Tang San Began to Understand the Truth of the Simulator

Holy Soul Village, inside the Blacksmith Shop.

Six-year-old Tang San deftly set the meal on the table.

The wooden door to the inner room was pushed open, and Tang Hao emerged, rubbing his bleary eyes. The stench of alcohol spread through the cramped house.

Without even looking at Tang San, he dropped into a chair, grabbed his bowl and chopsticks, and began wolfing down his food.

Thin porridge dripped down his beard, but he did not notice, focused only on swallowing the food whole.

Tang San sat quietly across from him, his gaze lingering briefly on his father's haggard face. He wanted to speak, yet hesitated.

Tang Hao seemed to notice something unusual about his son. He raised his clouded eyes and glanced at him, his Adam's apple bobbing as though he wanted to say something.

But in the end, he merely let out an alcoholic burp, pushed away the empty bowl, and staggered back into the inner room.

Tang San silently cleared the dishes.

He truly wanted to ask about his mother. Using a child's longing for his mother as an opening should have been perfectly natural.

But he was not truly a six-year-old child.

More than twenty years in the Tang Sect in his previous life had long since carved caution into his bones.

And that absurd "Life Simulator" made him all the more careful.

His experiences in the simulation had made one thing clear: even by the age of twelve, his father had never revealed a single word about his mother.

That was anything but normal!

After considering it again and again, he reached two possibilities:

Either there was some unspeakable secret behind it!

Or his mother might already have...

And there was likely an extremely terrifying enemy lurking in the shadows, leaving his father no choice but to drown his sorrows in drink and bury the truth deep within himself.

This deduction explained his father's current state of despondency.

Moreover, Fu Shiyan's question from the simulation still rang in his ears:

"Does ordinary Blue Silver Grass have the right to form Twin Martial Souls with the Clear Sky Hammer, the strongest tool Martial Soul in the world?"

The title "strongest tool Martial Soul in the world" made Tang San realize that his blacksmith father was far from ordinary.

The fundamental reason he ultimately chose silence was that he could not explain where his information had come from.

He could not possibly ask his father out of nowhere to confirm something as astonishingly specific as whether his mother was the sovereign of the Blue Silver Grass Clan.

Tang San classified the "Life Simulator," his identity as a transmigrator, and the Tang Sect's secret arts as the highest secrets that had to be buried deep in his heart.

Though he had not yet fully believed in the system or the authenticity of the simulation...

What if it was real?

Something capable of previewing the future possessed equally immense value and danger.

He had understood the saying, "A man may be innocent, but possessing a treasure makes him guilty," in his previous life.

Besides, the system claimed that his transmigration was connected to it, and the experience in the simulation had been terrifyingly real. Every detail remained vivid in his mind, leaving him no choice but to be cautious.

Wait a little longer!

Tang San made up his mind. Three more months. Everything will become clear after the Martial Soul Awakening Ceremony.

If everything that happened during the ceremony matched the simulation exactly, then the Simulator's authenticity would be confirmed.

Only then would he have a basis for pursuing the mysteries surrounding his mother, Blue Silver Grass, and Fu Shiyan.

Having thought it through, the anxiety caused by the mystery of his mother instead subsided. His top priority now was verification!

The days passed steadily amid anticipation and unease. Tang San continued cultivating the Mysterious Heaven Skill and Purple Demon Eye each day, tending to the housework, and practicing the Tang Sect's secret arts on the small mountain outside the village. He kept all his doubts and expectations buried in his heart, focusing especially hard even during cultivation, as though that could make time pass faster.

Three months passed in the blink of an eye.

That morning, Old Jack, the village chief, appeared at the entrance of the Blacksmith Shop.

Inside, the rhythmic clanging of iron being forged echoed through the shop.

Tang Hao stood bare-chested, sweat beading across his bronze skin as he focused on hammering a red-hot chunk of iron.

Amid the scattering sparks, no emotion could be seen on his weathered face.

"Tang Hao, busy?"

A familiar voice came from outside. Its aged yet gentle tone was exactly the same as the one Tang San had heard in the Life Simulator three months ago.

Tang San, who had been working the bellows for his father, abruptly raised his head and stared sharply at the tightly shut wooden door.

In that instant, he seemed able to see through the door and glimpse Old Jack's wrinkled yet kindly face.

Tang Hao did not even look up. The Iron Hammer in his hand continued to land precisely on the iron block as he merely gave a vague grunt from his throat.

Tang San took a deep breath, suppressed the turmoil in his heart, and quickly walked to the door. With a creak, he pulled it open.

Afternoon sunlight spilled inside, illuminating Old Jack's kindly smile.

"Xiao San, come here. Let Grandpa have a look at you." Old Jack smiled and waved Tang San over.

Tang San obediently walked before the old man and bowed slightly. "Hello, Grandpa Jack."

Only then did Tang Hao stop what he was doing. He cast a cold glance their way. "What is it, Village Chief?"

Old Jack seemed long accustomed to his attitude and did not take offense. He directly stated his purpose:

"Tang Hao, Xiao San is almost six now, isn't he? He should attend this year's awakening ceremony."

At those words, Tang Hao's gaze paused on Tang San for a moment. His eyes were deep and unreadable before he turned back to the iron billet in his hand and replied calmly:

"Then let him attend. What day is it?"

"Three days from now."

Old Jack smiled. "I'll come pick him up then."

Had he not experienced that Life Simulator, Tang San would surely have curiously asked Grandpa Jack what an awakening ceremony was, just as he had in the simulation.

But now, he merely stood quietly at the side, his hand hanging by his side unconsciously clutching the hem of his clothes.

Exactly the same!!!

From the timing of Old Jack's knock, to his father's cold response, to the brief exchange just now—even the arc of his father's arm as he wiped away sweat—everything was identical to what he had seen in the simulation!

A chill silently crawled up his spine, making his scalp tingle.

The course of fate was actually replaying itself before his eyes with such precision.

Since Tang San did not ask any questions, Old Jack merely affectionately patted his head, gave a few more reminders, and left with a smile.

Watching Old Jack disappear at the end of the village road, Tang San slowly shut the wooden door. He leaned against it and calmed his surging emotions.

Reality had confirmed it so swiftly that he believed in the "Life Simulator" another thirty percent more.

He silently returned to the furnace and began working the bellows again.

The whooshing wind, accompanied by the rhythmic hammering, seemed to soothe the waves in his heart.

He thought no more about it and devoted all his energy to the work before him.

With the stamina and control granted by the Mysterious Heaven Skill, he soon completed the ten thousand hammering strikes Tang Hao had assigned him.

When he handed the evenly forged, dense block of iron to his father, Tang Hao took it and casually weighed it in his hand, his rough fingers rubbing across its surface.

Then Tang Hao examined it carefully and said to Tang San, "Do you understand what I told you now?"

Hearing those all-too-familiar words, Tang San almost instinctively said the same thing he had said in the simulation.

As expected, Tang Hao replied exactly as he had in the simulation. He nodded, his expression still as placid as an ancient well:

"Then continue practicing your forging this afternoon. Once you've forged it down to the size of a fist, bring it back for me to see."

"Yes, Father."

Tang San answered softly, took the iron billet, and turned toward his own forging station.

He gripped the heavy Iron Hammer and felt its familiar weight, but his heart was nowhere near as calm as he appeared.

It matched again!!!

Every word of that brief conversation, even the barely perceptible angle at which his father nodded, perfectly overlapped with his experience in the simulation.

This precise, flawless "preview" made the trust in the "Life Simulator" within his heart grow ever deeper.

And three more days passed in the blink of an eye.

"Xiao San, Grandpa has come to pick you up."