Father's Gift
Hearing what Tianshang Long said, Tianshang Yixing was surprised for a moment. He was about to say something to reproach Tianshang Long but was interrupted by a laughter.
Xiao Yu was laughing and had a mocking expression on his face. He said in an arrogant voice, "A bean sprout like you won't pass the first test day after tomorrow. It's three years too early for you to take the exam."
Tianshang Long's expression remained indifferent after hearing this. Though he knew that this was the second time that Xiao Yu had mocked him, he didn't care. Seeing this, Xiao Shen had a grin on his face and said to Xiao Yu, "Yu'er this is not the way to speak. Even though he is young and weak now, you never know if he turns out to be an expert in the future."
Though it seemed like Xiao Shen was reprimanding Xiao Yu but Tianshang Long could make out that the father-son pair were making fun of him. Xiao Shen then turned to Tianshang Yixing and said in a polite tone, "Eldest brother we'll be leaving for now. I have to train Xiao Yu. I hope you will come to watch the exam."
Tianshang Yixing nodded with a smile on his face but as Xiao Shen turned around, his smile disappeared and he narrowed his eyes, a slightly cold look on his face. He regained his composure and looked at Tianshang Long. Seeing the indifferent expression on his son's face, he was surprised as he felt that children his age should easily get worked up when provoked like this.
The elder of the Lin brothers, Lin Li said, "He is as competitive as ever."
Tianshang Yixing nodded his head and then turned to Tianshang Long with a serious look on his face and said, "Are you sure you want to take part in the Hunters Guild exam?"
This surprised Tianshang Long a lot as he didn't expect his father to ask such a question. He was thinking of how to convince his parents to let him participate in the exam, but Tianshang Long realized that he had underestimated the competitiveness of his father.
Tianshang Long replied with an indifferent expression on his face, "Yes, I am sure."
Tianshang Yixing smiled slightly and said in the same strict tone, "Prepare well. I'll come to watch your performance in the exam. And don't forget to register for the exam tomorrow. Your mother will take you for registration."
Tianshang Long nodded and said, "I am going to the training room to practice some more."
Saying this, he turned around and left the crowd, making his way towards the Tianshang residence.
Seeing this Tianshang Ling had a sad smile on her face, "This child is too calm and collected, I am worried about him."
Tianshang Yixing nodded and said in a comforting tone, "He is pressured by his sister. I have seen the results of his training for the past year. He has a good chance of passing the physical abilities exam."
Tianshang Ling for not say anything and smiled slightly. What she did not know was that Tianshang Yixing did not want her to worry. Tianshang Yixing did not mention that Tianshang Long had a good chance if this was an examination of previous years. Tianshang Yixing sighed and then made his way to the blacksmith's warehouse.
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In the training room.
Tianshang Long was standing still, his eyes closed and his clothes drenched in sweat. He had been practicing under 7 times the gravity. He increased the gravity to eight times and sat down to meditate and practice Basic Art of Breathing. As he was about to go into a deep meditation state, Old Man Long appears in his mental energy sea, with a mocking smile on his face. Seeing this Tianshang Long burrowed his brows and asked, "What is it?"
"You seem to be very serious about the Hunters Guild Examination," said Old Man Long. The mocking tone in his voice was very apparent.
Tianshang Long ignored his mocking tone and said in an indifferent voice, " I just want to be stronger."
Hearing this Old Man smiled slightly and nodded his head and vanished.
Tianshang Long closed his eyes again entered the deep meditation state, did not giving much thought about why Old Man Long bothered him with such a question.
Deep inside Tianshang Long's mental energy sea, Rachel and Old Man Long were talking to each other. Surprisingly Aaron was standing very still in front of Rachel.
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Tianshang Long opened his eyes the next morning when Aaron warned him that his mother was coming to the training room. He turned off the gravity generator, which was at eight times of the normal gravity.
If his parents found out that he was training at 8 times the gravity they would freak out. Although Tianshang Long trusted his parents very much he knew some things were better kept hidden. He would not be able to explain to his parents how he was able to reach such a level of physical endurance. Although the Basic Art of Breathing was an exercise to refreshen the body, the constant wear and tear if the muscles made Tianshang Long's body very tough. And since he had reached a very high level in the Basic Art of Breathing, he was not afraid of damaging any of his muscles.
Tianshang Ling entered the training room with a light knock. Seeing that Tianshang Long was drenched in swear, pained her heart. She said in a soft voice, "Long'er it doesn't matter if you don't perform well. You can take part in the exam again in three years."
Tianshang Long looked at his mother with a bright smile on his face and said in a cheerful tone, " Don't worry mom, I'll make you both of you proud."
Tianshang Ling seeing the look in her son's eyes smiled and rubbed his head. She said, "Go, freshen up. We will go and register for the examination."
Tianshang Long nodded and left the training room.
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The mother-son pair made their way to the Central Hall of the village. Other villagers were also headed there. Seeing the number of people registering Tianshang Ling was surprised. She turned to Tianshang Long and seeing the indifferent look on his face she sighed sadly. She felt as if there was nothing that could shock her son. She took hold of Tianshang Long's hand and seeing him lower his head and with a slight blush on his face, Tianshang Ling felt better and she laughed seeing her son acting shy.
As they entered the Central Hall, they saw the villagers accompanying their children and registering at the desk set up by the Guilders Halls members. Tianshang Ling interacted with other villagers for as they waited. After waiting for a while it was their turn to register.
Filling up the information, the members who were at the desk were surprised to see a 4-year-old boy registering for the Hunters Guild Exam. Although they were surprised, being experienced members of the Guild they smiled politely and gave him the registration token. The token had Hunter written on it with the number 97 on it. After receiving the token Tianshang Long thanked the member of the Hunters Guild and left for home.
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After returning to their home, Tianshang Ling told in a serious toneTianshang Long, "Wait for me in the training room."
Tianshang Long nodded and went to the training room, wondering why his mother asked him to wait.
He changed into his training clothes and picked up his double-edged swords. He felt that they were too light and also in bad condition. After training for a whole year he realized that these swords could not be used for actually killing the beasts in the second part of the exam. He wondered how would others participant go on about killing those beasts when Tianshang Ling entered the training room with a light knock on the door.
What surprised Tianshang Long was that she was also in her training clothes. She had a wooden sword in her hands. She did not say anything and made her way to the center of the training room. She stood in a defensive posture and then said, "We will have a spar. I want to see how much progress you have made in these months."
Tianshang Long nodded and dutifully stood 10 meters away from Tianshang Ling with the double-edged swords in his hands.
"Start", shouted Tianshang Ling.
Tianshang Long moved like a specter towards Tianshang Ling and swung his swords at a tricky angle. Tianshang Ling was shocked seeing this move by her son. She realized that she could not break through this technique with her skills. In her heart though she felt happy that her son had progressed so much in a year. Although Tianshang Long felt that he was moving very fast but in Tianshang Ling eyes he was moving as slowly like a snail. She smiled as she saw the swords nearing her. Tianshang Long after seeing that smile felt chills going up his spin. By the time he could react, he saw a flash and BANG!!! He was thrown backward.
He heard a snap as he was in the air, his double-edged swords shattered into small pieces. He landed on his ass with a loud thud. He felt a bruise forming on his wrist and a sharp pain on his chest.
Though this took a long time to describe all this happened in a second. By the time Tianshang Long raised his head, Tianshang Ling's sword was already on his neck.
Tianshang Ling saw the astonished look on her son's face. Seeing a bruise forming on his wrists hurt her a lot but she acted tough.
"Always remember, in face of absolute strength, and no tricks will let you win," said Tianshang Ling in a grave voice. Tianshang Long nodded, but he was still greatly shocked. This was his first fight in this new world, and he had worked so hard for a year. His first fight and he lost it in a second. This was a huge blow to his confidence, and he realized that he was nothing in this new world right now.
As he was thinking this, he failed to notice the look of shock on his mother's face who was deep in thought.
Tianshang Ling pulled Tianshang Long up from the ground and rubbed his head with affection.
She pointed her ComLink in an empty space and a blue light shone from it. A large piece of shiny black colored wood appeared with a box beside it.
The blue light vanished, and Tianshang Ling turned to Tianshang Long.
"This is a gift from your father. It is Cold Iron Wood, a rare type of wood which has metal mixed in it. You can carve it to the shape of your liking. You have 6 days left before the exam, so you can start working on your weapon. If you need any help, you can ask your father or me."
Tianshang Long nodded and watched his mother leave the training room. Tianshang Long was surprised to see his mother so business-like. He looked at the Cold Iron Wood on the floor of the training room and realized that this was his parents showing confidence in him. Although he knew that his parents did not think he would be able to pass the Hunters Guild exam, they wanted to make sure that their son would not feel demotivated in any way. He smiled and opened up the box beside the Cold Iron Wood. The box was filled up with different carving tools. The Cold Iron Wood was very smooth to touch and as he tried to move the piece of the wood, he realized that he had to use all of his strength to do so. The piece of wood was surprisingly very heavy.
Tianshang Long was very happy as he moved the piece of wood to a corner and began carving his new swords.
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It had been 5 days since Tianshang Long began his new swords. Although he was doing his work intently, his eyes seemed to be empty and he had a blank look on his face. His parents came to check up on him during this time but since he was working so hard they did not disturb him.
In Tianshang Long's mental energy see Rachel and Old Man Long were standing watching huge waves rise in his mental energy sea. The illusionary figure of Tianshang Long in his mental sea was getting solid every passing moment. In the past, he was able to control twenty strands of mental energy to form his figure but now his figure had more than 400 mental energy strands.
The sea slowly calmed down as the Double-edged Swords finally came into being.
Old Man Long sighed with a sad smile on his face and said, "This kid has heaven-defying luck. Who would have thought that carving a sword will help him break the mental energy sea level barrier!"
Rachel nodded but did not reply to the Old Man, and she too had a surprised look on his face.
They watched for while making sure everything was alright before vanishing into the depths of Tianshang Long's mental energy sea which was almost thrice the size it was before.
At this moment Rachel's cold voice reached Old Man Long, "Well this surprise came at the right time or else it would have been impossible for him to pass the test I have set up for him!"
Hearing this, the Old Man shuddered violently, before nodding his head and sighing ruefully.