Mysterious Hammer
"Take a look! Try it once for 100 points. If you can smash this fruit with one hand, this Divine Weapon is yours for free!"
Free?
These two words triggered Luo Jun's sensitive words. He turned his head to look in the direction of the shouts and saw a group of people gathered in the open space at the intersection. In the middle stood a pole more than two meters high, with an unidentified fruit the size of an apple hanging from it by a rope.
What kind of event is this?
Luo Jun went closer and saw a Bearded Man in his forties standing under the pole, with a short-handled hammer lying upside down at his feet.
This hammer is made from a single piece, from handle to hammerhead, and is a dark, unremarkable material, neither gold nor wood. The handle is about half a meter long, and the hammerhead resembles Claw Hammer, with a rounded flat end and a slightly curved pickaxe tip at the other end. However, it is several sizes larger than a typical Claw Hammer, with the hammerhead being about a foot long horizontally. The flat end is even larger than a human fist, and it looks very heavy.
More and more people gathered around, and the Bearded Man continued to explain the rules. Simply put, you had to lift the hammer with one hand and smash the fruit hanging on it to succeed in the challenge.
It doesn't seem difficult at all... Even if this hammer is a bit bigger and heavier than usual, none of the people present are ordinary. Those who came to the Savage Wilderness are at least at the Foundation Establishment Realm, whose strength is several times that of ordinary people. With the help of their Yuan Qi and Body Protecting Qi, it wouldn't be surprising if they could exert a hundred times the strength of ordinary people. This small hammer, even if it weighs a thousand pounds, surely there are people who can wield it, right?
Could it be a scam?
One challenge costs 100 yuan. Regardless of the purchasing power in the Savage Wilderness, even if it were simply converted into Zhendan Coin, it would be worth 1,000 yuan. Even if you succeed, it's questionable whether the hammer, which is the prize, is worth that much.
To dispel everyone's doubts, the Bearded Man even conducted an experiment on the spot. He took out a white animal tooth for the onlookers to examine, and those who knew their stuff quickly recognized it as the tooth of Mountain Drilling Worm.
The so-called Mountain Drilling Worm is a monster resembling a giant worm. It usually lives in hard rock layers and moves by drilling holes with its teeth, digging through rocks as easily as cutting tofu!
The teeth of the Mountain Drilling Worm are synonymous with hardness throughout the Savage Wilderness. It's just a pity that they are not large enough to be used to make long weapons, but they are top-quality materials for crafting daggers and arrowheads, and the bounty for them is very high.
The Bearded Man held the tooth of the Mountain Drilling Worm against the hammer, then took out an ordinary iron hammer.
Humans have been exploring the Savage Wilderness for many years and have naturally discovered iron ore. However, compared to ordinary metals, the biological materials from the Savage Wilderness have superior properties and are more suitable for making weapons. Nevertheless, Lingyun City still has Blacksmith Shop, mainly for crafting household items.
The Bearded Man swung his iron hammer and smashed it down on the decayed tooth. A loud clang rang out, and sparks flew, demonstrating the immense force of the blow.
That wasn't the end of it. The Bearded Man swung his arm and smashed the mountain worm several times, each blow harder than the last. Finally, with a crack, the Mountain Drilling Worm's teeth broke in two, and the hammerhead in his hand was dented and even showed signs of cracking and deformation.
Looking at the hammer on the ground, it was still as clean as new, without even a scratch!
Just its hardness and strength alone make it Divine Weapon, even without any special effects!
Having witnessed the power of the hammer, the audience was eager to try it out, and soon some people paid to take on the challenge.
This was a burly man about 1.85 meters tall. He wore animal skin armor with inlaid shells on his upper body, but his bare arms still revealed his bulging muscles.
The Bearded Man took the money, gestured for the hammer to be placed in front of him, and reached out to grab it.
At first he didn't think much of it, but when his hand touched the hammer handle, his expression changed slightly, and he turned to look at the Bearded Man.
"Hey buddy, please." The Bearded Man smiled and clapped his hands. "How about we all give him some encouragement?"
Provoked like this, the people around started making a fuss.
"Hurry up and get it!"
"A small hammer, why would you need luck?"
"Let's end this battle quickly!"
Faced with the jeering crowd, the burly man frowned, gripped the hammer handle tightly, and exerted a little force.
The hammer didn't budge...
The burly man frowned, changed his posture, and tried again.
The hammer still didn't move.
Those around them then realized something was wrong.
Is this thing really that heavy?
"Are you a shill?"
"He looks strong, but he's just a paper tiger."
The burly man was angered by the sarcastic remarks. He stood up and shouted, "This hammer is faulty! Stop making sarcastic comments and come up and try it yourselves!"
Upon hearing this, the Bearded Man next to him chuckled, "What, is this friend giving up?"
"Wait!" The burly man waved his hand, took off his animal skin armor, revealing his muscular upper body, rubbed his palms together, squatted down, put his left hand on his knee, grabbed the hammer handle with his right hand, and then suddenly straightened his back!
"Mmm mmm mmm..."
With a muffled groan, the burly man's face turned bright red. As his whole body trembled, the hammer finally slowly lifted off the ground, its head swaying slightly like a pendulum.
"Get up! Get up!"
The onlookers became excited. "Quickly, lift it up and smash it!"
The burly man's arms were bulging with veins. He gritted his teeth and tried to lift his arms, but he couldn't lift them at all.
He then tried to use his full body weight and waist strength to swing his arm, but as soon as his body tilted, he lost his balance and finally lost control. The hammer clattered out of his hand and smashed on the ground, kicking up a cloud of dust.
Looking at the burly man again, he was already sitting on the ground, panting heavily and covered in sweat.
"Hey, is this some kind of overreaction?"
"It's just a hammer, how heavy can it be?"
"Stop making sarcastic remarks!" The burly man, catching his breath, shouted angrily, "If you've got the guts, come and try it yourself! I'm not playing anymore, this hammer is too weird!" After saying that, he picked up his clothes and stood aside to watch the show.
Seeing that he had given up, the Bearded Man smiled and looked around at the people, "Is there any other Warrior willing to take on the challenge?"
Soon, a sturdy man in his thirties came up; he had been the loudest one to start the commotion.
"I want to see how much weight a broken hammer can have." After paying, he spat twice into his palm, patted it, walked up to the hammer, bent down and grabbed the handle. Instantly, his eyes widened, just like the burly man from before.
"This is..." The sturdy man turned to look at the burly man, who was standing in the crowd with his arms crossed, watching the spectacle with a mocking expression.
Realizing something was wrong, the sturdy man gritted his teeth. He'd already spent the money, so he had to give it a try.
He adjusted his posture, mustered all his strength, and like the burly man before him, his face flushed and veins bulging. With tremendous effort, he finally managed to lift the hammer head slightly off the ground. But he couldn't hold on as long as the burly man; he couldn't maintain the momentum for more than a few seconds, his body relaxed, and the hammer slammed back to the ground.
The people around them started jeering. "You were the one yelling the loudest, but it doesn't mean you can't do it!"
"Enough with the nonsense!" The burly man sat on the ground, looking at the bearded man who had set up the Bearded Man: "Something's wrong with this hammer of yours. It drained all my energy after it touched me!"
Upon hearing this, everyone was in an uproar. They hadn't seen any energy flow from these two people earlier. At first, they thought it was a technique of Hidden Qi energy, but now it seemed that this hammer actually had the function of absorbing energy?
If one cannot use vital energy, then one can only rely on physical strength. For Cultivators in the Foundation Establishment Realm or even the Heart Refining Realm, their power is reduced by at least 90%!
Even so, these two challengers are not bad in physique and skill; surely they shouldn't be unable to lift such a hammer?
How heavy is this hammer, exactly?
(End of this chapter)