When Mang Tian called his name, Lin Nuo immediately stood up. Na'er hurriedly encouraged him from beside him. "Come on, big brother!"
Lin Nuo nodded to Na'er, then walked over. Tang Wuling came over at that moment too and handed him a pair of small, ten-pound metal hammers. "Good luck, Lin Nuo."
"Okay." Lin Nuo nodded, took the two hammers, and walked toward Mang Tian.
Tang Wuling returned to her parents and high-fived them, then looked toward Na'er.
Na'er noticed Tang Wuling's gaze. She fell silent for a moment, thinking of what her brother had said, then finally looked at her and spoke coolly. "Congratulations."
"Thank you." Tang Wuling was delighted. She was sure Na'er was a little tsundere, but they could definitely become best friends!
The group looked toward the far end of the room. Next up was Lin Nuo's forging test.
"Too light."
Lin Nuo had just walked up to Mang Tian with the small metal hammers when he heard Lin Yan's words. He immediately looked at Mang Tian. "Master Mang Tian, these hammers are a little light. Could I get a different pair?"
Mang Tian had just been about to tell Lin Nuo to begin. At his request, he looked at the boy and asked, "They're really too light?"
"That's right." Lin Nuo nodded.
Mang Tian looked at Lin Nuo, who still wore a confident expression. He nodded solemnly and replied briskly, "I understand." Before the words had even left his mouth, he turned and grabbed a single-handled, fifty-pound iron hammer from the weapon rack nearby. He raised his wrist slightly, gesturing for Lin Nuo to take it.
Lin Nuo reached out and caught the hammer steadily. Mang Tian let go almost at once. He had deliberately wanted to test whether the boy was just putting on a confident front, but the next second, his eyes suddenly froze.
Lin Nuo held the fifty-pound hammer and tossed it casually into the air as if it weighed nothing. The hammerhead traced a shallow arc before landing back in his palm, steady as a rock. He even glanced up at Mang Tian, a faint smile on his lips, and added nonchalantly, "Just right. Not too heavy, not too light."
The casual look vanished from Mang Tian's face. His expression grew even more serious than it had been while watching Tang Wuling forge, and astonishment and gravity swirled in his eyes.
Lin Nuo tightened his grip on the fifty-pound hammer and looked at the tungsten steel before him. In his mind, he asked, "A-Yan, ready?"
"Mm."
After hearing the answer, Lin Nuo didn't hesitate. He struck down with the hammer, and the entire piece of tungsten steel trembled.
Mang Tian stood nearby. Without realizing it, he even held his breath.
The next moment, a scene that sent chills down everyone's spines suddenly unfolded before them.
Lin Nuo's arm seemed to move beyond his control. Every hammer fell so fast that it left only a blur. The instant the hammer struck the tungsten steel, a deafening CLANG! exploded through the room, deep and shrill, echoing again and again in the enclosed workshop and making everyone's eardrums ache.
For a six-year-old child, such a reckless barrage of blows was an extreme drain on his stamina and blood energy. An ordinary child would have collapsed after three swings, without enough strength left even to lift a hand.
But Lin Nuo seemed to feel no fatigue at all. Instead, an unusual fervor churned in his eyes as he swung the hammer tirelessly. His strikes didn't slow; they grew faster and faster, until they blurred together into a single band of light and shadow.
Under the force of every blow, the incredibly hard tungsten steel visibly changed. Its surface patterns warped and caved in, and its once-regular shape grew increasingly twisted, as if it were enduring some unbearable force.
Mang Tian had gone rigid where he stood. His eyes were wide as he stared at Lin Nuo, disbelief written all over his face.
How could this kid look like he was striking the metal alone?
It was as if two invisible hands were controlling his body, one hand swinging each hammer. Their rhythm was uncanny and precise, their blows intertwining to create that astonishing speed and strength.
But as soon as the thought crossed his mind, Mang Tian shook it off and muttered to himself, "Impossible. Absolutely impossible! How could a six-year-old be in such a bizarre state? I must be seeing things."
"Mom, Dad, Lin Nuo's so fast!" Tang Wuling watched the speed of Lin Nuo's hammer swings and compared it to her own from earlier. The difference was like heaven and earth. She was nowhere near as good.
Tang Ziran and Lang Yue exchanged a glance, agreeing with their daughter, and nodded.
"Of course." Hearing Tang Wuling, Na'er proudly lifted her chin and praised her brother like a proud swan. "My brother's the fastest. You can't compare to him, you pervert!"
Tang Wuling nodded in agreement. "As expected of Lin Nuo. He really is something else. So fast."
If Lin Nuo hadn't been in a trance, swinging his hammer madly, he would definitely have thrown it at the two of them for that conversation.
Half an hour passed. Lin Nuo could clearly feel his strength giving out, while Lin Yan needed time to process the feedback that was about to come. He struck one last time—exactly one thousand blows—then lowered the hammer.
"Th-Thousand Refinement?" Mang Tian was dumbstruck. He looked at Lin Nuo as if he were some kind of monster.
Was this really a six-year-old kid? Was he sure he wasn't some old monster reincarnated?
This wasn't like Tang Wuling's test just now. She had made a total of one thousand strikes, while Lin Nuo had struck a thousand times with one hand. If he'd used his other hand for another thousand, that would have made two thousand—but there was no need.
Because...
Mang Tian looked at the tungsten steel, now of Thousand Refinement quality. There was no need to continue.
"Kid, are you sure you've never studied forging?" Mang Tian drew in a sharp breath and looked at Lin Nuo with utmost seriousness as he asked, curiosity plain in his voice.
He desperately wanted Lin Nuo to tell him he'd studied forging before. Otherwise, how could a child become a Level Three quasi-forger right from the start? If that were the case, this kid would undoubtedly become a Divine Craftsman in the future!
"I really haven't studied it." Lin Nuo shook his head. "Besides, I was just lucky to get a thousand strikes in. So, can Tang Wuling and I be your students?"
Without Lin Yan's help, Lin Nuo's limit would probably have been around the same as Tang Wuling's, or maybe even a little lower.
This Thousand Refinement had indeed come down to luck. He'd only managed exactly a thousand strikes because Lin Yan had forged alongside him, so there was still plenty he needed to learn from Master Mang Tian.
This time, Mang Tian fell completely silent. He began to hesitate. Was he really suited to be this boy's teacher?
Mang Tian wasn't like Yu Xiaogang, who cared only about his own reputation. He was a good teacher who considered his students' futures.
"Do you really want to be my student?" Mang Tian couldn't help asking. "I'm afraid I'm not qualified to teach you much."
"Accept him, host," Lin Yan's voice sounded again. "At this stage, he's very well suited to be your teacher."
Lin Nuo replied with his mental power, "I understand that, of course."
He raised his head and looked at Mang Tian, whose expression was complicated. Then he bowed ninety degrees. "Perhaps you can't teach me much, but you're definitely the teacher best suited to Tang Wuling and me at this stage. So please teach us."
In his heart, Lin Nuo added one more name: Lin Yan, naturally.
Seeing this, Mang Tian quickly helped Lin Nuo up. He understood that the little fellow was giving him a way to save face. "All right, all right! Good children, every one of you. As your teacher, I should prepare some gifts for you." With that, he hurried off to his room.
Just then, Na'er and the others came over. She looked at Lin Nuo. "Big brother, you're amazing! And so fast!"
Hearing the words "so fast" made Lin Nuo feel a little awkward. He looked at Na'er. "Na'er, be good. Could you stop saying 'so fast' to your big brother from now on?"
"Huh? Why?"
"Your big brother doesn't like it."
"Okay~ I'll listen to you, big brother." Na'er nodded obediently.
Tang Wuling excitedly spoke up as well. "Lin Nuo, this is wonderful! Now we can learn forging together."
Lin Nuo nodded. Learning forging was one reason. Another was to build up his standing in Tang Wuling's heart and slowly replace the Sea God, Tang San.
Heh heh heh...
Before you continue