Black-tier Mecha

Bang!

With a single hammer blow from Lin Xuan, the eight purple metal blocks on the platform all lit up with purple pillars of light. At the same time, the phantom of an Azure Leaf Sword Grass faintly appeared around him.

Thousand Forging had gained spirit—and it had even taken form. If Mu Chen and the others were here, their jaws would definitely hit the floor. Spirit taking form meant he was only one step away from Spirit Forging. As long as he continued forging, he would surely achieve Spirit Forging.

Forging: Spirit Forging (18/10000)

Another eight proficiency points for Forging entered the system. Lin Xuan put away the forged metal blocks.

"This feels like I've overtrained."

Lin Xuan took a sip of water and looked at the System Panel, feeling somewhat helpless.

Over this period, he had crazily hammered metal until he finally paid off all the money he owed Mu Chen. Combined with his diligent practice over the previous three months—

In Forging, Lin Xuan had finally reached the Spirit Forging level. But this brought up an extremely awkward problem.

He was a Spirit Forging blacksmith who couldn't forge Spirit Forging.

Spirit Forging required at least Three Rings. Otherwise, one's Soul Power couldn't support the consumption of forging. Yet Lin Xuan was only at Two Rings, and he didn't possess a Blood Essence Soul Ring like Tang Wulin.

Now that he had reached Spirit Forging, when he performed Thousand Forging, he could only rely on the system's guaranteed minimum.

"I should put Forging aside for now. I'll grind the Azure Leaf Grass Sword Skill more during this time and just maintain my feel for forging normally."

After thinking it over, Lin Xuan made his decision.

Rather than stubbornly relying on the system's guaranteed minimum, he might as well improve his other abilities first. His Azure Leaf Grass Sword Skill was already at the fifth level. Lin Xuan had a feeling that when it reached the tenth level, it would undergo a qualitative transformation.

After washing up, Lin Xuan headed for the Tang Sect headquarters. It was time to collect his Tang Sect secret technique.

That was also why he had chosen to join the Tang Sect. It was impossible for him to create every cultivation technique himself; he didn't have that kind of time or energy. Compared with the Spirit Pagoda, the Tang Sect had fewer bullshit matters in the early stages.

After all, his system was a Proficiency System, not a sign-in system.

If this were a novel, the author had probably lost his mind by setting up such a cheat.

Not good enough to surpass the best, but better than the rest! It gave him a small advantage, but wouldn't let him become a Long Aotian who steamrolled the whole world.

Before long, Lin Xuan arrived once more at Eastsea City's industrial park. Not only was the Tang Sect headquarters located here, it seemed Eastsea City's mecha factories were here as well.

As Lin Xuan walked down the streets of the park, a booming explosion rang out as he passed a section of the White Zone.

"What's going on?"

A Soul Tool Light shot into the sky from the White Zone. Lin Xuan quietly retreated a short distance and watched the area warily.

"Watch out!"

An anxious shout came from nearby. Before Lin Xuan could react, a seven- or eight-meter-tall mecha burst out, trailing flames behind it.

It was a Snow White Mecha, like an agile mechanical snow leopard. Its entire body was sleek and streamlined, giving off an exceptionally nimble impression.

The Snow White Mecha's left arm was a three- or four-meter-long Soul Tool Cannon with a caliber of roughly thirty millimeters. But what left an even deeper impression was the three-meter blade on its right arm, flashing with a cold glint.

The smooth surface of that icy mechanical blade even reflected the surrounding scenery. Its sharp edge made no one doubt that it could effortlessly slice a Soul Tool bus in half with a single swing.

"Program er#ror#; self-defense mode &* activated. Target detected. Weapons deploying!"

The Snow White Mecha twitched faintly where it stood, then turned toward the fleeing Lin Xuan. Red light flared from its eyes as a white Soul Tool Laser shot from the cannon barrel on its left arm.

"Fuck!"

A flash of crimson light passed over Lin Xuan's body as Peerless Sword Dance activated.

With the boost from Peerless Sword Dance, Lin Xuan narrowly evaded the Soul Tool Laser. But beam after beam came blasting after him.

"This really is an artificially intelligent idiot!"

Lin Xuan dodged miserably between the buildings, but those thin walls provided him with no protection whatsoever. Each blast from the Soul Tool Cannon turned them straight to dust.

"Be careful, young man! That mecha's long-range firepower detection range is ten meters. Don't run away from it—get closer! How can you outrun a Soul Tool Cannon? Circle around it within ten meters at your speed. Our factory director will be back soon, just hang in there!"

As Lin Xuan fled in a sorry state, a Middle-aged Man more than a hundred meters away shouted anxiously at him through a loudspeaker.

Of all times, it had malfunctioned right when their Mecha Masters were out of the factory.

If someone died, his position as manager would be finished. He had sold his ass for three years to get this position—he couldn't lose it just like that.

Following the man's instructions, Lin Xuan charged toward the mecha, which was still firing wildly. Sure enough, once he entered within ten meters of it, the Snow White Mecha stopped shooting.

"Phew... fuck!"

Lin Xuan had barely caught his breath when he started cursing again the very next second.

The Snow White Mecha retracted its left cannon and deployed the three-meter blade on its right arm. With its own two- or three-meter arm span, the greatsword was a full five or six meters long.

"Ding! Target detected. Activating close-combat mode..."

The Snow White Mecha held its blade horizontally in the air and began spinning in place like a top, whipping up a Blade Storm nearby.

Watching the charging mecha, Lin Xuan began another escape.

Swish! Swish!

The mecha was like a gigantic meat grinder, crashing around wildly and reducing all the buildings within dozens of meters to ruins.

After opening up some distance again, Lin Xuan panted heavily. The duration of the Peerless Sword Dance he had just activated had already run out.

This was also the first time he had fully maintained Peerless Sword Dance during combat. Continuously using this soul skill put quite a burden on his body.

"Young man, move back!"

Just as Lin Xuan hesitated, a furious shout suddenly came from the sky. He looked up.

Above him was a black mecha barely three or four meters tall. Its frame was somewhat smaller than the Snow White Mecha's, but its presence far surpassed it.

It held a dark-blue mechanical spear, purple lightning coiling around the shaft.

The black mecha swung its long arm, arching its entire body backward in midair like a drawn bow before hurling the spear.

The spear tore through the sky, unleashing earthshaking thunderclaps. Like a roaring Thunder Dragon, it howled toward the Snow White Mecha below.

Lin Xuan hurriedly retreated. Then, with a tremendous boom, a huge cloud of dust rose before him, forming a small mushroom cloud.

When the smoke dispersed, the Snow White Mecha lay paralyzed on the ground. A dark-blue spear was lodged in its mecha core, countless bolts of lightning pouring from its tip and burning out all the Snow White Mecha's circuits.

"Are you alright?"

The black mecha descended from the sky, and a man in his thirties stepped out of the cockpit.

The man had firm features. His gentle smile toward Lin Xuan carried a touch of concern.

"I'm fine! I just nearly wasn't."

Lin Xuan wiped the sweat from his face. Those few minutes had been more exhausting than hammering metal for half a day.

"I'm very sorry. I'm Xu Hao, the person in charge of this factory. This accident happened due to our negligence, and we sincerely apologize."

The man first stepped forward and spoke earnestly to Lin Xuan. Then he took a Purple Card from his pocket.

"There are six hundred thousand Federation Coins on this card, as a small token of our apology. Please accept it. In addition, with this card, you can receive a twenty percent discount when purchasing purple-tier mechas or below from Xu's Mecha Group."

"Alright, then."

Lin Xuan was surprised for a moment before accepting the card. He had seen plenty of idiots normally, so encountering someone reasonable actually felt a little strange.

Xu Hao's mecha was clearly no low-tier model. Given his strength, it was rare for him to humble himself like this.

"If you're interested in mechas, you're always welcome to visit our mecha factory."

Xu Hao smiled as he made the offer to Lin Xuan.

"I'll definitely come by if I get the chance!"

Lin Xuan nodded. He was quite interested in mechas. A Gundam standing upon the earth—mechas were a man's romance!

"Director Xu!"

The Middle-aged Man hurried over from the distance and called out to Xu Hao.

"Hmph! You'd better give me a reasonable explanation for this accident!"

Xu Hao had no such good temper for him. With a cold snort, he headed straight into the factory, the black mecha silently following behind him.

After the two figures disappeared from view, Lin Xuan continued toward the Tang Sect headquarters.

"Who said mechas were no good?"

Thinking back to that man's spear throw, Lin Xuan couldn't help thinking that mechas did not seem as unimpressive as they had been portrayed in the original work.

"I wonder just how monstrous those Battle Armor Masters are."

Thanks for the tips, brothers! Kisses~

Damn it, the release order got mixed up. Fixing it now.