A few minutes later.
The village chief had left their house with high blood pressure and an unpleasant look painted on his face.
Tang Hao, Tang Zen, and Tang San were drinking some vegetable soup in big bowls Tang Hao made himself, sitting on the wooden bench outside their house, letting their bodies take in some sunlight.
"Little Zen... You know why you can't leave, " Tang Hao said before taking another sip from the bowl.
"Because I have the aura of a spirit beast, " Tang Zen said calmly, "Even though I wasn't a 100,000 years spirit beast before my metamorphosis, I still reek of a spirit beast."
"Spirit masters with a sharp sense will kill me first before confirming how much spirit power I actually have."
Tang San's furrowed in depression. He knew it but he forgot for a moment. Because he wanted to enroll in the academy with Tang Zen.
Tang Hao's soup bowl was now empty. He put it between him and Tang San who was on the left side. Placing his right hand on Tang Zen's left shoulder, who was sitting on his right side.
[Tang San - Tang Hao - Tang Zen] Sitting order
"It has been ten years already, huh?" His eyes were looking at the wisteria tree in the distance, "No wonder... (Chuckle) Haa—... Even I feel bored with my pathetic life."
"I think... It is time for me to forget your mother and think about the future of my kids. Tang San will go to the academy and you will be trained by me."
Gulp!
Tang San gulped the soup down his throat and looked at his father who looked like a mountain to his small frame, "But I also want to be trained by you, Dad. You are one of the top spirit masters of the world after all."
Tang Hao never revealed his spirit rank to the public, but he was probably above rank 80, according to rumours at least.
The villagers didn't believe he was the same Tang Hao from Clear Sky Clan because of his pathetic appearance. Shouldn't he look dignified and rich?
Tang Hao turned his head, looked down at his jealous son, smiling softly, "I am not like your mother. Both of you are my favourite sons."
"I am only helping him to reach a mature state. I will share my secrets when both of you grow up a little more."
Tang Zen, on the other hand, didn't care about these things, his mind was occupied with other thoughts, 'Family, friends, fame, money... Nothing lasts forever. How fleeting this life is. I am so fed up with the constant ups and downs of life. From now on, I will live without any hope and ambition.'
'If death were to take me now, I will gladly leave this world. There's no point in struggling if the end is fate too.'
Maturity at a small age isn't always a blessing.
Some become brightest stars.
And some become dark stars and disappear in darkness.
As they decided, Tang San went to Newton Academy with strict advice from his father to neither use nor train the clear sky hammer spirit.
Tang San wasn't just blessed with luck but also gifted with heaven-defying talent.
He had inherited blue silver grass from his mother and clear sky hammer from his father.
Not to mention, he had knowledge of hidden weapons and poison from his previous life at the Tang Sect. However, unlike his father, he didn't share his secret with anyone.
It wasn't his intention to hide it from Tang Zen, but Tang Hao had always forbidden Tang Zen from spirit training for a reason.
Tang Zen may be born from the divinity of 100,000 years spirit beast but all of his divine power was used in the process of his metamorphosis, making his physical body extremely fragile for spirit training.
To train him, Tang Hao brought Tang Zen to his birthplace which was the grassland filled with blue silver grasses.
Tang Zen sat cross-legged on the ground at Tang Hao's instruction and listened to his lecture, "Tang Zen, I must say that your body is still extremely weak. Ah Yin told me that she always grows stronger around her kin."
"So I am gonna use my spirit force to awaken your talent. No matter how small that is, once you awaken your talent, I am sure you will reach the mature state of spirit beast before Tang San finishes his first year at Newton Academy."
"Are you ready?"
"Yes, father, " Tang Zen was feeling better now.
His eyes were still holding depression within them, but he was still excited to receive teaching from his father.
Since he wasn't lucky enough to receive the love of his mother, he was satisfied with Tang Hao's care. Even though, Tang Hao wasn't his biological father.
Hong—
The shockwave burst from Tang Hao's body, flanking away the dust and weak grasses in a majestic manner.
The Tang Hao in Tang Zen's eyes became even more special and respectable.
One after another, spirit rings manifested behind Tang Hao with the appearance of a huge dark grey hammer in his right hand.
Yellow, yellow, purple, purple, black, black, black, black, and black.
Nine spirit rings. A titled douluo. Spirit rank unknown. Title unknown.
Tang Zen knew the value of these spirit rings.
White ring - 1 to 100 years
Yellow ring - 101 to 1000 years
Purple ring - 1001 to 10,000 years
Black ring - 10,001 to 100,000 years
Red ring - 100,000 years
Tang Hao didn't keep his kids ignorant about spirit master world.
"Ugh... " Tang Zen felt dizzy, closing his eyes and gritting his teeth to endure the pressure.
He couldn't believe that he was so weak in the presence of his father's spirit force.
"Just enduring won't do, son. You must embrace it, make it your own strength, " Tang Hao didn't go easy on him, "How do you wonder? Figure that out yourself. Everyone has a different body. You are even more special because of your origin."
"I don't believe that you are trash. Not unless you think of yourself like that. Steel your mind, son. Find the way to own my power and guide it to your core."
Tang Zen didn't really get it, so he followed his instincts.
Tang Zen thought, 'The spirit force isn't a physical power yet it is making me bow my head and pressurising my veins as if they are about to burst.'
'I don't know what the nature of the spirit force is. But it is present in nature too. So shouldn't it also be in my breathing? Yes. Let's think that I am inhaling spirit force. By taking long breaths, I can feel the air gathering in my stomach, in my core.'
Tang Zen didn't know that he figured out the breathing technique Tang San had learnt in his previous life.
[A/N: Has anyone noticed that Tang San may be from murim world?]
Tang Zen was smart like Tang San but lazy. That was why he always looked for ways to make things easier for himself. Hard work wasn't his style. He would rather sleep.
The spirit force is the essence of a soul that is connected with the body by a bridge called the mind, not the brain.
The mind is parted into two—the conscious mind and the subconscious mind.
Our active thoughts and actions are being conducted by the conscious mind like making plans to do something.
But instincts and habitual actions are governed by the subconscious mind like waking up after getting enough sleep, screaming during frightening moments.
Tang Zen wasn't active in the domain of the conscious mind because of his lazy persona. But his subconscious mind was on another level compared to that of average kids.
He was gathering spirit force from the blue silver grasses around him while his father's spirit force was helping him in efficient accumulation of spirit force.
Under the pressure of a titled douluo, his core took the form of a ball within his body, absorbing spirit force at an incredible pace.
A curt smile slowly formed on Tang Hao's lips, 'Ten years of patience has been paid. Your body is finally able to harness spirit force without any problem. But it won't last long. I can help you build a strong foundation, Tang Zen. But you are the only one who can build a sky-touching pagoda on that foundation.'