Forging

Yun Mu picked up the forging hammer and gave the machine a light tap. The screen did not react at all.

He looked over at Tang Wulin, who was already holding the Clear Sky Hammer and going, "Eighty, eighty."

Yun Mu coughed awkwardly twice, feeling a little embarrassed. This time, he seriously picked up the hammer and brought it down with all his strength.

Sure enough, the force of that strike registered on the screen. Yet he was clearly struggling, while Tang Wulin beside him looked completely at ease.

So this was what it meant to be a member of the Tang Clan?

Even when playing with hammers, they were so skilled.

Unlike him, who felt no different from a complete novice. Every time he swung the hammer, something felt off.

Either it felt too heavy, or it felt too light.

Was Tang Wulin really not cheating?

Genetics were terrifying.

Yun Mu could only comfort himself that way.

Still, forging ultimately required solid fundamentals. Since he wanted to succeed, he would take it one step at a time. He refused to believe he could not do it.

Yun Mu began exerting himself seriously, copying the way Tang Wulin used his hammer as he faced the machine before him.

After giving it a try, Yun Mu discovered that it really was very useful. As expected, this sort of thing depended on talent.

After a while, Mang Tian finished handling his affairs and came into the training room to check on them.

When he saw that the number before Tang Wulin had already reached six hundred, disbelief flashed through his eyes. What incredible natural strength—and with the uniquely blessed Clear Sky Hammer Martial Soul as well. He felt that Tang Wulin might truly become a Sage Craftsman in the future.

What astonished him even more was Yun Mu beside him. He had thought Yun Mu would only manage around a hundred strikes, yet the number on Yun Mu's screen had already reached four hundred.

Mang Tian watched them carefully for a while and found that their hands were steady. It seemed they could continue.

He nodded from the side.

However, he felt that he was not qualified to take these two children as disciples.

Still, being their introductory teacher would not be bad either, Mang Tian thought to himself.

Yun Mu had now completely entered a state of self-forgetfulness. The world before his eyes seemed to contain only the hammer, dancing up and down.

Tang Wulin, on the other hand, was finally starting to give out. Since it was his first time using the Clear Sky Hammer, his Soul Power was no longer sufficient.

At the instant Tang Wulin was about to collapse from exhausted Soul Power, Yun Mu moved even faster than Mang Tian. He immediately put away his own hammer and swiftly caught Tang Wulin.

At the same time, he released his Martial Soul.

Mang Tian finally saw Yun Mu's Martial Soul and could not help sighing. "What abundant life force."

Yun Mu did not use a Soul Skill. He merely slowly transferred life force into Tang Wulin's body.

This method only worked on Tang Wulin, because Tang Wulin possessed a blessing with an attribute similar to his—Goddess of Life's Blessing.

"Today's training is about done. Rest for a while, then go take a look at the workshop next door and see how we usually work," Mang Tian said.

Yun Mu nodded and smiled. "Thank you, Uncle Mang Tian."

Stimulated by Yun Mu's life force, Tang Wulin quickly began to wake up, and his Soul Power slowly started recovering as well.

Yun Mu had originally planned to teach Tang Wulin his cultivation method, but after thinking it over, he decided against it.

With Tang Wulin's Martial Soul, the Tang Sect would definitely have him join them.

Yun Mu supported Tang Wulin as they entered the workshop next door.

There, a group of burly men swung their hammers before workbenches. There was almost no communication between them.

Yet whenever needed, they instantly reacted and handed one another whatever was required.

Yun Mu sat down beside Tang Wulin, listening to Mang Tian's introduction to forging while watching how they forged.

Yun Mu also had one more task: massaging Tang Wulin's arms. By now, Tang Wulin's arms were completely swollen, though his palms had not suffered any damage. Perhaps it was because of his Martial Soul.

Yun Mu had not been injured at all. Or rather, that was not quite right—his injuries simply healed faster than they could form.

What moved Mang Tian most, however, was Tang Wulin's attitude toward forging—that unyielding determination.

And that determination was something even many adults did not possess.

Yun Mu's greatest strength, meanwhile, was not his personality but his talent. Mang Tian had noticed that Yun Mu seemed to be imitating Tang Wulin's every movement, growing increasingly proficient with each strike. By the end, his movements had become even more standard than Tang Wulin's.

In the end, his movements were almost on par with Mang Tian's after years of blacksmithing.

Such frightening talent left Mang Tian astonished. Tang Ziran's family truly had unbelievable luck!

Both children were geniuses, and rare kinds of geniuses at that.

When Lang Yue came to pick up Tang Wulin and Yun Mu, Mang Tian said excitedly, "Both your children are geniuses. Let them train by my side. I'll open the door to forging for them. From now on, have them come here at this time every day."

Lang Yue's attention was not on the word "geniuses," but on the two children supporting each other weakly and Tang Wulin's still-swollen arms.

Lang Yue looked at the two children with heartache and rubbed their heads.

The three of them left together.

"Yun Mu, tell Mom. Did you already treat Wulin and yourself? Are you very tired?" Lang Yue asked, her voice choked with emotion.

Yun Mu shook his head, then nodded. "Mom, we're fine. Uncle Mang Tian just had us get used to forging today."

"Yes, Mom, we're really fine. I'm so happy," Tang Wulin said excitedly.

"Let's go home." Lang Yue wiped the tears from her eyes, her gaze full of tenderness for the two children.

She knew that the path of a Soul Master was not easy, and the two children needed the means to stand on their own.

What she understood least was little Yun Mu. Shrek Academy's Dean had clearly already admitted him in advance, so why did he still work so hard?

She did not believe Shrek Academy lacked resources.

But since little Yun Mu was willing to persist, then as his parents, they could only support all his decisions.

When the three returned home, they found Na'er sitting at the door, waiting for them to come back.

Lang Yue went into the kitchen to prepare dinner, while Yun Mu took Tang Wulin and Na'er to play together.

Yun Mu told Tang Wulin and Na'er stories from some of the novels he had once read.

"On another magical continent, they did not have Martial Souls. Instead, they used battle qi."

"If they didn't have Martial Souls, how did they cultivate? Didn't that mean they couldn't become Soul Masters?" Tang Wulin asked in disbelief.

"They did not become Soul Masters there. They had an entirely different cultivation system. Let's begin with the fallen genius from the first chapter..."

Na'er and Tang Wulin were utterly captivated. After all, Douluo Continent had no particularly good forms of entertainment, and all of this was unimaginably novel to them.