Chapter 52

Tang Tian felt a chill suddenly surge up his back.

The speed of the other party was so fast that he could only see a blurry black shadow.

Damn!

"Sky Furnace!" Tang Tian roared, and the black iron gauntlet on his hand burst into red flames. His true energy instinctively surged to its peak, and it seemed that the Second Crane Body also sensed the danger, moving at an unprecedented speed.

Without a second thought, Tang Tian swung his most skilled and powerful punch

— Great Avalanche!

For the first time, Tang Tian used the Great Avalanche with the black iron gauntlet, and he immediately noticed the difference. A warm current flowed from the gauntlet back into his body, then surged back into the gauntlet with his true energy.

This warm current dispelled all of Tang Tian's fear.

The punch seemed unremarkable, and even the strange red flames on the fist seemed to become gentler.

Mr. Wu was already at the end of his strength. Tang Tian's punch hit him squarely on the chest, leaving him no way to avoid it.

Puff!

A not-so-loud sound of flesh meeting flesh, the red flames instantly penetrated Mr. Wu's body. Mr. Wu froze, his expression frozen on his face. He stared at Tang Tian in a daze, seemingly unable to believe that Tang Tian's punch could hit him.

At this moment, everyone finally reacted.

Boom!

The red flames suddenly burst out from Mr. Wu's body, and in a moment, the dazzling fire completely engulfed Mr. Wu.

"Sky Furnace Fire!" the Beast Principal exclaimed in shock.

The North Yan Principal and the Tianjing Principal stared at Tang Tian in a daze.

Everyone stared at Tang Tian and the flames in front of him in a daze.

The suddenly bright red flames seemed to carry a strange power, burning fiercely.

Under the glow of the flames, the young man's face, breathing heavily, flickered with a terrifying force.

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"Indeed, it is the Sky Furnace Fire!" the North Yan Principal muttered to himself. "The lower the grade of the Sky Furnace weapon, the harder it is to summon the flames. The probability of a black iron Sky Furnace weapon summoning flames is less than one in ten thousand!"

The Tianjing Principal's face also showed shock. "According to legend, once a Sky Furnace weapon can summon the Sky Furnace Fire, it can self-refine and advance."

"This is just a legend, right? I've never seen it." Old Wei said, but his face was full of pride. He snapped his fingers: "Ameri, come, show your Sky Furnace Fire."

"Okay." Ameri raised the black iron knife in his hand and grunted, "Sky Furnace!"

Whoosh, red flames burst out, enveloping the blade.

Swish, the other three principals' eyes suddenly turned red, filled with envy and jealousy. They looked as if they were about to rush forward to snatch it, especially the Beast Principal, who was almost pounding his chest in frustration!

When the flames dissipated, Mr. Wu had completely turned to ashes, leaving nothing behind.

"This guy is too poor!" Tang Tian stared in disbelief, unable to accept it.

Indeed, if the top is crooked, the bottom will be askew...

All the principals' faces, which had been full of admiration, instantly vanished, and the shock in everyone's eyes disappeared as well.

"Even the ashes are gone!" Old Wei's eyes widened, his face full of reluctance.

The Tianjing Principal then spoke, "What do we do now?"

"Report to the city lord," the North Yan Principal said solemnly. "This matter involves the Black Soul, which is no small matter."

Soon, the principals decided to report to the city lord first.

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The impact of this event was much greater than Tang Tian had imagined. The entire Wu'an Star was plunged into a tense atmosphere. The Black Soul, a dark force, had already extended its tentacles to the fringe planet of Wu'an. The city lords began to unite, preparing to invite some Light Martial Associations for help.

However, these matters had nothing to do with Tang Tian.

The first thing Tang Tian did upon returning to Sachima Academy was to enter the Southern Cross Light Gate.

Sure enough, he found Bing inside.

"Hey, how did you get in?" Tang Tian couldn't help but ask. Bing was full of mysteries, and this guy was like toothpaste, squeezing out a little bit at a time, not always successfully.

Bing remained silent.

Sure enough, nothing came out this time.

Seeing this, Tang Tian decided to start practicing himself.

"The Southern Cross, you're using it wrong," Bing suddenly said flatly.

"Using it wrong?" Tang Tian was taken aback, looking at Bing with suspicion. "Then tell me, how should I use it?"

Bing: "You need to hit the fog wall."

"Fog wall?" Tang Tian's gaze fell on the fog wall.

There were two gaps on the fog wall, one from Lightning Kill and one from Great Avalanche. He knew the fog wall could be destroyed, but he had been focusing on his practice and hadn't paid much attention to it.

Hit the fog wall?

Tang Tian re-examined it and suddenly thought of a question: "How do you know this?"

Bing remained silent.

Tang Tian glared at Bing, but Bing remained unmoved. Tang Tian reluctantly turned his gaze away, thinking, well, this is a good way to practice.

He stood in front of the fog wall and started using the Shadow Shattering Palm, bang bang bang, practicing.

The power of the Shadow Shattering Palm was much weaker than that of the Great Avalanche, but the fog wall was gradually being destroyed by Tang Tian.

Tang Tian wished he could slap his head. Why hadn't he thought of this method before? Thinking about his previous practice, punching the air alone, how silly.

The god-like young man was full of enthusiasm again!

Experiencing the power of a melee expert for the first time, Tang Tian felt an endless surge of energy. The thought of perfecting the other four martial arts and then advancing them to killing moves made him excited. Wow, that must be incredibly powerful!

Tang Tian had heard from the Tianjing Principal in the Soul Maze that a black iron gauntlet summoning the Sky Furnace Fire could potentially advance. So he went to the quarry and found Big Brother Stone. When Stone heard that he could summon the Sky Furnace Fire, he was both surprised and delighted and told him the method to refine and advance the black iron gauntlet.

The method was simple: wear the gauntlet, summon the Sky Furnace Fire, and continuously punch and attack. The Sky Furnace Fire inside the gauntlet would continuously refine the gauntlet until it advanced.

Since then, Tang Tian had never taken off the gauntlet.

The Sky Furnace gauntlet was flexible and light, fitting perfectly at every joint. Whether Tang Tian used his palm, fist, or claw, it felt natural and easy.

Before, without a reference point, Tang Tian's feeling wasn't obvious. Now, with daily practice on the fog wall, the power of the black iron gauntlet became evident. Using the Shadow Shattering Palm, the gauntlet increased the power by at least 20%.

The black iron gauntlet was so powerful that Tang Tian was filled with anticipation for the bronze secret treasures.

This time, his gains were significant. Besides some silver cards, he also obtained a bronze secret treasure.

The bronze secret treasure from the Little Horse constellation, the [Little Horse Flying Boots].

The Little Horse constellation is located southwest of the Pegasus constellation and north of the Aquarius constellation, a very small constellation, only slightly larger than the Southern Cross.

Tang Tian really liked these Little Horse Flying Boots. The bronze metal boots were engraved with a cute little horse, with a matte surface that wasn't eye-catching, but they were very comfortable to wear. With a light kick, Tang Tian felt his body become much lighter.

When Tang Tian injected true energy, he moved as fast as the wind, and the explosive power of the Eight Steps to Catch a Cicada was significantly enhanced.

This was a very practical secret treasure for Tang Tian.

Through constant exploration, Tang Tian finally had his own understanding of secret treasures. Each secret treasure had an existence similar to a martial soul inside, which was the source of its power. By injecting true energy, the martial soul would awaken. Different secret treasures had different martial souls, some excelling in combat, some in support, some in enhancing true energy, and some in externalizing true energy.

However, the higher the grade of the secret treasure, the more powerful its martial soul.

The martial soul of a bronze secret treasure was more powerful than that of a black iron secret treasure. The martial soul of the Little Horse Flying Boots was a very small horse. When Tang Tian injected his true energy into the Little Horse martial soul, the horse happily galloped, which was quite unique.

The silver cards weren't very useful, so Tang Tian sold them all and exchanged them for starstones, which were the hard currency in the Heavenly Road.

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"Hey, Basic Tang, did you hear? The Light Martial Association has sent people!" Ameri was excited.

Tang Tian didn't even look up: "So what if they came!"

"That's the Light Martial Association. Their minimum requirement for joining is a fifth-grade level!" Ameri was envious; a fifth-grade level was truly a powerful force on Wu'an Star.

"Oh, I need to practice," Tang Tian said without looking up.

After more than ten days of intense practice, Tang Tian finally perfected the Shadow Shattering Palm. He decided to perfect the [Eagle Claw Technique], [Chain Joint Technique], and [Eight Steps to Catch a Cicada] before advancing to fourth-grade martial arts.

"Stop practicing for now," Old Wei suddenly appeared.

Tang Tian stopped and looked at Old Wei curiously.

"The Light Martial Association has sent people," Old Wei said.

Tang Tian looked puzzled: "What does it have to do with us?"

"Let's talk while we walk," Old Wei said.

On the way, after Old Wei's explanation, Tang Tian understood the situation.

Wu'an Star was a fringe planet, not part of the Heavenly Road. Neither the Light Martial Association nor the Black Soul paid much attention to it. However, the Black Soul's recent actions had put Wu'an Star on high alert, and they quickly contacted the Light Martial Association. The Light Martial Association sent people to investigate the incident.

"The Light Martial Association is one of the Black Soul's enemies," Old Wei said. "This time, they have another mission: to select talented young people. This is one of the Light Martial Association's traditions. The city lord takes this very seriously. If someone is selected, Wu'an Star will automatically be included in the Light Martial Association's protection."

"I need to find Chiharu," Tang Tian said, looking at Old Wei as if he were an idiot.

"You underestimate the Light Martial Association. Perseus is within their sphere of influence," Old Wei retorted with disdain.

"Really?" Tang Tian was taken aback; in his mind, Perseus was a major constellation.

"Of course!" Old Wei continued, "If you can join the Light Martial Association, I'll be relieved. The Light Martial Association is very unique in cultivating young people, and their internal martial arts are not like our common ones. The teachers there are of a higher level. That Wu guy, if he were in the Light Martial Association, would just be an ordinary member. The Black Soul has a bad reputation, but the Light Martial Association is good."

When Tang Tian and Ameri arrived at the city lord's residence with Old Wei, it was almost crowded with people.

Simaxiang, Han Bingning, Liang Qiu, and others were among them.

After the last incident, Tang Tian's reputation soared. The Soul Gun Silver Soul General was definitely a fourth-grade level, and with his near-master-level spear skills, it was terrifying, yet he was defeated by Tang Tian. Mr. Wu, who was burned to ashes, was said to be a fifth-grade level, though there were many lucky factors.

But, fifth-grade...

That was a level of power that inspired awe!

Such a glorious achievement made Tang Tian the top figure in Starwind City. Previously, he was known as the most useless student in history, and many people mocked him. But now, no one dared to mock him. The ruthlessness and decisiveness Tang Tian showed when killing Zhou Peng had spread among the students.

Don't offend him!

Don't anger him!

Most importantly, don't be deceived by his seemingly foolish appearance; it's a facade, a complete facade!

Tang Tian often called himself a "god-like young man." Don't think it's a joke; it's real. Don't believe it? Then you're the fool!

When Tang Tian appeared, the students, who had been chattering, suddenly fell silent, and everyone looked at him with reverence, spontaneously making way for him.

"Hmm?" The middle-aged man standing on the balcony, observing the students from a distance, showed a look of surprise.

Students are a relatively simple group. The person who could make them act this way must be someone they truly revered.

He couldn't help but take a closer look at Tang Tian.