Struck It Rich

Mu Chen smiled gently and said, "What is an eighth-rank blacksmith? Don't you want to become a ninth-rank Divine Craftsman?"

"A Divine Craftsman?" Tang Wulin blinked, then nodded. "Of course I do!"

"Then do you believe you can do it?"

Tang Wulin shook his head and said, "I don't know!"

Mu Chen patted Tang Wulin on the shoulder and said very earnestly, "But I believe you can!"

Tang Wulin looked deeply at Mu Chen; he did not know why this Saint Craftsman believed in him so much.

Mu Chen clearly saw the doubt in Tang Wulin's eyes. He stood up slowly and said, "Do you know the minimum age recorded in the Eastsea City Blacksmith Association for becoming a first-rank blacksmith?"

Tang Wulin shook his head.

"It is eight years and six months, and the holder of that record is me," Mu Chen said very seriously.

"And you, Tang Wulin, although on the surface it is said that you passed the first-rank blacksmith assessment at nine years old, failing to break that record, I know very well that you should have been a qualified first-rank blacksmith long before you turned nine. Because you were a second-rank blacksmith at nine—no one in the entire Federation has ever surpassed that age. That is where my confidence in you comes from!"

After hearing Mu Chen's words, Tang Wulin was too shocked to speak. He had indeed never looked into these records, let alone imagined that he had inadvertently broken the chairman's record.

"How about it? After hearing what the chairman said, do you feel you can become a Divine Craftsman now?" Cen Yue asked from the side with a smile.

"I will work hard!" Tang Wulin replied.

"That's it?" Cen Yue was a bit surprised by Tang Wulin's answer; he had expected Tang Wulin to be excited and perhaps prideful of his talent.

"Hahaha!" Mu Chen laughed out loud. "Tang Wulin, very good. Not arrogant and not rash—this is the mindset a top-tier blacksmith should have."

In truth, this was what Tang Wulin was thinking.

If only his blacksmithing talent were his spirit master talent instead. If he had twin martial souls or innate full spirit power, Tang Wulin would never have been as calm as he was just now.

Because Tang Wulin was not born with a love for blacksmithing; his childhood circumstances had forced him to learn it. Therefore, compared to being a blacksmith, what Tang Wulin wanted most was to become the most powerful spirit master.

"By the way, Master Cen Yue, I have one more thing."

"You are talking about those pill formulas of yours, right?" Mu Chen said before Cen Yue could speak.

"The chairman knows about this too?" Tang Wulin asked, somewhat puzzled.

"Of course. Currently, there is only one organization on the continent interested in such rare pill formulas, and since Old Cen has no connections with those people, he came to me."

"Are these pill formulas of mine really that precious?" Tang Wulin asked curiously.

Mu Chen nodded. "I don't have much research in the field of medicinal pills, but I showed these formulas to a friend of mine. He later showed them to people in his organization, and they were extremely excited. They indicated that although these are only incomplete formulas, their rarity far exceeds any formulas they possess."

Following that, Mu Chen held up two fingers and said, "My friend's organization is willing to purchase them at a price of twenty million Federal Coins per formula. You have nineteen formulas in total, so the total price they are offering is three hundred and eighty million Federal Coins."

"How much?" Tang Wulin was stunned upon hearing this figure.

Three hundred and eighty million Federal Coins—Tang Wulin couldn't even imagine such a sum. He had to remember that the money he had saved from blacksmithing over the past three years was only thirty thousand Federal Coins.

If one calculated it based on a hundred-year spirit soul costing one million Federal Coins, three hundred and eighty million Federal Coins could buy so many! Even a thousand-year spirit soul would be affordable.

"Chairman, do you think it's too late for me to switch to alchemy now?" Cen Yue asked with a wry smile from the side.

"Forget it! Old Cen, with your clumsy nature, could you handle such delicate work as alchemy?" Mu Chen gave Cen Yue a sidelong glance.

"Wulin, I heard from Old Cen that these formulas were given to you by a senior. My friend is very interested in them, so he wants to ask if it's possible to meet this senior."

Tang Wulin shook his head and said, "Chairman, that senior does not wish to show his face, so I'm afraid I cannot satisfy your friend's request."

Mu Chen paused for a moment, then said, "Hahaha, it's fine. It wasn't a requirement to meet him. However, he also said he would like to meet you, if that's alright? And it would be a convenient way to hand over the money to you."

Tang Wulin nodded. "Of course!"

"Then you can rest here tonight. Tomorrow, I will personally take you to my friend's organization."

"But I have classes to attend tomorrow!"

"Small problem! It just so happens that my daughter is also studying at your academy. I'll have her ask your homeroom teacher for a leave of absence for you later."

"Uh... I'd better ask Teacher Wu for leave myself," Tang Wulin didn't think Teacher Wu's temper would allow someone else to ask for leave on his behalf.

"That works too!" Mu Chen didn't think much of it.

"By the way, Chairman, Master Cen Yue, I have one more item here. Could I ask you to help me see if it can be sold?"

"What item?" Mu Chen asked.

Tang Wulin immediately took off the storage ring on his hand and handed it to Mu Chen.

Mu Chen took the ring, and his spiritual sense immediately swept inside.

But when Mu Chen saw clearly what was inside, he almost lost his grip on the ring.

"Chairman, what is inside?" Cen Yue asked, puzzled by the shock on Mu Chen's face.

"See for yourself!" Mu Chen looked deeply at Tang Wulin, then tossed the ring into Cen Yue's hand.

"This is... a Black-Grade Mecha! And several sixth or seventh-rank soul guidance devices!"

When Cen Yue saw what was in the ring, a look of shock appeared on his face as well.

"Wulin, the sixth or seventh-rank soul guidance devices are one thing, but where did you get this Black-Grade Mecha? As far as I know, the only Black-Grade Mecha in the entire Eastsea City belongs to the Mecha Brigade, right?" Mu Chen asked.

Tang Wulin nodded. "Chairman, this Black-Grade Mecha does indeed belong to Guang Biao of the Mecha Brigade, but he voluntarily gave it to me as compensation. As for the reason? It's a long story."

Soon, Tang Wulin recounted the events of that night: his encounter with Light Dragon and Guang Biao, Yao Lao's intervention to suppress Guang Biao, and the subsequent forcing of Guang Biao to hand over the Black-Grade Mecha as compensation. However, regarding Yao Lao's existence, Tang Wulin simply referred to him as the senior who had gifted him the medicinal formula.

After all, this matter could not be kept hidden. While ordinary people might not know, it would certainly spread among the upper echelons of the Eastsea City very quickly.

"I see." Mu Chen nodded thoughtfully. "So that senior is not only highly accomplished in alchemy but also possesses such formidable combat strength."

"Since that is the case, there is no problem. However, our Blacksmith Association has no need for a mecha, and I am not entirely sure how much this thing is worth. You can wait until tomorrow when I take you to see a friend of mine to ask; I suspect he might need this gadget."

"Thank you, President!" Tang Wulin bowed deeply to Mu Chen.