Blacksmith or Designer?

After school, the three of them met up and headed to the Aolai City Blacksmith Association together.

Along the way, Na'er somehow climbed onto Luo Ze's back again, saying she could not walk anymore, that her feet were too tired, and that she wanted Brother to carry her.

Luo Ze was helpless. What could he do? He was hopelessly doting on his little sister, so of course he agreed!

"By the way, Wulin, do we need to buy a hammer before going to the Blacksmith Association?" Luo Ze asked.

"No need, Brother Luo. Our Aolai Blacksmith Association may not have much, but we have all kinds of hammers. You can use them freely; we're never short on them!" Tang Wulin said proudly.

"Then does that mean we can take a few?" Na'er suddenly asked.

"That won't do. If you take them away, you have to pay for them! A single forging hammer costs fifty thousand Federal currency!" Tang Wulin explained.

Fifty thousand Federal currency was no small sum. Although becoming a blacksmith could bring a considerable income to one's family, Blacksmith Associations in different cities varied greatly in wealth.

Especially in the economically underdeveloped Aolai City, accumulating fifty thousand Federal currency would take at least three months.

The Aolai City Blacksmith Association was located in the northwestern corner. Its exterior was nowhere near as grand as the Spirit Pagoda; rather than a Blacksmith Association, it looked more like a rundown shack.

"This is really the Blacksmith Association? Even if it's struggling, it's still a branch. It shouldn't be this dilapidated, right?" Luo Ze asked in surprise as he turned around.

"Actually, I'm not too sure either. When Father brought me here back then, I thought he was going to sell me," Tang Wulin replied.

Indeed, if not for the official Blacksmith Association plaque hanging above it, it would have been difficult to associate this building with the famous Forging Association based on its appearance alone.

Though shabby, its inspection procedures were extremely strict. The Blacksmith Association was filled with Rare Metals, every piece worth a fortune. If someone with ill intentions stole them, it would only make matters worse for the already impoverished Blacksmith Association.

Tang Wulin was already a member of the Aolai City Blacksmith Association and had informed his teacher, Mang Tian, beforehand. Thus, the guards at the entrance merely checked his token before letting them pass.

Tang Wulin led the other two into the Blacksmith Association. Before they even reached the doorway, the scent of metal washed over them.

Tang Wulin knocked on the door, and a middle-aged man walked out. He was tall and broad, with dark skin and a thick, intimidating beard.

The man was Tang Wulin's teacher, Mang Tian, and also the president of the Aolai City Blacksmith Association.

"Wulin is here. Come in and sit," Mang Tian said as he looked at them.

"Yes, Teacher!" Tang Wulin replied.

The group followed him into the room. Mang Tian's workshop was a mess, with all manner of metal components scattered everywhere. Yet they came in many different colors, and each piece was exquisitely small. Examined up close, they were practically beautiful works of art.

"You're Luo Ze, right? Wulin said you're interested in forging, so you came to experience it for yourself?" Mang Tian asked.

"Yes, President Mang Tian. Today, our homeroom teacher told us about Second Professions. Considering my own shortcomings, I wanted to learn a Second Profession early and train myself," Luo Ze explained.

Mang Tian did not reply. Instead, he carefully appraised Luo Ze.

Young, steady, neither arrogant nor impatient, able to accurately recognize his own shortcomings, and possessed Innate Full Soul Power and a top-tier Beast Martial Soul...

Put all those strengths together, wasn't he practically a peerless genius of this era?! And with a top-tier Beast Martial Soul, his strength would certainly be beyond reproach!

"Since it's for training, why not try it yourself? You'll gain a deeper understanding that way." As he spoke, Mang Tian picked up a forging hammer from the workbench and handed it to Luo Ze, telling him to hold it and give it a try.

The hammer Mang Tian gave him was generally golden in color, with array inscriptions engraved upon it that allowed its user to apply force with greater precision.

Tang Wulin froze slightly when he saw the hammer. It was Teacher Mang Tian's personal forging hammer, weighing twenty jin. Even ordinary blacksmiths found it difficult to hold, much less use it for forging.

Brother Luo was only six years old. Even with a top-tier Beast Martial Soul and Innate Full Soul Power, he was probably unable to lift the hammer.

"Alright." Luo Ze nodded, agreeing with Mang Tian's suggestion.

However, when he took the hammer from Mang Tian, he was surprised to find that it did not seem as heavy as he had imagined. It felt like he was holding a hollow toy, without much actual weight.

Then again, perhaps Mang Tian had chosen a lighter hammer to accommodate a little kid like him.

He then carried the hammer around Mang Tian's workshop, looking left and right as though selecting a suitable piece of metal.

Soon, his gaze fell upon a rusty yellow piece of metal in the corner. It was somewhat unusual; Luo Ze could clearly sense an aura of life emanating from it.

Without hesitation, he walked over, placed the metal on the forging table, raised the hammer high, and began striking with all his strength!

Once, twice, three times...

The number of blows rose at a visible pace. Even after it reached five hundred strikes, there was still no sign of fatigue on Luo Ze's face.

Only when the number displayed on the screen reached an astonishing seven hundred did Luo Ze finally put down the forging hammer.

At that point, his hands had gone somewhat numb, and his neck ached in an indescribable way, but that was all. He felt no other discomfort.

"Why did you stop? Couldn't you hold on after seven hundred strikes?" Mang Tian coughed twice, forcibly suppressing the shock in his heart.

"No. I finished forging it."

Luo Ze stood to the side and presented his finished work to Mang Tian.

The once-rusty metal had been directly transformed into Rare Metal through Luo Ze's forging, with a forging quality above eighty percent.

One had to know that this was a standard only a Level-Two Blacksmith could achieve.

Upon seeing the work before him, Mang Tian could no longer contain his excitement. He pulled Luo Ze in front of him. "Luo Ze, would you like to join our Blacksmith Association? I guarantee that under the Association's training, your future achievements will be no lower than those of an Eight-star Saint Craftsman!"

The moment he heard the words Eight-star Saint Craftsman, Tang Wulin, who had still been in shock, instantly snapped back to his senses and stared at his teacher with his mouth agape.

There were only twenty Eight-star Saint Craftsmen in all of Douluo Continent, their status second only to the president of the Forging Masters General Association. For Mang Tian to make such a promise showed just how highly he regarded Luo Ze!

"Could you let me think about it? I only came today to try it out and get a feel for it."

Luo Ze hesitated. It was not that he was not tempted by the offer, but he wanted to find a Second Profession that truly suited him.

His forging just now had not been anything particularly extraordinary. He had merely hammered away at random based on his instincts.

After all, that was how the blacksmiths in Aolai City worked too. At most, he was just copying what he had seen; it did not count as anything exceptional.

What Luo Ze did not know was that the hammers used by Aolai City's blacksmiths weighed only five or six jin, and the metal they forged was merely ordinary iron.

Yet on his very first attempt, Luo Ze had forged the rarest metal directly. Even compared to Tang Wulin, this talent gave nothing away!