Douluo: From Internal Martial Arts to the Law of Heaven and Earth

when!

With the final hammer blow, Tang Shan looked at the iron billet, now shrunk to almost half its original size, and nodded in satisfaction. He put the forging hammer into his storage ring, then looked at Tie Zhong: "Master Tie, how do you think my forging is?"

"You are the most talented blacksmith I have ever met!" Tie Zhong praised Tang Shan's talent without reservation, until Tang Shan himself became a little embarrassed and stopped talking.

"After two more days of practice, you can try shaping. Once you master shaping, you'll be considered a master." Tie Zhong patted Tang Shan's shoulder heavily, his eyes full of satisfaction.

“Master Tie, I don’t want to learn shaping for now. I want to take it a step further and learn other forging methods,” Tang Shan said.

Hearing this, Tie Zhong had some doubts, but he did not immediately refute it. After three days of contact, he had a general understanding of Tang Shan and knew that the other party had clear goals and a clear way of doing things, and was definitely not someone who acted on a whim or did things on a whim.

"Master blacksmith, what do you think of the status of the blacksmith profession?" Tang Shan pulled over two chairs, sat down in one, and pushed the other towards Tie Zhong.

Tie Zhong's burly body settled into the chair, which groaned under the weight. "I don't have much status, or rather, apart from being a Soul Master, my other professions are probably similar to those of a blacksmith." A self-deprecating smile appeared on his face, his tone revealing an undisguised sense of loneliness.

Anyone who learns that the career they have dedicated their life to will ultimately fall short of the highest standards will inevitably feel a sense of dejection. "I love forging, I love the whole process of refining and shaping metal. But no matter how good my skills are, they are nothing in front of a true Soul Master."

As he spoke, Tie Zhong suddenly patted Tang Shan on the shoulder and solemnly instructed him: "Tang Shan, I am very happy to have a Soul Master who loves forging as much as I do. But I hope you don't become too obsessed with it. Cultivating your Soul Power properly is the right path for a Soul Master."

Faced with Tie Zhong's sincere gaze, Tang Shan couldn't help but feel a little guilty. He said that he loved forging, but that was just a lie. What he really cared about was not forging itself, but the power enhancement that forging might bring him.

cough cough.

Tang Shan coughed twice to compose himself and replied seriously, "Master Tie, don't worry, I will definitely not neglect my cultivation."

He then changed the subject: "Have you ever thought about raising the status of the blacksmith's profession?"

Upon hearing Tang Shan's "pie in the sky," Tie Zhong did not show any excitement. Instead, he shook his head helplessly: "I've thought about it, but there's no chance. We blacksmiths all know that the key to improving one's status lies in the soul tool, but we simply can't research the technology of the soul tool."

"It's not about soul tools, but another direction," Tang Shan interrupted him directly. Given the current state of Douluo Continent, unless those two peerless Douluos cross the vast ocean to steal the soul tool manufacturing method from the neighboring continent, let alone ordinary blacksmiths, even if all the soul masters on the continent devoted themselves to research, they might not achieve much.

“My idea is to continue refining the metal.” Tang Shan’s words sparked a flash of inspiration in Tie Zhong’s mind, but it vanished in an instant. He suddenly looked up, his eyes filled with fervent anticipation: “Tang Shan, what do you mean by that?”

Feeling the other person's burning gaze, Tang Shan shifted uncomfortably.

The fish finally took the bait.

"In my opinion, shaping is just a process of forging materials into corresponding models, and it doesn't involve much technical skill, which is why I said I wouldn't learn it for now. Of the four stages of blacksmithing, the one most worth exploring is actually the third stage, the forging process used to purify the metal and remove impurities."

Before Tie Zhong could respond, Tang Shan continued to explain his thoughts: "When we forge iron now, we basically start shaping it after confirming that the material has reached a certain strength. But can't the purification process continue? Or rather, have we really completely removed all impurities from the metal?"

"This..." The iron bell's brain boomed, as if a brand new door had been opened. Yes, why couldn't it be refined further? Why couldn't the strength of the material be increased further? Isn't the core work of a blacksmith to purify metal? When did shaping, as the finishing touch, become the essence of a blacksmith?

“Actually, perhaps some predecessors have already considered developing in the direction of increasing metal strength, but they may have gone astray.” Tang Shan interrupted Tie Zhong’s thoughts and voiced his conjecture. “You see, some predecessors like to repeatedly forge a piece of metal, then fold it, and then continue forging. Isn’t there a problem with this approach? Shouldn’t we not rush into folding, but instead focus on purifying the metal to its extreme first?”

"Purify to the extreme before talking about folding and forging... Yes! If you rush into folding and forging before the metal is fully purified, the internal metal elements will naturally repel each other, so it's not surprising that the effect of folding and forging has an upper limit!"

At this moment, Tie Zhong was completely lost in thought, muttering to himself, his expression shifting unpredictably—sometimes ecstatic, sometimes annoyed, sometimes indignant…

After a long while, Tie Zhong finally came back to his senses from this dazed state. His gaze toward Tang Shan was filled with fervor, as if he had seen the legendary master craftsman.

"Tangshan, I really don't know how to thank you... If your suggestion can really make the blacksmithing profession rise again, you will be the new generation's master craftsman! No, you are the god of craftsmanship!"

PS: This is the beginning of the forging system, providing a reasonable explanation for why the Douluo blacksmith didn't discover forging before. Please add to your favorites, follow, vote with monthly tickets, recommend, and comment—I'm asking for everything!

Chapter 35: The Reasons for the Decline of the Tang Clan and the Terrifying Power of Mechanized Hidden Weapons

"That's an exaggeration, that's an exaggeration."

Upon hearing that he was being compared to the master craftsman, Tang Shan waved his hands repeatedly.

"Master Tie, let's check if this direction is correct first."

Tie Zhong nodded, his burly body suddenly standing up, and took a large piece of iron from the shelf next to him and placed it on the anvil.

Seeing that the other party was about to strike the iron, Tangshan spontaneously started working the bellows.

call!

The scorching flames licked the iron, and its original iron-gray color quickly turned bright red, while its hard texture gradually softened.

The huge iron clamps were firmly held in the left hand of the iron bell, holding the heated iron material in place. In his right hand, he held an iron hammer about the size of two human heads. After confirming that the heat had penetrated into the iron material, he swung the hammer without hesitation.

Clang!

With a loud metallic clang, the entire piece of iron caved in, its irregular shape transforming into a barely formed trapezoid.

With a single blow, he used the recoil to easily lift the hammer high into the air before slamming it down again.

Amidst the sparks, the metal rapidly deforms, and impurities within are removed with each forging process.

"Huff."

In less than fifteen minutes, Tie Zhong stopped what he was doing. The iron piece, which was originally the size of a washbasin, was now only the size of a football. By then, he was covered in sweat.

"Tangshan, this is the limit of my usual tempering. From now on, I will either start shaping directly or folding and forging."

Tie Zhong picked up a towel hanging to the side, casually wiped his face, and looked at Tang Shan.

"Master Ironsmith, what would happen if we continued forging?"

Tangshan asked.

"If I hammered it any further, this piece of metal wouldn't last long and would break. So I thought it would be a waste of materials and I stopped trying."

Tie Zhong stroked the iron hammer in his hand, recalling Tangshan's previous ideas and problems, and seemed to have some clues.

“Master blacksmith, don’t worry about wasting metal. When you first learned forging, didn’t you waste materials too?”

Tangshan offered suggestions while recalling the entire process of forging the iron bell.

The blacksmith probably forged the raw material hundreds of times. Now, the quality of this metal should have reached the level of a hundred-stage metal from the third stage of the Douji era.

The standard of 100-stage forging may be applicable in all three periods, but what can truly bring about a qualitative change in metal is probably 1,000-stage forging.

Lou Gao, a master craftsman during the Douyi era, may have possessed the skill of a thousand-times forging, but he might not have truly achieved it. After all, a thousand-times forged metal should exhibit some unique metallic properties, but the Eight Treasures Ruyi Soft Armor he crafted in the original work did not show these characteristics.

Alternative forging, or perhaps a different approach, is to forge metal to achieve a strength equivalent to a thousand forgings using unconventional methods.

After pondering for a while, Tang Shan guessed that the master craftsmen of the Douyi period may have given the metal the strength of a thousand-forged metal by repeatedly folding and forging it, but failed to endow it with the characteristics that a truly thousand-forged metal should have.

However, since he had never witnessed the forging process of the master craftsman Dou Yi, he could not make any hasty conclusions.

Tie Zhong finished his contemplation and decided to give it a try, following Tang Shan's suggestion.

Yes, blacksmiths inevitably waste metal during forging, so what is my little bit of loss?

After figuring it out, he reheated the iron to fix it, and then picked up the hammer again to continue forging.

One hammer, two hammers, three hammers...

After being hammered about twenty more times, fine cracks appeared on the surface of the iron, and it shattered completely.

Faced with this result, Tie Zhong, who had already prepared himself mentally, was not discouraged. Instead, he carefully recalled every detail he had just forged, thinking about where he could further optimize it and whether the hammer's placement needed to be adjusted...

After a moment of contemplation, he took another piece of raw material and began forging again.

At this moment, Tie Zhong seemed to have returned to the years when he was still a blacksmith's apprentice, focused and persistent, single-minded. When asked to go back first, he simply responded and continued to immerse himself in the forging in his hands.

Stepping out of the blacksmith shop, Tang Shan walked slowly toward the Great Soul Arena, reflecting on his forging progress over the past few days.

With my exquisite control over my own body, the technique of exerting force when forging is basically not a problem. In fact, after returning, I even used my soul skill to further optimize the way I exert force.

The bellows operation is essentially about controlling the flame, and with my fairly good mental strength, I quickly grasped the essentials.

As for controlling the heat of metal, it needs to be adjusted according to the material and impurities of the raw materials. It may take more practice to become proficient in this aspect.

The forging techniques of the Douyi era were indeed not very difficult, and it seems that the technical direction of this group of people has gone astray. They did not focus on metal purification and improving the material quality at all, but instead concentrated on metal processing and shaping techniques.

This can be seen from the Eight Treasures Ruyi Soft Armor crafted by the master craftsman Lou Gao, and the ability to forge the Buddha's Wrath Lotus.

However, in terms of processing and shaping techniques alone, they have already reached the pinnacle, especially in building height.

Without any systematic training, to directly engage in techniques like mechanical arts and still be able to personally create the Tang Clan's first mechanical hidden weapon, the Buddha's Wrath Lotus, is an astonishing manual skill that is probably in no way inferior to those national treasures in my previous life who were able to personally build the outer shells of nuclear bombs.

Thinking of this, Tang Shan couldn't help but recall the reasons for the Tang Clan's absurd decline during the Dou Er era.

First, the collision of the Sun and Moon Continents brought about Soul Tools, whose effects far surpassed those of traditional hidden weapons, directly causing Tang Sect's hidden weapons to lose their market. Later, the Tang Sect Master was too stubborn, single-mindedly cultivating the Blue Silver Grass Martial Soul according to the path of the "Great Tang Buddha," resulting in none of the sect masters throughout history becoming true powerhouses.

Leaving aside the latter reason for the decline, it can only be said that every leader of the Tang Clan had some wild ideas. What Tang Shan truly couldn't understand was the first reason mentioned earlier.

To be fair, objectively speaking, the top three mechanical hidden weapons of the Tang Clan are absolutely incredibly effective.

The Rain of Pear Blossom Needles were not shown much in the original work, so Tang Shan couldn't make a judgment. However, the Buddha's Wrath Lotus, ranked first among hidden weapons, and the Peacock Feather, ranked third, were so powerful that Tang Shan felt the decline of the Tang Clan was simply a miracle.

In the original novel, when the Buddha's Wrath Lotus was used by "Rogue Rabbit" (Xiao Wu), the first one killed more than seventy Soul Saints who had opened their Martial Soul True Body. After the second one was used, it killed more than thirty Soul Douluos from the Spirit Hall.

Tangshan said, "I don't understand, but I am deeply shocked."

Such a brilliant victory is so powerful that it would be no exaggeration to say that its power is equivalent to half a level 9 fixed-position soul-guided cannon shell.

Moreover, compared to level nine fixed-position soul-guided cannons, the Buddha's Wrath Tang Lotus has three unparalleled advantages:

Firstly, the cost is much lower. Even if the rare metals required are extremely rare, the size of a Buddha's Wrath Tang Lotus is only so big. It might be possible to make it using some leftover scraps from making soul tools. Even if the materials are indeed rare, since the Sun and Moon Continents have already collided and merged, the rare metals required to make the Buddha's Wrath Tang Lotus will definitely not be scarce.

Secondly, the release is completely silent and without any fluctuation of soul power, so it will not arouse the vigilance of powerful individuals.

Thirdly, as a mechanical concealed weapon, anyone can control it once they learn how to use it. Even ordinary people can easily unleash attack power at the level of a Soul Douluo or even a Title Douluo after using it. It is definitely an excellent weapon for assassinating the strongmen of the Sun Moon Empire.

The more Tang Shan thought about it, the more he felt that the decline of the Tang Clan during the second era of Dou Er was truly outrageous. With such outstanding hidden weapons, he dared to guarantee that it would not be difficult for a single Buddha's Wrath Tang Lotus to sell for a value comparable to a level nine fixed-position soul-guided cannon shell.

Then there's the Peacock Feather, ranked third, which is truly heaven-defying. When "Rogue Rabbit" (Xiao Wu) used it, the level 97 Super Douluo Qingluan Douluo didn't even realize the slightest danger before being severely injured.

Tangshan, my jaw has dropped; Sun and Moon Empire, I'll trade it for a level 9 fixed-position soul-guided cannon.

Although the Peacock Feather requires close combat to unleash its maximum power, its strongest achievement is only severely injuring a level 97 Title Douluo, which seems to be slightly inferior to a level 9 fixed-position soul-guided cannon that is comparable to the full-force attack of an Ultimate Douluo.

The key point is that when you bring a level 9 fixed-position soul-guided cannon close to a titled Douluo powerhouse, the other party will definitely sense it. However, if you bring the Peacock Feather in front of the other party, they may not be able to react until the attack is launched and the other party is hit.

Otherwise, given the Sun Moon Empire's vast array of soul-guided cannons, if they were to actually get close to a top Douluo expert, why wouldn't they seize the opportunity to launch a "terrorist attack"?

The Peacock Feather is also a type of mechanical hidden weapon. It does not require soul power to activate and is small and exquisite, so ordinary people can use it. Even when facing a Super Douluo who has reached the state of oneness with heaven and man, it will not make the opponent feel any threat.

……

"With such a winning hand, how did the Tang Clan manage to ruin themselves? Could it be that the great Tang Clan Master didn't leave behind the method for making mechanical hidden weapons?"

Tang Shan couldn't help but mutter to himself.

"The loss of the mid-level hidden weapon market is one thing, but there's still the top-level hidden weapon market. Just based on the terrifying power of the Buddha's Wrath Lotus and the Peacock Feather, if I were the Tang Sect Master, I could easily cultivate a hundred Blue Silver Grass Martial Souls, let alone one."

And then there's the Mother-and-Child Soul-Chasing Life-Stealing Dart. Even a level 91 or 92 Dugu Bo could use it to directly challenge a top-tier, high-attack Super Douluo, Chrysanthemum Gate. This hidden weapon is equally monstrous.

The more Tang Shan thought about these things, the more he felt that the decline of the Tang Clan was too outrageous. Not to mention the second stage of the Battle of the Three Kingdoms, even in the third stage, with the unique characteristics of not needing soul power to activate and being undetectable by the strong, the top-notch hidden weapons could still dominate the world.

Strolling leisurely to the front of the Great Soul Arena, I saw the old man in charge of carving had brought over a reclining chair from somewhere and was lying on it, letting the gentle sunlight fall on him, looking very comfortable.

"Elder Xuan, has my elder brother come out yet?"

Out of a certain perverse sense of humor, Tangshan referred to this elderly man surnamed Xuan as such.

Elder Xuan slowly opened his eyes, glanced at Tang Shan, and pointed in a direction.

"It seems your older brother went to that restaurant for a meal. Don't disturb this old man's sunbathing. Oh, and if you find anything delicious, remember to bring me some."

Over time, Elder Xuan gradually became familiar with the father and his two sons, and spoke to them in a very casual manner.

“Hey,” Tang Shan moved closer to him, looking at his belly with great interest, “You eat so much every day, how come you don’t gain weight? It’s really strange.”

Elder Xuan had already closed his eyes again, his words muffled: "I am an old man with extraordinary talents."

Tang Shan smiled, didn't bother him any longer, and walked in the direction the old man pointed.

Before we even arrived at the destination, a rich aroma wafted into our nostrils, like the smell of roasted meat.

He opened his eyes wide and carefully observed the crowds in each shop, and soon spotted Su Yuntao in one of them.

PS: Thank you to Qingfengzi, Jianchu Dahuang, Book Friend 20171204181427281, Book Friend 20200603225246265, Shule Er, Huachuan Buyong Jiang, Fengying Wuxia, Book Friend 20220512234609503, Hua2le313ji, and Hen Jiankang 1 for the monthly tickets. Thank you to all the book friends including DR Zhenhong K and Yueying Cancha for the recommendation tickets. Because everyone is so enthusiastic, there are too many recommendation tickets to list them all. I wish everyone the best of luck in reading this book.

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Chapter 36 Eating and Chance Encounters

Upon seeing Su Yuntao, Tang Shan strode into the hotel, glancing up at the sign before entering.

"Forest Roasted Lamb"

At this moment, Su Yuntao lowered her head slightly, her eyes vacant, clearly deep in thought. Tang Shan did not stand on ceremony and pulled out the chair opposite her to sit down.

The commotion outside startled Su Yuntao from his reverie. He looked up, about to frown and reprimand, only to find that the person sitting opposite him was Tang Shan.

"Hey little brother, what brings you here? Finished your blacksmithing lessons?"

Tang Shan nodded: "I've learned most of it, mainly by mastering the basics. The rest depends on whether my practice is thorough enough."

As he spoke, Tangshan turned his gaze to the grill in front of him. On the crisscrossing grill racks, slices of mutton were being licked by the flames, emitting a rich aroma from some unknown seasoning.

"Does forging really have that much potential?"