Chapter 2 The Last Days of Daily Life.
The Tang Clan is skilled at using hidden weapons and deadly poisons to assassinate targets, and once struck fear into the hearts of many martial arts masters.
The disciples within the sect not only had distant relationships, but were also in competition with each other.
Tang Sanmei herself was an outer disciple of the Tang Clan in her previous life.
Because of her female identity, she was bullied by other disciples from a young age, which fostered her aloof and ruthless personality.
As she grew older, her increasingly beautiful appearance eventually brought her trouble. The son of an inner sect elder took a liking to her and repeatedly tried to coerce and entice her.
From then on, she developed a morbid craving for power.
Having grown up in the Tang Clan and witnessed all sorts of ingenious hidden weapons and release techniques, Tang Sanmei believed that the Tang Clan's supreme martial art, the Xuan Tian Bao Lu, represented the pinnacle of power.
She was very talented in hidden weapons, but unfortunately, she was restricted from using them due to her status as an outer disciple.
It wasn't until the son of that inner sect elder became increasingly unscrupulous that she finally made up her mind to steal the Xuan Tian Treasure Record.
The process went unexpectedly smoothly. She not only learned the techniques and hidden weapons from the Xuan Tian Bao Lu, but also brutally murdered the elder's son on a dark and stormy night.
Unfortunately, her scheme was eventually exposed, and she ended up falling off a cliff.
Looking at the middle-aged man in front of her, who reeked of alcohol, Tang Sanmei felt increasingly cold inside.
"Men are all the same, no two are any good!"
The thought flashed through my mind, followed by Tang Yin's face.
"Well, except for my brother!" Tang Sanmei's originally cold heart melted instantly, but she still glared at her nominal father in this life, Tang Hao, with a frosty expression.
"What's all the fuss about! It's just a bowl of vegetable porridge! Your brother won't starve if he skips one meal!"
Tang Hao walked out of the room looking impatient. He walked unsteadily to the stool and sat down. At the same time, he picked up an old kettle and took a big gulp of tea. The tea dripped down his stubble and onto his shiny, greasy collar.
"You old drunkard!"
Upon seeing Tang Hao's self-righteous demeanor, Tang Sanmei's face flushed red instantly, and she began to pant heavily.
Having been taught by her sect in her previous life, the concept of respecting elders and juniors was ingrained in her very being. If the person in front of her wasn't her father, she would have already marked him with a death warrant.
"Never mind, Third Sister, it's just a bowl of porridge anyway!"
A warm hand landed on her shoulder, bringing Tang Sanmei, who was deeply mired in grievance and anger, back to her senses. She then looked at Tang Yin beside her with teary eyes.
"But my brother has worked hard all day and hasn't eaten anything!"
Looking at the aggrieved Tang Sanmei in front of her, Tang Yin first glanced coldly at the drowsy Tang Hao beside her, then reached into his pocket and took out a palm-sized oil paper package and handed it to her.
"We can just make more porridge if we run out. Let's have an extra meal today!"
"This is...beef!" Tang Sanmei looked a little suspicious, but after sniffing the air with her small nose, her previously aggrieved eyes lit up.
She was absolutely certain of the smell; after so many years in this world, this was only the second time she had smelled beef.
The last time was when a villager's daughter from Holy Soul Village returned home after marrying a nobleman and brought back a cow's leg. The two siblings smelled it when they passed by that kitchen, and they remember being very tempted at the time.
"Go and cook another pot of porridge. Tonight I'll personally cook a stew of radish and beef."
With a smug look on her face, Tang Yin pulled Tang Sanmei's hand and went into the kitchen, leaving Tang Hao sitting there silently, like a nearly withered old tree.
...
The next morning, just as dawn was breaking.
On the mountaintop behind Holy Soul Village, two figures sat cross-legged on the edge of a cliff, meditating with their eyes closed.
As the sun rose on the horizon, the two opened their eyes simultaneously.
These two are naturally the Tang siblings.
Unlike the original novel where Tang San cherishes his own humble possessions, this story is different.
Two years ago, Tang Sanmei went mushroom picking early in the morning as usual. When she returned, she mysteriously dragged Tang Yin up the mountain, saying that she had discovered a martial arts technique left behind by predecessors in a cave...
From then on, the two began to cultivate together.
After two years of training and with Tang Sanmei's intentional or unintentional guidance, Tang Yin has mastered the basics of the three martial arts techniques: Ghost Shadow Mystery, Crane Control and Dragon Capture, and Mysterious Jade Hand. He has also broken through to the first level of the Mysterious Heaven Skill.
The only pity was that he could never grasp the essence of the Purple Demon Eye technique, and in the end, he had no choice but to accept the fact that he did not have the talent to learn this technique.
As for the "Hundred Solutions to Hidden Weapons" mentioned in the original work, for some unknown reason, it was not found on the cave walls.
Although he didn't know the reason, Tang Yin was already very satisfied. After all, he had never been interested in things like hidden weapons.
Although Douluo Continent was jokingly referred to as a fantasy floor tile by netizens in the past, it is ultimately a world where great power is concentrated in one person, and only the growth of one's own strength is the most important thing.
Distracted study of hidden weapons might temporarily boost one's strength, but it's ultimately detrimental to one's path as a Soul Master.
After all, not everyone is like the original Tang San, who is forced into a godhood.
"This Mysterious Heaven Technique is truly miraculous. To be able to find these few manuals, Third Sister's luck is simply heaven-defying!"
Tang Yin's lips curled up slightly, and at the same time, he noticed Tang Sanmei's gaze and couldn't help but tease her.
"Uh..." A look of panic flashed across Tang Sanmei's eyes. She didn't want her brother to delve into the matter, so she could only bring up the problem that had been troubling the two of them.
"Unfortunately, for some reason, although we have already broken through the first level of the Mysterious Heaven Technique, we have been unable to make any further progress for a long time!"
"Hehe~" Tang Yin twitched the corners of his mouth, leaned back, put his hands behind his head and lay down, continuing the conversation along the lines of Tang Sanmei.
"There's always a way out; things might turn around soon!"
Tang Sanmei was a quick-witted and intelligent person. Seeing that Tang Yin's words were meaningful and he was confident, she had an idea. She suddenly remembered what the elder of Jack Village had mentioned about the awakening of soul masters.
"Does brother know about Soul Masters?"
Tang Sanmei followed Tang Yin's example and lay back down. Seemingly feeling uncomfortable, she turned to her side, propped her cheek with one hand, and looked at her brother with curiosity.
"I've been traveling to many places with Elder Jack these past few days, buying and selling things. I even went with him to a tavern to deliver vegetables, and I heard the customers there talking about it."
Tang Yin immediately fabricated a source for his information and then introduced Tang Sanmei to the corresponding level divisions and color distinctions of the ten realms from Soul Master to Title Douluo.
"Brother is so amazing, he knows so much!"
Tang Sanmei is always a great straight man in front of Tang Yin, never spoiling the fun and always providing plenty of emotional value. Afterwards, she asked Tang Yin about martial souls.
"What kind of martial soul do you think we might awaken, brother?"
"Martial Soul~" Tang Yin said with a touch of emotion, "The old man in my family is a blacksmith, so who knows, our Martial Soul might be a hammer?"
As he spoke, the image of Tang Sanmei's small frame carrying a large iron hammer suddenly popped into his mind, and he couldn't help but laugh out loud.
Why did you suddenly start laughing, brother?
"I was laughing because I was imagining my third sister smashing people with a giant iron sledgehammer in the future!"
"Oh! So brother wanted to see his third sister make a fool of herself!" Tang Sanmei pretended to be angry, rolled over and hugged Tang Yin, buried her face in his chest and secretly curled up the corners of her mouth.
(End of chapter)