Tang Hao's Shock

Dawn gradually broke. A few fading stars still studded the sky, and the hazy earth lay beneath a veil of silvery-gray gauze.

On the Back Mountain of Holy Soul Village, Yang Que was practicing the Thunderclap Sword Shadow Steps he had just inherited. Across the misty slope flashed thin arcs of lightning and several faint white shadows...

"Thunder, lightning, the swordsman follows his heart, unmoved by anything beyond himself..."

"Shadows have no form. They move beyond the five elements. At the pinnacle, nine shadows become the limitless..."

"Phew! What a powerful movement technique. But to reach even minor mastery, I'll need to produce at least nine afterimages... There's no mention of what it takes to reach full mastery. Or has no one ever managed it? Then I'll be the first!" Yang Que's face lit up with excitement.

"I have speed, level, and strength now. All I lack is combat experience! But there's no rush. First, I'll get some iron from Uncle Hao and make myself some weights. My current workouts aren't nearly enough to train me anymore..." Yang Que stood, dusted himself off, and murmured as he looked toward the village.

If I remember the original story right, Tang Hao should be teaching Tang San the Disorder Splitting Wind Hammer soon. I can't learn it, but I can always forge iron to train my body and make some weights while I'm at it. Heh, Tang Hao likes sleeping in the mornings. Yang Que walked through the village as he thought.

Holy Soul Village was quiet at this hour. Most people were still asleep. Usually, only he and Xiao San would already be up and heading to the Back Mountain to chop firewood.

Yang Que entered Tang Hao's Blacksmith Shop. He often came to see Tang San, so he knew his way around and quickly found Tang Hao's great iron hammer.

Looking at the hammer, which stood several centimeters taller than he did, Yang Que took a deep breath and gently wrapped his hand around it.

With a sudden heave, he lifted the great iron hammer!

"Phew! It's heavy! It must weigh at least seventy-five kilos. No wonder he was once the Clear Sky Douluo—he can even forge with a hammer this heavy... But for me, swinging it long enough to forge anything will be incredibly hard!"

Then he glanced at a huge piece of Raw Iron nearby and grinned. He scooped up the Raw Iron with one arm, hoisted the hammer over his other shoulder, and strode outside...

"Uncle Hao, I'm borrowing your hammer!"

He did not dare forge inside the shop. If he woke Tang Hao, wouldn't he be kicked straight out? He had no desire to find out how hard Tang Hao could kick...

Yang Que had barely left when Tang Hao opened his eyes. Shock spread across his face. "Little Que can actually lift my hammer? And he took a piece of my Raw Iron! What's he planning to do?"

With Tang Hao's strength, how could he fail to notice a six-year-old child moving around?

He rose from bed, still pondering those questions, and silently followed Yang Que to see what the boy was up to...

Before long, Yang Que eagerly carried the hammer and Raw Iron to the large rock on the Back Mountain where he usually trained!

He built a fire beside it!

Impatient to begin, Yang Que pulled off his shirt, revealing muscles that were just starting to take shape.

"Huh! This little fellow's physique is remarkably strong. That tiny body seems to hold tremendous power!" Tang Hao stood in a tree, staring at Yang Que's sturdy upper body in astonishment.

Then Tang Hao watched, even more stunned, as Yang Que swung his great iron hammer and slammed it down onto the Raw Iron.

Bang! The sound sent birds and beasts fleeing through the forest!

Yang Que's a clever kid, but he used to be frail. He hasn't dropped by in over two months, so why has he suddenly taken up forging? And how did his physique change so much in just two months? Did he train himself into this shape in that little time? It's unbelievable! Tang Hao's mind swirled with curiosity and disbelief.

Yang Que raised the hammer again after that first blow. Tang Hao stared in surprise. He can actually swing it! Even with Xiao San's innate divine strength, he only managed about fifty strikes. With this boy's physique, ten or so should be his limit. It's already incredible that he built up this much strength in two months! But using my great hammer to train himself already? That's far too reckless. Shocked by Yang Que's performance, Tang Hao frowned.

Tang Hao assumed Yang Que had borrowed his hammer to forge iron and train his body.

What happened next stunned him completely!

Three blows... five... eight... twelve...

By the time Yang Que reached thirty blows, Tang Hao had gone numb with shock. He had never imagined such a small body could contain so much strength. Yet Yang Que did not stop. He kept swinging the hammer with all his might, striking the Raw Iron again and again!

Though he had swung it thirty times and sweat had begun to bead on his cheeks, Yang Que felt as if he were only warming up.

He thought of some of the techniques Tang Hao had taught Tang San in the original story as part of the Disorder Splitting Wind Hammer. He tested them one strike at a time and finally got the hang of them after another twenty blows!

As Tang Hao watched, his eyes suddenly widened. He replayed those first thirty blows in his mind and realized that, after the first twenty, Yang Que had controlled the force of every strike with astonishing precision. Not only does this boy have innate divine strength comparable to Xiao San's, he's extraordinarily gifted! I haven't even taught Xiao San this technique of borrowing force to return force, yet the boy is already using it!

Right now, Xiao San is only swinging the hammer over and over. I planned to let him master it first, then teach him the Disorder Splitting Wind Hammer. But this boy has already worked out the technique. That means he has incomparable insight and control over every muscle in his body. How else could he grasp the art of forging so quickly?

And no one even guided him! He doesn't know the Disorder Splitting Wind Hammer's swing techniques, but he might create a hammer technique of his own... What a frightening boy!

Tang Hao's eyes flickered.

He could almost see Yang Que's heart pumping out blood like an endless source of power. The boy's feet seemed rooted to the earth. That power flowed upward from the ground through his calves and thighs, turned at his waist, then coursed through his spine and arms before gathering in the hand gripping the great hammer.

Clang! A nearly perfect strike landed on the Raw Iron, ringing out with a pleasing sound.

Watching Yang Que sweat pour down like rain, Tang Hao felt that "genius" might not be enough to describe him. Someone who learned quickly when taught was clever. Someone who understood as soon as he was taught was a genius.

But someone who figured it out with no teacher at all... what was that?

A genius among geniuses?

"Only twenty swings, and he grasped a technique it took me years to develop... I suppose that's what I should expect from the child of that terrifying couple."

Tang Hao watched the small figure tirelessly swing the great hammer, and a thousand thoughts stirred within him. With them came a peculiar feeling he had not known in years.

Back then, he too had been a genius...

But now...

Tang Hao felt a long-forgotten sense of falling short. It was faint, so faint that he soon let it go. Yet it stirred something within a man who had spent years as still as an ancient well, sunk deep in despair.

Of course, Tang Hao did not know why Yang Que had grasped those techniques so quickly... It was because he...

Yang Que kept swinging the hammer. Under his blows, the once-black Raw Iron slowly turned fiery red.

The Jade-Suppressing Nether King Body has greatly strengthened my physique and power, but three hundred strikes in one go are still my limit! I'll need to sit and cultivate to draw out more of its effects and strengthen my body further! Yang Que calculated his limit as he hammered away.

At last, after his 301st strike, Yang Que could bear no more. He gently set down the great hammer, sat, and began to cultivate!

Tang Hao's mouth twitched. "I never thought this boy could take more punishment than Xiao San. Three hundred and one strikes! Is he made of iron? Forget it. Once he's tired of forging, he'll return my hammer..." With that, Tang Hao turned and went back to the village.

Yang Que had no idea how thoroughly he had shocked Tang Hao!

Even if he had known, he would not have cared. After all, he was a man with a cheat. A little forging was child's play, wasn't it?

For several days, Yang Que worked on his weighted gear, and Tang Hao left him alone. What else could he do? The boy was a freak. Tang Hao had watched him for the first few days, but after Yang Que went from 301 strikes in one session to 500, he gave up. The boy could do as he pleased...

Tang Hao left him to it and let him use the Raw Iron freely. On the twelfth day, Yang Que finally finished forging weighted bracers for his wrists and ankles. He put them all on, bringing the total weight to a hundred kilos!

"Good! My speed is limited now, but once I get used to this weight and take it off, it'll soar to a whole new level!" Dragging his weighted body along, Yang Que used the Thunderclap Sword Shadow Steps, but he was only twice as fast as when he had first begun practicing it.

"That's the feeling. Now it's time to head into the Soul Beast Forest, fight Soul Beasts, and build up my combat experience!"

A red glow gradually appeared in the east. It spread wider and grew brighter, stretching Yang Que's shadow behind him until he disappeared in the direction of the forest...