Swallowing Dates Whole

On the seventh day after school started, at five in the morning.

In Room 304 of Building No. 3, on the bed by the window on the innermost right side, Ling Yi opened his eyes and woke from Deep Sleep.

Lying on the bed, his gaze swept left and right. Under the light of the stars and moon outside the window, faint blue shadows entered Ling Yi's eyes.

After more than ten days of effort, the hundred-plus high-quality Blue Silver Grass seeds he had brought from home had been cultivated by Ling Yi into more than a hundred thriving, delightfully vigorous Blue Silver Grass plants.

At this moment, these hundred-plus Blue Silver Grass plants had been arranged by Ling Yi around his bed in a staggered little wall. The top row was almost level with the bed.

Of course, Ling Yi had also left openings at the foot and the side of the head of the bed for himself to go in and out, so it would not be inconvenient.

He got up and dressed, his movements gentle, without making the slightest sound, so as not to wake the other eight classmates in the dormitory who were still fast asleep.

Since school had started, after six straight days of classes, the academy had finally welcomed a rare day of rest today.

For the other students, it was holiday time. For Ling Yi, it was time to go to a blacksmith shop in the east of the city to learn forging skills.

After fetching water and washing up in the Water Storage Room beside the central staircase on the third floor, Ling Yi walked out of Building No. 3 feeling refreshed, then out through the gates of Green Leaf Elementary Soul Master Academy.

By the time he had walked several li away from Chao Yang Street, where the academy was located, and reached another street still in the east of the city, a smear of red dawn clouds had already appeared along the Eastern Horizon.

Silver Xin Blacksmith Shop.

The owner, Wang Meng, was Old Master Jin's fifth disciple, with the martial soul Iron Rake, a Level 19 One-Ring Soul Master, and an Advanced Blacksmith.

Although Old Master Jin had taken Ling Yi under his wing a few days ago, he did not have enough energy to teach Ling Yi himself. In the end, he was only a Soul Grandmaster Level soul master. At seventy-two years old this year, his physical condition was better than that of ordinary people his age, but it had still not undergone any qualitative change.

Besides, the rules under Jin Geng could not be broken. Ling Yi was only seven years old now. Even if his talent in forging was indeed extremely high, and on the day he entered the school he had displayed skills no inferior to an Intermediate Blacksmith's, he was still only an Intermediate Blacksmith, not an Advanced Blacksmith.

If he was not an Advanced Blacksmith, then he had not yet reached the standard to become Old Master Jin's personal disciple.

Likewise, since he was not an Advanced Blacksmith, having Old Master Jin's fifth disciple, Wang Meng—an Advanced Blacksmith who had immersed himself in the craft for many years and was only a hair's breadth from becoming a Blacksmith Master—teach him in Old Master Jin's stead was more than enough.

Generally speaking, in everyone's understanding, Ling Yi, who was seven years old this year, should not be able to empty out Wang Meng's reserves for at least five years.

Maybe before Ling Yi even advanced to Advanced Blacksmith, Wang Meng might have a sudden flash of Spiritual Light one day and break through to the Blacksmith Master level. That was not impossible either~

On this point, Wang Meng, whose skills had already been polished to a limit and who had been stuck there for nearly ten years, still firmly believed!

When Ling Yi arrived in front of Silver Xin Blacksmith Shop, the shop's doors were already wide open. Inside it was pitch-black, with faint dark-red light and shadow flickering on and off, and a vague wave of heat drifted outward.

Just as Ling Yi was still looking around with wide eyes, a figure walked out from the dark shop.

Fifth Brother Wang Meng was a tall, sturdy man with truly unremarkable features. He was tall, with long arms, and his right arm, which had swung a forging hammer year-round, was thicker than his left by a full circle, making him look a little odd.

Although his appearance was plain, and his build was the sort that could easily scare children into tears at first glance, Ling Yi, who had briefly interacted with him before, felt from his first impression that his personality was actually quite good.

"Little Yi, you're here. Have you eaten?" Wang Meng looked at Ling Yi at the door, a kind smile appearing on his ordinary face, making people feel a favorable impression at the sight of him.

In response, Ling Yi immediately returned an equally likable sunny smile, and answered somewhat shyly, "N-not yet..."

When Wang Meng heard this, his smile did not fade. He beckoned and said, "Perfect. Your sisters-in-law baked bread and cooked porridge. Come eat some with us.

"After we're done eating, we'll start forging—"

He did not say much, but every sentence was very plain and honest, with little in the way of twists and turns. In Ling Yi's view, he was someone he could feel at ease with.

Of course, the fact that Old Master Jin had helped him open a blacksmith shop of his own in the east of the city, aside from his craftsmanship truly being solid, was also Old Master Jin's recognition of him.

One had to know that while it was true Mu Zhi City did not rank highly when looking across Douluo Continent, it was, after all, the Capital City of Waterwood Principality. It was no exaggeration to say that every inch of land was worth its weight in gold.

A storefront like this, plus the courtyard behind it used for both forging and living, added up to more than five hundred square meters. It was not cheap.

Back then, Wang Meng had the skills of an Advanced Blacksmith. There had been quite a few nobles willing to invest in him, open a blacksmith shop for him, or invite him into their families to serve as some kind of forging guest elder, but how could any of that compare to the freedom of opening his own shop and being his own boss—

Ling Yi did not refuse. He only showed a few breaths' worth of hesitation on his face, then nodded in agreement, somewhat embarrassed.

After eating a hearty breakfast together with Fifth Brother, Fifth Brother's two wives, and his six children, Ling Yi, under the envious gazes of the two little fellows Wang Lei and Wang Ben, went with the four brothers Wang Xin, Wang Sen, Wang Yan, and Wang Yao, each arriving before a forging station.

At this moment, after burning for some time, the charcoal in each furnace had already begun releasing heat to its heart's content.

Wang Xin, who was 20 Years Old this year, brought along his three younger brothers, who were respectively two, four, and seven years younger than him. After flashing Ling Yi a toothy grin, they picked up the tools on their workbenches and bent their heads to busy themselves.

Of these four, except for Wang Yao, who had inherited Wang Meng's first wife's martial soul, Scissors, all of them had awakened the Iron Rake martial soul.

Unfortunately, the four brothers had all failed to inherit Wang Meng's aptitude. During the Martial Soul Awakening Ceremony, no Innate Soul Power had been detected in them.

It was just unknown whether the two little fellows Wang Lei and Wang Ben would inherit their father's Iron Rake martial soul in the future, or their mother's Pearl martial soul.

Of course, thanks to both Wang Meng and his second wife having soul power, and the fact that when they had joined together, Wang Meng's soul power had already broken through Level 10 and he had become a One-Ring Soul Master, the chances of these two brothers awakening Innate Soul Power in the Martial Soul Awakening Ceremonies at the end of this year and the year after next were still fairly high.

So the two little fellows envied their four older brothers for learning forging from their father, never realizing that the four older brothers also envied the two of them for having a higher chance of becoming soul masters.

Before the largest forging station in Silver Xin Blacksmith Shop, Wang Meng lowered his head and looked at Ling Yi in front of him. The smile on his face disappeared, and his whole person grew much more serious. His voice also became solemn:

"Little Yi, that day at Master's place, when you demonstrated your forging skills, I only saw the latter half, but I could still tell that in your grasp of technique and control over details, you've already approached the level of an Advanced Blacksmith. It's just that your age and physical strength have limited you—"

"But!"

Wang Meng's words of praise had only just fallen when a turn came crashing down on Ling Yi's head.

His thick, round brows twisted, and he said in a deep voice, "Little Yi, in your forging process, you have quite a few bad habits!"

"Bad habits?" Ling Yi's eyes showed a thoughtful look when he heard this.

"Right! Bad habits~" Wang Meng nodded and said again, "These bad habits, according to the discussion between Master, me, and the other senior and junior brothers, have two root causes—"

Ling Yi had a vague guess in his heart. He met Wang Meng's downward gaze and quietly waited for what the other party would say next.

Seeing how steady Ling Yi was despite his young age, Wang Meng couldn't help letting a clear look of admiration flash across his face, and his pace of speech quickened a little. "One is Jiang Kai, the one who taught you the basics of forging. In his day-to-day forging, he inevitably picked up quite a few personal habits. Those are flaws he accumulated little by little without realizing it after being stuck as an Intermediate Blacksmith for many years..."

Hearing this, Ling Yi wasn't surprised. At present, he had only ever learned forging from Master Jiang. If he had any bad habits, they would naturally have been formed during that process.

Moreover, because his Mental Strength was powerful and his five senses were sharp, Ling Yi could observe every one of Master Jiang's movements in detail, then, based on data such as his own height, build, arm length, and so on, convert Master Jiang's forging techniques into ones suited to himself.

So Ling Yi's method of learning by imitation and replication was also part of the problem!

Sure enough, right then, Wang Meng's next words confirmed exactly that.

"The second point—" Wang Meng's expression turned complicated as he said this, with envy, delight, and even a hint of amusement. "Is that your learning ability is too strong. Whether something is good or bad, right or wrong, you learn it all wholesale—and you can actually master it..."

Emmm~ My stockpile was already exhausted on the twelfth. I've been forcing myself to keep up two updates a day these past few days, but it's getting a bit difficult here. I'll get the next chapter done before one at noon, I mean it!

Lastly, I'd like to thank book friends 20210317235826218, 160502234340488, and Wang Cheng for their monthly tickets, and also thank everyone for the Recommendation Tickets, continued reading, and comments. Thank you!!!