"Grandpa, I'm here!"
When Le Bai arrived at the Blacksmith Shop, he happened to see the old man preheating the furnace. He immediately walked in, stood beside him, and carefully observed his technique.
After a while, the old man suddenly asked, "Did you remember it all?"
"I did."
Le Bai nodded firmly.
"Then you do it."
The old man decisively gave up his position.
Le Bai reviewed what he had learned yesterday in his mind, compared it with the old man's movements he had just memorized, kept the Soul Power within his body circulating, and began pushing and pulling the bellows.
"Hmm!"
The old man, who had been watching Le Bai, could not help widening his eyes. "This... He learned eighty percent of it in just half a day?!"
The remaining twenty percent had to be accumulated bit by bit through practical experience. It was not something that could be learned through teaching alone.
"Child, I still don't know your name."
The old man asked.
"Huh?"
Le Bai's attention was entirely focused on the bellows and his Soul Power, so he had not caught what the old man said. "Grandpa, what did you say?"
The old man smiled and repeated himself. "I asked what your name is."
Le Bai said, "My name is Le Bai. Le as in music, Bai as in white."
"So, Le Bai, you..."
The old man paused and organized his words. "Do you still want to learn blacksmithing from me?"
"I do."
Le Bai nodded, a little helplessly. "But during the day from now on, I'll be auditing classes at Shrek Academy, so I'll have less time to come here and learn blacksmithing from you."
"Hahaha, what does that matter!"
The old man laughed heartily. "This old man will be right here; I'm not going anywhere. The people at Shrek Academy are all esteemed Soul Masters, so attending class is obviously more important! Come by whenever you have time and learn a little. With your talent, I don't think it'll be long before you surpass this old fool!"
After thanking the old man, Le Bai temporarily stopped circulating his Soul Power and devoted all his attention to learning blacksmithing.
...Four days later...
"Damn, I forgot about money."
Le Bai looked at the last Silver Soul Coin in his hand and wondered whether he should borrow money from Oscar. He should have gone to Spirit Hall to register and received one Gold Soul Coin by now, right? If I only borrow ten Silver Soul Coins, he should...
The thought lingered in Le Bai's mind for five seconds.
"Forget it."
Le Bai shook his head and took out the last piece of wood he had left. There are no Cultural Classes at Shrek this morning. I should have enough time.
The tools Flender had lent him earlier had already been returned. The tools Le Bai used now were ones he had paid the old man to make the metal blade portions for, while he made the remaining wooden parts himself and assembled them.
The newly made tools were not as handy as the old ones, but what Le Bai planned to make next was fairly simple. It was nowhere near as intricate as the Kongming Locks and Luban Balls he had made before. Besides, Le Bai's Woodworking skill was high enough that the tools were only a minor issue.
Once he finished making it, Le Bai brought it to the only carpenter's home in the village. "Uncle carpenter, I have a little thing that can make money. Would you like to spend some money to buy it?"
"Isn't this Le Bai? What, did you come up with another good idea?"
The carpenter put down the Luban Ball he was making and looked at the box in Le Bai's hands, revealing a far-from-simple-minded smile. "The thing you sold my little brat last time was really great! Several children in the village want one, and my business has improved quite a bit lately!"
"It's different from last time, but it's also something for children to play with."
Le Bai glanced at the Luban Ball parts the carpenter had just finished. They were already seventy or eighty percent as good as his own work. "I'm short on money right now, and I don't have much time to make and sell them myself, so I thought I'd sell the idea directly to you, Uncle."
"Sell the idea?"
The carpenter did not understand at first, but after thinking about it for a moment, he got it. "You mean you teach me how to make it, I give you money, and you won't make and sell it yourself?"
"That's right."
Le Bai nodded. "But this thing is easy to imitate. You'd better make more of them before selling them, but not too many. Otherwise, once others copy it and lower the price, yours won't sell well."
"I see..."
The carpenter rubbed his stubbly chin and pondered for a while before asking, "How much do you plan to sell it for?"
"Ten Silver Soul Coins."
Le Bai named a cheap price. "Each finished one can sell for ten to twenty Copper Soul Coins. If you sell them to rich people in Suotuo City, you could even charge one Silver Soul Coin. Either way, you'll definitely earn the money back. If I had enough time, I really would like to make them myself..."
"Fine!"
The carpenter also felt the price was low. He went straight inside, took out ten Silver Soul Coins, and handed them to Le Bai. "Can you show me the thing now?"
"Of course."
Le Bai put away the money and opened the box. "I call this Flying Chess. The rules are like this..."
Ten minutes later:
"Uncle, I really have to go."
"Hey, hey, play a little longer! My last flying-type Soul Master is almost at Spirit Hall!"
"I still need to go back and cook. Can't you have your son play with you?"
"Uh, right! Then take care."
Back in his room, Le Bai stared at the ten Silver Soul Coins and began to ponder. With Parallel Thinking active, he pondered in a state of "single-core dual-threading":
I underestimated food expenses before. These ten Silver Soul Coins will only last around thirty days at most. I can still come up with similar "toys," but that obviously won't be enough to support me until I become a Soul Master.
Learning the basic techniques of blacksmithing shouldn't be a problem, but they're only basics. There's no way to turn them into money in a short time.
If I could make high-end products that only I can make, like Tang San, I could use a supply-and-consignment model. Or I could just sell them directly to Flender.
Or I could give up this pointless pride and borrow money from Oscar... Borrowing money from Oscar will be my final backup plan.
Let's think carefully. What cards do I have in hand—another world's civilization, the Panel, and... this world's Martial Souls and Soul Power.
Which one could possibly be turned into money... No, I shouldn't limit myself to one. I should combine them freely!
A flash of inspiration struck, and Le Bai thought of something, but it was not clear enough yet.
The Panel, Martial Souls, Soul Power, another world's civilization... precision processing... tools... Soul Power... Panel...
He tightly grasped the few elements that had appeared in his mind during that flash of inspiration and repeatedly turned them over in his head. At last, his train of thought gradually became clear.
"Found it!"
Le Bai looked at the Soul Power coiled around his finger, his face showing the joy of someone who had finally discovered the strategy guide after grinding a game for more than ten hours. "This is it!"
Ten days had passed since Le Bai discovered the "strategy guide." Of the ten Silver Soul Coins, he had spent more than three, leaving six Silver Soul Coins and over forty Copper Soul Coins.
"After class yesterday, Flender said there wouldn't be any Cultural Classes today."
Le Bai shut the door and headed toward the Blacksmith Shop. "It's time to test the results of these past few days of practice."
Before you continue