Lin Xia, Would You Take Me as Your Master?

This was no longer something that could be described as Extraordinary Talent. It was practically a miracle that overturned everything they knew about mineral ore!

Thinking back to Lin Xia gnawing on iron ore earlier, they suddenly felt... perhaps it was not that difficult to understand after all?

After all, he had bitten through even the Star Gold treasured by the President in a single bite!

Watching his subordinates collectively turn to stone, Lou Gao's fanatical smile grew even wider. His blazing gaze refocused on Lin Xia, as though he were admiring an uncut piece of priceless jade.

Feeling Lou Gao's gaze, Lin Xia took a deep breath and suppressed the slight agitation brought on by his Soul Power breakthrough. Maintaining Forced Calmness, he looked at him with clear eyes and asked in a distinct, earnest voice:

"President, then can I... join the Blacksmith Association now?"

To everyone's surprise—including Lin Xia's—Lou Gao immediately shook his head without hesitation.

The hall instantly fell silent again.

Rejected?

Had the Divine Craftsman not just been admiring him so much?

Lin Xia's heart sank slightly as well.

However, Lou Gao's next words sent a violent tremor through everyone's hearts!

"Little friend, tell me, what is your name?"

Lou Gao's voice was unusually solemn, and his sharp gaze carried unprecedented seriousness and anticipation.

"Lin Xia."

Lin Xia answered crisply.

Lou Gao nodded. His tall body leaned forward slightly as he stared into Lin Xia's clear yet stubborn eyes and asked with utmost seriousness:

"Lin Xia, would you... take me as your master?"

Boom!

Those words were like a thunderclap, even more shocking than anything before!

Take him as a master?! Lou Gao, one of the three great Divine Craftsmen of the age and President of the Blacksmith Association, had actually taken the initiative to accept this child of unknown origins as his disciple?!

The surrounding blacksmiths were completely dumbfounded, their minds blank.

To be personally accepted as a disciple by a Divine Craftsman was an opportunity countless blacksmith Soul Masters dreamed of but could never obtain!

Lou Gao's standing in mineral ore resources and Forging Skill was precisely the core reason Lin Xia had traveled thousands of miles to Gengjin City!

Joining the Association was only a means. Obtaining resources and learning forging and Ore Knowledge were what truly mattered.

And what did becoming Lou Gao's disciple mean?

It meant the most reliable source of rare mineral ore!

It meant that the "price" of all his previous risks and exposed abilities had, at this moment, yielded a return that Far Exceeded Expectations!

Without the slightest hesitation! Without even half a moment of delay!

The instant Lou Gao finished speaking, Lin Xia acted without any fuss, nor did he put on airs and decline for show.

Lin Xia took a deep breath, suppressing his surging emotions. His gaze became incomparably firm and respectful.

He stepped back, straightened his back, and faced Divine Craftsman Lou Gao, whose beard and hair were white and whose eyes burned brightly. With both hands clasped before him, he performed an exceptionally standard and solemn disciple's bow, bending deeply at the waist!

"Disciple Lin Xia—"

Lin Xia's voice was clear, carrying a youth's characteristic immaturity, yet it rang through the silent hall with incomparable clarity and determination, drowning out the roar of the furnaces:

"—greets Teacher!"

His movements were clean and decisive, without the slightest hesitation, as straightforward as when he had bitten through the mineral ore earlier!

Lin Xia poured his greatest sincerity into that deep bow.

Within the entire Blacksmith Association hall, only the Hū Hū Sound of the blazing furnaces remained, along with the youth's incomparably clear cry of "Greets Teacher," echoing through the air.

Looking at the deeply bowing youth, Lou Gao's weathered, coal-smudged face finally broke into an unprecedented smile, as scorching as the heart of a furnace.

"Good! Good! Good!"

"From now on, you are the fifth disciple of me, Lou Gao!"

After announcing this, Lou Gao did not even look at anyone else's reaction. He immediately grabbed Lin Xia's wrist, his rough, broad palm containing astonishing strength, and pulled him toward his private workshop on the top floor.

"Come! Follow your master upstairs, and let's have a good talk!"

Lou Gao's booming voice carried irrepressible excitement.

However, the instant he turned around, a gray-green figure suddenly darted between them.

"Yō Jī! Yō Jī Yō Jī!"

Larvitar anxiously hopped in place, his short Claws pointing fiercely at the remaining piece of Star Gold Essence in Lou Gao's arms—the piece Lin Xia had bitten—then at his own mouth. His red eyes were filled with grievance and accusation—Didn't you say you'd save some for me?!

Lin Xia immediately understood. He hurriedly gave Lou Gao's arm a light tug and said in a somewhat embarrassed whisper:

"Teacher! Wait! My Martial Soul, Larvitar, it... it can become stronger by eating mineral ore too, just like me. It has been craving those two precious ores of yours for a long time. Could you... let it have a taste too? Just one small bite?"

Lou Gao's advancing footsteps froze instantly, as though he had been struck by an immobilizing spell.

He abruptly turned around. His short, sturdy body seemed to solidify in that instant, while the pupils of his previously bright, excited eyes suddenly contracted. Within them surged Stormy Waves even greater than when he had watched Lin Xia bite through the Star Gold Essence!

A Martial Soul could eat mineral ore too?

And become stronger from it?!

The thought slammed into the barrier of Lou Gao's understanding like a Heavy Hammer, producing a deafening boom.

He had lived for so many years, seen countless strange Martial Souls, and heard of countless bizarre cultivation methods, but a Martial Soul actively gnawing on mineral ore and growing through it?

This was simply unheard of. It completely overturned his established understanding of Martial Souls and the cultivation system!

Lou Gao's eagle-sharp gaze fixed on the anxious Little Dinosaur on the ground. Larvitar looked back at him, his eyes pure and full of longing, without the slightest ferocity of a Soul Beast. He truly possessed the Martial Soul aura that shared the same source as Lin Xia's Soul Power.

But... it could "eat"?!

Shock raced through Lou Gao's entire body like an electric current, but he was, after all, a Divine Craftsman of this age. How could his resolve be anything but firm?

The astonishment on his face flashed by in an instant, so quickly that it was nearly impossible to catch. The next moment, he forcibly suppressed it and returned to his calm, impassive composure.

"No matter."

Lou Gao's voice sounded calm and unruffled. He nodded, and even a faint, inquisitive smile returned to his face.

"It was this old man's oversight. I forgot about this Little Guy. Come, let's talk upstairs!"

This time, he did not pull Lin Xia again. Instead, he signaled for Lin Xia to bring Larvitar along, then turned around and headed for the stairs, his steps noticeably more hurried than before.

On the top floor, the heavy doors of Lou Gao's private Forge Room closed, cutting off the faint sounds of hammering from below.

The room was arranged in a simple yet rugged manner. The walls were covered with all sorts of oddly shaped tools and mineral specimens, while the air was filled with the distinctive mixed scent of metal, fire, and grease.

Lou Gao did not waste time on pleasantries.

He walked straight to a massive anvil and took out a dark silver ring from his robes. It looked Simple and Unadorned, its surface carved with precise hammer patterns.

The ring was made of a special material, and faint Soul Power Fluctuation flowed across it.

"Xiao Xia, take this."

Lou Gao directly stuffed the ring into the still-bewildered Lin Xia's hand, his tone brooking no refusal.

"This is a Storage Soul Tool your master acquired in his early years. The space inside is not small. I have placed some mineral specimens from my collection in it, all of decent quality, along with some Gold Soul Coins. Consider them your master's Meeting Gift. Keep them well. Whenever you want to study mineral ore or are hungry, just take what you need."

I tested the waters today. Please support me with more Follow-up Reading, everyone. Thank you!