Douluo Continent III Haotian Wulin

Three years later, Hongshan College.

"Wu Lin, I heard that Zhou Shaolong is going to the Spirit Pagoda tonight."

The chubby Wan Yunchao lowered his voice and twisted his body to get closer to Tang Wulin, his face full of curiosity and envy.

"His family really went all out this time. I heard they didn't just buy the cheapest random soul spirit, but specially picked out a compatible beast spirit for him. What about you? Didn't you already reach level ten half a year ago? Why haven't you fused with a soul spirit yet?"

The boy sitting by the window looked up, and sunlight fell on his profile.

Three years have passed, and Tang Wulin is no longer the little boy who had just awakened his martial soul. His once somewhat rounded features have gradually matured, his eyebrows and eyes are delicate and clean, and his black eyes are as clear as washed black jade. He has also grown much taller, taller than children of the same age, with straight shoulders and back. His arms and waist do not look exaggerated, but they subtly reveal a kind of strength that has been developed through long-term training.

The most obvious change is in his hands.

Those hands were still long and beautiful, but a thin layer of calluses had already formed on the palms and knuckles. If you didn't look closely, you would only think that he was an exceptionally handsome young man; but if you looked closely, you could see a kind of resilience in those hands that was not commensurate with his age.

Tang Wulin closed the textbook in his hand and smiled.

"What's the rush?" he said. "Reaching level ten in soul power and when to buy soul spirits are two completely different things."

Wan Yunchao's eyes widened immediately.

"But you've waited so long! If it were me, I would have rushed to the Spirit Pagoda by now. Even buying the most basic random soul spirit would be better than dragging this out, right?"

Tang Wulin simply shook his head upon hearing this.

"My first soul spirit cannot be bought casually."

This wasn't just youthful vanity at play; it was something Mang Tian had repeatedly told him long ago.

The first Soul Spirit is the starting point for any Soul Master.

Especially for weapon spirit masters, the first spirit grants not only a spirit ring and a spirit skill, but also the direction of their power for a long time to come. The more special the spirit itself, the less room there is for compromise in the first step.

Tang Wulin's hammer was different from ordinary weapon spirits.

Others only knew that his martial spirit was a small, unremarkable black hammer. In fact, in the first year, many classmates said behind his back, "This hammer looks even more shabby than a practice hammer in an ordinary blacksmith's shop." But later on, no one dared to underestimate him anymore.

the reason is simple.

He hits hard.

Of course, to be honest, Tang Wulin didn't actually like fighting. But in the early stages of childhood, without spirit rings or spirit skills, the most direct force was often the most convincing thing.

Back in first grade, Wan Yunchao, because of his talkative nature and his dagger-wielding spirit, deliberately provoked Tang Wulin once after class. That time, Tang Wulin didn't summon his spirit; he simply used his bare hands to lift Wan Yunchao off the ground, scaring the chubby boy into screaming. From then on, even though he still loved to banter, he was secretly impressed.

Later, everyone in the class gradually learned that Tang Wulin's little black hammer, though unattractive, was ridiculously heavy. And he himself was an even bigger monster.

No one knows how this strange strength came about.

Only Tang Wulin himself knew that in the past three years, he had spent countless times more time on forging than on playing.

Every day after school, he would take Na'er home before going to Mangtian Studio.

It started with just two hours.

Later, as he learned more and more, and was able to do more and more things, he spent more and more time at the forging table. From the most basic hammering, exerting force and feeling the metal, to gradually being able to independently complete the processing and initial forging of some simple metal blanks, he devoted almost half of his childhood to the sound of hammering on the forging table.

Correspondingly, he gradually saved up money in his pocket.

Not much.

But every single stroke was made by him, hammering away at the very bottom.

He didn't squander a single penny of that money, and even tried to resist the urge to eat whatever he wanted, saving it all up—all so that when he finally entered the Spirit Pagoda, he could have a better starting point for himself.

Wan Yunchao clearly didn't understand any of this, and just scratched his head.

"You're really good at holding back," he said. "If I were level ten, I definitely wouldn't have been able to hold back by now."

Tang Wulin smiled but didn't respond.

Actually, if we only look at the speed of soul power improvement, he is not among the top group.

But during those three years, he wasn't just cultivating his soul power.

With three years of academic and soul master courses at Hongshan Academy, plus his daily unwavering forging training, meditation at home, and occasional care for Na'er, the time he could truly settle down to cultivate his soul power was far less than that of others.

Moreover, forging itself is extremely labor-intensive.

Sometimes, after standing in the studio all afternoon, by the time he got home, his arms were so heavy he could barely lift a bowl. But after each workout, his body's special regenerative ability would slowly smooth out all the fatigue in his sleep, and when he woke up the next morning, he not only didn't feel weak, but always felt even more energetic than the day before.

Over time, even Mang Tian said something like this:

"You kid, you don't seem to be learning forging, you seem to be using forging to hone your bones."

And that is indeed the case.

Tang Wulin's soul power growth wasn't exaggeratedly fast, but it was astonishingly stable. In the first two years, he could advance a step every now and then, and in the third year, he had already reached the threshold of level ten more than half a year before graduation.

His homeroom teacher, Lin Ximeng, had told him more than once that if he had spent half the time he spent on forging on meditation, he might already be at level ten by now.

But Tang Wulin did not regret it.

Because he knew better than anyone that he didn't just want to "become a Soul Master as quickly as possible".

He also wanted to become someone who could stand on his own two feet.

「加油吧你。」万云超啧啧两声，「不过说真的，等你有了魂灵，咱们得再打一场。以前你靠一身蛮力欺负我，等我有了魂技，咱们可就不一定谁揍谁了。」

Tang Wulin glanced at him sideways, his tone indifferent.

Keep dreaming.

Wan Yunchao choked on his words.

Just then, the school bell rang.

The classroom suddenly became lively as children carried their backpacks and packed their textbooks. Tang Wulin moved quickly, and after tidying up his things, he didn't rush out like the others. Instead, he stood at the school gate as usual, waiting for someone.

Not long after, a striking silver figure emerged from the teaching building.

"elder brother!"

A crisp sound rang out from afar.

The faint weariness and calmness in Tang Wulin's eyes vanished almost instantly upon hearing those two words. He took two steps forward and skillfully reached out to catch the little girl who rushed towards him.

"Slow down." He ruffled Na'er's hair, his tone full of helplessness and doting. "What if you fall?"

Three years have passed, and Na'er's appearance doesn't seem to have changed much.

She still had short silver hair and those same clear, amethyst-like eyes. She had grown taller, but she still looked smaller than other children her age, as if she were growing very slowly. Coupled with her overly delicate face, she was still the most easily noticed person in a crowd.

"Brother, I want a lollipop." Na'er hugged his arm and made her request with a matter of course.

Tang Wulin chuckled.

"Okay, I'll buy it."

After saying that, he naturally took her hand and led her towards a small shop on the street.

The students at the entrance of Hongshan College were already used to this scene.

Everyone knows that Tang Wulin has a younger sister with silver hair and purple eyes, who is as beautiful as a little doll. Because of this, there has never been a shortage of discussion about Na'er over the past few years.

When she participated in the Awakening Day in her second year with the Tang family, she almost caused a minor stir throughout the entire city of Aolai.

Because she doesn't have a martial spirit.

No, to be precise, it's not a weak martial soul, nor a useless martial soul, but rather that nothing was manifested during the awakening ceremony.

The spirit mediums were stunned.

Such a situation is extremely rare, not only in Aolai City, but even in the regular records of the entire continent.

Without a martial spirit, there was naturally no accompanying soul power. So Na'er could only continue to attend regular classes and study academic subjects like any other child, growing up peacefully.

But she's too beautiful.

She was so beautiful that it was hard for both male and female classmates not to notice her.

In the beginning, Tang Wulin got into many fights because of Na'er. Once after school, she was surrounded and harassed by several boys. Tang Wulin rushed in alone and pushed them all away. That time, he couldn't beat several of them and ended up getting beaten up, covered in dirt and with a cut on his lip. But he still managed to protect Na'er behind him, not letting anyone touch her clothes.

The next day, he went to their door again and confronted each of the ringleaders.

He was young, but his stubbornness, once he set his mind on something, was so strong that even adults found it a headache. After several attempts, he actually managed to subdue those troublemakers. From then on, no one in the entire Red Mountain Academy dared to openly bully Na'er anymore.

Later on, Tang Wulin simply became Na'er's regular "pick-up and drop-off person".

From the age of eight, unless something came up at Mangtian's place, he would stand at the school gate almost every day to wait for her to go home together. Rain or shine, he never missed a single day.

After buying the lollipops, Tang Wulin first took Na'er home.

Once the gate was closed, he went back to his room, put down his schoolbag, changed into a thick work uniform with some metallic oil stains, and then went out again.

He has been wearing this outfit for three years.

At first, the clothes were a bit too big, but now they fit me just about right. The clothes are old, but the cuffs and shoulders have actually become more durable due to long-term friction and stress.

Mangtian Studio has long become an important part of his life, just like Hongshan College.

Hongshan Academy taught him how to become a Soul Master.

Mangtian Studio, on the other hand, is teaching him how to stand on his own two feet in a more substantial, tougher, and more direct way.

The setting sun stretched the streets of Aolai City very long.

Tang Wulin, with the sunset on his back, walked towards the old storefront. The boy's shadow stretched behind him, tall and straight. If you only looked at his back, it was hard to completely overlap him with the little boy who once held a small black hammer and stood up to stop the bad guys for the first time.

But only he knew that he hadn't become any more relaxed in those three years.

He simply shouldered more and more weight, little by little.

And now, he is getting closer and closer to that threshold.

Level 10.

Soul.

A true Soul Master.

These words, which once seemed so distant and like something out of a story, are now real and close at hand.