The moment Mang Tian's voice fell, the sphere of light suddenly burst apart.
Countless tiny points of light scattered like fireflies,
flitting in every direction,
forming a brilliant river of stars inside the workshop.
And at the center of the lights,
the successfully Spirit Forged Deep Sea Silver hung quietly in the air!
From this moment on,
it would no longer be merely cold metal,
but a living creation!
"Teacher, did I succeed?"
Lu Chuan turned around,
looking at Mang Tian with delight.
From what he could sense,
the awakening had succeeded.
But he still wanted to make sure.
Mang Tian opened his mouth,
wanting to say something,
but found his throat seemed to be blocked by something,
and for a long while, not a single word came out.
He hurried over to Lu Chuan,
trembling as he took the Spirit Forged Deep Sea Silver,
and examined it closely.
Perfect patterns,
evenly distributed energy,
and that unique aura of life...
Every last detail
told him one thing:
his student,
at just nine years old,
had become a Level Five Blacksmith!
The youngest blacksmith in the history of the Douluo Federation!!
"Xiaochuan, you did it!! You succeeded!"
Mang Tian practically shouted,
his hands trembling!
Partly because he was excited,
but also
because
there was nothing left he could teach Lu Chuan!
That meant
if Lu Chuan wanted to continue his studies,
he would need a new teacher.
Although he had long expected this day to come,
now that it had arrived,
an inexplicable sadness welled up inside him,
as if some precious treasure had been snatched away.
He wanted to keep Lu Chuan for himself,
but that would be unfair to the treasure!
Could he really do that?
Mang Tian held the Spirit Forged Deep Sea Silver in his hands,
and remained silent for a long time.
His gaze lingered over the surface of the silver,
his fingertips gently tracing its naturally formed patterns.
This piece of Deep Sea Silver was simply too perfect,
so perfect that it hardly seemed like the work of someone who had Spirit Forged for the first time!
It's time to let go!
After a long while,
Mang Tian raised his head,
and made up his mind.
He would never forget the look in Lu Chuan's eyes when he first arrived,
eyes brimming with love for blacksmithing.
He couldn't bury a child's talent just to preserve his own legacy!
"Xiaochuan, wait here for a moment." Mang Tian rose to his feet, his voice a little hoarse.
"I'm going out to make a call."
"Okay!"
Lu Chuan nodded.
At that moment,
he could sense
that Mang Tian was feeling out of sorts!
But he didn't know why.
Watching Mang Tian's lonely figure as he left,
Lu Chuan could only feel
the joy of succeeding at Spirit Forging
suddenly dwindle by more than half!
For the first time, Mang Tian felt that
the walk from Lu Chuan's workshop back to his office
was so heavy.
All these years,
he had taught Lu Chuan
just as he would have taught his own son!
Now,
having to let go,
he truly couldn't bear it!
But
compared to the bond between master and student,
he still felt Lu Chuan's future mattered more.
He entered his office,
closed the door,
leaned against the wall,
and smoked a cigarette.
After the cigarette burned out,
he pulled out his soul-guidance phone,
scrolled down,
and stopped at a number he hadn't contacted in a long time.
There were only two characters in the contact's name—
Mu Chen.
An Eight-Star Saint Smith, and the current president of the East Sea City Blacksmith Association!
Brr... brr... brr...
After three rings, the call connected.
"Hello?"
"Mang Tian? What made you, such a busy man, think of calling me?"
A steady, middle-aged male voice came from the other end,
tinged with a little teasing, but mostly delight.
Clearly, the two were old friends, though Mu Chen had achieved more.
But
Mang Tian had no inclination to reminisce right now.
He had made this call only for Lu Chuan's future,
so he got straight to the point:
"I have something I want to tell you."
"Oh? What could make you reach out to me first?"
Mu Chen sounded relaxed, speaking with the ease of an old friend.
"Don't tell me your workshop landed a big contract and needs help from the association?"
"No." Mang Tian paused. "My student just completed Spirit Forging."
There wasn't the slightest hint of boasting in his tone,
but the statement itself was blatant bragging!
As soon as he said it,
the other end of the call fell silent.
For a full five seconds!
When Mu Chen spoke again,
his tone had clearly changed.
The easygoing manner from before was gone,
replaced by a sudden urgency,
with envy and jealousy piling up endlessly:
"Wait, what? Spirit Forging? Which of your students?"
"Long Da? He has that kind of talent? Or did you just take on someone new?"
"No, what kind of ridiculous luck do you have?"
"When did you take him in? Where did you find him?"
"Hey! Say something! Don't just go silent!"
"Hello? Hello? Are you still there?"
Clearly, Mu Chen was green with envy!
His daughter, whom he was so proud of,
had been praised countless times as a blacksmithing prodigy.
Since she began learning blacksmithing, she had won so many awards they could hardly keep count,
and yet even now, she had only just managed to reach the threshold of a Level Two Blacksmith!!
And Mang Tian was telling him
that his student could Spirit Forge!
This was like absurdity itself opening the door for absurdity—absurdity all the way home!
He was a Saint Craftsman, and still hadn't taught a single student to become a Grandmaster!
Mang Tian understood Mu Chen's loss of composure.
Anyone who saw Lu Chuan's talent
would go crazy at least once or twice.
Listening to Mu Chen prattle on,
he suddenly felt much better, even though he had been in low spirits moments ago.
Now this is how normal people react!
Mang Tian sighed inwardly, then answered Mu Chen,
afraid that if he didn't respond soon,
Mu Chen might actually lose his mind.
"I took him in three years ago."
"His name is Lu Chuan, and he's nine years old this year."
His tone was very calm,
but after he finished speaking,
the other end of the call fell silent again.
After a full five seconds of silence,
Mu Chen could no longer sit still.
His voice suddenly rose,
cracking as he blurted out,
"Nine years old? Are you sure?"
"Mang Tian, are you sure you're not joking with me?"
"Completed Spirit Forging at nine? Do you know what that means?"
"I know. That's why I called you."
Mang Tian's voice remained calm throughout.
There was no helping it.
After Lu Chuan had shocked him so many times,
he'd grown immune to it!
But the person on the other end of the call was another matter.
After another stretch of silence,
Mu Chen's voice finally sounded again,
with a hint of uncertainty in it:
"Mang Tian, you haven't gotten senile and mistaken Hundred Forging for Spirit Forging, have you?"
Mang Tian knew Lu Chuan's talent was so high
that other people couldn't accept it right away,
so he wasn't angry.
He simply said, "Seeing is believing. If you don't believe me, come and see for yourself."
Mu Chen had already been on the edge of his seat. Now, hearing Mang Tian's certainty, he had his assistant make arrangements.
"Of course I'm going to see!"
"You're at the studio, right? I'm leaving now!"
"But you'd better not be lying to me! Otherwise, I'll kill you tonight!"
"Heh, come on over! We'll see who kills whom tonight!"
Mang Tian chuckled and hung up, already thinking about how he'd fleece Mu Chen good and proper.
After ending the call,
his mood instantly improved.
He slipped his phone back into his pocket and pushed open the door.
In the workshop,
Lu Chuan was sitting on a stool,
holding the piece of Spirit Forged Deep Sea Silver in his hands.
He seemed to have figured out why Mang Tian had suddenly grown despondent...
"Teacher, finished your call?"
Hearing footsteps, Lu Chuan opened his eyes.
"Mm." Mang Tian walked up to him, pulled over another stool, and sat down. "I called the president of the East Sea City Blacksmith Association."
Lu Chuan looked surprised. "The president? Why did you call him?"
Mang Tian sighed.
"Because I've already taught you everything I can."
"After Spirit Forging comes Fusion Forging, then Soul Forging."
"Fusion Forging is the limit of my forging knowledge. I can still just about pass on some of my experience in that area.
But I can't teach you Soul Forging anymore.
It requires a deep understanding and control of a metal's soul,
and a more refined use of Soul Power.
Even now, I still haven't managed that..."
"Teacher..." Lu Chuan opened his mouth, wanting to say something comforting.
But Mang Tian waved his hand and cut him off.
"I'm not feeling sorry for myself. The facts are the facts. I've been stuck at the master smith realm for years. I have no right to hold back your future."
He stood up and walked to the window, gazing at the sky outside.
"Mu Chen is an Eight-Star Saint Smith, just one step away from becoming a Godsmith. If he's willing to guide you, you'll go further than I ever imagined."
Lu Chuan fell silent.
He knew his teacher was telling the truth, but it still left him feeling unsettled.
All these years,
he knew exactly how Mang Tian had treated him.
Mang Tian had raised him like his own son, training him as his successor...
About an hour later, a black soul-guided car pulled up in front of Mang Tian Studio.
The car door opened,
and a tall, middle-aged man in a white robe hurried out.
He looked to be in his early forties,
with a refined face,
bright, piercing eyes,
and a powerful, steady presence.
But the moment he saw Mang Tian,
he seemed to become a different person,
tearing off his refined facade
and returning to the wildness of a blacksmith.
"Mang Tian, where is he? Where is he? Is this the kid?"