4 Chapter 4

I passed the days by watching my cousins train, and sometimes practicing with them. Uncle Zhang would also instruct me every now and then correcting my form or showing me the right ways to breath between steps, but would never let me do the actual swings at full power.

"Remember little Jin," uncle Zhang said, "the true might of our Hammer can only be brought out with the full body's effort." He held his spirit in one hand and stepped forward while raising it up. "Now do you see where the motion starts?"

His legs were set apart and poised as if to jump from a run, and his torso was facing to one way with the other hand coiled as a counter-weight.

"You form a stable base with your legs then twist your hips to generate force," I said.

Uncle Zhang relaxed his body into a normal position, then pointed at Tang Hui, one of my older cousins. "Little Hui," he said, "from where do we generate force?"

Cousin Hui stood up and bowed before speaking. "All power begins from the calves," he said, and sat back down.

"The calves?" I said. That was an unconventional choice for a point of origin. "But that wouldn't be suitable for maneuvering or defending. Having such a high origin would surely let you bring more out, but then you'd be open to a counter if you miss."

Uncle Zhang smirked. "Who would dare oppose our Clear Sky Hammer?" he said.

"That's a very simple way of looking at things," I said.

Uncle Zhang glowed black and he swung out with his hammer, creating a massive wind pressure that blew my bangs away from my face. "And what is skill when confronted with unstoppable force?"

I frowned. "Fine, but what happens when you miss?"

He raised an eyebrow at me. "And here I thought our little genius would have already figured it out." He shook his head and shrugged, but the clueless looks my other cousins had told me this was something they haven't been taught yet either.

"I have no idea what you mean, uncle." I gestured at my Hammer. "All I know is it gets heavier the more spirit power I pour into it."

He smiled at that and gestured me to go on.

I looked at him funny. "How does a heavier hammer help with not missing a target?"

This time was his turn to tilt his head at me. "You've never tried swinging your hammer before?"

"The last time I did I ended up taking a bath in poisonous digestive juices."

A beat—before someone said ew from the back.

Uncle Zhang closed his mouth and said, "You're serious."

"That and I've only ever swung it at a defenseless target," I said.

"You used your hammer to kill your first ring?" he said, taken aback.

"It's a hammer, of course I'd use it to kill my first ring." I looked around and saw my cousins give me strange looks. "Oh, come on, it's a spirit for fighting."

"My dad said we use blades so it's kinder on the spirit beasts," said Tang Ye, he was older than me by three years but was still only at the twelfth rank.

"Didn't uncle Xiao give you a knife?" uncle Zhang asked.

"We're getting side tracked here," I said with a flat tone. "Back to the hammer." I poured spirit power into it and filled it to as heavy as I can swing. "There, that's as much as I can take."

"Give it a big swing," uncle said.

I did—then he threw a big clump of flour at me.

The black glow of my spirit bled as it traced a path in the air, and the flour went crazy wherever my Hammer passed. But even weirder was it followed close to the head instead of getting thrown about by the wake.

"What just happened?" I said, wiping the flour off my face.

"Watch and learn," he said. He threw another clump of flour above him then swung down his Hammer, and the same strange behavior occurred. The flour stuck close to the head of his spirit as it drew an arc in the air. On the down swing, he twisted his elbow and deviated the path of his Hammer into an upswing, using his shoulder as a pivot and brought it up then again into the same upward reaching stance.

He did it again and again, doing upwards of five swings as the black glow kept sticking closer and closer to his body, and the lines of flour kept going around him even after his spirit had long left the space. Uncle Zhang kept the cycle going, swinging in a frantic but flowing manner as his spirit seemed to become more and more blurred by the black glow surrounding him.

Then, I saw it. The flour was kept aloft in all his swinging, never leaving the trails of black light he left behind even when the wind pressure surrounding him was enough to make my robes billow.

"The black light of the Clear Sky Hammer has an attractive property," I said, not entirely sure if I could believe in it even if all the evidence said yes. The flour was right there, suspended in the air when everything told me they should have been blown away from the very first swing.

Uncle Zhang stopped his swinging and brought his Hammer to a stop by bleeding off the momentum with some empty swings. "Very good, little Jin." He then looked over me. "Did everyone else get that?"

A resounding, "Yes" echoed behind me.

The following day, I made my way early to my favorite spot with a brand-new plaything. Learning of the Clear Sky Hammer's unique aura gave me some ideas I wanted to try out. I reached my little bed of flowers and brought out both spirits, then expanded my Domain upwards so I didn't kill the plant life.

My single ring flashed yellow, and I shot a black bolt from my Hammer just above the flowers. I then dropped to my knees and leveled my eyes to their heights. Where the black bolt passed, the grasses and petals would sway towards before being pushed back by its wake of power. It seemed the attractive property also worked with my first ability.

Curiosity sated, I kept shooting bolt after bolt, trying to get a feel for my spirit ability and recovering using my Domain whenever my spirit power would fall lower than seventy percent.

Not to let Devour lag, I'd use it on the surrounding grasses like a search light, pushing Devour's absorption and my recovery speed to the limit every day. One thing I'd noticed though was that the clumps of blue green grasses were resilient enough that I didn't need to rotate my recovery spots every session, and staying to Devour for up to three times was safe enough to not kill any of them.

Needless to say, it was amazing—this Blue Silver Grass.

Like that, six months would pass in peace and I'd reach the fourteenth rank before we finally received word of Yu Xiaogang.

#

A quick session was held in the inner hall one fine morning, with the four elders present at the concoction of the plan together with me and my father. I was present in the debriefing as the person most concerned, and to also hear of the circumstances around the man we'd supposedly trust with a secret very close to the sect's heart—namely, me.

I was seated to the side of the elders with my father at the head.

"Greetings to the elders and sect master," said uncle Tang Ho. He was a fifty-fourth rank Spirit Ancestor and one of the few clansmen we employed as scouts. "I was able to find where Yu Xiaogang is currently residing after months of search, and Tang Ho is remorseful for taking so long."

"It's alright, brother Ho," said father. "We are deeply grateful for your services." He nodded in the bowing man's direction.

Tang Ho raised his head and spoke, "The person in question is currently residing as a guest lecturer in Nuoding city's Primary Spirit Academy under the favor of principal Ba Zhutian. He is also nurturing a student who goes by the name of Tang San and is currently a seventeenth rank control system Spirit Master. And from what I learned, he also had full innate spirit power on his awakening Blue Silver Grass as a spirit."

I was surprised, at the news. Full innate spirit power was already a rare event, but with Blue Silver Grass was something new.

"Also, there was recent news of one of Yu Xiaogang's Ten Core Spirit Concepts being proven by allowing Tang San's plant system spirit to accept a ring from the beast system. However, it is only now being circulated by the Nuoding city's Primary Spirit Academy as its main publisher."

After his report, uncle Ho then excused himself as the room fell into a discussion.

"Nuoding is in the middle of nowhere," said uncle Huang. "But a guest is still a guest and merits some suspicion of him having Spirit Hall's favor."

"I agree," said grandpa Lin, "though this guest status is likely to be less prestigious than an actual lecturer's, but to think they're only publishing this now? Why, this Xiaogang's work was only by chance procured for us by Tang Hao before things went awry."

Grandpa Bai shot grandpa Lin with a sour look, and father's stoic face said way more than necessary. There came a tremble, and my Domain expanded within me in response to that vast tremor—it was like the calm before a storm.

"My brother did us a great service," father said. "Xiaogang's Ten Core Spirit Concepts had allowed our third generation to flourish like never before, so I would appreciate if no one would shame his name." Grandpas Lin and Shan bowed without a fuss, but grandpa Bai and Huang did so a beat later. "Am I clear?"

"Understood, sect leader," the four elders said.

Grandpa Shan cleared his throat. "Now then, him taking on a disciple with a trash spirit sounds like a joke, but to hear this child is already at the seventeenth rank, then Yu Xiaogang is truly a scholar among scholars!"

To think it was possible to face this tenacious grass a spirit… well, I'd be pretty darn surprised if there wasn't such a thing as plant type spirit beasts hailing from it, but what a scary thought that was.

"I have increasing doubts on whether he is of Spirit Hall now," said grandpa Bai. "If he were, he wouldn't be in the middle of nowhere with a disciple bearing Blue Silver Grass."

I raised my hand.

"Yes, our little king?" said grandpa Shan.

"I find myself feeling wary of this Tang San," I said. The room fell into a deep silence. From what I learned from myself, innate spirit power could be faked, but I wouldn't have been able to do so on my own without my Crown.

"The surname Tang is quite widespread, little king," said grandpa Bai. "I wouldn't be surprised if these are some of those who wished to ride with our clan's fame."

"Yes," I said, "but remember that I too had two spirits, though merged as one." That and I had the ability to cultivate, so putting two and two together, that Tang San sounded like a very suspicious person.

"Or it could all be just some ruse," said grandpa Huang.

"I believe little Jin," said father—there was a hint of a twinkle in his eyes. "Full innate spirit power is a very rare occurrence, and to have Blue Silver Grass carry this, it seems too much of a coincidence."

"But that's beside the point," I said. "What matters here is that Yu Xiaogang was able to nurture someone with such a commonplace spirit and with the news of his awakening being connected to uncle Ho's report, this most likely means this Tang San must still be at a young age and definitely not much older than six."

"I can agree with this line of thinking," said grandpa Lin.

Grandpa Shan nodded as well.

"Do we have any other arguments?" No hands were raised. "All in favor of having Yu Xiaogang meet little Jin?" said father, he raised his hand and looked at the elders.

It was a unanimous decision which I too agreed with.

"Then we'll travel to Nuoding city and see whether this Yu Xiaogang is worthy of our trust," I said.

"Indeed, little Jin," said grandpa Shan. "But we mustn't be too hasty."

Grandpa Lin said, "Nuoding city is much farther than Star Dou Forest, and it would take at least three weeks' of journeying by cart, and no less than a week of hard running if we go on foot. Not to mention the exhaustion that'd come with it."

And that was by Titled Douluo standards.

"Also, such a faraway journey would be too risky to make with our infamy, and the perils of the road might force us one way or another to reveal our identities," said father. "We must also remember that we are still in hiding, and that Spirit Hall's reach is far and wide."

"If only we still had the Speed clan with us," said grandpa Bai, shaking his head.

Father turned to me, but his eyes had a dark shine in them. "Perhaps we can pester your aunt Yuehua for a favor," he said.

I narrowed my eyes at him. "So," I said, "it's that time of the year again, eh?"

v

Another week passed, and I was only a quarter of the way to the fifteenth rank when we received word aunt Yuehua was coming home.

My… past interactions with my father's sister was less than ideal, and though she'd praise my ability to read moods and talk and write above what she'd expect of someone my age, she still gives my grief at my crass mannerisms and the supposed gap between my polite and normal faces.

I was practicing with Uncle Zhang and the rest when the storm hit.

"What, no greetings for your dear aunt?" said aunt Yuehua.

I dispelled my Hammer and Crown, and faced her with the most angelic smile I had. "Tang Jin greets esteemed aunt Tang Yuehua," I said, and bowed.

She walked over to me in her billowing silk robes of light blue. Her jet-black hair was done up in a tight bun, and a light foundation brightened her already pinkish skin, giving it a natural glow just right for day wear. Her footsteps were not wide but just right to make her skirt glide over the floor, and her hips swayed with each graceful step. Had I not known she was my aunt, I'd have fallen for her just from that alone. "Precocious brat," she said with the sweetest smile.

And just like that, the magic was gone.

"Isn't it enough I know how to act already?" I said, dropping my smile and crinkling my nose. "And it's not as if you can introduce me to the nobles in your Moon Palace." I shrugged. Aunt Yuehua ran a finishing school for royalty and nobility in Heaven Dou's capital city, and just for kicks, dad sent me over for a month before to get a feel for the current climate of the ruling class.

She put her hands to her hips and bent a bit over to meet my eyes. "I come back after a year and this is the greeting I get," she said. "Dearest me, my big brother sure loves to spoil you."

I did my biggest grin and puffed out my chest. "I'm mature for my age," I said, "I'm amazing like that."

She pinched my cheek, but not enough to sting. "You thank the heavens you're adorable," she said as she pulled me into a tight hug.

"I missed you aunt Yuehua," I said, hugging her back. Mother and father were both not very affectionate even when I was still a baby, but that's alright. Everyone has their own way of doing things. And getting to hug a really pretty lady—even if she was my aunt—was always a welcome sensation.

"I missed you too little Jin," she said, giving me one more squeeze before letting go. "Have you been good?"

"Even if I haven't, you wouldn't find out," I said with a nod.

She sighed then said, "At least you remember your lessons."

A calming feeling washed over me and I saw the faint traces of a light blue sparkling in the air. In response, I expanded my Domain to just above my skin, blocking the spirit power carrying the subtle suggestion. "And yes, I've been sure to keep practicing with using my Domain."

She ruffled my hair and said, "Very good, that's my nephew."

Like me, aunt Yuehua had a domain as well thanks to her variant spirit: The Crystal-Clear Bell, where mine eats spirit power, hers soothes emotions.

We then walked together so she could greet father and the elders, since her things were already being taken care of. We were then directed by one of the stewards to the dining hall for a small meal for her and a snack for me, there we were greeted by father and the others.

"Tang Yuehua greets sect master and the elders," she said with a bow.

"Please little sister," father said, "no need for any formalities here, we're all family."

He then directed her to a seat at the table and I sat next to her.

"It's good to see little Jin growing up well," she said, taking her seat.

We ate stir-fried vegetables seasoned with the shrimp paste I helped create, and a pout-au-feu like dish made with some sweet and spicy herbs—it was a small favor to bring in some of my past life's cuisines, and everyone seemed to enjoy whatever I came up with next. Food always tasted better when enjoyed with others. Maybe I'll do pancakes next, though I still need to get some maple syrup or some other sweet sauce for that.

Some small talk here and there, some banter every now and then and updates on the general happenings with the empire. The Seven Treasure school seems to have tightened their hold on the Heaven Dou empire with their head becoming the one of the princes' tutors, the Blue Lightning school was still hailing themselves as the strongest sect in the land and really raking in the disciples, then there was Spirit Hall who had always been recruiting talented individuals left and right. There wasn't much to read between the lines, though that lingering feeling of something going on in the background was always there. Like one of the more famous literary characters of my old world said, 'constant vigilance' was the only true way to go.

Once things settled, father opened-up another topic.

"Sister," he said, "we would like to ask you of something."

"Speak first and I'll decide later," she said. It was a breach of etiquette on her part, but no one really cared since we were all family here—that and because she would be the wariest of any risks given her personal strength.

"It's a matter concerning me, aunt Yuehua," I said. She raised an eyebrow but didn't say anything. I then summoned my Crown, the spirit she'd known already known about. Her eyes focused on it for a bit before coming back to meet mine. Then I brought my right hand in front of me and summoned my Hammer.

"Twin spirits?!" she said. "Little Jin has twin spirits?!" It was refreshing to see her so surprised, and the way her red lips curled was a sight to behold.

"Not exactly," I said. Her gaze then trailed to the single ring floating above my head.

"You also already have your first ring!" she pulled me into another hug and the soft sensation was really really really confusing.

"I'm a fourteenth rank Spirit Master now, aunt Yuehua." She brightened up with a smile. "But I don't have twin spirits, rather, they seem to be merged."

She tilted her head and it was—for lack of a more delicate term, intoxicating. God. I am so not getting the hots for my aunt. I punched my metaphorical self and refocused on the subject. We then launched into a quick explanation for the hypothesis grandpas Lin and Shan came up with me and the whole discussion about Yu Xiaogang and then having uncle Ho look for him for like six months and all that, and by the end of it tackled the main question.

"So, there you have it," I said, "I think meeting Yu Xiaogang would be very beneficial with learning more about my spirit, he might not necessarily know, but for someone to concoct those theories must have some good insights on my condition." That or maybe a really large bag of weed.

She nodded once, then said, "If that's all, then I can lend you some guards from my Moon Palace to escort you there, though I'd feel safer if at least one elder would accompany little Jin."

"Say no more," said grandpa Shan.

Aunt Yuehua nodded again. "Then that's settled," she said. "You can both come with me when I head back, I'll only be staying for two months this time since the season for marriages and betrothals will be coming again soon."

#

Two months wasn't such a long time when you've got something to do, and for me, it was always fun to watch my cultivation bar grow. Sometimes I'd ask grandpa Shan to bring me down to practice Devour on some unwitting woodland creatures he consented to it since I never killed, but when aunt Yuehua found out, she was rather peeved at the idea, and instead told me to practice it on my cousins instead.

"I'd sooner our next generation learn how to deal with Domain based attacks than let my nephew perform any more cruelties to innocent creatures," she explained to uncle Zhang, and after the first session, the older generations also asked for a turn. All in all, it was a valuable experience for all of us. I got to train my Domain and eat spirit power to help with my cultivation, and they learned how to deal with someone who can attack them without having to do so.

"I felt a little stupid for not doing this earlier," I told aunt Yuehua that same day.

"Wisdom is something you're allowed to not have enough of at this age," she said. Though I felt a small stab of pain at the unintended attack to my older self.

Today, I was facing off with my slightly older cousins, the ones I attended the awakening ceremony with. We were allowed to do a light spar, me with my Crown and Hammer against both Daiyu and Bai at the same time. The rules allowed me only my Crown's first ability, since my ranged Hammer attack was quite a deal breaker at this level.

"Ready," uncle Zhang said. We three kids readied our Hammers, Daiyu with her bloody red, Bai with his mustard, and me with pure black. "Go!"

At the start, my yellow ring immediately glowed and went after Bai. With my range at a maximum of twenty-five meters, no one could escape me in the courtyard. Daiyu and Bai both rushed towards me, their rings also glowing. Daiyu's first ability was an enhanced attack, while Bai's reversed the pulling effect of the Hammer's aura. They were at rank's eleven and ten respectively, with Bai acquiring his first ring just a week ago.

I concentrated spirit power into my Hammer and swing it to meet Daiyu's—but at the last minute I dispelled it and side stepped and kicked out for her hip. She was already mid-swing when I dodged, and couldn't redirect her strike in time, so she was pushed off balance into Bai.

I brought my Hammer out to attack but Bai threw his, already glowing a deep black and I was pushed away by the force of it, stopping a solid meter away when the spirit power in it dispelled. They then used the time to recover from the first exchange.

I pushed Devour to eat more and more, and Bai was already starting to show signs of wear. The patches of sweat were a dead give-away as well as the slight catch when breathed. The extra boost to perception helped a lot with these little spars, and it was an advantage that would only get better the stronger I got.

Daiyu charged forward again, this time with Bai right behind her. It was a tactic the older students had come up with. My Domain devoured whatever was caught in its light, and physically blocking also impeded my absorption of a target's spirit power—when using Devour. It was a lot like shining a flashlight towards a direction versus the omni-directional absorption of my original Domain.

Since they wanted to do things this way, I wouldn't hold back. I dispelled my Hammer and brought both hands up into a boxing stance. I then pushed all my effort into Devour and directed all I could to Daiyu.

When she neared, she swung down again—then I stepped-in. She stepped back to get her spirit to hit me but another quick side-step caused her to hit air, I then jabbed at her stomach then brought my Hammer out at the same time, ramming her with the head. Daiyu was pushed back but then Bai's hammer came hurtling from the right and I had to block with my left forearm, it threw me off my feet towards the right.

I recovered with a quick ukemi and landed at a crouch, and Bai was on my case right after.

I then redirected Devour onto him and right when he got closer I covered myself with as much spirit power as I could and broke into pair of windmills, kicking my legs out and around me. He was caught off guard by the move and my kick clipped his feet, then I brought myself up into a backspin then handspringed into a fighting stance in one quick move. All these weeks of fighting pushed me to up my game, and with the help of spirit power—teaching myself how to breakdance got easier thanks to not having to mind getting injured. The boxing was a lot harder to relearn since figuring out how to time it with my Hammer and not end up overextending my joints was more an exercise in futility, instead, jabbing was all I had to my name. Actually using my body would have to wait until I built up enough bulk.

That last hit brought Bai out for the count but Daiyu kept going, she was again charging at me in a straight line, Hammer up and ready. It was also in these last few weeks that I learned something just plain disappointing. Her stance was perfect form from the Clear Sky school's point of view, but it was just so open to counter-attacks.

I stepped into her swing again—and really, almost everyone I've faced and has ever watched me fight already expected this, and still their best follow-ups were to either step back or push me away with their elbows. She pushed me back with her elbow this time, and I blocked hers with an elbow of my own and my other hand shot up for her wrist—and from there it was quick work to get behind her. With the two of us back to back, I then jumped back and fell like a log.

We landed with a thud then I summoned my Hammer and filled it with as much spirit power as I could and settled it on my chest. Meanwhile, Daiyu struggled to get me off her but eventually gave up after Devour did its number.

Basically, the concept of martial arts didn't seem to exist here.

"Winner," uncle Zhang said, "little Jin."

I stood myself up and helped Daiyu as well, and she was pouting like all hell. I then turned to uncle, "I swear, I keep showing you all the ways to break our Clear Sky school's stance."

Uncle Zhang scratched his chin, before saying, "Little Jin, the way you've been winning against your cousins is impressive, but this is nowhere near how Spirit Masters actually fight."

"Fine," I said, "just wait for me to reach the higher ranks." I was currently at the fifteenth rank, and most of that progress was thanks to all the fighting.

"Little Jin," aunt Yuehua called out, "come and have lunch with auntie." She stuck her head out of the dining hall. "And get changed before you come in, I'm not letting you eat with that disheveled appearance."

I went back to my room and quickly changed out of my clothes and combed my hair then went back for the food. Consuming spirit power—even if I replenished it with Devour—still made me hungry, and that little exercise just now was enough to drive me down to lower than half. When I entered the hall, auntie was already there with a bowl of light soup and some roasted chicken.

"We'll be leaving for Heaven Dou capital soon," she said.