Chapter 152 - Wang Jinxi's Pain
Wang Jinxi mirrored Zhang Yangzi, and the two collided in the next moment.
A deep dragon’s roar rumbled from Wang Jinxi as his Bone Dragon King and Zhang Yangzi’s Shadow Phantasm Eagle fused in an instant. They could feel Wang Jinxi’s body rejecting the fusion immediately. It was as if his body was trying to push Zhang Yangzi out the moment it saw the Shadow Phantasm Eagle.
Zhang Yangzi stumbled away from Wang Jinxi and landed his butt. Suddenly, he was filled with rage as he shouted, “Wang Jinxi, what is the meaning of this?! Why won’t you fuse with me?!”
“I, I didn’t do anything!” Wang Jinxi stared at him in confusion. He couldn’t comprehend what was going on either.
Wu Zhangkong knitted his brows and turned to Zhang Yangzi. “Calm down. This isn’t something Wang Jinxi can control. I fear that there really might be a problem with your soul fusion skill now.”
Zhang Yangzi got up from the floor, breathing heavily. On the other side, Wang Jinxi’s eyes clouded with apprehension as a vague reason formulated within his mind.
Wu Zhangkong went silent for a moment. “Jinxi’s martial soul has probably mutated, so now your two martial souls aren’t compatible enough to use your soul fusion skill anymore.”
Wang Jinxi looked at Tang Wulin with a conflicted expression.
Similarly, Tang Wulin also wore odd expression. Is it possible that his Bone Dragon King was influenced by our dual cultivation?
His gaze alternating between Wang Jinxi and Tang Wulin, Zhang Yangzi began to have an inkling as to the cause. After all, he was a bright kid. “Could it be because the two of you are cultivating together?”
Wang Jinxi let out a sigh that was filled with all his pent up emotions. “I can’t think of any reason other than that.”
Wu Zhangkong said, “Today’s classes will end here. Tang Wulin, Wang Jinxi, you two follow me. I need to examine your martial souls.”
“Yes.”
It was a very simple process to examine their martial souls; Wu Zhangkong simply used his own soul power to scan their bodies and observe any changes that had occurred when they used their martial souls.
“Jinxi, I am almost certain that the problem was caused by Tang Wulin’s influence on your martial soul. As an individual, it’s something fortunate since your martial soul is mutating to a higher level under the influence of Tang Wulin’s bloodline. As for how far it will mutate, I have no way of knowing. The one thing I can be certain of, though, is that if you continue to cultivate with Tang Wulin, your martial soul will continue to mutate, but you will likely no longer be able to use your soul fusion skill with Zhang Yangzi. That is the drawback of this situation. You need to carefully think things over and decide which direction you want to develop in.”
Wang Jinxi stilled, completely dumbstruck. “Then, will I return to normal if I stop cultivating with Tang Wulin?”
Wu Zhangkong grimly said, “From what I have seen so far, it should be possible. You two have only cultivated together for a few months and his soul power is weaker than yours, so he hasn’t influenced you much. As a result, your martial soul mutation is still not firm, and you should be able to slowly return to normal if you stop cultivating with Tang Wulin. His bloodline’s influence affects similar martial souls within a certain range though, so if you choose to stop, I will rearrange your rooms further apart from each other.”
Wang Jinxi raised his head to look at Tang Wulin, his eyes flickering with conflicting emotions.
“I’m sorry, Jinxi! I didn’t know things would turn out like this.” Tang Wulin earnestly apologized. He was well aware just how important a soul fusion skill was to Soul Masters.
Wang Jinxi shook his head. “How can I blame you for this? No one could have predicted it. Teacher Wu, is it fine if I return to my room and think about this before deciding?”
Wu Zhangkong nodded. “Of course. This is an important decision. It’s best for you to go back and think about it carefully.”
Wang Jinxi looked at Tang Wulin with a deep gaze before giving him a curt nod.
Wu Zhangkong said, “There’s something else I must remind you. From my current observations, Tang Wulin’s bloodline is actually gradually growing stronger. If you continue to cultivate with him, your martial soul could potentially grow even stronger than a soul fusion skill. Furthermore, that would purely be your strength as an individual. This is an important point to consider.”
“Thank you, Teacher Wu.”
Sadness and bitterness found its way into Tang Wulin’s heart after Wang Jinxi left. He had never expected that their mutually beneficial cultivation method would have such a large drawback.
Wang Jinxi was still benefiting either way, but what about Zhang Yangzi? Without Wang Jinxi, he would no longer be able to use their soul fusion skill.
Tang Wulin hated to see a situation such as this, but it had already happened, and the decision rested in Wang Jinxi’s hands. It wasn’t his place to try to influence Wang Jinxi’s decision.
A strange mood fell over class zero from that day onward.
Zhang Yangzi became uncommunicative while Wang Jinxi was even more taciturn than usual.
Two days quickly passed and the second part of their final exam was upon them.
“Follow me. We’re going to take the second part of the exam now.” Wu Zhangkong said with his usual indifference.
“Teacher Wu.” Wang Jinxi suddenly stood up.
“Hm?” Wu Zhangkong gave him a curious look. Tang Wulin also turned to stare at Wang Jinxi, a hint of dread welling within his heart as he anticipated what would happen next. Wang Jinxi hadn’t been cultivating with him these last few days, and the moment they were dismissed from class he would immediately return to his room and not come out.
“Teacher Wu, I’ve decided. I won’t cultivate with Tang Wulin anymore.” Although Wang Jinxi spoke quickly and monotonously, his voice was resolute.
Stunned, Zhang Yangzi stared at Wang Jinxi with wide eyes.
Wu Zhangkong gazed at him for a moment before asking, “And you have really thought this over carefully?”
Wang Jinxi earnestly nodded. “While I might be able to reach even greater heights in the future if I continue cultivating with Tang Wulin, only I would benefit that way. I grew up with Zhang Yangzi, and we’re the closest of childhood friends. We played with each other everyday. We’re inseparable and are practically brothers. I can’t abandon him for my own sake, otherwise I wouldn’t be able to live with myself. Besides, we’re already two-ringed Soul Grandmasters and have a soul fusion skill, so we can definitely be considered geniuses already. This is why I choose to cultivate with Zhang Yangzi.”
At this point, Wang Jinxi took a moment to stop and swept his gaze at Tang Wulin, Xie Xie, and Gu Yue. He took in a deep breath, beating the drums of courage as he readied his next words. “Also, Teacher Wu, thank you for this semester’s guidance. I also thank my comrades as well, but I’m sorry; I want to transfer academies. I’ll transfer schools together with Yangzi. Wulin’s bloodline influence is just too much. As long as I stay within this academy, I’ll continue to be influenced by him. Even during the last two days where I haven’t been cultivating with him, I still felt oppressed by him. The only thing I can do now is leave.”
Tang Wulin was rendered speechless at these words. He had never expected that his mere presence would force Wang Jinxi to transfer academies.
“Jinxi, I can try to keep myself away from you if my effect is really that strong. You won’t have to transfer academies then…” Tang Wulin hastily interjected.
Wang Jinxi relaxed as he let out a deep breath. A gentle smile found its way to his lips as he shook his head. “Don’t be silly. Wulin, you can’t blame yourself for this. This decision isn’t related to you at all. These changes happened to my body, not yours. You also could never have predicted that your bloodline would have such great influence either. This change won’t affect our friendship at all, we just can’t cultivate together any longer. It’s not just my martial soul that’s being affected; my mind is as well. Maybe if I leave you and go cultivate somewhere else for some time, I’ll be able to return to normal. Ever since the Class Promotion Tournament, I’ve felt this mental pressure, but I just never wanted to acknowledge it until now. Yangzi and I can still cultivate properly together, so you don’t have to worry about us.”
“Teacher Wu, I’ll have to trouble you to handle the contract with the academy. I have already discussed things with my father and we’ve decided to pay for the resources that were used on Yangzi and I this semester. I’m sorry for the inconvenience.” Wang Jinxi bowed deeply before Wu Zhangkong, expressing his deep regret. Tang Wulin saw two water droplets fall to the floor as Wang Jinxi bowed.
How could Wang Jinxi actually want to leave? They hadn’t just become friends after a semester together, they had reached a rarely seen level of tacit understanding between Soul Masters! They had come together to form a squad; a squad that was able to kill a hundred-year Man-Faced Demon Spider! How could he be willing to part with his cherished comrades now?