The moment the sweet potato powder touched the wound, the Spirit-Tuned Turtle trembled slightly, frightening Zhou Qing and Tang San so much that they immediately leapt off the turtle's back and hid in the bushes.
Fortunately, the Spirit-Tuned Turtle didn't wake up.
Zhou Qing breathed a sigh of relief, then followed Tang San to apply the sweet potato powder inside the cracks of the turtle's shell and smoothed it out evenly.
"All done."
Wiping the sweat from his forehead, Zhou Qing let out a deep breath and said to Tang San, "Let's head back. This Spirit-Tuned Turtle probably won't wake up for a while."
"Mm."
Tang San was exhausted too. After all, he had been constantly monitoring the turtle's breathing to make sure it didn't suddenly wake up…
Before leaving, Zhou Qing and Tang San caught two large white carp, each about twenty centimeters long, from the creek—Zhou Qing lured them with medicinal powder, while Tang San used his bamboo leaf darts to strike them in the head.
The bamboo leaf darts were originally a trump card Tang San prepared in case the turtle woke up and needed to be subdued. But now, they had become fishing tools.
If the disciples of the Tang Sect in my past life saw this, I'd be laughed at for the rest of my life… Tang San thought to himself. Still, when it came time to eat roasted fish, he wasn't shy at all—even licking his fingers clean afterward.
"Maybe… the bamboo leaf dart can be improved."
Zhou Qing brought up the topic.
"Improved how?"
Tang San didn't really believe that a little kid could improve on the bamboo leaf dart. As clever as Zhou Qing was, this world didn't have hidden weapons as a reference. What could he possibly come up with?
"Come on, let's go to my place."
Zhou Qing led Tang San to the second floor of his home and pulled out a book about soul tools.
"This book introduces soul tools from the Douluo Continent."
Tang San flipped through it and found many illustrations of items he had never seen before.
Of course—
This book wasn't about how to make soul tools. It merely described the general types, styles, and functions of daily-use soul tools.
It was more like a buyer's guide.
Still, in Zhou Qing's eyes, the book had value beyond just introducing categories and functions. You could even spot some basic soul tool inscription patterns from it.
Among the many daily-use soul tools, the most common type in the book was something similar to an electric fan.
Whether it was due to the lack of intellectual property laws in this world, or the overwhelming power of soul masters, or because the inscription patterns on daily-use soul tools weren't considered important, almost every illustrated fan had very similar pattern circuits on their blades.
Why "very similar"?
Because after comparing them, Zhou Qing noticed that the soul inscription patterns on these fan blades were almost identical—any differences likely came down to printing layout or scaling nuances.
"These are all pictures of soul tools?"
Tang San stared at the illustrations. Once he read their descriptions, he realized their functions—like that fan-shaped item with blades resembling hidden weapons, which would spin when infused with soul power, generating wind.
Since Tang San had already equated soul power with internal power, he suddenly found this world even more amazing. They could apply internal energy to daily life!
Unfortunately—
There wasn't a single soul tool in the entire Holy Soul Village.
Seeing that Tang San wasn't grasping the key point, Zhou Qing flipped through the pages for him and pointed to the various soul inscriptions on different fan blades. "Do you notice anything?"
"The patterns are almost identical."
A realization struck Tang San—if the spinning motion of the fan was powered by these inscription patterns, then wouldn't carving similar patterns onto a hidden weapon and infusing it with internal energy cause it to spin faster when thrown?
That would drastically increase its power!
If this works, I'll need to modify the Tang Sect's hidden weapons… The weapons soul masters use must be far stronger than just daily-use soul tools. Those top-ranked Tang Sect hidden weapons might not be weak, but—
Tang San couldn't mass produce them.
And the patterns on these soul tools filled Tang San with urgency. The cultivation of soul masters in this world might not surpass what's recorded in the Mysterious Heaven Treasure Record, but in terms of weapons—especially those backed by mass production—they clearly held a massive advantage.
I have to improve our hidden weapons. I must make the Tang Sect's hidden weapons stronger, otherwise—
He thought back to the item he'd just seen in the book: a household soul tool that could emit fire without wood or coal, using soul power like a portable furnace. In his mind, he imagined:
He holds a sleeve dart. His opponent raises a soul tool that shoots high-temperature flames. In the instant the flame blasts out, his sleeve dart melts—and he's incinerated right after.
Even though hidden weapons were meant for surprise attacks and assassination, Tang San still held a sliver of pride. He didn't want the Tang Sect's hidden weapons to lose outright in a head-on confrontation.
So—
The Tang Sect's hidden weapons must evolve!
I will revive the glory of the Tang Sect…
At that moment—
As he stared at the soul inscription patterns on the pages…
Imagining the powerful combat soul tools that soul masters might possess…
Recalling bitter memories from his past life:
As an outer disciple of the Tang Sect, he was denied the more advanced manufacturing methods. The hidden weapons he made were ridiculed, mocked, even stomped on by inner disciples—some even beat him for it.
That humiliation was what ultimately drove him to steal the sect's inner techniques.
To prove himself.
If given a chance, his accomplishments wouldn't be inferior to anyone in the inner sect.
And indeed: before leaping off that cliff in his past life, he had successfully forged the long-lost Buddha's Fury Tang Lotus…
But now, Tang San's ambition had grown even greater:
I want to surpass the Tang Sect!
"You look… excited?" Zhou Qing noticed the change in Tang San's expression—his eyes looked far more resolute—and was a bit confused.
"It's nothing. Just thought of my foolish dad again," Tang San brushed it off, blaming it all on Tang Hao. "Qing-ge, why are you showing me this?"
"Look here. If fans can spin thanks to those inscription patterns, then maybe we could carve them onto something shaped like your bamboo leaf dart."
Zhou Qing didn't press further about Tang San's inner thoughts. He just did his best to offer ideas, guiding Tang San toward the realm of soul tools.
From someone who once rejected soul tools… to a future master of them—
That would be quite the transformation.
Tang San, however, pulled out a bamboo leaf dart, compared it to the soul fan, and said dryly, "How does this even look similar?"
Though he understood the potential of the inscriptions, he was still a kid—and naturally nitpicked.
"Besides both spinning, the blade sizes are totally different. The fan's blades are wide, and my bamboo leaf dart, like its name, is as narrow as a bamboo leaf."
"Don't sweat the small stuff. Your dad's a blacksmith, right? Just experiment with those patterns. Who knows? It might work." Zhou Qing's big eyes sparkled with trust. "Even if we haven't awakened our martial souls yet, there's nothing wrong with being prepared. Maybe if your dart has patterns, it'll spin faster in the air."
"Like a paper airplane—"
Saying that, Zhou Qing grabbed a piece of white paper, folded it into a plane, and tossed it out the window. It glided for over twenty meters before landing.
Then he crumpled another identical sheet and tossed it—only for it to wobble and drop into the courtyard below.
"See? Two identical pieces of paper—same weight, same size—but just folding one into a plane makes it fly farther. I think it's because the wings create balance and lift. Maybe your dart could fly farther with the right patterns."
Tang San looked thoughtful, then asked, "Why do you call it a 'paper flying chicken'?"
Realizing Tang San had confused "plane" (机) with "chicken" (鸡), Zhou Qing played along.
"It's made of paper and it flies. Around here in Holy Soul Village, the bird I see most is a chicken. So I call it a paper flying chicken. If you don't like the name, you can call it a paper plane—like a machine."
Tang San was speechless…