153 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 ZhangYangzi’s Shadow Phantasm Eagle fused in an instant. They could feel WangJinxi’s body rejecting the fusion immediately. It was as if his body was tryingto push Zhang Yangzi out the moment it saw the Shadow Phantasm Eagle.

Zhang Yangzi stumbled away from Wang Jinxi and landed his butt. Suddenly, hewas 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’tcomprehend what was going on either.

Wu Zhangkong knitted his brows and turned to Zhang Yangzi. “Calm down. Thisisn’t something Wang Jinxi can control. I fear that there really might be aproblem with your soul fusion skill now.”

Zhang Yangzi got up from the floor, breathing heavily. On the other side, WangJinxi’s eyes clouded with apprehension as a vague reason formulated within hismind.

Wu Zhangkong went silent for a moment. “Jinxi’s martial soul has probablymutated, so now your two martial souls aren’t compatible enough to use yoursoul 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 BoneDragon King was influenced by our dual cultivation?

His gaze alternating between Wang Jinxi and Tang Wulin, Zhang Yangzi began tohave an inkling as to the cause. After all, he was a bright kid. “Could it bebecause the two of you are cultivating together?”

Wang Jinxi let out a sigh that was filled with all his pent up emotions. “Ican’t think of any reason other than that.”

Wu Zhangkong said, “Today’s classes will end here. Tang Wulin, Wang Jinxi, youtwo follow me. I need to examine your martial souls.”

“Yes.”

It was a very simple process to examine their martial souls; Wu Zhangkongsimply used his own soul power to scan their bodies and observe any changesthat had occurred when they used their martial souls.

“Jinxi, I am almost certain that the problem was caused by Tang Wulin’sinfluence on your martial soul. As an individual, it’s something fortunatesince your martial soul is mutating to a higher level under the influence ofTang Wulin’s bloodline. As for how far it will mutate, I have no way ofknowing. The one thing I can be certain of, though, is that if you continue tocultivate with Tang Wulin, your martial soul will continue to mutate, but youwill 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 overand decide which direction you want to develop in.”

Wang Jinxi stilled, completely dumbstruck. “Then, will I return to normal if Istop cultivating with Tang Wulin?”

Wu Zhangkong grimly said, “From what I have seen so far, it should bepossible. You two have only cultivated together for a few months and his soulpower is weaker than yours, so he hasn’t influenced you much. As a result, yourmartial soul mutation is still not firm, and you should be able to slowlyreturn to normal if you stop cultivating with Tang Wulin. His bloodline’sinfluence affects similar martial souls within a certain range though, so ifyou 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 withconflicting emotions.

“I’m sorry, Jinxi! I didn’t know things would turn out like this.” Tang Wulinearnestly apologized. He was well aware just how important a soul fusion skillwas to Soul Masters.

Wang Jinxi shook his head. “How can I blame you for this? No one could havepredicted it. Teacher Wu, is it fine if I return to my room and think aboutthis before deciding?”

Wu Zhangkong nodded. “Of course. This is an important decision. It’s best foryou 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 currentobservations, Tang Wulin’s bloodline is actually gradually growing stronger. Ifyou continue to cultivate with him, your martial soul could potentially groweven stronger than a soul fusion skill. Furthermore, that would purely be yourstrength 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 Jinxileft. He had never expected that their mutually beneficial cultivation methodwould 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 toinfluence 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 taciturnthan 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 Zhangkongsaid 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 atWang Jinxi, a hint of dread welling within his heart as he anticipated whatwould happen next. Wang Jinxi hadn’t been cultivating with him these last fewdays, and the moment they were dismissed from class he would immediately returnto 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 reallythought this over carefully?”

Wang Jinxi earnestly nodded. “While I might be able to reach even greaterheights in the future if I continue cultivating with Tang Wulin, only I wouldbenefit that way. I grew up with Zhang Yangzi, and we’re the closest ofchildhood friends. We played with each other everyday. We’re inseparable andare practically brothers. I can’t abandon him for my own sake, otherwise Iwouldn’t be able to live with myself. Besides, we’re already two-ringed SoulGrandmasters and have a soul fusion skill, so we can definitely be consideredgeniuses 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 TangWulin, Xie Xie, and Gu Yue. He took in a deep breath, beating the drums ofcourage as he readied his next words. “Also, Teacher Wu, thank you for thissemester’s guidance. I also thank my comrades as well, but I’m sorry; I want totransfer academies. I’ll transfer schools together with Yangzi. Wulin’sbloodline 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 Ihaven’t been cultivating with him, I still felt oppressed by him. The onlything I can do now is leave.”

Tang Wulin was rendered speechless at these words. He had never expected thathis mere presence would force Wang Jinxi to transfer academies.

“Jinxi, I can try to keep myself away from you if my effect is really thatstrong. You won’t have to transfer academies then…” Tang Wulin hastilyinterjected.

Wang Jinxi relaxed as he let out a deep breath. A gentle smile found its wayto his lips as he shook his head. “Don’t be silly. Wulin, you can’t blameyourself for this. This decision isn’t related to you at all. These changeshappened to my body, not yours. You also could never have predicted that yourbloodline would have such great influence either. This change won’t affect ourfriendship at all, we just can’t cultivate together any longer. It’s not justmy martial soul that’s being affected; my mind is as well. Maybe if I leave youand go cultivate somewhere else for some time, I’ll be able to return tonormal. Ever since the Class Promotion Tournament, I’ve felt this mentalpressure, but I just never wanted to acknowledge it until now. Yangzi and I canstill 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 theresources that were used on Yangzi and I this semester. I’m sorry for theinconvenience.” Wang Jinxi bowed deeply before Wu Zhangkong, expressing hisdeep regret. Tang Wulin saw two water droplets fall to the floor as Wang Jinxibowed.

How could Wang Jinxi actually want to leave? They hadn’t just become friendsafter a semester together, they had reached a rarely seen level of tacitunderstanding between Soul Masters! They had come together to form a squad; asquad that was able to kill a hundred-year Man-Faced Demon Spider! How could hebe willing to part with his cherished comrades now?