Tang San Goes Blind!

"His cultivation went awry?!" Everyone was shocked.

"That's right."

Cao Kun turned toward Yu Xiaogang, who was still examining Tang San with a deathly pale face. His voice chilled, edged with accusation. "I told you long ago that Blue Silver Grass belongs to the realm of life. Its cultivation should nurture vitality and commune with nature."

"But you forced him down a path of poison and underhanded methods. Those two utterly different powers clashed inside him. With his mind unsettled lately, he tried to change how he cultivated, and his Soul Power ran out of control and turned against him!"

"His eyes suffered first. They're closely tied to the liver, Spiritual Power, and the flow of Soul Power!"

His explanation sounded well-founded. He laid the blame for Tang San's "blindness" squarely on Yu Xiaogang's misguided theories, which had supposedly sent Tang San's cultivation awry.

And he left himself entirely out of it.

Instead, he made the accusation that Yu Xiaogang had truly led his student astray seem all the more convincing.

"You... You're talking bullshit!"

Yu Xiaogang pointed at Cao Kun, frantic and furious. "It was you! You must have done something to Tang San!"

"Me?"

Cao Kun's face darkened, a cold glint flashing in his eyes. "Yu Xiaogang, your disciple's cultivation went awry under your guidance, and his eyes were damaged. Instead of seeking treatment, you slander me?"

"It seems you won't learn your place until I teach you a lesson!"

Before the words had left his mouth, Cao Kun flicked a sleeve without moving from where he stood.

Smack!

A sharp slap rang out!

Yu Xiaogang never saw Cao Kun strike. An irresistible force slammed into his face, sending pain through his cheek and lifting him off his feet. He crashed into the wall and slid to the floor.

Half his face rapidly swelled. Blood leaked from the corner of his mouth, and his head spun so badly he nearly passed out.

"If it weren't for Dean Flender, I'd cripple you today!"

Cao Kun's voice was icy, carrying a trace of killing intent.

"Dean Flender, Tang San's injuries are serious. He needs treatment at once. As for this man..."

He glanced at Yu Xiaogang, sprawled miserably on the floor, and said flatly, "I'll leave his punishment to you."

"But I suggest you remove someone with such a corrupt mind and such flawed theories from the academy before he leads another student astray."

With that, Cao Kun turned and left. His white-clad figure vanished through the door.

The room fell deathly silent.

Only Tang San's faint moans, Xiao Wu's quiet sobs, and Yu Xiaogang's ragged, pained breathing could be heard.

Flender looked at the wreck before him and smiled bitterly to himself.

He had wondered whether Cao Kun had done it in secret.

But when he considered Cao Kun's strength, he thought it probably wasn't him.

After all, if Cao Kun truly wanted to deal with Tang San or Yu Xiaogang, he had no need to go to such trouble.

Cao Kun's explanation might not have been entirely right, but Flender had seen that eerie purple light too.

Perhaps Yu Xiaogang's conflicting theories really had sent Tang San's cultivation awry.

As for the truth...

Flender glanced at the unconscious Tang San and the wretched Yu Xiaogang, then sighed inwardly.

Sometimes the truth mattered less than dealing with the aftermath.

He crouched to examine Tang San, his brows drawing tight.

His eyes were badly damaged and his Soul Power was in turmoil, but his life force remained stable. He was in no danger of dying.

But his eyes...

Flender feared...

"Xiao Wu, stop crying! Oscar, give me a hand! Help me get Tang San onto the bed. I'll fetch the best medicine I have!"

Flender quickly took charge.

He looked again at Yu Xiaogang, who lay on the floor with vacant eyes, as though he had aged ten years in an instant, and shook his head.

"Xiaogang... Ah. Go rest in the next room. I'll take care of Tang San."

Yu Xiaogang seemed not to hear him. He only stared at the unconscious Tang San, his face filled with regret, pain, and profound bewilderment.

The proof for his theories that he had pursued all his life, and the disciple on whom he had pinned his hopes, both seemed to slip away from him in that moment.

And it all stemmed from that mysterious white-clad youth with unfathomable abilities: Cao Kun.

Those three days seemed to stretch into a century at Shrek Academy, where trouble had lately come thick and fast.

Tang San's injuries hung over everyone like a dark cloud.

After Cao Kun diagnosed him with "cultivation gone awry and Soul Power backlash," Tang San was placed in the room beside Flender's, where Flender could look after him personally.

Xiao Wu stayed constantly at his bedside. Yu Xiaogang remained in another room, lost and listless, as though all the spirit had gone out of him. Only now and then did he mechanically visit Tang San, his eyes empty.

Flender used every medicine in his collection for treating internal injuries, clearing meridians, and nourishing the mind. He even swallowed his pride and went to the cottage on Back Mountain to ask Cao Kun for some Clear-Mind Tranquility Powder, which was said to work wonders for soothing the meridians and calming the mind.

Cao Kun did not refuse. He had Dugu Yan give Flender a small bottle.

It was good medicine, and its effects were clear.

Tang San's chaotic Soul Power was gradually brought under control, while the subtle damage inside him from his cultivation going awry slowly healed under the medicine's effects. His breathing grew steadier by the day, and a little color returned to his deathly pale face.

But his eyes were another matter.

Three days passed, and Tang San still kept them shut.

At times, in pain or caught in a nightmare, he would unconsciously try to open them. His eyelids trembled, but all that came out was more bloody tears mixed with cloudy fluid. He could see nothing.

Flender summoned the best healing-type Soul Master in Suotuo City—a level fifty-three Soul King whose Martial Soul was the rare Healing Light.

After a careful examination, the Soul King shook his head gravely.

"This young man's eyes... The injuries are most unusual. This isn't an ordinary wound or poison damage. It's more like... an overwhelmingly powerful force struck at his very foundations in an instant, devastating his optic nerves, the lenses of his eyes, and even the visual areas of his brain."

The old Soul King sighed. "My Healing Light can only repair some surface damage and stabilize his condition. A deep injury involving such delicate structures is beyond me. Unless you can find the legendary Spring of Life, the Holy Light Healing Art, or some Divine Object capable of bringing the dead back to life... his chances of regaining his sight are vanishingly small."

Vanishingly small.

Those words fell like a cold verdict. Xiao Wu's eyes reddened instantly as she gripped Tang San's cold hand.

Yu Xiaogang swayed. What little color remained in his already pale face vanished.

Tang San, lying in bed, seemed to hear every word. The fingers resting at his side twitched slightly, but his expression did not change. He only pressed his lips tighter together, as though forcing all his pain and despair beneath an outwardly calm shell.

Blind.

For a Soul Master—especially one who relied on precise control, Hidden Weapon techniques, and keen observation—losing his sight meant losing more than half his strength and nearly all the possibilities his future had held.

The Mysterious Heaven Treasure Record of the Tang Sect described advanced methods for locating opponents by sound and sensing their presence, but sight was still the most direct and reliable source of information.

Without his eyes, his Hidden Weapon accuracy, his ability to dodge, and even his judgment of the battlefield would all suffer greatly.

And that was to say nothing of his dreams...

Was he, Tang San, who had crossed into another world, been born with Innate Full Soul Power and Twin Martial Souls, and taken a "master of theory" as his teacher, really going to become a blind man who needed others to care for him at twelve—all because his cultivation had inexplicably gone awry?!