Tang San Breaks His Limit and It's Called a Miracle, but My Leveling Up Is Called Black Magic?

Tang San's body had swollen to its limit.

The veins beneath his skin bulged one after another, the blood surging through them stretching them nearly transparent. Beads of blood seeped out and ran down his limbs, drip by drip, gathering into a small pool of dark red in the mud.

Yu Xiaogang knelt beside him, both hands braced firmly against the ground, his fingernails packed with rotten mud.

"Hold on... Xiaosan... You can hold on..."

His voice was hoarse beyond recognition, as if his throat were stuffed with broken sandpaper. Tears mixed with mud and rolled down his cheeks, splashing into the pool of blood beside Tang San's hand.

Flender stood several steps away, his fists clenched so tightly that his knuckles had turned white. Several times, he had wanted to step forward and forcibly interrupt the process, but reason told him that if he interfered now, Tang San would immediately explode to death.

Zhao Wuji paced back and forth, every step heavy enough to crush the fallen leaves beneath his feet, yet he scarcely dared to breathe.

Tang San never cried out.

From beginning to end, he gritted his teeth and endured. His gums had long since been bitten to shreds, his mouth filled with the rusty taste of blood. His bones creaked with a teeth-grating sound, as though they would all shatter the very next second.

No one knew how much time had passed before a pale, fish-belly white finally appeared on the horizon.

The dark purple spirit ring around Tang San's body suddenly contracted, viciously tightening into his flesh with a violent crushing sound. Then, inch by inch, the spirit ring shattered into countless purple specks of light that forcibly merged into his body.

His swollen body began to shrink.

The bleeding from his skin slowed.

His heartbeat gradually returned to a normal rhythm, and his ragged breathing slowly lengthened.

Tang San barely opened his eyes. His pupils were somewhat clouded, but he was awake.

Yu Xiaogang's knees gave out, and he collapsed completely into the mud. His lips trembled violently, yet he could not piece together a complete sentence for a long while.

"Alive... He's alive... He survived!"

Chen Xuan flipped down from the treetops and landed steadily on the damp, soft layer of fallen leaves without making the slightest sound.

Zhao Wuji instinctively stepped sideways to block him, his face full of vigilance.

Chen Xuan ignored him and looked directly at Tang San's back.

Tang San's shirt had long since exploded apart, leaving his back bare.

The patch of dark blue scales that had erupted earlier had now completely receded beneath his skin. Only a few faint bluish-black markings remained, extending down along his spine before vanishing at his lower back.

The small bumps on either side of his forehead had also subsided, leaving no visible abnormalities.

Chen Xuan withdrew his gaze without saying anything.

Tang San himself probably had not even noticed this forcibly corrected mutation yet.

There was no need to expose it now. The time was not right. Since the worldline had given Tang San this compensation, there would come a day when it proved useful.

Tang San lay on the ground, gasping heavily as the rise and fall of his chest gradually steadied.

The thousand-year spirit ring of the Man-Faced Demon Spider had completely merged into his body. Though the process had been fraught with danger and had nearly cost him his life, he could clearly feel the fullness brought by his surging spirit power.

Yu Xiaogang climbed up from the mud and patted the dirt from his knees.

The lingering terror of surviving a disaster rapidly faded from his face. In its place came a familiar, impatient urge to analyze the current event theoretically.

He cleared his throat. Though his voice was still hoarse, it did not stop him from speaking.

"A miracle... This is a miracle of physical prowess brought about by twin martial souls!"

Yu Xiaogang looked at Tang San, speaking ever more smoothly, as if searching for the perfect foothold for his theory, which had nearly collapsed.

"The normal absorption limit of Blue Silver Grass is indeed below a thousand years. But Tang San's twin martial soul physique far exceeds that of ordinary people, and with the foundation of the Mysterious Heaven Technique's inner power, he was able to achieve this breakthrough in limit absorption."

He straightened up and brushed the mud from his hands, his tone once again regaining the composed manner of a teacher.

"This proves that the framework of my theory itself is not wrong. The traits of twin martial souls merely require further refinement. Xiaosan, through your actions, you have helped your teacher perfect the boundaries of martial soul theory."

Chen Xuan stood beneath a tree several steps away, having just put away the Earth-Splitting Claws in his system space.

Hearing this, he finally spoke.

"Master, aren't you tired?"

His voice was not loud, but in the quiet clearing, everyone heard him clearly.

Yu Xiaogang abruptly turned his head, and the inscrutable expression on his face froze for a moment.

"What do you mean?"

"Yesterday, you were kneeling on the ground shouting, 'This violates the spirit ring absorption limit.' Those words are still ringing in our ears." Chen Xuan leaned against the trunk, his tone mild and even faintly amused. "Today, Tang San endured it, so you changed your tune and called it a miracle, something that required theoretical refinement."

Yu Xiaogang's expression changed. Just as he was about to retort, Chen Xuan cut him off.

"Want to think back a little?"

Chen Xuan straightened and took a step forward.

"Three days ago, right in front of you, I went directly from level eleven to level fifteen without a spirit ring."

"What did you say then?"

"You said it was black magic. You said it was absolutely impossible, that it was not the power of a spirit master at all. You did not even ask a single additional question before directly defining my path for me."

Chen Xuan stopped and stared straight at Yu Xiaogang.

"When Tang San breaks the limit, it's called a miracle, called theoretical refinement."

"But when it's me, it's black magic that violates ironclad laws?"

He paused, his tone filled with undisguised mockery.

"Master, do your theoretical standards change depending on the person?"

"Chen Xuan, you—"

Yu Xiaogang's face went from deathly pale to liver-red in an instant. He raised a hand and pointed at Chen Xuan, his lips trembling violently, but he could not force out another word.

"What about me?" Chen Xuan spread his hands, smiling without warmth. "Do you dare say you didn't just bet correctly on Tang San, this one exception, and use him to fit all your theories? Whenever you encounter something you can't explain, Tang San is a miracle, while everyone else is an anomaly."

Yu Xiaogang only felt his blood and energy churn in his chest.

He instinctively wanted to turn to Flender for help, only to find that Flender had looked away and was lowering his head to inspect Tang San's injuries, clearly unwilling to get involved.

Zhao Wuji stood to the side with his arms crossed and showed no intention of speaking for him either.

For a time, the scene was unbearably awkward.

Tang San lay in the mud, having just endured a life-and-death ordeal, his consciousness still half-muddled.

But he vaguely heard the words "black magic" and "miracle." He heard the mockery in Chen Xuan's words, and even more clearly, he heard his teacher's speechless silence.

He tried to force his eyes open wider, wanting to say a few words in his teacher's defense.

But his body was too weak. His eyelids felt as heavy as lead, and even moving a finger took all his effort.

Yu Xiaogang remained where he was, his face flushed red, yet he could not squeeze out a single word in rebuttal.

Flender and Zhao Wuji surrounded Tang San, pretending they had heard nothing.

Just then, the rustling sound of someone stepping on dead leaves came from deep within the forest.

Everyone's attention shifted in an instant as they all turned to look in that direction.

A figure emerged from the shadows of the trees.

She patted the dust from her clothes. Her ponytail was somewhat messy, but her body was clean, without even a speck of mud.

Xiao Wu.

She looked at the group and grinned.

"Why are you all making those faces? I'm back."

The silence was somewhat eerie.

Tang San used the last of his strength to turn his head. When he saw Xiao Wu standing there safe and sound, his lips moved without making a sound. Then his vision went black, and he completely passed out.

Flender spoke in a low voice.

"Xiao Wu, how did you get back?"

Xiao Wu glanced to the side, then quickly resumed a natural expression.

"The Titan Giant Ape was running when it got startled by an especially loud bull's roar. It threw me down and ran away. So I walked back all the way."

Flender did not press further.

Zhao Wuji frowned, seeming to want to say something, but after glancing at the unconscious Tang San, he swallowed his words.

Yu Xiaogang also kept his mouth shut.

The last thing he wanted now was further complications. Chen Xuan had just humiliated him so thoroughly that he could not step down, and now that there was a way out, he hurried to take it.

Chen Xuan leaned against a tree and looked Xiao Wu over from head to toe.

Her clothes were unnaturally clean.

The soles of her shoes were not stained with the distinctive red soil found deep within the Star Dou Great Forest either.

She had been thrown down by the Titan Giant Ape, walked through the depths of the Star Dou Great Forest all night, and then emerged completely unscathed.

The story was far too carelessly fabricated.

But Chen Xuan did not expose her.

He glanced at the unconscious Tang San, then at Yu Xiaogang, who was pretending nothing had happened, and turned his head away.

The sky was gradually brightening, but the mist among the trees had yet to disperse.

Tang San lay in the mud, covered in blood and filth, his breathing heavy but steady.

Yu Xiaogang stood stiffly several steps away, the liver-red shade of speechless humiliation still lingering on his face.

Xiao Wu stood at the edge of the tree shadows, perfectly clean and utterly out of place amid the surrounding battlefield's wreckage.

No one questioned her for details.

Everyone was playing dumb, maintaining the surface calm.

Day had fully broken.

Flender bent down, lifted the unconscious Tang San into his arms, and headed toward the camp.

"Let's go. We'll get out first and talk later."

Xiao Wu jogged after Flender.

After taking a few steps, she looked back at Chen Xuan, who was still leaning against the tree.

Chen Xuan ignored her.

He straightened up, turned, and headed in another direction.

Zhao Wuji called out from behind him.

"Chen Xuan, you're not returning to camp?"

"You go ahead." Without turning around, Chen Xuan waved his hand. "I have some personal business to handle."