A clear chime rang out.
Whether it was Cen Yue, Mu Chen, or Mu Xi, all three stood silently to the side, watching Chen Zhou's movements.
When he raised the hammer again, Chen Zhou didn't hurry to bring it down. He fixed his gaze on the metal, and the more than one thousand points of spiritual power in his mind surged into action.
Feeling the ripples that came from his spiritual power colliding with the metal, Chen Zhou brought his forging hammer down again.
This strike was even faster and more forceful.
Normally, the recoil from this would be more than a six-year-old, one-ring child could withstand.
But as the hammer in Chen Zhou's hand struck the metal, the recoil made his left hand turn into flowing water in an instant.
The water was gently shaken apart, but the next second, it returned to its original form.
Chen Zhou raised his hand, and the third strike came down just as swiftly.
Watching Chen Zhou's movements, Mu Xi scoffed disdainfully from the side.
This was completely unlike the sense of rhythm she knew.
His rhythm was far too fast. Normally, you had to follow the beat to get a feel for the rhythm.
But contrary to Mu Xi's expectations, both Cen Yue and her father, Mu Chen, had begun to furrow their brows slightly.
They stared intently at the boy before them.
The boy had already turned his hand into flowing water for the seventh time, yet this transformation seemed to have no effect on him at all.
As his final strike landed, the metal began to hum softly.
Hearing the metal's hum, Mu Xi froze.
"How is this possible?"
"Your sense of rhythm is completely off. Normally, it takes at least ten minutes to get a feel for a metal's rhythm."
"How could you have completed the metal resonance so quickly, and even made it resonate?"
Mu Xi looked at Chen Zhou, her voice full of disbelief.
Cen Yue gave a wry smile and shook his head.
He understood a great deal of what had happened. For example, he could tell that Chen Zhou's spiritual power was very high, and that he had used flowing water to withstand the continuous recoil.
But even he couldn't figure out what exactly Chen Zhou had done in that final moment.
Just as Mu Xi had said, the other boy's sense of rhythm was indeed off.
Every movement forced its way into a rigid rhythm instead of following the metal's natural rhythm.
But to his surprise, the boy had not only succeeded—he had completed the resonance.
Mu Chen, standing to the side, let out a long breath.
His gaze was complicated as he gave Chen Zhou a silent nod.
"This child's talent is even greater than I expected."
"At such a young age, his spiritual power is at least three hundred points. He can grasp the rhythm and resonance of the entire piece of metal."
"Though he lacks strength, he can use the recoil of that flowing water to neutralize the force."
"That makes him far less affected by his lack of strength."
Mu Chen paused, his gaze complicated as he looked at the boy before him.
"Come study forging with me for three to four hours every Wednesday and Friday."
"If you'd like, you can also come on Saturdays and Sundays to study with everyone and learn more theory."
As he spoke, Mu Chen nodded to Chen Zhou.
Chen Zhou froze for a moment, then smiled at Mu Chen.
Though Mu Chen owed him a favor, that favor could only go so far as to make Mu Chen agree to test Chen Zhou's abilities.
Whether or not he accepted him was still up to Mu Chen.
Now, Chen Zhou had clearly won the approval of this eighth-level blacksmith through his own talent.
And at this point, personal connections played a part as well.
Coming on Wednesdays and Fridays meant that the lessons would certainly be private.
Before, Mu Xi might have been the only one there. Now Chen Zhou would be joining her.
Sure enough, when she heard Mu Chen's words, Mu Xi's expression stiffened.
But looking at the boy's calm, placid expression, she didn't know what to say.
His talent was even better than she'd imagined. Just from this simple resonance, she could already see the gap between them.
After all, she certainly couldn't have completed the Hundred Refinement resonance the first time she touched metal.
Chen Zhou returned, having naturally heard Mu Chen's words.
He bowed deeply, bending at the waist to ninety degrees.
"This disciple, Chen Zhou, pays his respects to Teacher Mu Chen."
Seeing how quick Chen Zhou was to catch on, Mu Chen fell silent for a moment, then gave a slight nod.
"All right, you can head back now, or stay here and sit in on the lesson for a while."
"I don't have any classes tonight, but I happen to be going over some theory."
As he spoke, Mu Chen looked at Chen Zhou.
Chen Zhou nodded earnestly. He was learning forging so he could eventually forge his own Battle Armor.
So he hoped to get started as soon as possible.
As Chen Mo left with Na'er, she kept looking back at Chen Zhou every few steps.
But when she saw Chen Zhou wave to her, she could only pout and follow helplessly behind Chen Mo.
After Chen Mo, Cen Yue, and Na'er left, only the three of them remained in the room.
Mu Xi glared at Chen Zhou indignantly.
After all, these had always been opportunities for her father to teach her alone, and she didn't want to share them with anyone else.
But her father had already accepted the other boy as his disciple, and with his talent being so exceptional, Mu Xi didn't know what to say.
Still, neither Chen Zhou nor Mu Chen paid her any attention.
Chen Zhou sat quietly to the side as Mu Chen calmly began explaining the most basic forging principles.
The minutes ticked by, and before long, more than three hours had passed.
Chen Zhou ate dinner at the Blacksmith Association.
The food there was simple, but it tasted pretty good.
After dinner, Mu Chen arranged for a car to take Chen Zhou home.
Back at the Spirit Pagoda, Chen Zhou returned to his room and sat down.
The things Mu Chen had taught weren't very profound, but to be honest, Chen Zhou still hadn't quite understood them.
As he wondered whether he should ask Chen Mo for a platform to practice forging on, Neuvillette's calm voice sounded in his mind.
"The memories of this so-called blacksmith are rather interesting."
"Though he only taught you that so-called Hundred Refinement technique and the basics of purifying metal, his skills are still quite impressive."
Neuvillette's voice was calm, but Chen Zhou didn't quite understand what he meant, so he didn't respond right away.
"I understood what he said. Or rather, this sort of thing isn't difficult for me to understand."
"Once you enter the Dream World, I can teach you how to forge."
"I'll teach you personally and share some of my own insights."
Neuvillette's voice was calm.
Chen Zhou looked at him suspiciously, not quite understanding what his teacher had in mind.
"Teacher, the Dream Realm can't be that magical, can it?"
"There isn't even a forging platform in there. Even if you explain things to me after I go in, it won't do much good."
"This is the Dream Realm. It's your dream, and it's my dream, too."
"Once we enter, I can create whatever you need through imagination, even virtual metals."
"So, do you want to learn or not?"
"You should understand that with my insight, even after hearing only the most basic principles, I can extrapolate many things you can't even imagine."