Theoretical Gaps Filled, Doubts Dispelled

"This is a shed shell from detoxification."

Yu Xiaogang held the scrap of skin in his palm, his tone much steadier than when he had first entered.

Zhu Zhuqing immediately asked, "Blue Silver Grass can expel something like this?"

Yu Xiaogang glanced at her. "Ordinary Blue Silver Grass cannot, and Xiao San's Blue Silver Grass should not be able to either. But he is not an ordinary soul master."

Xiao Wu wiped away her tears. "Master, what exactly is wrong with my brother?"

Yu Xiaogang pressed on Tang San's wrist and continued examining his meridians. "The Datura Snake's venom was not completely expelled."

Tang San's chest still hurt, but he could still take in his teacher's words.

"But Teacher said earlier that the Soul Ring absorption had succeeded."

"Success does not mean there are no remnants."

Yu Xiaogang turned over his left hand and stared at the black light sinking beneath his palm. "You have Twin Martial Souls, as well as a special cultivation method like the Mysterious Heaven Skill. After the Datura Snake's venom entered the Blue Silver Grass, it should have been assimilated by the Soul Ring. But your second Martial Soul is too domineering and forces part of the poison back into your meridians."

Zhao Wuji frowned. "That explains him coughing up black blood?"

Yu Xiaogang looked up. "It does."

Zhao Wuji disliked the way he was looking at him. "You say it does, so it does?"

Flender raised a hand to stop him. "Let him finish."

Yu Xiaogang pointed at the dark-red buds on the scrap of skin. "Look here. The charred parts are traces left by old poison burning through it. These dark-red buds are mutated tissue left behind when the Blue Silver Grass instinctively tried to force the poison out of the body."

Zhu Zhuqing was unconvinced. "But it appeared beside Tang San's shoe."

Yu Xiaogang said, "The Blue Silver Grass Martial Soul is released from the hand, but Soul Power travels through the meridians of the entire body. If the poison sank along the meridians in his legs and was expelled through the soles of his feet, that would not be strange."

Xiao Wu hurriedly nodded. "Right. My brother kept getting forced backward by you during their sparring today. The poison must have been forced out then."

Zhu Zhuqing looked at Tang San.

Tang San's face was deathly pale, and there was still uncleaned black blood at the corner of his mouth. No matter how she looked at him, he did not seem to be pretending.

She had seen no living creature beneath his shoes during the day, and she had personally checked them again at night.

Now that Tang San's poison was acting up, the smell of his black blood was close to the fishy stench from the scrap of skin.

Her suspicions began to loosen.

Dai Mubai said quietly, "Zhu Qing, if Tang San had really been parasitized by something, Master would not have found nothing during his examination just now."

Zhu Zhuqing said nothing.

Ji Yuan continued putting on an act within Tang San's meridians.

He divided the remaining poison into several streams. One stayed near Tang San's heart meridian to create pain, another traveled along the meridians in his legs, and the last was pushed toward his left hand, making the Clear Sky Hammer's origin tremble faintly.

Tang San clenched his teeth against the pain, sweat beading at his temples.

Yu Xiaogang immediately said, "Do not circulate your cultivation. Breathe in rhythm with my Soul Power."

Tang San nodded.

Xiao Wu supported him. "Brother, listen to Master."

Yu Xiaogang took out a medicine bottle from his robes and poured out two antidote pills. "Take these."

Tang San had barely swallowed them when the medicine entered his stomach.

Ji Yuan had long since spread fine tendrils through his stomach. As soon as the medicine dispersed, he intercepted most of it.

The cool medicinal properties entered the Demon Vine's core, and he wrapped the remaining poison again and stored it in his venom sac.

All he left for Tang San was enough medicine to stop the bleeding.

Tang San's breathing gradually steadied.

Xiao Wu let out a breath. "Do you feel better?"

Tang San nodded. "My chest does not hurt as much."

Oscar leaned against the doorframe and finally dared to breathe. "That scared me to death. I thought something huge was going to happen tonight."

Ma Hongjun rubbed his arm. "My legs went weak from running just now."

Zhao Wuji glared at him. "Your legs went weak from fear, did they not?"

Ma Hongjun protested, "Teacher Zhao, I was the first one to go call everyone."

Flender looked at Yu Xiaogang. "Is this troublesome?"

Yu Xiaogang fell silent for a while. "It is troublesome, but it is not a bad thing."

Tang San looked up. "Teacher?"

Yu Xiaogang's expression held exhaustion, but also a certain conviction. "The poison being forced out means your body is adapting to the Soul Ring. The Blue Silver Grass is also trying to save itself. It is just that this process will be painful."

Zhu Zhuqing asked, "Will that scrap of skin appear again?"

Yu Xiaogang said, "It might."

She pressed on. "What if it appears again?"

Yu Xiaogang looked at her. "Keep it and give it to me. Do not test him in private."

Zhu Zhuqing's expression shifted slightly at those words.

Xiao Wu immediately said, "Did you hear that? Do not risk my brother's body again."

Zhu Zhuqing lowered her eyes. "I was impulsive tonight."

Xiao Wu still wanted to say more, but Tang San spoke first. "You were worried about me too."

Xiao Wu grew anxious. "Brother!"

Tang San shook his head. "If I found something unusual about a companion, I would investigate as well."

Zhu Zhuqing looked at him silently for a while. "I tested you during the day because the aura on that scrap of skin made me uncomfortable."

Tang San said, "I know."

Zhu Zhuqing added, "But I did not expect it to trigger your poison."

Xiao Wu said coldly, "Good that you know now."

Dai Mubai frowned. "Xiao Wu, enough."

Xiao Wu glared at him. "You were not the one coughing blood!"

Dai Mubai had no response.

Zhu Zhuqing did not argue. She merely handed the leaf-wrapped bundle back to Yu Xiaogang.

"This is for Master."

Yu Xiaogang accepted it. "I will handle it."

Hearing this, Ji Yuan slowly withdrew the poison near Tang San's heart meridian.

The crisis had basically passed.

Zhu Zhuqing's suspicions had already been led astray.

Next, he only needed Tang San to recover in a way that matched the aftermath of detoxification, and everyone would accept Yu Xiaogang's conclusion.

After examining Tang San, Yu Xiaogang looked at the others. "What happened tonight is not to be spread outside."

Flender nodded. "We will handle it within the academy."

Zhao Wuji snorted. "If anyone talks, I will make him run until he cannot speak."

Oscar immediately raised his hand. "My lips are sealed."

Ma Hongjun raised his hand too. "Mine too."

Ning Rongrong, standing at the back, suddenly said, "If it is only residual poison, why has Oscar been weak these past few days too?"

The moment Oscar heard that, he perked up. "Exactly, Dean. I have been weak too!"

Flender's face darkened. "You are weak from training."

Oscar pulled a miserable face. "I have been eating almost more than Fatty."

Ma Hongjun said unhappily, "Stop comparing yourself to me all the time."

Yu Xiaogang looked at Oscar. "It is normal for a food-system soul master's Soul Power to be depleted after continuously producing recovery-type soul skills. I will arrange a meditation schedule for you afterward."

Oscar immediately leaned closer. "Master, does that mean the Dean will not be able to squeeze me dry anymore?"

Flender sneered. "In your dreams."

Oscar's face fell.

That small interruption eased much of the tension in the courtyard.

Yet Zhu Zhuqing remained where she was, her gaze resting near Tang San's feet.

Ji Yuan did not move.

After Tang San put his shoes back on, the Demon Vine within the sole was fused with the dry, hardened inner layer. No matter how Zhu Zhuqing looked, she could only see the worn edges of the shoes.

Tang San noticed her gaze and asked proactively, "Do you still have questions?"

Zhu Zhuqing withdrew her gaze. "Not for now."

Xiao Wu muttered softly, "You had better not."

Yu Xiaogang helped Tang San to his feet. "You will come to my office tonight. I need to observe you for another night."

Xiao Wu immediately said, "I am coming too."

Yu Xiaogang did not refuse. "You may, but do not disturb him."

Tang San had just found his footing when Ji Yuan drained another portion of strength from his legs.

His body swayed, and Xiao Wu hurriedly supported him.

Ji Yuan then fed the medicinal energy back to him, allowing Tang San to barely walk.

After this back and forth, Tang San became even more convinced that the poison in his body was still raging.

When they reached the office, Yu Xiaogang lit a lamp and took out paper and a pen to make notes.

Tang San sat in a chair while Xiao Wu leaned over the table and watched him.

"Brother, stop pushing yourself so hard from now on."

Tang San gave a bitter smile. "I did not expect this either."

Yu Xiaogang wrote as he spoke. "Your spar with Zhu Zhuqing during the day stimulated the meridians in your legs. Then your emotions fluctuated at night. It is not surprising that it triggered the residual poison."

Tang San asked, "Teacher, can I still go to the Great Soul Arena?"

Xiao Wu immediately slapped the table. "No!"

Tang San looked at her. "Xiao Wu."

Xiao Wu's eyes reddened. "You coughed blood, and you are still thinking about fighting?"

Tang San fell silent.

Yu Xiaogang stopped writing as well. "Xiao San, what do you think?"

Tang San looked down at his left hand. "I want to know where my limits are. If this really is detoxification and rejection, then I cannot keep hiding forever."

Xiao Wu turned her face away in anger. "You always manage to make it sound reasonable."

Yu Xiaogang did not object immediately.

His disciple's talent was astonishing, but the problems with his body were becoming increasingly complicated.

Resting inside the academy would not uncover the answer.

Actual combat could expose problems, and it could also force out more poison.

"You may go, but the intensity of your soul battles must be controlled."

Xiao Wu could not believe it. "Master!"

Yu Xiaogang looked at her. "I will speak to Flender. Xiao San will primarily observe and engage in low-intensity sparring for now."

Tang San nodded. "Teacher, I understand."

Ji Yuan listened from within the sole of his shoe, his dark-red roots slowly stretching out.

Observe?

Low intensity?

Once they reached the Soul Arena, when bloodlust surged and Soul Power collided, Tang San himself would not be able to resist.

Besides, there would be groups of soul masters there.

The injured, the frenzied, those with poison, those with fire—all of them would pass before him.

After Yu Xiaogang finished his notes, he placed the scrap of skin into a small box.

Ji Yuan separated a wisp of poison and secretly kept that piece of skin in its dead, inanimate state.

Yu Xiaogang observed it for a long time. Finding no new changes, he finally closed the box.

"Xiao San, you are not allowed to cultivate tonight."

Tang San agreed. "Yes."

Xiao Wu sat beside him. "I will watch you."

Tang San smiled helplessly.

Ji Yuan did not drain him anymore either.

That night, he only left a faint sense of weakness within Tang San, making the appearance of post-detoxification recovery more convincing.

At dawn, Flender personally came to the office.

He looked at Tang San. "Can you still walk?"

Tang San stood up. "Yes."

Flender looked at Yu Xiaogang.

Yu Xiaogang nodded. "We are going, but I am coming too."

Flender frowned. "Can your body handle it?"

Yu Xiaogang said, "I have to keep watch over Xiao San's condition."

Flender said no more. "Then we will go together."

Xiao Wu helped Tang San outside. Everyone had already gathered in the courtyard.

When Oscar saw Tang San, he immediately handed him a sausage. "Want one? I just made this one, and I do not feel depleted."

Tang San accepted it. "Thank you."

Ji Yuan only intercepted a trace of the medicinal energy at the edges and let most of the restorative energy pass through.

Tang San's complexion improved, and everyone else breathed a sigh of relief.

Zhu Zhuqing stood at the back of the group and said quietly, "I am sorry about last night."

Tang San swallowed the sausage. "I do not blame you."

Xiao Wu snorted and said nothing.

Dai Mubai patted Tang San on the shoulder. "Say so if you can't hold on. Don't force yourself."

Ma Hongjun leaned over as well. "Third Brother, if you don't fight tonight, I'll fight an extra match for you."

Oscar rolled his eyes. "Try not to get beaten back first."

Ma Hongjun glared at him. "Little Ao, you sure are talkative today."

Flender stepped to the front of the group. "Set out. Suotuo City."

The group began moving.

Zhu Zhuqing fell to the rear. As she passed the spot where that strip of shed skin had appeared last night, her steps slowed slightly.

The muddy ground had already been trampled into a mess by Zhao Wuji, leaving no trace behind.

She bent down and picked up a black speck. The instant her fingertips touched it, the speck scattered into ordinary mud and ash.

Zhu Zhuqing withdrew her hand into her sleeve and caught up with the group.

Ji Yuan watched her coldly from inside Tang San's shoe sole.

Her suspicion had not completely died.

That was fine.

As long as there was a greater disturbance ahead, more blood, and a more plausible danger, her slight suspicion would be drowned beneath it.

The road to Suotuo City stretched out before them.

But just as Tang San stepped out of the academy gates, a dull tremor suddenly came from his left palm. Even Yu Xiaogang heard that low sound that should not have existed.