In the past, Xiao Yan only knew how to immerse himself in cultivation. Although he had trained himself into possessing powerful martial skills, he never had a real target to test them on.
Now, wielding this iron hammer that weighed over a hundred catties, not only did it help him better understand his own body, but it also accelerated his cultivation speed.
While swinging the hammer, Xiao Yan clearly felt the continuous flow of inner strength within his body being suppressed somehow, slowing its circulation.
However, under such suppression, the newly cultivated inner strength became extremely refined.
And when he put the hammer down, the circulation speed of his inner strength would significantly increase.
This reminded Xiao Yan of the weighted training from Dragon Ball, especially Son Goku's weighted clothing.
If he could have a set like that to wear in the future, it would greatly benefit his cultivation.
First, his inner strength would become extremely pure. Second, once he adapted to the weighted clothing, although the speed of cultivating inner strength wouldn't necessarily improve, the refinement of the inner strength would be several times higher than before.
However, crafting such a set of weighted clothing was simply unrealistic at the moment.
Besides cultivating inner strength, there was another benefit—consuming a lot of physical energy. While the inner strength nourished his body, the effectiveness of the Xuan Tian Body Refining Art also improved.
Even though Xiao Yan tried to hold back, his strength was simply too overwhelming. In just six days, he had completed ten thousand hammer strikes.
Tang Hao was deeply shocked by Xiao Yan's terrifying strength and perseverance. In his opinion, even if his own son was born with divine strength, he wouldn't have been able to last more than three days.
But this boy not only hammered the scrap iron ten thousand times, he also removed a significant amount of impurities from it.
Also, the hammer handle was deliberately rough to prevent slipping. Repeated swinging would cause severe damage to the palms from friction.
Yet after several days, he found that Xiao Yan, despite forging every day, still had delicate little hands, hardly any different from when he was a baby.
Tang Hao had no idea that Xiao Yan had switched from cultivating the Mysterious Jade Hand to the Xuan Tian Body Refining Art since childhood. Even without channeling inner strength, his physical constitution was far superior to the average person.
Another five days passed, and the large iron block riddled with impurities was hammered down to the size of a fist, and the material had reached the quality of refined iron.
"Tang Hao, you old dog, you're really dumb—there's refined iron readily available, but you insist on using garbage material."
Xiao Yan wiped the sweat off his forehead, roasted by the forge, took a deep breath, and began thinking about what kind of hidden weapon he should craft from this refined iron.
This material wasn't easy to come by, so he had to make full use of it.
"Tang Hao, busy?" Just as Xiao Yan was deep in thought, an elderly voice suddenly came from outside.
It was the afternoon, and Tang Hao was working on forging farm tools. Upon hearing the voice, he merely gave a grunt in reply.
Curious, Xiao Yan stepped out of his room and saw an old man around sixty years old. He was tall and thin, but full of energy. His clothes were neat and clean, his hair meticulously combed—an absolute contrast to Tang Hao.
Xiao Yan recognized this man well. He was the village chief of Holy Soul Village, Old Jack.
Old Jack was a kind elder, well respected by the villagers. Thanks to his help, Xiao Yan had been able to eat rabbit meat.
It was also with his support that the rabbit pelts had been sold, allowing Xiao Yan to build a little stash of gold.
"Little San, come, let Grandpa have a look."Old Jack waved to Xiao Yan.
"Grandpa Jack, hello."Xiao Yan walked over with a smile.
If it weren't for Grandpa Jack's help, Xiao Yan might not have survived Tang Hao's torment, let alone grown this strong and healthy.
"What do you want, village chief?"Tang Hao said coldly.
Old Jack was actually just a few years older than Tang Hao, but had the nerve to speak as if from the elder generation—something that had always annoyed Tang Hao!
After all, Tang Hao was once a legendary figure in the spirit master world—the mighty Clear Sky...
Used to Tang Hao's attitude, Old Jack didn't bother arguing with him and said casually, "Tang Hao, Little San is almost six now. He should be joining this year's awakening ceremony."
Tang Hao looked at Xiao Yan and said flatly, "Then let him join. What day is it?"
Old Jack replied, "In three days. I'll come pick him up then."
If it weren't for the decent quality and low prices of Tang Hao's farm tools, this guy who only knew how to drink would have long been thrown out of the village.
And if it weren't for Little San, who cooked every day, Tang Hao would've starved to death already.
Counting on him to take Little San to the awakening ceremony? Might as well hope the sun rises from the west.
Tang Hao gave a nod and ignored Old Jack after that.
Xiao Yan, however, was intrigued. "Grandpa Jack, this martial soul awakening ceremony—will it let me obtain a martial soul?"
From the villagers' conversations, Xiao Yan had learned that in this world called Douluo Continent, everyone had a martial soul of their own, but only a very small number could cultivate and become spirit masters.
This rarity made spirit masters the most noble profession on the continent.
Martial souls were divided into two main types: Tool Souls and Beast Souls.
As the names suggested, martial souls that took the form of tools were Tool Souls, and those that took the form of animals were Beast Souls.
In general, Tool Souls had a broader range and were more common. But more of them were also non-cultivable compared to Beast Souls.
Just knowing these scattered facts made Xiao Yan incredibly curious—what would his martial soul be? Would his cultivated inner strength and martial arts be stronger than those of spirit masters?
Talking about martial souls made Old Jack suddenly serious. "Each of us has our own martial soul. Around the age of six, we undergo the martial soul awakening ceremony. Once awakened, our abilities in certain aspects will improve. Even the most ordinary martial soul can offer some help.
If you happen to awaken an outstanding martial soul that can be cultivated, then you'll become a noble spirit master.
The awakening ceremony happens only once a year—I can't let you miss it. Besides, a deacon from the Spirit Hall in Notting City will personally come to help the village children awaken their souls. That deacon is a spirit master of the Grand Spirit Master level."
Xiao Yan clearly noticed Old Jack's eyes fill with envy and respect when he said the words "Grand Spirit Master."
Always wary of Tang Hao, that old dog being a powerful spirit master, Xiao Yan quickly asked when he heard that ranking term, "Is a Grand Spirit Master very powerful?"
Old Jack was clearly patient with Xiao Yan. In his heart, the most sensible child in the village was this very boy in front of him. It was truly hard to imagine how such a sweet kid had such a father.
(End of Chapter)