"Young Master, this is just an ordinary blacksmith shop. Why is it worth so much of your attention?" Rhino Douluo asked, feeling very perplexed.
He had already investigated it just now.
Inside the blacksmith shop,
there was only a blacksmith reeking of alcohol and a young child.
Nothing else seemed out of the ordinary.
What he couldn't understand was why Golden Crown would go to the trouble of traveling all the way to such a remote little village.
Golden Crown walked ahead and said, "The blacksmith shop is ordinary, but the person inside is anything but."
"Do you know who that blacksmith is?"
This question piqued Rhino Douluo's curiosity.
He really wanted to know what kind of identity a small-time blacksmith could possibly have.
"He is Tang Hao."
This plain answer left Rhino Douluo stunned.
His two eyes bulged like lanterns as he stared at Golden Crown.
What was that?
The wind was too loud just now, I didn't hear clearly.
Who did you say that slovenly blacksmith was?
Tang Hao!!!
The same Tang Hao who single-handedly severely wounded the previous Supreme Pontiff, Qian Xunji, along with the Chrysanthemum and Ghost Douluos?!
Seeing Rhino Douluo's expression—three parts disbelief, eight parts shock, and ten parts utter confusion—
Golden Crown nodded in confirmation. "You heard correctly. The Tang Hao I'm talking about is indeed that Clear Sky Douluo."
Boom!
This confirmed information exploded in Rhino Douluo's mind like a clap of thunder.
He hadn't expected it.
The Tang Hao that Spirit Hall had been searching for for so long was actually hiding in such a remote village, eking out a living.
At the same time, a new question occurred to him.
How did Golden Crown know Tang Hao was here?
In the time it took to drink a cup of tea,
the two arrived outside the blacksmith shop.
But they did not approach; they simply stood still in the surrounding woods.
After all, the opponent was Tang Hao. If they provoked him, they wouldn't even have time to run.
While Golden Crown was observing, Tang San, covered in sweat, happened to walk through the door from outside.
Knowing the plot,
Golden Crown quickly guessed that the boy had probably just finished practicing those so-called Tang Sect martial arts.
Immediately after, the sound of 'Clang! Clang! Clang!' metal striking metal came from the blacksmith shop.
It was likely the sound of Tang Hao forging iron.
"Young Master, should we move in to apprehend Tang Hao?" Rhino Douluo had already activated his Martial Soul and entered his Beast-form state.
He looked ready to charge in.
"Stop! Deactivate your Martial Soul state!"
"Do you know who's across from us? That's Tang Hao, the man who defeated the previous Supreme Pontiff Qian Xunji and the Chrysanthemum and Ghost Douluos."
"Even when hunted by the High Priest for a month, he managed to escape."
"Where do you get the confidence to apprehend him?"
"Besides, our purpose for this trip isn't to capture this guy."
Golden Crown was quite speechless.
This guy was being a bit too reckless.
Who gave him the courage to think he could take down Tang Hao by himself?
Liang Jingru?
Hearing this,
Rhino Douluo deactivated his Spirit Possession and asked in confusion, "Not apprehend him? Then what did the Young Master come here for?"
"Just to observe in secret."
"Alright, let's go. Tang Hao has probably already discovered us."
"It's better not to provoke this guy."
Saying that, Golden Crown and Rhino Douluo quickly left the area.
As he expected,
inside the house, Tang Hao was currently holding the Clear Sky Hammer.
He was already prepared for battle.
He had sensed them the moment Golden Crown and his companion arrived outside.
Especially when he sensed that of the two people outside, one had the aura of a Titled Douluo and had even activated their Martial Soul.
This led him to believe that the other party was sent by Spirit Hall to capture him.
However, what Tang Hao found disdainful was that
Spirit Hall was surely underestimating him too much.
To think they only sent one Titled Douluo and a Spirit Elder to capture him.
Was this an insult to him?
Just as he was about to strike first,
he discovered that the other party had left.
This left him momentarily confused about the situation.
Wait, brother, I've already pulled out my hammer.
And then you just leave.
Are you playing with me?
"Could it be that I overthought it?"
"Those two weren't from Spirit Hall?"
"True, if it were really Spirit Hall, they would never send just one Titled Douluo and a child to capture me."
"Then why did those two stop outside?"
While pondering, he saw Tang San, who was cooking.
Recalling that Tang San seemed to have just returned from outside,
he instantly understood.
"It must be this Stinky Kid practicing that technique of his that attracted those two's attention."
"Son of a bear!"
"Causing trouble for your old man every single day!"
Tang Hao withdrew his Martial Soul and began looking around for a handy weapon.
A knife? Forget it, it wouldn't be good if I couldn't hold back and killed Tang San.
A hammer? A mallet? A rake? Obviously, none of these weapons were suitable.
After searching for a while,
he noticed a stick lying in the corner.
"Good, I'll use this."
After picking up the wooden stick,
Tang Hao yanked open the curtain and walked toward Tang San in a rage.
Then, before Tang San could react, he grabbed him and pinned him down on a stool.
"Dad! What are you doing?"
"Why are you taking off my pants?"
Tang San was utterly confused, suddenly feeling a chill in his lower body.
Tang Hao didn't waste any words; he raised the stick and brought it down heavily on Tang San's buttocks.
"Ah! Ah! Ah..."
In an instant, screams rang out in the house.
On this day, Tang San's childhood became complete... meanwhile, Golden Crown and Rhino Douluo left Saint Spirit Village by carriage.
Inside the carriage,
Rhino Douluo asked anxiously, "Young Master, should we hurry back to Spirit Hall and tell the Second Consecrator about Tang Hao?"
Golden Crown raised his hand to refuse. "There's no rush for this."
"The matter of Tang Hao being in Saint Spirit Village is temporarily limited to just the two of us."
"If we alert the enemy and scare Tang Hao away, it won't be easy to find him again."
"Besides, before returning to Spirit Hall, we need to go to one more place."
The sign-in location specified by the system this time was Nuoding Academy.
As it happened, their current location wasn't far from Nuoding City.
Seeing that Golden Crown wanted to go somewhere else, Rhino Douluo asked, "Where to?"
"Nuoding Academy!"
...Nuoding City.
This was a small border city under the jurisdiction of Fasinuo Province in the Tiandou Empire.
Because it bordered three countries, it had become a hub for border trade.
Merchants from various countries often passed through here.
This also made Nuoding City's economy much better than that of other small cities.
The highest combat power stationed here, the City Lord, was a four-ring Battle Spirit Ancestor.
Golden Crown arrived in the city by carriage in less than an hour.
While Rhino Douluo went to inquire about the location of Nuoding Academy, he carefully observed the architectural style of Nuoding City.
Overall, it was dominated by Western-style architecture.
The city wall facilities were relatively complete, and there were a small number of soldiers stationed around.
Unfortunately, the overall strength of these soldiers was very weak.
It was estimated that a single two-ring Spirit Grandmaster could take them all out.
Before long, Rhino Douluo returned. "Young Master, I've found the location of Nuoding Academy."
...