Lu Lin, the Blacksmith

Before long, Lu Lin had reached the offices in the teachers' area.

The door stood open.

Lu Lin knocked softly and looked toward the young man seated in the middle of the office. "Teacher Liu, Duan Yang said you wanted to see me?"

"Mm. Come on in."

The young man looked up at Lu Lin, who was standing in the doorway, a faint smile touching the corners of his eyes.

Lu Lin stepped inside, his gaze settling on Teacher Liu as he spoke.

The man had sharp brows and bright eyes, and wore a gray robe.

His name was Liu Yanchi, a Four-Ring Soul Ancestor.

Lu Lin's homeroom teacher, he was also one of the teachers with the highest Soul Power Levels in the entire junior academy.

What was more, Liu Yanchi had graduated from Shrek Academy.

Although he hadn't broken through to the fourth ring while at the academy and had failed to meet its promotion requirements, resulting in his expulsion, that record alone put him far ahead of most soul masters at the academy.

"Yao Yue came to see me and said you wanted to find a part-time job as an apprentice. As it happens, I know a blacksmith who's looking for an apprentice. I wanted to ask if you'd be interested."

Lu Lin froze, caught between laughter and tears.

Come on, Yao Xiaopang, that was quick. I only said that offhand. Did you really not get it?

Seeing that Lu Lin didn't answer right away, Liu Yanchi didn't press him. He simply waited quietly for Lu Lin's response.

It was no exaggeration to say that, among the more than twenty students in the Martial Soul Class, Lu Lin was the only one Liu Yanchi paid attention to.

That was because Liu Yanchi saw so much of himself in Lu Lin.

Lu Lin was still weighing whether to accept.

To be honest, blacksmiths weren't very popular in this era.

Three thousand years ago, it would have been a different story. Back then, Sun Moon Continent and Douluo Continent had yet to collide, and the Tang Sect was still the continent's greatest sect.

Hidden Weapons made by the Tang Sect were in such high demand that blacksmithing had become a highly sought-after profession as well.

But now, with the widespread use of Soul Tools from the Sun Moon Empire, the Tang Sect had fallen into complete obscurity.

In the Dragon King Legend era, blacksmiths had also been in great demand as a secondary profession because of the Battle Armor system. The blacksmithing profession had fully matured during that era, and divine blacksmiths held an astonishing status on the continent.

Lu Lin was genuinely hesitant.

Still, he believed he would inevitably need to learn about Soul Tools.

His weakness was his young age, while Tang Fozi was already a Titled Douluo. The gap between them was like a chasm.

Lu Lin wouldn't let any chance to grow stronger pass him by.

His plan was to send an avatar to the Sun Moon Empire later, where it could study their advanced Soul Tools and investigate leads on Tang Fozi, the Evil Soul Master.

Lu Lin didn't believe an Evil Soul Master at the Titled Douluo level could have no ties to the Holy Spirit Cult.

Although his main body could share what his avatar learned, it still needed some foundation of its own.

Besides, blacksmithing should help improve his physical fitness, even if only a little.

After all, his main body couldn't get its hands on Ten Thousand Year Whale Rubber.

"Thank you, Teacher Liu. I think I can give it a try."

At that, a faint smile appeared on Liu Yanchi's lips. He'd known Lu Lin would agree.

"Good. I'll take you to the blacksmith shop now."

At a corner of Frostwind City's central street stood the Giant Rock Blacksmith Shop.

"Old Liu, this is the apprentice you found for me?"

Bare-chested and powerfully built, Zhao Shiyan looked at the scrawny Lu Lin standing beside Liu Yanchi, then turned to Liu Yanchi, doubt written in his eyes.

Zhao Shiyan stood a full meter ninety tall. With his exaggerated muscles, he gave off an intense sense of pressure just by standing still.

Liu Yanchi replied coolly, "He's the only one who fits."

"Fine."

Zhao Shiyan rubbed his chin, grabbed a black iron ingot from a basket on the ground, and tossed it into a blazing furnace. Then he turned to Lu Lin. "Go find a hammer over there, then come back and wait."

Was this a test?

Lu Lin wondered, then did as he was told and headed for the corner where the Forging Hammers were kept.

He swept his gaze over them and saw an array of Forging Hammers in all shapes and sizes.

But even the smallest hammerhead was bigger than Lu Lin's two heads put together.

After looking them over for a moment, Lu Lin's gaze finally settled on a two-handed hammer that seemed relatively "suitable."

The hammer was a dull black, and just from its appearance, it looked heavy.

Lu Lin grabbed the handle. The metal felt cold and heavy in his hand. He tried to heft it and found it quite difficult.

With his current strength, using this hammer for any length of time would be a struggle.

Perhaps Ji Ming, with his Body Martial Soul, would be better suited to blacksmithing.

But Si Yuan Ye would never agree to let his disciple become a blacksmith, much less have him go on to study Soul Tools.

This was the path Lu Lin had chosen. He'd already agreed to Teacher Liu, so he couldn't just give up now.

In silence, Lu Lin dragged the Forging Hammer over to Zhao Shiyan and waited for his next instruction.

A moment later, Zhao Shiyan used iron tongs to pull the glowing-red iron ingot from the furnace and tossed it onto the anvil. Then he turned to Lu Lin and said tersely:

"Hit it!"

Lu Lin nodded and took a deep breath. He circulated his Soul Power, raised the Forging Hammer in both hands, and brought it down hard on the dark-red iron ingot on the anvil.

Clang!

The hammer struck the iron ingot dead-on, unleashing a wave of intense heat.

A hint of surprise flashed in Zhao Shiyan's eyes, but he said nothing and continued watching Lu Lin.

Liu Yanchi, however, thought it only natural.

There was a reason he'd said Lu Lin was the best fit: Lu Lin had an extraordinary resilience.

Whether it was the excessive self-discipline that drove him to train his Soul Power whenever he had a spare moment, or the grit he showed when he didn't so much as groan as his "strange illness" flared up, Liu Yanchi had seen it all.

Strangely, Lu Lin's illness flared up without any pattern, yet his body was otherwise perfectly normal.

Even during his time at Shrek Academy, Liu Yanchi had never seen anything like it.

Lu Lin paid no attention to what the two men beside him were thinking.

He raised the Forging Hammer in both hands and clumsily swung it down for the second strike.

But this time, he missed.

I messed up. That angle wasn't right.

Lu Lin kept moving without pause, adjusting his angle and swinging the heavy hammer down hard at the iron ingot...

Clang!

Clang!!

The sound of pounding metal rang out repeatedly through the blacksmith shop.

Naturally, not every strike landed squarely on the iron ingot.

But whenever Lu Lin missed, he immediately adjusted his strength to make sure the next strike was accurate.

He only missed once every two or three strikes, on average.

After dozens of strikes, the iron ingot had grown completely dark.

Only then did Zhao Shiyan speak. "That's enough."

"What's your name?"

So he'd passed the test.

Lu Lin let go of the Forging Hammer.

By then, the Soul Power in his body was almost completely depleted.

With so little strength, he'd had to use Soul Power to assist with the forging.

Worse still, his limbs ached from overexertion, and sweat soaked his back. The blacksmith shop was stiflingly hot, and all of it combined left him feeling miserable.

Lu Lin took a deep breath, then looked at Zhao Shiyan.

"My name is Lu Lin."

Zhao Shiyan gave an almost imperceptible nod. "Come five days a week, for at least two hours each time. Can you do that?"

Lu Lin was getting used to Zhao Shiyan's way of speaking, so he didn't waste words. He nodded. "I can."

"You can decide when to come to the blacksmith shop. Morning or afternoon, either is fine.

"As for pay, I'll start you at one Silver Soul Coin a month. I'll raise it later depending on how things go."

Zhao Shiyan stated the terms without ceremony.

Lu Lin knew there was no room to negotiate anyway.

But Zhao Shiyan's offer was quite generous.

Yao Xiaopang worked at a shop selling household Soul Tools. Business there was brisk, and they never had to worry about sales, yet his pay was also one Silver Soul Coin a month.

At Lu Lin's current level, he could barely lift a Forging Hammer. He wasn't even an apprentice yet, let alone capable of forging weapons for the blacksmith shop.

The only reason Zhao Shiyan was willing to pay him so well had to be Liu Yanchi's influence.

"Old Liu, you can take him now. Have him come back tomorrow."

After saying that, Zhao Shiyan turned around, picked up the iron ingot Lu Lin had just forged, and tossed it back into the furnace, apparently to reforge it.