"What did you say? What deep mountain and old forest?"Xiao Wu's heartbeat skipped. She almost wanted to flee—but forced herself to stay calm and pretended not to understand.
"It's just a metaphor."Tang San walked toward the edge of the pool, his back to Xiao Wu.
"Hu~"
Xiao Wu let out a quiet sigh of relief, then followed him and asked curiously,"What are you looking at the pool for? The fish in there are so big!"
There were several large carp swimming lazily in the pond, quickly attracting Xiao Wu's attention.
"Have you ever thought about walking on the water's surface?" Tang San asked suddenly.
"Walking on water? That's impossible. I don't have that kind of soul skill!"Xiao Wu shook her head vigorously, her scorpion braid swinging behind her like a metronome. Tang San almost couldn't resist the urge to tug on it.
"This is training—training our control over soul power."
Tang San turned his gaze to the nearby jujube tree. He condensed his soul power beneath his feet, rushed forward, and began running up the trunk.
He only managed five meters before falling back to the ground.
Faint footprints remained on the trunk where he'd stepped.
"This is my idea—condensing soul power at the soles of the feet, running up trees. One day, if I can use soul power to adhere to the trunk and not fall, it'll mean I've reached a very advanced level of soul power control."
Tang San stood and explained to Xiao Wu,"After that comes the next stage—walking on water, or even running across flowing water."
"If we can do that, it means we've reached a level of mastery over soul power where we can walk, run, even hang upside down on any surface using soul power alone."
Xiao Wu was stunned. From the way Tang San spoke, it almost sounded like he really could do it.
Is this even human? He's really smart...
"Did you come up with this yourself?" Xiao Wu couldn't help but ask.
"No," Tang San replied honestly. "I've seen someone do it before, but I don't know the exact method. I'm just trying to imitate it. But it's excellent for improving soul power control."
Xiao Wu couldn't tell whether he was telling the truth, but chose to believe him anyway.She also started practicing—trying to run up the tree like Tang San—but she barely got one meter up before slipping and falling to the ground.
"Ouch!"Holding her sore butt, she stood up with a grin and muttered,"You should've put a cushion down."
"That won't work. With a cushion, you'll just slack off," Tang San replied."And your first soul skill is Waist Bow, right? Before you hit the ground, you can use that ability—or at least mimic it—to twist your waist and land lightly. That's a form of training too."
"Okay, okay, you win... but why do I have to listen to you, really."Xiao Wu grumbled, but still continued practicing. Tang San also resumed climbing the jujube tree.
The trunk, fifty centimeters in diameter, was wide enough for both of them to train on opposite sides.
In this way, the two of them practiced for the entire morning.
Tang San's highest point reached seven meters, while Xiao Wu hovered between two to three meters.
"I'm so tired..." Xiao Wu complained."This really takes a lot of control. Too much soul power and the bark gets crushed, too little and you can't stick at all."
"For beginners, yeah—it's pretty difficult. Even for me."Tang San nodded thoughtfully.He realized that soul power and chakra were different. Chakra, in theory, was a combination of mental and physical energy—like essence and spirit from traditional cultivation theory—and came entirely from within. That made it easier to control.
Soul power, however, was more like "qi"—refined from external heaven and earth energy—and that made control inherently more difficult.
Even with his background in Controlling Crane, Capturing Dragon, which gave him above-average control, progress was slow.
But the fact that he could already reach seven meters meant this method was effective. If he could one day move freely across water or walls, it would be proof of total control over soul power. At that point, any self-created technique based on soul power would be achievable with ease.
"Let's go eat. You're treating, since I'm your guinea pig,"Xiao Wu said while rubbing her now-flattened belly."Training soul power like this is so extravagant... I'm starving."
"Okay, I'll treat."Tang San smiled wryly. Xiao Wu's reminder made him realize he needed a way to earn money—otherwise, he wouldn't be able to afford the cost of research and cultivation.
Also, he needed to find a blacksmith's shop to forge iron.
Not because he wanted to become some divine blacksmith—he didn't even have full memory of the hidden weapon blueprints. And as for making modern thermal weapons? Forget it. He didn't understand the principles well enough, and even if he did, building them by hand would be impossible.
The real reason was this: the Chaotic Cloak Hammer Technique was a type of hammering method that used rhythmic, layered strikes to train strength. It could stimulate the muscles and bones of the whole body through vibration, enhancing one's physique.
More importantly, if he could fully grasp the essence of the hammer method—vibration—his future potential would be limitless.
After leaving the backyard, Tang San and Xiao Wu went to find Ma Xiunuo.
"Grandpa Ma Xiunuo, we're heading out for lunch. Do you want to come with us?" Tang San asked.
"No, no. As the sub-hall master, I need to prepare the monthly report on the city's crime situation for the higher-ups in the Spirit Hall. The deadline's tomorrow—I need to get it sorted."
Ma Xiunuo shook his head. Then, as if remembering something, he beckoned Tang San over and handed him a bulging brown pouch.
"Little Tang, that Thousand-Root Banyan was sent to the auction house in Nuoding City. The starting price was five hundred gold soul coins, and it ended up being sold for two thousand—bought by a carving master."
"I know you wouldn't try to take advantage, but according to the rules of soul hunting, the soul beast belongs to the soul master who gains the soul ring. Those who assist in the hunt earn a share based on their contribution."
"So, I took 800. Su Yuntao and Sisi each got 300. The remaining 600 belongs to you."
Tang San accepted the pouch and said,"Thank you, Grandpa Ma Xiunuo."
"You don't need to be so polite. It's what you deserve. If you hadn't pointed out the banyan's value to carvers, we wouldn't have realized it was worth anything. Who would've thought a tree could be worth more than my monthly salary?"
After a few more words, Tang San didn't delay Ma Xiunuo's work any longer. He just promised to bring back food later and left the Spirit Hall with Xiao Wu.
"You got 600 gold soul coins..." Xiao Wu blinked."That's like 600 months of my Spirit Hall salary. You're rich!"
"Even though I have money, rest assured," Tang San said, cutting off her thoughts."Aside from the occasional meal, I'm not lending you anything to waste. I need all of this for research and cultivation."
"So stingy..."Xiao Wu pouted and grumbled like a child."And what's the point of working so hard to cultivate?"
About Other Transmigrators
Three words: information gap.
It doesn't matter if the other transmigrators know Tang San is the same kind. That's just part of his character as a protagonist. He can't fake it—and even if discovered, he can't hide it well.
But the key is this: the other transmigrators don't know if Tang Hao is with Tang San right now. And they're terrified of Tang Hao's strength.
To capture the Blue Silver Emperor, Tang Hao is a wall they can't get past.
If someone were strong enough to beat Tang Hao, they wouldn't bother stealing—they'd just take it openly. After all, that would hurt Tang Hao even more, which most fanfic protagonists would love.
Maybe they just stumbled upon the place where the Blue Silver Emperor hid (minor spoiler). After all, the soul bone was still there, which suggests:
They couldn't find where it was hidden.
They couldn't break the wall around it.
They weren't that strong.
Also, I've been writing from Tang San's grounded perspective—this is a real world, and that's a kind of foreshadowing…
The other transmigrators won't be overpowered—at least not early or mid-game. There definitely won't be any system-type transmigrators.
If I wrote that, the story would collapse. And let's be honest—wouldn't it be too forced if Tang San had a system?