Smack!
A pebble struck the water, sending ripples spreading across the surface.
Mu Xi sat on a park bench, her eyes unfocused as she mechanically repeated the throwing motion.
Then, a familiar presence approached. The person beside her quietly sat down.
Naturally, she gently leaned against that shoulder, still somewhat slender yet already faintly steady and dependable.
"A-Yue, do you think my talent is really poor?" Mu Xi's voice was soft, like a breeze brushing through the park.
Xu Yue looked at her like this, and his voice softened as well.
"How could that be? Who in the Blacksmith Association hasn't heard of Mu Xi, the genius girl?"
"You became a Level 1 Blacksmith before turning eleven. Even Uncle Mu said you were better than he had been at your age."
"If you ask me, you're not much worse than Uncle Zhen Hua. If I were him, I'd be crying and begging to take you as my disciple."
"Pfft!" Mu Xi could not help laughing at Xu Yue's words, and much of her gloom dispersed.
"How could I be as good as you say? Uncle Zhen Hua dotes on me because I'm his niece, not because my talent is all that outstanding."
Yet the next moment, Mu Xi changed the subject, and her tone sank again. "But... I really do love forging!"
Xu Yue could clearly hear that those words came from the bottom of her heart.
When it came to talents like Innate Full Soul Power and an Innate Domain, Mu Xi felt nothing but surprise and pride for Xu Yue. But in the field of blacksmithing, he had truly dealt her a blow.
From the age of five, Mu Xi had begun swinging a specially made little iron hammer. At first, Mu Chen had only thought she was playing around, but she persisted for two full years, imitating her father's movements day after day.
Xu Yue had seen all of it.
"A-Yue, do you know?" Mu Xi said softly. "These past few days, I've kept thinking that with talent as great as yours, you'll definitely become a Limit Douluo in the future."
"By then, you'll definitely need Four-Word Battle Armor too! I also want to work toward becoming a Divine Blacksmith... I hope that someday, I can personally forge the most suitable Battle Armor for you."
She paused, a trace of complexity entering her voice. "I just never expected your talent for forging to be this good..."
"No, even the word 'good' isn't enough to describe it."
"So, Sister Mu Xi, you're jealous of me?" Xu Yue did not deny it and teased her with a smile.
"Jealous?" The lovely head resting against his shoulder shook slightly, carrying a hint of bitterness.
"You only feel jealous of goals you can still catch up to. Someone like you... I can't even bring myself to feel jealous."
For a moment, the two fell silent.
Just then, Mu Xi suddenly caught a glimpse of dazzling starlight from the corner of her eye.
On Xu Yue's outstretched palm before her lay an exquisite forging hammer.
"A-Yue, is this... that piece of Spirit Forged Star Meteor Iron of yours?!" Mu Xi recognized the material and cried out in surprise.
"Mm, I forged it into a hammer." Xu Yue nodded and placed the hammer into Mu Xi's hand. "Sister Mu Xi, it's for you."
"No! This is your first work. It has extraordinary meaning—I can't accept it!" Mu Xi hurriedly refused.
But Xu Yue insistently pressed the hammer into her palm. At the same time, another glimmer of starlight lit up in his other hand. "Look, I have one too! That piece of Star Meteor Iron was big enough, so I forged it into two hammers."
Feeling the resistance in Mu Xi's hand weaken, he continued.
"If you want to become a good blacksmith, how can you not have a good forging hammer? I tested the special effect of this Spirit Forging Star Meteor Hammer. It's called 'Star Spirit.'"
"If a blacksmith has a star-type Martial Soul, using it can produce different effects according to the characteristics of their Martial Soul. It should make your forging go more smoothly."
"Besides," he changed the subject, "I have a way to help you improve your forging skills faster."
"Really?" Mu Xi's eyes lit up.
"Of course it's true." Xu Yue spoke solemnly. "But first, you have to accept this Spirit Forging Star Meteor Hammer."
"...All right, I'll accept it." Mu Xi hesitated briefly, then nodded firmly. "A-Yue, tell me quickly. How can I improve?"
"Of course—" Xu Yue paused. An invisible Gravity Domain instantly descended, making Mu Xi's body sink. "By training within my domain."
"It is a principle recognized by the Blacksmith Association: the better your physical fitness, the faster your forging skills improve."
"You want to become the first Goddess Divine Blacksmith, and you want to forge Battle Armor for me too. You can definitely persevere, right?"
Naturally, an outstanding blacksmith could not rely on brute force alone. They also needed comprehension, technique, perseverance, and more—but none of those were problems for Mu Xi.
Although her Radiant Sun Martial Soul gave her some advantages in forging, it could not improve her physical fitness. That had become the fundamental restriction on her progress.
"Of course!" Determination flashed through Mu Xi's eyes as she tightly gripped the Spirit Forging Star Meteor Hammer in her hand.
The two hammers reflected each other's light, as though offering their blessing to the pair.
Seeing Mu Xi regain her confidence, Xu Yue smiled. "Sister Mu Xi, let's go home. Uncle and Auntie must be getting worried."
But Mu Xi narrowed her beautiful eyes, her tone carrying a touch of charming innocence.
"No. The exam was too exhausting. I want to stay a little longer."
Though she said that, whether she wanted to remain in the park or spend a little more time with the person beside her, both of them understood perfectly well.
Late at night, in the bedroom.
Xu Yue sat cross-legged, with Star of Eden quietly floating before him.
As Soul Power flowed into it, the dark-blue sphere instantly turned black-red, radiating invisible gravitational fluctuations.
Using the Gravity Domain to assist training had not been a spur-of-the-moment idea to comfort Mu Xi. It was a plan he had formed after careful consideration during the past few days of cultivating his Martial Soul.
No matter what kind of training environment or auxiliary equipment one used, there would always be places it could not reach.
Gravity was different. It could penetrate every corner of the human body.
Muscles, bones, internal organs, even every cell would all be affected by gravity.
As long as it was controlled within a certain range, it could efficiently improve one's physique without damaging the body.
However, his ideas about gravity went far beyond that.
"At present, I only have Jade Shield as a Soul Skill. Whether I can obtain offensive Soul Skills in the future is still uncertain."
"But my methods cannot be limited to the Soul Master system of Douluo Continent. That would be far too wasteful."
He thought of how the Herrscher of Rock from neither era in the world of Honkai Impact 3rd had truly displayed gravity's might.
Still, the previous Herrscher of Rock had at least devoured Mu Continent, causing the deaths of one-sixth of the world's population.
But Chen Tianwu of the current era had become fusion material the moment he appeared, merging with Anna to become the Herrscher of Ice.
Instead, successive Herrschers of Reason had brought gravity to its full potential.
"I can completely imitate Welt's development of Star of Eden and create gravity skills."
"For example, Gravity Bind, Gravity Slash, even the Three Rated Powers... though I can't simply copy the game settings."
"The Pseudo Black Hole clearly possessed all the physical properties of a real Black Hole, yet during the Second Eruption, its range was limited to the Siberian battlefield."
"Perhaps I can combine that with the physics knowledge I've learned and develop it on a deeper level."
With that thought, Xu Yue focused his gaze on Star of Eden.
The next moment, the black-red gravitational field no longer spread evenly. Instead, it began to gather and compress.
The air above his palm warped faintly. Vaguely, a tiny black-red spark flickered and danced in his hand.
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