Standing Firm on the Persona

"You're forging artifacts?" Yang Ning asked, watching Jiang Yunhao bang away at a lump of iron, completely bewildered.

"Huh? Aren't I?" Jiang Yunhao blinked. Isn't forging artifacts just shaping a lump of iron into a tool?

"I really thought you knew everything!" Yang Ning sighed. "Alright, 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. Yang Ning had projected the Deep Blue Eye directly into his vision, displaying a standard artifact forging process.

"This…" Jiang Yunhao had never seen anything like it and was so stunned his mouth hung open.

"This technique is called Xuanji. It can identify minerals, mark dimensions, and assist you in forging!" Yang Ning explained. As he spoke, various dimension markings instantly appeared on the screen before Jiang Yunhao.

The units were unfamiliar, not what Jiang Yun usually used.

So this is a specialty of Tai Heng? Is this how all Tai Heng artifact forging masters forge?

No wonder Jiang Yun was wiped out. The gap between us and the major sects is too vast!

"If you need any materials, you can also ask Xuanji. It will find the most cost-effective shops for you. If you don't know the way, Xuanji can also navigate for you!" Yang Ning, having transmigrated from the information age, combined the Cloud-Mist Information Matrix with the Deep Blue Eye to create a smart city travel plan.

He considered these basic functions, but to Jiang Yunhao, it was astonishing. He felt like a bumpkin.

If Jiang Yun can establish a kingdom in the future, I must bring this technique back. I wonder if Senior is willing to teach me… No, this isn't a Senior at all! He saved me, found me and my companions a place to settle, and is teaching me artifact forging.

He's practically my reborn parent!

He wanted to call him Master, but was afraid the Senior wouldn't think highly of him. Recalling that the only way he could help the Senior was through artifact forging, Jiang Yunhao silently made a resolution.

I'll aim to be the number one artifact forging master in Seacloud City!

After two days of teaching, Yang Ning realized that Jiang Yunhao's apparent knowledge of everything was just an act.

In reality, he was a complete amateur.

He understood military matters, but only a little. He understood breathing techniques, but they were very primitive, far inferior to the Amber Breathing Technique.

However, his aura was strong. Even as an amateur, he could make you think he was an expert. He was very good at bluffing.

Yang Ning, by imitating his demeanor, gaze, and tone of voice, found that his ability to deceive had improved significantly.

Perhaps the skill of 'verbal persuasion' really depends on talent?

There was too much for him to learn, and Yang Ning couldn't stay with him forever, so he left the Deep Blue Eye to watch over him.

The Deep Blue Eye's capabilities surpassed all the famous masters in Seacloud City combined. Teaching Jiang Yunhao was more than enough for it.

Yang Ning had simply set a restriction: only teach things from this world.

Fortunately, Jiang Yunhao's cultivation talent and artifact forging talent seemed to be quite good. After half a month, he could forge simple parts.

So Yang Ning started giving him blueprints, one per day. He didn't want the finished products after they were made; instead, he told Jiang Yunhao to throw them directly into the river.

Jiang Yunhao didn't know why he had to throw them away, but he always did as he was told without asking. His Senior must have his reasons.

Meanwhile, Yang Ning, after completing various equipment, began manufacturing tanks.

When the Ma brothers were monitoring him, he hammered away with a hammer and iron block. When he wasn't being monitored, he used mechanical processing, and used his spare time to study.

In the Ma brothers' surveillance feed, the child's forging speed was incredibly fast. The two were greatly surprised and extended their monitoring period. They then discovered that besides sleeping and eating, the child spent all his other time forging items!

"Isn't he cultivating?" Ma Longjiang asked, surprised by the scene.

"It seems he really isn't cultivating!" Ma Longhe also looked surprised. The brothers had been dormitory supervisors here for many years. They had seen students who played around and didn't return to their dorms, students who spent nights on Flower Street, students who read novels day and night, and students who cultivated tirelessly day and night. But this student who forged day and night without cultivating was a first.

"I have an impression of this person. His name is Yang Ning. He was the one who said cultivation was just for craftsmanship earlier. He really seems to like forging?" Ma Longjiang said.

"That must be it!" Ma Longhe nodded.

The two nodded, then recorded their observations and personal judgments. A specialist would collect them monthly.

This monitoring-observation-evaluation system had been in operation at Ascension Academy for over a thousand years without any issues. This system had uncovered countless spies and disgruntled pages, servants, and maids.

Because it had never failed, they trusted the system implicitly and never imagined that someone could deceive it.

Yang Ning found that after a long period of being monitored, the subsequent monitoring time was greatly reduced. Sometimes he wasn't monitored even once a day.

Did I pass the test? Yang Ning chuckled. When he first discovered the Ma brothers' monitoring method, he had indeed considered resisting.

But he quickly remembered the methods used in spy dramas to deal with spies: instead of eliminating them directly, it was better to use them to transmit false information.

See? His persona as someone who loved forging had spread, even reaching the higher-ups.

"Bang, bang, bang!" There was a sudden knock on Yang Ning's door. Yang Ning hurried to open it and found Ning Rong standing there, looking anxious. She wore a short red skirt that revealed her fair legs.

Yang Ning asked the Deep Blue Eye and immediately knew why she was there.

"Brother Yang, Su Bai was beaten up in the cafeteria! Let's go help him!" Ning Rong said anxiously.

"No rush, 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 been eating at the same spot since he enrolled!" Ning Rong explained. "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 countered. "Can I help fight?"

"Huh?" Ning Rong froze. Right, it's like that, isn't it?

It was then that she had the chance to notice Yang Ning's attire. She saw his dark eye sockets, messy hair, a white robe, and two crystal discs over his eyes. He looked decadent and slovenly.

"You… you haven't cultivated for a month again, have you!" Ning Rong exclaimed in shock!

"There's so much to make, and time is tight!" Yang Ning chuckled foolishly, then turned and retrieved a bow from the forging room, handing it to Ning Rong.

"This is the bow I made for you!"

"You!" Ning Rong was about to ask what use a bow was right now, but upon seeing its appearance, she completely forgot that Su Bai was being beaten.

"This bow is so strange?" Ning Rong looked at the bow Yang Ning handed her, its appearance unlike anything she had seen before. "What are these wheels for?"

"This is a pulley bow. The wheels on it are pulleys that can transform one unit of force into two. I've added two pulley sets, so one unit of force becomes four. This means the arrows you shoot will have four times the power out of nowhere!" Yang Ning explained. "This device is for aiming assistance, and these arrows were specially made by me to work with this bow!"

"Bows can be designed like this?" Ning Rong had never seen a bow like this in her life, but then she remembered that Yang Ning designed it, and couldn't help but trust him a little more.

However...

"What's that on your eyes?" Ning Rong had been curious earlier. "And shouldn't you get your hair cut? Where's your uniform? Why are you wearing all white, like mourning clothes!"

"These are glasses!" Yang Ning explained. "I've loved reading since I was young and didn't take care of my eyes, so now I'm a bit nearsighted and made these glasses to help."

Yang Ning took out a glasses case from his pocket and handed it to Ning Rong. "I made a pair for you too, but they're plain. Want to try them?"

"My eyes are fine, why would I wear these? Hey!" Ning Rong instinctively resisted a little, but she put them on anyway. When she looked in the mirror, she realized that wearing them gave her a very special feeling!

She came from a family of military generals and had read books, but her temperament was still sharp and fierce. However, with the addition of glasses, she suddenly seemed a bit more refined and scholarly.

She immediately became less resistant to wearing glasses.

"This thing I'm wearing is called a lab coat. Because white gets dirty easily, even a little oil stain is very noticeable. Therefore, after putting on these clothes, I become very careful with all my research and operations, which indirectly improves my rigor!"

Ning Rong opened her mouth. Was that really the case?

But your glasses are round, and they don't improve your temperament. And with the lab coat, your slovenly demeanor, messy hair, and that strange smell...

The pair you gave me is beautiful. Looking at the glasses alone, it doesn't seem like you lack aesthetic sense. Why are you so unkempt when it comes to yourself?

Ning Rong wanted to say a few words, but then she remembered that his slovenliness was all for her, and she couldn't say anything. In the end, she could only say, "Making this bow must have taken a lot of effort!"

"It was alright!" Yang Ning nodded with a smile. The machines did all the work.

"Just alright!" Ning Rong was speechless. It also delayed her cultivation, and he even made glasses for her.

It's so smooth, polishing it must have taken a lot of effort!

A thought suddenly occurred to her: Does he like me?

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

Ning Rong had been looking forward to meeting Yang Ning, thinking she had a lot to say to him after so long.

But seeing his attire and the effort he put into preparing the bow and glasses for her, she inexplicably lost all her enthusiasm.

It was as if he was no different from those who tried so hard to please her.

The hopeful, spirited light in her eyes instantly vanished.

In its place were unfathomable depths.

"I'm taking the bow!" Ning Rong's tone was cool and crisp, no longer her usual soft voice. "I'm going to find Xun Hu to support Su Bai!"

"Then good luck to you all!" Yang Ning earnestly clenched his fists. "All I can do is help with logistics and things like that!"

"Mhm!" Ning Rong looked at Yang Ning's outstretched hand, hesitated, took two steps back, and ultimately did not reciprocate.

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

"Mhm, mhm."

Watching Ning Rong's retreating back, Yang Ning sighed with emotion. "Is this 'playing hard to get' skill something women are born with?"

"I don't know, I'm just an AI!" Deep Blue replied.

Yang Ning smiled. A tech geek plus a simp was indeed the surefire way to keep women at a distance.

With the double validation from Ning Rong and the Ma brothers, his 'heavenly prodigy' persona had completely collapsed, while the 'tech geek obsessed with artifact forging' persona had been firmly established.

As long as he fully embraced the role of a tool, no one would be wary of him.