“What are you doing?” Henry Carter glared at him impatiently. Although Henry Carter had never hit William Carter, for some reason, William Carter was naturally a bit afraid of this father. Even with the experience of two lifetimes, he couldn’t change this feeling.

“I’ve finished the ten thousand strikes,” William Carter said.

“Oh?” The light in Henry Carter’s eyes seemed to brighten a little. “Bring it here and let me see.”

“Okay.” William Carter quickly ran back to his room, and soon came out holding a chunk of iron.

The iron block was pitch black all over. Although its shape was irregular, every cross-section looked extremely smooth, with a faint black sheen. The whole block was about a quarter the size of the original lump of iron, and only with the help of Xuan Tian Gong did William Carter not find it heavy to hold.

Henry Carter grabbed the black iron block, held it up to his eyes and examined it carefully. “Now do you understand what I meant?”

William Carter nodded. “Refining steel a hundred times over—even the poorest quality metal, after repeated forging and purification, will become high quality. Dad, is this the lesson you wanted to teach me?”

Henry Carter noticed that his son had surprised him quite a bit these past few days. He handed the iron block back. “Then keep going. When you’ve forged it down to the size of a fist, bring it to me again.” With that, he turned and walked out the door.

According to what he’d originally said, after forging the iron block ten thousand times, he would teach William Carter how to forge. But now, he seemed to have gone back on his word. William Carter, however, didn’t mind. He was just thinking about what Henry Carter had said.

“The size of a fist?” Could such a large iron block really be forged down to the size of a fist? Even though it was already only a quarter of its original size, William Carter knew very well that as the forging continued, the iron would become denser and denser, and shrinking its volume would become even harder. To forge it down to the size of a fist would take far more than another ten thousand strikes.

If a hundred refinements make steel, then what does ten thousand refinements make? A flash of light passed through William Carter’s eyes. With a slight shift of his feet, he nimbly slipped back into his room. Soon, the sound of clanging hammers once again rang out in the smithy.

Three days passed quickly. Every morning, William Carter still went to the top of the mountain for his daily practice. After returning home, aside from cooking, he spent all his time forging. It was as if he was locked in a contest of wills with that chunk of iron. His hammering speed increased every day. Xuan Tian Gong helped him recover his strength quickly, allowing him to keep up the relentless forging.

“Xiao San, Grandpa’s here to pick you up.” Old Jack arrived at the smithy right on time. Perhaps because of his dislike for Henry Carter, this time he didn’t even go inside, just called out to William Carter from outside.

William Carter glanced at his father, who had just finished breakfast. Henry Carter said coldly, “Go on. Don’t be late making lunch.”

Chapter Two: Useless Martial Soul and Innate Full Soul Power (Part Two)

William Carter answered and finally left the smithy.

Led by Old Jack, William Carter followed him to the Martial Soul Hall in the center of the village. Of course, this so-called Martial Soul Hall was just a slightly larger wooden house.

Because everyone had a martial soul, and every year there were children undergoing martial soul awakening, you could find a Martial Soul Hall anywhere on the Douluo Continent. Of course, these were all just branch halls, with different levels.

This year, there were eight children in Holy Soul Village undergoing martial soul awakening. William Carter was the last to arrive, led by Old Jack.

The village children didn’t think much of William Carter. Favoring the rich and looking down on the poor wasn’t just something nobles did; among commoners, it was even more obvious. And since William Carter had lived two lives and was actually over thirty years old, he naturally didn’t want to associate with these children. To him, any spare time was better spent cultivating. As a result, he had no childhood playmates.

Besides the village chief Jack and the eight assembled children, there was also a young man in the Martial Soul Hall. He looked to be in his twenties, with sword-like brows and starry eyes, and a very handsome appearance. He wore a white fitted outfit, a black cape draped over his back, and on the center of his chest was a soul character the size of a fist. This was the standard attire for direct personnel of the Martial Soul Hall.

On his left chest was a badge engraved with long swords—three swords crossed in total. Someone as familiar with soul masters as Jack knew that the number of swords represented the third rank title of soul master, Grand Soul Master, and the long swords indicated that this deacon from the Martial Soul Hall was a Battle Soul Master.

“Hello, esteemed Battle Soul Master. Sorry to trouble you this time.” Old Jack greeted the young man respectfully.

A faint pride showed between the young man’s brows. He gave a perfunctory bow in return. “I don’t have much time. Let’s begin.”

Old Jack said, “Alright. Children, this is the Battle Soul Master from Nuoding City. He will now guide you in awakening your martial souls. You must cooperate with the master during the awakening. Grandpa hopes that some of you can become soul masters.”

The young man said impatiently, “Enough, you said the same thing last year. Is it really that easy to become a soul master? I’ve already been to six villages, and not a single person had soul power. Nor was there a suitable martial soul.”