to you."
Ji Yuan's Spores paused beside the pages. Tiny roots reached through a gap in the spine and scanned the contents page by page.
Soul Beast ages, habits, weaknesses, and Martial Soul compatibility.
Yu Xiaogang had spent years compiling that knowledge. Ji Yuan swallowed it into his memory without effort.
Even a useless man has his uses, Ji Yuan thought coldly.
Tang San studied under him in the open; Ji Yuan collected the materials in secret.
The third jade stone's space held a pile of clothes.
The fourth held water flasks.
The fifth contained a dagger, rope, and several bottles of antidote.
When the Spores entered the seventh jade stone, Ji Yuan's roots suddenly drew taut.
A wooden box sat in the corner.
Old cloth was wrapped around it, and its lid was sealed with wax. It was clearly no everyday item.
The scent of blood and vitality seeping from within made even Ji Yuan's true body beneath the bedboards grow hot.
Tang San's fingers rested on the belt. He frowned slightly. "Teacher, it feels a little cold in there."
Yu Xiaogang stepped closer. "A Storage Soul Tool contains its own space. It will feel different from the outside world. Don't lose focus. Try taking out something simple first."
Tang San circulated his Soul Power as instructed and drew a piece of dried rations from the first jade stone.
It landed in his palm, and delight flashed in his eyes. "I did it."
Yu Xiaogang nodded. "Good. Your mental strength is steadier than I expected."
Ji Yuan ignored them.
His Spores had already reached the edge of the wooden box.
The wax seal was thin, but it held the scent of blood and vitality tightly inside. An ordinary person would never smell it.
The Spores split off fine roots and pressed them through pores in the wood grain.
The lid did not move, and the wax seal remained intact. Only a gap on the inside slowly widened.
A dark-red piece of dried meat came into view.
It looked hard and nearly black, yet some Soul Beast essence still lingered within.
Ji Yuan's roots plunged into it.
Hunger surged back to his true body through the Spores. In a crack beneath the bedboards, his Blue Silver Grass leaves unfurled soundlessly, dark-red patterns creeping through their veins.
Outside, Yu Xiaogang was laying down rules for Tang San.
"Don't use the Soul Tool carelessly in a crowd. Never flaunt your wealth. You should understand that."
Tang San answered earnestly, "Don't worry, Teacher. I'll be careful."
Yu Xiaogang looked at him. "And I don't want a repeat of what happened at the gate today."
Tang San's fingers tightened. A Hidden Weapon pressed against his skin inside his sleeve, but he did not answer at once.
"Do you think I was wrong, Teacher?"
Yu Xiaogang shook his head. "They insulted you and shoved an old man. You weren't wrong to fight back, but you struck too hard."
Tang San said quietly, "I lost control at the time."
Ji Yuan almost laughed.
Lost control?
You weren't even the one using your body. Of course you couldn't control it.
Yu Xiaogang studied Tang San's face. "The way you exerted force just now isn't something an ordinary child could learn."
Tang San looked up. "What do you want to ask, Teacher?"
The room fell silent.
Yu Xiaogang did not press him. He merely pushed the books across the table. "As I said, everyone has secrets. I want a student, not a prisoner."
Relief washed over Tang San. He lowered his head. "Thank you, Teacher."
Ji Yuan watched coldly.
Yu Xiaogang felt inferior and lacked a chance to prove himself. Now that he had found a talent like Tang San, he could not bear to let go.
How useful.
As long as Yu Xiaogang wanted to make Tang San his crowning achievement, he would find excuses for anything strange about him.
Inside the wooden box, the dried Soul Beast meat was growing lighter.
Ji Yuan's roots bored deep, draining its blood and vitality, stripping away its lingering soul. Even the savagery hidden in its fibers was not spared.
The essence flowed back through the Spores into Tang San's body, then passed through the parasitic point near his Heart Meridian to Ji Yuan's true body beneath the bedboards.
The route wound through several turns, keeping fluctuations in Tang San's meridians faint.
Tang San felt a chill at his waist and reached up to touch it.
"Are you feeling unwell?" Yu Xiaogang asked.
Tang San shook his head. "I might be a little tired from using Soul Power just now."
Yu Xiaogang glanced at the sky. "Go back and rest. Come see me tomorrow morning, and I'll begin teaching you Martial Soul Theory properly."
Tang San fastened the belt. "Teacher, I'll head back to Dorm Seven."
Yu Xiaogang grunted, then added, "Tang San, remember this: Blue Silver Grass is not the end of your path. If you want to go far, you must endure more than others."
Tang San answered solemnly, "I can endure it."
Beneath the bedboards, Ji Yuan drew his leaves tight.
That's right.
The more you can endure, the more I can wring out of you.
When Tang San left the office, the belt lay against his clothes. More than half the essence in the dried Soul Beast meat inside the box was already gone.
The Spores did not gorge themselves recklessly. They slowed down.
The box's contents must not change shape too quickly.
Tang San must not notice anything wrong when he retrieved something.
Night settled in. The children of Dorm Seven were asleep in a sprawl of crooked limbs.
Wang Sheng snored. Xiao Wu had claimed a bed farther inside, her scorpion braid hanging over its edge, the tip not far from Tang San's bunk.
Tang San slipped in quietly, took off the Twenty-Four Moonlit Bridge, and set it beside his pillow. Then he opened one of the books Yu Xiaogang had given him.
While he turned over in bed, Ji Yuan's Spores continued devouring the flesh inside the wooden box.
By the time the last trace of blood and vitality had been drawn out, the dried meat still looked whole, but its interior was hollow.
The Spores withdrew, and their fine roots smoothed the gap in the box. From outside, the wax seal looked unchanged.
Tang San was reading about plant-type Soul Beasts when he suddenly frowned. "Why did it get cold again?"
Wang Sheng rolled over and mumbled, "Draft from the window, maybe. Boss, you still up?"
Tang San closed the book. "Going to sleep now."
Xiao Wu poked her head out from the other side. "Tang San, are you going to Grandmaster's again tomorrow?"
Tang San said, "Yes. Teacher's going to teach me theory."
Xiao Wu pursed her lips. "What's the point of studying theory? One fight will tell you whether someone's strong."
Tang San smiled. "I still need to learn it."
Ji Yuan sensed the Spores on Xiao Wu's braid and resisted the urge to feed on her at once.
The essence of a hundred-thousand-year Soul Beast was right before him, but he could not touch it yet.
This rabbit was more sensitive than Tang San. Feeding too quickly would cause trouble.
Let her grow for now.
He drew the Soul Beast's blood and vitality into his true body. In the crack beneath the bedboards, the Blue Silver Grass's roots quietly thickened. The dark-red patterns along its leaf edges deepened, and the fibers inside its stalk grew denser.
A new notification surfaced in the depths of his mind.
Physical toughness increased. Parasitic stability increased.
Ji Yuan felt no excitement. He pressed the new strength into his roots and drove them along the wooden boards, deeper beneath Tang San's bed.
Once Tang San lay down, the belt was right beside his hand.
Ji Yuan's new fine roots crawled through a gap in the bedboards. They neared the meridians at Tang San's waist and, following the rise and fall of his breathing, quietly established another parasitic point.
Tang San slept lightly. At one point, he pressed a hand to his waist and murmured, "Strange. Why am I so tired today?"
Ji Yuan did not respond.
The dried Soul Beast meat was an empty shell. Yu Xiaogang would not know for now.
But whenever he opened that box, the confident look on his face would surely turn ugly.
At the thought, Ji Yuan's leaves pressed lightly against the wood.
Yu Xiaogang guarded a treasure he dared not use. Tang San carried the belt as a gift.
Yet Ji Yuan was the one who had swallowed its contents.
Dawn was near. Tang San had only recently fallen fast asleep when footsteps sounded outside the door.
Yu Xiaogang's voice came through the wood.
"Tang San, come to my office when you're awake. Your first lesson starts today."
Tang San sat up. As he reached for the belt, his fingertips brushed a little fine dust on one of the jade stones.
He looked down. In a gap of the jade stone beside his pillow was a smear of dark-red powder.
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