Tang Hao reversed the Forging Hammer in his hand and lightly touched its handle to Tang San's calves. "Right here. The muscles in a person's calves are their second and third hearts. If someone wants to unleash all their strength, all three hearts must work together."
"So when you exert force, it doesn't begin at the waist. The three hearts are the starting point."
After saying this, Tang Hao turned the Forging Hammer back around. With a low shout, he half-turned his body, his feet gripping the ground as his exposed calves instantly tensed.
The next second, the Forging Hammer in Tang Hao's hand swung out. With a deafening clang, it crashed heavily onto the red-hot pig iron.
As the hammer rebounded from the impact, Tang Hao suddenly turned, once again driving the movement with his calves. He swung the rebounding hammer around in a circle through the air and smashed it down onto the red-hot pig iron again.
Another thunderous clang rang out.
The hammer bounced high once more. Tang Hao's movements seemed perfectly in tune with its rebound, neither too early nor too late. At the exact instant before the hammer reached its highest point, he used his body to carry it through another full rotation and slammed it down.
That old man Tang Hao really does know a thing or two. Watching the scene before him, Xiao Yan realized that Tang Hao's casting method was far more than ordinary forging.
This was clearly a special method of borrowing force to exert force, using the rebound from each collision to power the next strike. His movements were perfectly coordinated, and from the second strike onward, every blow was stronger than the last.
This was none other than the Clear Sky Sect's supreme technique, the Disorder Splitting Wind Hammer!
Tang Hao moved faster and faster, and the iron gradually changed shape beneath the Forging Hammer's relentless blows. In the blink of an eye, he had delivered thirty-six strikes, shrinking the entire piece of iron by a full size.
Finally, Tang Hao guided the Forging Hammer through three consecutive rotations in the air with both hands before dissipating its force and standing with the hammer in hand. His face was not flushed, nor was he out of breath, as though someone else had delivered those blows.
Xiao Yan considered it and thought, That old man Tang Hao may usually spout crazed nonsense, but he does have some real skill. Borrowing force to exert force looks easy, but it's anything but simple.
Tang Hao returned the hammer to Tang San. "You try it."
"All right." Tang San took the Forging Hammer and copied Tang Hao's earlier stance. The Mysterious Heaven Skill circulated slowly, strength erupted from his calves, and his waist twisted, driving his back as the Forging Hammer struck the iron precisely.
Then Tang Hao walked over to Xiao Yan and sat down beside him. He said calmly, "Little Yan, don't you want to become a Soul Master? I've discussed it with Old Jack. The junior Soul Master academy in Nuoding City starts in three months. You'll go with Little San as a Work-Study Student."
"Huh?" Xiao Yan froze for a moment, then asked dubiously, "Why have you changed your mind again?"
Tang Hao glanced at Xiao Yan. "I won't oppose you becoming a Soul Master, but remember what I tell you: you are not allowed to join Spirit Hall."
With that, Tang Hao turned and left.
For Tang Hao as he was now, taking revenge against Spirit Hall with his strength alone was clearly unrealistic. Although he had severely wounded Spirit Hall's Supreme Pontiff, Qian Xunji, all those years ago, he had ended up gravely injured himself.
Moreover, he could not break through the limits of his talent. Even if he took ten thousand steps back, could Tang Hao's strength surpass that of Spirit Hall's current Supreme Pontiff, Bibi Dong?
Bibi Dong had twin Martial Souls. Naturally, Tang Hao was no match for her!
Only by raising these two sons of his into powerful figures would he have a chance to take revenge against Spirit Hall in the future, and even restore the Clear Sky Sect's declining prestige.
However, because Xiao Yan's Martial Soul was heavenly flames, Tang Hao now felt a deep aversion toward him. He constantly felt as though a vast green prairie of cuckoldry spread across his head.
Xiao Yan did not understand why Tang Hao had suddenly changed his mind. He knew there might well be some unspeakable secret behind it, but none of that mattered to him. As long as he could leave this place, that was enough.
Only by leaving and venturing into the outside world would Xiao Yan have a chance to investigate the whereabouts of heavenly flames. Only by finding them could he recover his memories and strength, then finally return to the world where he truly belonged.
Over the next three months, Tang San practiced the forging method Tang Hao had taught him every day, borrowing force to swing the hammer. Xiao Yan watched from the side throughout, sometimes trying it himself.
As a result, Xiao Yan also learned the Disorder Splitting Wind Hammer.
Three months later.
The rolling mountains lay like crouching giant beasts, quietly awaiting daybreak. A village nestled at the foot of a small hill.
Tang Hao rose very early that day and also drank a great deal.
"It's getting late! Get up and cook for me!" Tang Hao walked into Xiao Yan's room, kicked the bed hard, and shouted angrily.
Xiao Yan jolted awake.
Perhaps because Xiao Yan's Martial Soul was heavenly flames, Tang Hao could never get past that hurdle in his heart. He always felt that Ah Yin had secretly cheated on him back then, and that Xiao Yan was not his biological son.
Over these three months, Tang Hao had treated Xiao Yan entirely as a burden, dumping every dirty, exhausting chore on him while always giving him the worst food. There was not the slightest trace of familial affection.
The drunken Tang Hao cursed at him for a while. Seeing that Xiao Yan still had not gotten out of bed, he slapped him. "Lazybones! Still pretending to sleep!"
Remembering everything he had endured these past days, Xiao Yan's fury flared. He abruptly flipped out of bed and stood before Tang Hao, his gaze turning cold as he glared at him. "Tang Hao, what drunken madness are you up to now?"
"If you want to eat, cook for yourself. I'm not waiting on you."
At the same time, a Fire Lotus faintly emerged in Xiao Yan's eyes. His strange pupils seemed capable of piercing straight through Tang Hao's soul.
But in the next instant, the lotus-shaped flame markings in Xiao Yan's eyes swiftly faded, as though they had never appeared.
At this, Tang Hao instantly sobered up considerably. Though puzzled, he lost none of his imposing air. "Today is the day you and Little San go to Nuoding Academy. Get yourself ready."
With that, Tang Hao turned and left.
A little while later, Tang San returned from the mountain, looking refreshed and invigorated.
"Little San, what were you doing this morning?" Tang Hao asked calmly.
Tang San said, "Dad, I went to exercise. I go out for a run every morning to train my body."
Tang San did not dare tell Tang Hao that he had gone out to cultivate the Mysterious Heaven Skill and the Purple Demon Eye. If Tang Hao learned that his soul had transmigrated into this world, that would amount to admitting he had possessed someone else's body.
To put it bluntly, the real Tang San was actually already dead.
Could Tang Hao spare him after learning that his child's body had been possessed?
If Tang Hao discovered Tang San's secret one day, would the two of them put on another display of a loving father and a filial son?
"Mm." Tang Hao said little else, merely adding calmly, "You don't need to forge today. Old Jack will take you and Little Yan to the Nuoding City Junior Soul Master Academy later to become Work-Study Students."
"All right, Dad. You mentioned this to me before." Tang San's heart began beating faster as an indescribable excitement welled up within him.
After all, his inability to advance in the Mysterious Heaven Skill had always been the greatest knot troubling his heart. Perhaps once he became a Soul Master, everything would come apart as easily as bamboo beneath a blade.
Tang Hao continued, "There is a condition to my letting you go to Nuoding Academy. You must agree to it before you can go."
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