Stealing the Storm Cloak

Tang San continued to ask, "Teacher, do you know what is going on with his martial soul?"

Yu Xiaogang coughed a few times. Naturally, he could not admit that his judgment had been wrong, so he feigned a sigh and said, "Sigh, it seems he has ultimately chosen to walk down this path."

"Teacher, you know about it?" Tang San's eyes lit up. He was a person who loved to learn, but he was also a competitive person. Without a doubt, Lan Si defeating Xiao Wu today had put a certain amount of pressure on Tang San. Therefore, he was desperate to know everything about Lan Si. As the saying goes, know yourself and know your enemy, and you will never be defeated.

Yu Xiaogang's eyes shone with a wise light. "The path Lan Si is taking reminds me of a certain Soul Master. He also possessed a flower-type martial soul, and it was countless times more powerful than Lan Si's lotus."

"Then what happened to him?" Hearing this, Tang San pressed for an answer.

Yu Xiaogang said with regret, "Relying on his high-quality martial soul and powerful talent, he managed to cultivate to the Title Douluo level. However, because he chose the wrong path, he became the bottom-tier existence among those of the same rank, ultimately wasting his talent. He couldn't even defeat Soul Masters with lower soul power than his own, let alone Title Douluos of the same level."

Hearing Yu Xiaogang's words, Tang San asked with some hesitation, "Teacher, do you mean to say that that Title Douluo also chose the same path as Lan Si?"

Yu Xiaogang nodded and said, "Correct. Lan Si's situation is very similar to that Title Douluo's. He might appear powerful in the early stages, but he will begin to lack strength in the later stages. Especially when reaching the Soul Saint stage, the gap will become increasingly obvious, and eventually, he will fade into the crowd."

"Of course, this is all under the premise that Lan Si can even reach the Soul Saint stage. After all, in terms of talent, while that Title Douluo couldn't compare to the best, he could still be called gifted. If even that Title Douluo found cultivation so difficult, let alone Lan Si, who only has a measly five levels of Innate Soul Power."

Tang San suddenly understood, and his heart felt much lighter. That's right, so what if Lan Si is strong now?

Without a professional theoretical mentor to guide him, and with only five levels of Innate Soul Power, the gap between the two of them would only grow wider in the future.

Thinking of this, a faint, imperceptible smile curled the corners of Tang San's mouth. He realized that he seemed to have overthought things.

Tang San bowed slightly. "Teacher, I understand. Then you should rest here for a while. I will come to see you again when I bring you dinner tonight."

Yu Xiaogang smiled warmly. "Go ahead, don't let it delay your cultivation."

Tang San nodded slightly, turned around, and walked out of the room.

Watching Tang San's disappearing back, a flash of contemplation crossed Yu Xiaogang's eyes. To be honest, he had already begun to feel a bit of regret in his heart; Lan Si's talent seemed to have exceeded his expectations.

He awakened his martial soul three months ago with five levels of Innate Soul Power, and now he is already a one-ring Soul Master.

To increase his soul power by five levels in such a short time, this likely broke the record in the history of the Douluo Continent.

"Sigh, it seems I will have to interact with him more in the future. Such a good seedling must not be wasted."

On the other side, after watching books on Soul Master theory in the academy library for an hour, Lan Si walked out of the Nuoding Academy.

Calculating the time, at this hour, it should be when Tang San heads to the blacksmith shop for his part-time job.

The largest blacksmith shop in Nuoding City is the Otto Blacksmith Shop. The other shops are small operations with very little business; Tang San couldn't possibly go there, and they wouldn't take him on as an apprentice anyway.

Without hesitation, Lan Si went directly to the Otto Blacksmith Shop.

Before he even entered the door, Lan Si felt a familiar wave of heat rushing toward him.

At the same time, a loud, resonant voice rang out from inside, "Little kid, what are you doing here? If you want to have something forged, bring your parents. Hurry up and leave, it's dangerous here."

"Has Tang San already arrived?" Lan Si smiled faintly and stepped inside.

Inside the blacksmith shop, Tang San stood innocently in front of a burly man with dark skin. The latter's gaze was drawn to Tang San, and he stopped his work to look at him with some curiosity.

"Uncle, hello. I am here to apply as an apprentice," Tang San said politely.

"Little kid, don't mess around, go home quickly. With your small frame, I'm afraid you can't even lift the hammer," the aforementioned man paused, looked Tang San up and down, and shook his head.

"Uncle, please just let me try!" Tang San pleaded with a determined look in his eyes.

"I—" The man was just about to refuse when a crisp voice suddenly echoed through the hall: "Uncle Tom, he is my classmate. Just let him have a try."

Hearing this familiar voice, almost all the blacksmiths, including the man, stopped their work. Their eyes lit up instantly, and they turned their gazes toward Lan Si with friendly smiles.

"Si, how do you have time to come over? The boss just went out. He was overjoyed when he heard you became a Soul Master and is currently out drinking with a few friends to celebrate," the man called Tom said with a gentle smile toward Lan Si.

Lan Si smiled without a word, turned his gaze to Tang San, and asked with a smile, "Tang San, what made you think of coming to a blacksmith shop to be an apprentice?"

Seeing that Lan Si did not show any mockery toward him, Tang San explained, "I am a work-study student and need to earn money to subsidize my living expenses. It just so happens that my father is a blacksmith, and I learned from him for a while, so I came here."

Lan Si nodded as if suddenly realizing, and said to Tom, "Uncle Tom, just let him try. If it doesn't work out, it won't be too late to refuse him then."

"But Si, what if the boss asks..." Tom said, looking a bit troubled.

"I will talk to Uncle Otto later," Lan Si said.

Since Lan Si had spoken, Tom found it hard to refuse. He handed the thick, heavy forging hammer to Tang San and said solemnly, "Then go ahead and try. But let's be clear, this is only for Si's sake. If you can't do it, I will refuse you without hesitation."

"Thank you," Tang San replied. He took the forging hammer, which was half a foot taller than he was, and held it level. Tom and the surrounding blacksmiths immediately widened their eyes and exclaimed, "Good strength!"

Tang San's eyes were fixed tightly on the red-hot pig iron in the furnace. He exhaled, gave a light shout, and swung the forging hammer with force.

"Hah!"

His feet planted firmly on the ground, his calves exerted force, the power traveled upward, and his body rotated halfway. The massive forging hammer swung in a diagonal arc through the air and finally struck the piece of pig iron heavily.

With a loud clang, the hammer rebounded. Tang San used the momentum to turn quickly, swung the hammer again, and with another loud bang, the hammer landed on the pig iron even more heavily than before.

Lan Si, standing to the side, watched with glowing eyes, not blinking once, not missing a single movement of Tang San's.

One hammer, two hammers, three hammers—it went on repeatedly.

It wasn't until the eighteenth hammer, after eighteen consecutive strikes, that clang, the final strike was completed. Only then did Tang San stop, panting and sweating on his forehead.

And although the shape of that piece of pig iron hadn't changed much, it had shrunk by a full circle overall.