Above the Galaxy
Chapter 246 - 176: One Hammer Swing, Dragon Pool Water Severed!

Chapter 246: Chapter 176: One Hammer Swing, Dragon Pool Water Severed!

Tang Fei advised, "There’s no need to test anymore, Little Fatty being able to study under Dean Shang is already a tremendous blessing... Dean Shang has students everywhere, a master among masters. How could we not trust you?"

Shang Xiulin looked towards Tang Fei and said, "A test might be good, you all will have an idea, and I will too. Including Little Fatty himself... He has been under my tutelage for over half a year, his brother has already gone to White Crane Academy, and yet I make him break rocks every day. How could he not harbor any grievances?"

"No, no..." Little Fatty shook his head vigorously like a bobblehead and said, "Master, I harbor no grievances, just some misunderstandings..."

"...," said Tang Fei.

What’s the difference between that and a grievance?

You better stop talking...

Tang Fei worried that Little Fatty, if he spoke the whole truth, might anger Shang Xiulin. What if the old man decided to send him back?

Where else could they find a better mentor and a more substantial support than Shang Xiulin?

Oh, Xuanyuan Mingjing...

Tang Fei silently praised himself internally.

Hitching on to the powerful, he was a professional at that.

However, Shang Xiulin was not angry but looked kindly at Little Fatty and said, "Your situation is unlike any of the disciples I’ve taught before. To be honest, there are many things I’m also trying for the first time. You and I are both feeling our way forward..."

"So, whether or not it works, how far it can go... I really have no idea myself."

"I feel this should be your path, your way... But what if I am wrong too?"

"Then we’ll be wrong together. I know Master won’t harm me," Little Fatty chuckled heartily.

"But, Master, I’ve been breaking rocks for over half a year, and I do feel stronger than before and better at exerting my strength..."

"Alright then, let’s put it to a test," Shang Xiulin rarely smiled, a stark contrast to the stern face he maintained before, which Tang Fei remembered. Why did he seem different when dealing with Little Fatty?

"It’s just in our own small courtyard, everyone here is familiar, and it won’t go on record..."

"Okay."

Hearing that his master insisted on testing, Little Fatty humbly scratched his head and asked, "Master, how should we test? I only know how to smash rocks."

"By letting you smash rocks," Shang Xiulin said.

"Oh." Little Fatty nodded and then asked, "How should I smash?"

Shang Xiulin casually grabbed a handful of air, which visibly turned into a sparkling crystal of ice in his palm, gleaming in Shang Xiulin’s hand.

Shang Xiulin pointed to a snow-white, massive boulder in the yard and told Little Fatty, "I want you to smash this rock into pieces smaller than this ice crystal with one hammer strike... If even one piece weighs more than the ice crystal, then consider this test a failure."

Tang Fei and Teacher Ran Ran exchanged glances, both understanding that this task was excessively difficult for Little Fatty.

Little Fatty did not know how to cultivate and could not use Yin Yang Qi.

Thus, his reliance was solely on brute strength.

The biggest problem with brute force is the overly harsh manner of exerting it, uneven force application, and the inability to achieve the "internal shock" effect. He could shatter the stone, even turn some of it into fine particles, but ensuring that every single particle weighed less than the ice crystal...

That was a herculean task.

Shang Xiulin looked towards Little Fatty and asked, "Are you confident?"

Little Fatty grinned and said, "Master, I’ll give it a try."

"Mhm," Shang Xiulin nodded, stepping aside.

Little Fatty walked up to the boulder, circled around it to find the most suitable point to strike.

He leaned forward slightly, his hands tightly gripping the hammer handle.

His chubby face turned purplish-red, and his cheeks puffed out.

He resembled a fully inflated frog.

His body suddenly exerted force, and he fiercely smashed down with the hammer.

A muffled "Crash!" resounded.

The stone shattered.

The massive boulder turned into a pile of lime dust.

As fine as powder, none of the pieces were larger or heavier than the ice crystal.

Little Fatty squatted down, rummaged through the lime dust with his hands full of lime, tilted his chubby face up 45 degrees, and joyfully said, "Master, it’s all powder..."

"Very good," Shang Xiulin nodded with satisfaction and said, "Better than I expected. It looks like you really worked hard."

Ran Ran squatted beside Little Fatty, touched the lime dust on the ground with her hand, and asked in disbelief, "How did you do it? Brute force...How did you manage to make it so evenly distributed? How did you make every inch of that stone receive the same amount of force?"

"You don’t have Yin Yang Qi... While I understand the hammer’s point turning into thistle powder, but those areas not struck by the hammer... Why did they also turn into powder? What force crushed them into dust?"

"Shock Wave," Shang Xiulin explained, "If the force is strong enough, even the parts not hit by the hammer can be impacted by the wave of force and subsequently crushed into powder..."

"..."

Ran Ran looked at Little Fatty as if he were a monster.

She understood the state Shang Xiulin described and comprehended every word he said.

But, how immense must the power be... for the Shock Wave to also have such a massive impact?

With one strike of the hammer, the impact point shattered, and all surrounding stones were ground into dust...