Tang Hao said coldly, "Do I still need you to take care of me? Just go. This is the path you chose. Sacred Soul Village has one slot every year—there's no point wasting it. The forging technique I taught you should be enough to find an apprenticeship at any blacksmith shop in the city. It ought to cover tuition and food."
Although Tang Hao's tone was cold and detached, Tang San's eyes still stung with warmth. Over these past few months, even though Tang Hao's attitude toward him hadn't changed, as Tang Hao taught him forging, this tall, weathered man had increasingly begun to feel like a father. He genuinely wanted to learn about Soul Masters, but at the same time, he found it hard to leave his father.
Tang Hao said, "I have a condition for letting you go to Nuoding. You can only go if you agree to my terms."
"I agree," Tang San said without hesitation.
Tang Hao's brow furrowed slightly. "You'd agree so easily without even hearing what I'm asking? A man must keep his word once he gives it. Don't be someone who makes promises lightly."
Tang San said naturally, "Whatever Dad asks me to do, I'll agree. Dad only has my best interests at heart."
Tang Hao was briefly stunned. Tang San had spoken casually, but it was precisely that natural trust that caused a subtle shift in his emotions.
"No matter how you cultivate your Soul Power in the future, I want you to promise me one thing—you must never attach a single Soul Ring to your hammer Martial Soul. Don't even let anyone see it appear. And never let anyone know you possess a Twin Martial Soul. Can you do that?"
Tang San was taken aback. "What about the Blue Silver Grass Martial Soul?"
Tang Hao said, "You can use and cultivate the Blue Silver Grass Martial Soul as freely as you like. Attaching any Soul Rings to it is perfectly fine. With a Twin Martial Soul, you don't need Soul Rings on both Martial Souls for your Soul Power to continue advancing. As long as one Martial Soul possesses Soul Rings, the bottleneck on Soul Power growth will disappear."
Tang San said, "So from now on, I only use the Blue Silver Grass Martial Soul—is that right?"
Tang Hao nodded. "Unless your life is in danger, never use that hammer."
"Alright, I promise you." Tang San nodded solemnly. For him, whether or not he cultivated a Martial Soul, or which Soul Rings he used—it was all secondary. As long as he could find a way to break through the bottleneck in his Mysterious Heaven Skill, that was enough. His Tang Sect's Hidden Weapons didn't require the assistance of a Martial Soul.
To others, Blue Silver Grass might seem like a useless Martial Soul, but Tang San had never once felt down about it. When Tang Sect's Hidden Weapons were cultivated to a sufficient level, the saying that a plucked leaf could wound someone was no empty boast—it was simply a fact. Blue Silver Grass was condensed from Soul Power, which was essentially the Mysterious Heaven Skill's internal energy. As long as he had enough internal energy, he would have a virtually unlimited supply of Hidden Weapons.
"Alright, let's eat," Tang Hao said.
Their household was as close to destitute as one could get. Tang San had virtually nothing to prepare—he simply tidied up his patched and re-patched clothes, and that was that.
However, on this day he didn't heed Tang Hao's instruction to just pack. The rhythmic sound of forging continued to echo through his room. In order to craft all manner of Hidden Weapons in the future, Tang San understood that everything would have to rely on his own efforts. The forging techniques his father had taught him absolutely needed to be practiced diligently. Until his Hidden Weapon techniques reached their peak, the quality of the weapons themselves played a decisive role. Super-grade Hidden Weapons like the Buddha's Fury Tang Lotus, in particular, required such precision that not the slightest error could be permitted.
The day felt exceptionally long, and it was the first time since arriving in this world that Tang San felt restless. Toward the world beyond, he felt anticipation, but also a measure of fear. Whether in the Tang Sect or in Sacred Soul Village, he had never ventured out on his own to gain experience. In this regard, he really was no different from any other child. He kept wondering—what kind of excitement would the outside world bring him?
After dinner, Tang Hao tossed out a single remark and headed out for drinks, seemingly no different from any other night. He told Tang San to leave in the morning without making a ruckus that would wake him.
At dawn, Tang San sat on a large boulder atop the hill, a single leaf held delicately between his fingers. A faint purple glow shimmered in his eyes. Perhaps it was because his body had grown sturdier recently, but his Purple Extreme Demon Eye had been progressing remarkably fast. The leaf in his hand—even the most minute vein pattern on its surface, he could observe with perfect clarity. He knew that his Purple Extreme Demon Eye had already begun entering the realm of Microscopic Perception.
Unlike the Mysterious Heaven Skill, which was divided into nine levels, the Purple Extreme Demon Eye had only four tiers: Broad Vision, Microscopic Perception, Mustard Seed, and Vast Expanse. The requirement for inner disciples of the Tang Sect was to reach Microscopic Perception—which was sufficient for the use of Hidden Weapons. Because Tang San had begun cultivating so early, drawing upon the innate energy that hadn't fully dissipated after birth, he had already developed a faint sense of Microscopic Perception at just six years old. But he also knew that virtually every inner disciple of the Tang Sect could achieve Microscopic Perception in their Purple Extreme Demon Eye. Yet not a single one—including Sect Master Tang the Great—had managed to advance to the next tier.
After reaching Microscopic Perception, the cultivation speed of the Purple Extreme Demon Eye became extraordinarily slow. And the daily, unbroken absorption of the Purple Qi from the East was not something that could be explained by willpower alone. For that reason, most Tang Sect disciples who reached Microscopic Perception rarely continued cultivating further. Legend had it that once, an elder of the Tang Sect had achieved the Mustard Seed tier, but it had yielded no particularly special results—he could simply see a bit more clearly than at the Microscopic Perception level. And that elder had cultivated the Purple Extreme Demon Eye for over thirty years.
Tang San's Mysterious Heaven Skill internal energy surged forth, surging abruptly into the leaf. The soft leaf, under the force of the internal energy, instantly straightened. With a gentle flick of his right index and middle fingers, the leaf spun outward and shot through the air as if slicing through it.
(End of Chapter)