The Blacksmithing Career Begins

Nuoding Academy officially opened.

Classes were generally held in the morning: one for academic knowledge and one for martial souls.

Jiang Jiu stopped attending after just one session.

It wasn't that he had given up on learning altogether.

Rather, these traditional large-scale classes had to cater to the vast majority of students, resulting in a slow pace and low efficiency that was far inferior to self-study.

Every afternoon was reserved for individual cultivation. Work-study students had to complete their cleaning duties for the academy during this time, so the students in Dorm Seven would collectively cultivate at night to make up for the time lost in the afternoon.

Non-work-study students could cultivate in both the afternoon and evening, but in reality, very few people at Nuoding Academy could actually maintain such discipline; at this age, those who could suppress their desire to play were destined to be the minority.

As a work-study student, Jiang Jiu's daily afternoon task was to clean the garden on the south side of the playground.

This was originally a three-person job, but Tang San and Xiao Wu had both run off.

It wasn't too bad for Jiang Jiu to clean it by himself; he would pick up the large pieces of trash while passing by during his morning run, and a planned sweep in the afternoon didn't take much time.

The only thing that annoyed him was that people would occasionally gather to watch.

Some even made a point of getting up early just to watch him run, though he had no idea where they had heard the news.

There were girls, and there were boys.

A bunch of precocious little brats.

Fortunately, such people were ultimately a tiny minority and didn't really affect Jiang Jiu's daily life.

Aside from these trivial matters, Jiang Jiu also began his plan to set up shop at the Nuoding Blacksmith Shop.

The blacksmith shop was actually very close to Nuoding Academy; he found it by simply asking a shopkeeper after leaving the academy.

The reason he hadn't seen it when he went out with Xiao Wu before was simply that it wasn't on the same route.

Applying for an apprenticeship at the blacksmith shop could only be described as not going very smoothly.

Jiang Jiu's face was a golden ticket for many things, but blacksmithing was not one of them.

He had learned in his village previously, but that was mainly because the village blacksmith knew his roots and didn't think he was the type to slack off or be unable to endure hardship.

Fortunately, Jiang Jiu had considered this point beforehand and had prepared his own forging hammer.

A few swings of strength and a bit of technique were all it took to prove his worth.

"It's hard to imagine that a handsome little guy like you comes from a poor family," the blacksmith shop owner, Shi San, sighed.

Jiang Jiu wanted to explain the concept of a genetic lottery to him, but after a moment's thought, he decided against it; if he could get the chance to forge pig iron, that would be a success.

"Uncle San, I'm free in the mornings these days, but later on, I'll likely be coming in the afternoons most of the time. Can you make an exception for me?"

"No problem. Whenever you come, there will be a meal for you, and the pay will be the same," Shi San agreed heartily.

Once he crossed the threshold and entered the domain, Jiang Jiu's appearance naturally played its part again.

Even in a dull job like blacksmithing, seeing someone like Jiang Jiu when you looked up made the whole experience much more pleasant.

Good-looking people found it far too easy to receive preferential treatment.

"Then thank you, Uncle San."

Jiang Jiu was working as an apprentice, which generally meant doing odd jobs like serving tea and pouring water. Only after a period of grinding and with the permission of his master would he have the chance to try his hand at forging pig iron.

But the person guiding him here was Shi San himself.

"Jiang Jiu—let me call you Xiao Jiu. I just took a look; the master who introduced you to the craft was quite responsible. Your foundation isn't bad, and you've grasped the basics. The rest is just a matter of practice."

"What you need to do now is swing that hammer with all your might. Through a thousand hammerings and a hundred refinements, you aren't just forging the iron in the furnace, but yourself as well."

"The conditions are all prepared for you. The rest depends on how far you can go."

"Clang! Clang! Clang!" The sound of the hammer colliding with the iron block rang out incessantly, and Jiang Jiu's blacksmithing career officially began.

After the morning passed, Jiang Jiu stayed at the blacksmith shop for lunch.

As mentioned before, if he came in the morning, breakfast and lunch were included; if he came in the afternoon, lunch and dinner were included; if he stayed the whole day, all three meals were covered.

After observing him for the morning, Shi San admired Jiang Jiu even more.

"Xiao Jiu, someone as calm and focused as you will succeed at anything. What made you think of coming to our blacksmith shop to forge iron?" Shi San asked while chatting over the communal meal he shared with the shop's masters and apprentices.

"Uncle San, have you ever heard of a Divine Smith?"

"Don't tell me you're trying to forge a divine artifact? Haha, such lofty ideals?" Shi San hadn't expected to hear such an answer.

"I'll do my best."

"Hey, you kid, you really suit our tastes."

Blacksmiths did nothing but heavy labor; they ate food heavy on oil and salt, and when they drank and chatted, they had to brag and joke, otherwise, what was the point?

Jiang Jiu shook his head and declined the ale Shi San offered. He was truly being treated as one of their own now; they no longer looked at his age or appearance, just feeling that someone like him could drink—and drink heartily.

How much of Jiang Jiu's words were true?

Was he really interested in the profession of a blacksmith?

Let's just say that blacksmithing was interesting, but being a blacksmith was another matter entirely.

In other words, he was driven by interest and need, not by a profession.

To put it simply, he would forge when he wanted to, and if he didn't feel like it, he could leave it completely untouched.

Jiang Jiu had two purposes for coming to this smithy.

The first, naturally, was to fish for Tang San—waiting for a rabbit to hit a tree.

In this smithy, Tang San was more likely to reveal his true nature; there were only two people of the same age here, making it far easier to approach him than at Nuoding Academy.

The second was that Jiang Jiu was curious if he could produce Thousand Refinement or even Spirit Refinement in this Douluo Continent timeline; he didn't dare dream of anything higher.

The nature of a gentleman is no different from others; he is simply good at utilizing external things.

Although he was bound to the Soft Bone Rabbit martial soul, Jiang Jiu would never forget the importance of weapons and equipment.

As a modern person, the combat style Jiang Jiu admired most was naturally beyond-visual-range strikes.

Since he couldn't achieve that and lacked the conditions, he would take the other route: arming himself to the teeth.

What was the foundation of good weapons and equipment? Materials!

On this Douluo Continent, blacksmithing was the golden path to unlocking material science.

Picking up ready-made or semi-finished products wasn't impossible, but rare metals that had been artificially forged were undoubtedly more competitive.

However, it felt like rare metals were quite scarce in the Douluo I timeline, and things like Spirit Refinement were an unreachable dream.

But what if? He had to try at least once.

Even if he didn't succeed, becoming Tang San's exclusive supplier of Iron Essence was a viable path, wasn't it?

Tang San's main energy was still focused on the production of hidden weapons, and the tempering of metal materials was only enough for his own use; conversely, Jiang Jiu would be the one to put more effort into studying this aspect.

Wouldn't hidden weapons made with better materials tend to be of higher quality?

As for Spirit Refinement.

It seems to involve spiritual power or something...

I can't give up the Charm soul skill... I need to reach level twenty as soon as possible.

All in all, the cultivation of soul power remained Jiang Jiu's only main quest.

Consuming soul power to forge was also a form of soul power cultivation.