Concealing One's Edge

Over the next two days, Ning Chuan lived an exceptionally peaceful life—one could even say he deliberately kept it ordinary.

He no longer rushed to enter the Heavens Trash Station to explore its endless treasures. Instead, he settled his mind and truly lived like an ordinary boy from Holy Soul Village.

At dawn, while the sky was still dim, Ning Chuan got up to help his mother, Liu Lan, light the stove, cook, and sweep the courtyard.

After a simple breakfast, he went to his father Ning Dazhuang's carpentry shed and honestly worked as an assistant.

Sawing logs, planing boards, sanding edges, passing tools... tasks he had once found dull now gave him a different state of mind.

Especially when his father needed to work on thick logs, he would call Ning Chuan over to help pull the large saw.

"Heave—ho!" Ning Chuan gripped the saw handle with both hands and pushed and pulled with his father. Accompanied by their rhythmic calls, the saw teeth bit into the hard wood, producing a dull, steady sound.

Wood chips flew everywhere, and sweat soon soaked his bangs and coarse cloth clothes.

Ning Chuan did not use Soul Power. He relied purely on the physical strength that had been subtly enhanced by his twenty-fifth-level Soul Power.

Even so, it was much easier than before, and his endurance was on an entirely different level.

"Not bad, kid. You've gotten stronger." Ning Dazhuang occasionally stopped working, wiped his face with the towel around his neck, and glanced at his son in mild surprise.

The boy who used to complain of exhaustion after pulling the saw for a while could now work for nearly half an hour straight without even breathing hard.

Ning Chuan merely gave an honest smile and wiped away his sweat. "Maybe all that running around the mountains these past few days trained me up."

He carefully controlled his strength, showing enough improvement without becoming too shocking.

Ning Dazhuang nodded, seemingly accepting the explanation. A trace of barely noticeable relief flashed through his eyes. He asked no more questions and returned to his work.

In the carpentry shed, wood shavings danced through the air and the saw roared on, filling the place with the grounded atmosphere of daily life.

Ning Chuan liked this feeling. It gradually calmed his restless heart, as though he had returned to his days as an ordinary youth, ignorant of the future and concerned only with that day's lessons.

However, theirs was not the only household in the village where the sounds of work could be heard.

The Blacksmith Shop at the edge of the village had once been lifeless, with only the occasional scattered clang of iron. Yet over the past two days, it seemed as if it had changed owners. From morning to night, the ringing of hammer on metal never stopped, regular and powerful, as though the smith never tired.

Whenever Ning Chuan heard that sound, his heart tightened slightly.

He knew it was not Tang Hao.

Tang Hao's blacksmithing was brutal and wild, carrying a viciousness like an outlet for pent-up rage. Besides, he worked only when the mood struck him.

But the current hammering, though equally heavy, held an added focus, a unique rhythm, and... the concentration and persistence of a beginner.

It's Tang San. Tang Hao has already begun teaching him the Disorder Splitting Wind Hammer. He's preparing to make Tang Sect hidden weapons.

The wheels of history continued to roll slowly along their predetermined path.

The future Sea God and Asura God was currently in that dilapidated Blacksmith Shop, hammering his foundations solid blow by blow.

Ning Chuan withdrew his gaze from the direction of the Blacksmith Shop and lowered his head to continue sanding the timber in his hands.

He knew that he and Tang San were walking two completely different paths.

One relied on foreknowledge and cheats from the myriad worlds, quietly accumulating strength. The other relied on talent and extraordinary skills from another world, steadily growing stronger. As for who would be stronger in the future, that remained unknown.

But for now, he had to hide well.

At noon the next day, the family gathered around their small wooden table for lunch.

It was still brown rice and pickled vegetables, but Liu Lan felt sorry for her son working so hard. She had specially fried an extra egg and divided it between Ning Chuan and Ning Xiaohe.

As Ning Dazhuang shoveled food into his mouth, he seemed to remember something and casually said, "This morning, when I went to the back mountain to gather firewood, I saw that place in the ravine. Some damned fellow had messed it up completely. Several trees had fallen, and there was even a huge pit in the ground. It was frightening. Nothing like that had ever happened before."

Clang.

The chopsticks in Ning Chuan's hand nearly fell onto the table.

His heart abruptly clenched. He forcibly steadied himself, lowered his head, and pretended to choke on his food, coughing twice.

"Eat slowly. No one's taking it from you." Liu Lan hurriedly poured him a bowl of water and gently patted his back, her attention shifting to him.

Ning Xiaohe blinked her large eyes and asked curiously, "Dad, how big was the pit? Did a wild boar make it?"

"Doesn't look like it." Ning Dazhuang shook his head and frowned. "That pit... was far too neat. It looked more like something had smashed it into the ground by force. Strange as hell. You two shouldn't go near that part of the back mountain for the next few days, understand?"

That last sentence was a warning directed at Ning Chuan and Ning Xiaohe.

"Got it, Dad." Ning Chuan answered quietly. The fingers holding his bowl turned slightly white, while cold sweat instantly drenched his back.

It had to have been Tang Hao!

He had gone there! And he had flown into a rage! That pit had definitely been made by the Clear Sky Hammer!

A boundless chill of lingering fear washed over his entire body like icy water.

Fortunately!

Fortunately, he had left immediately after testing his soul skill!

Fortunately, the Heavens Trash Station had helped conceal the Soul Power fluctuations!

Fortunately, he had fused with a Soul Spirit rather than a Soul Ring, meaning the changes to his body were relatively gentle and had not immediately exposed him before his parents!

If any part of that had gone wrong, he would probably already be a corpse smashed into pulp by the Clear Sky Hammer!

The killing intent of a Title Douluo was not something a twenty-fifth-level Soul Grandmaster like him could withstand, even if it was only the aftershock!

"Brother, what's wrong? Your face is so pale." Ning Xiaohe noticed that something was off with Ning Chuan and asked softly.

Ning Chuan forced out a smile. "It's nothing. I just choked a moment ago and haven't recovered yet."

Liu Lan touched his forehead. "You don't have a fever, do you? Have you been too tired from working these past two days? Rest this afternoon. Don't go to the shed."

"It's fine, Mom. I'm all right. I just swallowed wrong." Ning Chuan hurriedly shook his head, trying his best to make his expression look natural.

He could not show any abnormalities, especially at such a sensitive time, right after his father had mentioned the strange events on the back mountain.

He quickly finished the food in his bowl and put down his chopsticks. "Dad, Mom, I'm done eating. I'll go to the shed and finish planing the remaining lumber."

After saying that, he practically fled the table and hurried toward the carpentry shed.

Sitting on the familiar planing bench and picking up the plane, only its cold touch allowed him to calm down a little.

Danger had never been far away.

Tang Hao was like a crouching lion. He seemed decadent and asleep, but any small disturbance could awaken him and bring devastating destruction.

I have to be more careful, more cautious. Before they leave Holy Soul Village, I absolutely cannot use any soul skills again, and I absolutely cannot leak even the slightest Soul Power fluctuation. If I train, I'll use only the most basic physical exercises. No shortcuts.

For the rest of the day, Ning Chuan worked even harder, as if he wanted to vent all the tension and lingering fear within him through endless physical labor.

Sweat poured down his body as he focused on every piece of wood in his hands, every stroke of the plane, every pull of the saw.

Only when the sun set did father and son put away their tools and finish the day's work.

That night, Ning Chuan still did not enter the Garbage Station.

He washed up early and lay down in bed, yet sleep would not come.

Moonlight streamed through the window lattice, casting cold patches of light across the floor.

He lay with his eyes open, carefully listening to the sounds of the village.

The night was quiet, broken only by the occasional barking dog and the wind.

But perhaps it was only his imagination. Beneath that silent night, Ning Chuan always felt as if a pair of cold, sharp eyes were silently sweeping across the entire village, searching for any suspicious traces.

He knew that was Tang Hao's vigilance.

His behavior during the day should not have aroused suspicion, right? His father had merely mentioned it casually and had not investigated further. His mother and sister's attention had also been successfully diverted.

But Tang Hao... the instincts of someone at that level were often terrifyingly sharp.

Ning Chuan softly let out a breath and turned over to face the wall.

It looks like, before Tang San goes to Nuoding City, I'll have to keep playing this "ordinary person" properly.

He closed his eyes and began silently making plans in his heart.