The martial soul he used was the Seven Kill Sword.
After Nan Xuan stepped into Martial Soul Canyon for the individual match, he immediately encountered an opponent whose chosen martial soul was the Clear Sky Hammer.
His opponent's combat experience was extremely seasoned. He was definitely a high-level soul master playing on a low-level account.
When Nan Xuan saw the other man swing the Clear Sky Hammer, he noticed an obvious opening beneath his arm. Seeing his chance, he hurriedly used his Second Soul Skill and barely won.
"Whew, I nearly lost my very first match as the game's creator. It looks like I still lack practical combat experience as an auxiliary-type soul master, especially when it comes to using swords. All my offensive skills are sword-style soul skills, so I need to practice more." After the match, Nan Xuan reflected on it and smiled bitterly.
That evening, Tang San finished cooking and called out to Tang Hao as usual, "Dad, dinner's ready."
Tang Hao rose at the sound and walked out of his room.
The two sat at the table and ate without saying a word.
Tang Hao looked at his son, who clearly wanted to ask something but did not dare to, and said in a low voice, "Ask whatever you want."
Hearing that, Tang San gathered his courage and asked, "Dad, what is your martial soul?"
Tang Hao did not know why Tang San was asking. Since he had blocked his own Network Card and planned to live in seclusion, he had no idea what had happened in the Network World over the past few years.
"A hammer." After thinking for a moment, Tang Hao decided to tell his son.
Tang San felt somewhat disappointed upon hearing that. All his beautiful fantasies vanished.
"What? Is a hammer no good? Being a blacksmith can still earn you a living." Tang Hao was baffled by the disappointed look on his son's face.
Did kids these days have such high standards? Even the Clear Sky Hammer was not enough for him? He had not even awakened his martial soul yet, and he was already comparing himself to others. What was he supposed to do later?
"Oh, no, Dad. I think being a blacksmith is great too. Also, Dad, could you give me some money?" Tang San asked awkwardly.
This was the first time he had ever asked his father for money. He was nervous and scared, but he was certain his father would give it to him. This was the first time he had ever reached out to ask him for something.
"No. I can barely afford alcohol. Where would I get money?" Tang Hao said calmly.
"Oh." Tang San looked aggrieved.
"What do you need money for? If you really need some, go borrow some from your Uncle Nan Xuan across the way. Tell him I'll forge things for him for free a few times later." Seeing the grievance in his son's eyes, Tang Hao could not bring himself to be harsh and eventually came up with this solution.
"Really? That's great!" Tang San was so happy at his father's words that he practically wanted to fly. He could finally afford the Encyclopedia of Martial Souls.
After dinner, Tang Hao returned to his room and ignored the matter. He knew his son was no ordinary child, so he was not worried that anything would happen.
After Tang San finished eating, he casually washed the dishes, then skipped across the stream toward Nan Xuan's house.
When Tang San reached Nan Xuan's door, he did not see Nan Xuan. He only saw Lan Yingying washing dishes.
"Sister Yingying, is Uncle Nan Xuan home?" Tang San looked at Lan Yingying, who appeared to be only around eighteen, and immediately called her sister.
Hearing herself called "sister," Lan Yingying's mouth twitched until it went numb.
"Oh, he's inside. What do you need him for? I'll go get him." Still, Lan Yingying gritted her teeth and answered.
"Mhm, then I'll trouble you, Sister Yingying." Tang San did not say what he wanted from Nan Xuan. After all, borrowing money was not exactly something to be proud of.
Tang San sat boredly on the wooden cabin's steps. Seeing that Nan Xuan had not come out yet, he took out his Network Card and entered the Network World.
"Huh? It seems like entering the Network World is much faster at Uncle Nan Xuan's place." While Tang San was still puzzled by the entry speed, Nan Xuan had already walked over to him outside.
Tang San hurriedly exited the Network World.
"San, what did you need me for?" Nan Xuan asked with a smile.
Tang San said awkwardly, "Uncle Nan Xuan, you know about the library in the Network World too, right?"
Nan Xuan nodded.
"I want to read a book in there, but it actually costs money. So I told my dad, and he told me to borrow a little money from you. He promised that he'd forge things for you for free a few times later." Tang San fidgeted as he spoke.
Nan Xuan smiled and asked, "So how much are you planning to borrow? I can lend you several million."
Tang San knew Nan Xuan did business, but he had not expected him to be so wealthy.
"I'll borrow ten Network Gold Coins for now. If it isn't enough later, I'll come borrow more." After learning how rich Nan Xuan was, Tang San decided to treat him as a cash machine. His dad could pay him back by forging things anyway, so there was nothing to fear.
If one forging job was not enough, then two. If two were not enough, then three. His dad was still young, after all.
Nan Xuan had guessed what Tang San was thinking, but he still lent him the money. He would get it back eventually. Refuse to repay it? A level ninety-nine Limit Douluo would scour the entire continent to collect the debt.
After borrowing the Network Gold Coins, Tang San returned to his room with a smile and entered the Network World.
"It seems the network speed at Uncle Nan Xuan's house really is much faster." Tang San experienced what network lag meant once more. It was painfully slow.
"Tang Sect, why do other people enter the Network World so much faster?" Tang San did not understand why this was happening, so he tossed the question to Tang Sect, the Smart Guide.
"Third Young Master, regarding this issue, the God of the Network once gave an official response. Those who spend more in the Network World generally have much faster network speeds. That speed can also be shared with people nearby, though there is a distance limit," Tang Sect explained.
When Tang San heard that those who spent more had faster speeds, he became even more convinced that Nan Xuan was wealthy. He was surely the kind of man rich enough to dominate a region who had come to the countryside to retire. There had been plenty of such examples in Bashu in his previous life.
I wonder if I could acknowledge him as my godfather. Huh? How could I even think that? I'm a once-in-a-century genius of the Tang Sect. Once I recreate Tang Sect Hidden Weaponry, I'll definitely have money. Tang San struggled fiercely within himself. He absolutely refused to lower his head to anyone else.
Luckily, Tang Hao did not know about any of this, or he would have beaten Tang San to death.
After paying the Network Gold Coins, Tang San finally obtained the Encyclopedia of Martial Souls he had been longing for.
"Clear Sky Hammer, the number one weapon martial soul on Douluo Continent."
"Isn't this hammer ranked first on today's weapon martial soul usage list? It has already been used tens of thousands of times, and this is only the first day."
"A martial soul like this might be powerful, but since so many people have used it, I doubt it has much of an advantage. Everyone understands a hammer by now, so what's the point of playing with a damn hammer?" Looking at the illustration in the book, Tang San could not help feeling disdainful toward the Clear Sky Hammer.
Tang San continued flipping through the book and saw a pig—no, a Pig Beast.
"Isn't this just the pig raised by Bashu families? This martial soul actually mutated from the Blue Lightning Tyrant Dragon. That's truly bizarre." Looking at the master's martial soul, Tang San could not help feeling fortunate. Thankfully, his father's martial soul was a hammer. At least it was not a pig.
The next morning, Tang San still habitually ran to the hillside to cultivate the Purple Demon Eye. Then he cultivated the Mysterious Heaven Skill before using Ghost Shadow Perplexing Track to run back.
After returning, Tang San hurriedly helped Tang Hao prepare breakfast. Once the two had eaten, they each went off to do their own thing.
Tang San secretly went beneath the eaves to the right of Nan Xuan's wooden cabin, carried over a small stone slab, and sat down.
"Since I can't acknowledge him as my godfather, I'll just mooch his Wi-Fi. It won't cause him any losses anyway." To avoid acknowledging a godfather, Tang San came up with a way to mooch Wi-Fi.
Tang San eagerly entered the Network World and started an individual match.
Inside Nan Xuan's wooden cabin's living room.
"Tang San is under the eaves on the right. I don't know what he's doing." Lan Yingying sat nearby eating fruit as she spoke softly.
"What else could he be doing? Mooching Wi-Fi." Nan Xuan answered indifferently.
"Mooching Wi-Fi? Mooching what Wi-Fi? Isn't the speed the same everywhere?" Lan Yingying asked with a puzzled expression.
"No. Within the range of my domain skill, the speed directly increases by one hundred percent."
"Sometimes I need to go out, so I expand the range of my domain skill, and it moves with me. Since the official answer stated that network speed is linked to one's usual spending in the Network World, people with good enough conditions can share it with those nearby." Nan Xuan explained with a smile.
"So right now, your domain skill only covers the area around this wooden cabin," Lan Yingying said.
"Yeah. We rarely go out now, and we grow everything ourselves. That kid probably experienced the joy of fast internet last night, so he came over to mooch it this morning." Nan Xuan used his soul skill to investigate Tang San, who was still fighting in the canyon, and smiled.
Lan Yingying was speechless as well. Tying spending to network speed was truly a clever way of doing business.
"Nan Xuan, do you really plan to stay here until you become a god?" Lan Yingying already knew why Nan Xuan had created this game and also knew this man's goal.
"Not exactly. This continent is wonderful. In a few years, I'll go out and take a look around. I've been in this world for twenty-seven years, and aside from Spirit City and Gengxin City, I've only passed through other places while traveling. I've never properly seen them. Back then, Dong'er was always watched over by Qian Xunji, so she never had the chance. Now she has even less chance. So when the time comes, I plan to bring along my old brothers and organize an old folks' tour group. Our final stop will be Spirit City." Nan Xuan voiced what he had most wanted to say in recent years.
When he lacked strength, he only dared to have fun quietly while keeping an eye on how the plot developed. Once he had strength, the people who could accompany him had jobs. It was truly helpless, so he could only think of other ways to accomplish these things.
"I see. Then take me with you when the time comes. I'm alone now anyway. I can't return to the forest, and I have no family left. I can only stick around here and freeload off you." Lan Yingying smiled.
"Sure. Bringing you would be much better than bringing that Liu Mumu. You can cook, too. That woman... sigh." Nan Xuan was left speechless whenever Liu Mumu was mentioned.
"If I couldn't cook, would you also try to think of some way to trick me into leaving so you could live alone more easily?" Lan Yingying asked helplessly.
Nan Xuan did not want to continue this topic, or it would take on a strange flavor. He could not tell her that he had read the original work before and knew she was very virtuous.
When Lan Yingying saw that Nan Xuan had gone silent, she glared at him and returned to her room.
Feeling bored, Nan Xuan walked outside the wooden cabin and headed toward Tang San.
Then, pretending he had only just noticed Tang San, he asked in surprise, "San, why are you here?"
Tang San, who was still battling in the canyon, was startled badly enough to kill himself.
"Ah, Uncle Nan Xuan, why are you here?" As soon as Tang San said that, he realized something was wrong.
"Oh, I was taking a walk around the cabin. What about you?" Nan Xuan did not expose Tang San and merely asked with a smile.
"Ah, I was taking a walk around here too. Then I got a little tired, so I rested here for a while." Tang San looked at Nan Xuan and smiled.
Tang San felt that Nan Xuan had probably not noticed anything unusual just now. Otherwise, he would have asked why Tang San was here long ago.
"Mhm, be careful." Nan Xuan said that and left.
Seeing Tang San take a deep breath, Nan Xuan found it amusing.
He had deliberately gone over to scare Tang San while the boy was still fighting in the canyon. After all, he possessed every permission and could practically monitor all of Tang San's actions in the Network World.
Nan Xuan watched Tang San run home with a meaningful gaze, narrowed his eyes, and said with a smile, "San, this Wi-Fi isn't so easy to mooch."
Before you continue