Establishing His Persona

"Were you forging an artifact?" Yang Ning stared blankly at Jiang Yunhao, who was hammering away at a lump of iron.

"Ah, wasn't I?" Jiang Yunhao blinked. Forging artifacts meant hammering lumps of iron into tools, didn't it?

"I really thought you knew everything!" Yang Ning sighed. "Fine, I'll teach you from scratch. To become an Artifact Forging Master, first you need a furnace, and second, you need a hammer."

Jiang Yunhao's eyes lit up. Then Yang Ning directly projected the Deep Blue Eye into his vision, displaying a standard artifact-forging scene before him.

"Th-this..." Jiang Yunhao had never seen anything like this before. His shock left him unable to close his mouth.

"This technique is called Xuanji. It can identify minerals, mark dimensions, and assist you in forging artifacts!" As Yang Ning spoke, all kinds of dimensional markings appeared across the image before Jiang Yunhao.

The units were somewhat unfamiliar, though. They were not ones Jiang Yunhao commonly used.

So this is Taiheng's specialty? So Taiheng's Artifact Forging Masters all forge artifacts like this!

No wonder Jiang Yun was destroyed. The gap between us and the great sects is simply too vast!

"If you need materials, you can ask Xuanji too. It'll select the most affordable shops for you, and if you don't know the way, Xuanji can navigate for you as well!" Yang Ning had come from the information age. By combining the Cloud-Mist Information Matrix with the Deep Blue Eye, he had created a smart-city travel solution.

He considered these basic operations, but Jiang Yunhao was utterly astounded, immediately feeling like a country bumpkin.

If Jiang Yun can found a nation someday, I must bring this technique back with me. But I wonder if Senior would be willing to teach me... No, what Senior?

Senior had helped him escape with his life, found him and his companions a place to settle down and make a living, and even taught him artifact forging.

Senior was practically his reborn parent!

He wanted to call Yang Ning Master, but feared that Senior would look down on him. Thinking that artifact forging was the only way he could help Senior, Jiang Yunhao silently made up his mind.

I'll strive to become Seacloud City's number one Artifact Forging Master!

After teaching him for two days, Yang Ning discovered that Jiang Yunhao's previous appearance of seeming to understand everything really had only been an appearance.

In reality, he was just a half-baked amateur.

He understood military matters, but only a little. He also understood Breathing Techniques, but they were extremely primitive—even the Amber Breathing Technique far surpassed them.

Yet his bearing was powerful. Even as a half-baked amateur, he gave people the impression that he was an expert. He was exceptionally good at bluffing people.

Yang Ning borrowed his expressions, gaze, and tone of voice, and felt that his ability to fool people had improved considerably.

Perhaps the skill of talking one's way through things really depended on talent?

There was too much for Jiang Yunhao to learn, and Yang Ning could not stay with him constantly, so he had Deep Blue watch over him instead.

Deep Blue's abilities surpassed all the famous teachers in Seacloud City combined. Teaching Jiang Yunhao was naturally a piece of cake for her.

Yang Ning merely set one restriction: she could only teach him things from this world.

Fortunately, Jiang Yunhao seemed quite talented in both cultivation and artifact forging. Half a month later, he could already forge some simple components.

Thus, Yang Ning began sending him blueprints, one each day. He did not want the finished products after they were made, instead having Jiang Yunhao throw them directly into the river.

Jiang Yunhao did not know why he had to throw them away, but he always did as he was told and never asked questions. Senior naturally had his reasons for doing things.

Meanwhile, after completing all sorts of equipment, Yang Ning began manufacturing a tank.

Whenever the Ma Brothers were monitoring him, he hammered iron with a hammer in one hand and a metal block in the other. When they were not monitoring him, he used mechanical processing. He spent his remaining time studying.

From the Ma Brothers' perspective, the boy's forging speed was unbelievably fast. The two were greatly astonished and simply extended their monitoring periods. Only then did they discover that aside from sleeping and eating, the boy spent every remaining moment forging things!

"Doesn't he cultivate?" Ma Longjiang was somewhat surprised as he watched the scene.

"It really seems like he doesn't cultivate!" Ma Longhe was also astonished. The brothers had served as dorm supervisors here for many years. They had seen students who played around and never returned to their dorms, students who spent nights on Flower Street, students who read novels every day, and students who cultivated without rest day and night. But someone who forged artifacts day and night without cultivating at all—this was their first time seeing one.

"I remember this person. His name is Yang Ning. He was the one who said cultivation was only for craftsmanship before. He really does seem to like artifact forging," Ma Longjiang said.

"That must be it!" Ma Longhe nodded.

The two nodded, then recorded their observations and personal judgments. Someone would come collect them every month.

This monitoring-observation-evaluation system had operated in Ascension Academy for over a thousand years without ever encountering a problem. Who knew how many spies, disgruntled bookboys, servants, and maids it had rooted out using this system?

Because it had never failed, they trusted it completely. Naturally, they could never imagine that someone could deceive the system.

After enduring one long period of surveillance, Yang Ning discovered that the time he spent being monitored afterward had greatly decreased. Sometimes, he was not monitored even once in an entire day.

"Does this mean I passed the test?" Yang Ning laughed. When he had first discovered the Ma Brothers' surveillance methods, he had indeed considered resisting them.

But he quickly remembered how espionage dramas dealt with spies. Rather than directly eliminating them, it was better to use them in reverse to pass along false intelligence.

See? His persona as someone who loved artifact forging had spread now, even reaching the upper ranks.

Bang! Bang! Bang! Yang Ning's door suddenly rattled. He hurried over to open it and found Ning Rong standing prettily at the entrance. She wore a red short skirt that exposed her fair calves, but her face was full of anxiety.

Yang Ning asked Deep Blue and immediately learned why she had come.

"Brother Yang, Su Bai got beaten up in the dining hall! We need to go help him!" Ning Rong said anxiously.

"Don't panic. Tell me slowly—what happened?" Yang Ning asked.

"It was someone named Wen Buqing. He said Su Bai took his seat, but Su Bai has eaten in that same spot ever since he enrolled!" Ning Rong said. "That Wen Buqing is completely unreasonable. They had already started fighting when I came to find you! Hurry and come with me!"

"Wait, what can I do if I go?" Yang Ning retorted. "Can I help fight?"

"Huh?" Ning Rong froze. That did seem to be true.

Only then did she have time to notice Yang Ning's appearance. She saw that his eye sockets were dark, his hair was a mess, he wore a white long robe, and two round crystal lenses sat over his eyes. He looked both dispirited and slovenly.

"You haven't cultivated for another whole month, have you?" Ning Rong was shocked!

"There are so many things to make. Time is tight, and the task is heavy!" Yang Ning gave an honest-looking smile, then turned and took a bow from the forging room, handing it to Ning Rong.

"This is the bow I made for you!"

"You!" Ning Rong had wanted to say that this was no time to look at a bow, but upon seeing it, she immediately forgot that Su Bai was being beaten.

"This bow is so strange?" Ning Rong looked at the bow Yang Ning handed her. It was unlike anything she had ever seen. "What are the wheels on it for?"

"This is a Pulley Bow. The wheels are pulleys. They can turn one portion of force into two. I added two pulley systems, so one portion of force becomes four. That means the power of the arrows you fire increases fourfold out of thin air!" Yang Ning introduced it. "This device is for assisted aiming, and I specially made these arrows to go with this kind of bow!"

"A bow can actually be designed like this?" Ning Rong had never seen a bow in this style in all her life. But thinking that Yang Ning had designed it, she could not help trusting it a little more.

However...

"What is that on your eyes?" Ning Rong had been curious about it just now. "And shouldn't you tidy your hair? Where's your uniform? Why are you dressed all in white? You look like you're wearing mourning clothes!"

"These are glasses!" Yang Ning explained. "I loved reading books from a young age, but I never took care of my eyes. Now I'm a little nearsighted, so I made glasses to help."

Yang Ning took a glasses case from his pocket and handed it to Ning Rong. "I made a pair for you too, though yours have plain lenses. Want to try them?"

"My eyes are perfectly fine. Why would I wear this—huh?" Ning Rong instinctively resisted, but she still put them on. Then she looked in a mirror and discovered that wearing them gave her a... a very special feeling!

She came from a military family. She had studied, but her aura still tended toward sharpness. Yet after adding a pair of glasses, her entire presence immediately gained a few traces of quiet refinement.

She instantly became much less resistant to wearing glasses.

"This thing I'm wearing is called a white coat. White shows dirt easily, so even a little grease or grime is especially noticeable. After putting on these clothes, I become extra cautious in all my research and operations, indirectly improving my rigor!"

Ning Rong opened her mouth. So that was why?

But those round glasses of yours do not improve your temperament at all! And that white coat, paired with your slovenly expression, messy hair, and strange smell all over you...

The pair of glasses you gave me is very pretty. Judging by the glasses alone, you do not seem to lack aesthetic sense. So why are you so careless about your own appearance?

Ning Rong wanted to say something, but then remembered that he had become so slovenly all for her sake. In the end, she could not say anything at all and could only ask, "Making this bow took a lot of thought, didn't it?"

"It was alright!" Yang Ning nodded with a smile. The machines had done everything themselves.

"Just... alright?" Ning Rong was speechless. He had even delayed his cultivation and specially made glasses for her.

It was so smooth—polishing it must have taken a great deal of effort!

A thought suddenly rose within her. Does he like me?

But I like you too. If you like me, couldn't you just say it directly?

Ning Rong had originally been looking forward to meeting Yang Ning. They had not seen each other for so long, and she had thought of many things she wanted to tell him.

But upon seeing how he was dressed, and how he had carefully prepared the bow and glasses for her, she suddenly lost interest for some reason.

It seems he is no different from those people who rack their brains trying to please me?

The expectant light in her eyes, that glimmer of spirit, vanished in an instant.

In its place appeared a chasm so deep that its bottom could not be seen.

"I'm taking the bow!" Ning Rong's tone turned cool and crisp, no longer carrying its previous softness. "I'm going to find Xun Hu and help Su Bai!"

"Then do your best!" Yang Ning clenched his fist earnestly. "I can only help you with logistics and things like that!"

"Mm!" Ning Rong looked at Yang Ning's outstretched hand, hesitated, then took two steps back. In the end, she did not respond to his gesture.

"I-I'm leaving. If I don't go now, Su Bai is going to be beaten to death!"

"Mm-hmm."

Watching Ning Rong's retreating figure, Yang Ning sighed. "Is this kind of fish-raising skill something women are born with?"

"I don't know. I'm only an AI!" Deep Blue said.

Yang Ning smiled. A tech geek plus a simp really was the perfect way to make women keep their distance.

With Ning Rong and the Ma Brothers providing double confirmation, his persona as a heaven-blessed prodigy had completely collapsed. But his persona as a tech geek obsessed with artifact forging had been firmly established.

As long as he maxed out his tool-person attributes, no one would be wary of him.