Level-Three Blacksmith

Tang Wulin did not reveal much about Xia Yi to Mu Chen.

He did not know much about Xia Yi to begin with, and Wu Zhangkong had repeatedly forbidden them from telling anyone anything about Holy Spirit Douluo Ya Li.

That left him with no idea what to say.

After leaving the school infirmary, Xia Yi returned to the dormitory.

The moment school let out the next day, an orange-red sedan stopped in front of him.

"Get in. My father asked me to take you to collect your Blacksmith Badge," Mu Xi said, rolling down the window and poking her head out.

Looking at Mu Xi and the orange-red sedan, Xia Yi could not help sighing inwardly. As expected of the daughter of an Eight-Star Saint Craftsman. She changes cars like she changes clothes.

"Wasn't it supposed to be in two days?" Xia Yi asked curiously.

"Your circumstances are special. My father had someone make your Blacksmith Badge in advance. Get in," Mu Xi said in a low voice.

"You're sure you're driving?" Xia Yi asked with a smile. He did not dare get into Mu Xi's car. He had serious doubts about her driving skills.

"What do you mean by that? If you're capable, you drive!" Mu Xi gritted her teeth. If it had not been for Xia Yi that day, how could she have gotten into a car accident?

"Move to the passenger seat," Xia Yi said calmly.

"You really know how to drive?" Mu Xi's eyes lit up, and she immediately gave up the driver's seat.

Mu Chen had asked her to probe Xia Yi's background, and she happened to want to see what Xia Yi was capable of.

"Don't worry, I won't take you to some roadside shop," Xia Yi said with a laugh.

"You!" Mu Xi stomped her foot angrily. Xia Yi really knew exactly what to say to rub salt in the wound.

When they arrived at the Blacksmith Association, Xia Yi did not see Mu Chen. Mu Xi merely took him to collect a Level-Two Blacksmith Badge from a staff member.

"Come with me!" Mu Xi led him straight into a Forging Room.

"From today onward, I'll teach you Forging for two hours every day, until your Forging level catches up to mine," Mu Xi said solemnly.

"What level are you?" Xia Yi asked curiously.

"Level Three." Mu Xi looked proud.

"Barely acceptable." Xia Yi nodded.

"What do you mean, barely acceptable? Can't I, a dignified Level-Three Blacksmith, teach a novice like you who has never even studied Forging?" Mu Xi gritted her teeth in anger. She felt that talking to Xia Yi would eventually infuriate her to death.

Even if Xia Yi had saved her life, he could not keep putting her down again and again.

Xia Yi shrugged again. What he lacked most right now was the most fundamental knowledge of Forging.

It made no difference who taught him.

Mu Chen had seen precisely that, which was why he had asked Mu Xi to teach Xia Yi.

Although Mu Xi's talent was inferior to Tang Wulin's and Xia Yi's, she had been exposed to Forging since childhood. In many respects, she was even better than Tang Wulin.

"This is the Rare Metal Compendium. It records ninety percent of the rare metals on the continent, including their attributes, characteristics, suitable Mecha and Battle Armor, and so on." Although Xia Yi had put her down, Mu Xi still took out a book over thirty centimeters thick and handed it to Xue Qiling. "Keep the book for now and read it slowly when you have time. Today, we'll mainly study Forging techniques. Don't be like you were during that test, where you only knew how to smash with brute force."

Mu Xi took out another piece of bluish metal whose name Xia Yi did not know. "This is Gale Magic Metal. Forge it based on your instincts first and let me see."

"Alright." Xia Yi nodded. When he had forged Crimson Flame Copper before, he had completely copied Wu Qian's movements.

He also wanted to see how other metals differed from Crimson Flame Copper.

Gale Magic Metal was unlike Crimson Flame Copper. This time, it took a full fifteen minutes of heating before Mu Xi told Xia Yi it was ready.

Xia Yi still chose two fifty-kilogram Forging Hammers.

Clang! As his hammer struck the Gale Magic Metal, Xia Yi abruptly discovered that everything he had learned yesterday had been for nothing.

The resonance of Gale Magic Metal was vastly different from that of Crimson Flame Copper. He had never seen Gale Magic Metal before and had no idea whether the sound contained impurities.

But that did not stump Xia Yi. He stared at one spot and struck it repeatedly, judging the changes in impurities through the changes in sound.

A good method! But it's very difficult this way, and it can easily lead to uneven purification. Mu Xi nodded to herself.

He had only just encountered Forging, yet he had already thought of using such a method to forge unfamiliar metal.

Just as her father had said, Xia Yi truly had great talent for Forging.

Clang, clang, clang...

Amid a series of forging sounds, Xia Yi quickly completed Hundred Refinement.

"Don't stop. Keep forging based on your instincts. If I don't tell you to stop, then don't stop," Mu Xi said loudly.

Xia Yi nodded and swung his Forging Hammers again, striking the Gale Magic Metal repeatedly.

After surpassing Hundred Refinement, Xia Yi soon discovered an important problem: there were already very few impurities left in the metal, and the changes in sound with every strike were tiny.

That made it difficult for him to distinguish which areas contained more impurities.

With no other choice, he slowed the pace of his hammering, though his expression became even more focused.

Soon, he forgot everything around him. In his eyes, only the Gale Magic Metal on the Forging Table remained.

Mu Xi had been watching Xia Yi the entire time. Looking at his outrageously handsome face, she could not help recalling the scene of Xia Yi performing surgery on her.

Her pretty face flushed again.

"This guy does look somewhat like a blacksmith when he gets serious," Mu Xi muttered inwardly.

Suddenly, with a bang, the Gale Magic Metal shattered into four pieces beneath Xia Yi's hammer.

"You failed to focus on sensing the metal, causing it to break apart. Your Forging level—poor!" Mu Xi said flatly.

In truth, a stormy sea had already risen in her heart. This was Xia Yi's first time encountering Gale Magic Metal, yet he had already achieved results beyond Hundred Refinement.

Mu Xi could not imagine how terrifying his achievements would have been if he had been exposed to Forging since childhood.

"How am I supposed to sense the metal with my heart?" Xia Yi asked humbly.

"Now that's more like someone asking to learn." Mu Xi was very satisfied with Xia Yi's attitude. She smiled faintly and said, "After Hundred Refinement, the metal's purity is already extremely high. It becomes difficult to judge its impurities through sight and resonance. And after Hundred Refinement, it is no longer simply about purification. You need to use Forging to elevate the metal. You can only use your heart. While Forging, treat the metal as a living being and communicate with it through your heart. Only perfect communication will make it truly acknowledge you. Keep trying."

Mu Xi took out another piece of metal whose name Xia Yi did not know at all and handed it to him. "This one only needs to be heated for eight minutes."

An hour later, there was another bang, and the metal shattered beneath Xia Yi's hammer again.

"You still haven't put enough heart into it. This time, watch me forge first, then learn." Mu Xi stepped up to the Forging Table, took out a piece of Gale Magic Metal, and began Forging.

An hour later, a bright cyan radiance suddenly rose from the Forging Table, illuminating the entire Forging Room. Yan Xi handed the forged Gale Magic Metal to Xia Yi and asked, "Sense it. Remember, use your heart!"

Two hours later, Xia Yi left the Blacksmith Association. Mu Xi called Mu Chen on her Soul Guidance Communicator. "Dad, Xia Yi can perform Thousand Refinement!"

"Thousand Refinement?" Mu Chen's mouth twitched slightly as he asked in a deep voice, "Didn't I ask you to teach him basic Forging knowledge? Why did you teach him Thousand Refinement?"

"I only wanted to try it. I never expected him to really learn Thousand Refinement in less than one afternoon." Mu Xi felt as though it were all a dream. She had never expected Xia Yi's blacksmith level to catch up to hers so quickly.

Perhaps because Xia Yi had saved her life yesterday, after he revealed his talent, she did not feel jealous as she had when she first saw Tang Wulin. Instead, she felt very happy.

"Does he know he's a Level-Three Blacksmith now?" Mu Chen asked in a low voice.

"Not yet." Mu Xi shook her head. "He doesn't know that the metal he just forged is already Thousand-Refined Metal."

"Then let you continue teaching him for now. First, help him consolidate his Forging foundation," Mu Chen said after pondering for a moment.