Mang Tian's Workshop
After briefly saying goodbye to Gu Yuena, Xu Qing came here alone.
The instant he stepped into the workshop, a rich, heavy metallic smell hit him.
Xu Qing made his way to his forging room with practiced familiarity, then took his Thousand Refinement Heavy Silver Hammers out of the pair of silver bracelets on his wrists.
Mang Tian had given him those silver bracelets. After all, Mang Tian had to take an eight-year-old third-rank blacksmith seriously. Of course, he had given Tang Wulin a pair too. Although Tang Wulin's forging talent was not as outrageous as Xu Qing's, he was still exceptionally gifted, and Mang Tian naturally had to keep the scales balanced.
Previously, he had disappeared for an entire month. Mang Tian had not blamed him, but both Mang Tian and Tang Wulin had been rather surprised by the changes in Xu Qing.
After all, a month ago, Xu Qing had still had black hair and black eyes, but a month later, his hair and eyes had turned gold. Moreover, every movement he made carried a touch of aristocratic bearing. Mang Tian and Tang Wulin had immediately looked as though they had seen a ghost. However, Xu Qing explained to them that he possessed a trace of dragon bloodline, and his appearance had changed because that bloodline had now awakened.
Mang Tian nodded. After all, he had heard of bloodline awakenings, and he was certain that, like Xu Qing, Tang Wulin also had some special bloodline within him. How else could a Blue Silver Grass Martial Soul possibly give the two of them such astonishing strength?
As for the pair of forging hammers in his hands, they had been forged from the piece of Heavy Silver he had performed a blood sacrifice on. The Thousand Refinement special effect Xu Qing had obtained was Penetration, a top-tier special effect just like Stacked Hammers. It had thrilled Mang Tian at the time, and had also given him a little more anticipation for Tang Wulin's Thousand Refinement special effect.
Penetration's effect was to transmit the force of each hammer strike evenly through the metal into its interior. In other words, compared with others, both Xu Qing's success rate and the quality of his work were higher than those of ordinary third-rank blacksmiths.
Of course, Xu Qing had undergone one other major change: after his bloodline's first awakening, his strength had roughly doubled outright.
That had left Mang Tian and Tang Wulin feeling downright emo.
After all, neither had expected that, when they had just asked Xu Qing to raise his arm slightly and exert his strength, a muffled boom would follow as the strength-testing device they had used for Tang Wulin and Xu Qing for years was blasted apart by the force.
The upper limit of that strength tester was a full one thousand jin!
Even an ordinary Soul Grandmaster's strength on one side might not reach that number, yet Xu Qing had gone straight off the scale with a single hammer strike. It was enough to prove that his single-arm strength had long since broken through the thousand-jin barrier.
Left with no choice, Mang Tian had replaced it with a strength tester with a higher limit and tested Xu Qing again.
But when the test ended, the cold figures announced by the electronic voice were unbearably grating.
Left arm strength: 1,100 jin. Right arm strength: 1,200 jin.
The two stared blankly at the numbers on the screen, their minds utterly empty.
Was he even fucking human anymore?
This was simply absurd!
Still, both had fairly good mindsets and soon accepted the result.
Of course, with Xu Qing's increased strength, Mang Tian began teaching him more as well.
Xu Qing tightened his grip on the Heavy Silver Hammers, his gaze fixed on the red-hot piece of metal on the anvil, and officially began his tasks for the day.
Clang, clang, clang, clang!
He swung the hammers rapidly with alternating hands, their shadows rising and falling without pause. The force of every strike penetrated inward through the metal's surface, without the slightest waste.
Before long, a piece of Thousand Refinement metal took shape beneath his hands.
Xu Qing raised a hand to wipe the sweat from his forehead. Beads of sweat slid down his neck and dripped onto the floor. After a short rest, he picked up the next blank with his tongs and continued.
Soon, he had completed all the tasks Mang Tian had assigned.
Xu Qing put away his Heavy Silver Hammers, then turned and walked out of the forging room.
As soon as he stepped out of the workshop's front door, he spotted familiar figures.
Tang Ziran was carrying Tang Wulin on his back, preparing to leave.
"Hello, Uncle Tang!"
Noticing the movement behind him, Tang Ziran looked back. His gaze fell on the blond-haired, golden-eyed boy before him, and he smiled warmly. "Oh, it's Xiao Qing."
Xu Qing nodded lightly.
"Wulin, what happened to him?"
With a pained expression, Tang Ziran explained, "Wulin just completed Thousand Refinement. He overexerted himself so badly that he passed out from exhaustion."
Looking at Tang Wulin sleeping soundly on Tang Ziran's back, Xu Qing nodded.
"We'll head home first, then." Tang Ziran smiled as he said goodbye.
"Goodbye, Uncle," Xu Qing replied.
He watched Tang Ziran carry Tang Wulin farther and farther away, the evening breeze on the street gently brushing through his golden hair.
Xu Qing withdrew his gaze and left Mang Tian's Workshop as well.
Xu Qing made his way home. In the living room, Tang Xue and Gu Yuena were watching a television drama.
Whether it was because of Tang Xue or not, Gu Yuena had also become hooked on soap operas.
After greeting the two of them, Xu Qing returned to his room and locked the door behind him.
With a faint flash of light, he entered Parallel Earth.
After several months of alterations, this new home was already brimming with life.
Flowerpots filled the sunny spots, planted with Blue Silver Grass of various sizes.
Sunlight spilled down, and the leaves and stems slowly unfurled, swaying gently as though they had sensed Xu Qing's return.
Xu Qing did not linger, heading into the garage behind the villa.
A car was parked inside, but his gaze did not settle on it. Instead, he looked at the four zombies beside it.
Countless slender Blue Silver vines coiled around each zombie's body. Clearly, all of them had been poisoned by Xu Qing's Blue Silver Grass.
With a thought, Xu Qing established a mental connection with the four zombies.
The next moment, all four zombies moved, picking up the tools nearby and following behind Xu Qing.
After several months of effort, Xu Qing had become extremely proficient at using Spore Demon Puppet. At first, even controlling a single zombie had been somewhat taxing, but now he could just barely control four zombies at once.
Soon, the one human and four zombies arrived beside a vast lake.
The lake shimmered, and Blue Silver Grass already covered its shores. The pale blue blades were wreathed in a faint halo beneath the sunlight.
The lake lay southeast of town, not far from his new home.
Moreover, Xu Qing had not encountered a single zombie along the way.
Xu Qing took out a fishing rod, baited the hook with a large chunk of beef he had found at the supermarket, and cast it into the lake. Then he leaned back on a lounge chair by the shore to bask in the sun.
Under his control, the four zombies took out the Blue Silver Spores Xu Qing had specially prepared and began scattering them along the lakeside.
Over the past few months, as Xu Qing grew stronger, he had cleared out almost all the zombies and mutant beasts throughout the town. These included places that had previously been particularly dangerous, such as the rat grounds at the rubbish dump, the commercial district, the academy, and the hospital.
Only after entering did Xu Qing discover that there seemed to be far fewer zombies and mutant animals inside. Even so, he had harvested a large number of crystal cores, along with daily necessities. His shelter now even had electricity. Of course, Xu Qing had no background in electrical engineering, but he had studied middle-school physics.
He had collected plenty of solar panels around town, along with batteries from electric bikes and cars. With some simple work, he had put together a basic electrical system.
But what Xu Qing regretted most was that there was no fucking internet. His phone and computer both worked, but neither could connect to the internet.
Sure enough, one of life's great miseries was having no internet on your phone!