Iron Forging Hand

"You all know each other now, so there's no need for introductions. Little Monster is the most gifted Soul Master I've ever seen, while your Strength Clan has its own unique methods of using strength. Starting today, work together and train together. Any objections?"

Liu Erlong displayed the authority of a dean.

"No problem!" Tie Xiong said bluntly.

"We have no problem either!" Tai Nuo nodded as well.

Liu Erlong smiled in satisfaction. "Come with me!"

Tie Xiong hurried over and took Liu Erlong's hand.

Liu Erlong turned and glared at him.

"What is it, Sister?"

Tie Xiong blinked his large eyes and looked innocently at Liu Erlong.

When the three of them had appeared earlier, she had held Tie Xiong's hand to show Tai Tan that Tie Xiong was close to her and that she was determined to protect him.

She had not expected Tie Xiong to be so bold now.

Just wait, Little Monster. Sooner or later, you'll pay back every advantage you took today.

Liu Erlong led them to the Mimicry Training Room building.

They followed the corridor all the way to its deepest end.

There was a separate room there, several hundred square meters in size.

The room had no windows, yet it was brightly lit.

Bright crystals were embedded in the surrounding walls, making it look exceptionally lavish.

On the eastern side of the room stood a square platform. It resembled an enormous metal pillar, nearly two meters high and made of dark brownish-black metal. Several distinct claw marks covered its top.

"This is where I normally train my soul skills. The gravity can be controlled here, and no one will disturb you. Great Strength King, Little Monster, and Tailong, you'll train here from now on!"

Liu Erlong introduced the place.

Tie Xiong looked around the room, walked a full circle through it, and was extremely satisfied.

"Thank you, Sister!"

Tie Xiong grinned happily.

"Train properly. Every month, I'll come check your progress!"

A smile appeared on Liu Erlong's face.

Then she swayed away without looking back.

Tie Xiong shuddered. Damn it, this was personal retaliation.

Tai Nuo and Tailong, standing nearby, became even more convinced that Liu Erlong and Tie Xiong had an unusual relationship.

The respect in their eyes when they looked at Tie Xiong increased a little.

Tai Nuo flicked his right hand, and a book appeared in it.

He handed it to Tie Xiong. "This is the cultivation method for the Iron Forging Hand. It is similar to a meditation technique, guiding Soul Power through the tiny meridians and bones in the palms.

"Over time, it can strengthen the hardness of the palms. When cultivated to the extreme, the palms will turn black like iron during use and can ward off most toxins!

"Of course, this method must be used together with a particular medicinal solution. Our Strength Clan will provide it!"

Tie Xiong quickly accepted it. "Then I'll gladly accept!"

He immediately began flipping through it. After only a few days in Heaven Dou City, he had obtained the Iron Forging Hand he wanted.

Things had gone so smoothly that even Tie Xiong found it surprising, though he was happier than anything.

Though it was called a book, it actually contained fewer than ten pages, all describing and illustrating the routes through which Soul Power should circulate.

There were also some of Tai Nuo's own experiences and insights from cultivation.

This technique had likely been developed through the accumulated forging experience of several generations of the Strength Clan.

Tie Xiong read for a while before suddenly noticing Tailong staring at him expectantly.

Only then did he remember that he was supposed to teach Tailong how to absorb Soul Rings beyond his limits.

"Teacher Lu, I'll have to trouble you. Suppress his Soul Power and have him train in the Gravity Chamber. Also use the Star Luo Illusion to let Tailong experience it!"

"Tailong, absorbing Soul Rings beyond your rank means suffering quite a bit. But Tailong, I believe in you, so don't give up!"

Tie Xiong giggled and clenched his fist.

He did not have time to teach Tailong himself, so he could only trouble Teacher Lu.

There it was again—that familiar contempt. Tailong roared inwardly.

"Just wait. I, Tailong, won't lose to you!"

Tie Xiong walked to one side, sat cross-legged, and began cultivating the Iron Forging Hand.

The Iron Forging Hand could be considered a reduced version of the Mysterious Jade Hand.

Soul Power was like internal energy. Circulating it through specific meridians could strengthen the bones, meridians, and skin of the hands.

Its effect should have been the same as when his father used to apply medicinal paste to his hands when he was young.

In the end, it formed a special soft callused layer on his hands, making the bone density, fascia, and tendons in them even stronger.

After so many years of hammer training, the bones in his hands had already been strengthened considerably.

But if he continued relying on the Tie Family's medicinal paste and hammer practice, they would only improve gradually from now on.

Now that he had obtained the Iron Forging Hand, things were different. It could directly raise the strengthening of his hands to another level.

Tie Xiong focused his spiritual power and guided Soul Power through his hands.

He discovered that he had already trained some of the tiny pathways mentioned in the book.

But far more of them had yet to be trained.

Tie Xiong controlled the Soul Power within him, turning it into hair-thin threads of Soul Power that began circulating through his palms.

Like needlepoints, the Soul Power opened up blocked channels within the meridians of his hands.

First came a numb, itching sensation, followed by pain.

The stinging pain from when he had first begun hammer training at the age of one, with medicinal paste spread over his hands, returned.

It was a long-lost sensation, yet a familiar one.

Tie Xiong bared his teeth in pain.

Yet his face showed even more excitement and desire.

He remembered that every time he had endured this sort of pain as a child, the strength in his hands had increased somewhat afterward.

Wasn't this exactly what he wanted?

Tai Nuo, standing nearby, was already dumbfounded.

He had lost count of how many times he had been shocked today.

He had been waiting for Tie Xiong to find the Iron Forging Hand's cultivation pain unbearable so that he could smugly tell him that the Strength Clan's techniques were not so easy to cultivate.

Tie Xiong was clearly suffering greatly now.

But that expression? He seemed to be enjoying it?

No wonder Dean Liu had said that Tie Xiong was the most talented Soul Master she had ever seen.

Sigh, the world of geniuses was beyond his understanding!

Tai Nuo glanced at his son again. Tailong's face was pale, and cold sweat covered him.

He had just gone through one round of Lu Qibin's Star Luo Illusion. In the Illusion Realm, he had suffered Ten Thousand Ants Devouring the Heart, and he was still shaken by the lingering fear!

It seemed that training to absorb Soul Rings beyond one's rank was not easy either.

Tai Nuo pondered this.

The next day, Tai Nuo brought over the medicinal solution that aided in cultivating the Iron Forging Hand.

It looked crystal clear, and no one knew how it had been prepared.

Compared to the Tie Family's medicinal paste, its effects were as different as heaven and earth.

After Tie Xiong applied the medicinal solution to his palms and began meditating, the circulation of Soul Power in his hands abruptly accelerated.

Then came a scorching sensation, as though both hands were being boiled in a hot pot.

Every part of his hands hurt.

This time, Tie Xiong truly could not endure it any longer.

Tie Xiong closed his eyes and began practicing his hammer techniques in his mind, relying on his obsession with hammering to offset the pain.

He believed that as long as he persevered, the rewards would be immense.

Three days passed like this, and Tie Xiong shed a layer of skin from his hands.

"The first three days of cultivation, along with the medicinal solution, produce the best results. Once the skin peels away, the Iron Forging Hand has been initially cultivated successfully.

"From then on, use your meditation technique to consolidate it every day, supplemented by the medicinal solution. It won't hurt this much anymore, and your palms will gradually strengthen until they become immune to all poisons!"

Tai Nuo spoke with a calm expression.

For the rest of his life, he would never again be surprised by Tie Xiong. Tie Xiong was truly a beast.