Clang!
Clang!
Clang!
The unhurried tapping rang out.
In Tang Hao's line of sight,
the little boy, only half as tall as him, picked up a giant hammer almost as tall as he was.
He struck the piece of Raw Iron, once, then again!
His pace wasn't fast.
But it was steady!
As he went on, his rhythm grew so steady that the force behind nearly every blow remained unchanged!
That was terrifying!
After all, controlling the force of each blow while tempering Raw Iron with a giant hammer was extremely difficult!
Tang Hao had once been a Titled Douluo. Now that he was holed up in Holy Soul Village and had spent several years smithing, he naturally knew how hard it was.
"Ten... twenty... thirty... fifty..."
Standing in the shadows, Tang Hao counted every blow Wang Feng struck.
Fifty blows!
It was hard to imagine that this kid-usually incredibly lazy, yet quite clever and quick-witted, who liked to drop by for a meal whenever he had nothing to do and whom Tang Hao had once kicked out-
this little fellow he had watched grow up-
actually possessed innate strength that could rival Little San's!
Even Tang Hao was astonished!
And this kid was probably extraordinarily gifted, even more so than Little San!
Little San was clever too, but it was difficult for him to control the force of every blow as precisely as this kid Feng did! The difference was huge!
And the further he went, the more apparent it became!
"If the first ten blows were anything to go by, Kid Feng had some trouble generating force as he swung the giant hammer, so the power was uneven. But from the eleventh blow onward... he was controlling the force of every strike with astonishing precision."
The more Tang Hao watched, the more startled he became.
It meant the kid had unparalleled powers of comprehension and control over every muscle in his body!
That was how he had managed to grasp the techniques of smithing so quickly!
And without anyone guiding him!
"Little San's comprehension is pretty good, and he has decent control over his body too. I didn't guide him either. But even after a whole day of striking, he had only just begun to learn how to control the force in every part of his body as he swung. Even so, his technique was still far from good enough. It would take at least another ten days or so before he started to show results."
Tang Hao's gaze flickered.
His eyes settled on Kid Feng.
Tang Hao seemed to see Wang Feng's heart, as though it held boundless strength, pumping out streams of blood, like a primal force.
His feet seemed rooted to the earth. The strength surging from his heart appeared to transform into streams of colored energy, rising from the ground, growing from his calves, then passing into his thighs. It flowed through his waist, the axis of his body, then along his back and arms, before finally gathering in the hand gripping the giant hammer.
Clang!
A blow that could only be called perfect struck the Raw Iron!
It rang out with a clear, flawless sound!
"I haven't taught Little San these techniques yet. For Little San, who only knows how to swing a hammer, it's still too early. As for the Disorder Splitting Wind Hammer technique, it's even too early! He'll need a little more time."
Tang Hao muttered, "But I never expected... Kid Feng had actually figured out these techniques on his own? A genius?"
Tang Hao felt that "genius" wasn't enough to describe him.
If someone taught you and you learned quickly, that was clever.
If someone taught you and you learned it immediately, that was genius.
But if no one taught you, and you figured it out yourself... then what was that???
A genius among geniuses?
"Just ten swings, and he immediately grasped the techniques I've spent all these years working out..."
Tang Hao watched the tiny figure continue to swing the giant hammer, still working away tirelessly.
Suddenly, he felt a long-forgotten sensation well up inside him.
He had been a genius himself, once...
But now...
Tang Hao felt a familiar sense of disparity. It was faint, very faint, and he didn't care about it. He soon let it go.
Still, it brought a few unusual feelings to a man who had spent these past years as stagnant and dispirited as an ancient well.
Of course, Tang Hao didn't know.
Wang Feng had grasped these techniques so quickly because he had knowledge from his previous life.
In other words, these techniques were common knowledge on Earth, and he had even read Douluo Continent.
As a transmigrator, Wang Feng naturally had to make use of his advantage, in addition to the cheat granted by the system.
Otherwise, what kind of transmigrator would he be? Wang Feng didn't want to let down the transmigrators who had come before him.
Being able to think far ahead, having a strong capacity to learn, a unique breadth of knowledge, and a certain store of knowledge were all advantages transmigrators had.
With a cheat in hand, those advantages could be put to the fullest use!
So Wang Feng was only learning to use these techniques quickly. He hadn't figured them out himself...
But at that moment, he was completely focused on striking the Raw Iron and had no idea that Tang Hao was watching his every move!
Naturally, Tang Hao took him for a genius among geniuses!
With each blow, Wang Feng felt his body heating up rapidly.
The strength each swing consumed was greater than that of any exercise he had done before!
And the force rebounding from the hammer put an immense strain on his body!
Five hundred blows in one go. That should be my limit! Wang Feng breathed evenly.
He knew that breathing was the most important part of any exercise. Although he didn't know any special breathing techniques,
steady, regular breathing could maximize the benefits of every hammer blow!
"His stamina and endurance are extraordinary too... He's already struck more than a hundred times, and his breathing hasn't faltered at all. In that respect alone, he's already surpassed Little San. And Little San can't strike with all his strength every time, or control the force with such precision! One of his blows has the same effect as ten of Little San's training strikes these past few days!"
Tang Hao continued counting steadily.
Little San had only just started learning to swing the hammer these past few days. A hundred swings at a time was his limit.
Then he would rest for a while before continuing with another hundred in one go.
But if Kid Feng struck with all his strength every time, he would be exhausted after at most fifty or sixty blows, and wouldn't recover quickly.
"Kid Feng's limit should be a hundred and fifty blows in one go. And striking this way takes a lot out of him; he won't fully recover for half a day." Tang Hao watched him.
And that was indeed the case.
The further he went, the more the strain grew!
Tang Hao's observation was accurate. After a hundred and fifty blows, Wang Feng's breathing was still steady, but it had become somewhat irregular.
The sound of the blows had grown uneven too.
Seeing this, Tang Hao nodded and quietly left.
"Kid Feng always looks so lazy, like his bones are about to fall apart... I never would have thought he was so capable behind the scenes! His talent and physical fitness are both this strong! The people in the village all misjudged him... They only thought the kid was quick-witted. They never imagined he'd be this capable, did they?"
Tang Hao shook his head. He had no intention of telling the villagers any of this. It was enough that he knew.
He couldn't even be bothered to deal with Little San, much less Kid Feng.
"You'll stop when you run out of strength in a bit. Then you'll obediently bring back the hammer and the quarter of the Raw Iron you've finished tempering." Tang Hao thought to himself. "I'll just go back and sleep a while..."
Tang Hao calculated that, given the force behind each of Kid Feng's blows, a hundred and fifty or so would be just enough to temper a quarter of that piece of Raw Iron.
That was already terrifying!
Little San had been hammering for ten days and had only just managed to refine two-thirds of a piece of Raw Iron.
Kid Feng could refine a quarter of it in one go!
Give him three or four days, and he might finish refining the whole thing. That was simply too outrageous!
However, Tang Hao didn't know this.
After he left,
Wang Feng didn't stop as Tang Hao had expected. He gritted his teeth and kept going.
A hundred and fifty blows only made his body feel tired. His actual limit was far beyond that number!
If Tang Hao had seen this, he would definitely have stopped him.
If he kept striking like this, he would reach the limit of what his body could bear and injure himself!
Because, as mentioned before, while Wang Feng struck the iron, he also suffered a powerful impact!
Unfortunately, Tang Hao couldn't see him. He had returned to the village.
He was already some distance from that secluded spot and couldn't hear the subsequent blows.
Clang, clang, clang!
Clang!
"Five hundred blows!"
After Wang Feng struck the final blow, his whole body was utterly exhausted, and his consciousness began to blur.
But he still hadn't exceeded his limit!
Wang Feng looked at the much smaller piece of Raw Iron. Without being smelted over a blazing fire, it had turned completely red just from his hammer blows!
"The Meteor Tear hasn't released any energy... That means I still haven't surpassed my limit..."
Wang Feng gritted his teeth, even though he felt there wasn't a shred of strength left in his body.
The limit-this was the limit! But he had to surpass it!
"Pretty girls, powerful Martial Spirits, flashy bragging... Mm... I have to keep going..."
His stubborn will kept Wang Feng going!
Thinking this, Wang Feng raised the giant hammer again and brought it down!
"Six hundred..."
"Seven hundred..."
Clang!
Clang!
By the end, Wang Feng's consciousness had grown completely blurred. His body struck the Raw Iron almost entirely on instinct.
He had no idea how many times he had hit it!
But when that piece of Raw Iron had finally been fully refined,
Wang Feng collapsed.
This time, he really didn't have a drop... no, a shred of strength left.
If Tang Hao had still been there, his jaw would probably have hit the floor...
Because this six-year-old boy had actually refined an entire piece of Raw Iron in one go!!!
Crash!
As Wang Feng fell to the ground, the corner of his mouth curled into a smile.
Because a familiar warm current slowly welled up from the area around his heart!
The power released by the Meteor Tear proved that he had finally surpassed his body's limit once again!
Breakfast the next morning.
Tang Hao slowly woke up and ate the breakfast Tang San had already cooked.
But he noticed that Xiao San was fussing with medicinal herbs today.
Tang Hao paused, fell silent for a moment, then asked, "Xiao San, why are you fussing with herbs? Are you hurt?"
Tang San shook his head and answered carefully:
"No. Brother Feng and I agreed to have a fight today. I'm worried he might get hurt, so I prepared some ointment for him in advance..."
As a disciple of the Tang Sect, he naturally knew how to make a simple ointment.
At this, Tang Hao fell silent.
He remembered the scene from yesterday, when that Feng brat had swung the giant hammer.
The Feng brat was probably just a little stronger than Xiao San.
But when children fought, even a slight advantage didn't guarantee who would win.
Xiao San was usually level-headed. The idea must have come from the Feng brat, who probably wanted to test his own strength?
Tang Hao was a clever man and had more or less guessed what was going on.
Still, he couldn't be bothered to interfere. They were only children fighting. Xiao San was always sensible and well-behaved, and a fight wouldn't hurt him.
"Mm, be careful," Tang Hao said flatly.
Seeing this, Tang San let out a breath.
If his father disagreed, he would have been in a difficult position. But he still had to tell his father about it.
"Then, Father, I'll head out first."
Tang San put away the ointment he had prepared and walked outside.
Tang Hao nodded slightly.
Not long after Tang San left,
Tang Hao walked over to the furnace. Suddenly, out of the corner of his eye, he spotted a piece of fully refined Raw Iron!
Tang Hao's whole body jerked. He stared at the finished piece of Raw Iron in utter disbelief.
This was the very piece of Raw Iron he had seen Wang Feng hammering and refining yesterday!
Without thinking, Tang Hao wanted to rush out of the house and drag Tang San back...
But after thinking it over, he decided against it.
"Forget it. Xiao San prepared the ointment... Let's just say it was for himself."
"That Feng brat... What a freak!!!"
Muttering to himself, Tang Hao walked into the inner room, then flopped down and went straight back to sleep...