Chapter 13

An hour later.

Wisps of imperceptible crimson light flames detached from Mu Xi's body and merged into Lin Jin's torso.

Instantly, a sense of lucidity permeated his body and mind.

He only felt that the world before his eyes seemed much clearer.

Clearly, the harvest this time was not small.

On the other side.

Mu Xi's breathing was somewhat rapid, and the very next instant she opened her eyes, her gaze locked firmly onto Lin Jin.

She looked at him as if he were a rare, peerless treasure.

Although she had been burned this time, and the sensation was far from pleasant, she had indeed felt the gains firsthand.

Not only had her soul power become more solid, but even her spiritual power had improved.

She had a hunch that this might greatly accelerate her speed in advancing to a Level 2 Blacksmith.

At this moment, Mu Xi only wanted Lin Jin to burn her again.

Discomfort or no discomfort, none of that mattered.

If she could keep having this kind of improvement, it wouldn't matter if he kept burning her!

Lin Jin felt a bit creeped out by Mu Xi's stare and hastily looked at Mu Chen.

Mu Chen covered his face and glared, saying, "Alright, this kind of good fortune only happens once. There won't be much effect afterwards, so stop trying to target A Jin and fleece him dry."

After a pause, he warned again, "Remember to keep this matter locked in your heart. Don't go blurting things out without a filter."

Mu Chen and Mu Xi were father and daughter, and their martial souls were also the same.

Having watched closely the entire time, he naturally knew how massive a benefit his daughter had obtained, and he also knew how huge the impact would be if this were exposed at the moment.

Therefore, he immediately spoke up to remind her.

"Is that so..."

A clear look of disappointment appeared on Mu Xi's face.

But seeing her father's stern expression right after, she stuck out her tongue and immediately promised, "Fine, fine, I know now. I will definitely not tell anyone."

"A Jin is my good younger brother after all; how could I possibly fail to keep my younger brother's secret?"

As she spoke, she looked at Lin Jin and smiled brightly. "Right, younger brother?"

Thud!

Mu Chen immediately flicked his daughter on the forehead with a finger, prompting a cry of pain.

Ignoring his daughter's protest right after, he turned his gaze to Lin Jin and said with a furrowed brow, "That Spirit Transmission Master who awakened your martial soul for you—Wang Tao?"

He was afraid that Wang Tao, who had profited from this, would leak the secret for the sake of his own future.

Lin Jin said, "He doesn't seem like a bad person, or else I wouldn't have had the chance to come here."

Mu Chen was slightly startled upon hearing this, and he nodded in agreement.

Yet ripples stirred in his own heart as well.

Lin Jin was even shrewder than he had imagined.

Making such a relentless dash to the Blacksmith Association was probably not just because of poverty, but because he had perceived the risks inherent in that ability of his martial soul.

Shrewd...

That was also quite good.

In this world today, one couldn't survive without being a little shrewd!

In his heart, Mu Chen did not harbor any angry emotions because of Lin Jin's "scheming."

On the contrary, this made him appreciate Lin Jin, his disciple, all the more.

Thinking this, Mu Chen's expression turned stern. He glared at Mu Xi and then looked back at Lin Jin.

"Alright, with matters here settled, next, I will officially begin teaching you how to become a blacksmith."

Hearing this, Mu Xi's gaze sharpened, and she immediately and unostentatiously took a step back, intending to escape the scene.

Yet the next moment, she was caught red-handed by Mu Chen, who hauled her right back by the collar.

"Since you're back, you don't need to rush off anymore."

"I, I have an exam tomorrow!"

"Heh, I'll personally escort you back to the academy tonight."

"..."

Mu Chen dragged Mu Xi away to test whether her forging skills had improved after a month of absence.

As for Lin Jin's homework, it was much simpler, and even somewhat monotonous.

Mu Chen specially prepared a pair of tungsten steel hammers of just the right weight for him, and simply had him swing them repeatedly.

Smash!

This was the first lesson Mu Chen taught to initiate Lin Jin into the craft.

After merely a hundred-odd strikes, Lin Jin already felt his arms aching and sore, making it difficult to continue.

Each of the pair of tungsten steel hammers weighed about ten kilograms.

For an ordinary adult, swinging and smashing them down a hundred consecutive times would be a huge challenge.

Lin Jin was currently merely a six-year-old child.

Had he not already become a Spirit Master and received Mu Chen's meticulous conditioning during this period, reaching this stage would have been utterly impossible.

When all was said and done, Lin Jin's physique still had a massive gap compared to those Spirit Masters with beast martial souls.

And compared to Tang Wulin, who bore the bloodline of the Golden Dragon King, he was weaker still.

Therefore, although the Lotus Flower Flame could provide a fairly enormous boost to his forging,

when it came to foundational practice, wanting to stand out from the crowd was actually quite difficult.

Still, Lin Jin did not give up because of his aching arms.

He continued swinging his hammers nonetheless.

The clanging sound of blows echoed continuously within the forging room.

While testing his daughter, Mu Chen also kept a constant watch on Lin Jin.

Seeing the perseverance Lin Jin displayed, a look of approval appeared in his eyes, while at the same time, he already had an idea of what materials should be used for Lin Jin's first forging hammer.

Soon, night fell.

Lin Jin stopped and rested in intervals, swinging his hammer over a thousand times.

Mu Xi suffered terribly under Mu Chen's examination and, without looking back, hailed a cab to leave overnight, refusing to let Mu Chen drive her.

Lin Jin's homework, however, had yet to end.

Taking advantage of the recuperation and recovery period, Mu Chen detailed the relevant precautions for forging to Lin Jin, along with some of his own personal experience.

Late at night, Lin Jin sat cross-legged on his bed in meditation, both cultivating his soul power and sorting out his gains from the day.

Gradually, he actually fell into a state of deep meditation.

On the other side.

Mu Chen dialed a number.

After a few rings on the other end, the call was connected.

"What is it?"

Mu Chen's eyes were profound. "You're still my senior brother, right?"

"Hm?"

Zhen Hua felt something was a bit off, but still instinctively replied, "Of course I am. What, got yourself into some trouble?"

Judging by Zhen Hua's experience, this junior brother of his was actually quite prideful in his heart.

Unless he encountered some problem he could by no means resolve, he would never easily seek him out.

Therefore, he did not deliberately make things difficult and directly asked about the predicament.

"If I said your junior brother ran into some trouble and absolutely needs a bit of Ethereal Gold to resolve it, you as a senior brother certainly wouldn't stand by with your arms crossed, right?"

Mu Chen spoke at a rapid pace, giving Zhen Hua no time to think at all.

"Of course."

Sure enough, Zhen Hua's tone carried a faint pride.

It seemed he was happy that his junior brother had a request of him, and thus he didn't think too deeply about it.

"Good then, give me ten or eight catties of Ethereal Gold. A bit more wouldn't hurt either."

Mu Chen suddenly relaxed, a trace of a smile even carrying in his tone.

Ethereal Gold was a precious material that could be used as a core component of Four-Word Battle Armor, and could even be used to forge god-grade weapons.

In terms of soul power conduction, it itself had almost zero delay, earning it the title of a god-grade soul power-conduction material.

It also possessed the characteristic of spatial resonance.

Furthermore, it inherently possessed the ultimate capability of making heavy objects feel as light as a feather—falling into one's hand like nothing at all, yet reaching god-grade hardness!