HRB600E

Dust scattered.

Tang San gasped for breath, the Clear Sky Hammer still in his left hand, not retracted. The thrill of unleashed power left him somewhat captivated.

He looked at the soul beast before him, now stripped of its ability to resist, and a cold glint flashed in his eyes.

"Cut the weeds and dig up the roots."

Tang Sect creed: Mercy toward an enemy is cruelty toward oneself.

Tang San's gaze turned icy. He raised the Clear Sky Hammer high with both hands, aiming at the Golden Sun Crown Sunflower, ready to deliver the final blow to this king among plants.

"It's over!" At that moment, Tang San's hammer howled down!

Yet, just as the pitch-black hammer head was about to touch the ground—

Clang—!!!

A sound like metal striking stone exploded sharply.

That unstoppable, number-one weapon-type Martial Soul in the world came to an abrupt halt mid-air, unable to advance another inch.

He looked up in shock.

There stood Su Yun, descending like a divine soldier from the heavens, blocking his path with one hand raised to the sky.

And in the swirling dust, what had stopped the Clear Sky Hammer's lethal strike was a thick, pitch-black iron rod, exuding an ancient, weighty aura.

It was covered in rough, mysterious spiral patterns, like a slumbering black dragon coiled around it, spanning the space between heaven and earth with a terrifying pressure that seemed to suppress the four seas and stabilize the cosmos.

What divine weapon could possibly block his strike?

As the dust thinned slightly, Tang San, filled with reverence, focused on the inscription carved into the surface of this peerless artifact. He froze completely.

GB/T1499.2-HRB600E High-Strength Earthquake-Resistant Hot-Rolled Ribbed Rebar (φ32mm)

What the heck? ⚆_⚆?

So-called HRB600 meant this rebar's yield strength reached up to 600 megapascals.

It was a number that spelled despair for a cold-weapon era.

It meant that even a cross-section the size of a fingernail could easily bear six tons of weight—equivalent to an adult African elephant standing on one leg without causing a fracture.

Facing this modern industrial beast, which locked atomic structures tight and could even withstand magnitude-8 earthquakes, Tang San's Clear Sky Hammer, still lacking a soul ring, was indeed...

A bit out of its league.

"Brother Su?" Tang San asked, confused, the killing intent in his eyes not yet fully faded. "What are you doing? It's not dead yet. If we don't kill it now, it might lash out in its dying breath..."

Su Yun said nothing. He simply applied a little force, using the rebar to nudge the Clear Sky Hammer aside.

"We need to switch to a more ceremonial way of killing."

"A more... ceremonial way of killing?"

Tang San stared blankly at Su Yun, his hammer still poised in a downward strike, but the murderous aura had dissipated.

"That's right."

Su Yun flicked his wrist. The heavy rebar spun lightly in his hand, then struck the ground with a heavy "thud," kicking up a ring of dust.

He looked down at the dying Golden Sun Crown Sunflower beneath him, its flower disk half-crushed.

"Xiao San, traditional soul beast hunting is barbaric. Killing the hen for the eggs gets you a dead ring but wastes the beast's spiritual nature."

"In my homeland, we emphasize sustainable development, win-win cooperation..."

"Or, to put it more plainly, labor dispatch."

"Labor... dispatch?" Tang San and Yu Xiaogang, standing in the distance, both froze.

This term was far too advanced for anyone on Douluo Continent.

"Simply put, we don't kill it."

Su Yun pointed at the Golden Sun Crown Sunflower.

"Instead, we sign a contract with it. Preserve its consciousness, let it reside in your body as an energy form, becoming your Soul Spirit. It provides you with a soul ring and soul skills, and you nourish it with your soul power to help it evolve. Mutual benefit—you're the client, it's the contractor."

"This... this is impossible?!"

Yu Xiaogang finally snapped out of his shock. Forgetting his fear, he stumbled over, shouting.

"Absurd! Unheard of! How could such a thing exist in this world?!"

"Grandmaster, just because you can't do it doesn't mean others can't."

Su Yun didn't even glance at Yu Xiaogang. He crouched down and gently tapped the sunflower's flower disk with the rough rebar in his hand.

Clang! Clang! The crisp metallic sounds made the plant tremble in fear.

"Hey, big guy, stop playing dead. I know you understand me."

Su Yun pushed up his sunglasses, revealing a nuclear-friendly smile.

"You've got two choices in front of you now."

"Either this young man with the hammer smashes you to bits, turning you into a mindless ring."

"Either sign a lifetime contract with my brother... no wait, a labor contract. Stick with him from now on, eat well and drink well. You'll lose your freedom, but you'll live on in another form."

The Golden Sun Crown Sunflower, which had been playing dead until now, instantly erupted with a fierce will to survive.

Forgetting its broken stem, it desperately wrapped its two remaining leaves around Su Yun's rebar, its massive flower head nodding wildly like a rattle-drum, shaking a shower of seeds all over Su Yun.

I'll sign! I'll sign right now! As long as I can live, I'll be a beast of burden, a horse or an ox—anything!

"That's more like it."

Su Yun nodded in satisfaction, put away the steel bar, and turned to look at Tang San, who was still stunned.

"Xiao San, come here. I'll teach you a chant—it's a method for forming a contract."

This method naturally came from Bai Ze's copied homework.

In the current version, it was a technique that crushed the competition.

Tang San, having lived two lives, had an exceptionally sharp mind.

After hearing it just once, he grasped the essence.

He took a deep breath, put away the Clear Sky Hammer, and sat cross-legged before the Golden Sun Crown Sunflower.

"Let's begin."

Tang San formed hand seals, and a gentle spiritual force shot out from between his brows, enveloping the Golden Sun Crown Sunflower.

Hum—

Guided by the Contract Array, the massive Golden Sun Crown Sunflower began to dissolve on its own.

It transformed into streams of thick, unbreakable golden liquid light.

These streams radiated a warm, sacred aura.

The golden light flowed like water, slowly entering Tang San's body along the Blue Silver Grass he extended.

"Unfathomable... this is utterly unfathomable..."

Yu Xiaogang stood to the side, unable to believe what he was seeing.

The Blue Silver Grass, which in Yu Xiaogang's theories had been judged a waste Martial Soul, upon contact with this same-origin light power, instantly awakened like a seed after a long drought meeting rain!

Crack!

A crisp sound of a shackle breaking seemed to come from within Tang San's body.

"Ah..."

Tang San couldn't help but let out a low groan.

But it wasn't pain—it was a pleasure that made his very soul tremble.

Like someone locked in a dark dungeon for over a decade, pushing open the door for the first time and seeing brilliant sunlight.

Then, an astonishing scene unfolded.

The once-unremarkable Blue Silver Grass in Tang San's hand began to grow wildly.

The blades, originally as thick as a finger, instantly widened and lengthened.

The outer skin cracked and peeled off, revealing a new, crystalline texture inside, sparkling like sapphire!

In the center of those azure blades, faint golden veins emerged clearly, pulsing like human blood vessels, greedily devouring every trace of light and heat from the Golden Sun Crown Sunflower.

Nobility.

Sovereignty.

Endless vitality.