Xiao Ming's Forge Shop Opening Soon (Please Follow!!!)

Don't grind; grinding is useless anyway.

This was Duan Jin's advice to Su Ming.

At least from his understanding, that was the case. Once soul power cultivation went up, forging could also yield twice the result with half the effort.

Of course Su Ming agreed.

Cultivation was the foundation.

Not just now, but in fact, it was the same for that era of Dou San. Standing on high and looking down was always more efficient than fumbling around blindly and taking detours. Wasting too much energy on auxiliary occupations when one's level was low would drag down cultivation.

Of course, the whole era's belief in cultivating all the way from weak to strong made sense after all; after all, this was the most cost-effective path to enhance strength.

Cultivating only soul power without learning an auxiliary occupation would cap one at a Soul Saint at age twenty. If one learned an auxiliary occupation, as long as soul power was cultivated to the Soul King level and one simultaneously crafted one-word battle armor, one could likewise possess strength of the Soul Saint level.

What about further on?

Was the improvement from Soul Saint to Soul Douluo easy, or was the improvement from Soul King to Soul Emperor while crafting two-word battle armor easy?

It was still the same logic further on.

As for cultivating auxiliary occupations starting from the Soul Saint stage, this instead disrupted the rhythm of one's lifelong planning. Most Soul Masters could not accept wasting energy to cultivate auxiliary occupations when their cultivation speed was already greatly reduced; that kind of torment would wear away their enthusiasm for auxiliary occupations, resulting in accomplishing nothing in the end.

En Ci was a minority after all, otherwise he wouldn't have become a legend.

One could only say that different systems could be compatible, but one also had to find the balance within them. Cultivating the corresponding system at the appropriate stage was the only way to go far.

Now that his body was not yet fully developed and his soul power wasn't considered high either, Su Ming naturally had to prioritize soul power cultivation.

This is the shop Teacher applied for you. The location is very remote, but with you as a Blacksmith Master around, you won't end up without business. For the next few years, you only need to run your shop yourself. Complete orders when there are any, and then cultivate soul power.

Su Ming accepted the business license, not expecting that cultivating under Teacher's tutelage would be so down-to-earth.

Good grief, opening a shop and forging by himself, and wherever he struggled he could come back to ask Teacher for guidance and absorb experience.

"Martial Brother, I still have to go to school," Su Ming reminded Duan Jin.

Duan Jin said, "Rest assured, I've registered you for a Soul Master Academy. It's the only Senior Soul Master Academy in Gengxin City, named Divine Iron Academy."

Divine Iron Academy?

Su Ming indicated that he had no impression of it whatsoever.

"Instrument martial souls are in the majority within Divine Iron Academy, and it was funded and built by the Blacksmith Association. The biggest outlet after graduation is also joining the Blacksmith Association to become a high-level blacksmith, so there are some difficulties in enrollment and not very many geniuses."

Su Ming understood.

There weren't many geniuses, so there wasn't much fame.

Xiao Ming's Forge Shop.

A middle-aged man with two lackeys looked at the rather deserted little shop and walked in.

Compared to the steamer-like environment outside, the furnaces inside this little shop weren't even fully turned on, feeling refreshingly cool by comparison.

"Is the boss in?"

The man asked the child lying on a reclining chair and meditating with closed eyes.

Su Ming opened his eyes and said, "I am the boss."

"Stop joking, I have a large batch of orders to place." The man frowned.

"I am the boss, I am a Blacksmith Master." As he spoke, a paper certification appeared in Su Ming's hand.

The man took the certification and glanced at it, confirming that this was indeed the child's certification.

There was no problem with the certification; it was issued by the Blacksmith Association, and moreover, the certification stated that this blacksmith with the skill level of a Blacksmith Master was named Su Ming, and he was only seven years old.

"You're so young, can you even swing a hammer?" The man couldn't help asking.

Su Ming rolled his eyes and didn't answer.

I gave you the certification already, and you still doubt whether I can pick up a hammer?

I'll hammer your head.

The man also knew he had asked a redundant question, but he was indeed astonished.

However, he was someone who had seen the world. He quickly compared the worldly experiences he had seen with Su Ming's situation and accepted the premise that Su Ming could become a Blacksmith Master at such a young age.

As long as one was a Soul Master, possessed a martial soul adept at strength, was willing to put in the effort, and had forging talent, this was still possible.

"I have an order here, the quantity is a bit large, take a look."

The man handed Su Ming a very long list.

Various parts needed were recorded on the list.

Su Ming glanced over it and hesitated, saying, "You must have over a hundred sets of armor here, right?"

The man said, "Don't worry about that, these are just equipped for the support system Soul Masters of the sect."

Su Ming looked at the man with a skeptical gaze.

Support system Soul Masters equipped with such fine armor?

"Can you forge it?" The man said.

"Rest assured on this point. I am a Blacksmith Master, after all. This is work that senior blacksmiths can do, so naturally I can do it."

"Although the Blacksmith Association's certification has high credibility, I still need to test it out. How about this, you help me forge a set of armor first, and I will come back in three days to inspect and accept it. I will pay five hundred Gold Soul Coins for this set of armor. If it meets the standard, the remaining orders will all be handed over to you to complete—one hundred sets in total, and I will give you thirty thousand Gold Soul Coins."

One hundred sets, thirty thousand Gold Soul Coins?

Batch forging would save a lot of trouble, so for one hundred sets, the price for each set was calculated at three hundred Gold Soul Coins.

Su Ming estimated roughly; judged by the part requirements on the blueprint, it was quite reasonable, and the price given by this man was even slightly higher than the market price.

"Alright, three days is enough." Su Ming suddenly thought of something and asked, "How long will this batch of orders take to complete?"

"Three months."

"Then forget it. There's only one blacksmith here with me, three days per set is the limit. It will take at least three hundred days, which is ten months, to finish forging them." Su Ming shrugged.

The man stared at Su Ming, looking him up and down, and felt that what he said was fine.

"You forge it with your best craftsmanship first. As long as the quality passes muster, everything is negotiable."

Su Ming was surprised that the other party still insisted.

"Fine."

Leaving Xiao Ming's Forge Shop, the two lackeys behind the man asked with incomprehension, "Diaconate Lord, this batch of armor is going to be equipped for disciples within the sect. Are we really going to wait for him to forge it slowly?"

"The ones who need armor are only those twenty-odd people anyway, the rest are just kept in reserve. Giving him time to forge them is no big deal." The Diaconate Lord said, "This child is a Blacksmith Master at such a tender age. Ten months from now he might not become a Blacksmith Grandmaster, but three years will be enough. Placing a few orders with him occasionally over these next three years means that after he becomes a Blacksmith Grandmaster, we can continue cooperating."

Once a blacksmith reached the level of Blacksmith Master, it was already skilled labor. Even if their own occupational status wasn't high, they couldn't stand being rare.

Ordinary blacksmiths were looked down upon—that was in the Soul Master world.

High-level blacksmiths were also looked down upon, but that was by high-level Soul Masters.

A Blacksmith Master placed outside had a status no lower than a Soul Master in the teens; needless to say for a Blacksmith Grandmaster, whose status could rival a Soul Ancestor. Because products crafted upon reaching the master level could more or less have a slight compatibility with soul power, their effects far exceeded ordinary apparatuses, and furthermore, they could rely on this craft to repair damaged soul tools unearthed from relics.