Chapter 69 – Spirit Opening
As Tang Wulin entered a state of extreme focus, he became immensely clear-headed and knew very well that if he were to move backwards, the hammer in his left hand wouldn’t be able to reach his teacher.
Thus, he loosened his grip on the hammer in his left hand which then abruptly flew towards Wu Zhangkong.
Wu Zhangkong casually flicked the wooden sword in his hand, horizontally brushing Tang Wulin’s left hammer.
Wu Zhangkong’s martial soul was actually a sword. He was practicing to reach the realm of ‘One Sword Cleaves All Techniques.’ Thus, regardless of whatever assault was used or whoever the opponent was, Wu Zhangkong chose to use only his sword.
However, he suffered this time around.
As the hammer and sword collided, Wu Zhangkong felt a strong wave of power trasmit through his wooden sword. Although Tang Wulin’s strength was unmatched by his, he had not released his martial soul and merely used a small portion of his soul power. Wu Zhangkong felt as though his wooden sword was on the verge of breaking.
He wasn’t even given a chance to gather more soul power, when he felt the power flowing through his wooden sword double.
Kacha! His wooden sword broke, and the Thousand Refined Heavy Silver Hammer flew brazenly in the direction of his head.
Wu Zhangkong flashed aside, avoiding the Thousand Refined Heavy Silver Hammers with a close shave.
Those seemingly small forging hammers fell towards the ground, creating a deafening booming sound. It gave Xie Xie, who was preparing to give his support to Tang Wulin, a big shock.
Tang Wulin had forced back Teacher Wu, and even broke apart his wooden blade?
Retreating back a few steps, Tang Wulin held up his heavy silver hammer up to his chest in defense.
Wu Zhangkong stopped, staring blankly for a while. He knew Tang Wulin’s hammers were a bit strange.
“Stop!” He raised his hand, halting Gu Yue and Xie Xie, both of whom were preparing to resume battle.
Xie Xie looked at Tang Wulin weirdly, and then switched his gaze towards the grey hammer on the ground that he’d never seen before. He felt his heart contract with a wave of fear in that instant.
The first time he had battled Tang Wulin, he’d been bound up by Tang Wulin. If this hammer had gone down towards him…
Tang Wulin rushed towards the ground and picked up the three hammers, returning them into his Heavy Silver Ring.
“Your hammers are abnormal.” Wu Zhangkong looked towards Tang Wulin with an eye filled with doubt.
Tang Wulin answered him, “These hammers were made with Heavy Silver, and are slightly heavier than normal forging hammers.”
“How heavy could they be? Let me see!” Xie Xie was very curious about those hammers, which had been able to break Teacher Wu’s wooden sword apart.
Dang! Shortly after the Heavy Silver Hammer left Tang Wulin’s hand, it dropped to the ground. Xie Xie fell from the huge force of the inertia.
“Aiyoh!” Xie Xie growled in pain. “You, what’s this thing of yours? It’s so heavy.”
Wu Zhangkong walked towards him and picked up the Thousand Refined Heavy Silver Hammer. They moved him unknowingly. No wonder his wooden sword had broken apart; the weight of this hammer…
Tang Wulin commented, “One hammer weighs approximately 150 kilograms.”
Wu Zhangkong asked. “There were three waves of power. Did you cause that, or was that from something else?”
Tang Wulin hesitated for a moment before answering Wu Zhangkong, “That’s the ability of those hammers. After forging with the Thousand Refinements, unknown effects could be created. Mine came with one as well, and it’s called the Stacked Hammers effect.”
Wu Zhangkong, though he had no knowledge of forging, knew that the pair of heavy silver hammers were precious. With a gentle nod, he questioned Tang Wulin, “Are you very talented in forgery?”
“En, I’m a blacksmith.” As Tang Wulin thought about the treatment he’d been given from the Blacksmith’s Association, he felt better.
Wu Zhangkong’s eyes revealed an expression of thoughtfulness as he raised his hand towards Tang Wulin. “Come. Hold my hand.”Tang Wulin grasped his hand. Wu Zhangkong’s hand was huge and his fingers long. The grip felt cool, and there was not a hint of roughness.
“Pull me with all your might; show me how great your strength really is.” Wu Zhangkong ordered Tang Wulin.
“Oh,” Tang Wulin answered. He took a deep breath before gathering strength from within both his arms as he pulled.
Wu Zhangkong readied himself. Like a nail, he stood still without moving even a strand of hair.
As Tang Wulin put in all of his strength, his little cheeks started to blush profusely. Though Wu Zhangkong looked seemingly still, the partially hidden soul power vibrations revealed that he wasn’t as relaxed as he seemed to be. He actually had to utilise his soul power to prevent Tang Wulin from dragging him away.
“That’s enough.” After a moment, Wu Zhangkong stopped Tang Wulin.
It was only then that Tang Wulin stopped his pulling.
A strange color flashed across Wu Zhangkong’s steely demeanor. He patted Tang Wulin’s shoulder. “In the Class Promotion Tournament, the three of you should compete together. If you could exert your strength to the current amount, then adding in our tactics, it should be quite interesting.”
As Tang Wulin and Xie Xie returned to the dormitory, they were completely exhausted. Forget about forging, it would have been a miracle already if Tang Wulin could force himself into the meditation position.
Starting from the next day, Tang Wulin was exclusively excluded from physical training classes. The reason was simply because Wu Zhangkong’s physical fitness couldn’t even compare with Tang Wulin’s. Normal training was useless to a talented prodigy like Tang Wulin, and it would be better to make use of the time on other training.
But what Tang Wulin was going to practice wasn’t simple as well. It was to control his Bluesilver Grass.
The other students from the first grade’s class five couldn’t withstand the physical education class anymore, and on the third day, all of them fell into a mess on the ground. This was a return to the original schedule of having physical training class in the morning, then theory and knowledge class in the afternoon.
As physical training classes were shortened to only half a day, the students felt more relaxed and nobody complained.
Tang Wulin, Xie Xie, and Gu Yue had all gone through a spiritual power, and the results were astounding. Xie Xie’s spiritual power was 29, which was regarded as good for others within his age group. It was considered a stage that neared the mid-level within Spirit Origin. Tang Wulin’s spiritual power was 44, which was also considered within the mid-level range of the Spirit Origin rank. He kept silent about his previous level. Since the previous test showed that his spiritual power was 38, then within that short span of time, his inner spiritual power had grown by a lot.
Both of their spiritual power levels had already stunned Wu Zhangkong somewhat. However, this was mild compared to what Gu Yue had to offer.
Gu Yue’s spiritual power was 119, far above the Spirit Origin rank.
In ranking spiritual power, Spirit Origin was at the bottom. When the level of spiritual power grew above a hundred, it was considered to have entered the second rank – Spirit Opening.
Spirit Opening was when one’s mind and heart could communicate, meaning one’s thoughts and one’s will were one. When one reaches the Spirit Opening rank, that is when their ability to control their spiritual power begins, and where one can start controlling their spiritual power for their own purposes. One would then be able to bear the load of two yellow spirit souls or one purple spirit soul.
Wu Zhangkong finally understood that Gu Yue’s martial soul, Elementalist, might actually be a rare variation of a spirit-type martial soul. It could be controlled fully by her when both her huge spiritual power and martial soul, Elementalist, communicated with one another.
Spirit System Battle Soul Masters were one of the rarest type of Soul Masters in the modern era, and also the most sought after. This was because they combined well with mechas. This resulted in Wu Zhangkong increasing his awareness of Gu Yue.
Of course, their arduous training process wouldn’t differ from others. One would be required to train even harder if they caught the Icily Arrogant Prince Charming’s attention.
And so, a week’s time soon flew by. Tang Wulin hadn’t take time off to visit Mang Tian’s workshop, so naturally he hadn’t managed to complete his forging tasks.