The Last Familial Affection, A Perfect Grand Finale (Not!)

Tang Liu's face darkened, and he said with extreme gloom, "Did you see clearly? Even if you didn't, I won't show you again. Go watch my brother!"

Was his body really this weak?

If he had known, he would have practiced martial arts with Tang San!

Tang Hao suppressed the amusement in his heart, deciding not to lower himself to the level of this little brat. He looked at his eldest son, who gave him much less trouble, and asked, "Little San, what about your Martial Soul?"

"Dad, I have two Martial Souls as well," Tang San said.

"Oh?" Tang Hao was truly surprised this time.

Two Innate Full Soul Powers, two Twin Martial Souls!

And both were his own sons!

After speaking, Tang San prepared to release his Martial Soul, but Tang Liu refused Tang San's support first, lest it get in his way.

But the moment Tang San's hand left him, his legs went soft, and he began to topple forward again.

Fortunately, Tang San reacted quickly this time and caught him in time.

It seemed that Tang Hao's pressure was not so easy to withstand, and that fall from earlier had truly been quite heavy.

"Dad, you hold Little Liu first," Tang San said, glancing at Tang Hao.

"No! Even if I, Tang Liu, fall a hundred times today, get my face swollen, or die out there, I don't want him to hold me!" Tang Liu resisted with a firm expression.

Tang Hao's face darkened again.

Tang San: "..."

Tang Hao grabbed Tang Liu and pulled him over, pinning him in his arms to prevent him from falling again.

"Let go! I said I don't want you to hold me. I'd rather have a wall hold me than you!" I will not succumb to this!

Tang Hao's face was as black as the bottom of a pot; he couldn't help but use some force to press him down and keep him from struggling.

"Don't move!" he barked.

Feeling a bit of pain, Tang Liu immediately quieted down.

Then, pressed tightly against Tang Hao's chest, he felt the warmth of Tang Hao's body and the faint scent of alcohol that drifted into his nose from time to time.

Is this... a father's embrace?

A feeling he had never experienced in his past life quietly crept into his heart.

It seemed... quite nice, actually.

Tang Liu calmed down, and the reluctant expression on his face faded away.

"Little San, release your Martial Soul," Tang Hao said.

Tang San gave a soft "Mn," then raised both hands.

On his right hand grew Blue Silver Grass; it was solid, lacking the golden veins found on Tang Liu's blades of grass.

Tang Hao looked at that small stalk of Blue Silver Grass, lost in thought once again.

Afterward, Tang San condensed the Clear Sky Hammer in his left hand.

Having trained since childhood, Tang San was stronger than Tang Liu, yet even so, his left hand holding the Clear Sky Hammer was still slowly sinking.

"Alright, Little San, put them away," Tang Hao said, taking a deep breath to suppress his surging emotions.

Tang San nodded and retracted the Blue Silver Grass and the Clear Sky Hammer.

At the same time, he couldn't help but be surprised, as in just this short moment, more than half of the Mysterious Heaven Skill internal energy in his body had been consumed.

Tang Hao looked at Tang San with complex emotions. After a long while, he said slowly, "Remember, in your future, you must use the hammer in your left hand to protect the grass in your right hand, forever."

Tang San nodded, though he did not fully understand.

Tang Hao watched him quietly, and in the end, he couldn't hold back; he pulled him over and hugged him tightly.

And so...

Tang Liu was about to be crushed to death.

"Mmph-ooh-oh, koo-wah-wo-hwang-kwai!" (Damn it, let me go!)

Over the next few days, Tang Hao seemed to have finally come to a decision and agreed to let Tang San and Tang Liu attend the Soul Master Academy.

At the same time, Tang Hao began to teach Tang San the Disorder Splitting Wind Hammer.

During this time, Tang Liu, out of curiosity, tried it once, only to end up struggling with the forging hammer Tang Hao usually used for casting for a full half-hour.

Because he couldn't lift it...

Tang Liu was so angry that his face stayed dark for an entire day.

Of course, he still didn't consider exercising his body.

Just like that, three months passed quietly, filled with Tang Hao's daily guidance of Tang San's practice of the Disorder Splitting Wind Hammer, while Tang Liu dozed off on the sidelines.

On this day, Tang San finished crafting two sets of sleeve arrows. He had originally intended to give one set to Tang Liu, but Tang Liu had rejected them with a look of disdain, claiming, "Save them for my future sister-in-law."

After finishing their daily cultivation, Tang San pulled Tang Liu along to head home, only to find, quite unexpectedly, that Tang Hao was nowhere to be seen upon their arrival.

It wasn't long before Tang Hao returned and brought up the matter of going to Nuoding City for school. Only then did Tang San and Tang Liu realize that he had gone to see the village chief, Old Jack.

"Hurry up and pack your things; we leave early tomorrow morning. The forging techniques I taught you will allow you to find work as an apprentice at any blacksmith shop in the city. That should be enough to cover the tuition and food expenses for you and Xiao Liu," Tang Hao said.

Afterward, Tang Hao sternly warned Tang San and Tang Liu never to attach a spirit ring to the Clear Sky Hammer, nor to let anyone see or know of its existence.

Although Tang San felt a bit puzzled, he took the instruction to heart very seriously. Tang Liu, for some reason, seemed rather sullen and spent the entire day in a daze, though he was usually either sleeping or dazed anyway.

At night, in the brothers' small room.

"Third Brother, we're leaving tomorrow," Tang Liu said, staring at the ceiling in the darkness.

"That's right, we leave tomorrow. Are you looking forward to it?" Tang San asked.

"Looking forward to it? A little, I suppose, but... I'm a bit reluctant to leave Dad," Tang Liu said softly.

Tang San couldn't help but smile. "Don't worry, we can come back every holiday."

"I understand the logic, it's just..." Tang Liu's voice suddenly grew quiet. "What if we come back, but Dad is gone?"

"Hm? Xiao Liu, what did you say?" Tang San hadn't heard him clearly.

"It's nothing, I'm going to sleep," Tang Liu said, rolling over.

Tang San felt something was strange, but he didn't suspect anything further and closed his eyes to sleep.

And so, the day broke.

Early in the morning, for once, Tang Liu did not go to the small hill with Tang San, but instead stayed home alone.

He stood by the stove, carefully controlling the heat as he cooked a pot of rice porridge.

A short while later, he got up and walked to the other side of the stove, where a wild pheasant was simmering—the very one they had finally caught after nearly half a year of setting traps.

"It's a pity we're out of seasonings..." Tang Liu muttered as he lifted the lid to check the color.

"Ding! Host, you can gather some perilla and wild Sichuan peppercorns. Additionally, you can refer to Guizhou cuisine and use sour flavors to substitute for salt." The Assistant System suddenly spoke up in his mind.

"Hm? That's a good method. I remember there are wild peppercorns and perilla not far from here. As for the sourness, I can use pickled vegetables!"

Thinking this, Tang Liu couldn't help but chuckle foolishly. He immediately ran outside, quickly gathered the wild peppercorns and perilla, then went to the pickle jar to grab some pickled chili peppers and a bowl of brine.

Come to think of it, Tang Liu had set up this pickle jar himself, because in his past life, while reading novels, he had felt that the food Tang San and Tang Hao ate was far too bland. Even if they couldn't afford meat, surely they shouldn't be without pickles, the perfect companion to rice porridge?

Furthermore, it was Tang Liu who had suggested using traps to catch small animals, though it seemed the results weren't exactly stellar.

(Chapter titles will return to normal soon.)

Alright, the author feels that these first five chapters have given the readers a general understanding of Tang Liu. From here on, the author will be entering a state of "lost contact," updating once a day until the college entrance exams. I hope that when I return after the exams, I'll be able to see a huge wave of fellow readers. (Actually, I won't admit that I only posted five chapters because the silly chapter titles only lasted for these five.)