Blue Pregnancy Copper

The secondary professional competition venue for the Sky Sea Grand Competition was located on the east side of the stadium, consisting of a row of independent buildings.

After finishing his meal, Yun Jingheng did not return to the hotel, instead standing before the bulletin board at the entrance of the competition venue for a long time.

Ye Xinglan had gone back first; she had another match tomorrow and needed to return to rest.

Yun Jingheng was not tired, nor did he want to go back so early.

The bulletin board listed the day's schedule: Mecha Production, Design, Maintenance, and Forging.

He stared at those words for a while, then turned his head to look at Ya Li.

Ya Li was standing beside him, checking her communicator, unsure if she was replying to a message from Yun Ming or handling academy affairs.

Yun Jingheng said nothing, simply watching her.

Ya Li sensed his gaze and turned, meeting his eyes.

She did not speak, merely smiling as she looked at him.

Yun Jingheng remained silent as well.

The two stared at each other for a few seconds.

Ya Li continued to smile.

Yun Jingheng continued to watch her.

After another few seconds, Ya Li spoke: "I thought you were captivated by Mother's beauty."

The corner of Yun Jingheng's mouth twitched, "Mom, I want to go watch the secondary professional competitions."

Ya Li laughed aloud, reaching out to ruffle his hair.

"Alright~ let's go."

The competition staff were stunned when they saw Ya Li, then hurriedly came forward to greet her.

"Your Excellency, why have you come?" Ya Li smiled and said she was just bringing her child to take a look.

The staff member quickly led the way, bringing them to the seats with the best view.

The people at the judges' table also stood up, nodding to Ya Li in respect.

Ya Li waved her hand, signaling them to continue and not to mind her.

Yun Jingheng followed beside Ya Li, watching the way those adults treated her with such reverence, and suddenly recalled the big shots he had seen at academic conferences in his past life.

Wherever they went, people cleared the path, and whatever they said, people nodded in agreement.

He withdrew his gaze and sat down in the spectator area with Ya Li.

The first event was Mecha Production.

Several contestants stood before their workbenches, with piles of parts laid out in front of them.

The referee blew the whistle, and they began to work.

Yun Jingheng watched for a while, observing very intently.

Then, he lost the desire to watch.

He could understand the mecha parts those people were making.

It wasn't the kind of understanding where one "roughly knows what it is," but a true, deep understanding ranging from principles to structure.

He could see through everything, even identifying where the designs were suboptimal and where they could be optimized.

He leaned back against the chair, having lost interest.

Ya Li glanced at him, "Not interested anymore?"

"It's not that. I can understand what they're making, and once I understand it, it's no longer interesting."

Ya Li didn't speak, simply smiling.

The second event was Forging.

A new group of people replaced the previous ones on the competition floor, and ores and hammers were placed on the workbenches.

Yun Jingheng had originally been prepared to leave, but as his gaze swept across the arena, he saw someone.

Tang Wulin.

He stood at the workbench on the far edge, his sleeves rolled up to his elbows, holding a forging hammer in his hand.

His movements were not fast, but every strike was steady, the sound of the hammer hitting the ore dull and powerful.

Yun Jingheng sat back down.

The ore in front of Tang Wulin slowly deformed under the hammer blows, the impurities on its surface stripped away layer by layer to reveal the true color of the metal within.

It was a blue metal, deep in color, like the deepest part of the ocean.

Blue Pregnancy Copper.

Yun Jingheng had seen the description of this metal in books—it possessed excellent soul power conductivity and was a core auxiliary material for crafting Battle Armor.

He had searched through the Shrek storehouse for it, but hadn't found any.

The piece in front of Tang Wulin now was larger than any he had ever seen in books.

Tang Wulin's hammer moved faster and faster, each strike landing precisely on the same spot.

The impurities on the surface of the Blue Pregnancy Copper were stripped away, revealing the complete metal block.

The blue hue shimmered under the lights, resembling a piece of solidified seawater.

Yun Jingheng stared at that piece of Blue Pregnancy Copper for a long time.

He turned his head to look at Ya Li.

"Mom, can I buy that Blue Pregnancy Copper?"

Ya Li glanced at him, then at Tang Wulin on the field, "You want it?"

Yun Jingheng nodded, "I need it for a Soul Tool."

Ya Li didn't ask further.

She stood up and walked toward the judges' bench.

The people on the judges' bench saw her approaching and hurriedly stood up.

Ya Li whispered a few words; the judge was stunned for a moment, then nodded.

He walked to the edge of the field, waiting for the forging competition to end.

Tang Wulin landed his final few strikes, and the Blue Pregnancy Copper was completely formed into a palm-sized metal ingot, its surface as smooth as a mirror.

The judge blew the whistle, and the competition ended.

Several judges walked over to inspect the contestants' work.

Tang Wulin's work was placed in the very center, and the judges gathered around it for a long time, whispering to one another.

Finally, the chief judge announced the result—Tang Wulin, first place.

Tang Wulin stood at the edge of the field, sweat on his face, but his eyes were bright.

Yun Jingheng watched him, suddenly recalling the day at the Spirit Ascension Platform, where this person had been the same—clearly nervous, yet not backing down in the slightest.

After announcing the result, the chief judge walked over to Tang Wulin and whispered a few words to him.

Tang Wulin was taken aback for a moment, then turned to look at the spectator stands.

Yun Jingheng stood up, walked down from the stands, and stopped in front of Tang Wulin.

"Hello," Yun Jingheng said.

Tang Wulin stood where he was, looking at the handsome boy in front of him, his mind in a bit of a whirl.

He recognized him; a year ago at the Spirit Ascension Platform, he had rushed out of the woods, being chased by a Dark Gold Dreadclaw Bear, looking utterly disheveled.

Back then, Tang Wulin had thought he was just an unlucky soul master who had been targeted by the bear, nothing more.

Later, he heard that the bear had been split open by a single sword strike.

He hadn't known who had done it.

This morning, he had sat in the rest area, watching this person stand on the competition field with three soul rings floating behind him—two purple and one black.

His Moon Blade had sealed off all of Zhang Yangzi's attack routes, his second soul skill had interrupted the focused fire from Wang Jinxi and Zhang Yangzi, and his third soul skill had pierced through the body of the Dark Eagle Dragon like moonlight passing through clouds.

Then, his coordination with Ye Xinglan had pierced the bone armor of the Dark Eagle Dragon with a single strike.

Tang Wulin had sat in the stands, gripping the railing until his knuckles turned white.

He had watched that silver-white back and thought, So it was him.

Now that person was standing in front of him, saying hello.

Tang Wulin opened his mouth, wanting to say something, but his throat felt as if it were blocked by something.

He knew Yun Jingheng, but Yun Jingheng might not necessarily know him.

During that time at the Spirit Ascension Platform, they had merely brushed past each other, not even exchanging a few words.

"You..."

Tang Wulin spoke, his voice a bit dry, "Do you know me?"

Yun Jingheng looked at him, "The Spirit Ascension Platform riot period; you were with four other people."

Tang Wulin was stunned.

He remembered.

A year ago, during the Spirit Ascension Platform riot, Zero Class had encountered Xu Xiaoyu, and then the Dark Gold Dreadclaw Bear had chased them.

Then this boy had rushed out of the woods, being chased by the bear.

He remembered that scene—it had been very pathetic.

But the person standing in front of him now was not pathetic at all.

"Back then... you were being chased by a bear," Tang Wulin said.

Yun Jingheng nodded with a smile, "Yeah."

Tang Wulin looked at him, suddenly at a loss for words.

That boy who had once been chased by a bear was now a three-ring Soul Elder with two purple and one black soul ring, someone who had once split a Dark Gold Dreadclaw Bear in half with a single sword strike.

And he, meanwhile, was still struggling at the two-ring stage.

Yun Jingheng did not notice the change in Tang Wulin's expression.

His gaze was fixed on the piece of Blue Pregnancy Copper in Tang Wulin's hand.

"Can you sell me the piece of Blue Pregnancy Copper you just forged?"

Tang Wulin looked down at the metal ingot in his hand.

He had spent a full hour forging it; from selecting the ore to hammering and purifying, he had been extremely meticulous with every single step.

He was a bit reluctant to part with it, but the competition rules stated that forged metals could not be taken away, so he looked up at Yun Jingheng.

Those black eyes were bright—just as bright as they had been during the match, and just as steady as when he had been under concentrated fire from Wang Jinxi on the field.

"What do you need it for?" Tang Wulin asked.

"To make a Soul Tool."

Yun Jingheng said, "Blue Pregnancy Copper has the best soul power conductivity; it can increase the efficiency of a core by thirty percent."

Tang Wulin didn't know much about Soul Tools, but he understood "thirty percent higher."

He hesitated for a moment, "Can't you find it at Shrek?"

Yun Jingheng shook his head.

"Shrek has it, but this piece of yours is of higher quality—better than anything I've seen elsewhere."

Tang Wulin looked at the Blue Pregnancy Copper in his hand, then back at Yun Jingheng.

He handed the Blue Pregnancy Copper over, "I'll give it to you."

Yun Jingheng shook his head, "That wouldn't be appropriate. Technically, this belongs to the competition organizers; even if they agreed, I still have to ask you."

Tang Wulin scratched his head, "Then... just pay whatever you think is fair?"

Yun Jingheng displayed his communication number.

Tang Wulin was stunned for a moment, then added him as a friend, and the money was transferred—100,000.

Tang Wulin stood there, wanting to say something, but the other had already walked away, even turning back to wave at him.

The chief referee walked over and patted him on the shoulder, "Kid, you've got good luck."

Tang Wulin was taken aback, "What?"

The chief referee smiled, said nothing, and walked away.

Tang Wulin looked down at the "cold" 100,000 in his hand, then looked in the direction Yun Jingheng had left.

He suddenly remembered that when the matches ended this morning, Xu Xiaoyan had been leaning against the railing, her face flushed and her eyes bright.

When Xie Xie asked her what was wrong, she said it was the heat.

But Tang Wulin didn't think it was the heat.

He thought of Gu Yue again; she had been sitting in the very back, holding a cup of water, her expression indifferent, yet she had stared toward the entrance of the passage for a long time.

He lowered his head and tucked his soul communication device into his pocket.

Yun Jingheng walked back to the spectator stands, held up the Blue Pregnancy Copper in his hand, and inspected it against the light.

The blue metal shimmered with a faint halo under the light, its internal structure pure, with almost no visible impurities.

The quality was indeed excellent.

He tucked it into his storage Soul Tool and patted it, very satisfied.

Ya Li watched him from the side, "Satisfied?"

Yun Jingheng nodded, "Mm."

Ya Li smiled, "Let's go, head back and rest. There's still a match tomorrow."