Tang Hao was worried about Yang Ming. He feared that Yang Ming would damage his body while using the iron hammer, leaving him unable to explain himself to the village chief.
Hiding behind the door, Tang Hao poked his head out and watched Yang Ming stand before the forge, take off his coat, and reveal a healthy wheat-colored body.
Despite his young age, he had already built solid muscles, with clearly defined six-pack abs. This was all the result of the strict training regimen Village Chief Old Jack had devised for Yang Ming.
Though they were only the most basic exercises, the basics were sometimes the most effective.
Moreover, with the red fruits the village chief had been feeding Yang Ming these past few days, Yang Ming's strength far surpassed that of an adult.
Explosive muscles bulged across his body like hard granite, sharply defined and brimming with extraordinary force. His wheat-colored skin flaunted the incomparable power he possessed.
Yang Ming wore a cold expression, his lips set in stern lines.
His eyes gleamed with spirit, as sharp and swift as an eagle pouncing on a rabbit.
Yang Ming had been visiting Old Tang's home for years, and with the Three-Tomoe Sharingan's ability to copy, he had long since figured out weapon forging in his mind. He lit the charcoal fire and vigorously worked the bellows in an orderly manner. He was not fast, but he was clearly quite familiar with controlling the heat.
"Whoosh, whoosh, whoosh!"
The bellows sounded, and flames rose from the charcoal furnace, scorching the raw iron.
Once the raw iron gradually turned red-hot, Yang Ming picked up a pitch-black iron hammer and fiercely struck a piece of raw iron set in a depression below. Amid the clang, clang, clang of hammering, its constantly changing shape made it roughly apparent that he was forging a spearhead.
The iron hammer was heavy. Even an adult would find it difficult to wield.
Yang Ming exerted all his strength, veins bulging along his arm muscles.
Every time the hammer fell, sparks flew, casting Yang Ming's face in a fiery red glow.
Watching Yang Ming forge a weapon so skillfully, even Tang Hao, once a Titled Douluo, could not help rubbing his eyes again and again to make sure the Yang Ming before him was not someone else in disguise, but Yang Ming himself.
"I've never heard of the village chief giving Little Yang lessons in weapon forging. How did he learn to blacksmith?"
Yang Ming being able to lift the iron hammer was not frightening.
After all, his Third could do the same.
What was frightening was that someone who had never learned blacksmithing could actually rival a blacksmith with decades of experience.
Third knowing how to blacksmith could still be explained by the influence of growing up around it.
But that explanation could not be applied to Yang Ming!
Tang Hao stroked the stubble on his cheek and asked himself what he had been doing at Yang Ming's age. He was probably still playing with mud in the fields, wasn't he?
At that thought, Tang Hao's face immediately darkened.
Didn't that mean he had wasted the past several decades of his life?
"Could it be that there really are geniuses in this world who are born knowing everything?"
Tang Hao's powerful frame trembled, and a sharp gleam flashed in his eyes.
Yes, only the word "genius" could explain all this!
Tang Hao watched Yang Ming with rapt attention. He had to—he had not taken Yang Ming seriously before, since he was merely a little brat. But now that he had decided Yang Ming was a genius seen only once in a century, Yang Ming's status instantly became different.
Besides, his Third would also be attending the awakening ceremony before long. If nothing unexpected happened, Yang Ming would be Third's greatest rival!
He had to gather some information for Third!
You never knew until you looked, but once he did, he was startled.
Under Tang Hao's meticulous observation, he discovered something utterly astonishing!
The hammer's iron handle was deliberately rough to prevent slipping. A child's palms were relatively tender, and the constant friction from swinging it would inevitably cause tremendous damage. Before long, the web between the thumb and forefinger would surely split open.
Yet Tang Hao discovered that during Yang Ming's forging process,
his tender little hands showed no change whatsoever. Not even a single blister had formed. It was exactly the same as his Third's! This was precisely the Mysterious Jade Hand Yang Ming had secretly learned from Tang San over the past week using the Three-Tomoe Sharingan.
The Mysterious Jade Hand could make one's palms extraordinarily tough and shield them from all toxins.
After a long while, Yang Ming placed the forged iron blank into cold water. With a sizzle, the temperature within the iron blank rapidly dropped. When he took it out again a moment later, it had formed into a diamond-shaped spearhead. Resting in his palm, it gave off a cool, gentle sensation.
All he needed was a wooden shaft to mount the spearhead on, and he would have a handy red-tasseled spear.
Yang Ming was quite satisfied with his work. Carrying the spearhead, he left the blacksmith shop, leaving Tang Hao alone inside to ponder deeply.
When Tang San returned home from the small hill after his usual early-morning cultivation, he unexpectedly found that Tang Hao was not sleeping. Instead, he sat in a chair with a dark expression.
It was obvious that Tang Hao was waiting for Tang San to return.
This made Tang San feel somewhat uneasy, unsure of what had happened.
Tang San cautiously stepped forward and asked:
"Dad, why do you look so upset?"
Tang Hao glared at Tang San irritably. In Tang Hao's eyes, Third had originally been a rather impressive genius, but the world was amusing that way—once he was compared to someone else, Tang Hao always felt Tang San lacked something.
"Look at Little Yang from the village chief's house. He's so disciplined with his training!" Tang Hao said bitterly. "I just saw him in our home, and he actually forged a spearhead! Look at him, then look at you. You're still struggling with that lump of iron. Why can't you be as promising as him?"
There was a kind of excellence known as someone else's child.
Tang San had never expected to receive a scolding the moment he came home, and he was utterly baffled.
I'm so wronged. What is this even about?
The father and son rarely spoke much, so Tang Hao told Tang San everything he had just witnessed.
When he heard that Yang Ming's palms had not been damaged at all, a sharp gleam flashed through Tang San's eyes.
"Dad, I'm heading out first. I'll come back for breakfast later!"
Leaving those words behind, Tang San hurried out of the blacksmith shop. There was something he absolutely had to confirm with Yang Ming: whether Yang Ming had cultivated the Mysterious Heaven Treasure Manual!
Because the Mysterious Heaven Treasure Manual was his greatest secret. He absolutely could not allow anyone else to know about it!
Yang Ming had only just left, and Tang San used his lightness skill, quickly catching up and finding him. Because he was too concerned and impatient, his tone came across as somewhat aggressive:
"Yang Ming, tell me. Have you cultivated the Mysterious Heaven Treasure Manual?"
Seeing Tang San's anxious appearance, Yang Ming immediately understood. The Mysterious Jade Hand he had exposed earlier must have been seen by Uncle Tang Hao, who then told Tang San.
However, Yang Ming was not afraid in the slightest. Instead, he asked:
"What do you think?"
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