Withered Soul Spirit's Choice, Meeting Zhen Hua

The Nether, huh? It seems I've never taken anyone else there; every time I've gone, it was just to hunt for Nether Fortresses or Bastion Remnants on my own.

Should I take Tang Wulin along in a bit?

Tang Heng was lost in thought.

Just then, Tang Wulin walked in after handing the Jade Horned Dragon over to the Three-Eyed Golden Lion.

"Brother, what are you doing? Is there anything I can help with?"

"Hmm, I'm planning to upgrade my potions, but I'm missing a material. I was thinking of heading out to grab some soon."

Tang Wulin blinked his bright, large eyes and asked curiously, "Where are we going on an adventure this time?"

"Uh, the Nether."

Upon hearing Tang Heng's answer, Tang Wulin froze. The Nether? Wasn't that the realm of sinners and the dead from novels?

Seeing Tang Wulin's stunned expression, Tang Heng hurriedly explained, "How should I put it? It's definitely not what you're imagining. You can think of it as another dimension attached to the Overworld, just with vastly different creatures and biomes."

"Oh, I see." Tang Wulin tilted his head and smiled, "Even if you really sent me to hell, Brother, I'd be fine with it."

"Silly, how could I ever let you die?"

Tang Heng stuffed a few Healing Potions into Tang Wulin's hands and cautioned, "I've just used gunpowder to extend the duration of these. If you get hurt in a fight or have to battle someone later, it's best to drink one."

Tang Wulin happily accepted the Healing Potions from his brother and carefully tucked them into his storage Soul Tool.

"Let's go. Remember, once we're in the Nether, don't touch those zombies that look like pigmen. They're disgusting; if you hit one, the rest will all come to beat you up."

Though Tang Heng wasn't afraid of them—mere Zombie Pigmen—if they dared to cause trouble, he would make sure they suffered a crushing defeat!

Tang Wulin nodded, then followed behind Tang Heng as they both stood inside the Nether Portal.

The next second, a world of crimson red filled their vision.

Compared to the Overworld, the Nether gave off a stifling atmosphere, not just because of the missing blue sky, but also the endless, steaming sea of lava.

"It's so hot."

Tang Wulin fanned himself with his hand; he had only just arrived and was already sweating all over.

Because the Realistic Weather mod was loaded, they now had temperature values. In the Nether, terrain like lava seas caused the temperature to rise, first inflicting a stack of negative buffs, and once the temperature crossed a threshold, it would start draining their health continuously.

Conversely, if they went to a snowy mountain or the Far North, they would suffer from symptoms like hypothermia.

Tang Heng waved his hand, attempting to gather the water elements in the air, but only a dead silence answered him.

He almost forgot—there is no water in the Nether.

But that was fine; he had a backup plan.

"Drink this, you shouldn't feel hot anymore." Tang Heng pulled a few Fire Resistance Potions from his pack, drank one himself, and handed the rest to Tang Wulin.

After drinking the Fire Resistance Potion, it was indeed much better; at the very least, they wouldn't feel the heat for the duration of the effect.

"Remember, just go and mine as much of this glowing yellow stone as you can. The more, the better."

"Understood!"

The two brothers split up, agreeing to meet back at the Nether Portal in an hour to maximize efficiency.

Once he had the Glowstone, he could spare a portion of his current potions to upgrade their potency. From now on, he could officially be called a potion maniac.

The pleasant time spent mining Glowstone passed quickly.

Tang Heng didn't encounter anything new during that time, but on the way back, he casually slaughtered a few Magma Cubes to make it easier to brew Fire Resistance Potions for future Nether trips.

"Brother, this is the Glowstone I collected, and these too." Tang Wulin spat out several large stacks of Glowstone dust in one go, then tossed a few black skull heads to Tang Heng.

"These are Wither Skeleton Skulls! Wulin, did you see a fortress just now?"

Tang Wulin nodded, looking thoughtful. "I was over there mining Glowstone when suddenly a group of pitch-black skeletons with stone swords came to hack at me. Luckily, I drank one of the potions you gave me, otherwise, we would have ended up back at the spawn point."

What luck; he actually managed to get drops for Wither Skeleton Skulls.

Back when he first played MC, he had prepared to fight the Wither to complete an achievement. He spent an entire day in a Nether Fortress farming Wither Skeletons just to barely scrape together three skulls.

Tang Wulin had a single skirmish and managed to get six in one go.

And that was without the Looting Enchantment. This luck was truly unrivaled.

"Well done. I'll make you a feast when we get back."

Tang Heng patted Tang Wulin's head, and the boy smiled, looking completely content.

The feeling was subtle, very much like the sensation of petting the big yellow dog he had in his previous life.

Setting aside that strange feeling, the Wither Skeleton Skulls were indeed quite useful. They could be used to summon the Wither, the strongest boss creature in vanilla survival mode besides the Ender Dragon.

The Gold Dragon King martial soul carried the power of the Dragon God, along with its tyranny and the power of destruction, and the Wither perfectly fit the concept of destruction.

Tang Heng had originally planned to make the Wither his martial soul or Soul Spirit once he reached level forty. This had saved him the tedious step of farming skulls.

After all, with his "non-chief" luck, even with the blessing of the Auspicious Beast, it would likely have taken him quite a while to farm enough skulls.

Back in the Overworld, Tang Heng kept his promise and cooked a sumptuous turkey feast for Tang Wulin.

He tossed the extra meat to the Golden Lion, letting her go feed the Ice Empress.

The curriculum at the primary academy was not very heavy, and classes usually ended around three in the afternoon.

This was to accommodate the work-study students, giving them spare time to go out and work.

After Tang Heng returned from the MC plane, he had originally intended to go back to his dormitory to type for a while. He had just reached the Second Heavenly Court War, and the climax—the destruction of the Fate Gu—was imminent.

However, he received a notification from the academy asking him to head to the office.

It seemed some big shot wanted to see him.

Could it be Mu Chen?

No, that wasn't right. If Brother Mu wanted to find him, he would have come directly; he wouldn't have gone through all this trouble, especially since he already knew him.

"Student Tang Heng, if I may be so bold as to ask, what is your relationship with the person in the office?"

His homeroom teacher, Lan Ruobing, who was leading the way, asked with curiosity.

She had been startled when she first received the notification. She never expected that a legendary Divine Craftsman—a man so elusive that even many Title Douluo could not get an audience with him—would actually grace their small school with his presence.

This was no different from going out to buy a lottery ticket today and winning a one-hundred-million Federation Coin jackpot.

"Could you at least give me a hint as to who wants to see me? Otherwise, I won't know how to address them."

Lan Ruobing took a deep breath, as if it required courage just to speak the man's name:

"Divine Craftsman Zhen Hua. You should know who he is, right?"

"Oh, it's Uncle Zhen Hua... wait, no, should I call him brother?"

What? What? Uncle? Brother?

Lan Ruobing couldn't process it for a moment. In any case, it meant the two of them were related.

Seeing her homeroom teacher's brain go into overload, Tang Heng had to explain it in a different way: "Actually, Teacher Lan, you don't need to think too much about it. He just took a liking to my talent."

"I see. So, Student Tang is a blacksmith? What level are you now?"

"Hmm, I just went for an assessment a few days ago."

Lan Ruobing smiled and praised him: "To be a Level 2 blacksmith at such a young age, it's no wonder Chairman Zhen Hua would come to see you in person."

"Uh, actually, it's not Level 2. Chairman Mu Chen personally certified me as a Six-Star Grandmaster because I accidentally completed a Spirit Forging that day."

Lan Ruobing suddenly stumbled in her stride, her entire face freezing in place.

"A, a Six-Star Grandmaster?!"

It seemed her student was a monster.