Tang San had never seen such a vivid display of emotions on his father's face before. A host of complex feelings flickered across Tang Hao's features one after another. Only after a long while did he slowly speak a single sentence: "Remember, in your future, you must always use the hammer in your left hand to protect the grass in your right hand. Forever."
Tang San nodded, not quite understanding. Tang Hao rose to his feet and returned to the back room without looking back.
While preparing lunch, Tang San turned over what he had learned about the world of Martial Souls. Twin Martial Souls — they seemed to be exceedingly rare in this world. Otherwise, his father wouldn't have been so shocked. It appeared that the hammer Martial Soul had struck a deep chord in him.
What mattered more to Tang San, however, was the relationship between the Martial Soul and the Mysterious Heaven Skill. If that Soul Ring was the key to breaking through with his Mysterious Heaven Skill, then no matter what, he had to find a way to obtain a Soul Ring and test that theory.
At lunch, Tang Hao was noticeably silent. He even seemed to eat less than usual, his gaze drifting toward Tang San from time to time, as though he were wrestling with something.
After finishing lunch, Tang San habitually moved to clear the dishes, but Tang Hao stopped him.
"Leave them for now. Xiao San, let me ask you — do you want to become a Soul Master?"
Tang San froze for a moment, looking up at his father. He was unwilling to lie to him. After a brief hesitation, he nodded.
Tang Hao let out a sigh, his face seeming to age another few years. "So you've chosen to walk this path after all." He said nothing more, and retreated once again to his room.
Tang San noticed that when his father sighed, there was disappointment in his emotions — but more than that, there was a look of quiet relief. He understood that many things seemed to be hidden in his father's heart.
After clearing the dishes, Tang San returned to his room and resumed his work. The rhythmic clanging of forging hammer against iron rang out steadily. He didn't know when he would manage to shape this block of raw iron down to the fist-sized piece Tang Hao required, but this method of forging was of considerable benefit to his mastery of the Mysterious Heaven Skill, and the physical training it provided was excellent as well. Tang San had already begun trying to use as little internal energy from the Mysterious Heaven Skill as possible to swing the hammer, so that he could sustain each consecutive series of strikes for longer.
When the afternoon's hammering had gone on for over three hundred blows, and he felt that another layer of impurities had been driven from the iron, the door curtain lifted and Tang Hao walked in. He hadn't been forging farm tools this afternoon — at least, Tang San hadn't heard the familiar hammering sounds.
"Father." Tang San looked toward his father, and the hammer in his hand unconsciously came to a stop.
Tang Hao made a gesture for him to continue, then walked to the side and stood there in silence, simply watching.
Tang San resumed swinging the hammer. By now, his clothes were soaked through with sweat. His current level of internal energy was still far from sufficient to adapt to the temperature, let alone the fact that this was grueling physical labor.
Clang, clang, clang, clang, clang… The ringing continued without pause. Tang San's small body and the massive forging hammer were wildly disproportionate, yet every time he swung it, the hammer cut through the air with fierce power.
Tang Hao thought to himself, *Innate superhuman strength combined with Innate Full Soul Power — no wonder he can swing the hammer at such a young age.* Lao Jie Ke might have been right. He shouldn't let his own decline hinder this child's development. From now on, he would let him walk his own path.
Watching Tang San, drenched in sweat like rain, Tang Hao finally made up his mind.
"Stop for a moment," Tang Hao said.
Tang San set down the hammer, breathing slightly heavily, and quietly circulated the Mysterious Heaven Skill within his body to recover his stamina.
Tang Hao walked up to Tang San, took the hammer from his hands, and glanced at the iron block glowing red-hot on the furnace. "The way you're hammering, even a whole year wouldn't be enough to turn it into a fist-sized piece."
Tang San looked up at his towering father. "Then what should I do?"
Tang Hao said coolly, "Tell me — when you swing the forging hammer to strike the iron, which part of your body initiates the force first?"
Tang San thought for a moment. "It should be the waist, I think. The force starts from the waist, pulls the back into motion, and then the arms swing the forging hammer?"
Tang Hao neither confirmed nor denied Tang San's answer, and continued, "Apart from the brain, what is the most important part of the human body?"
"The heart," Tang San answered without hesitation. The heart and the brain were both instantly fatal targets, but the brain was protected by the skull, while the heart was shielded only by skin and muscle. As a disciple of the Tang Sect, he was intimately familiar with human anatomy. Piercing an enemy's heart with a hidden weapon was the most efficient and straightforward method of killing.
Tang Hao paused briefly, then asked, "Then tell me — how many hearts does a person have?"
"What?" Tang San stared at him in bewilderment, unable to make sense of the question. How many hearts does a person have — did that even need to be asked?
"Answer me." Tang Hao's gaze turned cold, and the oppressive force of his frame and aura made it hard for Tang San to breathe.
"One."
Tang Hao shook his head. "No, you're wrong. Remember — a person has three hearts, not one."
"Three hearts?" Tang San stared at Tang Hao, dumbfounded, not understanding what he meant.
Tang Hao inverted the forging hammer in his hand and tapped the handle against Tang San's two calves. "Here. The muscles of a person's two calves are the second and third heart. If a person wants to unleash their full power, all three hearts must work in concert. So when generating force, the starting point is not the waist. The three hearts are the starting point."
"When the heart in your chest is beating rapidly, the force begins in the two calves and travels upward — through the thighs, through the waist and back, down the arms, and finally is released. That is a full-power strike. The heart generates the force; the waist serves as the axis. Watch."
(End of Chapter)