"Whoa! Old Chen, that's too much! You actually came in first!"
"We're all ranked somewhere in the hundreds."
"I can't take it anymore! I never thought pretty girls, novels, gambling, and drugs would ruin me this badly... Starting today, I'm done with gambling and drugs! I'm going to dedicate myself to cultivation!"
When this month's exam results came out, Huo Tian, Feng Rulang, and Lei Yuan all wailed. They didn't mind their brothers struggling; they just couldn't stand seeing them get ahead.
"That's ridiculous! And how come your written exam scores are so low? Shouldn't you have gotten full marks?"
Chen Ming found their reaction exaggerated. The tests had been easy, and he hadn't even put in much effort. Wasn't getting full marks on the written exam normal?
"You bastard, you deserve to die!"
"I can't take it anymore! I can't keep living like this! I'm going to study! I'm going to cultivate!"
"Old Chen, you traitor! You actually came in first!"
The three clowns wailed away. It might have been fine if the gap weren't too big, but even Lei Yuan, with the best overall score among them, had only come in two hundred and third, while Feng Rulang was around four hundredth.
There were ten classes in the freshman grade, with a hundred students in each, for a total of around a thousand.
Chen Ming had taken first place because he was a true all-rounder. Lan Mengqin, who came in second, had perfect scores in the written exam, Soul Power, and mental strength.
Only her strength and speed were inferior to Chen Ming's, each falling two plus signs short. That was why she ranked below him.
Even though she matched Chen Ming's full marks in the written exam and mental strength, and even surpassed him in Soul Power, the two missing plus signs still couldn't be made up for.
"Come on, is it my fault? Let's go eat."
"Let's go."
"What a drag."
Chen Ming smiled and called everyone to go eat. The other three followed with drooping heads, clearly not in the best of moods.
There were no classes that afternoon. The homeroom teacher was in a good mood because the results had been posted, and didn't pay any mind to those who had done poorly.
So Chen Ming headed to the Forging Room to work. With one heavy swing of his hammer, a first-grade Hundred Refinement piece of metal was complete.
[Forging Skill +50]
After a month, he could already make first-grade Hundred Refinement pieces, but he still hadn't figured out Thousand Refinement. He could only keep studying it bit by bit.
"Thousand Refinement has a spirit... Thousand Refinement... Should I try using Life energy?"
Chen Ming sat on a stool, pondering what he'd heard about Thousand Refinement. The path of forging really wasn't easy. He had thought of a way: use the Life Tree Martial Soul's affinity with Life to help the metal nurture Life.
But metal nurturing Life seemed to be Spirit Refinement, while the elemental laws wielded by the Silver Dragon King corresponded to Heavenly Forging.
That meant he only needed to master Thousand Refinement, Fusion Forging, and Soul Forging. The Martial Souls could take care of the rest.
But clearly, a month wasn't enough time for him to reach the realm of Thousand Refinement.
"Are you interested in forging?"
Just then, an ill-timed voice spoke up. Chen Ming snapped his head up, instinctively drawing the Silver Dragon Spear and getting to his feet in alarm.
"When did you..."
Chen Ming noticed that a black-haired man in a white robe was standing in front of the anvil, examining the first-grade Hundred Refinement piece he had forged. He had no idea when the man had appeared.
"Don't be nervous. I mean no harm. I... should be a blacksmith too. Do you want to learn forging?"
Seeing Chen Ming draw the Silver Dragon Spear as if ready to stab him at any moment, the black-haired man immediately tried to soothe him.
"You're a real weirdo... Do you have any idea how scary it is to suddenly appear like that?"
Looking at the man before him, Chen Ming considered his appearance and words, along with his strength and the faint response from the Silver Dragon King Martial Soul. He was fairly sure this had to be Tang Wulin.
He hadn't expected to meet him so soon. He wondered if the Silver Dragon Fish would pop up the way Tang Wulin had.
"Sorry, I didn't think it through... I saw you forging just now. Are you interested in it?"
"More or less. I've been studying Thousand Refinement lately. From the looks of it, do you want to teach me?"
Chen Ming twirled the Silver Dragon Spear once and put it away. Since Tang Wulin had come right to him, he might as well take the opportunity to learn for free.
Tang Wulin nodded at once. He picked up a forging hammer and set down a piece of metal. The memories of a Godsmith's forging flashed through his mind.
Then he brought the hammer down hard. With just one strike, the raw piece of Heavy Silver was finished as first-grade Hundred Refinement.
He struck again. One hammer blow completed Thousand Refinement, and a burst of spiritual light flared up, bathing the metal in a dazzling glow. Then he struck once more, and the aura of Life burst forth as he completed Genesis Spirit Refinement.
Finally, he took out another piece of metal. Golden dragon scales appeared on Tang Wulin's right hand.
A faint sense of familiarity welled up in Chen Ming, as if... Tang Wulin were his own son. The feeling left Chen Ming bewildered. Could his Golden Dragon King Martial Soul and Silver Dragon King Martial Soul both be purer than Tang Wulin's?
"Don't get distracted. This next strike is the last one."
Just as Chen Ming lost focus, Tang Wulin's gentle voice reached him and pulled his attention back.
Tang Wulin brought down the final hammer blow. The two pieces of metal instantly fused, completing Soul Forging and becoming Soul-Forged Jade Silver.
The piece of Soul-Forged Jade Silver then transformed directly into two forging hammers, which Tang Wulin held in his hands.
"One strike for Fusion Forging and Soul Forging... You wouldn't happen to be the Godsmith of this era, would you? And just wandering around Tiandou Planet?"
Chen Ming stared in amazement at the Soul-Forged hammers in his hands. Sure enough, the gap between him and a true forging expert was enormous.
"A Godsmith... Maybe. You can have these forging hammers. I hope you'll become a Godsmith yourself someday."
Tang Wulin handed over the forging hammers. Looking at the silver-haired, purple-eyed boy before him, he felt a sense of kinship.
"...Thanks."
"Come over here. Follow my movements, and I'll teach you to forge."
After Chen Ming accepted the forging hammers, Tang Wulin gestured for him to come closer and began teaching him forging.
With an expert's guidance, Chen Ming's success rate at forging first-grade Hundred Refinement metal had already reached ninety percent.
"You're very talented at forging. Maybe in a few months, you'll be ready to attempt Thousand Refinement. For now, you should focus on building a solid foundation."
"If you're free after that, you can come here to forge anytime. I'll come by and teach you."
"Aren't you busy?"
Chen Ming asked without thinking. I wonder if Tang Wulin became a singer. I should check later.
Tang Wulin paused, thinking of the manager who had pulled him out of the water. It seemed he'd forgotten all about him...
"I'm not busy. I don't have any work at the moment."
"Have you just not taken any forging commissions?"
"...Yeah."
"Then let me treat you to a meal. It'll be my way of thanking you for teaching me to forge."
Since Tang Wulin was teaching him, Chen Ming couldn't just take advantage of him for free. He should at least treat him to a meal.
"Okay."
Tang Wulin nodded, then followed Chen Ming to a restaurant that looked pretty good.
"Order whatever you like. I can afford one meal."
Chen Ming glanced over the menu. He had around a million in savings at the moment, so he could afford one meal.
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