Academy Investment, First Meeting with Mang Tian!

Morning at Red Mountain Academy, sunlight streamed through the enormous floor-to-ceiling windows and spilled across the oak floor of the meditation room.

This was Grade One Class One's first meditation class.

For children who had only just awakened their Martial Souls, sensing Soul Power was like playing hide-and-seek—dull and difficult.

"Focus your mind and calm your breathing. Feel the energy particles in the air..."

Homeroom teacher Lin Ximeng guided them gently, but the results were minimal.

More than half the class was either daydreaming or already starting to nod off.

Tang Wulin sat cross-legged on a cushion, his brows tightly furrowed as beads of sweat trickled down from the tip of his nose.

His Blue Silver Grass Martial Soul was far too weak, with an extremely low affinity for the spiritual energy of heaven and earth. Those points of light were like mischievous fireflies—impossible to catch no matter how hard he tried.

"Don't try to catch them."

A cool voice sounded beside his ear.

Tang Linyuan had not closed his eyes. Instead, he turned his head and watched his agitated younger brother.

"Wulin, Blue Silver Grass is a plant. Plants do not chase sunlight. They simply spread their leaves and wait for the sunlight to fall upon them."

Tang Linyuan's voice was not loud, yet it carried a strange rhythm that rang clearly through the quiet classroom.

"Relax every pore in your body and regulate your breathing. Inhale for three seconds, pause for one, exhale for four. Imagine that you are a blade of grass, rooted in the earth."

Tang Wulin unconsciously adjusted his breathing to follow his brother's rhythm.

Inhale—pause—exhale.

Then, a miracle happened.

The scattered blue motes that had been fleeing in every direction within his perception actually seemed drawn by something. Slowly and tentatively, they drifted toward him, then seeped into his body bit by bit.

"I... I can feel them!" Tang Wulin cried out in delight.

"Shh. Keep the rhythm. Don't break it," Tang Linyuan reminded him blandly, then swept his gaze over the nearby classmates who were equally at a loss.

"Everyone, follow this rhythm. Don't force it. Soul Power flows; go with the current."

The chaotic sounds of breathing in the classroom gradually became orderly and uniform under his guidance.

Lin Ximeng stood at the podium with her beautiful eyes wide, staring at the scene in shock.

That six-year-old black-haired boy merely sat there, yet he seemed like the natural center of an aura.

The breathing rhythm he taught was simple, yet it seemed to align with some profound principle. Even she, a Second-Ring Soul Grandmaster, felt the circulation of Soul Power within her become smoother after listening.

Was this child... really someone who had only just awakened? Lin Ximeng's heart churned like a stormy sea.

The dismissal bell rang.

"Tang Linyuan, come to the office." Lin Ximeng took a deep breath, her tone more solemn than ever before.

In the office, Red Mountain Academy's dean listened to Lin Ximeng's report, then looked at Tang Linyuan, who stood calmly before him without being swayed by favor or disgrace. His fingers lightly tapped the desk.

"Innate Full Soul Power, a domineering Martial Soul, and such a profound understanding of Soul Power cultivation..."

The dean adjusted his glasses, a sharp gleam flashing in his eyes. "Tang Linyuan, the academy has decided to grant you Special-Class Preferential Treatment."

Tang Linyuan's expression remained calm. "What are the conditions?"

The dean froze for a moment, then smiled.

"Talking to smart people is efficient. There is only one condition: in the entrance examination three years from now, you must enter Eastsea City's best intermediate academy as a student of Red Mountain Academy. Then, after reaching the Soul Emperor level, you must return to the academy and teach one class. In exchange, the academy will fund the purchase of one 'random draw' Soul Spirit admission ticket for you."

A Soul Spirit!

In this era, it was a luxury worth millions of Federation Credits, enough to bankrupt an ordinary family.

"Deal." Tang Linyuan did not hesitate in the slightest.

He knew this was an investment.

But what he lacked was precisely this first pot of gold.

As for Tang Wulin's Soul Spirit... the two brothers would have to earn that themselves.

After school, the streets of Aolai City were dyed golden red by the setting sun.

Tang Ziran rode a somewhat worn-out soul-powered bicycle, carrying his two sons through the bustling city district before finally stopping at the entrance to a remote, noisy alley.

Before they even entered, the clanging of iron echoed out like dense drumbeats, accompanied by waves of heat.

"Mang Tian Workshop."

It was an inconspicuous blacksmith shop.

The interior was dimly lit and piled everywhere with scrap metal. Only the forge before the Forging Table blazed brightly.

A burly middle-aged man stood with his back to the door, the heavy hammer in his hand whirling like a windmill. Each strike sent a spray of brilliant sparks flying.

"Brother Mang." Tang Ziran called out somewhat nervously.

The man stopped and turned around.

His skin was dark, his muscles knotted, and his eyes were as cold and hard as iron.

"Ziran, these are the two sons you told me about?" Mang Tian's gaze swept over Tang Linyuan and Tang Wulin like two blades.

His gaze paused briefly on Tang Wulin's delicate little face, and he frowned. "Too pretty. He looks like a doll. A blacksmith shop isn't a daycare. With skin that soft, he probably can't even lift a hammer."

Then he looked at Tang Linyuan, his brow furrowing even more deeply. "That look in his eyes is too proud. A restless heart can't forge iron."

"Uncle Mang."

Tang Linyuan stepped forward, neither servile nor overbearing. "Whether we can forge iron isn't decided by our faces, but by what we can do with our hands. Our family needs money. We need this job. Just set the test."

Mang Tian paused, seemingly not expecting such mature words from a six-year-old child.

He gave a soft laugh and casually kicked two hammers out from a corner.

They were not ordinary practice hammers, but two genuine Tungsten Steel Hammers, each weighing a full ten kilograms.

"You want to learn forging? Fine." Mang Tian pointed at a block of pig iron nearby. "Two hammers. One strike with the left hand, one with the right. Whoever can land a thousand strikes in an hour without shattering their wrists, I'll take them."

Tang Ziran's expression changed. "Brother Mang, they're only six! Those hammers are too heavy..."

"If they think they're too heavy, they can go home and drink milk." Mang Tian turned away and ignored them.

"Dad, it's fine."

Tang Linyuan bent down, his fair little hands closing around the black hammer handles.

The next instant, from the corner of Mang Tian's astonished vision, Tang Linyuan easily lifted the two twenty-jin hammers as though he were picking up chopsticks.

Buzz!

Without another word,

Tang Linyuan exerted force from his waist, transmitting it through his spine and into his arms.

Clang!

The first hammer fell with a crisp sound, even carrying a faintly pleasant resonance.

The hammerhead bounced high into the air. Tang Linyuan borrowed the rebound, and the hammer in his left hand immediately came down after it.

Clang! Clang! Clang!

At first, they were merely ordinary strikes, but after only ten blows, the rhythm changed.

Tang Linyuan's movements flowed as smoothly as clouds and water. His twin hammers were like two black dragons flipping through the air, every collision making perfect use of the metal's recoil.

This was not forging. This was a performance.

Mang Tian abruptly turned around and stared fixedly at Tang Linyuan's arms.

"Borrowing force to strike with force... This kid's muscle control is simply that of a born forging prodigy!"

Only half an hour passed.

Tang Linyuan tossed aside the hammers, neither flushed nor out of breath. The block of pig iron had already been hammered into perfect order, and its surface even gleamed with a metallic sheen.

"One thousand strikes. Done." Tang Linyuan patted the rust from his hands.

The cold hardness in Mang Tian's eyes completely crumbled, replaced by the fervor of someone who had discovered an incomparable piece of uncut jade.

But then he looked at Tang Wulin beside him.

Tang Wulin did not possess his brother's immense strength.

He held the hammer, his little face bright red as he used every ounce of his strength with each swing.

Clang... gasp Clang...

His movements were clumsy, and the web between his thumb and forefinger had already split from the vibrations, blood seeping out.

"Wulin, don't force yourself..." Tang Ziran watched with a pained heart and wanted to stop him.

"Let him strike." Tang Linyuan stopped his father, his gaze calm. "That is Wulin's own path."

Five hundred strikes... six hundred strikes...

Tang Wulin's arms had begun to tremble, sweat blurring his vision, but he gritted his teeth tightly. Only one thought remained in his mind:

If Brother can do it, then I can do it too! I want to protect Na'er. I want to help Dad and Mom!

A faint warm current rose from the base of his spine. It was a sign that the Golden Dragon King Bloodline was awakening after being pushed to its limit.

"Ah—!"

Tang Wulin let out a childish roar, and strength suddenly erupted from his arms, which had already been completely exhausted.

Nine hundred ninety-eight... nine hundred ninety-nine... one thousand!

When the final hammer fell, Tang Wulin collapsed directly onto the ground, gasping for air, though a foolish grin spread across his face.

The entire workshop fell silent.

Mang Tian walked over and picked up the hammer Tang Wulin had used. Blood stained its surface.

Then he looked at Tang Linyuan, whose expression remained calm.

"One was born with divine strength and instinctive skill."

"The other has a will as hard as steel and refuses to yield."

Mang Tian took a deep breath and looked at Tang Ziran, his tone more serious than ever before.

"Ziran, I'll take these two children. Especially the older one... If I fail to teach him well, then it will be my, Mang Tian's, incompetence."

The corners of Tang Linyuan's lips lifted slightly. He walked over, pulled Tang Wulin up from the ground, and gently wiped the soot from his face.