Tang San immediately became angry. Relying now on the Random Cloak Hammering Technique taught to him by Tang Hao, he had already established himself as the "star blacksmith" of Shi San's forge.
"Little brother, do not speak nonsense! This hammering technique of mine is unparalleled when it comes to forging iron! In this entire blacksmith shop, which of the uncles does not praise my skill?"
Tang San spoke with evident irritation.
After a brief pause, he added: "Little brother, I know you are somewhat jealous of me! After all, the Random Cloak Hammering Technique is an absolute art. Father never taught it to you—he taught it only to me!"
"Father has been a blacksmith his entire life; his forging skill is the finest! And this Random Cloak Hammering Technique is his most formidable specialty!"
Tang San boasted smugly.
The owner of the forge, Blacksmith Shi San, chimed in agreement: "Indeed! Little San's hammering technique is truly impressive! His forging skill surpasses that of us old blacksmiths by a considerable margin!"
Tang Yi cast a glance at Tang San. Sure enough, around Tang San's waist was already fastened the soul guide device gifted to him by Yu Xiaogang—the [Twenty-Four Moonlit Bridges].
Each of the twenty-four jade stones on [Twenty-Four Moonlit Bridges] contained one cubic unit of storage space, totaling twenty-four cubic units—far exceeding the ten cubic units of the [Coiling Silk Finger Sheath].
Among soul guide devices, [Twenty-Four Moonlit Bridges] was unquestionably a superior-grade item.
"For Tang San to wear [Twenty-Four Moonlit Bridges] is truly a waste!" Tang Yi thought to himself, and an idea suddenly occurred to him.
"Elder brother, would you dare to compete with me?"
Tang Yi beckoned toward Tang San with a finger.
Tang San let out a strange cry: "Compete in what?"
Tang Yi pointed to the soul guide device at Tang San's waist: "We shall compete in hammering technique and forging skill!"
"If I defeat you, you will give this soul guide device to me!"
Tang San frowned: "This was a gift from my teacher! He told me that this soul guide device has accompanied him for more than thirty years—it is extraordinarily precious!"
After a pause, Tang San looked Tang Yi up and down: "And what do you have that is worthy of serving as a stake, little brother?"
Without wasting words, Tang Yi directly produced the money pouch he had previously taken from Xiao Chenyu.
"Here are twenty gold soul coins given to me by Xiao Chenyu! If you win, they are all yours! Moreover, in the future, should I become a soul master and receive a monthly soul coin subsidy from the Spirit Hall, I will give every single one to elder brother!"
Tang Yi spoke in a grave tone.
Tang San was, after all, only a seven-year-old child who had spent his life in the remote Saint Spirit Village, accustomed to hardship.
Even in his previous life, Tang San had been an orphan taken in by the outer sect of the Tang Sect and had never known a life of abundance.
To Tang San, twenty gold soul coins represented an enormous sum!
Furthermore, the blacksmith Shi San and the others nearby began to cheer him on: "Little San, we have all witnessed your skill with our own eyes! How could you possibly lose!"
Tang San thought for a moment: "Indeed! I am already a level-fifteen soul master. With the support of my soul power and the Mysterious Heaven Skill internal energy, my strength surpasses that of more than ten grown men!"
"Moreover, I possess Father's Random Cloak Hammering Technique! There is simply no way I could lose to this useless little brother!"
In an instant, Tang San's confidence surged!
"Heh heh, little brother, since you are willingly offering up your wealth, do not blame elder brother for accepting it!"
With a strange laugh, Tang San made an inviting gesture.
Blacksmith Shi San, the owner of the forge, brought out two pieces of raw iron of equal weight.
"Let us make the competition simple! You two brothers will forge simultaneously, each using one of these raw iron pieces!"
"Each of you may take no more than half an hour. When time is up, hammering must cease immediately! At that point, you will present the weapons you have each forged."
"For the sake of fairness—and to make the judgment of victory clearer—I suggest that both of you forge the same type of weapon: a sword! After all, on the continent, the greatest number of soul masters wield swords as their weapons!"
Shi San announced the rules.
Tang San naturally had no objection. He glanced at Tang Yi: "What do you think, little brother?"
"No problem. Let us begin as quickly as possible!"
Tang Yi nodded.
Very soon, two identical sets of furnace, anvil, and large hammer were prepared.
The furnace fire was stoked vigorously until both pieces of raw iron glowed bright red.
Tang San took a deep breath, stepped before the anvil, gripped the hammer handle tightly, slightly lowered his waist and back, and assumed the starting stance of the Random Cloak Hammering Technique.
"Begin!"
Shi San shouted.
Tang San immediately swung the hammer:
The first strike appeared unhurried, but the instant the hammerhead contacted the iron blank, his wrist flicked, using the rebound force to propel the second strike faster and more fiercely.
Then came the third, the fourth… The hammer sounds quickly shifted from separate "clang, clang, clang" strikes into a dense, continuous "clang-clang-clang," like a sudden storm of wind and rain.
With his waist as the axis, each hammer blow borrowed momentum from the previous one, layering power continuously. Sparks flew wildly from the iron blank as it rapidly deformed.
This was precisely the essence of the Random Cloak Hammering Technique—borrowing force to generate force, an unbroken chain of strikes.
The blacksmiths nodded repeatedly: "Truly worthy of being renowned throughout the world—the Random Cloak Hammering Technique!"
"This technique requires years of bitter practice."
Tang San felt smug inside; his hammering flowed even more smoothly, the hammer shadows nearly blending into one continuous blur.
Tang Yi's opening moves, however, were entirely different. There was no such continuous rhythm. He simply clamped the red-hot iron blank onto the anvil, grasped the oversized hammer with both hands, raised it overhead, and brought it crashing down.
"Heh heh, the Nine Yang True Scripture truly is a treasury of Great Xia martial arts!"
"This hammering technique originally comes from the 'Sui and Tang Heroes' legend—the thirty-six paths of the Gilded Hammer Technique used by Li Yuanba!"
"I never expected it to be recorded in the Nine Yang True Scripture as well. Now that my Nine Yang internal energy has reached the Foundation Establishment realm, I can finally begin to apply it preliminarily!"
Tang Yi was well aware that Li Yuanba was a supreme powerhouse; the thirty-six paths of the Gilded Hammer Technique could absolutely overwhelm the Random Cloak Hammering Technique!
A thunderous—
"Boom!"
A muffled roar like distant thunder exploded. The entire anvil trembled.
The red-hot iron blank was nearly flattened in a single blow, sparks erupting outward like fireworks.
Everyone present was stunned; even Tang San's hammering paused for a beat.
Tang Yi's movements were devoid of flourish. He simply raised the hammer once more and smashed it down.
"BOOM!!!"
Another thunderous impact. The iron blank visibly thinned and elongated at astonishing speed.
Tang Yi's hammering lacked any discernible pattern and did not prioritize speed. Each strike seemed to pour out every ounce of strength—heavy, domineering, decisive.
Raise the hammer. Smash it down. Raise it again.
Between strikes there was even a slight pause, as though gathering power.
Yet these seemingly simple and crude blows produced dramatic transformations in the iron blank with every descent.
The sound did not resemble ordinary forging; it resembled the pounding of deep foundations. The scorching iron behaved like soft dough beneath his hammer, yielding completely to his will.
"What… what kind of hammering technique is this? How can it carry such terrifying force?"
An old blacksmith stared wide-eyed.
"What domineering power! How can such a small body produce this kind of strength?" Shi San and the others wore expressions of utter disbelief.
They could all see that the sheer, raw force behind each of Tang Yi's strikes was horrifying—clearly surpassing Tang San by a wide margin!
Tang San's heart was filled with shock and suspicion!
He had never seen nor heard his father mention this hammering technique used by his younger brother.
That pure, domineering, force-crushing-all-technique aura stood in stark contrast to the borrowing-and-redirecting finesse of his own Random Cloak Hammering Technique.
Tang San gritted his teeth, steadied his mind, and pushed the Random Cloak Hammering Technique to its absolute limit. Hammer shadows flew in a frenzy; the clanging became as dense as pouring rain, attempting to overwhelm his opponent through sheer momentum.
Yet every time Tang Yi's "boom-boom" muffled thunder rang out, it struck like a heavy blow against the heart—oppressively weighty.
The two hammering sounds intertwined within the forge: one side a rapid, relentless downpour on plantain leaves; the other an intermittent, earth-shaking thunder.
As time passed, the disparity grew even more pronounced.
On Tang San's side, the iron blank had barely assumed the rough shape of a sword—its body coarse yet roughly even.
Sweat poured from his forehead; his breathing grew labored. The Random Cloak Hammering Technique consumed enormous amounts of soul power and physical stamina.
On Tang Yi's side, the sword blank's outline was noticeably more refined and uniform, exuding an aura of dense solidity throughout.
Impurities within the iron blank had been thoroughly expelled under those repeated, violent strikes.
Even more astonishing was that Tang Yi's breathing remained steady. Apart from a faint sheen of sweat on his forehead, he showed almost no sign of fatigue.