Hidden Edge

For the next two days, Ning Chuan lived an exceptionally მშვიდ life—one could even say he deliberately kept things ordinary.

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

At dawn, when the sky had only just begun to brighten, Ning Chuan got up to help his mother, Liu Lan, light the stove, cook breakfast, and sweep the courtyard.

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

Sawing logs, planing boards, smoothing edges, passing tools... Tasks he had once found dull and tedious now gave him an entirely different feeling.

Especially when his father needed to handle thick logs, he would have Ning Chuan come over to help pull the large saw.

"Heave—ho!" Ning Chuan gripped the saw handle with both hands, pushing and pulling together 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 quickly soaked his bangs and coarse cloth clothes.

Ning Chuan did not use Soul Power. He relied purely on the physical strength gradually enhanced by his level twenty-five Soul Power.

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

"Hmm, kid, you've gotten stronger." Ning Dazhuang would occasionally stop, wipe his face with the towel around his neck, and glance at his son in slight surprise.

The boy who used to complain of exhaustion after sawing for a little while could now work nonstop for nearly half an hour without even breathing hard.

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

He carefully controlled his strength, showing improvement without making it too shocking.

Ning Dazhuang nodded, seemingly accepting the explanation. A trace of barely noticeable relief flashed through his eyes. He asked no further questions and continued focusing on his work.

Inside the carpentry shed, wood shavings danced through the air and saws rumbled, filling the place with the solid atmosphere of everyday life.

Ning Chuan liked this feeling. It gradually calmed his restless heart, making him feel as though he had returned to his days as an ordinary boy who knew nothing of the future and only had to worry about that day's lessons.

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

The Blacksmith Shop at the end of the village had usually been lifeless, with only the occasional scattered clang of metal. Yet over the past two days, it seemed as though it had changed owners. From morning until night, the ringing of hammer on iron never stopped, steady 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 smithing was rough and wild, carrying the savage force of someone venting his frustrations. Besides, he worked only when he felt like it.

But these hammer strikes, though just as heavy, carried an extra measure of concentration—a unique rhythm, along with... the discipline and persistence of a beginner.

"It's Tang San," Ning Chuan was almost certain. "Tang Hao has already begun teaching him the Disorder Splitting Wind Hammer. He's preparing to make Tang Sect hidden weapons."

The wheel of history was still slowly moving along its 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 polishing the piece of wood in his hands.

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

One relied on foreknowledge and a cheat from across the heavens, quietly accumulating strength. The other relied on talent and techniques from another world, growing steadily. Who would be stronger in the future remained unknown.

But for now, he had to keep himself hidden.

At noon on the second day, the family sat around their little wooden table for lunch.

It was still coarse rice and pickled vegetables, but Liu Lan felt sorry for her son's hard work and had specially fried an extra egg to share between Ning Chuan and Ning Xiaohe.

Ning Dazhuang shoveled rice into his mouth, seeming to recall something as he casually said, "I went to the back mountain to chop firewood this morning. That spot in the valley was wrecked all over the place by some damned fool. Several trees had fallen, and there was a huge pit in the ground too. Scary as hell. Nothing like that has ever happened before."

Clatter.

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

His heart suddenly clenched. He forcibly steadied himself, lowered his head, pretended to choke on his food, and coughed 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 drawn away.

Ning Xiaohe blinked her big 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, frowning. "That pit... was awfully neat. It looked more like something had smashed it into the ground by force. Damn strange. You two should stay away from that part of the back mountain for the next few days, understand?"

That final warning was directed at Ning Chuan and Ning Xiaohe.

"Got it, Dad," Ning Chuan answered quietly. The fingers around his bowl turned slightly pale, and cold sweat instantly soaked his back.

It had to be Tang Hao!

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

Endless lingering fear washed over his body like ice water.

Thank goodness!

Thank goodness he had left immediately after testing his soul skill!

Thank goodness the Heavens Trash Station had helped conceal the Soul Power fluctuations!

Thank goodness he had fused with a Soul Spirit rather than a Soul Ring, so the changes to his body had been comparatively gentle and had not exposed him before his parents at once!

If anything had gone wrong at any stage, he would probably have already been a corpse smashed into pulp by the Clear Sky Hammer!

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

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

Ning Chuan forced out a smile. "It's nothing. I just choked a little earlier 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 okay, I just swallowed wrong." Ning Chuan hurriedly shook his head, trying his best to make his expression look natural.

He could not show any abnormality, especially at this sensitive moment when his father had just mentioned the strange events in the back mountain.

He quickly finished the rice in his bowl and set down his chopsticks. "Dad, Mom, I'm done eating. I'll go to the shed and finish planing the rest of that lumber."

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

Only when he sat on the familiar planing bench and picked up the plane did its cold touch calm him slightly.

The danger had never gone away.

Tang Hao was like a dormant lion. He appeared to be dispirited and asleep, but the slightest disturbance could awaken him and bring a devastating blow.

I have to be more careful. More cautious, Ning Chuan repeatedly warned himself. Until they leave Holy Soul Village, I absolutely cannot use any soul skills again, and I cannot leak even the slightest trace of Soul Power. For training, I'll use only the most basic physical exercise. No shortcuts.

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

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

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

That night, Ning Chuan still did not enter the trash station.

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

Moonlight filtered through the window lattice, scattering cold patches of light across the floor.

He lay with his eyes open, carefully listening to the movements in the village.

The night was quiet, with only the occasional bark of a dog and the sound of wind.

Yet perhaps it was merely his imagination, but Ning Chuan always felt that beneath the silent night, a pair of cold, sharp eyes was silently sweeping over the entire village, searching for any suspicious trace.

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 frighteningly sharp.

Ning Chuan softly let out a breath, turned over, and faced the wall.

"It seems that until Tang San leaves for Nuoding City, I'll have to keep playing this 'ordinary person' properly."

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