Douluo Continent III Haotian Wulin

Treat him like a piece of moving metal.

The moment that thought crossed his mind, Tang Wulin calmed down.

He stopped staring at Xie Xie as a whole.

Instead, he focused on just a few things—the landing point under his feet, the rise and fall of his shoulders, the subtle changes in his wrist before he exerted force, and the short, sharp sound of the Light Dragon Dagger cutting through the air.

He was already very familiar with these things in the forging room.

The metal rises, sinks, rebounds, and shifts; what truly determines the next hammer strike is never "where it is now," but "where it will go in the next instant."

When Xie Xie switched in again, Tang Wulin didn't rely solely on his eyes to follow him like he had before.

Just as Xie Xie's right shoulder slumped slightly, he suddenly flipped his left hammer and pressed it behind Xie Xie's back.

"Ding!"

With a crisp sound, sparks burst forth.

Xie Xieren had already swept past him, but his footing was noticeably unsteady.

Is it blocked?

Not only the people on the sidelines, but even Xie Xie himself was stunned for a moment.

Just now, he had calculated the angle precisely, cutting in from the position where Tang Wulin would have the hardest time to counterattack. But Tang Wulin's hammer strike wasn't a panicked attempt to block; it was as if he had been waiting there beforehand.

Xie Xie lightly touched the ground with his foot and instantly veered back to the other side.

The second cut came even faster than the first.

Tang Wulin raised his right hammer almost simultaneously, and blocked diagonally.

"when!"

Second tone.

It's blocked again.

This time, the sidelines were no longer quiet; there was a clearly uncontrollable commotion.

Zhou Changxi's eyes widened in surprise.

Yun Xiaoye subconsciously pushed up her glasses.

Only Wu Changkong remained standing there, his expression unchanged, but his gaze was now more focused than before.

Xie Xie's face immediately darkened.

He is not a fool.

Being blocked on the first attempt could be attributed to luck.

If the second attack was blocked, it could only mean that Tang Wulin had found a way to counter his own speed.

What frustrated him even more was that he couldn't understand how Tang Wulin had done it.

He didn't get any faster.

But he always manages to land the hammer exactly where it should.

Tang Wulin had no time to care about the reactions of the people on the sidelines.

He now seems to have sunk into a familiar state.

Xie Xie was still fast.

But this speed is no longer something completely elusive. Every cut in comes with a warning; every change of direction has a rhythm. The feeling is very similar to listening to the metal, watching the metal, and waiting for the metal to bounce back next time at the forging table.

However, this "metal" in front of us can move, change shape, and even turn around and hurt people.

When Xie Xie made his third entry, Tang Wulin no longer simply defended.

As soon as the left hammer deflected the dagger, the right hammer swung out using the recoil.

This hammer blow wasn't perfectly round; it followed an extremely short path, yet it was very heavy.

A fierce wind swept over us.

Xie Xie's pupils contracted sharply, and he instantly exerted force with his feet, sliding out almost touching the ground.

"call--"

The hammer whizzed past his chest, causing his clothes to sway violently.

Xie Xie's expression changed.

If he had been even a fraction of a second slower, the hammer wouldn't have just grazed him; it would have smashed right into him.

Tang Wulin's hammer missed its mark, and he did not pursue.

But he had completely stood up.

He unfolded his twin hammers one in front of the other, keeping his feet still and his gaze fixed on Xie Xie. Each turn was small, but he managed to pinpoint the heaviest hammer blows just before Xie Xie could strike.

For the first time, Xie Xie felt that his speed, which he was so proud of, was being pushed to his limits.

It's not suppression.

It's a card.

You could clearly get in, but every time you try, there's always a hammer waiting for you in the most annoying spot. If you really want to force your way in, you have to take that hit first.

He is an agility-based attacker, not a power-based attacker.

The thing he least wanted to do was to confront someone like Tang Wulin, whose strength was obviously ridiculously high.

"Bang!"

"when!"

"Ding!"

After several collisions, Xie Xie was forced to retreat several steps.

Tang Wulin still hadn't chased out of that circle.

He simply stood there, wielding his double hammers. The hammer shadows were small but dense, effectively blocking all the most difficult routes in front of him.

The students on the sidelines were already somewhat stunned.

Just a moment ago, Xie Xie was circling around Tang Wulin, but now it seems like the roles have reversed. Xie Xie's speed is still there, but he just can't get close enough. Tang Wulin isn't chasing either, but once those hammers are spread out, Xie Xie has to think twice before getting close.

Zhou Changxi's Adam's apple bobbed.

He suddenly understood why he had lost so badly when he and Tang Wulin fought head-on.

What makes this guy terrifying is not just his strength.

His hammer skills were truly honed through practice.

After Xie Xie dodged again, he finally stopped rushing in and stood still, staring intently at Tang Wulin.

His chest was heaving rapidly.

The series of advances and retreats he had just engaged in had taken a toll on him. What bothered him most was that Tang Wulin's current state was clearly different from when the fight had started. It was as if that guy had suddenly found a way in, and once he unleashed his twin hammers, all of Tang Wulin's previous probing and entanglement techniques were no longer effective.

We can't keep playing like this.

Xie Xie took a deep breath, his eyes gradually turning cold.

His right hand, wielding the Light Dragon Dagger, was slightly tilted outwards, while his left hand was also raised.

Tang Wulin's eyes narrowed.

Xie Xie's demeanor changed.

It wasn't simply that he became more ferocious or faster; rather, his entire being suddenly tightened up. It felt as if all the previously scattered sharpness within him had converged at that moment.

The next moment, Xie Xie moved.

The speed is much faster than before.

Almost as soon as his feet touched the ground, he left a faint afterimage in the air, and his whole body swept diagonally towards Tang Wulin's right front.

too fast.

Tang Wulin raised both hammers simultaneously.

This time, however, Xie Xie didn't follow the previous rhythm at all.

With his right hand, he used the Light Dragon Dagger to strike Tang Wulin's left hammer. Using the force, he flipped himself up, twisting the originally straight cutting line into a half-arc shape in mid-air.

Tang Wulin's heart sank.

Oops.

This was not the route he had just "heard".

His double hammers had already been deflected, and Xie Xie's real counterattack was only just beginning.

A flash of cold light appeared on his left hand.

"laugh--"

Tang Wulin felt a sudden pain in his back and staggered forward.

The school uniform was ripped open with a long tear, and a bloody gash appeared on the skin.

It wasn't too deep, but the sudden, explosive pain still made him gasp for breath.

Xie Xie immediately retreated upon landing, without continuing the pursuit.

His attack landed successfully, but his face showed little relief; instead, he appeared even more tense. He knew very well that he had only regained the initiative, and the current situation was far from a time for him to relax.

Tang Wulin's back was burning with pain.

But the instant the pain exploded, a familiar surge of heat also rushed up within him.

It surges upwards from deep within the spine, rushing straight up to the shoulders and back, then spreading down to the arms and chest.

Tang Wulin's eyes lit up instantly.

coming!

Just like that time at Donghai Park, when that heat rushed up, his first reaction wasn't fear, but rather surprise.

Golden scales!

But the next moment, the heat only reached halfway before suddenly weakening.

There was no burning heat spreading, no scales covering the right arm, and no violent power that suddenly filled the body. It was as if something was blocking it; it only surged in the back for a moment before slowly receding.

Tang Wulin's expression immediately changed.

How could this happen?

"stop."

Wu Changkong's voice rang out.

He had somehow ended up standing between the two of them.

"Thank you for your help."

There was a moment of silence on the sidelines, followed by a series of low gasps.

Xie Xie was taken aback at first, and then the pressure that had been pressing on his chest finally eased.

Won.

We finally won.

Moreover, he won fair and square against Wu Changkong.

But just as this feeling of triumph was beginning to emerge, Wu Changkong continued with his next words.

"Thank you, Xie. Buy Tang Wulin a new school uniform."

Xie Xie's expression froze instantly.

"what?"

Wu Changkong glanced at him, his eyes cold.

"You're the one who cut it, shouldn't you pay for it?"

Xie Xie opened his mouth, but couldn't say anything for a long time.

No.

I won.

Shouldn't there be a reward?

He almost wanted to ask those words, but looking at Wu Changkong's face, he didn't dare to actually say them.

So, the students of Class 5 saw Xie Xie, who had just won first place, turn pale and then flushed, and finally swallow his anger.

Tang Wulin straightened up, his back still aching, but his face didn't show much regret for losing.

Because he knew very well that although he lost this match, he hadn't gained nothing at all.

At least in the last period, he actually got a grasp of the basics.

Wu Changkong's gaze swept across the entire class, his voice cold and devoid of warmth.

"Do you know how you all made me feel today?"

No one spoke.

"Rotten wood cannot be carved."

As soon as those words were spoken, the expressions on the faces of all the students in Class 5 turned somewhat grim.

"No wonder you were assigned to Class 5," Wu Changkong continued. "Useless, not just one person, but the whole team. No fighting rhythm, no judgment, no courage, no patience. Some of you don't even know why you won, and some of you can't even figure out why you lost."

As he said this, his gaze fell on Tang Wulin.

"Tang Wulin has an ordinary martial soul and low soul power, so why was he able to fight to the end? Because he at least used his brain and knew how to find a way when he couldn't win."

Xie Xie stood to the side, the breath he had just suppressed rising again.

What does it mean to fight to the very end?

I was the one who won in the end.

But Wu Changkong ignored him completely and continued:

"Many of you are always thinking about soul skills, martial souls, and that you'll naturally become more powerful once your cultivation level is higher. But ask yourselves first, how many of you can truly cultivate smoothly to the second ring? How many of you are even worthy of thinking about things beyond that?"

After that sentence, the sidelines fell even quieter.

Because everyone knows that Wu Changkong wasn't intentionally trying to hurt anyone; he was just stating the facts.

Most of the students in Class 5 were the ones who were left over after the selection process. Their martial spirits weren't strong, and their talents were average, so it was hard to say whether they could even reach the second or third ring.

"Since your martial spirit is weak, then train your body first," Wu Changkong said calmly. "Your bodies are your own; they won't betray you. Strength, endurance, reaction time, and resilience—these things will develop once you train them."

"Starting tomorrow, we'll have physical training in the morning and theory in the afternoon. That's all for today. Go back and think about all the matches we just had. If anyone can't even figure out how they lost, then they're not stupid enough."

That still sounds unpleasant.

But for some reason, by the end, the students in Class 5 felt a little more at ease.

At least, they know that Wu Changkong isn't just good at cursing.

He is genuinely guiding them.

"Disband."

After the words were spoken, the students of Class 5 finally breathed a sigh of relief.

But the next moment, Wu Changkong added casually:

"Xie Xie, Tang Wulin. You two, come with me."

Xie Xie's heart skipped a beat.

Surely there should be some reward this time?

They are definitely first or second.

Tang Wulin was also stunned for a moment, but he didn't think much of it and just followed after him with his double hammers.

The two followed Wu Changkong, one after the other, leaving the playground and heading towards the teaching building.