“For the Foundation Forge Body Tempering Art, ARE YOU PREPARED!?”

It was then that I came to know one of the tools handed down to me that would accompany me on my path to dominate the world.

There was only one word that was appropriate for this occasion. “Yes.”

****

Whoosh!

When Long Di said yes, Uncle Tian Lu brought the hammer down with terrible power!

Clang!

Sparks flew amidst a sonorous clangour!

“Come here!”

Uncle Tian Lu summoned Long Di with an urgency that hitherto ne’er been seen before!

Long Di, knowing that he received Uncle Tian Lu’s approval to inherit what sounded like a badass legacy, made quick movements to answer his summons.

Clang!

Cling!

Clink!

As Long Di neared Uncle Tian, the latter resumed his initial furious flurry of blows upon the item before him.

Bam! Bang!

Whoosh!

The golden forge shook and shuddered as something rammed into it from within. The spurts of flame that escaped the few outlets matched the violent collisions!

The main opening of the forge was opened very few times, but each time it did, the roar of the flames was like a mad beast filled with unholy fury!

Its every emergence was like an explosion, and it rocked the room they remained in. This was the same, but there was one difference within the set of sequences.

That difference was that Uncle Tian Lu’s hammer swings lost their mysterious tempo and the magical arc that they travelled through without warning. The swings were consistent, but the profundity vanished.

Vwoosh!

Suddenly, the temperature in the room skyrocketed following the last release of the main opening! It was as if Uncle Tian Lu released within the confines of the room everything that he took unto himself.

At the same time, however, runes appeared on each block that made up the room. They shone with blue light while radiating a cold aura to suppress the heat that ran rampant. However, the heat was still beyond scorching despite the suppression.

When the first heatwave passed over Long Di, it took with it a layer of skin(we’re not gonna talk about his clothes… let’s just not) and his body’s natural healing factor started to heal him from the injury.

His expression remained unchanged during this, but he circulated the spiritual qi in his body to generate a shield of sorts, but before he could complete it a voice rang out.

“COME HERE!”

Uncle Tian Lu’s voice made a thunderous return and somehow disrupted Long Di’s attempt to properly circulate his spiritual qi!

When Long Di heard it, he inwardly shivered as certain memories came to mind.

“He isn’t here. I just need to know that.” After voicing this non-contextual phrase, he readied himself.

Long Di wasn’t stupid. He knew that Uncle Tian Lu meant for him to travel the distance, however short it may be, alone and without the help of his qi. There was no other way around it but for him to heed this call unarmed.

Ta…

He took a step forward, and it was heavy and cumbersome in its undertaking. The heat contained a certain weight to it that bore down on the soul and body.

Ta…

Whoosh!

Tsss!

As Long Di took another step forward, the freshly recovered layer of skin quickly melted away.

This was a type of pain that would rip from many screams of agony, but Long Di went through it soundlessly.

He knew pain already, and even though objectively, the pain he felt from his uncle was far less than here, it was not this pain that broke him, but his uncle’s.

It was not this pain that traumatised him with an effect so deep that it was soul-scarring; it was what his uncle inflicted upon him too many times to count that did so.

Long Di knows that he is broken and he knows normalcy is more or less lost to him. This pain, or any other pain for that matter—they would never be able to elicit a response from him.

His defence mechanism to survive his uncle mentally was to detach himself from emotions in an attempt to not feel anything. This was the reason why his face was forever impassive and apathetic. It is one of the few physical reminders of his trauma that still had a hold over him.

So he felt the pain of the heat, but it did not ‘scar’ him, so it was bearable mentally.

Whoosh!

The heat daunted Long Di’s steps as he trekked forward. The heat burned away more flesh than he regenerated, but he continued forward all the same.

Uncle Tian Lu knew neither of Long Di’s condition nor his status. He blinded himself to this. He allocated all his focus to the ore he fashioned and the small area around himself.

As Long Di etched closer and closer to Uncle Tian Lu’s body, he could see that there were many changes to the old man. First, the latter’s form was incomparably defined. Every muscle, though not large, made itself known with abundant ferocity.

There was a power lying within them that threatened to tear the very void itself apart.

There were tattoo-like runes all over his body in strange patterns. His skin was also pitch black and gave off a feeling of indestructibility.

When Long Di saw the current Uncle Tian Lu, a single thought came to mind.

‘If he made himself look this badass all the time, his tooth would still take centre stage. But his mouth is closed, and so are the curtains on a surely epic performance… Man, that was poetic.’

However, he put these major thoughts to the back of his mind and focused on getting closer and closer, and eventually, he did.

Before long, Long Di was right beside Uncle Tian Lu, and the latter was aware of it. The small area around himself that he was aware of had been invaded.

Long Di’s body was a mess. Dried, burnt blood covered his seared flesh, and even that was being burnt away under the heat he was now being assaulted by.

With him not being protected by his spiritual qi shield, his body was left to defend itself with all the strength given to it by being at the Core Flame Evocation realm. Which, under such heat, was not much.

Long Di could no longer see. His eyes had burned away, but his spiritual sense was still active. He could see that Uncle Tian Lu was forging a weapon, but the material was so strong that it had yet to take even a rudimentary shape.

He then turned his attention to Uncle Tian Lu and he could see where the runes on his body were vaguely familiar to the ones present on the equipment he wore even now.

“The Foundation Forge Body Tempering Art is one of two things you need to learn in order to correctly inherit my clan’s legacy.” Uncle Tian Lu didn’t comment on Long Di’s success in making it here, nor did he care about the state of his disciple’s body. He only gave Long Di information that he would need for the art he was about to learn.

“For the first step,” he continued. “We will need to start the engraving of the runes of the first chapter. This will be the Marrow Chapter. This means we will be engraving runes within your very bone’s marrow.”

When Long Di heard this, his cheek uncontrollably twitched. ‘Seems like every time we need to get stronger in these cultivation scenarios, pain is a necessity.’

“The pain for each chapter is so potent that candidates are known to die after experiencing the rune engraving,” advised Uncle Tian Lu. “I am prepared to bestow the first set of runes upon you. Are you ready?”

Long Di nodded to indicate that he was. Even now, the heat that assaulted him was ravaging his body.

Uncle Tian Lu placed his hand on the main opening that kept the explosive fire of the forge at bay, and Long Di saw this. His eyebrow would have risen if it wasn’t burned to ashes.

“Now this part is very important.” His other hand still danced with the hammer as he said this. He couldn’t for a second stop the forging of the weapon he was crafting. “This forge will be where I will engrave the runes upon your very marrow.”

Long Di’s head snapped to Uncle Tian Lu, who was looking back at him. Even though his expression remained unchanged, the look in his eyes alone gave the message.

‘The hell I’m not.’

Whoosh

Uncle Tian Lu unlatched the main opening of the forge, sending an explosive shock wave and heatwave towards both Long Di and Uncle Tian Lu, but the latter used his power to protect them from the blast.

The heat would have incinerated Long Di to ashes if it weren’t for Uncle Tian Lu and the runes that lined the room.

Even then, the heat that exploded out of the forge was ridiculous. The fire that blazed outwards threatened to fill the room. Golden runes that covered the forge lit up to restrain this monstrous flame.

Long Di was being burnt at a faster rate at this very moment. However, he heard a line that chilled him.

“I heard you took the kids to a volcano…”

Long Di felt a sense of impending comeuppance encroaching upon him. ‘So this is what karma feels like, huh? Hm, the only thing that can make me feel worse is if someone with a single tooth says—’

“Get in.”