Lu Lin, Who Doesn't Know Any Better? [Seeking Follow-ups]

At this moment, the corners of Liu Yanchi's mouth twitched slightly, and the expression on his face was hardly any better than Xu Ting's.

This was also his first time seeing such a sudden shift in Lu Lin's demeanor!

Just how in the world did Zhao Shiyan teach this guy?

But he seemed to understand why Lu Lin's physical constitution was so exaggerated.

It looked like his decision back then to send him to Zhao Shiyan had been the right call.

As for Yao Xiaopang beside him, his mouth hung slightly open as he stared at his familiar yet unfamiliar roommate, at a loss for words.

Zhao Shiyan remained expressionless, not even a single eyelash trembling, as if he had a facial paralysis.

But in reality, his inner monologue was running wild at this moment, and the corners of his mouth were harder to suppress than his spear!

Especially when he caught a glimpse of the shocked expressions on Liu Yanchi and Xu Ting's faces from the corner of his eye.

Lu Lin, however, was immersed in forging, with no time to spare for anything else.

Perhaps in Xu Ting's or Liu Yanchi's eyes, Lu Lin's hammer swings were lightning-fast and chaotic, but that wasn't actually the case.

Lu Lin had started learning Hundred Forgings two years ago.

For him, metals like Azure Iron and Mysterious Iron—he could sense the impurities inside them even with his eyes closed.

Unfortunately, every time he attempted Hundred Forgings, he would ultimately fail due to insufficient soul power.

Even Zhao Shiyan couldn't help him with that.

But the only thing he lacked was soul power.

At this moment, the forging hammer in his hand felt like an extension of his arm, as soul power continuously surged into the Azure Iron billet, refining the dross and transforming the metal's inherent properties.

In just a short span of time, he had already swung the hammer no fewer than forty or fifty times.

And this piece of Azure Iron was visibly undergoing a rapid transformation, shedding its old form for a new one.

Suddenly, Lu Lin's movements seemed to pause for a moment, then he continued on.

Zhao Shiyan frowned slightly.

Liu Yanchi and Xu Ting were outsiders, so they might overlook it.

But Zhao Shiyan, who had been watching Lu Lin the entire time, keenly caught this detail.

Yet Lu Lin's forging process hadn't made any mistakes.

Fortunately, Lu Lin's subsequent movements were fluid and seamless, and Zhao Shiyan gradually relaxed.

Zhao Shiyan wasn't wrong in his perception—Lu Lin had indeed encountered a small issue.

But it wasn't a flaw in the forging process.

In the past, when he reached this stage of forging, the soul power within him would be nearly depleted, leaving him without the strength to continue.

Forging consumed not only physical strength but also soul power.

Now that he had obtained his First Soul Ring, his previous predicament no longer existed.

At this moment, he still had strength to spare.

But that wasn't the main point.

The key was that Lu Lin could clearly sense that his physical strength and soul power were undergoing a reverse state of recovery.

In other words, during the dynamic process of continuously outputting soul power, his body would actively absorb external world energy to replenish the soul power he consumed.

Although the speed of soul power recovery was far slower than his usual cultivation rate.

And it was completely insufficient to match his current rate of consumption.

But its strength lay in its endless, unceasing flow.

This was a situation he had never experienced before.

Was this... recovering soul power while consuming it?

Then what about during combat?

Interesting.

The corners of Lu Lin's mouth curled up slightly.

Though he didn't know if it was because of the soul ring or because his martial soul had been tinged with a trace of Chaos Qi.

But for Lu Lin, this sudden development was definitely a good thing.

Clang—

Lu Lin struck the final hammer, then set the forging hammer down by his feet.

On the anvil, the Azure Iron's luster was restrained, refined like a work of art, indistinguishable from the Hundred Forgings metal personally forged by Zhao Shiyan.

The moment Lu Lin set down the forging hammer, the broad-shouldered, thick-waisted Zhao Shiyan strode over in large steps, his gaze falling on this piece of Azure Iron, and his heart shook.

Hundred Forgings!

This kid actually did it!

Zhao Shiyan suppressed the excitement in his heart, turned expressionlessly toward Xu Ting, and said with an airy calm:

"Come over and inspect the goods. If it's no good, I'll reforge it for you."

Lu Lin silently walked to the other side.

And because Zhao Shiyan's mind was focused on the Hundred Forgings metal, he didn't notice that Lu Lin's complexion was now ruddy, completely unlike the drained, feeble look he'd had when attempting Hundred Forgings earlier and having his soul power sucked dry.

Mm, once he stopped outputting soul power, that reverse recovery also ceased.

Lu Lin's face showed an expression of "just as I thought."

Having completed Hundred Forgings for the first time, Lu Lin felt unusually calm in his heart.

Tang 50 could already do Thousand Forgings at his age—what was there to get excited about?

Xu Ting and Liu Yanchi had already walked over.

The former picked up the Azure Iron, rubbing it repeatedly in his hands, then his gaze stiffened.

The quality was this high?

Xu Ting wasn't a blacksmith, but over the years, he'd used countless metals and could naturally tell good from bad.

"No need to reforge it. This piece is barely adequate."

Xu Ting said this, slightly emphasizing the word "barely."

He meant no malice.

He just felt that as an apprentice, Lu Lin shouldn't get too complacent and needed a bit of suppression.

Zhao Shiyan, upon hearing this, furrowed his brow slightly.

Liu Yanchi's face showed the same expression.

He cast a light glance at Xu Ting, then casually returned his gaze to the Hundred Forgings Azure Iron.

Barely adequate?

Liu Yanchi gave a mental scoff.

Though he wasn't a Soul Master, he had some appraisal ability.

In his view, the quality of this Hundred Forgings metal was no less than that of a finished product forged by a blacksmith who'd immersed himself in the craft for decades.

Liu Ting, however, had no idea what Liu Yanchi was thinking.

He lowered his head slightly at that moment, as if pondering something.

After a moment, Liu Ting raised his head, his gaze landing on Lu Lin. He hesitated briefly, then said with a slightly arrogant expression:

"You're called Lu Lin, right?

Would you be willing to take me as your master and learn to craft Soul Tools from me?"

At these words, the few present were first slightly stunned, then their subsequent reactions varied.

Yao Xiaopang, standing behind Xu Ting, quickly began making urgent gestures at Lu Lin, signaling him to agree immediately.

Zhao Shiyan's gaze sharpened.

Only Liu Yanchi gave a barely perceptible shake of his head.

Based on his understanding of Lu Lin, this kid would probably refuse Xu Ting.

Sure enough, the next moment, he saw Lu Lin say:

"Thank you for your kindness, Master Xu, but I still need to study forging. I can't spare the focus to learn Soul Tools for now."

As he spoke, Lu Lin gave a slight bow, his etiquette flawless.

Lu Lin was telling the truth.

He hadn't actually heard Xu Ting's evaluation of him earlier.

The reason he refused Xu Ting was that his current primary goal was still to break through to Level 15 before he turned twelve.

Otherwise, he wouldn't even qualify to apply for Shrek.

He could still tell what was urgent and what could wait.

As for Soul Tools, he could just forge an avatar later and go study in the Sun Moon Empire.

With [Ji Ming] as a precedent, Lu Lin believed his new avatar's talent wouldn't be too poor.

Xu Ting, however, hadn't expected Lu Lin to refuse, and he furrowed his brow slightly.

He was from the Sun Moon Empire, a Rank 3 Soul Master.

In his early years, he'd traveled to the Star Luo Empire, met the love of his life, and then settled there.

The soul masters of the three original Douluo nations paid lip service to looking down on Soul Masters, and Soul Masters of the same rank were still considered lower than soul masters.

But in truth, they already placed great importance on Soul Tools.

Yet Soul Tools on the Douluo Continent had started too late, and the inherent gap was too great.

True Soul Masters are still as rare as phoenix feathers and qilin horns, their numbers far fewer than those of Soul Masters.

Xu Ting did not understand why Lu Lin had refused him.

Just then, Zhao Shiyan spoke quietly: "You can go study under Master Xu, be a proper apprentice."

Xu Ting, however, smiled upon hearing this.

What he wanted was a disciple, not an apprentice.

He had originally thought Lu Lin was promising material, but it seemed he had misjudged.

Xu Ting said nothing, stowing the Hundred Forgings metal into his Storage Soul Tool, then took out another small pouch of Gold Soul Coins as usual and tossed it to Zhao Shiyan before speaking flatly:

"Enough. Xu never forces anyone's hand."

"Xiaopang, let's head back."

With that, Xu Ting placed one hand behind his back and walked out without any hesitation.

"Ah, Teacher, wait for me!"

Yao Xiaopang had been fretting over Lu Lin's refusal of Xu Ting, pacing like an ant on a hot pan, wanting to speak but unsure which side to persuade.

Seeing Xu Ting turn and leave, he could no longer hold back and hurriedly trotted after him on his chubby legs.

At the same time, he turned back to face Lu Lin, his lips moving silently.

Lu Lin understood the mouth shape—it was roughly something like "see you later."