"That's right. The things you're learning now are already very outdated techniques. They can be completely replaced by tools."
"Outdated?"
"Yes. Take that ordinary part you forged yesterday, for example. Using casting, you'd only need to stamp it twice, but forging takes a long time."
"But if that's the case, why do we need to learn forging?"
"Because true forging can never be replaced by machines," Mang Tian said.
"The forging you've encountered so far, the kind that machines can replace, all falls under the category of Hundred Refinement. After that, there are Thousand Refinement, Spirit Refinement, Soul Refinement, and the strongest of all, Heavenly Forging. If you can complete Heavenly Forging, even a Titled Douluo will treat you as an honored guest."
"T-Titled Douluo..."
Tang Wulin swallowed. Although he had never seen a Titled Douluo, that didn't stop him from feeling reverence for these powerful figures who existed only in his imagination.
"But there's only ever been one Divine Craftsman capable of Heavenly Forging, so there's no need to think that far ahead."
"Anyway, I wanted to ask you today: are you willing to become my apprentice and learn forging from me?"
"This..."
Tang Wulin hesitated.
[Wulin, say yes. You have a great talent for forging, and I can't teach you because I don't know how to forge. Besides, she's only a teacher. Isn't Lin Ximeng your teacher too?]
"Th-That's right. I understand," Tang Wulin replied in his heart.
With that thought, Tang Wulin immediately gave Mang Tian a formal bow. "Teacher, I want to learn forging from you."
"Good, good, good!" Mang Tian beamed and hurriedly helped Tang Wulin back to his feet.
Then he took a box from a nearby rack. Inside, after he opened it, lay a pair of gleaming, jet-black iron hammers.
"These are Thousand-Refined Tungsten Steel Hammers I forged myself. Each one weighs eighty pounds. Consider them my gift to you as your master."
"Thank you, Teacher!"
"Good. Come with me. Today, I'll teach you some more advanced forging techniques."
"Yes!"
Elsewhere, deep in a gloomy forest, lay a small lake. It had almost dried up, leaving only a tiny pool of crystal-clear water that radiated the aura of life.
But the lakebed held an entirely different scene.
It was a vast hollow, with a thin barrier of spatial power keeping the lake water out.
At the center of this underground space coiled a gigantic silver dragon, its body more than a hundred zhang long. Its eyes were tightly shut, and seven-colored light swirled around its body, making its oval scales gleam like crystal.
Beside the dragon stood a figure in emerald green: a girl with emerald hair and eyes, dressed in a long emerald-green gown. She seemed perfectly in harmony with the aura of life.
At last, she withdrew her hand and stepped back several paces, deep confusion in her eyes.
"Bi Ji, what exactly happened to our lord?" A man dressed in black emerged from the shadows.
He looked to be in his forties, with handsome, resolute features and a lock of golden hair falling beside his face from his forehead.
"Beast God, I couldn't find anything. Our lord is still asleep. This morning's Elemental Storm seems as though it never happened."
"How is that possible? We all clearly felt the elemental fluctuations."
Di Tian was agitated. In particular, he was certain he couldn't have been mistaken about the elements he controlled: darkness and space.
"But that's the truth. We still haven't figured out why our lord suddenly fell asleep again."
Bi Ji looked troubled too. As the head of the Emerald Swan clan, she could sense that the power within their lord had not diminished at all, yet she still hadn't awakened. It was as though she were in what humans called a "vegetative state," and Bi Ji had no way to help.
Their lord's spiritual power cultivation far surpassed hers by countless times. How could a weak woman like her possibly stir her awake?
"Things can't go on like this. That fellow Xiong Jun may not say it to our faces, but he's already harboring treacherous intentions. A few days ago, he even wanted to attack the fortress outside. Fortunately, I caught on in time..."
Di Tian was completely at a loss. He might nominally be the Beast God, but the Soul Beast Clan was on the verge of extinction. Whom could he even be the god of?
At long last, their lord had recovered from her injuries and awakened from her slumber, only for this unexpected disaster to strike. Even now, he had no idea how to resolve it.
"Phew... Let's wait a little longer and see. We've made it through all these years; a few more days won't matter." Di Tian forced himself to calm down.
"Bi Ji, keep watch over our lord here. If anything happens, notify me immediately."
"Yes."
Di Tian's figure flickered. Using spatial power, he left the underground space.
The situation had left him utterly drained. In terms of strength alone, he was confident he surpassed any human Limit Douluo.
After all, his power had long since reached the true demigod level. This wasn't the so-called demigod among the three realms of a level-99 Limit Douluo. He was a true demigod, just one step away from godhood in terms of Soul Power, spiritual power, and physical strength alike.
Or rather, if he hadn't been constrained by the rules of the Divine Realm, he could have become a god through sheer accumulation.
Unfortunately, the humans had developed Four-Word Battle Armor, changing the balance of power.
Although he stood unrivaled in strength, he couldn't gain the upper hand against multiple Limit Douluo who were Four-Word Battle Armor Masters. And that was not to mention the threat Mechas and Fixed Soul Cannon Shells posed to ordinary soul beasts.
He couldn't help thinking back to the days when the Dragon God was still around.
Back then, aside from the Dragon God, there had been the Nine Great Dragon Kings and a host of god-level dragons. They had ruled over the entire Divine Realm.
As the son of the Dark Dragon King, Di Tian had lived through the days of the Dragon Clan's supremacy. Now, watching the Soul Beast Clan decline, his feelings ran far deeper than those of Bi Ji, Xiong Jun, and King of Ten Thousand Monsters, soul beasts born on Douluo Continent itself.
The Silver Dragon King was powerful, but could she really lead their battered, defeated forces in overthrowing humanity's rule?
Before, he could still say he was full of ambition, but the Silver Dragon King's sudden slumber had dealt him a heavy blow. Not only had their original plans been thrown into disarray, but the future had also become shrouded in uncertainty.
He had to prepare for the worst: that their lord might fall asleep again and never wake.
Especially with an uncontrollable factor like Xiong Jun around. Who knew what that musclebound fool was thinking?
"No, I have to go put that fellow in his place again." Di Tian made up his mind and immediately opened a spatial passage to find Xiong Jun.
At such a critical moment, they absolutely couldn't let Xiong Jun's impulsiveness cause another disaster.