Secondary Professions

Le Lingzhao gave a slight nod. Under An Lan's expectant gaze, Soul Power surged around her, and a magnificent suit of exquisite silver-white Battle Armor inlaid with gold instantly formed over her.

"Awesome!" An Lan's gaze immediately stuck to Le Lingzhao. His eyes lit up.

It was ten minutes before Le Lingzhao finally put away her Battle Armor.

An Lan knew full well that there was no way he could own Battle Armor that powerful anytime soon. All he could do was shed envious tears.

If that was the case, he might as well eat first!

So he called the Spirit Chef responsible for taking care of his meals.

That evening.

Leng Qingning and Le Lingzhao sat side by side on the sofa. Their stunning faces were utterly serious, not a trace of a smile on either.

An Lan sat quietly opposite them, raising his eyes to look at his two mentors.

In the center of the hall, a crystal chandelier cast a soft yet brilliant light. Its glow fell across the mentors' exquisite faces, revealing not the slightest flaw.

Even with their beautiful faces drawn tight, his mentors were still beautiful—beautiful and powerful.

So beautiful it took your breath away, so powerful they made the rules.

Leng Qingning and Le Lingzhao looked at An Lan. Their expressions remained composed, but inwardly, they were both immensely satisfied.

They thought at the same time: My disciple An Lan has the makings of a god.

His Martial Soul had awakened, and he had successfully obtained a Soul Spirit. Naturally, the next step was to choose a secondary profession.

They had given An Lan the afternoon to meditate and cultivate, getting familiar with his Martial Soul. Once night fell, they formally began his first lesson as a Soul Master.

They had been laying the groundwork for this lesson since the daytime.

Interest was the best teacher.

Letting An Lan touch and experience Four-Word Battle Armor firsthand had certainly been partly because they doted on him, but more importantly, they wanted to thoroughly ignite his interest in Battle Armor.

They believed that anyone who had seen Four-Word Battle Armor with their own eyes and even touched it would long to own a suit of their own and yearn to become a Battle Armor Master.

Even if An Lan had already felt that way, what he had seen and experienced today would become the motivation that drove him to study hard in the future.

Leng Qingning looked at her beloved disciple and spoke first, her voice cool yet steady. "Have you decided which profession you want to choose?"

There was no chance An Lan would fail to become a Battle Armor Master. Leng Qingning's minimum expectation for him was to become a quasi-god Four-Word Battle Armor Master.

So all An Lan had to do was choose one of four professions as his second: Blacksmith, Mecha Designer, Mecha Manufacturer, or Mecha Repairer.

Of course, as a Level Nine Mecha Designer, Leng Qingning naturally hoped in her heart that her beloved disciple would inherit her legacy and choose Mecha Design.

An Lan had already made up his mind. "Teacher, I've decided to study all three: Mecha Design, Mecha Manufacturing, and Mecha Repair."

"Why?"

Leng Qingning and Le Lingzhao asked in unison, their voices carrying a hint of surprise.

To be sure, Leng Qingning was pleased that An Lan had chosen Mecha Design, her specialty, while Le Lingzhao was also satisfied that he had chosen Mecha Manufacturing, hers.

But the two of them were more worried that An Lan was biting off more than he could chew—that his appetite was too great, and he would end up neglecting the most essential part: cultivating his Soul Power.

Twin Martial Souls, Innate Full Soul Power, and innate Spiritual Power as high as 250.5 points...

A peerless genius like him, rarely seen in ten thousand years, would become a cautionary tale for countless teachers instructing their disciples over the next decades and centuries if his cultivation were delayed by greed and distraction—just like Mu Ye, the current Body Douluo.

And after "Grandmaster" Yu Xiaogang, Leng Qingning and Le Lingzhao would become the continent's latest laughingstock.

Of course, in their eyes, Mu Ye, who had become obsessed with mechas and stalled at Level 94, failing to break through to Super Douluo, couldn't possibly compare to An Lan.

They weren't worried that An Lan would get stuck below the Super Douluo level. What truly concerned them was that he might remain stuck at the demigod realm for too long, delaying his future cultivation as a quasi-god.

"Flattery never hurt anyone." An Lan understood that perfectly.

He looked at his two mentors and explained, "First Teacher, you're a Level Nine Mecha Designer. Second Teacher, you're a Level Nine Mecha Manufacturer. Of course I have to learn both Mecha Design and Mecha Manufacturing. Since I'm learning design and manufacturing, I might as well learn the last one too—the easygoing Mecha Repair."

Leng Qingning and Le Lingzhao gave slight nods, their resolve already wavering.

Put simply, the four Battle Armor professions were smithing, drafting, manufacturing, and repairing. If he could master design and manufacturing, then naturally, repair would come easily too.

So it wasn't wrong to call Mecha Repair a cushy profession. Otherwise, surely repairing a suit of Battle Armor couldn't be harder than making an entirely new one?

Seeing their expressions soften, An Lan pressed his advantage. "Actually, learning Mecha Design, Mecha Manufacturing, and Mecha Repair together isn't as difficult as you think. The original Soul Engineers took care of the design, manufacturing, and repairs themselves."

"You've convinced me." Le Lingzhao nodded slightly.

Soul Engineers had vanished from the stage of history for so long that she had nearly forgotten that Battle Armor had been invented by Soul Engineers.

It was just that the principles behind Battle Armor were so complicated that the Soul Engineer profession had evolved into three branches, dividing the work through cooperation to lower the threshold for becoming a Battle Armor Master.

Seeing that Le Lingzhao agreed, An Lan immediately turned to Leng Qingning.

Leng Qingning shook her head gently, her eyes full of helplessness. "I agree too."

For thousands of years, the belief that each Battle Armor secondary profession had its own responsibilities had become deeply ingrained. She had merely been constrained for a moment by conventional thinking.

Just as An Lan had said, Mecha Design, Mecha Manufacturing, and Mecha Repair were intertwined: each contained elements of the others.

Besides, taking responsibility for design, manufacturing, and repairs could indeed create Battle Armor that suited its wearer best.

Once she had thought it through, she went along with An Lan's wishes.

What's more:

"If An Lan falls behind in either his second profession or Soul Power cultivation, we can correct him at any time. Then we can have him give up Mecha Manufacturing and Mecha Repair, and focus on learning Mecha Design with me."

"If An Lan falls behind in either his second profession or Soul Power cultivation, we can correct him at any time. Then we can have him give up Mecha Design and Mecha Repair, and focus on learning Mecha Manufacturing with me."

Leng Qingning and Le Lingzhao exchanged an inadvertent glance, each of them having the same thought.

Having successfully persuaded his two mentors to let him study Mecha Design, Mecha Manufacturing, and Mecha Repair together, An Lan was quite pleased.

As for being a Blacksmith, he felt that smithing didn't suit his temperament. Rather than study a trade he disliked, he might as well set aside the time to uncover his own secrets.

After all, he was An Lan, the Immortal King. Surely he couldn't have only the Red Edge Spear and the Immortal Shield at his side?

Of course, a Divine Craftsman could command every Four-Word Battle Armor in the world. He couldn't put all his hopes for Heavenly Forged Metal on Zhen Hua and Tang Wulin either.

The Titan Giant Ape Martial Soul sounded perfectly suited to smithing. Now that Yuanen Yehui's fate had changed, she no longer had to go to Shrek Academy and wait tables or sell her services to them. She was the perfect candidate to learn blacksmithing and help him claim the throne of Divine Craftsman.

Perhaps the Yuanen Family could even become a family of blacksmiths in the future, climbing out of poverty and building a fortune.