Chapter 12: Chapter 3: Twin Martial Souls (3)_1

Translator: 549690339

Tang San had never seen such an array of emotions on his father’s face before. After a long while, Tang Hao slowly spoke, “Remember, in your future, 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 stood up and without turning back, he went back inside.

While preparing lunch, Tang San pondered the world of Martial Souls he had encountered today. Twin Martial Souls must be quite rare in this world, otherwise his father wouldn’t have been so shocked. It seemed that his own hammer Martial Soul had greatly affected his father.

For him, however, the relationship between the Martial Soul and the Mysterious Heaven Method was more important. If that Soul Ring was indeed the key to breaking through the bottleneck in his Mysterious Heaven Method, then he must find a way to obtain a Soul Ring to test it out, no matter what.

During lunch, Tang Hao was very quiet, even his appetite seemed reduced from usual, and his gaze frequently fell on Tang San, as if hesitating about something.

After lunch, Tang San prepared to clean up the dishes as usual but was stopped by Tang Hao.

“Leave it for later. Xiaosan, I ask you, do you want to become a Soul Master?”

Tang San was taken aback and looked at Tang Hao. He did not want to lie to his father and after a moment’s hesitation, he nodded.

Tang Hao sighed, his face looking even older, “You will eventually choose this path.” He did not say more, and went back to his room.

Tang San noticed that when Tang Hao sighed, his expression was one of disappointment but even more so one of relief. He understood that his father’s heart seemed to hide many things.

After cleaning up the dishes, Tang San returned to his room to continue his work. The rhythmic clinking of hammer on iron rang out. Although he didn’t know when he would be able to forge the raw iron down to the size of a fist as Tang Hao demanded, this method of forging was beneficial for improving his use of the Mysterious Heaven Method and also had a good effect on physical conditioning. Tang San had begun to try to swing the hammer with as little Mysterious Heaven Method Inner Strength as possible, allowing him to maintain the movement for longer periods of time with each continuous strike.

When he had reached over three hundred hits in the afternoon and felt as if the raw iron had been rid of some impurities, the door curtain lifted and Tang Hao walked in. He did not seem to have forged any farm tools that afternoon, at least Tang San had not heard the familiar sounds of hammering.

“Dad,” Tang San looked at his father, the hammer in his hand unconsciously pausing.

Tang Hao gestured for him to continue, then stood aside quietly, simply watching him.

Only then did Tang San resume hammering, his clothes already soaked with sweat. With his current level of Inner Strength, he was not able to adapt to the temperature, and this was undoubtedly heavy physical labor.

Ding, ding, ding… the striking sounds continued, and Tang San’s small body wielded the disproportionately large hammer with each swing full of vigor.

Tang Hao thought to himself that with innate Divine Power coupled with innate full Soul Power, no wonder the boy could swing a hammer so young. Old Jack might have been right; he shouldn’t let his own decay affect the child’s development. The future path should be walked by the boy himself.

Watching the sweating Tang San, Tang Hao finally made up his mind.

“Stop for a moment,” Tang Hao said.

Tang San put down the hammer, breathless, and quietly stimulated his Mysterious Heaven Method to recover his strength.

Tang Hao approached Tang San, took the hammer from his hands, and then looked at the red-hot iron block on the furnace, “All your hammering like this, even for a year, would not make it the size of a fist.”

Tang San looked up at his towering father, “Then what should I do?”

Tang Hao coolly asked, “Tell me, when you swing the forging hammer to strike it, which part of your body exerts force first?”

After thinking for a moment, Tang San replied, “It should be the waist. The waist drives the back, which then brings up the arms to swing the hammer, right?”

Without confirming or denying Tang San’s answer, Tang Hao continued, “Besides the brain, what’s the most important part of the human body?”

“The heart,” Tang San answered without hesitation. Both the heart and brain could be fatal in an instant, but while the brain was protected by the skull, the heart was covered only by skin and muscle. As a disciple of the Tang Sect, he was well aware of the human body’s structure; piercing an enemy’s heart with a hidden weapon was the most effective and concise method of killing.

Tang Hao paused for a moment before saying, “Then tell me, how many hearts does a person have?”

“Ah?” Tang San looked at him in surprise, not quite grasping his meaning. How many hearts a person had—wasn’t that common knowledge?

“Answer me,” Tang Hao said coldly, his stature and presence making it hard for Tang San to breathe.

“One,” Tang San responded.

Tang Hao shook his head, “No, you’re wrong. Remember, a person has three hearts, not just one.”

“Three hearts?” Tang San stared at Tang Hao in astonishment, not understanding his meaning.

Tang Hao turned the forging hammer around and tapped Tang San’s legs with the handle, “Here. The muscles in a person’s two legs are the second and third hearts. If a person wants to exert all their strength, then it must be the result of all three hearts working simultaneously. Therefore, the waist is not the starting point when exerting force. The three hearts are the origins.”

“When your heart in the chest beats rapidly, exert force from both legs, the strength travels upward, reaching the thighs, then through the waist, back, arms, and finally released. This is what full force in a strike means. The heart exerts force, the waist is the axis. Watch.”