Phoenix Soaring Through Nine Heavens Hammer Technique (Please Vote)

"Clang clang clang, just..."

Lu Chen cleared his throat. "Only you can accompany me on the journey to fetch the scriptures. Only you can slay demons and banish evil..."

Tang Hao: "..."

Tang San: "Uh... -_-||"

"Little San, Dad is teaching you a lesson. There's a saying: He who keeps company with vermilion turns red; he who keeps company with ink turns black.

When making friends, you must keep your eyes open. You can have few friends, but they must be smart—truly smart." Tang Hao rubbed Tang San's head and spoke earnestly.

"Blacksmith! What do you mean by that?" Lu Chen glared at Tang Hao. Calling me stupid? Do you even understand humor?

"That is exactly what I mean. The Disorder Splitting Wind Hammer is not something just anyone can learn. It requires tremendous talent.

That sense of rhythm you mentioned just now is complete nonsense."

"Nonsense? Then how about we make a bet? Do you dare?"

"How do you want to bet?" Tang Hao crossed his arms and looked down at Lu Chen, brimming with confidence.

"I'll use the sense of rhythm I mentioned to forge pig iron into whatever shape you specify. If I win, you have to agree to one condition."

Lu Chen refused to be outdone. He crossed his arms as well, climbed onto a nearby table, and looked down at Tang Hao, equally full of confidence.

Tang San: "-_-||"

"And if you lose?"

"Then you can do whatever you want with me."

Lu Chen declared confidently. What a joke. I have the Reality Gem. I could hammer this iron into a meat bun if I wanted to. Would you believe it?

"Fine. You said it."

"Lend me a hammer." Lu Chen walked over to the forge, took the hammer from Tang Hao's hand, and tossed it lightly in his palm.

The hammer was very light. To the current Lu Chen, this little weight was nothing worth mentioning.

But Tang Hao and Tang San saw it differently.

Tang Hao's eyelid twitched. He knew exactly how heavy that hammer was. Tang San could wield it because he had been born with great strength. Could this brat also possess inborn divine strength?

But so what? Smithing was a technical craft, not something one could accomplish through brute strength alone.

"I won't make things difficult for you. You only need to forge this piece of pig iron into the same size as the one I made earlier, and you'll win."

Lu Chen merely glanced at Tang Hao without saying anything. He selected a piece of pig iron from the corner and placed it on the forge, then slowly closed his eyes.

One second. Ten seconds. Thirty seconds.

When Lu Chen opened his eyes, his bearing abruptly changed. At that moment, he recalled the past.

Back then, he had been the coolest guy in the Kill-Matt plaza. A bag of cement and a subwoofer were enough to set his soul free and restore his confidence.

Lu Chen moved. He twisted his body, shook his head, and swayed about. His movements were bizarre and varied, like a horde of demons dancing wildly.

Tang Hao: "..."

Tang San: "-_-||"

Yet every strike of his hammer landed precisely on the pig iron.

"Clang clang clang clang clang clang clang clang clang clang clang."

"Clang clang clang clang clang clang clang clang clang clang clang."

The rhythmic pounding sounded like electronic music that could make one's blood boil.

As he hammered, Lu Chen secretly activated the Reality Gem's power, continuously transforming the pig iron into the shape he desired.

Under Tang San's astonished gaze and Tang Hao's utterly disbelieving expression, as though he had seen a dog do something obscene—

Lu Chen forged a piece of iron identical to the one Tang Hao had made earlier, the exact same size and completely free of impurities.

"Well? Blacksmith, do you have anything else to say?" Lu Chen tossed aside the hammer and dusted off his hands.

"Hoo..." Tang Hao drew in a deep breath, then let it out heavily. His chest rose and fell violently, revealing the turmoil in his heart. "What kind of hammer technique was that?"

"What? You want to learn it? I can teach you!"

"Hmph. That chaotic hammer technique of yours is nothing but an insult to blacksmiths. But I, Tang Hao, am not one to break my word. A bet is a bet, and I accept defeat. Name your condition."

Tang Hao snorted, still unconvinced. His loss was unfair. When had he, the Clear Sky Douluo, ever suffered such humiliation? This little brat was downright cursed.

"Haha, you said it yourself. But I haven't thought of anything yet. You can owe me this condition for now. I'll tell you when I've figured it out."

"Lu Chen, what kind of hammer technique was that mess of yours? No matter how I look at it, it just seems like the movements of a madman. Dad's Disorder Splitting Wind Hammer is still better."

Tang San believed Tang Hao's words completely. During Lu Chen's forging process just now, he had used his Purple Demon Eye.

He discovered that aside from having sufficient force, Lu Chen's chaotic hammer technique had neither proper timing nor proper points of impact. He was simply striking at random.

Yet what Tang San could not understand at all was how Lu Chen had used that chaotic hammer technique to forge a flawless piece of refined iron.

"Could it be that Lu Chen's hammer technique is simply too profound?"

Tang San thought about it, then decided it was impossible. He had never seen Lu Chen forge iron before, and Lu Chen himself had said that he was not interested in smithing.

"What do you know? This is a hammer technique I comprehended from my youth long gone."

Lu Chen rolled his eyes at Tang San. Talking to ancient people really was troublesome.

"Alright, Little San. Hurry and practice the Disorder Splitting Wind Hammer I just taught you a few more times. Feel it properly. If you want to swing eighty-one consecutive strikes, you still need to train for quite a long time."

"Mm, I understand, Dad. I'll work hard."

Tang San nodded, picked up the hammer Lu Chen had thrown onto the ground, then grabbed another piece of pig iron from the corner and began repeatedly practicing the Disorder Splitting Wind Hammer Tang Hao had taught him.

Tang Hao watched from the side for a while before turning and leaving. Who knew what he had gone off to do.

"Little San, let me ask you a question."

"Lu Chen, I think you'd better not ask. I won't answer you. Every question you ask is so strange. I always feel like you're trying to take advantage of me."

"Tch, boring. Then go ahead and practice your Disorder Splitting Wind Hammer. When you have time, come find me for a fight."

"You're going back?"

"No, I'm just taking a walk. I'm about to leave Holy Soul Village, where I've lived for six years. I'm going out to look around."

On the village road of Holy Soul Village, Lu Chen strolled along leisurely. He had already tested five of the six Infinite Gems. Only the Soul Gem remained unused.

"Stealing, controlling, and altering souls. On this Douluo Star, the Soul Gem could be called the absolute nemesis of any undead creature or living being with a soul."

"Soul rings and martial souls should be another form in which souls manifest in this world, right?

Then could I use the Soul Gem to steal someone else's soul rings? Turn a Titled Douluo into a Soul Master?"

Lu Chen stroked his chin and thought about it. "That actually sounds pretty good. Wouldn't that be fun?"

"Control seems pretty good too. Every Soul Master's skills would become my skills, and every Soul Master's martial soul would become my martial soul. I could manipulate them however I pleased. That sounds good too."

"Then could Alter turn trash martial souls like Blue Silver Grass into a Blue Silver King or Blue Silver Emperor?

Or change a ten-year soul ring into a hundred-year or thousand-year soul ring? Even a ten-thousand-year or Hundred-Thousand-Year Soul Ring?"