"Tian, you don't need to go to Nuoding Academy."
Inside the dim blacksmith's shop.
Tang Hao's voice was hoarse and cold.
He did not even turn to glance at his eldest son.
"Your hammer is only ordinary iron. Stay in the shop and be an ordinary blacksmith. Just live out your life in peace."
"Watch carefully from the side, and learn."
After saying this, Tang Hao turned around.
His rough, large hand rested on Tang San's tender shoulder.
A rare trace of warmth entered his voice:
"San, watch carefully. This is how you generate force with the hammer. Memorize it well..."
Tang Tian, the older brother.
Stood all alone in the corner.
Like a superfluous spectator.
The once supremely arrogant Clear Sky Douluo.
Had now placed all his hopes on his younger son, Tang San, who had awakened the Clear Sky Hammer.
As for Tang Tian, his other son, who had only awakened the trash martial souls Blue Silver Grass and an ordinary little iron hammer?
He probably thought Tang Tian was not worth nurturing.
He might as well let him live as an ordinary person.
Tang Tian watched for a while.
A self-mocking smile curved his lips.
He turned and walked out of the sweltering blacksmith's shop.
Behind him, Tang San's slightly hesitant voice drifted faintly over:
"Dad, my brother..."
"Focus! Leave him alone!"
Tang Hao's scolding immediately followed.
Outside the blacksmith's shop, the mountain breeze blowing against his face felt pleasant.
Tang Tian stretched.
There was little dejection at being abandoned on his face. Instead, he looked full of interest.
"Tsk, this old man really does play favorites."
"But whatever. I never planned on taking the bitter, grudge-filled route of a worthless underdog's comeback anyway."
At the moment he awakened his martial souls.
Tang Tian had awakened his memories of his previous life, only then learning the truth about this world.
He had originally thought that, as someone who had transmigrated, even if he could not take everything calmly and handle it with ease...
Unfortunately, he had awakened Blue Silver Grass and an iron hammer. Even scrambling on his hands and knees, he could not beat those other freakishly gifted people!
Fortunately, he had also bound himself to a dating system with a decidedly unusual style.
In his previous life, he had been a die-hard player of galgames-dating games featuring beautiful girls.
Getting the hang of the system had been easy.
With a thought.
A panel visible only to him appeared before his eyes.
[Name]: Tang Tian [Age]: 6 [Innate soul power]: Level 6 [Martial souls]: Blue Silver Grass, little iron hammer [Talent]: Exceptionally handsome [Evaluation]: Your good looks have crowded out your cultivation talent, leaving your cultivation talent unremarkable.
Looking at the panel, Tang Tian could not help thinking.
Perhaps it was because he had not inherited the Clear Sky Hammer's violent genes.
He had perfectly inherited the soft beauty of his mother, the Blue Silver Emperor, Ah Yin.
Had this been his previous life, he could have taken the looks-based influencer route.
Unfortunately, on the Douluo Continent, good looks were useful, but strength still mattered most!
"Level 6 soul power. Mediocre potential."
"Without a cheat, even in a world like the Douluo Continent, the very floor tiles of fantasy power levels, I'd probably only amount to a pretty vase."
Tang Tian touched his already somewhat handsome little face.
He sighed helplessly.
That rotten drunk Tang Hao.
Had never given him the slightest resources.
The Mysterious Heaven Skill?
That was Tang San's private stash.
"So, if I want to live a spectacular life, I'll still have to rely on this..."
Tang Tian's gaze fell on the other side of the system interface:
[Romance panel]
As a veteran player who had completed who knew how many galgames.
He froze completely when he opened the list.
[Currently available romance targets]: 1. Blue Silver Grass 2. Little iron hammer [Win them over, and become a god through love!]
Tang Tian had thought the system would have him pursue Xiaomei from the village.
Or someone like Ning Rongrong, Dugu Yan, or Qian Renxue.
Tang Tian refreshed it three times, confirming that the system had not bugged out.
"What the hell? I'm supposed to romance my martial souls?"
Although he had played plenty of games featuring anthropomorphized warships and guns.
Were "anthropomorphized grass" and "anthropomorphized hammers" not a little too far ahead of their time?
With three parts confusion and seven parts curiosity.
Tang Tian opened Blue Silver Grass's details page.
What popped up on the screen was not a picture of a blade of grass.
Instead, it was an exquisite anime-style character illustration.
In the picture was a sprig of Blue Silver Grass curled up in a gloomy corner.
Its leaves gave off a faint blue glow.
It looked weak, pitiful, and helpless.
Beside the illustration.
A dialogue box slowly scrolled:
[I'm useless, aren't I... I must be.] [At the awakening ceremony, that Su Yuntao said I was a trash martial soul.] [Those children with Blue Silver Grass martial souls were also mocked for awakening roadside weeds.] [Even Master's father didn't spare me a glance.] [As a blade of grass, I can't forge iron like a hammer or fight like a beast martial soul.] [Master Tang Tian is so good-looking.] [Yet he's saddled with a martial soul like me. He must despise me, right?] [I should just rot away in the soil.] [Current affection: 30/100 (Normal)]
Reading these lines filled with dejection, gloom, and self-destructive tendencies.
Tang Tian's veteran-player DNA stirred fiercely.
"Well, damn!"
"Gloomy, insecure, self-denying, barely any presence..."
"Isn't this the classic gloomy loner girl archetype?!"
A girl with this characterization usually needed a sunny, cheerful, gentle, yasashii male lead.
Only through constant encouragement and companionship could she build confidence and emerge from the gloom.
Ultimately becoming a top-tier yandere who depended on the male lead alone!
I know this script!
Tang Tian was instantly possessed by his inner actor.
He walked to the little grove outside the village and found a clean patch of grass to sit on.
But he did not immediately begin cultivating.
Instead, he looked at the wilted little sprig of Blue Silver Grass that appeared in his palm.
In an affectionate tone fit for a romantic drama.
He murmured to himself:
"Everyone says Blue Silver Grass is a trash martial soul, and that the Clear Sky Hammer is the greatest in the world."
"But..."
Tang Tian paused.
His fingertip gently brushed the leaves of Blue Silver Grass.
"I believe there are no useless martial souls, only useless soul masters."
"I'll nurture you into the strongest plant-type martial soul!"
With that, he closed his eyes and began circulating his soul power in the crudest manner.
[Blue Silver Grass's inner thoughts refreshed] [Master... is touching me?] [He said I'm not useless?] [He said he'd nurture me into the strongest plant-type martial soul!] [Master's hand is so warm.]
After cultivating for an hour.
Tang Tian stopped cultivating.
[Seeing this, Blue Silver Grass reverted to her former state.] [Master really was just comforting me.] [Yes! With a trash martial soul like me, how could he have the enthusiasm to keep cultivating?] [Only with a top-tier martial soul could cultivation possibly be enjoyable!] [Master must have suffered another blow, too, right? As his martial soul, I can't offer him any help.] [After all, I'm just a boring weed...]
That was what she thought.
Yet, to her surprise, after Tang Tian stretched a few times.
He began meditating again.
He repeated this several times.
Meditating for an hour each time.
All the way until evening.
Seeing Tang Tian working so exceptionally hard, Blue Silver Grass could not help feeling deeply moved.
Especially since Tang Tian also played with her a few times.
As Tang Tian tried controlling Blue Silver Grass to attack or sway.
Blue Silver Grass could not help sensing it, too.
What Tang Tian had said earlier did not seem to have been a lie.
[He really doesn't despise me. Even though I'm so weak, he's still working hard to cultivate with me.] [For the first time, the insecure Blue Silver Grass felt that continuing to cultivate like this seemed rather nice.] [But she knew that, as Tang Tian's soul power level rose, sooner or later she would no longer be able to keep pace with him.] [If I could become a little stronger, would I be worthy of staying by Master's side forever?] [At this thought, she could not help feeling deeply sorrowful again.]
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