Before dawn had fully broken, Tang San was awakened by the commotion in the yard. He listened closely and realized Tang Hao was sorting out the blacksmith shop's tools. Unlike the previous two days, Tang Hao had not come knocking to ask whether he could help. It seemed Tang Hao had rested yesterday and intended to make up for the missed work today.
Tang San turned over and sprawled beneath the covers, unwilling to get up. According to the system's rules, did "extending rest time" count as slacking? As he pondered it, a system notification suddenly rang out in his mind:
Actively extending rest time, avoiding premature physical exhaustion. Slacking Value +1. Current total: 1 point.
"So this can earn points too." Tang San was secretly delighted and simply closed his eyes to keep lying there. Only when sunlight shone through the crack in the window and onto his face did he slowly climb out of bed.
After getting dressed and leaving his room, Tang Hao was already hard at work in the blacksmith shop. The forge blazed fiercely, and the constant clang of hammer against iron rang through the air. Tang San did not disturb him. Instead, he went straight to the kitchen, scooped some rice from the rice jar, washed it clean, poured it into a pot, added water, and lit the fire to cook porridge.
He remembered that, in the original story, Tang San had learned to take care of both himself and Tang Hao at a very young age. Since he now occupied this body, it was only right to handle a few daily chores—besides, this was not strenuous work, so it would not affect his Slacking Value. It could also make Tang Hao less suspicious, killing two birds with one stone.
Once the porridge was ready, Tang San filled a bowl and brought it to the entrance of the blacksmith shop. "Dad, have some porridge first. You can continue forging afterward."
Tang Hao stopped working, wiped the sweat from his forehead, took the bowl, and drank in large gulps. He glanced at Tang San before saying, "Your martial soul awakening is tomorrow. Don't run around today. Stay home and prepare properly."
"Prepare for what?" Tang San pretended to be confused. "Didn't Grandpa Jack say we only need to follow the Spirit Hall deacon's instructions when the time comes?"
Tang Hao set down his bowl and thought for a moment. "That's true. I just mean don't fool around and save your energy."
Tang San was secretly overjoyed. This would spare him the trouble of "preparing for awakening" as well. He nodded. "Got it, Dad. I'll stay home today and won't go anywhere."
Avoiding meaningless "awakening preparations." Slacking Value +1. Current total: 2 points.
After breakfast, Tang San carried a small stool into the yard, sat down, and opened the system panel. He only had 2 points of Slacking Value, still far from enough for another exchange for a "Minor Soul Power Increase." He needed to find a way to save up more.
Not long afterward, footsteps sounded at the courtyard gate. It was Aunt Wang from the village, holding a cloth bundle in her hands. "Little San, are you home?" Aunt Wang entered with a smile. "My Zhuzhu is going for his martial soul awakening tomorrow too. I sewed him a new cloth pouch to carry things in. I thought you might need one as well, so I made an extra and brought it over for you."
Tang San quickly stood and thanked her. "Thank you, Aunt Wang. You're too kind."
Aunt Wang waved a hand. "Why be so polite? We're all from the same village. Oh, where's your dad? I wanted to tell him to visit the ancestral hall tomorrow too. Maybe our village will produce a soul master."
"My dad is forging inside. I'll go call him." Tang San started toward the blacksmith shop.
Aunt Wang hurriedly stopped him. "No, no, don't interrupt his work. I was only mentioning it in passing. I can tell him when I pass the blacksmith shop later. By the way, Little San, are you nervous about awakening your martial soul tomorrow? Do you want to practice with Zhuzhu, so you know how to cooperate with the deacon?"
Tang San's heart stirred. This was another chance to earn Slacking Value. He deliberately put on a shy smile. "A little nervous, but I don't think we need to practice. The deacon will definitely teach us what to do. What if we practice wrong and make things worse? Besides, I haven't fully recovered yet. I'm afraid I'll tire myself out."
Avoiding an unnecessary "awakening rehearsal." Slacking Value +1. Refusing extra activities on the grounds of physical condition. Slacking Value +1. Current total: 4 points.
Aunt Wang paused in surprise, then smiled. "You've thought this through quite carefully, child. Fine, then don't practice. Get plenty of rest." She handed the cloth bundle to Tang San, reminded him a few more times to "get up early tomorrow" and "don't forget to bring water," then left.
Tang San returned to his stool with the bundle and opened it. Inside was a very simple little cloth pouch, though the stitching was fairly neat. He set it aside and continued considering how to earn more Slacking Value.
That afternoon, several children from the village came looking for Tang San again. This time, they invited him to play a game called "Soul Master Simulation" in the open space at the village entrance—using wooden swords as martial souls and imitating soul masters in battle. Tang San refused without even thinking. "My martial soul awakening is tomorrow. I need to conserve my strength, and I'm afraid I might get hurt while playing and affect tomorrow's awakening."
Avoiding meaningless game-related exertion. Slacking Value +1. Avoiding potential injury risk. Slacking Value +1. Current total: 6 points.
Although the children were somewhat disappointed, they did not press him further and turned to head for the village entrance. Watching their retreating backs, Tang San quietly calculated: during tomorrow's martial soul awakening, he had to find a way to appear more "ordinary." He could not reveal his level 10 Soul Power, enhanced by the minor increase, or the Spirit Hall deacon would surely take notice of him.
He opened the system panel and stared at his "6 points of Slacking Value," considering whether to exchange them for something. "Temporary Stamina Recovery" cost 5 points, leaving him with 1 afterward, but it did not seem useful at the moment. "Minor Soul Power Increase" cost 10 points, and he was still short by 4. It looked like he would have to wait for tomorrow's awakening to find a chance to earn the remaining Slacking Value.
By evening, Tang Hao finished work, and father and son had dinner together. Tang Hao did not bring up the martial soul awakening again. He only drank quite a lot, his eyes carrying a trace of complicated emotion as though he were lost in thought.
After washing the dishes, Tang San returned to his room. Lying on his bed, he thought about tomorrow's martial soul awakening—would Su Yuntao arrive on time? Would anything unexpected happen during the awakening? Could he successfully hide his strength and earn more Slacking Value at the same time?
A string of questions circled in his mind, but he soon cast aside those distracting thoughts. With the system around, even if some minor accident occurred, he should be able to handle it. What mattered most now was resting well and replenishing his energy so that he could slack off even better tomorrow.
Before long, Tang San drifted into sleep. The moonlight outside remained bright, quietly spilling into the room as if silently watching over the boy who was about to set foot on the "path to the pinnacle of slacking." Tomorrow would be his first important turning point on Douluo Continent, and a crucial step on his path to growing stronger through slacking.
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