Apprentice to the Grandmaster, Theory as a Tool

Tang San pinched up the speck of dark red powder. The moment his brows drew together, Ji Yuan made the parasitic point at his waist contract slightly.

A sour numbness shot through Tang San's meridians. His fingers twitched, and the powder fell onto the bedding, mingling with the old cotton stuffing.

Xiao Wu sat up, rubbing her eyes. "Tang San, why are you staring into space so early?"

Tang San looked down again but could no longer find the powder. He fastened his belt. "It's nothing. Probably dust I picked up on the road."

Wang Sheng poked his head up from his bed. "Boss, the Grandmaster came to fetch you himself? That's quite an honor."

Xiao Wu snorted. "Taking a teacher makes you important? I'll find a powerful teacher someday too."

Tang San slung his books over his back. "I'm off."

Hidden beneath the bedframe, Ji Yuan followed through his connection to the parasitic point at Tang San's waist.

When Tang San entered the office, Yu Xiaogang had already spread several books across the desk. A handwritten chart lay beside them.

Yu Xiaogang skipped the pleasantries and pointed to a chair. "Sit."

Tang San sat down, back straight. "Teacher."

Yu Xiaogang looked at him. "You were quick to become my disciple yesterday. Let me ask you again today: are you certain you want to learn from me?"

Tang San did not hesitate. "I am."

"Even if others call me useless and say I only know how to wage war on paper?"

Tang San raised his head. "You saw what was different about me, and you told me there's still a path for Blue Silver Grass. That's enough."

Yu Xiaogang's hands slowed as he straightened the pages.

He studied Tang San for a moment, then pushed a booklet toward him.

"Good. I won't fob you off with empty words, then. Today, we'll start with the Ten Core Competencies of Martial Soul."

Ji Yuan immediately pressed his spores close to the back of Tang San's ear and focused all his senses on Yu Xiaogang's voice.

Yu Xiaogang opened to the first page. "First, the strength of a Martial Soul does not determine a Soul Master's achievements. The right path of development determines the limit."

Tang San nodded. "So Blue Silver Grass has a suitable path too."

"Exactly. Blue Silver Grass is naturally flexible and tenacious, but its attacks are weak and its capacity for Soul Power is poor. That's why you can't choose just anything for your First Soul Ring."

Ji Yuan carved every word into his consciousness.

Flexibility.

Toxicity.

Capacity limit.

To Tang San, these were cultivation theories. To Ji Yuan, they were a map showing which pitfalls to avoid as he evolved.

Yu Xiaogang continued, "Second, a Soul Ring must serve the traits of the Martial Soul. Chasing a higher age by force will end badly."

Tang San asked, "Teacher, can someone with Innate Full Soul Power absorb a ring beyond the usual limit?"

"Yes, but only with the right target. Physical endurance, mental resilience, compatibility with the Martial Soul—lack any one of them, and it could cost you your life."

Ji Yuan stirred the spores near Tang San's Heart Meridian, working through his own structure along the lines Yu Xiaogang had described.

Blue Silver Grass was too fragile. Storing toxins would damage the plant itself.

But if he first thickened the inner walls of its roots, then strengthened its fibers with the blood and vitality he absorbed, he could seal the toxins along the edges without letting them eat back into the core.

Yu Xiaogang picked up a pen and drew a sprig of Blue Silver Grass on the paper.

"Plant-type Martial Souls are most vulnerable to two mistakes: craving too much poison and craving too much hardness. If the poison exceeds their capacity, the Martial Soul collapses first. If hardness comes at the expense of flexibility, control breaks down."

Tang San was engrossed. "How do you balance them?"

Yu Xiaogang drew several lines beside the leaves. "Use a Soul Ring's traits to make up the difference. Don't force them in. For your First Soul Ring, a venomous snake would be best—one whose poison isn't too fierce, but whose body is highly resilient."

Ji Yuan sneered in the shadows.

Yu Xiaogang was saying this for Tang San.

But Ji Yuan was the one who stood to gain the most.

Tang San asked, "Teacher, can Blue Silver Grass absorb a snake's Soul Ring?"

"Of course. Blue Silver Grass isn't a Beast Martial Soul, but a Plant-type Martial Soul can absorb external traits through a Soul Ring—as long as you can withstand it."

Tang San clenched his fist. "I can."

Through the parasitic point, Ji Yuan gently drew away some of the internal energy Tang San had begun to circulate.

A tightness filled Tang San's chest, and the words on his lips faltered.

Yu Xiaogang noticed his change in complexion. "Didn't you rest well last night?"

Tang San shook his head. "Maybe I'm still adjusting to the academy."

Yu Xiaogang frowned. "Don't rush your cultivation. The most important thing right now is to steady your foundation."

Ji Yuan eased his suction a little.

Tang San immediately felt the pressure in his chest lighten. That only made Yu Xiaogang's assessment seem more convincing to him.

"I'll remember that, Teacher," he said quietly.

Yu Xiaogang nodded in satisfaction, then turned to Twin Martial Souls.

"Your case is special. You have another Martial Soul besides Blue Silver Grass. You must not tell anyone."

Tang San looked at him. "Teacher, do you know what it is?"

Yu Xiaogang did not answer directly. "I can only say its quality far surpasses Blue Silver Grass. If you use it recklessly now, you'll only harm yourself."

Tang San lowered his voice. "Dad told me not to reveal it either."

Yu Xiaogang's hand stopped on the page. "Your father knows?"

Tang San nodded. "He saw it and told me to put it away."

Yu Xiaogang's gaze darkened, but he did not press Tang San about Tang Hao.

He took out another sheet of paper. "The difficulty with Twin Martial Souls is the conflict between them. If both grow at once, your body may not be able to bear it."

"Is there a solution?" Tang San asked.

Yu Xiaogang fell silent.

After a while, he said, "There's no perfect precedent. All I can do is help you suppress your Second Martial Soul for now and leave it without Soul Rings."

Tang San rubbed the corner of the desk with his fingertip. "So I can only cultivate Blue Silver Grass for now."

"That's the safest path," Yu Xiaogang said.

Hidden near the Heart Meridian, Ji Yuan nearly laughed.

No perfect precedent?

That's because you don't understand parasitism.

Draw off part of the Clear Sky Hammer's essence and keep it from ever reaching the point of eruption. The so-called conflict will diminish.

Tang San thought he was suppressing his Second Martial Soul.

Yu Xiaogang thought he was protecting his disciple.

In truth, Ji Yuan had already acted before either of them.

He quietly drove a fine spore filament deep into Tang San's left palm and gently drew power from the edge of that heavy mass of essence.

Tang San's left hand grew heavy. He pressed his palm against the desk, making its surface give a faint creak.

Yu Xiaogang looked over at once. "Does your left hand hurt again?"

Tang San lifted it. "A little."

Yu Xiaogang took his wrist and examined it, his frown deepening. "Don't circulate Soul Power on that side. Remember, never stimulate it yourself."

"I haven't," Tang San said.

"Then you need to be even more careful," Yu Xiaogang said gravely. "It's awakening on its own."

Ji Yuan withdrew the filament.

Awakening on its own?

That's a convenient thing to blame.

Seeing Yu Xiaogang's grave expression made Tang San wary as well. "Teacher, what should I do?"

Yu Xiaogang pulled out a thick illustrated guide and set it before him.

"Memorize it."

Tang San blinked. "All of it?"

"In the Soul Hunting Forest, failing to recognize a Soul Beast is as good as handing over your life. Tomorrow, I'll take you to get supplies. After that, we'll go to the Soul Hunting Forest and find your First Soul Ring."

Tang San's eyes lit up. "So soon?"

"You've already reached level ten. We can't put it off."

Ji Yuan's spores immediately crept toward the edge of the guide.

Tang San opened to the first page. It was packed with Soul Beast names, methods of estimating their ages, attack patterns, and Yu Xiaogang's handwritten notes.

Ji Yuan scanned along as Tang San's fingertips moved across the page.

Solitary Bamboo Rat, Mottled Cat, Netherworld Wolf, Datura Snake.

Yu Xiaogang had given the page on the Datura Snake special emphasis.

Highly resilient, moderately venomous, ferocious in attack. At the hundred-year stage, it suited a control-type Blue Silver Grass.

Ji Yuan committed it to memory.

Snake venom, blood and vitality, Soul Rings—they would all nourish him.

Tang San, however, stopped his finger on the age column. "Teacher, what's the highest age for a First Soul Ring?"

"The normal limit is four hundred and twenty-three years," Yu Xiaogang said.

"What if it exceeds that?"

Yu Xiaogang looked at him. "You die."

Tang San did not back down. "What if your body is strong enough?"

Yu Xiaogang's expression turned serious. "Then it comes down to whether you dare to gamble. I won't risk my disciple's life to prove a theory."

Ji Yuan sneered in the shadows.

You don't dare gamble. I do.

Tang San can't die, but he can be pushed to the brink.

That's where the oil comes out.

Yu Xiaogang closed the guide. "That's enough for today. Go to the blacksmith's this afternoon. Work-study students receive a limited allowance. If you want to buy equipment for Soul Hunting, you'll need money."

Tang San nodded. "I can forge iron."

Yu Xiaogang gave him a surprised look. "You can?"

"My father's a blacksmith. I've learned from him since I was little."

Yu Xiaogang considered it. "That's good, then. Forging builds strength. Just don't let it interfere with your cultivation."

Tang San picked up the guide and bowed to Yu Xiaogang. "Teacher, I'll go back and memorize it."

"Remember every word I told you today, Tang San, especially about toxin capacity. Blue Silver Grass is too weak. If you exceed its limit, you'll hurt yourself first."

"I'll remember," Tang San answered earnestly.

As Ji Yuan listened, he was already breaking down Yu Xiaogang's theories into a path for his own evolution.

He needed poison.

He needed blood.

He needed a more stable Parasitic Network.

That afternoon, Tang San left the academy and followed the address Yu Xiaogang had given him to a blacksmith's shop in Notting City.

The forge fire roared, and the clang of falling hammers never stopped.

A burly man in the shop spotted Tang San and frowned. "Kid, if you want to buy something, bring an adult."

Tang San rolled up his sleeves. "I'm not here to buy anything. I'm looking for work."

The man laughed. "You? Can you even lift a hammer?"

Tang San did not argue. He walked to one side and lifted, with one hand, an iron hammer whose handle was thicker than his arm.

The laughter in the blacksmith's shop stopped.

Hidden inside Tang San, Ji Yuan studied the hammer's wooden handle. A new plan took shape in his mind.

Wooden handle. Sweat. Palm.

A new parasitic point.

The burly man stared at Tang San. "You really know how to forge?"

Tang San nodded. "Let me try."

Before the hammer fell, Ji Yuan had already formed the beginnings of his first Sub-spore. It followed the sweat on Tang San's palm into the grain of the wooden handle.

The forge fire lit Tang San's face red and illuminated the first strand of the web Ji Yuan had secretly begun to spread.