"..."
Watching Wu Changkong leave, Lu Li smiled and shook his head. But today, he wasn't in a hurry to leave. Instead, he sat down in his office.
His office was right next door to Wu Changkong's, and the layout was almost identical. Perhaps that was because neither of them liked having too much stuff around.
His attention focused in an instant on the two long-term missions in his mind.
[Long-Term Mission 1: Is It Really Just Blue Silver Grass? Get Tang Wulin to open his heart to you. Reward: Martial Soul bloodline advancement] [Long-Term Mission 2: The Dragon King Conflict! Defeat her! Beat her! Surpass him! Surpass Gu Yue in any way. Reward: Extreme affinity with any attribute]
"Wulin's long-term mission is to get him to open his heart to me. It doesn't specify what I have to do, but evolving his Martial Soul probably won't be easy."
Lu Li shook his head, then shifted his gaze to the second mission.
"By comparison, Gu Yue's mission can't be summed up with the word 'simple.'"
"System, my cultivation is higher than Gu Yue's, so I should be fine in that regard, right?"
Lu Li smiled and asked casually.
"System, I'm a Titled Douluo. My cultivation is slightly higher than Gu Yue's Level 28."
[Host, don't joke around. Your cultivation is only at the Soul Grandmaster level. You still have a long way to go before you reach your opponent's Level 28.]
The system's emotionless, mechanical voice rang out.
"..."
Hearing this, Lu Li could only rub his forehead in dismay. His expression fell silent in an instant. Clearly, he'd remembered how the system had known he was a Titled Douluo, yet still claimed he was only at the Soul Master level.
Right, he'd forgotten. His system never played by the rules.
"Then..."
"Does height count?"
Lu Li thought it over, then asked tentatively.
He was nearly 1.9 meters tall. If that counted as something he could surpass her in, he'd surely be fine.
[Host, girls mature earlier than boys. You'll need to eat more and drink plenty of milk if you hope to surpass Gu Yue in height in the future.]
[Helpful reminder: height is not included in the evaluation.]
Great!
Lu Li pursed his lips helplessly and shook his head, then quietly withdrew his attention. His cultivation wouldn't cut it, and neither would his height. His age was even less worth mentioning.
It seemed this reward wasn't so easy to get after all. So, what could he compete with Gu Yue in?
It couldn't be a secondary profession... could it?
"Hm?"
Lu Li's eyes suddenly lit up, and a mechanical voice rang out in his mind once more.
[Long-Term Mission 3: Learn a Secondary Profession] [During a class discussion, you discovered that Tang Wulin had already become a Grandmaster-level blacksmith. He's practically superhuman.] [It's always good to have more skills, and skill brings confidence. Within six months, learn any secondary profession and reach the beginner level.] [Helpful reminder: Gu Yue hasn't become anything yet. If you're quick enough, you might even surpass her and enter the field of secondary professions first.] [Mission Reward: Your learning comprehension will improve]
"Just as I thought."
A benevolent smile appeared on Lu Li's face.
Forging!
Now that was something he could get excited about!
Did they even understand how impressive it was to reach Saint Craftsman, a level-eight blacksmith, with just a hammer and twelve years of working alone?
"..."
Not long after, at the Blacksmith's Association in Eastsea City.
"Could you please get me a forging room? Sorry for the trouble."
Lu Li strode up to the front desk, casually took a level-three blacksmith badge from his Soul Tool, and spoke in an even tone.
"Grandmaster, may I ask your name?"
The staff member glanced at the level-three badge in Lu Li's hand, then at his youthful face, looking rather surprised. It was rare to see a forging Grandmaster this young!
"My surname is Lu. Please show me the way."
Lu Li spoke with a calm smile.
"Of course. Please follow me..."
Led by the staff member, Lu Li soon took the elevator to the third floor and entered a plain, unadorned workshop.
The room contained only a few titanium-alloy tables and furnaces, along with some basic forging materials. There wasn't much else.
That was simply how things were in Eastsea City. Aside from the few top-tier master workshops, all the other standard rooms were like this.
"You're the one, Shen Yin!"
"Now... let's get forging."
Lu Li's gaze swept across the metal on the workbench. Smiling, he picked up a piece of Heavy Silver, then took a simple, gray-blue hammer from his Soul Tool.
The Soul-Forged Heavy Silver Hammer was one of his most frequently used forging hammers, and one of the most basic models.
As soon as he set his eyes on the metal on the workbench, he didn't hesitate at all. He swung the hammer and struck it head-on.
"Boom, boom, boom—"
The instant the forging hammer touched the metal, a series of hammer blows rang out one after another, though Lu Li had only struck once.
Stacking Hammer was one of the most common hammer traits in the forging world, and also widely considered the most useful.
With the effect of Stacking Hammer, even a single strike could produce the effect of several, or even more than ten blows.
At that very moment, a flash of light flickered across the Heavy Silver in the blink of an eye, as if it had just gained intelligence.
Thousand-Refined First Grade!
Though Lu Li had struck only once, the large piece of Heavy Silver—which had been nothing more than ordinary material before—had now become a top-tier creation that even a Grandmaster-level blacksmith would struggle to produce.
[Your talent is truly astonishing. With only your first experience forging, you completed Thousand Refinement in an instant and created Thousand-Refined First Grade Heavy Silver.] [Host, you're so awesome!] [You're practically superhuman!]
The system's voice suddenly exploded in Lu Li's mind, accompanied by a series of rumbling, thunderous sounds.
"..."
Listening to the noise in his head, Lu Li couldn't help feeling a little amused. If his system weren't an artificial idiot, he might actually have been happy to receive such praise.
Well, no, not really. After all, that so-called Thousand-Refined First Grade had taken only one strike.
But the system's next words immediately set his eyes alight:
[This may not be your limit. Please continue forging and finish the entire piece.] [Once you're done, this system will use the forging process to assess your comprehension and determine your final improvement.]
Lu Li smiled and tightened his grip on the forging hammer. Without hesitation, he immediately began striking the metal again and again.
If there was no limit to what he could achieve on his first try at forging...
Then he wouldn't hold back at all!
He held the hammer loosely, his strength neither too great nor too weak, and struck the metal with a steady rhythm.
It didn't look like forging so much as creating a beautiful work of art. The sounds weren't harsh or noisy, but instead formed a pleasing rhythm.
Under his hammer, it took almost no time for an even brighter light than before to burst forth. This was the foundation of a level-five blacksmith: Spirit Forging!
And of course, that still wasn't the limit.
"..."
Ten minutes passed in the blink of an eye.
[Congratulations! You have completed a top-tier Soul Forging Fusion Forging creation. Rating: Top-tier level-eight blacksmith, Saint Craftsman.] [Host, your skill is like the work of a divine craftsman. With just your first forging experience, you've already reached the goal everyone on the continent dreams of.] [Your comprehension has improved.] [Congratulations! You have gained the ability: Transcendental Comprehension Boost.] [In any field you can learn, your abilities will become extraordinary, and sudden insight will come as easily as drinking water.]
"..."
Lu Li smiled, put away the forging hammer, and casually tossed the finished metal piece on the table into his system storage. He was in a great mood.
See? Another reward.
Honestly...
This mission didn't have a shred of challenge to it!
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