Thirty-Four Years Old, Level Thirty-Five: Was the Mysterious Man the Heaven Dou Imperial Preceptor?

Within the heavenly curtain, emerald-green flames swirled around Tang Potian's severed arm.

A miracle happened.

At the wound torn open by the Ghost Tiger, bone rapidly reshaped and flesh regenerated wildly. In barely a dozen breaths, an intact arm had grown back!

The mysterious man withdrew his flames without leaving a single unnecessary word behind.

He merely glanced at Tang Potian, then tore open space with one hand and stepped into the spatial rift, vanishing completely beyond the horizon.

The chat group immediately erupted into an uproar, filled with wails of despair.

[Ma Hongjun: Holy shit! Why did this big shot just leave?! Take me with you!]

[Oscar: Reviving the dead and regenerating flesh from bone! With a divine skill like that, even a pig could fly if it followed him!]

[Qian Daoliu: What a pity. If such a peerless expert could offer me even a little guidance, this old man would surely break through the barrier that has held back my cultivation for years!]

Within the heavenly curtain, Tang Potian stared blankly at his restored right arm, and his gaze changed completely.

Farming?

Having witnessed such heaven-reaching power and experienced that overbearing authority over life and death, who would still be willing to go back to digging in the dirt?

He resolutely left Tang Family Village.

He joined the Heaven Dou Empire's newly formed guard unit and became a hired soul master who could lose his head at any time.

During those days of living on the edge of a blade, Tang Potian cultivated desperately while gathering scattered information about that mysterious man.

Lines of gilded characters appeared across the heavenly curtain.

[Five years ago, the Heaven Dou Empire had not yet been founded. Hundred-thousand-year soul beasts ravaged the northern lands, leaving countless lives in ruin.]

[The mysterious man entered the core region of the Star Dou Great Forest alone with a furnace and slew three hundred-thousand-year soul beasts on the spot! With absolute force, he forcibly established the boundary between humans and soul beasts, then supported the Heaven Dou Emperor in founding the nation!]

Boom!

Inside the Heaven Dou Imperial Palace, Xue Ye the Great abruptly rose from his dragon throne. His entire body shook violently, his eyes nearly popping out of their sockets.

[Xue Ye the Great: Impossible! Heaven Dou was founded under Lord Sea God's protection! How could it have been because of some mysterious man?!]

[Ning Fengzhi: Please calm your anger, Your Majesty. Twenty thousand years are enough to erase far too many truths. This Imperial Preceptor's achievements were likely deliberately erased by some force!]

[Qian Daoliu: Slaying three hundred-thousand-year soul beasts... Such a feat is far beyond what a soul master could accomplish. Who exactly is he?!]

No one could answer that question.

The scene within the heavenly curtain sped onward.

Time left deep marks upon Tang Potian.

Thirty-four years old.

On a muddy battlefield, Tang Potian smashed an enemy soul master's head apart with a single hammer blow.

As the enemy's blood splattered, his third purple soul ring finally emerged beneath his feet.

Level Thirty-Five Soul Elder!

Twenty thousand years ago, when the soul master cultivation system had only just begun to take shape, level thirty-five was already enough to serve as a noble's personal guard and enjoy wealth and luxury.

Just as everyone was lamenting Tang Potian's hardships, an exceedingly grating voice appeared in the chat group.

[Yu Xiaogang: Heh, it seems this ancestor of the Clear Sky Sect wasn't all that talented in cultivation after all.]

[Yu Xiaogang: He only broke through to level thirty-five at thirty-four. As for myself, I had already cultivated to level twenty-nine as a Grand Soul Master by that age. By that calculation, my aptitude is roughly on par with that ancestor of the number one sect in the world.]

The moment those words came out, the entire chat group fell into deathly silence.

Then, fury erupted!

[Tang Xiao: Bullshit! Yu Xiaogang, what the hell are you? How dare you compare yourself to my Clear Sky Sect's ancestor!]

[Slaughter King Tang Chen: Courting death! A piece of trash who relies on a mutated, useless martial soul to swindle others dares spout such nonsense here! Twenty thousand years ago, there wasn't even any soul master cultivation theory—our ancestor had to figure everything out himself! What right does trash like you have to compare yourself to him?!]

In the tavern, Tang Hao was so furious that he crushed his wine cup outright, murderous intent soaring to the heavens.

If he knew where Yu Xiaogang was hiding, he would have already carried the Clear Sky Hammer over to smash that trash's head into his torso!

[Tang San: Father, Uncle, please calm down. Teacher... he was only speaking bluntly; he meant no harm. Teacher, please say a little less.]

Tang San broke out in a cold sweat in the group, cursing Yu Xiaogang bloody in his heart.

Was there something wrong with this teacher's brain?! Why did he have to jump out and court death at a time like this?!

[Yu Xiaogang: Tang San, I was merely stating the facts...]

Soul masters across the entire continent were watching the spectacle. Today, this renowned "Master" had thoroughly disgraced himself.

His clownish pursuit of fame and reputation was exposed for all to see.

Within the heavenly curtain.

Inside a military tent, an officer handed Tang Potian a medal representing a noble's personal guard.

As long as he accepted that medal, he could obtain a fief, marry, have children, and live out the rest of his life in peace.

But Tang Potian did not accept it.

Looking at his rough hands, the image that surfaced in his mind was still that blue-robed figure at the village entrance years ago, holding a furnace in one hand and suppressing heaven and earth.

"Not enough..."

"This little strength is nowhere near enough!"

Tang Potian pushed aside the officer's hand and turned to walk into the wind and snow.

He chose the most dangerous path.

He would venture deep into the soul beast forest and force out his potential on the brink of life and death!

Everyone in the chat group gasped.

[Sword Douluo Chen Xin: What a steadfast Dao heart! He refused wealth and glory to walk this near-certain path of death. With such resolve alone, it would be intolerable if he did not become a peerless expert!]

[Dragon Duke Meng Shu: This old man is convinced. If it were me, reaching only level thirty-five at the age of thirty-four in that era, I would have gone home to hold my wife and children long ago.]

The scene shifted.

The outskirts of the Star Dou Great Forest.

Fifty-year-old Tang Potian, covered in blood, knelt on one knee.

Before him stood an enormous five-thousand-year soul beast radiating terrifying pressure—the Dark Gold Terrorclaw Bear!

Bang!

The Dark Gold Terrorclaw Bear brought down a paw.

Tang Potian raised his Black Iron Hammer to block it.

Crack!

Cracks spread across the Black Iron Hammer's surface. Tang Potian was sent flying, crashing through more than a dozen large trees.

The Dark Gold Terrorclaw Bear pressed its advantage, its sharp claws slashing directly across Tang Potian's left cheek!

"Aah!"

Blood sprayed everywhere!

Tang Potian's left eye was gouged out alive!

Yet he did not retreat. Instead, borrowing the agony of that pain, the muscles in his right arm swelled dramatically. He swung the cracked Black Iron Hammer and smashed it into the Dark Gold Terrorclaw Bear's throat!

Boom!

The Dark Gold Terrorclaw Bear's massive body crashed to the ground, its throat completely crushed.

Tang Potian also collapsed unconscious from exhaustion.

[Ning Fengzhi: A five-thousand-year Dark Gold Terrorclaw Bear! That is a terrifying existence capable of confronting ten-thousand-year soul beasts head-on! He actually killed it despite the difference in levels!]

[Flender: Too tragic. His left eye is blind, and more than half of his meridians are ruined. His life is effectively over.]

Within the heavenly curtain.

Tang Potian, grievously wounded and near death, was rescued by a passing merchant caravan.

But his injuries were far too severe.

Not only had his left eye gone permanently blind, but most of the soul power meridians within his body had ruptured. He could no longer engage in intense combat.

He left the guard unit and transferred to the logistics division.

In a secluded corner of Heaven Dou City, he opened a blacksmith shop.

Clang! Clang! Clang!

In the scene, the one-eyed Tang Potian stood bare-chested, swinging his hammer again and again as he struck red-hot ordinary iron.

One year.

Two years.

Ten years.

He never spoke with anyone. Day after day, he simply forged iron.

Everyone believed that this once-tough man had completely fallen into despair and become nothing more than an ordinary blacksmith.

Even the people in the chat group let out waves of sighs.