Thud! Thud!
The sacks fell on the ground when Tang Zen and Tang Hao arrived in front of the forge.
Upon a closer look, Tang San noticed black dust of coal on their clothes and body. They were sweating. Especially Tang Zen who even used his spirit force to strengthen his muscles.
So they were carrying coals. Why didn't they use a cart? He wondered.
"Brother, have you been training while carrying heavy weights?" Tang San asked as he noticed that Tang Zen had grown taller than him.
Also had more muscles on his arms and chest.
"How did you know?" Tang Zen didn't write about his harsh training in detail in the letters he sent to Tang San.
"Because I have an incredible teacher. He told me to train my spirit force whenever I can. Even while doing daily chores. He is going to begin teaching at his friend's academy soon, " Tang San said with a cool expression to his big brother before looking up at his father, "When will brother attend the academy with me, father?"
Tang Hao looked at his younger son who had made great progress in his spirit force, and even brought his girl friend home. Then he looked at the cute girl with his woody face.
His expression was hard to read at that time.
And his silence made the kids worried.
'Is he angry that I brought a stranger home?' Tang San thought.
'I can't see through this man. Don't tell me he can see through me?' Xiao Wu thought.
'Father is already bad at sweet chat with us. He can't possibly talk to a stranger, ' Tang Zen thought.
To break the intense situation, Tang Zen spoke up, "Little San, is she your girlfriend? Oh— You are already showing your girlfriend to us. Do you wanna marry her?"
Tang—
Xiao Wu and Tang San looked at him with stunned faces for a moment.
"What?! She is my classmate. A friend. Like a little sister, " Tang San couldn't think of a little girl romantically.
His mind may be that of an adult man, but he had been living according to his age, always acting like a kid, even if it was embarrassing for him.
Xiao Wu gave him a glare but didn't speak up her mind, 'Hmph! I am older than you, dummy.'
Tang Hao told Tang Zen, "Take them home first. I will return shortly."
Tang Zen stepped forward and said to Tang San, "Let's go. Father built a small house for us there."
Tang San wasn't aware of it but he still followed Tang Zen along with Xiao Wu.
He couldn't disobey his father who looked sober and had been working hard.
The new house was actually on the paved path, between the forge and the residential area of the village.
Tang San saw it on the way. It was indeed small. Smaller than the forge house. A wooden house with wooden fencing walls and new trees that hadn't grown much taller than 10 feet.
As Tang Zen opened the sliding door, a small living room appeared with a door at the back and two doors on the right side.
Tang Zen quickly opened a sliding door at left side to let the air and light enter the dark room.
He pointed at the doors opposite to him, "The first one is the kitchen and the second one is the bathroom."
"Little San, leave your backpacks in this room, " Tang Zen pointed at the last room before entering the bathroom, "Let me take a quick bath. Then I can talk."
Thud!
The door shut as Tang Zen entered the bathroom.
"Wow!" Xiao Wu was baffled, "No offense, brother. Your family is in much better state than you told me."
Tang San walked slowly to the center of the living room which even had a simple but smooth mat spread on the floor that wasn't making any creaking noise.
"It seems like a lot of things have changed, " he said as he took deep breaths in his new unfamiliar home.
It was a new place but there was certainly a feeling of belonging. Just like the forge house where he grew up.
Tang San checked out the kitchen and the last room with Xiao Wu. The lawns around the house had plants of different flowers, fruits, and vegetables.
Nothing was out of the ordinary but everything was new. Three small closets named after the men of the house were kept in the last room along with futons and other things.
Tang Hao had never bought so many things.
Tang San wondered how good the business was.
Later, Tang Zen told him everything while making lunch for everyone with the help of Tang San and Xiao Wu.
For some reason, Heaven Dou Empire was making efforts to please common folks with the help of nobles.
A few months ago, Baron Yu Wenbin took this village under his authority and redeveloped the area. Everyone thought that it was his generosity.
But Tang Hao told Tang Zen the real reason. It was to own the mines of spirit stones, which would fetch the Baron millions of gold coins.
Originally, the mines were the property of the village community. But the sneaky Baron fooled the villagers by spending 80 thousands of gold coins.
Tang Hao also profited from it since he got to use his master level forging skills in the redevelopment.
After eating noodles and side dishes, they sat in the living room. Joining four small tables into one. Each of them was one foot tall, enough to spread the legs underneath them.
"Wow! So you are now a rank 3 spirit scholar but have 300-year spirit force because of your special physique?" Xiao Wu was in awe.
Tang Zen didn't tell her his origin. But he did explain how Tang Hao had been helping him train with a unique physique that required a lot of spirit force in each breakthrough.
Tang San had a troubled expression. He didn't know if he should be happy because Tang Zen could finally train his spirit or sad because of the difficulty in leveling up.
"Don't make that face. Dad said things will be less complicated once I get my first spirit ring, " Tang Zen gave his little brother a soft smile.
But both of them knew it was an uncharted territory.
When a 100,000-year spirit beast became a human, they awakened the spirit rings they had as spirit beasts. They didn't need to hunt other spirit beasts like humans.
But Tang Zen was neither a 100,000 spirit beast nor an ordinary human.
He was a spirit beast that became human accidentally.
Could he even fuse with spirit rings? Wouldn't his bestiality get in the way?
"That said, " Tang Zen took a deep breath, "I have to go north for my first spirit ring. Dad has already made the arrangements. So little San, it is your turn to train under Father's true strength."
The training was understandable but the trip to the north was a surprise for Tang San, "You mean... Those cold mountains in the far north? That's a very long trip."
"Yes. There is a certain plant-type spirit in those cold mountains that will improve my condition. So I must go, " Tang Zen was kind of relieved since he wouldn't be training until his body ached for some months.
Later, Tang Hao returned. Tang San narrated his adventures at Newton Academy and officially introduced Xiao Wu to his family as his little sister.
Xiao Wu was an orphan, so Tang San wanted her to join his family which was too easy because Tang Hao and Tang Zen believed that Tang San wouldn't take in any random girl.
Tang San also told them how he was looked down upon by rich kids until he began learning under a brilliant teacher who was hailed as You Xiaogang, the grandmaster.
He even fought and killed a 400-year spirit beast to get his first spirit ring. He wanted to show it but didn't because it had a poison effect. It wasn't deadly but he couldn't hurt his big brother.
Four souls shared the small house that night. Each of them held their own secrets and pain in their hearts. It was too soon to talk heart to heart for them.
Because this was only the beginning of something grand.