Tang Hao said coldly, "Do I need you to take care of me? Just go. This is the path you've chosen. Saint Soul Village gets one quota every year, and it'd be a waste not to use it. The forging skills I taught you should be enough for you to find any blacksmith's shop in the city and work as an apprentice. The wages should cover your tuition and food expenses."
Despite Tang Hao's cold words, Tang San's eyes still grew hot. Over the past few months, even though Tang Hao's attitude toward him had not changed much, as Tang Hao taught him forging, the tall and aging man before him had increasingly given him the feeling of a father. He certainly wanted to learn about Soul Masters, but at this moment, he was also reluctant to leave his father.
Tang Hao said, "I am letting you go to Notting on one condition. You can go only if you accept my condition."
"I accept," Tang San said without hesitation.
Tang Hao frowned slightly, "You agree so readily without even asking what my requirement is? As a man, you must hold to your promises. Do not be one to make promises lightly."
Tang San said naturally, "No matter what Dad asks me to do, I agree. Dad is surely doing this for my own good."
Tang Hao was taken aback. What Tang San said was casual, but it was that very natural trust that caused a slight change in his emotions.
"No matter how you cultivate Soul Power in the future, I want you to promise me not to apply any Soul Ring to your hammer Martial Soul, and not even let anyone see its emergence. Don't let others know you have Twin Martial Souls. Can you do that?"
Tang San was stunned for a moment, "What about the Bluesilver Grass Martial Soul?"
Tang Hao said, "You can use and cultivate the Bluesilver Grass Martial Soul at will, and applying any Soul Ring to it is fine. Twin Martial Souls don't require both Martial Souls to rely on Soul Rings to increase their Soul Power and continue cultivation. As long as one Martial Soul has a Soul Ring, the bottleneck in cultivating Soul Power will disappear."
Tang San said, "So, you're saying that from now on, I should only use the Bluesilver Grass Martial Soul?"
Tang Hao nodded, "Unless you encounter life-threatening danger, do not use that hammer."
"Okay, I promise you," Tang San said gravely. For him, whether or not to cultivate the Martial Soul or which Soul Ring to use was not an issue, as long as he could find a way to break through the bottleneck of the Mysterious Heaven Method. His hidden weapons of the Tang Sect did not require the assistance of a Martial Soul.
In the eyes of others, Bluesilver Grass might be seen as a wasted Martial Soul, but Tang San had never felt depressed because of the Bluesilver Grass. The hidden weapons of the Tang Sect cultivated to a certain level were no joke; being able to injure someone with leaves or flower petals was a reality. The Bluesilver Grass was formed by Soul Power, that is, the Inner Strength of the Mysterious Heaven Method. As long as the Inner Strength was sufficient, it was almost an infinite supply of hidden weapons.
"Alright, time to eat," said Tang Hao.
The family was nearly destitute, and Tang San really had nothing much to prepare. Just sorting through his clothes, patched both large and small, was about all he had to do.
However, that day, he didn't just follow Tang Hao's instructions to pack his things; the sound of forging still echoed from his room. To be able to create various hidden weapons in the future, Tang San understood that everything had to rely on himself, and it was crucial to diligently practice the forging techniques his father had taught him. Until his hidden weapon techniques were cultivated to their peak, the quality of the hidden weapons themselves played a decisive role, especially for super hidden weapons like the Furious Tang Lotus, which required the utmost precision, down to the smallest detail.
The day passed exceedingly slowly; it was the first time since arriving in this world that Tang San felt restless. He was filled with both anticipation and a touch of fear for the outside world. Whether in the Tang Sect or in Saint Soul Village, he had never had the experience of adventuring outside, in this respect, he truly was no different from a child. He kept wondering, what kind of wonders could the outside world bring to him?
After dinner, Tang Hao dropped a sentence and went out to drink as if nothing was out of the ordinary. He told Tang San not to wake him up when he left in the morning.
At dawn, Tang San sat on a large boulder at the top of the mountain, twirling a leaf in his hand, his eyes radiantly purple. Perhaps because his body had become stronger than before, the progress of the Purple Demon Eyes was swift. On the leaf in his hands, he could clearly observe even the smallest of veins. He knew his Purple Demon Eyes were beginning to reach the Thorough Observation state.
Unlike the Mysterious Heaven Method, which was divided into nine levels, the Purple Demon Eyes had only four stages: Thorough Observation, Minute Examination, Mustard Seed, and Vast. The requirement for Tang Sect inner sect disciples was to reach the Minute Examination stage, which was sufficient for the use of hidden weapons. Since Tang San had started cultivating at an early age, taking advantage of the innate energy that had not completely dissipated after his birth, by the age of six, he had already achieved a sense of Minute Examination. But he also knew that, although almost every inner sect disciple could reach the Minute Examination stage of the Purple Demon Eyes, including the Sect Master Mister Tang, none had reached the next realm.
After reaching the Minute Examination stage, the cultivation speed of the Purple Demon Eyes would become extremely slow, and the daily absorption of the eastern purple qi required effort that could not be simply explained by perseverance alone. Therefore, after reaching the Minute Examination stage, few Tang Sect disciples continued their cultivation. Legend had it that a Tang Sect elder once had Purple Demon Eyes that reached the Mustard Seed stage, but he didn't achieve anything particularly remarkable—his vision was just a bit clearer than at the Minute Examination stage. And it had taken that elder more than thirty years to cultivate his Purple Demon Eyes to that level.
The Inner Strength of the Mysterious Heaven Method surged, suddenly infused into the leaf, making the soft leaf instantly rigid. With a flick of Tang San's right index and middle fingers, the leaf spun out, cutting through the air as it flew away.