The next morning.
Yu Xiaogang slowly awoke.
He wasn't very popular. Even with such a commotion in his room, no one had come to check on him.
"Ugh..."
Yu Xiaogang gritted his teeth against the pain and climbed out of bed.
In his fifty-odd years, this was the first time he had ever been so badly injured.
After finding some medicine and taking it, Yu Xiaogang felt much more invigorated.
"I never thought this technique would actually be real. To practice it, you first have to castrate yourself?"
"For such a miraculous technique, a requirement like that is only natural. Otherwise, how could it help me break through my bottleneck?"
The Evil-Warding Sword Manual seemed to have a kind of magic to it. Yu Xiaogang couldn't help opening it and reading through it again.
As he read, he couldn't help wanting to practice it again.
"No. If I lose control of my Soul Power again, I might die."
Yu Xiaogang had no desire to experience that frenzied state from a day ago again.
But he was also deeply reluctant to give up the Evil-Warding Sword Manual.
His mind was already filled with the technique's cultivation route. He couldn't forget it even if he tried.
Even if he didn't cultivate Soul Power, whenever it ran dry and he needed to recover, he'd be unable to resist circulating the technique.
"Surely I can't have Luo Sanpao eat something to replenish his energy every time my Soul Power runs dry?" Yu Xiaogang thought.
He lowered his head and looked at his tiny little raisin, then steeled himself. "I might as well cut it off!"
Looking back on the first half of his life, that little raisin had never gotten to enjoy a taste of meat while it was with him.
He was already this old, and he wouldn't need it in the future anyway. He might as well cut it off.
"Fine! For Xiao San, and to break through level thirty, what does a little pain matter?"
Yu Xiaogang hurriedly prepared some medicine to treat the wound and stop the bleeding, along with a sharp knife.
He stuffed a towel into his mouth, gritted his teeth, and swung the blade at his little raisin.
"Mm..."
After a muffled groan, Yu Xiaogang swiftly applied the hemostatic powder and left himself a small opening for relieving himself.
Yu Xiaogang was drenched in cold sweat, and his face had turned even paler. He looked like a gravely ill man.
But a glimmer of light appeared in his eyes. As soon as the bleeding stopped, he couldn't help closing his eyes and practicing the sword manual.
After a long while, Yu Xiaogang opened his eyes, a flash of brilliance passing through them!
"Hahaha, I did it! I can break through level thirty! I, Yu Xiaogang, am no good-for-nothing!" Yu Xiaogang laughed with excitement.
Though he'd long since decided to pursue a career as a Martial Soul Theory expert, breaking through level thirty had become an obsession.
Just now, while practicing the Evil-Warding Sword Manual, he hadn't felt that frenzied sensation at all.
What's more, he could clearly feel his Soul Power growing. Breaking through level thirty was within reach.
"Elders of my clan, Spirit Hall, and Bibi Dong, just you wait. I, Yu Xiaogang, will make you regret this!"
It took a long while for Yu Xiaogang to calm his excitement.
Carefully, he placed the string of raisins he had just cut off into a bottle of wine.
He rarely drank. He'd bought this bottle specially after Tang Hao had shown up last time.
He'd smelled a strong scent of alcohol on Tang Hao and figured that Tang Hao must love drinking.
So he'd spent a fortune on this jar of fine wine, keeping it on hand just in case.
He simply hadn't expected that Tang Hao would never show up again after that last time.
Who would have thought the bottle of wine would become a home for his little brother?
After putting away his precious keepsake, Yu Xiaogang began preparing for seclusion.
After practicing for a while just now, he felt as if even his injuries had improved considerably.
Half a month later.
At Shi San Blacksmith Shop, a boy swung a hammer around and around, bringing it down again and again on the iron by the forge.
That boy was Tang San. He was practicing the Disorder Splitting Wind Hammer.
"Over the past half month, my forging skills have improved a lot, but I still can't get to the heart of this hammer technique!"
Though Tang San had learned the basics, he still couldn't grasp its essence.
Whenever he landed a few more blows, the force rebounding from the hammer would jolt it out of his hands.
If he forcibly used the Mysterious Jade Hand to hold on to the hammer, he might even injure himself.
They said true instruction took one sentence, while false instruction took ten thousand books. Just a manual alone wasn't enough for Tang San to grasp the essence.
"I'd better go back and ask my teacher. I should also see whether his injuries have gotten any better," Tang San thought.
He remembered that when Yu Xiaogang had given him the little booklet, he'd said that if Tang San had any questions, he could come back and ask him.
Thinking of this, Tang San no longer felt like continuing his part-time forging work.
Fortunately, there wasn't much work today, so Tang San said goodbye to Shi San and headed back to the academy.
He didn't notice the gray-robed figure emerging from the shadows not far from the smithy.
A trace of relief appeared in the man's eyes. "I didn't expect Xiao San to be so talented!"
"With no one to guide him, he's actually managed to learn the Disorder Splitting Wind Hammer. He's only missing a little of its essence!"
Though he hadn't seen it with his own eyes, Tang Hao could tell how far Tang San had progressed just from the sounds of hammering coming from the blacksmith shop.
After all, he, Tang Hao, was one of the three great master smiths on the Douluo Continent.
In terms of Soul Master strength, many people had surpassed him. But when it came to forging, he was peerless.
Tang Hao turned and headed for Notting Academy.
Before Tang San could meet Yu Xiaogang, he would teach Yu Xiaogang a few words of guidance, then have Yu Xiaogang pass them on to Tang San.
"Xiao San, don't blame me. It's not that I don't want to see you!"
"It's just that right now, I'd only bring you misfortune!"
"If Spirit Hall found out about our relationship, you might never be able to live a peaceful life again!"
At Notting Academy, in the faculty dormitory, inside Yu Xiaogang's room.
The furniture Luo Sanpao had wrecked half a month ago had long since disappeared. The room was now neat and odor-free.
Though Yu Xiaogang was in seclusion, he still ate and slept. He'd simply devoted most of his attention to cultivation.
In his spare time, he'd also taken the opportunity to tidy up his room.
Knock, knock, knock!
A rapping at the door jolted Yu Xiaogang out of his cultivation.
"Didn't I say not to disturb me while I'm cultivating? Who could be so inconsiderate?" Yu Xiaogang silently cursed.
Still, he got up to open the door, in case it was Tang San coming to ask for guidance.
Although he could now break through his bottleneck, he knew he'd missed his prime years for cultivation and was unlikely to achieve much on the path of cultivation.
So he still cared a great deal about Tang San and didn't want to hinder his progress.
But when he opened the door, Yu Xiaogang froze. The person knocking wasn't Tang San—or anyone else he'd expected.
It was his idol, Clear Sky Douluo Tang Hao.
"Your Excellency, Haotian Crown! What brings you here? Please, come in!" Yu Xiaogang said warmly.
Tang Hao followed Yu Xiaogang into the room. Seeing how it had changed, he couldn't help feeling puzzled.
"What's that smell? It's so fragrant!"
Tang Hao glanced around and spotted two sachets: one by the head of the bed, and another at Yu Xiaogang's waist.
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