Dad! Get to Work!

Zhou Qing took Tang San back to his house and up to the second floor, then immediately had Tang San draw the Soul Tool Markings he had observed inside the Awakening Stones.

"Got it. Stop rushing me, I need to concentrate."

Tang San picked up a charcoal pencil and drew the twisted markings onto the paper. He even reproduced the different markings displayed on Awakening Stones from different positions.

In just half an hour, Tang San had copied down every Soul Guiding Inscription within the Awakening Stones.

"Is that everything?"

After Tang San put down his pencil, he had used six sheets of roughly A4-sized paper. Zhou Qing eagerly picked them up and flipped through them one by one as he asked.

"Yeah, that's everything from those six Awakening Stones." Tang San wiped the sweat from his forehead. For a child his age, drawing all this had taken quite a toll on his concentration.

"Soul Power is injected, the Awakening Stones light up, then golden motes emerge and enter the body, awakening the Martial Soul."

After examining all the drawings, Zhou Qing described the Martial Soul awakening process. "Clearly, the Awakening Stones themselves aren't the key to awakening a Martial Soul. The key is those golden motes produced when they are activated by Soul Power. Those are what unlock the Martial Soul within a person."

"The source of those golden motes is the Soul Guiding Inscriptions inside the Awakening Stones."

"Also, judging from the Soul Guiding Inscriptions you drew from the six Awakening Stones, the inscriptions inside each one are largely the same. Or rather, at the instant the Awakening Stones light up, their internal inscriptions become identical, while only the outer inscriptions differ. Why do you think that is?"

Tang San thought for a while before cautiously asking, "Maybe it's to maximize the functions of all six Awakening Stones?"

"Exactly!"

Zhou Qing took out a box of building blocks from a nearby bookshelf and began assembling a house. "It's like these blocks. Each piece serves the same purpose, but when put together, they can form a simple model of a house."

"Martial Soul Awakening Stones are similar to building blocks! Based on what we saw earlier, just six of them can amplify a single effect."

Tang San froze for a moment. "You mean...?"

"I believe that a single Martial Soul Awakening Stone can also help someone awaken their Martial Soul, but it would consume much more Soul Power. Once Soul Power is injected into six Martial Soul Awakening Stones, the differing Soul Guiding Inscriptions within them can connect under the effect of that Soul Power. That reduces the Soul Master's Soul Power consumption and increases the efficiency with which they help others awaken their Martial Souls."

Zhou Qing's eyes gleamed. "In other words, this set of Soul Tool Markings on the Martial Soul Awakening Stones is already a relatively complete Soul Tool Core Formation."

"A Soul Tool Core Formation?"

Tang San knew about formations, but the term "magic formation" left him rather confused. Moreover, he did not recall seeing the term "Soul Tool Core Formation" in any of the books here concerning Soul Tools.

"This is the core of a Soul Tool."

Zhou Qing patiently explained, "The Soul Tool Markings on that Soul Tool Fan are merely inscriptions; they aren't connected. A Soul Tool Core Formation, however, links Soul Guiding Inscriptions with different functions together to form an integrated core. Then, so long as an appropriate outer structure and switches are designed, multiple different abilities can be used at once."

"You can't buy this sort of knowledge on the market. A village uncle told me about it verbally."

Hearing this, Tang San became even more wary of this world's cultivation community, and his expression involuntarily grew solemn.

Build his own Forge Workshop!

Research Soul Tools!

Surpass the Tang Sect's hidden weapons!

It was already an urgent matter!

Otherwise, what would he do if he entered the Soul Master World at the age of six and got crushed by other Soul Masters?

He had to prepare for the future!

As for Tang San wanting to build a Forge Workshop near his house, Zhou Qing was supportive. His family had a bit of spare money anyway, and Tang San's more advanced Soul Tool Hidden Weapons would surely include a share for him in the future. It would also serve as a precaution—if he awakened a Martial Soul but had no Innate Soul Power, then this initial investment would at least give him some means of self-defense.

Besides, even if Tang San went astray in the future, he still treated his own people fairly well. Zhou Qing should be able to live out his old age peacefully on this continent, perhaps even pass down his way of thinking to his descendants and let generation after generation gradually change the Douluo Continent.

The spirit of the Foolish Old Man Who Moved the Mountains!

His descendants would be endless!

"San, your idea is good, but we still need to think carefully about how to carry it out. After all, we're only four years old," Zhou Qing said.

"That really is a problem."

Tang San frowned as well.

But Zhou Qing had thought of a solution. "If we want to build a Forge Workshop, we have to tell Grandpa Jack. But we can't say it was our own idea."

"Then what reason should we give?" For the first time, Tang San realized just how troublesome it was to be a child.

"For your father."

"My father? What does this have to do with my father?" Tang San did not understand.

"You were born with immense strength. You can lift a forging hammer, and even swing it... How many times can you swing it again?" Zhou Qing was not entirely sure how far Tang San had cultivated the Mysterious Heaven Skill by now, or whether he had reached level ten. But even if he was two years younger than in the original story, he should still be somewhat stronger. At the very least, he was not as thin as a stick as described in the original story. Instead, he looked much like a normal child, and had grown to over a meter tall.

Zhou Qing was even taller, at one meter twenty.

"A hundred or so swings won't be a problem," Tang San said casually.

Although he had not yet learned the Disorder Splitting Wind Hammer, Tang San had forged the Buddha Fury Tang Lotus in his previous life. That proved he understood forging techniques himself, and was probably no less skilled than Lou Gao.

"Then there's no problem."

Zhou Qing breathed a sigh of relief. "As long as you show Old Jack your strength, he'll most likely call on the idle young and middle-aged men in the village to help build a Forge Workshop. Then you can tell Old Jack that helping the villagers repair their farming tools and kitchenware is also meant to encourage your father.

"Once he loses his source of income, your father will have no choice but to pull himself together again. After all, when people get hungry, they have to find something to eat. Food costs money, and money has to be earned through work. While working, your father can also exchange more forging insights with the other strong men in Nuoding City. I'm not asking him to improve much. It'll be enough if he interacts with others more and becomes a little more cheerful."

Tang San suddenly understood, and was even delighted.

Though this would probably make his father's attitude toward him even worse, how much worse could it really get given his current circumstances?

What was wrong with becoming self-reliant?

After learning about the Martial Souls, Soul Rings, Soul Beasts, Soul Tools, and other things in the Soul Master World, Tang San had developed a strong interest in this world.

Family affection...

He truly longed for it, but it still could not compare to the Tang Sect deep within his heart.

Especially now, Tang San did not feel that he lacked family affection. With Zhou Qing, this elder brother—though in his heart, Zhou Qing was actually a younger brother—by his side, Tang Hao's place in Tang San's heart had plummeted.

Moreover, through his interactions with Zhou Qing, Tang San had come to agree with some of Zhou Qing's views. For example: descendants should support their elders, but elders should not become a burden to their descendants.

Take his father, Tang Hao. If he took advantage of the fact that he was still young to work more and save up some money, Tang San would not need to worry so much about him in the future. He could focus wholeheartedly on studying what he liked. Once he achieved something, he could bring his father over to enjoy retirement and live out his days in comfort. It was simply perfect!

So, Dad, don't blame your son. You should just work hard!

If you want me to support you, at least wait until I'm twenty!

And so, although Zhou Qing's words had been filled with calculation, Tang San did not think there was anything wrong with them. He even planned to carry out this scheme together with Zhou Qing!