Mu Ye, a Transaction

The battle ended faster than anyone had expected. By the time Xuan Li was helped off the field, Ya Li had already risen from the stands.

Yu Guanzhi then stepped forward and took a dark gold metal chip from his pocket. It was no bigger than a fingernail, with a minimalist anchor insignia engraved on the front.

"My private contact information. If you run into any problems you can't solve while studying in Ming Capital, contact me directly. No need to go looking far and wide."

Li Chen accepted the metal chip and carefully put it away. Yu Guanzhi nodded, then headed toward the exit with his adjutant, the sound of their military boots gradually fading away.

Leng Yaozhu picked up the milky-white jade box in her hand and descended from the stands, with Gu Yue and Na'er following behind her. She handed it to Li Chen. The instant the lid opened, golden and silver light intertwined and flowed.

"Gold Water Intertwined is yours."

Ya Li's expression was calm, but the exhaustion between her brows could not be concealed. She stopped about three paces away from Leng Yaozhu, her plain long dress fluttering gently in the wind.

"Shrek admits defeat. This matter ends here."

Leng Yaozhu looked at her. The smile on her face was fainter than usual, and her tone was more formal.

"Elder Ya Li, there was something I originally intended to tell you in private. But since Yu Guanzhi has left and the agreement between the three parties has been fulfilled, I'll say it to your face. Go back and tell Cai the Mad—Shrek lost this match. It lost openly and fairly under the witness of all three sides. There's nothing shameful about that. But if someone wants to pull some petty tricks behind the scenes and regain face through those three children, then the ones who will look bad won't just be Shrek. The Leng Family's stance on this matter is clear. Repeat my words exactly to that idiot when you return, and tell her to rein herself in."

Ya Li fell silent for a moment before slowly speaking. "I will relay this matter truthfully."

She turned and walked toward the edge of the arena, leaving with Xuan Li.

Leng Yaozhu watched her depart. Just as she turned to speak, the communication Soul Tool on her chest suddenly emitted a string of soft chimes. She raised her hand and glanced at the screen, her brows lifting slightly as she held it out before the three of them.

The Youth Genius Ranking had been updated in real time.

Rank One: Li Chen, alias Xuanming. Brief review—Special Body Martial Soul, pseudo-four-ring Soul Master, high Spirit Sea realm. Crushed the Shrek Youth Team in seven moves at the Skysea Alliance Grand Tournament, then defeated a Shrek One-Word Battle Armor Master in a military secret base under his own name. Upper limit of strength unknown. Temporarily ranked first.

Rank Nine: Na'er, alias Golden Dragon. Brief review—Golden Dragon bloodline, invincible physique among those of the same rank, possesses the Golden Dragon Spear. Temporarily ranked ninth.

Rank Ten: Gu Yue, alias Silver Dragon. Brief review—Silver Dragon Bloodline, mastery of multiple elements, possesses the Silver Dragon Spear. Upper limit of strength unknown. Temporarily ranked tenth. (After absorbing it, she had communicated with Leng Yaozhu over the course of a month and a half and come up with a plausible explanation in her imagination.)

"Xuanming?" Li Chen's brow furrowed almost imperceptibly.

Na'er leaned closer and immediately burst into delighted laughter. "Xuanming! That sounds even more intimidating than 'Pluto.' I'm Golden Dragon, and Gu Yue is Silver Dragon. Gu Yue, the two of us make quite the gold-and-silver pair."

Leng Yaozhu put away her communication Soul Tool and led the three of them outside. Once they left the training grounds, the morning wind, carrying the dampness of the sea, rushed toward them. Leng Yaozhu took a deep breath and looked at Li Chen.

"What are your plans next? Returning to Ming Capital or going to the Spirit Pagoda?"

"Heaven Dou City," Li Chen said. "The Blacksmith Association. Gold Water Intertwined is a god-grade material. It'll only be safe if a Divine Craftsman forges it. I want to find Zhen Hua."

Leng Yaozhu paused, then revealed a meaningful smile. "That old man Zhen Hua accepts nothing but god-grade forging commissions. Ordinary Soul Masters can't even get through his doors after registering. Still, he thought highly of you during that public lecture, so he should make an exception and see you once. My schedule isn't tight for the next few days. I'll give you a ride in the Phoenix Mecha so you don't have to squeeze onto the rail car."

Na'er immediately leaned over. "Aunt Leng, how much Soul Tool energy does your Phoenix Mecha burn on a single trip?"

"What, are you afraid I'll toss you out halfway?" Leng Yaozhu shot her a glance.

"No, no, I was just curious. The last time I rode in it, I didn't get the chance to inspect it properly."

"This mecha is a god-grade mecha jointly developed by the Leng Family and the Federation Research Institute. Its codename is Phoenix, and there are only three in existence." Leng Yaozhu spoke as they walked. "The Soul Tool array's energy consumption rises with flight speed."

Then she glanced at Na'er.

"This was also the one that carried you back from Ming Capital last time. You slept the whole way."

Na'er's face reddened. She gave a dry cough and changed the subject, reaching out to tug Gu Yue's sleeve. "Gu Yue, weren't you interested in mechas?"

Gu Yue was flipping through the complete Youth Genius Ranking that Leng Yaozhu had just given her. Hearing that, she looked up, her tone unchanged. "Somewhat. But Ye Xinglan is ranked fortieth on the list. Shrek probably won't be happy about that."

"That has nothing to do with us." Na'er tossed her ponytail and grinned at Li Chen. "But seriously, should you wear a mask whenever you go out from now on? Number one on the Youth Genius Ranking—that sounds pretty impressive."

"The ranking is just an empty reputation," Leng Yaozhu said, her tone turning more serious. "But empty reputations often bring trouble. Starting today, many people will challenge you, try to recruit you, or try to destroy you. It's enough for you to understand the value of this ranking yourselves. Remember to hold something back when you're outside. A tree that stands above the forest will be destroyed by the wind. A genius who hasn't grown up is still only a genius."

Li Chen nodded without saying much. Gu Yue folded the list and returned it to Leng Yaozhu. Her gaze lingered on Li Chen's profile for a moment before shifting away.

The four of them soon arrived at the military airfield in Skysea City's northern suburbs. Leng Yaozhu lightly clapped her hands, and the Phoenix Mecha immediately descended from the sky. Its body was silver-white, covered in pale golden patterns. Its wings were folded behind its back, and dense Soul Tool arrays on the backs of those wings glimmered with a dark blue sheen under the sunlight.

Leng Yaozhu took the main pilot's seat and activated the autopilot. The wings spread open at once, and the mecha rose vertically into the air before turning into a streak of light that flew toward Heaven Dou City.

The mecha was very quiet during the flight, with only the low hum of the Soul Tool engine running. Na'er quickly lost interest and began dozing off. Seeing this, Leng Yaozhu activated cruise control and reclined her seat.

"Since we have nothing to do while we're flying, let's talk about something serious." Her gaze fell on Na'er. "Na'er, stop pretending to sleep. Your physical advantage is indeed crushing against opponents of the same rank, but your weakness is obvious too—your long-range attack methods are far too limited. When Xuan Li fought Li Chen today, if you had been in the arena and the opponent accelerated, how would you have responded?"

Na'er opened her eyes and thought seriously for a moment. "Punch them."

Leng Yaozhu sighed. "You... When we return to the Spirit Pagoda, I'll arrange special training in long-range Soul Tools for you. At the very least, we need to make up for your weakness at range. Gu Yue, your problem is exactly the opposite."

Gu Yue turned her head slightly.

"Your elemental mastery is comprehensive, but being too comprehensive means you lack sharpness. If you had been in today's duel, your control abilities could have dragged it into a battle of attrition. But if you met someone who could withstand your control and walked right up to instantly kill you, what would your next move be?"

Gu Yue was silent for several breaths before softly saying, "I would think of another way."

"What way?"

"For example—changing the elemental ratio and creating composite elemental attacks."

Leng Yaozhu nodded and did not ask about the specific ratios. She understood this disciple's talent. There was no need to spell everything out too clearly. Finally, she looked at Li Chen.

"You fought well today. You didn't reveal any obvious flaws from beginning to end. But Li Chen—your fighting style relies too heavily on stat and mechanic suppression. Against opponents of the same rank or slightly stronger, you can indeed suppress them without taking damage. But against truly high-level experts, the drawbacks of that style will be exposed. Fate Verdict and Fate Mastery are both high-consumption soul skills. Can your spiritual power recovery keep up?"

"After reaching the high Spirit Sea realm, my spiritual power recovery became about thirty percent faster than before," Li Chen said. "But there is indeed a gap when continuously using high-consumption soul skills. Today's final strike was layered suppression, not an independent high-consumption soul skill. The expenditure was relatively manageable."

"Layered suppression..." Leng Yaozhu repeated thoughtfully, then suddenly smiled. "Your fighting style is rather like mine when I was younger. We both liked using mechanics to overpower people."

Na'er truly woke up this time and sprang up from the backrest. "Aunt Leng fought like that when she was young too?"

"Otherwise, how do you think I became a vice tower master?" Leng Yaozhu smiled at Na'er, then looked at Li Chen. "But you have one advantage I didn't have at your age—you possess a rare combat intuition. I've reviewed all your battle records. Your understanding and use of soul skills goes far beyond simple 'damage calculations.' When to use a soul skill, which soul skill to use, how to interrupt an opponent's combo—you make those judgments very quickly in battle, and you rarely make mistakes. Honestly, very few people can achieve that at your age."

Na'er's eyes widened as she turned toward Li Chen. "Aunt Leng rarely praises people like that."

Li Chen said nothing and merely nodded slightly.

Leaning against her seat, Leng Yaozhu turned serious. "Combat intuition is a talent, but talent must be nurtured. The essence of that intuition is your subconscious making rapid judgments after processing vast amounts of battlefield information. When there isn't enough information, it fails. So you need to continuously accumulate practical combat experience. The more types of opponents you face, the better. Don't become complacent just because you can crush your opponents now—when you someday encounter an opponent whose stats and mechanics you can't suppress, and can only fight head-on with combat intuition, you'll understand what I mean."

Li Chen was silent for several breaths, then nodded solemnly. "I understand."

Gu Yue closed the booklet in her hands and looked at Leng Yaozhu. "Teacher, when facing the pressure of a Title Douluo-level expert, would this combat intuition be suppressed?"

"It would, and it wouldn't," Leng Yaozhu said. "A Title Douluo's pressure does suppress the speed at which spiritual power operates, slowing your reactions—but the intuition itself won't be suppressed. The key is whether his spiritual realm can remain stable under that pressure. At the high Spirit Sea realm, it would already be impressive to retain half his combat strength under a Title Douluo's suppression, because a Title Douluo's baseline spiritual power is at the Spirit Abyss realm. So none of you three may neglect your spiritual power cultivation." She paused, her gaze sweeping across them.

Na'er raised her hand. "What if we encounter someone we can't beat?"

"Run," Leng Yaozhu answered without hesitation. "The other half of combat intuition is judging whether you can fight at all. If you can't win, run. There's no shame in it. For example, Shrek's former pavilion master's widow caused trouble before, and her instinctive response after realizing she couldn't resolve it was to run."

Na'er nodded in deep agreement. Gu Yue opened the booklet again.

Leng Yaozhu turned to look out the window at the increasingly distinct outline of Heaven Dou City. "We're here. Heaven Dou City Blacksmith Association."

The Phoenix Mecha landed steadily on the rooftop airfield of the Blacksmith Association headquarters. People had already been waiting at the edge of the platform and led the four of them into the top-floor reception room.

The reception room was not large. Dozens of forging diagrams hung on the walls, while several finished products rested on the long table by the window.

Not long after the four of them sat down, the reception room door was pushed open, and an elderly man strode in.

Zhen Hua.

The president of the Heaven Dou City Blacksmith Association, and the continent's only Divine Craftsman.

"Li Chen, congratulations on taking first place on the Youth Genius Ranking. Did you come here because you changed your mind?" Zhen Hua's voice was booming.

"Gold Water Intertwined." Li Chen placed the jade box on the table. The lid sprang open, and golden and silver radiance immediately filled the entire tabletop.

Zhen Hua's gaze suddenly sharpened. He picked up the ore and examined it carefully for nearly half an incense stick's time, his voice steady but unable to hide his excitement. "Extremely high purity. What do you want to make with this Gold Water Intertwined?"

"Battle Armor."

Zhen Hua nodded. "Your martial soul is related to the attributes of life and death, while Gold Water Intertwined specializes in harmonization. It can regulate your martial soul's attributes perfectly. I can accept the Battle Armor commission, but I have one condition." He grinned, changing the subject. "Back at Sun Moon Royal Soul Master Academy, this old man publicly accepted you as a disciple, and you refused. Now you've come to me yourself. You need to give me an explanation for that, don't you?"

Li Chen stood and gave Zhen Hua a slight bow in the manner of a junior. "Senior Zhen Hua, I did not intend to refuse you in Ming Capital. I had been studying under someone ever since I went from the Spirit Pagoda to Ming Capital. If I casually acknowledged another master, it would not only disrespect him, but also disrespect you."

Zhen Hua was silent for a while, then reached out and patted Li Chen's shoulder with considerable force. "Enough. This old man isn't the type to cling to old grievances. You may not be able to formally become my disciple, but since you've come to Heaven Dou, I'll personally forge Battle Armor from the Gold Water Intertwined. I'll also keep an eye on your forging skills."

Leng Yaozhu set down her teacup at the right moment. "Zhen Hua, what level has Li Chen's forging reached now?"

"Level six," Zhen Hua answered without hesitation. "He's just reached the threshold for forging. The initial tempering is something a sixth-level blacksmith can handle, so you'll do that part personally. I'll handle the rest." He removed a black iron token from his waist and handed it over. "Keep this token safe. You can freely enter any forging room during this period."

Li Chen accepted the token and thanked him.

Leng Yaozhu rose to her feet, glanced at the darkening sky outside, then turned to Gu Yue and Na'er. "Leave the forging to Li Chen and Divine Craftsman Zhen Hua. You two can come into the city with me. There are several good restaurants in Heaven Dou City's night market." Then she looked at Li Chen. "After your Battle Armor is finished, remember to return to the Spirit Pagoda. Uncle Deng will probably be very happy to know you used the skills he taught you to temper Gold Water Intertwined."

Li Chen nodded and answered, "All right."

Na'er had already dragged Gu Yue to the door and turned back to urge her. "Aunt Leng, hurry up. It's already dark."

Leng Yaozhu laughed, waved to Zhen Hua, and led the two of them out of the reception room.