About to Obtain a Soul Spirit, First Encounter with Forging!

Life at Red Mountain Academy was as dull as a cup of plain water, yet for these children who had just stepped into the world of Soul Masters, every sip tasted delicious.

Except for Tang Linyuan.

At the podium, Lin Ximeng was vividly explaining the Elementary Soul Beast Identification Record.

"Everyone, look. This rabbit with fangs is called a Soft Bone Rabbit. Although it's a first-level Soul Beast, its waist strength is astonishing..."

Tang Linyuan propped his chin up with one hand while the fingers of his other hand tapped lightly against the desk without conscious thought.

Though his gaze rested on the blackboard, his focus had long since drifted away.

He had already pored over this basic theory in the library until he knew it inside out.

He was deducing how the Dragon Swallowing Breathing Technique could work more efficiently with the exertion of force during forging.

"Tang Linyuan."

The class bell had barely rung when Lin Ximeng's voice came from the front.

The classroom instantly fell silent. Everyone looked reverently at the "king of the class" seated by the window.

Tang Linyuan rose and walked to the podium. "Teacher Lin."

Lin Ximeng looked at this excessively composed student, and a trace of admiration flashed through her eyes.

"The academy's approval has come through." She lowered her voice, unable to conceal the excitement in her tone.

"Next Wednesday, I'll take you to the Spirit Pagoda branch. Since this is a special academy authorization, we won't be stingy at this stage. You'll receive one chance to draw a 'random Soul Spirit.'"

Although it was a random draw and carried enormous uncertainty, for him, this would be a qualitative leap from zero to one.

"Get yourself ready. Some Soul Spirits place a heavy burden on both the body and spiritual power during fusion. Don't let yourself fall short when the time comes," Lin Ximeng cautioned.

"Don't worry. As for my body, I doubt there are many people my age in this world who can compare to me," Tang Linyuan replied calmly before turning and leaving.

Watching his retreating figure, Lin Ximeng shook her head with a wry smile.

This child's confidence sometimes truly made her feel like she was the student being taught.

After school, at Mang Tian Workshop.

The air there was forever saturated with the scent of coke and metal, the perfume of strength.

Today, Mang Tian did not have them swing their hammers directly as he had yesterday. Instead, he brought over a blackboard.

"Forging isn't about smashing things at random."

Mang Tian picked up a piece of unrefined pig iron, his expression solemn as though he held not a lump of iron, but a sacred relic.

"Ordinary blacksmiths merely change the shape of metal. A true Divine Craftsman awakens the life within metal. We call it—Hundred Refinement, Thousand Refinement, Spirit Refinement, Soul Forging, and Heavenly Forging."

"Of course, those things are still far too distant for you. Your task now is to learn how to listen."

"Listen?" Tang Wulin tilted his head, looking utterly confused. "Listen to what? The sound?"

For once, Mang Tian did not scold him. Instead, he looked toward Tang Linyuan. "What do you think?"

Tang Linyuan took the piece of pig iron, his fingertips gliding over its rough surface as he felt its icy texture.

"Listen to its grain, listen to its weak points, listen to what it wants to become," Tang Linyuan said softly.

"All things breathe. Metal is no exception. Strike along its grain, and it lives. Strike against its grain, and it dies."

Mang Tian's pupils suddenly contracted.

Even an old master who had immersed himself in forging for decades might not have summarized it so incisively.

Was this brat really only six years old?

"...Well said." Mang Tian drew a deep breath and suppressed the shock in his heart.

"Then let me see whether you can find its breathing. One rough iron billet each. Remove the impurities on its surface and forge it down to half its original volume. That will count as getting started."

"Begin!"

At Mang Tian's command, the two brothers took their places at their respective Forging Tables.

Tang Linyuan did not move immediately. He closed his eyes, and the intent of his spear thrusting forth like a dragon from his past life flowed through his mind.

A spear was an extension of the arm. A hammer was no different.

"Up."

He gave a low shout. The muscles in his right arm instantly tightened, and the heavy Tungsten Steel Hammer seemed to lose all weight in his hand as it carved a sharp arc through the air.

Clang!

The first hammer fell.

Unlike yesterday's brute force, this strike landed precisely on the most vulnerable point of the iron billet. Sparks flew in every direction, and the sound was crisp and pleasing, without the slightest trace of noise.

This was Force Listening.

What followed was a barrage of strikes like a raging storm.

Clang clang clang clang—!

Every strike Tang Linyuan delivered was as fast as lightning, yet as steady as a mountain.

Each hammer blow landed at the edge of the previous one, layer upon layer of force stacking together and forcibly squeezing the impurities from within the iron billet.

Black smoke visibly rose from it.

Mang Tian stood beside him, his hands somehow already clenched tightly around the corners of his clothes.

"This method of exerting force... this precision in striking... How is this an apprentice? He's practically a precision soul-guided machine tool!"

Only ten minutes passed.

Tang Linyuan lowered his hammer and exhaled a long breath of white vapor.

The originally dull gray iron billet had now shrunk to half its former size. Its surface shone with a near-silver gleam, and faint, delicate cloud patterns could be seen upon it.

"First-grade Refined Iron... no, this purity is nearly at the level of Hundred Refinement." Mang Tian stepped forward and stroked the still-hot metal, his voice trembling.

On his first attempt at forging, he had already reached a level that ordinary apprentices needed three years to attain.

"Not bad." Tang Linyuan gave it a brief assessment as if he had done something utterly insignificant, then turned to look at Tang Wulin beside him.

Tang Wulin's situation, however, was not looking good.

Born with immense strength, every hammer blow he delivered sent sparks flying everywhere. Yet that strange power was beyond his control, leaving the iron billet pitted and uneven, its shape warped.

The more anxious he became, the harder he struck, and his entire rhythm fell into chaos.

"Stop."

A hand pressed down on Tang Wulin's hammer handle.

Tang Linyuan walked behind his younger brother. Just as when he had taught him the breathing technique, he placed his own hand over Tang Wulin's small one.

"Wulin, don't fight it."

Tang Linyuan's voice sounded beside his ear, carrying a calming strength.

"It's your partner, not your enemy. Pull back thirty percent of your strength. Use seventy percent, and feel that instant when the hammer rebounds."

"Come, follow my rhythm. One, two, strike!"

Under his brother's guidance, Tang Wulin took a deep breath and raised his hammer again.

Clang!

This time, with Tang Linyuan helping him control the hammer, the hammerhead leaped high on the rebound. That smooth sensation made Tang Wulin's eyes light up.

"That's the feeling! Catch it!" Tang Linyuan released his hand and stepped back. "That's rhythm."

It was as if Tang Wulin had suddenly understood.

The violent power from deep within his body finally found a channel through which to flow.

It was no longer destruction, but reshaping.

Clang! Clang! Clang!

Though his technique was not as dazzling as Tang Linyuan's, every hammer blow Tang Wulin delivered was heavy and powerful, filled with a certain primal rhythm.

Half an hour later.

Tang Wulin excitedly raised his tongs. "Uncle Mang, Brother! I'm done!"

Clamped in the tongs was an iron plate without cloud patterns, yet its thickness was astonishingly uniform, its surface flat and smooth as a mirror.

There were no unnecessary protrusions and no obvious impurities.

For a six-year-old child—especially one with monstrous strength—such control was more precious than sheer power alone.

Mang Tian looked at the two children, at the piece of Refined Iron and the flat iron plate.

He felt his throat go dry.

He had thought he had taken in two poor brats who came to forge for a living, just trying to earn a meal.

But now he understood. How was he giving them charity?

Heaven had forcibly stuffed the seeds of this generation's Divine Craftsmen into his hands!

"Good... very good!"

Mang Tian's usually cold, stern face was now slightly flushed with excitement.

He forcefully patted both children on the shoulders, hard enough to make Tang Wulin bare his teeth in pain.

"From today onward, don't call me Uncle Mang."

Mang Tian straightened his back, his gaze burning. "Call me Teacher."

"I'll teach you everything I know about forging. If Red Mountain Academy can't make something of you, then I, Mang Tian, will forge you into the hardest steel on Douluo Continent even if it costs me everything!"

"Teacher."

The two brothers called out in unison.

Within the cramped workshop, the furnace blazed brightly, illuminating the figures of the three of them—one tall, two small.

If the future Divine Craftsman Zhen Hua had known that Mang Tian had picked up such an enormous bargain that day, he would probably have flown straight from Heaven Dou City to snatch them away out of jealousy.

"Go home. Before you head to the Spirit Pagoda next week, I'll forge each of you a custom Forging Hammer." Mang Tian waved a large hand, his spirit soaring.

As they left the workshop, the night breeze brushed against them.

Tang Wulin looked at his hands, covered in blisters yet brimming with strength, and grinned foolishly. "Brother, I think I've fallen in love with forging."

"Mm, that's a good habit." Tang Linyuan rubbed his head. "Because someday, we'll use it to smash apart all the injustice in this world."

Whether it was the cold looks of others or every kind of oppression.

They would first have to ask whether the hammers and spear in our hands agreed.