Bracer

Time passed bit by bit. About two hours later, with the final hammer strike, the Deep Silver on the forging table suddenly burst with a soft white glow—Spirit Forging had succeeded!

After the blood sacrifice, the piece of metal seemed to let out a satisfied burp, slowly taking the shape of a bracer.

Even more remarkably, the Spirit Forged Deep Silver seemed to have come alive. It floated up on its own and flew toward Yun Mu's arm, gently attaching itself to his forearm before slowly merging into his skin without leaving a single trace.

Yun Mu tried controlling it with his thoughts, and the metal quickly appeared again, forming a layer of fine silver armor over his forearm. It fit perfectly, as though it had grown there naturally.

The Battle Armor looked exceptionally beautiful. Its base was a gleaming silver, threaded with several faint golden patterns.

Since it was attached to his right arm, those golden patterns circled along the shape of his arm. Together, they actually resembled a tiny little sword, exquisitely crafted.

He froze for a moment. According to what Teacher Wu had said, forming Battle Armor required the cooperation of a blacksmith, a designer, and a Soul Tool master. Why did his Battle Armor not need any design and become usable right away?

He looked toward Zhen Hua in confusion. Just then, Zhen Hua walked over as well. Staring at the Battle Armor on his arm, his eyes lit up. "Good heavens! Your Spirit Forged Metal already has some of the potential of Soul Forged Metal!"

"Master, why can my metal attach directly to my body? Doesn't it need a designer?" Yun Mu scratched his head and voiced his doubts. "Teacher Wu said Battle Armor needs several different professions working together."

Zhen Hua stroked his chin and thought for a moment. "It's probably because your metal is too special. Its intelligence is already no weaker than that of Soul Forged Metal. On top of that, your Martial Soul has a creation attribute. That attribute likely gave the metal the ability to 'self-adapt,' allowing it to automatically alter its form according to your body. Naturally, there's no need for a designer."

"So that's how it is! Thank you, Master!" Yun Mu said with sudden understanding and a smile.

"Oh, right. This is for you." Remembering the card on the table, Zhen Hua picked it up and handed it to Yun Mu. "This is an admission ticket for the Spirit Ascension Platform during its volatile period. The slots are quite scarce, so keep it as a spare."

Yun Mu accepted the card, then hurriedly handed it back, scratching his head awkwardly. "Master, I can't use this."

"Can't use it?" Zhen Hua paused, asking in confusion, "Have you already obtained a Spirit Ascension Platform slot? Even if you have, you can take another one."

"No, it's that my Soul Rings can't absorb the Spirit Ascension Platform's energy." Yun Mu shook his head and explained, "I tried it once before. The moment the energy touched me, it was repelled. It simply can't be used to increase my Soul Ring age."

"That can happen?" Zhen Hua was genuinely astonished now. He furrowed his brow and pondered it. After forging for so many years, he had never heard of anyone being unable to absorb the Spirit Ascension Platform's energy.

"Fine, fine. Looks like I went through all that trouble for nothing." Zhen Hua waved his hand helplessly and tucked the admission ticket back into his pocket. "I'll give this thing to Mu Chen later. I thought I could help you, but instead, your younger brother gets to benefit."

"Master, I'm sorry I didn't tell you earlier that I can't absorb the Spirit Ascension Platform's energy." Yun Mu said apologetically, scratching his head.

"Silly boy, that's your secret. Whether you tell others is your freedom. What is there to apologize for?" Zhen Hua smiled and rubbed his head, his tone full of affection. "As long as you cultivate properly, that's more important than anything."

Meanwhile, in the Blacksmith Association's lobby downstairs, Tang Wulin stood there somewhat dazed, holding the Spirit Ascension Platform admission ticket Mu Chen had just stuffed into his hands.

Mu Xi stood beside him, twisting the corner of her clothes between her fingers. Her face was slightly red. After hesitating for a long while, she finally asked softly, "Um... Wulin, do you know where your brother is? I need to talk to him about something."

"Huh? You're looking for my brother?" Tang Wulin paused, looking at her with a strange expression.

After all, his relationship with Mu Xi had never been very good. Mu Xi always liked competing with him, comparing herself against him in both forging and cultivation.

So he had always assumed that Mu Xi would reject Yun Mu as well. After all, Yun Mu was even more capable than him, so he would probably be even more likely to draw Mu Xi's "dislike."

He had never considered that Yun Mu's status among the younger generation of the forging world had long reached the point where they could only look up to him. Envy was simply impossible; all they could feel was admiration.

The reason Mu Xi competed with him was, first, because although his forging talent was high, he was still within the range that ordinary people could catch up to.

Second, he was Mu Chen's Apprentice and always drew away most of her father's attention. But toward Yun Mu, Mu Xi felt only admiration and not even the slightest desire to compete.

Tang Wulin's thoughts went in several circles. In the end, he did not say that Yun Mu was upstairs talking with Zhen Hua, only answering vaguely, "My brother might be upstairs? I'm not sure either. He didn't tell me earlier."

In truth, he was afraid Mu Xi would cause trouble for Yun Mu. In his eyes, Yun Mu only treated Gu Yue differently and remained distant toward every other girl. If Mu Xi approached him, she might be coldly snubbed.

That evening, Yun Mu and Tang Wulin returned to the dormitory together.

The moment they entered, Tang Wulin pulled several silver metal vests from his Storage Soul Tool and handed them out to Xie Xie, Wang Jinxi, and the others. "I forged these while I had some time this afternoon. Try them on and see whether they fit. They might come in handy at the Spirit Ascension Platform tomorrow."

Looking at those metal vests, Yun Mu was somewhat surprised. He had not thought of preparing such things for everyone.

Thinking about it carefully, it was probably because the gap between his strength and everyone else's was too great. To him, these little life-saving trinkets were neither here nor there, so he had never considered them.

Besides, he did not need to take the Spirit Ascension Platform test, so he naturally had not given such details any thought.

"What are these metal vests for? They look so thin. Can they really block soul beast attacks?" Xie Xie picked up a vest and turned it over repeatedly, asking in surprise.

"They're useful. You can think of them as something that disperses force." Yun Mu came over for a look and explained with a smile. "When a soul beast attacks it, most of the force will be dispersed by the metal, so you'll suffer fewer injuries. But... if you bring these into the test, does that count as cheating?"

"Hey, how is that cheating?" Xie Xie immediately retorted. "This is called sharpening your spear before battle! Besides, Spirit Ascension Platform slots are so hard to come by. The longer we hold out and the more soul beasts we kill, the less we'll waste this opportunity!"

Tang Wulin rubbed the back of his head and said somewhat embarrassedly, "I forged them in a hurry just now, so some of the sizes might be off and they may not fit very well. I'll adjust them again tomorrow."

"Give me Gu Yue's." Yun Mu suddenly spoke up, pointing at the last metal vest in Tang Wulin's hand. It was clearly made for a girl and was smaller than the others.

"Oh, sure." Tang Wulin did not think much of it and handed the vest directly to Yun Mu.

He knew Yun Mu's forging ability was better than his. Perhaps Yun Mu could help adjust it to fit better.