The first hammer blow fell, scattering sparks across the pig iron.
Shi San had been about to warn Tang San not to use brute force, but he swallowed the words.
There was nothing fancy about the blow, yet its force traveled from the soles of Tang San's feet to his wrist without dissipating along the way.
Tang San drew back his arm, and the second blow followed close behind.
Shi San's eyes lit up. "Good! Again!"
Xiao Wu had been standing in the doorway, complaining about the heat. But when she saw Tang San really knew what he was doing, she couldn't help coming closer. "Tang San, you can do this too?"
Tang San didn't let himself get distracted. "I learned when I was little."
Deep inside the hammer handle, Ji Yuan absorbed the vibrations, while his Demon Vine body slowly unfurled between the layers of Tang San's shoe sole.
The first blow established the stance.
The second borrowed the lingering force of the first.
The third began to build on it.
Tang San thought he was holding an iron hammer. Through the Sub-spore, Ji Yuan broke each vibration down into something he could consume.
The sequence of force rising through Tang San's calves, the angle of his turning waist, the rhythm of his shoulders and arms releasing force before gathering it again, and the final Hidden Force pressing down through his wrist—Ji Yuan etched it all into his plant instincts.
Vines could lash out too.
Vines could build force too.
If he borrowed the force precisely, even the supple Demon Vine could deliver a crushing blow.
The fourth blow, the fifth, the sixth.
Several workers gathered around inside the smithy.
One murmured, "How old is this kid? Uncle Shi, where did you find him?"
Shi San glared at him. "Less talk. Go work the bellows."
The worker refused to leave. "Let me watch a little longer. That technique is something else."
Tang San heard him but gave no reply.
His attention was entirely on the anvil.
The tenth blow fell, shaking impurities from the surface of the pig iron. Its color began to change.
Xiao Wu clapped. "Impressive! This is a lot nicer to watch than you beating up Xiao Chenyu."
Tang San kept hammering. "This isn't a fight."
Xiao Wu laughed. "Close enough. You're smashing things either way."
Shi San laughed and scolded her. "What would a little girl know? Smithing is all about how you channel force. Swing wildly and you'll ruin the metal."
Xiao Wu bristled. "Then is he doing it well or not?"
Shi San stared at Tang San's hands. "Well. Too well for an apprentice."
Ji Yuan cared nothing for the praise.
What mattered to him was the Mysterious Heaven Skill beginning to circulate faster inside Tang San.
With every additional blow of Disorder Splitting Wind, Tang San had to draw on more inner force to help his muscles and meridians withstand the strain.
The blood vitality escaping his body was fuel ready for the taking.
Ji Yuan did not gulp it down. He took only what spilled over along the edge of the Heart Meridian.
Tang San's blows grew heavier, sweat dripping from his forehead.
The fifteenth blow fell, and his wrist began to go numb.
Shi San immediately said, "Stop if you can't keep going. Don't injure your hand."
Tang San shook his head. "I can keep going."
Xiao Wu frowned. "Don't push yourself."
"I know my limits," Tang San said.
Hearing that, Ji Yuan felt a flicker of annoyance.
What Tang San called knowing his limits looked to Ji Yuan like convenient self-depletion.
But that suited him just fine.
The eighteenth blow, the nineteenth, the twentieth.
The Sub-spore in the hammer handle endured increasingly violent shocks. Cracks began to form inside the wood.
Ji Yuan channeled some of the Demon Vine's toughness around the spore to keep it from being shaken apart.
He was doing more than watching. He was learning.
The fine vine between the layers of Tang San's shoe sole contracted to the rhythm of Disorder Splitting Wind. It drew back to gather force, lashed forward, then curled back with the leftover momentum and built upon it again.
Dark scrape marks appeared on the old cloth, but Tang San merely assumed smithy debris had worn down his sole.
The twenty-fourth blow fell, flattening the pig iron further.
Shi San watched more intently than ever. "Kid, who taught you that hammer technique?"
Tang San kept hammering. "My father."
"Your father's a blacksmith too?"
"Yes."
Shi San nodded. "No wonder. A man who can teach a craft like that is no ordinary blacksmith."
Tang San said nothing.
Tang Hao's perpetually drunken face came to mind. Tang San's feelings tangled together, and the hammer in his hand grew heavier.
Ji Yuan sensed the ripple of inner force brought on by that emotion and promptly tore away a portion of blood vitality from the edge.
Human emotions really are useful.
Grief can drive cultivation, and obsession can push a body past its limits.
As long as they don't die, it's all nourishment.
Tang San's breathing faltered as the twenty-seventh blow fell.
Xiao Wu stepped forward at once. "That's enough, isn't it? Your face has gone pale."
Tang San gritted his teeth. "Just a few more."
Shi San joined in. "Don't force it. Getting this far at your age is frightening enough."
Tang San did not stop.
He needed to earn money, and he needed the practice.
Tang Sect Hidden Weapons required materials. He had to familiarize himself with forging as soon as possible.
Ji Yuan followed Tang San's resolve and continued stealing from him.
The twenty-eighth blow.
The twenty-ninth blow.
The thirtieth blow.
The hammer struck, driving the last layer of impurities from inside the pig iron. Sparks landed along the edge of the anvil with a fine crackle.
Tang San's arm trembled. At last, he stopped.
Shi San came over and lifted the piece of refined iron with tongs. Surprise filled his face. "Well done, kid. That one session's worth half a year of practice for an ordinary apprentice."
Xiao Wu immediately raised her chin. "Hear that? I told you he was good."
Tang San set down the hammer. His palm tingled, and his chest felt hollow.
Frowning, he examined his body and found that he had lost quite a bit more Mysterious Heaven Skill Inner Force.
But smithing had taken so much out of him that the shortfall did not seem strange.
Ji Yuan withdrew his roots inside the shoe sole. Dark-red patterns gleamed across the Demon Vine's surface.
The first thirty blows were enough.
The heart of Disorder Splitting Wind wasn't how heavy each blow was. It was catching the force that hadn't yet dissipated from the last blow and sending it into the next attack.
Human arms bore the strain. They tired, suffered injuries, and broke.
Plants were different.
Vines were supple, naturally suited to curling up and storing force. Combine that resilience with metalized barbs, and every lash could hit harder than the last.
Ji Yuan gave what he had stolen a name.
Disorder Splitting Wind Vine Technique.
Shi San took Copper Soul Coins from the counter and tossed them to Tang San. "Your wages for today. I've added an extra share."
Tang San caught them. "Thank you, Uncle Shi."
Shi San waved a hand. "Coming back tomorrow?"
"I am."
"Then I'll set aside some good metal for you. Working ordinary pig iron with your skill is a waste."
Anticipation lit Tang San's eyes. "All right."
Xiao Wu pulled him toward the door. "Come on, hurry up. You smell like iron."
Tang San looked helpless. "Weren't you the one who wanted to come?"
"Well, I regret it now."
The two left the smithy. The sky had already darkened.
Tang San kept flexing his wrist as they walked. Xiao Wu noticed, grabbed his hand, and looked it over. "It's all red, and you said you were fine."
Tang San said, "You can't work a forge without roughing up your hands."
Xiao Wu huffed. "If you cough up blood again, I'm telling Grandmaster."
Tang San gave a wry smile. "I won't."
Ji Yuan paid no attention to their conversation.
His senses remained inside the wooden hammer handle.
He had not retrieved that Sub-spore. Every time Tang San worked the forge from now on, it would continue recording how he exerted force.
A walking blood bag, giving me lessons even while he practices.
Back at Dorm Seven, Wang Sheng and the others gathered around to ask about that day's advancement test.
Tang San gave a brief account and took out his Soul Master badge.
The work-study students' eyes shone with envy.
Wang Sheng said, "Boss, you're an official Soul Master now."
Xiao Wu slapped the table. "If Xiao Chenyu dares show up again, we'll let him see the Soul Master badge."
Tang San put the badge away. "Stop thinking about fighting all the time."
Xiao Wu glanced at him. "Who was it that pinned someone to the ground today?"
Tang San had no answer.
While Dorm Seven buzzed with chatter, Ji Yuan awakened the Sub-spore at the roots of Xiao Wu's hair and gently drew away the life essence spilling from her.
Xiao Wu was busy bickering with Wang Sheng. She did not notice the faint itch at the nape of her neck.
After the hundred-thousand-year life aura entered the Demon Vine, the Disorder Splitting Wind Vine Technique Ji Yuan had just learned grew more stable.
He tried lashing out with the fine vine inside the layers of Tang San's shoe sole. Its short shadow produced a low pop of compressed air before he immediately pulled it back.
I can't expose myself.
I'm still too weak.
Late that night, Dorm Seven gradually fell quiet.
Tang San lay in bed. His wrist still ached and felt swollen, but he could not help replaying the day's hammer technique in his mind.
He felt he was still far from the level his father had taught him.
Ji Yuan, however, had already devoured every last detail of the first thirty blows.
Once Tang San was asleep, Xiao Wu's scorpion braid hung over the side of her bed.
As usual, Ji Yuan drew away the life essence spilling from her, replenishing what he had spent simulating the hammer technique during the day.
The barbs on the Demon Vine's surface contracted. A faint metallic sheen appeared beneath its dark-purple skin as its toughness and strength continued to rise.
Just then, a heavy pressure came from the direction of the rear mountain. It swept over the academy wall and straight toward Dorm Seven.
Ji Yuan withdrew every vine tip.
It was no teacher, no student, nor any low-ranking Soul Master from Spirit Hall.
That presence carried blood and killing intent. Under its weight, even the Demon Vine's roots inside the layers of Tang San's shoe sole dared not move.
Tang San was still asleep.
Xiao Wu rolled over, but the pressure forced the Sub-spore at her hair roots to shrink beneath her skin.
A dark figure stopped outside the window. The night wind made Dorm Seven's window paper rustle softly.
Ji Yuan severed every spore connection, one by one. His Demon Vine body began to dry out and wither.
That man had returned.
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