đ If you enjoy my work, consider supporting me on Patreon! I'm offering advanced chapters there as a thank-you to readers.
--------------------
Check out advanced chapters on : patreon.com/Veni_V
---------------
Yu Xiaogang watched Tang San's body tremble violently. Fine beads of blood began to seep from the boy's pores, soaking into his clothes. Seeing this, the expression on Yu Xiaogang's face changed immediately to one of pure terror.
He reached out and grabbed Liu Erlong's arm, his voice cracking with panic as he exclaimed that they had to do something. He told her that it looked like Tang San's body could not handle the energy from the ten-thousand-year spirit ring and that he was about to explode.
He insisted that they could not wait any longer and had to forcefully interrupt the absorption process right now.
Liu Erlong was just as anxious as he was, but she was a Spirit Saint and much stronger than him. Her senses were sharper, and she realized the danger of a forced interruption. She gripped Yu Xiaogang's cold, shaking hand tightly to force him to look at her. She told him to calm down and explained that they could not just break the connection.
The energy from the spirit ring had already moved deep into Tang San's meridians and his dantian. She warned him that if she used her external power to sever the flow, the two forces would clash violently inside the boy's body. The result would be his meridians being completely severed. Even if he survived such a thing, he would likely become a cripple without any spirit power for the rest of his life.
The thought of Tang San becoming a cripple hit Yu Xiaogang hard. This outcome was almost as bad as watching him die. It was a choice between two terrible ends, and neither was acceptable to him. He asked her what they were supposed to do then, his voice breaking into desperate sobs as he watched his disciple suffer.
Suddenly, Tang San let out a piercing scream. It was a sound of pure agony, like someone being slowly sliced apart. His body had been swelling slowly, but now it began to inflate rapidly like a balloon being pumped with air. Within seconds, his skin was stretched so thin that it became almost transparent. The surging spirit power was visible moving beneath his skin. More blood leaked from the cracks in his flesh, turning him into a terrifying, blood-red figure.
Both Yu Xiaogang and Liu Erlong cried out in horror at the sight. Yu Xiaogang's eyes suddenly flashed with a desperate determination. He told Erlong that there was only one way left to save him. He suggested using a spirit ring from a different spirit beast to forcefully attract and replace the ten-thousand-year spirit ring he was currently struggling with.
Liu Erlong looked at him with total confusion and surprise. She had never heard of such a thing in her life. She asked him what he meant and if it was even possible for spirit rings to be replaced once the process started.
Yu Xiaogang spoke quickly, his mind becoming sharp despite his despair. He explained that while a forceful interruption would destroy the boy's meridians, they might be able to guide the violent energy out by introducing a different source.
He compared it to opening a floodgate for a reservoir that was about to burst while letting a small stream flow in at the same time. He admitted it was a very dangerous process, but it was better than letting Tang San explode. He mentioned that he had read about these methods in old texts back at Spirit Hall.
Liu Erlong nodded as she understood the logic. It was a risky gamble, a way to defy the natural laws of spirit rings. Without wasting another second, she let her spirit power erupt and scanned the area. She told him she would go and catch a dying one-thousand-year spirit beast immediately. Her figure shot out like a bolt of lightning. Within a few jumps, she returned holding a small one-thousand-year-level Blazing Lizard that had already been injured by the chaos.
Yu Xiaogang pointed at the dying lizard and urged Tang San to pick up his dagger. He told the boy to deliver the final blow and to guard his mind as tightly as he could. He promised that he and Erlong would find a way to help him swap the rings.
Tang San was barely conscious. His vision was blurry and his body felt like it was being ripped into pieces, but his will to live was still strong. He heard his teacher's voice and reached out with a trembling hand. He grabbed a dagger that was stained with the blood of many beasts and used his last bit of strength to stab the Blazing Lizard in the head. The lizard shook once and died. A deep purple spirit ring began to form over its body.
Yu Xiaogang shouted for Erlong to help him. He let his spirit power flow out without holding anything back. His energy merged with the powerful spirit power of Liu Erlong. Together, they acted like two invisible hands. One hand tried to weaken the connection between Tang San and the ten-thousand-year spirit ring of the Exploding Fire Ape. The other hand tried to pull the new purple ring toward the boy to replace the violent energy.
The process was messy and very dangerous. The different energies clashed against each other, making a loud and painful humming sound. The strain was immediate. Veins popped out on the foreheads of both Yu Xiaogang and Liu Erlong. Blood began to leak from the corners of their mouths because of the internal backlash they were feeling. For a moment, it seemed to work. The dark light of the ten-thousand-year ring dimmed, and the energy from the one-thousand-year ring started to flow into Tang San.
However, their hope quickly turned back into horror. Tang San started to shake even harder than before. The swelling that had slowed down for a second began to get worse again. Even the energy from a one-thousand-year ring was too much for his damaged body to handle right now.
Yu Xiaogang's voice was hoarse with despair as he realized the problem. He told Erlong that they needed something even weaker. He told her to find a one-hundred-year spirit beast as fast as possible.
Liu Erlong didn't argue. She looked around and saw a one-hundred-year Thorny Boar that had been captured earlier. It had a broken leg and was trying to crawl away. she hit it with a blast of spirit power from a distance to bring it to the edge of death and then grabbed it.
Yu Xiaogang's face was red and he was crying as he told Tang San to kill again. Tang San was barely aware of what he was doing. He moved by instinct, raising the dagger and killing the Thorny Boar. A yellow spirit ring appeared.
The two masters tried the process again, attempting to pull the yellow ring into Tang San's body. But the result was the same. Tang San was like a cup that was already full of boiling water. Even the gentle energy of a one-hundred-year ring made his blood boil and his wounds burst open further. He was simply too weak to take in any more power.
Yu Xiaogang looked like he was in physical pain. His face was twisted into a grimace of pure agony and disgust. He could not believe that his disciple could not even handle a yellow ring. He let out a strange sound from his throat and looked around like a madman. He shouted for Erlong to go find a ten-year spirit beast. He screamed that a ten-year beast would definitely work and told her to hurry.
Liu Erlong looked at the captured beasts and then at the empty woods. She shook her head sadly. She explained to him that Flender and she had only caught beasts that were at least a century old. She told him there were no ten-year beasts left. Any that were nearby had either run away from her aura or been crushed to death by the bigger beasts during the fight.
Yu Xiaogang completely lost his mind. He started pounding his legs and acting crazy. He cried out that he couldn't just watch Tang San die. He yelled that his theories on spirits hadn't been proven yet and that the boy could not die here.
In his madness, his eyes landed on some rotting spirit beast corpses nearby. Tang San had killed them earlier and they were left in the dirt. On those bloody wounds, he saw several fat, white maggots crawling and eating. They were ten-year spirit creatures. A crazy and disgusting idea came into his mind, something that went against everything a Spirit Master believed in.