Junior Sister Na'er

Yun Ze took a deep breath, reached for the forging hammers beside him, held one in each hand, and tossed them into the air.

Under the influence of gravity, the hammers fell away from each other.

Yun Ze raised both hands and caught the hammers steadily. A sharp glint flashed in his eyes, and one hammer came crashing down.

"Clang—!"

The sound wasn't piercing, but it rang out loudly through the forging room.

Feng Wuyu watched from the side, somewhat astonished by Yun Ze's movements.

Few blacksmiths dared to start swinging their hammers like that. Especially at Yun Ze's current level of cultivation, one solid blow from a forging hammer would leave him at least dizzy and disoriented.

The entire forging platform before them heated up during the forging process, and the temperature only continued to rise as the work went on.

If Yun Ze got hit hard enough to become dizzy and toppled face-first onto the platform, he could easily end up getting roasted.

This move of Yun Ze's was a bad habit, but after Feng Wuyu had tried to correct him countless times without success, he had simply let it go.

Yun Ze's hammering was swift, and each blow landed at precisely the right moment.

He completed the Hundred Refinement in just over fifty strikes. The intervals between every blow had been calculated to the finest detail, earning even Feng Wuyu's admiration.

As the shadows of the hammers flashed, Yun Ze's forging hammers began to take shape.

Quick-eyed and nimble, Feng Wuyu grabbed Yun Ze's wrist the instant his final blow landed and drew a little blood.

The blood dripped onto the glowing red metal, and wisps of white smoke rose at once.

A complete pair of forging hammers took shape on the platform.

The dragon patterns on the hammers remained vivid, gleaming with dazzling golden light.

Feng Wuyu said excitedly,

"To think you could complete the shaping forge so quickly. All that training I put you through was worth it."

"Now we'll see what special effect this pair of forging hammers gives you."

Excitement showed in Feng Wuyu's eyes as he spoke. Yun Ze, however, wasn't particularly interested. This sort of thing was, to put it plainly, just an added bonus.

As long as one's cultivation was high enough, there was no need for flashy special effects to forge metal well.

He brought the hammer down once. The test metal shuddered, and then several black, sand-like particles were flung out of it.

Feng Wuyu picked up the black grains and rubbed them between his fingers. Then he immediately swapped in another piece of metal and instructed Yun Ze,

"Try another strike."

Though Yun Ze didn't understand what was going on, he followed Feng Wuyu's instructions and brought the hammer down.

The result was the same. Feng Wuyu picked up some more black grains and rubbed them between his fingers.

Then he said excitedly,

"Ze'er, this pair of hammers is a real treasure for a blacksmith! Your special effect is the legendary Impurity Removal!"

"Normally, it takes a thousand strikes to remove impurities, but you can get rid of most of them with a single blow. Two strikes can refine raw ore metal to the same purity as Hundred Refinement metal."

"If you keep this up, the Hundred Refinement metal you forge will be comparable to Thousand Refinement metal, and every piece will match the purity of metal from the next stage."

Feng Wuyu picked up the metal and weighed it in his hand, clicking his tongue in wonder.

"Indeed, metal forged with hammers that have this Impurity Removal effect doesn't just lose its impurities; it doesn't lose any weight either. It's as if the metal's original substance has appeared out of nowhere, squeezing the impurities out of it."

Yun Ze watched Feng Wuyu calmly. Once the older man had settled down a little, he said,

"Then, old man, I'll be off. I've got a mecha design class this afternoon."

Seeing Yun Ze's expression, Feng Wuyu could only sigh and say,

"If you focused on blacksmithing alone, you might be able to reach a higher level."

Yun Ze smiled and replied,

"People only have so much patience. Even if I focused solely on blacksmithing, I wouldn't have the patience to devote more of my time to it."

"The results would be about the same either way. Wouldn't that make you even angrier?"

Feng Wuyu helplessly waved a hand at Yun Ze.

"Fine, fine. You've got a point. Go on, then. Your other teacher has an even stranger temper than I do. If you're late, he'll give you a hard time again."

Yun Ze rubbed his nose, then hurried toward the Mecha Designer Association on the other side.

Today's mecha design class wasn't particularly advanced. It was mainly a level assessment. It seemed that Teacher Cai from the Mecha Designer Association was worried Yun Ze was progressing more slowly in mecha design than in blacksmithing.

Yun Ze had just completed Thousand Refinement in blacksmithing and naturally earned a Level 3 Blacksmith Badge, so they immediately arranged a Level 3 design assessment for him.

Yun Ze hadn't been neglecting either field. He was a Level 3 blacksmith, and his design skills were only one assessment away from Level 3 as well.

After completing the Level 3 mecha design assessment by designing an armguard for a One-Word Battle Armor, Yun Ze was finally free to leave. But from what his design teacher had said, it seemed Yun Ming had called for him because something had come up.

Yun Ze returned to the depths of Sea God Island.

As soon as he entered the courtyard, he saw a white-haired girl sitting on a swing beneath a tree.

The girl sat quietly, her purple eyes somewhat vacant. She seemed unconcerned by what was happening around her.

Yun Ze had a few guesses about her identity. Silver hair and purple eyes, and an encounter with Yun Ming—there couldn't be more than a handful of people on Douluo Continent who fit that description.

Narrow it down by her age, and there was only one likely person.

Yun Ze stepped forward, putting on the look of a curious boy, and looked up at the girl.

"Hi, little sister. My name is Yun Ze. Who are you? Why are you at my house?"

Only then did the girl snap out of it. Her gaze focused on Yun Ze, though she didn't answer right away.

Yun Ze felt a faint pressure, as if the girl were testing his strength. He showed no excessive reaction, merely curling his lips into a smile and repeating his question.

After a brief silence, the girl answered timidly,

"I—I'm Na'er."

Yun Ze nodded and looked at the white-haired girl with curiosity. Just as I thought. It really is her.

Yun Ming came out just then, accompanied by a black-haired man with golden eyes.

The two seemed to have been chatting happily. After seeing the man off, Yun Ming turned to introduce him.

"Looks like you two have already gotten acquainted. Ze'er, let me introduce you. This is Na'er, your future junior sister. Make sure you get along!"

Yun Ze nodded. Yun Ming thought for a moment, then said...