Mang Tian: He won't teach you what to do! Lu Chuan: I'll woo his daughter!

For a fleeting moment, Lu Chuan felt that the person before him was not Mu Chen, the president of the Eastsea City Blacksmith Association Branch, but an absolute pervert. After all, what kind of sane person stares at a little boy, circling him round and round, examining him from every conceivable angle?

"President, could you please stop staring at me like that?" Finally, Lu Chuan voiced his inner thoughts. He was truly afraid that if he held it in any longer, he would smash Mu Chen's head with a single slap.

Mu Chen withdrew his gaze upon hearing this. Yet, Lu Chuan didn't detect a shred of embarrassment on his face; instead, he calmly asked a few questions.

"You are nine years old this year?"

"Yes!"

"How many years have you been studying blacksmithing?"

"Three years!"

"You can perform Spirit Forging?"

"I just succeeded!"

"May I see the work?"

"Here!"

The brief dialogue concluded with Lu Chuan's Spirit Forged piece. Mu Chen took the Spirit Forged Deep Sea Silver, and the moment it touched his hands, he knew its spiritual resonance was far from low.

If Spirit Forging were divided into nine grades from high to low, the piece of Deep Sea Silver Lu Chuan had forged was already extremely close to the first grade! This was something only a master who had been immersed in blacksmithing for many years could achieve.

"What talent, I'm truly envious!" Mu Chen couldn't help but exclaim.

Beside them, Mang Tian almost couldn't resist kicking him. After all, when it came to talent, few among Mu Chen's own generation could surpass this old fellow! Of course, the most important thing was that Mu Chen had been dragging his feet and not getting to the point; it had been hard enough for him to finally make up his mind to let Lu Chuan go! If it dragged on any longer, he might actually regret it.

Seeming to sense Mang Tian's irritation, Mu Chen stopped beating around the bush. Taking Lu Chuan as his apprentice was the most important matter at hand, so he spoke directly:

"Lu Chuan, your teacher has surely already spoken with you, so I will be direct: would you be willing to take me as your master?"

Lu Chuan: "I am not willing!"

The calm voice struck like a thunderbolt.

The smile on Mu Chen's face froze instantly.

He stood rooted to the spot, as if struck by a binding spell.

As an Eight-Star Saint Smith, he had turned away countless people who had begged to be his apprentice in the past!

Yet today, he had taken the initiative to offer an apprenticeship, only for the youth before him to refuse!

Mu Chen remained dazed for several seconds, utterly unable to comprehend the situation. He looked at Lu Chuan in confusion, his tone filled with bewilderment:

"May I know why?"

Lu Chuan replied as if it were the most natural thing in the world:

"Because I already have a teacher!

If I were to take you as my master, my teacher would be heartbroken.

I do not wish to hurt him, so, Chairman, I am truly sorry to have made you come all this way for nothing!"

Lu Chuan bowed apologetically to Mu Chen, before turning his gaze toward Mang Tian.

As master and apprentice locked eyes, a wave of warmth surged through Mang Tian's heart.

The toil of pouring his all into teaching and guiding seemed, at this moment, to have finally blossomed into fruit!

Yet precisely because of that, he could not allow Lu Chuan to stay.

"You little brat, enough with the sentimental talk!"

"You're making it sound like I actually care about you!"

"I only intended to use you as a stepping stone; once you become a Saint Smith, I'd pester you to teach me Soul Forging, understand?"

"Only a Saint Smith can perform Soul Forging!

The Chairman is an Eight-Star Saint Smith.

His level of instruction is top-tier.

If you take him as your master, the resources and connections you gain will be far, far, far greater than what you could get from me!

Your speed of progress will also be faster, and I will have a better chance of becoming a Saint Smith myself!

If you don't go, how am I supposed to become a Saint Smith?

So, take the Chairman as your master right now, do you understand?"

Mang Tian bellowed at the top of his lungs, putting on the act of a rough man cursing in the street.

How could Lu Chuan fail to see the painstaking effort behind Mang Tian's words?

He smiled as he looked at Mang Tian, "Teacher, I know you can't bear to part with me, so stop pretending; it doesn't suit you at all."

"I said I'm not leaving, so I'm not leaving. I don't care about those resources; at worst, I'll just spend a bit more time."

Upon hearing this, Mang Tian didn't know whether to be moved or angry.

"You brat, why must you be so ungrateful? Do you have any idea what it means for a blacksmith to advance even a single step earlier? It means your chances of becoming a Godsmith in the future increase by ten percent!"

Lu Chuan grinned. "I know that! But you taught me the correct posture for holding a hammer, taught me the properties of metals, taught me how to perceive those properties, and paid me a wage. For three years, you've poured your heart and soul into teaching me everything you know, holding nothing back. If I were to change allegiances just because someone stronger came along, would I even be human anymore?"

In an instant, sincerity proved to be the ultimate trump card. Was the value of this statement still climbing? Mang Tian opened his mouth, his throat bobbing, but not a single word came out. He turned his head away, blinking hard to clear his stinging eyes. He didn't dare look at Lu Chuan again. He was afraid that if Lu Chuan kept talking, his eyes would start leaking.

"Alright, you two, enough with the melodrama! You're making me look like some villain trying to tear you apart!" Mu Chen interrupted the loop of one trying to leave and the other refusing to let go. He looked at Lu Chuan and patted him on the shoulder, his eyes full of admiration for the youth. "Good lad, you're quite something. I've lived for many years and have seen too many people use unscrupulous means to climb the ladder. But someone like you, who can flatly reject the olive branch of an Eight-Star Saint Smith? That's a first! Although that Eight-Star Saint Smith happens to be me, which is a bit stinging... you've truly earned my respect. I won't insist on taking you as my apprentice, but if you ever encounter any difficulties in forging, feel free to come to me anytime. Consider it... me making a friend regardless of our age gap."

Mu Chen smiled warmly. He wasn't a rigid man. Although he really wanted to take Lu Chuan as his apprentice, some things simply couldn't be forced, or it would only yield the opposite result.

Hearing this, Lu Chuan was genuinely surprised by how open-minded Mu Chen was. But thinking back to how Mu Chen had been willing to share the role of teacher to Tang Wulin alongside Mang Tian, it suddenly made sense.

"Thank you, Guild Master!" Lu Chuan smiled and bowed to Mu Chen once more to show his deepest gratitude.

One had to realize that receiving two bows from the Golden Dragon King in a single day was unprecedented, even among Soul Beasts! Mu Chen was the first.

If Lu Chuan were to create a Divine Realm in the future, Mu Chen could walk sideways through it on the strength of this alone!

Since the Guild Master had traveled from afar, he naturally could not be treated poorly. Mang Tian prepared a sumptuous dinner. After three rounds of drinks and tasting the various dishes, Mang Tian was drunk, and Mu Chen was drunk as well. Lu Chuan had also been plied with a bit of alcohol; this was the first time he had drunk since transmigrating. The wine was brewed from spirit fruits and contained a trace of spiritual energy that could not be dissipated with Soul Power. Lu Chuan had only had a little before his vision began to blur. After being forced to drink two more glasses, he became completely muddled. Seeing that Lu Chuan had finally collapsed, Mang Tian and Mu Chen hurriedly drank two bowls of hangover soup, and their intoxication instantly faded by more than half. Mang Tian set down his bowl, wiped his mouth, and lowered his voice to prepare Mu Chen in advance, truly afraid that Mu Chen would fly into a rage. "Let's get this straight first: no matter what Xiao Chuan says, you aren't allowed to lose your temper."

Mu Chen patted his chest and said righteously, "Rest assured, am I, Mu Chen, the type of person to be so petty?"

Upon hearing this, Mang Tian couldn't help but chuckle. "If you aren't, then why did you get Xiao Chuan drunk just to ask him again?"

Hearing this, Mu Chen's face flushed red instantly. He really had no way to refute those words, and he grew annoyed. "I just want to die knowing the truth, is that not allowed? Stop stalling, the kid is about to fall into a real sleep!"

"Fine, fine, don't rush!"

Mang Tian calmed the nearly overheating Mu Chen, then stopped wasting words. He leaned close to Lu Chuan and asked softly, "Xiao Chuan, do you really... not want to take the Guild Master as your master?"

Lu Chuan didn't even lift his eyelids, muttering almost instinctively, "No... don't want to."

"Why?" Mang Tian looked at Mu Chen with a triumphant smile. "Isn't it good to be the Guild Master's apprentice?"

"It's good..." Lu Chuan chuckled vaguely. "But I've only just managed Spirit Forging... I'm still a long way from Alloy Forging and Soul Forging. Who knows, maybe after this, you'll work hard and suddenly break through to become a Saint Craftsman! Then I wouldn't need to take the Guild Master as my master, right?"

Mang Tian was choked up, caught between laughter and tears. "But what if... I don't break through?"

Lu Chuan waved his hand as if shooing away a fly. "If you don't break through, that's fine too... we can just ask the Guild Master for guidance... we won't let him lose out... we'll pay for the lessons... I just don't know how much the Guild Master charges for a Soul Forging class..."

Mang Tian's eyes widened. "Paid lessons? You brat, you really dare to think! If you don't become his apprentice, why would the Guild Master teach you?"

Lu Chuan chuckled, blinking his drunken eyes. "He will. He already acknowledged me as a friend despite our age gap! If he doesn't teach me, I'll just go after his daughter! I've already inquired about it; the Guild Master's daughter is named Mu Xi, she's four years older than me and is in the advanced division at Eastsea Academy!"

Before the words had even faded, Mang Tian burst out laughing, while the person in question, Mu Chen, had a face as black as an iron pot...