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Chapter 5: The Blacksmith's Apprentice
Huo Yuhao looked down at the storage ring being offered to him, then lifted his gaze and met Zhu Lu's eyes deeply.
Zhu Lu, however, failed to notice the subtle change in his expression. She only cast a quick glance toward Dai Huabin beside her, then pushed the ring a little closer toward Huo Yuhao.
"Be quick about it," she whispered. "I might not be able to cover for you for long."
"…"
Huo Yuhao took a slow, steady breath before accepting the storage ring. His tone softened slightly.
"Thank you. I'll return it to you the next time we meet."
In his previous life as the God of Emotions, Huo Yuhao's perception of others' feelings had long transcended mortal understanding. Even though his divine position had since vanished, judging whether a six-year-old child was lying—simply from their eyes and the faint fluctuations of their emotions—was still well within his ability.
And Zhu Lu's help was no small favor. The storage ring was more than just a source of funds; with a storage-type soul tool, he could now pack his mother's belongings far more efficiently. On their journey away from the Duke's Mansion, they would no longer have to drag along cumbersome luggage.
Leaving the Duke's Mansion was inevitable.
Even if he hadn't crippled Dai Huabin, there was no longer any way he could allow his mother to remain here. After his Martial Soul Awakening, word would have inevitably reached the Duchess's ears. Suppression and humiliation would follow as a matter of course. Remaining here would only lead to a repeat of his previous life's tragedy. Striking Dai Huabin had merely hastened the timetable.
As for whether his mother would willingly leave the Duke's Mansion, Huo Yuhao already had a plan. This time, no matter what it took, even if he had to deceive her, he would make sure she left this place for good.
Only after Huo Yuhao's figure disappeared into the forest did Zhu Lu finally withdraw her gaze. Looking down at a small stone by her foot, she gave it a light kick. Unexpectedly, the pebble shot forward, ricocheted off a nearby tree, and—by sheer misfortune—bounced straight onto Dai Huabin's forehead.
With a sharp thunk, Dai Huabin's body convulsed as though struck by lightning, worsening his already severe injuries.
Startled at first, Zhu Lu soon couldn't help but burst into laughter at the ridiculous sight. The tension and fear that had gripped her heart melted away, replaced instead by an odd, fluttering curiosity that grew stronger with every heartbeat.
Who could have imagined that a simple visit to the Duke's Mansion—just to accompany her mother and meet the so-called "gifted second young master"—would end up in her witnessing something so utterly unbelievable?
To describe that battle as overwhelming would be an understatement. A boy about her age, without even a single Spirit Ring, had annihilated four armed guards as though it were nothing. Anyone who heard it would think it an absurd lie.
"The next time we meet… what kind of person will he have become?" she murmured softly.
Heaven Dou Empire.
Heaven Dou City.
After the passage of ten thousand years, the geography of the continent had changed beyond recognition. Yet, in commemoration of the once-glorious Heaven Dou Empire of ages past, the **Sun Moon Federation's successor state—the Heavenly Soul Empire—**retained the ancient name for its capital city, a symbol of prosperity long gone.
In a quiet, narrow alley of that bustling metropolis stood a modest blacksmith's shop. The weathered signboard was covered with dust, though one could still barely make out the faded words: "Old Tang's Forge."
Inside the dim shop, a few pieces of armor forged from refined iron rested on the display shelves, alongside several well-crafted blades that gleamed faintly in the light.
Outside, seated on the worn stone steps before the doorway, was a boy of five or six years old. His features were plain, his eyes vacant as he stared at the nearly deserted street ahead.
That boy was none other than Tang San, the former God Realm Enforcer, who had won the final victory in the divine factional struggles… only to be betrayed by his beloved son-in-law, Huo Yuhao, and dragged into the chaos of the temporal rift, perishing together.
Fragments of his past life resurfaced endlessly in his mind. With his peerless intellect and masterful scheming, he had triumphed in his power struggle against the God of Destruction. The latter, sensing a sudden emergence of a spatial-temporal rift that only Tang San could vaguely perceive, had ultimately sacrificed himself to safeguard the stability of the God Realm.
After the departure of both the God of Destruction and the Goddess of Life, the remaining four senior members of the Divine Committee—each older and more experienced than Tang San—eventually left one after another for various reasons.
A realm without a ruler cannot last even a single day. For the sake of the Divine Realm's stability, Tang San had no choice but to shoulder the burden of leadership.
Yet, just when he was about to fully assume control of all divine affairs, Huo Yuhao, his trusted successor and the husband of his beloved daughter, betrayed him—joining forces with the remnants of the Destruction God's faction to launch a sudden assault!
At the thought of this, a flash of murderous intent flickered deep within Tang San's eyes.
"Huo Yuhao… I took you in and raised you as my heir, and you repay me by betraying your teacher for the sake of a soul beast? Such ungratefulness cannot be forgiven. You have chosen the path of death!"
After merging the memories of his new body's original owner, Tang San quickly realized that he had indeed been reborn on the Douluo Continent—and not just anywhere, but ten thousand years in the past, during the era when Huo Yuhao was still shaping the course of history.
Whether this was fate's will or pure coincidence, he could not tell.
Curiously, this new body's name was also Tang San. According to memories of his childhood, his father—often drunk—had once muttered that he named his son after his own older brother, who had always bullied him when they were children. It was almost as if fate itself had chosen this irony.
This lifetime's father, Tang Ba, much like Tang Hao before him, had once been a disciple of the Clear Sky Sect, ranked eighth among his generation—hence the name. However, after violating the sect's rules, he was branded a sinner of the clan, his cultivation crippled, and his name struck from the family rolls.
Deprived of his Spirit Power, he could only rely on his Clear Sky Hammer Martial Soul to eke out a living as a blacksmith in Heaven Dou City. The neighbors called him "Old Ba."
Ordinarily, anyone from the Clear Sky Sect would be skilled enough at forging to make a modest living. They might not become rich, but survival was never an issue.
Unfortunately, Tang Ba himself was the problem. Despite his fall from grace, his pride as a disciple of a secluded, top-tier sect had never waned. During the first few years after opening his shop, he flatly refused to take on simple farming tool commissions—only accepting orders for weapons and armor.
But such items were normally procured only by the imperial military, which had its own designated craftsmen. Any rare private orders were swiftly snatched up by well-connected forges. For a nameless smith tucked away in a back alley, business was all but nonexistent.
Worse still, this was now the era of Soul Tools. The Heavenly Soul Empire's focus had long since shifted toward Soul Guidance Technology, rendering traditional weapons and armor far less valuable. As demand dwindled, Blacksmiths could only compete by cutting prices, and profits evaporated.
By contrast, a single contract to forge even the outer shell of a Soul Tool could sustain a forge for years. While blacksmiths could not craft the complex core formations, they could still manufacture casings—and that alone could bring enormous profits.
After all, in their desperate bid to rival the Sun Moon Empire, the three major human nations had poured vast resources into developing Soul Tools. Even a fraction of that wealth trickling down to the craftsmen was enough to make them rich.
But the Clear Sky Sect, as the embodiment of the old guard among the hidden sects, harbored a deep-rooted disdain for Soul Tools. Tang Ba, being one of their disciples, naturally refused to take such commissions. When drunk, he would even curse the Sun Moon Empire and its "accursed soul tools" right in front of his son.
As Tang San sifted through the six years of memories belonging to this body, a coarse, angry voice suddenly rang out from inside the forge.
"Tang San! Where the hell have you gone? Get back here and eat your food!"
(End of Chapter)