Night Before Awakening, Refusing Preparation, Skillfully Responding to Accumulate Slacking Value

The sky hadn't fully brightened when Tang San was woken by the sounds from the yard. He listened closely; it was Tang Hao packing up tools in the blacksmith shop, not coming to knock and ask for help like the past two days. It seemed Tang Hao had taken yesterday off and planned to catch up on work today.

Tang San rolled over, wanting to stay in bed. According to the system's rules, did "extending rest time" count as slacking? As he pondered this, a system prompt suddenly sounded in his mind: [Proactively increasing rest duration, avoiding early fatigue consumption, Slacking Value +1, currently accumulated 1 point].

"So this can earn points too," Tang San thought happily. He decided to close his eyes and continue lying down. Only when the sunlight streamed through the window crack and hit his face did he slowly get up.

After getting dressed and leaving his room, Tang Hao was already busy in the blacksmith shop, the furnace blazing, the "ding-ding-dang" sound of hammering echoing endlessly. Tang San didn't disturb him and went straight to the kitchen. He scooped some rice from the rice bin, washed it, poured it into the pot, added some water, and started a fire to cook porridge.

He remembered that in the original story, Tang San took care of himself and Tang Hao from a young age. Since he now occupied this body, he should do some daily chores. Besides, this wasn't high-intensity labor, so it wouldn't affect his Slacking Value and would make Tang Hao less suspicious. It was a win-win.

When the porridge was cooked, Tang San ladled a bowl and brought it to the entrance of the blacksmith shop. "Dad, drink some porridge first, then you can continue hammering."

Tang Hao stopped what he was doing, wiped the sweat from his forehead, took the bowl, and drank it down in large gulps. He glanced at Tang San and said, "You're awakening your Martial Soul tomorrow. Don't run around today; prepare yourself at home."

"Prepare for what?" Tang San feigned ignorance. "Didn't Grandpa Jack say we just need to follow the attendant's instructions?"

Tang Hao put down the bowl and thought, "That's right. Just don't mess around and save some energy."

Tang San was secretly pleased; this would save him the trouble of "preparing for the awakening." He nodded. "I understand, Dad. I'll stay home today and won't go anywhere."

[Avoiding meaningless "awakening preparation" activities, Slacking Value +1, currently accumulated 2 points]

After breakfast, Tang San moved a small stool and sat in the yard, opening the system panel to check. He only had 2 Slacking Value points, still far from the next reward of "minor Soul Power increase." He needed to find a way to earn more.

Before long, footsteps sounded from the yard entrance. It was Aunt Wang from the village, holding a cloth bag. "Is Xiao San home?" Aunt Wang asked with a smile as she walked in. "My Zhuzi is also awakening his Martial Soul tomorrow. I sewed a new cloth bag for him to carry things, and I thought you might need one too, so I made an extra one and brought it for you."

Tang San quickly stood up and thanked her. "Thank you, Aunt Wang, you're too kind."

Aunt Wang waved her hand. "No need to be polite; we're all from the same village. Oh, where's your dad? I wanted to ask him to come to the ancestral hall tomorrow. Maybe our village can produce a Soul Master."

"My dad is hammering inside. I'll go get him," Tang San said, starting towards the blacksmith shop.

Aunt Wang quickly stopped him. "No, no, no, don't disturb him. I just mentioned it casually; I'll tell him when I pass by the blacksmith shop later. By the way, Xiao San, are you nervous about awakening your Martial Soul tomorrow? Do you want to practice with Zhuzi on how to cooperate with the attendant?"

Tang San's heart stirred; this was another opportunity to earn Slacking Value. He deliberately showed a shy smile. "I'm a little nervous, but I don't think we need to practice, right? The attendant will surely teach us what to do. Practicing incorrectly might be bad. Besides, I'm not fully recovered yet and I'm afraid of getting tired."

[Avoiding unnecessary "awakening rehearsal," Slacking Value +1; Refusing extra activities using health as an excuse, Slacking Value +1, currently accumulated 4 points]

Aunt Wang paused for a moment, then chuckled. "You think quite thoroughly, child. Alright, then we won't practice. You rest well." She handed the cloth bag to Tang San, gave a few more instructions like "wake up early tomorrow" and "don't forget water," and then left.

Tang San took the cloth bag back to his stool and sat down. He opened it and looked; it was a simple little cloth bag with reasonably neat stitches. He set the bag aside and continued to ponder how to earn Slacking Value.

In the afternoon, some children from the village came to find Tang San again, this time inviting him to play "Soul Master Simulation" on the open ground at the edge of the village—using wooden swords as Martial Souls and imitating Soul Master battles. Tang San refused without a second thought. "I'm awakening my Martial Soul tomorrow, so I need to conserve my energy. Also, I'm afraid I might accidentally get injured while playing, which would affect my awakening tomorrow."

[Avoiding meaningless game consumption, Slacking Value +1; Avoiding potential injury risk, Slacking Value +1, currently accumulated 6 points]

The children were a bit disappointed but didn't pester him further. They turned and went to the village entrance. Tang San watched their retreating backs, secretly calculating: during the Martial Soul awakening tomorrow, he needed to find a way to appear "ordinary" and not reveal his level 10 (minor increase) Soul Power. Otherwise, he would definitely attract the attention of the Martial Soul Hall attendants.

He opened the system panel and looked at the "6 Slacking Value points," wondering if he should redeem anything. "Temporary Stamina Recovery" cost 5 points; redeeming it would leave him with 1 point, but it didn't seem useful right now. "Minor Soul Power Increase" required 10 points, and he was still 4 points short. It seemed he would have to wait until tomorrow's awakening to find an opportunity to accumulate the remaining Slacking Value.

In the evening, Tang Hao finished his work, and father and son had dinner together. Tang Hao didn't mention the Martial Soul awakening again, only drinking quite a bit, his eyes carrying a hint of complex emotion, as if lost in thought.

Tang San cleaned up the dishes and returned to his room. He lay on the bed, thinking about tomorrow's Martial Soul awakening—would Su Yuntao arrive on time? Would there be any accidents during the awakening process? Could he successfully hide his strength and still earn Slacking Value?

A series of questions swirled in his mind, but he quickly dismissed these distracting thoughts. Anyway, with the system around, even if minor accidents occurred, he should be able to handle them. The most important thing now was to rest well and gather his energy so he could "slack" better tomorrow.

Before long, Tang San fell asleep. The moonlight outside the window was still bright, quietly casting its glow into the room, as if silently watching the young boy who was about to embark on the "path to the peak of slacking." Tomorrow would be his first important milestone on the Douluo Continent, and a crucial step on his path to becoming stronger through slacking.