Douluo Continent III Haotian Wulin

Tang Wulin then truly noticed that there was another person standing by the door.

"Teacher." He paused for a moment, then quickly called out.

Mang Tian nodded, his gaze traveling from the man's face to the heavy star hammer in his hand, without uttering any further words.

"Come here." He only said one word, "Release your first soul skill, let me see it."

The room fell silent.

Lang Yue's eyes were still red, but her fingers unconsciously loosened slightly. Tang Ziran also shifted her gaze from her son's face to the hand holding the hammer. Na'er stood to the side, her bright purple eyes watching quietly.

Tang Wulin also composed himself.

After waking up, he only knew intuitively that he had gained a new soul skill and had a general idea of ​​what that power was like, but this was the first time he had actually used it clearly.

He took a deep breath and raised his right hand slightly.

With a flash of dark light, the Sinking Star Hammer returned to his palm.

At the same time, a pure white spirit ring slowly rose from beneath his feet, climbed up his body, and then fell back around the hammer shadow, pulsating quietly.

White spirit rings are the most inconspicuous type of all spirit rings.

For some reason, when the soul circled around the hammer, there was no sense of lightness or frivolity. The hammer remained short, black, and heavy, seemingly without any sharpness, even lacking in imposing presence. Yet, the moment the soul circled around it, the light in the room seemed to subtly dim, not by becoming darker, but by being pressed down by something.

Tang Wulin gripped the hammer and closed his eyes briefly.

The next moment, he spoke softly:

"First Soul Skill, Thousand-Pound Drop."

The moment the words were spoken, the faint dark gold patterns on the surface of the Starfall Hammer suddenly lit up.

It wasn't a blinding light, but rather like gold threads buried in black iron being gently wiped and faintly emerging. Immediately afterwards, a weight noticeably different from usual pressed down into Tang Wulin's arm along the hammer handle.

Tang Wulin's wrist sank slightly.

For a moment, he even had the illusion that he was not holding a hammer, but a small mountain compressed to its limit.

"Don't smash things inside," Mang Tian suddenly said. "Go to the yard."

Tang Wulin was taken aback, then realized what was happening.

Also.

Just now, as the soul skill was being activated, the wooden floorboards beneath my feet already made a soft creak. If it had actually slammed down inside the house, it probably would have smashed right through the floorboards.

The group quickly retreated into the courtyard.

The night breeze was a bit chilly, and the moonlight slanted down from the courtyard wall, illuminating half the ground in bright light and half in shadow. Mang Tian casually picked up a dark iron ingot that he usually used as a cushion from the wall and placed it in the center of the courtyard.

"Go at it," he said.

Tang Wulin nodded and walked to the iron billet and stood there.

The spirit rings were still pulsating gently, and the dark gold patterns on the Sinking Star Hammer had not yet faded. He gripped the hammer handle and could clearly feel the calm and steady aura of the Little Jun Ant clinging to the deepest part of the hammer, gradually connecting with his own spirit power.

It's not an explosion.

Instead, it's pressure.

Concentrate all your strength into one point, and then unleash it all at once as it falls.

Tang Wulin suddenly understood.

So he didn't swing the hammer wildly, nor did he deliberately make any gestures; he simply raised the hammer slightly and brought it down.

"Thump."

It wasn't a crisp sound.

Instead, it was a very deep, muffled thud.

It was as if someone had suddenly placed an invisible boulder in the middle of the yard.

The dark iron billet used for paving the ground slumped down almost instantly, followed by a belated cracking sound. The blue bricks on the ground trembled slightly, and even the empty wooden bucket hanging in the corner of the yard shook.

Lang Yue instinctively covered her mouth.

Tang Ziran's expression changed instantly.

Tang Wulin himself was taken aback.

The feeling of that hammer blow was completely different from what he had imagined. He had originally thought that his first soul skill would be a simple increase in strength, or like forging, concentrating all his strength into one point. But after actually striking it, he realized that this soul skill was not as simple as just "heavier".

It was as if the small patch of space beneath the hammer had briefly fallen together.

Mang Tian had already walked past.

He squatted down and looked at the iron billet.

The once smooth and even surface now has a distinct hammer mark dented in the very center. There aren't many spreading cracks around it, but the edges are pressed very tightly and solidly, as if all the force has been locked into that one point in the middle.

Mang Tian reached out and touched the mark, his gaze darkening even more than before.

"Not smash," he said softly, as if talking to himself, "but press in."

He stood up and turned to look at Tang Wulin.

Give me the hammer.

Tang Wulin hesitated for a moment, but still handed over the Sinking Star Hammer.

Mang Tian reached out to take it.

But as soon as he got his hands on the hammer, his brows furrowed and his wrist sank down.

weight.

It was heavier than he had imagined.

Moreover, this weight is not a static weight, but an unreasonable heaviness that almost carries a sense of "falling." It's as if the hammer itself doesn't just have weight, but is constantly pulling down on the wielder's arm.

Mang Tian looked at the hammer in his hand, then looked up at Tang Wulin.

"Do you usually use this thing for forging?"

"Yes." Tang Wulin nodded obediently, "It's always been this one."

Mang Tian didn't speak, but simply weighed the hammer in his hand.

The Sinking Star Hammer trembled slightly in his palm, seemingly not entirely compliant to being held by someone else. The tremor was slight, yet it made Mang Tian's palm go numb.

Now, not only did his expression change, but even Tang Ziran vaguely sensed that something was wrong.

"Brother Mang, what's wrong?" he asked instinctively.

Mang Tian still did not answer immediately.

The next moment, his aura suddenly changed.

One white, two yellow, and one purple.

Four spirit rings rose silently from beneath his feet.

White, yellow, yellow, and purple—four different colored lights layered together in the night, illuminating the entire courtyard with a faint glow. The pressure belonging to the Soul Sect was not violent, but as steady as a wall, causing Tang Wulin to instinctively take half a step back the moment it appeared.

He was stunned.

The teacher... is also a Soul Master?

And he's a fourth-ring Soul Master?

Tang Wulin certainly knew what the Soul Sect meant.

Levels 11 to 20 are Soul Masters, levels 21 to 30 are Great Soul Masters, levels 31 to 40 are Soul Venerables, and a four-ring Soul Master is a true powerhouse who has crossed the previous thresholds.

He always knew how powerful Mangtian was.

But I never imagined it would be this powerful.

As the spirit rings rose, three spirits also appeared on Mang Tian's shoulder.

A small white rabbit lay quietly on the left shoulder, its body enveloped in a soft white light; on the other side, a pair of small hammer shadows with a deep yellow light hung, clearly the spirits of the artifacts; finally, a small brown bear jumped out, not large in size, but with exceptionally thick arms, baring its teeth at the surroundings as it landed, exuding a fierce aura.

Mang Tian's own martial spirit was also revealed at this moment.

It was a white, heavy hammer.

The hammer itself wasn't ornate, but its surface was covered in deep brown lines, like the marks left by the earth after it had cracked and then reformed. The moment it appeared, Mang Tian's aura instantly darkened, as if he had transformed from a blacksmith back into a true power-type Soul Master.

"The Hammer of the Earth." Tang Wulin subconsciously uttered this name in his mind.

The first spirit ring lit up at Mang Tian's feet.

The little white rabbit trembled, and a layer of soft white light instantly enveloped his arms and shoulders. His muscles didn't bulge noticeably, but his whole body felt as if it had been gently "tightened" by something, and even the slightest exertion of force became more solid.

"First Soul Skill, Tenacity," he said casually, as if explaining it offhand.

The next moment, he gripped the Star Hammer tightly again and slowly lifted it upwards.

This time, the hammer was lifted up.

But the look in Mang Tian's eyes deepened.

If it were just an ordinary hammer-type weapon spirit, no matter how heavy, it wouldn't have taken him so long to actually hold it steady after activating his first spirit skill. Nor would it have caused his hand to feel a faint numbness within just a few breaths after gripping the hammer handle.

This is not the weight a normal weapon spirit should have.

It also lacked the oppressive aura one would expect from a white ten-year spirit ring.

"Use your soul skill one more time." Mang Tian suddenly looked at Tang Wulin. "This time, don't smash the ground, smash my hammer."

Tang Wulin's heart tightened.

"Teacher, is this okay?"

"Come." Mang Tian replied with only one word.

Tang Wulin pursed his lips and no longer hesitated.

He regrouped his soul power, and the Sinking Star Hammer returned to his hand, its white soul ring glowing slightly. That familiar "falling" force pressed down along the hammer handle once more, and the dark gold patterns on the Sinking Star Hammer appeared.

"First Soul Skill, Thousand-Pound Drop!"

Mang Tian also raised his Earth Hammer.

The two hammers collided.

"when."

This time, it wasn't a muffled thud, but an extremely clear and heavy clang.

The moment the sound rang out, Mang Tian's wrist, which was gripping the hammer, visibly sank downwards, and his foot silently sank half an inch into the ground. His eyes changed slightly, and even the brown bear on his shoulder instinctively bared its teeth.

Tang Wulin was also thrown back two steps by the shock, his arm went numb, but his eyes grew brighter and brighter.

Because he clearly sensed that his hammer blow had not been completely pushed back.

That's the Soul Sect's hammer.

But his first soul skill actually made the teacher pause for a moment.

The courtyard was quiet for a couple of breaths.

Mang Tian slowly lowered the Earth Hammer, his gaze no longer merely scrutinizing, but now carrying a profound solemnity.

"This is no ordinary power-boosting soul skill," he said.

"What it truly strengthens is not your arm, but the 'fall' of the hammer at the moment of impact. The pressure is concentrated, the power is contained, neither scattered nor drifting, almost all of it strikes a single point."

At this point, he looked at the Sinking Star Hammer in Tang Wulin's hand, his tone lowering.

"Moreover, the foundation of this hammer is even deeper than I originally thought."

Tang Ziran couldn't understand the more professional judgments, but he could see Mang Tian's expression.

The fact that a Soul Master and an arrogant six-star Grandmaster could show such an expression already says a lot.

Lang Yue was still stunned, tears still welling in her eyes, but she was no longer just afraid as before. She looked at the hammer in her son's hand, at the pure white spirit ring, and for the first time truly realized...

This child may not really be forcing himself to dream.

He is moving forward.

Na'er stood in the quietest corner, her purple eyes reflecting the white spirit rings and the dark gold patterns on her hammer, her expression once again becoming somewhat dazed. It was as if, through the scene before her, she vaguely saw something older and more indistinct.

But in the end, she said nothing.

She simply looked at Tang Wulin and her eyes curved slightly.

Mang Tian retracted the Earth Hammer, and his four spirit rings sank into his body.

The courtyard returned to its quiet state at night.

He looked at Tang Wulin and said in a deep voice:

"Starting tomorrow, come to the studio as usual."

"Now that you have a spirit ring and spirit power, it's time to change your forging methods. What I taught you before was how to swing the hammer and how to endure hardship. Next, you need to learn how to truly compress spirit power into the hammer."

Tang Wulin's eyes lit up, and he nodded almost immediately.

"Yes, teacher!"

Mang Tian glanced at him, and unusually, he didn't keep a stern face anymore, but instead gave a soft hum.

"What's there to be happy about?" he said. "It's just my first spirit ring. The real journey is still a long way off."

Although he said that, when he said "that's all," even Tang Ziran could hear the deep satisfaction hidden in his tone.

Tang Wulin himself looked down at the Sinking Star Hammer in his hand.

The white spirit ring has gradually receded, and the dark gold patterns on the hammer have also disappeared again, leaving only the familiar black, calm and inconspicuous appearance.

But he knew that everything had changed.

From today onwards, he will no longer be just that child who wields a small black hammer and charges forward with brute force.

He has acquired a spirit ring.

It has a soul.

And so, he finally got his first real hammer blow.