The Urban Dao Child

Yang Dao tugged the two girls to the corner and let the two men stare at each other. Daina asked in a low voice what is going on, "What is going on here?" 

Yang Dao replied, "This is what happens when your wife's brother thinks that you are never good enough for her. Senior Mark is Uncle Lars's brother-in-law. So they have this little showdown every time they meet and the result is always the same." 

The girls nodded. They could not relate much but seemed like it was a test of honor for Lars. The two men did not move but kept locked in a stare-off. Daina scratched her head and asked, "Did you not say they will hurt us?" 

The boy did not answer and pointed to the void above the head of the two people. Daina followed the point and was shocked. She asked, "Why is the void distorted?" 

Alisha replied, "They are competing in compressing the spirit energy outside the bodies and that is causing the distortion. Look carefully and you will see it."

Yang Dao said, "Concentrate the spirit energy behind your pupil. It will help you see what is going on." 

The girl did not understand at first when Alisha asked her to look carefully but when Yang Dao told her what to do, she was shocked. The color of the whole world changed, she could see things giving off various shades of green. She looked back at the point and spotted two blobs of energy condensing in the void. 

She asked, "Dao, do you also see everything in green color?" 

The boy shook his head and Alisha said, "The color of your spiritual vision depends on the attribute of your spirit root. You have an earth spirit root, thus you see everything green, I see things in azure." 

Daina nodded and they watched the match progress. The more she watched the more questions originate in her mind. Alisha was the same, she had never seen something like this. She took a deep breath and decided to study this when she gets back to the sect. Yang Dao was aware of their thoughts and said, "Do you want to know why they can control the spirit energy outside their bodies?" 

The two girls let out a small humm, the dao child said, "When we circulate the spirit energy inside our body it attracts the spirit energy from the outside world to inside the body. Correct?" 

The two girls nodded. Yang Dao said, "The spirit energy outside has no attribute of its own and is called free spirit energy, when it enters the body of a substance, for example, firestone, a moon pearl, a human body. It inherits the attribute that is strongest in that body. 

At this moment, the two of them are circulating the spirit energy inside their bodies but they are doing it in a way, that if not used carefully can scrap your lifetime cultivation. This technique is called reverse spirit flow. It allows a person to manipulate the spirit energy outside the body and use it as a final card to escape dangerous movements. The cost of successful implementation is to get away after losing one major realm, the penalty is crippling yourself." 

Alisha said, "Indeed, a person will do such things to escape death. Yet thinking that such a dangerous technique exists, I do not know what to say. Who was the person who came up with such a technique?" 

Daina said, "Indeed, who can come up with such a risky yet courageous move? Betting their life at such a technique and even worse if they are crippled then there is nothing more they can do even if they survive, it will be worse than death." 

Yang Dao said, "My mother was the one who came up with this technique. This technique is a secret of my family and is imparted to only those who have proved their loyalty to the family. Back when my mother was trapped in grave danger she gained sudden insights and then came up with this. She used this technique successfully twice, just when she was about to do this for the third time, my father arrived and helped her. 

Later, my father learned this technique from her and it helped him get away from a similar situation. However, the price is not a simple deduction in the realm, but the injuries left on the meridian channels. After using this technique you cannot use cultivate as you do normally, every cycle is accompanied by tremendous pain. This is the reason why my parents are unable to regain their levels till this day." 

The two girls fell silent when they heard his words. They did not know how to calm his agitated mind at this moment. Suddenly the two people standing ahead moved, and the blobs dispelled. They both clicked their tongues and said, "A tie again." 

Daina asked, "How did they decide this was a tie?" 

"The amount of free energy they can mobilize is the parameter of result in this game," said Yang Dao. He did not wait for the two people to move ahead with something else and took out the snakeskin from his space ring. 

He said, "Senior Mark, what do you think about this, Uncle Lars said, you can turn this into a level four armor?" 

Mark looked at the neatly folded snakeskin in Yang Dao's hand and said, "Oh, this is a five-colored boa skin. Good boy, I can take away the scales and then refine them with star iron..." 

He went on to speak about the process of forging and the young people were captivated by it. In the end, Yang Dao said, "Senior can you make three of these armors? All for females?" 

Mark gazed at him and asked, "Three sets of female armors? Boy, what is up with you?" 

Yang Dao replied, "One is for sister Tingting, one is for my cousin Yue Jing, she will have an assessment soon, and the last one is for Senior Sister Alisha. She has always been kind to me and protects me and makes good food. This is to show her my thanks. The fees are counted on me." 

Mark and Lars smiled while Alisha was shocked. She said, "Young Master, how can I accept this. No, this is not right." 

Yang Dao shook his head and said, "My mother says, those who stand by your side with no expectations are worthy friends, and friends are a family we choose to be with. So, if you see me as your friend you will accept this. I will not argue." 

He was a pendulum swinging between adorable and domination. He turned his head to Daina and said, "I will get you and Athena something next time. This material is important for them. Also, you can watch Senior Mark from the side, if you find it good, when we return to sect, you can take on forging." 

Daina nodded and bowed to Mark as she asked, "Senior, may I watch you forge the artifacts?" 

Mark gazed at her deeply and said, "You have the earth attribute body, so you will also have some affinity towards metal. Good, come with me. You shall watch." 

The girl bowed to him expressing her thanks and the people walked through the door on the side. The room was brightly lit and was completely different from the dusty room outside. This place was nothing they had imagined it to be like. 

The room was squeaky clean, on a rack, a lot of metal ingots were placed with clear labels pasted on them, a big anvil was there with a forging furnace beside it. They all spotted various hammers handing on the wall, varying from small to big. Below the hammers, a few molds were placed as well. 

Mark walked to an empty table and took out a pair of scissors. He circulated his spirit energy through the scissors and divided the snakeskin into three equal parts. Then he walked to the rack of metal ingots and picked up a few pieces. 

He said, "One set of armor will need..." 

Yang Dao picked up, "One gram star diamond dust, three-pound star iron, twenty gram steel clay, and one piece of snakeskin." 

Mark nodded and said, "Good boy you remember what I said outside." 

Then he did not speak much and began his work. The three materials he picked up from the rack were put then in a big iron ladle and placed inside the forging furnace to smelt. In the meantime, he walked to the side to pick up a hammer. He asked, "Dao, thousand refinements or hundred refinements?" 

Yang Dao stretched his head and said, "Thousand, if you please." 

Mark chuckled and picked up a medium-sized hammer. Then he walked to the forging furnace and looked inside. He was using the earth fire array to smelt the metals and it worked pretty quickly. The metal had become liquid. He picked up a set of armor mold and walked back to the furnace. 

Mark held the ladle and took it outside the furnace. Then he came poured the hot golden liquid into a mold, making sure that the mold is completely and evenly coated with the golden liquid. He used the same thing to another mold. This made the front and back set of the armor. 

Then he took waited for the metal to cool down slightly. He asked, "Dao, why am I not using my hammer yet?" 

Yang Dao said, "Because it is not yet the time to blend the metal. You will be smelting it again, and then meld them together into the shape of armor." 

Mark nodded. Daina asked, "Dao, do you know how to refine?"

The boy shook his head and said, "They do not allow me to hold a hammer until I am fourteen. Saying that the hard muscles will affect my growth." 

His vexation from this logic was audible clearly. Mark did not pay attention to his quibble and took out the cooled metal sheets from the molds and placed both of them inside the furnace, using a pair of tongs. As the metal heated up, the two sheets began to heat up and Mark control his spirit energy to make them melt and blend. 

Daina said, "Dao, I have never seen such a refinement process." she was unsure.

The boy said, "This is his unique technique. I do not know the details but it works, however, you have to focus on the refinement process and not this." 

Daina nodded and Mark took the glowing armor embryo out of the furnace. He adjusted it on the anvil and picked up his hammer without another word. The hammer began to land down on the metal sheets. One hand adjusted the sheets, while the other rained down. 

The room echoed with a clanging noise. 

Clang, Clang, Clang...

Daina was gazing at the hammer contacting the metal and she did not have to use her spirit vision to see a faint purple light flashing over the metal when it came in contact with the hammer. Following that she noticed that the whole embryo had ripples set around it.. Gradually, Daina was lost in this cycle of lightning flash and ripples.