The Last Ordinary Day

The Tang Sect specialized in using hidden weapons and deadly poisons to assassinate targets, once striking fear into the hearts of every great expert in the pugilistic world.

Relationships between disciples within the sect were not only distant, but also defined by cutthroat competition.

Tang Sanmei herself had been an outer sect disciple of the Tang Sect in her previous life.

Because of her status as a woman, she had been bullied by other disciples since childhood, which fostered her reclusive and sinister personality.

As she grew older, her increasingly beautiful appearance eventually brought disaster upon her; the son of an inner sect elder took a fancy to her and repeatedly resorted to coercion and bribery.

From that moment on, she developed a pathological craving for power.

Having lived in the Tang Sect since she was young and witnessed all manner of ingenious hidden weapons and their deployment techniques, Tang Sanmei viewed the sect's supreme manual, the Mysterious Heaven Treasure Record, as the pinnacle of power.

She was highly gifted with hidden weapons, but unfortunately, her status as an outer sect disciple meant she had no way to access them.

It was not until the inner sect elder's son became increasingly unscrupulous that she finally made up her mind to steal the Mysterious Heaven Treasure Record.

The process was unexpectedly smooth; not only did she master the techniques and hidden weapons within the Mysterious Heaven Treasure Record, but on a dark and windy night, she also brutally murdered the elder's son.

Regrettably, the matter was eventually exposed, and she met her end by falling off a cliff.

Looking at the middle-aged man reeking of cheap alcohol before her, Tang Sanmei's heart grew colder.

As expected, men are all trash!

This thought flashed through her mind, followed immediately by the face of Tang Yin.

Well, except for Brother! Tang Sanmei's originally icy heart melted in an instant, though she still glared with frost-covered features at Tang Hao, the man who was her father in this life.

"What are you squawking about! It's just a bowl of vegetable porridge! Your brother won't die from missing one meal!"

Tang Hao walked out of the room looking impatient, his footsteps somewhat unsteady as he approached a stool and sat down. He picked up an old kettle and took a deep swig, the tea dripping down his stubbly beard onto a collar made shiny by grease and grime.

"You old drunkard!"

Seeing Tang Hao's self-righteous demeanor, Tang Sanmei's face flushed red, and she panted like an ox.

Under the education of her sect in her previous life, the order of seniority was carved into her bones; if this man weren't her father, she would have already marked him with a "path to death."

"Forget it, Sanmei, it's just a bowl of porridge."

A warm palm rested on her shoulder, bringing Tang Sanmei, who was mired in grievance and anger, back to her senses. She turned to look at Tang Yin beside her with teary eyes.

"But Brother worked hard all day and hasn't eaten anything!"

Looking at the aggrieved Tang Sanmei, Tang Yin first cast a cold glance at the drowsy Tang Hao, then reached into his robes and took out a palm-sized oil-paper parcel, handing it to her.

"If the porridge is gone, we can just cook more. Let's have a little extra tonight!"

"This is... beef!" Tang Sanmei looked suspicious, but after her small nose sniffed the air, her previously aggrieved eyes lit up.

She could never mistake this scent. Having transmigrated to this world for many years, this was only the second time she had smelled beef.

The first time was when a villager's daughter in Holy Soul Village married a noble and brought back a cow leg while visiting home; she and her brother had smelled it while passing by that kitchen, and she remembered how much it had made them crave it back then.

"You go cook a pot of porridge first. Tonight, I'll cook a dish of radish-stewed beef myself."

Tang Yin, looking quite pleased with himself, took Tang Sanmei's hand and led her into the kitchen, leaving Tang Hao sitting there in silence, like a piece of nearly rotten, withered wood.

The next morning, just as the sky was beginning to brighten.

On the summit of the mountain behind Holy Soul Village, two figures sat cross-legged on the edge of the cliff, eyes closed in meditation.

As the sun rose over the horizon, both of them opened their eyes at the same time.

These two were naturally the Tang siblings.

Unlike the original Tang San, who kept his treasures to himself, things were different here.

Two years ago, one day, Tang Sanmei had gone to pick mushrooms early in the morning as usual. When she returned, she mysteriously pulled Tang Yin up the mountain, claiming she had discovered techniques left behind by a predecessor in a cave...

Since then, the two had begun to cultivate together.

After two years of practice and Tang Sanmei's intentional or unintentional guidance, Tang Yin had already mastered the three techniques: Ghost Shadow Perplexing Track, Controlling Crane Capturing Dragon, and Mysterious Jade Hand, and his Mysterious Heaven Skill had also broken through to the first level.

The only pity was that he could never grasp the essence of the Purple Demon Eye, eventually accepting the fact that he lacked the talent to learn that specific technique.

As for the Hundred Interpretations of Hidden Weapons from the original story, for some reason, it was not inscribed on the cave walls.

Though he didn't know why, Tang Yin was already very satisfied; after all, he had no real interest in hidden weapons anyway.

Although Douluo Continent was often teased by netizens in his previous life as the "floor tile of fantasy," it was ultimately a world where supreme power resided in the individual, and the growth of one's own strength was the most important thing.

Distracting himself to study hidden weapons might increase his strength in the short term, but it was of no benefit to his path as a soul master.

After all, not everyone was the original Tang San, having godhoods lined up and shoved into their hands.

"This Mysterious Heaven Skill is truly miraculous. To be able to find these manuals, Sanmei's luck is simply heaven-defying!"

Tang Yin's lips curled slightly upward, and noticing Tang Sanmei's gaze, he couldn't help but tease her.

"Uh..." A flash of panic crossed Tang Sanmei's eyes. She didn't want her brother to dig any deeper into the matter, so she brought up the problem that had been troubling them both.

"It's a pity that I don't know why, even though we broke through the first level of the Mysterious Heaven Skill long ago, we haven't been able to make any progress since!"

"Heh~" Tang Yin twitched his lips, leaned back, and rested his head on his hands, continuing the conversation along the topic Tang Sanmei had raised.

"As the saying goes, when the cart reaches the mountain, there will surely be a road; perhaps a turning point will appear before long!"

Tang Sanmei was naturally a sharp and introspective person. Seeing that Tang Yin's words carried hidden meaning and that he seemed confident, her heart stirred, and she suddenly recalled the Spirit Master awakening that the elder of Jack Village had mentioned.

"Brother, do you know about Spirit Masters?"

Tang Sanmei mimicked Tang Yin and leaned back, but finding it uncomfortable, she turned onto her side, propping her head up with one hand while looking at her brother with a face full of curiosity.

"I've traveled to quite a few places while helping the elder of Jack Village with errands lately. I went to a tavern with Old Jack to deliver vegetables and heard the patrons there talking about it."

Tang Yin spoke without hesitation, fabricating a source for his information, and then proceeded to introduce the ten realms from Spirit Scholar to Titled Douluo, along with the color distinctions of spirit rings, to Tang Sanmei.

"Brother is so amazing, you know so much!"

In front of Tang Yin, Tang Sanmei was always a top-tier supporter who never spoiled the mood, always providing plenty of emotional value before asking him about Martial Spirits.

"Brother, what kind of Martial Spirits do you think we might awaken?"

"Martial Spirits, huh~" Tang Yin's expression turned somewhat wistful. "The old man at home is a blacksmith; who knows, maybe our Martial Spirits will be hammers?"

As he said this, the image of Tang Sanmei's small frame lugging around a giant iron hammer suddenly surfaced in his mind, and he couldn't help but laugh out loud.

"Why is Brother suddenly laughing?"

"I was just imagining what you would look like smashing people with a giant iron hammer in the future, so I laughed!"

"Oh! So Brother wanted to make a joke out of me!" Tang Sanmei feigned anger, rolled over to embrace Tang Yin, and buried her face in his chest, the corners of her mouth curling up in secret.